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The Federalist Society and Constitutional Interpretation: Who Gets to Say What the Constitution Says
Get PDFThe Federalist Society was organized in 1982 by conservative law students to counteract what they perceived to be a liberal bias in law schools, the courts, and government administration. Forty years later there is an acknowledgement of a rightward turn in the Supreme Court which scholars have attributed in part to the efforts of the Federalist Society. However, there is still little understanding of just how that change came about. This dissertation takes a step toward understanding that question. Viewing the Federalist Society as the center of a network of lawyers, think tanks, and legal institutions, I examine the influence the Federalist Society Network has on voting rights and public sector unionization. I analyzed these cases - South Carolina v. Katzenbach, 383 U.S. 301, Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder, 557 U.S. 193, and Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013) to assess the Federalist Society Network’s influence on voting rights. I also examined these additional cases - Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, 431 U.S. 209 (1977), Knox v. Service Employees International Union, 567 U.S. 298, (2012), Harris v. Quinn, 573 U.S. 616,(2014), and Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31 585 U.S. (2018) to assess the impact the Federalist Society Network has on public sector union agency fees. I use content analysis to compare the themes asserted in petitioners’ and amicus curiae briefs with the themes expressed in the majority opinions in these cases. I find that the Federalist Society Network has influenced the majority opinions in these cases
Solar Power Jump Starter (SPJS)
No full textPortable electronic devices enhance our day to day applications, but only when there’s electricity to power them. Solar energy usage has been increasing in popularity as it is further developed. Improvements in the panels have made solar energy more and more efficient. The battery jump starters that we witness in the market today are nothing new, but until now. Our Solar Power Jump Start system is made portable and will utilize solar energy to charge up a Lithium Battery Pack. Where the Lithium Battery Pack serves as a Jump Starter that consumers may take it wherever they can and utilize it to quickly discharge enough power and turn the engine on when needed in anytime of the day if the car battery dies out. Our company’s design of the Solar Power Jump Starter system is as unique as it is original due to all the energy being stored through Sun Rays which makes our system completely Eco-Friendly. Our system also aims to help increase public welfare as it is a revolutionary breakthrough of green energy jump starting a dead battery
Exploring the Effect of CTE Coursework and Work Experience on Adolescent Career Readiness
Get PDFCareer readiness is an area of youth development that is often overlooked in secondary education. Preparing students for the professional world is especially important for high school students, who upon graduation, will have to decide to pursue postsecondary education or a career. Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, which involve teaching youth employable knowledge and skills, have been shown to assist students in transitioning more seamlessly from high school to college and careers. Work experiences, such as jobs and internships, have also been found to support adolescent career readiness. Currently, there is not a widely used quantitative measure for assessing career readiness. Through a quasi-experimental design, this study will utilize the Career Maturity Inventory Form C (CMI-C) to examine the influence of CTE programming, work experience, and the interaction of these interventions on the career readiness of high school seniors
Response to COVID-19 and the Distribution of Paycheck Protection Program Loans Across Counties
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic created a significant disruption in economic activity across the United States. On March 27, 2020, the U.S. federal government passed the paycheck protection program (PPP) as part of the CARES Act to offer loans to businesses. While the loans have been shown to have been successful at keeping businesses running and reducing unemployment (Bartik, Cullen, et al. 2020; Humphries, Neilson, and Ulyssea 2020), their spatial distribution has not been studied using data on all loans issued. This paper analyzes the predictors of how many per capita loans were received at the county level using data from the Small Business Administration, The American Community Survey, the County Business Patterns, and others. We find that communities with more eligible businesses, more banks available, and larger increases in their unemployment received more loans per capita. Conversely, larger numbers of COVID-19 cases were associated with receiving fewer loans. In addition, wealthier, whiter, and less urban counties also received a larger number of loans
Prediction of Intrinsically Disordered Protein Regions using Machine Learning Methods
No full textMany biologically active proteins/protein regions fail to form a stable three-dimensional structure, yet they exhibit biological functions. These proteins are called Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), and the regions are called Intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs). They play vital roles in various biological processes. These disordered regions have significant implications in properly annotating function and drug design for critical diseases. IDRs are structurally and functionally very different from ordered proteins and therefore require special experimental and computational tools for identification and analyses. Thus, the identification of IDRs is a time-consuming task. This research aims to develop a machine learning method to predict disordered regions (IDRs) of proteins. The structural properties of proteins, i.e., secondary structures information, backbone angles, half-sphere exposure, contact numbers, and solvent accessible surface area (ASA), provide useful information about disordered proteins. Furthermore, we incorporate other features, i.e., Position-Specific Scoring Matrix (PSSM), Close Neighbor Correlation Coefficients, to enrich the feature set. We explored some well-known classification algorithms, i.e., Light Gradient Boosting Machine, Logistic Regression, Extra Tree Classifier, Extreme Gradient Boosting method, to select the best machine learning method. We evaluate the proposed method with a training dataset using 10-fold cross-validations and test the model with two independent test datasets. The obtained results are comparable with the existing methods
The Relationship between the Practice of Martial arts, Anxiety, Wellness, and Self-efficacy
Get PDFAlthough anxiety is a frequently researched topic, the growing numbers of diagnosed cases and the state of the present outcomes warrant the study of alternative approaches to address the causes and conditions of its prevalence, as well as possible adaptive strategies and tactics to improve outcomes for clients with anxiety. Counseling distinguishes itself in part due to its focus on well-being rather than mere alleviation of diagnosed symptoms. As such, it may be useful to measure the likelihood of some strategies and tactics associated with improved well-being in attempting to reduce symptoms of anxiety.
This study measured the practice of martial arts and the perceived importance of martial arts practice as a possible practice that might lower anxiety as well as increase well-being. This was measured through a Kruskal Wallis test and Spearman correlation to compare the practice of martial arts and its importance against scores on the Beck Anxiety Inventory and the Wellness Self-Efficacy Scales, with demographic variables of age, gender, ethnicity, US geographic region, and education level among 527 adult participants residing within the United States or its territories.
Practice of the martial arts and its perceived importance displayed significant relationships on the Beck Anxiety Inventory (p \u3e .05 & p \u3e .001, respectively), and significant relationships on the Wellness Self-Efficacy Scales (p \u3e .001 for both values). Significant relationships ranged from extremely weak to moderate between the practice of martial arts, its importance, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Wellness Self-Efficacy Scales, where a significant and very strong relationship was displayed between the practice of martial arts and its perceived importance to well-being
French Quarter Musician
No full textThis painting is titled French Quarter Musician which I have completed as part of the Tolmas Scholars program for Privateer Undergraduate Research & Scholarly UNO Experience (PURSUE). My objectives for the PURSUE program were to paint a series of portraits that depict a sense of community in New Orleans while exploring different styles of painting. However, due to leaving New Orleans early into the program because of Covid-19, I worked from the few pictures I took of strangers on the street along with a portrait of an old friend attempting to capture their energy upon first meeting. First impressions tend to give a glimpse of the surrounding community. I met the French Quarter Musician as he was playing a bluesy melody, and when asked to take his picture and to stand however he wanted to, he began to play his trumpet again. In the painting, I chose an abstract approach based on the style of Jordan Casteel. While my painting does not resemble Casteel’s work a great deal, I followed a thought process of painting shadows and highlights in sections of solid color without blending, as her work tends to also do. I also used a color palette of warm deep colors ranging between purples and oranges while highlighting with a cool lavender hoping to capture the energy his bluesy melody was surrounding him with. I steered away from the main color palette when painting the trumpet to draw the eye near the center, leading to his face and hand
Fourier Analysis of Data from Cricket Chirps
No full textIn order to provide useful data to contribute to research on the effect of neurostimulants in cricket behavior, the method of Fourier Analysis was applied. The Discrete Fourier Transform was used to convert noisy digital audio recordings into frequency based signals, which were analyzed for the peak frequency of the crickets chirps, then all other frequncies outside of the chirps\u27 tonal range were reduced to zero. The Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform was then used to convert the signals back into a time based form with the noisiness removed. Then data was taken concerning the characteristics of the sounds produced by the crickets, in order for the other researcher to determine the effects, or lack-therof, of the applied neurostimulants on the crickets\u27 behavior
The Neurobehavioral Effect of Acetaminophen During Early-Life on Social Behavior in Mice
No full textAcetaminophephen (APAP), or commonly known as Tylenol, is used frequently to treat children and pregnant women with cold-like symptoms. Acetaminophen in previous studies has been linked to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactive (ADHD). To date no studies have examined interaction between early-life inflammation and APAP exposure. This experiment focused on early-life exposure to APAP with inflammation present effects social behavior in mice. We hypothesize exposure to inflammation and APAP in early life is relevant to the emergence of ASD. Methods: Mice are bred in the lab. Experimental litters receive two injection: (1) saline or IL-1β (.2μg/kg) followed by (2) saline or APAP on days P5, P8, and P11. After weaning on P21, social interaction test and open field test were performed. Behaviors were scored using videos and experimenter was blind to condition of mouse. Results: Social interaction test demonstrate APAP exposed mice have greater latency in starting a social interaction. APAP exposed male mice perform nose-to-nose sniffing for longer durations of time. Mice exposed to IL-1β have greater occurrence of avoidance, following, and tail sniffing behaviors. Male mice exposed to IL-1β and APAP demonstrate longer durations of initiated social behavior. Open field result demonstrates mice exposed to IL-1β and APAP show greater anxiety. Conclusions: Male mice exposed to IL-1β and APAP a difference in social behaviors. According to the data, it can be infer exposure to IL-1β and APAP in early life are responsible for changes in social behavior, which supports our initial hypothesis
The State of Nonprofits in Southeast Louisiana in 2021: Adaptability & Racial Equity in Year One of the COVID-19 Pandemic Technical Report
Get PDFIn 2021, the Greater New Orleans Foundation partnered with the University of New Orleans to study the regional nonprofit sector in Southeast Louisiana, exploring the sector’s adaptability to the COVID-19 pandemic and racial equity in its nonprofits’ leadership. This study followed a spring 2020 survey focused on the pandemic’s immediate impact. A total of 756 public charities received an online survey in January and February 2021; 335 responded, for a 44% response rate. Results suggest nonprofits adapted to the pandemic’s financial toll and increased demand for essential services by shifting services online, accessing federally backed emergency loans, and reducing staff to cut costs. Arts and culture nonprofits were most prone to staff reductions. Further, the regional nonprofit sector suffers from a racial leadership gap, and nonprofits led by people of color face financial disparities. As the pandemic continues, more funding is needed to stabilize the sector and reduce existing inequities