Exploring the democratic potential of online social networking: The scope and limitations of e-participation

Copyright © 2012 by the Association for Information Systems.The availability and promise of social networking technologies with their perceived open philosophy has increasingly inspired citizens around the world to participate in political activity on the Web. Recent examples range from opposing public policies, such as government funding cuts, to organizing revolutionary social movements, such as those in the Middle East and North Africa. Although online spaces create remarkable opportunities for various forms of political action, there are concerns over the power of existing institutions to control and even censor such interaction spaces. The objective of this article is to draw together different insights on the online engagement phenomenon, highlighting both its potential and limitations as a mechanism for fostering democratic debate and influencing policy making. We examine recent examples from Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. Finally, we summarize the implications of our work and outline directions for further research

The search for and portrayal of national identity in the poetry of W.B. Yeats and Seamus Heaney : an honors thesis (HONRS 499)

The island that now houses Ireland and Northern Ireland has changed a great deal politically during the twentieth century. Once completely under British rule, the island is now divided into an independent nation, often referred to as the Republic of Ireland, in the south and the still British-controlled region of Northern Ireland. Throughout the shifts of the past 100 years, one constant for Ireland and Northern Ireland has been a search for identity and place. The poetry of William Butler Yeats and Seamus Heaney offers a look into how two men from different times and different parts of the island searched for and displayed their countries' history, culture, and conflicts in drastically different ways. To examine these two Nobel Prize-winning poets, I analyze each of poet's work independently and then compare them. Also included at the beginning of this paper is a brief history of Ireland in the twentieth century and short biographies of Yeats and Heaney.Honors CollegeThesis (B.?.

Optical studies of the pre-breakdown mechanism in dielectronic liquids.

PhDThe work described in this thesis provides an optical study of pre-breakdown events in liquid dielectrics. A small scale rig employing a 50SI test cell with viewing windows, as part of a high voltage co-axial line, enabled short rise time pulses to be applied to a non-uniform test gap. For the liquid dielectric, changes of refractive index resulting from applied voltage were rendered visible by means of a Schlieren optical system. A high speed image converter camera enabled rapidly changing pre-breakdown phenomena to be photographically recorded at framing speeds up to 107 per second. Scattered light photographs were taken by orthogonal flash illumination under both pulse and direct voltage conditions, allowing large format macrophotography. Using a piezoelectric transducer placed within the test cell, and a photomultiplier to view the gap region, a relationship has also been established between the generation of mechanical waves, light scintillation and conduction current pulses. From the photographic records and conventional parameter measurements there exists strong evidence for the presence of a gaseous phase in processes leading to the electrical breakdown of liquid dielectrics even under pulse conditions

The design and performance of a real-time self excited vocoder

This paper is concerned with a generic class of predictive speech coders that includes the newly proposed Self Excited Vocoder (SEV) and the well known Code-Excited Linear Predictive Coder (CELPC). All members of this class form an excitation sequence for a linear predictive model filter using the same general model for the excitation signal. The general excitation model is based on a block coding technique where each sequence is drawn from an ensemble of sequences. This paper reports on two developments related to this general model. The first development is a new type of excitation ensemble that can in general be populated by many different types of sequences. The second development is a means of populating this new type of ensemble based on a vector quantizer design procedure using a new distortion measure

The Effects of Two Different Post-Exercise Stretching Modalities on Delayed Onset Muscular Soreness in Adults

Until recently, research suggested that post-exercise stretching may reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) in those who exercise; however, newer research indicates that stretching has no effect on DOMS. However, it appears that the effect of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching on preventing DOMS has not been adequately studied. The primary purpose of the study was to research the effect of PNF stretching on DOMS. The secondary purpose was to evaluate if one’s level of flexibility had a correlation with high levels of DOMS. The study was a posttest-only control group design. Participants were randomly assigned into a stretching group (PNF, static, control) after performing a DOMS inducing exercise. Participants then rated their soreness level on a pain scale (range 1-6) 24 and 48 (plus or minus 2 hours) hours after the DOMS inducing exercise. Flexibility also was measured to see if the participants, muscle range was correlated to DOMS. The main result showed that there was no difference between PNF stretching and reduced pain scores. Other results showed that there was a correlation between the 48 hour post-exercise pain score and pre-post flexibility change in the PNF stretch group (

Does Time Matter? An Examination Of Sentence Length, Time Served And Probation Outcomes

There remains some uncertainty as to whether or not probation supervision can influence the behaviour of offenders as intended and thereby protect the public. Within the growing body of probation literature is support for a number of theoretically relevant variables and probation outcomes (Morgan, 1993; Gendreau, Little & Goggin, 1996). Some of the probation studies include a measure of time (Sims & Jones, 1997; Green & Winik, 2010), although it has never been exclusively studied in probation research. In the studies that do include a time measure, sentence length is the most frequently used and is often related to failure and recidivism (Cockerill, 1975; Renner, 1978; Roundtree, Edwards & Parker, 1984; Morgan, 1993). Sentence length, however, may not provide the best measure of time on probation since this same probation research often finds that not all probationers complete their term of supervision. Probation sentences are cut short for a variety of reasons -some are ended for good behaviour (i.e. early termination), whereas others are ended for poor behaviour as is the case with revocation. The actual time under probation supervision is directly related to some outcomes. Moreover, time has not been examined sufficiently to determine its relationship to behaviour. This study seeks to explore the influence of time served under probation on three probation outcomes: probation failure, arrest on probation and recidivism after probation is terminated. Following a sample of probationers (n=480), from a Northern Plains state the study finds that as time served on probation increases, the likelihood of probation failure and later recidivism decrease. This relationship between probation time served and outcomes in terms of probation research, theory and practice is developed. Perhaps most importantly, we find that probation sentence length and probation time served, although related measures, do not relate to outcomes in similar ways. Subsequently, probation researchers should pay close attention to the time measures used in probation study. The implications for probation practice are also discussed including the importance of understanding probationer time served to improve supervision programs and better impact public safety

Analysis of a novel non-contacting waveguide backshort

A new non-contacting waveguide backshort has been developed for millimeter and submillimeter wave frequencies. The design consists of a metal bar with rectangular or circular holes cut into it, which is covered with a dielectric (mylar) layer to form a snug fit with the walls of a waveguide. Hole geometries are adjusted to obtain a periodic variation of the guide impedance on the correct length scale, in order to produce efficient reflection of RF power. It is a mechanically rugged design which can be easily fabricated for frequencies from 1 to 1000 GHz and is thus a sound alternative to the miniaturization of conventional non-contacting shorts. To aid in high-frequency design, a rigorous full-wave analysis has been completed, which will allow variations of the size, number and spacing of the holes to be easily analyzed. This paper will review the backshort design and the method developed for theoretical characterization, followed by a comparison of the experimental and numerical results. Low frequency models operating from 4-6 GHz are shown to demonstrate return loss of greater than -0.2 dB over a 33 percent bandwidth. The theory is in good agreement with measured data