MARS
MARS is a repository service of Mason Publishing and the Digital Scholarship Center (DiSC) at the George Mason University Libraries. MARS provides enduring, stable, well-indexed access to a wide range of scholarship from the Mason community, such as Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs), articles, presentations, reports, and creative work. Learn more about publishing, sharing, and preserving research data with the George Mason University Institutional Dataverse, and our other repository services.
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Recent Submissions
Surviving NIBRS: Restoring America’s Unreported Homicides and Exploring the Influences for Law Enforcement’s Declining Cooperation in Crime Reporting
(2023-11-30) Hargrove, Thomas Kirk; Dong, Beidi
FBI adoption of the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) in 2021 as the mandatory reporting standard for crime data resulted in an unprecedented decline in police reporting to the federal government. Only 57 percent of the nation’s homicides were reported that year. This study obtained more than 6,000 unreported homicides from local and state police agencies using Freedom of Information Act and Open Record Act requests. The study compares FBI data and the study’s augmented dataset for accuracy and completeness using the National Vital Statistics System as a reference. This study also used a 3,134-county regression analysis to explore the socioeconomic factors associated with police decisions to participate, or to decline participation, in the more complex NIBRS program.
The Krewe de Jeanne d’Arc and the New Orleans Joan of Arc Parade
(2022-12-02) Van Wey, Ken; Lattanzi Shutika, Debra
The Joan of Arc Parade, an annual marching event in the French Quarter of New Orleans, marks the passage from Christmas into Carnival. Begun in 2008, the parade contimues many New Orleans Carnival traditions and group structures while reflecting modern political and social attitudes. This paper draws on academic research, interviews, and participant observation to explore the evolving role of this parade and its organizers, the Krewe de Jeanne d’Arc, in New Orleans Carnival celebrations.
Broad and fine acoustic categories in bod, bond, bald, and bard: A step toward acoustic phonology
(2024-05-17) Kelley, Matthew C.
Acoustics is central to the study of speech communication, but it is conspicuously under-represented in abstract representations of speech. Many flavors of phonological analysis tend toward articulatory descriptions, and transcriptions focus on strings of articulatory actions. All this is despite acoustics being easier to measure than articulation with current technology. The present study explores basic concepts for an acoustic phonology, with two types of postulated categories: broad and fine. Resonant, turbulent, transient, and occludent types of sounds comprise the broad categories, as general methods of filtering the speech source. Fine categories are conceptualized as specific types of acoustic actions within a broad category. These acoustic actions are goal-oriented, as for achieving a particular acoustic effect like the presence of antiformants or a lowered F2 or F3. However, these actions are not explicitly restricted to manipulating traditional phonetic features like formants. By default, fine categories are assumed to be produced in parallel when possible, yielding overlap effects like anticipatory nasalization, lateralization, and rhotacization. These concepts are explored in a microanalysis of bod, bond, bald, and bard from the speaker in the Massive Auditory Lexical Decision data set, with an eye to seeding the ground for a future acoustic phonology.
A Comparative Evaluation of Kits for Seminal Fluid Detection
(2024-05) Sperling, Anaya; Knight, Kelly
Seminal fluid detection kits are commonly used within the forensic science field to determine whether an unknown sample contains semen. The ability to correctly identify seminal fluid in any criminal cases involving bodily fluids is of the utmost importance. The ABACard p30 kit is most commonly used in forensic DNA laboratories to detect semen. This study “A Comparative Evaluation of Kits for Seminal Fluid Detection” will compare the ABACard p30, RSID - Semen, and SERATEC Semiquant PSA kit to the Bluestar Identi-PSA kit which is newer to the field. Bluestar, ABA, and SERATEC kits test for the presence of prostate specific antigen (PSA) which is the protein present in semen. On the other hand, RSID - Semen detection kit tests for semenogelin which is the protein that is found in ejaculated semen and is responsible for sperm immobilization in the seminal coagulum. To evaluate the specificity of these kits, breastmilk, saliva, and blood will also be tested in duplicate. Labor intensity, cost, and sensitivity will also all be compared between the four kits. Sensitivity will be evaluated by testing a series of dilutions of semen in duplicate from 1:10 to 1:100,000. It is expected that all four kits will be equally effective (creating true positives) in detecting semen, however, there will be differences in labor intensity and cost. It is also anticipated that a potential false positive with the breastmilk will happen since previous research has reported the detection of prostate specific antigen or semenogelin in breastmilk. The result of a positive test from breastmilk would pose the question of whether said kit would be deemed to be as reliable as stated. It is expected to conclude that between the four kits: Bluestar Identi-PSA, ABACard p30, RSID - Semen and SERATEC Semiquant PSA, each will yield different results when it comes to specificity and sensitivity.
The complete mitochondrial genome of Meller’s mongoose (Rhynchogale melleri)
(Taylor & Francis, 2024-03-14) Sosale, Medhini S.
Meller’s mongoose (Rhynchogale melleri) is a member of the family Herpestidae (Mammalia: Carnivora) and the sole species in the genus Rhynchogale. It is primarily found in savannas and open woodlands of eastern sub-Saharan Africa. Here, we report the first complete mitochondrial genome for a female Meller’s mongoose collected in Tanzania, generated using a genome-skimming approach. The mitogenome had a final length of 16,644 bp and a total of 37 annotated genes. Phylogenetic analysis validated the placement of this species in the herpestid subfamily Herpestinae. Ultimately, the outcomes of this research offer a genetic foundation for future studies of Meller’s mongoose.