Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Towards Using Neural Networks To Perform Object-Oriented Function Approximation, Dennis J. Taylor, Brett Bojduj, Franz J. Kurfess

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Many computational methods are based on the manipulation of entities with internal structure, such as objects, records, or data structures. Most conventional approaches based on neural networks have problems dealing with such structured entities. The algorithms presented in this paper represent a novel approach to neural-symbolic integration that allows for symbolic data in the form of objects to be translated to a scalar representation that can then be used by connectionist systems. We present the implementation of two translation algorithms that aid in performing object-oriented function approximation. We argue that objects provide an abstract representation of data that is well …

Improving Engineering Education Through Creativity, Collboration, And Context In A First Year Course, Michael Haungs, John Clements, David S. Janzen

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Over the past few years, Computer Science and some Engineering disciplines have suffered from a decrease in student enrollment, poor retention, and low women and minority representation. We suggest three issues with first-year courses that contribute to this trend. First, students find it difficult to see how their assignments and course material relate to real-world applications. Second, students tend to perceive engineering as an individual endeavor requiring little interaction with peers. Last, early engineering assignments are often overly constrained, possibly to ease grading, allowing minimal room for student creativity. In this paper, we present a model for an introductory freshman-level …

A Survey Of Evidence For Test-Driven Development In Academia, Chetan Desai, David S. Janzen, Kyle Savage

Computer Science and Software Engineering

University professors traditionally struggle to incorporate software testing into their course curriculum. Worries include double-grading for correctness of both source and test code and finding time to teach testing as a topic. Test-driven development (TDD) has been suggested as a possible solution to improve student software testing skills and to realize the benefits of testing. According to most existing studies, TDD improves software quality and student productivity. This paper surveys the current state of TDD experiments conducted exclusively at universities. Similar surveys compare experiments in both the classroom and industry, but none have focused strictly on academia.

Search For Cosmic Strings In The Goods Survey, Jodi L. Christiansen, E. Albin, K. A. James, J. Goldman, D. Maruyama, G. F. Smoot

Physics

We search Hubble Space Telescope Treasury Program images collected as part of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey for pairs of galaxies consistent with the gravitational lensing signature of a cosmic string. Our technique includes estimates of the efficiency for finding the lensed galaxy pair. In the north (south) survey field we find no evidence out to a redshift of greater than 0.5 (0.3) for cosmic strings to a mass per unit length limit of Gμ/c² < 3.0 × 10⁻⁷ at 95% confidence limits (C.L.). In the combined 314.9 arcmin² of the north and south survey fields this corresponds to a …

Localization In Urban Environments By Matching Ground Level Video Images With An Aerial Image, Keith Yu Kit Leung, Christopher M. Clark, Jan P. Huissoon

Computer Science and Software Engineering

This paper presents the design of a monocular vision based particle filter localization system for urban settings that uses aerial orthoimagery as the reference map. One of the design objectives is to provide a low cost method for outdoor localization using a single camera. This relaxes the need for global positioning system (GPS) which may experience degraded reliability in urban settings. The second objective is to study the achievable localization performance with the aforementioned resources. Image processing techniques are employed to create a feature map from an aerial image, and also to extract features from camera images to provide observations …

On Ordering And Indexing Metadata For The Semantic Web, Jeffrey Pound, Lubomir Stanchev, David Toman, Grant E. Weddell

Computer Science and Software Engineering

No abstract provided.

Evidence For Merger Remnants In Early-Type Host Galaxies Of Low-Redshift Qsos, Nicola Bennert, Gabriela Canalizo, Bruno Jungwiert, Alan Stockton, François Schweizer, Chien Y. Peng, Mark Lacy

Physics

We present results from a pilot HST ACS deep imaging study in broadband V of five low-redshift QSO host galaxies classified in the literature as ellipticals. The aim of our study is to determine whether these early-type hosts formed at high redshift and have since evolved passively, or whether they have undergone relatively recent mergers that may be related to the triggering of the nuclear activity. We perform two-dimensional modeling of the light distributions to analyze the host galaxies' morphology. We find that, while each host galaxy is reasonably well fitted by a de Vaucouleurs profile, the majority of them …

Seeds Of Evidence: Integrating Evidence-Based Software Engineering, David S. Janzen, Jungwoo Ryoo

Computer Science and Software Engineering

With increasing interest in Evidence-Based Software Engineering (EBSE), software engineering faculty face the challenge of educating future researchers and industry practitioners regarding the generation and use of EBSE results. We propose development and population of a community-driven web database containing summaries of EBSE studies. We present motivations for inclusion of these activities in a software engineering course, and address the particular appeal of a community-driven web database to students who have grown up in the Internet generation. We present our experience with integrating these activities into a graduate software engineering course, and report student and industry practitioner assessments of the …

Teaching Object-Oriented Software Engineering Through Problem-Based Learning In The Context Of Game Design, Jungwoo Ryoo, Frederico Fonesca, David S. Janzen

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Although Object Orientation is emphasized in software engineering education, few have attempted to alleviate the initial learning curve associated with an inexperienced audience in non-computer science disciplines. The authors propose a Problem-Based Learning curriculum centered on game development to deliver basic Object-Oriented programming concepts in an interactive and engaging manner. Class activities occur within the context of the Object-Oriented Rational Unified Process. One of the most significant contributions of this paper lies in the design of class modules containing tasks intended to educate students on Object-Oriented Software Engineering in an incremental and self-actuated way.

Progress Toward Cariporide Analogs For Sodium-Proton Exchange Inhibition, Jessica Moore, Mark Graves Ii, Jacob A. Vervynckt, William Harley, Fredric Gorin, Hasan Palandoken

Chemistry and Biochemistry

The sodium proton exchanger (NHE) is particularly important in maintaining the intracellular pH in human heart and brain. Under anaerobic conditions (i.e., ischemia), a shift from oxidative to nonoxidative glycolysis occurs. The resultant decrease in the intracellular pH activates NHE, which increases the intracellular sodium, initiating the sequence of physiological events that lead to cell death. Thus, there has been great interest in the development of compounds that inhibit NHE. Indeed, potent NHE inhibitors are available. However, a fundamental impediment to the field is the delivery of these compounds to poorly vascularized tissues during the early phases of ischemia when …

The Effects Of Pc-Based Laboratories On Student Learning, Lester L. Pesterfield, Stuart Burris, Darwin B. Dahl, Hasan Palandoken, Jacqueline Pope-Tarrence

Chemistry and Biochemistry

The Department of Chemistry at Western Kentucky University recently incorporated a net-worked MeasureNet data acquisition and analysis system into in the second semester General Chemistry laboratories. Our investigation team has conducted a study to evaluate the effects of the MeasureNet system on student learning and performance on a Beer's Law laboratory. We focused on two phenomena: the effect of the MeasureNet system on 1) student learning of specific content material and 2) student interest in chemistry and science in general. The study involved a MeasureNet system group (employing a UV-Vis spectrometer and colorimeters) and a control group (employing traditional Spectronic …

Tree-Soil Interactions Affect Production Of Loblolly And Slash Pine, Christopher Dicus, Thomas J. Dean

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Species-related differences in needle litter nutrient concentrations and subsequent N mineralization were examined in 17-year-old stands of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) and slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm.) at a common site. Results of this common-garden study indicate that a feedback may exist between foliar litter nutrient concentration and soil N mineralization. Net N mineralization (to 30 cm) was significantly greater in loblolly pine than in slash pine stands, which was attributed to greater litter nutrient concentrations in loblolly pine. Stand volume production was also greater in loblolly pine than in slash pine and was positively correlated with …

A Complete And Scalable Strategy For Coordinating Multiple Robots Within Roadmaps, Mike Peasgood, Christopher M. Clark, John Mcphee

Computer Science and Software Engineering

This paper addresses the challenging problem of finding collision-free trajectories for many robots moving toward individual goals within a common environment. Most popular algorithms for multirobot planning manage the complexity of the problem by planning trajectories for robots individually; such decoupled methods are not guaranteed to find a solution if one exists. In contrast, this paper describes a multiphase approach to the planning problem that uses a graph and spanning tree representation to create and maintain obstacle-free paths through the environment for each robot to reach its goal. The resulting algorithm guarantees a solution for a well-defined number of robots …

A Bribe To Escape Moscow, David W. Hafemeister

Physics

No abstract provided.

Review Of Nigel Hey, The Star Wars Enigma: Behind The Scenes Of The Cold War Race For Missile Defense, David W. Hafemeister

Physics

No abstract provided.

Lecture Notes, Thomas J. Bensky

Physics

No abstract provided.

Review Of Nuclear Weapons: What You Need To Know By Jeremy Bernstein, David W. Hafemeister

Physics

No abstract provided.

Does Test-Driven Development Really Improve Software Design Quality?, David S. Janzen, Hossein Saiedian

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Software developers are known for adopting new technologies and practices on the basis of their novelty or anecdotal evidence of their promise. Who can blame them? With constant pressure to produce more with less, we often can’t wait for evidence before jumping in. We become convinced that competition won’t let us wait. Advocates for test-driven development claim that TDD produces code that’s simpler, more cohesive, and less coupled than code developed in a more traditional test-last way. Support for TDD is growing in many development contexts beyond its common association with Extreme Programming. Examples such as Robert C. Martin’s bowling …

Test-Driven Learning In Early Programming Courses, David S. Janzen, Hossein Saiedian

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Coercing new programmers to adopt disciplined development practices such as thorough unit testing is a challenging endeavor. Test-driven development (TDD) has been proposed as a solution to improve both software design and testing. Test-driven learning (TDL) has been proposed as a pedagogical approach for teaching TDD without imposing significant additional instruction time. This research evaluates the effects of students using a test-first (TDD) versus test-last approach in early programming courses, and considers the use of TDL on a limited basis in CS1 and CS2. Software testing, programmer productivity, programmer performance, and programmer opinions are compared between test-first and test-last programming …

Precise Radial Velocities Of Giant Stars Iv. A Correlation Between Surface Gravity And Radial Velocity Variation And A Statistical Investigation Of Companion Properties., S. Hekker, I. A.G. Snellen, C. Aerts, A. Quirrenbach, S. Reffert, D. S. Mitchell

Physics

Context. Since 1999, we have been conducting a radial velocity survey of 179 K giants using the Coudé Auxiliary Telescope at UCO/Lick observatory. At present ∼20−100 measurements have been collected per star with a precision of 5 to 8 m s⁻¹. Of the stars monitored, 145 (80%) show radial velocity (RV) variations at a level >20 m s⁻¹, of which 43 exhibit significant periodicities.

Aims. Our aim is to investigate possible mechanism(s) that cause these observed RV variations. We intend to test whether these variations are intrinsic in nature, or possibly induced by companions, or both. …

Locating The Source Of Topological Error In Reconstructed 3d Models, Eric Firestone, Craig Povey, Zoë J. Wood

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Although range scanning technology has offered great improvements to digital model creation in recent years, it has also introduced some new concerns. Specifically, recent work shows that topological errors such as tiny handles can significantly lower the overall quality of range-scanned models for down-stream applications (such as simplification and parameterization). In this paper we present our investigation into the source of this topological error in the range scanning process, and our methods to alleviate the error. We concentrated our investigation of the scanning process on: (1) signal noise or calibration error in the laser scanner (resulting in bad data points) …

Temperature-Dependent Refractive Index Measurements Of Wafer-Shaped Inas And Insb, Glen D. Gillen, Chris Dirocco, Peter Powers, Shekhar Guha

Physics

An experimental method is introduced to measure the refractive index and its temperature dependence for wafer-shaped infrared materials over a continuous temperature range. Using a combination of Michelson interferometry, Fabry-Perot interferometry, and a temperature-controlled cryostat in a laser micrometer, refractive index values and their temperature coefficients can be measured for any specific temperature within a desired temperature range. Measurements are reported for InAs and InSb for a laser wavelength of 10.59 μm.

Radiometric Clocks, Gary B. Hughes

Statistics

This paper provides and introduction to radioactivity, and how geologists exploit radioactive decay to determine the age of rocks.

Optimal Stopping And Free Boundary Characterizations For Some Brownian Control Problems, Amarjit Budhiraja, Kevin J. Ross

Statistics

A singular stochastic control problem with state constraints in twodimensions is studied. We show that the value function is C1 and its directional derivatives are the value functions of certain optimal stopping problems. Guided by the optimal stopping problem, we then introduce the associated no-action region and the free boundary and show that, under appropriate conditions, an optimally controlled process is a Brownian motion in the noaction region with reflection at the free boundary. This proves a conjecture of Martins, Shreve and Soner [SIAM J. Control Optim. 34 (1996) 2133–2171] on the form of an optimal control for this class …

Equipping Tomorrow’S Fire Managers, Christopher Dicus

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Fire managers are challenged with an ever-increasing array of both responsibilities and critics. As in the past, fire managers must master the elements of fire behavior and ecology using the latest technologies. In addition, today’s managers must be equipped with the skills necessary to understand and liaise with a burgeoning group of vocal stakeholders while also facing the complications of a changing landscape, particularly an increasing wildland-urban interface. These challenges have been embraced in the Fire and Fuels Management program of study at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo. There, classes are offered in fire suppression, ecology, and management. …

Identifying And Addressing Contemporary Issues In Central Coast Oak Woodlands, Erin Rice, Douglas D. Piirto, Royce Larsen, Bill Tietje, Ryan Cooper, Ulric Lund

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Recently, questions about the extent of thinning, the sustainability of forest management practices, and the compatibility with other uses were raised by the media, agency personnel, and environmental groups. In response, University of California Cooperative Extension and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Natural Resources Management Department collaborated to address these issues. In March 2006, a questionnaire was mailed to landowners of properties greater than 100 acres in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Monterey counties. A total of 2,786 questionnaires were mailed, with 450 completed and returned (16 percent). The respondents were highly educated, holding degrees in areas other than …

A Semi-Analytical Solution For Transient Streaming Potentialsassociated With Confined Aquifer Pumping Tests, B Malama, A Revil, K L Kuhlman

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site: Control Volume/Testcell And Community Research Asset, W Barrash, J H Bradford, B Malama

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Using Ground Penetrating Radar To Monitor Transient Unconfirmed Aquifer Response To Pumping, M J Thoma, B Malama, J H Bradford, W Barrash, B Johnson, E Hinz, S Murray

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Multiscale Deformable Registration Of Noisy Medical Images, Dana C. Paquin, Doron Levy, Lei Xing

Mathematics

Multiscale image registration techniques are presented for the registration of medical images using deformable registration models. The techniques are particularly effective for registration problems in which one or both of the images to be registered contains significant levels of noise. A brief overview of existing deformable registration techniques is presented, and experiments using B-spline free-form deformation registration models demonstrate that ordinary deformable registration techniques fail to produce accurate results in the presence of significant levels of noise. The hierarchical multiscale image decomposition described in E. Tadmor, S. Nezzar, and L. Vese’s, ”A multiscale image representation using hierarchical (BV, L^{2 …}