Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Tegrid Semantic Web Application, Steven Gollery, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

Over the past several years there has been an increasing recognition of the shortcomings of message-passing data-processing systems that compute data without understanding, and the vastly superior potential capabilities of information-centric systems that incorporate an internal information model with sufficient context to support a useful level of automatic reasoning.

The key difference between a data-processing and an information-centric environment is the ability to embed in the information-centric software some understanding of the information being processed. The term information-centric refers to the representation of information in the computer, not to the way it is actually stored in a digital machine. This …

Proceedings Of The 2002 Onr Decision-Support Workshop Series: Transformation..., Collaborative Agent Design Research Center

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

In August of 1998 the Collaborative Agent Design Research Center (CADRC) of the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), approached Dr. Phillip Abraham of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) with the proposal for an annual workshop focusing on emerging concepts in decision-support systems for military applications. The proposal was considered timely by the ONR Logistics Program Office for at least two reasons. First, rapid advances in information systems technology over the past decade had produced distributed, collaborative computer-assistance capabilities with profound potential for providing meaningful support to military decision makers. Indeed, some systems based on …

The Role Of Discovery In Context-Building Decision-Support Systems, Steven J. Gollery, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

There are many sources of on-line information available to those responsible for making decisions in complex situations. However, most of that information is either intended for human use or is available only in custom or proprietary formats. Both of these conditions reduce the ability of computer software to perform automatic reasoning about this information. As a result, the usefulness of on-line information in intelligent decision-support systems is currently limited to the few sources that are implemented specifically for those systems. The vast mass of sources that do not fit that description are virtually invisible.

Current practices for integrating multiple information …

Data, Information, And Knowledge In The Context Of Sils, Michael A. Zang, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

Data, information, and knowledge are becoming increasingly common terms in the literature of the software industry. This terminology originated some time ago in the disciplines of cognitive science and artificial intelligence to reference three closely related but distinct concepts. Traditionally, mainstream software engineering has lumped all three concepts together as data and has only recently begun to distinguish between them. Unfortunately, the popular desire to distinguish between data, information, and knowledge within the mainstream has blurred the individual meanings of the words to the point where there is no longer a clear-cut distinction between them for most people. This problem …

Discovery Of A Substellar Companion To The K2 Iii Giant Ɩ Draconis, Sabine Frink, David Mitchell, Andreas Quirrenbach, Debra A. Fischer, Geoffrey W. Marcy, R. Paul Butler

Physics

We report precise radial velocity measurements of the K giant ɩ Dra (HD 137759, HR 5744, HIP 75458), carried out at Lick Observatory, which reveal the presence of a substellar companion orbiting the primary star. A Keplerian fit to the data yields an orbital period of about 536 days and an eccentricity of 0.70. Assuming a mass of 1.05 M8 for ɩ Dra, the mass function implies a minimum companion mass m₂ sin i of 8.9 M_J, making it a planet candidate. The corresponding semimajor axis is 1.3 AU. The nondetection of the orbital motion by Hipparcos …

Poet: The Online Preference Elicitation Tool, James Royalty, Robert Holland, Judy Goldsmith, Alex Dekhtyar

Computer Science and Software Engineering

If the goal of eliciting accurate user preferences over a complex value space is to be realized, the elicitation process must be through while at the same time not overly burdensome to the user. An ideal preference elicitation tool would maximize the information about preferences acquired from the user while minimizing the number of queries required. To this end, we present POET: the Online Preference Elicitation Tool.
POET is a graphical Java applet designed to elicit complex preference structures to form a utility function. Once the elicitation process is complete POET outputs the resulting utility function as an XML …

Size And Structure Of The Narrow-Line Region Of Quasars, Nicola Bennert, Heino Falcke, Hartmut Schulz, Andrew S. Wilson, Beverley J. Wills

Physics

We have observed the narrow-line regions (NLRs) of the seven brightest radio-quiet Palomar-Green (or Bright Quasar Survey) quasars (z < 0.5) with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Linear-ramp filters were used to image the [O III] λ5007 line emission with 00455-01 pixel resolution. We find that the NLRs are very compact with typical extents of 2''-4''. Two quasars show compact filamentary structures similar to Seyfert NLRs. They may be related to radio outflows. Most interestingly, when including a sample of Seyfert galaxies observed with HST, we tentatively find that the size of the NLR is proportional to the square root …

Context Building Information-Centric Decision-Support Systems, Steven J. Gollery, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

As the volume of data and human-centered information available to decision-makers continues to increase at an ever-accelerating rate, the need to represent information in software-processable formats becomes more apparent. At the same time, the availability of information from diverse sources through the World Wide Web provides the opportunity to widen the scope of input to decision-support systems, if this information can be made accessible through automated means. Past approaches to information-centric interoperability have been based on the use of a shared static object model, but this becomes impractical when we consider the loosely-coupled decentralized nature of the Web.

This paper …

Some Thoughts On Human Nature: A Discussion Of Human Strenghts And Weaknesses, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

This paper attempts to explore the behavioral characteristics of human beings from a point of view that is not based on inter-human comparisons, but on an examination of the intrinsic physical, biological, intellectual, emotional, and social characteristics of this species. It is argued that the experience-based nature of the human cognitive system greatly reduces our ability to adapt to changes in our environment, exploit opportunities, and create new knowledge. A fundamental biological survival instinct drives the human being to seek a level of certainty and security that is irreconcilable with a continuously changing and largely unpredictable environment. The symptoms of …

The Underlying Design Principles Of The Icdm Development Toolkit, Kym J. Pohl, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

For the past sixteen years the Collaborative Agent Design Research Center (CADRC) at the California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), San Luis Obispo has pursued the design and development of agent-based decision-support systems. Throughout this journey the CADRC has relied on a suite of development tools that greatly assist in the creation and management of such systems. This suite of tools is known as the Integrated Cooperative Decision-Making (ICDM) software development toolkit.

Not only does ICDM function as an accelerator (i.e., rapid development) and stabilizer (i.e., built-in robustness and fault tolerance) in the development of decision-support systems, but it also …

An Ecological Basis For Managing Giant Sequoia Ecosystems, Douglas D. Piirto, Robert R. Rogers

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

A strategy for management of giant sequoia groves is formulated using a conceptual framework for ecosystem management recently developed by Region Five of the USDA Forest Service. The framework includes physical, biological, and social dimensions. Environmental indicators and reference variability for key ecosystem elements are discussed in this paper. The selected ecosystem elements include: 1) attitudes, beliefs, and values; 2) economics and subsistence; 3) stream channel morphology; 4) sediment; 5) water; 6) fire; 7) organic debris; and 8) vegetation mosaic. Recommendations are made for the attributes of environmental indicators that characterize these elements. These elements and associated indicators will define …

Autoregressive Moving Average Models Of Crown Profiles For Two California Hardwood Species, Samantha J. Gill, Gregory S. Biging

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Time-series Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA) models were employed to model tree crown profiles for two California hardwood species (blue oak and interior live oak). There are three major components of these models: a polynomial trend, an ARMA model, and unaccounted for variation. The polynomial trend was used to achieve a stationary series. For these crown profiles, the use of a quadratic trend resulted in a stationary series for 60% of the profiles. A cubic trend was used for another 23%, and a quartic for 7%. It was found that 80% of the tree crown profiles could be modeled using a …

Asymmetries Between Strange And Antistrange Particle Production In Pion–Proton Interactions, Thomas D. Gutierrez, R. Vogt

Physics

Recent measurements of the asymmetries between Feynman x distributions of strange and antistrange hadrons in ∏−A interactions show a strong effect as a function of xn_F. We calculate strange hadron production in the context of the intrinsic model and make predictions for particle/antiparticle asymmetries in these interactions.

Special Issue On Integration Of Symbolic And Connectionist Systems, Paolo Frasconi, Marco Gori, Franz J. Kurfess, Alessandro Sperduti

Computer Science and Software Engineering

No abstract provided.

Conditionalization For Interval Probabilities, Alex Dekhtyar, Judy Goldsmith

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Conditionalization, i.e., computation of a conditional probability distribution given a joint probability distribution of two or more random variables is an important operation in some probabilistic database models. While the computation of the conditional probability distribution is straightforward when the exact point probabilities are involved, it is often the case that such exact point probability distributions of random variables are not known, but are known to lie in a particular interval.

This paper investigates the conditionalization operation for interval probability distribution functions under a possible world semantics. In particular, given a joint probability distribution of two or more random variables, …

The Value Of Ontology-Based, Service-Oriented, Distributed Systems In A High Bandwidth Environment, Steven J. Gollery, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

No abstract provided.

Applying Kinodynamic Randomized Motion Planning With A Dynamic Priority System To Multi-Robot Space Systems, Christopher M. Clark, Tim Bretl, Stephen Rock

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Presents a new motion planning system that can construct collision-free trajectories for groups of robots in dynamic environments, without global knowledge or high-bandwidth communication. The robots plan within a confined environment that consists of stationary and moving obstacles. Each robot plans independently using Kinodynamic Randomized Motion Planner techniques to construct its own trajectory that is free of collisions with moving obstacles and other robots. To resolve conflicts between robot trajectories, a new Dynamic Priority System (DPS) is introduced which gives the right of way to the robot whose local workspace is the most crowded. The kinodynamic randomized motion planner allows …

Concentration, Ph, And Surface Charge Effects On Cadmium And Lead Sorption In Three Tropical Soils, Chip Appel, Lena Ma

Earth and Soil Sciences

Reactions of heavy metals with soil are important in determining metal fates in the environment. Sorption characteristics of two heavy metals, Cd and Pb, in three tropical soils (Mollisol, Oxisol, and Ultisol) from Puerto Rico were assessed at varying metal concentrations (0 to 1.2 mM) and pH values (approximately 2 to 7). All soils sorbed more Pb than Cd. Sorption maxima were obtained for each metal for the Oxisol and Ultisol soils, but not the Mollisol. Sorption appeared to depend more on soil mineralogy than organic matter content. Sorption isotherms were linear within the sorption envelope with similar slopes for …

Importance Of Soil Texture To Vineyard Management, Thomas J. Rice

Earth and Soil Sciences

No abstract provided.

Building Web Applications With Servlets And Javaserver Pages, David S. Janzen

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Servlets and JavaServer Pages provide the ability to dynamically generate web pages using the Java programming language. Among other benefits, the use of Java on the server-side allows the web developer to directly implement object-oriented designs, utilize multiple threads of execution, and employ JDBC to communicate with a database. This tutorial will introduce Servlets and JavaServer Pages through UML diagrams, code samples, and an example web application.

Visualizing The Phonon Wave Function, Scott C. Johnson, Thomas D. Gutierrez

Physics

A phonon often is described as ‘‘a quantum of lattice vibration,’’ but this description can be difficult to reconcile with the wave functions explored in a typical undergraduate quantum mechanics class. A phonon wave function is similar to the harmonic oscillator wave functions studied in introductory quantum mechanics, except that it is many-dimensional. We suggest a way to visualize the probability density for this very high-dimensional wave function. The resulting pictures are especially clear and intuitive for a coherent state, which is both a good approximation to a sound wave and a discrete analog to laser light. These pictures can …

Variable Stars In The Field Of Open Cluster Ngc 6819, R. A. Street, Keith Horne, T. A. Lister, A. Penny, Y. Tsapras, A. Quirrenbach, N. Safizadeh, J. Cooke, David Mitchell, A. Collier Cameron

Physics

We report on the discovery of 25 variable stars plus 13 suspected variables found in the field of the open cluster NGC 6819. The stars were identified from time-series photometric data obtained on the Isaac Newton Telescope, La Palma, during two observing runs covering the 19 nights between 1999 June 22–30 and 1999 July 22–31. The variables found include 12 eclipsing binaries with an additional three suspected, nine BY Draconis systems, plus four variables of other types, including one star believed to be a Cepheid. Three of the 15 eclipsing binaries are believed to be cluster members. Details of a …

Ontology-Based Semantic Classification Of Unstructured Documents, Ching Kang Cheng, Xiao Shan Pan, Franz J. Kurfess

Computer Science and Software Engineering

As more and more knowledge and information becomes available through computers, a critical capability of systems supporting knowledge management is the classification of documents into categories that are meaningful to the user. In a step beyond the use of keywords, we developed a system that analyzes the sentences contained in unstructured or semi-structured documents, and utilizes an ontology reflecting the domain knowledge for a semantic classification of the documents. An experimental system has been implemented for the analysis of small documents in combination with a limited ontology; an extension to larger sets of documents and extended ontologies, together with an …

Plant Establishment With Rainfall Simulators For Erosion Control, Brent Hallock, Steve Rein, Misty Scharff, Michael Curto

Earth and Soil Sciences

Hydroseeding failures on disturbed sites are usually attributable to combinations of improper species selection, seeding at inappropriate times, and/or improper seed mixes, fiber, and tackifier. To investigate these factors, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, in conjunction with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and California State University, Sacramento, conducted a study of these factors’ affect on vegetation establishment.

The goal was to identify initially fast growing vegetation that demonstrates long-term erosion control effectiveness. Native plant species common to District 5, along the California Central Coast, were used. Treatments were conducted in 0.6 by 2 m by 30 cm …

A Gis To Select Plant Species For Erosion Control Along California Highways, Michael Curto, Brent Hallock, Misty Scharff

Earth and Soil Sciences

Through road construction and maintenance activities, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) actively manages roadside rights-of-way that transect California's 41 million hectares (101 million acres), spanning over 3,000 meters of elevational change from seashore to subalpine. State and federal highways are grouped into 12 districts, each encompassing from one to 11 of the state's 58 counties. District personnel are typically responsible for implementing site-specific adaptations of general statewide guidelines for shortto long-term erosion control following construction or storm damage. Many erosion control projects involve reestablishing vegetation through seeding where the precarious life stages of germination and establishment are controlled by …

Integrating Symbol-Oriented And Sub-Symbolic Reasoning Methods Into Hybrid Systems, Franz J. Kurfess

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Knowledge representation and reasoning methods in artificial intelligence almost exclusively rely on symbol-oriented methods: Statements describing aspects and objects of the system to be modeled are represented through symbols (mostly text strings), and these symbols are stored in a computer, and manipulated according to the inference rules prescribed by the reasoning method. This works reasonably well in situations where knowledge is available in explicit form, typically through experts or written documents. In situations where knowledge is only available implicitly, e.g. in large data sets, other methods, often based on statistical approaches, have been used more successfully. Many of these methods …

Sheaf Cohomology Of Conscious Entity, Goro Kato

Mathematics

Awareness of a conscious entity can exist without elements; therefore, the general notion of an object of a category is employed. One of the characterization of understanding is: for a given local infonnation (awareness) there exists a global information whose restriction is the given information. For such mental activities, category and sheaf theories are employed to formulate consciousness. We will show that the cohomology (more general precohomology) object, a subquotient object, better represents the essence of a conscious entity than an object itself. We will also give a definition of an observation to fonnulate the collapse of the wave and …

Category Theory And Consciousness, Goro Kato, Daniele C. Struppa

Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Orbifold Homeomorphism And Diffeomorphism Groups, Joseph E. Borzellino, Victor Brunsden

Mathematics

In this paper we outline results on orbifold diffeomorphism groups that were presented at the International Conference on Infinite Dimensional Lie Groups in Geometry and Representation Theory at Howard University, Washington DC on August 17-21, 2000. Specifically, we define the notion of reduced and unreduced orbifold diffeomorphism groups. For the reduced orbifold diffeomorphism group we state and sketch the proof of the following recognition result: Let O1 and O2 be two compact, locally smooth orbifolds. Fix r ≥ 0. Suppose that Φ : Diffr (O1) → Diffr (O2) is a group isomorphism. Then Φ is induced by redred a (topological) …

Levy-Like Continuity Theorems For Convergence In Distribution, Theodore P. Hill, Ulrich Krengel

Research Scholars in Residence

Levy’s classical continuity theorem states that if the pointwise limit of a sequence of characteristic functions exists, then the limit function itself is a characteristic function if and only if the limit function satisfies a single universal limit condition (in his case, the limit at zero is one), in which case the underlying measures converge weakly to the probability measure represented by the limit function. It is the purpose of this article to give a number of direct analogs of L´evy’s theorem for other probability-representing functions including moment sequences, maximal moment sequences, mean-residual-life functions, Hardy-Littlewood maximal functions, and failure-rate functions. …