Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Equilibrium Shapes Of Flat Knots, Ralf Metzler, Andreas Hanke, Paul G. Dommersnes, Yacov Kantor, Mehran Kardar

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

The equilibrium shapes of prime and composite knots were studied. It was showed that the topological details of prime knots were localized on a small portion of the larger ring polymer due to self-avoiding effects. The original knot configuration could assume a hierarchy of contracted shape, the dominating one given by one small loop, within this region. For the flat trefoil knot, this hierarchy was studied in detail and corroborated by Monte Carlo simulations.

Communicator-In-Chief: Presidential Use Of Television Past, Present, And Future, Jenna Wasson

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to determine how television has changed as a communication medium for presidents over the past half century. An evaluation of the evolving ways presidents use television to communicate with and to build support from the American people has been conducted. Presidential communication strategies have been identified by drawing primarily from primary sources written by presidents and White House staff. Television technology and the television audience have changed over the years. Presidents have taken a more pro-active, aggressive role in their efforts to harness television for their own purposes. Why have these changes occurred? What impact have these …

Synthesis And Dna Binding Of Cis And Trans-Rucl2 (Dmso)4, Thomas Curran

Honors Theses

The synthesis of both cis and trans-RuCl?(DMSO)? has been reported in literature, and is currently the only way of acquiring these compounds. Because these metallodrugs have shown similar antitumor properties to cisplatin, they are currently under investigation for use in clinical trials as potential chemotherapeutics. It is believed that these drugs act in a way similar to cisplatin by causing intrastrand crosslinking of adjacent guanine residues in DNA. In an attempt to better understand any Ru/DNA interaction for these compounds, both cis and trans-RuCl?(DMSO)? were synthesized with reasonable yields (~40%). The compounds were then characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), …

Comparison Of Inheritance Evaluation Algorithms For Express Edition 3., Judy Dawn Greer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Information exchanged between computer applications is difficult, thus the need for data exchange standards. The ISO STEP project defines data exchange standards using the EXPRESS language, which supports inheritance. Currently there are two algorithms used to evaluate an inheritance hierarchy: the Test and Generate algorithms. In this thesis, enhancements are made to both algorithms to support the Total Over Constraint, which is proposed for the third edition of EXPRESS. A formal algorithm is derived for the Test algorithm. The two enhanced algorithms are compared and shown to be result equivalent. However, it is shown that the Test algorithm is the …

Oral History Interview With Gary Durbin, Philip L. Frana

Philip L Frana

Gary Durbin is a software pioneer and entrepreneur with over thirty-five years of experience. He began his career specializing in operating systems and database systems. His first company, started in 1970, developed operating system improvements for IBM machines. That company introduced Secure, an early software security product. Secure was sold to Boole & Babbage in 1978. Durbin then founded Tesseract Corporation, a human resources software company that introduced the Time Relational Database. Tesseract was sold to ...

Oral History Interview With Lee Keet, Philip L. Frana

Philip L Frana

In this oral history software entrepreneur Ernest E.(Lee) Keet chronicles his education in programming and engineering at Cornell University, his early work as a salesperson and systems engineer for IBM in White Plains, NY, and his success as founder and CEO of Turnkey Systems, Inc.(TSI). Keet characterizes the heavy" craft" versus the" art" components of computer programming; he discusses the introduction of TSI's Task/Master, the first commercial telecommunications monitor; and his entrepreneurial efforts in Europe. Keet ...

Group 4 Metallocene And Half-Sandwich Derivatives Of Spherosilicate: Preparation Fromsi8o20(Snme3)8 And Their Olefin Polymerization Activity, Suree Saengkerdsub

Doctoral Dissertations

Three metallocene and half-sandwich Group 4 complexes of cuboctameric

spherosilicate (Si8O20(TiCp2Cl)8, Si8O20(ZrCp2Cl)8, and Si8O20(TiCp*Cl2)8) were successfully prepared by the exchange reaction of Group 4 metal chlorides with the spherosilicate starting material, Si8O20(SnMe3)8. These complexes were found to be catalytically active in olefin polymerization. Their preparative reactions clearly demonstrate a synthetically useful route towards many other derivatives of spherosilicate through the Si8O20(SnMe3)8 starting material. A new synthesis of the key precursor, octa(trimethyltin) cuboctameric spherosilicate Si8O20(SnMe3)8, was developed. It was found that most of the waters of hydration of the initial hydrate ([NMe4][Si8O20] @ n H2O, = 60! 70) could be removed …

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, …

Dynamics And Structure Of Ionic Solutions And Polar Fluids, Jayendran C. Rasaiah

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Jayendran Rasaiah of the Chemistry Department of the University of Maine at Orono is funded jointly by the Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division and the Office of Experimental Programs to Stimulate Competitive Research, to study the dynamics and structure of ionic solutions and polar fluids. In this research the mobility of ions in solution will be investigated by molecular dynamics, the phase transitions in polar fluids by Gibbs ensemble simulations, the dynamics of the electric double layer by integral equations, and the theory of bolaform electrolytes using integral equations. This research should produce new insights in the understanding …

Measurement Of B-Meson Lifetimes Using Fully Reconstructed B Decays Produced, Darin Acosta, Kenneth A. Bloom, Collider Detector At Fermilab Collaboration

Kenneth Bloom Publications

We present an improved measurement of b-meson lifetimes using fully reconstructed B-decays produced in pp̅ collisions at √s =1.8 TeV, using 114 pb^-1 of data collected at the Collider Detector at Fermilab. We obtain τ (B⁺)=1.636±0.058(stat) ±0.025(syst) ps, τ (B⁰)=1.497±0.073(stat) ±0.032(syst) ps and for the lifetime ratio τ (B⁺)/(B⁰)=1.093±0.066(stat) ±0.028(syst).

Conformational Analysis Of Small Peptides By Circular Dichroism, Toni Bowie

Electronic Dissertations and Theses

Reports on peptides that are rich in D-alanine indicate that peptides with this structural motif adopt a specific secondary structure. In this study, two cyclic tetrapeptides cyclo[Leu-D-Ala], where Xaa is Glu or Lys, was studied by circular dichroism (CD). The conformational stability of these peptides was investigated by varying the temperature, solvent, pH, and concentration of the peptide solutions. When these conditions were varied, the CD measurements in each condition did not produce any significant changes. The CD of both peptides exhibits two positive CD bands at 211 nm and 222 nm and a third positive CD band below 190 …

Modulation Of Oxidative Stress Via Benzodiazepines, Chauncey D. Daniels

Electronic Dissertations and Theses

Oxidative damage resulting from generation of oxygen-derived free radicals is thought to be the cause of age-related dysfunction in key organs and tissues. Recent studies suggest that the GABA neurotransmitter system modulates the extent of oxidative damage. If this is true, then a drug that alters GABA neurotransmission, such as diazepam, a drug that facilitates GABA neurotransmission, was tested for its efficacy to lessen oxidative damage to the brain tissue. A total of sixteen Swiss Webster mice were implanted subcutaneously with osmotic mini pumps that provided a constant delivery (3.5 mg/Kg/day) of either diazepam (n=8) or vehicle (50% dimethyl sulfoxide/ …

Zooplankton, Tracey Sutton, Scott E. Burghart

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

The Probe, Issue 222 – May/June 2002

The Probe: Newsletter of the National Animal Damage Control Association

Forging a New Partnership for the Public TrUSt: Wildlife Professionals & the Nuisance Wildlife Control Industry -- Lynn Braband
What is the risk of rabies from rodents?
10th Wildlife Damage Management Conference: April 6-9, 2003, Clarion Resort on the Lake, Hot Springs, Arkansas
Book Review: Resolving Human-Wildlife Conflicts: The Science of Wildlife Damage Management by Michael Conover.
CDC Emerging Zoonotic Concern in the Form of a Parasitic Roundworm -- Justin Harrington
Colorado's Boulder County has approved a new grasslands management plan that includes a provision to feed unwanted prairie dogs to blackfooted ferrets and raptors.
A bill being drafted in …

Shifting Goals And Mounting Challenges For Statistical Methodology, Pranab K. Sen

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Modern interdisciplinary research in statistical science encompasses a wide field: agriculture, biology, biomedical sciences along with bioinformatics, clinical sciences, education, environmental and public health disciplines, genomic science, industry, molecular genetics, socio-behavior, socio-economics, toxicology, and a variety of other disciplines. Statistical science has historically had mathematical perspectives dominating theoretical and methodological developments. Yet, the advent of modern information technology has opened the doors for highly computation intensive statistical tools (i.e., software), wherein mathematical aspects are often de-emphasized. Knowledge discovery and data mining (KDDM) is now becoming a dominating force, with bioinformatics as a notable example. In view of this apparent discordance …

Combining Two Nonparametric Tests Of Location, R. Clifford Blair

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A distribution-free test is proposed whose power is similar to that of the Wilcoxon Rank-Sum or Terry-Hoeffding Normal Scores tests depending on which of these two tests is more powerful in a given data analysis situation, regardless of the population. This new statistic is distribution-free, and adds no new assumptions to those associated with the constituent tests. A table of critical values for the new statistic is given and some of its Type I error and power properties are examined.

Power Analyses When Comparing Trimmed Means, Rand R. Wilcox, H. J. Keselman

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Given a random sample from each of two independent groups, this article takes up the problem of estimating power, as well as a power curve, when comparing 20% trimmed means with a percentile bootstrap method. Many methods were considered, but only one was found to be satisfactory in terms of obtaining both a point estimate of power as well as a (one-sided) confidence interval. The method is illustrated with data from a reading study where theory suggests two groups should differ but nonsignificant results were obtained.

Some Locally Most Powerful Rank Tests For Correlation, W. J. Conover

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Four examples are given to illustrate the ease and practicality of the procedure for finding locally most powerful rank tests for correlation. The first two examples deal with bivariate exponential models. The third example uses the bivariate normal distribution, and the fourth example analyzes the Morgenstem’s general correlation model.

Exact Level And Power Of Permutation, Bootstrap, And Asymptotic Tests Of Trend, Christopher D. Corcoran, Cyrus R. Mehta

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

We develop computational tools that can evaluate the exact size and power of three tests of trend (e.g., permutation, bootstrap and asymptotic) without resorting to large-sample theory or simulations. We then use these tools to compare the operating characteristics of the three tests. It is seen that the bootstrap test is ultra-conservative relative to the other two tests and as a result suffers from a severe deterioration in power. The power of the asymptotic test is uniformly larger than that of the other two tests, but it fails to preserve the Type I error for most of the range of …

An Adaptive Inference Strategy: The Case Of Auditory Data, Bruno D. Zumbo

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

By way of an example some of the basic features in the derivation and use of adaptive inferential methods are demonstrated. The focus of this paper is dyadic (coupled) data in auditory and perceptual research. We present: (a) why one should not use the conventional methods, (b) a derivation of an adaptive method, and (c) how the new adaptive method works with the example data. In the concluding remarks we draw attention to the work of Professor George Barnard who provided the adaptive inference strategy in the context of the Behrens-Fisher problem -- testing the equality of means when one …

Hotelling's T2 Vs. The Rank Transform With Real Likert Data, Michael J. Nanna

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Monte Carlo research has demonstrated that there are many applications of the rank transformation that result in an invalid procedure. Examples include the two dependent samples, the factorial analysis of variance, and the factorial analysis of covariance layouts. However, the rank transformation has been shown to be a valid and powerful test in the two independent samples layout. This study demonstrates that the rank transformation is also a robust and powerful alternative to the Hotellings T² test when the data are on a Likert scale.

Six Modifications Of The Aligned Rank Transform Test For Interaction, Kathleen Peterson

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Testing for interactions in multivariate experiments is an important function. Studies indicate that much data from social studies research is not normally distributed, thus violating that assumption of the AN OVA procedure. The aligned rank transformation test (ART), aligning using the means of columns and rows, has been found, in limited situations, to be robust to Type I error rates and to have greater power than the ANOVA. This study explored a variety of alignments, including the median, Winsorized trimmed means (10%) and (20%), the Huber_1.28 M-estimator, and the Harrell-Davis estimator of the median. Results are reported for Type …

Applying Spatial Randomness To Community Inclusion, Michael Wolf-Branigin

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A spatial analytic methodology incorporating true locations is demonstrated using Monte Carlo simulations as a complement to current psychometric and quality of life indices for measuring community inclusion. Moran's I, a measure of spatial autocorrelation, is used to determine spatial dependencies in housing patterns for multiple variables, including family/friends involvement in future planning, home size, and earned income. Simulations revealed no significant spatial autocorrelation, which is a socially desirable result for housing locations for people with disabilities. Assessing the absence of clustering provides a promising methodology for measuring community inclusion.

Parametric Analyses In Randomized Clinical Trials, Vance W. Berger, Clifford E. Lunneborg, Michael D. Ernst, Jonathan G. Levine

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

One salient feature of randomized clinical trials is that patients are randomly allocated to treatment groups, but not randomly sampled from any target population. Without random sampling parametric analyses are inexact, yet they are still often used in clinical trials. Given the availability of an exact test, it would still be conceivable to argue convincingly that for technical reasons (upon which we elaborate) a parametric test might be preferable in some situations. Having acknowledged this possibility, we point out that such an argument cannot be convincing without supporting facts concerning the specifics of the problem at hand. Moreover, we have …

Two Methods To Estimate Homogenous Markov Processes, Ricardo Ocaña-Rilola

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Multi-state Markov processes have been introduced recently in Health Sciences in order to study disease history events. This sort of model have some advantages respect to traditional survival analysis, therefore they are an important line of research into stochastic processes applied to Epidemiology. However these types of models increase the complexity of analysis, even for simpler processes, and standard software is limited. In this paper, two methods for fitting homogeneous Markov models are proposed and compared.

An Error In Statistical Logic In The Application Of Genetic Paternity Testing, Ernest P. Chiodo, Joseph L. Musial, J. Sia Robinson

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A Bayes probability computer program was written in Fortran to examine issues related to genetic paternity testing. An application was given to demonstrate the effects improper assumptions of prior probability of culpability. The seriousness of such errors include the potential of assigning paternity to wrongly accused men, or wrongly refuting paternity.

The Trouble With Trivials (P > .05), Shlomo S. Sawilowsky, Jina S. Yoon

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Trivials are effect sizes associated with statistically non-significant results. Trivials are like Tribbles in the Star Trek television show. They are cute and loveable. They proliferate without limit. They probably growl at Bayesians. But they are troublesome. This brief report discusses the trouble with trivials.

Using The T Test With Uncommon Sample Sizes, Shlomo S. Sawilowsky, Barry S. Markman

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Monte Carlo techniques were used to determine the effect of using common critical values as an approximation for uncommon sample sizes. Results indicate there can be a significant loss in statistical power. Therefore, even though many instructors now rely on computer statistics packages, the recommendation is made to provide more specificity (i.e., values between 30 and 60) in tables of critical values published in textbooks.

Quantifying Bimodality Part I: An Easily Implemented Method Using Spss, B. W. Frankland, Bruno D. Zumbo

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Scientists in a variety of fields are faced with the question of whether or not a particular sample of data are best described as unimodal or bimodal. We provide a simple and convenient method for assessing bimodality. The use of the non-linear algorithms in SPSS for modeling complex mixture distributions is demonstrated on a unimodal normal distribution (with 2 free parameters) and on bimodal mixture of two normal distributions (with 5 free parameters).

Alternatives To SW In The Bracketed Interval Of The Trimmed Mean, Jennifer Bunner, Shlomo S. Sawilowsky

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The aim of this Monte Carlo study is to examine alternatives to estimated variability in building bracketed intervals about the trimmed mean.