Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Facilitating Universal Multimedia Adaptation (Uma) In A Heterogeneous Peer-To-Peer Network, L. Rong, I. Burnett

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

This paper proposes a P2P architecture which uses MPEG-21 as a standard based technique to dynamically adapt resources according to various usage environment attributes such as terminal capabilities and user preferences. In the architecture, a super peer based approach is used to cluster peers, store peer information, perform searches and instruct peers to adapt/send resources. Pull and push-based adaptation methods are introduced to adapt search results and resources in an intelligent manner based on the usage environment attributes. Simulation results show that the proposed architecture reduces download time while increasing resource availabilities and download speed in the network when compared …

Enhancing Interoperability Via Generic Multimedia Syntax Translation, Joseph Thomas-Kerr, I. Burnett, C. H. Ritz

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

The Bitstream Binding Language (BBL) is a new technology developed by the authors and being standardized by MPEG, which describes how multimedia content and metadata can be mapped onto streaming formats. This paper describes how BBL can be used to enhance the interoperability of multimedia content by providing a generic mechanism for the translation of content between formats. As new content formats are developed, BBL can be used to describe how to translate the content into a form that existing devices are able to render. This consequently simplifies the adoption of new multimedia content forms because existing devices are able …

Adopting Default Reasoning In Service Composition Context, Zheng Lu, Aditya K. Ghose, Peter Hyland

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

Web Service composition is the ability of one business to provide value-added services to its customers through the composition of basic Web services, possibly offered by different companies [12]. Because of distributed responsibilities, ownership and control, it is often not feasible to acquire all information needed for service composition. These characteristics are fundamental to service oriented computing but make it inherently difficult to avoid service conflicts. To reason about and adapt to a changing environment, in this work, we will extend current OWL-S by introducing the concept of service assumptions which allow reasoning with incomplete information. Furthermore, together with the …

Uv-B Screening Potential Is Higher In Two Cosmopolitan Moss Species Than In A Co-Occurring Antarctic Endemic Moss – Implications Of Continuing Ozone Depletion, J. L. Dunn, Sharon A. Robinson

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Concentrations of UV-B absorbing pigments and anthocyanins were measured in three moss species, over a summer growing season in Antarctica. Pigment concentrations were compared with a range of climatic variables to determine if there was evidence that pigments were induced by UV-B radiation, or other environmental parameters, and secondly if there were differences between species in their pigment responses. Significant seasonal differences in the potential UV-B screening pigments were found, with the two cosmopolitan species Bryum pseudotriquetrum and Ceratodon purpureus appearing better protected from the potentially damaging effects of ozone depletion than the Antarctic endemic Schistidium antarctici. Bryum pseudotriquetrum accumulated …

Explicit Symmetries Of Strict Feedforward Control Systems, Issa Amadou Tall, Witold Respondek

Miscellaneous (presentations, translations, interviews, etc)

We show that any symmetry of a smooth strict feedforward system is conjugated to a scaling translation and any 1-parameter family of symmetries to a family of scaling translations along the first variable. We compute explicitly those symmetries by finding the conjugating diffeomorphism. We deduce, in accordance with our previous work, that a smooth system is feedback equivalent to a strict feedforward form if and only if it gives rise to a sequence of systems, such that each element of the sequence, firstly, possesses an infinitesimal symmetry whose flow is conjugated to a 1- parameter families of scaling translations and, …

Data Management Plans: Stages, Components, And Activities, Abbas S. Tavakoli, Kirby Jackson, Linda Moneyham, Kenneth D. Phillips, Carolyn Murdaugh, Gene Meding

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

Data management strategies have become increasingly important as new computer technologies allow for larger and more complex data sets to be analyzed easily. As a consequence, data management has become a specialty requiring specific skills and knowledge. Many new investigators have no formal training in management of data sets. This paper describes common basic strategies critical to the management of data as applied to a data set from a longitudinal study. The stages of data management are identified. Moreover, key components and strategies, at each stage are described.

Oscillations Of Hyperbolic Systems With Functional Arguments, Yutaka Shoukaku, Norio Yoshida

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

Hyperbolic systems with functional arguments are studied, and sufficient conditions are obtained for every solution of boundary value problems to be weakly oscillatory (that is, at least one of its components is oscillatory) in a cylindrical domain. Robin-type boundary condition is considered. The approach used is to reduce the multi-dimensional oscillation problems to one-dimensional oscillation problems by using some integral means of solutions.

Stability Analysis For An Seir Age-Structured Epidemic Model Under Vaccination, M. El-Doma

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

An SEIR age-structured epidemic model is investigated when susceptible and immune individuals are vaccinated indiscriminately and the force of infection of proportionate mixing type. We determine the steady states and obtain an explicitly computable threshold condition, and then study the stability of the steady states.

An Ocean View Of The Early Cenozoic Greenhouse World, Ellen Thomas, Henk Brinkhuis, Matthew Huber, Ursula Röhl

Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Physics Department News, December 2006, College Of Arts And Sciences

Physics Newsletter

Contents from Volume 5, Issue 2:

• Editor’s Note
• From the Chair
• What’s New at the University
• Faculty Highlights
• Staff Highlights
• PhysTEC
• International Week
• ICPEAC Program Meeting
• Student News
• Annual Student Awards
• Recent Graduates
• Department Roster
• Photo Gallery
• Feedback/Update Reply Form

Marine Sediment Record From The East Antarctic Margin Reveals Dynamics Of Ice Sheet Recession, Amy Leventer, Eugene Domack, Jennifer Pike, Catherine Stickley, Eleanor Maddison, Stefanie A. Brachfeld, Patricia Manley, Charlie Mcclennen

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The Antarctic shelf is traversed by large-scale troughs developed by glacial erosion. Swath bathymetric, lithologic, and chronologic data from jumbo piston cores from four sites along the East Antarctic margin (Iceberg Alley, the Nielsen Basin, the Svenner Channel, and the Mertz-Ninnis Trough) are used to demonstrate that these cross-shelf features controlled development of calving bay reentrants in the Antarctic ice sheet during deglaciation. At all sites except the Mertz-Ninnis Trough, the transition between the Last Glacial Maximum and the Holocene is characterized by varved couplets deposited during a short interval of extremely high primary productivity in a fjordlike setting. Nearly …

National Security: The Social Implications Of The Politics Of Transparency, M G. Michael, Katina Michael

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

This special issue of Prometheus is dedicated to the theme of the Social Implications of National Security Measures on Citizens and Business. National security measures can be defined as those technical and non-technical measures that have been initiated as a means to curb breaches in national security, irrespective of whether these might occur by nationals or aliens in or from outside the sovereign state. National security includes such government priorities as maintaining border control, safeguarding against pandemic outbreaks, preventing acts of terror, and even discovering and eliminating identification fraud. Governments worldwide are beginning to implement information and communication security techniques …

Extending Semantic Web Service Description By Service Assumption, Zheng Lu, Shiyan Li, Aditya K. Ghose, Peter Hyland

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

Unlike a traditional software module, which runs within a predictable domain, Web Services are autonomous software agents running in a heterogeneous execution environment. Because of distributed responsibilities, ownership and control, it is often not feasible to acquire all information needed for the service composition. These characteristics of autonomy and heterogeneity are fundamental to service oriented computing but make it inherently difficult to avoid service conflicts. To reason about and adapt to a changing environment, in this work, we will extend current OWL-S by introducing the concept of service assumptions which allow reasoning with incomplete information. Furthermore, together with the proposed …

Detecting Policy Violations Through Traffic Analysis, J. Horton, R. Safavi-Naini

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

Restrictions are commonly placed on the permitted uses of network protocols in the interests of security. These restrictions can sometimes be difficult to enforce. As an example, a permitted protocol can be used as a carrier for another protocol not otherwise permitted. However, if the observable behaviour of the protocol exhibits differences between permitted and non-permitted uses, it is possible to detect inappropriate use. We consider SSH, the Secure Shell protocol. This is an encrypted protocol with several uses. We attempt firstly to classify SSH sessions according to some different types of traffic for which the sessions have been used, …

Global Stability Results And Well Posedness Of An Si Age-Structured Epidemic Model With Vertical Transmission, M. El-Doma

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

An SI age-structured epidemic model for a vertically as well as horizontally transmitted disease is investigated when the fertility and mortality rates depend on age and the force of infection of proportionate mixing assumption type. We prove the well posedness of the model as well as the global stability for endemic equilibriums.

Audio Conferencing Participant List Manager 3.0, Maurice Olsen

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Global Crossing's conferencing division specializes in audio, video, and web-based collaboration. The Conference Participant List Manger 3.0 application framework (LM) allows call center operators to add, modify, delete, and report on audio conference call participant information. LM communicates with the physical conferencing bridge device through an API provided by the bridge vendor. The LM software framework consists of a thin-client, web service, platform service, and a domain definition library. The architecture implemented in the LM software project allows for ease of maintenance and speed of enhancement delivery through the use of software design patterns.

Two-Loop Bethe Logarithms For Non- S Levels, Ulrich D. Jentschura

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Two-loop Bethe logarithms are calculated for excited P and D states in hydrogenlike systems, and estimates are presented for all states with higher angular momenta. These results complete our knowledge of the P and D energy levels in hydrogen at the order of α⁸ m_ec², where me is the electron mass and c is the speed of light, and scale as Z⁶, where Z is the nuclear charge number. Our analytic and numerical calculations are consistent with the complete absence of logarithmic terms of order (απ)² (Zα)⁶ ln [(Zα)^-2] …

Regulation Of A Dna-Compacting Plastid Nucleoid Protein, Steven William Adamson

Dissertations

DCP68, a DNA-compacting nucleoid protein, was further characterized in order to understand how plastid nucleoid proteins affect the structure and function of chloroplast DNA. Previously, DCP68 was identified as ferredoxin: sulfite reductase, an enzyme that participates in reductive sulfur assimilation and inhibits chloroplast DNA replication and transcription in vitro [1, 2]. In this study, the portion of SiR that was found to be present in soluble and plastid nucleoid-enriched fractions indicated that most SiR was stromal in Arabidopsis and soybean plants. Although SiR was detected in Arabidopsis chloroplast nucleoid-enriched fractions, the study of nucleoid dynamics proved to be difficult due …

Optical And X-Ray Variability Of Agns, C. Martin Gaskell

C. Martin Gaskell Publications

I present new comparisons of AGN optical, UV, and X-ray variations. These reveal complex relationships between the different passbands that can change with time in a given object. While there is evidence from several objects that X-ray and optical activity levels are correlated on long timescales, variations on shorter timescales can occur independently. It is proposed that the combination of correlated and uncorrelated short-timescale variability is a consequence of anisotropic high-energy emission. It is also argued that the correlation between X-ray and optical variability on long timescales must be due to a common underlying factor and not to reprocessing of …

Optical Variability Of The Three Brightest Nearby Quasars, C. Martin Gaskell, Andrew J. Benker, Jeffrey S. Campbell, Thomas A. George, Cecilia H. Hedrick, Mary E. Hiller, Elizabeth S. Klimek, Joseph P. Leonard, Shoji Masatoshi, Bradley W. Peterson, Kelly S. Peterson, Kelly M. Sanders

C. Martin Gaskell Publications

We report on the relative optical variability of the three brightest nearby quasars, 3C 273, PDS 456, and PHL 1811. All three have comparable absolute magnitudes, but PDS 456 and PHL 1811 are radio quiet. PDS 456 is a broadline object, but PHL 1811 could be classified as a high-luminosity Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 (NLS1). Both of the radio-quiet quasars show significant variability on a timescale of a few days. The seasonal rms V-band variability amplitudes of 3C 273 and PDS 456 are indistinguishable, and the seasonal rms variability amplitude of PHL 1811 was only exceeded by 3C 273 once in …

The Origin Of Wavelength-Dependent Continuum Delays In Agns – A New Model, C. Martin Gaskell

C. Martin Gaskell Publications

A model of wavelength-dependent lags in optical continuum variability of AGNs is proposed which avoids the problems of the popular “lamppost” model. Rather than being due to reprocessing of high-energy radiation from a hypothetical source above the accretion disk, the wavelength-dependent delays observed from the B to I bands are instead due to contamination of an intrinsically coherently variable continuum with the Wien tail of the thermal emission from the hot dust in the surrounding torus. The new model correctly gives the size, wavelength dependence, and luminosity dependence of the lags, and quantitatively predicts observed color hysteresis. The model also …

A Handheld Neutron-Detection Sensor System Utilizing A New Class Of Boron Carbide Diode, Kevin Osberg, Nathan Schemm, M. Susan Hallbeck, Sina Balkir, Peter A. Dowben, Jennifer I. Brand, Michael W. Hoffman

Peter Dowben Publications

A handheld neutron-detection sensor application is described in this paper. The sensor system utilizes a new class of boron carbide diode that interacts with incoming neutrons. To interface with the boron carbide diode, an integrated front end is designed in a 1.5-μm standard CMOS technology. With the diode and front-end microchip, a handheld neutron-detection system was realized with an embedded microcontroller for real-time processing. The handheld detector operation was then tested with a plutonium–beryllium neutron source. Test and measurement results confirm the validity of the approach and the functionality of the design.

Interview With Greg Sawyer, Providence Builders, 2006 (Audio), Greg Sawyer

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Greg Sawyer by Amy Evangelista in NE Portland, Oregon on December 1st, 2006.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Yianni Doulis, Yianni Doulis Architecture, 2006 (Audio), Yianni Doulis

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Yianni Doulis by Daniel Woodward in NW Portland, Oregon on December 1st, 2006.

The interview index is available for download.

Evaluating Diet Composition Of Pronghorn In Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota, Christopher N. Jacques, Jaret D. Sievers, Jonathan A. Jenks, Chad L. Sexton, Daniel E. Roddy

The Prairie Naturalist

The pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) was reintroduced into Wind Cave National Park (WCNP), South Dakota, in 1914, and thus, has inhabited the Park for nearly a century. During the 1990's, a decline in the population raised concern for the continued existence of pronghorn inside WCNP; an investigation into the observed decline was initiated. Primary objectives of our study were to evaluate diet composition and forage selection by pronghorn in WCNP. Microhistological analysis was conducted on 58 fecal samples collected opportunistically from pronghorn during 2002. Blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), common juniper (Juniperus communis), and northern bedstraw …

Amphibians And Reptiles In A Mixed-Grass Prairie In Northwestern North Dakota, Robert K. Murphy, Robert F. Danley, Patricia K. Moore

The Prairie Naturalist

There have been almost no surveys of herpetofauna at 109 km² Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge (LNWR) or surrounding counties in northwestern North Dakota, an area possibly undergoing significant environmental change from fossil fuel extraction and use. We used 30 m drift fences to survey amphibian and reptile species in prairie-wetland transition zones at LNWR during mid-May to early-July in 1985 to 1987, and again in 1999 and 2000. We captured only four amphibian and two reptilian species and noted one other reptilian species incidental to our survey. Several species expected to occur in the area were not detected.

The Prairie Naturalist, Volume 38, Number 4, December 2006, Elmer J. Finck, Hilary Gillock

The Prairie Naturalist

Full issue of The Prairie Naturalist (December 2006), volume 38, number 4.

Amphibians and Reptiles in a MixedGrass Prairie in Northwestern North Dakota by Robert K. Murphy, Robert F. Danley, and Patricia K. Moore, pages 207-212

Morphometrics of Six Turtle Species from South Dakota by Sarah J. Bandas and Kenneth F. Higgins, pages 213-222

Evaluation of Habitat Enhancement Structure Use by Spotted Bass by Stanley L. Proboszcz and Christopher S. Guy, pages 223-238

Evaluating Diet Composition of Pronghorn in Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota by Christopher N. Jacques , Jaret D. Sievers, Jonathan A. Jenks, Chad L. Sexton, and …

Near-Field Thermal Radiative Transfer And Thermoacoustic Effects From Vapor Plumes Produced By Pulsed Co/Sub 2 /Laser Ablation Of Bulk Water, S. I. Kudryashov, Kevin Lyon, S. D. Allen

Mechanical Engineering - Daytona Beach

Submillimeter deep heating of bulk water by thermal radiation from ablative water plumes produced by a 10.6 μm transversely excited atmospheric C O2 laser and the related acoustic generation has been studied using a contact time-resolved photoacoustic technique. Effective penetration depths of thermal radiation in water were measured as a function of incident laser fluence and the corresponding plume temperatures were estimated. The near-field thermal and thermoacoustic effects of thermal radiation in laser-ablated bulk water and their potential near-field implications are discussed.

c 2006 American Institute of Physics

Annual Pastural Land Condition Report: 2005 / 2006 Financial Year, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia

Natural resources published reports

The following 2005/06 Annual Report to the Western Australian Pastoral Lands Board presents an assessment of overall land condition on pastoral properties throughout the Rangelands of Western Australia.

The Western Australian Rangelands pastoral estate consists of 466 Stations covering approximately 910 000 km2. This equates to 42% of the States Rangelands. The total number of pastoral leases has continued to decline from the previous reporting period and there are currently 478 stations (525 Leases).

The Rangelands are made up of a diverse range of climates from the semi arid tropics in the north to the arid south. Topography and rainfall …

Teaching Time Savers: Some Advice On Giving Advice, Michael E. Orrison Jr.

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

There are always a lot of questions that need to be answered at the beginning of a course. When are office hours? What are the grading policies? How many exams will there be? Will late homework be accepted? We have all seen the answers to these sorts of questions form the bulk of a standard course syllabus, and most of us feel an obligation (and rightly so) to provide such information.