Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Spilling: Expanding Hand Held Interaction To Touch Table Displays, Jeffrey Clement, Dan R. Olsen Jr., Aaron Pace

Faculty Publications

We envision a nomadic model of interaction where the personal computer fits in your pocket. Such a computer is extremely limited in screen space. A technique is described for “spilling” the display of a hand held computer onto a much larger table top display surface. Because our model of nomadic computing frequently involves the use of untrusted display services we restrict interactive input to the hand held. Navigation techniques such as scrolling or turning the display can be expressed through the table top. The orientation and position of the hand held on the table top is detected using three conductive …

Role Of Information And Communication Networks In Malaria Survival, Pallab Mozumder, Achla Marathe

Department of Earth and Environment

Background: Quite often symptoms of malaria go unrecognized or untreated. According to the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria, 70% of the malaria cases that are treated at home are mismanaged. Up to 82% of all malaria episodes in sub-Saharan Africa are treated outside the formal health sector. Fast and appropriate diagnosis and treatment of malaria is extremely important in reducing morbidity and mortality. Method: Data from 70 different countries is pooled together to construct a panel dataset of health and socio-economic variables for a time span of (1960–2004). The generalized two-stage least squares and panel data models are used to investigate …

A Two-Phase Approach To Interactivity Enhancement For Large-Scale Distributed Virtual Environments, Nguyen Binh Duong Ta, Suiping Zhou

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Distributed virtual environments (DVEs) are distributed systems that allow multiple geographically distributed clients (users) to interact simultaneously in a computer-generated, shared virtual world. Applications of DVEs can be seen in many areas nowadays, such as online games, military simulations, collaborative designs, etc. To support large-scale DVEs with real-time interactions among thousands or even more distributed clients, a geographically distributed server architecture (GDSA) is generally needed, and the virtual world can be partitioned into many distinct zones to distribute the load among the servers. Due to the geographic distributions of clients and servers in such architectures, it is essential to efficiently …

Implementation Of Uncertainty Propagation In Triton/Keno: To Support The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, Charlotta Sanders, Denis Beller

Reactor Campaign (TRP)

Monte Carlo methods are beginning to be used for three-dimensional fuel depletion analyses to compute various quantities of interest, including isotopic compositions of used fuel.1 The TRITON control module, available in the SCALE 5.1 code system, can perform three dimensional (3-D) depletion calculations using either the KENO V.a or KENO-VI Monte Carlo transport codes, as well as the two-dimensional (2- D) NEWT discrete ordinates code. For typical reactor systems, the neutron flux is not spatially uniform. For Monte Carlo simulations, this results in non-uniform statistical uncertainties in the computed reaction rates. For spatial regions where the flux is low, e.g., …

Monaco/Mavric Evaluation For Facility Shielding And Dose Rate Analysis: To Support The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, Charlotta Sanders, Denis Beller

Reactor Campaign (TRP)

Monte Carlo methods are used to compute fluxes or dose rates over large areas using mesh tallies. For problems that demand that the uncertainty in each mesh cell be less than some set maximum, computation time is controlled by the cell with the largest uncertainty. This issue becomes quite troublesome in deep-penetration problems, and advanced variance reduction techniques are required to obtain reasonable uncertainties over large areas.

In this project the MAVRIC sequence will be evaluated along with the Monte Carlo engine Monaco to investigate its effectiveness and usefulness in facility shielding and dose rate analyses. A previously MCNP-evaluated cask …

Do Herbivores Associate Flavors With Specific Consequences In Flavor Aversion Learning?, Bruce A. Kimball, Vida Billings

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Goats were first offered a novel, maple-flavored diet paired with either lithium chloride (LiCl) or oxalic acid (OA) delivered intraruminally. Aversion to maple diet persisted for 6 days, regardless of toxin. Following a 10-day intermission, aversion to maple diet was reacquired (spontaneous recovery) among subjects previously dosed with LiCl but not for subjects receiving OA. All subjects were then offered two diets: the maple diet previously paired with LiCl or OA and a novel grape-flavored diet. Immediately following consumption of both diets, all subjects were dosed with LiCl. Preference for maple and grape diets was assessed by two-choice test. Goats …

Determination Of Sulfadimethoxine Residues In Skunk Serum By Hplc, Thomas M. Primus, Susan M. Jojola, Stacie J. Robinson, John J. Johnston

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Sulfadimethoxine (SDM) was extracted from skunk serum and isolated by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography. SDM was detected by ultra-violet absorbance at 270 nm and quantified by comparison to an external calibration standard. Recovery data were determined by analyzing SDM fortified control serum. The overall mean recovery with relative standard deviations of SDM in fortified skunk serum samples was 99±7%. The recovery for 0.38, 5.2, and 14.2 μg/mL SDM was 96.0±7.5%, 102±6.1%, and 97.3±5.1%, respectively. The method limit of detection for SDM in skunk serum ranged from 0.032 to 0.057 μg/mL SDM with a mean value of 0.040 mg/mL SDM. …

Anti-Icing Coatings And Methods, Russell G. Alger

Michigan Tech Patents

A method of inhibiting or preventing bonding between snow or ice and a substrate. The method includes applying an adhesive to the substrate, broadcasting an aggregate onto the adhesive, the aggregate having the capacity to receive an anti-icing chemical into the aggregate, and applying the anti-icing chemical onto the aggregate so that at least a portion of the anti-icing chemical is received into at least a portion of the aggregate.

On Indoor Multi-Hopping Capacity Of Wireless Ad-Hoc Mesh Networks, Mehran Abolhasan, Jerry Chun-Ping Wang, D. R. Franklin

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

The capacity and multi-hopping performance of ad hoc mesh networks in dynamic environment still remains an open research issue. Previous theoretical studies suggest that they do not scale in densely distributed networks. However, a study has shown that scalability and hence the multihopping capacity of mesh network is not only bound by the number of nodes in the network but also the number of hops [3]. In this paper we investigate the performance of multihop ad hoc mesh networks, using both simulation studies and an experimental test-bed, and monitor the performance of the network as the number of hops in …

Far-Off-Resonant Ring Trap Near The Ends Of Optical Fibers, Frank Moscatelli, C. Sackett, S. Du, E. Oh

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

We propose that micrometer-sized atom traps can be created using the optical dipole force between the ends of two single-mode optical fibers carrying counterpropagating light beams of two different wavelengths from both fibers. The traps have a simple design that is feasible to implement with commercially available products. They can be used as a flexible “atom tweezer” to manipulate atoms in free space without the need for traditional focused laser beams. A particularly interesting feature is the formation of a static ring-shaped trap for properly chosen beam parameters. Furthermore, this ring can be split into two longitudinally adjacent rings. Microscopic …

Reliability Of Krylov Subspace Methods - A Practical Perspective Ii, M. Naumov, M. Manguoglu, C. C. Mikkelsen, Ahmed Sameh

Department of Computer Science Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

A Data-Dependent Distance Measure For Transductive Instance-Based Learning, Jared Lundell, Dan A. Ventura

Faculty Publications

We consider learning in a transductive setting using instance-based learning (k-NN) and present a method for constructing a data-dependent distance “metric” using both labeled training data as well as available unlabeled data (that is to be classified by the model). This new data-driven measure of distance is empirically studied in the context of various instance-based models and is shown to reduce error (compared to traditional models) under certain learning conditions. Generalizations and improvements are suggested.

Robust Multi-Modal Biometric Fusion Via Multiple Svms, Jonathan Dinerstein, Sabra Dinerstein, Dan A. Ventura

Faculty Publications

Existing learning-based multi-modal biometric fusion techniques typically employ a single static Support Vector Machine (SVM). This type of fusion improves the accuracy of biometric classification, but it also has serious limitations because it is based on the assumptions that the set of biometric classifiers to be fused is local, static, and complete. We present a novel multi-SVM approach to multi-modal biometric fusion that addresses the limitations of existing fusion techniques and show empirically that our approach retains good classification accuracy even when some of the biometric modalities are unavailable.

Adtrees For Sequential Data And N-Gram Counting, Robert Van Dam, Dan A. Ventura

Faculty Publications

We consider the problem of efficiently storing n-gram counts for large n over very large corpora. In such cases, the efficient storage of sufficient statistics can have a dramatic impact on system performance. One popular model for storing such data derived from tabular data sets with many attributes is the ADtree. Here, we adapt the ADtree to benefit from the sequential structure of corpora-type data. We demonstrate the usefulness of our approach on a portion of the well-known Wall Street Journal corpus from the Penn Treebank and show that our approach is exponentially more efficient than the naïve approach to …

Modeling Optical And Uv Polarization Of Agns I. Imprints Of Individual Scattering Regions, René W. Goosmann, C. Martin Gaskell

C. Martin Gaskell Publications

Context. Spectropolarimetry of AGNs is a powerful tool for studying the structure and kinematics of the inner regions of quasars. Aims. We wish to investigate the effects of various AGN scattering region geometries on the polarized flux. Methods. We introduce a new, publicly available Monte Carlo radiative transfer code, STOKES, which models polarization induced by scattering off free electrons and dust grains. We model a variety of regions in AGNs. Results. We find that the shape of the funnel of the dusty torus has a significant impact on the polarization efficiency. A compact torus with a steep inner surface scatters …

Optimal Propensity Score Stratification, Jessica A. Myers, Thomas A. Louis

Johns Hopkins University, Dept. of Biostatistics Working Papers

Stratifying on propensity score in observational studies of treatment is a common technique used to control for bias in treatment assignment; however, there have been few studies of the relative efficiency of the various ways of forming those strata. The standard method is to use the quintiles of propensity score to create subclasses, but this choice is not based on any measure of performance either observed or theoretical. In this paper, we investigate the optimal subclassification of propensity scores for estimating treatment effect with respect to mean squared error of the estimate. We consider the optimal formation of subclasses within …

Nitrogen Inputs To Rhode Island Coastal Salt Ponds - Too Much Of A Good Thing, Scott W. Nixon, Betty A. Buckley

Special Collections (Miscellaneous)

Reviews concerns about increase of nitrogen in Rhode Island salt ponds as a result of human activities.

Challenges From Alfred Bork: What Has Happened To Computers In Physics Education?, Robert Fuller

Robert G. Fuller Publications

In his 1978 Millikan lecture on Interactive Learning, Alfred Bork discussed eleven different modes of computer use in physics education. This paper converts Bork’s modes into challenges to the computers in physics education community and evaluates our progress since 1978. It concludes with a brief discussion of future challenges.

Can One Book Really Transform Your Career?, Robert Fuller

Robert G. Fuller Publications

Bärbel Inhelder and Jean Piaget. The Growth of Logical Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence An Essay on the Construction of Formal Operational Structures. New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers. 1958, ISBN 041521002X, 356 pp, $25.

My recommendation is get your hands on this seminal book (it is probably in a library near you.), read at least the first part of each of the first 14 chapters and try an much of the rest of the book as you can stand. Then set it aside and read To Understand Is To Invent, The Having of Wonderful Ideas (Duckworth) and Children and …

Measurement Of The ΛB Lifetime In The Exclusive Decay ΛB→ J/Ψλ, V. M. Abazov, Kenneth A. Bloom, Gregory R. Snow, D0 Collaboration

Gregory Snow Publications

Λ are identified via the decays J/ψ → μ⁺μ^- and Λ →pπ, we measured the Λ_b lifetime to be 1.218_-0.115^+0.130 (stat) ± 0.042(syst) ps. We also measured the B⁰ lifetime in the decay B⁰ → J/ψ(μ⁺μ^-)K_s²(π⁺π^-) to be τ(B⁰) = 1.501_-0.074^+0.078 (stat) ± 0.050(syst) ps, yielding a lifetime ratio of τ(Λ_b)/τ(B⁰) = 0.811_-0.087^+0.096 (stat) ± 0.034(syst).

Take Pride In America In Southern Nevada: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Covering July 6 – Oct. 5, 2007, Margaret N. Rees

Anti-littering Programs

• Don’t Trash Nevada website traffic remains strong despite no separate marketing.

• Project Manager Douglas Joslin has been assisting the IVP team due to the resignation of Donna Grady.

• A new ad created in cooperation with Republic Services of Southern Nevada appeared in five different View newspapers in July.

• The messaging campaign year two plan is in development and will be ready in November.

• Forty-three people took the anti-litter pledge this quarter, bringing the total number of pledges to 431.

• Planning for the Don’t Trash Nevada exhibit at the Las Vegas Natural History Museum continued …

Eutrophication In Farmington Bay And Its Potential Impacts On Wildlife, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Band Unfoldings And Prismatoids: A Counterexample, Joseph O'Rourke

Computer Science: Faculty Publications

This note shows that the hope expressed in [ADL+07]--that the new algorithm for edge-unfolding any polyhedral band without overlap might lead to an algorithm for unfolding any prismatoid without overlap--cannot be realized. A prismatoid is constructed whose sides constitute a nested polyhedral band, with the property that every placement of the prismatoid top face overlaps with the band unfolding.

Does Interference Competition With Wolves Limit The Distribution And Abundance Of Coyotes?, Kim Murray Berger, Eric M. Gese

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. Interference competition with wolves Canis lupus is hypothesized to limit the distribution and abundance of coyotes Canis latrans, and the extirpation of wolves is often invoked to explain the expansion in coyote range throughout much of North America.

2. We used spatial, seasonal and temporal heterogeneity in wolf distribution and abundance to test the hypothesis that interference competition with wolves limits the distribution and abundance of coyotes. From August 2001 to August 2004, we gathered data on cause-specific mortality and survival rates of coyotes captured at wolf-free and wolf-abundant sites in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP), Wyoming, USA, …

Passive All-Optical Diode Using Asymmetric Nonlinear Absorption, Reji Philip, M. Anij, Chandra S. Yelleswarapu, D.V.G.L.N. Rao

Physics Faculty Publications

Saturable and reverse saturable absorptions are well-known phenomena, originating from the imaginary component of the third order nonlinear optical susceptibility. We note that structures with an axially asymmetric nonlinear absorption can be easily realized from saturable and reverse saturable absorption materials arranged in tandem. In this paper, the basic transmission behavior of such a structure is worked out. Detailed numerical simulations demonstrate passive all-optical diode behavior, and the results are verified experimentally. The principle will work for all light polarizations, has no phase-matching restrictions, and can be extended to a large number of available nonlinear media for possible applications.

The Characterization Of Trna Modifying Enzymes S-Adenosylmethionine : Trna Ribosyltransferase-Isomerase (Quea) And A Novel Type I Gtp Cyclohydrolase, Shilah Amal Bonnett

Dissertations and Theses

Queuosine is a hypermodified nucleoside located in the wobble position of bacterial and eukaryotic tRNAs coding for Asp, Tyr, His and Asn. The biosynthesis involves the participation of S-adenosyl-methionine:tRNA ribosyltransferase-isomerase (QueA) and a GTP Cyclohydrolase-I. QueA catalyzes the transfer and isomerization of the ribosyl moiety from AdoMet to preQ1 modified tRNA. Substrate analogs of AdoMet were used to elucidate important substrate-enzyme interactions and to test key steps in the proposed chemical mechanism. Replacing AdoMet with SeAdoMet had little effect upon substrate binding but exhibited 30-fold reduction in kcat, consistent with deprotonation at C-5' as the first catalytic step. 7-deazaAdoMet failed …

Multiple Model Evaluation Absent The Gold Standard Via Model Combination, Edwin J. Iversen, Jr., Giovanni Parmigiani, Sining Chen

Johns Hopkins University, Dept. of Biostatistics Working Papers

We describe a method for evaluating an ensemble of predictive models given a sample of observations comprising the model predictions and the outcome event measured with error. Our formulation allows us to simultaneously estimate measurement error parameters, true outcome — aka the gold standard — and a relative weighting of the predictive scores. We describe conditions necessary to estimate the gold standard and for these estimates to be calibrated and detail how our approach is related to, but distinct from, standard model combination techniques. We apply our approach to data from a study to evaluate a collection of BRCA1/BRCA2 gene …

Improving The Performance In An Optical Feedback Self-Mixing Interferometry System Using Digital Signal Pre-Processing, Yanguang Yu, Jiangtao Xi, Joe F. Chicharo

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

This paper considers the issue of noise reduction associated with Optical Feedback Self-mixing Interferometries (OFSMI). The objective is to develop an effective pre-processing filtering solution that can eliminated the inherent noise disturbances. The characteristics of OFSMI signals are described in some detail and two filter solutions are proposed. The latter includes a non-linear median filter and a Kaiser based FIR filter. The performance of the two types of filters are removing sparkle-like noise while Kaiser based FIR filters areeffective in reducing the high frequency noise as well as the slow time-varying signal envelop fluctuation. Interestingly our results show that the …

Pre-Processing Of Signals Observed From Laser Diode Self-Mixing Intereferometries Using Neural Networks, L. Wei, Joe F. Chicharo, Yanguang Yu, Jiangtao Xi

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

This paper presents a novel neural network signal interpolation technique in order to eliminate the noise and disturbance associated with the self-mixing signal observed from optical feedback self- mixing interferometry (OFSMI). The proposed technique aims to improve the accuracy for displacement and moving track measurement of a target. The performance of the proposed approach is evaluated by both simulation and experimentation, with simulation revealing a measuring accuracy of A/25 for weak feedback and J20 for moderate feed back.

An Investigation Into Temporal Gamma Luminance For Digital Fringe Fourier Transform Profilometers, J. M. Baker, Joe F. Chicharo, Jiangtao Xi

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

Analysis of the impact of temporal gamma luminance on Fourier Transform Profilometry (FTP) Digital Video Projection (DVP) based structured light profilometers is undertaken. We investigate the spectral harmonic structure for typical DVP fringe d0 images linking projector -y and 2nd order fringe harmonics. The Ep validity of the presented study is verified through simulation, and subsequently we conclude that for typical projector -y, the 2nd order harmonic is the single most significant contribution to reconstruction error for the phase measuring technique. The impact of our analysis is further gauged by empirical measurement of the temporal variation of -y of a …