Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Multi-Platform Application Suite For Enhancing South Asian Language Pedagogy, Tao Bai, Christopher K. Chung, Konstantin Läufer, Daisy Rockwell, George K. Thiruvathukal

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This interdisciplinary project explores the potential for handheld/wireless (H/W) technology in the context of language education within and beyond the classroom. Specifically, we have designed and implemented a suite of multi-platform (desktop/laptop, handheld, and browser) applications to enhance the teaching of South Asian languages such as Hindi-Urdu. Such languages are very difficult to learn, let alone write, and H/W devices (with their handwriting/drawing capabilities) can play a significant role in overcoming the learning curve. The initial application suite includes a character/word tracer, a word splitter/joiner, a smart flashcard with audio, contextual augmented stories for reading comprehension, and a poetic metronome. …

A Memory-Based Approach To Cantonese Tone Recognition, Deryle W. Lonsdale, Michael Emonts

Faculty Publications

This paper introduces memory-based learning as a viable approach for Cantonese tone recognition. The memorybased learning algorithm employed here outperforms other documented current approaches for this problem, which is based on neural networks. Various numbers of tones and features are modeled to find the best method for feature selection and extraction. To further optimize this approach, experiments are performed to isolate the best feature weighting method, the best class voting weights method, and the best number of k-values to implement. Results and possible future work are discussed.

Bayesian Modelling And Forecasting Of Intra-Day Electricity Load, Remy Cottet, Michael Smith

Michael Stanley Smith

With the advent of wholesale electricity markets there has been renewed focus on intra-day electricity load forecasting. This paper employs a multi-equation regression model with a diagonal first order stationary vector autoregresson (VAR) for modeling and forecasting intra-day electricity load. The correlation structure of the disturbances to the VAR and the appropriate subset of regressors are explored using Bayesian model selection methodology. The full spectrum of finite sample inference is obtained using a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling scheme. This includes the predictive distribution of load and the distribution of the time and level of daily peak load, something …

Working Across Cultures, John Hooker

John Hooker

No abstract provided.

Classifying Instantaneous Cognitive States From Fmri Data, Tom Mitchell, Rebecca Hutchinson, Marcel Just, Radu Niculescu, Francisco Pereira, Xuerui Wang

Marcel Adam Just

No abstract provided.

Neuroindices Of Cognitive Workload: Neuroimaging, Pupillometric, And Event-Related Potential Studies Of Brain Work, Marcel Adam Just, Patricia A. Carpenter, Akira Miyake

Marcel Adam Just

No abstract provided.

Ambiguity In The Brain: What Brain Imaging Reveals About The Processing Of Syntactically Ambiguous Sentences, Robert A. Mason, Marcel Adam Just, Timothy A. Keller, Patricia A. Carpenter

Marcel Adam Just

No abstract provided.

Brain Imaging Of Tongue-Twister Sentence Comprehension: Twisting The Tongue And The Brain, Timothy A. Keller, Patricia A. Carpenter, Marcel Adam Just

Marcel Adam Just

No abstract provided.

Strukturationen Der Interaktivität, Rudolf Kaehr

Rudolf Kaehr

No abstract provided.

Long-Run Models Of Oil Stock Prices, Alessandro Lanza, Matteo Manera, Massimo Giovannini, Margherita Grasso

Matteo Manera

The identification of the forces that drive oil stock prices is extremely important given the size of the Oil&Gas industry and its links with the energy sector and the environment. In the next decade oil companies will have to deal with international policies to contrast climate change. This issue is likely to affect companies’ shareholder values. In this paper we focus on the long-run financial determinants of the stock prices of six major oil companies (Bp, Chevron-Texaco, Eni, Exxon-Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Total-Fina-Elf) using multivariate cointegration techniques and vector error correction models. Weekly oil stock prices are analyzed together with …

Differential Effects Of Syntactic And Semantic Processing On The Subregions Of Broca's Area, Sharlene D. Newman, Marcel Adam Just, Timothy A. Keller, Jennifer Roth, Patricia A. Carpenter

Marcel Adam Just

No abstract provided.

Ecotones: The Heartbeat Of Huxley, 2002, Fall, Issue 09, Laurel Eddy, Huxley College Of The Environment, Western Washington University

Historical Collection of Huxley Newsletters

No abstract provided.

News From Cart, Michael A. Krol, Julia Stakhnevich

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

On Computing Condensed Frequent Pattern Bases, Jian Pei, Guozhu Dong, Wei Zou, Jiawei Han

Kno.e.sis Publications

Frequent pattern mining has been studied extensively. However, the effectiveness and efficiency of this mining is often limited, since the number of frequent patterns generated is often too large. In many applications it is sufficient to generate and examine only frequent patterns with support frequency in close-enough approximation instead of in full precision. Such a compact but close-enough frequent pattern base is called a condensed frequent patterns-base.

In this paper, we propose and examine several alternatives at the design, representation, and implementation of such condensed frequent pattern-bases. A few algorithms for computing such pattern-bases are proposed. Their effectiveness at pattern …

Web Service Technologies And Their Synergy With Simulation, Senthilanand Chandrasekaran, Gregory S. Silver, John A. Miller, Jorge Cardoso, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

The World Wide Web has had a huge influence on the computing field in general as well as simulation in particular (e.g., Web-Based Simulation). A new wave of development based upon XML has started. Two of the most interesting aspects of this development are the Semantic Web and Web Services. This paper examines the synergy between Web service technology and simulation. In one direction, Web service processes can be simulated for the purpose of correcting/improving the design. In the other direction, simulation models/components can be built out of Web services. Work on seamlessly using simulation as a part of Web …

Evaluating Conflicts In The Use And Development Of Geographic Information Systems, Amber Bethell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Use of geographic information systems is increasing in governments, commercial companies, and by individual users. With such pervasive use of GIs there has been surprisingly little investigation of the values that various parties would support in the development of geographic technologies. There are many parties involved in the use of GIs each with opinions of what are good goals for developing and using such systems. This research seeks to determine differences and similarities among parties in the importance placed on supporting specific societal goals germane to the use of geographic technologies and databases. Previous research determined six areas where the …

Introduction To Special Issue On Radiation Effects, P. Andrew Karam

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "How dangerous is radiation? How much radiation does it take to give us cancer? Are we wasting money on overly restrictive regulations, or are we not being sufficiently protective of our radiation workers and the public? How much clean-up is necessary on our Department of Energy facilities? What about Yucca Mountain and nuclear reactor plants – can they be made safe?

These are only a few of the questions that have been asked, and will continue to be asked, about radiation. Unfortunately, these all come down, in part or in whole, to the question “What is the shape of …

Effects Of The Shape Of The Radiation Dose-Response Curve On Public Acceptance Of Radiation And Nuclear Energy, Audeen W. Fentiman

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “The public generally accepts the premise that exposure to radiation can have an undesirable effect. Furthermore, it believes that as the radiation dose increases, the magnitude of the effect will increase. On the other hand, while the background radiation dose varies from a few hundred millirem/year (a few millisieverts/yr) in some places to a few thousand millirem/yr (tens of millisieverts/yr) in others, researchers have been unable to find a correlation between the level of background radiation and incidence of cancer or other maladies attributable to radiation.

…

Because there is considerable controversy about the relationship between radiation dose and …

Modeling Boundaries Of Influence Among Positional Uncertainty Fields, Joshua P. King

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Within a CIS environment, the proper use of information requires the identification of the uncertainty associated with it. As such, there has been a substantial amount of research dedicated to describing and quantifying spatial data uncertainty. Recent advances in sensor technology and image analysis techniques are making image-derived geospatial data increasingly popular. Along with development in sensor and image analysis technologies have come departures from conventional point-by-point measurements. Current advancements support the transition from traditional point measures to novel techniques that allow the extraction of complex objects as single entities (e.g., road outlines, buildings). As the methods of data extraction …

Applications Of Underground Structures For The Protection Of Critical Infrastructure, George H. Baker, Richard G. Little, Don A. Linger

George H Baker

The U.S. President’s Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection (PCCIP), convened in the wake of the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, concluded that the nation’s physical security and economic security depend on our critical energy, communications, and computer infrastructures. While a primary motivating event for the establishment of the commission was the catastrophic physical attack of the Murrah Building, it is ironic that the commission focused its attention primarily on cyber threats. Their rationale was that cyber vulnerabilities posed a new, unaddressed challenge to infrastructure security. This approach was further questioned by the events of September 11, …

Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (Scada) Systems, George H. Baker, Allan Berg

George H Baker

Our critical national infrastructure systems have become almost universally dependent upon computer-based control systems technically referred to as supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. SCADA systems evolved from the telemetry and event-alarm systems developed in the early days of utilities. With the widespread use of SCADA systems, computers have become the "basis element" for much of our critical infrastructure. Thus, the disruption of controlling computer terminals and networks due to natural disasters, electric power failure, accidents or malicious activity can have catastrophic consequences.

Ecotones: The Heartbeat Of Huxley, 2002, Fall, Issue 08, Laurel Eddy, Huxley College Of The Environment, Western Washington University

Historical Collection of Huxley Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Jmasm4: Critical Values For Four Nonparametric And/Or Distribution-Free Tests Of Location For Two Independent Samples, Bruce R. Fay

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Researchers engaged in computer-intensive studies may need exact critical values, especially for sample sizes and alpha levels not normally found in published tables, as well as the ability to control ‘best-fit’ criteria. They may also benefit from the ability to directly generate these values rather than having to create lookup tables. Fortran 90 programs generate ‘best-conservative’ (bc) and ‘best-fit’ (bf) critical values with associated probabilities for the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test of general differences (bc), Rosenbaum’s test of location (bc), Tukey’s quick test (bc and bf)) and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test (bc).

Constructive Criticism, Ronald C. Serlin

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Attempts to attain knowledge as certified true belief have failed to circumvent Hume’s injunction against induction. Theories must be viewed as unprovable, improbable, and undisprovable. The empirical basis is fallible, and yet the method of conjectures and refutations is untouched by Hume’s insights. The implications for statistical methodology is that the requisite severity of testing is achieved through the use of robust procedures, whose assumptions have not been shown to be substantially violated, to test predesignated range null hypotheses. Nonparametric range null hypothesis tests need to be developed to examine whether or not effect sizes or measures of association, as …

Extensions Of The Concept Of Exchangeability And Their Applications, Phillip I. Good

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Permutation tests provide exact p-values in a wide variety of practical testing situations. But permutation tests rely on the assumption of exchangeability, that is, under the hypothesis, the joint distribution of the observations is invariant under permutations of the subscripts. Observations are exchangeable if they are independent, identically distributed (i.i.d.), or if they are jointly normal with identical covariances. The range of applications of these exact, powerful, distribution-free tests can be enlarged through exchangeability- preserving transforms, asymptotic exchangeability, partial exchangeability, and weak exchangeability. Original exact tests for comparing the slopes of two regression lines and for the analysis of …

Within Groups Multiple Comparisons Based On Robust Measures Of Location, Rand R. Wilcox, H. J. Keselman

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Consider the problem of performing all pair-wise comparisons among J dependent groups based on measures of location associated with the marginal distributions. It is well known that the standard error of the sample mean can be large relative to other estimators when outliers are common. Two general strategies for addressing this problem are to trim a fixed proportion of observations or empirically check for outliers and remove (or down-weight) any that are found. However, simply applying conventional methods for means to the data that remain results in using the wrong standard error. Methods that address this problem have been proposed, …

A Comparison Of The D’Agostino S_U Test To The Triples Test For Testing Of Symmetry Versus Asymmetry As A Preliminary Test To Testing The Equality Of Means, Kimberly T. Perry, Michael R. Stoline

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

This paper evaluates the D’Agostino S_U test and the Triples test for testing symmetry versus asymmetry. These procedures are evaluated as preliminary tests in the selection of the most appropriate procedure for testing the equality of means with two independent samples under a variety of symmetric and asymmetric sampling situations. Key words: symmetry; asymmetry; preliminary testing.

Adaptive Tests For Ordered Categorical Data, Vance W. Berger, Anastasia Ivanova

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Consider testing for independence against stochastic order in an ordered 2xJ contingency table, under product multinomial sampling. In applications one may wish to exploit prior information concerning the direction of the treatment effect, yet ultimately end up with a testing procedure with good frequentist properties. As such, a reasonable objective may be to simultaneously maximize power at a specified alternative and ensure reasonable power for all other alternatives of interest. For this objective, none of the available testing approaches are completely satisfactory. A new class of admissible adaptive tests is derived. Each test in this class strictly preserves the Type …

Determining Predictor Importance In Multiple Regression Under Varied Correlational And Distributional Conditions, Tiffany A. Whittaker, Rachel T. Fouladi, Natasha J. Williams

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

This study examines the performance of eight methods of predictor importance under varied correlational and distributional conditions. The proportion of times a method correctly identified the dominant predictor was recorded. Results indicated that the new methods of importance proposed by Budescu (1993) and Johnson (2000) outperformed commonly used importance methods.

Simulation Study Of Chemical Inhibition Modeling, Pali Sen, Mary Anderson

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The combined effects of the activities of different chemicals are of interest of this study. We simulate for the synthetic data, and fit experimental data for three models and estimate the parameters. We assess the fit of the synthetic data and the experimental data by comparing the coefficients of variation for the parameter estimates and identify the best model for the inhibition process.