Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Noncommutative Computer Algebra In The Control Of Singularly Perturbed Dynamical Systems, J. W. Helton, F. Dell Kronewitter, Mark Stankus

Mathematics

Most algebraic calculations which one sees in linear systems theory, for example in IEEE TAC, involve block matrices and so are highly noncommutative. Thus conventional commutative computer algebra packages, as in Mathematica and Maple, do not address them. Here we investigate the usefulness of noncommutative computer algebra in a particular area of control theory-singularly perturbed dynamic systems-where working with the noncommutative polynomials involved is especially tedious. Our conclusion is that they have considerable potential for helping practitioners with such computations. For example, the methods introduced here take the most standard textbook singular perturbation calculation, [KK086], one step further than had …

Immaccs: A Military Decision-Support System, Jens G. Pohl, Anthony A. Wood, Kym Jason Pohl, Arthur J. Chapman

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

The Integrated Marine Multi-Agent Command and Control System (IMMACCS) is a multi-agent, distributed system, designed to provide a ‘common tactical picture’ with integrated and meaningful decision-support facilities to authorized operators at any access node. IMMACCS has been implemented as a three-tier architecture that distinguishes between information, logic and presentation. It utilizes an object-serving communication facility with subscription and multi-casting capabilities that is based on the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA). With an emphasis on application, IMMACCS was designed and implemented in concert with its military users as an integral component of experiments conceived by the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory …

Mental Models For Introductory Csc Concepts, Jennifer J. Wheeler, Erika Rogers

Computer Science and Software Engineering

If is hypothesized that the development of mental models for a concept can lead to improved learning. The purpose of this paper is to identify, quantify, and analyze the mental models of students beginning to program in the UNIX environment. By focusing on 4 basic concept, this study abstracts current mental models from students and hypothesizes ways of improving these models. Ultimately, the results of the study will be incorporated into the design and implementation of a multimedia tutor. This tutor will attempt to teach people how to develop mental models in order to improve their learning.

Teaching Object Technology In Industry Short Courses, David S. Janzen

Computer Science and Software Engineering

No abstract provided.

Differential Photometry Of Suspected Cataclysmic Variables, N. Bennert, I. König, E. Manthey, H. Bleul, K. Fieger, M. Hess, A. Hovest, W. Hovest, T. Jürges, J. Kleimann, C. Kriegeskorte, E. Krusch, D. Münstermann, D. Reymann, K. Rösler, M. Nielbock, M. Pohlen, L. Schmidtobreick, C. Tappert, R. Vanscheidt

Physics

No abstract provided.

Bacterial Magnetosomes: Microbiology, Biomineralization And Biotechnological Applications, Dirk Schlϋer, Richard B. Frankel

Physics

Magnetotactic bacteria orient and migrate along geomagnetic field lines. This ability is based on intracellular magnetic structures, the magnetosomes, which comprise nanometer-sized, membrane-bound crystals of the magnetic iron minerals magnetite (Fe₃O₄) or greigite (Fe₃O₄). Magnetosome formation is achieved by a mineralization process with biological control over the accumulation of iron and the deposition of the mineral particle with specific size and orientation within a membrane vesicle at specific locations in the cell. This review focuses on the current knowledge about magnetotactic bacteria and will outline aspects of the physiology and molecular biology …

Valuation Of Tree Aesthetics On Small Urban-Interface Properties, Richard Thompson, Richard Hanna, Jay Noel, Douglas D. Piirto

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

A model was developed to predict the value contribution of forest condition on small urban-wildland interface properties. Sample data were collected on property transactions in the Lake Tahoe Basin of California between 1990 and 1994. A variant of the stand density index (SDI) and a tree health measure were added to a list of traditional property characteristics (i.e., location, house size, lot size) to express the influence of tree care on property value. These aesthetic characteristics were statistically significant despite the expected dominant influence of the traditional characteristics. Values for the forest density and health characteristics were estimated and reveal …

Two New Topologically Ordered Glass Phases Of Smectics Confined In Anisotropic Random Media, Brad Jacobsen, Karl Saunders, Leo Radzihovsky, John Toner

Physics

Smectics in strained aerogel exhibit two new glassy phases. The strain both ensures the stability of these phases and determines their nature. One type of strain induces an “ XY Bragg glass,” while the other creates a novel, triaxially anisotropic “ m = 1 Bragg glass.” The latter exhibits anomalous elasticity, characterized by exponents that we calculate to high precision. We predict the phase diagram, and numerous other experimentally observable scaling laws, for the system.

Temporal Probabilistic Logic Programs, Alex Dekhtyar, Michael I. Dekhtyar, V. S. Subrahmanian

Computer Science and Software Engineering

There are many applications where the precise time at which an event will occur (or has occurred) is uncertain. Temporal probabilistic logic programs (TPLPs) allow a programmer to express knowledge about such events. In this paper, we develop a model theory, fixpoint theory, and proof theory for TPLPs, and show that the fixpoint theory may be used to enumerate consequences of a TPLP in a sound and complete manner. Likewise the proof theory provides a sound and complete inference system. Last, but not least, we provide complexity results for TPLPs, showing in particular, that reasonable classes of TPLPs have polynomial …

Some Notions Of Complex Adaptive Systems And Their Relationship To Our World, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

This paper assumes that the world we live in consists of many interwoven complex adaptive systems. In the literature such systems are characterized as comprising many moving parts and processes that interact significantly in a mostly non-linear manner. It is argued that the forces that act on such complex systems are not additive, and that their impact occurs along non-linear interactions within the system. In particular, many of these systems are adaptive in that they change their behavior (through their interactions) over time, so that if they are subjected to a similar force or event a second time they …

Re-Engineering A Software Development Organization As A Complex Adaptive System, Steven J. Gollery, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

This paper proposes that it is possible and desirable to restructure a software development organization as a complex adaptive system. Such a structure would increase the possibility that the organization would be able to survive and prosper in a rapidly-changing market place by shortening response time, increasing flexibility in the face of new and unexpected circumstances, and allowing the organization to learn quickly from its experiences.

The paper shows how a common information repository can be used to provide decision support to developers and managers, and discusses the relationship between decision support systems and complex adaptive systems.

The Second Generation Integrated Collaborative Decision Making (Icdm) Model: A Three-Tier Approach To Agent-Based, Decision-Support Systems, Kym J. Pohl, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

Ten years ago the CAD Research Center at California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo, California identified a standard framework for agent-based, decision support systems. Employing inter-process and inference engine technologies of the time, the CAD Research Center termed this ‘blueprint’ the Integrated Collaborative Decision-Making (ICDM) framework. Over the past twelve years ICDM has been successfully used as a foundation in several systems. These systems focus on a wide range of domains of application including architectural design and ship cargo stowage. Success of the ICDM framework in conjunction with the availability of newer technologies has prompted an evolutionary leap in …

Induced Changes In Solvent Structure By Phospholipid Monolayer Formation At A Liquid–Liquid Interface, R. A. Walker, D. E. Gragson, G. L. Richmond

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy has been used in conjunction with dynamic surface tension measurements to study formation of a 1,2-dilauroyl-sn-phosphatidylcholine (DLPC) monolayer at a water–carbon tetrachloride interface. Surface tension measurements show that an aqueous solution of liquid crystalline phosphocholine vesicles (4.5 μM DLPC) requires several hours to form a tightly packed, fully equilibrated monolayer of DLPC monomers. Vibrational spectra of the interfacial region at different stages in the monolayer formation process indicate that the solvent structure undergoes dramatic re-organization as the monolayer forms. Initial adsorption of DLPC monomers severely disrupts the interfacial hydrogen bonding. Intensity in the OH …

Liming Of Vineyard Soils, Thomas J. Rice

Earth and Soil Sciences

Liming vineyard soils to increase soil pH and raise calcium levels has been practiced for centuries in the humid areas of the world where soils tend to be more acid. Today, liming is increasingly practiced in the semiarid central coast regions of California, where liming of vineyards was unheard of even a decade ago.
Past agricultural practices, such as the addition of sulfur, acid-forming nitrogen fertilizers, and organic soil amendments, have caused soil acidification. Previously, most of these lands were either open space, range lands, or planted to grain crops.
To avoid unnecessary expense and protect the soil from environmental …

Neural Networks And Structured Knowledge: Knowledge Representation And Reasoning, Franz J. Kurfess

Computer Science and Software Engineering

This collection of articles is the first of two parts of a special issue on "Neural Networks and Structured Knowledge." The contributions to the first part shed some light on the issues of knowledge representation and reasoning with neural networks. Their scope ranges from formal models for mapping discrete structures like graphs or logical formulae onto different types of neural networks, to the construction of practical systems for various types of reasoning. In the second part to follow, the emphasis will be on the extraction of knowledge from neural networks, and on applications of neural networks and structured knowledge to …

Spectral Indications Of Unexpected Contributors To Atmospheric Co2 Variability?, Gary B. Hughes, Robert Gigengack, Haralambos N. Kritikos

Statistics

The frequency spectrum of Northern Hemisphere atmospheric CO₂ concentration shows strong periodicities at 6.2, 1.0 and 0.5 years. The 6.2 year cyclicity has been attributed to non-linear interactions between the annual cycle and the atmospheric pole tide. The yearly signal is linked to terrestrial photosynthesis; phase analysis shows that annual CO₂ minima occur at a lag of approximately 85 days from insolation maxima. Variations in the nominal yearly period occur during times of anomalous anthropogenic CO₂ production. Periodicity at 6 months represents a deviation of the yearly signal from an annual sinusoid. If the yearly signal is …

Ismis: A Military Transportation Decision-Support Framework, Stephen Goodman, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

This paper discusses the challenges that the Information Revolution poses to transportation planning, execution and training in the US military services. Attention is drawn to the opportunities provided by global connectivity and the manner in which these opportunities can be applied to advantage in an integrated, collaborative, decision-support framework. The characteristics of military deployment operations are discussed in respect to system requirements such as parallel activities, internal representation of information (rather than data), intelligent assistance, and the integration of planning, execution and training functions.

The Integrated Strategic Mobility Interface System (ISMIS) is described as a framework that is designed to …

Complete View Of Stark Wave-Packet Evolution, M. B. Campbell, Thomas J. Bensky, Robert R. Jones

Physics

Picosecond laser pulses have been used to produce Rydberg wave packets in calcium atoms in the presence of a strong static electric field. The dynamics of the Stark wave packets have been observed by measuring the momentum-space probability distribution as a function of time. The full precession of the electronic orbital angular momentum, the appearance of a large-amplitude, linear oscillation of the electronic dipole moment, and a pronounced, periodic up-down asymmetry in the momentum distribution are all observed directly.

Reductive Dehydroxy Coupling Of 2-(Hydroxymethyl)Indenes To Prepare Ethano-Bridged Bis(2-Indenyl) Ansa-Titanocenes, Hasan Palandoken, Justin K. Wyatt, Shawn R. Hitchcock, Marilyn M. Olmstead, Michael H. Nantz

Chemistry and Biochemistry

New examples of ansa-titanocenes derived from 1,2-bis(2-indenyl)ethane have been prepared. The titanium-mediated reductive coupling of 2-(hydroxymethyl)indenes provided a convenient method for substrate dimerization. Alkyl substitution of the indene ring at C(3) improved the regioselectivity of the reductive coupling to provide the ethylene bis(2-indenyl)ansa-ligands in 29–62% yield.

Collaborative Decision-Support And The Human-Machine Relationship, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

Human beings are inquisitive creatures who seek explanations for all that they observe and experience in their living environment. While this quest for understanding is central to our success in adapting to a changing environment, it is also a major cause of our willingness to accept partial understandings and superficial explanations when the degree of complexity of the problem situation confounds our current cognitive capabilities. In other words, a superficial or partial explanation is considered better than no explanation at all. As flawed as this approach may be, it has helped us to solve difficult problems in stages. By first …

Proceedings Of The 1999 Onr Decision-Support Workshop Series: A Decision-Making Tools Workshop, Collaborative Agent Design Research Center

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

The rationale of the Workshop rests on some very simple observations. It is well known that every situation encountered by individuals and organizations demands an appropriate response. The choice of such a response from among a multitude of options is the decision-making process. Simple situations that give rise to a small number of options allow the decision maker to decide on a course of action without great effort. This state of affairs changes dramatically when the situations are complex and involve a large number of factors. In this case, an extensive field of options is engendered that makes it impossible …

A Calibration Procedure Using Topmodel To Determine Suitability For Evaluating Potential Climate Change Effects On Water Yield, Brian Dietterick, James A. Lynch, Edward S. Corbett

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

An evaluation was conducted on three forested upland watersheds in the northeastern U.S. to test the suitability of TOPMODEL for predicting water yield over a wide range of climatic scenarios. The analysis provides insight of the usefulness of TOPMODEL as a predictive tool for future assessments of potential long-term changes in water yield as a result of changes in global climate. The evaluation was conducted by developing a calibration procedure to simulate a range of climatic extremes using historical temperature, precipitation, and streamfiow records for years having wet, average, and dry precipitation amounts from the Leading Ridge (Pennsylvania), Fernow (West …

Reviews Of Atomic Audit: The Costs And Consequences Of Us Nuclear Weapons Since 1940 By Stephen Schwartz; And Killing Detente: The Right Attacks The Cia By Anne Cahn, David W. Hafemeister

Physics

Science aims to link cause and effect for natural phenomena. Linking cause and effect for historical events is often more difficult since historical events cannot be tested by rerunning history with varied parameters. Despite the difficulty, it is worthwhile to review the causes behind the magnitude of the U.S. nuclear buildup. Two critical questions should guide this analysis: How much of the $5.8 trillion (1996 dollars) that the U.S spent to build 70,000 nuclear warheads, deployed on 75,000 missiles and 8600 bombers, was too much? And, was the effectiveness of the Soviet military exaggerated with false predictions? These two books …

Monitoring Distributed Processes With Intelligent Agents, Franz J. Kurfess, Klaus Holthaus, Dhaval P. Shah, Felip Miralles

Computer Science and Software Engineering

This paper describes a platform-independent application for the monitoring of distributed applications. The tool is intended for system administrators to properly distribute the components of a distributed application onto particular machines. An essential part of this tool is based on intelligent mobile agent technology used to access the target systems. Although a full implementation turned out to be infeasible due to security considerations, the implementation and experimentation indicate the suitability of intelligent agents technology for such purposes.

Effects Of Above-Ground Biomass Allocation On Soil Nitrogen Demand And Below-Ground Productivity: The Influence Of Stand Density, Christopher Dicus, Thomas J. Dean

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Two stands in a loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantation were established in southeastern Louisiana in 1981 at three initial planting densities (1.2 x 1.2m, 2.4 m., and 3.6 x 3.6m). Height, height to the base of the live crown, and DBH measurements taken in consecutive years, coupled with allometric equations, yielded estimates of annual stand level foliage, branchwood, and stemwood biomass increment in each plot. Stemwood, branchwood, first-year foliage, second year foliage, and litter tissues were obtained in each plot and analyzed for nitrogen concentration, and were used to provide estimates of annual foliar nitrogen retranslocation and above-ground …

Computer Assistance For "Discovering'' Formulas In System Engineering And Operator Theory, J. W. Helton, Mark Stankus

Mathematics

The objective of this paper is two-fold. First we present a methodology for using a combination of computer assistance and human intervention to discover highly algebraic theorems in operator, matrix, and linear systems engineering theory. Since the methodology allows limited human intervention, it is slightly less rigid than an algorithm. We call it a strategy. The second objective is to illustrate the methodology by deriving four theorems. The presentation of the methodology is carried out in three steps. The first step is introducing an abstraction of the methodology which we call an idealized strategy. This abstraction facilitates a high level …

Green Manufacturing Of Ammunition Through Knowledge Management With Distributed Access, Ali H. Dogru, Murat M. Tanik, Franz J. Kurfess, Marcus Healey, Leon Jololian

Computer Science and Software Engineering

This paper describes a distributed software requirements gathering methodology dealing with knowledge management for environmentally safer production and lifecycle aspects of tank ammunition. A requirements elicitation methodology is adapted and implemented as a distributed access tool on the Internet. This tool is used for gathering the requirements related information for a specific ammunition production process. During product development, requirements negotiation is the process where the customer needs are identified. This process is regarded as one of the most important parts of building a system because during this stage it is decided precisely what will be built. The concept has been …

Kriging Puerto Rico Rainfall, Gary B. Hughes

Statistics

In Earth science research, climatic conditions can have significant effects on dynamic processes. For example, the growth of forests is affected by temperature, rainfall and other climatic variables. However, these climate parameters are rarely measured at the forest stands whose growth is being investigated. The climate conditions are measured at nearby weather stations, though, and it is a common approach to use the weather station data to ‘predict’ the climate at the study site

A Sheaf Theoretic Approach To Consciousness, Goro Kato, Daniele C. Struppa

Mathematics

A new fundamental mathematical model of consciousness based on category theory is presented. The model is based on two philosophical-theological assumptions: a) the universe is a sea of consciousness, and b) time is multi-dimensional and non-linear.

Leading Charm In Hadron-Nucleus Interactions In The Intrinsic Charm Model, Thomas D. Gutierrez, R. Vogt

Physics

Leading charm hadrons produced in hadron-nucleus interactions cannot be adequately described within the parton fusion model. Recent results on charm baryon production in ∑-A interactions at 330 GeV with the WA89 detector disagree with fusion predictions. Intrinsic heavy quark pairs in the ∑- (dds) wavefunction provide a simple mechanism for producing fast charm hadrons. We calculate leading charm baryon production from ∑-, ∏- and p projectiles in a two component model combining parton fusion with intrinsic charm. Final state D-, ∑n_cn⁰, ≡n_cn⁺, and ∧n_cn⁺ dσ/dxn_{F …}