Digital Commons Network^™

Contemporary Art, Science, Ecology, And A Critical Pedagogy Of Place, Mark Graham

Faculty Publications

In contemporary life and education, the local is marginalized in favor of large-scale economies of consumption that are indifferent to ecological concerns. The consequences of neglecting local human and natural communities include a degraded habitat, loss of wilderness, alienation, rootlessness, and lack of connection to communities. Place-based education responds to this indifference to local ecological concerns by grounding student learning in the experiences of their own lives, communities, and regions. Critical place-based pedagogy broadens the scope of place-based learning by incorporating critical theory into the curriculum of the local. This article describes a critical pedagogy of place as a prelude …

On Strongly Asymptotic L(P) Spaces And Minimality, S J. Dilworth, V Ferenczi, Denka Kutzarova, E Odell

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Exafs Characterization Of Dendrimer‐Derived Pt/Γ‐Al2O3, A. Siani, Oleg S. Alexeev, Christopher T. Williams, Harry J. Ploehn, Michael D. Amiridis

Faculty Publications

The various steps involved in the preparation of a Pt/γ‐Al₂O₃ material using hydroxyl‐terminated generation four (G4OH) PAMAM dendrimers as templates were monitored by EXAFS. The results indicate that Cl ligands in the Pt precursors (H₂PtCl₆ and K₂PtCl₄) were partially replaced by aquo ligands upon hydrolysis to form [PtCl₃(H₂O)₃]⁺ and [PtCl₂(H₂O)₂] species. After interaction of such species with G4OH, Cl ligands from the first coordination shell of Pt were further replaced by nitrogen atoms from the dendrimer interior, …

Modeling Li/CfX-Svo Hybrid-Cathode Batteries, Parthasarathy M. Gomadam, Donald R. Merritt, Erik R. Scott, Craig L. Schmidt, Paul M. Skarstad, John W. Weidner

Faculty Publications

A mathematical model is developed that predicts the voltage-capacity behavior of a primary lithium battery containing a hybrid cathode, which combines the high energy density of carbon monofluoride (CF_x) and the higher power density of silver vanadium oxide (SVO). The model is developed using material balances and kinetic expressions for each material, extracting kinetic and thermodynamic parameters from data collected on CF_x and SVO batteries, and then integrating this information into a hybrid system. The full model is validated by comparing simulations to experimental data on Li/CF_x-SVO hybrid-cathode batteries of various designs and for a …

On The Kauffman Bracket Skein Module Of The Quaternionic Manifold, Patrick M. Gilmer, John M. Harris

Faculty Publications

We use recoupling theory to study the Kauffman bracket skein module of the quaternionic manifold over Z[A(+/- 1)] localized by inverting all the cyclotomic polynomials. We prove that the skein module is spanned by five elements. Using the quantum invariants of these skein elements and the Z(2)-homology of the manifold, we determine that they are linearly independent.

Threshold Meson Production And Cosmic Ray Transport, John W. Norbury, Lawrence W. Townsend, Ryan B. Norman

Faculty Publications

An interesting accident of nature is that the peak of the cosmic ray spectrum, for both protons and heavier nuclei, occurs near the pion production threshold. The Boltzmann transport equation contains a term which is the cosmic ray flux multiplied by the cross section. Therefore when considering pion and kaon production from proton - proton reactions, small cross sections at low energy can be as important as larger cross sections at higher energy. This is also true for subthreshold kaon production in nuclear collisions, but not for subthreshold pion production.

Differential Cross Sections For Electromagnetic Dissociation, John W. Norbury, Anne Adamczyk

Faculty Publications

Differential cross; sections for electromagnetic dissociation in nucleus-nucleus collisions are calculated. The kinetic energy distributions is parameterized with a Boltzmann distribution and the angular distribution is assumed isotropic in the projectile frame. In order to be useful for three-dimensional transport codes, these cross sections are available in both the projectile and lab frames. Comparison between theory and experiment is good. The formalism applies to single and multiple nucleon removal, a particle removal, and fission in electromagnetic reactions of nuclei. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Analyzing Adjuvant Radiotherapy Suggests A Non Monotonic Radio-Sensitivity Over Tumor Volumes, Jack Y. Yang, Andrzej Niemierko, Mary Qu Yang, Youping Deng

Faculty Publications

Background: Adjuvant Radiotherapy (RT) after surgical removal of tumors proved beneficial in long-term tumor control and treatment planning. For many years, it has been well concluded that radio-sensitivities of tumors upon radiotherapy decrease according to the sizes of tumors and RT models based on Poisson statistics have been used extensively to validate clinical data. Results: We found that Poisson statistics on RT is actually derived from bacterial cells despite of many validations from clinical data. However cancerous cells do have abnormal cellular communications and use chemical messengers to signal both surrounding normal and cancerous cells to develop new blood vessels …

Promoting Synergistic Research And Education In Genomics And Bioinformatics, Jack Y. Yang, Mary Qu Yang, Hamid R. Arabnia, Youping Deng

Faculty Publications

Bioinformatics and Genomics are closely related disciplines that hold great promises for the advancement of research and development in complex biomedical systems, as well as public health, drug design, comparative genomics, personalized medicine and so on. Research and development in these two important areas are impacting the science and technology.

High throughput sequencing and molecular imaging technologies marked the beginning of a new era for modern translational medicine and personalized healthcare. The impact of having the human sequence and personalized digital images in hand has also created tremendous demands of developing powerful supercomputing, statistical learning and artificial intelligence approaches to …

A Comparative Study Of Different Machine Learning Methods On Microarray Gene Expression Data, Mehdi Pirooznia, Jack Y. Yang, Mary Qu Yang, Youping Deng

Faculty Publications

Background

Several classification and feature selection methods have been studied for the identification of differentially expressed genes in microarray data. Classification methods such as SVM, RBF Neural Nets, MLP Neural Nets, Bayesian, Decision Tree and Random Forrest methods have been used in recent studies. The accuracy of these methods has been calculated with validation methods such as v-fold validation. However there is lack of comparison between these methods to find a better framework for classification, clustering and analysis of microarray gene expression results.

Results

In this study, we compared the efficiency of the classification methods including; SVM, RBF Neural Nets, …

Antibacterial Fluoromicas: A Novel Delivery Medium, Bekir Dizman, Jonathan C. Badger, Mohamed O. Elasri, Lon J. Mathias

Faculty Publications

Antibacterial fluoromicas were prepared by ion-exchanging fluoromicas with different antibacterial agents including various quaternary ammonium compounds, AgNO₃, and norfloxacin. Antibacterial activities of the ion-exchanged fluoromicas were determined against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and zone of inhibition (ZOI) tests were performed to determine both antibacterial effectiveness and mode of action associated with the fluoromicas. All treated fluoromicas showed excellent antibacterial activities against both types of bacteria. The antibacterial activities of treated fluoromicas were found to be either better than or the same as those of neat antibacterial agents. The repeated antibacterial activity tests demonstrated …

Parameterized Total Cross Sections For Pion Production In Nuclear Collisions, John W. Norbury, Lawrence W. Townsend

Faculty Publications

Total inclusive cross sections for neutral and charged pion production in proton–nucleus and nucleus–nucleus reactions have been calculated and compared to experiment. Nucleon–nucleon theoretical cross sections have been scaled up to nuclear collisions using a scaling factor similar to (A_PA_T)^2/3, where A_P and A_T are the nucleon numbers of the projectile and target nuclei. Variations in the power of this scaling factor have been studied and a good fit to experiment is obtained with a small modification of the power. Theoretical cross sections are written in a form that is very …

Bite Mark Analysis, Paul C. Giannelli

Faculty Publications

Courts have admitted bite mark comparison evidence in homicide, rape, and child abuse cases. By the 1980s, the technique had gained widespread judicial acceptance. Hundreds of cases have admitted this type of evidence, and no reported case has rejected it. Moreover, some courts speak of bite mark comparison as a "science." Indeed, its acceptance is so well-established that several courts have taken judicial notice of its reliability, implying that the validity of the technique is not subject to reasonable dispute.

Yet, the scientific foundations for bite mark comparisons has never been demonstrated. Such basic issues as the uniqueness of the …

Spatial Ecology Of The Coachwhip, Masticophis Flagellum (Squamata: Colubridae), In Eastern Texas, Richard W. Johnson, Robert R. Fleet, Michael B. Keck, D. Craig Rudolph

Faculty Publications

We radio-tracked nine Masticophis flagellum (Coachwhips) to determine home range, habitat use, and movements in eastern Texas from April to October 2000. Home ranges of Coachwhips contained more oak savanna macrohabitat than early-successional pine plantation or forested seep, based on the availability of these three macrohabitats in the study area. Likewise, within their individual home ranges, Coachwhips used oak savanna more than the other two macrohabitats, based on availability. An analysis of microhabitat use revealed that, relative to random sites within their home range, Coachwhips were found at sites with fewer pine trees and more herbaceous vegetation taller than 30 …

Williston As Conservative-Pragmatist, Mark L. Movsesian

Faculty Publications

In her pathbreaking article, "Restatement and Reform: A New Perspective on the Origins of the American Law Institute, Professor N.E.H. Hull rejects the conventional wisdom about the conservative, even reactionary, character of the First Restatements. The truth, she argues, is more subtle. The Restatements, and the larger ALI project of which they were a part, reflect the "'progressive-pragmatic"' worldview of the law professors most responsible for their creation. These professors were reformers. They rejected the formalism of earlier generations; for them, law was not a conceptual system but a practical tool for promoting beneficial social goals. They tempered their zeal …

Demonstration Of Magnetoelectric Scanning Probe Microscopy, Jason R. Hattrick-Simpers, Liyang Dai, Manfred Wuttig, Ichiro Takeuchi, Eckhard Quandt

Faculty Publications

A near-field room temperature scanning magnetic probe microscope has been developed using a laminated magnetoelectric sensor. The simple trilayer longitudinal-transverse mode sensor, fabricated using Metglas as the magnetostrictive layer and polyvinylidene fluoride as the piezoelectric layer, shows an ac field sensitivity of 467±3μV∕O_e in the measured frequency range of 200Hz–8kHz. The microscope was used to image a 2mm diameter ring carrying an ac current as low as 10⁻⁵A. ac fields as small as 3×10⁻¹⁰T have been detected.

Rapid Structural Mapping Of Ternary Metallic Alloy Systems Using The Combinatorial Approach And Cluster Analysis, C. J. Long, Jason R. Hattrick-Simpers, M. Murakami, R. C. Srivastava, I. Takeuchi, V. L. Karen, X. Li

Faculty Publications

We are developing a procedure for the quick identification of structural phases in thin film composition spread experiments which map large fractions of compositional phase diagrams of ternary metallic alloy systems. An in-house scanning x-ray microdiffractometer is used to obtain x-ray spectra from 273 different compositions on a single composition spread library. A cluster analysissoftware is then used to sort the spectra into groups in order to rapidly discover the distribution of phases on the ternary diagram. The most representative pattern of each group is then compared to a database of known structures to identify known phases. Using this method, …

Short-Time Transient Analysis Of Intercalation Of An Ion Into A Sphere, Sheba Devan, Ralph E. White

Faculty Publications

A short-time transient analysis is presented for a sinusoidal input potential for a spherical particle. The objective of this work was to extract accurate values of the parameters associated with an intercalation into a spherical particle. These parameters are exchange current density, double-layer capacitance, and diffusion coefficient. The effects of these parameters on the response were examined using a sensitivity analysis, which indicated that optimum frequency values of the input perturbation exist for estimation of these parameters. A procedure is presented to obtain all these parameters using the short-time response. The results show that the short-time analysis is a useful …

Analytical Expression For The Impedance Response Of An Insertion Electrode Cell, Godfrey Sikha, Ralph E. White

Faculty Publications

An analytical expression for the impedance response of an insertion cathode/separator/foil anode cell sandwich is presented. The analytical expression includes the impedance contributions from interfacial kinetics, double-layer adsorption, and solution-phase and solid-phase diffusion processes. The validity of the analytical solution is ascertained by comparison with the numerical solution obtained for a LiCoO2 /polypropylene/lithium metal cell. The flexibility of the analytical solution is utilized to analyze various limiting conditions. An expression to estimate solid-phase diffusion coefficient of insertion species in a porous electrode influenced by the solution-phase diffusion process is also derived

Parameter Estimation And Model Discrimination For A Lithium-Ion Cell, Shriram Santhanagopalan, Qingzhi Guo, Ralph E. White

Faculty Publications

Two different models were used to obtain transport and kinetic parameters using nonlinear regression from experimental charge/discharge curves of a lithium-ion cell measured at 35°C under four rates, C/5, C/2, 1C, and 2C, where the C rate is 1.656A . The Levenberg-Marquardt method was used to estimate parameters in the models such as the diffusion of lithium ions in the positive electrode. A confidence interval for each parameter was also presented. The parameter values lie within their confidence intervals. The use of statistical weights to correct for the scatter in experimental data as well as to treat one set of …

Dworkin V. The Philosophers: A Review Essay On Justice In Robes, Michael S. Green

Faculty Publications

In this review essay, Professor Michael Steven Green argues that Dworkin's reputation among his fellow philosophers has needlessly suffered because of his refusal to back down from his "semantic sting" argument against H. L. A. Hart. Philosophers of law have uniformly rejected the semantic sting argument as a fallacy. Nevertheless Dworkin reaffirms the argument in Justice in Robes, his most recent collection of essays, and devotes much of the book to stubbornly, and unsuccessfully, defending it. This is a pity, because the failure of the semantic sting argument in no way undermines Dworkin's other arguments against Hart.

Biogeography And The Cambrian Radiation Of Arachnomorph Arthropods, Jonathan R. Hendricks, Bruce S. Lieberman

Faculty Publications

Biogeographic patterns in primarily Cambrian arachnomorph taxa are investigated using a recently constructed phylogenetic hypothesis in order to explore the biogeographic context of the Cambrian radiation. A modified version of Brooks Parsimony Analysis is employed to elucidate patterns of vicariance and geodispersal in taxa from six regions (Laurentia, Baltica, Siberia, Australia, Africa and China). Well resolved vicariance and geodispersal trees are very similar and reconstruct Laurentia and China as sister areas. This close area relationship between Laurentia and China provides extensive evidence for congruent vicariance and range expansion in Cambrian arachnomorphs, while data from trilobites do not show this pattern. …

Comment: Boosting Algorithms: Regularization, Prediction And Model Fitting, A. Buja, David Mease, A. Wyner

Faculty Publications

The authors are doing the readers of Statistical Science a true service with a well-written and up-to-date overview of boosting that originated with the seminal algorithms of Freund and Schapire. Equally, we are grateful for high-level software that will permit a larger readership to experiment with, or simply apply, boosting-inspired model fitting. The authors show us a world of methodology that illustrates how a fundamental innovation can penetrate every nook and cranny of statistical thinking and practice. They introduce the reader to one particular interpretation of boosting and then give a display of its potential with extensions from classification (where …

In-Situ Optimized Pwas Phased Arrays For Lamb Wave Structural Health Monitoring, Lingyu Yu, Victor Giurgiutiu

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Are Botanists Becoming The Dinosaurs Of Biology In The 21st Century?, Dennis W. Woodland

Faculty Publications

The number of botany students, botany classes, botany departments in universities and botanists attending conventions has been declining over many years in North America. This is part of a general trend throughout the field of organismal biology, not just botany. The history leading up to the situation today in North America, is discussed and reasons are given for this trend over the last century of time. Seven ways to keep botany a viable occupation are discussed otherwise botany, in the 21st century, may go the way of the dinosaur. © 2007.

Whole Genome Duplications And Contracted Breakpoint Graphs, Max A. Alekseyev, Pavel A. Pevzner

Faculty Publications

The genome halving problem, motivated by the whole genome duplication events in molecular evolution, was solved by El-Mabrouk and Sankoff in the pioneering paper [SIAM J. Comput., 32 (2003), pp. 754–792]. The El-Mabrouk–Sankoff algorithm is rather complex, inspiring a quest for a simpler solution. An alternative approach to the genome halving problem based on the notion of the contracted breakpoint graph was recently proposed in [M. A. Alekseyev and P. A. Pevzner, IEEE/ACM Trans. Comput. Biol. Bioinformatics, 4 (2007), pp. 98–107]. This new technique reveals that while the El-Mabrouk–Sankoff result is correct in most cases, it does not hold in …

Colored De Bruijn Graphs And The Genome Halving Problem, Max A. Alekseyev, Pavel A. Pevzner

Faculty Publications

Breakpoint graph analysis is a key algorithmic technique in studies of genome rearrangements. However, breakpoint graphs are defined only for genomes without duplicated genes, thus limiting their applications in rearrangement analysis. We discuss a connection between the breakpoint graphs and de Bruijn graphs that leads to a generalization of the notion of breakpoint graph for genomes with duplicated genes. We further use the generalized breakpoint graphs to study the Genome Halving Problem (first introduced and solved by Nadia El-Mabrouk and David Sankoff). The El-Mabrouk-Sankoff algorithm is rather complex, and, in this paper, we present an alternative approach that is based …

Cybercraft: Protecting Electronic Systems With Lightweight Agents, Daniel R. Karrels, Gilbert L. Peterson

Faculty Publications

The United States military is seeking new and innovative methods for securing and maintaining its computing and network resources locally and world-wide. This document presents a work-in-progress research thrust toward building a system capable of meeting many of the US military’s network security and sustainment requirements. The system is based on a Distributed Multi-Agent System (DMAS), that is secure, small, and scalable to the large networks found in the military. It relies on a staged agent architecture capable of dynamic configuration to support changing mission environments. These agents are combined into Hierarchical Peer-to-Peer (HP2P) networks to provide scalable solutions. They …

Generating Ontologies Via Language Components And Ontology Reuse, Deryle W. Lonsdale, Yihong Ding, David W. Embley, Martin Hepp, Li Xu

Faculty Publications

Realizing the Semantic Web involves creating ontologies, a tedious and costly challenge. Reuse can reduce the cost of ontology engineering. Semantic Web ontologies can provide useful input for ontology reuse. However, the automated reuse of such ontologies remains underexplored. This paper presents a generic architecture for automated ontology reuse. With our implementation of this architecture, we show the practicality of automating ontology generation through ontology reuse. We experimented with a large generic ontology as a basis for automatically generating domain ontologies that fit the scope of sample natural-language web pages. The results were encouraging, resulting in five lessons pertinent to …

Effects Of Moisture On Ignition Behavior Of Moist California Chaparral And Utah Leaves, Thomas H. Fletcher, Brent M. Pickett, Steven G. Smith, Gregory S. Spittle, Megan M. Woodhouse, Elizabeth Haake, David R. Weise

Faculty Publications

Individual cuttings from eight plant species native to California chaparral or Utah were burned in a well-controlled, well-instrumented facility. Gas temperatures above a flat-flame burner were controlled at 987 C and 10 mol% O₂, resulting in a heat flux at the leaf surface varying from 80–140 kW/m². High moisture leaves were observed to burst due to the rapid escape of vapor from the leaf interior. Bubbles in or on the leaf surface were observed for leaves with moderate moisture contents. A large number of leaf temperature measurements were made, along with measurements of the ignition time …