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1999

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The Limits Of Social Choice Theory: A Defense Of The Voting Rights Act, Grant M. Hayden Jan 1999

The Limits Of Social Choice Theory: A Defense Of The Voting Rights Act, Grant M. Hayden

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

This Article presents a defense to the challenge that social choice theory presents to voting rights. Arrows theorem, the crown jewel of social choice theory, holds that no voting procedure that meets some minimal conditions of democratic fairness can ensure transitive, meaningful outcomes. The theorem provides a powerful argument against the ability of any court to devise objective vote dilution standards. Because such standards are now a necessary element of claims under section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, Arrows theorem may be viewed as a fundamental threat to the viability of all such claims. The defense of voting rights …

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Identification Of Polluting Vehicles By Remote Sensing, Donald H. Stedman Jan 1999

Identification Of Polluting Vehicles By Remote Sensing, Donald H. Stedman

Fuel Efficiency Automobile Test Publications

No abstract provided.

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A Classification Of Techniques For The Compensation Of Time Delayed Processes. Part 1: Parameter Optimised Controllers, Aidan O'Dwyer, John Ringwood Jan 1999

A Classification Of Techniques For The Compensation Of Time Delayed Processes. Part 1: Parameter Optimised Controllers, Aidan O'Dwyer, John Ringwood

Conference papers

An extensive literature exists on the compensation of time delayed processes. It is possible to identify themes that are common to many of the available techniques. The intention of the two parts of this paper is to provide a framework against which the literature may be viewed; Part 1 of the paper considers the use of parameter optimised controllers for the compensation problem, with Part 2 of the paper considering the use of structurally optimised compensators. Conclusions are drawn at the end of Part 2.

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A Classification Of Techniques For The Compensation Of Time Delayed Processes. Part 2: Structurally Optimised Controllers, Aidan O'Dwyer, John Ringwood Jan 1999

A Classification Of Techniques For The Compensation Of Time Delayed Processes. Part 2: Structurally Optimised Controllers, Aidan O'Dwyer, John Ringwood

Conference papers

Following on from Part 1, Part 2 of the paper considers the use of structurally optimised controllers to compensate time delayed processes.

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Annual Report 1 September 1998 - 31 August, 1999, Dublin Institute Of Technology Jan 1999

Annual Report 1 September 1998 - 31 August, 1999, Dublin Institute Of Technology

DIT Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

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Legal Rules And Social Reform, Emily Sherwin Jan 1999

Legal Rules And Social Reform, Emily Sherwin

San Diego Law Review

Rules are designed to reduce error by prescribing actions that, in the run of cases, will produce better results than the subjects of rules would obtain if they judged for themselves what to do. At the same time, rules sometimes produce errors when applied to particular cases. If the sum of error under rules is less than the sum of error rules prevent, then the rule-making authority has reason to issue "serious" rules-rules to be followed in every case. Because rules are imperfect, however, the subjects of rules do not always have good reason to follow them. This means that …

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Real-Time Remote Sensing Of Snowmobiles Emissions At Yellowstone National Park: An Oxygenated Fuel Study, 1999, Jerome A. Morris, Gary A. Bishop, Donald H. Stedman Jan 1999

Real-Time Remote Sensing Of Snowmobiles Emissions At Yellowstone National Park: An Oxygenated Fuel Study, 1999, Jerome A. Morris, Gary A. Bishop, Donald H. Stedman

Fuel Efficiency Automobile Test Publications

No abstract provided.

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Intelligent Control Strategies For An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, Paul Jason Craven Jan 1999

Intelligent Control Strategies For An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, Paul Jason Craven

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The dynamic characteristics of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) present a control problem that classical methods cannot often accommodate easily. Fundamentally, AUV dynamics are highly non-linear, and the relative similarity between the linear and angular velocities about each degree of freedom means that control schemes employed within other flight vehicles are not always applicable. In such instances, intelligent control strategies offer a more sophisticated approach to the design of the control algorithm. Neurofuzzy control is one such technique, which fuses the beneficial properties of neural networks and fuzzy logic in a hybrid control architecture. Such an approach is highly suited to …

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Modelling Of Swash Zone Sediment Transport On Coarse Grained Beaches, Eur Ing Erik Van Wellen Jan 1999

Modelling Of Swash Zone Sediment Transport On Coarse Grained Beaches, Eur Ing Erik Van Wellen

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

A review is presented which assesses the importance of the swash zone as a potential contributor to the longshore and cross-shore transport on steep coarse-grained beaches. Based on this review it is apparent that the swash zone on such beaches forms an important contributor to both the longshore and the cross-shore transport. The review also identifies that the swash zone is neglected in all but a few sediment transport models. In addition, a lack of available shingle beach field data against which to validate existing and new transport models is also reported. Two surf zone integrated equations are presented with …

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Human Control Of Robotic Mechanisms: Modelling And Assessment Of Assistive Devices, Cathy-Ann Leonie Radix Jan 1999

Human Control Of Robotic Mechanisms: Modelling And Assessment Of Assistive Devices, Cathy-Ann Leonie Radix

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The prescription and use of Assistive Technology, particularly teleprostheses, may be enhanced by the use of standard assessment techniques. For input devices, in particular, existing assessment studies, most of which are based on Fitts' Law, have produced contradictory results. This thesis has made contributions to these and related fields, particularly in the following four areas. Fitts' Law (and background information theory) is examined. The inability of this paradigm to match experimental results is noted and explained. Following a review of the contributing fields, a new method of assessing input devices is proposed, based on Fitts' Law, classical control and the …

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Reducing The Computational Effort Associated With Evolutionary Optimisation In Single Component Design, Harish Dhanji Vekeria Jan 1999

Reducing The Computational Effort Associated With Evolutionary Optimisation In Single Component Design, Harish Dhanji Vekeria

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The dissertation presents innovative Evolutionary Search (ES) methods for the reduction in computational expense associated with the optimisation of highly dimensional design spaces. The objective is to develop a semi-automated system which successfully negotiates complex search spaces. Such a system would be highly desirable to a human designer by providing optimised design solutions in realistic time. The design domain represents a real-world industrial problem concerning the optimal material distribution on the underside of a flat roof tile with varying load and support conditions. The designs utilise a large number of design variables (circa 400). Due to the high computational expense …

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Airline Overbooking In The Multi-Class Case, Joseph Coughlan Jan 1999

Airline Overbooking In The Multi-Class Case, Joseph Coughlan

Articles

This paper presents an airline overbooking model at a class level for one servcie compartment-cabin. Class level demand data i sused to determine the number of bookings that can be taken for each class. The model is optimised through the use of mulit-dimentsional search routines. The control level model developed is tested with data supplied by Ireland's national airline, Aer Lingus. The model shows a significant improvement over previous methods employed by Aer Lingus and was subsequently adopted by the airline.

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A Fibre Optical Strain Sensor, Thomas David Paul Allsop Jan 1999

A Fibre Optical Strain Sensor, Thomas David Paul Allsop

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Strain-sensing elements, fabricated in standard communications-grade single mode optical fibre, are increasingly being considered for application in structural health monitoring. The reason for this is the numerous advantages demonstrated by these devices compared with traditional indicators. This thesis describes work carried out on optical sensors at the University of Plymouth. The aim of this work was to achieve an optical fibre strain sensing system capable of measuring absolute strain with good resolution and having wide dynamic range, without bulky optical equipment and not susceptible to misalignment due to handling. Earlier work was devoted to study on an intrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric …

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Rapid Clock Recovery Algorithms For Digital Magnetic Recording And Data Communications, Paul Michael Smithson Jan 1999

Rapid Clock Recovery Algorithms For Digital Magnetic Recording And Data Communications, Paul Michael Smithson

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The 1990's may well be considered as the era of information technology, with the prevalence of computers, digital communications and hence the need for data storage. Diverse data storage media have been introduced, such as silicon (flash memory) [3] and the CD (Compact Disk) [4], however improvements in magnetic recording has resulted in magnetic media as the prominent leader in mass storage technology. With improvements to the storage medium, the read/write heads and the channel electronics, the capacity of magnetic rigid disks has approximately doubled every 3 years (period 1960-90) [5]. These improvements to the channel, coupled with fast data-access …

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Modelling The Fisheries Of Lake Manzala, Egypt, Using Parametric And Non-Parametric Statistical Methods, Medhat Mohamed Ahmed Abdelaal Jan 1999

Modelling The Fisheries Of Lake Manzala, Egypt, Using Parametric And Non-Parametric Statistical Methods, Medhat Mohamed Ahmed Abdelaal

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Much attention has been given to the economic aspects of the fisheries in Egypt, while building a statistical or mathematical model for fish production has received little attention. This study is devoted to a comprehensive assessment of Lake Manzala fisheries; past, present and future. Lake Manzala is one of the main fisheries resources in Egypt, and there is evidence that the fisheries have been over-exploited in recent years. The study objectives were to determine the factors that affect fish catches by individual vessels, to compare between parametric and non-parametric models of the fish catches, and to produce a mathematical model …

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Advanced Magnetic Thin-Film Heads Under Read-While-Write Operation, Frank Zhigang Wang Jan 1999

Advanced Magnetic Thin-Film Heads Under Read-While-Write Operation, Frank Zhigang Wang

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

A Read-While-Write (RWW) operation for tape and/or potentially disk applications is needed in the following three cases: 1. High reliability; 2. Data servo systems; 3. Buried servo systems. All these applications mean that the read (servo) head and write head are operative simultaneously. Consequently, RWW operation will require work to suppress the so-called crossfeed field radiation from the write head. Traditionally, write-read crossfeed has been reduced in conventional magnetic recording heads by a variety of screening methods, but the effectness of these methods is very limited. On the other hand, the early theoretical investigations of the crossfeed problem concentrating on …

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Using Xml To Network Distributed Analytical Instruments: Back To The Future?, Benjamin Jung, Damon Berry, Jane Grimson Jan 1999

Using Xml To Network Distributed Analytical Instruments: Back To The Future?, Benjamin Jung, Damon Berry, Jane Grimson

Conference Papers

There has been a paradigm shift in medical informatics standards in recent years from the message-oriented approach to a more distributed systems approach. However, despite all the early promise of distributed applications, they haven't been widely adopted in the health domain for various reasons. As a result, despite an increasing need for a standardised distributed solution for analytical laboratory instruments, many implementers of instrument interfaces are still using proprietary serial interfaces which do not support distribution. The emergence of the eXtended Markup Language (XML) specification in 1998 revived the fortunes of the messaged oriented methodology. This paper presents a partial …

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Field Methods To Enhance Degradation Of Nitrate In Surficial Soils, Urko Atxotegi Alegria Jan 1999

Field Methods To Enhance Degradation Of Nitrate In Surficial Soils, Urko Atxotegi Alegria

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

An environmental field study was conducted from April to October 1998 in the Black Hawk County, Iowa. The main goal of the study was to find an appropriate field method to enhance degradation of nitrates in the surficial soil. Seven different methods were developed in the study to compare between four variables. The variables that were investigated were the source of nitrates, the moisture content of the soil, the uptake by plants and the total carbon content of the soil. The investigation has also been conducted to find out the specific influence of each parameter on landuse. A weather station …

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Portfolio Assessment In High School Chemistry, Mark M. Laporte Jan 1999

Portfolio Assessment In High School Chemistry, Mark M. Laporte

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This is a report of one high school chemistry teacher's experience of implementing portfolio assessment in his classroom. This project was carried out using a teacher as researcher model. The chemistry classes were p1imarily composed of 11th grade students in a rural midwestern high school setting. This thesis reviews some of the literature regarding alternative assessment focusing particularly on the literature related to portfolio assessment. The chemistry portfolio design is explained in detail including a rationale for each of the portfolio elements. The teacher developed nine portfolio elements of which the students were required to complete five. The nine elements …

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Degradation Of Explosives In Solution Using Bacteria, A Fungus (Phanerochaete Chrysosporium), Titanium Dioxide, Ozone, And Electrochemical Peroxidation, Stéphane Debost Jan 1999

Degradation Of Explosives In Solution Using Bacteria, A Fungus (Phanerochaete Chrysosporium), Titanium Dioxide, Ozone, And Electrochemical Peroxidation, Stéphane Debost

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

As a result of munitions manufacturing and decommissioning, explosive compounds have contaminated groundwater and soils at many sites throughout the U.S. and worldwide. Three of the most commonly occurring explosive contaminants are TNT, ROX, and HMX. Many processes, biological as well as physical, have been developed to remediate the contaminated material. But feasibility studies rarely take into account the three contaminants at once. We chose four of the technologies used to remediate explosives-contaminated water and studied comparatively their effectiveness and efficiency in degrading TNT, ROX, and HMX in solution at their maximal solubilities. The chosen technologies were bacterial and fungal …

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Analog Hardware Implementation Of Continuous-Time Adaptive Filter Structures, John G. Harris, Jui Kuo Juan, Jose C. Principe Jan 1999

Analog Hardware Implementation Of Continuous-Time Adaptive Filter Structures, John G. Harris, Jui Kuo Juan, Jose C. Principe

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We have implemented a four-tap adaptive filter in a continuous-time analog VLSI circuit. Since an ideal delay is impossible to implement in continuous-time hardware, we implemented the delay line as a cascade of low-pass filters (called the gamma filter). Since many years of research in our lab has shown that the gamma filter outperforms the ideal delay line for a wide range of applications, the gamma filter should not be considered merely a crude approximation of the ideal delay line. We show measured results from an analog chip that solves the problem of system identification-identifying an unknown linear circuit from …

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In-Clip Search Algorithm For Content-Based Audio Retrieval, Punpiti Piamsa-Nga, Nikitas A. Alexandridis, Sanan Srakaew, George C. Blankenship, S. R. Subramanya Jan 1999

In-Clip Search Algorithm For Content-Based Audio Retrieval, Punpiti Piamsa-Nga, Nikitas A. Alexandridis, Sanan Srakaew, George C. Blankenship, S. R. Subramanya

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Researchers are currently more interested in searching for fragments that are similar to a query, than a total data item that is similar to a query; the search interest is for "contains", not "is". The paper presents an O(logn) algorithm, called the "generalized virtual node (GVN)" algorithm; the GVN algorithm is a search algorithm for data fragments that have similar contents to that of a query. An example of the use of the GVN algorithm is in the search of a database of audio recordings for a few measures of a melody. Each audio clip is transformed into characteristic features …

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A Distributed Algorithm For The Classification Of Images On A Network Of Workstations, S. R. Subramanya Jan 1999

A Distributed Algorithm For The Classification Of Images On A Network Of Workstations, S. R. Subramanya

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Image databases require content-based queries and retrievals. Fast and accurate retrievals for user queries depend on efficient indexing and searching schemes. The classification of images into different categories (classes) is an important task which facilitates the indexing and searching process. The classification of huge amounts of image data place enormous demands on computational requirements. Network of workstations (NOWs, also sometimes called clusters) are a cost-effective way of providing the much-needed computational power in such applications. This paper presents a distributed scheme for the classification of images in an image database, using a network of workstations. The results of the classification …

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On-Road Remote Sensing Of Automobile Emissions In The Chicago Area: Year 2, Peter J. Popp, Gary A. Bishop, Donald H. Stedman Jan 1999

On-Road Remote Sensing Of Automobile Emissions In The Chicago Area: Year 2, Peter J. Popp, Gary A. Bishop, Donald H. Stedman

Fuel Efficiency Automobile Test Publications

No abstract provided.

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Search For Charginos And Neutralinos In E+E- Collisions At Centre-Of-Mass Energies Near 183 Gev And Constraints On The Mssm Parameter Space, R. Barate, M. Thulasidas Jan 1999

Search For Charginos And Neutralinos In E+E- Collisions At Centre-Of-Mass Energies Near 183 Gev And Constraints On The Mssm Parameter Space, R. Barate, M. Thulasidas

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Searches for charginos and neutralinos are performed with the data collected by the ALEPH detector at LEP at centre-of-mass energies near 183 GeV. In these searches, it is assumed that R-parity is conserved and that the lightest neutralino is the LSP. No evidence of a signal is observed in the 57 pb−1−1 accumulated, which excludes chargino and associated neutralino production up to the kinematic limit over large regions of the MSSM parameter space. Under the assumptions of common gaugino and common sfermion masses at the unification scale, the interplay between the chargino, neutralino and slepton exclusion limits allows a lower …

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Meiosis: The Analysis Of Using A Modified Teaching Approach, Christine Marie Graf Jan 1999

Meiosis: The Analysis Of Using A Modified Teaching Approach, Christine Marie Graf

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

It is well documented that to successfully learn genetics an understanding of meiosis is often thought necessary, and to effectively learn meiosis, knowledge ofDNA structure is also thought to be necessary. Based on student misconception research, recommendations for teaching meiosis suggests several modifications of the teaching approach. This study investigated whether the concept of meiosis could be learned successfully by the use of a modified teaching approach based specifically on research recommendations. Modifications included (a) using student generated diagrams, (b) reducing the amount of vocabulary, ( c) clarifying and differentiating the terms used, ( d) using the cell cycle to …

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Magnetic And Crystallographic Properties Of Lani₅₋ₓfex, C. Tan, Oran Allan Pringle, Mingxing Chen, William B. Yelon, J. Gebhardt, Naushad Ali, C. Y. Tai, G. K. Marasinghe, George Daniel Waddill, William Joseph James Jan 1999

Magnetic And Crystallographic Properties Of Lani₅₋ₓfex, C. Tan, Oran Allan Pringle, Mingxing Chen, William B. Yelon, J. Gebhardt, Naushad Ali, C. Y. Tai, G. K. Marasinghe, George Daniel Waddill, William Joseph James

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

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Double Electron Removal And Fragmentation Model Of The [Formula Presented] Molecule By Highly Charged Ions, C. J. Wood, Ronald E. Olson Jan 1999

Double Electron Removal And Fragmentation Model Of The [Formula Presented] Molecule By Highly Charged Ions, C. J. Wood, Ronald E. Olson

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

A five-body classical trajectory Monte Carlo model has been developed to study double electron removal from H2 by collisions with highly charged ions at impact energies ranging from 1 eV/u to 1 GeV/u. The longitudinal and transverse final-state correlation between ejected electrons is calculated for double ionization of H2 by impact of Se28+ at 3.6 MeV/u and U92+ at 1 GeV/u; the electron-electron interaction is dynamically included during the collision when one of the electron’s total energy becomes positive. Relativistic corrections are incorporated to reflect the Lorentz contraction of the projectile’s electric field. The cross-section dependence …

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Five-Body Calculations Of [Formula Presented] Fragmentation By [Formula Presented] Impact, C. R. Feeler, Ronald E. Olson, Robert D. Dubois, T. Schlathölter, O. Hadjar, R. Hoekstra, R. Morgenstern Jan 1999

Five-Body Calculations Of [Formula Presented] Fragmentation By [Formula Presented] Impact, C. R. Feeler, Ronald E. Olson, Robert D. Dubois, T. Schlathölter, O. Hadjar, R. Hoekstra, R. Morgenstern

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

A five-body classical trajectory Monte Carlo model has been developed to study fragmentation of diatomic molecules after double electron removal by highly charged ion impact. A systematic study of the final-state deuteron energy and momentum spectra has been conducted for Xe19+ + D2 collisions at impact energies ranging from 1 eV/u to 100 keV/u. At the highest projectile energies, the fragment energies and momenta are determined by the Coulomb explosion of the doubly ionized molecule via the known Franck-Condon transition for the isolated molecule. The deuterons are emitted back-to-back with nearly equal energies. At the lowest projectile energies, …

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Kbbg-Fm: Communicating To Educate, Edward W. Ellis Jr. Jan 1999

Kbbg-Fm: Communicating To Educate, Edward W. Ellis Jr.

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

"KBBG-FM: Communicating to Educate" is a qualitative study conducted to examine an African-American owned and operated, public, listener-supported radio station in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls community in Northeast Iowa. The researcher wanted to study how such a local radio station reaches out to its community. A review of literature revealed since the passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, radio has become less and less diversified, harming community localism in radio. Minority ownership of radio has also declined to an even smaller scale than before the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Based on the review of literature, the researcher formed four research questions for …

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