Digital Commons Network^™

Comparison Of The Inverse Probability Of Treatment Weighted (Iptw) Estimator With A Naïve Estimator In The Analysis Of Longitudinal Data With Time-Dependent Confounding: A Simulation Study, Thaddeus Haight, Romain Neugebauer, Ira B. Tager, Mark J. Van Der Laan

U.C. Berkeley Division of Biostatistics Working Paper Series

A simulation study was conducted to compare estimates from a naïve estimator, using standard conditional regression, and an IPTW (Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighted) estimator, to true causal parameters for a given MSM (Marginal Structural Model). The study was extracted from a larger epidemiological study (Longitudinal Study of Effects of Physical Activity and Body Composition on Functional Limitation in the Elderly, by Tager et. al [accepted, Epidemiology, September 2003]), which examined the causal effects of physical activity and body composition on functional limitation. The simulation emulated the larger study in terms of the exposure and outcome variables of interest-- physical …

Seasonal Variation And Ecosystem Dependence Of Emission Factors For Selected Trace Gases And Pm2.5 For Southern African Savanna Fires, S. Korontzi, Darold E. Ward, Ronald A. Susott, Robert J. Yokelson, C. O. Justice, Peter V. Hobbs, E.A. H. Smithwick, Wei Min Hao

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

[1] In this paper we present the first early dry season (early June-early August) emission factor measurements for carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH₄), nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC), and particulates with a diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM_2.5) for southern African grassland and woodland fires. Seasonal emission factors for grassland fires correlate linearly with the proportion of green grass, used as a surrogate for the fuel moisture content, and are higher for products of incomplete combustion in the early part of the dry season compared with later in the dry season. Models of …

Comparison Of Blood Parameters Associated With Exercise And The Total Antioxidant Power In Sled Dogs Supplemented With Blueberries, Kriya L. Dunlap

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Oxidative damage from free radicals plays an important role in several diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and heart disease. Research indicates that exercise may contribute to oxidative stress. Fruits, such as blueberries, are good antioxidants because they contain phenolics that preferentially react with free radicals. Maintaining antioxidant levels by supplementing the diet with blueberries may prevent exercise-induced oxidative damage. Additionally, oxidative damage from exercise can temporarily suppress the immune system. The goal of our study was to compare antioxidant levels in sled dogs supplemented with blueberries. Total antioxidant power (TAP), haptoglobin, isoprostane and other blood parameters were measured in …

Exacting Tests: Determining When A Taking Is Unconstitutional, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In the past, courts generally deferred to legislatures when determining whether a law constitutes a regulatory taking. However, not all regulations are treated equal, and different tests apply to different types of regulations. Types of land use actions with a lower threshold of constitutionally include exactions, and regulations that apply fixed fee schedules to private landowners. This article combs both federal and New York law to come to the clear determination that universal standards exist for each type of regulation.

Camden City Environmental Center Site Based Curriculum And Teacher Activity Guide, Wanda D. Little

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this curriculum and teacher activity guide is to provide Camden City School District's Environmental Center Program with a curriculum for kindergarten through fourth grade students. The curriculum provides students with site-based lessons and activities that are aligned and correlated with New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards for Science, and the Excellence in Environmental Education Guidelines For Learning (K - 12). The Site-Based Curriculum and Teacher Activity Guide, upon approval by the Camden City School District Board of Education, will provide students with guided discovery experiences that introduce new ideas, dispel misconceptions and reinforce previous learning.

The scope …

An In Vitro Analysis Of Neuronal Survival In Response To Hormones And Photoperiod In The Hvc Of The Songbird Junco Hyemalis, Catherine Martin Humphries

Chemistry and Biochemistry

The ability of songbirds to sing is essential for their survival, proper reproductive behavior, and territorial establishment. Male and female juvenile passerine songbirds learn their song through the formation of a song template in their earliest days of life, first by listening to their parents, and then followed by auditory feedback against their own templates to crystallize their individual songs. However, in most passerine species, only the adult males actually sing on a seasonal basis with little to no singing during winter, followed by a phase of song production in the spring in correlation with increased plasma testosterone concentration and …

Chemical And Mass Spectral Studies Of 2,2-Dialkylglycine Decarboxylase, Julie Ann La Rocca-Brigham

Chemistry and Biochemistry

2,2-Dialkylglycine Decarboxylase, DGD, is a decarboxylating transaminase that is dependent on a vitamin B6 cofactor, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP). DGD catalyzes the decomposition of 2-methylalanine in two steps. DGD was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and ion-exchange chromatography. The enzyme was reduced to form a covalent bond between the enzyme and the PLP. Also, [alpha]-(Trifluoromethyl) Alanine, a suicide mechanism based inhibitor was reacted with DGD until the enzyme was completely inactivated. The nonmodified DGD and these two modified forms of the enzyme were subjected to enzymatic digestion by trypsin. Finally, all three peptide mixtures were analyzed by LC/MS/MS. The mass spectra …

Timing Of Breeding And Reproductive Success In A Subarctic Population Of Yellow Warblers (Dendroica Petechia), Kristine Marie Sowl

Biological Sciences

Detailed knowledge of reproductive rates is necessary for understanding population dynamics, but this information is lacking for many populations of migratory songbirds. I examined breeding chronology and reproductive success of Yellow Warblers (Dendroica petechia) breeding in east central Alaska in 1997-2000. Yellow Warblers nested in both spruce forest and willow shrub habitats, but breeding density and nest success were greater in shrub habitat. Annual productivity was influenced by the number of breeding attempts per female, clutch size, success of individual eggs or nestlings, and nest success. Mean clutch size was larger than in lower latitude populations and decreased seasonally. The …

The Role Of Mammalian Herbivores In Primary Succession On The Tanana River Floodplain, Interior Alaska, Lemuel Gordon Butler

Biological Sciences

I compared willow (Salix) communities along the Tanana River exposed to varying levels of herbivory to examine how herbivory influences the landscape distribution of vegetation. Moose (Alces alces) and snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) herbivory decreased plant biomass and canopy height and increased the proportion of dead stems in willow communities. Herbivory also shifted the age distribution of plants in willow communities towards younger age classes, and also decreased the number of communities dominated by willow on the landscape. A frame-based simulation model was built to incorporate the effects of herbivory and river fluvial dynamics on plant succession. My results show …

Fluid Flow In Oscillating Cavities, Srivathsan Ragunathan

Engineering

Oscillatory flows have gained considerable research attention in the recent decades following an interest in transport enhancement in micro-electronic devices. Heat transfer enhancement due to flow modulation has an inherent advantage over conventional mechanical heat transfer components in terms of reduction in weight and space. The present work is aimed at studying fluid flow in oscillating square cavities as a first step towards heat transfer enhancement. A commercial CFD code, Fluent, was used to model a test case consisting of Stokes' second problem, with a source code written in the C programming language. The simulated results were in good agreement …

Investigation And Development Of A Mathematical Model For The Oxidation Of Cyanide In The Inco So₂/O₂ Process, James L. Oleson

Engineering

The purpose of this study was to develop a mathematical model to describe the oxidation of cyanide with SO₂ as proposed in the INCO process. This research employed a direct method for measuring the change in cyanide concentration with respect to time as affected by varying concentrations of SO₂ and copper and pH. This model may be applicable in determining optimum conditions in a process well known and used in the mining industry.

Multiple Testing. Part Ii. Step-Down Procedures For Control Of The Family-Wise Error Rate, Mark J. Van Der Laan, Sandrine Dudoit, Katherine S. Pollard

U.C. Berkeley Division of Biostatistics Working Paper Series

The present article proposes two step-down multiple testing procedures for asymptotic control of the family-wise error rate (FWER): the first procedure is based on maxima of test statistics (step-down maxT), while the second relies on minima of unadjusted p-values (step-down minP). A key feature of our approach is the test statistics null distribution (rather than data generating null distribution) used to derive cut-offs (i.e., rejection regions) for these test statistics and the resulting adjusted p-values. For general null hypotheses, corresponding to submodels for the data generating distribution, we identify an asymptotic domination condition for a null distribution under which the …

Board Of Trustees Meeting Minutes 2003-12-16, Bowling Green State University

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes

The official meeting minutes of Bowling Green State University's Board of Trustees.

Dual Stage Microvalue And Method Of Use, Marc J. Madou, Sylvia Daunert

Chemistry Faculty Patents

A micro-machined drug delivery device and method of use for the delivery of labile drugs is disclosed. A micro-machined sensing device and method of use is also disclosed. A micro-machined drug delivery and sensing device and method of use is additionally disclosed. All three devices are intended to be inserted into a patient's body. The drug delivery devices allow for the mixing of drug components prior to the release of the mixture into the patient's body where the mixture is labile. The micro-machined sensing device is suitable for monitoring the concentration of a specific chemical in a patient's body fluids …

Where Are The Women Geoscientist Professors?, Mary Anne Holmes, Suzanne O'Connell

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Nearly 50 geo- and social scientists recently gathered for a workshop on women in the geosciences. The two-fold purpose was to compile data on the status of women in the geosciences, and to arrive at a consensus on strategies to increase the proportion of women and their diversity in the field. The Workshop on Women in the Geosciences was held September 25-27, 2003, in Washington, D.C.

Multiple Testing. Part I. Single-Step Procedures For Control Of General Type I Error Rates, Sandrine Dudoit, Mark J. Van Der Laan, Katherine S. Pollard

U.C. Berkeley Division of Biostatistics Working Paper Series

The present article proposes general single-step multiple testing procedures for controlling Type I error rates defined as arbitrary parameters of the distribution of the number of Type I errors, such as the generalized family-wise error rate. A key feature of our approach is the test statistics null distribution (rather than data generating null distribution) used to derive cut-offs (i.e., rejection regions) for these test statistics and the resulting adjusted p-values. For general null hypotheses, corresponding to submodels for the data generating distribution, we identify an asymptotic domination condition for a null distribution under which single-step common-quantile and common-cut-off procedures asymptotically …

Heat Capacity Estimators For Random Series Path-Integral Methods By Finite-Difference Schemes, Cristian Predescu, Dubravko Sabo, J. D. Doll, David L. Freeman

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Previous heat capacity estimators used in path integral simulations either have large variances that grow to infinity with the number of path variables or require the evaluation of first- and second-order derivatives of the potential. In the present paper, we show that the evaluation of the total energy by the T-method estimator and of the heat capacity by the TT-method estimator can be implemented by a finite difference scheme in a stable fashion. As such, the variances of the resulting estimators are finite and the evaluation of the estimators requires the potential function only. By comparison with the task of …

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda, December 15, 2003, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• EPC Business
• Scholarship Advisory Board
• Research Council
• Council on Teacher Education
• Aggie Ecology
• New University Website
• Student Government Update
• Course Evaluations on the web

Thermal Analysis Of Welding On Aluminum Plates, Rong-Hua Yeh, Shih-Pin Liaw, Hong-Bin Yu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study investigated the temperature distribution of aluminum plates welded by gas tungsten arc. The heat of fusion, the size and distribution of heat source, the travel speed, the heat conduction in the welding direction and the surface heat loss during welding were considered. A numerical scheme was developed to solve the threedimensional problem. With the help of a mathematical model, the effect of welding parameters such as heat input of the weld, preheating of the workpiece and moving velocity of heat source on weld penetration in moderately thick plates were discussed. The steady-state temperature profiles of the welded plate …

A Novel Approach To Determine The Astronomical Vessel Position, Chih-Li Chen, Tien-Pen Hsu, Jiang-Ren Chang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In this paper, a novel approach based on the trigonometric equation solving technique is developed to solve the classical problem of celestial navigation. It is shown that this approach, namely, the simultaneous equal-altitude equations method (SEEM), can directly calculate the astronomical vessel position (AVP) without an additional graphical procedure. It is also found that the SEEM is not only simpler than the matrix method but is also more straightforward as compared with the spherical triangle method. In addition, aimed at the drawbacks of the intercept method, an improved approach with the new computation procedure is presented to plot the celestial …

Holy Cross Magazine, Vol. 38, No. 1, Winter 2004, College Of The Holy Cross

Holy Cross Magazine

The Fight Club in the Field House
The “sweet science” never gained a lasting foothold on The Hill, but the College does possess a pugilistic history.
By Michael E. Neagle ’98

Becoming Partners in Mission
Holy Cross Jesuits have been traveling to Bolivia, where an innovative network of educational initiatives is changing lives.
By Paul E. Kandarian

Heroes of the Gridiron
A new book by Wally Carew recalls the football rivalry between Holy Cross and Boston College that lasted almost a century.
By Patrick Maloney ’02

“Drive and determination”
Susie Whelan ’07 puts everything on the line every time she …

Experimenting With Tcpa/Tcg Hardware, Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bear, John Marchesini, Sean Smith, Omen Wild, Rich Macdonald

Computer Science Technical Reports

Over the last few years, our group has been working on applications of secure coprocessors---but has been frustrated by the limited computational environment and high expense of such devices. Over the last few years, the TCPA (now TCG) has produced a specification for a trusted platform module (TPM)---a small hardware addition intended to improve the overall security of a larger machine (and tied up with a still-murky vision of Windows-based trusted computing). Some commodity desktops now come up with these TPMs. Consequently, we began an experiment to see if (in the absence of a Non-Disclosure Agreement) we could use this …

2003 - 2004 Bulletin, Loma Linda University

School of Public Health Bulletins

Loma Linda University
Bulletin of the School of Public Health
2003-2004

Volume 92, Number 2, December 15, 2003

Investigation Of Nanodispersion In Polystyrene-Montmorillonite Nanocomposites By Solid State Nmr, Serge Bourbigot, David L. Vanderhart, Jeffery W. Gilman Sr., Walid Awad, Rick D. Davis, Alexander B. Morgan, Charles A. Wilkie

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

Nanocomposites result from combinations of materials with vastly different properties in the nanometer scale. These materials exhibit many unique properties such as improved thermal stability, reduced flammability, and improved mechanical properties. Many of the properties associated with polymer–clay nanocomposites are a function of the extent of exfoliation of the individual clay sheets or the quality of the nanodispersion. This work demonstrates that solid-state NMR can be used to characterize, quantitatively, the nanodispersion of variously modified montmorillonite (MMT) clays in polystyrene (PS) matrices. The direct influence of the paramagnetic Fe3, embedded in the aluminosilicate layers of MMT, on polymer protons within …

Computer-Aided Optimal Design Of A Single-Chamber Muffler With Side Inlet/Outlet Under Space Constraints, Long-Jyi Yeh, Ying-Chun Chang, Min-Chie Chiu, Gaung-Jer Lay

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Whilst the muffler dimension is often limited inside a building or machine room, the consideration of maximal sound transmission loss (STL) under space constraints becomes important and essential to the field of acoustics. In this paper, the optimal design of a singlechamber muffler with side inlet/outlet is comprehensively presented. Both the graphic analysis and the computer-aided numerical assessments are also fully described in this study. With the computer graphic analysis on sensitivity, one set of design data is derived primarily, and the numerical searching algorithm of iteration technique and the initial design data are then carried out. These results are …

Book Reviews In The Earth And Atmospheric Sciences Journal Literature, Carolyn Laffoon, Michael Fosmire

Libraries Research Publications

As library budgets continue to lag behind increases in the cost of scholarly information in the geosciences, it becomes increasingly important for librarians to make good choices in collection development. One way to get more information about books to make an informed acquisition decision is through reading reviews, and especially timely reviews. Whereas the major book review indexes only cover geoscience titles sporadically, the authors decided to undertake a full study of the literature in earth and atmospheric sciences to find out which journals contain book reviews, and how old the books are that are reviewed. This study is modeled …

Are Stock Prices Related To New York's Climatic Conditions?, Matthew M. Cullen

Honors Theses

The past five years has shown tremendous growth in a new wave and style of investing strategy. This new style, known as behavioral investing, attempts to analyze financial markets through the eye of a social scientist rather than a financial professional. Its followers try to see market movements as affected not necessarily by the business or economy but by the cognition and mood of buyers and seller. This paper analyzes the effect of climatic conditions on mood and the effect that has on market movements and volume. For the most part, it was found that there is no significant relationship …

University Of Central Florida Commencement, December 15 & 16, 2003, University Of Central Florida

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Strong Field Detachment Of A Negative Ion With Non-Zero Angular Momentum: Application To F-, M. V. Frolov, N. L. Manakov, E. A. Pronin, Anthony F. Starace

Anthony F. Starace Publications

We apply our recently developed, model-independent quantum approach for intense laser detachment of a weakly bound electron to interpret a recent experiment on above-threshold detachment (ATD) of the F^- ion. We find that the measured electron energies correspond to the “Keldysh part” of the ATD spectrum, just below the onset of our predicted rescattering plateau. Overall, our predicted ATD spectrum (using a scaled peak intensity and focal averaging) is in excellent agreement with the experimental data, except for certain structures observed for electron energies above 12.6 eV that we attribute to known two-electron resonances of F^-. A …

Fall 2003 Commencement - The University Of Texas Of The Permian Basin, The University Of Texas Permian Basin

UTPB Commencement Programs

Fall 2014 Commencement - December 13, 2003