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Volume 39 - Issue 11 - Thursday, December 18, 2003, Rose Thorn Staff

The Rose Thorn Archive

The Rose Thorn, Rose-Hulman's independent student newspaper.

A Neural Network Approach To Key Frame Extraction, Rajesh Narasimha, Andreas Savakis, Raghuveer M. Rao, Ricardo De Queiroz

Articles

We present a neural network based approach to key frame extraction in the compressed domain. The proposed method is an amalgamation of both the MPEG-7 descriptors namely motion intensity descriptor and spatial activity descriptor. Shot boundary detection and block motion estimation techniques are employed prior to the extraction of the descriptors. The motion intensity (“pace of action”) is obtained using a fuzzy system that classifies the motion intensity into five categories proportional to the intensity. The spatial activity matrix determines the spatial distribution of activity (“active regions”) in a frame. A neural network is used to pick those frames as …

Vista Engineering Awarded Phase Ii Sbir Grant To Develop Diamond Coated Tools Using Uab-Patented Technology, Staff

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Clemson Commencement Program, December 2003, Clemson University

Clemson Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Campus Chronicle (Vol. 6, No. 18), Valparaiso University

Campus Chronicle

No abstract provided.

Murray Ledger And Times, December 18, 2003, Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

12/17/2003 Obituary Records, Hawaii Obituaries

Obituaries

List of Obituaries for individuals who passed away on 12/17/2003. Scroll down to see the names and obituary description.

Mccurdy V. Dodd

2003 Decisions

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

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 …

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 …

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.

A Place For The Birds: The Legacy Of Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, Jessica A. Ryan

Arctic and Northern Studies

This thesis details the farming history and current importance of the Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge in Fairbanks, Alaska. More significantly, it is the story of a grassroots effort by the community of Fairbanks, working with a kindly old farmer, to preserve open land in the heart of a rapidly expanding city for the benefit of the thousands of migrating cranes, geese and ducks that rely upon the grain fields each spring and fall. Because of their vision, Creamer's Field has become a center for environmental education, outdoor recreation, and biological research while actively providing for the needs of wildlife.

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 …

Post-Caldera Eruptions At Okmok Volcano, Umnak Island, Alaska, With Emphasis On Recent Eruptions From Cone A, Delenora M. Grey

Geosciences

Okmok volcano has undergone two caldera-forming eruptions, 12,000 and 2050 BP, and has been quite active in historic time. The historic eruptive record has been compiled and augmented with descriptions and photographs of recent eruptions. Eruptions in 1958 and 1997 produced the first post-caldera lava flows to traverse most of the caldera floor. The source of these flows, Cone A, has been constructed largely during the 20th century. Major element analysis of lavas from eight major intracaldera cones reveals two chemically and spatially separate trends, which suggest two separate magma sources beneath the caldera, one feeding an arc of cones …

Factors Affecting Estuarine Populations Of Nereocystis Luetkeana In Kachemak Bay, Alaska, HéLoïSe Anne Chenelot

Marine Biology

Nereocystis luetkeana forms extensive kelp beds in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Salinity and turbidity gradients apparently regulate kelp bed distribution throughout this estuary. The beds are large at the entrance of the bay, only solitary stands occur in the inner bay, and no kelp is found at the head of the bay. The role of salinity and turbidity on Nereocystis sporophyte growth was investigated by performing reciprocal transplants among three beds along the bay axis and regularly measuring stipe growth. The effects of salinity and light on spores were studied in the laboratory by recording sinking tendency, settlement success, germination success, …

Meeting Notes 2003-12-17 [Part B] , Joint Policy Advisory Committee On Transportation

Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation

No abstract provided.

Meeting Notes 2003-12-17 [Part A] , Joint Policy Advisory Committee On Transportation

Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation

No abstract provided.

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 …

Manufacturing Of Novel Continuous Nanocrystalline Ceramic Nanofibers With Superior Mechanical Properties, Yuris A. Dzenis, Ruqiang Feng, Gustavo F. Larsen, Joseph Turner, Xiao Cheng Zeng

Papers in Nanotechnology

This project is in the area of nanomanufacturing of advanced nanostructured materials. Nanostructured materials (NSMs) with unusual and extreme properties will play a key role in many emerging technologies. However, manufacturing of NSMs with the desired properties is highly complex and currently is over-reliant on empirical data. In this project, a novel manufacturing process producing a new class of ceramic materials, i.e. continuous ceramic nanofibers, is addressed. The novel sol-gel electrospinning technique (patents pending), invented recently by two of the PI’s (Dzenis and Larsen), produces ceramic fibers of submicron diameters with potentially extreme thermomechanical properties. This technique is being analyzed …

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 …

Public Finance Solutions To Vehicle Emissions Problems In California , Don Fullerton, Sarah West

Public Finance Solutions to Vehicle Emissions Problems in California

All urban centers in California violate the Federal standard for ozone. So far, the State has addressed vehicle emission problems with a variety of mandates. In contrast, economic theory suggests that costs of achieving air quality can be minimized by the use of incentive policies such as permits, taxes, or subsidies. The purpose of the research described in this monograph is to explore incentive programs that might be added to the State’s repertoire of effective vehicle pollution reduction policies. The monograph is not very technical in nature, but it explains our theoretical approach, numerical simulation model, and statistical estimation.

We …

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 …

Clemson Trustees Minutes, 2003 December 16, Clemson University Board Of Trustees

Minutes

Minutes of the Teleconference of The Clemson University Board of Trustees. E-305 Martin Hall, Clemson University, Clemson, SC.

Improved Methods And System For Watermarking Halftone Images, Phil Sherry

Theses

Watermarking is becoming increasingly important for content control and authentication. Watermarking seamlessly embeds data in media that provide additional information about that media. Unfortunately, watermarking schemes that have been developed for continuous tone images cannot be directly applied to halftone images. Many of the existing watermarking methods require characteristics that are implicit in continuous tone images, but are absent from halftone images. With this in mind, it seems reasonable to develop watermarking techniques specific to halftones that are equipped to work in the binary image domain. In this thesis, existing techniques for halftone watermarking are reviewed and improvements are developed …

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.

Method For Forming An Antenna And A Radio Frequency Transponder, Ravi F. Saraf

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Patents

A method is disclosed for forming an antenna and a radio frequency transponder. The method comprises the steps of (1) forming a paste comprising metal powder, polymeric material, and solvent; and (2) screening the paste through a screen onto a substrate. Additional steps couple electrical components to the paste and dry the paste.

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 …

Dec 2003, Tractor Museum

Lester F. Larsen Tractor Museum: Planning and Development Documents

Introductions Curator's Report Treasurer's Report