Digital Commons Network^™

Algorithms For Stochastic Finite Memory Control Of Partially Observable Systems, Gaurav Marwah

Theses and Dissertations

A partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) is a mathematical framework for planning and control problems in which actions have stochastic effects and observations provide uncertain state information. It is widely used for research in decision-theoretic planning and reinforcement learning. % To cope with partial observability, a policy (or plan) must use memory, and previous work has shown that a finite-state controller provides a good policy representation. This thesis considers a previously-developed bounded policy iteration algorithm for POMDPs that finds policies that take the form of stochastic finite-state controllers. Two new improvements of this algorithm are developed. First improvement provides …

Object Oriented Development Of A Mathematical Equation Editor, Levi Russell Stahl

Theses and Dissertations

Computers since their inception have been used to solve engineering problems. Toward support of next-generation, customizable, generalized software, a mathematical equation editor has been designed, developed, and tested using object oriented (OO) programming techniques. The motivating purpose of this equation editor is to allow a user to graphically define mathematical equations to be solved in a computational partial differential equation-based problem solving environment. The OO scripting language Python was used in conjunction with the OO GUI toolkit Qt to create the editor. Analysis of the underlying abstraction of a general equation yielded the key concept of an information-holding bounding box. …

Multiresolution Based, Multisensor, Multispectral Image Fusion, Pushkar S. Pradhan

Theses and Dissertations

Spaceborne sensors, which collect imagery of the Earth in various spectral bands, are limited by the data transmission rates. As a result the multispectral bands are transmitted at a lower resolution and only the panchromatic band is transmitted at its full resolution. The information contained in the multispectral bands is an invaluable tool for land use mapping, urban feature extraction, etc. However, the limited spatial resolution reduces the appeal and value of this information. Pan sharpening techniques enhance the spatial resolution of the multispectral imagery by extracting the high spatial resolution of the panchromatic band and adding it to the …

Mathematical Model And Performance Analysis Of A Liquid Desiccant Dehumidification Tower, Mark Alan Long

Theses and Dissertations

A finite difference model simulating a liquid desiccant dehumidification tower with lithium chloride as the desiccant solution has been developed. The model determines the packing height needed for a condensation rate. Comparisons with experimental data illustrates that the model produces valid results. Air and desiccant solution temperatures within the dehumidification tower show that a temperature increase is experienced for both the air and desiccant solution from their respective entrances and exits from the tower. Increasing the air mass velocity or the amount of moisture removed from the air supply causes an increase in packing height. Increasing the desiccant mass velocity …

An Alternative Refrigeration System For Automotive Applications, Shannon Mclaughlin

Theses and Dissertations

The air conditioning systems currently utilized in automobiles are the vapor compression systems. This type of system has many disadvantages: the refrigerant used is not environmentally friendly, the compressor is in competition with the engine coolant system, and the compressor uses a significant portion of the engine power. A waste heat driven absorption refrigeration system is one alternative to the current systems that could address these problems. The absorption refrigeration system uses solutions for the absorbent-refrigerant pair that do not harm the environment. This investigation includes a theoretical analysis of the feasibility of absorption air conditioning system in automotive applications. …

Methods Of Cultivation Of Hyperthermophiles That Utilize Crude Oil, Erin Althaia Propst

Theses and Dissertations

This study demonstrated the presence of hyperthermophilic organisms in the upper Jurassic Smackover formation in Womack Hills, AL. Evidence for the presence of these organisms was shown by the cultivation of an aerobic and an anaerobic, oil-degrading hyperthermophilic culture from the cuttings of an oil well in the Jurassic Smackover at 90¢ªC. Viability of microorganisms in the formation was established through electron microscopy, by carbon dioxide production, and by protein production during incubation in medium at 90¢ªC. Not only was the presence of viable microorganisms in the reservoir established, but as a result of this study, new cultivation methods were …

Impact Of A School-Home Partnership Model At A Small Rural Elementary School In Georgia, Janice Davis Waters

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the impact of the School-Home Partnership Model at Metter Intermediate School, a small rural school in southeast Georgia. The subjects of this student were parents, students, and teachers of the school. In particular, this study investigated the impact of the School-Home Partnership Model on "at-risk" students. For the purpose of this study the term "at-risk" student is defined to mean a student identified as being below grade level in reading and/or math based on the guidelines of Georgia's Early Intervention Program (EIP). The term "at-risk" student as used in this study also means a student identified as …

A Spatial Decision Support System Utilizing Data From The Gap Analysis Program And A Bayesian Belief Network, Jeremiah Percy Dumas

Theses and Dissertations

With increased degradation of natural resources due to land use decisions and the subsequent loss of biodiversity across large spatial scales, there is a need for a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) which showcases the impacts of developments on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The Gap Analysis Program (GAP) and a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) were used to assess the impacts of an impoundment in the Bienville National Forest, Smith County, Mississippi on landcovers, threatened and endangered species, species richness and fish populations. A test impoundment site was chosen on Ichusa Creek and using GAP data, landcovers, species and species richness …

A Design Methodology For A High Power Density, Voltage Boost, Resonant Dc-Dc Converter, James Robert Gafford

Theses and Dissertations

A full-bridge, parallel-loaded, resonant, zero current/zero voltage switching converter has been developed for DC-DC voltage transformation. The power supply was used to condition power sourced by a 28-V, 400-A Neihoff alternator installed in a HMMWV that delivered power to a 5-kW mobile radar. This design focuses on achieving maximum power density at reasonable efficiency (i.e. > 80%) by operating at the highest resonant and switching frequencies possible. A resonant frequency of 392-kHz was achieved while providing rated power. The high resonant frequency was facilitated by the development of an extremely low inductance layout (< 20 nH) capable of conducting the high resonant currents associated with this converter topology. A design methodology is presented for parallel-loaded, resonant voltage boost converters utilizing the development of a converter prototype as a basis. The experimental results are presented as validation of the methodology.

First-Principles Study Of Semiconductor And Metal Surfaces, Sungho Kim

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we study the electronic and geometric structure of semiconductors and metal surfaces based on quantum mechanical first-principles calculations. We determine the geometry of vacancy defects of hydrogen adsorbed on a Pd(111) surface by treating the motion of a hydrogen atom, in addition to electrons, quantum mechanically. The calculated ground state wave function has high probability density in the hcp site located at the center of the vacancy instead of the fcc sites where the potential is minimum and hydrogen atoms on a Pd(111) surface normally adsorb. The geometry of quantum mechanically determined divacancy provides a simple and …

Gender-Based Education: The Pilot Year Of Single-Gender Classes At A Public Elementary School, Myra Bryant Gillis

Theses and Dissertations

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires public schools to be highly accountable for dollars spent on education and for the achievement of students. To support this mandate, the law expanded local control and allowed schools to explore innovative ways to enhance student learning (U.S.D.E., 2004). Given the opportunity, some public schools have experimented with single-gender classes as an avenue for improving the way students are taught. Studies have indicated that separating students according to gender has a positive impact on learning (e.g., Haag, 2000; Maslen, 2001; and Sommers, 2001). Single-gender settings have also been reported to have …

The Use Of Remote Sensing And Geographical Information Systems To Create Land Use And Land Cover Maps And To Determine The Changes In The Land Use And Land Cover Over A Ten Year Period, Adam Bradford Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Construction of land use and land cover (LULC) maps was accomplished through the use of remote sensing and GIS. Remote sensing and GIS were used to classify 1990 Landsat 5 and 2000 Landsat 7 Mississippi Gulf Coast imagery into six LULC classes: urban, barren, forested vegetation, non-forested vegetation, marsh, and water. An accuracy assessment was performed on the 2000 LULC map to determine the reliability of the map. Finally, GIS software was used to quantify and illustrate the various LULC conversions that took place over the ten year span of time. The paper concludes that remote sensing and GIS can …

Governors State University Announces New Bachelor Of Arts In Mathematics Degree, Office Of Public Affairs

Press Releases

Governors State University will offer a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics degree. The university’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) has created the degree program in response to the growing demand statewide for mathematics educators. The program also targets students looking for a career as mathematicians or in a scientific field.

Cross-Validating And Bagging Partitioning Algorithms With Variable Importance, Annette M. Molinaro, Mark J. Van Der Laan

U.C. Berkeley Division of Biostatistics Working Paper Series

We present a cross-validated bagging scheme in the context of partitioning algorithms. To explore the benefits of the various bagging scheme, we compare via simulations the predictive ability of single Classification and Regression (CART) Tree with several previously suggested bagging schemes and with our proposed approach. Additionally, a variable importance measure is explained and illustrated.

Investigation Of Laser Beam Induced Current Techniques For Heterojunction Photodiode Characterization, Weifu Fang, David A. Redfern, Kazufumi Ito, G. Bahir, Charles A. Musca, John M. Dell, Lorenzo Faraone

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

A reduced model is developed that has significant advantages over the full drift-diffusion model for the simulation of laser beam-induced current (LBIC) signals in the presence of heterojunctions. The model determines the contribution to the LBIC signal that would occur from photogeneration at any position within the semiconductor, and is particularly useful for heterostructures where judicious choice of illumination wavelength can result in photogeneration at different depths within the device structure. The reduced model is used to examine the basic features of LBIC as applied to two types of planar P-n HgCdTe heterojunction photodiode structures. In particular, the question of …

Soundings 2005-08-05 (V.18 No.9), N/A N/A

Soundings

No abstract provided.

Exploration Of Lip Shape Measures And Their Association With Tongue Contact Patterns, Jessica Lynn Wagner

Theses and Dissertations

A variety of tools and techniques have been developed to measure the movements of the vocal tract, specifically of the tongue and lips. In recent years, computer technology has allowed for extensive exploration of these precise movements and for the development of speech recognition systems. However, there has been relatively little work on the combination of visible facial movements and internal articulatory activity. In this study, two different technologies were used to explore the internal and external movements of speech production in eight speakers: palatometry quantified tongue contact patterns and computerized video image analysis was used to derive lip shape …

Summer Commencement Ceremony, University Of North Florida

Commencement Printed Materials

Program for the Summer Commencement ceremony held at UNF Arena.

Summer Commencement: August 5, 2005, University Of North Dakota

UND Commencement Programs

UND Summer Commencement program from August 5, 2005.

Zooplankton Of The West Florida Shelf: Relationships With Karenia Brevis Blooms, Kristen M. Lester

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate Karenia brevis are common on the West Florida Shelf (WFS), yet little is known of the relationships between zooplankton and K. brevis. A comprehensive analysis was undertaken to examine 1) perturbations in zooplankton community composition within K. brevis blooms 2) the contribution of zooplankton ammonium and phosphate excretion to K. brevis bloom nutrient requirements, and 3) the role of zooplankton grazing in K. brevis bloom termination. Prior to undertaking the first portion of the study, an examination of the perturbations in the normal zooplankton assemblage within K. brevis blooms, it was first necessary to …

Multiplicity And Pseudorapidity Distributions Of Photons In Au+Au Collisions At √SNn=62.4 Gev, Star Collaboration, T.D. Gutierrez

Physics

We present the first measurement of pseudorapidity distribution of photons in the region 2.3≤η≤3.7for different centralities in Au+Au collisions at √s_NN=62.4  GeV. We find that the photon yield scales with the number of participating nucleons at all collision centralities studied. The pseudorapidity distribution of photons, dominated by π⁰ decays, has been compared to those of charged pions, photons, and inclusive charged particles from heavy-ion and nucleon-nucleon collisions at various energies. The photon production has been shown to be consistent with the energy and centrality independent limiting fragmentation scenario.

Isobar Rescattering Model And Light Scalar Mesons, Joseph Schechter

Physics - All Scholarship

We use a toy model to discuss the problem of parameterizing the possible contribution of a light scalar meson, sigma, to the final state interactions in the non leptonic decays of heavy mesons.

Piecing Together The Triassic/Jurassic Stratigraphy Along The South Flank Of The Uinta Mountains, Northeast Utah: A Stratigraphic Analysis Of The Bell Springs Member Of The Nugget Sandstone, Paul H. Jensen Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Nomenclature for the Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic strata along the south flank of the Uinta Mountains has been somewhat confusing because of the position of the study area between southern Wyoming, where one set of names is used, and central/southern Utah where a different set of formation names is used. The Nugget Sandstone or Glen Canyon Sandstone of the eastern Uinta Mountains overlies the Upper Triassic Popo Agie or Chinle Formation. The nature of the contact between these two formations is unclear both in stratigraphic location and conformability. The Chinle Formation consists, in ascending order, of the Gartra Member, …

Task Similarity Measures For Transfer In Reinforcement Learning Task Libraries, James Carroll, Kevin Seppi

Faculty Publications

Recent research in task transfer and task clustering has necessitated the need for task similarity measures in reinforcement learning. Determining task similarity is necessary for selective transfer where only information from relevant tasks and portions of a task are transferred. Which task similarity measure to use is not immediately obvious. It can be shown that no single task similarity measure is uniformly superior. The optimal task similarity measure is dependent upon the task transfer method being employed. We define similarity in terms of tasks, and propose several possible task similarity measures, dT, dp, dQ, and dR which are based on …

Iwu Risk Management Students Win Scholarships, Awards, Rebecca Welzenbach

News and Events (Discontinued Series)

No abstract provided.

Illinois State University Report, August 4, 2005, Illinois State University

Illinois State University Report (1966-2012)

Illinois State University bi-weekly employee newsletter.

Effect Of Stroke Location On The Laryngeal Cough Reflex And Pneumonia Risk, W. Robert Addington, Robert Stephens, John G. Widdicombe, Kamel Rekab

Faculty and Staff Publications

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk of developing pneumonia in acute stroke patients comparing the early anatomical stroke location and laryngeal cough reflex (LCR) testing.

Methods: A prospective study of 818 consecutive acute stroke patients utilizing a reflex cough test (RCT), which assesses the neurological status of the LCR compared to magnetic resonance imaging or computerized tomography for stroke location and subsequent pneumonia outcome. Stroke diagnosis and stroke location were made by a neurologist and clinical radiologist, respectively; both were blinded to the RCT results.

Results: Brainstem (p-value < .007) and cerebral strokes (p-value < .005) correlated with the RCT results and pneumonia outcome. Of the 818 patients, 35 (4.3%) developed pneumonia. Of the 736 (90%) patients who had a normal RCT, 26 (3.5%) developed pneumonia, and of the 82 (10%) patients with an abnormal RCT, 9 (11%) developed pneumonia despite preventive interventions (p-value < .005). The RCT had no serious adverse events.

Conclusion: The RCT acted as a reflex …

Temperature Dependence Of The Training Effect In A Co/Coo Exchange-Bias Layer, Christian Binek, Xi He, Srinivas Polisetty

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Faculty Publications

The temperature dependence of the training effect is studied in a Co/CoO exchange-bias bilayer and a phenomenological theory is presented. After field cooling the sample to below its blocking temperature, the absolute value of the exchange-bias field decreases when cycling the heterostructure through consecutive hysteresis loops. This decrease is known as the training effect and is studied in the temperature range 5 < =T < =120 K. An implicit sequence, which has been recently derived using the Landau-Khalatnikov approach of relaxation, fits the respective data set for each individual temperature. The underlying discretized dynamic equation involves an expansion of the free energy in powers of the interface magnetization of the antiferromagnetic pinning layer. The particular structure of the free energy with a leading fourth-order term is derived in a mean-field approach. The explicit temperature dependence of the leading expansion coefficient explains the temperature dependence of the training effect. The analytic approach is confirmed by the result of a best fit, which condenses the data from more than 50 measured hysteresis loops.

Sturnus Vulgaris (Linnaeus)

Other Publications in Wildlife Management

European starlings are among the most successful of North American invaders. They are common throughout the United States and thrive in disturbed areas such as around farm lands and in suburban areas, where seasonally they form huge flocks (Burleigh, 1958; Kaufman, 1996). They are also common in coastal areas near salt water (Imhof, 1962) and have been reported to roost in large numbers in marshes (Forbush, 1955). They tend to be rare in undisturbed areas (Kaufman, 1996). They form large flocks, especially in the winter, and are frequently observed in association with blackbirds and grackles (Sprunt, 1954).

Memorandum Of Understanding Between The United States Department Of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration And The United States Department Of Agriculture. Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service/Wildlife Services.

Other Bird Strike and Aviation Materials

This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) continues the cooperation between the Federal Aviation Administration and Wildlife Services (WS) for mitigating wildlife hazards to aviation.