Digital Commons Network^™

Retail Investors And Structured Products: A Case Of 'Buyer Beware'!, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

Across the globe, buyers of structured products linked to Lehman Brothers have seen their investments wiped out. In Singapore, the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) has appointed an independent committee to oversee the review and resolution of customer complaints. Tan Chong Hui, professor of quantitative finance at Singapore Management University, has this advice especially for retail investors of structured products: caveat emptor or ‘buyer beware’.

Requests Of Brown By Lc Classification: November 2008, Ruth E.. Souto

HELIN Monthly Loan Statistics

Requests of Brown from other HELIN libraries - November 2008

Regulating Self-Organizing Nanostructures Via External Mechanism, Jiangyu Li, Q. G. Du, Stephen Ducharme

Stephen Ducharme Publications

Self-organizing nanostructures are ubiquitous in both natural and synthetic materials. They are not only appealing scientifically, by revealing the intrinsic atomic and molecular interactions that might be difficult to detect otherwise, but may also hold the key for the development of novel functional structures and devices. For their technological potential to be fully realized, the size, morphology, and distribution of the self-organizing nanostructures must be regulated. In this paper, we investigate the principles under which the self-organizing nanostructures can be regulated via external mechanisms. Using nanomesa and nanowell formation in polyvinylidene fluoride trifluoroethylene copolymer film as an example, we demonstrate …

A Paradox Of Altruism: How Caring About Future Generations Can Result In Poverty For Everyone (Game-Theoretic Analysis), Tanja Magoc, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Political and social activists are rightfully concerned about future generations: whenever a country borrows money, or an environmental situation worsens, this means, in effect, that we impose an additional burdens on future generations. There is clearly a conflict between the present generation's actions and interests and the welfare of the future generations. There exists a mathematical toolbox that provides solutions to many well-defined conflict situations: namely, the toolbox of game theory. It therefore seems reasonable to apply game theory techniques to the conflict between the generations. In this paper, we show that we need to be very cautious about this …

Viability Of Travel-Time Sensitivity Testing For Estimating Uncertainty Of Tomographic Velocity Models: A Case Study, Matthew G. Averill, Kate C. Miller, Vladik Kreinovich, Aaron A. Velasco

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Seismic tomography is now a common approach to estimating velocity structure of the Earth, regardless of whether the data sources are earthquake recordings or controlled sources such as explosions, airguns or Vibroseis. Seismic tomography is convenient to implement because it requires little to no a priori knowledge of Earth structure and is much less time consuming than forward modeling schemes. Despite its convenience, the method still lacks satisfactory quantitative assessments of model reliability. Here we explore the viability of applying travel-time sensitivity testing that uses a modified Cauchy distribution as its statistical foundation to assessing the uncertainty in velocity models …

Mathematics In The Mountains: The Park City Mathematics Institute, Andrew J. Bernoff

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

It's noon. A Fields medalist, master high school teachers from the US and abroad, aspiring undergraduate and graduate students, gifted expositors of mathematics, and mathematical artists gather at tables under a tent. Lunch and so much more is served at these meetings of the minds.

The Curricular And Instructional Implication For The Tacit Knowledge Exhibited While Creating A Forensic Craniofacial Reconstruction, Daniel Marion, Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In our teaching careers, K-12 classroom teachers come to know that the way a given student connects the dots to comprehend a concept, lesson, or subject is not always (and most likely never is) in a straight linear fashion. The connections between the dots are defined as the student’s personalized understanding (tacit knowledge/knowing) of concepts, lessons, and/or subjects. The student most likely did not perceive, process, and/or retain the concept, lesson, or subject in the manner it was taught to her or him. Teachers asking a student to explain how he or she arrived at an answer or knew the …

An Inquiry Into The Metaphysical Foundations Of Mathematics In Economics, Edgar Luna

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Economics is supposed to fall somewhere between a hard science and a social science. During the last half century, economics has become highly mathematical trying to mimic physics. The purpose of this study is to look at the metaphysical statements linked to mathematical models, specifically, Game Theory. In doing so, it will be demonstrated that Game Theory, as part of neoclassical economics, engages in analysis which can be categorized as metaphysical, with real metaphysical implications. In categorizing the metaphysical assumptions of neoclassical economists/game theorists we will see how much of their analysis is consists in a reductive, implausible metaphysical view. …

Polymer Supported Optical Biosensors, Ignacio Joseph Garcia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The use of various polymer supports adhering phospholipid multibilayers to an internal reflection element have been investigated. The polymer supports studied range from polystyrene (PS), and 100 nm wide PS nanospheres to triethylaminated poly(vinyl benzyl chloride) (PVBC). The PS nanospheres showed the most promise as an adhesion layer since they appear to be the most robust with repeated washings. They also appear to stabilize their adjacent phospholipid multibilayer by increasing the lipid melting temperature. The triethylaminated DVBC also provided an increase of lipid melting temperature, but not quite to the same degree as the PS nanospheres. The cooperativity of such …

Effects Of Plain Language Revision On Item Difficulty, Discrimination And Dif, Holly E. Baker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Colorado assesses approximately 98% of students enrolled in grades 3-10 in the area of mathematics. In 2005, 69,872 English Language Learners (ELLs) in grades 3-10 participated in the state content area assessments. In 2007, 88,060 ELLs participated in the state content area assessments. With this dramatic growth in the ELL population in the state of Colorado and elsewhere in the nation, ensuring that ELLs have access to comprehensible materials on state assessments is of paramount importance. Accommodations provide access for students based on their individual needs. Likewise, assessment items designed and/or revised using the principles of plain language and universal …

Team Teaching High School Science: Game Plan For Success, Ed Linz, Mary Jane Heater, Lori A. Howard

Special Education Faculty Research

Recently team teaching has become more prevalent in high school classes. These teams often pair a general education teacher with content knowledge with a special education teacher. Due to a lack of detailed knowledge/experience in the other’s area of expertise, many team teachers in science courses are confronted with unique challenges. In this article, a general education science teacher and a special education teacher share how they successfully developed their “team.” Through the use of a sports related metaphor, “the game plan,” these teachers provide insight into how successful co-teaching relationships can be fostered. Both teachers describe the importance of …

The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society By Mary Ann Shaffer And Annie Barrows, Random House, 2008, Judi Morrel

LAS Faculty Book Reviews

No abstract provided.

Can’T Test This: Test Performance And Anxiety, Brian Judd, Danielle Merli, Jamie Zagar

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

We analyzed test anxiety with performance on a standardized test. We had four groups of participants. We looked at two variables: time warning and presence of a confederate. We hypothesized that the performance of participants in a more natural test environment (testing in the presence of another test taker, i.e., the confederate) would perform worse than those who were tested by themselves, and that those who received a time warning would perform worse than those who did not receive a time warning. Those with a higher GPA would have performed better overall on the test. There was not a significant …

Members In Education, November 2008, American Institute Of Certified Public Accountants (Aicpa)

Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Competency-Based Curriculum For A Master's Program In Service Science, Management And Engineering (Ssme): An Online Delphi Study, Rahul Choudaha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The overarching purpose of this research was to provide theoretical and conceptual foundations for developing a competency-based curriculum for an interdisciplinary master's program in Service Science, Management and Engineering (SSME). Specifically, the objective was to ascertain the competencies and courses that are relevant for developing a competency model for a service scientist and a curriculum blueprint for SSME. The study employed three rounds of the online Delphi survey to achieve the research objectives. The three rounds were used to identify, prioritize, and define competencies and courses. A panel of industry professionals and university faculty were invited to participate as experts. …

Multicolor Conjugated Polymer Dots For Biological Fluorescence Imaging, Changfeng Wu, Barbara Bull, Craig Szymanski, Kenneth Christensen, Jason Mcneill

Publications

Highly fluorescent conjugated polymer dots were developed for demanding applications such as fluorescence imaging in live cells. These nanoparticles exhibit small particle diameters, extraordinary fluorescence brightness, and excellent photostability. Single particle fluorescence imaging and kinetic studies indicate much higher emission rates (∼10⁸ s⁻¹) and little or no blinking of the nanoparticles as compared to typical results for single dye molecules and quantum dots. Analysis of single particle photobleaching trajectories reveals excellent photostability—as many as 10⁹ or more photons emitted per nanoparticle prior to irreversible photobleaching. The superior figures of merit of these new fluorescent probes, together …

Selective Screenability In Topological Groups, Liljana Babinkostova

Mathematics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We examine the selective screenability property in topological groups. In the metrizable case we also give characterizations of S_c(O_nbd,O) and Smirnov-S_c(O_nbd,O) in terms of the Haver property and finitary Haver property respectively relative to left-invariant metrics. We prove theorems stating conditions under which S_c(O_nbd,O) is preserved by products. Among metrizable groups we characterize the countable dimensional ones by a natural game.

Altruistic Relationships For Optimizing Task Fulfillment In Robot Communities, Christopher M. Clark, Ryan Morton, George A. Bekey

Computer Science and Software Engineering

This paper introduces the concept of a multi-robot community in which multiple robots must fulfill their individual tasks while operating in a shared environment. Unlike typical multi-robot systems in which global cost functions are minimized while accomplishing a set of global tasks, the robots in this work have individual tasks to accomplish and individual cost functions to optimize (e.g. path length or number of objects to gather).

A strategy is presented in which a robot may choose to aid in the completion of another robot’s task. This type of “altruistic” action leads to evolving altruistic relationships between robots, and can …

John Hazen White School Of Arts & Sciences Newsletter, November 2008, Vol. 14, Issue 1, Mary Barszcz Ed.

School of Arts & Sciences Newsletter

In 1995, with Gwenn Lavoie as its editor, the first issue of the John Hazen White School of Arts & Sciences Newsletter was published. The newsletter continues to share information about and publicize events sponsored by the School of Arts & Sciences and the accomplishments of that school's faculty. Three issues are published during each academic year by the School of Arts & Sciences Publicity Committee and editor Mary Barszcz.

Localised Galvanic Corrosion Processes In Thermal Spray Coated/Cast Aluminium Alloy Systems, David Culliton, Tony Betts, David Kennedy

Conference Papers

Cast Aluminium Alloys, because of the propensity of aluminium to react with impurities and alloying elements, are prone to developing IM impurities during the solidification process. These IM phases can act, in some fluids, as initiation sites for localised corrosion processes, resulting in degradation phenomena, such as pitting. Whilst Thermal Spray coatings can improve the wear resistance of Cast Aluminium Alloys, their corrosion performance may be hampered by the presence of through porosity within the coating.

The present work details some preliminary studies of the localised corrosion processes occurring at the interface area between a Thermal Spray coating and a …

Evaluating Online Health Information: Beyond Readability Formulas, Gondy Leroy, Stephen Helmreich, James Cowie, Trudi Miller '08, Wei Zheng '08

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Although understanding health information is important, the texts provided are often difficult to understand. There are formulas to measure readability levels, but there is little understanding of how linguistic structures contribute to these difficulties. We are developing a toolkit of linguistic metrics that are validated with representative users and can be measured automatically. In this study, we provide an overview of our corpus and how readability differs by topic and source. We compare two documents for three groups of linguistic metrics. We report on a user study evaluating one of the differentiating metrics: the percentage of function words in a …

The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle By David Wroblewski, Ecco Press 2008, Lacey Echols

LAS Faculty Book Reviews

No abstract provided.

Examining The Effects Of Linguistic Accommodations On The Colorado Student Assessment Program—Mathematics, Marisol Enriquez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act changed assessment for English Language Learners (ELLs). Under the law, states must validly assess ELLs' English Language Proficiency (ELP) and content knowledge. The law shed light on the achievement of ELLs while also creating challenges for states in validating state assessment and accountability systems. Test accommodations are used for ELLs to reduce threats to test score validity and measure academic achievement as accurately and fairly as possible. Since ELLs are working towards proficiency in English, they face linguistic and socio-cultural barriers under the confines of large scale assessment. A limited body of research …

Drowning Survival In Icy Water: A Review, Stathis Avramidis, Ronald Butterly

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

We conducted an extensive literature review using the search terms of “drowning” and “hypothermia” to discover the major factors related to differences in survival rate especially associated with hypothermic effects. Studies indicated that some differences in drowning survival could be identified associated with age, sex, length of submersion, reduced core body temperature, and quality of cardiopulmonary respiratory care. The variability of results associated with the large number of studies prevented us from making any recommendations about whether hypothermia can improve survival among either children or adults.

Turbulent Dispersion In Cloudy Boundary Layers, Remco A. Verzijlbergh, Harmen J.J. Jonker, Thijs Heus, J. Vilà-Guerau De Arellano

Physics Faculty Publications

Compared to dry boundary layers, dispersion in cloud-topped boundary layers has received less attention. In this LES based numerical study we investigate the dispersion of a passive tracer in the form of Lagrangian particles for four kinds of atmospheric boundary layers: 1) a dry convective boundary layer (for reference), 2) a "smoke" cloud boundary layer in which the turbulence is driven by radiative cooling, 3) a stratocumulus topped boundary layer and 4) a shallow cumulus topped boundary layer. We show that the dispersion characteristics of the smoke cloud boundary layer as well as the stratocumulus situation can be well understood …

Geosciences Newsletter - Fall 2008, Department Of Geosciences

Geological and Environmental Sciences News

Vol. 3, No. 3

• Faculty Updates
• Publications
• Grants
• MGRRE
• New Courses
• Graduate News
• Awards
• Field Trips
• Alumni
• Development
• Advisory Board

Ua35/1 Doers & Deeds Vol. 7, No. 8, Wku Provost

WKU Administration Documents

Newsletter created by the WKU Provost & Vice President of Academic Affairs to highlight the activities of faculty, staff and alumni.

North Shore Bays Benthic Mapping: Groundtruth Studies., Robert M. Cerrato, Lee Holt

School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

We combined high-resolution remote sensing techniques with detailed study of the physical and faunal characteristics at point locations in different seafloor environments within the Oyster Bay- Cold Spring Harbor Complex, the Huntington-Northport Bay Complex, and Port Jefferson Harbor, including Conscience Bay. High-resolution backscatter and bathymetric maps created by side scan and multibeam sonar surveys were used to classify the sea bed into provinces. Samples for macrofauna and sediment properties were collected within each province to provide "ground truth" for the acoustic maps. Oyster Bay, Huntington Harbor, and Port Jefferson Harbor were sampled at 40, 38, and 50 locations, respectively, with …

North Shore Bays Benthic Mapping: Groundtruth Studies Gis Data, Robert M. Cerrato, Lee Holt

SoMAS Research Data

We combined high-resolution remote sensing techniques with detailed study of the physical and faunal characteristics at point locations in different seafloor environments within the Oyster Bay- Cold Spring Harbor Complex, the Huntington-Northport Bay Complex, and Port Jefferson Harbor, including Conscience Bay. High-resolution backscatter and bathymetric maps created by side scan and multibeam sonar surveys were used to classify the seabed into provinces. Samples for macrofauna and sediment properties were collected within each province to provide "ground truth" for the acoustic maps. Oyster Bay, Huntington Harbor, and Port Jefferson Harbor were sampled at 40, 38, and 50 locations, respectively, with two …

The Patriot, V. 05, N. 04, Stony Brook University. Patriot.

The Patriot

v.: ill.; 32 cm (original analog pub.)