Digital Commons Network^™

Functional Monitoring Without Monotonicity, Chrisil Arackaparambil, Joshua Brody, Amit Chakrabarti

Computer Science Technical Reports

The notion of distributed functional monitoring was recently introduced by Cormode, Muthukrishnan and Yi to initiate a formal study of the communication cost of certain fundamental problems arising in distributed systems, especially sensor networks. In this model, each of k sites reads a stream of tokens and is in communication with a central coordinator, who wishes to continuously monitor some function f of \sigma, the union of the k streams. The goal is to minimize the number of bits communicated by a protocol that correctly monitors f(\sigma), to within some small error. As in previous work, we focus on a …

Digital Image Ballistics From Jpeg Quantization: A Followup Study, Hany Farid

Computer Science Technical Reports

The lossy JPEG compression scheme employs a quantization table that controls the amount of compression achieved. Because different cameras typically employ different tables, a comparison of an image's quantization scheme to a database of known cameras affords a simple technique for confirming or denying an image's source. This report describes the analysis of quantization tables extracted from 1,000,000 images downloaded from Flickr.com.

From Elastic Deformation To Terminal Flow Of A Monodisperse Entangled Melt In Uniaxial Extension, Yangyang Wang, Shi-Qing Wang

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

Using a well-entangled monodisperse styrene-butadiene random-copolymer (SBR) melt as a model system, we illustrate generic features of uniaxial extension behavior that may be shared by all well-entangled thermoplastic and elastomeric materials. Depending on the imposed extensional rate, the same sample may behave like a viscous liquid or an elastic "solid." Analogous to the recently revealed shear inhomogeneity, the SBR melt inevitably undergoes cohesive failure in the form of sample breakage whenever the Weissenberg number is much greater than unity, making it challenging to reach steady state. In the elastic deformation regime where the external deformation rate is faster than Rouse …

Latent Common Genetic Components Of Obesity Traits, B. O. Tayo, R. Harders, A. Luke, X. Zhu, R. S. Cooper

Faculty Publications

Background: Obesity is rapidly becoming a global epidemic. Unlike many complex human diseases, obesity is defined not just by a single trait or phenotype, but jointly by measures of anthropometry and metabolic status. Methods: We applied maximum likelihood factor analysis to identify common latent factors underlying observed covariance in multiple obesity-related measures. Both the genetic components and the mode of inheritance of the common factors were evaluated. A total of 1775 participants from 590 families for whom measures on obesity-related traits were available were included in this study. Results: The average age of participants was 37 years, 39% of the …

Sensitivity Of Penman-Monteith Reference Crop Evapotranspiration In Tao' Er River Basin Of Northeastern China, Liqiao Liang, Lijuan Li, Li Zhang, Jiuyi Li, Bin Li

Faculty Publications

A non-dimensional relative sensitivity coefficient was employed to predict the responses of reference crop evapotranspiration (ET0) to perturbation of four climate variables in Tao'er River Basin of the northeastern China. Mean monthly ET0 and yearly ET0 from 1961 to 2005 were estimated with the FAO-56 Penman-Monteith Equation. A 45-year historical dataset of average monthly maximum/minimum air temperature, mean air temperature, wind speed, sunshine hours and relative humidity from 15 meteorological stations was used in the analysis. Results show that: 1) Sensitivity coefficients of wind speed, air temperature and sunshine hours were positive except for those of air temperature of Arxan …

Host-Pathogen Interactions, Insect Outbreaks, And Natural Selection For Disease Resistance, Bret D. Elderd, Jonathan Dushoff, Greg Dwyer

Faculty Publications

The theory of insect population dynamics has shown that heterogeneity in natural-enemy attack rates is strongly stabilizing. We tested the usefulness of this theory for outbreaking insects, many of which are attacked by infectious pathogens. We measured heterogeneity among gypsy moth larvae in their risk of infection with a nucleopolyhedrovirus, which is effectively heterogeneity in the pathogen's attack rate. Our data show that heterogeneity in infection risk in this insect is so high that it leads to a stable equilibrium in the models, which is inconsistent with the outbreaks seen in North American gypsy moth populations. Our data further suggest …

Locally Integrable Processes With Respect To Locally Additive Summable Processes, Oana Mocioalca

Communications on Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

A Decomposition Of Multiple Wiener Integrals By The Lévy Process And Lévy Laplacian, Atsushi Ishikawa

Communications on Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Limits Of Bifractional Brownian Noises, Makoto Maejima, Ciprian A Tudor

Communications on Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

A Symplectic Manifold Homeomorphic But Not Diffeomorphic To Cp2 # 3cp2, S. Baldridge, Paul A. Kirk

Faculty Publications

In this article we construct a minimal symplectic 4-manifold and prove it is homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to CP # 3CP . © 2008 Mathematical Sciences Publishers. 2 2

Surgery Description Of Colored Knots, Richard A. Litherland, Steven D. Wallace

Faculty Publications

The pair (K,ρ) consisting of a knot K S3 and a surjective map ρ from the knot group onto a dihedral group of order 2p for p an odd integer is said to be a p-colored knot. In [Algebr. Geom. Topol. 6(2006) 673-697] D Moskovich conjectures that there are exactly p equivalence classes of p-colored knots up to surgery along unknots in the kernel of the coloring. He shows that for p = 3 and 5 the conjecture holds and that for any odd p there are at least p distinct classes, but gives no general upper bound. We show …

Impossibility Of Extending Pólya's Theorem To "Forms" With Arbitrary Real Exponents, Charles N. Delzell

Faculty Publications

Pólya proved that if a form (homogeneous polynomial) with real coefficients is positive on the nonnegative orthant (except at the origin), then it is the quotient of two real forms with no negative coefficients. While Pólya's theorem extends, easily, from ordinary real forms to "generalized" real forms with arbitrary rational exponents, we show that it does not extend to generalized real forms with arbitrary real (possibly irrational) exponents. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Errata: Existence And Uniqueness Of Solutions To The Backward Stochastic Lorenz System (Cosa, Vol. 1, No. 3 (2007) 473–483) [Mr2403863], P Sundar, Hong Yin

Communications on Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Topological Complexity Of Basis-Conjugating Automorphism Groups, Daniel C. Cohen, Goderdzi Pruidze

Faculty Publications

We compute the topological complexity of Eilenberg-Mac Lane spaces associated to the group of automorphisms of a finitely generated free group that act by conjugation on a given basis, and to certain subgroups.

Will There Ever Be Consensus On Cs1?, Robert M. Siegfried, David Chays, Katherine G. Herbert

Department of Computer Science Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The choice of programming language, the approach by which students are taught and the software tools made available to students have been controversial issues in many ways. While there once was a consensus of some sort within the computer science education community, it is much more difficult to find common ground among those of us who teach introductory programming courses. The literature is explored and answers sought to the question of which language is optimum in teaching novice programmers, as well as the approach that ought to be used. Finally, the question of whether a consensus can be reached is …

On Static And Dynamic Partitioning Behavior Of Large-Scale Networks, Zhongmei Yao, Derek Leonard, Xiaoming Wang, Dmitri Loguinov

Computer Science Faculty Publications

In this paper, we analyze the problem of network disconnection in the context of large-scale P2P networks and understand how both static and dynamic patterns of node failure affect the resilience of such graphs. We start by applying classical results from random graph theory to show that a large variety of deterministic and random P2P graphs almost surely (i.e., with probability 1 − o(1)) remain connected under random failure if and only if they have no isolated nodes. This simple, yet powerful, result subsequently allows us to derive in closed-form the probability that a P2P network develops isolated nodes, and …

Assessment Of Exposure And Effects Associated With Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Contamination In South Chattanooga, Tennessee, Jessica K. Leet

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The southern part of Chattanooga, TN has been subject to dumping of industrial waste for over 100 years. Chattanooga Creek flows north through this area to the Tennessee River. The dumping of coal tar and other industrial waste in this area h as lead to the contamination of Chattanooga Creek and soil of the surrounding floodplains. Many polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are found in these areas, specifically the 16 PAHs the EPA and ATSDR consider to be priority pollutants. The close proximity of residents to contaminated sites in southern Chattanooga initiated an assessment of the potential human health risks. The …

Learning And Collaboration In Professional Development For Career And Technical Education Teachers: A Qualitative Multi-Case Study, Patricia A. Sturko, James A. Gregson

Journal of STEM Teacher Education

This multi-case study explored the learning and collaboration of six Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers in two different types of professional development experiences: (a) a course on integrating reading, writing, and mathematics skills into CTE curricula, delivered by a master teacher; and (b) a small teacher study group that met regularly for the purpose of improving teaching practice. Both professional development experiences occurred at a comprehensive senior high school and involved CTE and academic teachers. The study found that different types of teacher learning and collaboration occurred, depending on the context, process, content and structure of the professional development …

The Pluralistic Universe Of Law Towards A Neo-Classical Legal Pragmatism, Susan Haack

Articles

After a brief sketch of the history of philosophical pragmatism generally, and of legal pragmatism specifically (section 1), this paper develops a new, neo-classical legal pragmatism: a theory of law drawing in part on Holmes, but also on ideas from the classical pragmatist tradition in philosophy. Main themes are the "pluralistic universe" of law (section 2); the evolution of legal systems (section 3); the place of logic in the law (section 4); and the relation of law and morality (section 5).

Constructing And Classifying Neighborhood Anti-Sperner Graphs, John P. Mcsorley

Articles and Preprints

For a simple graph G let N_G(u) be the (open) neighborhood of vertex u ∈ V (G). Then G is neighborhood anti-Sperner (NAS) if for every u there is a v ∈ V(G)\{u} with N_G(u) ⊆N_G(v). And a graph H is neighborhood distinct (ND) if every neighborhood is distinct, i.e., if N_H(u) ≠ N_H(v) when u ≠ v, for all u and v ∈ V(H).

In Porter and …

December 2008 (Vol.32, No.12)

Research Matters

No abstract provided.

The Enduring Lessons Of The Breakup Of At&T: A Twenty-Five Year Retrospective, Christopher S. Yoo

Federal Communications Law Journal

"The Enduring Lessons of the Breakup of AT&T: A Twenty-Five Year Retrospective."' Conference held at the University of Pennsylvania Law School on April 18-19, 2008.

Toward A Unified Theory Of Access To Local Telephone Networks, Daniel F. Spulber, Christopher S. Yoo

Federal Communications Law Journal

"The Enduring Lessons of the Breakup of AT&T: A Twenty-Five Year Retrospective."' Conference held at the University of Pennsylvania Law School on April 18-19, 2008.

Over the past several decades, regulatory authorities have imposed an increasingly broad array of access requirements on local telephone providers. In so doing, policymakers typically applied previous approaches to access regulation without fully considering whether the regulatory justifications used in favor of those previous access requirements remained valid. They also allowed each access regime to be governed by a different pricing methodology and set access prices in a way that treated each network component as …

The Feasibility Of Implementing Farm To School Programs In Bloomington-Normal Public Schools, Margaret Kane, '09

Outstanding Senior Seminar Papers

Farm to School programs promote partnerships between local farmers and school districts in which farmers can provide fresh organic produce for school meals and education about sustainable agriculture. A focus on local and organic foods has a variety of benefits that affect the environmental, health, and community. This study explores opportunities for Farm to School programs in Bloomington-Normal public schools, and concludes that a this type of program would be feasible in Normal, although there are quite a few barriers to overcome before implementation would be possible.

Environmental Evaluation Of A Quaternary Wastewater Treatment Wetland, Olivia Demeo, '09

Outstanding Senior Seminar Papers

Constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment have become a sustainable alternative to environmentally harmful traditional wastewater treatment methods. This case study evaluated the Schroeder Wildlife Sanctuary, a wetland area constructed for removal of nutrients from wastewater. An environmental evaluation of the wetland was completed that addressed three parameters: the water quality of wetland effluent, the avian biodiversity within the sanctuary, and an assessment of community outreach and education initiatives. Water quality testing was conducted using rudimentary LaMotte and Hach testing kits. The data was contrary to the literature and showed no nutrient removal occurring. However, the results were inconclusive because the …

The Feasibility Of Incorporating Sustainable Materials In The Design Of Habitat For Humanity Homes, Meaghan Collins, '09

Outstanding Senior Seminar Papers

The concept of sustainable design has been one of increasing interest with regards to both personal choices and desire to reduce human impacts on the environment. This paper looks at the concept of sustainable housing design and why it is important. Particularly, it focuses on sustainable housing designs and materials that the McLean County Chapter of Habitat for Humanity can incorporate into the construction of its homes. This paper investigates three types of sustainable construction materials, flooring, cabinetry, and paints that Habitat for Humanity could incorporate into its homes.

Development Of A New System Vulnerability Index - The Overload Risk Index, John Rossmaier, Badrul Chowdhury

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper proposes a new index to better determine the vulnerability of a power system. the procedure for calculating this index combines stochastic and probabilistic methods to determine the likelihood of a line overloading in a power system. the methods used include a basic load flow analysis using network security factors and Monte Carlo simulation that incorporates the likelihood of component failure within the system. a case study has been performed to analyze the ability of such an index in accurately measuring one aspect of power system vulnerability. Three different variations of this indexing method are explored in an attempt …

Case Study Of An Urban Elementary School's Transition From Failing To Distinguished School Status, Carla Brice Ross

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative study seeks to understand how the multidimensional functioning of an urban high-poverty high-minority elementary school changed as it moved from failing school status to distinguished school status and to determine how school change promoted the organizational well-being of the school using a case study methodology. The multidimensional lenses used to view changes at Eagle included school purpose, culture, structure, leadership, organizational and professional learning, and teacher emotions. Using these lenses to view changes provides an explanation of not only how Eagle transitioned from failing school status to distinguished school status, but more importantly, how it has been able …

Transformation Of Sulfonamide Antibiotics On Soil Mineral Oxides, Baishu Guo

All Theses

Determining the occurrence and potential adverse effects of antibiotic pharmaceuticals released into the environment is a critical step towards responsible environmental stewardship. Under aqueous conditions typically found in soils and natural waters, the antibiotic agent sulfamethoxazole (SMX) was transformed in the presence of pyrolusite MnO2 via oxidative pathways. At least 50% loss of SMX was observed after 269 hr in acidic and basic solutions (pH 3-9). A maximum of 100% loss was recorded at pH 3 and 66% loss was recorded at circumneutral pH. Concomitantly, aqueous manganese concentrations increased to around 10 µM at pH 3 and 2 µM at …

Math In The Middle Newsletter December 2008

Math in the Middle Program Materials

NebraskaMATH is Now Seeking Applications
Primarily Math
Nebraska Algebra: Extending Success to All Students
Retaining Quality Teachers (RQT)
New Additions