Digital Commons Network^™

An Anytime Algorithm For Computing Inconsistency Measurement, Yue Ma, Guilin Qi, Guohui Xiao, Pascal Hitzler, Zuoquan Lin

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

Measuring inconsistency degrees of inconsistent knowledge bases is an important problem as it provides context information for facilitating inconsistency handling. Many methods have been proposed to solve this problem and a main class of them is based on some kind of paraconsistent semantics. In this paper, we consider the computational aspects of inconsistency degrees of propositional knowledge bases under 4-valued semantics. We first analyze its computational complexity. As it turns out that computing the exact inconsistency degree is intractable, we then propose an anytime algorithm that provides tractable approximation of the inconsistency degree from above and below. We show that …

Graduate Connections- November 2009

Graduate Connections: A Newsletter for UNL Graduate Students

In This Issue:

Click on links to navigate the newsletter

Navigating Graduate School ...... 1

Seven Keys to Success

Non-Traditional Students

Keeping Connected at a Distance

Good Practices in Graduate Education ...................................... 5

Types of Plagiarism

Essential Connections .................. 6

Tips for Forming Your Supervisory Committee

Top Ten Teaching Mistakes

Improving Teaching through Student Feedback

Teaching Tip ................................. 8

MERLOT

Professional Development ......... 11

Writing a Research Article

Transferable Skills

Funding Opportunities ............... 16

Announcements .......................... 17

Fellowship Competition

Insurance for Grad Assistants

Student Accounts

Volunteer Opportunities

Interactions ................................. 18

Fellowship Winners

GSA News

Events .......................................... 19

NAGPS Conference

Calendar …

A Gis Hub At Pace University, Peggy Minis, Hsui-Lin Winkler

Cornerstone 2 Reports : Community Outreach and Empowerment Through Service Learning and Volunteerism

The Thinkfinity Grant is to use technology to develop a GIS Hub at Pace University. The Hub is intended to show the larger community the work done at Pace and to show that our students and faculty are using GIS to solve geographically-based problems for communities and organizations. It also is intended to serve as a site from which users can download data to make their own maps and as a place where the larger community can find examples of maps and have the ability to manipulate maps.

Refuge Update – November/December 2009, Volume 6, Number 6

RefugeUpdate (USFWS-NWRS)

Table of Contents:

Tufted Puffin Released A rehabilitated puffin gingerly tests freedom at Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge.

FOCUS: Stories of Hope From cemeteries to woodpeckers, to newspaper columns and support at the ballot box, refuges represent stories of hope as they pursue their mission.

Bats in the Barn Scientists and volunteers wrap a barn in plastic and count the bats inside.

Sense of Wonder Award Jim Burkhart shares the joy and mysteries of the natural world with visitors to Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, GA.

Rape, Feminism, And The War On Crime, Aya Gruber

Washington Law Review

Over the past several years, feminism has been increasingly associated with crime control and the incarceration of men. In apparent lock step with the movement of the American penal system, feminists have advocated a host of reforms to strengthen state power to punish gender-based crimes. In the rape context, this effort has produced mixed results. Sexual assault laws that adopt prevailing views of criminality and victimhood, such as predator laws, enjoy great popularity. However, reforms that target the difficulties of date rape prosecutions and seek to counter gender norms, such as rape shield and affirmative consent laws, are controversial, sporadically-implemented, …

The Nitsche Conjecture, Tadeusz Iwaniec, Leonid V. Kovalev, Jani Onninen

Mathematics - All Scholarship

The conjecture in question concerns the existence of a harmonic homeomorphism between circular annuli A(r,R) and A(r*,R*), and is motivated in part by the existence problem for doubly-connected minimal surfaces with prescribed boundary. In 1962 J.C.C. Nitsche observed that the image annulus cannot be too thin, but it can be arbitrarily thick (even a punctured disk). Then he conjectured that for such a mapping to exist we must have the following inequality, now known as the Nitsche bound: R*/r* is greater than or equal to (R/r+r/R)/2. In this paper we give an affirmative answer to his conjecture. As a corollary, …

Population Coding Of Tone Stimuli In Auditory Cortex: Dynamic Rate Vector Analysis, Peter Bartho, Carina Curto, Artur Luczak, Stephan L. Marguet, Kenneth D. Harris

Department of Mathematics: Faculty Publications

Neural representations of even temporally unstructured stimuli can show complex temporal dynamics. In many systems, neuronal population codes show “progressive differentiation,” whereby population responses to different stimuli grow further apart during a stimulus presentation. Here we analyzed the response of auditory cortical populations in rats to extended tones. At onset (up to 300 ms), tone responses involved strong excitation of a large number of neurons; during sustained responses (after 500 ms) overall firing rate decreased, but most cells still showed a statistically significant difference in firing rate. Population vector trajectories evoked by different tone frequencies expanded rapidly along an initially …

Personality Scale Validities Increase Throughout Medical School, Filip Lievens, Deniz S. Ones, Stephan Dilchert

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Admissions and personnel decisions rely on stable predictor-criterion relationships. The authors studied the validity of Big Five personality factors and their facets for predicting academic performance in medical school across multiple years, investigating whether criterion-related validities change over time. In this longitudinal investigation, an entire European country's 1997 cohort of medical students was studied throughout their medical school career (Year 1, N = 627; Year 7, N = 306). Over time, extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness factor and facet scale scores showed increases in operational validity for predicting grade point averages. Although there may not be any advantages to being open …

Automated Likelihood Based Inference For Stochastic Volatility Models, H. Skaug, Jun Yu

Research Collection School Of Economics

The Laplace approximation is used to perform maximum likelihood estimation of univariate and multivariate stochastic volatility (SV) models. It is shown that the implementation of the Laplace approximation is greatly simplified by the use of a numerical technique known as automatic differentiation (AD). Several algorithms are proposed and compared with some existing maximum likelihood methods using both simulated data and actual data. It is found that the new methods match the statistical efficiency of the existing methods while significantly reducing the coding effort. Also proposed are simple methods for obtaining the filtered, smoothed and predictive values for the latent variable. …

User Interfaces For Visual Analysis And Monitoring In Business Intelligence, Lars Grammel, Margaret-Anne Storey, Christoph Treude

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Business intelligence is concerned with understanding and leveraging the vast amounts of information stored in the databases of modern enterprises. Visualization techniques have been used to make sense of this data for a long time, first in the form of simple charts, and nowadays in the form of interactive visualizations. By leveraging the strengths of the human perceptual system and incorporating user interaction, they support the flexible analysis of data as well as data monitoring by users. The recent progress in the fields of information and data visualization as well as new hardware developments and trends in business intelligence have …

Measuring The Spin Of Grs 1915+105 With Relativistic Disk Reflection, J. L. Blum, J. M. Miller, A. C. Fabian, M. C. Miller, J. Homan, M. Van Der Klis, E. M. Cackett, R. C. Reis

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research Publications

GRS 1915+105 harbors one of the most massive known stellar black holes in the Galaxy. In 2007 May, we observed GRS 1915+105 for ~117 ks in the low/hard state using Suzaku. We collected and analyzed the data with the Hard X-ray Detector/Positive Intrinsic Negative and X-ray Spectrometer cameras spanning the energy range from 2.3 to 55 keV. Fits to the spectra with simple models reveal strong disk reflection through an Fe K emission line and a Compton backscattering hump. We report constraints on the spin parameter of the black hole in GRS 1915 + 105 using relativistic disk reflection models. …

Misuse Of Reasonable Royalty Damages As A Patent Infringement Deterrent, The, Brian J. Love

Missouri Law Review

This Article studies the Federal Circuit's use of excessive reasonable royalty awards as a patent infringement deterrent. I argue against this practice, explaining that, properly viewed in context of the patent system as a whole, distorting the reasonable royalty measure of damages is an unnecessary and ineffective means of ensuring an optimal level of reward for inventors and deterrence for infringers. First, I introduce cases in which the Federal Circuit and other courts following its lead have awarded punitive reasonable royalty awards and explain the Federal Circuit's professed rationale for doing so. Next, I demonstrate that this practice makes little …

Optimizing The Release And Methylation Of Bacterial Endospore Dipicolinic Acid, Aaron N. Nackos

Theses and Dissertations

Rapid, portable detection of biological threat agents such as Bacillus anthracis endospores (“spores”) is extremely important given the real and perceived threats of bioterrorism. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is an excellent general means for chemical detection, although special sample preparation and specialized equipment are required to employ GC-MS for detecting biological agents such as spores in the field. A GC sample introduction probe consisting of a helical wire that can be retracted inside a syringe needle, called a coiled wire filament (CWF), was employed as a simple, passively-heated means to introduce the mixture of spores plus reagents for thermochemolysis methylation …

The Enmeshment Of Five Worlds, 1710-1713: The Making Of New Bern In Southern Iroquoia, Leo Schelbert

Swiss American Historical Society Review

On September 29, 1710, a hundred and three people - among them their leader Christoph von Graffenried and his son Christoph jr. - arrived at a river the Tuscarora called Gow-ta-no, meaning "pine water." 1 When in 15 84 reconnoitering the coast between what his people named Cape Fear and Cape Lookout, the English captain Arthur Barlowe (?-?) called it Neus River, possibly derived from the name of the Neusiok people living at its mouth,.2 The newcomers were from Canton Bern, a leading member state of the Swiss Confederacy, and they intended to settle in a region located on the …

Dragon Age: Origins - Maps & Benchmark Problems, Nathan R. Sturtevant, Bioware Corp

Moving AI Lab: 2D Maps and Benchmark Problems

Maps extracted from Dragon Age: Origins with help and explicit permission from BioWare Corp. for use and distribution as benchmark problems.

Contains 156 maps and benchmark problem sets.

Provenance Signatures Of The Antarctic Ice Sheets In The Ross Embayment During The Late Miocene To Early Pliocene: The Andrill And-1b Core Record, Franco M. Talarico, Sonia Sandroni

ANDRILL Research and Publications

Significant down-core modal and compositional variations are described for granule- to cobble-sized clasts in the Early Pliocene to Middle/Late Miocene sedimentary cycles of the AND-1B drill core at the NW edge of the Ross Ice Shelf (McMurdo Sound).

Long-term shifts in compositional patterns outline an evolving provenance which is interpreted as reflecting the combined effects and complex interactions among variations in ice volume, ice flow patterns and paleogeographic changes linked to the local tectonic and volcanic activity. High-frequency variations and the petrological features of the basement clast fraction provide direct information about the potential source regions during both glacial maxima …

The Upper Lithostratigraphic Unit Of Andrill And-2a Core (Southern Mcmurdo Sound, Antarctica): Local Pleistocene Volcanic Sources, Paleoenvironmental Implications And Subsidence In The Southern Victoria Land Basin, Paola Del Carlo, Kurt Panter, Kari Bassett, Laura Bracciali, Gianfranco Di Vincenzo, Sergio Rocchi

ANDRILL Research and Publications

We report results from the study of the uppermost 37 m of the Southern McMurdo Sound (SMS) AND-2A drill core, corresponding to the lithostratigraphic unit 1 (LSU 1), the most volcanogenic unit within the core. We present data on the age, composition, volcanological and depositional features of the volcanic sedimentary and tephra deposits of LSU 1 and discuss their source, mechanisms of emplacement and environment of deposition.

Sedimentary features and compositional data indicate shallow water sedimentation for the whole of LSU 1. Most of LSU 1 deposits are a mixture of near primary volcanic material with minor exotic clasts derived …

Yours, Mine, And Ours: Law Firm Property Disputes, Douglas R. Richmond

Northern Illinois University Law Review

Lateral movement by lawyers at all levels is now common. Ours is an age of lawyer mobility. It is also an age of client transience. Clients routinely change law firms, sometimes because they move with lateral lawyers, and sometimes for their own reasons. Understandably, lawyer and client mobility have spawned difficult questions about law firm property rights. For competitive reasons, law firms do not want departing lawyers taking the firm's intellectual capital or property with them when they move laterally. Client files are a treasure trove of intellectual capital and property that firms may wish to protect when clients shift …

Enhancing Dynamics Courses With Model Eliciting Activities, Lawrence H. Fong

Master's Theses

Model eliciting activities are assignments which require students to develop models to describe realistic situations. Every MEA follows six principles: model-construction, reality, self-assessment, model documentation, generalizability, and effective prototype. The six principles provide a solid guideline in which instructors can develop more MEAs, which can then be shared and used among several participating universities. Under NSF CCLI Grant #0717595, Cal Poly is currently developing Model Eliciting Activities for the subject of Mechanical Engineering.

This report documents the undertakings to implement and enhance two Model Eliciting Activities (MEAs) into the Cal Poly curriculum. Specifically, the development of the Vehicle Accident Reconstruction …

John Hazen White School Of Arts & Sciences Newsletter, November 2009, Vol. 15, 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.

Maps, Mapmaking, And Critical Pedagogy: Exploring Gis And Maps As A Teaching Tool For Social Change, Denise Pacheco, Veronica Nelly Velez

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

On A Markov Game With One-Sided Incomplete Information, Johannes Hörner, Dinah Rosenberg, Eilon Solan, Nicolas Vieille

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We apply the average cost optimality equation to zero-sum Markov games, by considering a simple game with one-sided incomplete information that generalizes an example of Aumann and Maschler (1995). We determine the value and identify the optimal strategies for a range of parameters.

Insights And Opportunities: Technologies, Policies, And Markets For Clean Energy Solutions, Douglas J. Arent

Publications (E)

A presentation highlighting how strategic energy analysis can affect technologies, policies, and markets for clean energy solutions. This includes an overview of some of NREL's models and tools as well as results from laboratory analysis.

2009 Annual Progress Report: Doe Hydrogen Program, U.S. Department Of Energy

Publications (E)

This report summarizes the hydrogen and fuel cell R&D activities and accomplishments of the DOE Hydrogen Program for FY2009. It covers the program areas of hydrogen production and delivery; fuel cells; manufacturing; technology validation; safety, codes and standards; education; and systems analysis.

Experiences With Statistical Consulting, Patrick Ciavonne Ziegler

Statistics

For my senior project, I met with the consultant for the statistics department and sat in on sessions with clients. Throughout two quarters, I worked on asking better questions and becoming more comfortable with my knowledge of statistics. The write-up of this project includes descriptions of projects I participated on, what I learned from them and what was done. It also includes thoughts I had relating to the senior project experience as a whole.

Investigation Of The Physical And Electronic Properties Of Indium Doped Zinc Oxide Nanofibers Synthesized By Electrospinning, A. F. Lotus, Y. C. Kang, R. D. Ramsier, George G. Chase

Chemical, Biomolecular, and Corrosion Engineering Faculty Research

Nanostructured metal oxides and particularly nanofiber based materials can provide significant advances for the miniaturization of electronic, optoelectronic, photonic, sensor, and energy conversion devices with enhanced performance based on their unique material properties. In this study, indium doped zinc oxide (IZO) nanofibers were synthesized by electrospinning. These nanofibers have diameters in the range 50-100 nm. The effects of indium addition on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of the zinc oxide nanofiber matrices were investigated. The IZO nanofibers undergo significant changes in their optical and electrical properties compared to undoped zinc oxide nanofibers.

Can R&D Investment Offset The Negative Impact Of Climate Change On Agricultural Productivity?, Nazrul Islam, Ruhul A. Salim

Climate Science Published Reports

Productivity growth in agriculture helps maintain the nation's economic prosperity. However, long-run productivity growth in agriculture faces several challenges such as the potential worsening of climate due to global warming and the loss of productive land due to land use competition, salinity, wind erosion and soil acidity. Strategic policy making and appropriate funding for sustained productivity growth in agriculture is therefore crucial.

Research and development (R&D) to drive innovation is an acknowledged main source of productivity growth. The development and application of technologies generated through R&D boosts agriculture's productivity. Agricultural R&D activities in Australia and in most other developed economies …

Analysis Of Multifactor Experimental Designs, Phillip I. Good

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

In the one-factor case, Good and Lunneborg (2006) showed that the permutation test is superior to the analysis of variance. In the multi-factor case, simulations reveal the reverse is true. The analysis of variance is remarkably robust against departures from normality including instances in which data is drawn from mixtures of normal distributions or from Weibull distributions. The traditional permutation test based on all rearrangements of the data labels is not exact and is more powerful that the analysis of variance only for 2xC designs or when there is only a single significant effect. Permutation tests restricted to synchronized permutations …

Assessing Trends: Monte Carlo Trials With Four Different Regression Methods, Daniel R. Thompson

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Poisson, Negative Binomial, and Quasi-Poisson Regression methods were assessed for testing the statistical significance of a trend by performing 10,000 simulations. The Poisson method should be used when data follow a Poisson distribution. The other methods should be used when data follow a normal distribution.

Approximate Bayesian Confidence Intervals For The Mean Of A Gaussian Distribution Versus Bayesian Models, Vincent A. R. Camara

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

This study obtained and compared confidence intervals for the mean of a Gaussian distribution. Considering the square error and the Higgins-Tsokos loss functions, approximate Bayesian confidence intervals for the mean of a normal population are derived. Using normal data and SAS software, the obtained approximate Bayesian confidence intervals were compared to a published Bayesian model. Whereas the published Bayesian method is sensitive to the choice of the hyper-parameters and does not always yield the best confidence intervals, it is shown that the proposed approximate Bayesian approach relies only on the observations and often performs better.