Digital Commons Network^™

Content-Based Social Network Analysis Of Mailing Lists, Angela Bohn, Ingo Feinerer, Kurt Hornik, Patrick Mair

The R Journal

Social Network Analysis (SNA) provides tools to examine relationships between people. Text Mining (TM) allows capturing the text they produce in Web 2.0 applications, for example, however it neglects their social structure. This paper applies an approach to combine the two methods named “content-based SNA”. Using the R mailing lists, R-help and R-devel, we show how this combination can be used to describe people’s interests and to find out if authors who have similar interests actually communicate. We find that the expected positive relationship between sharing interests and communicating gets stronger as the centrality scores of authors in the communication …

Watch Your Spelling!, Kurt Hornik, Duncan Murdoch

The R Journal

We discuss the facilities in base R for spell checking via Aspell, Hunspell or Ispell, which are useful in particular for conveniently checking the spelling of natural language texts in package Rd files and vignettes. Spell checking performance is illustrated using the Rd files in package stats. This example clearly indicates the need for a domain-specific statistical dictionary. We analyze the results of spell checking all Rd files in all CRAN packages and show how these can be employed for building such a dictionary.

Nonparametric Goodness-Of-Fit Tests For Discrete Null Distributions, Taylor B. Arnold, John W. Emerson

The R Journal

Methodology extending nonparametric goodness-of-fit tests to discrete null distributions has existed for several decades. However, modern statistical software has generally failed to provide this methodology to users. We offer a revision of R’s ks.test() function and a new cvm.test() function that fill this need in the R language for two of the most popular nonparametric goodness-of-fit tests. This paper describes these contributions and provides examples of their usage. Particular attention is given to various numerical issues that arise in their implementation.

Portable C++ For R Packages, Martyn Plummer

The R Journal

Package checking errors are more common on Solaris than Linux. In many cases, these errors are due to non-portable C++ code. This article reviews some commonly recurring problems in C++ code found in R packages and suggests solutions.

Creating And Deploying An Application With (R)Excel And R, Thomas Baier, Erich Neuwirth, Michele De Meo

The R Journal

We present some ways of using R in Excel and build an example application using the package rpart. Starting with simple interactive use of rpart in Excel, we eventually package the code into an Excel-based application, hiding all details (including R itself) from the end user. In the end, our application implements a service oriented architecture (SOA) with a clean separation of presentation and computation layer

Evaluation Of Fastt Math, Krystal Clawson, Valerie Grier, Amanda Iocoangeli

Graduate Capstone Projects

FASTT Math is an online, computer-based program that helps students develop fluency with basic math facts. FASTT Math can be used by students in second grade and up. Monroe Public Schools implemented this program in 2008 as a way to help improve fact fluency in the elementary grades. An evaluation of the effectiveness of the program was conducted and recommendations for future use are provided.

Inventing Norms, William Hubbard

All Faculty Scholarship

Patent law strives to promote the progress of technology by encouraging invention. Traditionally, scholars contend that patent law achieves this goal by creating financial incentives to invent in the form of exclusive rights to new technology. This traditional view of invention, however, fails to recognize that inventors are motivated by more than money. Like most people, inventors are also motivated by social norms, that is, shared normative beliefs favoring certain actions while disfavoring others. This Article argues that many Americans embrace social norms that favor and encourage successful invention. Because of these "inventing norms" inventors enjoy enhanced personal satisfaction and …

Government By Contract And The Structural Constitution, Kimberly L. Wehle

All Faculty Scholarship

Although private parties have performed government functions throughout most of Western history, mainstream administrative law scholarship is dotted with concerns over the extent to which modern federal government activities are outsourced to private contractors. Federal contractors routinely exercise authority that is classically “executive” in nature. They write regulations, interpret laws, administer foreign aid, manage nuclear weapons sites and intelligence operations, interrogate detainees, control borders, design surveillance systems, and provide military support in combat zones. Administrative law places few constraints on private contractors, and prevailing constitutional principles — the state action and private delegation doctrines, in particular — are either inept …

The Map Is Useless Unless You Know Where You Are: Information Literacy Pre-Assessment As A Tool For Understanding And Collaboration, Jason Ertz

LOEX Conference Proceedings 2009

The objective of this presentation is to provide librarians with a potential outline for beginning an information literacy assessment strategy, starting with pre-assessment. Librarians unsure about where to start when it comes to assessment will find that developing a pre-test can be a great way to start such a strategy collaborating with classroom faculty. Pre-assessment also is nonjudgmental pertaining to faculty’s teaching abilities and students’ learning making it an easier sell for collaboration or even initiating collaboration where none existed. If we can’t know where students end up after a class, at least we can get a sense of where …

On The Accuracy Of Classical And Long Wavelength Approximations For Phonon Transport In Graphene, Dhruv Singh, Jayathi Murthy, Timothy S. Fisher

Birck and NCN Publications

This paper presents a critical evaluation of the approximations usually made in thermal conductivity modeling applied to graphene. The baseline for comparison is thermal conductivity computations performed using a rigorous calculation of three-phonon scattering events and accounting for the anharmonicity of interatomic forces. Three central assumptions that underlie published theories are evaluated and shown to compromise the accuracy of thermal conductivity predictions. It is shown that the use of classical phonon occupation statistics in place of the Bose-Einstein distribution causes the overprediction of specific heat and the underprediction of phonon relaxation time; for ZA phonons, the classical approximation can underpredict …

City Of Industry: Los Efectos Concretos En El Condado De Los Angeles En La Economía, El Medio Ambiente Y La Salud Pública, Christina Andrea Hernandez

World Languages and Cultures

This project attempts to document the development of the City of Industry, located in eastern Los Angeles County, and to examine the environmental as well as socio-economic effects this industrial hub maintains on its surrounding neighborhoods. City of Industry, since its incorporation in 1957, has established an alarming precedent as a privatized city that has informed concrete changes in the local economy, the environment, and the public health of the surrounding communities that are predominantly Latina(o).

The research undertaken for this project represents an interdisciplinary intersection of a special topic in the study of Industrial Engineering: the global logistics industry, …

Synthesis, Characterization And Luminescence Studies Of Lanthanide-2,5-Thiophenedicarboxyalate Frameworks, Quddus Amin Nizami

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Four novel three-dimensional lanthanide-thiophenedicarboxylate hybrid compounds, Tb4(C44S6O37) [Tb4(2,5-TDC) [1]; TDC= thiophenedicarboxylate]; space group P-1, a=12.8068(9) ? , b=14.5574(10) ? , c= 19.1276(12) ? , α= 106.660(2)̊, β= 105.621(2)̊, γ= 93.691(2)̊, V= 3251.21(4) ? 3 , Dy4(C46H43O32S6) [Dy4(2,5-TDC) [2]], space group P-1, a= 12.807(8) ? , b= 14.6904(9) ? , c= 19.0866(11) ? , , α= 107.101(1)̊, β= 105.534(1)̊, γ= 93.529(2)̊, V= 3266.9(3) ? 3, Nd2(C21O16S4) [Nd2 (2,5-TDC) [3]], space group C2/c, a=24.037(2) ? , b=10.0649(8) ? , c=17.963(3) ? , β=128.656(2)̊, γ= 90̊, V=3393.8(7) ? 3 and Er2(C45O32S6) [Er2 (2,5-TDC) [4]], space group Pbam, a=20.9870(15) ? , b=17.1420(12) ? , …

Determination Of Sexual Dimorphism From The Proximal Femur In A Heterogeneous North American Population, Kathleen Elizabeth Droesch

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Many studies support the use of population specific standards to establish sexing of skeletal remains. Classic collections, which have been used to establish population standards, may not be reflective of modern societies, which are frequently composed of multiple ethnicities. In this study, vertical head diameter (VHD), superior-inferior neck diameter (SID), hip axis length (HAL) and neck-shaft angle (NSA) were measured from the proximal femur in order to determine if dimorphism can be established in a heterogeneous, contemporary population. Radiographic images from 159 males and 293 females were sampled. Comparisons using a two-tailed t-test indicated significant differences between males and females …

The Effects Of Dietary Immunostimulation On Atlantic Salmon (Salmo Salar) Immune Response To Sea Lice (Lepeophtheirus Salmonis) Infection, Sarah Ellen Friend

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The ectoparasitic copepod, Lepeophtheius salmonis, is considered to be the most economically damaging parasite in commercial Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) culture, causing serious disease outbreaks which cost the industry nearly half a billion dollars annually. While other salmonid species show some resistance to this parasite, Atlantic salmon have previously shown very little in the way of inflammatory response to sea lice infection. The objective of this study was to enhance the immune response of Atlantic salmon to sea lice infection through the administration of in-feed immunostimulants. The efficacy of dietary additives to stimulate the immune response of Atlantic salmon against …

Illumination And Geometry Inference Using Graphical Models, Alexandros Panagopoulos

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Image formation is a function of three components: scene geometry, surface reflectance and illumination. Estimation of one or more of these components from an image gives rise to inverse rendering problems, such as shape reconstruction or illumination estimation, which are the two major problems of interest in this thesis. We formulate such problems in a way that attempts to bridge the gap between low-level approaches based on the physical laws governing image formation and higher-level models that examine images in a statistical way. We take advantage of the powerful formalism offered by graphical models, which lead to modular frameworks and …

The Ahlfors Iteration For Confromal Mapping, Christopher Michael Green

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The Riemann Mapping Theorem states that for any proper, simply connected planar domain there exists a conformal mapping from the disk onto the domain. But can this map be explicitly described? For general domains, there is no obvious answer. However, if the domain is the interior of a simple polygon, a convenient formula for the Riemann map was discovered independently by Schwarz and Christoffel. In this dissertation, we present a local quadratically convergent algorithm, the Ahlfors Iteration, based on the theory of quasiconformal maps in the plane, to compute the Schwarz-Christoffel mapping. This algorithm will also apply to a larger …

Investigation Of The Spectral Properties Of Martian Chloride-Bearing Deposits As Observed By Crism And Themis, Heidi Bundgaard Jensen

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The initial identification of proposed chloride-bearing deposits on Mars by the Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) inspired a series of remote sensing studies investigating its geological context and morphology. This thesis focuses on spectral properties observed in remote sensing data for proposed chloride-bearing deposits. In Chapter 2, the issue of connecting the near infrared (NIR) spectral character of these deposits to chloride minerals is approached. In Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) near infrared (1.1 - 2.5 ??m) reflectance data for these deposits, a red slope (increase in reflectance with increasing wavelength) is observed in spectral ratios …

High Pt Azimuthal Anisotropy In Au+Au Collisions At √Snn = 200 Gev, Rui Wei

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

A noval state of nuclear matter, in which quarks and gluons are deconfined, yet strongly coupled to each other, is created in Au+Au collisions at the Relativisitic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). This matter, which displays strong collective flow, and large opacity to the fast moving partons, are commonly refered to as the strongly coupled quark gluon plasma (sQGP). Many efforts are ongoing to understand the microscopic properties of the strong interaction and the relaxation process leading to the rapid thermalization. The PHENIX experiment has measured the azimuthal anisotropy of &pi0 at mid-rapidity (|Η| < 0.35) in Au+Au collisions at √s_NN = 200 GeV in RHIC 2007 …

The Evolution Of Milton's Satan Through Paradise Lost And Paradise Regained And Milton's Establishment Of The Hero, Nicole Cammareri

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

One of the most imposing themes of John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) is the depiction of Satan as heroic. Although deplorable and malevolent, the Satan of Paradise Lost appeals to the reader, and his actions and thoughts are easily agreed upon. Embodying the classification of tragic hero, Satan has both made an error in judgment and was overcome by a tragic flaw that brought about a devastating calamity. Moving onto Milton's second epic, Paradise Regained (1671), presents a new problem for the reader as the Satan that he became close to in Paradise Lost is non-existent. Satan is no longer …

Ethics Of World Citizens: Kantian Cosmopolitanism, Eunah Lee

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The goal of this dissertation is to defend the Kantian cosmopolitan ideal in the context of contemporary debate about global ethics. Kant's cosmopolitanism has been criticized for its sharp dualism between morality and legality, which deprives it of the very potential for a practical project toward perpetual peace that it promises. This line of objection, famously raised by Hegel, enables a competing conception of cosmopolitanism. Although Hegel's situated or rooted conception of self and state provides us with relevant resources, Kant's ideal cannot or should not be replaced by Hegelian principles. An adequate appropriation of Kant's espousal of cosmopolitan rights …

Legitimacy And Legality: Carl Schmitt And The Dialectic Of Modernity, Celina Maria Bragagnolo

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Recently, Carl Schmitt's critique of the modern liberal state has been deployed in an assessment of political modernity. One of the key ideas underlying this critique is the distinction between legitimacy and `mere legality,' which he identifies with modernity. I begin to asses this distinction first from the point of view of Schmitt's theory of secularization, since his critique of legality is the result of a certain philosophy of history. Secondly, I set Schmitt's critique of legality against a critical theoretical account of law and modernity by means of a discussion of the work of Hans Blumenberg, Franz Neumann and …

Gendered Arrests Or Gendered Sentencing: Explaining The Narrowing Of The Gender Gap In Imprisonment Over Time: 1970–2008, Mark G. Harmon, Robert M. O'Brien

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Since 1970 the percentage of women incarcerated in U.S. prisons has risen from nearly 3 percent to almost 7 percent—more than doubling in less than 40 years. This article examines explanations for this phenomenon—concentrating on two: Changes in the relative rates of arrest for females and males and sentencing reforms that were instituted during this period. The authors examine trends in female to male imprisonment rates from 1970 to 2008 across all fifty states using panel analysis. The only robust relationship they find is between the ratio of female to male incarceration rates and the ratio of female to male …

Daily Eastern News: December 01, 2011, Eastern Illinois University

December

No abstract provided.

Electron Screening And Disorder-Induced Heating In Ultracold Neutral Plasmas, Mary Elizabeth Lyon

Theses and Dissertations

Disorder-induced heating (DIH) is a nonequilibrium, ultrafast relaxation process that occurs when laser-cooled atoms are photoionized to make an ultracold plasma. Its effects dominate the ion motion during the first 100 ns of the plasma evolution. Using tools of atomic physics we study DIH with ns time resolution for different plasma densities and temperatures. By changing the frequency of the laser beam we use to probe the ions, we map out the time evolution of the velocity distribution. We can compare this to a fluorescence simulation in order to more clearly determine the relationship between the fluorescence signal and the …

Chemical Modification On Gold Slides To Gain Better Control Of Patterning Techniques, Ragini Vuppalapati

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Nanolithography is a rapidly evolving field that requires new combinations of techniques to improve patterning and to assist in fabricating electromechanical devices. An increasing number of applications require surfaces with defined regions of different chemical functionality. In our previous project optimum conditions for lithographic patterning were determined and potential blockers were identified to reduce force on the tip.

This work is focused on identifying good chemical modifications that will allow better control of basic patterning and to investigate the minimum force of patterning required while using each chemical system. The primary aim is to gain better control of basic pattern …

Development Of A Mode Choice Model For Bus Rapid Transit In Santa Clara County, California, Chun-Hung Peter Chen, George A. Naylor

Journal of Public Transportation

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is an enhanced bus service that offers many of the same service attributes as rail transit, such as specialized vehicles, large stations, real-time passenger information, and more frequent and reliable operations. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) intends to develop an integrated BRT network throughout Santa Clara County, California, to provide high quality service to areas not well served by the VTA Light Rail (LRT) system. Past research showed that many transit agencies in North America considered BRT the same as LRT in their demand models, and a few agencies treated BRT and local bus …

Modeling Access Mode Choice For Inter-Suburban Commuter Rail, Åsa Bergman, John Gliebe, James Strathman

Journal of Public Transportation

This paper presents an analysis of access mode choice by riders of one of the first U.S. suburb-to-suburb commuter railroads, the Westside Express (WES), in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. The study uses on-board survey data collected by the region’s transit agency, Tri-Met, during WES’s first year of operation. The data include observed access mode choices, historical mode usage, and subjective assessment of WES attributes. A hierarchical choice model was estimated, using attributes of the access trip, station areas and rider characteristics. The estimation results revealed pre-WES-mode inertia effects in choosing drive access, pro-sustainability attitudes in choosing bike access, the …

A New Architectural Design Of Elevated Small Group Automated Rapid Transit, Hugh Chapman, Mary Chapman, Avishai Ceder

Journal of Public Transportation

Due to increased motorcar popularity, public transport use has declined while congestion costs billions in wasted time, fuel, accidents, air and water pollution. Proposed passenger transport projects have been cancelled in major cities, and completed projects have not attracted the private motorist. This study investigates reasons for this. As cities grow vertically and horizontally, they form three-dimensional mazes requiring special transport design solutions that enhance the city. Congestion can be alleviated by transferring passenger transport onto elevated solutions such as the presented Elevated Small Group Automated Rapid Transit (ESGART) SkyCabs system, which straddles the gap between Group Rapid Transit (GRT) …

Assessment Of Surface Transportation Security Training Needs And Delivery Preferences, Karen W. Lowrie, Judy A. Shaw, Michael R. Greenberg

Journal of Public Transportation

America’s surface transportation system features long and inter-connected routes and open access to stations and vehicles, making the system vulnerable to terrorist attack. While a variety of security-related training products exist for the transportation sector, government and other reports have called for improvements in the transportation security training curriculum in terms of quality and consistency. At the same time, tight economic times have left few extra financial resources available for systems to deliver adequate training to employees. This study assessed the needs for additional security training through focus groups and interviews with representatives of major surface transportation stakeholders and agencies. …

Full Issue 14(4)

Journal of Public Transportation

No abstract provided.