Digital Commons Network^™

Upsizer: Synthetically Scaling An Empirical Relational Database, Y. C. Tay, Bing Tian Dai, Daniel T. Wang, Eldora Y. Sun, Yong Lin, Yuting Lin

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The TPC benchmarks have helped users evaluate database system performance at different scales. Although each benchmark is domain-specific, it is not equally relevant to different applications in the same domain. The present proliferation of applications also leaves many of them uncovered by the very limited number of current TPC benchmarks. There is therefore a need to develop tools for application-specific database benchmarking. This paper presents UpSizeR, a software that addresses the Dataset Scaling Problem: Given an empirical set of relational tables D and a scale factor s, generate a database state e D that is similar to D but s …

Covariance Selection By Thresholding The Sample Correlation Matrix, Binyan Jiang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This article shows that when the nonzero coefficients of the population correlation matrix are all greater in absolute value than (C₁logp/n)^1/2 for some constant C₁, we can obtain covariance selection consistency by thresholding the sample correlation matrix. Furthermore, the rate (logp/n)^1/2 is shown to be optimal.

Classification In P2p Networks With Cascade Support Vendor Machines, Hock Hee Ang, Vivekanand Gopalkrishnan, Steven C. H. Hoi, Wee-Keong Ng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Classification in Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks is important to many real applications, such as distributed intrusion detection, distributed recommendation systems, and distributed antispam detection. However, it is very challenging to perform classification in P2P networks due to many practical issues, such as scalability, peer dynamism, and asynchronism. This article investigates the practical techniques of constructing Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifiers in the P2P networks. In particular, we demonstrate how to efficiently cascade SVM in a P2P network with the use of reduced SVM. In addition, we propose to fuse the concept of cascade SVM with bootstrap aggregation to effectively balance the …

Constructing Confidence Intervals For Effect Sizes In Anova Designs, Li-Ting Chen, Chao-Ying Joanne Peng

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A confidence interval for effect sizes provides a range of plausible population effect sizes (ES) that are consistent with data. This article defines an ES as a standardized linear contrast of means. The noncentral method, Bonett’s method, and the bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap method are illustrated for constructing the confidence interval for such an effect size. Results obtained from the three methods are discussed and interpretations of results are offered.

Bayesian Joinpoint Regression Model For Childhood Brain Cancer Mortality, Ram C. Kafle, Netra Khanal, Chris P. Tsokos

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The Bayesian approach of joinpoint regression is widely used to analyze trends in cancer mortality, incidence and survival data. The Bayesian joinpoint regression model was used to study the childhood brain cancer mortality rate and its average percentage change (APC) per year. Annual observed mortality counts of children ages 0-19 from 1969-2009 obtained from Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database of National Cancer Institute (NCI) were analyzed. It was assumed that death counts are probabilistically characterized by the Poisson distribution and they were modeled using log link function. Results were compared with the mortality trend obtained using joinpoint software …

On Comparison Of Exponential And Hyperbolic Exponential Growth Models In Height/Diameter Increment Of Pines (Pinus Caribaea), S. O. Oyamakin, A. U. Chukwu, T. A. Bamiduro

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A new tree growth model called the hyperbolic exponential nonlinear growth model is suggested. Its ability in model prediction was compared with the Malthus or exponential growth model an approach which mimicked the natural variability of heights/diameter increment with respect to age and therefore provides more realistic height/diameter predictions as demonstrated by the results of the Kolmogorov Smirnov test and Shapiro-Wilk test. The mean function of top height/Dbh over age using the two models under study predicted closely the observed values of top height/Dbh in the Hyperbolic exponential nonlinear growth models better than the ordinary exponential growth model without violating …

Progressive Reliability Method And Its Application To Offshore Mooring Systems, Mir Emad Mousavi, Paolo Gardoni, Mehdi Maadooliat

Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

Assessing the reliability of complex systems (e.g. structures) is essential for a reliability-based optimal design that balances safety and costs of such systems. This paper proposes the Progressive Reliability Method (PRM) for the quantification of the reliability of complex systems. The proposed method is a closed-form solution for calculating the probability of failure. The new method is flexible to the definition of “failure” (i.e., can consider serviceability and ultimate-strength failures) and uses the rules of probability theory to estimate the failure probability of the system or its components. The method is first discussed in general and then illustrated in two …

Assessing Protein Conformational Sampling Methods Based On Bivariate Lag-Distributions Of Backbone Angles, Mehdi Maadooliat, Xin Gao, Jianhua Z. Huang

Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

Despite considerable progress in the past decades, protein structure prediction remains one of the major unsolved problems in computational biology. Angular-sampling-based methods have been extensively studied recently due to their ability to capture the continuous conformational space of protein structures. The literature has focused on using a variety of parametric models of the sequential dependencies between angle pairs along the protein chains. In this article, we present a thorough review of angular-sampling-based methods by assessing three main questions: What is the best distribution type to model the protein angles? What is a reasonable number of components in a mixture model …

The Behavior Of Normality When Iteratively Finding The Normal To A Line In An Lp Geometry, David L. Farnsworth, Joshua M. Fitzhugh

Articles

The normal direction to the normal direction to a line in Minkowski geometries generally does not give the original line. We show that in lp geometries with p > 1 repeatedly finding the normal line through the origin gives sequences of lines that monotonically approach specific lines of symmetry of the unit circle. Which lines of symmetry that are approached depends upon the value of p and the slope of the initial line.

Top Quark Working Group Report, Nikolaos Kidonakis, Et. Al.

Faculty Articles

The top quark was discovered in 1995 [1, 2] and it is still the heaviest elementary particle known today. Thanks to its large mass, and the related strength of its coupling to the Higgs boson, the top quark may be a key player in understanding the details of electroweak symmetry breaking. Studies of the top quark properties at the Tevatron and Run I of the LHC have given us a detailed understanding of many properties of this particle, including its mass, production and decay mechanisms, electric charge and more. With the exception of the large forward-backward asymmetry in tt¯ production …

Nineteenth Century North American And Pacific Tidal Data: Lost Or Just Forgotten?, Stefan A. Talke, David A. Jay

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Tide data are the oldest and longest oceanographic records and comprise one of the few tools for understanding, quantifying, and separating century-scale human and climate impacts on the coastal zone. Our archival research indicates that continuous measurements of tides began in 1844 in the western Atlantic, 1853 in the Eastern Pacific, and 1858 in the Western Pacific. At least 50 multiyear tide series existed by the year 1900. With few exceptions, however, these 19th and early 20th century measurements have not been analyzed in more than a century and have been forgotten and neglected by the scientific community. This article …

Ce-Qual-W2 Model And Model Set-Up, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Conference presentation that provides background information on the CE-QUAL-W2 water modeling software, with examples of its use and instructions on set-up and application.

Supplementary Balance Laws For Cattaneo Heat Propagation, Serge Preston

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this work we determine for the Cattaneo heat propagation system all the supplementary balance laws (conservation laws ) of the same order (zero) as the system itself and extract the constitutive relations (expression for the internal energy) dictated by the Entropy Principle. The space of all supplementary balance laws (having the functional dimension 8) contains four original balance laws and their deformations depending on 4 functions of temperature (λ⁰(ϑ),K^A (ϑ), A = 1, 2, 3). The requirements of the II law of thermodynamics leads to the exclusion of three functional degrees (K^A= 0, A …

City Of Tampa Urban Forest Management Plan, Robert J. Northrop, Kathy Beck, Rob Irving, Shawn M. Landry, Michael G. Andreu

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Professional Learning Communities Enhancing Capacity For Improved Student Learning, L. Keith Adams

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Educators continue to be challenged with improving the nation's schools. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 created an elusive moving target towards perfection as the ultimate goal. This was a mandate for every school receiving federal funds to close the achievement gap. Recently, states have been applying for waivers to help them move out of the NCLB rut of narrowly focused and unattainable goals. The pressure of school improvement and its challenges, with limited funding, continue for schools to supply efficient and effective professional development that will benefit student learning. The Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, wrote in …

2013 Exhibitors, Deja Joli Waymer

Small Satellite Conference

No abstract provided.

Testing The Validity Of Gre Scores On Predicting Graduate Performance For Engineering Students, Wei Wang

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE), a set of standardized tests designed to determine the scholastic potential of graduate students, is widely used in graduate admissions in the United States. How GRE can predict graduate students’ performance has crucial importance both for universities and for students. Numerous of research studies have examined the validity of GRE scores in predicting graduate success, however, some limitations and gaps still existed in previous studies. This study targeted a specific discipline of engineering, and investigated the validity of GRE scores in predicting graduate performance, as measured by graduate GPA (GGPA) for engineering students. The differences …

Measuring The Stuff Of Thought: Psychology And Its Discontents, Brendan J. Morse

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

Soundings 2013-11-01, N/A N/A

Soundings

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Pd On Catalysis By Au: Co Adsorption, Co Oxidation, And Cyclohexene Hydrogenation By Supported Au And Pd−Au Catalysts, Timothy Ward, L. Delannoy, Ruth Hahn, Shane Kendell, Christopher J. Pursell, C. Louis, Bert D. Chandler

Chemistry Faculty Research

Incorporating small amounts of Pd into supported Au catalysts has been shown to have beneficial effects on selective hydrogenation reactions, particularly 1,3-butadiene hydrogenation and the hydrogenation of nitroaromatics, especially p-chloronitrobenzene. Appropriate Pd incorporation enhances hydrogenation activity while maintaining the desirable high selectivity of supported Au catalysts. To better understand this phenomenon, a series of alumina- and titania-supported Au and dilute Pd–Au catalysts were prepared via urea deposition–precipitation. The catalysts were studied with infrared spectroscopy of CO adsorption, CO oxidation catalysis, and cyclohexene hydrogenation catalysis with the goal of understanding how Pd affects the catalytic properties of Au. CO adsorption …

The Echo: November 1, 2013, Taylor University

2013-2014 (Volume 101)

DC dishes about to change – A fall ball – Top five news events of the week – Online Teaser – In loving memory of Helen Beers – In The Loop – Crazy for crepes – State superintendent speaks to local officials – The Bigger Picture – Faces of hope – Amid chaos: a chance for Kurdistan? – Around The World – Obama administration tackles college costs – Nerdster – The upgrade generation – ‘A phone worth keeping’ – Three new species discovered in Australia – Tech-time: now available on wrists! – Praise plus prayers equals peace – Halloween at …

Decreased Pulmonary Function Measured In Children Exposed To High Environmental Relative Moldiness Index Homes, Stephen J. Vesper, Larry Wymer, Suzanne Kennedy, Linda Faye Grimsley

Faculty and Staff Publications

Background: Exposures to water-damaged homes/buildings has been linked to deficits in respiratory health. However, accurately quantifying this linkage has been difficult because of the methods used to assess water damage and respiratory health.

Purpose: The goal of this analysis was to determine the correlation between the water-damage, as defined by the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI) value in an asthmatic child’s home, and the child’s pulmonary function measured by spirometry, “forced expiratory volume in one second, percent predicted” or FEV1%.

Methods: This analysis utilized data obtained from the “Heads-off Environmental Asthma in Louisiana” (HEAL) study. The children (n= 109), 6 …

Cytochrome P450 Family 1 Inhibitors And Structure-Activity Relationships, Jiawang Liu, Jayalakshmi Sridhar, Maryam Foroozesh

Faculty and Staff Publications

With the widespread use of O-alkoxyresorufin dealkylation assays since the 1990s, thousands of inhibitors of cytochrome P450 family 1 enzymes (P450s 1A1, 1A2, and 1B1) have been identified and studied. Generally, planar polycyclic molecules such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, stilbenoids, and flavonoids are considered to potentially be effective inhibitors of these enzymes, however, the details of the structure-activity relationships and selectivity of these inhibitors are still ambiguous. In this review, we thoroughly discuss the selectivity of many representative P450 family 1 inhibitors reported in the past 20 years through a meta-analysis.

0112+1703_Nir_Gnirs, Michael C. Liu

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Ct Angiography In The Detection Of Carotid Body Enlargement In Patients With Hypertension And Heart Failure, Sreejit Nair, Ajay Gupta, Marat Fudim, Christopher Robinson, Vinay Ravi, Sandra M. Hurtado Rua, Zoar Engelman, Kyungmouk S. Lee, C. Douglas Philips, Akhilesh K. Sista

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

Introduction: The carotid body (CB) has previously been found to be enlarged and hyperactive in various disease states such as heart failure (HF), hypertension (HTN), and respiratory disease. Evaluation of CB size in these disease states using imaging has not been performed. The purpose of this case–control study was to compare CB sizes in patients with HF and HTN with those of controls using CT angiography. Methods: A retrospective review was performed on 323 consecutive patients who had neck computed tomography angiography (CTA) exams in 2011. Following extensive review, 17 HF and HTN patients and 14 controls were identified. Two …

The Update, November 2013, University Of Northern Iowa. College Of Humanities, Arts And Sciences.

Update

Inside this issue:

-- Meet the Artists - GBPAC Collaboration: Kristallnacht, Night of Broken Glass
-- Department News
-- TEECA
-- Stephen Gaies
-- Sex and Death in Eighteenth Century Literature
-- School of Music Events
-- Featured Organization: Actuarial Science Club
-- Featured Organization: SAACS
-- Alumni Spotlight: Earth Science: Scott Beason
-- Electronic Media Alumni Achievements
-- New 3D Printer for Metal Casting Center
-- Student Spotlight: Language & Literatures: Sam Bass
-- In Memoriam: Clifton Chancey

The Allocation Of Time In Sleep: A Social Network Model With Sampled Data, Xiaodong Liu, Eleonora Patacchini, Edoardo Rainone

Center for Policy Research

We analyze peer effects in sleeping behavior using a representative sample of U.S. teenagers from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health. The sampling design of the survey causes the conventional 2SLS estimator to be inconsistent. We extend the NLS estimator in Wang and Lee (2013a) to estimate network models with sampled observations on the dependent variable. When accounting for sampling, we find that the sleeping behavior of the friends is important to shape own sleeping behavior, besides the impact of individual, family and friend characteristics.

Preventing Adolescents' Externalizing And Internalizing Symptoms: Effects Of The Penn Resiliency Program, J. J. Cutuli, Jane Gillham, T. M. Chaplin, K. J. Reivich, M. E. P. Seligman, R. J. Gallop, R. M. Abenavoli, D. R. Freres

Psychology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Achievement Of Students Who Did Or Did Not Participate In A High Ability Learning Program, Elizabeth A. Fitzgerald

Student Work

The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not students who had participated in a High Ability Learning Program performed at higher levels on a variety of achievement tests and overall grade point averages in the 12th grade than students who did not participate in the High Ability Learning Program. The data analyzed for this study included NeSA Reading, Math and Science scores, ACT scores, overall grade point averages, advanced placement grade point averages, and advanced placement participation frequencies. All participants in this study had ability scores within the 109 to 121 range. The results of the study …

Budgeted Personalized Incentive Approaches For Smoothing Congestion In Resource Networks, Pradeep Varakantham, Na Fu, William Yeoh, Shih-Fen Cheng, Hoong Chuin Lau

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Congestion occurs when there is competition for resources by sel sh agents. In this paper, we are concerned with smoothing out congestion in a network of resources by using personalized well-timed in- centives that are subject to budget constraints. To that end, we provide: (i) a mathematical formulation that computes equilibrium for the re- source sharing congestion game with incentives and budget constraints; (ii) an integrated approach that scales to larger problems by exploiting the factored network structure and approximating the attained equilib- rium; (iii) an iterative best response algorithm for solving the uncon- strained version (no budget) of the …