Digital Commons Network^™

Why Triangular Membership Functions Work Well In F-Transform: A Theoretical Explanation, Jaime Nava, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In many practical applications, it is useful to represent a signal or an image by its average values on several fuzzy sets. The corresponding {\em F-transform} technique has many useful applications in signal and image processing. In principle, we can use different membership functions. Somewhat surprisingly, in many applications, the best results occur when we use triangular membership functions. In this paper, we provide a possible theoretical explanation for this empirical phenomenon.

Northwest Arkansas Consumer Perceptions Of Poultry Production, Stuart Estes

Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology Undergraduate Honors Theses

Poultry production holds an important place in Arkansas economically and as a food source. The importance of poultry production ultimately hinges on the demands of the consumers and the perceptions that drive their purchases. With this in mind, this study surveyed consumers to assess their perceptions of poultry production in Arkansas. The instrument used to survey consumers was created by the researcher and an expert committee at the University of Arkansas. Consumers were interviewed through direct communication at grocery stores in northwest Arkansas. Data gathered from the study were analyzed for descriptive and correlational statistics. Data showed that consumers were …

Context Aware Identity Management Using Smart Phones, Vamsi Paruchuri, Sriram Chellappan

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Cell phones are personal devices that are seldom used by more than one individual. Today's smartphone not only serves as the key computing and communication mobile device of choice, but it also comes with a rich set of embedded sensors. In other words, smartphones can be considered less of a "phone" in the traditional sense and more of an identity management device. Furthermore, the unique array of sensors on a smartphone can communicate its owner's identity to the world. Smartphones are pervasive computing devices that ubiquitously accompany humans and must adapt accordingly. In this paper, we propose architecture to fully …

Lwv Bulletin, December, 2013, League Of Women Voters Of The Huntington Area

League of Women Voters of the Huntington Area Bulletin 2010-2019

The Bulletin is published by the League, which is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

Foundation For Peace, Lawrence Frizzell

Department of Religion Publications

Cycle A liturgical readings for the First Sunday of Advent, December 1, 2013: Is 2:1-5; Ps 122; Rom 13:11-14; Mt 24:37-44. This article was previously published in The Catholic Advocate.

Ua66 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Newsletter, Cheryl Stevens, Dean

Ogden College of Science & Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

Causal Strategic Inference In Social And Economic Networks, Mohammad Tanvir Irfan

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

Who are the most influential senators in Congress? Is there a small coalition of senators who are influential enough to prevent filibusters? In a different setting of microfinance markets, can we predict the effects of interventions to help policy makers? In order to pursue such diverse questions, we propose causal strategic inference, a game-theoretic counterpart of causal probabilistic inference. Using this general framework, we study two different sets of problems, broadly on social networks and networked microfinance economies. In the first study, we introduce a new approach to the study of influence that captures the strategic aspects of the complex …

Non-Termination Analysis And Cost-Based Optimization For Logic Programs, Senlin Liang

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

Rule systems have seen an upsurge of interest in the past decade, as many in the academia and industry started to discover more applications for rules such as the Semantic Web, policy management, and program analysis. In response, high-level logic languages such as Flora-2 and SILK have been invented as tools for developing complex knowledge bases by knowledge engineers who are not programmers. The knowledge bases that are created by this type of users are typically complex and they stress the engine capabilities. Therefore, there are new challenges in order for logic engines to be able to process these knowledge …

Water Baby: A Memoir, Christopher James Cascio

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

This memoir traces the turbulent relationship between me and my older brother, while simultaneously witnessing the collapse and fall of my family along with our notions of upward social mobility. I've spent over a year interviewing relatives and producing material, ultimately shaping a narrative that unwaveringly draws topics such as violence, child rape, incest, and mental health into the light for investigation and conversation, and still maintains hope that my family and I can heal, and recover. | 263 pages

Wreck Of The Savage Compliment, George Andrew Kerzner

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

The year is 2083, Greenport, Eastern Long Island. Ondrew Davies, grand scion of an extraordinary family, in order to free his astronaut father, Taelor, from a government mental institution in which the elder has spent his life, is attempting to fulfill a government demand to write an allocution in memoir explaining the alleged hoax his father and grandfather perpetrated during the last manned Mars mission of 2054. NASA and NSA, who have joined forces following a failed attempt to crash a space shuttle into the White House, are in control of the country. In order to attract private investment and …

Housing Market Dynamics: Financial Risk And Housing Price Bubbles, Irina Kisina

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

The dissertation investigates the inter-dependence between financial and housing markets and analyzes how uncorrelated financial risk may promote an increase in housing demand and induce bubble-like behavior of residential real estate prices. We show that endogenous relative wealth concerns may play an important role in explaining the emergence and dynamics of housing price bubbles in times of technological innovation that has high level of uncertainty. We present a general equilibrium model in which house-buyers' exposure to financial risk together with concerns about relative wealth translates into housing price volatility. Unlike other models with endogenous relative wealth concerns, our model suggests …

Development Of A Single Photon Detector For Fluorescent Spectrometry, Dmytro Gudkov

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

I present a novel multichannel single photon detector based on PMT sensor (32-channel Hamamatsu H7260-20) with unique linearity range for applications in life sciences. My extensive study of pulse characteristics of the PMT sensor showed that maximum linearity range obtained with 32-channel PMT could not exceed 108 counts/sec due to distortions of photon pulses at high input optical power. Due to a novel, highly advanced analog/digital circuitry operating in GHz range, the developed 32-channel detector has a unique performance: it supports detection of up to 108 photons/sec per channel, data acquisition rate at up to 106 frames/sec, data transfer via …

Machine Learning, Evolutionary Algorithms, And The Inference Of Mathematical Truths, Asher Hensley

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

In this thesis we set out to find whether the true data generating formula behind a set of data points can be automatically inferred from the data points alone. We start with the topic of machine learning and quickly realize that black box models can only approximate the real world which creates the motivation to move on to evolutionary algorithms as a vehicle to implement symbolic regression. Through a series of experiments we discover that the mean-squared error cost function is easily fooled by decoy solutions and is unable to make use of all the information presented in the training …

Gaze Behavior Detection System Based On The Object Image, Yunkai Huang

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

This thesis presents a design methodology of a low-cost noninvasive gaze tracking system to detect gaze behavior when user is browsing internet or reading material on computer. The user's face image is captured and processed in real-time. By means of C++ and OpenCV library, the system detects face, eye region with Haar feature-based cascade classifier. Eye center is detected by contouring dark area in eye region and finding the center of largest area among contoured dark areas. The detected eye center is mapped to gaze point on computer screen after four point calibration. The average angular error is 1.96 degree, …

Development Of Narrow Gap Semiconductor Materials And Devices For Optoelectronic Applications, Ding Wang

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

Mid-wave to long-wave infrared (3~12 μ m in wavelength) optoelectronic devices have broad applications in gas sensing, molecular spectroscopy, imaging, environmental, industrial monitoring, etc. This work aims to explore new III-V materials and heterostructures to develop light emitting devices and detectors for the infrared spectral region. Optical properties of dilute nitride GaSbN and InAsN materials were investigated. We observed strong bandgap reduction with increasing nitrogen incorporation. GaSbN with 1.4% of nitrogen showed 300 meV narrower bandgap than GaSb; for InAsN the bandgap energy was reduced by 150 meV with nitrogen incorporation up to 2.25%. The carrier lifetimes within the picoseconds …

Generation Of Customized Time Domain Fir Filter Hardware, Yujie Wu

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

Although finite impulse response (FIR) filtering is a well-known technique, it is still difficult to implement efficiently as hardware because the designer must choose from many application-specific design options, and it is difficult to choose those that best fit the requirements of the system. This thesis describes two design and simulation tools which enable easy implementation and optimization of time-domain FIR filters. The first generates hardware (as synthesizable Verilog) for a designer-specified FIR filter and the second provides a fixed-point simulation environment for the design space (using MATLAB). Both tools are customized based on the user's choices across a parameterized …

When The Personal Became Political: First-Person Fictions And Second-Wave Feminism, Megan Elizabeth Behrent

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

Second-wave feminism made famous the slogan, " The personal is political." This dissertation explores the relationship between the personal and political in fictional narratives associated with the development of second-wave feminism in the United States in the 1960s and 70s. Deeply engaged with the political movements that arose amidst this turbulent period in American history, these narratives reflect--in both form and content--the political discourses that dominated both the women's liberation movement and the New Left. The first-person fictions of feminist writers that emerge in this period traverse, and subvert, the boundaries between truth and fiction as well the personal and …

Rethinking The Ideas Of Pan-Africanism And African Unity: A Theoretical Perspective Of Kwame Nkrumah’S Leadership Traits And Decision Making, Felix Kumah-Abiwu, James R. Ochwa-Echel

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

The search for Africa’s political unity has been one of the underlying ideas drawn from Pan- Africanism for several decades. Besides political leaders such as Sékou Touré and Modibo Keita with similar ideas on continental unity, Kwame Nkrumah was the central figure who vigorously championed the cause for Africa’s political unity. The role of Nkrumah as the iconic personality for the unification movement continues to attract scholarly attention and debate. This article contributes to the literature on Pan-Africanism and African unity by examining Nkrumah’s ideas and decision making through the lens of his leadership traits and personality styles. Grounded on …

Structure Matters: Examining Illness Behavior Using Parsons's Sick Role, Angela D. Byrd

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Although Talcott Parsons’s sick role theory, as described in 1951 in The Social System, has been severely criticized for its inapplicability to chronic illnesses, a portion of the theory is still a relevant and necessary factor in terms of understanding and treating chronic illness today. Using data from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey, this study looks at the individual effects of sex, age, race, cohabitation, education and region of residence on the likelihood of chronically ill patients considering themselves limited in their amount or kind of work as an indicator of sick role adaptation. Results show statistically significant relationships …

Suicide-Related Imagining And Acquired Capability: Investigating The Role Of Imagery In Self-Harm Behaviors, Tara C. Holaday

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the role of suicide-related mental imagery in suicidal behavior. It was hypothesized that engagement (frequency, emotional impact, vividness, realism) with suicidal imagery would be related to suicidality, with greater engagement with imagery associated with more suicidal behaviors. Acquired capability for suicide was expected to be a mediator of this relationship. These hypotheses were tested by surveying 237 undergraduate university students (59% female; mean age = 20). Students completed a packet of self-report measures: The Modified Suicidal Cognitions Interview, The Acquired Capability for Suicide Scale, and the Self-Harm Behavior Questionnaire. Results suggested that …

Much Work Still To Be Done To Prevent Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections, Kevin T. Kavanagh, Lindsay Calderon, Daniel Saman

Biological Sciences Faculty and Staff Research

Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI) are all too common and often fatal events. To estimate the number of preventable CLABSIs, the authors analyzed SIR (Standardized Infection Ratio) and the number of CLABSI data from Hospital Com-pare. Several studies have suggested that an SIR of 0.35 may be achievable. If all institutions were able to perform at this level, then almost 50% of CLABSI would be prevented.

December 1, 2013: Bay Psalm Book Auctioned For $14.2 Million, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

Corporate Sustainability As The Cornerstone Of The Capstone Course In Strategy, Steven Meisel

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Omj Is 10th Of 84 Journals In Quality Of Business Education Articles, William P. Ferris

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Individual And Organizational Responses To Changing And Challenging Conditions, Kristin Backhaus

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Gen Ms 29 Harriet P. Henry Papers Finding Aid, Elizabeth Sistare

Search the General Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Description:

Harriet Putnam Henry became Maine’s first woman judge in 1973. Her expertise was in marine law and coastal management. She also has an extensive civil service record, including advocacy for women judges and work with child abuse and child welfare. She was active with the Maine Humanities Council, where the Harriet P. Henry Center for the Book was named in her honor. The Papers consist of publications and writings of Henry and others.

Date Range:

ca. 1941-1995

Size of Collection:

0.75 ft

Comparing The Effectiveness Of Debriefing Methods In High Fidelity Simulation In A Nursing Baccalaureate Program, Jihad Jawad Kadhim

Nursing Master Theses

The experiential learning process is a key concept in gaining and analyzing knowledge, which involves participation in those experiences. In nursing education, these experiences can occur through high-fidelity simulation. The most important component of this learning process is the post-experience critical analysis or debriefing. During the debriefing phase, students must reflect upon the experiences, identify key points, and discuss the main concern related to patient care. The debriefing phase helps students to be able to develop and refine knowledge and experiences. Methods of debriefing include verbal feedback or video-assisted verbal discussion that allows students to reflect and discuss on what …

An "Interpretary" For The Is Discipline, A Compendium Of Interpretations Of Basic Is Concepts And Methods From Different Theoretical Perspectives, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This article proposes the development of an "interpretary," a compendium of interpretations of IS concepts and methods from different theoretical perspectives. Such an interpretary would recognize the importance of different theoretical perspectives while also moving toward an organized body of knowledge for the IS discipline. An idealized interpretary can be viewed as a two-dimensional concept interpretation matrix whose cells contain interpretations of specific concepts from specific theoretical perspectives. The first column is a list of important IS concepts. The other columns represent specific theoretical perspectives. Each cell contains an interpretation of a particular concept from a particular perspective Thus, the …

What's Up Newsletter, December 2013

What's Up Newsletter

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Milwaukee, WI

What's Up Newsletter Finding Aid

Machines In Desolation: Images Of Technology In The Great Basin Of The American West, Todd Shallat

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

Mythic thinking about technology as an engine of progress has shaped the ways Americans have come to perceive the boundaries of vacant space. In the Great Basin of the Rocky Mountains, where the West still appears to the East as empty and formless, photography and art tell richly symbolic stories about wastelands transformed into wealth. Often those stories aggrandize machines and engineering. The essay presents a visual sampling of machines remaking the desert from three historical eras. First, from the postbellum era of the transcontinental railroad, are pictures of barrens redeemed by science and industrialization. Second, from pioneer Utah, are …