Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Measuring Up: A Case For Redrawing The System Boundaries Of Sustainability At The University Of Kentucky, Brent Sturlaugson, Rebekah Radtke, Anita Lee-Post

Architecture Faculty Publications

The primary goal of this paper is to examine the role that sustainability assessment and reporting plays in creating a sustainable campus for academic excellence. A prototype sustainability assessment and reporting system is developed for triple bottom line impact analysis of the built environment of the newly expanded and renovated Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky. The prototype system utilizes a toolkit to collect environmental, social, and economic data of the building's built environment for sustainable design performance analyses. The system also employs a comprehensive set of sustainability metrics to measure and report the building's …

Self-Reported Risk And Delinquent Behavior And Problem Behavioral Intention In Hong Kong Adolescents: The Role Of Moral Competence And Spirituality, Daniel T. L. Shek, Xiaoqin Zhu

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Based on the six-wave data collected from Grade 7 to Grade 12 students (N = 3,328 at Wave 1), this pioneer study examined the development of problem behaviors (risk and delinquent behavior and problem behavioral intention) and the predictors (moral competence and spirituality) among adolescents in Hong Kong. Individual growth curve models revealed that while risk and delinquent behavior accelerated and then slowed down in the high school years, adolescent problem behavioral intention slightly accelerated over time. After controlling the background socio-demographic factors, moral competence and spirituality were negatively associated with risk and delinquent behavior as well as problem …

A Fast And Robust Extrinsic Calibration For Rgb-D Camera Networks, Po-Chang Su, Ju Shen, Wanxin Xu, Sen-Ching S. Cheung, Ying Luo

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

From object tracking to 3D reconstruction, RGB-Depth (RGB-D) camera networks play an increasingly important role in many vision and graphics applications. Practical applications often use sparsely-placed cameras to maximize visibility, while using as few cameras as possible to minimize cost. In general, it is challenging to calibrate sparse camera networks due to the lack of shared scene features across different camera views. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm that can accurately and rapidly calibrate the geometric relationships across an arbitrary number of RGB-D cameras on a network. Our work has a number of novel features. First, to cope …

Learning To Generate Natural Language Rationales For Game Playing Agents, Upol Ehsan, Pradyumna Tambwekar, Larry Chan, Brent Harrison, Mark O. Riedl

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Many computer games feature non-player charactert (NPC) teammates and companions; however, playing with or against NPCs can be frustrating when they perform unexpectedly. These frustrations can be avoided if the NPC has the ability to explain its actions and motivations. When NPC behavior is controlled by a black box AI system it can be hard to generate the necessary explanations. In this paper, we present a system that generates human-like, natural language explanations—called rationales—of an agent's actions in a game environment regardless of how the decisions are made by a black box AI. We outline a robust data collection …

Parallel Design Of A Product And Internet Of Things (Iot) Architecture To Minimize The Cost Of Utilizing Big Data (Bd) For Sustainable Value Creation, Ryan Bradley, Ibrahim S. Jawahir, Niko Murrell, Julie Whitney

Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing Faculty Publications

Information has become today's addictive currency; hence, companies are investing billions in the creation of Internet of Things (IoT) frameworks that gamble on finding trends that reveal sustainability and/or efficiency improvements. This approach to “Big Data” can lead to blind, astronomical costs. Therefore, this paper presents a counter approach aimed at minimizing the cost of utilizing “Big Data” for sustainable value creation. The proposed approach leverages domain/expert knowledge of the system in combination with a machine learning algorithm in order to limit the needed infrastructure and cost. A case study of the approach implemented in a consumer electronics company is …

Assessing The Felt Reports Of The 1811-12 New Madrid Earthquakes In The Central United States, Ron Street, John D. Kiefer, Jerry L. Raisor

Report of Investigations--KGS

The damage and felt reports describing the New Madrid, Mo., earthquakes of 1811-12 need to be assessed in the historical context in which the events occurred. Log cabins in the frontier settlements along the lower Ohio River Valley, for example, were built with a rudimentary form of base isolation, and their response to the earthquakes should not be evaluated in the same way that a modern wood-frame or brick building would be.

Also, inaccuracies have crept into the databases used for estimating the epicenters and magnitudes of the earthquakes. For example, the magnitude of the December 16, 1811, earthquake has …