Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Umphlett Qci 2015, Natalie A. Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies

Late Hard Freeze

Late Freezes Extended Growing Season

Warm Fall Delays Bird Migrations

Monitoring Water Resources Across the Basin

3-Month Precipitation and Temperature Outlooks

Estimating The Water Quality Condition Of River And Lake Water In The Midwestern United States From Its Spectral Characteristics, Jing Tan

Open Access Dissertations

This study focuses on developing/calibrating remote sensing algorithms for water quality retrieval in Midwestern rivers and lakes. In the first part of this study, the spectral measurements collected using a hand-held spectrometer as well as water quality observations for the Wabash River and its tributary the Tippecanoe River in Indiana were used to develop empirical models for the retrieval of chlorophyll (chl) and total suspended solids (TSS). A method for removing sky and sun glint from field spectra for turbid inland waters was developed and tested. Empirical models were then developed using a subset of the field measurements with the …

Iowa Waste Reduction Center Newsletter, December 2015, University Of Northern Iowa. Iowa Waste Reduction Center.

Iowa Waste Reduction Center Newsletter

Contents:

--- Happy Holidays
--- 2016-2017 Recordkeeping Compliance Calendar for Dry Cleaners
--- 2016-2017 Compliance Calendar/Logbook for Bulk Gasoline Plants
--- Food Waste Reduction Assistance Available
--- Industry News

Sports Broadcasting News Analysis [Career Paper], Jefferson Sanders

Undergraduate Research Award

No abstract provided.

How To Start A Movement: Ted Talk Annotated Resource List, Daulton Cowan

Undergraduate Research Award

No abstract provided.

Battle Bot Ai – Patriot Bot, James Johnston

Computer Engineering

An entry in the the 'Battle Block AI' competition hosted by 'The AI Games'.

Large-Eddy Simulation Of The Transient And Near-Equilibrium Behavior Of Precipitating Shallow Convection, Axel Seifert, Thijs Heus, Robert Pincus, Bjorn Stevens

Physics Faculty Publications

Large-eddy simulation is used to study the sensitivity of trade wind cumulus clouds to perturbations in cloud droplet number concentrations. We find that the trade wind cumulus system approaches a radiative-convective equilibrium state, modified by net warming and drying from imposed large-scale advective forcing. The system requires several days to reach equilibrium when cooling rates are specified but much less time, and with less sensitivity to cloud droplet number density, when radiation depends realistically on the vertical distribution of water vapor. The transient behavior and the properties of the near-equilibrium cloud field depend on the microphysical state and therefore on …

How To Predict Nesting Sites?, Stephen Escarzaga, Craig Tweedie, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

How to predict nesting sites? Usually, all we know is the past nesting sites, and the fact that the birds select a site which is optimal for them (in some reasonable sense), but we do not know the exact objective function describing this optimality. In this paper, we propose a way to make predictions in such a situation.

Why It Is Healthy To Regularly Challenge Authority: An Algorithmic Explanation, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

One way to make group decisions is to select the best decision maker(s) in the group as the authority, and to follow his or her decisions. At first glance, it seems that if the selected authority is indeed the best decision maker, it is beneficial for everyone to obey his or her authority. However, history shows that in many cases, challenges to the authority (even to the authority of the best decision maker) were beneficial to the group. In this paper, we provide an algorithmic explanation for this phenomenon. The main idea behind this explanation is that most practical general …

Geosciences Newsletter - 2015, Department Of Geosciences

Geological and Environmental Sciences News

Vol. 8, No. 1

The department of Geosciences 50th anniversary issue.

Using Protoplanetary Disks To Weigh The Youngest Stars And Constrain The Earliest Stages Of Stellar Evolution, I. Czekala, S. Andrews, Eric L. N. Jensen, K. Stassun, D. W. Latham, D. Wilner, G. Torres

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

Mass is the fundamental property that determines the fate of a star. In particular, the masses of young stars are of great relevance to many astrophysical problems, including star and planet formation. We have developed a novel approach that combines spatially resolved sub-millimeter spectral line imaging and optical/near-infrared high resolution spectroscopy to derive the fundamental properties of a young star: mass, temperature, and radius. By applying our technique to a sample of pre-main sequence stars, we are mapping out a dynamically-calibrated Hertzsprung-Russell diagram for the express purpose of evaluating pre-main sequence evolutionary models. Looking forward, ALMA is poised to deliver …

Factors Impacting Transgender Patients’ Discomfort With Their Family Physicians: A Respondent-Driven Sampling Survey, Greta R. Bauer, Xuchen Zong, Ayden I. Scheim, Rebecca Hammond, Amardeep Thind

Epidemiology and Biostatistics Publications

BACKGROUND: Representing approximately 0.5% of the population, transgender (trans) persons in Canada depend on family physicians for both general and transition-related care. However, physicians receive little to no training on this patient population, and trans patients are often profoundly uncomfortable and may avoid health care. This study examined factors associated with patient discomfort discussing trans health issues with a family physician in Ontario, Canada.

METHODS: 433 trans people age 16 and over were surveyed using respondent-driven sampling for the Trans PULSE Project; 356 had a family physician. Weighted logistic regression models were fit to produce prevalence risk ratios (PRRs) via …

Energy Forecasting For Event Venues: Big Data And Prediction Accuracy, Katarina Grolinger, Alexandra L'Heureux, Miriam Am Capretz, Luke Seewald

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Advances in sensor technologies and the proliferation of smart meters have resulted in an explosion of energy-related data sets. These Big Data have created opportunities for development of new energy services and a promise of better energy management and conservation. Sensor-based energy forecasting has been researched in the context of office buildings, schools, and residential buildings. This paper investigates sensor-based forecasting in the context of event-organizing venues, which present an especially difficult scenario due to large variations in consumption caused by the hosted events. Moreover, the significance of the data set size, specifically the impact of temporal granularity, on energy …

Students' Perspectives Of Mobile Learning Platforms: An Empirical Study, Muasaad Alrasheedi, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Arif Raza

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Educational institutions are becoming involved in adopting technological innovations like th e mobile learning (m-Learning) platform for education. Mobile technologies are the next frontier as infrast ructure for m-Learning because they can provide high-quality learning capab ilities to satisfy the rising student demand for mobility and flexibility due to the ubiquitous nature of mobile tec hnology (smartphones) and the va st opportunities it offers, there ar e indications that smartphones could lead the next generation for learning platforms. Researchers have examin ed the idea from several angles and produced a copious amount of literature devoted to explaining the interrelationships of …

Management's Perspective On Critical Success Factors Affecting Mobile Learning In Higher Education Institutions - An Empirical Study, Muasaad Alrasheedi, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Arif Raza

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Mobile learning (m-Learning) is considered to be one of the fastest growing learning platforms. The immense interest in m-Learning is attributed to the incredible rate of growth of mobile technology and its proliferation into every aspect of modern life. Despite this, m-Learning has not experienced a similar adoption rate in the education sector, chiefly higher education. Researchers have attempted to explain this anomaly by conducting several studies in the area. However, mostly the research in m-Learning is examined from the perspective of the students and educators. In this research, it is contended that there is a third important stakeholder group …

Positive Influence Dominating Set Generation In Social Networks, Akshaye Dhawan, Matthew Rink

Mathematics, Computer Science & Statistics Faculty Publications

Current algorithms in the Positive Influence Dominating Set (PIDS) problem domain are focused on a specific type of PIDS, the Total Positive Influence Dominating Set (TPIDS). We have developed an algorithm specifically targeted towards the non-total type of PIDS. In addition to our new algorithm, we adapted two existing TPIDS algorithms to generate PIDS. We ran simulations for all three algorithms, and our new algorithm consistently generates smaller PIDS than both existing algorithms, with our algorithm generating PIDS approximately 5% smaller than the better of the two existing algorithms.

Randomized Algorithms For Approximating A Connected Dominating Set In Wireless Sensor Networks, Akshaye Dhawan, Michelle Tanco, Aaron Yeiser

Mathematics, Computer Science & Statistics Faculty Publications

A Connected Dominating Set (CDS) of a graph representing a Wireless Sensor Network can be used as a virtual backbone for routing through the network. Since the sensors in the network are constrained by limited battery life, we desire a minimal CDS for the network, a known NP-hard problem. In this paper we present three randomized algorithms for constructing a CDS. We evaluate our algorithms using simulations and compare them to the two-hop K2 algorithm and two other greedy algorithms from the literature. After pruning, the randomized algorithms construct a CDS that are generally equivalent in size to those constructed …

On The Discovery Of Social Roles In Large Scale Social Systems, Derek Doran

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

The social role of a participant in a social system is a label conceptualizing the circumstances under which she interacts within it. They may be used as a theoretical tool that explains why and how users participate in an online social system. Social role analysis also serves practical purposes, such as reducing the structure of complex systems to relationships among roles rather than alters, and enabling a comparison of social systems that emerge in similar contexts. This article presents a data-driven approach for the discovery of social roles in large scale social systems. Motivated by an analysis of the present …

Applications Of Cultural Theory And Empirical Analysis Of Sustainable Energy Policy Preferences In Arkansas, John Henry Kester Iii

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The local policy arena is ripe for research on policy elite decisionmaking because where policy diffusion is concerned, previous studies focus on state-to-state and city-to-city dynamics. Therefore, there is a significant opportunity to expand understanding about the adoption of policies and policy diffusion at the local level. Identification of individual level determinants that signify policy adoption is a cornerstone to fostering this knowledge. This study examines such preference indicators found among policy elites in select Arkansas cities. For this research, the primary theoretical perspective for evaluating individual determinants is cultural theory, which has shown strong correlation to individual policy preference …

The Protection Of Water Resources As A Justification For Self-Defense In International Humanitarian Law, Mark Tyler

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

Interval Methods For Data Fitting Under Uncertainty: A Probabilistic Treatment, Vladik Kreinovich, Sergey P. Shary

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

How to estimate parameters from observations subject to errors and uncertainty? Very often, the measurement errors are random quantities that can be adequately described by the probability theory. When we know that the measurement errors are normally distributed with zero mean, then the (asymptotically optimal) Maximum Likelihood Method leads to the popular least squares estimates. In many situations, however, we do not know the shape of the error distribution, we only know that the measurement errors are located on a certain interval. Then the maximum entropy approach leads to a uniform distribution on this interval, and the Maximum Likelihood Method …

Toward Unification Of Explicit And Implicit Invocation-Style Programming, Yoonsik Cheon

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Subprograms like procedures and methods can be invoked explicitly or implicitly; in implicit invocation, an event implicitly causes the invocation of subprograms that are registered an interest in the event. Mixing these two styles is common in programming and often unavoidable in developing such software as GUI applications and event-based control systems. However, it isn't also uncommon for the mixed use to complicate programming logic and thus produce unclean code, code that is hard to read and understand. We show, through a small but realistic example, that the problem is not much on mixing two different styles itself but more …

A Systematic Derivation Of Loop Specifications Using Patterns, Aditi Barua, Yoonsik Cheon

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Any non-trivial program contains loop control structures such as while, for and do statements. A formal correctness proof of code containing loop control structures is typically performed using an induction-based technique, and oftentimes the most challenging step of an inductive proof is formulating a correct induction hypothesis. An incorrectly-formulated induction hypothesis will surely lead to a failure of the proof. In this paper we propose a systematic approach for formulating and driving specifications of loop control structures for formal analysis and verification of programs. We explain our approach using while loops and a functional program verification technique in which a …

Simplest Innovations Are, Empirically, The Most Promising: An Explanation, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Many examples show that the simplest innovation are the most promising. In this paper, we provide a theoretical explanation for this empirical observation.

Detecting Real-Time Check-Worthy Factual Claims In Tweets Related To U.S. Politics, Fatma Dogan

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

In increasing democracy and improving political discourse, political fact-checking has come to be a necessity. While politicians make claims about facts all the time, journalists and fact-checkers oftentimes reveal them as false, exaggerated, or misleading. Use of technology and social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter has rapidly increased the spread of misinformation. Thus, human fact-checkers face difficulty in keeping up with a massive amount of claims, and falsehoods frequently outpace truths. All U.S. politicians have successively adopted Twitter, and they make use of Twitter for a wide variety of purposes, a great example being making claims to enhance …

Qp-Subdue: Processing Queries Over Graph Databases, Ankur Goyal

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

Graphs have become one of the preferred ways to store structured data for various applications such as social network graphs, complex molecular structure, etc. Proliferation of graph databases has resulted in a growing need for effective querying methods to retrieve desired information. Querying has been widely studied in relational databases where the query optimizer finds a sequence of query execution steps (or plans) for efficient execution of the given query. Until now, most of the work on graph databases has concentrated on mining. For querying graph databases, users have to either learn a graph query language for posing their queries …

Lung Cancer Subtype Classification From Whole Slide Histopathological Images, Dheeraj Ganti

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

Lung Cancer is one of the most serious diseases causing death for human be- ings. The progression of the disease and response to treatment di ers widely among patients. Thus it is very important to classify the type of tumor and also able to predict the clinical outcomes of patients. Majority of lung cancers is Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) which constitutes of 84 % of all the type of lung cancers. The two major subtypes of NSCLC are Adenocarcinoma (ADC) and Squamous Cell Car- cinoma (SCC). Accurate classi cation of the lung cancer as NSCLC and its subtype classi …

Quantitative Analysis Of Scalable Nosql Databases, Surya Narayanan Swaminathan

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

NoSQL databases are rapidly becoming the customary data platform for big data applications. These databases are emerging as a gateway for more alternative approaches outside traditional relational databases and are characterized by efficient horizontal scalability, schema-less approach to data modeling, high performance data access, and limited querying capabilities. The lack of transactional semantics among NoSQL databases has made the application determine the choice of a particular con- sistency model. Therefore, it is essential to examine methodically, and in detail, the performance of different databases under different workload conditions. In this work, three of the most commonly used NoSQL databases: MongoDB, …

Speaker Identification In Live Events Using Twitter, Minumol Joseph

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

The prevalence of social media has given rise to a new research area. Data from social media is now being used in research to gather deeper insights into many different fields. Twitter is one of the most popular microblogging websites. Users express themselves on a variety of different topics in 140 characters or less. Oftentimes, users “tweet” about issues and subjects that are gaining in popularity, a great example being politics. Any development in politics frequently results in a tweet of some form. The research which follows focuses on identifying a speaker’s name at a live event by collecting and …

Interactive Dashboard For User Activity Using Network Flow Data, Lalit Kumar Naidu

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

Data visualization is critical in analytical systems containing multi-dimensional dataset and problems associated with increasing data size. It facilitates the data explanation process of reasoning data and discovering trends with visual perception that are otherwise not evident within the data in its raw form. The challenge involved in visualization is presenting data in such a way that helps end users in the process of information discovery with simple visuals. Interactive visualizations have increasingly become popular in recent years with prominent research in the field of information visualization. These techniques are heavily used in web-based applications to present myriad forms of …