Statistics and Probability Commons^™

Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy: Meteorite Samples And The Search For 98tc, Kristopher L. Merolla

Physics

The focus of this project is low-count-level gamma-ray spectroscopy on meteorite samples in search of a particular isotope of Technetium (98Tc), which according to stellar theory, should be present in the universe. The spectral lines for 99Tc have, however, been observed in S-, M-, and N- type stars, which makes finding 98Tc created naturally a possibility, and thus a search can be justified.

Investigation Of Mlb Data With Multivariate Statistics, Vincent Milano

Statistics

A statistical study was performed in order to explore the relationships of the offensive player statistics for every player in the 2008 Major League Baseball season. The purpose of the study was to explore various multivariate statistical methods within the data set.

The offensive variables in the study are: games, at-bats, runs, hits, singles, doubles, triples, homeruns, extra base hits, runs batted in, total bases, walks, strikeouts, stolen bases, times caught stealing, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, on-base plus slugging percentage, and batting average. All variables are season totals except for onbase percentage, slugging percentage, on-base plus slugging, and batting average. …

Transient Optical Sky Survey Automated Telescope System, Elena Hadjiyska, Philip Lubin, Scott Taylor, Gary B. Hughes

Statistics

We describe the optical design of a sky survey system comprised of small aperture telescope tube assemblies mounted on a common semi-equatorial frame with a single polar axis. It is the first ground-based instrument to create a map of transients down to optical m=17 by imaging a fixed-declination strip of the sky on a nightly basis. The system is fully remotely automated and physically robust. The mount tracks the sky using a motion controller, drive motor, and a laser rotary encoder. The prototype configuration is suited to house up to 6 telescopes on the current mount and is easily expandable …

Simulation And Monte Carlo: With Applications In Finance And Mcmc, Samuel J. Frame

Statistics

No abstract provided.

Radiometric Clocks, Gary B. Hughes

Statistics

This paper provides and introduction to radioactivity, and how geologists exploit radioactive decay to determine the age of rocks.

Optimal Stopping And Free Boundary Characterizations For Some Brownian Control Problems, Amarjit Budhiraja, Kevin J. Ross

Statistics

A singular stochastic control problem with state constraints in twodimensions is studied. We show that the value function is C1 and its directional derivatives are the value functions of certain optimal stopping problems. Guided by the optimal stopping problem, we then introduce the associated no-action region and the free boundary and show that, under appropriate conditions, an optimally controlled process is a Brownian motion in the noaction region with reflection at the free boundary. This proves a conjecture of Martins, Shreve and Soner [SIAM J. Control Optim. 34 (1996) 2133–2171] on the form of an optimal control for this class …

Generalized Mixture Models, Semi-Supervised Learning, And Unknown Class Inference, Samuel J. Frame, Sreenivasa Rao Jammalamadaka

Statistics

In this paper, we discuss generalized mixture models and related semi-supervised learning methods, and show how they can be used to provide explicit methods for unknown class inference. After a brief description of standard mixture modeling and current model-based semi-supervised learning methods, we provide the generalization and discuss its computational implementation using three-stage expectation–maximization algorithm.

Convergent Numerical Scheme For Singular Stochastic Control With State Constraints In A Portfolio Selection Problem, Amarjit Budhiraja, Kevin Ross

Statistics

We consider a singular stochastic control problem with state constraints that arises in problems of optimal consumption and investment under transaction costs. Numerical approximations for the value function using the Markov chain approximation method of Kushner and Dupuis are studied. The main result of the paper shows that the value function of the Markov decision problem (MDP) corresponding to the approximating controlled Markov chain converges to that of the original stochastic control problem as various parameters in the approximation approach suitable limits. All our convergence arguments are probabilistic; the main assumption that we make is that the value function be …

Additional Algorithms For Sensor Chip Alignment To Blind Datums, Gary B. Hughes

Statistics

Alignment of the sensor focal plane array (FPA) to optical components is a critical design feature. Imaging system designs include reference datums that provide the basis for manufacturing alignment in each sub-assembly. Measurement of z and parallelism positioning can be problematic, since the relevant datum features are often beneath the mounting platform and are obscured to the measurement system. General algorithms for determining sensor chip alignment when datum features are inaccessible to the measurement system have been developed. Pre-characterization measurements of datum surfaces are stored for later use during alignment measurement to determine datum locations. The algorithms are useful for …

Algorithms For Sensor Chip Alignment To Blind Datums, Gary B. Hughes

Statistics

The sensor element of an imaging system should be mounted into its housing in such a way that the scene can be properly focused onto the sensor element's focal plane over the active area. Operational imaging requirements are forcing increasingly smaller tolerances on sensor alignment, and manufacturing systems must improve alignment capability to keep pace. Imaging system designs include reference datums that provide the basis for manufacturing alignment of optical components in each subassembly. Design constraints for alignment of the sensor element into the camera housing typically include x,y,z, clocking, and parallelism specifications. Measurement of z and parallelism positioning is …

Existence Of Optimal Controls For Singular Control Problems With State Constraints, Amarjit Budhiraja, Kevin Ross

Statistics

We establish the existence of an optimal control for a general class of singular control problems with state constraints. The proof uses weak convergence arguments and a time rescaling technique. The existence of optimal controls for Brownian control problems, associated with a broad family of stochastic networks, follows as a consequence.

Instrument Cross-Comparisons And Automated Quality Control Of Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Data, S. Moore, Gary B. Hughes

Statistics

Within the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) instrument network, several different systems often measure the same quantity at the same site. For example, several ARM instruments measure time-series profiles of the atmosphere that were previously available only from balloon-borne radiosonde systems. These instruments include the Radar Wind Profilers (RWP) with Radio-Acoustic Sounding Systems (RASS), the Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI), the Microwave Radiometer Profiler (MWRP), and the Raman Lidar (RL). ARM researchers have described methods for direct cross-comparison of time-series profiles (Coulter and Lesht 1996; Turner et al. 1996) and we have extended this concept to the development of methods for …

Improvements To And Status Of The Data Quality Health And Status System, K. Kehoe, K. Sonntag, R. Peppler, B. Burkholder, C. Shafer, M. Zaman, T. Thompson, S. Moore, Gary B. Hughes, K. Doty

Statistics

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Data Quality Office (DQO) has made a number of improvements and additions over the past year to its main tool for inspecting and assessing ARM data quality—the Data Quality Health and Status (DQ HandS) system (http://dq.arm.gov/). Among the improvements and additions, some of which are shown below, are the inclusion of ARM Mobile Facility (AMF) data; a new plot browser to facilitate the viewing of DQ HandS diagnostic plots; an improved method for writing and databasing weekly data quality assessment reports; a new automated daily alert, an improved method for searching ARM report databases (see …

Fabrication Method For Adhesive Pressure Bonding Two Components Together With Closed-Loop Control, Gary B. Hughes, James P. Mcdonald, Arthur V. Schweidler, Lloyd D. Ingle

Statistics

Two components are bonded together in a bonding apparatus using a bonding medium of malleable metallic spheres and a curable adhesive. The two components are bonded by positioning the components in a facing-but-spaced-apart relation in the bonding apparatus with the spheres and the adhesive between the first component and the second component. The bonding apparatus forces the first component toward the second component with sufficient force to bond the spheres to the first component and to the second component, while monitoring at least one measured bonding reaction of the first component and the second component, and controlling the bonding apparatus …

Latest Tools For Viewing And Quality Checking Arm Data, S. Moore, Gary B. Hughes

Statistics

The DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program has acquired an incredibly large quantity of data over its period of operation, all of which must be reviewed in some manner in order to ensure that the data is of “known and reasonable” quality (ARM Science Plan). To accomplish this, Mission Research Corporation (MRC) coordinates with the ARM Data Quality Office to develop software tools that quality-check data products in a timely and continuous fashion. These tools work with the Data Quality Health and Status (DQ HandS) Explorer (Peppler et al. 2004) by analyzing ARM data streams, providing assessments of data quality …

Comparison Of Features From Sar And Gmti Imagery Of Ground Targets, David Beckman, Samuel J. Frame

Statistics

We describe an algorithm for class-independent automated target recognition (ATR) and association using range-Doppler images of moving targets and SAR images of stationary targets. This algorithm can be used both for target identification (by comparison against a pre-existing database of measurements of all potential targets) and target association (not requiring a pre-existing database). The algorithm computes a one-dimensional signature for each received range-Doppler image; these signatures are stored in a database for comparison against other detections. The signatures used in our algorithm are range profiles, generated from the clutter-suppressed, filtered image by incoherently integrating the image energy across a number …

Modern Spectral Climate Patterns In Rhythmically Deposited Argillites Of The Gowganda Formation (Early Proterozoic), Southern Ontario, Canada, Gary B. Hughes, Robert Giegengack, Haralambos N. Kritikos

Statistics

Rhythmically deposited argillites of the Gowganda Formation (ca. 2.0–2.5 Ga) probably formed in a glacial setting. Drop stones and layered sedimentary couplets in the rock presumably indicate formation in a lacustrine environment with repeating freeze–thaw cycles. It is plausible that temporal variations in the thickness of sedimentary layers are related to interannual climatic variability, e.g. average seasonal temperature could have influenced melting and the amount of sediment source material carried to the lake. A sequence of layer couplet thickness measurements was made from high-resolution digitized photographs taken at an outcrop in southern Ontario, Canada. The frequency spectrum of thickness measurements …

Numeric Issues In Test Software Correctness, Robert G. Hayes, Gary B. Hughes, Phillip M. Dorin, Raymond J. Toal

Statistics

Test system designers are comfortable with the concepts of precision and accuracy with regard to measurements achieved with modern instrumentation. In a well-designed test system, great care is taken to ensure accurate measurements, with rigorous attention to instrument specifications and calibration. However, measurement values are subjected to representation and manipulation as limited precision floating-point numbers by test software. This paper investigates some of the issues related to floating point representation of measurement values, as well as the consequences of algorithm selection. To illustrate, we consider the test case of standard deviation calculations as used in the testing of infrared focal …

Sclerosponges: Potential High-Resolution Recorders Of Marine Paleotemperatures, Gary B. Hughes, Charles W. Thayer

Statistics

Sclerosponges have great potential as seawater temperature recorders. These animals precipitate their skeletons in carbon and oxygen isotopic equilibrium with the surrounding seawater (Druffel and Benavides, 1986). Their skeletons also display chemical properties that vary directly with changes in environmental conditions. Lack of photosynthetic symbionts allows sclerosponges to live below the photic zone, providing the potential to investigate past marine conditions beyond the range of corals. Individual sponges live for several centuries, preserving archives of pre-and postindustrial seawater variations within single specimens (Hartman and Reiswig, 1980). Cross-correlation of successively older specimens could yield up to 2000 years of marine history. …

Electrical Feedthrough And Its Preparation, Leonard E. Peck, Timothy S. Romano, Tom K. Evans, Gary B. Hughes, Karl H. Neumann

Statistics

An electrical feedthrough (34) is prepared by furnishing an aluminum oxide feedthrough plate (70) and at least one feedthrough pin (80) having a length greater than the thickness of the feedthrough plate (70). A pin bore (78) is formed through the feedthrough plate (70) for each feedthrough pin (80). Each pin bore (78) has a pin bore (78) size greater than the feedthrough pin (80) size, preferably by an amount no greater than that required to permit the penetration of a brazing metal (88) between the pin bore (78) and the feedthrough pin (80). Each feedthrough pin (80) is inserted …

Extensive Forest Leaf Area Survey Aiming At Detection Of Vegetation Change In Subarctic-Boreal Zone, Tomoko Kusakabe, Hayato Tsuzuki, Gary B. Hughes, Tatsuo Sweda

Statistics

The warming resulting from increasing anthropogenic carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses is expected to be most prominent in the subarctic-boreal region of the Northern Hemisphere. With the objective of setting up a baseline to monitor possible vegetation change in this region, a continuous vegetation profile extending 600 km from Edmonton, Alberta to Cluff Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada was measured using an airborne infrared laser altimeter mounted on a helicopter. Then the distribution of leaf area index over the same 600 km long transect was estimated from this vegetation profile based on a series of plot surveys on the ground to …

Spectral Indications Of Unexpected Contributors To Atmospheric Co2 Variability?, Gary B. Hughes, Robert Gigengack, Haralambos N. Kritikos

Statistics

The frequency spectrum of Northern Hemisphere atmospheric CO₂ concentration shows strong periodicities at 6.2, 1.0 and 0.5 years. The 6.2 year cyclicity has been attributed to non-linear interactions between the annual cycle and the atmospheric pole tide. The yearly signal is linked to terrestrial photosynthesis; phase analysis shows that annual CO₂ minima occur at a lag of approximately 85 days from insolation maxima. Variations in the nominal yearly period occur during times of anomalous anthropogenic CO₂ production. Periodicity at 6 months represents a deviation of the yearly signal from an annual sinusoid. If the yearly signal is …

Kriging Puerto Rico Rainfall, Gary B. Hughes

Statistics

In Earth science research, climatic conditions can have significant effects on dynamic processes. For example, the growth of forests is affected by temperature, rainfall and other climatic variables. However, these climate parameters are rarely measured at the forest stands whose growth is being investigated. The climate conditions are measured at nearby weather stations, though, and it is a common approach to use the weather station data to ‘predict’ the climate at the study site

Preparation Of Gold-Coated Molybdenum Articles And Articles Prepared Thereby, Timothy S. Romano, Tom K. Evans, Gary B. Hughes, Karl H. Neumann

Statistics

A gold-coated molybdenum article (30) is made by furnishing a substrate (32) made of pure molybdenum or an alloy of molybdenum, and preparing a slurry of gold powder, acrylic binder, and acetone liquid carrier. The slurry is applied to a portion of a surface of the substrate. The substrate with applied slurry is heated in vacuum or inert atmosphere to an elevated temperature, preferably about 2040.degree. F., and thereafter cooled to ambient temperature. The result is an article (30) having at least a portion of the substrate (32) covered with an adherent gold coating (34).

Semi-Permanent Vacuum Closure With Multiple Retubulation Capability, Arthur A. Eneim, Tom K. Evans, Timothy S. Romano, Gary B. Hughes

Statistics

A vacuum system (20) includes an enclosure (22) having a vacuum-tight wall (26) and an internally threaded aperture (66) through the wall (26). A tip-off fitting (24) has a base (50) with a bore (52) therethrough, a hollow tube (62) fixed to the base (50) with a vacuum-tight seal, such that an interior (64) of the tube (62) is in communication with the bore (52) in the base (50), and an external thread (58) on the exterior of the base (50). The external thread (58) on the exterior of the base (50) is dimensioned to threadably engage the internal thread …

Brazed Lower Vacuum Housing For A Dewar, Timothy S. Romano, Tom K. Evans, Gary B. Hughes, Karl H. Neumann

Statistics

A lower vacuum housing (34) of a sensor dewar (26) is fabricated in a single brazing operation from ceramic and metallic components. The components are assembled with ceramic-to-metal interfaces and metal-to-metal interfaces. Brazing is accomplished by active brazing of the ceramic-to-metal interfaces and non-active brazing of the metal-to-metal interfaces. Specific combinations of active braze alloys and non-active braze alloys are provided for various combinations of dewar materials.

Feedthrough Pin And Process For Its Preparation, And Electrical Feedthrough Made Therewith, Timothy S. Romano, Tom K. Evans, Gary B. Hughes, Karl H. Neumann

Statistics

A feedthrough (34) is formed of a feedthrough plate (44) having at least one bore (46) therethrough and a feedthrough pin (48) hermetically sealed into the bore (46). The feedthrough pin (48) includes an elongated pin (50) having an axis of elongation (52), a recess (54) in at least one end of the pin (50), the recess (54) extending parallel to the axis of elongation (52), and a gold coating (56) within the recess (54). There are preferably a plurality of bores (46) in the feedthrough plate (48) and a corresponding plurality of the feedthrough pins (48). The gold coatings …

An Empirical Bayes Approach To Polynomial Regression Under Order Restrictions, Leonard W. Deaton

Statistics

An unknown polynomial is to be estimated over a finite interval from N independent, normally distributed observations. A prior distribution is placed on the polynomial coefficients expressing the opinion that the coefficients decrease in absolute value as the degree of the corresponding terms increase. The data are used to estimate the parameters in the prior distribution of the coefficients. A Monte Carlo study is presented which compares the proposed method with the lack-of-fit procedure. This study indicates that the proposed method performs well in terms of minimizing a squared error loss as well as in yielding the correct degree of …

A Prior Distribution For Smooth Regression, Leonard W. Deaton

Statistics

No abstract provided.

An Example On Maximum Likelihood Estimates, Leonard W. Deaton

Statistics

No abstract provided.