Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Nshe And Nirec: Strengthening Ties To Increase Impact, Li Han Chan

Nevada Renewable Energy Consortium Meeting

The second annual Nevada Renewable Energy Consortium meeting took place at UNLV on August 20. The meeting focused on the current three NVREC program areas: Solar, Biomass and Geothermal. Presentations were made by participating entities and a poster session followed.

How To Implement A Content Management System, Jonathan M. Smith

Library Faculty Publications & Presentations

Web content management systems (CMS) are increasingly becoming the preferred solution for library websites and intranets. This session will describe the entire process of implementing CMS; from requirements gathering to post-launch evaluation. We will take a look at several popular open source CMS, and discuss the technical requirements for hosting these systems. Project management principles will be applied to the process, and usability testing methods will be discussed as part of the design and evaluation phases.

Knowing Your Community: Fostering Biodiversity Awareness In Our Students’ Daily Existence, Tony Cummings Bs, Academic Director

Fostering Multicultural Competence and Global Justice: an SIT Symposium

There are strong arguments suggesting that developing students’ sensitivity to local biodiversity and conservation issues is as important as emphasizing an understanding of global conservation issues happening in faraway lands (Ehrenfeld, 2009). Many students arrive at a Study Abroad destination, with a good understanding of theory, but with little field experience at home. Environmental educators in Study Abroad are able to use the novelty and grandeur of our exotic destinations to systematically teach students the patterns and processes of ecological and human communities at our sites, while inspiring a sense of place in our students. By immersing students in the …

Sumpter, Ward Cullin, 1902-1977 (Sc 2318), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2318. Chemistry notebook of Ward Cullin Sumpter, probably kept about 1930 while he was a doctoral student at Yale University. Includes other miscellaneous documents: a tribute to a church's departing pastor, a draft petition in support of an anti-cigarette law, and a poem relating to the 1928 presidential election.

Pattern Space Maintenance For Data Updates And Interactive Mining, Mengling Feng, Guozhu Dong, Jinyan Li, Yap-Peng Tan, Limsoon Wong

Kno.e.sis Publications

This article addresses the incremental and decremental maintenance of the frequent pattern space. We conduct an in-depth investigation on how the frequent pattern space evolves under both incremental and decremental updates. Based on the evolution analysis, a new data structure, Generator-Enumeration Tree (GE-tree), is developed to facilitate the maintenance of the frequent pattern space. With the concept of GE-tree, we propose two novel algorithms, Pattern Space Maintainer+ (PSM+) and Pattern Space Maintainer− (PSM−), for the incremental and decremental maintenance of frequent patterns. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms, on average, outperform the representative state-of-the-art …

Cross-Market Model Adaptation With Pairwise Preference Data For Web Search Ranking, Jing Bai, Fernando Diaz, Yi Chang, Zhaohui Zheng, Keke Chen

Kno.e.sis Publications

Machine-learned ranking techniques automatically learn a complex document ranking function given training data. These techniques have demonstrated the effectiveness and flexibility required of a commercial web search. However, manually labeled training data (with multiple absolute grades) has become the bottleneck for training a quality ranking function, particularly for a new domain. In this paper, we explore the adaptation of machine-learned ranking models across a set of geographically diverse markets with the market-specific pairwise preference data, which can be easily obtained from clickthrough logs. We propose a novel adaptation algorithm, Pairwise-Trada, which is able to adapt ranking models that are trained …

End Of Program Evaluation On Catchment Demonstration Initiative (Cdi), Urs

Natural resources commissioned reports

In 2003 the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia, developed a Catchment Demonstration Initiative (CDI) Project as a contribution to the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality. Joint Commonwealth and State funding allocated $6 million towards a project aimed at demonstrating viable salinity management systems in the agricultural area of Western Australia. The CDI sought to deliver its outcomes in partnership with NRM Regions by co-investment in targeted, large-scaled, catchment-based demonstrations of integrated salinity management practices.

Submissions were invited from interested groups to provide proposals, and following an assessment process at the local, state/Commonwealth level against predetermined …

Climate Change And Globalization In The Americas: Case Studies Of Mitigation And Adaptation, Mary Finley-Brook, Melissa Haeffner, Charmaine Heslop-Thomas, Elma Montaña, Leah Sprain

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Robin Leichenko and Karen O‘Brien have proposed ―double exposure‖ as a conceptual framework to demonstrate how processes of globalization and global environmental change (GEC) redefine risk and encourage new, interrelated responses to social and ecological transitions (O‘Brien and Leichenko, 2000; Leichenko and O'Brien, 2008). In particular, the concept encourages researchers and policy makers to consider interplay between global climate change and globalization and how this is expressed unevenly across space. After reviewing the ways double exposure has been used in the literature, we consider four case studies to investigate the utility of the framework for analyzing and understanding climate change …

The Relationship Between The Level Of Support Group Participation And Psychosocial Factors In Prostate Cancer Patients Treated With Proton Therapy, Carol A. L. Davis

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Background. The role of support groups for cancer patients is known to be beneficial in helping people adjust to the disease, and cope with the myriad of effects that cancer has on quality of life. Although many people express interest in attending such support groups, few attend regularly. It is unclear what characteristics distinguish those who use such services from those who do not, especially among proton therapy patients.

Objective. To examine demographic and psychosocial characteristics associated with the Brotherhood of the Balloon (BOB) prostate cancer support group membership, a unique treatment-focused group originating at Loma Linda University Medical Center …

Lsuhsc Facilities Daily Update: August 2010, Lsuhsc Property And Facilities Management

LSUHSC Facilities Daily Updates: 2010

LSUHSC Facilities Daily Updates from August 2010.

These updates describe damage and a timeline of repairs at the LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans campus due to Hurricane Katrina which made landfall August 29, 2005.

Lsuhsc Facilities Biweekly Update: August 2010, Lsuhsc Property And Facilities Management

LSUHSC Facilities Biweekly Updates: 2010

LSUHSC Facilities Biweekly Update from August 13, 2010.

These updates describe damage and a timeline of repairs at the LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans campus due to Hurricane Katrina which made landfall August 29, 2005.

Cloud Storage And Online Bin Packing, Swathi Venigella

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Cloud storage is the service provided by some corporations (such as Mozy and Carbonite) to store and backup computer files. We study the problem of allocating memory of servers in a data center based on online requests for storage. Over-the-net data backup has become increasingly easy and cheap due to cloud storage. Given an online sequence of storage requests and a cost associated with serving the request by allocating space on a certain server one seeks to select the minimum number of servers as to minimize total cost. We use two different algorithms and propose a third algorithm; we show …

Topology In Composite Spatial Terms, John D. Kelleher, Robert J. Ross

Conference papers

People often refer to objects by describing the object's spatial location relative to another object, e.g. the book on the right of the table. This type of referring expression is called a spatial locative expression. Spatial locatives have three major components: (1) the target object that is being located (the book), (2) the landmark object relative to which the target is being located (the table), and (3) the description of the spatial relationship that exists between the target and the landmark (on the right of ). In English spatial relationships are often described using spatial prepositions. The set of English …

Do Scientists Agree About Climate Change? Public Perceptions From A New Hampshire Survey, Lawrence C. Hamilton

Carsey Publications

This report, a collaboration of the Carsey Institute, the UNH Survey Center, and the UNH Office of Sustainability, is the first of a new initiative that will track public perceptions about climate change as they change over time. Questions related to climate change were asked as part of New Hampshire's Granite State Poll, which surveyed 512 New Hampshire residents in April 2010.

The Role Of Rater Motivation In Personnel Selection Validation Studies, Dan Ispas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Personnel selection validation studies are routinely conducted in contemporary organizations for selecting and placing employees. Although numerous studies have been conducted with the goal of identifying new predictors, less research was focused on the criterion side. In the current paper, across three studies and five samples, I examined the role played by rater motivation in validation studies. I proposed that rater motivation would impact criterion-related validity of various predictors, the reliability, and the variance of performance ratings. In Study 1, these hypotheses were tested in two samples with varied operationalizations of predictors and of rater motivation. In Study 2, I …

Take Pride In America In Southern Nevada: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Covering April 5, 2010 – July 4, 2010, Margaret N. Rees

Anti-littering Programs

• With Board approval, the next phase of the Don’t Trash Nevada marketing campaign began.
• The Hector’s Helpers program with the Clark County School District began curriculum development.
• The team participated in the strategic planning process for Keep Las Vegas Beautiful.
• The team met with the Education Director of Keep America Beautiful to begin the process of developing a statewide program.
• The team continued to develop the GIS database.
• A total of 15 clean-up events were conducted this quarter.

The Suzuki Diaries: Sustainability In Action, Thomas A. Ipri

Library Faculty Research

Given the number of gloom and doom environmental films flooding the market, the more optimistic approach of The Suzuki Diaries: Sustainability in Action is refreshing. David Suzuki, geneticist, environmentalist, author and broadcaster, takes his daughter, Sarika, around Europe to investigate some of the more proactive approaches various countries have take that lessen their impact on the environment. Suzuki is quick to note that many of these projects were not done to help the environment, per se, but done for practical, economic and quality of life reasons.

Baselines Newsletter, No. 6, Summer/Fall 2010, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Baselines: The Natural Resources Law Center Newsletter (2007-2011)

No abstract provided.

10302 Summary - Learning Paradigms In Dynamic Environments, Barbara Hammer, Pascal Hitzler

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

The seminar centered around problems which arise in the context of machine learning in dynamic environments. Particular emphasis was put on a couple of specific questions in this context: how to represent and abstract knowledge appropriately to shape the problem of learning in a partially unknown and complex environment and how to combine statistical inference and abstract symbolic representations; how to infer from few data and how to deal with non i.i.d. data, model revision and life-long learning; how to come up with efficient strategies to control realistic environments for which exploration is costly, the dimensionality is high and data …

Trust Model For Semantic Sensor And Social Networks: A Preliminary Report, Pramod Anantharam, Cory Andrew Henson, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

Trust is an amorphous concept that is becoming Increasingly important in many domains, such as P2P networks, E-commerce, social networks, and sensor networks. While we all have an intuitive notion of trust, the literature is scattered with a wide assortment of differing definitions and descriptions; often these descriptions are highly dependent on a single domain or application of interest. In addition, they often discuss orthogonal aspects of trust while continuing to use the general term “trust”. In order to make sense of the situation, we have developed an ontology of trust that integrates and relates its various aspects into a …

Sit-To-Stand Detection Using Fuzzy Clustering Techniques, Tanvi Banerjee, James M. Keller, Marjorie Skubic, Carmen Abbott

Kno.e.sis Publications

The ability to rise from a chair is an important parameter to assess the balance deficits of a person. In particular, this can be an indication of risk for falling in elderly persons. Our goal is automated assessment of fall risk using video data. Towards this goal, we present a simple yet effective method of detecting transition, i.e. sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit, from image frames using fuzzy clustering methods on image moments. The technique described in this paper is shown to be robust even in the presence of noise and has been tested on several data sequences using different subjects yielding …

Iowa Academy Of Science: The New Bulletin, V06n2-3, Summer-Fall 2010, Iowa Academy Of Science

New Bulletin

Inside This Issue:

--Message from the Executive Director

--Meet Iowa Department of Education Science Consultant Yvette McCulley

--2010 Iowa AmJAS Delegate, McKenna Templeton shares her experiences at AmJAS

--2011-2012 AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships

--Environmental Literacy Needs and Partnerships Survey

--Experience Three Weeks in India: University of Iowa Winterim in India Program

--Academy awarded REAP-CEP Grants

--Announcements, Events & Deadlines

--Support The Academy

Data Mining As Applied To The Socialsciences, Walter Morris

Cornerstone 3 Reports : Interdisciplinary Informatics

No abstract provided.

Biomedical Ontologies For Parasite Research, Vinh Nguyen, Satya S. Sahoo, Priti Parikh, Todd Minning, Brent Weatherly, Flora Logan, Amit P. Sheth, Rick Tarleton

Kno.e.sis Publications

Trypanosoma cruzi is a protozoan parasite that causes Chagas disease or American trypanosomiasis, which is the leading cause of death in Latin America. The primary objective of this study is to create an ontology-driven information infrastructure to support parasite researchers in identifying gene knockout, vaccination, or drug targets for T. cruzi. This involves querying across multiple datasets from diverse sources, such as proteome, pathway, internal lab data, etc. that are often represented in heterogeneous formats. To address this, a multi-ontology parasite knowledge repository (PKR) is being created with an intuitive graphical query interface called Cuebee. The PKR is underpinned by …

Cloud Based Scientific Workflow For Nmr Data Analysis, Ashwin Manjunatha, Paul E. Anderson, Satya S. Sahoo, Ajith Harshana Ranabahu, Michael L. Raymer, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

This work presents a service oriented scientific workflow approach to NMR-based metabolomics data analysis. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach by implementing several common spectral processing techniques in the cloud using a parallel map-reduce framework, Hadoop.

Perception Of Ecological Risk To Water Environments And How It Affects Water Consumption And Water Resource Management In Southern Nevada, Tanju Kiriscioglu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Climate is harsh in southern Nevada where there is (and has been) a drought alert in effect for over a decade now (Kerr, 2007; Southern Nevada Water Authority, 2009). Las Vegas Valley is a major center of population in the region (1.9 million people), receiving only 4.5 inches of average annual precipitation yet in need of securing more water resources in the near future (SNWA, 2009). Water resource management in southern Nevada is a challenge, especially when 90% of the area’s water needs are met by a single source, the Colorado River, the flow rates of which have been in …

Extracting Common Emotions From Blogs Based On Fine-Grained Sentiment Clustering, Shi Feng, Daling Wang, Ge Yu, Wei Gao, Kam-Fai Wong

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Recently, blogs have emerged as the major platform for people to express their feelings and sentiments in the age of Web 2.0. The common emotions, which reflect people’s collective and overall sentiments, are becoming the major concern for governments, business companies and individual users. Different from previous literatures on sentiment classification and summarization, the major issue of common emotion extraction is to find out people’s collective sentiments and their corresponding distributions on the Web. Most existing blog clustering methods take into account keywords, stories or timelines but neglect the embedded sentiments, which are considered very important features of blogs. In …

Lsuhsc Facilities Daily Update: July 2010, Lsuhsc Property And Facilities Management

LSUHSC Facilities Daily Updates: 2010

LSUHSC Facilities Daily Updates from July 2010.

On the original documents, the daily update for Monday, July 26, 2010 was misdated as Monday, July 27, 2010.

These updates describe damage and a timeline of repairs at the LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans campus due to Hurricane Katrina which made landfall August 29, 2005.

Lsuhsc Facilities Biweekly Update: July 2010, Lsuhsc Property And Facilities Management

LSUHSC Facilities Biweekly Updates: 2010

LSUHSC Facilities Biweekly Updates from July 2, 16 and 30, 2010.

These updates describe damage and a timeline of repairs at the LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans campus due to Hurricane Katrina which made landfall August 29, 2005.

Nonparametric Testing For Asymmetric Information, Liangjun Su, Martin Spindler

Research Collection School Of Economics

Asymmetric information is an important phenomenon in many markets and in particular in insurance markets. Testing for asymmetric information has become a very important issue in the literature in the last two decades. Almost all testing procedures that are used in empirical studies are parametric, which may yield misleading conclusions in the case of misspecification of either functional or distributional relationships among the variables of interest. Motivated by the literature on testing conditional independence, we propose a new nonparametric test for asymmetric information which is applicable in a variety of situations. We demonstrate the test works reasonably well through Monte …