A PVT-Type Algorithm for Minimizing a Nonsmooth Convex Function

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 90C25, 68W10, 49M37.

The Operators Aγ = γA + -γA for a Class of Nondissipative Operators A with a Limit of the Corresponding Correlation Function

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary 47A48, Secondary 60G12

Auto Warranty Data: Mean Cumulative Function

Стефанка Чукова, Хър Гуан Тео - В това изследване разглеждаме и разширяваме предишната ни работа по цензуриране, типично за авто гаранционни данни. За да разрешим проблема с непълната информация за километража, използваме линеен подход в непараметрични рамки. Оценяваме средните кумулативни гаранционни разходи (за превозно средство) и стандартната им грешка като функция на възрастта, на километража и на реалното (календарно) време.

Maximization of a Linear Utility Function over the Set of the Housing Market Short-Term Equilibria

AMS subject classification: 90C05, 90A14.

Spectral Shift Function for the Perturbations of Schrödinger Operators at High Energy

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 35P20, 35J10, 35Q40.

Estimation of a Regression Function on a Point Process and its Application to Financial Ruin Risk Forecast

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary 60G55; secondary 60G25.

Optimal investment under stochastic volatility and power type utility function

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 37F21, 70H20, 37L40, 37C40, 91G80, 93E20.

A tidal creek water budget: Estimation of groundwater discharge and overland flow using hydrologic modeling in the Southern Everglades

Taylor Slough is one of the natural freshwater contributors to Florida Bay through a network of microtidal creeks crossing the Everglades Mangrove Ecotone Region (EMER). The EMER ecological function is critical since it mediates freshwater and nutrient inputs and controls the water quality in Eastern Florida Bay. Furthermore, this region is vulnerable to changing hydrodynamics and nutrient loadings as a result of upstream freshwater management practices proposed by the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program (CERP), currently the largest wetland restoration project in the USA. Despite the hydrological importance of Taylor Slough in the water budget of Florida Bay, there are no fine scale (∼1 km2) hydrodynamic models of this system that can be utilized as a tool to evaluate potential changes in water flow, salinity, and water quality. Taylor River is one of the major creeks draining Taylor Slough freshwater into Florida Bay. We performed a water budget analysis for the Taylor River area, based on long-term hydrologic data (1999–2007) and supplemented by hydrodynamic modeling using a MIKE FLOOD (DHI,http://dhigroup.com/) model to evaluate groundwater and overland water discharges. The seasonal hydrologic characteristics are very distinctive (average Taylor River wet vs. dry season outflow was 6 to 1 during 1999–2006) with a pronounced interannual variability of flow. The water budget shows a net dominance of through flow in the tidal mixing zone, while local precipitation and evapotranspiration play only a secondary role, at least in the wet season. During the dry season, the tidal flood reaches the upstream boundary of the study area during approximately 80 days per year on average. The groundwater field measurements indicate a mostly upwards-oriented leakage, which possibly equals the evapotranspiration term. The model results suggest a high importance of groundwater contribution to the water salinity in the EMER. The model performance is satisfactory during the dry season where surface flow in the area is confined to the Taylor River channel. The model also provided guidance on the importance of capturing the overland flow component, which enters the area as sheet flow during the rainy season. Overall, the modeling approach is suitable to reach better understanding of the water budget in the mangrove region. However, more detailed field data is needed to ascertain model predictions by further calibrating overland flow parameters.

Molecular protein function prediction using sequence similarity-based and similarity-free approaches

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Molecular protein function prediction using sequence similarity-based and similarity-free approaches

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

The High-Redshift Quasar Luminosity Function from Multi-Epoch Imaging Surveys

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Sediment Budget for Cane Land on the Lower Herbert River Floodplain, North Queensland, Australia

Land use in the river catchments of tropical North Queensland appears to have increased the export of sediment and nutrients to the coast. Although evidence of harmful effect of sediment on coastal and riverine ecosystems is limited, there is a growing concern about its possible negative impacts. Sugarcane cultivation on the floodplains of the tropical North Queensland river catchments is thought to be an important source of excess sediment in the river drainage systems. Minimum-tillage, trash blanket harvesting has been shown to reduce erosion from sloping sugarcane fields, but in the strongly modified floodplain landscape other elements (e.g. drains, water furrows and headlands) could still be important sediment sources. The main objectives of this thesis are to quantify the amount of sediment coming from low-lying cane land and identify the important sediment sources in the landscape. The results of this thesis enable sugarcane farmers to take targeted measures for further reduction of the export of sediment and nutrients. Sediment budgets provide a useful approach to identify and quantify potential sediment sources. For this study a sediment budget is calculated for a part of the Ripple Creek catchment, which is a sub-catchment of the Lower Herbert River. The input of sediment from all potential sources in cane land and the storage of sediment within the catchment have been quantified and compared with the output of sediment from the catchment. Input from, and storage on headlands, main drains, minor drains and water furrows, was estimated from erosion pin and surface profile measurements. Input from forested upland, input from fields and the output at the outlet of the catchment was estimated with discharge data from gauged streams and flumes. Data for the sediment budget were collected during two ‘wet’-seasons: 1999-2000 and 2000-2001. The results of the sediment budget indicate that this tropical floodplain area is a net source of sediment. Plant cane fields, which do not have a protective trash cover, were the largest net source of sediment during the 1999-2000 season. Sediment input from water furrows was higher, but there was also considerable storage of sediment in this landscape element. Headlands tend to act as sinks. The source or sink function of drains is less clear, but seems to depend on their shape and vegetation cover. An important problem in this study is the high uncertainty in the estimates of the sediment budget components and is, for example, likely to be the cause of the imbalance in the sediment budget. High uncertainties have particularly affected the results from the 20002001 season. The main source of uncertainty is spatial variation in the erosion and deposition processes. Uncertainty has to be taken into consideration when interpreting the budget results. The observation of a floodplain as sediment source contradicts the general understanding that floodplains are areas of sediment storage within river catchments. A second objective of this thesis was therefore to provide an answer to the question: how can floodplains in the tropical North Queensland catchments can be a source of sediment? In geomorphic literature various factors have been pointed out, that could control floodplain erosion processes. However, their importance is not 'uniquely identified'. Among the most apparent factors are the stream power of the floodwater and the resistance of the floodplain surface both through its sedimentary composition and the vegetation cover. If the cultivated floodplains of the North Queensland catchments are considered in the light of these factors, there is a justified reason to expect them to be a sediment source. Cultivation has lowered the resistance of their surface; increased drainage has increased the drainage velocity and flood control structures have altered flooding patterns. For the Ripple Creek floodplain four qualitative scenarios have been developed that describe erosion and deposition under different flow conditions. Two of these scenarios were experienced during the budget study, involving runoff from local hillslopes and heavy rainfall, which caused floodplain erosion. In the longer term larger flood events, involving floodwater from the Herbert River, may lead to different erosion and deposition processes. The present study has shown that the tropical floodplain of the Herbert River catchment can be a source of sediment under particular flow conditions. It has also shown which elements in the sugarcane landscape are the most important sediment sources under these conditions. This understanding will enable sugarcane farmers to further reduce sediment export from cane land and prevent the negative impact this may have on the North Queensland coastal ecosystems.

Second-order cyclostationarity-based detection and classification of LTE SC-FDMA signals for cognitive radio

Cognitive radio (CR) was developed for utilizing the spectrum bands efficiently. Spectrum sensing and awareness represent main tasks of a CR, providing the possibility of exploiting the unused bands. In this thesis, we investigate the detection and classification of Long Term Evolution (LTE) single carrier-frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) signals, which are used in uplink LTE, with applications to cognitive radio. We explore the second-order cyclostationarity of the LTE SC-FDMA signals, and apply results obtained for the cyclic autocorrelation function to signal detection and classification (in other words, to spectrum sensing and awareness). The proposed detection and classification algorithms provide a very good performance under various channel conditions, with a short observation time and at low signal-to-noise ratios, with reduced complexity. The validity of the proposed algorithms is verified using signals generated and acquired by laboratory instrumentation, and the experimental results show a good match with computer simulation results.

An Agent-based Classification Model

The major function of this model is to access the UCI Wisconsin Breast Cancer data-set[1] and classify the data items into two categories, which are normal and anomalous. This kind of classification can be referred as anomaly detection, which discriminates anomalous behaviour from normal behaviour in computer systems. One popular solution for anomaly detection is Artificial Immune Systems (AIS). AIS are adaptive systems inspired by theoretical immunology and observed immune functions, principles and models which are applied to problem solving. The Dendritic Cell Algorithm (DCA)[2] is an AIS algorithm that is developed specifically for anomaly detection. It has been successfully applied to intrusion detection in computer security. It is believed that agent-based modelling is an ideal approach for implementing AIS, as intelligent agents could be the perfect representations of immune entities in AIS. This model evaluates the feasibility of re-implementing the DCA in an agent-based simulation environment called AnyLogic, where the immune entities in the DCA are represented by intelligent agents. If this model can be successfully implemented, it makes it possible to implement more complicated and adaptive AIS models in the agent-based simulation environment.

Function, Purpose, Predication, and Context of Information Organization Frameworks

This paper outlines the purposes, predications, functions, and contexts of information organization frameworks; including: bibliographic control, information retrieval, resource discovery, resource description, open access scholarly indexing, personal information management protocols, and social tagging in order to compare and contrast those purposes, predications, functions, and contexts. Information organization frameworks, for the purpose of this paper, consist of information organization systems (classification schemes, taxonomies, ontologies, bibliographic descriptions, etc.), methods of conceiving of and creating the systems, and the work processes involved in maintaining these systems. The paper first outlines the theoretical literature of these information organization frameworks. In conclusion, this paper establishes the first part of an evaluation rubric for a function, predication, purpose, and context analysis.