AgRISTARS: A joint program for agriculture and resources inventory surveys through aerospace remote sensing. Development and evaluation of clustering procedures

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Image 100 procedures manual development: Applications system library definition and Image 100 software definition

An outline for an Image 100 procedures manual for Earth Resources Program image analysis was developed which sets forth guidelines that provide a basis for the preparation and updating of an Image 100 Procedures Manual. The scope of the outline was limited to definition of general features of a procedures manual together with special features of an interactive system. Computer programs were identified which should be implemented as part of an applications oriented library for the system

Foraging Behavior of Anopheles gambiae (Diptera: Culicidae) on Parthenium hysterophorus (Compositae) and Senna occidentalis (Fabaceae)

Foraging behavior of Anopheles gambiae, a malaria vector, was analyzed on Parthenium hysterophorus and Senna occidentalis through the use of video recordings. The two plant species are invasive plants known to be exceptionally attractive to An. gambiae but thought to yield very different amounts of sugar. With the importance of sugar as an energy reserve for flying, mating, blood feeding, and reproduction, foraging and finding access to sugar is a critical component of the life of a mosquito. Due to the differences in sugar production of the two plants, I hypothesized that foraging behavior of An. gambiae would differ greatly between the two plants, with more sugar being obtained from S. occidentalis On P. hysterophorus, the putative sugar- poor plant host, mosquitoes spent significantly more time on plants with flowers than without. On plants with flowers, both males and females exhibited a directed search for sugar, landing and foraging primarily on the prominent flowers and spending well over half of their time involved in foraging behavior (probing) on all parts of the plant. Males and females spent 80% and 58% of their time, respectively, on flowers, with 99% and 77% of that time devoted to foraging. However, for all their effort, they seldom obtained a sugar meal, with only 3.1% of males and 11.3% of females testing positive for fructose. On S. occidentalis, which produces visible amounts of sugar on prominent extra-floral nectaries, males and females spent 22% and 32% of their time, respectively, on EFNs, with 86% and 88% of that time devoted to foraging. After foraging on S. occidentalis, 46.2% of males and 50% of females were positive for fructose. S. occidentalis was more beneficial to An. gambiae in terms of energetics, and should be the focus of further malaria-control research.NIH grant R01-AI077722 from the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Medicine to W.A.F.No embargoAcademic Major: Evolution and Ecolog

Basic research planning in mathematical pattern recognition and image analysis

Fundamental problems encountered while attempting to develop automated techniques for applications of remote sensing are discussed under the following categories: (1) geometric and radiometric preprocessing; (2) spatial, spectral, temporal, syntactic, and ancillary digital image representation; (3) image partitioning, proportion estimation, and error models in object scene interference; (4) parallel processing and image data structures; and (5) continuing studies in polarization; computer architectures and parallel processing; and the applicability of "expert systems" to interactive analysis

Optimal selection of passes

Preliminary numerical results obtained from the application of a linear feature selection technique to the determination of combinations of passes which best discriminate between a given set of crops in a given area of interest, are reported. The results obtained are not purported to hold in a general situation, but only for the given set of crops and the given, but unknown, levels of several factors-such as soil type, and fertilizer practice, holding in the area of interest. However, by identifying the various factors affecting the spectral signatures, and by formulating a regression model one could use the feature selection technique to determine the regression coefficients for predicting optimal passes for a given set of crops. Another use of the feature selection technique as applied to multiple pass registered data is the generation of enhanced grey scale displays by using a single linear combination of all channels of all designated passes as opposed to a single channel within a single pass

Estimating normal mixture parameters from the distribution of a reduced feature vector

A FORTRAN computer program was written and tested. The measurements consisted of 1000 randomly chosen vectors representing 1, 2, 3, 7, and 10 subclasses in equal portions. In the first experiment, the vectors are computed from the input means and covariances. In the second experiment, the vectors are 16 channel measurements. The starting covariances were constructed as if there were no correlation between separate passes. The biases obtained from each run are listed

Linear feature selection with applications

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Protein dimerization in physiologically relevant environments

A protein’s native environment, the cell, is far from dilute as the concentration of macromolecule exceeds 300 g/L. Despite this the majority of biophysical studies occur in dilute buffered solutions. In these complex environments, protein structure and thermodynamics are influenced by weak transient interactions absent in dilute solution. Here I look to define the role of weak intracellular interactions on protein-protein interactions. Chapter 1 provides an overview of weak interactions in living cells and cell like system. Additionally, it discusses methodologies to study these interactions in living cells. Chapter 2 defines the influence of crowded environments on a simple side-by-side dimer. Using a variant of the model system GB1 (the B1 domain of protein G) we investigated in vitro the effects of cosolutes that interact with proteins through known mechanisms, thus determining the influences of chemical interactions and hard core repulsions on the simplest protein-protein interactions. Chapter 3 defines the influence of chemical interactions by using the side-by-side dimer and systematically manipulates the electrostatics between the side-by-side dimer and protein cosolutes. The results of this study highlighted the importance of chemical interaction on protein dimerization. Chapter 4 defines the influence of hardcore repulsions by using the side-by-side dimer and a 93% sequence identical domain-swapped dimer that has a different shape but identical surface. This system allowed us to manipulate the influence of hardcore repulsions without influencing chemical interactions, suggesting that the shape of a protein dimer defines how it will be influenced by hardcore repulsions. My work shows the importance of studying protein-protein interactions in physiologically relevant conditions, as it defines the influence of chemical interactions and hardcore repulsions on a protein homodimers.Doctor of Philosoph

Acts 2:42 in 2006: Examining Small Group Discussion in an American Mega-Church

During the last century, Americans have become increasingly isolated from one another, resulting in feelings of loneliness and creating a void of community (Frazee, 2001). However, as attendance at mainline churches continues to decline (Stafford, 1998), attendance and participation in mega-churches, defined as those serving more than 2,500 individuals and offering a multiplicity of services, continues to increase (http://www.hirr.hartsem.edu/org ). One popular explanation for this phenomenon is that mega-churches are often characterized by an organized small group ministry---something absent in more traditional churches. Although this trend has clearly swept the nation (Gladwell, 2005), related research on the efficacy of the small group structure has not. To test the power of participation in Christian small group discussions, this dissertation examined the extent to which biblical knowledge retention was influenced by participation in small groups at a Southern California mega-church. Using the biblical definition of small groups, which is described as people gathered together to study the Bible, pray, and socialize, (Acts 2:42) this quasi-experimental design used multiple regression analysis to compare biblical knowledge retention from the previous week\u27s sermon among two groups of participants: those who discussed the sermon in small groups and those who did not. In addition to group discussion, measures of individual and group demographics such as gender, race/ethnicity, and educational background were also used to explain variation in the weekly quiz scores. Results suggest that the two most significant effects on sermon retention were the ages of the various group members and whether or not individuals had attended the previous group meeting. Specifically, people who participated in mixed-age groups scored an average of 8% higher on weekly quizzes than those from similar age groups (p=.00). Furthermore, if an individual attended the group meeting the prior week, regardless of what the group discussed, the average quiz score was 6% higher than those who did not attend (p=.01). Finally, the open-ended data strongly indicated that people attend small groups desiring biblical study. The results of this study may aid church leaders and perhaps educators who utilize discussion as a pedagogical tool

Increased personalization through the use of technology in the secondary mathematics classroom

This quantitative non-experimental dissertation explores the impact of disruptive innovation theory in the form of computer-enhanced instruction (CEI) upon mathematics achievement. It also examines both teacher and student perceptions of CEI implementation in high school mathematics classrooms and the impacts of CEI upon student mathematics achievement. The study includes two cohorts of ninth grade students in a suburban public high school district located southwest of Chicago, Illinois. The study spanned the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school years. The first student cohort was the pre-intervention or control group and included students who were enrolled in Algebra 1, Honors Algebra 1, or Algebra 1 Support during the 2013-2014 school year. The second student cohort was the intervention group comprised of students who were enrolled in Algebra 1, Honors Algebra 1, or Algebra 1 Support during the 2014-2015 school year