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Toroidal Matrix Links: Local Matrix Homotopies and Soft Tori
No full textIn this document we solve some local connectivity problems in matrix representations
of the form C(T^N) -> M_n and C(T^N) -> M_n <- C([-1, 1]^N) using the so called
toroidal matrix links, which can be interpreted as normal contractive matrix analogies
of free homotopies in algebraic topology.
In order to deal with the locality constraints, we have combined some techniques
introduced in this document with several versions of the Basic Homotopy Lemma
L.2.3.2, T.2.3.1 and C.2.3.1 obtained initially by Bratteli, Elliot, Evans and Kishimoto
in [4] and generalized by Lin in [19] and [22].
We have also implemented some techniques from matrix geometry, combinatorial
optimization and noncommutative topology developed by Loring [24, 27], Shulman
[27], Bhatia [2], Chu [8], Brockett [5], Choi [7, 6], Effros [6], Exel [11], Eilers [11],
Elsner [12], Pryde [31, 30], McIntosh [30] and Ricker [30].MathematicsDoctoralUniversity of New Mexico. Dept. of Mathematics and StatisticsLoring, Terry A.Buium, AlexandruBoyer, CharlesPacker, Judit
Application of model selection techniques and measures of agreement to advertising data
No full textThe primary purpose of this thesis is to explain the effectiveness of advertisement by predicting the attention score using the Flow of Attention graph and other survey responses. I address two problems: creating the algorithm to identify the peaks in the Flow of Attention graph and predicting the attention score based on predictor variables from questionnaire responses and the Flow of Attention graph. The sample data comprises a total of 141 randomly selected advertisements provided by Ameritest, a marketing research firm. The Problem 1 was addressed by two different algorithms; the first one is created manually based on moving average points with a window size of 3, and the other is an ‘Edge detection function’ derived from the other research. The manual moving average algorithm provided a better consistency with the reference peaks and the analysts’ peaks by measurement of agreement, calculated with Cronbach’s alpha. The Problem 2 was addressed by an missing imputation procedure and model selection procedure for the multiple regression model. Twenty out of twenty three variables contained missing values and they were imputed by random regression imputation procedure. Model selection methods for the imputed data included the LASSO and all possible subsets by AIC. In order to get both a reliable and stable final model, the imputation was conducted a hundred times and found that the LASSO method provided a simpler and more stable result than all possible subsets by AIC method. Based on the final results from these two methods, the attention score increased when the audience liked the commercial, felt entertained, perceived it as different from other commercials, and felt better about the company (or the brand). The results also showed that the number of peaks, which is a variable from the Flow of Attention graph, did not indicate any significant impact to the attention score, since no model selection results contained the variable. Through the statistical analysis results in this thesis, the LASSO model selection shows a high stability of the results in the multiple random regression imputed data. Trying with various numbers of imputations and with other model selection methods can be suggested as future study to confirm the compatibility of the model selection methods in the presence of missing data.AmeritestStatisticsMastersUniversity of New Mexico. Dept. of Mathematics and StatisticsDegnan, JamesYan, LuLi, L
Unique Senior Radiology Resident Selectives (Areas of Concentration) Integrating Clinical Experiences with Radiology Rotations
No full textPresented at the AUR 64th Annual Meeting 2016 Diversity, Inclusion, and Cultural Competency in Academic Radiology
March 29 - April 1, 2016
San Diego, CaliforniaWith the restructuring of the ABR examinations to test core knowledge
at the end of the PGY4 year, radiology residencies have increased
flexibility in designing targeted educational experiences for
senior residents. We have innovated the educational program for
our senior residents by incorporating related clinical months alongside
subspecialty-focused radiology rotations to create Areas of
Concentration within select modalities.
We now offer Areas of Concentration for up to 6 months to all PGY5
residents in our integrated (categorical) residency program. Residents
may choose the clinical months from among those previously
chosen by our residents, or may identify a faculty member in another
specialty to serve as a mentor and evaluator.
Residents utilize these Areas of Concentration to prepare themselves
for fellowship and practice opportunities, combining related/
useful clinical rotations such as a Cardiology stress lab
rotation with Nuclear Medicine, or an ICU/Critical Care rotation
with Interventional Radiology. During these clinical-radiologic selectives,
senior residents hold responsibilities similar to fellows, including
teaching and multidisciplinary board presentations.
Challenges faced include shortages of senior residents available to
staff other radiology rotations and scheduling logistics to ensure all
residents can chose Areas of Concentration within their desired fields
ASSESSING DROUGHT-INDUCED CHANGE IN A PIÑON-JUNIPER WOODLAND WITH LANDSAT: A MULTIPLE ENDMEMBER SPECTRAL MIXTURE ANALYSIS APPROACH
No full textPiñon-juniper communities exist on mid-elevation mountain ranges throughout the southwestern United States. Drought adapted, these species have lived with climatic stochasticity since the end of the Pleistocene. However, increasing temperatures and drought within the last two decades have stressed this community beyond its adaptive limits. With increased drought-induced stress, piñon show greater vulnerability to die-off than juniper. Widespread piñon die-off occurred during 2002-2004 from extreme drought in northern New Mexico with minimal juniper die-off.
This study quantified the differential piñon and juniper mortality during the 2010-2013 drought at a site in central New Mexico by performing multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis (MESMA) on six Landsat images from 2009 through 2015 using field-based spectral endmembers collected throughout 2015. An ideal spectral seperability date was identified to maximize separation between constituent land cover classes by calculating NDVI, SAVI, and RENDVI for the five dominant land cover classes at the site (juniper, piñon, dead piñon, herbaceous, and bare soil) and analyzing precipitation and temperature data. Peak seperabililty between land cover classes was determined to occur during the pre-monsoon season between late spring/early summer (May) when no spectral overlap occurred between classes (σ = 1). The field-based reference endmembers were then used to unmix each image in the study period. Results indicate a 24.6% decline in piñon fractional cover across the study period with a comparable 23.8% increase in dead piñon fractional cover and minimal 5.9% change in juniper fractional cover. Accuracy assessment validation using high spatial resolution (5-8 cm) imagery for 2014 and 2015 showed a high degree of confidence in modeled fractional cover results during 2014 - GV (piñon and juniper together) (R2 = 0.632) and dead piñon (R2 = 0.854), and 2015 - GV (R2 = 0.735) and dead piñon (R2 = 0.881). Results indicate the utility of MESMA to monitor and quantify the differential die-off piñon and juniper at a regional scale as climate change-induced drought and higher temperatures are projected to continue in the Southwest.Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, GIScience for Environmental Studies (GEM) Lab, Litvak Lab (UNM Department of Biology), and GPSAGeographyMastersUniversity of New Mexico. Dept. of GeographyLippitt, CaitlinLippitt, ChristopherLitvak, Marc
Analysis of Performance and Power Aspects of Hypervisors in Soft Real-Time Embedded Systems
No full textThe exponential growth of malware designed to attack soft real-time embedded systems has necessitated solutions to secure these systems. Hypervisors are a solution, but the overhead imposed by them needs to be quantitatively understood. Experiments were conducted to quantify the overhead hypervisors impose on soft real-time embedded systems. A soft real-time computer vision algorithm was executed, with average and worst-case execution times measured as well as the average power consumption. These experiments were conducted with two hypervisors and a control configuration. The experiments showed that each hypervisor imposed differing amounts of overhead, with one achieving near native performance and the other noticeably impacting the performance of the system.Air Force Research LaboratoryComputer ENgineeringMastersUniversity of New Mexico. Dept. of Electrical and Computer EngineeringHeileman, GregoryLamb, ChrisShu, Wenni
ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS IN TITLE I PROGRAMS IN NEW MEXICO PUBLIC SCHOOLS
No full textTitle I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) and subsequent reauthorizations require the United States Department of Education to distribute funding to states that ultimately goes to local school districts for the purpose of improving the academic achievement of disadvantaged students, including English Language Learners (ELLs). In New Mexico, 64% of public school students participate in Title I programs, and 16% of all New Mexico students are ELLs. However, no studies to date have explored how New Mexico public school districts are implementing Title I with respect to English Language Learners.
Therefore, the purpose of this study was to conduct document review and to survey and interview Title I Directors in New Mexico school districts to determine how Title I is implemented with respect to English Language Learners.
Results indicated that ELL students participate in New Mexico Title I Programs. Results also indicated that, in addition to the academic needs of students in general, ELLs in Title I Programs in New Mexico have additional needs based on their academic English skills, and in some cases, poverty. To meet these needs, bilingual programs, including the dual language model, are common within the organizational structures. Study participants revealed that collaboration, bilingual education programs, and parent involvement play key roles in fostering the goals of Title I. Significantly, study participants did not indicate that they treat ELLs as a burden. Rather, when thinking about the ELLs in their districts, directors understand these are the students they are serving. As one director exclaimed, “That’s who our kids are.”
These results have important implications for optimizing the education of ELL students in New Mexico, including improvements in organizational structures, improved programs for parents, and increases in professional development. Combined, the findings of this study highlight how New Mexico public school districts are implementing Title I with respect to English Language Learners.Educational LeadershipDoctoralUniversity of New Mexico. Division of Educational Leadership and Organizational LearningWoodrum, ArlieBorden, Allison M.Blum-Martínez, RebeccaFlorez, Viola E
FEMMAGE AND THE DIY MOVEMENT: FEMINISM, CRAFTY WOMEN, AND THE POLITICS OF GENDER PERFORMANCE
No full textThrough a variety of lenses, contemporary crafting is examined as a complex and contradictory gender and class performance that serves as a form of communication among women that both enables and contains oppositional and gender role explorations. Crafting is created through myriad texts which transform into an individual form of expression, a societal spectacle, a fashion trend, a subculture, an addiction, a coping mechanism, an oppositional act, and a means of healing both physically and emotionally.
This study investigates how the objects women make and collect reflect and define crafters’ negotiations between personal desires and public personas, help them voice their own identities, tell their own stories, and connect with – or distance themselves from – other generations of “crafty women.” The role of objects and their multiple meanings in individuals’ lives is examined. Specifically, how objects narrate gender identity and debates, are evidence of resistance to dominant gender and class narratives, enable acceptance of economic and gender norms, and incorporate aesthetics and consumption.American StudiesDoctoralUniversity of New Mexico. Dept. of American StudiesSchreiber, RebeccaTrujillo, Michael L. .Brulotte, RondaIce, Joyc
Reviving the Dead Hand After Repeal of the Rule Against Perpetuities
No full textThis blog post summarizes a recent article by Reid Kress Weisbord, Trust Term Extension, 67 Fla. L. Rev. 73 (2015)
Phase II trial combining Oxaliplatin, Capecitabine, and Celecoxib with concurrent radiation for newly diagnosed resectable rectal cancer: COX-2 expression in relationship to outomces
No full textPoster presented at the 17th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer, July 1 - July 14, 2015.A combination of chemotherapy and radiation is often used to treat rectal cancer patients before surgery in an effort to shrink the tumor and make it easier to remove as well as to help increase the chances of sphincter-sparing surgery. Many previous clinical studies have suggested that rectal cancer patients may survive longer if the surgery results in a pathological complete response - that is, the absence of any tumor cells in the surgical specimen. However, there is still controversy over this. This study attempts to start to answer this question by treating rectal cancer patients with a combination of chemotherapy drugs (oxaliplatin and capecitabine), a cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) enzyme inhibitor and radiation before surgery. The rates of pathologic complete response, sphincter-sparing surgery, and disease-free survival are some of the therapeutic endpoints that will be studied
Electrical Stimulation Use in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy - An Evidence Based Analysis
No full textIt is estimated that 1 in every 3,500-5,000 males born in the United States are born with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). DMD is a debilitating disease that progressively weakens skeletal, cardiac, and pulmonary muscles due to the lack of the protein dystrophin. This results in great physical disability and shortened lifespans. Patients often are non-ambulatory by late teenage years with death occurring in the mid-twenties. Current physical therapy treatments are limited, leaving those with DMD to rely on symptom management and compensations for physical limitations, rather than remediation or rehabilitation. This project presents a case of an 8-year-old individual diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) who shows clinical signs of decreased ambulation ability. Currently he is only using pharmaceuticals to help slow the progression of the disease. Physical therapy treatments are palliative with the patient being instructed to participate in age-appropriate activities and interventions only including fabrication of nighttime stretching braces. This project addresses the following PICO question: Does the use of electrical stimulation for strengthening result in increased ambulation longevity and increased functional independence in individuals with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy when compared to standard physical therapy treatment? The results of the evidence selected for analysis are mixed. Benefits and detriments have both been shown in mdx mice, Golden Retriever, and human studies. Two human studies analyzed show that boys who are younger and have a slower progression of the disease respond better to electrical stimulation strengthening, whereas another study ultimately reports the opposite. Animal studies show promise, but it is morally and ethically challenging when applying the same research design to human subjects. The young age of the DMD population is also a limiting factor in studies, as patients cannot always follow direction or give credible answers to questions in regards to muscle soreness, fatigue, and functional limitations. It is therefore acceptable to make assumptions about the treatment of DMD based on the studies of other muscular dystrophies. Muscular exercise is important for all patients with muscular dystrophy to build strength, develop endurance, and maintain overall health. Electrical stimulation strengthening is often used as an adjunct to traditional exercise, especially in populations with physical limitations. What this systematic review highlights is that the protocol of electrical stimulation use for strengthening in the DMD population is vague. It is unclear which type, frequency, and duration of electrical stimulation would prove to provide the most beneficial long-term effects. With contraction-induced muscle damage being the biggest concern, this review highlights the need for more research and clear-cut parameters and protocol for electrical stimulation strengthening. It is therefore recommended that future clinical trials should include randomized controlled trials, withhuman subjects participating as both experimental and control subjects, longitudinal outcomes, and examination of multiple muscle group stimulation