A Computational Routine for Disaggregating Industry Margin Data to Estimate Product Margin Rates

Retail industry product margin rates are used to estimate the retail output proportion of final consumption commodities. The Census Bureau collects data on industry margin rates, but it does not collect product margin rate data. To estimate retail industry-by-commodity output, industry margin rates are disaggregated by product. A number of controls are available for disaggregating industry data. This paper introduces a formal computational method for disaggregating industry margin data using Bayesian statistics and simulation. The routine is capable of accurately imposing multiple controls simultaneously. The method's accuracy is demonstrated by an evaluation of its industry product margin rate estimates. In addition to producing accurate disaggregate estimates, the method is fast and its estimates are replicable. The computational method has a broad range of applications beyond the estimation of industry-by-product margin rates.

Demonstration of Visible and Near Infrared Raman Spectrometers and Improved Matched Filter Model for Analysis of Combined Raman Signals

Raman spectroscopy is a powerful analysis technique that has found applications in fields such as analytical chemistry, planetary sciences, and medical diagnostics. Recent studies have shown that analysis of Raman spectral profiles can be greatly assisted by use of computational models with achievements including high accuracy pure sample classification with imbalanced data sets and detection of ideal sample deviations for pharmaceutical quality control. The adoption of automated methods is a necessary step in streamlining the analysis process as Raman hardware becomes more advanced. Due to limits in the architectures of current machine learning based Raman classification models, transfer from pure to mixed sample analysis is not possible. This thesis presents the design, fabrication, and data collected from two different Raman spectrometers, a visible light system operating at 532 nm and a near infrared system operating at 785 nm. For each system, the optical design and operational theory of the main components will be explained. Data collected on each system will then be presented. Additionally, a learned matched filter computer model was developed to analyze Raman line profiles and can detect the signatures of multiple materials in a single data point. The presented model incorporates machine learning theory into the traditional matched filter model for higher probability of detection and much reduced probability of false alarm. The structure and operation of the model will be explained, and analysis of both real and simulated mixed-sample Raman spectra will be presented

Blogging, Journaling and Reflective Writing: A Snapshot of Students' Preferences and Perceptions from Two Australian Universities

This paper investigates the pedagogical benefits and challenges of using blogs as well as journals in assessing reflective writing in Clinical Legal Education learning.Recognising that millennial students have diverse learning preferences, the authors administered a survey to explore student preferences for different styles of reflective activity, contrasting peer to peer blogging with student to teacher journaling. Our findings suggest that some of the traditional ideas about privacy and self-disclosure in reflective writing are not of significant concern to students, who see benefit in sharing experiences with each other as part of a learning community. However, our findings also indicate that the opportunity of private reflection with a teacher is valued by students as part of the reflective learning experience.This paper outlines the approach to blogging adopted in our teaching practices and concludes that there are many benefits to thoughtfully designed blogging in Clinical Legal Education reflective exercises. Designers of reflective writing assessment will find this paper a useful source of related literature and ideas for developing journaling and blogging for reflective learning

Collaborative adaptive accessibility and human capabilities

This thesis discusses the challenges and opportunities facing the field of accessibility, particularly as computing becomes ubiquitous. It is argued that a new approach is needed that centres around adaptations (specific, atomic changes) to user interfaces and content in order to improve their accessibility for a wider range of people than targeted by present Assistive Technologies (ATs). Further, the approach must take into consideration the capabilities of people at the human level and facilitate collaboration, in planned and ad-hoc environments. There are two main areas of focus: (1) helping people experiencing minor-to-moderate, transient and potentially-overlapping impairments, as may be brought about by the ageing process and (2) supporting collaboration between people by reasoning about the consequences, from different users perspectives, of the adaptations they may require. A theoretical basis for describing these problems and a reasoning process for the semi-automatic application of adaptations is developed. Impairments caused by the environment in which a device is being used are considered. Adaptations are drawn from other research and industry artefacts. Mechanical testing is carried out on key areas of the reasoning process, demonstrating fitness for purpose. Several fundamental techniques to extend the reasoning process in order to take temporal factors (such as fluctuating user and device capabilities) into account are broadly described. These are proposed to be feasible, though inherently bring compromises (which are defined) in interaction stability and the needs of different actors (user, device, target level of accessibility). This technical work forms the basis of the contribution of one work-package of the Sustaining ICT use to promote autonomy (Sus-IT) project, under the New Dynamics of Ageing (NDA) programme of research in the UK. Test designs for larger-scale assessment of the system with real-world participants are given. The wider Sus-IT project provides social motivations and informed design decisions for this work and is carrying out longitudinal acceptance testing of the processes developed here

A PC-based multispectral scanner data evaluation workstation: Application to Daedalus scanners

In late 1989, a personal computer (PC)-based data evaluation workstation was developed to support post flight processing of Multispectral Atmospheric Mapping Sensor (MAMS) data. The MAMS Quick View System (QVS) is an image analysis and display system designed to provide the capability to evaluate Daedalus scanner data immediately after an aircraft flight. Even in its original form, the QVS offered the portability of a personal computer with the advanced analysis and display features of a mainframe image analysis system. It was recognized, however, that the original QVS had its limitations, both in speed and processing of MAMS data. Recent efforts are presented that focus on overcoming earlier limitations and adapting the system to a new data tape structure. In doing so, the enhanced Quick View System (QVS2) will accommodate data from any of the four spectrometers used with the Daedalus scanner on the NASA ER2 platform. The QVS2 is designed around the AST 486/33 MHz CPU personal computer and comes with 10 EISA expansion slots, keyboard, and 4.0 mbytes of memory. Specialized PC-McIDAS software provides the main image analysis and display capability for the system. Image analysis and display of the digital scanner data is accomplished with PC-McIDAS software

mNCEA policy brief - The many scales of pelagic habitats

This fact sheet is intended to help explain the extreme variation in both abundance and body size exhibited by marine plankton and why those characteristics make them challenging to understand. Plankton in pelagic (open ocean) habitats vary greatly in abundance and body size, presenting significant challenges for assessing the state of pelagic habitats. There are also vast differences in the spatial and temporal scale of events and pressures impacting pelagic habitats, adding complexity and making pelagic habitats challenging to understand. This project was funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) as part of the marine arm of the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) programme. The marine NCEA programme is leading the way in supporting Government ambition to integrate natural capital approaches into decision making for the marine environment. Find out more at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/natural-capital-and-ecosystem-assessment-programme

Towards ubiquitous accessibility: capability-based profiles and adaptations, delivered via the semantic web

The continuing proliferation of mobile devices, content and applications presents barriers to the mainstreaming of Assistive Technologies (ATs), despite their potential utility for users in demanding situations or with minor-to-moderate impairments. We have previously proposed that user profiling based on human rather than machine-oriented capabilities, coupled with a shift from conspicuous ATs to considering a broader range of adaptations presents opportunities for platform and AT vendors to support many more users. However there has not been a standard, consistent and, most importantly, straightforward way to deliver these benefits. We propose that this delivery gap can be bridged by using the semantic web and related technologies, so the potential benefits of the capability-based approach may be realised

Conspiracy theorists helped the Parkland students keep gun control on the national agenda

In the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, gun control has remained on the political and media agendas for far longer than has been the case following similar events in the past. Joseph E. Uscinski, Darin DeWitt, and Matthew D. Atkinson argue that this shooting has continued to capture the nation's attention because of the conspiracy theory narratives that surround it. The politically strategic Parkland students have benefited from the public attention generated by conspiracy theorists – who accuse the students of being ‘crisis actors’ – to remain in the media spotlight and keep the issue of gun control on the national agenda