Major John Bradford Homestead archaeological collections report

This report describes a collections management project undertaken on archaeological finds excavated at the Major John Bradford Homestead in 1972 and 1973. One of the chief goals of the project were to clean all artifacts that had not been processed after sorting the materials that had been processed and labeled and to reunite them with their provenience groups. The next goal was to catalogue all of the finds and to re-bag and re-box all of the materials in archivally appropriate bags and acid-free boxes and to provide a box inventory keyed to the catalogue so that future researchers or exhibit designers could readily locate objects of interest. A further goal was to provide a narrative about the excavations and to make suggestions about how to interpret the archaeological evidence and to suggest potential future research. All of these goals were met and are detailed in this report

Crew Motion and the Dynamic Environment of Spaceborne Experiments

Analytical study of crew motion on dynamic environment of orbiting laboratorie

Feature Selection of Post-Graduation Income of College Students in the United States

This study investigated the most important attributes of the 6-year post-graduation income of college graduates who used financial aid during their time at college in the United States. The latest data released by the United States Department of Education was used. Specifically, 1,429 cohorts of graduates from three years (2001, 2003, and 2005) were included in the data analysis. Three attribute selection methods, including filter methods, forward selection, and Genetic Algorithm, were applied to the attribute selection from 30 relevant attributes. Five groups of machine learning algorithms were applied to the dataset for classification using the best selected attribute subsets. Based on our findings, we discuss the role of neighborhood professional degree attainment, parental income, SAT scores, and family college education in post-graduation incomes and the implications for social stratification.Comment: 14 pages, 6 tables, 3 figure

Processing Succinct Matrices and Vectors

We study the complexity of algorithmic problems for matrices that are represented by multi-terminal decision diagrams (MTDD). These are a variant of ordered decision diagrams, where the terminal nodes are labeled with arbitrary elements of a semiring (instead of 0 and 1). A simple example shows that the product of two MTDD-represented matrices cannot be represented by an MTDD of polynomial size. To overcome this deficiency, we extended MTDDs to MTDD_+ by allowing componentwise symbolic addition of variables (of the same dimension) in rules. It is shown that accessing an entry, equality checking, matrix multiplication, and other basic matrix operations can be solved in polynomial time for MTDD_+-represented matrices. On the other hand, testing whether the determinant of a MTDD-represented matrix vanishes PSPACE$-complete, and the same problem is NP-complete for MTDD_+-represented diagonal matrices. Computing a specific entry in a product of MTDD-represented matrices is #P-complete.Comment: An extended abstract of this paper will appear in the Proceedings of CSR 201

Evaluating Matrix Circuits

The circuit evaluation problem (also known as the compressed word problem) for finitely generated linear groups is studied. The best upper bound for this problem is $\mathsf{coRP}$, which is shown by a reduction to polynomial identity testing. Conversely, the compressed word problem for the linear group $\mathsf{SL}_3(\mathbb{Z})$ is equivalent to polynomial identity testing. In the paper, it is shown that the compressed word problem for every finitely generated nilpotent group is in $\mathsf{DET} \subseteq \mathsf{NC}^2$. Within the larger class of polycyclic groups we find examples where the compressed word problem is at least as hard as polynomial identity testing for skew arithmetic circuits

Reconstitution of a Minimal DNA Replicase From Pseudomonas Aeruginosa and Stimulation by Non-Cognate Auxiliary Factors

DNA polymerase III holoenzyme is responsible for chromosomal replication in bacteria. The components and functions of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase III holoenzyme have been studied extensively. Here, we report the reconstitution of replicase activity by essential components of DNA polymerase holoenzyme from the pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We have expressed and purified the processivity factor (β), single-stranded DNA-binding protein, a complex containing the polymerase (α) and exonuclease (ϵ) subunits, and the essential components of the DnaX complex (τ3δδ′). Efficient primer elongation requires the presence of αϵ, β, and τ3δδ′. Pseudomonas aeruginosa αϵ can substitute completely for E. coli polymerase III in E. coli holoenzyme reconstitution assays. Pseudomonas β and τ3δδ′ exhibit a 10-fold lower activity relative to their E. coli counterparts in E. coli holoenzyme reconstitution assays. Although the Pseudomonas counterpart to the E. coli ψ subunit was not apparent in sequence similarity searches, addition of purified E. coli χ and ψ (components of the DnaX complex) increases the apparent specific activity of the Pseudomonas τ3δδ′ complex ∼10-fold and enables the reconstituted enzyme to function better under physiological salt conditions

Discovery and Characterization of the Cryptic Psi Subunit of the Pseudomonad DNA Replicase

We previously reconstituted a minimal DNA replicase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa consisting of α and ϵ (polymerase and editing nuclease), β (processivity factor), and the essential τ, δ, and δ′ components of the clamp loader complex (Jarvis, T., Beaudry, A., Bullard, J., Janjic, N., and McHenry, C. (2005) J. Biol. Chem. 280, 7890-7900). In Escherichia coli DNA polymerase III holoenzyme, χ and Ψ are tightly associated clamp loader accessory subunits. The addition of E. coli χΨ to the minimal P. aeruginosa replicase stimulated its activity, suggesting the existence of χ and Ψ counterparts in P. aeruginosa. The P. aeruginosa χ subunit was recognizable from sequence similarity, but Ψ was not. Here we report purification of an endogenous replication complex from P. aeruginosa. Identification of the components led to the discovery of the cryptic Ψ subunit, encoded by holD. P. aeruginosa χ and Ψ were co-expressed and purified as a 1:1 complex. P. aeruginosa χΨ increased the specific activity of τ3δδ′ 25-fold and enabled the holoenzyme to function under physiological salt conditions. A synergistic effect between χΨ and single-stranded DNA binding protein was observed. Sequence similarity to P. aeruginosa Ψ allowed us to identify Ψ subunits from several other Pseudomonads and to predict probable translational start sites for this protein family. This represents the first identification of a highly divergent branch of the Ψ family and confirms the existence of Ψ in several organisms in which Ψ was not identifiable based on sequence similarity alone

Media Reporting and Business Cycles: Empirical Evidence based on News Data

Recent literature suggests that news shocks could be an important driver of economic cycles. In this article, we use a direct measure of news sentiment derived from media reports. This allows us to examine whether innovations in the reporting tone correlate with changes in the assessment and expectations of the business situation as reported by firms in the German manufacturing sector. We fi nd that innovations in news reporting affect business expectations, even when conditioning on the current business situation and industrial production. The dynamics of the empirical model con rm theoretical predictions that news innovations affect real variables such as production via changes in expectations. Looking at individual sectors within manufacturing, we fi nd that macroeconomic news is at least as important for business expectations as sector-spefici c news. This is consistent with the existence of information complementarities across sectors

A common algebraic description for probabilistic and quantum computations

AbstractThrough the study of gate arrays we develop a unified framework to deal with probabilistic and quantum computations, where the former is shown to be a natural special case of the latter. On this basis we show how to encode a probabilistic or quantum gate array into a sum-free tensor formula which satisfies the conditions of the partial trace problem, and vice-versa; that is, given a tensor formula F of order n×1 over a semiring S plus a positive integer k, deciding whether the kth partial trace of the matrix valSn,n(F·FT) fulfills a certain property. We use this to show that a certain promise version of the sum-free partial trace problem is complete for the class pr- BPP (promise BPP) for formulas over the semiring (Q+,+,·) of the positive rational numbers, for pr-BQP (promise BQP) in the case of formulas defined over the field (Q+,+,·), and if the promise is given up, then completeness for PP is shown, regardless whether tensor formulas over positive rationals or rationals in general are used. This suggests that the difference between probabilistic and quantum polytime computers may ultimately lie in the possibility, in the latter case, of having destructive interference between computations occurring in parallel. Moreover, by considering variants of this problem, classes like ⊕P, NP, C=P, its complement co-C=P, the promise version of Valiant's class UP, its generalization promise SPP, and unique polytime US can be characterized by carrying the problem properties and the underlying semiring

Learning to Teach Science from a Contextualized Stance

Contextualization is a curricular approach and a learning process in which science content knowledge is intentionally situated within a context where that knowledge can be authentically applied or observed. Many recent science education reforms include contextualization as a central tenet. Our goal in this review was to examine commonalities across contextualization approaches that could inform a method for preparing teachers to lead contextualized science learning broadly. After screening, 56 journal papers were organized into five contextualization approaches: authentic science practices (ASP), culturally-responsive science (CRS), out-of-classroom experiences (OOC), socio-scientific inquiry (SSI), and context-based curriculum (CBC). The collected papers suggested that despite the approach, teachers needed to develop a deep sense of the context, a clear understanding of the science content specific to that context, and the pedagogical skills to effectively bring content and context together. It was also found that contextualization usually leads to student-centered learning, even if not a specific goal of an intervention. This review suggests that contextualization can be taught as a broad, foundational teacher skill set that can be applied to more specific approaches. Learning this skill set will require long-term, and intensive teacher development efforts