The U.S. Army as a Rational Economic Agent: The Choice of Draft Animals during the Civil War

The Army has historically been ridiculed as an inefficient institution which neither responds to incentives, nor acts as a rational economic agent. This paper argues that historically there were instances in which the army acted in ways analogous to "market driven" institutions. During the Civil War the Army tried to issue the more abuse-resistant, yet more expensive, mule to its soldiers instead of a less expensive substitute, the horse. It is argued that this practice was to mute the effects of agency problems, as was done in southern agriculture and in U.S. mining. This finding has implications for the Army today, as well as for other institutions with similar agency problems, that issue physical capital to their agents.Soldiers; War

Non-GNSS Smartphone Pedestrian Navigation Using Barometric Elevation and Digital Map-Matching

Pedestrian navigation in outdoor environments where global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) are unavailable is a challenging problem. Existing technologies that have attempted to address this problemoften require external reference signals or specialized hardware, the extra size,weight, power, and cost of which are unsuitable for many applications. This article presents a real-time, self-contained outdoor navigation application that uses only the existing sensors on a smartphone in conjunction with a preloaded digital elevation map. The core algorithm implements a particle filter, which fuses sensor data with a stochastic pedestrian motion model to predict the user’s position. The smartphone’s barometric elevation is then compared with the elevation map to constrain the position estimate. The system developed for this research was deployed on Android smartphones and tested in several terrains using a variety of elevation data sources. The results fromthese experiments showthe systemachieves positioning accuracies in the tens of meters that do not grow as a function of time

Multi-objective Database Queries in Combined Knapsack and Set Covering Problem Domains

Database queries are one of the most important functions of a relational database. Users are interested in viewing a variety of data representations, and this may vary based on database purpose and the nature of the stored data. The Air Force Institute of Technology has approximately 100 data logs which will be converted to the standardized Scorpion Data Model format. A relational database is designed to house this data and its associated sensor and non-sensor metadata. Deterministic polynomial-time queries were used to test the performance of this schema against two other schemas, with databases of 100 and 1000 logs of repeated data and randomized metadata. Of these approaches, the one that had the best performance was chosen as AFIT’s database solution, and now more complex and useful queries need to be developed to enable filter research. To this end, consider the combined Multi-Objective Knapsack/Set Covering Database Query. Algorithms which address The Set Covering Problem or Knapsack Problem could be used individually to achieve useful results, but together they could offer additional power to a potential user. This paper explores the NP-Hard problem domain of the Multi-Objective KP/SCP, proposes Genetic and Hill Climber algorithms, implements these algorithms using Java, populates their data structures using SQL queries from two test databases, and finally compares how these algorithms perform

Federal Forest Restoration Program use of the Good Neighbor Authority : 2016-2021 activities and outcomes

2 pagesRestoration is a pressing need across Oregon’s forests—over 7 million acres are experiencing declining forest health and are at elevated risk of large and destructive wildfires. Oregon Department of Forestry’s (ODF) Federal Forest Restoration Program partners with federal agencies to restore and steward these important lands to enhance and protect the valuable benefits they provide for Oregonians. ODF supports three key elements of restoration: Planning – Implementation – Monitoring, all integral to restoring land in an ecologically sound, scientific manner. This fact sheet summarizes the results of ODF’s efforts to increase the pace, scale and quality of restoration on federal lands in Oregon.Funded by Oregon Department of Forestry

FAST: FAST Analysis of Sequences Toolbox.

FAST (FAST Analysis of Sequences Toolbox) provides simple, powerful open source command-line tools to filter, transform, annotate and analyze biological sequence data. Modeled after the GNU (GNU's Not Unix) Textutils such as grep, cut, and tr, FAST tools such as fasgrep, fascut, and fastr make it easy to rapidly prototype expressive bioinformatic workflows in a compact and generic command vocabulary. Compact combinatorial encoding of data workflows with FAST commands can simplify the documentation and reproducibility of bioinformatic protocols, supporting better transparency in biological data science. Interface self-consistency and conformity with conventions of GNU, Matlab, Perl, BioPerl, R, and GenBank help make FAST easy and rewarding to learn. FAST automates numerical, taxonomic, and text-based sorting, selection and transformation of sequence records and alignment sites based on content, index ranges, descriptive tags, annotated features, and in-line calculated analytics, including composition and codon usage. Automated content- and feature-based extraction of sites and support for molecular population genetic statistics make FAST useful for molecular evolutionary analysis. FAST is portable, easy to install and secure thanks to the relative maturity of its Perl and BioPerl foundations, with stable releases posted to CPAN. Development as well as a publicly accessible Cookbook and Wiki are available on the FAST GitHub repository at https://github.com/tlawrence3/FAST. The default data exchange format in FAST is Multi-FastA (specifically, a restriction of BioPerl FastA format). Sanger and Illumina 1.8+ FastQ formatted files are also supported. FAST makes it easier for non-programmer biologists to interactively investigate and control biological data at the speed of thought

The Grizzly, March 25, 2004

Ursinus College Bookstore now Under New Management • Bombing in Madrid Causes Concern for Students\u27 Safety • The Real World Said Goodbye to Philadelphia • It\u27s Registration Time Again • Opinions: How to Land that Perfect Job; Good Food at the Bamboo Club • Alternative Spring Break Group Builds Home in Georgia • Airband 2004 • Liberty Thrift Shop • Softball Team Dominates • Honors Rolling in for Stantonhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1556/thumbnail.jp

The Grizzly, February 5, 2004

Take Notice of New Member Education Standards • AES Team with Upromise to Help Ease the Repayment of Student Loans • Unpredictable Democratic Primaries • Myrin Library Update: Media Services Re-opens • Opinions: New Member Education: Yes or No?; Is Blackboard Worth the Fuss?; Max and Erma\u27s New Hot Spot in Town • Men\u27s Lacrosse: 2004 Season Outlookhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1552/thumbnail.jp

The Grizzly, April 29, 2004

As the School Years Ends, The Search for Jobs Begins • Life-Changing Volunteer Work Found At the Clinic • Fad Diets: Do They Work? • Opinions: Chronic Back Pain: Ouch!; Lacking Luster (Again) at La Fontana; Is Donald Trump the Ideal Boss?; Eating Your Veggies Now More Appetizing than Mom Tried to Make it • Staff Spotlight: Jamal Elliot • Ursinus Students Put Learning Into Practice at Model U.N. • Goldwater Scholar Kari Baker • Softball Team Rolls Past Muhlenberg • Leadership: A Key Ingredient in the Success of the Men\u27s Baseball Team • Final Exam Schedulehttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1561/thumbnail.jp

The Grizzly, February 19, 2004

Campus Safety and S.E.R.V. to Sponsor Lecture at Ursinus College • Ursinus Club Spotlight: Campus Activities Board • Impress Recruiters at the 2004 Ursinus College Job & Internship Fair • Sign the Beam! • Opinions: Ridiculous Reality TV; Sid\u27s: Good Food Close to Campus; Words of Love • UC Grad on Tour with Globetrotters • Men\u27s Basketball Continues to Roll • Gymnastics Team Breaks Four Recordshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1554/thumbnail.jp