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

Overconfident Investors, Predictable Returns, and Excessive Trading

The last several decades have witnessed a shift away from a fully rational paradigm of financial markets toward one in which investor behavior is influenced by psychological biases. Two principal factors have contributed to this evolution: a body of evidence showing how psychological bias affects the behavior of economic actors; and an accumulation of evidence that is hard to reconcile with fully rational models of security market trading volumes and returns. In particular, asset markets exhibit trading volumes that are high, with individuals and asset managers trading aggressively, even when such trading results in high risk and low net returns. Moreover, asset prices display patterns of predictability that are difficult to reconcile with rational-expectations–based theories of price formation. In this paper, we discuss the role of overconfidence as an explanation for these patterns

Expression patterns of the native shrunken-2 promoter in sorghum bicolor visualised through use of the GFP reporter gene

The AGPase large subunit (shrunken-2) promoter was demonstrated to be active in the placentochalaza and endosperm of developing grain as well as the root tips in transgenic sorghum

The functionality of α-kafirin promoter and α-kafirin signal peptide

Cereal grains offer great potential as a storage system for production of highly valuable proteins using biotechnological approaches, but such applications require tight temporal and spatial control of transgene expression. Towards this aim, we have undertaken a detailed analysis of α-kafirin (α-kaf) promoter and α-kaf signal peptide (sp) in transgenic sorghum plants, using green fluorescent protein gene (gfp) as a reporter. Constructs containing either the α-kaf promoter or the constitutive maize ubiquitin-1 (ubi) promoter driving either gfp or sp-gfp translational fusion were introduced into Sorghum bicolor inbred line Tx430 by particle bombardment. We show for the first time that the α-kaf promoter directs endosperm-specific transgene expression, with activity first detected at 10\ua0days post-anthesis (dpa), peaking at 20 dpa, and remaining active through to physiological maturity. Furthermore, we demonstrate for the first time that the α-kafirin sp is sufficient to direct foreign protein to protein bodies in the endosperm. The evidence is also provided for possible mis-targeting by α-kaf sp in vegetative tissues of transgenic lines with ubi-sp-gfp, resulting in loss of reporter gene translational activity that no GFP signal was observed. These results demonstrate that α-kaf promoter and α-kaf sp are well suited for seed bioengineering to produce recombinant proteins in sorghum endosperm or deposit foreign proteins into sorghum protein bodies