In search of meta-knowledge

Development of an Intelligent Information System (IIS) involves application of numerous artificial intelligence (AI) paradigms and advanced technologies. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is interested in an IIS that can automatically collect, classify, store and retrieve data, as well as develop, manipulate and restructure knowledge regarding the data and its application (Campbell et al., 1987, p.3). This interest stems in part from a NASA initiative in support of the interagency Global Change Research program. NASA's space data problems are so large and varied that scientific researchers will find it almost impossible to access the most suitable information from a software system if meta-information (metadata and meta-knowledge) is not embedded in that system. Even if more, faster, larger hardware is used, new innovative software systems will be required to organize, link, maintain, and properly archive the Earth Observing System (EOS) data that is to be stored and distributed by the EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS) (Dozier, 1990). Although efforts are being made to specify the metadata that will be used in EOSDIS, meta-knowledge specification issues are not clear. With the expectation that EOSDIS might evolve into an IIS, this paper presents certain ideas on the concept of meta-knowledge and demonstrates how meta-knowledge might be represented in a pixel classification problem

Policy and Practice Brief: PASS: SSI’s Plan for Achieving Self-Support; This Self-Directed Vocational Rehabilitation Plan is an Alternative Funding Source to Support a Range of Work Goals

This primer provides an in-depth overview of the Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS), a Supplemental Security Income work incentive program. Detailed is how the PASS can support self-directed vocational rehabilitation and its impact on an individual’s benefits as they progress toward their established work goal. The process for completing a PASS Application is also reviewed

Policy and Practice Brief: The Federal Earned Income Tax Credit; A Work Incentive That Puts More Money in a Paycheck and Saves on Taxes

This brief explores the Earned-Income Tax Credit which is a special tax benefit for working people who earn a low or moderate income. Reviewed are the specifics of the tax credit along with application for how it can support the career development aspirations of beneficiaries with disabilities

Logic programming and metadata specifications

Artificial intelligence (AI) ideas and techniques are critical to the development of intelligent information systems that will be used to collect, manipulate, and retrieve the vast amounts of space data produced by 'Missions to Planet Earth.' Natural language processing, inference, and expert systems are at the core of this space application of AI. This paper presents logic programming as an AI tool that can support inference (the ability to draw conclusions from a set of complicated and interrelated facts). It reports on the use of logic programming in the study of metadata specifications for a small problem domain of airborne sensors, and the dataset characteristics and pointers that are needed for data access

Development of new heat sink technology for high-density microprocessors

This study investigates the performance of existing heat sinks and compares it with two heat-exchanger prototypes: aluminum-foam heat sink and PCM (phase-change material)-filled heat sink. Kapton flexible heaters are used to replicate the heat produced by a computer\u27s CPU (central processing unit). A number of thermocouples are connected between the heater and the heat sink being used to measure the component\u27s temperature. The thermocouples are also connected to a data acquisition card to collect the data using a LabVIEW program. The values obtained are compared to data published in literature to validate the experiments and the setup. This setup is then utilized to test the new heat exchangers and compare their performance to that of the existing heat sinks

An Analysis of Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) of Ultra Wideband(UWB) and IEEE 802.11A Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Employing Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)

Military communications require the rapid deployment of mobile, high-bandwidth systems. These systems must provide anytime, anywhere capabilities with minimal interference to existing military, private, and commercial communications. Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology is being advanced as the next generation radio technology and has the potential to revolutionize indoor wireless communications. The ability of UWB to mitigate multipath fading, provide high-throughput data rates (e.g., greater than 100 Mbps), provide excellent signal penetration (e.g., through walls), and low implementation costs makes it an ideal technology for a wide range of private and public sector applications. Preliminary UWB studies conducted by The Institute for Telecommunications Science (ITS) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have discovered that potential exists for harmful interference to occur. While these studies have provided initial performance estimates, the interference effects of UWB transmissions on coexisting spectral users are largely unknown. This research characterizes the electromagnetic interference (EMI) effects of UWB on the throughput performance of an IEEE 802.11a ad-hoc network. Radiated measurements in an anechoic chamber investigate interference performance using three modulation schemes (BPSK, BPPM, and OOK) and four pulse repetition frequencies over two Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) channels. Results indicate that OOK and BPPM can degrade throughput performance by up to 20% at lower pulse repetition frequencies (PRFs) in lower U-NII channels. Minimal performance degradation (less than one percent) due to interference was observed for BPSK at the lower PRFs and higher U-NII channels

The Impact of Interest on Reading Motivation for A Struggling Mexican American Adolescent Reader

This single subject qualitative case study investigated the impact interest had on reading motivation for a struggling Mexican American adolescent reader from the Rio Grande Valley region of South Texas. Moreover, the study’s findings found several factors that impacted the subject’s motivation to read; factors which impacted the subject’s reading motivation were associated with his home and school life environment, his attitudes towards literacy activities, and the teaching and learning engagements which occurred throughout the study

Examining Potential Teacher Bias Of Hispanic Males With Emotional Disturbances In Virtual Settings

The importance of looking at student and teacher interactions holistically is essential and results in reflective teaching practices; consequently, the reflective practice of teaching needs to incorporate all facets of the teacher, known and unknown. This study looks at the potential influence of hidden biases towards adolescent Hispanic males and students with Emotional Behavior Disorders by observing preservice teacher (PT) interactions with students within a simulated classroom environment. Factorial MANOVAs and Discriminant analyses revealed statistically significant interactions and relationships between participant level of bias and the identified student avatars. These exchanges were more prevalent with one student avatar by both experimental and control PTs; indicating that student characteristics and their differences are important factors that need to be considered when addressing issues related to bias

The Backlash of the Online-Right during and after the 2020 United States Presidential Election

What type of Internet memes were utilized by the Online-Right to show support to former-President Donald Trump and to delegitimize the 2020 Presidential Election? In this thesis, I argue that the Online-Right used Internet memes for two purposes. The first was to discredit and attack the election and former President Trump’s opponents. The second purpose is that the Online-Right created a cult of personality around Donald Trump with the usage of Internet memes. Most of the literature focuses on the type of groups that use Internet memes on the Internet. I focus on what type of Internet memes were used by the Online-Right while also making a connection between the Internet memes and Donald Trump’s rhetoric on Twitter. I archive both Donald Trump’s and the Online-Right tweets to be able to answer these questions and find a link to their relationship

A Battle for Rights Justification: Millian Utilitarianism vs. Scanlonian Contractualism

In this paper, I evaluate which of two ethical theories - Mill\u27s utilitarianism or Scanlon\u27s contractualism - can provide a more plausible justification of a plausible account of rights. To arrive upon such an account, I consider two utilitarian accounts of rights and one contractualist account of rights. Thereafter, I establish, through extraction of the most plausible elements of each of the three aforementioned accounts of rights, five necessary conditions which a rights account should meet if it is to be plausible. I conclude that given an understanding of a plausible rights account as one which minimally includes these five conditions, Mill\u27s utilitarianism has stronger justificatory power than Scanlon\u27s contractualism