Distributing program entities in Ada

In any discussion of distributing programs and entities of programs written in a high order language (HOL), certain issues need to be included because they are generally independent of the particular language involved and have a direct impact on the feasibility of distribution. Of special interest is the distribution of Ada program entities, but many of the issues involved are not specific to Ada and would require resolution whether written in PASCAL, PL/1, Concurrent PASCAL, HAL/S, or any language which provides similar functionality. The following sections will enumerate some of these issues, and will show in what ways they relate to Ada. Also, some (but by no means all) of the issues involved in the distribution of Ada programs and program entities will be discussed

Rescoring the Montana Risk Assessment Instrument: A Comparison of Methods

The purpose of this research is to examine alternate ways to add meaningful weights to the risk factors on the Montana Risk Assessment Instrument (RAI). An evaluation is made which compares the predictive accuracy of a revised scoring system compared to the one that is currently in use. The data for this analysis is taken from 299 Montana juveniles who were administered the RAI after an offense, between January 01, 2009 to December 31, 2010. The results are based on a Burgess model, a linear probability model, and a logistic regression model. The findings suggest that all three models increased the predictive accuracy of the RAI. The Burgess model and the logistic model showed the greatest improvement. When considering both predictive accuracy and practical usability, the Burgess model for rescoring the RAI was found to be the best approach. The small sample size was a limitation in this research which may have affected the statistical significance of the risk factors found on the RAI when using linear probability and logistic regression. Inconsistencies found between counties when collecting data was another limitation in this research. Finally, the inability to find a continuous outcome variable forced this research to use a linear probability model instead of a linear regression model. Future research to increase the predictive accuracy of the RAI must concentrate on three major topics. First, it must be a priority to find appropriate risk factors for the RAI. Second, continue research that will determine the best approach to add meaningful weight to risk factors. Finally, examine the cut point on the RAI to eliminate the most false positive and false negative predictions

DECISIONS LEADING TO INEQUALITIES IN THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM: USING DATA TO PREDICT DELINQUENT OUTCOMES, INFORM DECISIONS, AND REDUCE DISPARITIES FOR JUSTICE-INVOLVED YOUTH

This dissertation focuses on how decisions are made in the juvenile justice system and what strategies can be used to make more informed decisions in the future, in three separate investigations. (1) To begin, eight years of initial detention decisions (N=26,128) were collected to determine what factors affect the arresting officers’ decision to detain youth at arrest. Findings reveal that the severity of current offense and prior offending history are the greatest predictors of initial detention. However, results demonstrate that race and the distance from a detention facility also influence these decisions. Non-white youth are more likely detained than their white counterpart holding relevant factors constant. Additionally, the closer an arrest takes place to a detention facility the more likely a youth is detained. This geographical variable is unique to this analysis and is found to mediate the effect that other geographic variables have on detention decisions (rural/urban classification). Also, evidence suggests that there is a greater disparity in the use of initial detention between white and non-white youth in areas that are closer in proximity to a detention facility. (2) Next, this investigation utilized six years of juvenile intakes (N=3,121) to create and validate a juvenile risk screener to predict recidivism in a one year period of risk. Items included in the risk screener were selected based on a series of bivariate and multivariate analyses. Out of the 246 risk factors eligible for the screener, seven factors were found to be important predictors for recidivism and were included in the risk screener. Validation measurements demonstrate comparable, and at times increased, prediction accuracy from the currently used, significantly larger risk assessment. (3) The final study analyzes an experimental method of weighting risk factors using conjunctive analysis of case configuration (CACC). This study demonstrates the importance of risk factor combinations and how these combinations affect the outcome. Using this weighting strategy, results found slight improvement in prediction accuracy over a simpler 0, 1 scoring method and a more complex score from logistic regression

Thin Fisher Zeroes

Biskup et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 84 (2000) 4794] have recently suggested that the loci of partition function zeroes can profitably be regarded as phase boundaries in the complex temperature or field planes. We obtain the Fisher zeroes for Ising and Potts models on non-planar (``thin'') regular random graphs using this approach, and note that the locus of Fisher zeroes on a Bethe lattice is identical to the corresponding random graph. Since the number of states appears as a parameter in the Potts solution the limiting locus of chromatic zeroes is also accessible.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Vestigial structures and variation in the evolution of the marsupial mammal dental development—a study of the woolly opossum Caluromys philander

The pattern of dental replacement in marsupial mammals has received much attention for its derived nature and potential relationship to the life history of the group. However, few species have been studied thoroughly, and little is known about the embryonic structures and their use in addressing issues of homology and dental evolution in general. We studied a developmental series of ten individuals of pouch young Caluromys philander to thoroughly document dental development with histological sections and 3D models of dental series. We report that the successor P3 arises from a lingual successional lamina from its predecessor dP3. The germs of vestigial, unerupted deciduous incisors and canines are present alongside their respective permanent successors. These discoveries demonstrate significant differences from the developmental patterns reported for Didelphis and Monodelphis and illustrate that an unsuspected diversity of dental ontogeny is not reflected in the adult pattern of mineralised, erupted or almost erupted teeth

A time-lagged investigation of the impact of coworker behavior on the effects of demographic dissimilarity

© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Although it is clear that coworker absenteeism, tardiness, and turnover can influence an employee\u27s actions, scholars have yet to consider the impact of relational demography on the adoption of these behavioral norms. Inspired by social identity, situational strength, and attraction-selection-attrition theories, we proposed that individuals who differ from their coworkers in age, sex, or racioethnicity would feel threatened by their outnumbered status and subsequently motivated to be absent, tardy, or more likely to turnover. However, we expected coworker withdrawal behavior to moderate whether or not dissimilar personnel act on these desires. Results from hierarchical multilevel modeling analyses of data from 470 U.S. call center workers nested in 51 work groups revealed that racioethnic dissimilarity was positively related to time-lagged changes in absenteeism and tardiness as well as heightened turnover likelihood. These effects emerged only among employees whose coworkers engaged in greater withdrawal behavior. Importantly, racioethnically dissimilar employees working in more permissive climates (i.e., those with high levels of coworker absenteeism, tardiness, or turnover) exhibited the greatest increases in absenteeism and tardiness over three months and had the highest supervisor-rated turnover likelihood. Implications for diversity management are discussed

Profiling Volatile Constituents of Homemade Preserved Foods Prepared in Early 1950s South Dakota (USA) Using Solid-Phase Microextraction (SPME) with Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Determination

https://scholar.dsu.edu/research-symposium/1013/thumbnail.jp