A Note on The Backfitting Estimation of Additive Models

The additive model is one of the most popular semiparametric models. The backfitting estimation (Buja, Hastie and Tibshirani, 1989, \textit{Ann. Statist.}) for the model is intuitively easy to understand and theoretically most efficient (Opsomer and Ruppert, 1997, \textit{Ann. Statist.}); its implementation is equivalent to solving simple linear equations. However, convergence of the algorithm is very difficult to investigate and is still unsolved. For bivariate additive models, Opsomer and Ruppert (1997, \textit{Ann. Statist.}) proved the convergence under a very strong condition and conjectured that a much weaker condition is sufficient. In this short note, we show that a weak condition can guarantee the convergence of the backfitting estimation algorithm when the Nadaraya-Watson kernel smoothing is used

Quasihomogeneity of curves and the Jacobian endomorphism ring

We give a quasihomogeneity criterion for Gorenstein curves. For complete intersections, it is related to the first step of Vasconcelos' normalization algorithm. In the process, we give a simplified proof of the Kunz-Ruppert criterion.Comment: 9 page

Review of \u3ci\u3eMediation in Contemporary Native American Fiction\u3c/i\u3e By James Ruppert

James Ruppert discusses works by six Native American writers whom he believes mediate Indian and non-Indian world views. He argues convincingly that narratives by N. Scott Momaday, James Welch, Leslie Marmon Silko, Gerald Vizenor, D\u27Arcy McNickle, and Louise Erdrich are delivered from an artistic and conceptual standpoint, constantly flexible, which uses the epistemological frameworks of Native American and Western cultural traditions to illuminate and enrich each other. These texts create a dynamic that brings differing cultural codes into confluence to reinforce and recreate the structures of human life: the self, community, spirit, and the world we perceive. Often citing reader-response theorists, Ruppert is particularly interested in how the various novels he discusses manage their audience\u27s involvement in ways that potentially expand their repertoire of interpretive practices. Unlike many recent studies of American Indian literature, Ruppert\u27s book considers in some detail the responses of Native American as well as non-Native readers, the latter often- and unjustifiably-assumed to be the Indian author\u27s only audience. His remarks on the Native reader are appropriate and should alert other critics to this underdeveloped area of scholarship. Overall, Ruppert\u27s assessments of a variety of mediational texts seem well reasoned and accurate; however, he often leaves his own reader wanting closer analysis of textual passages to substantiate and fully elaborate upon his claims. Indeed, Ruppert\u27s tendency to generalize and to argue abstractly constitutes the most pervasive problem in an otherwise rich study. A kindred weakness occurs when he cites literary theorists (such as Wolfgang Iser, Mikhail Bakhtin, and Hayden White) in whose thought his arguments are too loosely grounded. For example, the reader response analysis that Ruppert conducts calls for fewer casual references to Iserian concepts and more engagement (coupled with more in-depth textual analysis) with the intricacies of Iser\u27s specific claims. (Incidentally, had Ruppert developed more of a taste for details, he might have noticed that James Welch\u27s narrator in Winter in the Blood is not, in fact, nameless, but is called Raymond at least once midway through the novel.) Overall, despite a sometimes aggravating level of generalization and a tendency toward some repetition (the result of working through the same thesis with reference to six different writers), Ruppert\u27s study is full of accurate observations and valuable insights; ultimately, it rewards reading by anyone wishing to understand how Native American story tellers in- writing attempt to reach and transform their projected audiences

Labor Law—Power of Court to Enforce Arbitrator\u27s Injunction

In re Ruppert, 3 N.Y.2d 576, 170 N.Y.S.2d 785 (1958)

[Review of] Vi Hilbert, tr. and ed. Haboo: Native American Stories from Puget Sound

Vi Hilbert, a Skagit Indian of the Northern Lushootseed of Western Washington, has collected and edited thirty-three fine examples of Salish oral literature. As an instructor in Lushootseed Salish language and literature at the University of Washington, she has had excellent opportunities to collect material and work out a presentational form in English. This volume collects stories from the Myth Age with special emphasis on Raven, Mink and Coyote stories. These stories, largely light and humorous, explore the actions of beings with human and animal characteristics who existed before the world was transformed into the world we see today. Hilbert stresses the way in which the stories teach the important values of her culture through negative demonstration

MEMS 411: T-Shirt Strip Dispenser

For this design project, we worked with Dr. Mary Ruppert-Stroescu from the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts to create a device that dispenses t-shirt strips. Dr. Ruppert-Stroescu has a patented process where strips of cloth are laid down on a sticky backing paper and sewn together to be made into new clothing. Our goal was to streamline the strip-laying process, making it less tedious and time consuming

Topology and Factorization of Polynomials

For any polynomial $P \in \mathbb{C}[X_1,X_2,...,X_n]$, we describe a $\mathbb{C}$-vector space $F(P)$ of solutions of a linear system of equations coming from some algebraic partial differential equations such that the dimension of $F(P)$ is the number of irreducible factors of $P$. Moreover, the knowledge of $F(P)$ gives a complete factorization of the polynomial $P$ by taking gcd's. This generalizes previous results by Ruppert and Gao in the case $n=2$.Comment: Accepted in Mathematica Scandinavica. 8 page