The Dimension of Subcode-Subfields of Shortened Generalized Reed Solomon Codes

Reed-Solomon (RS) codes are among the most ubiquitous codes due to their good parameters as well as efficient encoding and decoding procedures. However, RS codes suffer from having a fixed length. In many applications where the length is static, the appropriate length can be obtained by an RS code by shortening or puncturing. Generalized Reed-Solomon (GRS) codes are a generalization of RS codes, whose subfield-subcodes are extensively studied. In this paper we show that a particular class of GRS codes produces many subfield-subcodes with large dimension. An algorithm for searching through the codes is presented as well as a list of new codes obtained from this method

Masking Away Our Emotions

The use of face masks has the potential to greatly reduce the efficacy and ability of nonverbal communication during in-person social interactions. The purpose of this study is to determine the consequences and implications that face masks have on nonverbal communication, as well as the effect that the use of face masks has on an individual\u27s ability to perceive emotions based on facial expressions. It is believed that an individual would be statistically successful matching an unmasked facial expression to a pictured emotion, but not as statistically successful matching a masked facial expression to a pictured emotion. This study will be carried out via the use of a survey containing pictures of a person displaying various emotions, both with and without face masks, in which participants would be asked to match listed emotions with what they believe the acted emotion portray

On Burst Error Correction and Storage Security of Noisy Data

Secure storage of noisy data for authentication purposes usually involves the use of error correcting codes. We propose a new model scenario involving burst errors and present for that several constructions.Comment: to be presented at MTNS 201

Moral Beliefs and Organizational Information Security Policy Compliance: The Role of Gender

Data breaches are a continuing problem for managers in the digital age. Currently, there is very little guidance available to companies and managers in particular on how to mitigate data breach risks arising due to malicious or negligent insiders. This study examines the factors impacting employees’ intentions to violate an organization’s information systems (IS) security policies – using hypothetical scenarios. Specifically, the research attempts to understand the role of gender on the relationship between moral beliefs, understandability of the security policy, underlying moral issue (necessity vs. metaphor of the ledger), and intentions to violate the security policy. Our results suggest that moral beliefs and understandability of the security policy lower intentions to violate the policy, and do so differently depending upon one’s gender and the underlying moral issue. Data was gathered from 173 students using an online survey tool, and analyzed using multiple regression. We examined regression assumptions and found no major issues. The study has several practical and theoretical implications. The findings suggest that using ethical and gender perspectives provide additional insight into IS security non-compliance issues. The findings could help IS security managers as they develop effectual security policies and devise more effective training programs

Impact of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation on ocean heat storage and transient climate change

We propose here that the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) plays an important role in setting the effective heat capacity of the World Ocean and thus impacts the pace of transient climate change. The depth and strength of AMOC are shown to be strongly correlated with the depth of heat storage across a suite of state-of-the-art general circulation models (GCMs). In those models with a deeper and stronger AMOC, a smaller portion of the heat anomaly remains in the ocean mixed layer, and consequently, the surface temperature response is delayed. Representations of AMOC differ vastly across the GCMs, providing a major source of intermodel spread in the sea surface temperature (SST) response. A two-layer model fit to the GCMs is used to demonstrate that the intermodel spread in SSTs due to variations in the ocean's effective heat capacity is significant but smaller than the spread due to climate feedbacks.United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Modeling, Analysis, and Prediction ProgramJames S. McDonnell Foundation (Postdoctoral Fellowship

Antarctic temperature variability and change from station data

Variability and change in near‐surface air temperature at 17 Antarctic stations is examined using data from the SCAR READER database. We consider the relationships between temperature, and atmospheric circulation, sea ice concentration and forcing by the tropical oceans. All 17 stations have their largest inter‐annual temperature variability during the winter and the annual mean temperature anomalies are dominated by winter temperatures. The large inter‐annual temperature variability on the western Antarctic Peninsula has decreased over the instrumental period as sea ice has declined. Variability in the phase of the SAM exerts the greatest control of temperatures, although tropical Pacific forcing has also played a large part, along with local atmospheric circulation variability at some locations. The relationship of positive (negative) SAM and high (low) Peninsula and low (high) East Antarctic temperatures was not present before the mid‐1970s. Thirteen of the 17 stations have experienced a positive trend in their annual mean temperature over the full length of their record, with the largest being at Vernadsky (formerly Faraday) (0.46° ± 0.15 C dec−1) on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula. The deepening of the Amundsen Sea Low as a result of the more positive SAM and changes in the IPO and PDO have contributed to the warming of the Peninsula. Beyond the Antarctic Peninsula there has been little significant change in temperature. The two plateau stations had a small cooling from the late 1970s to the late 1990s consistent with the SAM becoming positive, but have subsequently warmed. During spring there has been an Antarctic‐wide warming, with all but one station having experienced an increase in temperature, although the only trends that were significant were at Vostok, Scott base, Vernadsky and Amundsen‐Scott. In this season much of the Peninsula/West Antarctic warming can be attributed to tropical Pacific forcing through the IPO/PDO

Increasing Historically Underserved and Underrepresented Student Completion in STEM Pathways at a Hispanic-Serving Institution: An Action Research Study

There is a demand for accountability for higher education institutions to increase student completion, specifically for institutions that enroll many students from historically underserved and underrepresented populations (HUUP). Meanwhile, labor market analysis presents a demand for skilled and diverse workers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Hispanic-serving institutions (HSI) have an advantage when supporting student completion to meet this workforce demand. This inquiry employed participatory action research (PAR) through a partnership with an HSI in rural Washington State. Using transformative worldview as the theoretical framework, this study aimed to determine the influence of completion planning for STEM students who represent HUUP. Research participants were students in the institution’s mathematics, engineering, science achievement (MESA) program. Two research questions guided this study and centered on how Hispanic participants and their lived experiences may inform completion planning for students from HUUP. The researchers sought to understand to what extent the MESA program’s support services impact student participation at a rural institution. This study collected nonquantitative data through a two-phase approach consisting of a survey and focus groups. The data analysis determined two key themes related to the study’s research questions: student barriers to completion at entry and strategies to support completion. The study’s findings led to four program-specific recommendations and three implications for policy-making decisions for the community partner’s leadership and for other higher education leaders seeking to increase student completion for students from HUUP into STEM pathways

Quantum-accelerated constraint programming

Constraint programming (CP) is a paradigm used to model and solve constraint satisfaction and combinatorial optimization problems. In CP, problems are modeled with constraints that describe acceptable solutions and solved with backtracking tree search augmented with logical inference. In this paper, we show how quantum algorithms can accelerate CP, at both the levels of inference and search. Leveraging existing quantum algorithms, we introduce a quantum-accelerated filtering algorithm for the $\texttt{alldifferent}$ global constraint and discuss its applicability to a broader family of global constraints with similar structure. We propose frameworks for the integration of quantum filtering algorithms within both classical and quantum backtracking search schemes, including a novel hybrid classical-quantum backtracking search method. This work suggests that CP is a promising candidate application for early fault-tolerant quantum computers and beyond.Comment: published in Quantu

Contributions of greenhouse gas forcing and the Southern Annular Mode to historical Southern Ocean surface temperature trends

We examine the 1979-2014 Southern Ocean (SO) sea surface temperature (SST) trends simulated in an ensemble of coupled general circulation models and evaluate possible causes of the models’ inability to reproduce the observed 1979-2014 SO cooling. For each model we estimate the response of SO SST to step changes in greenhouse gas (GHG) forcing and in the seasonal indices of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM). Using these step-response functions, we skillfully reconstruct the models’ 1979-2014 SO SST trends. Consistent with the seasonal signature of the Antarctic ozone hole and the seasonality of SO stratification, the summer and fall SAM exert a large impact on the simulated SO SST trends. We further identify conditions that favor multidecadal SO cooling: 1) a weak SO warming response to GHG forcing; 2) a strong multidecadal SO cooling response to a positive SAM trend; 3) a historical SAM trend as strong as in observations