Computer Engineering Commons^™

Using Jackknife To Assess The Quality Of Gene Order Phylogenies, Jian Shi, Yiwei Zhang, Haiwei Luo, Jijun Tang

Faculty Publications

Background
In recent years, gene order data has attracted increasing attention from both biologists and computer scientists as a new type of data for phylogenetic analysis. If gene orders are viewed as one character with a large number of states, traditional bootstrap procedures cannot be applied. Researchers began to use a jackknife resampling method to assess the quality of gene order phylogenies.

Results
In this paper, we design and conduct a set of experiments to validate the performance of this jackknife procedure and provide discussions on how to conduct it properly. Our results show that jackknife is very useful to …

High-Performance Heterogeneous Computing With The Convey Hc-1, Jason D. Bakos

Faculty Publications

Unlike other socket-based reconfigurable coprocessors, the Convey HC-1 contains nearly 40 field-programmable gate arrays, scatter-gather memory modules, a high-capacity crossbar switch, and a fully coherent memory system.

Social Networking Sites: Evaluating And Investigating Their Use In Academic Research, Fiona Redmond

Dissertations

Researchers must collect and analyse new data that will enhance the body of knowledge. It is for this reason that data is of major importance to researchers. All aspects of a research project involve data, from navigating existing data, to understanding how data is used in the world and why it is important to learn to collect data and make predictions. Researchers need to consider the types of data that are possible and examine and weight each option so they can determine what sources of data will answer the research questions or hypotheses.

Researchers, who require a large amount of …

Security In Ad Hoc Networks And Pervasive Computing, Isaac Z. Wu, X.-Y. Li, M. Song, C.-M. Liu

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Pervasive computing is an exciting and blooming research field, in which innovative techniques and applications are continuously emerging and aim to provide ambient and personalized services to users with high quality. Ad hoc networks are wireless, self-organizing systems formed by cooperating nodes within communication range of each other that form temporary networks. Their topology is dynamic, decentralized, ever changing and the nodes may move around arbitrarily. The last few years have witnessed a wealth of research ideas on ad hoc networking that are moving rapidly into implemented standards. Technology under development for ad hoc networks and pervasive computing is making …

On Universal Algebra Over Nominal Sets, Alexander Kurz, Daniela Petrişan

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

We investigate universal algebra over the category Nom of nominal sets. Using the fact that Nom is a full re ective subcategory of a monadic category, we obtain an HSP-like theorem for algebras over nominal sets. We isolate a `uniform' fragment of our equational logic, which corresponds to the nominal logics present in the literature. We give semantically invariant translations of theories for nominal algebra and NEL into `uniform' theories and systematically prove HSP theorems for models of these theories.

Families Of Symmetries As Efficient Models Of Resource Binding, Vincenzo Ciancia, Alexander Kurz, Ugo Montanari

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Calculi that feature resource-allocating constructs (e.g. the pi-calculus or the fusion calculus) require special kinds of models. The best-known ones are presheaves and nominal sets. But named sets have the advantage of being finite in a wide range of cases where the other two are infinite. The three models are equivalent. Finiteness of named sets is strictly related to the notion of finite support in nominal sets and the corresponding presheaves. We show that named sets are generalisd by the categorical model of families, that is, free coproduct completions, indexed by symmetries, and explain how locality of interfaces gives good …

Bitopological Duality For Distributive Lattices And Heyting Algebras, Guram Bezhanishvili, Nick Bezhanishvili, David Gabelaia, Alexander Kurz

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

We introduce pairwise Stone spaces as a natural bitopological generalization of Stone spaces—the duals of Boolean algebras—and show that they are exactly the bitopological duals of bounded distributive lattices. The category PStone of pairwise Stone spaces is isomorphic to the category Spec of spectral spaces and to the category Pries of Priestley spaces. In fact, the isomorphism of Spec and Pries is most naturally seen through PStone by first establishing that Pries is isomorphic to PStone, and then showing that PStone is isomorphic to Spec. We provide the bitopological and spectral descriptions of many algebraic concepts important for the study …

Algebraic Theories Over Nominal Sets, Alexander Kurz, Daniela Petrişan, Jiří Velebil

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

We investigate the foundations of a theory of algebraic data types with variable binding inside classical universal algebra. In the first part, a category-theoretic study of monads over the nominal sets of Gabbay and Pitts leads us to introduce new notions of finitary based monads and uniform monads. In a second part we spell out these notions in the language of universal algebra, show how to recover the logics of Gabbay-Mathijssen and Clouston-Pitts, and apply classical results from universal algebra.

Transmitter Optimization In Multiuser Wireless Systems With Quality Of Service Constraints, Danda B. Rawat

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In this dissertation, transmitter adaptation for optimal resource allocation in wireless communication systems are investigated. First, a multiple access channel model is considered where many transmitters communicate with a single receiver. This scenario is a basic component of a. wireless network in which multiple users simultaneously access the resources of a wireless service provider. Adaptive algorithms for transmitter optimization to meet Quality-of-Service (QoS) requirements in a distributed manner are studied. Second, an interference channel model is considered where multiple interfering transmitter-receiver pairs co-exist such that a given transmitter communicates with its intended receiver in the presence of interference from other …

Identifying A Computer Forensics Expert: A Study To Measure The Characteristics Of Forensic Computer Examiners, Gregory H. Carlton, Reginald Worthley

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The usage of digital evidence from electronic devices has been rapidly expanding within litigation, and along with this increased usage, the reliance upon forensic computer examiners to acquire, analyze, and report upon this evidence is also rapidly growing. This growing demand for forensic computer examiners raises questions concerning the selection of individuals qualified to perform this work. While courts have mechanisms for qualifying witnesses that provide testimony based on scientific data, such as digital data, the qualifying criteria covers a wide variety of characteristics including, education, experience, training, professional certifications, or other special skills. In this study, we compare task …

Clustering Spam Domains And Destination Websites: Digital Forensics With Data Mining, Chun Wei, Alan Sprague, Gary Warner, Anthony Skjellum

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Spam related cyber crimes have become a serious threat to society. Current spam research mainly aims to detect spam more effectively. We believe the identification and disruption of the supporting infrastructure used by spammers is a more effective way of stopping spam than filtering. The termination of spam hosts will greatly reduce the profit a spammer can generate and thwart his ability to send more spam. This research proposes an algorithm for clustering spam domains extracted from spam emails based on the hosting IP addresses and tracing the IP addresses over a period of time. The results show that many …

Adaptation Of Pyflag To Efficient Analysis Of Seized Computer Data Storage, Aleksander Byrski, Wojciech Stryjewski, Bartłomiej Czechowicz

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Based on existing software aimed at investigation support in the analysis of computer data storage seized during investigation (PyFlag), an extension is proposed involving the introduction of dedicated components for data identification and filtering. Hash codes for popular software contained in NIST/NSRL database are considered in order to avoid unwanted files while searching and to classify them into several categories. The extension allows for further analysis, e.g. using artificial intelligence methods. The considerations are illustrated by the overview of the system's design.

Table Of Contents

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

No abstract provided.

Developing Voip Honeypots: A Preliminary Investigation Into Malfeasant Activity, Craig Valli

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

30 years ago PABX systems were compromised by hackers wanting to make long distance calls at some other entities expense. This activity faded as telephony became cheaper and PABX systems had countermeasures installed to overcome attacks. Now the world has moved onto the provision of telephony via broadband enabled Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) with this service now being provided as a replacement for conventional fixed wire telephony by major telecommunication providers worldwide. Due to increasing bandwidth it is possible for systems to support multiple voice connections simultaneously. The networked nature of the Internet allows for attackers of these VoIP …

Computer Forensic Functions Testing: Media Preparation, Write Protection And Verification, Yinghua Guo, Jill Slay

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The growth in the computer forensic field has created a demand for new software (or increased functionality to existing software) and a means to verify that this software is truly forensic i.e. capable of meeting the requirements of the trier of fact. In this work, we review our previous work---a function oriented testing framework for validation and verification of computer forensic tools. This framework consists of three parts: function mapping, requirements specification and reference set development. Through function mapping, we give a scientific and systemized description of the fundamentals of computer forensic discipline, i.e. what functions are needed in the …

Digital Records Forensics: A New Science And Academic Program For Forensic Readiness, Luciana Duranti, Barbara Endicott-Popovsky

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

This paper introduces the Digital Records Forensics project, a research endeavour located at the University of British Columbia in Canada and aimed at the development of a new science resulting from the integration of digital forensics with diplomatics, archival science, information science and the law of evidence, and of an interdisciplinary graduate degree program, called Digital Records Forensics Studies, directed to professionals working for law enforcement agencies, legal firms, courts, and all kind of institutions and business that require their services. The program anticipates the need for organizations to become “forensically ready,” defined by John Tan as “maximizing the ability …

Computer Forensics For Graduate Accountants: A Motivational Curriculum Design Approach, Grover S. Kearns

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Computer forensics involves the investigation of digital sources to acquire evidence that can be used in a court of law. It can also be used to identify and respond to threats to hosts and systems. Accountants use computer forensics to investigate computer crime or misuse, theft of trade secrets, theft of or destruction of intellectual property, and fraud. Education of accountants to use forensic tools is a goal of the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants). Accounting students, however, may not view information technology as vital to their career paths and need motivation to acquire forensic knowledge and skills. …

Book Review: Digital Forensic Evidence Examination (2nd Ed.), Gary C. Kessler

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

On the day that I sat down to start to write this review, the following e-mail came across on one of my lists: Person A and Person B write back and forth and create an email thread. Person A then forwards the email to Person C, but changes some wording in the email exchange between A & B. What is the easiest way (and is it even possible) to find out when that earlier email message was altered before sent to Person C? Before you try to answer these questions, read Fred Cohen's Digital Forensic Evidence Examination. His book won't …

Solid State Drives: The Beginning Of The End For Current Practice In Digital Forensic Recovery?, Graeme B. Bell, Richard Boddington

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Digital evidence is increasingly relied upon in computer forensic examinations and legal proceedings in the modern courtroom. The primary storage technology used for digital information has remained constant over the last two decades, in the form of the magnetic disc. Consequently, investigative, forensic, and judicial procedures are well-established for magnetic disc storage devices (Carrier, 2005). However, a paradigm shift has taken place in technology storage and complex, transistor-based devices for primary storage are now increasingly common. Most people are aware of the transition from portable magnetic floppy discs to portable USB transistor flash devices, yet the transition from magnetic hard …

Reeling In Big Phish With A Deep Md5 Net, Brad Wardman, Gary Warner, Heather Mccalley, Sarah Turner, Anthony Skjellum

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Phishing continues to grow as phishers discover new exploits and attack vectors for hosting malicious content; the traditional response using takedowns and blacklists does not appear to impede phishers significantly. A handful of law enforcement projects — for example the FBI's Digital PhishNet and the Internet Crime and Complaint Center (ic3.gov) — have demonstrated that they can collect phishing data in substantial volumes, but these collections have not yet resulted in a significant decline in criminal phishing activity. In this paper, a new system is demonstrated for prioritizing investigative resources to help reduce the time and effort expended examining this …