Digital Commons Network^™

Towards A Self-Calibrating Video Camera Network For Content Analysis And Forensics, Imran Junejo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to growing security concerns, video surveillance and monitoring has received an immense attention from both federal agencies and private firms. The main concern is that a single camera, even if allowed to rotate or translate, is not sufficient to cover a large area for video surveillance. A more general solution with wide range of applications is to allow the deployed cameras to have a non-overlapping field of view (FoV) and to, if possible, allow these cameras to move freely in 3D space. This thesis addresses the issue of how cameras in such a network can be calibrated and how …

Learning, Detection, Representation, Indexing And Retrieval Of Multi-Agent Events In Videos, Asaad Hakeem

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The world that we live in is a complex network of agents and their interactions which are termed as events. An instance of an event is composed of directly measurable low-level actions (which I term sub-events) having a temporal order. Also, the agents can act independently (e.g. voting) as well as collectively (e.g. scoring a touch-down in a football game) to perform an event. With the dawn of the new millennium, the low-level vision tasks such as segmentation, object classification, and tracking have become fairly robust. But a representational gap still exists between low-level measurements and high-level understanding of video …

Optimizing The High Dynamic Range Imaging Pipeline, Ahmet Oguz Akyuz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High dynamic range (HDR) imaging is a rapidly growing field in computer graphics and image processing. It allows capture, storage, processing, and display of photographic information within a scene-referred framework. The HDR imaging pipeline consists of the major steps an HDR image is expected to go through from capture to display. It involves various techniques to create HDR images, pixel encodings and file formats for storage, tone mapping for display on conventional display devices and direct display on HDR capable screens. Each of these stages have important open problems, which need to be addressed for a smoother transition to an …

Studies Of A Quantum Scheduling Algorithm And On Quantum Error Correction, Feng Lu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Quantum computation has been a rich field of study for decades because it promises possible spectacular advances, some of which may run counter to our classically rooted intuitions. At the same time, quantum computation is still in its infancy in both theoretical and practical areas. Efficient quantum algorithms are very limited in number and scope; no real breakthrough has yet been achieved in physical implementations. Grover's search algorithm can be applied to a wide range of problems; even problems not generally regarded as searching problems can be reformulated to take advantage of quantum parallelism and entanglement leading to algorithms which …

Image-Space Approach To Real-Time Realistic Rendering, Musawir Shah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One of the main goals of computer graphics is the fast synthesis of photorealistic image of virtual 3D scenes. The work presented in this thesis addresses this goal of speed and realism. In real-time realistic rendering, we encounter certain problems that are difficult to solve in the traditional 3-dimensional geometric space. We show that using an image-space approach can provide effective solutions to these problems. Unlike geometric space algorithms that operate on 3D primitives such as points, edges, and polygons, image-space algorithms operate on 2D snapshot images of the 3D geometric data. Operating in image-space effectively decouples the geometric complexity …

Behavior Of Variable-Length Genetic Algorithms Under Random Selection, Harold Stringer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this work, we show how a variable-length genetic algorithm naturally evolves populations whose mean chromosome length grows shorter over time. A reduction in chromosome length occurs when selection is absent from the GA. Specifically, we divide the mating space into five distinct areas and provide a probabilistic and empirical analysis of the ability of matings in each area to produce children whose size is shorter than the parent generation's average size. Diversity of size within a GA's population is shown to be a necessary condition for a reduction in mean chromosome length to take place. We show how a …

Using Simulation To Evaluate Global Software Development Task Allocation Strategies, Siri-On Setamanit, Wayne Wakeland, David Raffo

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

We describe a hybrid computer simulation model of the software development process that is specifically architected to study alternative ways to configure global software development (GSD) projects, including phase-based, module-based, and follow-the-sun allocation strategies. The model is a hybrid system dynamics and discrete-event model. In this paper, test cases have been developed for each allocation strategy, and project duration is computed for each configuration under a range of plausible assumptions for key parameters. The primary finding is that although under ideal assumptions follow-the-sun is able to produce impressive reductions in time-to-market, under more realistic assumptions the reverse is true, thus …

Destination Website Effectiveness – A Delphi-Based Emetric Approach – A Dms Perspective, Patrick Horan, Andrew Frew

Conference papers

This paper outlines the development and evaluation of a comprehensive set of eMetrics for measuring the effectiveness of a Destination Management Systems’ (DMS) websites from the perspective of small and medium-sized hotel enterprises. Ultimately, from a hotel’s viewpoint, website effectiveness depends on how well a site performs with respect to the related business goals. The priority of the research is thus to establish which criteria are important for destination websites and to determine a mechanism for their measurement. These criteria are divided into both macro- and micro- level metrics which each combine to provide information that is actionable from a …

A Cognitive Robotics Approach To Comprehending Human Language And Behaviors, Deryle W. Lonsdale, D. Paul Benjamin, Damian Lyons

Faculty Publications

The ADAPT project is a collaboration of researchers in linguistics, robotics and artificial intelligence at three universities. We are building a complete robotic cognitive architecture for a mobile robot designed to interact with humans in a range of environments, and which uses natural language and models human behavior. This paper concentrates on the HRI aspects of ADAPT, and especially on how ADAPT models and interacts with humans.

Operon Prediction With Bayesian Classifiers, Natalia Khuri

Master's Projects

In this work, we present an approach to predicting transcription units based on Bayesian classifiers. The predictor uses publicly available data to train the classifier, such as genome sequence data from Genbank, expression values from microarray experiments, and a collection of experimentally verified transcription units. We have studied the importance of each of the data source on the performance of the predictor by developing three classifier models and evaluating their outcomes. The predictor was trained and validated on the E. coli genome, but can be extended to other organisms. Using the full Bayesian classifier, we were able to correctly identify …

Emotional And Domain Concept Enhancements To Alicebot, Alvin Cho

Master's Projects

Extensive research and development have been done in the area of human simulation and artificial intelligence and their related fields, such as common sense knowledge bases, chatterbots, natural language parsing, semantic analysis, synthetic actors, and cognitive sciences. This paper takes part in that extensive research by focusing on the improvement of human simulation in chatterbots, specifically in Alicebot, a prominent non-emotional pattern-matching chatbot. An emotion and personality model is added to Alicebot so that it can make decisions based on its emotions and personality. Alicebot is also augmented with the ability to determine what it likes or does not like …

Pairwise Alignment Of Metamorphic Computer Viruses, Scott Mcghee

Master's Projects

Computer viruses and other forms of malware pose a threat to virtually any software system (with only a few exceptions). A computer virus is a piece of software which takes advantage of known weaknesses in a software system, and usually has the ability to deliver a malicious payload. A common technique that virus writers use to avoid detection is to enable the virus to change itself by having some kind of self-modifying code. This kind of virus is commonly known as a metamorphic virus, and can be particularly difficult to detect [17]. Existing virus detection software is continually being improved …

Factors Influencing Speed Of Cancer Diagnosis In Rural Wa, Moyez Jiwa, Georgia Halkett, Samar Aoun, Hayley Arnet, Marthe Smith, Megan Pilkington, Cheryl Mcmullen

Research outputs pre 2011

Introduction: The speed of diagnosis impacts on prognosis and survival in all types of cancer. In most cases survival and prognosis are significantly worse in rural and remote Australian populations who have less access to diagnostic and therapeutic services than metropolitan communities in this country. Research suggests that in general delays in diagnosis were a factor of misdiagnosis, the confounding effect of existing conditions and delayed or misleading investigation of symptoms. The aim of this study is to further explore the factors that impact on the speed of diagnosis in rural Western Australia with direct reference to General Practitioners (GPs) …

Management Of An Intelligent Argumentation Network For A Web-Based Collaborative Engineering Design Environment, Man Zheng

Masters Theses

"Conflict resolution is one of the most challenging tasks in collaborative engineering design. In the previous research, a web-based intelligent collaborative system was developed to address this challenge based on intelligent computational argumentation. However, two important issues were not resolved in that system: priority of participants and self-conflicting arguments. In this thesis, two methods are developed for incorporating priorities of participants into the computational argumentation network: 1) weighted summation and 2) re-assessment of strengths of arguments based on priority of owners of the argument using fuzzy logic inference. In addition, a method for detection of self-conflicting arguments was developed"--Abstract, page …

Development Of Integrated Process Simulation System Model For Spent Fuel Treatment Facility (Sftf) Design, Yitung Chen, Sean Hsieh

Separations Campaign (TRP)

The major objectives will lead to a creation of framework that combines all the strengths of AMUSE’s complicated calculations, well-established commercial system process package and ISOPro’s flexible parameter optimization modules. Development of the process simulation code can be done using the solvent extraction process at Argonne National Laboratory in collaboration with the research team from Mechanical Engineering Department at UNLV.

Research accomplishments:

• Integrated the ASPEN-Plus process model with the ISOPro system engineering modeling package, developed by the UNLV team.
• Tested the simplified system process integration using the ISOPro package.
• Generated complete version of the ISOPro package user manual and tutorial. …

A Study Of Out-Of-Turn Interaction In Menu-Based, Ivr, Voicemail Systems, Saverio Perugini, Taylor J. Anderson, William F. Moroney

Computer Science Faculty Publications

We present the first user study of out-of-turn interaction in menu-based, interactive voice-response systems. Out-ofturn interaction is a technique which empowers the user (unable to respond to the current prompt) to take the conversational initiative by supplying information that is currently unsolicited, but expected later in the dialog. The technique permits the user to circumvent any flows of navigation hardwired into the design and navigate the menus in a manner which reflects their model of the task. We conducted a laboratory experiment to measure the effect of the use of outof- turn interaction on user performance and preference in a …

Off-The-Record Secure Chat Room Via Public Im Services, Jiang Bian

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis proposes a solution into the implementation of on-line chat-room environments that ensures the privacy protection of such services and provides an off-the-record feature. Instant Messaging (IM) is becoming an integral part of social as well as business life. The main concern with IM systems is that the information being transmitted is easily accessible. Some protection could be achieved with the use of a secure tunneling (i.e. VPN etc.). Nevertheless, even the use of VPN-like technologies does not provide end-to-end secrecy. Off-the-record (OTR), designed by Borisov. N et al. is a protocol which enables IM users to have private …

An Analysis Of It/Is Offshore Outsourcing: Educator Perspectives, Martin H. Bagaya

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

IT/IS Offshore outsourcing is defined as a commercial arrangement of transferring local ITIIS functions, assets, activities, products and services to a foreign contractor therefore removing new employment positions, replacing or displacing U.S. domestic IT/IS workers with those from other countries for financial or competitive advantage of the outsourcing client. This process of offshore outsourcing to overseas locations was perceived to have consequences on IT/IS student enrolment at U.S. universities.

The objective of this study was to identify administrators' responses to reduced IT/IS student enrolments. The majority of ITIIS college administrators have concerns about offshore outsourcing, and is perceived to reduce …

Painting The Voice: Weblogs And Writing Instruction In The High School Classroom, Marilyn V. Olander

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Writing is a complex cognitive skill, a technology for capturing speech whose forms and conventions began in the dawn of civilization and were in place and stable by the Middle Ages. Writing and reading are the foundation of literacy, fundamental to success in school and in the adult world. No comprehensive theory of composition guides the teaching of writing, although historically two approaches have been favored: writing as a skill acquired through the memorization and recognition of principles of grammar and usage, and more recently, writing as a process of recursive strategies of pi arming, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. …

Analogical Modeling: An Update, Deryle W. Lonsdale, David Eddington

Faculty Publications

Analogical modeling is a supervised exemplar-based approach that has been widely applied to predict linguistic behavior. The paradigm has been well documented in the linguistics and cognition literature, but is less well known to the machine learning community. This paper sets out some of the basics of the approach, including a simplified example of the fundamental algorithm’s operation. It then surveys some of the recent analogical modeling language applications, and sketches how the computational system has been enhanced lately to offer users increased flexibility and processing power. Some comparisons and contrasts are drawn between analogical modeling and other language modeling …

Clustering Streaming Music Via The Temporal Similarity Of Timbre, Jacob Merrell, Bryan S. Morse, Dan A. Ventura

Faculty Publications

We consider the problem of measuring the similarity of streaming music content and present a method for modeling, on the fly, the temporal progression of a song’s timbre. Using a minimum distance classification scheme, we give an approach to classifying streaming music sources and present performance results for auto-associative song identification and for content-based clustering of streaming music. We discuss possible extensions to the approach and possible uses for such a system.

Crate: A Simple Model For Self-Describing Web Resources, Joan A. Smith, Michael L. Nelson

Computer Science Faculty Publications

If not for the Internet Archive’s efforts to store periodic snapshots of the web, many sites would not have any preservation prospects at all. The barrier to entry is too high for everyday web sites, which may have skilled webmasters managing them, but which lack skilled archivists to preserve them. Digital preservation is not easy. One problem is the complexity of preservation models, which have specific meta-data and structural requirements. Another problem is the time and effort it takes to properly prepare digital resources for preservation in the chosen model. In this paper, we propose a simple preservation model called …

Introduction: Special Issue For The Selected Papers In The Fourth International Conference On Intelligent Multimedia Computing And Networking (Immcn) 2005, Chong-Wah Ngo, Hong-Va Leong

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This special issue introduces seven papers selected from the IMMCN’ 2005, covering a wide range of emerging topics in multimedia field. These papers receive high scores and good comments from the reviewers in their respective areas of intelligent and nextgeneration networking, technology and application, multimedia coding, content analysis and retrieval. The seven papers are extended to 20 pages and then gone through another review process before the final publication. In this issue, we have two papers for video streaming, two papers for multimedia applications, one paper for video coding, and two papers for image and video retrieval.

Case Studies In Proof Checking, Robert Kam

Master's Projects

The aim of computer proof checking is not to find proofs, but to verify them. This is different from automated deduction, which is the use of computers to find proofs that humans have not devised first. Currently, checking a proof by computer is done by taking a known mathematical proof and entering it into the special language recognized by a proof verifier program, and then running the verifier to hopefully obtain no errors. Of course, if the proof checker approves the proof, there are considerations of whether or not the proof checker is correct, and this has been complicated by …

Solving The Teacher Assignment-Course Scheduling Problem By A Hybrid Algorithm, Aldy Gunawan, Kien Ming Ng, Kim Leng Poh

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper presents a hybrid algorithm for solving atimetabling problem, which is commonly encountered in manyuniversities. The problem combines both teacher assignment andcourse scheduling problems simultaneously, and is presented as amathematical programming model. However, this problem becomesintractable and it is unlikely that a proven optimal solution can beobtained by an integer programming approach, especially for largeproblem instances. A hybrid algorithm that combines an integerprogramming approach, a greedy heuristic and a modified simulatedannealing algorithm collaboratively is proposed to solve the problem.Several randomly generated data sets of sizes comparable to that ofan institution in Indonesia are solved using the proposed algorithm.Computational results …

Editors' Introduction, Robert John Kauffman, Jae Kyu Lee, Norman M. Sadeh

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This issue features a blend of empirical studies andtechnology-related articles, covering a number of aspectsof e-commerce research and industry applications. Thecontent includes works on online advertising and customerservice on the Internet, the social and human aspects ofradio frequency identification (RFID), the usability of theWeb, content delivery and wireless local area networks,electronic auctions, micropayments, and e-government.This reflects the editorial mission of this journal, which isto attract a breadth of scholarship from the Computer Science and technical research community, the InformationSystems and Technology research community, and fromthe Management, Strategy, Marketing, Operations, Finance and Policy communities associated with businessschools and schools of public …

Value-At-Risk In It Services Contracts, Robert J. Kauffman, Ryan Sougstad

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

As information systems (IS) and technology solutions become increasingly service-driven, managers are faced with the task of choosing parameters such as service-levels, pricing, and contract duration. Information technology (IT) services vendors manage portfolios of contracts in which parameters, decided at inception, are often subject to future risks. The contract profit maximization decision may adversely affect the risk position of the firm's portfolio of services contracts. We propose a model to inform vendors on setting optimal parameters for IS contracts subject to acceptable levels of risk. The analytic model presented draws from IS economics research and the principles of value-at-risk (VaR) …

A New Achievable Rate Region For Interference Channels With Common Information, Yi Cao, Biao Chen, Junshan Zhang

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - All Scholarship

In this paper, a new achievable rate region for general interference channels with common information is presented. Our result improves upon [1] by applying simultaneous superposition coding over sequential superposition coding. A detailed computation and comparison of the achievable rate region for the Gaussian case is conducted. The proposed achievable rate region is shown to coincide with the capacity region of the strong interference case [2].

Containing Denial-Of-Service Attacks In Broadcast Authentication In Sensor Networks, Ronghua Wang, Wenliang Du, Peng Ning

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - All Scholarship

Broadcast authentication is an important application in sensor networks. Public Key Cryptography (PKC) is desirable for this application, but due to the resource constraints on sensor nodes, these operations are expensive, which means sensor networks using PKC are susceptible to Denial of Service (DoS) attacks: attackers keep broadcasting bogus messages, which will incur extra costs, thus exhaust the energy of the honest nodes. In addition, the long time to verify each message using PKC increases the response time of the nodes; it is impractical for the nodes to validate each incoming message before forwarding it. In this paper we discuss …

A Light-Weight Middleware Framework For Fault-Tolerant And Secure Distributed Applications, Ian Jacob Baird

Masters Theses

"This thesis outlines the design, implementation, and performance of a lightweight middleware framework for interprocess communication with an update log propagation algorithm. The system was designed and implemented using a point-to-point based lightweight middleware framework and compared to a similar system implemented utilizing CORBA--Abstract, page iii.