Digital Commons Network^™

My Library At Virginia Commonwealth University: Third Year Evaluation, Jimmy Ghaphery

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

My Library is a personalization tool that allows the library user to consolidate frequently used library resources and services. Since 1998, My Library has been available as a web page to users of the Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries. An evaluation of My Library use at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) was completed and published in 2000. This article reports on a follow up study that took place between March 2000 and December 2001. The article also discusses the value of My Library as a teaching tool at VCU.

Mechanical Response Of Nets Of Graphical Objects, Rakesh Kumar Bajaj

Masters Theses

"This research produces networks of graphical objects that respond to human manipulation in a fashion that would be deemed physically reasonable. That is, a graphical network is given a mechanics-like behavior in the presence of the human interaction. In this approach, nonlinear models replace commonly used linear models to mimic physical reality better. Software solutions are provided via a class library useful for such interactive visual modeling"--Abstract, page iii.

Interoperable Web Services For Computational Portals, Marlon Pierce, Geoffrey C. Fox, Choonhan Youn, Steve Mock, Kurt Mueller

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - All Scholarship

Computational web portals are designed to simplify access to diverse sets of high performance computing resources, typically through an interface to computational Grid tools. An important shortcoming of these portals is their lack of interoperable and reusable services. This paper presents an overview of research efforts undertaken by our group to build interoperating portal services around a Web Services model. We present a comprehensive view of an interoperable portal architecture, beginning with core portal services that can be used to build Application Web Services, which in turn may be aggregated and managed through portlet containers.

A Practical Approach To Solve Secure Multi-Party Computation Problems, Wenliang Du, Zhijun Zhan

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - All Scholarship

Secure Multi-party Computation (SMC) problems deal with the following situation: Two (or many) parties want to jointly perform a computation. Each party needs to contribute its private input to this computation, but no party should disclose its private inputs to the other parties, or to any third party. With the proliferation of the Internet, SMC problems becomes more and more important. So far no practical solution has emerged, largely because SMC studies have been focusing on zero information disclosure, an ideal security model that is expensive to achieve. Aiming at developing practical solutions to SMC problems, we propose a new …

Enabling Technologies For E-Commerce And Erp Integration, Keng Siau, Jake Messersmith

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Focuses on a study which analyzed the enabling technologies for integrating Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and e-business. Difficulties in integrating ERP and e-business; Architecture supporting ERP and e-commerce; Model for integrating ERP and e-business.

The Algebra And Geometry Of Curve And Surface Inversion, Thomas W. Sederberg, Eng-Wee Chionh, Kent Ridge

Faculty Publications

An inversion equation takes the Cartesian coordinates of a point on a parametric curve or surface and returns the parameter value(s) of that point. A 2-D curve inversion equation has the form t = f(x,y)/g(x,y). This paper shows that practical insight into inversion can be obtained by studying the geometry of the implicit curves f(x,y) = 0 and g(x,y) = 0. For example, the relationship between the singular locus of the parametric curve and the lowest possible degree of an inversion equation can be understood in this way. Also, insight is given into what parameter value will be returned if …

Pair Attribute Learning: Network Construction Using Pair Features, Tony R. Martinez, Eric K. Henderson

Faculty Publications

We present the Pair Attribute Learning (PAL) algorithm for the selection of relevant inputs and network topology. Correlations on training instance pairs are used to drive network construction of a single-hidden layer MLP. Results on nine learning problems demonstrate 70% less complexity, on average, without a significant loss of accuracy.

Xml-Based Modeling And Simulation: Web Service Technologies And Their Synergy With Simulation, Senthilanand Chandrasekaran, Gregory S. Silver, John A. Miller, Jorge Cardoso, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

The World Wide Web has had an huge influence on the computing field in general as well as simulation in particular (e.g., Web-based simulation). A new wave of development based upon XML has started. Two of the most interesting aspects of this development are the Semantic Web and Web services. This paper examines the synergy between Web service technology and simulation. In one direction, Web service processes can be simulated for the purpose of correcting/improving the design. In the other direction, simulation models/components can be built out of Web services. Work on seamlessly using simulation as a part of Web …

Authorization And Access Control Of Application Data In Workflow Systems, Shengli Wu, Amit P. Sheth, John A. Miller, Zongwei Luo

Kno.e.sis Publications

Workflow Management Systems (WfMSs) are used to support the modeling and coordinated execution of business processes within an organization or across organizational boundaries. Although some research efforts have addressed requirements for authorization and access control for workflow systems, little attention has been paid to the requirements as they apply to application data accessed or managed by WfMSs. In this paper, we discuss key access control requirements for application data in workflow applications using examples from the healthcare domain, introduce a classification of application data used in workflow systems by analyzing their sources, and then propose a comprehensive data authorization and …

The Latent Maximum Entropy Principle, Shaojun Wang, Ronald Rosenfeld, Yunxin Zhao, Dale Schuurmans

Kno.e.sis Publications

We present an extension of Jaynes' maximum entropy principle to handle latent variables. We use an EM algorithm that incorporates nested iterative scaling to approximately calculate maximum entropy solutions for this principle, and give a proof of its convergence.

Querying Geographically Dispersed, Heterogeneous Data Stores: The Pperfxchange Approach, Matthew Edward Colgrove

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis details PPerfXchange’s approach for querying geographically dispersed heterogeneous data stores. While elements of PPerfXchange’s method have been implemented for other application areas, PPerfXchange shows how these elements can be applied to parallel performance analysis. The accomplishments of this thesis are:

• The design of an architecture for PPerfXchange, giving a uniform method to query heterogeneous data stores;
• A proof of concept prototype implementation of PPerfXchange including a partial implementation of an XQuery processor and a relational database virtual XML document; and
• Evaluation of PPerfXchange using example parallel performance analysis data.

The Cyborgian Self: Toward A Critical Social Theory Of Cyberspace, Michael Ian Borer

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

Contemporary social theory currently remains at a virtual standstill, quivering over the decision to radically leave the past behind or to continue within the historical narrative of the Enlightenment. Postmodern social theorists, advocating the position that we have, in fact, entered a new historical epoch, pose serious challenges to our perception of modernity and cultural identity. As an influential strategy that has infiltrated both the humanities and the social sciences for more than thirty years, postmodernism can no longer be dismissed as merely a fad or trend. In a world where the use of complex, and often mobile, …

An Empirical Analysis Of Electronic Data Interchange (Edi) Implementation Benefits In Kentucky Small- And Medium-Sized Enterprises: Some Implications For New It Implementation, Deepak Khazanchi

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

This paper reports that the benefits accrued from implementing and integrating Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can be conceptualized into two factors. First, firms derive operational/tactical benefits by predominantly focusing on increasing internal utility of this technology. Second, firms derive strategic benefits from EDI in the form of better external relationships and alliances with trading partners and an enhanced ability to compete in their market. Among other significant findings, there are clear indications from the correlation statistics reported here that experience with EDI, industrial category of a firm and the level of ED! integral ton …

Hybrid Sr Arq Scheme Using Trellis Coded Modulation For Point-To-Multipoint Communication Over Nonstationary Channels, Necmi̇ Taşpinar

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

In this paper, a type-I hybrid SR ARQ scheme using trellis coded modulation (TCM) for point-to-multipoint communication was analyzed on nonstationary broadcast channels where the channel bit error rate (BER) varies over time. A nonstationary channel is modelled as a two-state Markov chain. In the numerical calculations, it is found that, for a given p_{1} and \bar \varepsilon , the values of the average burst length \bar b have a very small influence on the throughput. Numerical results show that the throughput is better for values between 10 ^{-6} and 10 ^{-4}of average bit error rate \bar \varepsilon if the …

Stability Analysis Of A Closed-Loop Control For A Pulse Width Modulated Dc Motor Drive, Fatma Gürbüz, Eyüp Akpinar

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

In this paper, the effect of the variation of amplitude and the chopping period of a PWM signal on the stability of a closed-loop control for a DC motor drive is investigated. First, the entire system is formulated as a Linear Quadratic (LQ) tracker with output feedback [1]. Then, stability analysis for the varying amplitude and the varying chopping period is carried out by the methods of root locus and the Jury test. Finally, stability limits obtained from a root locus and Jury test are checked by the simulation of the system in MATLAB.

Creating A User Friendly Website For The Boys & Girls Clubs Of Black Hawk County, Kimberly M. Carter

Graduate Research Papers

Website design can be overwhelming for many viewers. Many times viewers discontinue using sites, because it.is not easy to navigate through the site. In creating the website for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Black Hawk County, user-friendliness was the focal point of the project. The Chief Professional Officer along with the staff at the Boys & Girls Clubs assisted with the development of a website by providing information that was to be included on the site. To ensure a professional look the designer relied on the four basic principles of design: contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. The design simplicity …

Decentralized And Adaptive Sensor Data Routing, Mengxia Zhu

LSU Master's Theses

Wireless sensor network (WSN) has been attracting research efforts due to the rapidly increasing applications in military and civilian fields. An important issue in wireless sensor network is how to send information in an efficient and adaptive way. Information can be directly sent back to the base station or through a sequence of intermediate nodes. In the later case, it becomes the problem of routing. Current routing protocols can be categorized into two groups, namely table-drive (proactive) routing protocols and source-initiated on-demand (reactive) routing. For ad hoc wireless sensor network, routing protocols must deal with some unique constraints such as …

The Impact Of Using Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Tools On Moral Reasoning In A Multi-Institutional Computer Ethics Module, Joe Griffin, Frances Grodzinsky, Pat Jefferies

School of Computer Science & Engineering Faculty Publications

Concerns about the increased use and abuse of information technology have evolved into more formalized evaluations of computer ethics in many organizations. This trend extends to most of the universities where they provide different modules related to professional computer ethics. Although these formalized evaluations have become more common, very little is known about the effects of collaborative learning on students’ moral reasoning and how to assess it. This study uses an experiment, involving students in three universities: University of Limerick in Ireland, De Montfort University in England and Sacred Heart University in the USA. The authors will describe the implementation …

Blackboard: A Web-Based Resource In The Teaching Of A Multi-Disciplinary/Multi-Institutional Computer Ethics Course, Frances Grodzinsky, Joe Griffin

School of Computer Science & Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper will focus on the use of a commercially available collaborative learning management tool ( C L W . Blackboard and how if has been used to enhance the teaching of professional issues in a large cohort given at the University af Limerick in Ireland and a small writing-based -senior ethics course given at Sacred Heart University. This study details the various facilities offered by Blackboard, some of the ways in which the tools were used to enhance learning and critical thinking and some reflections on the strengths and weaknesses of the tool. A prospective design and implementation of …

Chimes In April, Samuel Stinson

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.

Thread Transparency In Information Flow Middleware, Rainer Koster, Andrew P. Black, Jie Huang, Jonathan Walpole, Calton Pu

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Existing middleware is based on control-flow centric interaction models such as remote method invocations, poorly matching the structure of applications that process continuous information flows. Difficulties cultiesin building this kind of application on conventional platforms include flow-specific concurrency and timing requirements, necessitating explicit management of threads, synchronization, and timing by the application programmer. We propose Infopipes as a high-level abstraction for information flows, and we are developing a middleware framework that supports this abstraction. Infopipes transparently handle complexities associated with control flow and multi-threading. From high-level configuration descriptions the platform determines what parts of a pipeline require separate threads or …

Techniques And Algorithms For Immersive And Interactive Visualization Of Large Datasets, Ashish Sharma

LSU Master's Theses

Advances in computing power have made it possible for scientists to perform atomistic simulations of material systems that range in size, from a few hundred thousand atoms to one billion atoms. An immersive and interactive walkthrough of such datasets is an ideal method for exploring and understanding the complex material processes in these simulations. However rendering such large datasets at interactive frame rates is a major challenge. A scalable visualization platform is developed that is scalable and allows interactive exploration in an immersive, virtual environment. The system uses an octree based data management system that forms the core of the …

Mobile Home Security With Gprs, Duy Nguyen

Theses : Honours

This thesis presents the results of an honours project on the development of a security system for use on mobile devices. Mobile Home Security (MHS) is a prototype system that aimed to fully investigate a potential use of the wireless high-speed technology General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) in transmitting video from a static location. This thesis Mobile Home Security with GPRS describes in detail the design and developmental stages for the system. The research focused on the sending of video from a security capture device over a high speed radio network. The first stage of the research involved the design …

Experience-Based Language Acquisition: A Computational Model Of Human Language Acquisition, Brian Edward Pangburn

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Almost from the very beginning of the digital age, people have sought better ways to communicate with computers. This research investigates how computers might be enabled to understand natural language in a more humanlike way. Based, in part, on cognitive development in infants, we introduce an open computational framework for visual perception and grounded language acquisition called Experience-Based Language Acquisition (EBLA). EBLA can “watch” a series of short videos and acquire a simple language of nouns and verbs corresponding to the objects and object-object relations in those videos. Upon acquiring this protolanguage, EBLA can perform basic scene analysis to generate …

Complexity And Heuristics In Ruled-Based Algorithmic Music Composition, Nigel Gwee

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Successful algorithmic music composition requires the efficient creation of works that reflect human preferences. In examining this key issue, we make two main contributions in this dissertation: analysis of the computational complexity of algorithmic music composition, and methods to produce music that approximates a commendable human effort. We use species counterpoint as our compositional model, wherein a set of stylistic and grammatical rules governs the search for suitable countermelodies to match a given melody. Our analysis of the complexity of rule-based music composition considers four different types of computational problems: decision, enumeration, number, and optimization. For restricted versions of the …

Techniques To Explore Time-Related Correlation In Large Datasets, Sumeet Dua

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The next generation of database management and computing systems will be significantly complex with data distributed both in functionality and operation. The complexity arises, at least in part, due to data types involved and types of information request rendered by the database user. Time sequence databases are generated in many practical applications. Detecting similar sequences and subsequences within these databases is an important research area and has generated lot of interest recently. Previous studies in this area have concentrated on calculating similitude between (sub)sequences of equal sizes. The question of unequal sized (sub)sequence comparison to report similitude has been an …

Fast Scalable Visualization Techniques For Interactive Billion-Particle Walkthrough, Xinlian Liu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research develops a comprehensive framework for interactive walkthrough involving one billion particles in an immersive virtual environment to enable interrogative visualization of large atomistic simulation data. As a mixture of scientific and engineering approaches, the framework is based on four key techniques: adaptive data compression based on space-filling curves, octree-based visibility and occlusion culling, predictive caching based on machine learning, and scalable data reduction based on parallel and distributed processing. In terms of parallel rendering, this system combines functional parallelism, data parallelism, and temporal parallelism to improve interactivity. The visualization framework will be applicable not only to material simulation, …

Performance Evaluation And Comparison Of Corba Implementations For The Java Platform, Irina K. Grant

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Middleware is a software layer between the applications, services and the operating system that provides an abstraction to the application programmer. It masks the heterogeneous nature of the network and provides such services as remote calls, naming service, transaction process abilities, and security services. Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) is a middleware design that is implemented through the use of Object Request Broker (ORB), which is a software component that,allows communication between the remote objects and applications that use them in a distributed environment. CORBA applications can run on almost any platform, operating system, and support different languages. There …

Efficient Parallel Computation On Multiprocessors With Optical Interconnection Networks, Min He

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation studies optical interconnection networks, their architecture, address schemes, and computation and communication capabilities. We focus on a simple but powerful optical interconnection network model - the Linear Array with Reconfigurable pipelined Bus System (LARPBS). We extend the LARPBS model to a simplified higher dimensional LAPRBS and provide a set of basic computation operations. We then study the following two groups of parallel computation problems on both one dimensional LARPBS's as well as multi-dimensional LARPBS's: parallel comparison problems, including sorting, merging, and selection; Boolean matrix multiplication, transitive closure and their applications to connected component problems. We implement an optimal …

Simulation Video Electric Single Particle Aerodynamic Relaxation Time Analyzers, Steve Farmer, Robert A. Sims

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The simulation of physical parameters provides a virtual environment for the design and optimization of instrumentation. applying physical laws and theorems to natural phenomena defines the behavior of analytical processes. Simulation provides means for the adjustment of specific operating parameters while maintaining the repeatability of constant parameters. The video Electric Single Particle Aerodynamic Relaxation Time Analyzer (VESPART) is an instrument that provides the diameter and charge-to-mass (q/m) ratio of particles. The simulation of the VESPART requires the modeling of the physical environment and application of modeling to simulations. Simulation includes characterization of the various natural forces that "feet particle motion …