Digital Commons Network^™

Personalized Shopping Agent For Semantic Web, Ramani Arunachalam

Master's Projects

Current online shopping experience has limitations due to lack of uniform, inter- linked machine readable data across various shopping sites. This project attempts to improve the experience by employing semantic web concepts such as OWL and SPARQL. A new OWL ontology is defined for product data and real-life data from shopping sites such as Amazon, Yahoo shopping are imported and inter-linked using this ontology. A web-based personalized shopping agent is implemented to query this inter- linked database by specifying the preferences for various product attributes. Screenshots of the resulting system and its usage have been provided.

Heuristic Health Resource Referral (H2r2) Engine, Duy Vo

Master's Projects

Searching for health resources is difficult for many individuals because it requires domain knowledge and understanding of search engines techniques. Our system proposes a paradigm shift whereby users provide as much or as little information as they feel comfortable, and we endeavor to match them with relevant health resources. The system first attempts to identify risk factors through a heuristic engine that employs fuzzy logic and then searches for health resources based on the user’s profile. We aim to unburden the user from having to understand complex health information and sometimes esoteric search techniques. Our preliminary findings show that a …

Towards An Undetectable Computer Virus, Priti Desai

Master's Projects

Metamorphic viruses modify their own code to produce viral copies which are syntactically different from their parents. The viral copies have the same functionality as the parent but may have different signatures. This makes signature-based virus scanners unreliable for detecting metamorphic viruses. But statistical pattern analysis tool such as Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) can detect metamorphic viruses. Virus writers use many different code obfuscation techniques to generate metamorphic viruses. In this project we develop a metamorphic engine using code obfuscation techniques. Our metamorphic engine is designed to produce highly diverse morphed copies of the base virus. We show that commercial …

Motif Discovery In Biological Sequences, Medha Pradhan

Master's Projects

With the large amount of biological data generated due to DNA sequencing of various organisms, it is becoming necessary to identify techniques that can help in finding useful information amongst all the data. Finding motifs involves determining meaningful short sequences that may be repeated over many sequences in various species. Various approaches for the motif discovery problem have been proposed in the literature. One method suggests using genetic algorithms. In this project, an evolutionary approach for motif discovery has been explored. The population is clustered during every generation of the algorithm and then evolved locally within the clusters to allow …

Authoring And Sharing Of Programming Exercises, Somyajit Jena

Master's Projects

In recent years, a number of exercises have been developed and published for educating students in the field of Computer Science. But these exercises exist in their own silos. There is no apparent mechanism to share these exercises among researchers and instructors in an effective and efficient manner. Moreover, the developers of these programming exercises are generally using a proprietary system for automatic submission and grading of these exercises. Each of these systems dictates the persistent format of an exercise that may not be inter-operable with other automatic submission and grading systems. This project provides a solution to this problem …

Trans Fatty Acids Provide Evidence Of Anthropogenic Feeding By Black Bears, Gregory W. Thiemann, Randal S. Stahl, Sharon Baruch-Mordo, Stewart W. Breck

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Bears (Ursus spp.) that become conditioned to anthropogenic food sources pose a risk to human safety and generally need to be relocated, rehabilitated, or destroyed. Identifying food-conditioned bears may be difficult if the animal is not captured or killed while immediately engaged in the nuisance behavior. Fatty acid signature analysis has been used to examine the dietary habits of bears and other carnivores and is based on the predictable incorporation of ingested fatty acids into the consumer’s fat stores. Unusual fatty acids that are available in only a few food types may be particularly useful dietary markers. In this …

Evaluation Of Virtual Routing Appliances As Routers Virtual Environment, Ahmed Al-Amoudi

Theses

A virtual routing appliance is a system for the rapid, automated management and employment of virtual networks. Virtual routing appliances utilize virtual machines to enable virtual infrastructure, and they have been used commonly in order to implement experimental networks and devoted subnets over a virtual network. Existing research in this area such as cluster-based virtual routers, and Xen routers require the use of physical resources to establish connectivity and to guarantee efficient resource utilization. The virtual routing appliance uses dynamic routing protocols such as RIP, and OSPF to forward traffic between different subnets and manage IP packets at the IP …

Petrogenesis Of The Kösedağ Pluton, Suşehri-Ne Sivas, East-Central Pontides, Turkey, Durmuş Boztuğ

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

The Kösedağ syenite crops out as a shallow-seated pluton within the Eocene volcano-sedimentary rocks and is unconformably overlain by Lower Miocene limestones in the Suşehri-NE Sivas region, east-central Pontides. It consists of syenites and quartz syenites with a phaneritic, porphyritic texture characterized by K-feldspar megacrysts set in a coarse- to medium-grained groundmass comprising K-feldspar, plagioclase, clinopyroxene, amphibole, biotite and quartz. Major element geochemistry data reveal a high-K, alkaline, metaluminous to slightly peraluminous character, with a low Aluminum Saturation Index (ASI) value. The main solidification process, which modified the composition of magma during crystallization, was fractional crystallization, in which syenites solidified …

Palynostratigraphic, Palaeovegetational And Palaeoclimatic Investigations On The Miocene Deposits In Central Anatolia (Çorum Region And Sivas Basin), Mi̇ne Sezgül Kayseri̇, Funda Akgün

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Palynostratigraphy of the Neogene coal-bearing sediments in the Çorum region and Sivas Basin has been determined, and three sporomorph associations have been defined. Sporomorph association A is described from the Samsun-Havza region and is of latest Burdigalian age. Sporomorph association B is described from the Çorum region and Sivas Basin and is of early-middle Serravalian age. Sporomorph association C is described from the Sivas-Vasıltepe region and is of earliest Tortonian age. Sporomorph association A indicates warm subtropical climatic conditions and the Coexistence Approach (CA) results are: mean annual temperature (MAT) 19 °C, mean annual coldest month (CMT) 9.75 °C, mean …

Platinum-Group Minerals (Pgm) And Other Solid Inclusions In The Elbistan-Kahramanmaraş Mantle-Hosted Ophiolitic Chromitites, South-Eastern Turkey: Their Petrogenetic Significance, İbrahi̇m Uysal

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

The Elbistan-Kahramanmaraş podiform ophiolitic chromitites, in southeastern Turkey, contain abundant primary inclusions of platinum-group minerals (PGM), base-metals sulphides (BMS) and silicates. These inclusions are very small, generally less than 15 microns in size, and mostly occur in chromian spinel. The following PGM have been recognized: laurite, iridium, irarsite, ruarsite and several unidentified PGE phases. Millerite, pentlandite, bornite, digenite, chalcopyrite and betekhtinite are the BMS that have been identified. Mg-rich hornblende, accompanied by rare olivine, clinopyroxene and phlogopite, are the most abundant silicate inclusions. Most of the PGM, BMS and silicate inclusions are considered primary, i.e. formed during the high temperature …

A Case Study On The Effectiveness Of Kurzweil Software On Improving Participation And Comprehension With Special Education Students In The Science Classroom, Christina Glaub

Graduate Research Papers

This research project addresses using Kurzweil electronic text software as an accommodation with special education students. The research questions addressed were: Is Kurzweil an effective accommodation for special education students with reading deficits? and Will using Kurzweil improve special education students' participation and comprehension?

A review of literature provided more in-depth information about: (a) electronic text, specifically Kurzweil, (b) the benefits of integrating electronic text into the general education classrooms, and (c) the recommendations or considerations for teachers considering using electronic text. The research based on the literature review shows that the use of electronic text may lead to improved …

The Impact Of The National Board Certification Process On The Instructional Practices Of Teacher Librarians, Deanne Thiede

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards' certification process on the instructional strategies of teacher librarians. This research focused on practicing teacher librarians from Illinois and Iowa who were National Board certified in the area of Library Media prior to 2008. A quantitative survey was created, administered, and results were compiled using tables.

The survey questions included simple yes and no responses as well as narrative responses. The data were organized and analyzed. The researcher determined an overall positive response toward the National Board certification process and its impact …

Unleashing The Usefulness Of Educational Resources Through Mining Of Educational Metadata, Anne R. Diekama, Jennifer A. Bailey, Blythe A. Bennett, Holly Devaul

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

While there is a strong movement to develop new educational resources to bring students to the competencies represented by educational content standards, it is recognized that there are vast repositories of educational resources already developed that are suitable to address those competencies. However, these resources need to be indexed by national and state standards to make them accessible for teachers who are increasingly required to teach to certain educational standards (Diekema and Chen, 2005). In the early 1980s, a perceived a crisis in the American education system encouraged the creation of national standards by professional subject-area organizations such as the …

A Clustering Approach For The Separation Of Touching Edges In Particle Images, Jose M. Korath, Ali Abbas, Jose A. Romagnoli

Faculty Publications

The occurrence of touching objects in images of particulate systems is very common especially in the absence of dispersion methods during image acquisition. The separation of these touching particles is essential before accurate estimation of particle size and shape can be achieved from these images. In the current work, clustering approaches based on the fuzzy C-means algorithm are employed to identify the touching particle regions. Firstly, clustering in the multidimensional space of image features, e.g., standard deviation, gradient and range calculated in a certain neighborhood of each pixel, is performed to trap the touching regions. Then, in a novel proposed …

Symmetrical Dinucleosides, Yousef Ahmadibeni, Keykavous Parang

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

The authors have reported the utility of 1 for the preparation of sulfonamides (J. Org. Chem. 2006, 71, 7915). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report of the synthesis of 5¢,5¢-dinucleoside 5¢,5¢-phosphodiesters by using polymer-bound phosphitylating reagents.

Statistical Significance And The Distraction Of "Scientific Proof", Terence G. Ison

Articles & Book Chapters

The related topics of statistical significance and the distraction of “scientific proof” are sometimes critical to an understanding of expert evidence. This article relates primarily to the causes of disability and death in the context of claims for damages, workers’ compensation, motorvehicle insurance benefits, disability insurance, claims under some other types of insurance, and military pensions for disabilities and deaths resulting from military service. This article can also be relevant in Charter cases,1 and in criminal proceedings, though comments on the burden and standard of proof would need to be modified for that context. It can also be relevant to …

Mesoamerican Reef Spawning Aggregations Help Maintain Fish Population: A Review Of Connectivity Research And Priorities For Science Management, W. Heyman, W. B. Kjerfve, T. Ezer

CCPO Publications

The life history of most marine organisms includes an obligate period of pelagic larval dispersal. Migration to spawning areas and pelagic dispersal is often well beyond the home range of these organisms. Designing marine protected areas to include a broad range of taxa and their various dispersal patterns is an important and daunting challenge. This paper addresses the issue of connectivity for one set of species in a limited geographic area. We focus on transient spawning reef fish within the Mesoamerican Reef and their connectivity. We divide our scientific review into four sections as follows: (1) ecological characterization of transient …

Quantifying Vertical Mixing In Estuaries, W. Rockwell Geyer, Malcolm E. Scully, David K. Ralston

CCPO Publications

Estuarine turbulence is notable in that both the dissipation rate and the buoyancy frequency extend to much higher values than in other natural environments. The high dissipation rates lead to a distinct inertial subrange in the velocity and scalar spectra, which can be exploited for quantifying the turbulence quantities. However, high buoyancy frequencies lead to small Ozmidov scales, which require high sampling rates and small spatial aperture to resolve the turbulent fluxes. A set of observations in a highly stratified estuary demonstrate the effectiveness of a vessel-mounted turbulence array for resolving turbulent processes, and for relating the turbulence to the …

Comparison Of Doppler Studies In Obstetrics With Fetal Outcome, Sheila Waa

Master of Medicine in Imaging and Diagnostic Radiology

Purpose: to compare umbilical artery and middle cerebral Doppler ultrasound values in normal and high risk pregnancies with fetal outcome. Method: 121 consecutive pregnancies (at or over 28 weeks gestation), stratified into low and high risk pregnancies based on clinician information were prospectively examined with doppler ultrasound of UA and MCA. Results: outcome was available for 100 of the 121 patients. 26% of pregnancies had poor outcome. Of these 73% (19) and 27% (7) were classified as high risk and low risk respectively. UA alone or in combination with MCA was shown to have 100% specificity for predicting fetal outcome. …

Current Status And Long-Term Trends In Water Quality And Living Resources In The Virginia Tributaries And Chesapeake Bay Mainstem From 1985 Through 2006, Daniel M. Dauer, Harold G. Marshall, John R. Donat, Michael F. Lane, Suzanne C. Doughten, Frederick A. Hoffman

Status and Trends for Virginia Chesapeake Bay

The period prior to the implementation of the Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program was characterized by a marked decline in the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay. The disappearance of submerged aquatic vegetation in certain regions of the Bay, declines in the abundance of some commercially and recreationally important species, increases in the incidence of low dissolved oxygen events, changes in the Bay's food web, and other ecological problems have been related to the deteriorating water quality (e.g. USEPA, 1982,1983;Officer et al.,1984; Orth and Moore, 1984). The results of concentrated research efforts in the late 1970s and early 1980s stimulated the …

Combining Soa And Bpm Technologies For Cross-System Process Automation, Sebastian Herr, John Shafaee, Konstantin Läufer, George K. Thiruvathukal, Guido Wirtz

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This paper summarizes the results of an industry case study that introduced a cross-system business process automation solution based on a combination of SOA and BPM standard technologies (i.e., BPMN, BPEL, WSDL). Besides discussing major weaknesses of the existing, custom-built, solution and comparing them against experiences with the developed prototype, the paper presents a course of action for transforming the current solution into the proposed solution. This includes a general approach, consisting of four distinct steps, as well as specific action items that are to be performed for every step. The discussion also covers language and tool support and challenges …

Online File Sharing: Resolving The Tensions Between Privacy And Property, Frances Grodzinsky, Herman T. Tavani

School of Computer Science & Engineering Faculty Publications

This essay expands upon an earlier work (Grodzinsky and Tavani, 2005) in which we analyzed the implications of the Verizon v RIAA case for P2P Networks vis-à-vis concerns affecting personal privacy and intellectual property. In the present essay we revisit some of the concerns surrounding this case by analyzing the intellectual property and privacy issues that emerged in the MGM Studios v. Grokster case. These two cases illustrate some of the key tensions that exist between privacy and property interests in cyberspace. In our analysis, we contrast Digital Rights Management (DRM) and Interoperability and we examine some newer distribution models …

Valuing Community Attributes In Rural Counties In West Virginia: An Application Of Data Envelopment Analysis, Maribel N. Mojica, Tesfa Gebremedhin, Peter V. Schaeffer

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

The study used Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to examine community attributes of rural counties in West Virginia using variables determining quality of life. This analysis was done to understand the value of the social and economic characteristics associated with different communities as migration patterns in the US are mostly attributed to community characteristics determining the residents’ valuation of the quality of life in an area. County level data was used to identify counties that are inefficient, measured in terms of socioeconomic factors. The data is composed of output variables representing desirable community attributes and input variables representing the undesirable characteristics. …

Energy In A Resource-Based Regional Economy: A Dynamic General Equilibrium Analysis, Hodjat Ghadimi

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

States and even local governments are increasingly realizing the need for long-term sustainable energy-environment planning as an integral part of their economic development program. These sub-national units are progressively playing a more active role in advancing policies for the reliability, environmental sustainability, and exploring the economic development impact of their energy resources and supplies. This article outlines a modeling framework for an integrated analysis of the energy-environment-economy system in an energy resource-based region within a developed economy. The theoretical structure and mathematical skeletal of this dynamic optimal depletion computable general equilibrium model as the core of this modeling framework is …

Overview Of Thermoelectric Sodium Cobaltite: NaXCo2O4, Xiaofeng Tang, Terry M. Tritt

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Algebraic Inferences In Naîm Ibn Mûsa’S Collection Of Geometrical Propositions, Marco Panza

MPP Published Research

Na‘im ibn Musa's lived in Baghdad in the second half of the 9th century. He was probably not a major mathematician. Still his Collection of geometrical propositions---recently edited and translated in French by Roshdi Rashed and Christian Houzel---reflects quite well the mathematical practice that was common in Thabit ibn Qurra's school. A relevant characteristic of Na‘im's treatise is its large use of a form of inferences that can be said ‘algebric' in a sense that will be explained. They occur both in proofs of theorems and in solutions of problems. In the latter case, they enter different sorts of problematic …

Undergraduate Bulletin 2008-2009, John Jay College Of Criminal Justice

College Bulletins

No abstract provided.

Sitting In Darkness: New South Fiction, Education, And The Rise Of Jim Crow Colonialism, 1865-1920, Peter Schmidt

English Literature Faculty Works

Sitting in Darkness explores how fiction of the Reconstruction and the New South intervenes in debates over black schools, citizen building, Jim Crow discrimination, and U.S. foreign policy towards its territories and dependencies. The author urges a reexamination not only of the contents and formal innovations of New South literature but also its importance in U.S. literary history. "Many rarely studied fiction authors (such as Ellwood Griest, Ellen Ingraham, George Marion McClellan, and Walter Hines Page) receive generous attention here, and well-known figures such as Albion Tourgee, Mark Twain, Frances E. W. Harper, W. E. B. Du Bois, Sutton Griggs, …

Overcoming Student Resistance To A Teaching Innovation, Wendy Keeney-Kennicutt, Adalet Baris Gunersel, Nancy Simpson

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This mixed-methods study investigated student perceptions of an innovative educational tool and the instructor strategies that helped change initial student resistance into acceptance and engagement. The educational tool in this study is Calibrated Peer Review (CPR)™, a web-based program that uses writing as a learning and assessment tool. Evaluations of CPR were analyzed from students in a general chemistry course over seven semesters involving 1515 students. Analysis revealed reasons for students’ like or dislike of CPR and how the instructor modified implementation to provide students a more positive experience. Analysis of student perceptions suggests that successful implementation of new tools …

A Probabilistic Analysis Of The Trading The Line Strategy, V. Abramov, M. K. Khan, Rasul A. Khan

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

We provide analytic models for which the appropriate statistics of the trading the line strategy, N h , can be derived in closed form. In particular, we provide closed-form expressions concerning the average duration of the open position, E(N h ), the variance of the open duration, Var(N h ), the average of the stopped log price, E(S N h ), the variance of the stopped log price, Var(S N h ), the correlation, Corr(N h , S N h ), and the Laplace transform, E(e−s N h ). These results are obtained, in discrete time settings, for binomial and …