Digital Commons Network^™

Design & Evaluation Of Path-Based Reputation System For Manet Routing, Ji Li

Master's Projects

Most of the existing reputation systems in mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) consider only node reputations when selecting routes. Reputation and trust are therefore generally ensured within a one-hop distance when routing decisions are made, which often fail to provide the most reliable, trusted route. In this report, we first summarize the background studies on the security of MANET. Then, we propose a system that is based on path reputation, which is computed from reputation and trust values of each and every node in the route. The use of path reputation greatly enhances the reliability of resulting routes. The detailed …

The Prosody Of Uncertainty For Spoken Dialogue Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Bevan Jones

Master's Projects

The speech medium is more than an audio conveyance of word strings. It contains meta information about the content of the speech. The prosody of speech, pauses and intonation, adds an extra dimension of diagnostic information about the quality of a speaker's answers, suggesting an important avenue of research for spoken dialogue tutoring systems. Tutoring systems that are sensitive to such cues may employ different tutoring strategies based on detected student uncertainty, and they may be able to perform more precise assessment of the area of student difficulty. However, properly identifying the cues can be challenging, typically requiring thousands of …

Botnets And Distributed Denial Of Service Attacks, Anilkumar Panicker

Master's Projects

With their ever increasing malicious capabilities and potential to infect a vast majority of computers on the Internet, botnets are emerging as the single biggest threat to Internet security. The aim of this project is to perform a detailed analysis of botnets and the vulnerabilities exploited by them to spread themselves and perform various malicious activities such as DDoS attacks. DDoS attacks are without doubt the most potent form of attacks carried out by botnets. In order to better understand this growing phenomenon and develop effective counter measures, it is necessary to be able to simulate DDoS attacks in a …

Trust-Networks In Recommender Systems, Kristen Mori

Master's Projects

Similarity-based recommender systems suffer from significant limitations, such as data sparseness and scalability. The goal of this research is to improve recommender systems by incorporating the social concepts of trust and reputation. By introducing a trust model we can improve the quality and accuracy of the recommended items. Three trust-based recommendation strategies are presented and evaluated against the popular MovieLens [8] dataset.

Exact And Approximation Algorithms For Computing Reversal Distances In Genome Rearrangement, Euna Park

Master's Projects

Genome rearrangement is a research area capturing wide attention in molecular biology. The reversal distance problem is one of the most widely studied models of genome rearrangements in inferring the evolutionary relationship between two genomes at chromosome level. The problem of estimating reversal distance between two genomes is modeled as sorting by reversals. While the problem of sorting signed permutations can have polynomial time solutions, the problem of sorting unsigned permutations has been proven to be NP-hard [4]. This work introduces an exact greedy algorithm for sorting by reversals focusing on unsigned permutations. An improved method of producing cycle decompositions …

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 …

Algorithm To Obtain Total Order From Partial Orders For Social Networks, Chandrika Satyavolu

Master's Projects

We developed an algorithm for generating total orders from partial orders based on a variant of QuickSort. We also constructed a website: 100 best movies! that would generate and display the total order of the best 100 movies from partial orders that are humanly ordered and stored in a database. The users of the website can add new movies of different categories to the database. The users can also generate partial rankings within specific categories. The total order of 100 best movies! would be calculated from the humanly computed partial orders stored in the database.

Bibliography Data Mining And Data Visualization, Deepthi Pullannagari

Master's Projects

Data mining is a concept of discovering meaningful patterns from large data repositories, and Data visualization is a graphical representation of data using shapes, colors and images for a better conceptualization. These two techniques have been in use for a long time now and are used together in number of fields to gain a better perception of the data. Bibliographic data is widely used in academic and scientific literature fields and this project deals with data mining and data visualization of bibliographic data downloaded from Citeseer Citation Indexing system. The downloaded metadata is extracted into the database, looking for patterns …

Semantic Categorization Of Online Video, Supraja Swarna

Master's Projects

As internet users are increasing day by day, the users of video-sharing site are also increasing. Video-sharing is becoming more and more popular in e-learing, but the current famous websites like youtube are not structured when it come to serving the purpose of providing educational videos for preschool and high school students. There is a need to fill building more educationally focused video site, where the content is more structured, easy to use, support both direct search and browsing, and follow a particular curriculum for preschool and high school students. This report discuss the issues like categorization and search interface …

Fuzzy Content Mining For Targeted Advertisement, Yezhou Wang

Master's Projects

Content-targeted advertising system is becoming an increasingly important part of the funding source of free web services. Highly efficient content analysis is the pivotal key of such a system. This project aims to establish a content analysis engine involving fuzzy logic that is able to automatically analyze real user-posted Web documents such as blog entries. Based on the analysis result, the system matches and retrieves the most appropriate Web advertisements. The focus and complexity is on how to better estimate and acquire the keywords that represent a given Web document. Fuzzy Web mining concept will be applied to synthetically consider …

Online Visualization Of Bibliography Using Visualization Techniques, Bharath Kumar Manur Venkataramana

Master's Projects

Visualization is a concept where we can represent some raw data in the form of graphs, images, charts, etc. which will be very helpful for the end-user to correlate and be able to understand the relationships between the data elements in a single screen. Representing the bibliographic information of the computer science journals and proceedings using Visualization technique would help user choose a particular author and navigate through the hierarchy and find out what papers the author has published, the keywords of the papers, what papers cite them, the co-authors along with the main author, and how many papers are …

Providing Vcr Functionality In Vod Servers, Ngyat Tsui

Master's Projects

Resource-sharing techniques are widely used by VOD servers. Stream merging is one of the most efficient resource-sharing techniques. ERMT is able to achieve merge trees with the closest cost of optimal merge tree. Full VCR support has become a “must have” feature for VOD services. This researcher proposed an algorithm to enable VCR support on ERMT. Furthermore, client local buffer and fixed-interval periodical multicasting were also deployed by the algorithm to improve the stream-client ratio. After thorough runs of simulations and numerous comparisons to BEP, the highly efficient resource- sharing technique, the proposed algorithm with client local buffer utilization and …

Javafx As A Domain-Specific Language In Scala / Groovy, Sadiya Hameed

Master's Projects

Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) are optimized for developing applications in a particular domain. JavaFX is such a DSL for creating rich graphical user interfaces.One method to create a DSL is to implement it in an existing language. This offers the advantage that existing users of the language do not need to learn a new language to work in the DSL. Scala and Groovy are two upcoming Java based languages which boast a feature set that can be used to extend existing languages and facilitate DSL creation. In this project my goal was to evaluate the ability of Scala and Groovy to …

Myron Kendall Brakke: 1921 To 2007, Karen-Beth G. Scholthof, Andrew O. Jackson, James L. Van Etten

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Plant pathology lost a distinguished pioneer in plant virology with the death of Dr. Myron K. Brakke on 15 June 2007. Those who were his close colleagues also lost a valued mentor, an irreplaceable friend, and a trusted adviser. Brakke’s most notable accomplishment was the development of sucrose density gradient centrifugation for the purification and characterization of viruses and macromolecules, which led to major advances in biochemistry and molecular biology. He also was responsible for introducing numerous techniques and equipment for fractionation of macromolecules that were crucial for the development of virology, biochemistry, and molecular biology. In the early stages …

In Situ Attenuated Total Internal Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared (Atr Ft-Ir) Spectroscopy Coupled With Multivariate Least Squares Analysis For The Study Of Polyelectrolytes/Surfactant Systems At The Tio2/Water Interface, Michael Hase

Undergraduate Honors Theses

ATR-FTIR provides the ability to study interfacial interactions in situ. ATR-FTIR was used to obtain infrared spectroscopic information about the interactions between the titanium dioxide surface, the polyelectrolyte sodium styrene sulfonate (PSS), and the surfactant cetylpyridinium bromide momhydrate (CBMD). The IR data was then modeled with a Frumkin isotherm and analyzed using a multidimensional least squares technique.

The Western Michigan University Magazine, Winter 2008, Western Michigan University

Western Michigan University Magazine (1997-present)

• The details get Dunn WMU’s
• The reluctant guru
• More than meets the ear
• College news
• Campus places
• Classnotes/Obituaries

Fact Book 2008-09, Western Michigan University

Western Michigan University Fact Books

• General Information
• Enrollment Information
• Institutional Comparison
• Student Information
• Faculty Information
• Budgets and Resources

Faculty Senate Yearbook, 2008-09, Wmu Faculty Senate

WMU Faculty Senate Yearbooks

No abstract provided.

Kentucky Terrain, Daniel I. Carey, Terry D. Hounshell

Map and Chart--KGS

The terrain of Kentucky has been shaped by geologic forces and the underlying rocks.Tectonic forces lifted, bent, and buckled the rocks–originally formed from sediments on shallow sea floors or swampy lowlands. Weathering and erosion shaved the hills and dissected the plains, exposing at the surface a cross section of rocks 250 to 500 million years old. The sands, gravels, silts, and clays of the Jackson Purchase Region are younger, remnants of a time when the sea lapped at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.

The landforms in Kentucky are the result of the differential weathering of interbedded sandstones, …

Geologic Hazards In Kentucky, Daniel I. Carey, Terry D. Hounshell, John D. Kiefer

Map and Chart--KGS

Geologic data were derived from the Kentucky Geological Survey-U.S. Geological Survey areal geologic mapping project. Nearly 190 geologists mapped the geology of Kentucky from 1960 to 1978. KGS geologists converted the resulting 707 geologic quadrangle maps into digital format at part of the STATEMAP component of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program of the United States Geological Survey.

Geology Of Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, Matthew M. Crawford, Rickard A. Olson, Rickard S. Toomey Iii, Lillian J. Scoggins

Map and Chart--KGS

Mammoth Cave National Park in south-central Kentucky was authorized as a national park in 1926 and was fully established in 1941 to protect the cave system, scenic landscape, and diverse flora and fauna. The park contains 52,830 acres and most of the longest recorded cave system in the world, with more than 390 miles of mapped passages as of 2013. Even though Mammoth Cave is famous, people are often unaware of the park's intricate connection to the outside region. This poster shows the geology of Mammoth Cave and the interconnected issues that are important to the park and its visitors. …

Partnership Tax Allocation And The Internalization Of Tax-Item Transactions, Bradley T. Borden

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Water Quality Trends In The North Fork Of Kentucky River Basin: Focus On Pathogen Impairment, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute

KWRRI Research Reports

This project consisted of analyzing existing water quality data for streams in the Upper Forks of Kentucky River Basin, with a particular focus on pathogen trends. According to the most recent 303(d) list of Kentucky waters, the majority of streams assessed in the Upper Forks of Kentucky River Basin are impaired for primary recreational contact as a result of pathogens. The state pathogen standard for primary contact recreation is expressed in a dual form which specifies that the 30-day geometric mean of fecal coliform counts not exceed 200 colonies per 100 mL (on a minimum of five samples) and not …

Summary Of Kentucky River Watershed Watch 2008 Water Samplig Results, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, Kentucky River Authority

Kentucky River Watershed Watch

No abstract provided.

Foundation Problems And Pyrite Oxidation In The Chattanooga Shale, Estill County, Kentucky, Warren H. Anderson

Report of Investigations--KGS

Pyrite oxidation in the Chattanooga Shale has caused serious foundation problems in numerous buildings and structures in Estill County, Ky. Pyrite oxidizes and various secondary sulfates form when excavated shale or shale fill are used in foundations. These secondary sulfates are water- and humidity-sensitive and can form when only minor amounts of water are present in foundation materials. These sulfates form by crystal growth and expand by volume change, which causes subsequent soil expansion and heaving of any foundation materials when the materials are confined. Several structures have undergone expensive remediation to repair damaged sidewalks, floors, walls, and foundations. Zones …

Groundwater Quality In Watersheds Of The Big Sandy River, Little Sandy River, And Tygarts Creek (Kentucky Basin Management Unit 5), R. Stephen Fisher, Bart Davidson, Peter T. Goodmann

Report of Investigations--KGS

The Kentucky Geological Survey and the Kentucky Division of Water are evaluating groundwater quality throughout the commonwealth to determine regional conditions, assess impacts of nonpoint-source contaminants, provide a baseline for tracking changes, and provide essential information for environmental-protection and resource-management decisions. These evaluations include summarizing existing regional groundwater-quality data and reporting the results of expanded, focused groundwater collection programs in specific areas. This report summarizes groundwater sampling and analysis in Kentucky basin management unit 5 (watersheds of the Big Sandy River, Little Sandy River, and Tygarts Creek in eastern Kentucky).

Thirty wells and springs were sampled quarterly between the fall …

Postpartum Invasive Group A Streptococcal Disease In The Modern Era, David M. Aronoff, Zuber D. Mulla

Epidemiology and Biostatistics Faculty Publications

To describe the clinical features of individuals hospitalized for postpartum invasive group A Streptococcus (GAS) infection, a retrospective, population-based study of hospitalized patients in the state of Florida was conducted. Cases of postpartum invasive GAS infection (occurring within 42 days of delivery) were compared to women with other manifestations of invasive GAS disease with respect to their age at the time of admission. Four cases of postpartum invasive GAS infection were detected in this population, yielding a prevalence of 1.6% (4/257) of postpartum disease in this invasive GAS infection database. Patients presented a median of 4 days (mean of 9 …

Elements Associated With Success In The First-Year Music Theory And Aural-Skills Curriculum, M. Rusty Jones, Martin Bergee

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

A total of 156 students enrolled in first-year music theory and aural-skills courses at the University of Missouri during the fall semesters of 2004 and 2005 were asked to participate in a study intended to determine which elements of their prior musical or scholastic training might be associated with success in freshman level music theory and aural-training courses. We employed multiple regression analysis to determine results and provide implications for teachers of these courses. The following elements were studied: high school class rank percentile, composite score on the American College Test (ACT), mathematics score on the ACT, prior music theory …

Title Page

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

No abstract provided.

Oceanography Professional Development In Virginia Via Collaboration, Field Integration, And Inquiry, K. St. John

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

Seventy-nine in-service teachers completed one of six sections of a grant-funded, graduate-level, summer course entitled, Oceanography, that was offered at four different locations in Virginia between 2005 and 2007. The majority of the teachers enrolled with the objective of obtaining their add-on earth science endorsement through the Virginia Earth Science Collaborative (VESC). Oceanography was designed to integrate the following: 1) the ocean science disciplines of geology, chemistry, physics, and biology; 2) inquiry-based learning strategies, quantitative activities, and technology; and, 3) Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) field experience with classroom experiences. These design themes were informed by ocean science content …