Digital Commons Network^™

Graph-Aided Directed Testing Of Android Applications For Checking Runtime Privacy Behaviours, Joseph Joo Keng Chan, Lingxiao Jiang, Kiat Wee Tan, Rajesh Krishna Balan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

While automated testing of mobile applications is very useful for checking run-time behaviours and specifications, its capability in discovering issues in apps is often limited in practice due to long testing time. A common practice is to randomly and exhaustively explore the whole app test space, which takes a lot of time and resource to achieve good coverage and reach targeted parts of the apps. In this paper, we present MAMBA, a directed testing system for checking privacy in Android apps. MAMBA performs path searches of user events in control-flow graphs of callbacks generated from static analysis of app bytecode. …

Learning To Rank For Bug Report Assignee Recommendation, Yuan Tian, Withthige Dinusha Ruchira Wijedasa, David Lo, Claire Le Goues

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Projects receive a large number of bug reports, and resolving these reports take considerable time and human resources. To aid developers in the resolution of bug reports, various automated techniques have been proposed to identify and recommend developers to address newly reported bugs. Two families of bug assignee recommendation techniques include those that recommend developers who have fixed similar bugs before (a.k.a. activity-based techniques) and those recommend suitable developers based on the location of the bug (a.k.a. location-based techniques). Previously, each of these techniques has been investigated separately. In this work, we propose a unified model that combines information from …

Domain-Specific Cross-Language Relevant Question Retrieval, Bowen Xu, Zhenchang Xing, Xin Xia, David Lo, Qingye Wang, Shanping Li

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In software development process, developers often seek solutions to the technical problems they encounter by searching relevant questions on Q&A sites. When developers fail to find solutions on Q&A sites in their native language (e.g., Chinese), they could translate their query and search on the Q&A sites in another language (e.g., English). However, developers who are non-native English speakers often are not comfortable to ask or search questions in English, as they do not know the proper translation of the Chinese technical words into the English technical words. Furthermore, the process of manually formulating cross-language queries and determining the weight …

Deeper Look Into Bug Fixes: Patterns, Replacements, Deletions, And Additions, Mauricio Soto, Ferdian Thung, Chu-Pan Wong, Claire Le Goues, David Lo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Many implementations of research techniques that automatically repair software bugs target programs written in C. Work that targets Java often begins from or compares to direct translations of such techniques to a Java context. However, Java and C are very different languages, and Java should be studied to inform the construction of repair approaches to target it. We conduct a large-scale study of bugfixing commits in Java projects, focusing on assumptions underlying common search-based repair approaches. We make observations that can be leveraged to guide high quality automatic software repair to target Java specifically, including common and uncommon statement modifications …

Mining Social Ties Beyond Homophily, Hongwei Liang, Ke Wang, Feida Zhu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Summarizing patterns of connections or social tiesin a social network, in terms of attributes information on nodesand edges, holds a key to the understanding of how the actorsinteract and form relationships. We formalize this problem asmining top-k group relationships (GRs), which captures strongsocial ties between groups of actors. While existing works focuson patterns that follow from the well known homophily principle,we are interested in social ties that do not follow from homophily,thus, provide new insights. Finding top-k GRs faces new challenges:it requires a novel ranking metric because traditionalmetrics favor patterns that are expected from the homophilyprinciple; it requires an innovative …

Robust Influence Maximization, Meghna Lowalekar, Pradeep Varakantham, Akshat Kumar

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Influence Maximization is the problem of finding a fixed size set of nodes, which will maximize the expected number of influenced nodes in a social network. The number of influenced nodes is dependent on the influence strength of edges that can be very noisy. The noise in the influence strengths can be modeled using a random noise or adversarial noise model. It has been shown that all random processes that independently affect edges of the graph can be absorbed into the activation probabilities themselves and hence random noise can be captured within the independent cascade model. On the other hand, …

A Key-Insulated Cp-Abe With Key Exposure Accountability For Secure Data Sharing In The Cloud, Hanshu Hong, Zhixin Sun, Ximeng Liu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

ABE has become an effective tool for data protection in cloud computing. However, since users possessing the same attributes share the same private keys, there exist some malicious users exposing their private keys deliberately for illegal data sharing without being detected, which will threaten the security of the cloud system. Such issues remain in many current ABE schemes since the private keys are rarely associated with any user specific identifiers. In order to achieve user accountability as well as provide key exposure protection, in this paper, we propose a key-insulated ciphertext policy attribute based encryption with key exposure accountability (KI-CPABE-KEA). …

Mining And Clustering Mobility Evolution Patterns From Social Media For Urban Informatics, Chien-Cheng Chen, Meng-Fen Chiang, Wen-Chih Peng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, given a set of check-in data, we aim at discovering representative daily movement behavior of users in a city. For example, daily movement behavior on a weekday may show users moving from one to another spatial region associated with time information. Since check-in data contain both spatial and temporal information, we propose a mobility evolution pattern to capture the daily movement behavior of users in a city. Furthermore, given a set of daily mobility evolution patterns, we formulate their similarity distances and then discover representative mobility evolution patterns via the clustering process. Representative mobility evolution patterns are …

Modeling The Influence Of The Heterogeneous Substrate On The Transport Of The Jet Fuel Solute Plume, Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Hannah Sarah Gatz-Miller

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

A subsurface model was developed to characterize the influence of heterogeneity on solute phase plume migration of the Jet Fuel spill of Kirtland Air Force Base. Core –logs from KAFB boreholes were compiled, and lithology was interpolated across the study area using transition probability geostatistics (T-PROGS). High conductivity materials in the travel path resulted in a faster than average breakthrough time while, if low conductivity materials were placed in the travel path, particles were either forced to divert around the low K material, which added time and changed the direction of travel, or were forced by the hydraulic gradient to …

Assessing The Utility Of Nighttime Light Satellite Imagery For Adjusting Cost Estimate By Project Location, Su Zhang

Geography ETDs

A fundamental process in construction cost estimation is the appropriate adjustment of costs to reflect project location. Unfortunately, location adjustment factors are not available for all locations. To overcome this lack of data, cost estimators in the United States often use adjustment factors from adjacent locations, referred to as the nearest neighbor (NN) method. However, these adjacent locations may not have similar economic conditions which limit the accuracy of the NN method. This research proposes a new method of using nighttime light satellite imagery (NLSI) to estimate location adjustment factors where they do not exist. The NLSI method for estimating …

Critical Discourse Analysis Of Colombian Identities And Humanature In National Geographic Magazine (1903-1952), Mónica Pérez-Marín

Communication ETDs

The main purpose of this dissertation is to challenge assumptions of neutrality and objectivity in popular science journalism by investigating how representations of Colombian identities and humanature in National Geographic Magazine between 1903 and 1952 create social knowledge and power in the context of the U.S.-Colombia relations. The investigation is based on the analysis of nine in-depth articles, including 214 pages of written text, 200 photos, and 6 maps. I applied two methods of analysis: critical discourse analysis and visual rhetoric. The discussion of discursive practices, textual structures, and social practices was organized chronologically into three significant periods and related …

Economies Set In Stone? Magdalenian Lithic Technological Organization And Adaptation In Vasco-Cantabrian Spain, Lisa Marie Fontes

Anthropology ETDs

This hybrid dissertation explores how hunter-gatherer groups who lived during the Initial and Lower Magdalenian archaeological periods (c.17-14,000 uncal. BP) adapted their lithic technological organization to environmental complexity in the Vasco-Cantabrian region of north coastal Spain. Four manuscripts that examine aspects of Last Glacial hunter-gatherer adaptations are presented in this dissertation. The first three have been published or are in press in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, Journal of Archaeological Science, and Quaternary International. The last is a completed manuscript that is under review by the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. The first paper focuses on how archaeologists examine …

Data Driven Sample Generator Model With Application To Classification, Alvaro Emilio Ulloa Cerna

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

Despite the rapidly growing interest, progress in the study of relations between physiological abnormalities and mental disorders is hampered by complexity of the human brain and high costs of data collection. The complexity can be captured by machine learning approaches, but they still may require significant amounts of data. In this thesis, we seek to mitigate the latter challenge by developing a data driven sample generator model for the generation of synthetic realistic training data. Our method greatly improves generalization in classification of schizophrenia patients and healthy controls from their structural magnetic resonance images. A feed forward neural network trained …

Harsh And Variable Ecological Conditions Modulate The Relationship Between Social Structure And Direct Fitness In A Plurally Breeding Small Mammal, Kathleen Anne Carroll

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Evidence suggests that harsh and variable environmental conditions modulate the fitness benefits associated with increased group size in some species. Social network analysis is a more powerful approach to examine this relationship, as the quality of interactions is more important than quantity. Using 9 years of data, I determined how mean and coefficient of variation (CV) of nine ecological variables modulated the relationship between social network metrics on direct fitness in the plurally breeding rodent, Octodon degus. As predicted, increased social structure was most beneficial when food abundance was more variable, mean monthly rainfall was highest, predator abundance was more …

Characterization Of Amoebae Interactions With Four Non-Pneumophila Legionella Species, Allison Margaret Palmer

All Theses

Legionella is the causative agent Legionnaires’ Disease and the number one cause of bacterial water-borne outbreaks in the United States. 85% of Legionnaires’ Disease cases are attributed to one species, L. pneumophila. Other virulent Legionella species exist, yet we have limited knowledge of them. Four non-pneumophila species: L. clemsonensis, L. gormanii, L. anisa, and the uncharacterized strain D4482, were chosen to assess host interactions with two species of amoebae, Acanthamoeba polyphaga and A. castellanii. Interactions were assessed with both planktonic, amoebae grown and biofilm Legionella. For planktonic assays, L. pneumophila invaded significantly higher into A. castellanii than into A. polyphaga. …

Multilevel Methods For Sparsification And Linear Arrangement Problems On Networks, Emmanuel John

All Theses

The computation of network properties such as diameter, centrality indices, and paths on networks may become a major bottleneck in the analysis of network if the network is large. Scalable approximation algorithms, heuristics and structure preserving network sparsification methods play an important role in modern network analysis. In the first part of this thesis, we develop a robust network sparsification method that enables filtering of either, so called, long- and short-range edges or both. Edges are first ranked by their algebraic distances and then sampled. Furthermore, we also combine this method with a multilevel framework to provide a multilevel sparsification …

The Effect Of Using Flipped Classroom Instruction On Students’ Achievement In The New 2016 Scholastic Assessment Test Mathematics Skills In The United Arab Emirates, Khaled Mohammed Abdel Baki Mohammed Diab

Theses

The flipped classroom instruction considered as the focus of many researchers and teachers in the recent years, many teachers around the word tried the flipped classroom instructions in different ways, different tools, to teach different subjects with different grades. Taking in the consideration, applying the flipped classroom teaching methods needs a lot of preparation and technological tools. This study utilized a quasiexperimental method research design to investigate the effect of flipped classroom instruction on students’ achievements in the new SAT 2016 mathematics skills (Heart of Algebra, Problem solving and data analysis, and Passport to Advanced Math) for the eleventh grade …

Increasing Solubility Of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients In Topical Creams Using Soluplus®, Roni Balzam

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

More than 40% of new chemicals developed in the pharmaceutical industry have poor solubility in aqueous solutions. Active Pharmaceutical ingredients (API) cannot reach their molecular targets in the body if the drug remains undissolved in the gastrointestinal system. One way to approach this problem is by using solubilizing agents. One such agent is a thermo-responsive, tri-block co-polymer which is marketed as “Soluplus®" (SP) by BASF Corporation. A part of this project is to thoroughly characterize various phase properties of SP such as cloud points and gel points temperatures. In current application, SP was incorporated into the creams formulations as an …

The Size And Shape Of The Milky Way Disc And Halo From M-Type Brown Dwarfs In The Borg Survey., Isabel Van Vledder, Dieuwertje Van Der Vlugt, Benne W. Holwerda, M. A. Kenworthy, R. J. Bouwens, M. Trenti

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

We have identified 274 M-type brown dwarfs in the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3 pure parallel fields from the Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies (BoRG) survey for high-redshift galaxies. These are near-infrared observations with multiple lines of sight out of our Milky Way. Using these observed M-type brown dwarfs, we fitted a Galactic disc and halo model with a Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis. This model worked best with the scalelength of the disc fixed at h = 2.6 kpc. For the scaleheight of the disc, we found z0=0.29+0.02−0.019 z0=0.29−0.019+0.02 kpc and for the central number density, ρ0=0.29+0.20−0.13 ρ0=0.29−0.13+0.20 …

Byoc: Build Your Own Cluster, Part I - Design, Nathan R. Vance, Michael L. Poublon, William F. Polik

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Modularized Tablet-Based Approach To Preparation For Remedial Mathematics, Kenneth A. Parker

Publications and Research

Basic arithmetic forms the foundation of the math courses that students will face in their undergraduate careers. It is therefore crucial that students have a solid understanding of these fundamental concepts. At an open- access university offering both two-year and four-year degrees, incoming freshmen who were identified as lacking in basic arithmetic skills were engaged in an experimental technology-enhanced workshop designed to provide them with a deeper understanding of arithmetic prior to their initial remedial coursework. Customized online content was created specifically for this experiment, and the first implementation (n=27) yielded statistically significant improvement, not only from pretest to post- …

An Example Of Atomic Requirements - Login Screen, William L. Honig

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

A simple example of what an atomic or individual or singular requirement statement should be. Using the example of the familiar login screen, shows the evolution from a low quality initial attempt at requirements to a complete atomic requirement statement. Introduces the idea of a system glossary to support the atomic requirement.

Atomic Requirements Quick Notes, William L. Honig, Shingo Takada

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Working paper on atomic requirements for systems development and the importance of singular, cohesive, individual requirements statements. Covers possible definitions of atomic requirements, and their characteristics. Atomic requirements improve many parts of the development process from requirements to testing and contracting.

Early Filing And Functional Claiming, Paul Gugliuzza

Faculty Scholarship

A major problem in the patent system is that many patents claim far more than the patentee actually invented. In his perceptive article, Ready for Patenting, Mark Lemley argues that this overclaiming is caused in part by legal doctrines that encourage inventors to file a patent application as early as possible, often before — or even instead of — building their invention. Patents issued from early-filed applications, Lemley argues, tend to be overly broad because the applicant does not yet know how the invention actually works.

This response essay, part of the Boston University Law Review’s symposium on Notice Failure …

Patent Uncertainty: Toward A Framework With Applications, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

There are three essential sources of uncertainty in the patent system: perceived uncertainty due to selective sampling (“statistical artefact uncertainty”), inherent uncertainty, and strategic uncertainty. It is only the strategic uncertainty source that should be of concern to reformers. With respect to this source, uncertainty in the patent system is largely a function of two variables: the degree of inherent abstraction associated with the patent, and the degree to which the patent provides notice of its scope. The maximal degree of uncertainty is observed in the category of abstract patents with poor notice, a category dominated today by software patents. …

Investigation Of How Hydrogen Bonding Affects The Enantiomeric Excess Of Pig Liver Esterase Promoted Hydrolysis Of Pro-Chiral Substrates, Jacob E. Pruett

Honors Theses

Pig Liver Esterase is a cost effective enzyme for ester hydrolysis. In our group, it is vital for creating chiral molecules for the synthesis of unnatural amino acids of potential biological importance. It has been previously found that the enantiomeric excess (%ee) of the PLE hydrolysis reaction increases drastically with the addition of co-solvents that are able to both accept and donate hydrogen bonds. This research endeavors to see if substrates of enhanced hydrogen bonding ability also increase the stereoselectivity of PLE hydrolyses. Diester malonate was covalently linked with a furan ring in both the third and second position from …

A Chemical Sensor For Cyanide, Rachel E. Lambert

Honors Theses

The cyanide ion and its gaseous form, hydrogen cyanide, are extremely toxic. Cyanide impairs cellular respiration by inhibiting cytochrome c oxidase, an enzyme in the electron transport chain, leading to cell death.

In a previous study, we synthesized an optical sensor that detects cyanide selectively. The aim of this project is to increase the sensitivity of this sensor. This can be achieved by utilizing the unique spectroscopic properties of lanthanide ions.

The lanthanide metal (europium or terbium) was added to a coumarin-glycine chemodosimeter in a DMSO solvent system. The sensor was titrated with several monodentate analytes including, nitrate, octylamine, 1-pentanethiol, …

Negotiating For Release Time And Leave, Maura Mast, Nathan L. Tintle

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Many large-scale research projects require a course release or a complete reduction in teaching responsibilities for a semester, year or more. This article suggests some ways to get them.

General Approach For Combining Diverse Rare Variant Association Tests Provides Improved Robustness Across A Wider Range Of Genetic Architectures, Brian Greco, Allison Hainline, Jaron Arbet, Kelsey Grinde, Alejandra Benitez, Nathan L. Tintle

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

The widespread availability of genome sequencing data made possible by way of next-generation technologies has yielded a flood of different gene-based rare variant association tests. Most of these tests have been published because they have superior power for particular genetic architectures. However, for applied researchers it is challenging to know which test to choose in practice when little is known a priori about genetic architecture. Recently, tests have been proposed which combine two particular individual tests (one burden and one variance components) to minimize power loss while improving robustness to a wider range of genetic architectures. In our analysis we …

Towards The Enhancement Of A Critical Cultural Paradigm In Health Communication: An Examination Of The Impact Of Paradigmatic Structures, Laura Elizabeth Arneson

Theses and Dissertations

In the field of Communication there are a wide variety of ways in which scholars can utilize theories to serve as epistemological frameworks in order to examine sociological structures. In this thesis, the subfield of Health Communication will be examined through a positivistic and critical cultural studies paradigm. This work will then examine underlying assumptions related to theoretical approaches in health communication.

With the primary argument of this work being that the dominant approaches in Healthcare Communication have been primarily rooted in positivism, this research study will attempt to show how this assumption continues to extend even into new digital …