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Brigham Young University

Theses/Dissertations

2005

Articles 1 - 30 of 90

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Learning Successful Strategies In Repeated General-Sum Games, Jacob W. Crandall Dec 2005

Learning Successful Strategies In Repeated General-Sum Games, Jacob W. Crandall

Theses and Dissertations

Many environments in which an agent can use reinforcement learning techniques to learn profitable strategies are affected by other learning agents. These situations can be modeled as general-sum games. When playing repeated general-sum games with other learning agents, the goal of a self-interested learning agent is to maximize its own payoffs over time. Traditional reinforcement learning algorithms learn myopic strategies in these games. As a result, they learn strategies that produce undesirable results in many games. In this dissertation, we develop and analyze algorithms that learn non-myopic strategies when playing many important infinitely repeated general-sum games. We show that, in …

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Electromagnetism In Gravitational Collapse, Craig Ernest Skinfill Dec 2005

Electromagnetism In Gravitational Collapse, Craig Ernest Skinfill

Theses and Dissertations

A numerical approach to including electromagnetism with general relativity is developed using GRAXI as a starting point. We develop a mathematical model describing electromagnetism coupled to a scalar field in an evolving axisymmetric spacetime. As there are numerous formulations of electromagnetism, we evalute different formulations in a limited flat space case. The full curved space system is then developed, using the flat case as a guide to implementing electromagnetism. This model is then implemented using GRAXI as a code base.

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Trust Broker: A Defense Against Identity Theft From Online Transactions, Michael George Edvalson Dec 2005

Trust Broker: A Defense Against Identity Theft From Online Transactions, Michael George Edvalson

Theses and Dissertations

The proliferation of online services over the years has encouraged more and more people to participate in Internet activities. Many web sites request personal and sensitive information needed to deliver the desired service. Unfortunately, it is difficult to distinguish the sites that can be trusted to protect such information from those that cannot. Many attempts to make the Internet easier to use introduce new security and privacy problems. On the other hand, most attempts at creating a safe online environment produce systems that are cryptic and hard to use. The TrustBroker system is based on a specialized online repository that …

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Industrial Technology Education Teachers Perceptions Of National Standards For Technological Literacy In The State Of Arizona, Allan R. Mcrae Dec 2005

Industrial Technology Education Teachers Perceptions Of National Standards For Technological Literacy In The State Of Arizona, Allan R. Mcrae

Theses and Dissertations

Today, it is becoming increasingly clear that there is a growing interest, concern, and need for technological literacy. To this end, the International Technology Education Association (ITEA) through the Technology for All Americans Project, has developed and promulgated the Standards for Technological Literacy: Content for the Study of Technology. This effort is part of the ongoing initiative to develop technology standards on a national level, and to focus on what every student in grades K-12 should know and be able to do in order to achieve technological literacy (ITEA, 2000). The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived …

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Autologous Stem Cell Transplant: Factors Predicting The Yield Of Cd34+ Cells, Elizabeth Anne Lawson Dec 2005

Autologous Stem Cell Transplant: Factors Predicting The Yield Of Cd34+ Cells, Elizabeth Anne Lawson

Theses and Dissertations

Stem cell transplant is often considered the last hope for the survival for many cancer patients. The CD34+ cell content of a collection of stem cells has appeared as the most reliable indicator of the quantity of desired cells in a peripheral blood stem cell harvest and is used as a surrogate measure of the sample quality. Factors predicting the yield of CD34+ cells in a collection are not yet fully understood. Throughout the literature, there has been conflicting evidence with regards to age, gender, disease status, and prior radiation. In addition to the factors that have already been explored, …

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Testing Primitive Polynomials For Generalized Feedback Shift Register Random Number Generators, Guinan Lian Nov 2005

Testing Primitive Polynomials For Generalized Feedback Shift Register Random Number Generators, Guinan Lian

Theses and Dissertations

The class of generalized feedback shift register (GFSR) random number generators was a promising method for random number generation in the 1980's, but was abandoned because of some flaws such as poor performance on certain tests for randomness. The poor performance may be due to the choice of primitive polynomials used in the generators, rather than inherent flaws in the method. The original GFSR generators were all based on primitive trinomials. This project examines several alternative choices of primitive polynomials with more than one "interior" term to address this problem and hopefully provide access to good random number generators.

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Generating Data-Extraction Ontologies By Example, Yuanqiu Zhou Nov 2005

Generating Data-Extraction Ontologies By Example, Yuanqiu Zhou

Theses and Dissertations

Ontology-based data-extraction is a resilient web data-extraction approach. A major limitation of this approach is that ontology experts must manually develop and maintain data-extraction ontologies. The limitation prevents ordinary users who have little knowledge of conceptual models from making use of this resilient approach. In this thesis we have designed and implemented a general framework, OntoByE, to generate data-extraction ontologies semi-automatically through a small set of examples collected by users. With the assistance of a limited amount of prior knowledge, experimental evidence shows that OntoByE is capable of interacting with users to generate data-extraction ontologies for domains of interest to …

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A Software Development Environment For Building Context-Aware Systems For Family Technology, Jeremiah Kenton Jones Nov 2005

A Software Development Environment For Building Context-Aware Systems For Family Technology, Jeremiah Kenton Jones

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to utilize existing technologies to create a development environment suitable for creating context-aware applications and systems specific to home and family living conditions. After outlining the history of context-aware applications and the challenges that face family-centric systems in this field, a development environment was implemented that solves the unique challenges that face application development for family-centric, context-aware applications. In particular, research cited in this document indicates that a browser-based user interface is the most appropriate interface for a family environment. The flexibility of the interface, as well as the familiarity of the application structure …

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Acoustics Of The Salt Lake Tabernacle: Characterization And Study Of Spatial Variation, Sarah Rollins Nov 2005

Acoustics Of The Salt Lake Tabernacle: Characterization And Study Of Spatial Variation, Sarah Rollins

Theses and Dissertations

In order to preserve the acoustics of the Salt Lake Tabernacle after the seismic renovation of 2005-2006, it was necessary to characterize these acoustics immediately preceding the renovation. This thesis discusses the characterization process that began with the measurement of hundreds of impulse responses for five different source positions and several receiver locations throughout the hall seating areas. The acoustics were further characterized by deriving various parameters from these responses that correlate with subjective preferences for music and speech. Impulse responses were also generated by a CATT-Acoustic™ computer model of the Tabernacle for the same purpose. The parameter values were …

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Classifcation Of Conics In The Tropical Projective Plane, Amanda Ellis Nov 2005

Classifcation Of Conics In The Tropical Projective Plane, Amanda Ellis

Theses and Dissertations

This paper defines tropical projective space, TP^n, and the tropical general linear group TPGL(n). After discussing some simple examples of tropical polynomials and their hypersurfaces, a strategy is given for finding all conics in the tropical projective plane. The classification of conics and an analysis of the coefficient space corresponding to such conics is given.

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The Role Of Phosducin-Like Protein And The Cytosolic Chaperonin Cct In G Beta Gamma Dimer Assembly, Ting Hu Nov 2005

The Role Of Phosducin-Like Protein And The Cytosolic Chaperonin Cct In G Beta Gamma Dimer Assembly, Ting Hu

Theses and Dissertations

Phosducin-like protein (PhLP), a G protein beta gamma subunit dimer binder and G protein signaling regulator, was suggested to regulate the activity of cytosolic chaperonin CCT by their high affinity interaction. In the present study, the three-dimensional structure of PhLP:CCT complex has been solved by cryoelectron microscopy. PhLP was found to bind only one of the chaperonin rings with both N- and C-terminal domains. It spans the central folding cavity of CCT and interacts with two opposite sides of the top apical region, inducing the constraining of the entry of the folding cavity. These findings support a putative role of …

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Relationship Between Fault Zone Architecture And Groundwater Compartmentalization In The East Tintic Mining District, Utah, Sandra Myrtle Conrad Hamaker Nov 2005

Relationship Between Fault Zone Architecture And Groundwater Compartmentalization In The East Tintic Mining District, Utah, Sandra Myrtle Conrad Hamaker

Theses and Dissertations

The Eureka Lilly fault zone provides an impermeable barrier for groundwater flow in the East Tintic mining district. The fault zone separates two distinct groundwaters that have different temperatures, compositions, and potentiometric surfaces. The damage zone of the fault is an extensive network of interconnected open fractures and fault intersections that provide conduits for groundwater flow in otherwise impermeable units. The fault core breccia has been re-cemented and mineralized, which eliminates porosity in the rock by creating a thick impermeable zone, which has compartmentalized groundwaters across the fault zone. The compartmentalization of groundwater shows that fault zone variability (from strain …

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Development Of Commercial Applications For Recycled Plastics Using Finite Element Analysis, Nanjunda Narasimhamurthy Nov 2005

Development Of Commercial Applications For Recycled Plastics Using Finite Element Analysis, Nanjunda Narasimhamurthy

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the suitability of thermo-kinetically recycled plastics for use in commercial product applications using finite element analysis and statistics. Different recycled material blends were tested and evaluated for their use in commercial product applications. There are six different blends of thermo-kinetically recycled plastics used for testing and CATIA is used for finite element analysis. The different types of thermo-kinetically recycled plastics blends are: pop bottles made of PolyethyleneTeraphthalate (PET), milk jugs made of High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Vinyl seats made of Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) and small amount of Polypropylene (PP) and Urethane, electronic scrap made of engineering resins …

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Generating Medical Logic Modules For Clinical Trial Eligibility, Craig G. Parker Nov 2005

Generating Medical Logic Modules For Clinical Trial Eligibility, Craig G. Parker

Theses and Dissertations

Clinical trials are important to the advancement of medical science. They provide the experimental and statistical basis needed to determine the benefit of diagnostic and therapeutic agents and procedures. The more patients enrolled in a clinical trial, the more confidence we can have in the trial's results. However, current practices for identifying eligible patients can be expensive and time-consuming. To assist in making identification of eligible patients more cost effective, we have developed a system for translating the eligibility criteria for clinical trials to an executable form. This system takes as input the eligibility criteria for a trial formatted as …

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Palladium-Imidazolium Carbene Catalyzed Heck Coupling Reactions And Synthesis Of A Novel Class Of Fluoroanthracenylmethyl Ptc Catalysts, Jiuqing Zhang Nov 2005

Palladium-Imidazolium Carbene Catalyzed Heck Coupling Reactions And Synthesis Of A Novel Class Of Fluoroanthracenylmethyl Ptc Catalysts, Jiuqing Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

Palladium catalyzed Heck coupling with aryl and alkenyl halides has become a powerful means of carbon-carbon bond formation. This standard synthetic method has been developed to a high level of utility using various catalysts, conditions and substrates. Yet significant drawbacks remain, including poor reactivity, the need for high temperatures and base, limited substrate generality, and selectivity. Mixed products often suffer from olefin migration following insertion. N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) have proven to be electron-rich donors which provide higher stability and reactivity than phosphines. In a previous paper reported by our research group the imidazolium-palladium carbene has proven to be highly efficient …

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Verification Of Digital Controller Verifications, Xuan Wang Nov 2005

Verification Of Digital Controller Verifications, Xuan Wang

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents an analysis framework to verify the stablility property of a closed-loop control system with a software controller implementation. The usual approach to verifying stability for software uses experiments which are costly and can be dangerous. More recently, mathematical models of software have been proposed which can be used to reason about the correctness of controllers. However, these mathematical models ignore computational details that may be important in verification. We propose a method to determine the instability of a closed-loop system with a software controller implementation under l^2 inputs using simulation. This method avoids the cost of experimentation …

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Real-Time Motion Transition By Example, Cameron Quinn Egbert Nov 2005

Real-Time Motion Transition By Example, Cameron Quinn Egbert

Theses and Dissertations

Motion transitioning is a common task in real-time applications such as games. While most character motions can be created a priori using motion capture or hand animation, transitions between these motions must be created by an animation system at runtime. Because of this requirement, it is often difficult to create a transition that preserves the feel that the actor or animator has put into the motion. An additional difficulty is that transitions must be created in real-time. This paper provides a method of creating motion transitions that is both computationally feasible for interactive speeds, and preserves the feel of the …

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Modeling Distributions Of Test Scores With Mixtures Of Beta Distributions, Jingyu Feng Nov 2005

Modeling Distributions Of Test Scores With Mixtures Of Beta Distributions, Jingyu Feng

Theses and Dissertations

Test score distributions are used to make important instructional decisions about students. The test scores usually do not follow a normal distribution. In some cases, the scores appear to follow a bimodal distribution that can be modeled with a mixture of beta distributions. This bimodality may be due different levels of students' ability. The purpose of this study was to develop and apply statistical techniques for fitting beta mixtures and detecting bimodality in test score distributions. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods were used to estimate the five parameters of the beta mixture distribution for scores in four quizzes in a …

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Totally Real Galois Representations In Characteristic 2 And Arithmetic Cohomology, Heather Aurora Florence De Melo Nov 2005

Totally Real Galois Representations In Characteristic 2 And Arithmetic Cohomology, Heather Aurora Florence De Melo

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this paper is to provide new examples supporting a conjecture of Ash, Doud, and Pollack. This conjecture involves Galois representations taking Gal(Q bar/Q) to the general linear group of 3 x 3 matrices in characterisic 2, and our examples are where complex conjugation is mapped to the identity. Since this case has not yet been examined, the results of this paper are quite significant.

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Total Syntheses Of (+)-Geldanamycin, (-)-Ragaglitazar, And (+)-Kurasoin A And Phase-Transfer-Catalyzed Asymmetric Alkylation, Erik J. Hicken Nov 2005

Total Syntheses Of (+)-Geldanamycin, (-)-Ragaglitazar, And (+)-Kurasoin A And Phase-Transfer-Catalyzed Asymmetric Alkylation, Erik J. Hicken

Theses and Dissertations

Geldanamycin possesses various biological activities as seen in the NCI 60 cell line panel (13 nM avg., 70 nM SKBr-3 cells). The predominant mode of action providing these unique results arises from the ability of geldanamycin (GA) to bind to the chaperone heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90). Despite its complicated functionality, the first total synthesis of GA was accomplished, which included two new reactions developed specifically to address the stereochemical features. The final step in the synthesis of GA was a demethylation-oxidation sequence to generate the desired para-quinone. This step could only be accomplished with HNO3/AcOH, producing GA in …

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Specific Heat And Thermodynamic Properties Of Metallic Systems: Instrumentation And Analysis, Brian E. Lang Oct 2005

Specific Heat And Thermodynamic Properties Of Metallic Systems: Instrumentation And Analysis, Brian E. Lang

Theses and Dissertations

A small-scale adiabatic calorimeter has been constructed as part of a larger project to study nano-particles and to facilitate specific heat measurements on samples where it is difficult to obtain enough material to run on the current large-scale adiabatic apparatus. This calorimeter is designed to measure sample sizes of less than 0.8 cc over a temperature range from 13 K to 350 K. Specific heat results on copper, sapphire, and benzoic acid show the accuracy of the measurements to be better than ±0.4% for temperatures higher than 50 K. The reproducibility of these measurements is generally better than ±0.25%. Experimental …

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Rate-Adaptive Runlength Limited Encoding For High-Speed Infrared Communication, James Cyril Funk Sep 2005

Rate-Adaptive Runlength Limited Encoding For High-Speed Infrared Communication, James Cyril Funk

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis will demonstrate that Rate Adaptive Runlength Limited encoding (RA-RLL) achieves high data rates with acceptable error rate over a wide range of signal distortion/attenuation, and background noise. RA-RLL has performance superior to other infrared modulation schemes in terms of bandwidth efficiency, duty cycle control, and synchronization frequency. Rate adaptive techniques allow for quick convergence of RA-RLL parameters to acceptable values. RA-RLL may be feasibly implemented on systems with non-ideal timing and digital synchronization.

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Polymer Microchips For Capillary Electrophoresis And Electric Field Gradient Focusing Of Biomolecules, Ryan Thomas Kelly Sep 2005

Polymer Microchips For Capillary Electrophoresis And Electric Field Gradient Focusing Of Biomolecules, Ryan Thomas Kelly

Theses and Dissertations

Polymeric materials have seen increasing use as microfluidic device substrates due to their low cost and the simplicity of templated fabrication procedures. I showed that poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) microdevices could be enclosed in a boiling water bath, which allowed the seal to form more quickly than in conventional approaches, and enabled microchannels to remain hydrated throughout the bonding process. Microchip capillary electrophoresis (µ-CE) devices were fabricated using water-based enclosure, and a mixture of fluorescently labeled amino acids was separated in 30 s in these microchips. To create more robust capillary electrophoresis (CE) microdevices with improved separation performance, phase-changing sacrificial materials …

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Importance Resampling For Global Illumination, Justin F. Talbot Sep 2005

Importance Resampling For Global Illumination, Justin F. Talbot

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis develops a generalized form of Monte Carlo integration called Resampled Importance Sampling. It is based on the importance resampling sample generation technique. Resampled Importance Sampling can lead to significant variance reduction over standard Monte Carlo integration for common rendering problems. We show how to select the importance resampling parameters for near optimal variance reduction. We also combine RIS with stratification and with Multiple Importance Sampling for further variance reduction. We demonstrate the robustness of this technique on the direct lighting problem and achieve up to a 33% variance reduction over standard techniques. We also suggest using RIS as …

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On-Disk Sequence Cache (Odsc): Using Excess Disk Capacity To Increase Performance, Christopher Ryan Slade Sep 2005

On-Disk Sequence Cache (Odsc): Using Excess Disk Capacity To Increase Performance, Christopher Ryan Slade

Theses and Dissertations

We present an on-disk sequence cache (ODSC), which improves disk drive performance. An ODSC uses a separate disk partition to store disk data in the order that the operating system requests it. Storing data in this order reduces the amount of seeking that the disk drive must do. As a result, the average disk access time is reduced. Reducing the disk access time improves the performance of the system, especially when booting the operating system, loading applications, and when main memory is limited. Experiments show that our ODSC speeds up application loads by as much as 413%. Our ODSC also …

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Geologic Map Of The Golden Throne Quadrangle, Wayne And Garfield Counties, Utah, Daniel H. Martin Sep 2005

Geologic Map Of The Golden Throne Quadrangle, Wayne And Garfield Counties, Utah, Daniel H. Martin

Theses and Dissertations

The Golden Throne Quadrangle is located within Capitol Reef National Park, south-central Utah. Geologic mapping of this 1:24,000 scale 7.5 minute quadrangle began in 2003 as the National Parks Service desired to have geologic maps at this scale produced within the park. Stratigraphically, ten bedrock formations and ten Quaternary deposits are exposed within the Golden Throne Quadrangle. Geologic formations range in age from Permian to Jurassic. This map contains details not included on previous geologic maps including; the members of the Carmel, Chinle, and Moenkopi Formations. Additionally, the Page Sandstone is herein mapped as an independent unit. Structurally the Golden …

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An Acyl Radical Cascade Model For The Total Synthesis Of Lyconadin A, Seth W. Grant Sep 2005

An Acyl Radical Cascade Model For The Total Synthesis Of Lyconadin A, Seth W. Grant

Theses and Dissertations

Lyconadin A (1) is a structurally unique Lycopodium alkaloid with antitumor properties, isolated from the club moss Lycopodium complanatum. We are developing a synthetic route to 1 based on a novel 7-exo-trig/6-exo-trig acyl radical cascade cyclization. The synthesis of model acyl radical cascade precursor 23 will be presented. Key features of this synthesis include the suppression of competing elimination during the alkylation of a hindered phenethyl bromide and the use of a lactone as a precursor to a compound bearing two differentially protected primary alcohols. An account of our studies on the model acyl radical cascade cyclization (23 to 24 …

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Structure Elucidation Of Bioactive Compounds Isolated From Endophytes Of Alstonia Scholaris And Acmena Graveolens, Nicholas James Hundley Sep 2005

Structure Elucidation Of Bioactive Compounds Isolated From Endophytes Of Alstonia Scholaris And Acmena Graveolens, Nicholas James Hundley

Theses and Dissertations

Alstonia scholaris is an evergreen tree native to Southeast Asia and Australia. It is commonly used as a medicinal plant throughout these regions. In the present study, an endophyte of the genus Xylaria was isolated from a stem of Alstonia scholaris, its mycelia and exudate extracted, and the extract assayed for growth inhibition of HeLa cancer cells in vitro. Several known compounds were isolated and identified based on NMR, infrared, and mass spectral data. The compounds identified are 19,20-epoxycytochalasin C; 19,20epoxycytochalasin D; and xylobovide. Two other compounds, fusaric acid and dehydrofusaric acid, were discovered in an endophyte of the Hypocreales …

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Effect Of Melatonin And Dopamine In Site Specific Phosphorylation Of Phosducin In Intact Retina, Arinzechukwu Okere Nkemdirim Aug 2005

Effect Of Melatonin And Dopamine In Site Specific Phosphorylation Of Phosducin In Intact Retina, Arinzechukwu Okere Nkemdirim

Theses and Dissertations

Phosducin (Pdc) is a 28 kDa binding partner for the G protein beta gamma subunit dimer (G-beta-gamma) found abundantly in the photoreceptor cells of the retina and pineal gland. In the retina, light-dependent changes in cAMP and Ca2+ control the phosphorylation of Pdc at serine 73 and 54, respectively, which in turn controls the binding of Pdc to G protein beta gamma subunit dimer . G protein beta gamma subunit dimer binding has been proposed to facilitate light-driven transport of G protein beta gamma subunit dimer from the site of phototransduction in the outer segment of the photoreceptor cell to …

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Challenging Policies That Do Not Play Fair: A Credential Relevancy Framework Using Trust Negotiation Ontologies, Travis S. Leithead Aug 2005

Challenging Policies That Do Not Play Fair: A Credential Relevancy Framework Using Trust Negotiation Ontologies, Travis S. Leithead

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis challenges the assumption that policies will "play fair" within trust negotiation. Policies that do not "play fair" contain requirements for authentication that are misleading, irrelevant, and/or incorrect, based on the current transaction context. To detect these unfair policies, trust negotiation ontologies provide the context to determine the relevancy of a given credential set for a particular negotiation. We propose a credential relevancy framework for use in trust negotiation that utilizes ontologies to process the set of all available credentials C and produce a subset of credentials C' relevant to the context of a given negotiation. This credential relevancy …

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