Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2009

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 6301 - 6330 of 6337

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Influence Of Exogenous Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone On Seasonal Reproductive Behavior Of The Coyote (Canis Latrans), D. A. Carlson, E. M. Gese Jan 2009

Influence Of Exogenous Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone On Seasonal Reproductive Behavior Of The Coyote (Canis Latrans), D. A. Carlson, E. M. Gese

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wild Canis species such as the coyote (C. latrans) express a suite of reproductive traits unusual among mammals, including perennial pair-bonds and paternal care of the young. Coyotes also are monestrous, and both sexes are fertile only in winter; thus, they depend upon social and physiologic synchrony for successful reproduction. To investigate the mutability of seasonal reproduction in coyotes, we attempted to evoke an out-of-season estrus in October using one of two short-acting gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agents: (1) a GnRH analogue, deslorelin (6-D-tryptophan-9-(N-ethyl-L-prolinamide)-10-deglycinamide), 2.1 mg pellet sc; or (2) gonadorelin, a GnRH (5-oxoPro-His-Trp-Ser-Tyr-Gly-Leu-Arg-Pro-GlyNH2) porcine hypothalamic extract, …


Las Enfermedades Del Venado Cola Blanca En Norteamérica: Situación Actual Y Desafíos., Tyler A. Campbell Jan 2009

Las Enfermedades Del Venado Cola Blanca En Norteamérica: Situación Actual Y Desafíos., Tyler A. Campbell

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Desde hace mucho tiempo, los administradores de vida silvestre han buscado conocer acerca de la ecología de las enfermedades y parásitos que afectan al venado cola blanca (Odocoileus virginianus ) (por ejemplo vea Whitlock 1939). Este es un importante campo de estudio porque las enfermedades y parásitos pueden afectar nocivamente las poblaciones de venados, otros animales silvestres, el ganado y humanos (Davidson et al. 1981).

El venado cola blanca ha recibido mucha atención en la literatura acerca de sus enfermedades y parásitos y tratados completos se han dedicado al tema (por ejemplo, vea Davidson et al. 1981). Los avances …


Feral Swine Damage And Damage Management In Forested Ecosystems, Tyler A. Campbell, David B. Long Jan 2009

Feral Swine Damage And Damage Management In Forested Ecosystems, Tyler A. Campbell, David B. Long

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Invasive feral swine (Sus scrofa) cause deleterious impacts to ecosystem processes and functioning throughout their worldwide distribution, including forested ecosystems in the United States. Unfortunately, many feral swine damage management programs are conducted in a piecemeal fashion, are not adequately funded, and lack clearly stated or realistic objectives. This review paper identifies damage caused by feral swine to forest resources and presents techniques used to prevent and control feral swine damage. Concluding points related to planning a feral swine damage management program are: (1) the value of using a variety of techniques in an integrated fashion cannot be …


Feral Swine Contact With Domestic Swine: A Serologic Survey And Assessment Of Potential For Disease Transmission, A. Christy Wyckoff, Scott E. Henke, Tyler A. Campbell, David G. Hewitt, Kurt C. Vercauteren Jan 2009

Feral Swine Contact With Domestic Swine: A Serologic Survey And Assessment Of Potential For Disease Transmission, A. Christy Wyckoff, Scott E. Henke, Tyler A. Campbell, David G. Hewitt, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Feral swine (Sus scrofa) are present in 38 of the 50 United States, and their populations continue to expand. Domestic swine are widely regarded as vulnerable to diseases harbored by feral swine. Our objectives were to determine antibody prevalence for selected pathogens in Texas feral swine populations and identify contact events between feral and domestic swine. Overall prevalence of antibodies against brucellosis and pseudorabies virus was 11% and 30%, respectively. Antibodies to porcine reproductive and respiratory disease virus were detected in 3% of feral swine from southern Texas. All samples tested negative for antibodies to classical swine fever …


Evaluation Of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate As A Blackbird Wetting Agent, Robert Byrd, John Cummings, Shelagh Tupper, John D. Eisemann Jan 2009

Evaluation Of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate As A Blackbird Wetting Agent, Robert Byrd, John Cummings, Shelagh Tupper, John D. Eisemann

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

New and improved strategies are needed for managing overabundant blackbird (Icteridae spp.) populations in some areas of the United States. From 2004 to 2007, we evaluated sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) as a wetting agent during controlled outdoor cage and flight pen tests in Colorado and small-scale field tests at urban blackbird roosts in Missouri. In the outdoor cage tests (ambient temperature -5 to 2° C), mortality of male red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) sprayed with 1, 2, and 5 ml of SLS on the back feathers only, on the breast feathers only, or on both breast and back …


Protein Hydrolysates Are Avoided By Herbivores But Not By Omnivores In Two-Choice Preference Tests, Kristin L. Field, Alexander Bachmanov, Julie A. Mennella, Gary K. Beauchamp, Bruce A. Kimball Jan 2009

Protein Hydrolysates Are Avoided By Herbivores But Not By Omnivores In Two-Choice Preference Tests, Kristin L. Field, Alexander Bachmanov, Julie A. Mennella, Gary K. Beauchamp, Bruce A. Kimball

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Background: The negative sensory properties of casein hydrolysates (HC) often limit their usage in products intended for human consumption, despite HC being nutritious and having many functional benefits. Recent, but taxonomically limited, evidence suggests that other animals also avoid consuming HC when alternatives exist.

Methodology/Principal Findings: We evaluated ingestive responses of five herbivorous species (guinea pig, mountain beaver, gopher, vole, and rabbit) and five omnivorous species (rat, coyote, house mouse, white-footed mouse, and deer mouse; N = 16–18/species) using solid foods containing 20% HC in a series of two-choice preference tests that used a nonprotein, cellulose-based alternative. Individuals …


“Species Pollution” In Florida: A Cross-Section Of Invasive Vertebrate Issues And Management Responses, Richard M. Engeman, Bernice Constantin, Scott Hardin, Henry Smith, Walter Meshaka Jr. Jan 2009

“Species Pollution” In Florida: A Cross-Section Of Invasive Vertebrate Issues And Management Responses, Richard M. Engeman, Bernice Constantin, Scott Hardin, Henry Smith, Walter Meshaka Jr.

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The state of Florida as among the two worst invasive species problems in the USA. Besides the sheer numbers of established exotic species in Florida, many present novel difficulties for management, or have other characteristics making effective management extremely challenging. Moreover, initiation of management action requires more than recognition by experts that a potentially harmful species has become established. It also requires the political will along with concomitant resources and appropriate personnel to develop effective methods and apply them. We illustrate various aspects of the situation in Florida with examples of invasive vertebrates, the problems they pose(d), and management approaches …


Working Dogs: The Last Line Of Defense For Preventing Dispersal Of Brown Treesnakes From Guam, Daniel S. Vice, Richard M. Engeman, Marc A. Hall, Craig S. Clark Jan 2009

Working Dogs: The Last Line Of Defense For Preventing Dispersal Of Brown Treesnakes From Guam, Daniel S. Vice, Richard M. Engeman, Marc A. Hall, Craig S. Clark

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The inadvertent introduction of the brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis) to Guam resulted in unprecedented losses to the island’s fragile ecology and economy. A primary management objective is preventing the spread of brown treesnakes to other locations via Guam’s transportation network. To achieve this, snake populations are suppressed in and around port and cargo staging areas through an integrated wildlife damage management approach, with the last line of defense for preventing their entrance into the outbound cargo flow inspection by trained snake detector dogs. The efficacy of working dogs on Guam has been evaluated from a variety of aspects.


Biomphalaria Havanensis Identified As A Potential Intermediate Host For The Digenetic Trematode Bolbophoms Damnificus, Marlena Yost, Linda Pote, David J. Wise, Brian Dorr, Terry Richardson Jan 2009

Biomphalaria Havanensis Identified As A Potential Intermediate Host For The Digenetic Trematode Bolbophoms Damnificus, Marlena Yost, Linda Pote, David J. Wise, Brian Dorr, Terry Richardson

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The digenetic trematode Bolbophorus damnificus has been associated with mortalities in commercial channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus in the Mississippi Delta. In the life cycle of B. damnificus, the only confirmed first intermediate host is the ram's horn snail Planorbella trivolvis. Recently, the exotic snail Biomphalaria havanensis has been isolated in several channel catfish ponds in the Mississippi Delta. The aim of this study was to determine whether this invasive snail species could also serve as a fist intermediate host in the B. damnificus life cycle. Bolbophorus damnificus ova were collected from an American white pelican Pelecanus erythrorhynchos that …


Experimental Bolbophorus Damnificus (Digenea: Bolbophoridae) Infections In Piscivorous Birds, Cynthia M. Doffitt, Linda M. Pote, D. Tommy King Jan 2009

Experimental Bolbophorus Damnificus (Digenea: Bolbophoridae) Infections In Piscivorous Birds, Cynthia M. Doffitt, Linda M. Pote, D. Tommy King

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In order to determine potential definitive hosts of the digenetic trematode, Bolbophorus damnificus, two American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos), two Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus), two Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias), and two Great Egrets (Ardea alba) were captured, treated with praziquantel, and fed channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) infected with B. damnificus metacercariae. Patent infections of B. damnificus, which developed in both American White Pelicans at 3 days post-infection, were confirmed by the presence of trematode ova in the feces. Mature B. damnificus trematodes were recovered from the intestines …


Field Test Of A Single-Injection Gonadotrophin-Releasing Hormone Immunocontraceptive Vaccine In Female White-Tailed Deer, James P. Gionfriddo, John D. Eisemann, Kevin J. Sullivan, Ronald S. Healey, Lowell A. Miller, Kathleen A. Fagerstone, Richard M. Engeman, Christi A. Yoder Jan 2009

Field Test Of A Single-Injection Gonadotrophin-Releasing Hormone Immunocontraceptive Vaccine In Female White-Tailed Deer, James P. Gionfriddo, John D. Eisemann, Kevin J. Sullivan, Ronald S. Healey, Lowell A. Miller, Kathleen A. Fagerstone, Richard M. Engeman, Christi A. Yoder

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The development and use of safe, effective and practical wildlife contraceptive agents could reduce reproduction in locally overabundant deer populations in situations where traditional management tools such as regulated hunting cannot be employed. GonaCon Immunocontraceptive Vaccine (the commercial name for a particular gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH)-based emulsion) was tested in adult female white-tailed deer in a fenced herd near Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. Observations of udder condition were used to identify does that had become pregnant. Necropsy observations, histopathology and serum concentrations of anti-GnRH antibodies, luteinising hormone and progesterone were used to compare health and reproductive status of treated (n = …


Sunflower Treated With Avipel (Anthraquinone) Bird Repellent, Hans Kandel, Burton Johnson, Chad Deplazes, George M. Linz, Michele Santer Jan 2009

Sunflower Treated With Avipel (Anthraquinone) Bird Repellent, Hans Kandel, Burton Johnson, Chad Deplazes, George M. Linz, Michele Santer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Maturing sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is susceptible to damage by birds, especially blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus and Quiscalus quiscula). The National Sunflower Association (NSA) identified Blackbird damage as a major issue in the production of sunflower throughout the US. In 2007 bird damage was identified as the number one yield limiting factor in 9% of surveyed fields in North Dakota (Graph 1).


Evaluation Of Attractants To Improve Trapping Success Of Nutria On Louisiana Coastal Marsh, Susan Jojola, Gary W. Witmer, Patrick Burke Jan 2009

Evaluation Of Attractants To Improve Trapping Success Of Nutria On Louisiana Coastal Marsh, Susan Jojola, Gary W. Witmer, Patrick Burke

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Nutria (Myocastor coypus) are an important part of the Louisiana (USA) fur industry, but high densities of nutria cause extensive damage to coastal marsh ecosystems. Hence, there is a need to develop improved methods for targeted management of nutria. We screened 14 olfactory cues as potential lures for nutria, first in controlled settings and then in the field, to see if nutria capture rates using foothold traps would increase. In Y-maze trials, nutria most frequently selected olfactory cues of a synthetic formulation of nutria anal-gland secretion and nutria fur extract. We examined the 3 most selected attractants in …


Experimental Inoculation Of Coyotes With Mycobacterium Bovis Susceptibility And Shedding, Shylo R. Johnson, Mike R. Dunbar, Lorene Martinez, Robert L. Jones, Richard Bowen, Paul Gordy Jan 2009

Experimental Inoculation Of Coyotes With Mycobacterium Bovis Susceptibility And Shedding, Shylo R. Johnson, Mike R. Dunbar, Lorene Martinez, Robert L. Jones, Richard Bowen, Paul Gordy

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Several wildlife species have tested positive for bovine tuberculosis in Michigan and may potentially transmit the disease to other animals. Coyotes have the highest known prevalence in the endemic area and thus, our objective was to investigate the shedding of Mycobacterium bovis by coyotes. Four coyotes were orally inoculated with 1 ml of 1 x 105 CFU/ml of M. bovis. Oral and nasal swabs, and feces were collected regularly and tested by culture. Fecal samples were also tested by exposing guinea pigs to the coyotes' feces. All animals were necropsied to determine if infection occurred. All swabs, feces …


Sperm Competition Selects Beyond Relative Testes Size In Birds, Stefan Lupold, George M. Linz, James W. Rivers, David F. Westneat, Tim R. Birkhead Jan 2009

Sperm Competition Selects Beyond Relative Testes Size In Birds, Stefan Lupold, George M. Linz, James W. Rivers, David F. Westneat, Tim R. Birkhead

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Sperm morphology varies considerably across taxa, and postcopulatory sexual selection is thought to be one of the main forces responsible for this diversity. Several studies have investigated the effects of the variation in sperm design on sperm function, but the consequences of variation in sperm design on testis morphology have been overlooked. Testes size or architecture may determine the size of the sperm they produce, and selection for longer sperm may require concomitant adaptations in the testes. Relative testes size differs greatly between species and is often used as an index of sperm competition, but little is known about whether …


Sperm Design And Variation In The New World Blackbirds (Icteridae), Stefan Lüpold, George M. Linz, Tim R. Birkhead Jan 2009

Sperm Design And Variation In The New World Blackbirds (Icteridae), Stefan Lüpold, George M. Linz, Tim R. Birkhead

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Post-copulatory sexual selection (PCSS) is thought to be one of the evolutionary forces responsible for the rapid and divergent evolution of sperm design. However, whereas in some taxa particular sperm traits are positively associated with PCSS, in other taxa, these relationships are negative, and the causes of these different patterns across taxa are poorly understood. In a comparative study using New World blackbirds (Icteridae), we tested whether sperm design was influenced by the level of PCSS and found significant positive associations with the level of PCSS for all sperm components but head length. Additionally, whereas the absolute length of sperm …


White-Tailed Deer Herbivory And Timber Harvesting Rates: Implications For Regeneration Success, Brad F. Miller, Tyler A. Campbell, Benjamin R. Laseter, W. Mark Ford, Karl V. Miller Jan 2009

White-Tailed Deer Herbivory And Timber Harvesting Rates: Implications For Regeneration Success, Brad F. Miller, Tyler A. Campbell, Benjamin R. Laseter, W. Mark Ford, Karl V. Miller

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Herbivory by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) can affect forest regeneration. Typical measures to ensure forest regeneration have included physical barriers or direct manipulation of deer densities. However, altering silvicultural practices to provide abundant deer forage has not been tested thoroughly. We examined browse species preferences and changes in herbivory rates in 1–6 year old regeneration areas from 2001 to 2004 in the central Appalachians on the MeadWestvaco Wildlife and Ecosystem Research Forest in West Virginia. Woody vegetation reached the maximum plot coverage by the 4th growing season. However, the establishment of less abundant woody species, such as northern …


Declining Mortality In American Crow (Corvus Brachyrhynchos) Following Natural West Nile Virus Infection, Lisa M. Reed, Michael A. Johansson, Nicholas Panella, Robert Mclean, Terry Creekmore, Rose Puelle, Nicholas Komar Jan 2009

Declining Mortality In American Crow (Corvus Brachyrhynchos) Following Natural West Nile Virus Infection, Lisa M. Reed, Michael A. Johansson, Nicholas Panella, Robert Mclean, Terry Creekmore, Rose Puelle, Nicholas Komar

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) is known to suffer 100% mortality from infection with the New York 1999 strain of West Nile virus (WNV). Following the initial detection of WNV in North America in 1999, we measured prevalence of WNV-reactive antibodies (‘‘seroprevalence”) in free-ranging American and fish crows (Corvus ossifragus) of central New Jersey after each transmission season through 2005. In 2002, seroprevalence in American crow juveniles increased to 14% from the 5% of the previous year, potentially indicating increased survival in this species. Using the annual seroprevalence measurements and the number of human West Nile …


Invasive Litter, Not An Invasive Insectivore, Determines Invertebrate Communities In Hawaiian Forests, Nathania C. Tuttle, Karen H. Beard, William C. Pitt Jan 2009

Invasive Litter, Not An Invasive Insectivore, Determines Invertebrate Communities In Hawaiian Forests, Nathania C. Tuttle, Karen H. Beard, William C. Pitt

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In Hawaii, invasive plants have the ability to alter litter-based food chains because they often have litter traits that differ from native species. Additionally, abundant invasive predators, especially those representing new trophic levels, can reduce prey. The relative importance of these two processes on the litter invertebrate community in Hawaii is important, because they could affect the large number of endemic and endangered invertebrates. We determined the relative importance of litter resources, represented by leaf litter of two trees, an invasive nitrogen-fixer, Falcataria moluccana, and a native tree, Metrosideros polymorpha, and predation of an invasive terrestrial frog, Eleutherodactylus …


Feasibility Of Infectious Prion Digestion Using Mild Conditions And Commercial Subtilisin, John L. Pilona, Paul B. Nash, Terry Arver, Don Hoglund, Kurt C. Vercauteren Jan 2009

Feasibility Of Infectious Prion Digestion Using Mild Conditions And Commercial Subtilisin, John L. Pilona, Paul B. Nash, Terry Arver, Don Hoglund, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Two serine protease enzymes, subtilisin 309 and subtilisin 309-v,were used to digest brain homogenates containing high levels of prion infectivity using mildly alkaline conditions to investigate prion decontamination methods. To establish that PrPres infectivity was eliminated, we utilized the Rocky Mountain Laboratory (RML) mouse-adapted scrapie model system for bioassay. Only one digestion condition (subtilisin 309 at 138mAU/ml, 55 ◦C and 14 h digestion time pH 7.9) was considered to be highly relevant statistically (P < 0.001) compared to control, with 52% of challenged mice surviving until the end of the study period. In contrast, treatment of PrPres by autoclaving at 134 ◦C or treatment with hypochlorite at a concentration of 20,000ppm completely protected mice from prionosis. Further, in vitro assays suggest …


Eight Polymorphic Microsatellite Loci Developed And Characterized From Townsend’S Big-Eared Bat, Corynorhinus Townsendii, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Katie Erin G. Miller, Marjorie D. Matocq, Susan L. Perkins Jan 2009

Eight Polymorphic Microsatellite Loci Developed And Characterized From Townsend’S Big-Eared Bat, Corynorhinus Townsendii, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Katie Erin G. Miller, Marjorie D. Matocq, Susan L. Perkins

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Two of the five subspecies of the western big-eared bat, Corynorhinus townsendii, are listed as federally endangered with the remaining three being of conservation concern. Knowing the degree of connectivity among populations would aid in the establishment of sound conservation and management plans for this taxon. For this purpose, we have developed and characterized eight polymorphic microsatellite markers.


Intraspecific Comparison Of Population Structure, Genetic Diversity, And Dispersal Among Three Subspecies Of Townsend’S Big-Eared Bats, Corynorhinus Townsendii Townsendii, C. T. Pallescens, And The Endangered C. T. Birginianus, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Kirk W. Navo, Craig W. Stihler Jan 2009

Intraspecific Comparison Of Population Structure, Genetic Diversity, And Dispersal Among Three Subspecies Of Townsend’S Big-Eared Bats, Corynorhinus Townsendii Townsendii, C. T. Pallescens, And The Endangered C. T. Birginianus, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Kirk W. Navo, Craig W. Stihler

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Townsend’s big-eared bat, Corynorhinus townsendii, is distributed broadly across western North America and in two isolated, endangered populations in central and eastern United States. There are five subspecies of C. townsendii; C. t. pallescens, C. t. australis, C. t. townsendii, C. t. ingens, and C. t. virginianus with varying degrees of concern over the conservation status of each. The aim of this study was to use mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA data to examine genetic diversity, population differentiation, and dispersal of three C. townsendii subspecies. C. t. virginianus is found in isolated populations in the eastern United States and …


Experimental Infection Of Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon Pyrrhonota) With Varying Doses Of West Nile Virus, Paul T. Oesterle, Nicole M. Nemeth, Kaci K. Vandalen, Heather Sullivan, Kevin T. Bentler, Ginger R. Young, Robert G. Mclean, Larry Clark, Cynthia Smeraski, Jeffrey S. Hall Jan 2009

Experimental Infection Of Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon Pyrrhonota) With Varying Doses Of West Nile Virus, Paul T. Oesterle, Nicole M. Nemeth, Kaci K. Vandalen, Heather Sullivan, Kevin T. Bentler, Ginger R. Young, Robert G. Mclean, Larry Clark, Cynthia Smeraski, Jeffrey S. Hall

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) were inoculated with differing doses of West Nile virus (WNV) to evaluate their potential role as reservoir hosts in nature. Swallows often nest in large colonies in habitats and months associated with high mosquito abundance and early WNV transmission in North America. Additionally, cliff swallow diet consists of insects, including mosquitoes, leading to an additional potential route of WNV infection. The average peak viremia titer among infected cliff swallows was 106.3 plaque-forming units (PFU)/mL serum and the reservoir competence index was 0.34. There was no correlation between dose and probability of becoming infected …


Tuning On-Air Signatures For Balancing Performance And Confidentiality, Baihua Zheng, Wang-Chien Lee, Peng Liu, Dik Lun Lee, Xuhua Ding Jan 2009

Tuning On-Air Signatures For Balancing Performance And Confidentiality, Baihua Zheng, Wang-Chien Lee, Peng Liu, Dik Lun Lee, Xuhua Ding

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we investigate the trade off between performance and confidentiality in signature-based air indexing schemes for wireless data broadcast. Two metrics, namely, false drop probability and false guess probability, are defined to quantify the filtering efficiency and confidentiality loss of a signature scheme. Our analysis reveals that false drop probability and false guess probability share a similar trend as the tuning parameters of a signature scheme change and it is impossible to achieve a low false drop probability and a high false guess probability simultaneously. In order to balance the performance and confidentiality, we perform an analysis to …


Quc-Tree: Integrating Query Context Information For Efficient Music Retrieval, Jialie Shen, Dacheng Tao, Xuelong Li Jan 2009

Quc-Tree: Integrating Query Context Information For Efficient Music Retrieval, Jialie Shen, Dacheng Tao, Xuelong Li

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we introduce a novel indexing scheme-query context tree (QUC-tree) to facilitate efficient query sensitive music search under different query contexts. Distinguished from the previous approaches, QUC-tree is a balanced multiway tree structure, where each level represents the data space at different dimensionality. Before the tree structure construction, principle component analysis (PCA) is applied for data analysis and transforming the raw composite features into a new feature space sorted by the importance of acoustic features. The PCA transformed data and reduced dimensions in the upper levels can alleviate suffering from dimensionality curse. To accurately mimic human perception, an …


Dynamic Web Service Selection For Reliable Web Service Composition, San-Yih Hwang, Ee Peng Lim, Chien-Hsiang Lee, Cheng-Hung Chen Jan 2009

Dynamic Web Service Selection For Reliable Web Service Composition, San-Yih Hwang, Ee Peng Lim, Chien-Hsiang Lee, Cheng-Hung Chen

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper studies the dynamic web service selection problem in a failure-prone environment, which aims to determine a subset of Web services to be invoked at run-time so as to successfully orchestrate a composite web service. We observe that both the composite and constituent web services often constrain the sequences of invoking their operations and therefore propose to use finite state machine to model the permitted invocation sequences of Web service operations. We assign each state of execution an aggregated reliability to measure the probability that the given state will lead to successful execution in the context where each web …


Integrated Resource Allocation And Scheduling In Bidirectional Flow Shop With Multi-Machine And Cos Constraints, Hoong Chuin Lau, Zhengyi Zhao, Shuzhi Sam Ge Jan 2009

Integrated Resource Allocation And Scheduling In Bidirectional Flow Shop With Multi-Machine And Cos Constraints, Hoong Chuin Lau, Zhengyi Zhao, Shuzhi Sam Ge

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

An integer programming (IP) model is proposed for integrated resource allocation and operation scheduling for a multiple job-agents system. Each agent handles a specific job-list in a bidirectional flowshop. For the individual agent scheduling problem, a formulation is proposed in continuous time domain and compared with an IP formulation in discrete time domain. Of particular interest is the formulation of the machine utilization function-- both in continuous time and discrete time. Fast heuristic methods are proposed with the relaxation of the machine capacity. For the integrated resource allocation and scheduling problem, a linear programming relaxation approach is applied to solve …


Multiuser Private Queries Over Encrypted Databases, Yanjiang Yang, Feng Bao, Xuhua Ding, Robert H. Deng Jan 2009

Multiuser Private Queries Over Encrypted Databases, Yanjiang Yang, Feng Bao, Xuhua Ding, Robert H. Deng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Searchable encryption schemes allow users to perform keyword-based searches on an encrypted database. Almost all existing such schemes only consider the scenario where a single user acts as both the data owner and the querier. However, most databases in practice do not just serve one user; instead, they support search and write operations by multiple users. In this paper, we systematically study searchable encryption in a practical multiuser setting. Our results include a set of security notions for multiuser searchable encryption as well as a construction which is provably secure under the newly introduced security notions. We also discuss how …


The Price Of Stability In Selfish Scheduling Games, Lucas Agussurja, Hoong Chuin Lau Jan 2009

The Price Of Stability In Selfish Scheduling Games, Lucas Agussurja, Hoong Chuin Lau

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Game theory has gained popularity as an approach to analysing and understanding distributed systems with self-interested agents. Central to game theory is the concept of Nash equilibrium as a stable state (solution) of the system, which comes with a price − the loss in efficiency. The quantification of the efficiency loss is one of the main research concerns. In this paper, we study the quality and computational characteristics of the best Nash equilibrium in two selfish scheduling models: the congestion model and the sequencing model. In particular, we present the following results: (1) In the congestion model: first, the best …


When Is It Beneficial For A Firm To Pursue A Unified Procurement Strategy For Enterprise Software Solutions?, Robert J. Kauffman, Juliana Y. Tsai Jan 2009

When Is It Beneficial For A Firm To Pursue A Unified Procurement Strategy For Enterprise Software Solutions?, Robert J. Kauffman, Juliana Y. Tsai

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The underlying structure of the enterprise software marketplace during the past ten years suggests that the arrangements that firms make with respect to the acquisition of such software capabilities will become increasingly concentrated. This article explores the multiple theoretical rationales and business cases for the move to a unified procurement strategy for enterprise software, reflecting some differences in terms of what might be expected from the predictions of the well known move-to-the-middle hypothesis. Our central argument is that a "move-to-the-middle" with more than just a single vendor is the likely outcome in unconsolidated industry markets. In industries experiencing consolidation, firms …