Computer Sciences Commons^™

Executing Multidatabase Transactions, Mansoor Ansari, Marek Rusinkiewicz, Linda Ness, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

In a multidatabase environment, the traditional transaction model has been found to be too restrictive. Therefore, several extended transaction models have been proposed in which some of the requirements of transaction, such as isolation or atomicity, are optional. The authors describe one of such extensions, the flexible transaction model and discuss the scheduling of transactions involving multiple autonomous database systems managed by heterogeneous DBMS.

The scheduling algorithm for flexible transactions is implemented using L.0, a logically parallel language which provides a framework for concisely specifying the multidatabase transactions and for scheduling them. The key aspects of a flexible transaction specification, …

Structured Hypermedia Application Development Model (Shadm): A Structured Model For Technical Documentation Application Design, Peter W. Cassell

Theses and Dissertations

This research was conducted to determine how a Royal Australian Air Force technical maintenance publication could be transformed into a task oriented hypermedia application and to develop a model that could be used for future similar transformations. The model was developed following in-depth analysis of the existing USAF F-15E maintenance publication set and validation was conducted using a prototype developed in HyperWriter, a commercial hypermedia product. The prototype model was based around the performance of three maintenance tasks on an aircraft sub-subsystem and incorporated online user access to the necessary support data for task completion. Publication managers, producers, and users …

Binary Programming Models Of Spatial Pattern Recognition: Applications In Remote Sensing Image Analysis, Thomas G. Reed

Theses and Dissertations

The major purpose of this investigation was to implement subregion allocation objectives using a network model base on an existing subregion allocation binary programming model (Benabdallah and Wright (B&W), 1990), the ultimate goal being the application of subregion allocation concepts towards the spatial analysis of satellite imagery. The multi-objective aspects of subregion allocation can be accomplished via a network formulation, a formulation vastly simpler in complexity than the binary programming models previously used. Without a network programming package that could maintain integral flows, however, deriving the solution was a tiresome task for the user. Nonetheless, several new concepts and advantages …

Specifying Interdatabase Dependencies In A Multidatabase Environment, Marek Rusinkiewicz, Amit P. Sheth, George Karabatis

Kno.e.sis Publications

The problem of interdatabase dependencies and the effect they have on applications updating interdependent data are addressed. A model that allows specifications of constraints among multiple databases in a declarative fashion is proposed. The separation of the constraints from the application programs facilitates the maintenance of data constraints and allows flexibility in their implementation. It allows investigation of various mechanisms for enforcing the constraints, independently of the application programs. By grouping the constraints together, it is possible to check their completeness and discover possible contradictions among them. The concepts of polytransactions, which use interdatabase dependencies to generate a series of …

On The Relationship Between Parsimonious Covering And Boolean Minimization, Venu Dasigi, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan

Kno.e.sis Publications

Minimization of Boolean switching functions is a basic problem in the design of logic circuits. The designer first comes up with a switching function expressed in terms of several binary input variables that satisfies the desired functionality, and then attempts to minimize the function as a sum of products or product of sums. It turns out that a sum of products form of a switching function that has no redundancy is a union of prime implicants of the function.

In this paper we would like to explicate some of the relationships of the boolean minimization problem to a formalization of …

The Architecture Of Braid: A System For Bridging Al/Db Systems, Amit P. Sheth, Anthony B. O'Hare

Kno.e.sis Publications

We describe the design of BrAID (a Bridge between Artificial Intelligence and Database Management Systems), an experimental system for the efficient integration of logic based Artificial Intelligence (Al) and database (DB) technologies. Features provided by BrAID include (a) access to conventional DBMSs, (b) support for multiple inferencing strategies, (c) a powerful caching subsystem that manages views and employs subsumption to facilitate the reuse of previously cached data, (d) lazy or eager evaluation of queries submitted by the AI system, and (e) the generation of advice by the AI system to aid in cache management and query execution planning. To discuss …

Ua66/3/2 Computer Science Alumni Newsletter, Vol. 6, Wku Computer Science

WKU Administration Documents

Newsletter created by WKU Computer Science for alumni of the program.

On Serializability Of Multidatabase Transactions Through Forced Local Conflict, Dimitrios Georgakopoulos, Marek Rusinkiewicz, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

The main difficulty in enforcing global serializability in a multidatabase environment lies in resolving indirect transitive conflicts between multidatabase transactions. Indirect conflicts introduced by local transactions are difficult to resolve because the behavior or even the existence of local transactions is not known to the multidatabase system. To overcome these problems, we propose to incorporate additional data manipulation operations in the subtransactions of each multidatabase transaction. We show that if these operations create direct conflicts between subtransactions at each participating local database system, indirect conflicts can be resolved even if the multidatabase system is not aware of their existence. Based …

Computer Use In The Scientific Office, Douglas L. Miller

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Over the past two decades computers in research and development organizations have become a complex and integral part of the work process. Yet to date only a handful of systematic investigations have addressed issues involving scientists' or other professionals' use of computers, and very little is known about factors influencing use (Bikson and Gutek, 1983; Blacker and Brown, 1986; Collopy, 1988; Gasser, 1986; Helander, 1985; Nickolson, 1985; Pope, 1985). As a result, this research was designed to address four objectives. The first was to develop and evaluate a descriptive model of variables influencing scientists' computer use. The second objective was …

A Computer Simulation Of Braitenberg Vehicles, Eric B. Werkowitz

Theses and Dissertations

In his treatise, Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology, Valentino Braitenberg used simple, autonomous vehicle designs to illustrate the principles behind animal nervous system organization and operation. The goal of this effort was to produce a computer program to allow a researcher to experiment with these concepts and to analyze their performance using methods employed by experimental psychologists. The resulting program allows the user to design vehicles that respond to changes in their environments and that have the ability to adapt their behavior, using a learning algorithm developed by Teuvo Kohonen. The vehicle designer is free to select sensor attributes, …

Graduate Bulletin, 1991-1993, Moorhead State University

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Management Of Interdependent Data: Specifying Dependency And Consistency Requirements, Amit P. Sheth, Marek Rusinkiewicz

Kno.e.sis Publications

Multiple databases that serve the needs of various application systems are considered. One of the significant problems in managing these databases is to maintain the related data items consistent to the required degree. This problem is frequently referred to as `redundant data management'. Since the term `redundancy' tends to imply that the data is unwanted or superfluous, the authors use the more general term `management of interdependent data'. Some preliminary ideas in this area are discussed. The problem of managing interdependent data is characterized, and some important types of interdatabase dependency are identified.

Visual Speech Training Aid For The Deaf, Subhashri Venkat

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A computer-based vowel articulation training aid has been developed. A "continuous" acoustic-phonetic transformation is performed to map speech parameters to a lower dimensionality display space. There are two possible approaches to this transformation problem. The transformation could be either linear or a combination nonlinear/linear. The nonlinear transformation is performed using a multi-layered feedforward neural network with linear output layers. Speech parameters are extracted either from an analog filter bank arrangement (band energies) or by a digital signal processing procedure (Discrete Cosine Transform Coefficients). The speech parameters obtained from both methods correspond to the spectral envelope of the speech signals. The …

Ua66/3/3 Journal Of The A. C. M., Wku Association For Computing Machinery

Student Organizations

Journal created by and about the WKU Association for Computing Machinery a student organization sponsored by WKU Computer Science.

Attribute Relationships: An Impediment In Automating Schema Integration, Amit P. Sheth, Sunit K. Gala

Kno.e.sis Publications

Success in schema integration depends on understanding the semantics of schema components (e.g., entity sets, relationship sets, attributes), and the ability to capture and reason about these semantics. An important objective of our work on schema integration is to automate the reasoning as much as possible, and when not possible, depend on the human input and guidance. A key results of comparing the semantics associated with schema objects is that of determining attribute relationship. Once attribute relationships are determined, the task of object class(e.g., entity sets and relationship sets) integration becomes simpler and can e automated to a great extent. …

Data Base Design For Research In Comparative Zapotec, Anita C. Bickford

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the nature and content of a comparative data base for the Zapotec languages of Mexico that may be produced. Many questions are discussed: how to sub-divide and list the Zapotec languages and dialects; what data format will be most accessible to researchers as well as to field workers with data to add; computer software considerations (designing computational tools); how to handle non-cognates with shared meanings, non-overlap of glosses (i.e., one Zapotec gloss covers several Spanish words, or vice versa), semantic shifts and secondary meanings, and other problems such as special characters, free variation, elisions, etc.; whether to …

Ua66/3/2 Computer Science Alumni Newsletter, Vol. 5, Wku Computer Science

WKU Administration Documents

Newsletter created by WKU Computer Science for the alumni of the program.

Fault Tolerance In A Very Large Database System: A Strawman Analysis, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

A simple model is used to study the effect of fault-tolerance techniques and system design on system availability. A generic multiprocessor architecture is used that can be configured in different ways to study the effect of system architectures. Important parameters studied are different system architectures and hardware fault-tolerance techniques, mean time to failure of basic components, database size and distribution, interconnect capacity, etc. Quantitative analysis compares the relative effect of different parameter values. Results show that the effect of different parameter values on system availability can be very significant. System architecture, use of hardware fault tolerance (particularly mirroring), and data …

The Development Of A Personalized Computer Assisted School Psychology (Casp) System, Patricia Lou Steinert

Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to develop a model computer system to assist school psychologists in managing and manipulating data accumulated in the course of accomplishing their professional responsibilities. School psychologists have traditionally generated large amounts of data, but rarely have they looked across these data to obtain information and/or feedback about their own functioning relative to their professional role. The system described is intended as a model from which an individual psychologist might construct a system to meet individual needs. Data across students were accumulated in four broad areas: (1) personal effectiveness/accountability, (2) diagnosis, (3) local test norms, …

A Tool For Integrating Conceptual Schemas And User Views, Amit P. Sheth, James A. Larson, Aloysius Cornelio, Shamkant B. Navathe

Kno.e.sis Publications

An interactive tool has been developed to assist database designers and administrators (DDA) in integrating schemas. It collects the information required for integration from a DDA, performs essential bookkeeping, and integrates schemas according to the semantics provided. The authors present the capabilities of this tool by discussing the integration methodology and the user interface of the tool.

Ua35/11 Student Honors Research Bulletin, Wku Honors Program

WKU Administration Documents

The WKU Student Honors Research Bulletin is dedicated to scholarly involvement and student research. These papers are representative of work done by students from throughout the university.

• Bachert, Sara. Rational Portrayal of the Irrationational in The Pit and the Pendulum
• Bell, Suzanne. Early Secret Involvement of the United States Military in Cambodia
• Brock, Beth. The Informal Caregiving System: The Frail Elderlys' Avenue of Choice
• Daniel, Janice. Child Sexual Abuse
• Johnson, Linda. International Telecommunications Trade with Japan
• Jones, LaMont. Ernie Pyle: Journalist Without Peer
• Kesserling, Marcia. Attitudes Toward the Need for Computer Literacy
• Lewis, Gloria. John Donne's Attitude Toward Love
• Majdi, …

Ua35/11 Wku Student Honors Research Bulletin, Wku University Honors Program

WKU Administration Documents

The Western Kentucky University Student Honors Research Bulletin is dedicated to scholarly involvement and student research. These papers represent work done by students from throughout the university.

• Kesselring, Marcia. Attitudes Toward the Need for Computer Literacy
• Tuck, Janna & Karen Wiggins. Methylation and Confirmation of PGE
• Lewis, Gloria. John Donne's Attitude Toward Love
• Johnson, Linda. International Telecommunications Trade with Japan
• Sharpe, Greg. Precipitation Patterns in Bowling Green, Kentucky, 1980-1985
• Smith, Sandy. Religion and the Media: Alliance or War?
• Bell, Suzanne. Early Secret Involvement of the United States Military in Cambodia
• Scariot, Linda. Parental Divorce and Childhood Emotional Disturbances
• Daniel, Janice. …

Nova University Doctor Of Education In Computer Education [1987], Nova University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.

Do We Really Know What Makes Educational Software Effective? A Call For Empirical Research On Effectiveness, Karen Jolicoeur, Dale E. Berger

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Empirical information on specific factors that make educational software effective in reaching instructional objectives would be of considerable value. The authors describe the current state of evaluation research with educational software and discuss how popular software review methods fall short of meeting our need to know how well specific programs work.

Wind Streamline Ambiguity Removal Of Microwave Scatterometer Data, Hans W. Zaepfel

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

There is a class of satellite microwave scatterometers that return oceanographic information which includes wind vectors with directional ambiguity. The first part of the ambiguity removal process is to reduce the data to a directional ambiguity of 180°. This thesis shows that wind direction change contains the information required for streamline ambiguity removal and that syntactic pattern recognition techniques can be used to locate the areas of wind direction change. Spreading the information along the areas of wind direction change results in the removal of the streamline ambiguity. The algorithm is implemented and the results are presented showing that it …

Ua35/11 Student Honors Research Bulletin, Wku Honors Program

WKU Administration Documents

The WKU Student Honors Research Bulletin is dedicated to scholarly involvement and student research. These papers are representative of work done by students from throughout the university.

• Padilla, Anne. First and Second Language Acquisition: A Comparison
• Scott, Angela. Salted and Unsalted Snacks: Taste Preferences of Second Grade Students in a Rural Area School
• Fuqua, Nancy. Acceptance by High School Students of Muffins Containing Supplemental Soy Polysaccharides
• Mans, Glee. Preference Levels of High School Freshmen for Four Cheese Food Products
• Denney, Pam. Consumer Acceptance of UHT Choclate Lowfat Milk
• Harris, Carla. Jacques-Louis David: Raphael of the Sansculottes
• Vaughn, James. Corporate Reorganization …

The Assessment Of Software Usability [Abstract], David W. Biers, Samuel M. Bower, Frank J. Dapolito, Donald J. Polzella

Psychology Faculty Publications

The University of Dayton has been exploring the feasibility of establishing a software usability testing laboratory. Usability refers to the ease-of-use of a system, and usability testing is performed to ensure that systems meet the criteria established to determine ease of use. Usability assessment involves both the measurement of user performance and user satisfaction.

Tutorials For Software : A Comparison Of The Appleworks Software Tutorial With Pre-Entered Data And An Experimental Tutorial With User Entered Data, Toni L. Steil

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The attention directed toward computer software research has been sparse which is quite evident in particular facets such as learning methods, specifically towards tutorials. Some authors have identified various important issues which include cognitive factors, reduction of presentation of superfluous information, and the importance of interaction with software and hardware. The present . study examined two tutorials which were similar except in their level of required user behaviors. Tutorial A required only user manipulation of disk stored data. Tutorial B required the user to enter the data into the computer, design the screen format, and then to manipulate it. It …

Ua35/11 Student Honors Research Bulletin, Wku Honors Program

WKU Administration Documents

The WKU Student Honors Research Bulletin is dedicated to scholarly involvement and student research. These papers are representative of work done by students from throughout the university.

• Whicker, Garth. Agriculture and the Development of Malaysia
• McGaha. Rape, Passion, Lechery, Usury, Incest, Murder and other Matters in The Ravenger's Tragedy
• Harrison, Robert. It was a Day of Very General Awakening . . : Reformation and Revival in Russellville, Kentucky
• King, Betty. An Affirmative Decision for James's Isabel Archer
• Sutton, Joyce. Sex Bias in Performance of Women
• Logsdon, Doug. Poe's Women
• Yoder, Nate. Emily Dickinson and Her Puritan Heritage
• Davis, Aleen. Jay …

Graduate Bulletin, 1985-1987 (1985), Moorhead State University

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.