Computer Sciences Commons^™

Motionauth: Motion-Based Authentication For Wrist Worn Smart Devices, Junshuang Yang

Theses and Dissertations

Wrist worn smart devices are increasingly popular. As those devices collect sensitive personal information and often work as a companion component of smart phones, thus being treated trustworthy, appropriate user authentication mechanisms are necessary to prevent illegitimate access to those devices. However, the small form and function-based usage of wearable devices also pose a big challenge to authentication, which should be user friendly and unobtrusive. We propose MotionAuth, a behavioral biometric based authentication method, which collects user’s behavioral biometrics through a wrist worn smart device for building a user’s profile, and applies the profile in user validation. We implement MotionAuth …

Interactive Machine Assistance: A Case Study In Linking Corpora And Dictionaries, Kevin P. Black

Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning can provide assistance to humans in making decisions, including linguistic decisions such as determining the part of speech of a word. Supervised machine learning methods derive patterns indicative of possible labels (decisions) from annotated example data. For many problems, including most language analysis problems, acquiring annotated data requires human annotators who are trained to understand the problem and to disambiguate among multiple possible labels. Hence, the availability of experts can limit the scope and quantity of annotated data. Machine-learned pre-annotation assistance, which suggests probable labels for unannotated items, can enable expert annotators to work more quickly and thus …

Building 3d-Printed Widgets To Incorporate Into Prototypes, David E. Brandt

Theses and Dissertations

Creating interactive prototypes can be a long and difficult process. It requires expertise in various fields. Prior work in developing interactive prototypes minimize time required to make a prototype, but generally sacrifice fidelity for fluidity. Advances in 3D printing create new opportunities to prototype with greater fidelity and fluidity. We investigate the use of several kinds of sensors, including IR photo interrupters, IR photo reflectors, push button switches, and potentiometers, to create interactive prototypes. We first design a library of 3D printable interaction components, buttons, sliders, and knobs using those sensors then we develop software to transform interaction events into …

Cvic: Cluster Validation Using Instance-Based Confidences, Dean M. Lebaron

Theses and Dissertations

As unlabeled data becomes increasingly available, the need for robust data mining techniques increases as well. Clustering is a common data mining tool which seeks to find related, independent patterns in data called clusters. The cluster validation problem addresses the question of how well a given clustering fits the data set. We present CVIC (cluster validation using instance-based confidences) which assigns confidence scores to each individual instance, as opposed to more traditional methods which focus on the clusters themselves. CVIC trains supervised learners to recreate the clustering, and instances are scored based on output from the learners which corresponds to …

Data Selection Using Topic Adaptation For Statistical Machine Translation, Hitokazu Matsushita

Theses and Dissertations

Statistical machine translation (SMT) requires large quantities of bitexts (i.e., bilingual parallel corpora) as training data to yield good quality translations. While obtaining a large amount of training data is critical, the similarity between training and test data also has a significant impact on SMT performance. Many SMT studies define data similarity in terms of domain-overlap, and domains are defined to be synonymous with data sources. Consequently, the SMT community has focused on domain adaptation techniques that augment small (in-domain) datasets with large datasets from other sources (hence, out-of-domain, per the definition). However, many training datasets consist of topically diverse …

Menaxhimi I Patundshmërive (Ueb Aplikacion), Liridon Vrapca

Theses and Dissertations

Shumë studentë vijnë nga qytete të ndryshme të vendit këtu në Prishtinë për të studiuar, dhe shumë herë kanë hasur në problemin e gjetjes së një apartamenti dhe vendi adekuat ku do të vendosen gjatë viteve të studimeve. Duke parë që kemi mungesë të zgjidhjes së këtij problemi në tregun tonë, kompanitë që ofrojnë sot ueb aplikacione në këtë drejtim nuk kanë zgjidhje adekuate dhe nuk janë të përshtatshme, duke parë që këto ueb aplikacione nuk posedojnë përkrahje në menaxhim të pronave dhe përdoruesve të agjensioneve të patundshmërive ku këtu shfrytëzohen ueb aplikacionet duke regjistruar pronat nga përdorues vetëm për …

Adaptive Automation Design And Implementation, Jason M. Bindewald

Theses and Dissertations

Automations allow us to reduce the need for humans in certain environments, such as auto-pilot features on unmanned aerial vehicles. However, some situations still require human intervention. Adaptive automation is a research field that enables computer systems to adjust the amount of automation by taking over tasks from or giving tasks back to the user. This research develops processes and insights for adaptive automation designers to take theoretical adaptive automation ideas and develop them into real-world adaptive automation system. These allow developers to design better automation systems that recognize the limits of computers systems, enabling better designs for systems in …

A System-Level Throughput Model For Quantum Key Distribution, Robert C. Cernera

Theses and Dissertations

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is an innovative technology which exploits the laws of quantum mechanics to generate and distribute shared secret keying material. QKD systems generate and distribute key by progressing through a number of distinct phases, typically in a serial manner. The purpose of this research is to identify these phases, their relationships to each other, as well as their relationship to time, memory space, computational requirements, and hardware resources. A mathematical model is developed which enables the study of critical system parameters, identifies and demonstrates potential bottlenecks that affect the overall key generation rate of serial implementations, and …

An Analysis Of Conus Based Deployment Of Pseudolites For Positioning, Navigation And Timing (Pnt) Systems, Justin H. Deifel, Albert J. Pena

Theses and Dissertations

The Global Positioning System (GPS) developed and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) provides a way for users to determine position, navigation and timing (PNT). GPS provides an extraordinary capability that has become instrumental in all aspects of our day to day lives. As new technologies such as automated vehicles and unmanned aircraft continue to be developed, a reliable back up to GPS is required to ensure the PNT data generated in these systems is accurate. This research studies a potential architecture for deploying a nationwide network of ground based pseudolites that would act to supplement and backup …

Study Of Bandwidth And Cpu Utilization Of Video Streaming In Named Data Network Over Wi-Fi Direct, Samiuddin Mohammed

Theses and Dissertations

This study is a comparison of resource utilization of video streaming between IP based and NDN based architectures. Named Data Network (NDN) is future Internet architecture which aims to replace today's host-centric IP network with data as first class entity. This simple shift has far-reaching implications for how we develop and use networks and applications. Content distribution applications consume a large amount of bandwidth of today's Internet. NDN supports content distribution intrinsically with its caching functionality. In this study, we develop a testbed using Wi-Fi Direct and measure the bandwidth usage and CPU utilization of NDN-based video streaming application and …

Optimization Of Communication For Distributed Graph-Parallel Computing Systems, Yue Zhao

Theses and Dissertations

A number of distributed graph-parallel computing systems have been proposed to address the needs of solving complex and large-scale graph algorithms. Distributed Graphlab and PowerGraph are two such frameworks, which demonstrate excellent performance with high scalability and fault tolerance. However, unnecessary and excessive communications among computing nodes in these frameworks not only reduce the network efficiency but may also cause a decrease in runtime performance. In this work, we first conduct an evaluation work for representative distributed graph-parallel processing. Secondly, we propose a mechanism to identify and eliminate excessive communications for PageRank-like algorithms during synchronization phase of the distributed graph-parallel …

Secure And Verifiable Data Storage And Utilization In Cloud Computing, Jiawei Yuan

Theses and Dissertations

The continuous development of cloud computing is increasingly attracting individuals and organizations to outsource their data to public cloud platforms. While enjoying advantages brought by cloud computing, cloud users also raise their concerns on data security with cloud computing in terms of integrity and privacy. This is because cloud users lose physical control of data and services after outsourcing them to cloud. In this dissertation, we identify security challenges with data services in cloud computing, and present a set of novel solutions that address security issues with data services outsourced to cloud. Specifically, we focus on ensuring the integrity and …

Real-Time Laser Beam Alignment To A Remote Target Using Blob Detection And Filtration For Unmanned Mobile Spectroscopy Platform, Jarjees Ahmed Khidir

Theses and Dissertations

In a project supported by NASA, a new unmanned air quality monitoring system has been proposed to look for signs of life on Mars. The system development and tests are specially directed to build an unmanned open-path spectrometer for near-ground biogenic gas concentration detection on Mars. Moved by a mobile robot platform, the spectrometer shoots an infra-red laser beam to a remote retro-reflector and examines the reflected signal looking for the absorption peak of the investigated gas. The problem is that the laser beam needs to be constantly aligned to the retro-reflect (the target) while the mobile robot is moving. …

Light-Weight Encryption And Dynamic Data Protection Mechanism For Resource-Constrained Devices, Maytham Mustafa Hammood

Theses and Dissertations

Unattended wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) can assist a wide range of monitoring applications in hostile environment (e.g., battlefields, uncultivated fields, volcanic zones, underwater areas, etc.). However, they cannot offload captured or generated data to a sink in real time, and preservation of data at sensor nodes is important. In this work, we accomplish the availability and confidentiality of data in UWSNs. In case of failure or compromise of sensor nodes which can result in unavailability or loss of data, we propose an on-demand data replication method that can dynamically change the extent of replication to improve data survivability with minimal …

A Design For An Identity Resolution Service As An Extension Of The Entity Identity Information Management Model, Fumiko Kobayashi

Theses and Dissertations

This research describes the design of an identity resolution service (IRS), which provides extensions and enhancements to the current EIIM model. The IRS provides a set of application programming interfaces (API) which allow identity resolution (IR) to be performed interactively. Interactive IR is a logical extension to the existing EIIM model. It will separate the IR function from the EIIM batch update process. The new (IR) function: 1) Operates interactively 2) Has its own probabilistic matching rules defined separately from the identity rules used in the EIIM update process 3) Has the ability to return a confidence rating alongside a …

Fast Inference For Interactive Models Of Text, Jeffrey A. Lund

Theses and Dissertations

Probabilistic models of text are a useful tool for enabling the analysis of large collections of digital text. For example, Latent Dirichlet Allocation can quickly produce topical summaries of large collections of text documents. Many important uses cases of such models include human interaction during the inference process for these models of text. For example, the Interactive Topic Model extends Latent Dirichlet Allocation to incorporate human expertiese during inference in order to produce topics which are better suited to individual user needs. However, interactive use cases of probabalistic models of text introduce new constraints on inference - the inference procedure …

Modeling The Antipodal Connectivity Structure Of Neural Communities, Bayazit Karaman

Theses and Dissertations

Positive electrical charges in a solid conductor generate an outward electrical field emanating from the charged conductor. In this context, overall cognitive decisions, which were initiated by the electrical activities of neural modules at different parts of the cerebrum, are completed at the highest spatial and hierarchical level. EEG systems are capable of detecting these electrical activities, however, a unified mathematical model of these highest-level cognitive interactions has not yet been stated. Recent studies support the theory that brain is composed of modules and certain nodes establish connections between the modules. Within the scope of this study, the highest spatial …

Harnessing The Transient Sound Waves From Space Repository For Source Identification, Onur Kececi

Theses and Dissertations

We believe that the sound waves originated from a given source have unique patterns that are damped down in time but maintain their inherent characteristics. These sound waves travel through the air and are echoed upon encountering a new (harder) surface. These waves are short lived and transitional in nature, and so far no successful attempt has been made to capture and analyze the aftermath of sound waves after their release. Considering the hypothesis principle of conservation of acoustic energy and uniqueness of sound signal patterns and echoes, and by employing some of the known techniques selectively, we designed an …

Human Action Recognition In Multimedia Using Space-Time Approach, Salim Ganim Saeed Al-Ali

Theses and Dissertations

Human Action Recognition in Multimedia, in the context of this dissertation work, is called Human Action Recognition in Videos (HARV). It is a system that used to identify human actions happened in testing videos based on some training video samples. In general, the HARV consists of three stages: human object tracking, feature extraction, and training or action classification. Primarily, the system is composed of two modes: first, the training mode in which the system learns about human actions from training video samples, second, the testing mode that allows this system to recognize unknown human actions in testing videos. In this …

A System To Support Clerical Review, Correction, And Confirmation Assertions In Entity Identity Information Management, Cheng Chen

Theses and Dissertations

Clerical review of Entity Resolution(ER) is crucial for maintaining the entity identity integrity of an Entity Identity Information Management (EIIM) system. However, the clerical review process presents several problems. These problems include Entity Identity Structures (EIS) that are difficult to read and interpret, excessive time and effort to review large Identity Knowledgebase (IKB), and the duplication of effort in repeatedly reviewing the same EIS in same EIIM review cycle or across multiple review cycles. Although the original EIIM model envisioned and demonstrated the value of correction assertions, these are applied to correct errors after they have been found. The original …

Implementimi I Sherbimeve Te Kualitetit (Qos) Ne Ndermarrjet E Vogla Dhe Te Mesme, Kushtrim Berisha

Theses and Dissertations

Në ndërmarrjet e vogla apo të mesme shpesh bie nevoja që kualiteti i shërbimeve të jetë pikë kritike për shumë arsye si p.sh. Ofrimi i shërbimeve online për konsumatorin në kohë reale dhe efikasitet të lartë, si dhe parandalime të vonesave të mundshme në rrjetë për arsye të kapacitetit të bandwidth-it apo resurseve teknike.

Si fillim nevoja për shërbime të kualitetit është shfaqur në voice (telephony) në vitin 1994 nga organizata për standardizime të teknologjisë informative ITU [1]. Më vonë shërbimet e kualiteti u bënë të nevojshme edhe në shërbime dhe servise të tjera siç janë: response time, loss, crosstalk …

An Improved Classifier Chain Ensemble For Multi-Dimensionalclassification With Conditional Dependence, Joseph Ethan Heydorn

Theses and Dissertations

We focus on multi-dimensional classification (MDC) problems with conditional dependence, which we call multiple output dependence (MOD) problems. MDC is the task of predicting a vector of categorical outputs for each input. Conditional dependence in MDC means that the choice for one output value affects the choice for others, so it is not desirable to predict outputs independently. We show that conditional dependence in MDC implies that a single input can map to multiple correct output vectors. This means it is desirable to find multiple correct output vectors per input. Current solutions for MOD problems are not sufficient because they …

Estimating Effectiveness Of Twitter Messages With A Personalized Machine Learning Approach, Xunhu Sun

Theses and Dissertations

In Twitter, many aspects of retweeting behavior, which is the most effective indicator of spreading effectiveness of the tweet, have been researched, such as whether a reader will retweet a certain tweet or not. However, the total number of retweets of the tweet, which is the quantitative measure of quality, has not been well addressed by existing work. To estimate the number of retweets and associated factors, this paper proposes a procedure to develop a personalized model for one author. The training data comes from the author’s past tweets. We propose 3 types of new features based on the contents …

Nat Traversal Techniques And Udp Keep-Alive Interval Optimization, Christopher Daniel Widmer

Theses and Dissertations

NAT traversal presents a challenge to Peer to Peer (P2P) applications, as in many instances a third party is needed to help initiate communication between two hosts when one is behind one or more NAT devices. Much work has gone into facilitating communication across NATs using various protocols, and several standards have been developed to this end. This thesis explores the advantages and disadvantages of several of these standards, including protocols for interacting with the NAT device itself (NAT Port Mapping Protocol (NATPMP), Port Control Protocol (PCP), and Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)), and those using an external server to …

6-Dof Pose Estimation For A Portable Navigation Device, Soonhac Hong

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation is to develop a 6-DOF pose estimation method for a portable navigation device, called Smart Cane (SC), for the visually impaired. The SC is a computer-vision-enhanced white cane that uses a single 3D time-of-flight camera for both device localization and object/obstacle detection. The 6-DOF device pose is computed by two steps. First, a Pose Change Estimation (PCE) method, called Visual Range Odometry (VRO), determines the Pose Change (PC) between two camera views by tracking visual features over the two image frames. This PC information is then integrated over time to obtain the device pose in …

Technical Communication As Teaching: A Grounded Theory Study Of Cognitive Empathy And Audience Engagement Among Computer Science Majors In A Technical Communication Classroom, Robert Michael Rowan

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a grounded theory study of empathy, ethical awareness, and audience engagement activities in students in a technical writing service course. The course was designed around an empathy-oriented approach to teaching technical writing and writing research. The students are primarily computer science majors, and the teaching methods include a genre and writing research approach as well as the use of an extended metaphor of technical communication as a form of teaching. Findings indicate that students respond to the metaphor by drawing upon positive and empathetically-informed models of teachers and teaching to guide how they would work with and …

Edukimi I Punonjësve Për Mbrojtje Nga Spyware – Rasti I Studimit Nëkompanitë E Sigurimit, Gentian Qorraj

Theses and Dissertations

Spyware është një softuer i instaluar në një sistem kompjuterik. Programet Spyware tentojnë të instalohen në kompjutëret e punonjësve për të monitoruar veprimet e tyre duke mbledhur informacione private të cilat janë në rëndësi për palen e tretë. Spyware është një kërcënim në rritje duke përfshire kompanitë në përgjithësi poashtu edhe mjedise tjera të punës.Spyware-i është një kategori e gjerë e softuerit me qëllim të keq. Ai është zhvilluar nga individët të cilët kanë krijuar këtë lloj programi me qëllim që të ndërpres ose të marrë kontrollin e pjesshëm të funksionit të kompjuterit në mesin e aktivitetetve tjera të dyshimta …

Using Unrestricted Mobile Sensors To Infer Tapped And Traced User Inputs, Trang Duyen Nguyen

Theses and Dissertations

As of January 2014, 58% of Americans over the age of 18 own a smart phone. Of these smart phones, Android devices provide some security by requiring that third-party application developers declare to users which components and features their applications will access. However, many of the real-time environmental sensors on devices are exempt from this requirement. We evaluate the possibility of exploiting this freedom to discretely use these sensors and expand on previous work by developing an application that can use the gyroscope and accelerometer to interpret what the user has written, even of trace input is used. Trace input …

A Foundation For Cyber Experimentation, Evan Lawrence Stoner

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the variety of environments and tools available to computer scientists performing cyber experimentation, the community lacks a single cohesive platform that is capable of unifying these tools across environments and research domains. In pursuit of this unifying platform, we introduce a new framework that is agnostic to the underlying environment, tools, and domain. We show the effectiveness of this framework by (1) demonstrating how an example experiment can be described within the framework and what benefits this offers, (2) presenting a prototype implementation of the framework, and (3) offering a collection of approaches to automated experimentation that the framework …

A Multi-Level Analysis Of Collaborations In Computer Science, Pramod Divakarmurthy

Theses and Dissertations

Working in collaboration is common in today’s highly connected scientific community. By collaborating, researchers can solve challenging multi-disciplinary problems, increase knowledge dissemination as well as productivity. These and other advantages motivate the study of the collaboration patterns of researchers. Such patterns can be observed directly in networks of manuscript co-authorship. In such a network, nodes represent authors and the links between them indicate that they have co-authored a paper. Several researchers constructed and studied large-scale networks representing collaborations in Mathematics, Biology, Physics, and Neuroscience. Most studies have performed bibliometric analysis of scientific publications, evaluated and ranked scholars on their research …