Computer Sciences Commons^™

Self-Adjusting Congestion Avoidance Routing Protocol For Ad Hoc Networks, Yi Lu, Bharat Bhargava

Department of Computer Science Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

The Kerf Toolkit For Intrusion Analysis (Poster Abstract), Javed Aslam, Sergey Bratus, David Kotz, Ron Peterson, Daniela Rus, Brett Tofel

Dartmouth Scholarship

We consider the problem of intrusion analysis and present the Kerf toolkit, whose purpose is to provide an efficient and flexible infrastructure for the analysis of attacks. The Kerf toolkit includes a mechanism for securely recording host and network logging information for a network of workstations, a domain-specific language for querying this stored data, and an interface for viewing the results of such a query, providing feedback on these results, and generating new queries in an iterative fashion. We describe the architecture of Kerf in detail, present examples to demonstrate the power of our query language, and discuss the performance …

A New Message-Based Protocol For Building A Platform And Language Independent Distributed Object Model, Hazem S. El Ashmawi

Archived Theses and Dissertations

Standardization of messaging topologies for communication in recent distributed object computing architectures is becoming more and more inevitable. The emergence of a structured and flexible document model as XML has made an entry point towards this goal. In this thesis, we are utilizing the flexibility of XML and the simplicity of low -level socket communication to build a generalized messaging model that provides a basis for standardization and supports interoperability among existing distributed object computing architectures. The proposed system is composed of the basic components of a distributed architecture constituting a number of broker components acting as naming services and …

Strategyproof Mechanisms For Ad Hoc Network Formation, C. Jason Woodard, David C. Parkes

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Agents in a peer-to-peer system typically have incentives to influence its network structure, either to reduce their costs or increase their ability to capture value. The problem is compounded when agents can join and leave the system dynamically. This paper proposes three economic mechanisms that offset the incentives for strategic behavior and facilitate the formation of networks with desirable global properties.

Dynamic Joint Action Perception For Q-Learning Agents, Nancy Fulda, Dan A. Ventura

Faculty Publications

Q-learning is a reinforcement learning algorithm that learns expected utilities for state-action transitions through successive interactions with the environment. The algorithm's simplicity as well as its convergence properties have made it a popular algorithm for study. However, its non-parametric representation of utilities limits its effectiveness in environments with large amounts of perceptual input. For example, in multiagent systems, each agent may need to consider the action selections of its counterparts in order to learn effective behaviors. This creates a joint action space which grows exponentially with the number of agents in the system. In such situations, the Q-learning algorithm quickly …

Using Support Vector Machines For Terrorism Information Extraction, Aixin Sun, Myo-Myo Naing, Ee Peng Lim, Wai Lam

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Information extraction (IE) is of great importance in many applications including web intelligence, search engines, text understanding, etc. To extract information from text documents, most IE systems rely on a set of extraction patterns. Each extraction pattern is defined based on the syntactic and/or semantic constraints on the positions of desired entities within natural language sentences. The IE systems also provide a set of pattern templates that determines the kind of syntactic and semantic constraints to be considered. In this paper, we argue that such pattern templates restricts the kind of extraction patterns that can be learned by IE systems. …

Ladar-Based Detection And Tracking Of Moving Objects From A Ground Vehicle At High Speeds, Chieh-Chih Wang, Charles Thorpe, Arne Suppe

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Detection and tracking of moving objects (DATMO) in crowded urban areas from a ground vehicle at high speeds is difficult because of a wide variety of targets and uncertain pose estimation from odometry and GPS/DGPS. In this paper we present a solution of the simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) with DATMO problem to accomplish this task using ladar sensors and odometry. With a precise pose estimate and a surrounding map from SLAM, moving objects are detected without a priori knowledge of the targets. The interacting multiple model (IMM) estimation algorithm is used for modeling the motion of a moving object …

Modeling Product Development As A System Design Game, C. Jason Woodard

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

A system design game is a model of a situation in which agents’ actions determine the structure of a system, which in turn affects the system’s value and the share of value that each agent may capture through bargaining or market competition. This paper describes a class of games in which agents design interdependent products, for example software programs, which may be complements or substitutes for each other. These relationships are epresented by an object called a design structure network (DSN). Depending on the modeler’s choice of allocation rules, agents may benefit from owning critical nodes in the DSN, corresponding …

Image Morphological Processing, Vijayalakshmi Gaddipati

Dissertations

Mathematical Morphology with applications in image processing and analysis has been becoming increasingly important in today's technology. Mathematical Morphological operations, which are based on set theory, can extract object features by suitably shaped structuring elements. Mathematical Morphological filters are combinations of morphological operations that transform an image into a quantitative description of its geometrical structure based on structuring elements. Important applications of morphological operations are shape description, shape recognition, nonlinear filtering, industrial parts inspection, and medical image processing.

In this dissertation, basic morphological operations, properties and fuzzy morphology are reviewed. Existing techniques for solving corner and edge detection are presented. …

Image Enhancement Techniques Applied To Solar Feature Detection, Artur J. Kowalski

Dissertations

This dissertation presents the development of automatic image enhancement techniques for solar feature detection. The new method allows for detection and tracking of the evolution of filaments in solar images. Series of H-alpha full-disk images are taken in regular time intervals to observe the changes of the solar disk features. In each picture, the solar chromosphere filaments are identified for further evolution examination. The initial preprocessing step involves local thresholding to convert grayscale images into black-and-white pictures with chromosphere granularity enhanced. An alternative preprocessing method, based on image normalization and global thresholding is presented. The next step employs morphological closing …

Sos Checks And Career Management, Russell W. Howell

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

This paper compares the careers of King Saul and King David in the Bible and how they inform the career management methods of a Christian.

A Christian Appraisal Of Stephan Wolfram's A New Kind Of Science, Gene B. Chase

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

Wolfram exposes some ideas about informatics that relate to Christian Scholarship: Does Wolfram's definition of free will permit God to have free will? Will human souls resurrected to a new body–as described by St. Paul and Aquinas–by like software that is moved to new hardware? Jesus' incarnation as in-form-ation in the Aristotelian sense.

Linear Regression As A 1-Variable Optimization Exercise, Ken Constantine

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

Derivation of the least squares line for a set of bivariate data entails minimizing a function of two variables, say the line's slope and intercept. Imposing the requirement that the line pass through the mean point for the data reduces this problem to a 1-variable problem easily solved as a single-variable Calculus exercise. The solution to this problem is, in fact, the solution to the more general problem. We illustrate with a dataset involving charitable donations.

Exploiting The Confidence Interval-Hypothesis Test Equivalence In Basic Statistics Classes, Ken Constantine

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

An emphasis is offered for the inference portion of an elementary Statistics course: the equivalence between confidence intervals and tests of hypotheses. This equivalence is rarely mentioned in basic texts but seems helpful to students. Student reference sheets which employ this equivalence are available on-line.

Making Connections: Using Analogies To Enrich Understanding Of Mathematical Ideas And Biblical Truths, Ron Benbow

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

Recent standards and research, published by mathematics education professional organizations, place a great emphasis on “connections” in all grade levels. Through this emphasis on interrelatedness, students begin to see the subject not as a collection of separate strands, but rather as an integrated field of study. When linkages between diverse domains of knowledge are formed (by comparing, contrasting, analyzing, and applying), we have increased the likelihood that we develop deeper understandings within both domains. This paper explores some specific examples of the use of analogies to connect mathematical and Biblical concepts.

What Is A Random Event? A Project For Finite Math Or Statistics, Jeremy Case

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

Randomization is an important idea in Finite Mathematics and Statistics. One main idea in these courses is that events that appear to be performed in a random fashion are often not random. Here we present a simple project involving "randomly" opening the Bible. This activity leads to deeper philosophical questions such as how to study the Bible and whether an event can be considered random if God intervenes.

Creationism - A Viable Philosophy Of Mathematics, Jonathan Zderad

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

The purpose of this essay is to try to answer the ontological and epistemological question of mathematics. Specifically, "What, if any, of mathematics exists in the objective sense?" And, "How do we as humans know that our knowledge of mathematics is correct?" These questions will be investigated by looking at the applications or mathematics, the practice of mathematicians, and most telling, the content of mathematics. Mathematics, admittedly, can only go so far in answering its own philosophical questions, even when aided by recent developments in the field of logic. The overwhelming evidence, as will be shown, points toward a theistic, …

A Greater Tantalizer, Andrew Simoson

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

The children’s puzzle, sometimes called the Great Tantalizer, consists of four blocks each of whose faces have been colored with four colors; a solution consists in stacking the blocks so that on each stack face, all four colors appear. This article renders the puzzle as six octahedral blocks, each of which is colored with six colors, and describes a scheme to successfully stack all six.

Light Meals And Morsels From Mathematics Magazine, Paul Zorn

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

No abstract provided.

General-Education Mathematics Course From A Christian Perspective, Saburo Matsumoto, Ph.D.

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

No abstract provided.

Some Fibonacci Gems, Peter Rothmaler

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

No abstract provided.

A Christian Perspective On Mathematics - History Of Mathematics And Study Guides, Johan H. De Klerk

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

No abstract provided.

Learning To Construct Proofs In A First Course On Mathematical Proof, Peter R. Atwood, Ph.D.

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

No abstract provided.

The Search For The Real Josephus Problem, Eric Gossett

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

Many of the problems that mathematicians and computer scientists dearly love have been around for a long time. One such problem is known as the Josephus Problem, named after the first century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. Josephus did not invent the problem. Instead, an event from his life served as the inspiration for the problem statement. Many current books refer to "Mathematical Recreations and Essays" by W. W. Rouse Ball [originally published in 1892] for the problem statement. The problem is quite interesting (and will be solved here). However, the story, as quoted in Bell, is not completely accurate.

The Inverse Problem: Christianity Through A Mathematical Lens, Sharon K. Robbert

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

An inverse problem is a partner problem that reverses some type of direct problem. Usually the inverse problem is more challenging to solve than the direct problem: integration is more challenging than differentiation, factoring large numbers is more challenging than multiplying numbers. In this paper, the author poses that using mathematical thinking to understand the concepts of theological principles is the direct problem to the much more challenging inverse problem of using theological thinking to influence understanding in mathematics. Acknowledging that a problem is difficult allows one to be satisfied with understanding small pieces and progressing slowly to a complete …

Integrating Laptops Into A Mathematics Curriculum, Mary Wagner-Krankel

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

In 1999, St. Mary's University in San Antonio received a Title V Grant, providing $2.1 million over five years. The money was used to help finance computers for students, fund faculty training for computer-related curriculum, convert traditional classrooms into technology or "Smart classrooms", and upgrade the school's Internet connections. This article discusses specific software and hardware advancements made at the University through this grant. The article also describes how the Math department specifically integrated the laptops into their courses using software programs such as Mathcad and Blackboard.

Men Are From The Server Side, Women Are From The Client Side: A Biblical Perspective On Men, Women And Computer Science, Kim Potter Kihlstrom

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

The percentage of women in computer science is small and has decreased over the last twenty years. Why is this the case, when computer science is a wonderful and growing field with many opportunities? I believe that the situation has its roots in the basic differences between men and women, differences that were present from the beginning of creation and are a part of the way that God made male and female uniquely. In order to ensure that both talented men and women are attracted to computer science, we need to understand the differences between men and women, and how …

Mathematics, Science, And George Macdonald, David L. Neuhouser

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

In writing about George MacDonald choosing a college major, biographer William Raeper wrote that he chose “chemistry, a strange choice perhaps for a future novelist and poet and not an easy one for him to make.” He further conjectured that MacDonald’s choice was based on “common sense and sound economics” rather than “his poetic yearnings.” Many would agree with Raeper that science is a strange choice for a future poet and novelist. This paper argues that the role of beauty and imagination is very similar in science, mathematics, and literature, so it might not be so strange that someone could …

Mathematical Models And Reality, John Byl

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

This paper examines the nature and function of mathematical models, using illustrations from cosmology, space geometry and atomic physics. Mathematical models enable us to make precise calculations and predictions; they serve as analogies and conceptual frameworks that lead to new discoveries; and they bridge the gap between appearance and reality. Their success implies that the universe had a mathematical structure. However, one must be careful not to confuse models of reality with reality itself. A variety of models can represent the same data; any model can be given different physical interpretations. The choice of a model and its interpretation depends …

Mathematics And The Love Of God: An Introduction To The Thought Of Simone Weil, Scott Taylor

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2003

No abstract provided.