Computer Sciences Commons^™

Pervasive Innovation: Taking Innovation Throughout The Organization, Bonnie Bachman, Stephen O. Bozzone

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

One of the fundamental tenets of management is that human capital can provide an essential competitive advantage for a business. Pervasive innovation (PI) is a process that blends strategy, structure, process, and culture to elevate product development to new heights and can provide a critical advantage. PI also encompasses new paradigms, practices, methods, and applications that support an environment of creativity and innovation that cuts across organization boundaries, both internal and external boundaries. Pervasive innovation guides the team through the ideation stage to implementation by leveraging the greater collective knowledge of the entire organization. This collaborative approach ensures that the …

A Cultural Analysis Of Information Technology Offshore Outsourcing: An Exercise In Multi-Sited Ethnography Of Virtual Work, Tara Eaton

Wayne State University Dissertations

This study is an exploration of how ethnography and anthropological analysis can provide new understanding of transnational, multi-sited research phenomena. Research focused on the work activities of one American client organization and its Indian IT service provider situated in the global virtual field of Information Technology (IT) offshore outsourcing. The Principal Investigator adapted and applied an ethnographic approach for her fieldwork in order to understand the norms, beliefs, and values about work, as well as the relationship between cultural differences and virtual communication. Dissertation findings offer new insight for anthropological discussions of globalization as well as suggest further development of …

Detect Program Vulnerabilities Using Trace-Based Security Testing, Dazhi Zhang

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Software vulnerabilities are program flaws that can be exploited by attackers to compromise the security of a software system. Although many approaches have been proposed to detect or prevent software attacks, software security incidents continue to occur every year. Security testing aims at detecting program vulnerabilities through a set of test cases and has shown to be effective to detect program vulnerabilities. The primary challenge is how to efficiently produce test cases that are highly effective in detecting vulnerabilities. This dissertation proposes trace-based security testing approaches towards addressing some fundamental challenges in security testing.The first study is to use trace-based …

A Theoretical Framework For Design Space Exploration Of Manycore Processors, Hun Jung

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

As design space and workload space in multicore era are continuously expanding, it is a challenge to identify optimal design points quickly during the early stage of multicore processor design or programming phase. To meet this challenge, a thread-level modeling methodology is developed in this dissertation. The idea is to model multicore processors at the thread-level, overlooking instruction-level and microarchitectural details. Since the thread-level modeling is much coarser than the instruction-level modeling, the analysis at this level turns out to be significantly faster than that at the instruction level. This feature makes the methodology particularly amenable to fast performance evaluation …

Performance Analysis And Resource Allocation For Multithreaded Multicore Processors, Miao Ju

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

With ever expanding design space and workload space in multicore era, a key challenge to program a multithreaded multicore processor is how to evaluate the performance of various possible program-task-to-core mapping choices and provide effective resource allocation during the initial programming phase, when the executable program is yet to be developed. In this dissertation, we put forward a thread-level modeling methodology to meet this challenge. The idea is to model thread-level activities only and overlook the instruction-level and microarchitectural details. A model developed at this level assumes the availability of only a piece of pseudo code that contains information about …

An Exploration Of Multi-Agent Learning Within The Game Of Sheephead, Brady Brau

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In this paper, we examine a machine learning technique presented by Ishii et al. used to allow for learning in a multi-agent environment and apply an adaptation of this learning technique to the card game Sheephead. We then evaluate the effectiveness of our adaptation by running simulations against rule-based opponents. Multi-agent learning presents several layers of complexity on top of a single-agent learning in a stationary environment. This added complexity and increased state space is just beginning to be addressed by researchers. We utilize techniques used by Ishii et al. to facilitate this multi-agent learning. We model the environment of …

Using Organizational, Coordination, And Contingency Theories To Examine Project Manager Insights On Agile And Traditional Success Factors For Information Technology Projects, Michael J. Doherty

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Two dominant research views addressing disappointing success rates for information technology (IT) projects suggest project success may depend on the presence of a large number of critical success factors or advocate for agile project management as an alternative to traditional practice. However, after two decades of research, success rates remain low, and the role of critical success factors or project management approach remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to use views of experienced project managers to explore the contribution of success factors and management approach to project success. Applying organizational, coordination, and contingency theories, the research questions examined …

Transcending Technological Innovation: The Impact Of Acquisitions On Entrepreneurial Technical Organizations, Bruce Crochetiere

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Technology firms with substantial cash reserves acquire smaller entrepreneurial firms for diversification. In 2006, 3 large firms acquired 28 organizations, with the combined deals exceeding {dollar}4.7 billion. The problem addressed in this study is that new start-up companies with innovative ideas may not mature when they are acquired by larger companies and do not fully articulate potential industry-transcending innovation. This is important because the unsuccessful integration of an acquisition can dismantle innovation and compromises economic inventiveness. Drawing from the disruptive innovation and the resource-based theories, the purpose of the quasi-experimental study was to examine the impact of acquisition by larger …

An Examination Of Small Businesses' Propensity To Adopt Cloud-Computing Innovation, Steven E. Powelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem researched was small business leaders' early and limited adoption of cloud computing. Business leaders that do not use cloud computing may forfeit the benefits of its lower capital costs and ubiquitous accessibility. Anchored in a diffusion of innovation theory, the purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional survey study was to examine if there is a relationship between small business leaders' view of cloud-computing attributes of compatibility, complexity, observability, relative advantage, results demonstrable, trialability, and voluntariness and intent to use cloud computing. The central research question involved understanding the extent to which each cloud-computing attribute relate to small business leaders' …

Investigating Student Gender And Grade Level Differences In Digital Citizenship Behavior, Robert Lyons

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The rapid rise of technology, which has become embedded in all facets of 21st century society during the past decade, has fostered a corresponding rise in its misuse. Digital citizenship abuse, a relatively new phenomenon of this electronic age, is a rapidly growing global problem. Parents, schools, and society play roles in supporting appropriate online behavior. Schools must take the lead role to assess and address digital citizenship issues. This ex post facto study investigated the online actions of students in a medium-sized K-12 school district and explored possible causal relationships between online misbehavior and student grade and gender based …

Acceptance And Usage Of Electronic Health Record Systems In Small Medical Practices, Ritu Tannan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

One of the objectives of the U.S. government has been the development of a nationwide health information infrastructure, including adoption and use of an electronic health records (EHR) system. However, a 2008 survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics indicated a 41.5% usage of the EHR system by physicians in office-based practices. The purpose of this study was to explore opinions and beliefs on the barriers to the diffusion of an ERH system using Q-methodology. Specifically, the research questions examined the subjectivity in the patterns of perspectives at the preadoption stage of the nonusers and at the postadoption …

Entropy In Postmerger And Acquisition Integration From An Information Technology Perspective, Gloria S. Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mergers and acquisitions have historically experienced failure rates from 50% to more than 80%. Successful integration of information technology (IT) systems can be the difference between postmerger success or failure. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the entropy phenomenon during postmerger IT integration. To that end, a purposive sample of 14 midlevel and first-line managers in a manufacturing environment was interviewed to understand how the negative effects of entropy affect the ultimate success of the IT integration process. Using the theoretical framework of the process school of thought, interview data were iteratively examined by using keywords, phrases, …

A Computational Framework For Human-Centered Multimodal Data Analysis, Vangelis Metsis

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Human-Centered computing defines a field of study in which computational processes affect the human being, either through ubiquitous and pervasive use of devices or any effect that improves the human condition. Human-Centered Computing applications face serious challenges in the handling of data collection, modeling, and analysis. Traditionally, the analysis of different aspects of human well-being derives from a variety of non-interrelated methods which has made it difficult to correlate and compare the different experimental findings for an accurate assessment of the contributing factors.This dissertation describes new algorithms that enable more accurate and efficient multimodal data analysis of Human-Centered computing applications …

A Holistic, Similarity-Based Approach For Personalized Ranking In Web Databases, Aditya Telang

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

With the advent of the Web, the notion of ``information retrieval'' has acquired a completely new connotation and currently encompasses several disciplines ranging from traditional forms of text and data retrieval in unstructured and structured repositories to retrieval of static and dynamic information from the contents of the surface and deep Web. From the point of view of the end user, a common thread that binds all these areas is to support appropriate alternatives for allowing users to specify their intent (i.e., the user input) and displaying the resulting output ranked in an order relevant to the users. In the …

Efficient Exploration Techniques On Large Databases, Senjuti Basu Roy

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Search, retrieval, and exploration of information have become some of the most intense and principal research challenges in many enterprize and e-commerce applications off late. The mainstay of this dissertation is to analyze and investigate different aspects of online data exploration, and propose techniques to accomplish them efficiently. In particular, the results in this dissertation widen the scope of existing faceted search and recommendation systems - two upcoming fields in data exploration which are still in their infancy. Faceted search, the de facto standard for e-commerce applications, is an interface framework with the primary design goal of allowing users to …

The Power Of Quantum Walk Insights, Implementation, And Applications, Chen Fu Chiang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I investigate quantum walks in quantum computing from three aspects: the insights, the implementation, and the applications. Quantum walks are the quantum analogue of classical random walks. For the insights of quantum walks, I list and explain the required components for quantizing a classical random walk into a quantum walk. The components are, for instance, Markov chains, quantum phase estimation, and quantum spectrum theorem. I then demonstrate how the product of two reflections in the walk operator provides a quadratic speed-up, in comparison to the classical counterpart. For the implementation of quantum walks, I show the construction …

Hyfs: Design And Implementation Of A Reliable File System, Jianqiang Luo

Wayne State University Dissertations

Building reliable data storage systems is crucial to any commercial or scientific applications. Modern storage systems are complicated, and they are comprised of many components, from hardware to software. Problems may occur to any component of storage systems and cause data loss. When this kind of failures happens, storage systems cannot continue their data services, which may result in large revenue loss or even catastrophe to enterprises. Therefore, it is critically important to build reliable storage systems to ensure data reliability.

In this dissertation, we propose to employ general erasure codes to build a reliable file system, called HyFS. HyFS …

Enhancing Automated Red Teaming With Monte Carlo Tree Search, Daniel Beard

Theses : Honours

This study has investigated novel Automated Red Teaming methods that support replanning. Traditional Automated Red Teaming (ART) approaches usually use evolutionary computing methods for evolving plans using simulations. A drawback of this method is the inability to change a team’s strategy part way through a simulation. This study focussed on a Monte-Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) method in an ART environment that supports re-planning to lead to better strategy decisions and a higher average score

On The Applications Of Deterministic Chaos For Encrypting Data On The Cloud, Jonathan Blackledge, Nikolai Ptitsyn

Conference papers

Cloud computing is expected to grow considerably in the future because it has so many advantages with regard to sale and cost, change management, next generation architectures, choice and agility. However, one of the principal concerns for users of the Cloud is lack of control and above all, data security. This paper considers an approach to encrypting information before it is ‘placed’ on the Cloud where each user has access to their own encryption algorithm, an algorithm that is based on a set of iterated function systems that outputs a chaotic number stream, designed to produce a cryptographically secure cipher. …

Judges' Awareness, Understanding, And Application Of Digital Evidence, Gary C. Kessler

Security Studies & International Affairs - Daytona Beach

"As digital evidence grows in both volume and importance in criminal and civil courts, judges need to fairly and justly evaluate the merits of the offered evidence. To do so, judges need a general understanding of the underlying technologies and applications from which digital evidence is derived. Due to the relative newness of the computer forensics field, there have been few studies on the use of digital forensic evidence and none about judges’ relationship with digital evidence. This paper describes a recent study, using grounded theory methods, into judges’ awareness, knowledge, and perceptions of digital evidence. This study is the …

Kindle Forensics: Acquisition & Analysis, Peter Hannay

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The Amazon Kindle eBook reader supports a wide range of capabilities beyond reading books. This functionality includes an inbuilt cellular data connection known as Whispernet. The Kindle provides web browsing, an application framework, eBook delivery and other services over this connection. The historic data left by user interaction with this device may be of forensic interest. Analysis of the Amazon Kindle device has resulted in a method to reliably extract and interpret data from these devices in a forensically complete manner.

Column: The Consortium Of Digital Forensics Specialists (Cdfs), Christopher Kelly

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Digital forensic practitioners are faced with an extraordinary opportunity. In fact, we may never again be faced with such an opportunity, and this opportunity will challenge us in ways we may never again be challenged. At this point in the history of the Digital Forensics profession, digital forensic specialists have the unique opportunity to help this profession emerge from its infancy. But for this profession to mature -- and to flourish -- individuals and organizations integral to the practice must assemble and shape its future. This is our opportunity. In fact, this is our mandate.

Judges’ Awareness, Understanding, And Application Of Digital Evidence, Gary C. Kessler

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

As digital evidence grows in both volume and importance in criminal and civil courts, judges need to fairly and justly evaluate the merits of the offered evidence. To do so, judges need a general understanding of the underlying technologies and applications from which digital evidence is derived. Due to the relative newness of the computer forensics field, there have been few studies on the use of digital forensic evidence and none about judges’ relationship with digital evidence. This paper describes a recent study, using grounded theory methods, into judges’ awareness, knowledge, and perceptions of digital evidence. This study is the …

Technology Corner: Analysing E-Mail Headers For Forensic Investigation, M. T. Banday

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Electronic Mail (E-Mail), which is one of the most widely used applications of Internet, has become a global communication infrastructure service. However, security loopholes in it enable cybercriminals to misuse it by forging its headers or by sending it anonymously for illegitimate purposes, leading to e-mail forgeries. E-mail messages include transit handling envelope and trace information in the form of structured fields which are not stripped after messages are delivered, leaving a detailed record of e-mail transactions. A detailed header analysis can be used to map the networks traversed by messages, including information on the messaging software and patching policies …

The Cophylogeny Reconstruction Problem Is Np-Complete, Yaniv J. Ovadia '10, Daniel Fielder '11, Chris Conow, Ran Libeskind-Hadas

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

The cophylogeny reconstruction problem arises in the study of host-parasite relationships. Specif- ically, we are given a host tree H, a parasite tree P, and a function ' mapping the leaves (extant taxa) of P to the leaves of H. Four biologically plausible operations are considered: cospeciation, duplication, host switching, and loss (Figure 1). A host switch is permitted in conjunction with a duplication event but not with a cospeciation event [1].

Gis Will Affect The Political Landscape For The Next Decade And Beyond, Mark Salling

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

An Architecture For Global Ubiquitous Sensing, Alfredo Jose Perez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A new class of wireless sensor networks has recently appeared due to the pervasiness of cellular phones with embedded sensors, mobile Internet connectivity, and location technologies. This mobile wireless sensor network has the potential to address large-scale societal problems and improve the people's quality of life in a better, faster and less expensive fashion than current solutions based on static wireless sensor networks. Ubiquitous Sensing is the umbrella term used in this dissertation that encompasses location-based services, human-centric, and participatory sensing applications. At the same time, ubiquitous sensing applications are bringing a new series of challenging problems.

This dissertation proposes …

Knowledge Guided Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline (Nurbs) For Supporting Design Intent In Computer Aided Design (Cad) Modeling, Khairan Rajab

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For many years, incompatible computer-aided design (CAD) packages that are based on Non-uniform Rational B-Spline (NURBS) technology carried out the exchange of models and data through either neutral file formats (IGES or STEP) or proprietary formats that have been accepted as quasi industry standards. Although it is the only available solution at the current time, the exchange process most often produces unsatisfactory results. Models that are impeccable in the original modeling system usually end up with gaps or intersections between surfaces on another incompatible system. Issues such as loss of information, change of data accuracy, inconsistent tolerance, and misinterpretation of …

Mining Associations Using Directed Hypergraphs, Ramanuja N. Simha

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis proposes a novel directed hypergraph based model for any database. We introduce the notion of association rules for multi-valued attributes, which is an adaptation of the definition of quantitative association rules known in the literature. The association rules for multi-valued attributes are integrated in building the directed hypergraph model. This model allows to capture attribute-level associations and their strength. Basing on this model, we provide association-based similarity notions between any two attributes and present a method for finding clusters of similar attributes. We then propose algorithms to identify a subset of attributes known as a leading indicator that …

A Dynamic Hierarchical Web-Based Portal, Matthew James Spaulding

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A dynamic hierarchical web-based portal was created to house a suite of web-based supply chain management applications. The portal was designed in a hierarchical manner to match the structure of large companies. Administrators of the the portal have the ability to form the portal in such a way to mimic the existing structure of their company. Access rights to the applications in the portal may be granted or denied per division and the users of the portal are placed in these divisions based on their duty in the company. In addition, users are granted roles which dictate their ability to …