Computer Sciences Commons^™

A Heuristic Evolutionary Method For The Complementary Cell Suppression Problem, Hira B. Herrington

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Cell suppression is a common method for disclosure avoidance used to protect sensitive information in two-dimensional tables where row and column totals are published along with non-sensitive data. In tables with only positive cell values, cell suppression has been demonstrated to be non-deterministic NP-hard. Therefore, finding more efficient methods for producing low-cost solutions is an area of active research.

Genetic algorithms (GA) have shown to be effective in finding good solutions to the cell suppression problem. However, these methods have the shortcoming that they tend to produce a large proportion of infeasible solutions. The primary goal of this research was …

Coalition Formation For Distributed Constraint Optimization Problems, Nathaniel Gemelli

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation presents our research on coalition formation for Distributed Constraint Optimization Problems (DCOP). In a DCOP, a problem is broken up into many disjoint sub-problems, each controlled by an autonomous agent and together the system of agents have a joint goal of maximizing a global utility function. In particular, we study the use of coalitions for solving distributed k-coloring problems using iterative approximate algorithms, which do not guarantee optimal results, but provide fast and economic solutions in resource constrained environments. The challenge in forming coalitions using iterative approximate algorithms is in identifying constraint dependencies between agents that allow for …

Person Identification From Streaming Surveillance Video Using Mid-Level Features From Joint Action-Pose Distribution, Binu M. Nair, Vijayan K. Asari

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

We propose a real time person identification algorithm for surveillance based scenarios from low-resolution streaming video, based on mid-level features extracted from the joint distribution of various types of human actions and human poses.

The proposed algorithm uses the combination of an auto-encoder based action association framework which produces per-frame probability estimates of the action being performed, and a pose recognition framework which gives per-frame body part locations.

The main focus in this manuscript is to effectively combine these per-frame action probability estimates and pose trajectories from a short temporal window to obtain mid-level features. We demonstrate that these mid-level …

Fuzzy, Intuitionistic Fuzzy, What Next?, Vladik Kreinovich, Bui Cong Cuong

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In the 1980s, Krassimir Atanassov proposed an important generalization of fuzzy sets, fuzzy logic, and fuzzy techniques -- intuitionistic fuzzy approach, which provides a more accurate description of expert knowledge. In this paper, we describe a natural way how the main ideas behind the intuitionistic fuzzy approach can be expanded even further, towards an even more accurate description of experts' knowledge.

Creative Discussions Or Memorization? Maybe Both? (On The Example Of Teaching Computer Science), Vladik Kreinovich, Olga Kosheleva

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

We all strive to be creative in our teaching, but there is often not enough time to make all the topics creative fun. So sometimes, we teach memorization first, understanding later. We do it, but we often do it without seriously analyzing which topics to "sacrifice" to memorization. In this talk, we use simple mathematical models of learning to come up with relevant recommendations: Namely, all the topics form a dependency graph, and if we do not have enough time to allow students to treat all topics with equal creativity, then the most reasonable topics for memorization first are the …

On Using Synthetic Social Media Stimuli In An Emergency Preparedness Functional Exercise, Andrew Hampton, Shreyansh Bhatt, Gary Alan Smith, Jeremy S. Brunn, Hemant Purohit, Valerie L. Shalin, John M. Flach, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

This paper details the creation and use of a massive (over 32,000 messages) artificially constructed 'Twitter' microblog stream for a regional emergency preparedness functional exercise. By combining microblog conversion, manual production, and a control set, we created a web based information stream providing valid, misleading, and irrelevant information to public information officers (PIOs) representing hospitals, fire departments, the local Red Cross, and city and county government officials. PIOs searched, monitored, and (through conventional channels) verified potentially actionable information that could then be redistributed through a personalized screen name. Our case study of a key PIO reveals several capabilities that social …

Clustering Header Categories Extracted From Web Tables, George Nagy, David W. Embley, Mukkai Krishnamoorthy, Sharad C. Seth

School of Computing: Conference and Workshop Papers

Revealing related content among heterogeneous web tables is part of our long term objective of formulating queries over multiple sources of information. Two hundred HTML tables from institutional web sites are segmented and each table cell is classified according to the fundamental indexing property of row and column headers. The categories that correspond to the multi-dimensional data cube view of a table are extracted by factoring the (often multi-row/column) headers. To reveal commonalities between tables from diverse sources, the Jaccard distances between pairs of category headers (and also table titles) are computed. We show how about one third of our …

Why Sugeno Lambda-Measures, Hung T. Nguyen, Vladik Kreinovich, Joe Lorkowski, Saiful Abu

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

To describe expert uncertainty, it is often useful to go beyond additive probability measures and use non-additive (fuzzy) measures. One of the most widely and successfully used class of such measures is the class of Sugeno lambda-measures. Their success is somewhat paradoxical, since from the purely mathematical viewpoint, these measures are -- in some reasonable sense -- equivalent to probability measures. In this paper, we explain this success by showing that while mathematically, it is possible to reduce Sugeno measures to probability measures, from the computational viewpoint, using Sugeno measures is much more efficient. We also show that among all …

Real-Time Monitoring Of Tectonic Displacements In The Pacific Northwest Through An Array Of Gps Receivers, Răzvan Popovici, Răzvan Andonie, Walter M. Szeliga, Timothy I. Melbourne, Craig W. Scrivner

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

The Pacific Northwest Geodesic Array at Central Washington University collects telemetered streaming data from 450 GPS stations. These real-time data are used to monitor and mitigate natural hazards arising from earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and coastal sea-level hazards in the Pacific Northwest. The displacement measurements are performed at millimeter-scale, and require stringent analysis and parameter estimation techniques. Recent improvements in both accuracy of positioning measurements and latency of terrestrial data communication have led to the ability to collect data with higher sampling rates, of up to 1 Hz. For seismic monitoring applications, this means 1350 separate position streams from stations …

Kuptimi Dhe Rëndësia E Studimit, Te Dizajnimi Ux, Shkëlqim Mula

Theses and Dissertations

Ky dokumente paraqet rëndësinë e dizajnimit Përdoruesi në Qendër ( nga Anglishtja “User Experience” që njihet me shkurtesën UX ) në ndryshimin e industrisë, duke theksuar fuqinë e këtij dizajnimi për të zhvilluar produkte, sisteme, softvere, aplikacione të reja me fokus përdoruesin, për të arritur një produkt final që i përmbushë të gjitha çka kërkohet dhe më shumë.

Bazuar në evoluimin e teknologjisë dhe rritjes së konkurrencës ndërmjet zhvilluesve për të ofruar një produkt, aplikacion revulocionar, dizajnimi UX tanimë veçse është e qartë, që përdormi i këtij dizajni është bërë një mënyrë e zakonshme për krijimin e produkteve, aplikacioneve të …

Analysis And Improvement On A Biometric-Based Remote User Authentication Scheme Using Smart Cards, Fengtong Wen, Willy Susilo, Guomin Yang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In a recent paper (BioMed Research International, 2013/491289), Khan et al. proposed an improved biometrics-based remote user authentication scheme with user anonymity. The scheme is believed to be secure against password guessing attack, user impersonation attack, server masquerading attack, and provide user anonymity, even if the secret information stored in the smart card is compromised. In this paper, we analyze the security of Khan et al.’s scheme, and demonstrate that their scheme doesn’t provide user anonymity. This also renders that their scheme is insecure against other attacks, such as off-line password guessing attack, user impersonation attacks. Subsequently, we propose a …

A Systematic Comparison Of The Transverse Energy Minimization And Splitting Intensity Techniques For Measuring Shear-Wave Splitting Parameters, Fansheng Kong, Stephen S. Gao, Kelly H. Liu

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Over the past several decades, shear-wave splitting (SWS) analyses have been increasingly utilized to delineate mantle structure and probe mantle dynamics. However, the reported splitting parameters (fast polarization orientations and splitting times) are frequently inconsistent among different studies, partially due to the different techniques used to estimate the splitting parameters. Here, we report results from a systematic comparison of the transverse minimization (TM) and the splitting intensity (SI) techniques. The study was motivated by the fact that recent comparative studies led to conflicting conclusions, which include the suggestion that TM, which is arguably the most widely used SWS-measuring technique, performs …

Producing High Strength Aluminum Alloy By Combination Of Equal Channel Angular Pressing And Bake Hardening, Hamid Alihosseini, Mohsen Asle Zaeem, Kamran Dehghani, Ghader Faraji

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A combination of severe plastic deformation by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) and bake hardening (BH) was used to produce high strength ultrafine-grained AA6061 aluminum alloy. 2, 4 and 8 passes of ECAP were performed, and the bake hardenability of samples was tested by 6% pre-straining followed by baking at 200 °C for 20 min. The microstructures obtained for various passes of ECAP were characterized by XRD, EBSD, and TEM techniques. The microstructures were refined from an average grain size of 20 µm to 212 nm after 8 passes of ECAP. Maximum bake hardenability of 110 MPa, and final yield …

Hole Detection And Shape-Free Representation And Double Landmarks Based Geographic Routing In Wireless Sensor Networks, Jianjun Yang, Zongming Fei, Ju Shen

Computer Science Faculty Publications

In wireless sensor networks, an important issue of geographic routing is “local minimum” problem, which is caused by a “hole” that blocks the greedy forwarding process. Existing geographic routing algorithms use perimeter routing strategies to find a long detour path when such a situation occurs. To avoid the long detour path, recent research focuses on detecting the hole in advance, then the nodes located on the boundary of the hole advertise the hole information to the nodes near the hole. Hence the long detour path can be avoided in future routing. We propose a heuristic hole detecting algorithm which identifies …

A Novel Scoring Based Distributed Protein Docking Application To Improve Enrichment, Prachi Pradeep, Craig Struble, Terrence Neumann, Daniel S. Sem, Stephen Merrill

Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

Molecular docking is a computational technique which predicts the binding energy and the preferred binding mode of a ligand to a protein target. Virtual screening is a tool which uses docking to investigate large chemical libraries to identify ligands that bind favorably to a protein target. We have developed a novel scoring based distributed protein docking application to improve enrichment in virtual screening. The application addresses the issue of time and cost of screening in contrast to conventional systematic parallel virtual screening methods in two ways. Firstly, it automates the process of creating and launching multiple independent dockings on a …

A Simulation-Based Approach To Solve A Specific Type Of Chance Constrained Optimization, Lijian Chan

MIS/OM/DS Faculty Publications

We solve the chance constrained optimization with convex feasible set through approximating the chance constraint by another convex smooth function. The approximation is based on the numerical properties of the Bernstein polynomial that is capable of effectively controlling the approximation error for both function value and gradient. Thus, we adopt a first-order algorithm to reach a satisfactory solution which is expected to be optimal. When the explicit expression of joint distribution is not available, we then use Monte Carlo approach to numerically evaluate the chance constraint to obtain an optimal solution by probability. Numerical results for known problem instances are …

Role-Based Access Control Administration Of Security Policies And Policy Conflict Resolution In Distributed Systems, Stephen Sakawa Kibwage

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Security models using access control policies have over the years improved from Role-based access control (RBAC) to newer models which have added some features like support for distributed systems and solving problems in older security policy models such as identifying policy conflicts. Access control policies based on hierarchical roles provide more flexibility in controlling system resources for users. The policies allow for granularity when extended to have both allow and deny permissions as well as weighted priority attribute for the rules in the policies. Such flexibility allows administrators to succinctly specify access for their system resources but also prone to …

Identifying Unethical Personally Identifiable Information (Pii) Privacy Violations Committed By Is/It Practitioners: A Comparison To Computing Moral Exemplars, Mark H. Rosenbaum

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

In some instances, Information Systems and Information Technology (IS/IT) practitioners have been noted to commit privacy violations to Personally Identifiable Information (PII). However, computing exemplars, due to their notable dispositional Hallmark Features of morality, understandings of ethical abstractions, and other components that comprise their virtuous makeups, are theoretically less likely to commit privacy violations to PII. This research attempted to verify if those IS/IT practitioners who identify with some of the Hallmark Features of moral and computing exemplar were less willing to commit privacy violations to PII than were those IS/IT practitioners that did not identify themselves with some of …

Empyreal Radiance: An Application Of Sonification In The Field Of Astrophysics, Ryan Loth

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

Broadly, this paper discusses the application of sonification and its potential for increasing knowledge. The paper is broken up into three sections: the theory of sonification, sonification for artistic purposes, and lastly an extensive look at one process of sonification dealing with solar winds in space. Concerning the theory of sonification, the paper will divulge into the process of sonification and ask questions about the limitations of it as well. The second section discusses how sonification is a way to build the curiosity of not just scientists, but also the general public. The final section addresses my composition Empyreal Radiance …

State-To-State Reaction Dynamics Of ¹⁸O+³²O₂ Studied By A Time-Dependent Quantum Wavepacket Method, Wenbo Xie, Lan Liu, Zhigang Sun, Hua Guo, Richard Dawes

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

The title isotope exchange reaction was studied by converged time-dependent wave packet calculations, where an efficient 4th order split operator was applied to propagate the initial wave packet. State-to-state differential and integral cross sections up to the collision energy of 0.35 eV were obtained with ³²O₂ in the hypothetical j₀ = 0 state. It is discovered that the differential cross sections are largely forward biased in the studied collision energy range, due to the fact that there is a considerable part of the reaction occurring with large impact parameter and short lifetime relative to the rotational period …

Multispectral Image Analysis Using Random Forest, Barrett Lowe, Arun Kulkarni

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Classical methods for classification of pixels in multispectral images include supervised classifiers such as the maximum-likelihood classifier, neural network classifiers, fuzzy neural networks, support vector machines, and decision trees. Recently, there has been an increase of interest in ensemble learning – a method that generates many classifiers and aggregates their results. Breiman proposed Random Forestin 2001 for classification and clustering. Random Forest grows many decision trees for classification. To classify a new object, the input vector is run through each decision tree in the forest. Each tree gives a classification. The forest chooses the classification having the most votes. Random …

E-Esas: Evolution Of A Participatory Design-Based Solution For Breast Cancer (Bc) Patients In Rural Bangladesh, Mohammad Munirul Haque, Ferdaus Kawsar, Mohammad Adibuzzaman, Md Miftah Uddin, Sheikh Iqbal Ahamed, Richard Love, Ragib Hasan, Rumana Dowla, Tahmina Ferdousy, Reza Salim

Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

Healthcare facility is scarce for rural women in the developing world. The situation is worse for patients who are suffering from diseases that require long-term feedback-oriented monitoring such as breast cancer. Lack of motivation to go to the health centers on patients’ side due to sociocultural barriers, financial restrictions and transportation hazards results in inadequate data for proper assessment. Fortunately, mobile phones have penetrated the masses even in rural communities of the developing countries. In this scenario, a mobile phone-based remote symptom monitoring system (RSMS) with inspirational videos can serve the purpose of both patients and doctors. Here, we present …

Activin-A And Bmp4 Levels Modulate Cell Type Specification During Chir-Induced Cardiomyogenesis, Min-Su Kim, Audrey Horst, Steven Blinka, Karl D. Stamm, Donna K. Mahnke, James Schuman, Rebekah Gundry, Aoy Tomita-Mitchell, John Lough

Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

The use of human pluripotent cell progeny for cardiac disease modeling, drug testing and therapeutics requires the ability to efficiently induce pluripotent cells into the cardiomyogenic lineage. Although direct activation of the Activin-A and/or Bmp pathways with growth factors yields context-dependent success, recent studies have shown that induction of Wnt signaling using low molecular weight molecules such as CHIR, which in turn induces the Activin-A and Bmp pathways, is widely effective. To further enhance the reproducibility of CHIR-induced cardiomyogenesis, and to ultimately promote myocyte maturation, we are using exogenous growth factors to optimize cardiomyogenic signaling downstream of CHIR induction. As …

Theory Development And Pilot Testing Of A New Survey Instrument On Usability By Older Adults, Meriam Caboral-Stevens

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

An aging population and the use of technology are two pervasive phenomena that are burgeoning simultaneously. The confluence of these phenomena may present challenges for the older adults that could prevent a successful interface. Barriers and challenges can be addressed by examining the interface between older adults and technology. Usability is described as how well and how easily a user without formal training can interact effectively with the system. A review of the literature shows paucity in nursing theories on usability and the use of technology among older adults. This paper describes the development of a conceptual model - Use …

Quadratic Discriminant Analysis Revisited, Wenbo Cao

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this thesis, we revisit quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA), a standard classification method. Specifically, we investigate the parameter estimation and dimension reduction problems for QDA.

Traditionally, the parameters of QDA are estimated generatively; that is the parameters are estimated by maximizing the joint likelihood of observations and their labels. In practice, classical QDA, though computationally efficient, often underperforms discriminative classifiers, such as SVM, Boosting methods, and logistic regression. Motivated by recent research on hybrid generative/discriminative learning, we propose to estimate the parameters of QDA by minimizing a convex combination of negative joint log-likelihood and negative conditional log-likelihood of observations and …

It-Enabled Coordination In Electronic Markets: An Experimental Investigation Of The Effects Of Social Communication On Group Buyers, Alexander Pelaez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Coordination, and the mechanisms by which coordination occurs, represents a significant area of study for economic research, and information technology. Technology enhances communication in both speed and quantity of information and when aligned with appropriate tasks can improve decision-making and task performance. Examining the effect of technology based coordination mechanisms on market platforms provides insight into outcomes as represented by buyer surplus and task completion as well as behaviors, such as network structure and emotional attitudes in economic experiments. Drawing on theory from economics and information systems, larger buyer groups should be able to obtain better prices and extract higher …

Preconditioning For Matrix Computation, Xiaodong Yan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Preconditioning is a classical subject of numerical solution of linear systems of equations. The goal is to turn a linear system into another one which is easier to solve. The two central subjects of numerical matrix computations are LIN-SOLVE, that is, the solution of linear systems of equations and EIGEN-SOLVE, that is, the approximation of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a matrix. We focus on the former subject of LIN-SOLVE and show an application to EIGEN-SOLVE. We achieve our goal by applying randomized additive and multiplicative preconditioning. We facilitate the numerical solution by decreasing the condition of the coefficient matrix …

Leakage-Resilient Password Entry: Challenges, Design, And Evaluation, Qiang Yan, Jin Han, Yingjiu Li, Jianying Zhou, Robert H. Deng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Password leakage is one of the most serious threats for password-based user authentication. Although this problem has been extensively investigated over the last two decades, there is still no widely adopted solution. In this paper, we attempt to systematically understand the challenges behind this problem and investigate the feasibility of solving it. Since password leakage usually happens when a password is input during authentication, we focus on designing leakage-resilient password entry (LRPE) schemes in this study. We develop a broad set of design criteria and use them to construct a practical LRPE scheme named CoverPad, which not only improves leakage …

Biometric Authentication On Iphone And Android: Usability, Perceptions, And Influences On Adoption, Rasekhar Bhagavatula, Blase Ur, Kevin Iacovino, Su Mon Kywe, Lorrie Faith Cranor, Marios Savvides

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

While biometrics have long been promoted as the future of authentication, the recent introduction of Android face unlock and iPhone fingerprint unlock are among the first large-scale deployments of biometrics for consumers. In a 10-participant, within-subjects lab study and a 198-participant online survey, we investigated the usability of these schemes, along with users ’ experiences, attitudes, and adoption decisions. Participants in our lab study found both face unlock and fingerprint unlock easy to use in typical scenarios. The notable exception was that face unlock was completely unusable in a dark room. Most participants preferred fingerprint unlock over face unlock or …

Data Citation Practices In The Crawdad Wireless Network Data Archive, Tristan Henderson, David Kotz

Dartmouth Scholarship

CRAWDAD (Community Resource for Archiving Wireless Data At Dartmouth) is a popular research data archive for wireless network data, archiving over 100 datasets used by over 6,500 users. In this paper we examine citation behaviour amongst 1,281 papers that use CRAWDAD datasets. We find that (in general) paper authors cite datasets in a manner that is sufficient for providing credit to dataset authors and also provides access to the datasets that were used. Only 11.5% of papers did not do so; common problems included (1) citing the canonical papers rather than the dataset, (2) describing the dataset using unclear identifiers, …