Computer Sciences Commons^™

Knowledge Driven Search Intent Mining, Ashutosh Jadhav

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Understanding users' latent intents behind search queries is essential for satisfying a user's search needs. Search intent mining can help search engines to enhance its ranking of search results, enabling new search features like instant answers, personalization, search result diversification, and the recommendation of more relevant ads. Hence, there has been increasing attention on studying how to effectively mine search intents by analyzing search engine query logs. While state-of-the-art techniques can identify the domain of the queries (e.g. sports, movies, health), identifying domain-specific intent is still an open problem. Among all the topics available on the Internet, health is one …

Multi-Sorted Inverse Frequent Itemsets Mining: On-Going Research, Domenico Saccà, Edoardo Serra, Antonio Piccolo

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Inverse frequent itemset mining (IFM) consists of generating artificial transactional databases reflecting patterns of real ones, in particular, satisfying given frequency constraints on the itemsets. An extension of IFM called many-sorted IFM, is introduced where the schemes for the datasets to be generated are those typical of Big Tables, as required in emerging big data applications, e.g., social network analytics.

Rvlbpnn: A Workload Forecasting Model For Smart Cloud Computing, Yao Lu, John Panneerselvam, Lu Liu, Yan Wu

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Given the increasing deployments of Cloud datacentres and the excessive usage of server resources, their associated energy and environmental implications are also increasing at an alarming rate. Cloud service providers are under immense pressure to significantly reduce both such implications for promoting green computing. Maintaining the desired level of Quality of Service (QoS) without violating the Service Level Agreement (SLA), whilst attempting to reduce the usage of the datacentre resources is an obvious challenge for the Cloud service providers. Scaling the level of active server resources in accordance with the predicted incoming workloads is one possible way of reducing the …

Genre Prediction To Inform The Recommendation Process, Nevena Dragovic, Maria Soledad Pera

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this paper we present a time-based genre prediction strategy that can inform the book recommendation process. To explicitly consider time in predicting genres of interest, we rely on a popular time series forecasting model as well as reading patterns of each individual reader or group of readers (in case of libraries or publishing companies). Based on a conducted initial assessment using the Amazon dataset, we demonstrate our strategy outperforms its baseline counter-part.

Hyperlink: Virtual Machine Introspection And Memory Forensic Analysis Without Kernel Source Code, Jidong Xiao, Lei Lu, Haining Wang, Xiaoyun Zhu

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Virtual Machine Introspection (VMI) is an approach to inspecting and analyzing the software running inside a virtual machine from the hypervisor. Similarly, memory forensics analyzes the memory snapshots or dumps to understand the runtime state of a physical or virtual machine. The existing VMI and memory forensic tools rely on up-to-date kernel information of the target operating system (OS) to work properly, which often requires the availability of the kernel source code. This requirement prevents these tools from being widely deployed in real cloud environments. In this paper, we present a VMI tool called HyperLink that partially retrieves running process …

Google Earth Forensics On Ios 10’S Location Service, Brian Cusack, Raymond Lutui

Australian Digital Forensics Conference

The easy access and common usage of GNSS systems has provided a wealth of evidential information that may be accessed by a digital forensic investigator. Google Earth is commonly used on all manner of devices for geolocation services and consequently has a wide range of tools that will relate real time and stored GNSS data to maps. As an aid to investigation Google Earth forensics is available for use. An investigator can use it by downloading geolocation data from devices and placing it on Google Earth maps, place geolocation data on historical archival maps, or by direct usage of the …

An Exploration Of Artefacts Of Remote Desktop Applications On Windows, Paresh Kerai, Vimal Murji Vekariya

Australian Digital Forensics Conference

Remote Desktop Applications (RDA) such as Virtual Network Computing (VNC), Cisco WebEx, GoToMeeting and LogMeIn have been adapted and utilised recently. This is because they facilitate tier-one support to configure computers, networks and solve application-related issues from a remote location. The direct benefit from the use of these applications, is the time (and therefore cost) saving for organisations. Unfortunately, “remoting” technology can also be used by criminals to perform illegal activities, hence remote applications are of key interest to law agencies and forensic investigators. The research outlined in this paper aims to identify any artefacts left behind by common remote …

A Performance Analysis Framework For Coreference Resolution Algorithms, Chandankumar Johakhim Patel

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This thesis entitled A Performance Analysis Framework for Coreference Resolution Algorithms, focuses on the topic of coreference resolution of semantic datasets. In order for Big Data analytics to be effective, it is essential to develop automated algorithms capable of integrating multiple datasets that contain data about a particular person or other entity. Accomplishing this necessitates coreference resolution; for example, determining that J. Doe in one dataset refers to the same person as Jonathan Doe Jr. in another dataset. There are many existing coreference resolution algorithms, but there are only a few basic design decisions to be made by such systems …

Techno-Apocalypse: Technology, Religion, And Ideology In Bryan Singer’S H+, Edward Brennan

Books/Book chapters

This essay critically analyses the digital series H+. In the near future, adults who can afford them, have replaced tablets and cell phones with nanotechnology implants. The H+ implant acts as a medical diagnostic and can overlay the user's senses with a computer interface. The apocalypse comes in the form of a computer virus which infects the H+ network and instantly kills one third of humanity. The series represents the anxiety and religiosity that surrounds the possible social consequences of digital technology. It also explores the tensions and intersections between technology and faith. This essay makes the case, however, that …

Optimizing Campus Mobility With A Focus On Sustainability: A Graph Theory Approach To Intra-Campus Transportation Networks, Quinn Nelson, Donald Steffensmeier, Sachin Pawaskar

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

The idea of public transportation is supported by most in theory but often heavily criticized by users when put into application. There are common tensions that are related to public transportation, as described by frequent users: unreliable, too crowded, and slow. The University of Nebraska-Omaha (UNO) is a growing metropolitan institution that uses a shuttle system to transport students among their three campuses daily. As of 2015, the current total student enrollment is approximately 16,000; UNO plans to enroll 20,000 students by 2020. The expected student growth is also reflected by the current construction of new buildings and expansion of …

Greenc5: An Adaptive, Energy-Aware Collection For Green Software Development, Junya Michanan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dynamic data structures in software applications have been shown to have a large impact on system performance. In this paper, we explore energy saving opportunities of interface-based dynamic data structures. Our results suggest that savings opportunities exist in the C5 Collection between 16.95% and 97.50%. We propose a prototype and architecture for creating adaptive green data structures by applying machine learning tools to build a model for predicting energy efficient data structures based on the dynamic workload. Our neural network model can classify energy efficient data structures based on features such as the number of elements, frequency of operations, interface …

Enhancements To Hierarchical Pathfinding Algorithms, Xin Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis we study the problem of pathfinding in static grid-based maps. We apply the approach of abstraction and refinement. We abstract the grid map into a graph representation, and use the classic A* algorithm to search for a path in the abstract space, and then refine it into low-level path.

We started with a 2013 entry program to the Grid-based Path Planning Competition, and implemented several enhancements to experiment with the tradeoff between memory usage and search speed. Our program returns the refined low-level path incrementally, therefore reduces the first-move lag in large maps. We cache the low-level …

Ai Education: Birds Of A Feather, Todd W. Neller

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Games are beautifully crafted microworlds that invite players to explore complex terrains that spring into existence from even simple rules. As AI educators, games can offer fun ways of teaching important concepts and techniques. Just as Martin Gardner employed games and puzzles to engage both amateurs and professionals in the pursuit of Mathematics, a well-chosen game or puzzle can provide a catalyst for AI learning and research. [excerpt]

Model Based Security Testing For Autonomous Vehicles, Seana Lisa Hagerman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to introduce a novel approach to generate a security test suite to mitigate malicious attacks on an autonomous system. Our method uses model based testing (MBT) methods to model system behavior, attacks and mitigations as independent threads in an execution stream. The threads intersect at a rendezvous or attack point. We build a security test suite from a behavioral model, an attack type and a mitigation model using communicating extended finite state machine (CEFSM) models. We also define an applicability matrix to determine which attacks are possible with which states. Our method then builds …

Peccit: An Omniscient Debugger For Web Development, Zachary Ryan Azar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Debugging can be an extremely expensive and time-consuming task for a software developer. To find a bug, the developer typically needs to navigate backwards through infected states and symptoms of the bug to find the initial defect. Modern debugging tools are not designed for navigating back-in-time and typically require the user to jump through hoops by setting breakpoints, re-executing, and guessing where errors occur. Omniscient debuggers offer back-in-time debugging capabilities to make this task easier. These debuggers trace the program allowing the user to navigate forwards and backwards through the execution, examine variable histories, and visualize program data and control …

Lazer: Distributed Memory-Efficient Assembly Of Large-Scale Genomes, Sayan Goswami, Arghya Kusum Das, Richard Platania, Kisung Lee, Seung Jong Park

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Genome sequencing technology has witnessed tremendous progress in terms of throughput as well as cost per base pair, resulting in an explosion in the size of data. Consequently, typical sequence assembly tools demand a lot of processing power and memory and are unable to assemble big datasets unless run on hundreds of nodes. In this paper, we present a distributed assembler that achieves both scalability and memory efficiency by using partitioned de Bruijn graphs. By enhancing the memory-to-disk swapping and reducing the network communication in the cluster, we can assemble large sequences such as human genomes (452 GB) on just …

Empirical Investigation Of Key Business Factors For Digital Game Performance, Saiqa Alemm, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Faheem Ahmed

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Game development is an interdisciplinary concept that embraces software engineering, business, management, and artistic disciplines. This research facilitates a better understanding of the business dimension of digital games. The main objective of this research is to investigate empirically the effect of business factors on the performance of digital games in the market and to answer the research questions asked in this study. Game development organizations are facing high pressure and competition in the digital game industry. Business has become a crucial dimension, especially for game development organizations. The main contribution of this paper is to investigate empirically the influence of …

Line-Of-Sight Pursuit And Evasion Games On Polytopes In R^N, John Phillpot

HMC Senior Theses

We study single-pursuer, line-of-sight Pursuit and Evasion games in polytopes in $\mathbb{R}^n$. We develop winning Pursuer strategies for simple classes of polytopes (monotone prisms) in Rⁿ, using proven algorithms for polygons as inspiration and as subroutines. More generally, we show that any Pursuer-win polytope can be extended to a new Pursuer-win polytope in more dimensions. We also show that some more general classes of polytopes (monotone products) do not admit a deterministic winning Pursuer strategy. Though we provide bounds on which polytopes are Pursuer-win, these bounds are not tight. Closing the gap between those polytopes known to be …

Providing Hands-On Training With Bioinformatics Databases: A Collaboration Between Vcu Libraries & Wright Center For Clinical And Translational Research, Karen H. Gau, Julie A. Arendt, Amy Olex, Aaron R. Wolen

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Background
With the goal of increasing specialized services for researchers, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Libraries sent its basic science librarians to an intensive training on bioinformatics databases, “A Librarian’s Guide to NCBI.” VCU’s Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research (Wright CCTR) was expanding the educational component of its bioinformatics support around the same time. This year, the librarians partnered with the Wright CCTR to offer an introductory bioinformatics database workshop introducing researchers to genetic/genomic databases.

Methods
For one week in June, sessions were conducted introducing up to 30 faculty and staff to The Cancer Genome Atlas and NCBI’s Gene, …

Organizational And Systems Factors Leading To Systems Integration Success After Merger And Acquisition, Monika Glazar-Stavnicky

ETD Archive

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are a common technique used by companies to grow and enter new markets. The success rate of these transactions continues to be less than desired. Information Systems (IS) have been proven to be a key component influencing the success of mergers. While numerous factors have been found to lead to systems integration success, the studies have not analyzed the fit that is required when two organizations and systems are joined. This research focuses on the match between organizational variables of competencies and processes of two merging companies, as well as the match between systems variables of …

Memory Forensic Data Recovery Utilising Ram Cooling Methods, Kedar Gupta, Alastair Nisbet

Australian Digital Forensics Conference

Forensic investigations of digital devices is generally conducted on a seized device in a secure environment. This usually necessitates powering down the device and taking an image of the hard drive or semi-permanent storage in the case of solid state technology. Guidelines for forensic investigations of computers advise that the computer should be shut down by removing the power supply and thereby maintaining the hard disk in the state it was in whilst running. However, valuable forensic evidence often exists in the volatile memory which is lost when this process is followed. The issues of locked accounts on running computers …

Force Field Development With Gomc A Fast New Monte Carlo Molecular Simulation Code, Jason Richard Mick

Wayne State University Dissertations

In this work GOMC (GPU Optimized Monte Carlo) a new fast, flexible, and free molecular Monte Carlo code for the simulation atomistic chemical systems is presented. The results of a large Lennard-Jonesium simulation in the Gibbs ensemble is presented. Force fields developed using the code are also presented. To fit the models a quantitative fitting process is outlined using a scoring function and heat maps. The presented n-6 force fields include force fields for noble gases and branched alkanes. These force fields are shown to be the most accurate LJ or n-6 force fields to date for these compounds, capable …

Image Harvest: An Open-Source Platform For High-Throughput Plant Image Processing And Analysis, Avi C. Knecht, Malachy T. Campbell, Adam Caprez, David R. Swanson, Harkamal Walia

Holland Computing Center: Faculty Publications

High-throughput plant phenotyping is an effective approach to bridge the genotype-to-phenotype gap in crops. Phenomics experiments typically result in large-scale image datasets, which are not amenable for processing on desktop computers, thus creating a bottleneck in the image-analysis pipeline. Here, we present an open-source, flexible image-analysis framework, called Image Harvest (IH), for processing images originating from high-throughput plant phenotyping platforms. Image Harvest is developed to perform parallel processing on computing grids and provides an integrated feature for metadata extraction from large-scale file organization. Moreover, the integration of IH with the Open Science Grid provides academic researchers with the computational resources …

The Unforeseen Evolution Of Technology, Dylan White

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

Technology has evolved in the past two decades to alter how countries and their people live in the present day. Said technology has also both solved and created new problems for world powers (i.e. the U.S. and China) to face. Issues of cyber security and cyber surveillance are already potential problems that need to be addressed, where topics like cyber warfare need to be closely monitored with time. All of these are potentially underestimated threats to civil liberties, and to countries in their entirety.

I agree with the findings in my project… • The United States is a model to …

Improving Primo Usability And Teachability With Help From The Users, Barbara Valentine, Beth West

Faculty & Staff Publications

In the aftermath of a consortium migration to a shared cloud-based resource management and discovery system, a small college library implemented a web usability test to uncover the kinds of difficulties students had with the new interface. Lessons learned from this study led to targeted changes, which simplified aspects of searching, but also enhanced the librarians’ ability to teach more effectively. The authors discuss the testing methods, results, and teaching opportunities, both realized and potential, which arose from implementing changes.

Mobile Computing, Internet Of Things, And Big Data For Urban Informatics, Anirban Mondal, Praveen Rao, Sanjay Kumar Madria

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Urban informatics is emerging as a new discipline for cities and governments to improve the lives of citizens using information technology. In this advanced seminar, we introduce the key challenges and opportunities in urban informatics, discuss topics in mobile computing, Internet of Things (IoT) and big data analytics, to advance the state-of-the-art in urban informatics and provide interesting use cases. This seminar is designed for academicians, researchers, city administrators/planners, application developers, and research students with background in mobile computing and database systems.

The Challenge Of Blocking Malvertising, Catherine Dwyer, Susanne O'Callaghan, Chinmay Juneja, Preston Rollins, Harpreet Wasan, Ameet Kanguri

Student and Faculty Research Days

This poster invited Research Days attendees to learn more about malvertising--the practice of hiding malicious code within online advertisements--and the challenges of detecting and preventing it.

Voting Aggregation Leads To (Interval) Median, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

When we have several results of measuring or estimating the same quantities, it is desirable to aggregate them into a single estimate for the desired quantities. A natural requirement is that if the majority of estimates has some property, then the aggregate estimate should have the same property. It turns out that it is not possible to require this forall possible properties -- but we can require it for bounds, i.e., for properties that the value of the quantity is in between given bounds a and b. In this paper, we prove that if we restrict the …

Why Superellipsoids: A Probability-Based Explanation, Pedro Barragan Olague, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In many practical situations, it turns out that the set of possible values of the deviation vector is (approximately) a super-ellipsoid. In this paper, we provide a theoretical explanation for this empirical fact -- an explanation based on the natural notion of scale-invariance.

Vast Challenge 2016: Streaming Visual Analytics, R. Jordan Crouser, Kristin Cook, John Fallon, Georges Grinstein, Kristin Liggett, Danko Nebesh, Mark A. Whiting, Kirsten Whitley

Computer Science: Faculty Publications

The 2016 VAST Challenge returns to the (fictional) island of Kronos to pose three Mini-Challenges. In Mini-Challenge 1, participants must design an innovative interactive visual interface that enables security investigators from the Euybia Island Resort and Conference Center to conduct real-time analysis of streaming data. In Mini-Challenge 2, the GAStech Corporation returns from the 2014 kidnapping disaster more committed than ever to tighten up operations at its new headquarters in Abila. Using data from stationary and mobile sensors of multiple types, participants must help the company to understand both operational issues as well as security issues. In Mini-Challenge 3, participants …