Computer Sciences Commons^™

Examining Medline Search Query Reproducibility And Resulting Variation In Search Results, C. Sean Burns, Robert M. Shapiro Ii, Tyler Nix, Jeffrey T. Huber

Information Science Faculty Publications

The MEDLINE database is publicly available through the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed but the data file itself is also licensed to a number of vendors, who may offer their versions to institutional and other parties as part of a database platform. These vendors provide their own interface to the MEDLINE file and offer other technologies that attempt to make their version useful to subscribers. However, little is known about how vendor platforms ingest and interact with MEDLINE data files, nor how these changes influence the construction of search queries and the results they produce. This poster presents a longitudinal …

A New Model For Constant Fuel Utilization And Constant Fuel Flow In Fuel Cells, Uday K. Chakraborty

Educator Preparation & Leadership Faculty Works

This paper presents a new model of fuel cells for two different modes of operation: constant fuel utilization control (constant stoichiometry condition) and constant fuel flow control (constant flow rate condition). The model solves the long-standing problem of mixing reversible and irreversible potentials (equilibrium and non-equilibrium states) in the Nernst voltage expression. Specifically, a Nernstian gain term is introduced for the constant fuel utilization condition, and it is shown that the Nernstian gain is an irreversibility in the computation of the output voltage of the fuel cell. A Nernstian loss term accounts for an irreversibility for the constant fuel flow …

Computationally Modeling The Trophic Cascade In Yellowstone National Park, Emily Menden

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Many of the world’s ecosystems are facing species elimination (2). Whether this elimination is intentional or accidental, the consequences need to be understood in order to make better resource management decisions. Computational models can be helpful in making these management decisions. Yellowstone National Park gives ecologists a unique opportunity to study species elimination and reintroduction.

In the 1920s, wolves were extirpated from the Greater Yellowstone Area. The absence of wolves allowed the elk population to increase unbounded by a natural predator. Over the years, Yellowstone management took various measures to control the elk population. In the 1970s, the National Park …

About One Approach To Implementing Semantic Search, Murtadha Rasol, Jamal Challab, Adnan Al-Saeedi

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Traditional search mechanisms are based on the keyword search, which does not consider the semantic links between different concepts. This leads to the loss of relevant documents due to inaccurate query formulation or using contextually close words and concepts in the query. To solve the problems of formulating user queries and interdisciplinarity of concepts, it is suggested to use semantic search. The proposed method for implementing semantic search is applicable to large scopes of text data and is based on using a genetic algorithm. Unlike standard methods for information search, the suggested method allows us to consider the semantics of …

An Imperceptible & Robust Digital Image Watermarking Scheme Based On Dwt, Entropy And Neural Network, M Saiful Islam, Muhammad Ahsan Ullah, Jitu Prakash Dhar

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Due to the unlawful manipulation and image processing attacks, the copyright protection of digital image is paid more and more attention. This paper proposes a digital image watermarking technique to protect image authentication based on discrete wavelet transform (DWT), entropy and neural network. Firstly, the DWT is used to divide the host image and the watermark image into frequency sub-bands. Then, the entropy of each frequency sub-band is calculated to find the maximum entropy sub-band in order to embed the highest entropy sub-band of the watermark image into the highest entropy sub-band of the host image. Finally, the neural network …

Numerical Investigation Of Inclination On The Thermal Performance Of Porous Fin Heatsink Using Pseudospectral Collocation Method, George Oguntala, Gbeminiyi Sobamowo, Raed Abd-Alhameed, James Noras

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Numerical investigation of inclination effect on the thermal performance of a porous fin heat sink is presented. The developed thermal model is solved using pseudo-spectral collocation method (PSCM). Parametric studies are carried out using PSCM, and the thermal characterization of heat sink with the inclined porous fin of rectangular geometry is presented. Results show that heat sink of inclined porous fin exhibits higher thermal performance than heat sink of vertical porous fin operating under the same thermal conditions with the same geometrical configurations. Performance of inclined or tilted fin increases with decrease in length-thickness aspect ratio. However, increase in the …

Editorial Board

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

No abstract provided.

A Study On Flat And Hierarchical System Deployment For Edge Computing, Dawei Li, Boxiang Dong, En Wang, Michelle Zhu

Department of Computer Science Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

In this paper, we consider the server allocation problem for edge computing system deployment where each edge cloud is modeled as an M/M/c queue. Our goal is to minimize the overall average system response time of application requests generated by all mobile devices/users. We consider two approaches for edge cloud deployment: The flat deployment, where all edge clouds are co-located with the base stations, and the hierarchical deployment, where edge clouds can be co-located with other system components besides the base stations. In flat deployment, we demonstrate that the allocation of edge cloud servers should be balanced across all the …

Two-Sided Matching For Mentor-Mentee Allocations—Algorithms And Manipulation Strategies, Christian Haas, Margeret Hall

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

In scenarios where allocations are determined by participant’s preferences, Two-Sided Matching is a well-established approach with applications in College Admissions, School Choice, and Mentor-Mentee matching problems. In such a context, participants in the matching have preferences with whom they want to be matched with. This article studies two important concepts in Two-Sided Matching: multiple objectives when finding a solution, and manipulation of preferences by participants. We use real data sets from a Mentor-Mentee program for the evaluation to provide insight on realistic effects and implications of the two concepts. In the first part of the article, we consider the quality …

Role Of Gender Differences On Individuals' Responses To Electronic Word-Of-Mouth In Social Interactions, Jonghak Sun, Seokwoo Song, Deanna House, Mintaek Kwon

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

Considering the significant effects of electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM), this research explores how individuals respond to eWOM and whether gender differences exist in their perceptions. To do so, by employing the perspective of social interactions, we examine the proposed relationships are different between genders. We collected data using a survey and tested the hypotheses via path analysis. The results indicate that, gender differences were found specific to search effort, product involvement, and information credibility. Women with strong online ties had a tendency to be more involved in the product information and to find the information more credible. In addition, when women …

Wiwear: Wearable Sensing Via Directional Wifi Energy Harvesting, Huy Vu Tran, Archan Misra, Jie Xiong, Rajesh Krishna Balan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Energy harvesting, from a diverse set of modes such as light or motion, has been viewed as the key to developing batteryless sensing devices. In this paper, we develop the nascent idea of harvesting RF energy from WiFi transmissions, applying it to power a prototype wearable device that captures and transmits accelerometer sensor data. Our solution, WiWear, has two key innovations: 1) beamforming WiFi transmissions to significantly boost the energy that a receiver can harvest ~23 meters away, and 2) smart zero-energy, triggering of inertial sensing, that allows intelligent duty-cycled operation of devices whose transient power consumption far exceeds what …

Neural Machine Translation, Quinn M. Lanners, Thomas Laurent

Honors Thesis

Neural Machine Translation is the primary algorithm used in industry to perform machine translation. This state-of-the-art algorithm is an application of deep learning in which massive datasets of translated sentences are used to train a model capable of translating between any two languages. The architecture behind neural machine translation is composed of two recurrent neural networks used together in tandem to create an Encoder Decoder structure. Attention mechanisms have recently been developed to further increase the accuracy of these models. In this senior thesis, the various parts of Neural Machine Translation are explored towards the eventual creation of a tutorial …

Good Similar Patches For Image Denoising, Si Lu

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Patch-based denoising algorithms like BM3D have achieved outstanding performance. An important idea for the success of these methods is to exploit the recurrence of similar patches in an input image to estimate the underlying image structures. However, in these algorithms, the similar patches used for denoising are obtained via Nearest Neighbour Search (NNS) and are sometimes not optimal. First, due to the existence of noise, NNS can select similar patches with similar noise patterns to the reference patch. Second, the unreliable noisy pixels in digital images can bring a bias to the patch searching process and result in a loss …

High-Speed Video From Asynchronous Camera Array, Si Lu

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper presents a method for capturing high-speed video using an asynchronous camera array. Our method sequentially fires each sensor in a camera array with a small time offset and assembles captured frames into a high-speed video according to the time stamps. The resulting video, however, suffers from parallax jittering caused by the viewpoint difference among sensors in the camera array. To address this problem, we develop a dedicated novel view synthesis algorithm that transforms the video frames as if they were captured by a single reference sensor. Specifically, for any frame from a non-reference sensor, we find the two …

Pascal's Triangle Modulo N And Its Applications To Efficient Computation Of Binomial Coefficients, Zachary Warneke

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

In this thesis, Pascal's Triangle modulo n will be explored for n prime and n a prime power. Using the results from the case when n is prime, a novel proof of Lucas' Theorem is given. Additionally, using both the results from the exploration of Pascal's Triangle here, as well as previous results, an efficient algorithm for computation of binomial coefficients modulo n (a choose b mod n) is described, and its time complexity is analyzed and compared to naive methods. In particular, the efficient algorithm runs in O(n log(a)) time (as opposed to …

Teaching Young Learners Computational Thinking, Tingxuan Li, Shengwei An, Xuan Wang, Hengrong Du, Guanhong Tao

Engagement & Service-Learning Summit

No abstract provided.

Multi-Modality Empowered Network For Facial Action Unit Detection, Peng Liu, Zheng Zhang, Huiyuan Yang, Lijun Yin

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents a new thermal empowered multi-task network (TEMT-Net) to improve facial action unit detection. Our primary goal is to leverage the situation that the training set has multi-modality data while the application scenario only has one modality. Thermal images are robust to illumination and face color. In the proposed multi-task framework, we utilize both modality data. Action unit detection and facial landmark detection are correlated tasks. To utilize the advantage and the correlation of different modalities and different tasks, we propose a novel thermal empowered multi-task deep neural network learning approach for action unit detection, facial landmark detection …

Visualizing Classic Synchronization, Joel C. Adams, Elizabeth R. Koning, Christiaan D. Hazlett

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Classic synchronization problems are often used to introduce students to the subtleties of concurrency and synchronization mechanisms, such as semaphores, monitors, locks, and condition variables. The Dining Philosophers, Producers-Consumers, and Readers-Writers are all classic problems in which a correct solution requires the actions of multiple processes or threads to be synchronized. In this paper, we present visualizations for these three problems and describe their use as pedagogical tools to help students build accurate mental models of concurrency abstractions such as starvation, deadlock, livelock, and correct execution. We also present the results of an experiment that indicate students find using these …

Frameup: An Incriminatory Attack On Storj: A Peer To Peer Blockchain Enabled Distributed Storage System, Xiaolu Zhang, Justin Grannis, Ibrahim Baggili, Nicole Lang Beebe

Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

In this work we present a primary account of frameup, an incriminatory attack made possible because of existing implementations in distributed peer to peer storage. The frameup attack shows that an adversary has the ability to store unencrypted data on the hard drives of people renting out their hard drive space. This is important to forensic examiners as it opens the door for possibly framing an innocent victim. Our work employs Storj as an example technology, due to its popularity and market size. Storj is a blockchain enabled system that allows people to rent out their hard drive space …

Design For Safety: Decreasing First Responder Health Risks Through Real-Time Bio-Sensor Alerts, Suzy Fendrick

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The focus of this research project is using the Design Thinking process to create an informative dashboard for first responders. Design Thinking involves empathizing with the user, defining the problems to be solved, ideation, creating prototypes, and testing. This iterate process focuses on the user, resulting in the most effective product possible. The dashboard will display real-time biosensor data from sensors in the first responders’ uniforms. This project is part of a larger project with the goal of vastly improving the safety of first responders during emergency hazardous material incidents.

Evaluating An Electronic Protocol In A Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Jeanette Rose

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

A team of clinicians at Children’s Hospital and Medical Center (CHMC) developed a standardized protocol in 2018 for the care of patients needing sedation. This protocol is ordered through the EPIC electronic health record system for patients in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). When used, electronic protocols reduce the variation in clinical decision making which can ultimately improve patient outcomes. The goal of this project is to evaluate this technology, how the protocol is being used, and how it may be improved. Actual users of the EPIC sedation protocol were the subjects of this study, including PICU physicians, physician …

Forensics Analysis For Bone Pair Matching Using Bipartite Graphs In Commingled Remains, Ryan Ernst

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Identification of missing prisoners of war is a complex and time consuming task. There are many missing soldiers whose remains have yet to be returned to their families and loved ones. This nation has a solemn obligation to its soldiers and their families who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. There are currently over 82,000 unidentified prisoners of war which are identified at a rate of 100+ per year. At this rate it would take 300+ years to complete the identification process. Previously, anthropologists used excel spreadsheets to sort through skeletal data. This project aims to streamline the …

Use Of Exploratory Data Analysis And Visualization In Identification Of Commingled Human Remains, Vivek Bhat Hosmat

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The field of Exploratory data analysis and Visualization is revolutionizing the way we perceive things. At times, Visualization is seen as a subset of Exploratory data analysis and then there are branches in Visualization, types, technologies, tools which makes one feel that Visualization is a standalone pillar. Either way, they both work well together to extract meaningful information from almost any kind of data. These fields can very well be the stepping stone for in-depth or conclusive research. They can direct research based on facts and observations rather than one’s intuition or even a brute force technique. This project was …

Data Analytics Pipeline For Rna Structure Analysis Via Shape, Quinn Nelson

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) is a cardiovirulent enterovirus from the family Picornaviridae. The RNA genome houses an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) in the 5’ untranslated region (5’UTR) that enables cap-independent translation. Ample evidence suggests that the structure of the 5’UTR is a critical element for virulence. We probe RNA structure in solution using base-specific modifying agents such as dimethyl sulfate as well as backbone targeting agents such as N-methylisatoic anhydride used in Selective 2’-Hydroxyl Acylation Analyzed by Primer Extension (SHAPE). We have developed a pipeline that merges and evaluates base-specific and SHAPE data together with statistical analyses that provides confidence …

How To Estimate Pavement Roughness: Beyond International Roughness Index, Edgar Daniel Rodriguez Velasquez, Carlos M. Chang Albitres, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

The standard way to describing the road's roughness it to use a single numerical characteristics called International Roughness Index (IRI). This characteristic describes the effect of the road roughness on a vehicle of standard size. To estimate IRI, practitioners tried to use easily available vehicles (whose size may be somewhat different) and then estimate IRI based on these different-size measurements. The problem is that the resulting estimates of IRI are very inaccurate -- which means that a single numerical characteristic like IRI is not sufficient to properly describe road roughness. In this paper, we show that the road roughness can …

Peeling Back The (Onion) Layers Of The Dark Web, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Manoeuvring the minefield of risk and exposure

Quantum Computing Is Here To Stay, Manoj Thulasidas

MITB Thought Leadership Series

QUANTUM COMPUTING is emerging from university laboratories and entering the industry arena at a painfully slow pace. The measured and deliberate progress is understandable given its complexity and promise. The stakes are high, because quantum computing presents the tantalising prospect of solving problems previously considered completely insoluble

Functionality & Privacy In Mobile Applications - Who's Going To Win The Game, Debin Gao

MITB Thought Leadership Series

MOBILE APPS have brought so much convenience and fun into our lives. From route planning to grocery shopping, reserving flights and hiring bicycles, to the action games we play to pass the time on public transport.

For Quantum And Reversible Computing, Intervals Are More Appropriate Than General Sets, And Fuzzy Numbers Than General Fuzzy Sets, Oscar Galindo, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Need for faster and faster computing necessitates going down to quantum level -- which means involving quantum computing. One of the important features of quantum computing is that it is reversible. Reversibility is also important as a way to decrease processor heating and thus, enable us to place more computing units in the same volume. In this paper, we argue that from this viewpoint, interval uncertainty is more appropriate than the more general set uncertainty -- and, similarly, that fuzzy numbers (for which all alpha-cuts are intervals) are more appropriate than more general fuzzy sets. We also explain why intervals …

Which Fourier Components Are Most Informative: General Idea And Case Studies, Julio Urenda, Nancy Avila, Nelly Gordillo, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In many practical situations, the information comes not in terms of the original image or signal, but in terms of its Fourier transform. To detect complex features based on this information, it is often necessary to use machine learning. In the Fourier transform, usually, there are many components, and it is not easy to use all of them in machine learning. So, we need to select the most informative components. In this paper, we provide general recommendations on how to select such components. We also show that these recommendations are in good accordance with two examples: the structure of the …