Databases and Information Systems Commons^™

Exploring Out-Of-Turn Interactions With Websites, Saverio Perugini, Naren Ramakrishnan, Manuel A. Pérez-Quiñones, Mary E. Pinney, Mary Beth Rosson

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Hierarchies are ubiquitous on the web for structuring online catalogs and indexing multidimensional attributed data sets. They are a natural metaphor for information seeking if their levelwise structure mirrors the user's conception of the underlying domain. In other cases, they can be frustrating, especially if multiple drill‐downs are necessary to arrive at information of interest. To support a broad range of users, site designers often expose multiple faceted classifications or provide within‐page pruning mechanisms. We present a new technique, called out-of-turn interaction, that increases the richness of user interaction at hierarchical sites, without enumerating all possible completion paths in the …

On Static And Dynamic Partitioning Behavior Of Large-Scale Networks, Zhongmei Yao, Derek Leonard, Xiaoming Wang, Dmitri Loguinov

Computer Science Faculty Publications

In this paper, we analyze the problem of network disconnection in the context of large-scale P2P networks and understand how both static and dynamic patterns of node failure affect the resilience of such graphs. We start by applying classical results from random graph theory to show that a large variety of deterministic and random P2P graphs almost surely (i.e., with probability 1 − o(1)) remain connected under random failure if and only if they have no isolated nodes. This simple, yet powerful, result subsequently allows us to derive in closed-form the probability that a P2P network develops isolated nodes, and …

Link Lifetimes And Randomized Neighbor Selection In Dhts, Zhongmei Yao, Dmitri Loguinov

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Several models of user churn, resilience, and link lifetime have recently appeared in the literature [12], [13], [34], [35]; however, these results do not directly apply to classical Distributed Hash Tables (DHTs) in which neighbor replacement occurs not only when current users die, but also when new user arrive into the system, and where replacement choices are often restricted to the successor of the failed zone in the DHT space. To understand neighbor churn in such networks, this paper proposes a simple, yet accurate, model for capturing link dynamics in structured P2P systems and obtains the distribution of link lifetimes …

Symbolic Links In The Open Directory Project, Saverio Perugini

Computer Science Faculty Publications

We present a study to develop an improved understanding of symbolic links in web directories. A symbolic link is a hyperlink that makes a directed connection from a web page along one path through a directory to a page along another path. While symbolic links are ubiquitous in web directories such as Yahoo!, they are under-studied, and as a result, their uses are poorly understood. A cursory analysis of symbolic links reveals multiple uses: to provide navigational shortcuts deeper into a directory, backlinks to more general categories, and multiclassification. We investigated these uses in the Open Directory Project (ODP), the …

Volume And Cost Implications Of Product Portfolio Complexity, Mark A. Jacobs

MIS/OM/DS Faculty Publications

Business leaders are concerned about the impacts of increasing levels of product portfolio complexity since many sense that complexity related costs such as order management, procurement, and inventory threaten to undermine operational efficiencies and consume profits. Even so, managers do not fully understand the extent and breadth of the impacts of product portfolio complexity. A more complete understanding of the operational effects of product portfolio complexity is lacking partially because researchers have not yet offered a robust theoretical perspective or studied it in a focused controlled way; until now. Herein, measures of product portfolio complexity are developed and related to …

Product Complexity: A Definition And Impacts On Operations, Mark A. Jacobs

MIS/OM/DS Faculty Publications

The difficulty for organizations arises because neither complexity nor its impacts on performance are well understood (Fisher & Ittner, 1999b). The mechanisms through which it affects cost, quality, delivery, and flexibility need to be explained (Ramdas, 2003). However, this cannot happen until complexity can be explained theoretically. But, to build theory there must first be a common understanding about the construct of interest (Wacker, 2004). Only then can researchers operationalize it and search for meaningful relationships. In light of this, I develop a definition of complexity below. A sampling of the operations management literature is then presented within the context …

Residual-Based Measurement Of Peer And Link Lifetimes In Gnutella Networks, Xiaoming Wang, Zhongmei Yao, Dmitri Loguinov

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Existing methods of measuring lifetimes in P2P systems usually rely on the so-called create-based method (CBM), which divides a given observation window into two halves and samples users "created" in the first half every Delta time units until they die or the observation period ends. Despite its frequent use, this approach has no rigorous accuracy or overhead analysis in the literature. To shed more light on its performance, we flrst derive a model for CBM and show that small window size or large Delta may lead to highly inaccurate lifetime distributions. We then show that create-based sampling exhibits an inherent …

On Node Isolation Under Churn In Unstructured P2p Networks With Heavy-Tailed Lifetimes, Zhongmei Yao, Xiaoming Wang, Dmitri Loguinov

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Previous analytical studies [12], [18] of unstructured P2P resilience have assumed exponential user lifetimes and only considered age-independent neighbor replacement. In this paper, we overcome these limitations by introducing a general node-isolation model for heavy-tailed user lifetimes and arbitrary neighbor-selection algorithms. Using this model, we analyze two age-biased neighbor-selection strategies and show that they significantly improve the residual lifetimes of chosen users, which dramatically reduces the probability of user isolation and graph partitioning compared to uniform selection of neighbors. In fact, the second strategy based on random walks on age-weighted graphs demonstrates that for lifetimes with infinite variance, the system …

A Study Of Out-Of-Turn Interaction In Menu-Based, Ivr, Voicemail Systems, Saverio Perugini, Taylor J. Anderson, William F. Moroney

Computer Science Faculty Publications

We present the first user study of out-of-turn interaction in menu-based, interactive voice-response systems. Out-ofturn interaction is a technique which empowers the user (unable to respond to the current prompt) to take the conversational initiative by supplying information that is currently unsolicited, but expected later in the dialog. The technique permits the user to circumvent any flows of navigation hardwired into the design and navigate the menus in a manner which reflects their model of the task. We conducted a laboratory experiment to measure the effect of the use of outof- turn interaction on user performance and preference in a …

Modeling Heterogeneous User Churn And Local Resilience Of Unstructured P2p Networks, Zhongmei Yao, Derek Leonard, Dmitri Loguinov, Xiaoming Wang

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Previous analytical results on the resilience of unstructured P2P systems have not explicitly modeled heterogeneity of user churn (i.e., difference in online behavior) or the impact of in-degree on system resilience. To overcome these limitations, we introduce a generic model of heterogeneous user churn, derive the distribution of the various metrics observed in prior experimental studies (e.g., lifetime distribution of joining users, joint distribution of session time of alive peers, and residual lifetime of a randomly selected user), derive several closed-form results on the transient behavior of in-degree, and eventually obtain the joint in/out degree isolation probability as a simple …

Interacting With Web Hierarchies, Saverio Perugini, Naren Ramakrishnan

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Web site interfaces are a particularly good fit for hierarchies in the broadest sense of that idea, i.e. a classification with multiple attributes, not necessarily a tree structure. Several adaptive interface designs are emerging that support flexible navigation orders, exposing and exploring dependencies, and procedural information-seeking tasks. This paper provides a context and vocabulary for thinking about hierarchical Web sites and their design. The paper identifies three features that interface to information hierarchies. These are flexible navigation orders, the ability to expose and explore dependencies, and support for procedural tasks. A few examples of these features are also provided

Realtime Query Expansion And Procedural Interfaces For Information Hierarchies, Saverio Perugini

Computer Science Faculty Publications

We demonstrate the use of two user interfaces for interacting with web hierarchies. One uses the dependencies underlying a hierarchy to perform real-time query expansion and, in this way, acts as an in situ feedback mechanism. The other enables the user to cascade the output from one interaction to the input of another, and so on, and, in this way, supports procedural information-seeking tasks without disrupting the flow of interaction.

Information Assurance Through Binary Vulnerability Auditing, William B. Kimball, Saverio Perugini

Computer Science Faculty Publications

The goal of this research is to develop improved methods of discovering vulnerabilities in software. A large volume of software, from the most frequently used programs on a desktop computer, such as web browsers, e-mail programs, and word processing applications, to mission-critical services for the space shuttle, is unintentionally vulnerable to attacks and thus insecure. By seeking to improve the identification of vulnerabilities in software, the security community can save the time and money necessary to restore compromised computer systems. In addition, this research is imperative to activities of national security such as counterterrorism. The current approach involves a systematic …

On Static And Dynamic Partitioning Behavior Of Large-Scale Networks, Derek Leonard, Zhongmei Yao, Xiaoming Wang, Dmitri Loguinov

Computer Science Faculty Publications

In this paper, we analyze the problem of network disconnection in the context of large-scale P2P networks and understand how both static and dynamic patterns of node failure affect the resilience of such graphs. We start by applying classical results from random graph theory to show that a large variety of deterministic and random P2P graphs almost surely (i.e., with probability 1-o(1)) remain connected under random failure if and only if they have no isolated nodes. This simple, yet powerful, result subsequently allows us to derive in closed-form the probability that a P2P network develops isolated nodes, and therefore partitions, …

Automatically Discovering The Number Of Clusters In Web Page Datasets, Zhongmei Yao

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Clustering is well-suited for Web mining by automatically organizing Web pages into categories, each of which contains Web pages having similar contents. However, one problem in clustering is the lack of general methods to automatically determine the number of categories or clusters. For the Web domain in particular, currently there is no such method suitable for Web page clustering. In an attempt to address this problem, we discover a constant factor that characterizes the Web domain, based on which we propose a new method for automatically determining the number of clusters in Web page data sets. We discover that the …

Personalization By Program Slicing, Saverio Perugini, Naren Ramakrishnan

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Personalization involves customizing information access to the end-user. As any new area of computer science research it lacks formal models to guide the design of systems. In this paper, we present a modeling methodology, based on generative programming, for personalizing interactions with hierarchical websites. The methodology entails modeling a user’s interaction with a site in a program and applying program slicing to personalize the interaction. While preserving interactivity, this approach does not require the designer to anticipate all possible user interactions a priori and provide interfaces for each. Moreover, it provides a theoretical, systematic, and implementation-neutral way to design systems …

A Generative Programming Approach To Interactive Information Retrieval: Insights And Experiences, Saverio Perugini, Naren Ramakrishnan

Computer Science Faculty Publications

We describe the application of generative programming to a problem in interactive information retrieval. The particular interactive information retrieval problem we study is the support for "out-of-turn interaction" with a website – how a user can communicate input to a website when the site is not soliciting such information on the current page, but will do so on a subsequent page. Our solution approach makes generous use of program transformations (partial evaluation, currying, and slicing) to delay the site’s current solicitation for input until after the user’s out-of-turn input is processed. We illustrate how studying out-of-turn interaction through a generative …

Recommender Systems Research, Saverio Perugini

Computer Science Faculty Publications

We outline the history of recommender systems from their roots in information retrieval and filtering to their role in today’s Internet economy. Recommender systems attempt to reduce information overload and retain customers by selecting a subset of items from a universal set based on user preferences. Research in recommender systems lies at the intersection of several areas of computer science, such as artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction, and has progressed to an important research area of its own. It is important to note that recommendations are not delivered within a vacuum, but rather cast within an informal community of users …

The Good, Bad And The Indifferent: Explorations In Recommender System Health, Benjamin J. Keller, Sun-Mi Kim, N. Srinivas Vemuri, Naren Ramakrishnan, Saverio Perugini

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Our work is based on the premise that analysis of the connections exploited by a recommender algorithm can provide insight into the algorithm that could be useful to predict its performance in a fielded system. We use the jumping connections model defined by Mirza et al. [6], which describes the recommendation process in terms of graphs. Here we discuss our work that has come out of trying to understand algorithm behavior in terms of these graphs. We start by describing a natural extension of the jumping connections model of Mirza et al., and then discuss observations that have come from …

Recommender Systems Research: A Connection-Centric Survey, Saverio Perugini, Marcos André Gonçalves, Edward A. Fox

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Recommender systems attempt to reduce information overload and retain customers by selecting a subset of items from a universal set based on user preferences. While research in recommender systems grew out of information retrieval and filtering, the topic has steadily advanced into a legitimate and challenging research area of its own. Recommender systems have traditionally been studied from a content-based filtering vs. collaborative design perspective. Recommendations, however, are not delivered within a vacuum, but rather cast within an informal community of users and social context. Therefore, ultimately all recommender systems make connections among people and thus should be surveyed from …

Bec Metering Department New System Proposal, Bradley Godwin

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

Staging Transformations For Multimodal Web Interaction Management, Michael Narayan, Christopher Williams, Saverio Perugini, Naren Ramakrishnan

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Multimodal interfaces are becoming increasingly ubiquitous with the advent of mobile devices, accessibility considerations, and novel software technologies that combine diverse interaction media. In addition to improving access and delivery capabilities, such interfaces enable flexible and personalized dialogs with websites, much like a conversation between humans. In this paper, we present a software framework for multimodal web interaction management that supports mixed-initiative dialogs between users and websites. A mixed-initiative dialog is one where the user and the website take turns changing the flow of interaction. The framework supports the functional specification and realization of such dialogs using staging transformations – …

Program Transformations For Information Personalization, Saverio Perugini

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Personalization constitutes the mechanisms and technologies necessary to customize information access to the end-user. It can be defined as the automatic adjustment of information content, structure, and presentation. The central thesis of this dissertation is that modeling interaction explicitly in a representation, and studying how partial information can be harnessed in it by program transformations to direct the flow of the interaction, can provide insight into, reveal opportunities for, and define a model for personalized interaction. To evaluate this thesis, a formal modeling methodology is developed for personalizing interactions with information systems, especially hierarchical hypermedia, based on program transformations. The …

Data Mining And Mining Disasters: Terrorism Information Awareness, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article identifies problems with data mining approaches to antiterrorism and counterterrorism.

Cio Lateral Influence Behaviors: Gaining Peers' Commitment To Strategic Information Systems, Harvey Enns, Sid L. Huff, Christopher A. Higgins

MIS/OM/DS Faculty Publications

In order to develop and bring to fruition strategic information systems (SIS) projects, chief information officers (CIOs) must be able to effectively influence their peers. This research examines the relationship between CIO influence behaviors and the successfulness of influence outcomes, utilizing a revised model initially developed by Yukl (1994). Focused interviews were first conducted with CIOs and their peers to gain insights into the phenomenon. A survey instrument was then developed and distributed to a sample of CIO and peer executive pairs to gather data with which to test a research model. A total of 69 pairs of surveys were …

The Staging Transformation Approach To Mixing Initiative, Robert Capra, Michael Narayan, Saverio Perugini, Naren Ramakrishnan, Manuel A. Pérez-Quiñones

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Mixed-initiative interaction is an important facet of many conversational interfaces, flexible planning architectures, intelligent tutoring systems, and interactive information retrieval systems. Software systems for mixed-initiative interaction must enable us to both operationalize the mixing of initiative (i.e., support the creation of practical dialogs) and to reason in real-time about how a flexible mode of interaction can be supported (e.g., from a meta-dialog standpoint). In this paper, we present the staging transformation approach to mixing initiative, where a dialog script captures the structure of the dialog and dialog control processes are realized through generous use of program transformation techniques (e.g., partial …

Personalizing Interactions With Information Systems, Saverio Perugini, Naren Ramakrishnan

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Personalization constitutes the mechanisms and technologies necessary to customize information access to the end-user. It can be defined as the automatic adjustment of information content, structure, and presentation tailored to the individual. In this chapter, we study personalization from the viewpoint of personalizing interaction. The survey covers mechanisms for information-finding on the web, advanced information retrieval systems, dialog-based applications, and mobile access paradigms. Specific emphasis is placed on studying how users interact with an information system and how the system can encourage and foster interaction. This helps bring out the role of the personalization system as a facilitator which reconciles …

Pricing And Product Mix Optimization In Freight Transportation, Michael F. Gorman

MIS/OM/DS Faculty Publications

We propose improved pricing and market mix can improve the profitability of the freight transportation provider through the reduction of equipment repositioning costs. We hypothesize that because of complexities surrounding pricing and equipment repositioning costing, existing pricing strategies in freight transportation fail to fully consider these costs. We test this hypothesis in an applied setting in which Monte Carlo simulation captures the stochasticity of market conditions inherent in the problem. We use a heuristic to improve the nondifferentiable, discontinuous objective function.

Our results from test cases show with high confidence that current prices are not optimal, as indicated by a …

The Partial Evaluation Approach To Information Personalization, Naren Ramakrishnan, Saverio Perugini

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Information personalization refers to the automatic adjustment of information content, structure, and presentation tailored to an individual user. By reducing information overload and customizing information access, personalization systems have emerged as an important segment of the Internet economy. This paper presents a systematic modeling methodology— PIPE (‘Personalization is Partial Evaluation’) — for personalization. Personalization systems are designed and implemented in PIPE by modeling an information-seeking interaction in a programmatic representation. The representation supports the description of information-seeking activities as partial information and their subsequent realization by partial evaluation, a technique for specializing programs. We describe the modeling methodology at a …

Personalizing The Gams Cross-Index, Saverio Perugini, Priya Lakshminarayanan, Naren Ramakrishnan

Computer Science Faculty Publications

The NIST Guide to Available Mathematical Software (GAMS) system at http://gams.nist .gov serves as the gateway to thousands of scientific codes and modules for numerical computation. We describe the PIPE personalization facility for GAMS, whereby content from the cross-index is specialized for a user desiring software recommendations for a specific problem instance. The key idea is to (i) mine structure, and (ii) exploit it in a programmatic manner to generate personalized web pages. Our approach supports both content-based and collaborative personalization and enables information integration from multiple (and complementary) web resources. We present case studies for the domain of linear, …