Databases and Information Systems Commons^™

Sensitivity Analysis For The Winning Algorithm In Knowledge Discovery And Data Mining ( Kdd ) Cup Competition 2014, Fakhri Ghassan Abbas

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis applies multi-way sensitivity analysis for the winning algorithm in the Knowledge Discovery in Data Mining (KDD) cup competition 2014 -`Predicting Excitement at Donors.org'. Because of the highly advanced nature of this competition, analyzing the winning solution under a variety of different conditions provides insight about each of the models the winning team has used in the competition. The study follows Cross Industry Standard Process (CRISP) for data mining to study the steps taken to prepare, model and evaluate the model. The thesis focuses on a gradient boosting model. After careful examination of the models created by the researchers …

The Information Value Methodology: How Users Assess The Quality Of Web Information, Marilou Haines

Theses and Dissertations

The Internet is a self-regulating complex system in which users decide what is relevant through their actions. Since the burden of locating and evaluating information depends on knowledge, experience, and skill, this study rigorously and holistically investigates the Web users' experience. The study began with a multidisciplinary literature review to determine how academics assess IQ on the Web. While individual models are narrowly focused, in aggregate, they delineate the boundaries of IQ needs, and identify the dimensions that are significant to the Web community. These dimensions, categorized into six knowledge domains, are the core of the information value methodology (IVM). …

Developing A Mobile-Commerce Financial Transaction Processing Model, Edward Nathaniel Thomas Charles Williams Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The topic for this Master’s Thesis is selected in compliance with the guidelines to complete a Master of Science in Applied Computer Science at Columbus State University. The problem to be addressed by this thesis is to produce an open standard for an m-commerce financial transaction processing system based on current e-commerce standards and mobile technology. This solution was to be specifically designed to build upon the strengths of a mobile platform using current smartphone and tablet technology.

An open source software stack in combination with a cloud computing solution was used to create a working example of the specification. …

Modeling And Analysis Of Information Product Maps, Christopher Harris Heien

Theses and Dissertations

Information Product Maps are visual diagrams used to represent the inputs, processing, and outputs of data within an Information Manufacturing System. A data unit, drawn as an edge, symbolizes a grouping of raw data as it travels through this system. Processes, drawn as vertices, transform each data unit input into various forms prior to delivery to consumers. These visual representations act as documentation for all processes, and data unit transformations, leading to the final construction and delivery of an Information Product. The science of Information Quality strives to measure the fitness for use of these products, expressed by consumer satisfaction. …

The ∑Iq Methodology: An Information Quality Perspective On Oil Data, Yusuf Yiliyasi

Theses and Dissertations

Information quality (IQ) theories and frameworks have been increasingly studied and applied in various organizations to assess, improve and monitor the quality of their information products. Yet information quality problems remain pervasive in many organizations, industries and government institutions. For example various governmental as well as non-governmental organizations, institutions, and companies collect, compile and distribute information products in order to satisfy the needs of information consumers in the energy industry. What are the qualities of their information products? How do they collect or disseminate their data products? Why do information quality problems exist and how are the problems created? How …

Design And Construction Of An Entity Resolution System That Supports Entity Identity Information Management And Asserted Resolution, Eric D. Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

This work describes the design and construction of an open source, entity resolution system that enables users to assign and maintain persistent identifiers for master data items. Two key features of this system that are not available in current ER systems and that make persistent identification possible are (1) The capture and management of entity identity information (2) Support for user-directed asserted resolution to complement automated direct matching and transitive closure Another important feature of the design is that the system can be easily configured at run-time into any one of four types of entity resolution architectures including * Traditional …

An Investigation Into A Hybrid Genetic Programming And Ant Colony Optimization Method For Credit Scoring, Rojin Aliehyaei

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis proposes and investigates a new hybrid technique based on Genetic Programming (GP) and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) techniques for inducing data classification rules. The proposed hybrid approach aims to improve on the accuracy of data classification rules produced by the original GP technique, which uses randomly generated initial populations. This hybrid technique relies on the ACO technique to produce the initial populations for the GP technique. To evaluate and compare their effectiveness in producing good data classification rules, GP, ACO, and hybrid techniques were implemented in the C programming language. The data classification rules were created and evaluated …

A Data-Intensive Approach To Named Entity Recognition Using Domain And Language Independent Methods, Olukayode Isaac Osesina

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I proposed a novel approach to Named Entity Recognition (NER) in which the contextual and intrinsic indicators are used for locating named entities and their semantic meanings in unstructured textual information (UTI). Named entity is the process of locating a word or a phrase that references a particular entity within a text. The data-intensive approach introduced in this dissertation departs from the traditional Natural Language Processing used in NER tasks in that it does not apply linguistic rules or knowledge in the entity recognition process. It leverages the wide availability of huge amounts of data as well …

Knowledge Discovery In Fetal Activity Data, Dallas H. Snider

Theses and Dissertations

The ability to determine accurately the health of a fetus through non-invasive techniques has tremendous positive affects for the fetus, the mother, and the health care system. In this project, Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) techniques were applied to fetal magnetocardiogram data from 118 human fetuses with a gestational age of 24 to 39 weeks. These techniques produced three models relating to the health of a fetus which are presented in this document. The first model distinguished maternal high-risk factors versus low-risk factors. The second model was used to classify neonate outcomes of sick versus healthy. The third model was …

Improving Information Products For System 2 Decision Support, Neal Gibson

Theses and Dissertations

The creation, maintenance, and management of Information Product (IP) systems that are used by organizations for complex decisions represent a unique set of challenges. These challenges are compounded when the purpose of such a systems is also for knowledge creation and dissemination. Information quality research to date has focused mainly upon treating IP independent from the actual users, despite the obvious interdependency between the two. Research in cognitive psychology has established a dual-process model for human cognition. Designing IP systems in recognition of these differing methods of human cognition represents a new approach to improving their quality. Education data and …

Knowledge-Driven Identity Resolution For Longitudinal Education Data, Greg Holland

Theses and Dissertations

Data sets containing information for an overlapping group of real-world identities present a very high likelihood that the identifying attributes and attribute values for these identities may be inconsistent between the data sets. Differences in the types of identifying attributes or attribute values inhibit proper record linkage and identity resolution. Traditional approaches to record linkage are commonly utilized however the results from these approaches do not demonstrate the highest possible levels of confidence and utility. Syntax, semantics, and temporal aspects of data sets should be understood and incorporated into the methodology of heterogeneous data set integration. Domain-specific expertise is a …

Windows Azure: Using Windows Azure's Service Bus To Solve Data Security Issues, Don Chambers

Theses and Dissertations

Many of the largest technology companies are heavily investing in Cloud Computing technology, making this a major force in the realm of software development. However, this software paradigm brings with it significant data related security issues. This paper discusses some of these security issues and presents a solution. The solution calls for storing data outside of the cloud, and under the control of the cloud consumer. In addition, the solution provides the ability to manipulate data using only the standard HTTP ports that are typically opened at most locations. This solution is implemented using Microsoft's Windows Azure Cloud Computing operating …

Implementing The Intelligent Mail Barcode In The N-Tiered Service Library Of A Print Mail Enterprise, Christopher E. Bunch

Theses and Dissertations

Starting in autumn, 2009, the Intelligent Mail Barcode fully replaced the PostNet barcode for the United States Postal Service. This barcode enables a sender of a mailpiece to track the mailpiece through the entire mail stream, as well as track any remit mail returned to the sender. This thesis explains how the Intelligent Mail Barcode was implemented in the n- tiered Windows Communication Foundation service architecture of the Emdeon, Inc. print-mail engine. To help provide a full understanding of the environment, this document, also, explains the operation of the print mail engine at Emdeon.

Multi-Objective Constraint Satisfaction For Mobile Robot Area Defense, Kenneth W. Mayo

Theses and Dissertations

In developing multi-robot cooperative systems, there are often competing objectives that need to be met. For example in automating area defense systems, multiple robots must work together to explore the entire area, and maintain consistent communications to alert the other agents and ensure trust in the system. This research presents an algorithm that tasks robots to meet the two specific goals of exploration and communication maintenance in an uncoordinated environment reducing the need for a user to pre-balance the objectives. This multi-objective problem is defined as a constraint satisfaction problem solved using the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II). Both …

A Functional Framework For Content Management, Robert Emer Broadbent

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis proposes a functional framework for content management. This framework provides concepts and vocabulary for analysis and description of content management systems. The framework is derived from an analysis of eight content management systems. It describes forty-five conceptual functions organized into five functional groups. The functionality derived from the analysis of the content management systems is described using the vocabulary provided by the functional framework. Coverage of the concepts in the existing systems is verified. The utility of the framework is validated through the creation of a prototype that implements sufficient functionality to support a set of specific use …

Mitigating Insider Sabotage And Espionage: A Review Of The United States Air Force's Current Posture, Erika C. Leach

Theses and Dissertations

The security threat from malicious insiders affects all organizations. Mitigating this problem is quite difficult due to the fact that (1) there is no definitive profile for malicious insiders, (2) organizations have placed trust in these individuals, and (3) insiders have a vast knowledge of their organization’s personnel, security policies, and information systems. The purpose of this research is to analyze to what extent the United States Air Force (USAF) security policies address the insider threat problem. The policies are reviewed in terms of how well they align with best practices published by the Carnegie Mellon University Computer Emergency Readiness …

Cyber Power In The 21st Century, Joseph M. Elbaum

Theses and Dissertations

Historically, the United States Congress has acknowledged that a separate branch of military service is required to exert supremacy over each of the recognized Domains of Operation. Throughout the evolution of modern warfare, leading minds in military theory have come to the conclusion that due to fundamental differences inherent in the theory and tactics that must be employed in order to successfully wage war within a domain’s associated environment, a specialized force was needed - until now. With the recent inclusion of Cyberspace as an operational domain by the Department of Defense, the case should be made that it, too, …

An Infrastructure For Performance Measurement And Comparison Of Information Retrieval Solutions, Gary Saunders

Theses and Dissertations

The amount of information available on both public and private networks continues to grow at a phenomenal rate. This information is contained within a wide variety of objects, including documents, e-mail archives, medical records, manuals, pictures and music. To be of any value, this data must be easily searchable and accessible. Information Retrieval (IR) is concerned with the ability to find and gain access to relevant information. As electronic data repositories continue to proliferate, so too, grows the variety of methods used to locate and access the information contained therein. Similarly, the introduction of innovative retrieval strategies—and the optimization of …

Identification Of Command And Control Information Requirements For The Cyberspace Domain, Brian D. Aschenbrenner

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to develop an information requirements analysis method that would provide the Director of Cyberspace Forces with the information required to support effective command and control of cyberspace. This research investigates the role of information in command and control, information in the traditional war fighting domains, cyberspace as a war fighting domain, and various methods of determining information requirements of organizations. This research produced an information requirements analysis method that is suitable for identifying the command and control information requirements of the Director of Cyberspace Forces.

Networks And Network Security, Michael Kuralt

Theses and Dissertations

In a world of ever-increasing security threats, companies have the difficult task of securing their networks from attack. One of the largest threats to a company is the users on its network. By educating its network administrators and employees about network threats, a company can lower its vulnerability to network attacks. Individual users also can benefit from understanding networks and network security by learning how to keep their computer and their information safe. Companies and users can stay safe by understanding how a network functions, what threats exist on the Internet, how to prevent and deal with attacks, and how …

Rss Management: An Rss Reader To Manage Rss Feeds That Efficiently And Effectively Pulls And Filters Feeds With Minimal Bandwidth Consumption, Brian Cooper

Theses and Dissertations

In the early 2000s, RSS (Really Simple Syndication) was launched into cyber space and rapidly gained fame by existing as the underlying technology that fueled millions of web logs (blogs). Soon RSS feeds appeared for news, multimedia podcasting, and many other types of information on the Internet. RSS introduced a new way to syndicate information that allowed anyone interested to subscribe to published content and pull the information to an aggregator, (RSS reader application), at their discretion. RSS made it simple for people to keep up with online content without having to continuously check websites for new content. This new …

Using Concept Maps To More Efficiently Create Intelligence Information Models, Christopher E. Coryell

Theses and Dissertations

Information models are a critical tool that enables intelligence customers to quickly and accurately comprehend U.S. intelligence agency products. The Knowledge Pre-positioning System (KPS) is the standard repository for information models at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC). The current approach used by NASIC to build a KPS information model is laborious and costly. Intelligence analysts design an information model using a manual, butcher-paper-based process. The output of their work is then entered into KPS by either a single NASIC KPS "database modeler" or a contractor (at a cost of roughly $100K to the organization). This thesis proposes …

Multi-Dimensional Range Querying Using A Modification Of The Skip Graph, Gregory J. Brault

Theses and Dissertations

Skip graphs are an application layer-based distributed routing data structure that can be used in a sensor network to facilitate user queries of data collected by the sensor nodes. This research investigates the impact of a proposed modification to the skip graph proposed by Aspnes and Shah. Nodes contained in a standard skip graph are sorted by their key value into successively smaller groups based on random membership vectors computed locally at each node. The proposed modification inverts the node key and membership vector roles, where group membership is computed deterministically and node keys are computed randomly. Both skip graph …

Towards The Development Of A Defensive Cyber Damage And Mission Impact Methodology, Larry W. Fortson Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to establish a conceptual methodological framework that will facilitate effective cyber damage and mission impact assessment and reporting following a cyber-based information incidents. Joint and service guidance requires mission impact reporting, but current efforts to implement such reporting have proven ineffective. This research seeks to understand the impediments existing in the current implementation and to propose an improved methodology. The research employed a hybrid historical analysis and case study methodology for data collection through extensive literature review, examination of existing case study research and interviews with Air Force members and civilian personnel employed as …

Online Survey System: A Web-Based Tool For Creating And Administering Student Evaluations Online, Fatima Marie Idowu

Theses and Dissertations

With the advancement in technology over the years, the administering of online surveys has expanded. In particular, universities are using the online medium to administer surveys to students, in order to evaluate faculty performances. The move of surveys to the online realm has meant a reduction in cost, time and efforts, of survey administrators, and the increase in use of technology within universities. With the use of online surveys the challenges of confidentiality, anonymity and response rates are as prominent as they are with paper-based surveys.

This study researched the use of online surveys in education; detailing systems currently used …

Bda Enhancement Methodology Using Situational Parameter Adjustments, Michael V. Carras Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

In the context of close ground combat, the perception of Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) is closely linked with a soldier’s engagement decisions and has significant effects on the battlefield. Perceived BDA is also one of the most complex and uncertain processes facing the soldier in live combat. As a result, the modeling and simulation community has yet to adequately model the perceived BDA process in combat models. This research effort examines the BDA process from a perception standpoint and proposes a methodology to collect the pertinent data and model this perception in the Army’s current force-on-force model, CASTFOREM. A subject …

A User-Centric Tabular Multi-Column Sorting Interface For Intact Transposition Of Columnar Data, David B. L. Miles

Theses and Dissertations

Many usability features designed in software applications are not procedurally intuitive for software users. A good example of software usability involves tabular sorting in a spreadsheet. Single-column sorting, activated with a mouse click to a column header or toolbar button, often produces rearranged listings that reduce cognitive organization beyond the sorted column. Multi-column sorting, generated through menu-driven processes, provides derived organization, however, locating feature options through menu-based systems can be confusing. A means to overcome this confusion is prioritized selection of database arrays issued to columnar displays for the purpose of intact transposition of data. This is a unique process …

A Software Development Environment For Building Context-Aware Systems For Family Technology, Jeremiah Kenton Jones

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to utilize existing technologies to create a development environment suitable for creating context-aware applications and systems specific to home and family living conditions. After outlining the history of context-aware applications and the challenges that face family-centric systems in this field, a development environment was implemented that solves the unique challenges that face application development for family-centric, context-aware applications. In particular, research cited in this document indicates that a browser-based user interface is the most appropriate interface for a family environment. The flexibility of the interface, as well as the familiarity of the application structure …

Suitability Of The Nist Shop Data Model As A Neutral File Format For Simulation, Gregory Brent Harward

Theses and Dissertations

Due to the successful application in internet related fields, Extensible Markup Language (XML) and its related technologies are being explored as a revolutionary software file format technology used to provide increased interoperability in the discrete-event simulation (DES) arena. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed an XML-based information model (XSD) called the Shop Data Model (SDM), which is used to describe the contents of a neutral file format (NFF) that is being promoted as a means to make manufacturing simulation technology more accessible to a larger group of potential customers. Using a two step process, this thesis …

A Statistical Performance Model Of Homogeneous Raidb Clusters, Brandon Lamar Rogers

Theses and Dissertations

The continual growth of the Internet and e-commerce is driving demand for speed, reliability and processing power. With the rapid development and maturation of e-commerce, the need for a quick access to large amounts of information is steadily rising. Traditionally, database systems have been used for information storage and retrieval. However, with online auctions, rapid Internet searches, and data archival, the need for more powerful database systems is also growing. One type of distributed database is called Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Databases (RAIDb). RAIDb clusters are middleware-driven to promote interoperability and portability. RAIDb clusters allow for multiple levels of data …