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2005

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Articles 2881 - 2910 of 5573

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Real-Time Mapping Using Stereoscopic Vision Optimization, Kevin M. Biggs Mar 2005

Real-Time Mapping Using Stereoscopic Vision Optimization, Kevin M. Biggs

Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on efficient methods of generating 2D maps from stereo vision in real-time. Instead of attempting to locate edges between objects, we make the assumption that the representative surfaces of objects in a view provide enough information to generate a map while taking less time to locate during processing. Since all real-time vision processing endeavors are extremely computationally intensive, numerous optimization techniques are applied to allow for a real-time application: horizontal spike smoothing for post-disparity noise, masks to focus on close-proximity objects, melding for object synthesis, and rectangular fitting for object extraction under a planar assumption. Additionally, traditional …


Robot Mapping With Real-Time Incremental Localization Using Expectation Maximization, Kevin L. Owens Mar 2005

Robot Mapping With Real-Time Incremental Localization Using Expectation Maximization, Kevin L. Owens

Theses and Dissertations

This research effort explores and develops a real-time sonar-based robot mapping and localization algorithm that provides pose correction within the context of a single room, to be combined with pre-existing global localization techniques, and thus produce a single, well-formed map of an unknown environment. Our algorithm implements an expectation maximization algorithm that is based on the notion of the alpha-beta functions of a Hidden Markov Model. It performs a forward alpha calculation as an integral component of the occupancy grid mapping procedure using local maps in place of a single global map, and a backward beta calculation that considers the …


A Three Dimensional Helmet Mounted Primary Flight Reference For Paratroopers, Jason I. Thompson Mar 2005

A Three Dimensional Helmet Mounted Primary Flight Reference For Paratroopers, Jason I. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to develop a Heads Up Display (HUD) presented on a Helmet Mounted Display (HMD), which presents a three-dimensional, graphical, predictive navigational reference to a paratrooper during a High Altitude, High Opening (HAHO) parachute jump. A Path Generating Algorithm (PGA) takes as input the Landing Zone's (LZ) location, the wind profile, and the paratrooper's parachute's performance characteristics, and returns a set of waypoints for the paratrooper to follow. The PGA attempts to maximize the distance that the paratrooper travels. The PGA's output is used to build a path to the LZ from a Release Point (RP). During the …


Efficient Generation Of Social Network Data From Computer-Mediated Communication Logs, Jason Wei Sung Yee Mar 2005

Efficient Generation Of Social Network Data From Computer-Mediated Communication Logs, Jason Wei Sung Yee

Theses and Dissertations

The insider threat poses a significant risk to any network or information system. A general definition of the insider threat is an authorized user performing unauthorized actions, a broad definition with no specifications on severity or action. While limited research has been able to classify and detect insider threats, it is generally understood that insider attacks are planned, and that there is a time period in which the organization's leadership can intervene and prevent the attack. Previous studies have shown that the person's behavior will generally change, and it is possible that social network analysis could be used to observe …


Analysis Of Effects Of Bgp Black Hole Routing On A Network Like The Niprnet, Michael D. Kleffman Mar 2005

Analysis Of Effects Of Bgp Black Hole Routing On A Network Like The Niprnet, Michael D. Kleffman

Theses and Dissertations

The Department of Defense (DoD) relies heavily on the Non-secure Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNET) to exchange information freely between departments, services, bases, posts, and ships. The NIPRNET is vulnerable to various attacks, to include physical and cyber attacks. One of the most frequently used cyber attacks by criminally motivated hackers is a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. DDoS attacks can be used to exhaust network bandwidth and router processing capabilities, and as a leveraging tool for extortion. Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) black hole routing is a responsive defensive network technique for mitigating DDoS attacks. BGP black hole routing …


Deep Level Defects In Electron-Irradiated Aluminum Gallium Nitride Grown By Molecular Beam Epitaxy, Michael R. Hogsed Mar 2005

Deep Level Defects In Electron-Irradiated Aluminum Gallium Nitride Grown By Molecular Beam Epitaxy, Michael R. Hogsed

Theses and Dissertations

Aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN)-based devices are attractive candidates for integration into future Air Force communication and sensor platforms, including those that must operate in harsh radiation environments. In this study, the electrical and optical properties of 1.0 MeV electron irradiated n-AlxGa1-xN are characterized for aluminum mole fraction x = 0.0 to 0.3 using deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), temperature-dependent Hall, and cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements. Following irradiation of the AlGaN, it is found that four different electron traps are created, having energy levels within 0.4 eV below the conduction band edge. Three of these traps correspond to …


Electro-Magnetic-Optical Properties Of Yba2cu3o7 Crystal And 50 Nm Films On Sto-Bc 24 Deg Gb, Juana Acrivos, H. Sahibudeen, L. Nguyen, M. Navacerrada, J Kortight, P. Nachimuthu Mar 2005

Electro-Magnetic-Optical Properties Of Yba2cu3o7 Crystal And 50 Nm Films On Sto-Bc 24 Deg Gb, Juana Acrivos, H. Sahibudeen, L. Nguyen, M. Navacerrada, J Kortight, P. Nachimuthu

Faculty Publications, Chemistry

Comparison of Is/I0 with TEY/I0, F/I0 and A, at the Cu L2,3 and Ba M4,5 edges indicates that YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) 50 nm films scatters the circular components of linearly polarized light in a different way. The YBCO, Ba L2,3 XAS shows indication of Faraday rotation near Tc. Hilbert analysis of data was done.


Both Nucleophile And Substrate Bind To The Catalytic Fe(Ii)-Center In The Type-Ii Methionyl Aminopeptidase From Pyrococcus Furiosus, Alicja J. Copik, Sarah Waterson, Sabina I. Swierczek, Brian Bennett, Richard C. Holz Mar 2005

Both Nucleophile And Substrate Bind To The Catalytic Fe(Ii)-Center In The Type-Ii Methionyl Aminopeptidase From Pyrococcus Furiosus, Alicja J. Copik, Sarah Waterson, Sabina I. Swierczek, Brian Bennett, Richard C. Holz

Physics Faculty Research and Publications

Metalloproteases utilize their active site divalent metal ions to generate a nucleophilic water/hydroxide. For methionine aminopeptidases (MetAPs), the exact location of this nucleophile, as well as of the substrate, with respect to the active site metal ion is unknown. In order to address this issue, we have examined the catalytically competent Fe(II)-loaded form of PfMetAP-II ([Fe(PfMetAP-II)]) in the absence and presence of both nitric oxide (NO) and the substrate-analogue inhibitor butaneboronic acid (BuBA) by kinetic and spectroscopic (EPR, UV−vis) methods. NO binds to [Fe(PfMetAP−II)] with a Kd of 200 μM forming an {FeNO}7 …


Validation Of An Innovative Groundwater Contaminant Flux Measurement Method, Seh J. Kim Mar 2005

Validation Of An Innovative Groundwater Contaminant Flux Measurement Method, Seh J. Kim

Theses and Dissertations

The ability to measure groundwater contaminant flux is increasingly being recognized as crucial in order to prioritize contaminated site cleanups, estimate the efficiency of remediation technologies, measure rates of natural attenuation, and apply proper source terms to model groundwater contaminant transport. An innovative mass flux measurement method using horizontal flow treatment wells (HFTWs) was developed recently to compensate for the disadvantages of other flux measurement methods that are being used. Flux measurement methods can be categorized as either point methods or integral methods. As the name suggests, point methods measure flux at a specific point or points in the subsurface. …


Passwords: A Survey On Usage And Policy, Kurt W. Martinson Mar 2005

Passwords: A Survey On Usage And Policy, Kurt W. Martinson

Theses and Dissertations

Computer password use is on the rise. Passwords have become one of the primary authentication methods used today. It is because of their high use that organizations have started to place parameters on passwords. Are password restrictions a nuisance? What are some of the consequences that result as organizations place the burden of their computer security on passwords? This thesis analyzes the results of a survey instrument that was used to determine if individuals are using similar techniques or patterns when choosing or remembering their passwords. It also looks at how individuals feel about using passwords. In addition, the authors …


A Genetic Algorithm For Uav Routing Integrated With A Parallel Swarm Simulation, Matthew A. Russell Mar 2005

A Genetic Algorithm For Uav Routing Integrated With A Parallel Swarm Simulation, Matthew A. Russell

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigation addresses the problem of routing and simulating swarms of UAVs. Sorties are modeled as instantiations of the NP-Complete Vehicle Routing Problem, and this work uses genetic algorithms (GAs) to provide a fast and robust algorithm for a priori and dynamic routing applications. Swarms of UAVs are modeled based on extensions of Reynolds' swarm research and are simulated on a Beowulf cluster as a parallel computing application using the Synchronous Environment for Emulation and Discrete Event Simulation (SPEEDES). In a test suite, standard measures such as benchmark problems, best published results, and parallel metrics are used as performance …


Accelerating Missile Threat Engagement Simulations Using Personal Computer Graphics Cards, Sean E. Jeffers Mar 2005

Accelerating Missile Threat Engagement Simulations Using Personal Computer Graphics Cards, Sean E. Jeffers

Theses and Dissertations

The 453rd Electronic Warfare Squadron supports on-going military operations by providing battlefield commanders with aircraft ingress and egress routes that minimize the risk of shoulder or ground-fired missile attacks on our aircraft. To determine these routes, the 453rd simulates engagements between ground-to-air missiles and allied aircraft to determine the probability of a successful attack. The simulations are computationally expensive, often requiring two-hours for a single 10-second missile engagement. Hundreds of simulations are needed to perform a complete risk assessment which includes evaluating the effectiveness of countermeasures such as flares, chaff, jammers, and missile warning systems. Thus, the need for faster …


Hydrogeophysical Investigation At Luxor, Southern Egypt, Ahmed Ismail, Neil Lennart Anderson, J. David Rogers Mar 2005

Hydrogeophysical Investigation At Luxor, Southern Egypt, Ahmed Ismail, Neil Lennart Anderson, J. David Rogers

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Over the past 35 years, the exposed stone foundations of the ancient Egyptian monuments at Luxor have deteriorated at an alarmingly accelerated rate. Accelerated deterioration is attributable to three principal factors: 1) excavation and exposure of foundation stone; 2) construction of the Aswan High Dam; and 3) changes in the regional groundwater regime. In an effort to better elucidate the hydrostratigraphy in the Luxor study area that extends from the River Nile to the boundaries of the Nile Valley and covers about 70 km2, a geophysical/hydrological investigation was conducted. Forty Schlumberger vertical electrical soundings (VES), two approximately 6 …


An Analysis Of Perturbed Quantization Steganography In The Spatial Domain, Matthew D. Spisak Mar 2005

An Analysis Of Perturbed Quantization Steganography In The Spatial Domain, Matthew D. Spisak

Theses and Dissertations

Steganography is a form of secret communication in which a message is hidden into a harmless cover object, concealing the actual existence of the message. Due to the potential abuse by criminals and terrorists, much research has also gone into the field of steganalysis - the art of detecting and deciphering a hidden message. As many novel steganographic hiding algorithms become publicly known, researchers exploit these methods by finding statistical irregularities between clean digital images and images containing hidden data. This creates an on-going race between the two fields and requires constant countermeasures on the part of steganographers in order …


Detection Of Bacillus Spores By Aptamer Selectivity Using Atomic Force Microscopy, Nina M. Houtkooper Mar 2005

Detection Of Bacillus Spores By Aptamer Selectivity Using Atomic Force Microscopy, Nina M. Houtkooper

Theses and Dissertations

The anthrax attack of Oct 2001 demonstrates the need for a rapid detector for spores of Bacillus anthracis (BA). Current technology requires cultures of BA to be grown for 24 hours. Using aptamers, a type of nucleic acid ligand selective for a target molecule, to select BA spores for measurement without culturing is a possible solution for quicker detection. An aptamer having a specially selected structure is expected to selectively bind to the surface of its target spore, separating it from other material. An atomic force microscopy (AFM) method was developed to test this selectivity. Aptamers having structure selected to …


Book Review: The New Amateur Astronomer, T. D. Oswalt Mar 2005

Book Review: The New Amateur Astronomer, T. D. Oswalt

Publications

This document is Dr. Oswalt’s review of The New Amateur Astronomer by Martin Mobberley. Springer, 2004 229p, 1852336633 $34.95


Fingerprinting Relational Databases: Schemes And Specialities, Yingjiu Li, Vipin Swarup, Sushil Jajodia Mar 2005

Fingerprinting Relational Databases: Schemes And Specialities, Yingjiu Li, Vipin Swarup, Sushil Jajodia

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we present a technique for fingerprinting relational data by extending Agrawal et al.'s watermarking scheme. The primary new capability provided by our scheme is that, under reasonable assumptions, it can embed and detect arbitrary bit-string marks in relations. This capability, which is not provided by prior techniques, permits our scheme to be used as a fingerprinting scheme. We then present quantitative models of the robustness properties of our scheme. These models demonstrate that fingerprints embedded by our scheme are detectable and robust against a wide variety of attacks including collusion attacks.


Mastaq: A Middleware Architecture For Sensor Applications With Statistical Quality Constraints, Inseok Hwang, Qi Han, Archan Misra Mar 2005

Mastaq: A Middleware Architecture For Sensor Applications With Statistical Quality Constraints, Inseok Hwang, Qi Han, Archan Misra

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We present the design goals and functional components of MASTAQ, a data management middleware for pervasive applications that utilize sensor data. MASTAQ allows applications to specify their quality-of information (QoI) preferences (in terms of statistical metrics over the data) independent of the underlying network topology. It then achieves energy efficiency by adaptively activating and querying only the subset of sensor nodes needed to meet the target QoI bounds. We also present a closed-loop feedback mechanism based on broadcasting of activation probabilities, which allows MASTAQ to activate the appropriate number of sensors without requiring any inter-sensor coordination or knowledge of the …


Status Of The Major Oyster Diseases In Virginia 2004 A Summary Of The Annual Monitoring Program, Ryan Carnegie, Eugene M. Burreson Mar 2005

Status Of The Major Oyster Diseases In Virginia 2004 A Summary Of The Annual Monitoring Program, Ryan Carnegie, Eugene M. Burreson

Reports

2004 was the second very wet year in a row. While rainfall and streamflows were normal in winter and early spring, and just slightly above average during the summer, the fall of 2004 was nearly as wet as the year before. Salinities were again depressed throughout the lower Bay. Water temperatures were below normal during the winter, but typical otherwise. Low salinities and, in the winter, temperatures brought continued abatement in the oyster diseases caused by Perkinsus marinus (Dermo) and Haplosporidium nelsoni (MSX). Among quarterly James River Survey sites, maximum annual P. marinus prevalences were the lowest they had been …


Scheduling Queries To Improve The Freshness Of A Website, Haifeng Liu, Wee-Keong Ng, Ee Peng Lim Mar 2005

Scheduling Queries To Improve The Freshness Of A Website, Haifeng Liu, Wee-Keong Ng, Ee Peng Lim

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The World Wide Web is a new advertising medium that corporations use to increase their exposure to consumers. Very large websites whose content is derived from a source database need to maintain a freshness that reflects changes that are made to the base data. This issue is particularly significant for websites that present fast-changing information such as stock-exchange information and product information. In this article, we formally define and study the freshness of a website that is refreshed by a scheduled set of queries that fetch fresh data from the databases. We propose several online-scheduling algorithms and compare the performance …


An Evolutionary Algorithm To Generate Ellipsoid Detectors For Negative Selection, Joseph M. Shapiro Mar 2005

An Evolutionary Algorithm To Generate Ellipsoid Detectors For Negative Selection, Joseph M. Shapiro

Theses and Dissertations

Negative selection is a process from the biological immune system that can be applied to two-class (self and nonself) classification problems. Negative selection uses only one class (self) for training, which results in detectors for the other class (nonself). This paradigm is especially useful for problems in which only one class is available for training, such as network intrusion detection. Previous work has investigated hyper-rectangles and hyper-spheres as geometric detectors. This work proposes ellipsoids as geometric detectors. First, the author establishes a mathematical model for ellipsoids. He develops an algorithm to generate ellipsoids by training on only one class of …


Policy-Driven Data Dissemination For Context-Aware Applications, Guanling Chen, David Kotz Mar 2005

Policy-Driven Data Dissemination For Context-Aware Applications, Guanling Chen, David Kotz

Dartmouth Scholarship

Context-aware pervasive-computing applications require continuous monitoring of their physical and computational environment to make appropriate adaptation decisions in time. The data streams produced by sensors, however, may overflow the queues on the dissemination path. Traditional flow-control and congestion-control policies either drop data or force the sender to pause. When the data sender is sensing the physical environment, however, a pause is equivalent to dropping data. Instead of arbitrarily dropping data that may contain important events, we present a policy-driven data dissemination service named PACK, based on an overlay-based infrastructure for efficient multicast delivery. PACK enforces application-specified policies that define how …


The Opacity Of Spiral Galaxy Disks. Iii. Automating The Synthetic Field Method., Benne W. Holwerda, R. A. Gonzalez, Ronald J. Allen, P. C. Van Der Kruit Mar 2005

The Opacity Of Spiral Galaxy Disks. Iii. Automating The Synthetic Field Method., Benne W. Holwerda, R. A. Gonzalez, Ronald J. Allen, P. C. Van Der Kruit

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Dust extinction in spiral disks can be estimated from the counts of background field galaxies, provided the deleterious effects of confusion introduced by structure in the image of the foreground spiral disk can be calibrated. Gonzalez et al. developed a method for this calibration, the Synthetic Field Method (SFM), and applied this concept to a Hubble Space Telescope (HST )/Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 image of NGC 4536. The SFM estimates the total extinction through the disk without requiring assumptions about the distribution of absorbers or disk light. The poor statistics, however, result in large errors in individual measurements. We …


The Opacity Of Spiral Galaxy Disks. Iv. Radial Extinction Profiles From Counts Of Distant Galaxies Seen Through Foreground Disks., Benne W. Holwerda, R. A. Gonzalez, Ronald J. Allen, P. C. Van Der Kruit Mar 2005

The Opacity Of Spiral Galaxy Disks. Iv. Radial Extinction Profiles From Counts Of Distant Galaxies Seen Through Foreground Disks., Benne W. Holwerda, R. A. Gonzalez, Ronald J. Allen, P. C. Van Der Kruit

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Dust extinction can be determined from the number of distant field galaxies seen through a spiral disk. To calibrate this number for the crowding and confusion introduced by the foreground image, Gonzalez et al. and Holwerda et al. developed the Synthetic Field Method (SFM ), which analyzes synthetic fields constructed by adding various deep exposures of unobstructed background fields to the candidate foreground galaxy field. The advantage of the SFM is that it gives the average opacity for the area of a galaxy disk without making assumptions about either the distribution of absorbers or of the disk starlight. However, it …


Orbital Dependence Of The Fermi Liquid State In Sr2ruo4, T. E. Kidd, T. Valla, A. V. Fedorov, P. D. Johnson, R. J. Cava, M. K. Haas Mar 2005

Orbital Dependence Of The Fermi Liquid State In Sr2ruo4, T. E. Kidd, T. Valla, A. V. Fedorov, P. D. Johnson, R. J. Cava, M. K. Haas

Faculty Publications

We have used angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to determine the bulk electronic structure of Sr2RuO4 above and below the Fermi liquid crossover near 25 K. Our measurements indicate that the properties of the system are highly orbital dependent. The quasi-2D gamma band displays Fermi liquid behavior while the remaining low energy bands show exotic properties consistent with quasi-1D behavior. In the Fermi liquid state below 25 K, the gamma band dominates the electronic properties, while at higher temperatures the quasi-1D ß and α bands become more important.


Evaluation Of Mpeg-4 Ipmp Extension, Hwee Hwa Pang, Yongdong Wu Mar 2005

Evaluation Of Mpeg-4 Ipmp Extension, Hwee Hwa Pang, Yongdong Wu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

MPEG-4 IPMPX (intellectual property management and protection extension) is the latest ISO standard which provides a flexible framework for protecting MPEG streams. The message mechanism of IPMPX enables interoperability among IPMPX-compliant devices no matter which protection methods are embedded. This paper highlights several problems in the message syntax of IPMPX: the tool delivery message IPMP_ToolES_AU is vulnerable to network attack, the authentication message IMP_Mutual_Authentication is incapable of defending against forgery attack, and the configuration message IPMP_SelectiveDecrptionInit is ambiguous and redundant. We propose a number of remedies to those problems, which can be incorporated into a corrigenda to improve the present …


Guest Editor's Introduction: Cluster Computing, George K. Thiruvathukal Mar 2005

Guest Editor's Introduction: Cluster Computing, George K. Thiruvathukal

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

What is cluster computing? In a nutshell, it involves the use of a network of computing resources to provide a comparatively economical package with capabilities once reserved for supercomputers. In this issue, we look at certain applications of cluster computing to problem solving. As the Beowulf project and clustering revolution celebrate more than 10 years in existence, it's interesting to see what remains the same and what has changed. Let's look at a few aspects of the clustering revolution in more detail.


The Ames Mer Microscopic Imager Toolkit, Randy Sargent, Matt Deans, Clay Kunz, Ken Herkenhoff Feb 2005

The Ames Mer Microscopic Imager Toolkit, Randy Sargent, Matt Deans, Clay Kunz, Ken Herkenhoff

Randy Sargent

The Mars Exploration Rovers, spirit and opportunity, have spent several successful months on Mars, returning gigabytes of images and spectral data to scientists on Earth. One of the instruments on the MER rovers, the Athena microscopic imager (MI), is a fixed focus, megapixel camera providing a ±3mm depth of field and a 31×31 mm field of view at a working distance of 63 mm from the lens to the object being imaged. In order to maximize the science return from this instrument, we developed the Ames MI toolkit and supported its use during the primary mission. The MI toolkit is …


Insight Into The Production And Maturation Of A Single Malt Scotch Whisky Through Gas Chromatographic Analysis, Samuel Morton, T. Rogers, J. Collier Feb 2005

Insight Into The Production And Maturation Of A Single Malt Scotch Whisky Through Gas Chromatographic Analysis, Samuel Morton, T. Rogers, J. Collier

Samuel A Morton

No abstract provided.


Modified Electrodes For Mediated Electron Transport: Detection Of Glucose And Glutamate, Alice Harper, Mark Anderson Feb 2005

Modified Electrodes For Mediated Electron Transport: Detection Of Glucose And Glutamate, Alice Harper, Mark Anderson

Mark R. Anderson

No abstract is currently available.