Teaching Tip: Teaching NoSQL Databases in a Database Course for Business Students

NoSQL databases have been used in organizations for decades. Few database textbooks on the market, however, have suitable materials about NoSQL beyond general introductions for typical business students. In fact, users of the typical NoSQL systems on the software market need to have certain computer programming skills. This teaching tip introduces a small unit on NoSQL databases in a traditional database course for students in all business majors. The unit uses a Microsoft Excel-based NoSQL database example to explain the basis of NoSQL, describes the four essential types of NoSQL databases, and discusses representative NoSQL database management systems on the software market. As this unit does not require computer programming skills, it can be easily integrated into an existing relational database course for business students. The unit was tested twice. Students have demonstrated positive first-hand practice experiences of NoSQL beyond general concepts of NoSQL

Automated Fovea Detection Based on Unsupervised Retinal Vessel Segmentation Method

The Computer Assisted Diagnosis systems could save workloads and give objective diagnostic to ophthalmologists. At first level of automated screening of systems feature extraction is the fundamental step. One of these retinal features is the fovea. The fovea is a small fossa on the fundus, which is represented by a deep-red or red-brown color in color retinal images. By observing retinal images, it appears that the main vessels diverge from the optic nerve head and follow a specific course that can be geometrically modeled as a parabola, with a common vertex inside the optic nerve head and the fovea located along the apex of this parabola curve. Therefore, based on this assumption, the main retinal blood vessels are segmented and fitted to a parabolic model. With respect to the core vascular structure, we can thus detect fovea in the fundus images. For the vessel segmentation, our algorithm addresses the image locally where homogeneity of features is more likely to occur. The algorithm is composed of 4 steps: multi-overlapping windows, local Radon transform, vessel validation, and parabolic fitting. In order to extract blood vessels, sub-vessels should be extracted in local windows. The high contrast between blood vessels and image background in the images cause the vessels to be associated with peaks in the Radon space. The largest vessels, using a high threshold of the Radon transform, determines the main course or overall configuration of the blood vessels which when fitted to a parabola, leads to the future localization of the fovea. In effect, with an accurate fit, the fovea normally lies along the slope joining the vertex and the focus. The darkest region along this line is the indicative of the fovea. To evaluate our method, we used 220 fundus images from a rural database (MUMS-DB) and one public one (DRIVE). The results show that, among 20 images of the first public database (DRIVE) we detected fovea in 85% of them. Also for the MUMS-DB database among 200 images we detect fovea correctly in 83% on them

An Introduction to Database Systems

This textbook introduces the basic concepts of database systems. These concepts are presented through numerous examples in modeling and design. The material in this book is geared to an introductory course in database systems offered at the junior or senior level of Computer Science. It could also be used in a first year graduate course in database systems, focusing on a selection of the advanced topics in the latter chapters

Problem-Based Learning in a Systems Analysis Course

This paper discusses on-going efforts to use Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in the first course of a two part Systems Analysis and Design sequence. The PBL class used a series of five group projects to focus student learning on major areas traditionally covered in a Systems Analysis course. Each project culminated in a group report or oral presentation. Peer and presentation evaluations were conducted on-line with summary data and comments available to each student. Students were also required to perform a self-assessment of their learning on each project. In addition to group work, students used a Lotus Notes/Domino discussion database as a tutorial aid and to discuss major topics of the course, post references for problems and to coordinate group activities. An analysis of student attitudes toward PBL and peer evaluations is provided and compared to the results from a previous study

Sectionality or Why Section Determines Grades: an Exploration of Engineering Core Course Section Grades using a Hierarchical Linear Model and the Multiple-Institution Database for Investigating Engineering Longitudinal Development

Grades, how they are earned, and the institutional impetuses that drive them, are an issue of central importance in the engineering discipline. (1-4) How grades are earned, how different institutions address grades and grade inequities, how instructional practices and policies affect grades, and other grading notions have been studied widely in engineering education. (5-8) The effect of faculty on student grades, while studied, (9) has not been probed as extensively within engineering education using a hierarchical linear model (HLM).One of the great, open questions in engineering education is whether or not the section makes a difference in a student’s grade. In other words, the effect of sectionality on grades to a large extent is unknown. Sectionality combines instructor effects, effects related to time-of-day of instruction, effects related to any tendency for students to coordinate their enrollment, and other effects. Experience and anecdotal evidence suggest that sectionality affects grades, but large-scale empirical studies of this phenomenon do not exist. Due to the inherent structured nature between course sections and students, standard linear regression models do not offer a robust solution to probing longitudinal systems containing multilevel variables. Hierarchical Linear Models (HLMs) provide a robust solution to studying nested or hierarchical systems when compared with standard regression techniques. We constructed a simple HLM to probe inter-section and intra-section variability in grades within the Multiple Institution Database for Investigating Engineering Longitudinal Development (MIDFIELD) by the calculation of intraclass correlation coefficient (ICCs). (10, 11) We then examined grades from three sets of courses endemic to the first year engineering experience: the first chemistry course; the first calculus course; and the first physics course. Our preliminary results indicate that the choice of a HLM to analyze our longitudinal database is correct due to strong variability in grades explained by the high intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for most of our MIDFIELD institutions across all three course types analyzed

Introducing the Unified Modeling Language into the Information Systems Curriculum

The Information Systems undergraduate program at Cleveland State University (CSU) has adopted the Unified Modeling Language (UML) as the tool for defining a system model through out the development process. This paper discusses the revised CSU curriculum, the use of UML as a common tool to unify several aspects of system development and implementation, and the way in which this approach replaces traditional software development tools. In general, the current CSU curriculum matches the IS 2002 curriculum model in which the implementation of database systems is a continuation of the analysis and logical design course. At CSU, to simplify course scheduling issues, students may take either course first or both at the same time, compromising the IS 2002 suggested prerequisite structure. Our teaching approach to this academic scenario is presented, as is our teaching methodology. Several examples are shown, including the use of tools such as Rational Rose, MS-Access, and Oracle

Solubility equilibria and geochemical modeling in the field of radioactive waste disposal

If a true thermodynamic equilibrium with a well-known solid is expected to establish, chemical equilibrium thermodynamics allows estimation of the maximum concentration of a given radionuclide in a specified pore fluid of an underground repository. However, in the course of the review process for the Nagra/PSI Chemical Thermodynamic Data Base 01/01, important cases of insufficient chemical knowledge were identified, leading to gaps in the database. First, experimental data for the ThO2-H2O and UO2-H2O systems cannot be interpreted by a unique set of thermodynamic constants. There, a pragmatic approach was chosen by including parameters in the database that are not thermodynamic constants in a strict sense, but that reproduced relevant experimental observations. Second, potentially important thermodynamic constants are missing because of insufficient experimental data. Estimations of these missing constants led to problem-specific database extensions. Especially constants for ternary mixed carbonato-hydroxo complexes of tetravalent actinides have been estimated by the "backdoor approach”, i.e., by adjusting thermodynamic constants to maximum feasible values that are still consistent with all available experimental solubility dat