CS 241-01: Introduction to Computer Science II

This course is the second in the three course sequence Introduction to Computer Science offered by the Computer Science department, WSU. It focuses on tools for building abstract data types (using structure and class concepts in C++) and Object-Oriented Programming. We also begin the study of data structures in this course

Algorithms and protocols for multi-channel wireless networks

A wireless channel is shared by all devices, in the vicinity, that are tuned to the channel, and at any given time, only one of the devices can transmit information. One way to overcome this limitation, in throughput capacity, is to use multiple orthogonal channels for different devices, that want to transmit information at the same time. In this work, we consider the use of multiple orthogonal channels in wireless data networks. We explore algorithms and protocols for such multi-channel wireless networks under two broad categories of network-wide and link-level challenges. Towards handling the network-wide issues, we consider the channel assignment and routing issues in multi-channel wireless networks. We study both single radio and multi-radio multi-channel networks. For single radio multi-channel networks, we propose a new granularity for channel assignment, that we refer to as component level channel assignment. The strategy is relatively simple, and is characterized by several impressive practical advantages. For multi-radio multi-channel networks, we propose a joint routing and channel assignment protocol, known as Lattice Routing. The protocol manages channels of the radios, for the different nodes in the network, using information about current channel conditions, and adapts itself to varying traffic patterns, in order to efficiently use the multiple channels. Through ns2 based simulations, we show how both the protocols outperform other existing protocols for multi-channel networks under different network environments. Towards handling the link-level challenges, we identify the practical challenges in achieving a high data-rate wireless link across two devices using multiple off-the-shelf wireless radios. Given that the IEEE 802.11 a/g standards define 3 orthogonal wi-fi channels in the 2.4GHz band and 12 orthogonal wi-fi channels in the 5GHz band, we answer the following question: ``can a pair of devices each equipped with 15 wi-fi radios use all the available orthogonal channels to achieve a high data-rate link operating at 600Mbps?' Surprisingly, we find through experimental evaluation that the actual observed performance when using all fifteen orthogonal channels between two devices is a mere 91Mbps. We identify the reasons behind the low performance and present Glia, a software only solution that effectively exercises all available radios. We prototype Glia and show using experimental evaluations that Glia helps achieve close to 600Mbps data-rate when using all possible wi-fi channels.PhDCommittee Chair: Sivakumar, Raghupathy; Committee Member: Blough, Doug; Committee Member: Coyle, Edward; Committee Member: Eidenbenz, Stephan; Committee Member: Fekri, Faramar

Community Interactions and Water as Drivers of Soil Microbial Communities

Understanding the response of soil microbial communities to various environmental stresses is of current interest, because of their pivotal role in nutrient cycling, soil organic matter mineralization and influence on plant growth. Determining the affect of several biotic and abiotic factors on soil microbial communities is the overall objective of the study. The specific goals are to determine 1) the response of microbial communities to water deficit in soil and 2) how the presence of a rich biotic community determines the direction of microbial community development in cultures. Both goals are novel and unique contributions to understanding microbial ecology in soil. Dynamics in water potentials due to drying and rewetting of soil impose significant physiological challenges to soil microorganisms. To cope with these fluctuations, many microorganisms alter the chemistry and concentration of their cytoplasmic contents. The aim of this research is to understand how the microbial biomass and their cytoplasm change in response to water potential deficits under in situ soil conditions. To address this objective we characterized intracellular and extracellular metabolites in moist, dry and salt stressed soils. Our results provided the first direct evidence that microbial communities in soil in situ utilize sugars and sugar alcohols to cope with low water potential. While the cultivation and isolation of microorganisms is essential to completely explore their physiology and ecology, 99% of soil microbes resist growing in cultures. Presence of very unnatural conditions in the culture plates was considered as main reason for low cultivability. Thus, a culture-based study was conducted whereby microorganisms were grown in association with their native habitat with an objective of mimicking native conditions to promote the growth of previously uncultivated microorganisms. Moreover, the importance of biotic communities (microbe-microbe) and abiotic soil effects were assessed on bacterial growth. Our results strongly indicate that the presence of living microbial community in the vicinity of the target culture resulted in the cultivation of novel members of rare bacterial taxa from phyla Verrucomicrobia, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Planctomycetes. These results emphasize the need to develop new culturing methods to tap the hidden microbial potential for emerging anthropogenic needs

Analysis Of Data Stratification In A Multi-Sensor Fingerprint Dataset Using Match Score Statistics

Biometric data is an essential feature employed in testing the performance of any real time biometric recognition system prior to its usage. The variations introduced in the match performance critically determine the authenticity of the biometric data to be able to be used in an everyday scenario for the testing of biometric verification systems. This study in totality aims at understanding the impact of data stratification of a such a biometric test dataset on the match performance of each of its stratum. In order to achieve this goal, the fingerprint dataset of the West Virginia University\u27s 2012 BioCOP has been employed which is a part of the many multimodal biometric data collection projects that the University has accomplished. This test dataset has been initially segmented based on the scanners employed in the process of data acquisition to check for the variations in match performance with reference to the acquisition device. The secondary stage of data stratification included the creation of stratum based on the demographic features of the subjects in the dataset.;The main objectives this study aims to achieve are:;• Developing a framework to assess the match score distributions of each stratum..;• Assessing the match performance of demographic strata in comparison to the total dataset..;• Statistical match performance evaluation using match score statistics..;Following the generation of genuine and imposter match score distributions , Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves (ROC) were plotted to compare the match performance of each demographic stratum with respect to the total dataset. The divergence measures KLD and JSD have been calculated which signify the amount of variation between the match score distributions of each stratum. With the help of these procedures, the task of estimating the effect of data stratification on the match performance has been accomplished which serves as a measure of understanding the impact of this fingerprint dataset when used for biometric testing purposes

Increasing the Solubility and Recovery of Ara h3 Allergen from Raw and Roasted Peanut

Ara h3 belongs to the glycinin family of seed storage proteins and is one of the major peanut allergens. It comprises over 20% of the total peanut protein mass, making it a logical target for the detection of trace quantities of undeclared peanut contamination in foods. Both Ara h1 and Ara h3 are detected in lower quantities in cooked foods, either because of the failure to completely resolubilize the denatured proteins or because of the disruption of conformational epitopes required for monoclonal antibody recognition. A new reagent containing a proprietary non-detergent sulfobetaine (NDSB) is described which solubilizes more total protein and yields more Ara h3 protein from both raw and roasted peanut than other commonly used ELISA-compatible reagents

Machine Transplantation: Labour and Water Saving Technology in Paddy Cultivation

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Layer-By-Layer Self-Assembly of CIGS Nanoparticles and Polymers for All-Solution Processable Low-Cost, High-Efficiency Solar Cells

poster abstractThin film solar cells made from copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) materials have shown great potentials of providing low cost, high efficiency panels viable for wide spread commercial usage. Layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly is a low-cost, versatile nanofilm deposition process, however introduces polymers in the nanoparticles films, which reduces charge transport thereby affecting solar cell efficiency. This research aims to study various polymer materials to replace currently used insulating polymers in LbL, such as poly(sodium-4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) and polyethyenimine (PEI). This poster will present processes and results of CIGS nanoparticles synthesis using controlled heating of CuCl, InCl3, GaCl3, and Se in oleyamine; functionalization of the particles to disperse in organic and aqueous-based solvents for LbL; and initial outcomes of CIGS, polymers LbL film fabrication and characterization. The size distribution of synthesized nanoparticles cleaned through alternate suspension and precipitation in chloroform and ethanol shows a peak at 72 nm. Particles light absorption properties measured with ultraviolet-visible-near infrared (UV-Vis-NIR) spectroscopy shows good spectrum coverage with band edge near 1100 nm. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results of the particles confirms the composition and tetragonal chalcopyrite crystal structure of CIGS materials. Chemical-bath-deposition of cadmium sulfide (CdS) and spray-coating of zinc oxide (ZnO) films are used along with LbL absorbing film in realization of a solar cell device. The fabricated devices are tested using semiconductor characterization instrument