Social Network Intelligence Analysis to Combat Street Gang Violence

In this paper we introduce the Organization, Relationship, and Contact Analyzer (ORCA) that is designed to aide intelligence analysis for law enforcement operations against violent street gangs. ORCA is designed to address several police analytical needs concerning street gangs using new techniques in social network analysis. Specifically, it can determine "degree of membership" for individuals who do not admit to membership in a street gang, quickly identify sets of influential individuals (under the tipping model), and identify criminal ecosystems by decomposing gangs into sub-groups. We describe this software and the design decisions considered in building an intelligence analysis tool created specifically for countering violent street gangs as well as provide results based on conducting analysis on real-world police data provided by a major American metropolitan police department who is partnering with us and currently deploying this system for real-world use

Mobile music touch: using haptic stimulation for passive rehabilitation and learning

Hand rehabilitation after injury or illness may allow a patient to regain full or at least partial use of a limb. However, rehabilitation often requires the patient to perform multiple repetitions of motions. While absolutely essential to regaining usage, such exercises are not always mentally engaging or enjoyable for the patient. The loss or degradation of the use of the hands can cause considerable loss of independence. In this dissertation, we present Mobile Music Touch (MMT), a wireless glove paired with a computing device, such as a laptop, smart phone, or MP3 player. The MMT system plays a song, while also "tapping" the fingers using vibration motors to indicate the correct finger to use to play the song on a piano keyboard. Learning a new skill or activity without active focus, an idea called Passive Haptic Learning(PHL) may allow an individual to learn one skill through their sense of touch while performing another, unrelated activity. Most rehabilitation activities are active in nature, requiring the focused participation of the injured person. Passive rehabilitation is the idea that some technologies and activities may bring about beneficial changes without the active engagement of the injured person. In order to study the concepts of PHL and PHR, we propose the Mobile Music Touch (MMT) system. We show that using passive rehabilitation in conjunction with the active rehabilitation of piano playing will bring about a greater degree of improvement in the hands than that achieved using only active rehabilitation. This dissertation research makes three unique contributions. First, we demonstrate that Passive Haptic Learning (PHL) using just the sense of touch is feasible and provides a form of learning and reinforcement of learned skills and tasks. Second, we identify the attributes and design features of a glove suited for long term wear by persons who use a manual wheelchair for mobility. Third, we show that Passive Haptic Rehabilitation (PHR) is possible using vibrotactile stimulation of the hands in persons classified as tetraplegic due to incomplete spinal cord injury.PhDCommittee Chair: Starner, Thad; Committee Member: Abowd, Gregory; Committee Member: Backus, Deborah; Committee Member: Do, Ellen Yi-Luen; Committee Member: Jackson, Melody Moor

Evolution of genes and genomes on the Drosophila phylogeny

Affiliations des auteurs : cf page 216 de l'articleInternational audienceComparative analysis of multiple genomes in a phylogenetic framework dramatically improves the precision and sensitivity of evolutionary inference, producing more robust results than single-genome analyses can provide. The genomes of 12 Drosophila species, ten of which are presented here for the first time (sechellia, simulans, yakuba, erecta, ananassae, persimilis, willistoni, mojavensis, virilis and grimshawi), illustrate how rates and patterns of sequence divergence across taxa can illuminate evolutionary processes on a genomic scale. These genome sequences augment the formidable genetic tools that have made Drosophila melanogaster a pre-eminent model for animal genetics, and will further catalyse fundamental research on mechanisms of development, cell biology, genetics, disease, neurobiology, behaviour, physiology and evolution. Despite remarkable similarities among these Drosophila species, we identified many putatively non-neutral changes in protein-coding genes, non-coding RNA genes, and cis-regulatory regions. These may prove to underlie differences in the ecology and behaviour of these diverse species

Evolution of genes and genomes on the Drosophila phylogeny

Comparative analysis of multiple genomes in a phylogenetic framework dramatically improves the precision and sensitivity of evolutionary inference, producing more robust results than single-genome analyses can provide. The genomes of 12 Drosophila species, ten of which are presented here for the first time (sechellia, simulans, yakuba, erecta, ananassae, persimilis, willistoni, mojavensis, virilis and grimshawi), illustrate how rates and patterns of sequence divergence across taxa can illuminate evolutionary processes on a genomic scale. These genome sequences augment the formidable genetic tools that have made Drosophila melanogaster a pre-eminent model for animal genetics, and will further catalyse fundamental research on mechanisms of development, cell biology, genetics, disease, neurobiology, behaviour, physiology and evolution. Despite remarkable similarities among these Drosophila species, we identified many putatively non-neutral changes in protein-coding genes, non-coding RNA genes, and cis-regulatory regions. These may prove to underlie differences in the ecology and behaviour of these diverse species