Objectives To assess low-income mothers’ perceptions of their postpartum information needs; describe their information seeking behavior; explore their use of mobile technology to address those needs; and to contribute to the sparse... more
Objectives To assess low-income mothers’ perceptions of their postpartum information needs; describe their information seeking behavior; explore their use of mobile technology to address those needs; and to contribute to the sparse literature on postpartum health and wellness. Methods Exploratory community-based qualitative approach. Interviewees were recruited among clients of community partners and had children aged 48 months and under. A survey assessing demographics was used to identify low-income mothers. 10 low-income mothers were recruited from survey participants to complete indepth interviews regarding postpartum information needs, information seeking, and technology use. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded by three researchers independently. Narratives were analyzed along predetermined (etic) and emergent (emic) categories. Results Establishing breastfeeding and solving breastfeeding problems were central postpartum concerns leading to information seeking. Interviewees reported almost exclusive use of mobile phones to access the Internet. Mobile applications were widely used during pregnancy, but were not valuable postpartum. Face-to-face information from medical professionals was found to be repetitive. Online information seeking was mediated by default mobile phone search engines, and occurred over short, fragmented time periods. College graduates reported searching for authoritative knowledge sources; non-graduates preferred forums. Conclusions for Practice Low-income postpartum women rely on their smartphones to find online infant care and self-care health information. Websites replace pregnancyrelated mobile applications and complement face-to-face information. Changes in searching behavior and multitasking mean information must be easily accessible and readily understood. Knowledge of page-rank systems and use of current and emergent social media will allow health-related organizations to better engage with low-income mothers online and promote evidence-based information.
Large quantities of historical newspapers are being digitized and OCRd. We describe a framework for processing the OCRd text to identify articles and extract metadata for them. We describe the article schema and provide examples of... more
Large quantities of historical newspapers are being digitized and OCRd. We describe a framework for processing the OCRd text to identify articles and extract metadata for them. We describe the article schema and provide examples of features that facilitate automatic indexing of them. For this processing, we employ lexical semantics, structural models, and community content. Furthermore, we describe visualization and summarization techniques that can be used to present the extracted events.
Automated configuration and management of highly dynamic networks is a challenging problem for network practitioners. Such online optimization of systems can be performed in two ways: (i) using a separate model of the system for... more
Automated configuration and management of highly dynamic networks is a challenging problem for network practitioners. Such online optimization of systems can be performed in two ways: (i) using a separate model of the system for experimenting new configurations, (ii) using the system itself for experimentation without a separate system model. The former approach fails for dynamic networks with high failure rates or variable demand profile. In this paper, we take the latter approach and perform in- situ trials in a network to find better configurations of IGP link weights giving result to higher network throughput. Our approach follows a two-phase model where the online optimization process periodically goes into a "search" phase followed by network operation with the parameters found in the latest search phase. We use a black-box optimization algorithm, called Probabilistic Trans- Algorithmic Search (PTAS), to search for better IGP link weights and evaluate our approach in terms of key parameters such as search phase frequency and length.
Services Oriented Architectures (SOA) have emerged as a useful framework for developing interoperable, large-scale systems, typically implemented using the Web Services (WS) standards. However, the maintenance and evolution of SOA systems... more
Services Oriented Architectures (SOA) have emerged as a useful framework for developing interoperable, large-scale systems, typically implemented using the Web Services (WS) standards. However, the maintenance and evolution of SOA systems present many challenges. SmartLife applications are intelligent user-centered systems and a special class of SOA systems that present even greater challenges for a software maintainer. Ontologies and ontological modeling can be used to support the evolution of SOA systems. This paper describes the development of a SOA evolution ontology and its use to develop an ontological model of a SOA system. The ontology is based on a standard SOA ontology. The ontological model can be used to provide semantic and visual support for software maintainers during routine maintenance tasks. We discuss a case study to illustrate this approach, as well as the strengths and limitations.
Intrusion detection systems have undergone numerous years of study and yet a great deal of problems remain; primarily a high percentage of false alarms and abysmal detection rates. A new type of threat has emerged that of Advanced... more
Intrusion detection systems have undergone numerous years of study and yet a great deal of problems remain; primarily a high percentage of false alarms and abysmal detection rates. A new type of threat has emerged that of Advanced Persistent Threat. This type of attack is known for being sophisticated and slow moving over a long period of time and is found in networked systems. Such threats may be detected by evaluation of large numbers of state variables describing complex system operation and state transitions over time. Analysis of such large numbers of variables is computationally inefficient especially if it is meant to be done in real time. The paper develops a completely new theoretical model that appears to be able to distill high order state variable data sets down to the essence of analytic changes in a system with APT operating. The model is based on the computationally efficient use of integer vectors. This approach has the capability to analyze threat over time, and has potential to detect, predict and classify new threat as being similar to threat already detected. The model presented is highly theoretical at this point with some initial prototype work demonstrated and some initial performance data.
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon refers to a game where you try to link any actor to Kevin Bacon by the fewest movies. Every actor has a Bacon number. If an actor appears in the same movie as Kevin Bacon his Bacon number is 1. This paper... more
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon refers to a game where you try to link any actor to Kevin Bacon by the fewest movies. Every actor has a Bacon number. If an actor appears in the same movie as Kevin Bacon his Bacon number is 1. This paper creates a new movie with a cast that lowers the weighted average for Kevin Bacon, which could be useful for increasing the connectivity of a network.
To improve the quality of search results in huge digital music databases, we developed a simple algorithm based on artist influences and complex network theory that produces interesting and novel results. Traditionally, music... more
To improve the quality of search results in huge digital music databases, we developed a simple algorithm based on artist influences and complex network theory that produces interesting and novel results. Traditionally, music recommendation engines use audio feature similarity to suggest new music based on a given artist. We propose a search that takes influences into account provides a richer result set than one based on audio features alone. We constructed an artist influence network using the Rovi dataset and studied it using complex network theory. Analysis revealed many complex network phenomena which we used to tune the search algorithm. Finally, we consider the difficulty of qualitatively rating our results and the need for a tool to exercise the algorithm.
Social networks in any form, specifically online social networks (OSNs), are becoming a part of our everyday life in this new millennium especially with the advanced and simple communication technologies through easily accessible devices... more
Social networks in any form, specifically online social networks (OSNs), are becoming a part of our everyday life in this new millennium especially with the advanced and simple communication technologies through easily accessible devices such as smartphones and tablets. The data generated through the use of these technologies need to be analyzed for forensic purposes when criminal and terrorist activities are involved. In order to deal with the forensic implications of social networks, current research on both digital forensics and social networks need to be incorporated and understood. This will help digital forensics investigators to predict, detect and even prevent any criminal activities in different forms. It will also help researchers to develop new models/techniques in the future. This paper provides literature review of the social network forensics methods, models, and techniques in order to provide an overview to the researchers for their future works as well as the law enforcement investigators for their investigations when crimes are committed in the cyber space. It also provides awareness and defense methods for OSN users in order to protect them against to social attacks.
E-loox is an educational software application that has been designed specifically for students located in areas with limited Internet access. Unlike the majority of existing educational applications, E-loox is a “hybrid app”– meaning it... more
E-loox is an educational software application that has been designed specifically for students located in areas with limited Internet access. Unlike the majority of existing educational applications, E-loox is a “hybrid app”– meaning it can function both on and offline. As a hybrid app, E-loox allows students to complete assignments, access course materials, and conduct research in places where there is no Internet access. While global Internet access has expanded rapidly in the last decade, there are still more than 3.5 billion people who lack access, including approximately 60 million people in the United States. E-loox seeks to bridge the gap for the millions of students who have internet in the classroom but lack a home connection.
The availability of sophisticated technologies and methods of perpetrating criminogenic activities in the cyberspace is a pertinent societal problem. Darknet is an encrypted network technology that uses the internet infrastructure and can... more
The availability of sophisticated technologies and methods of perpetrating criminogenic activities in the cyberspace is a pertinent societal problem. Darknet is an encrypted network technology that uses the internet infrastructure and can only be accessed using special network configuration and software tools to access its contents which are not indexed by search engines. Over the years darknets traditionally are used for criminogenic activities and famously acclaimed to promote cybercrime, procurements of illegal drugs, arms deals, and cryptocurrency markets. In countries with oppressive regimes, censorship of digital communications, and strict policies prompted journalists and freedom fighters to seek freedom using darknet technologies anonymously while others simply exploit it for illegal activities. Recently, MIT's Lincoln Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence augmented a tool that can be used to expose illegal activities behind the darknet. We studied relevant literature re...
