James A. M. McHugh

Bio: James A. M. McHugh is an academic researcher from New Jersey Institute of Technology. The author has contributed to research in topics: Process (engineering) & Inductive programming. The author has an hindex of 15, co-authored 40 publications receiving 1434 citations. Previous affiliations of James A. M. McHugh include Alcatel-Lucent.

Algorithmic Graph Theory

Abstract: Introduction to graph theory algorithmic techniques shortest paths trees and acyclic diagraphs depth first search connectivity and routing graph colouring covers, domination, independent sets, matchings and factors, parallel algorithms computational complexity.

Automated fingerprint recognition using structural matching

Abstract: Automated fingerprint recognition has received considerable attention over the past decade. Progress has been made on models of the structure of fingerprints, techniques for the acquisition of prints, and the development of commercial automated fingerprint recognition systems. Despite these advances, there remain considerable opportunities for improvement. The speed of retrieval, and the ability to recognize partial or distorted prints are prominent among those areas that require improvement. This study will describe a structural model of fingerprints, based on local structural relations among features, and an associated automated recognition system which addresses the limitations of existing fingerprint models.

Open Source: Technology and Policy

Abstract: From the Internet's infrastructure to operating systems like GNU/Linux, the open source movement comprises some of the greatest accomplishments in computing over the past quarter century. Its story embraces technological advances, unprecedented global collaboration, and remarkable tools for facilitating distributed development. The evolution of the Internet enabled an enormous expansion of open development, allowing developers to exchange information and ideas without regard to constraints of space, time, or national boundary. The movement has had widespread impact on education and government, as well as historic cultural and commercial repercussions. Part I discusses key open source applications, platforms, and technologies used in open development. Part II explores social issues ranging from demographics and psychology to legal and economic matters. Part III discusses the Free Software Foundation, open source in the public sector (government and education), and future prospects.

Mining the World Wide Web

Abstract: Chang et al. present information retrieval from distributed data sources with a focus on the World Wide Web (WWW). The specific topics explored include: keyword and query based search engines; mediators and wrappers; multimedia search engines; data, text, and web mining; and web crawling agents. A few tools and some related technologies are introduced for each of these topics, but the descriptions are very brief and only scan the surface. The book is primarily intended as a supplement for upper-level undergraduate or graduate courses in data mining, databases, and information retrieval and then as a reference manual for practitioners. However it falls short on the first objective. The coverage lacks both depth and comprehensiveness on some important conceptual issues. At best it surveys very superficially a handful of techniques. Its usefulness as a supplemental reading book would have required the inclusion of either a set of problems and/or research questions at the end of each section to help students in investigating those issues cursorily presented in the main textbook. At the same time, the main concepts utilized in each technique should have received better coverage. The book meets the second objective. It can indeed very well serve as a quick reference manual for practitioners, who by the nature of their work have limited time to investigate in some depth new and future developments in their specific or related fields. This book gives them an opporttmity to see what may be coming down the pipeline in the area of distributed sources of information on the web. The book is divided into three parts: information retrieval on the web, data mining on the web, and a case study in environmental engineering. The first two chapters, which cover keyword and query based search engines, are excellent. The material is succinct and written in a proactive mode, which does stimulate a reader's interest. Then a chapter on mediators and wrappers follows. In my view, its coverage has a lot of room for improvement, as the presentation does not do justice to the extensive research that took place in this specific topic in the last few years. The chapter on multimedia search engines could have actually been put in an appendix without significantly altering the flow in the book. Beyond a terse description of these engines, the rest of the chapter was hurriedly written and the coverage is poor. While multi-media databases are still emerging,

A 2dvEv- bit distributed algorithm for the directed Euler trail problem

Abstract: A new distributed Euler trail algorithm is proposed to run on an Euler diagraph G(V,E) where each node knows only its adjacent edges, converting it into a new state that each node knows how an existent Euler trail routes through its incoming and outgoing edges. The communication requires only 2middot;|E| one-bit messages. The algorithm can be used as a building block for solving other distributed graph problems, and can be slightly modified to run on a strongly-connected diagraph for generating the existent Euler trail or to report that no Euler trails exist.

Bayesian Reasoning and Machine Learning

Abstract: Machine learning methods extract value from vast data sets quickly and with modest resources They are established tools in a wide range of industrial applications, including search engines, DNA sequencing, stock market analysis, and robot locomotion, and their use is spreading rapidly People who know the methods have their choice of rewarding jobs This hands-on text opens these opportunities to computer science students with modest mathematical backgrounds It is designed for final-year undergraduates and master's students with limited background in linear algebra and calculus Comprehensive and coherent, it develops everything from basic reasoning to advanced techniques within the framework of graphical models Students learn more than a menu of techniques, they develop analytical and problem-solving skills that equip them for the real world Numerous examples and exercises, both computer based and theoretical, are included in every chapter Resources for students and instructors, including a MATLAB toolbox, are available online

A logic for reasoning about time and reability

Abstract: We present a logic for stating properties such as, "after a request for service there is at least a 98\045 probability that the service will be carried out within 2 seconds". The logic extends the temporal logic CTL by Emerson, Clarke and Sistla with time and probabil- ities. Formulas are interpreted over discrete time Markov chains. We give algorithms for checking that a given Markov chain satis- fies a formula in the logic. The algorithms require a polynomial number of arithmetic operations, in size of both the formula and\003This research report is a revised and extended version of a paper that has appeared under the title "A Framework for Reasoning about Time and Reliability" in the Proceeding of the 10thIEEE Real-time Systems Symposium, Santa Monica CA, December 1989. This work was partially supported by the Swedish Board for Technical Development (STU) as part of Esprit BRA Project SPEC, and by the Swedish Telecommunication Administration.1the Markov chain. A simple example is included to illustrate the algorithms.

Learning and Teaching Programming: A Review and Discussion

Abstract: In this paper we review the literature relating to the psychological/educational study of programming. We identify general trends comparing novice and expert programmers, programming knowledge and strategies, program generation and comprehension, and object-oriented versus procedural programming. (We do not cover research relating specifically to other programming styles.) The main focus of the review is on novice programming and topics relating to novice teaching and learning. Various problems experienced by novices are identified, including issues relating to basic program design, to algorithmic complexity in certain language features, to the “fragility” of novice knowledge, and so on. We summarise this material and suggest some practical implications for teachers. We suggest that a key issue that emerges is the distinction between effective and ineffective novices. What characterises effective novices? Is it possible to identify the specific deficits of ineffective novices and help them to become effec...

Filterbank-based fingerprint matching

Abstract: Biometrics-based verification, especially fingerprint-based identification, is receiving a lot of attention. There are two major shortcomings of the traditional approaches to fingerprint representation. For a considerable fraction of population, the representations based on explicit detection of complete ridge structures in the fingerprint are difficult to extract automatically. The widely used minutiae-based representation does not utilize a significant component of the rich discriminatory information available in the fingerprints. Local ridge structures cannot be completely characterized by minutiae. Further, minutiae-based matching has difficulty in quickly matching two fingerprint images containing a different number of unregistered minutiae points. The proposed filter-based algorithm uses a bank of Gabor filters to capture both local and global details in a fingerprint as a compact fixed length FingerCode. The fingerprint matching is based on the Euclidean distance between the two corresponding FingerCodes and hence is extremely fast. We are able to achieve a verification accuracy which is only marginally inferior to the best results of minutiae-based algorithms published in the open literature. Our system performs better than a state-of-the-art minutiae-based system when the performance requirement of the application system does not demand a very low false acceptance rate. Finally, we show that the matching performance can be improved by combining the decisions of the matchers based on complementary (minutiae-based and filter-based) fingerprint information.