Meeting of the Minds, 2013

M E E T I N G

MindsU n d e r g r a d u a t eR e s e a rc h S y m p o s i u m

OFTHE

Meeting of the minds is an annual symposium at Carnegie Mellon University that gives

students an opportunity to present their research and project work to a wide audience

of faculty, fellow students, family members, industry representatives and the larger

community. Students use posters, videos and other visual aides to present their work

in a manner that can be easily understood by both experts and non experts.

Through this experience, students learn how to brindege the gap between conducting

research and presenting it to a wider audience. A review committee consisting

of industry experts and faculty members from other universities will review the

presentations and choose the best projects and posters. Awards and certificates are

presented to the winners.

Table of Contents

POSTER # TITLE

PAGE

Biological Science Posters Q1 Adherence of Pathogenic Fungi From the Qatari Clinical Setting 1

Q2 BiofilmFormationofPathogenicFungiIsolatedatHamadHospital 3

Q3 CharacterizingtheMorphologyofPathogenicFungiIsoloatedintheQatariHospitalSetting 5

Q4 DetectionofGeneticallyModifiedOrganismsinFoodProducts 7

Business Administration Posters Q5 InvestigationofLegal&RegulatoryObstaclestoBecominganEntrepreneurinQatar 9

Q6 Home-BasedBusiness:AGrowingPhenomenon 11

Computer Science Posters Q7 AnAuthorizationModelfortheWebProgrammingLanguageQwel 13

Q8 ArabicAccentedFacialExpressionsfora3DAgent 15

Q9 CMUQOfficialAndroidApp 17

Q10 InteractionAnalysisofMulti-lingualRobotReceptionist 19

Q11 IwantmyMommy 21

Q12 SemioticCircles:AnInclusiveMethodologyforHumanComputerInteractionDesign 23

Q13 Multi-RobotCoordination 25

Q14 TowardsComputationalOffloadinginMobileClouds 27

Q15 PyExoPlanets:AComputedApplicationforDetectingExoplanets’Transits

onStars’LightCurves 29

Q16 UnsupervisedWordSegmentationandStatisticalMachineTranslation 31

Information Systems Posters Q17 WhatAffectsStudents’Acceptance&UseofTechnology? 33

Q18 SoftwareDevelopmentProjectElectronicResolution 35

Q19 Privacyande-commerceintheArabCulture 37

Q20 TheEffectoftypeofDisplayonConjointStudies 39

General Education Posters Q21 ArabSpringNewspaperCoverage 41

Q22 LettheGradesFlow! 43

Post-Graduate Posters QG1 DecentralizedExecutionofMultisetRewritingRulesofEnsembles 45

QG2 ClusterLoc:ExploitingShortRangeWirelessTechnologiesforEnergyEfficientLocalization 47

QG3 CharacterizationofMapReduceApplicationsonPrivateandPublicCloudPlatforms 49

QG4 TheQALBProject:BuildingResourcesandSystemsfortheAutomaticCorrectionofArabicText51

QG5 Type-BasedProductivityofStreamDefinitions 53

Tuesday,April30,2013,4:00pm-6:00pmCARNEGIEMELLONUNIvERSITy,EDUCATIONCITy

Adherence of Pathogenic Fungi from the Qatari Clinical Setting

AuthorMei ElGindi (BS 2013)

Faculty AdvisorJonathan Finkel, Ph.D.

CategoryBiological Sciences

AbstractFungalinfectionsarebecomingamajorsourceofsecondaryinfectionsintheclinicalsetting,fordiabeticsand

forimmunecompromisedindividuals.Themajorityofinfectionsarethoughttobetheconsequenceofthe

fungi’sabilitytoformamicrocommunityofcellsactinginconcertasabiofilm,whichcanformonthesurface

ofmedicallyimplanteddevices.Thebiofilmissurroundedbyanextracellularmatrixresultinginresistance

toantifungaldrugs.Each funguspresents itself inadifferent form inside thehost.From themorphology

of thespecies, to thesymptomsthat theycause,every fungus isdistinct.Therefore, it iscritical tostudy

thesefungianddeterminethecharacteristicstheypresent.Thiswillhelpbetteridentifythespecificfungus

infectingthepatientandwillallowforafasterandmoreprecisetreatment.Thefirststepofbiofilmformation

isadherenceof yeastcells toa surface.Tobetterunderstand thedifferencesbetweenvariousstrainsof

pathogenicfungi,weexaminedtheadherenceofpatientstrainsobtainedfromHamadMedicalCorporation.

ThesefungiincludeCandida spp., Trichosporon spp., and Geotrichum spp.Theadherenceofthedifferent

specieswasdeterminedusinganestablishedadherenceassaythatmeasuresthespecificadherencewithin

asinglespecies.Thisdifferenceinadherencewasalsousedtodetectanydifferencesinadherencedueto

thesiteofinfection.

1

Adherence of Pathogenic Fungi from the Qatari Clinical Setting Mei ElGindi and Jonathan S. Finkel Ph.D.

Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University Qatar

Abstract

Fungal infections are becoming a major source of secondary infections in the clinical setting, for diabetics and for immune compromised individuals. The majority of infections are thought to be the consequence of the fungi’s ability to form a microcommunity of cells acting in concert as a biofilms, which can form on the surface of medically implanted devices. The biofilm is surrounded by an extracellular matrix resulting in resistance to antifungal drugs. Each fungus presents itself in a different form inside the host. From the morphology of the species, to the symptoms that they cause, every fungus is distinct. Therefore, it is critical to study these fungi and determine the characteristics they present. This will help better identify the specific fungus infecting the patient and will allow for a faster and more precise treatment. The first step of biofilm formation is adherence of yeast cells to a surface. To better understand the differences between various strains of pathogenic fungi, we examined the adherence of patient strains obtained from Hamad Medical Corporation. These fungi include Candida spp., Trichosporon spp., and Geotrichum spp. The adherence of the different species was determined using an established adherence assay that measures the specific adherence within a single species. This difference in adherence was also used to detect any differences in adherence due to the site of infection.

Steps of Biofilm Development In the first step, yeast form cells adhere to the substrate. Following this, the cells divide and multiply. In the third step, the biofilm enlarges with an increased number of yeast cells, hyphal cells, and extracellular matrix that envelops the biofilm. Finally, the yeast cells are dispersed to further colonize the surrounding environment or host.

After 30 Minutes

Fluxion 200 Bioflux Machine

² Contains an embedded micron-scale fluidic channel

² Allows for control of the flow across the channel

² Adhesion can be visualized and studied

http://www.fluxionbio.com/

Methods ² Overnight cultures grown in YPD (rich growth media) are diluted to OD600 = 0.2 ² The cell are added to the well at a flow rate of 3 dyn/cm3

² Cells are allowed to adhere under flow for 30 minutes ² Four images are taken in each well ² These images are analyzed and the number of adhered cells are counted

and compared to a wild type laboratory strain

Acknowledgments We would like to thank the members of the lab for their assistance – Dr. Annette Vincent, Dr. Kenneth Hovis, Ridin Balakrishnan, Raji Katibe. This project was generously funded by Carnegie Mellon University Qatar and Qatar Foundation

0

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0.6

0.8

1

1.2

CA CD CT TA TD CP

Adherence of Different Wild Type Clinical Strains

CA = Candida albicans CD = Candida dubliniensis CT = Candida tropicalis TA = Trichosporon asahii TD = Trichosporon dohaense CP = Candida parapsilosis

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

CAS

CAp1 CAp2 CAp3 CAp4 CAp5 CAp6 CAp7 CAp8 CAp9 CAp10

Adherence of Different Candida albicans Patient Strains

CAS = Candida albicans wild type Strain CAp = Candida albicans Patient Strain

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0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

CDS

CDp1 CDp2 CDp3 CDp4 CDp5 CDp6 CDp7 CDp8 CDp9 CDp10 CDp11 CDp12 CDp13

Adherence of different Candida dubliniensis Patient Strains

CDS = Candida dubliniensis wild type Strain CDp = Candida dubliniensis Patient Strain

Conclusions ² Adherence corresponds to approximate occurrence in the clinical settings ² Qatar patient strains were isolated from the lungs of Cystic Fibrosis patients, with C.

dubliniensis being the most prevalently identified fungi ² The Cystic Fibrosis fungal species showed varying degrees of adherence, indicating

that this ability may not be required for fungal lung pathogenicity

Biofilm Formation of Pathogenic Fungi Isolated at Hamad Hospital

AuthorRaji Katibe (BS 2013)



Abstract:Infectionbypathogenicfungihasa30%mortalityrateintheUnitedStatesalone.Furthermore,fungalinfec-

tionscost theU.S.healthcaresystemaround2.6billiondollarsannually. InQatar,continuousambulatory

peritonealdialysisfungalinfectionsoccurinupto16%ofallpatients.Theformationofbiofilmsoncatheter,

artificialjointsandartificialheartvalvesisacauseofsystemicinfectioninthepatients.Moreover,theresult

ofthebiofilmformationmaybefatalinfections.Manypathogenicyeasthavetheabilitytoformbiofilm,where

theyformcoloniesandattachtoorganicandnon-organicsurfaces.Theresearchdescribedbelowfocused

onbiofilmformationofthreepathogenicfungispecies:Trichosporonspp.,Candidaspp.,andGeotrichum

spp.isolatedfrompatientsatHamadMedicalCenter(HMC).Biofilmformationusuallyoccursinfoursteps.

First, intheadhesionstep,yeastcellsadheretoasurface,then,intheinitiationstep,theyeastcellsstart

proliferatingandswitchmorphologytoelongatedfilamentscalledhyphae.Inthethirdstep,yeastandhyphal

cellsproliferateandextracellularmatrixisformed.Finally,inthedispersalstep,yeastcellsaredispersedfrom

thebiofilmtofurtherinfectotherareasofthebody.Biofilmformationwasassayedbyallowingfungitoform

biofilminconditionssimilartothehumanbody.Webeganbyisolatingthespeciesthathavetheabilitytoform

biofilmsfromHamadHospital.Then,westudiedthebiofilmsbycomparingthebiofilmsformedbydifferent

species.Wealsocomparedthebiofilmformedbythesamespeciesindifferentlocationsofinfection.

3

Abstract

Conclusions

Biofilm Formation of Pathogenic Fungi isolated at Hamad Hospital

Infec'on by pathogenic fungi has a 30% mortality rate in the United States alone. Furthermore, fungal infec'ons cost the US healthcare around 2.6 billion dollars annually. In Qatar, pa'ents suffering from con'nuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis fungal infec'ons occurs in up to 16% of all pa'ents. The forma'on of biofilms on catheter, ar'ficial joints and ar'ficial heart valves is a cause of systemic infec'on in the pa'ents. Moreover, the result of the biofilm forma'on may be fatal infec'ons. Many pathogenic yeast have the ability to form biofilms that they use to form colonies and aIach to organic and non-‐organic surfaces. The research described below focused on biofilm forma'on of three pathogenic fungi species: Trichosporon spp., Candida spp., and Geotrichum spp. isolated from pa'ents at Hamad Medical Center (HMC). Biofilm forma'on usually occurs in four steps. First in the adhesion step, yeast cells adhere to a surface. Next in the ini'a'on step, the yeast starts prolifera'ng and switch morphology to elongated filaments called hyphae. In the third step, yeast and hyphal cells proliferate and extracellular matrix is formed. Finally, in the dispersal step, yeast cells are dispersed from the biofilm to further infect other areas of the host. Biofilm forma'on was assayed by allowing fungi to form biofilms in condi'ons similar to the human body. We began by observing for biofilm forma'on in fungal species collected from Hamad Medical Center. Then, we studied the biofilms by comparing the biofilms formed by different species. We also compared the biofilm formed by the same species in different loca'ons of infec'on.

The Steps of Biofilm Development

Dr Jonathan Finkel “Adherence and biofilm forma'on of pathogenic fungi from the Qatari clinical seZng”

Methods The different fungal species were incubated in wells containing silicon squares. The samples were then incubated at 37oC to allow the cells to adhere to the silicon squares. Aêr 90 minutes the squares were washed with 1X PBS and incubated in RPMI for 48 hours to allow the biofilm forma'on. RPMI is a media that allows for biofilm forma'on in many fungal species. The biofilms formed on the squares are analyzed and compared to the different fungal species. The weight, height and shape of the biofilms will be studied and compared to the different species. The biofilms will be studied under a scanning electron microscope and a confocal microscope so that the structure and architecture of the biofilm can be observed.

Result

Geotrichum spp.

Adherence Initiation Maturation Dispersal

Adherence Initiation

Extracellular Matrix

Yeast form cells hyphae

Maturation Dispersal

Raji Ka'be, and Jonathan S. Finkel Ph.D. Department of Biological Sciences Carnegie Mellon University, Qatar

1. Add RPMI 2. Add Fungal Cells

Incubate 37oC

90 minutes

1. Wash PBS 2. RPMI 48 hrs

•  Only 6 out of our 9 fungal samples were able to form biofilms •  C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis failed to form biofilms,

contrary to reports in the literature •  RPMI did not create the biofilms we were hoping to see, the biofilms

were grainy and not uniform in some of the samples. This will require that we aIempt to observe biofilms in other condi'ons such as M199, YPD, and Spider media

•  Candida albicans forms the largest biofilm of the species examined, as expected

Nega've Control

Candida krusei

Candida tropicalis

Trichosporon mucoides Trichosporon asahii

Candida albicans

Candida parapsilosis Candida glabrata

Trichosporon dohaense

Candida dubliniensis

Acknowledgements I thank Dr. Jonathan S. Finkel, Dr. AnneIe Vincent, Dr. Kenneth Hovis, Maria Navaro, Ridin Balakrishnan, Mei ElGindi for their assistance. I would also like to thank Carnegie Mellon University Qatar and Qatar Founda'on for their generous funding.

Adherence Initiation

Trichosporon spp.

arthroconidia

Maturation Dispersal Dispersal

Candida albicans

Future DirecAons •  The weight and height of the biofilms formed will be examined using confocal microscopy

•  The structure and architecture of the biofilm will be studied under a scanning electron microscope, which will provided detailed structural images

•  Pa'ent isolates will be compared to the wild type laboratory strains for differences within species

•  Pa'ent isolates from Qatar will also be used to determine any differences that may occur within species obtained from different sites of infec'on

Characterizing the Morphology of Pathogenic Fungi Isolated in the Qatari Hospital Setting

AuthorRidin Balakrishnan (BS 2013)



Abstract:Fungiareopportunisticpathogensthathavetheabilitytocausevarioussuperficialandsystemicinfections.Theirabilitytochangemorphologyisstrategicforvirulenceandbiofilmformation.ThefungalspeciesCandida albicansistheprimarycauseofinvasivefungalinfectionsfromyeasts.Nevertheless,agrowingnumberofnewinfectionsfromnon-albicansCandidaspeciesareincreasinglybeingrecognizedasamajorsourceofinfection,especially inhospitals.Ourstudy focusesonTrichosporon spp., Candida spp. and Geotrichum spp. isolated from patients at the Qatari Hospital, HamadMedical Center. Fungal infections from thesespecieshavebeenontherisesincetheintroductionoftheC.albicans-specificantifungalcaspofungin.Theseinfectionsaremuchmoreprevalentindiabeticsandimmunocompromisedpatients.Inadditiontoincreasingmortalityrates,theseinfectionsalsoresultinincreasedhealthcarecostsandreduceproductivity.Moreover,fungalinfectionscanbecausedbyfungithatnaturallyoccurinthesoilwhichcaneasilygetairborneduringconstructionprojects.GiventhehighprevalenceofdiabeticsinQatarandthecurrentconstructionboom,thestudyoftheseopportunisticfungiinthecontextofQatar’smedicalenvironmentisoftheutmostimportance.Thegoalofthisresearchendeavorwastodetermineandcharacterizethemorphologyofvariouspathogenicfungi isolated in theclinical setting.Specifically,westudied threeareasofdifferences inmorphology: (1) the different species of fungi with regard to pathogenicity, (2) comparison due to the different sites of infection, (3) pathogenic fungi from the same species, but different patients at the Hamad Medical Center.Differenceswerecomparedwith thestock ‘wild-type’ strainsandbetween thedifferent samplesusingphasecontrastmicroscopy.

5

C. albicans C. dubliniensis C. krusei C. tropicalis C. parapsilosis C. glabrata T. mucoides T. asahii T. dohaense G. candidum G. capitatum

Abstract Fungi are opportunis.c pathogens that have the ability to cause various superficial and systemic infec.ons.

Their ability to change morphology is strategic for virulence and biofilm forma.on. The fungal species Candida

albicans is the primary cause of invasive fungal infec.ons from yeasts. Nevertheless, a growing number of

new infec.ons from non-‐albicans Candida species are increasingly being recognized as a major source of

infec.on, especially in hospitals. Our study focuses on Trichosporon spp., Candida spp. and Geotrichum spp.

isolated from pa.ents at the Qatari Hospital, Hamad Medical Center. Fungal infec.ons from these species

have been on the rise since the introduc.on of the C. albicans specific an.fungal caspofungin. These

infec.ons are much more prevalent in diabe.cs and immunocompromised pa.ents. In addi.on to increasing

mortality rates, these infec.ons also result in increased healthcare costs and reduce produc.vity. Moreover,

fungal infec.ons can be caused by fungi that naturally occur in the soil which can easily get airborne during

construc.on projects. Given the high prevalence of diabe.cs in Qatar and the current construc.on boom, the

study of these opportunis.c fungi in the context of Qatar’s medical environment is of the utmost importance.

The goal of this research endeavor was to determine and characterize the morphology of various pathogenic

fungi isolated in the clinical seJng. Specifically, we studied differences in morphology based on the various

species of fungi with regard to pathogenicity. We used pa.ent strains commonly employed in the laboratory

seJng as wild type strains. The comparisons were made to iden.fy any possible morphological differences

between strains and as the basis for possible morphological architectural variances within biofilms formed by

the respec.ve strains.

Conclusions Majority of the fungi appear to have at least two forms of morphologies (yeast form & filamentous) as expected. The last three fungi all had liQle to no yeast form cells. This may be one of the reasons that they are observed less frequently in hospital seJngs. The results of this experiment have shown us what to expect when we look at different pathogenic forms in the future. Lastly, it has also given us an idea of what kind of cells biofilms will be composed of, in the clinical seJng.

Acknowledgments We thank the members of the lab for their assistance –Ms. Maria Navaro, Dr. AnneQe Vincent, Dr. Kenneth Hovis, Mei ElGindi, Raji Ka.be. This project was funded by Carnegie Mellon University Qatar and Qatar Founda.on and we thank them for their generosity.

Characterizing the Morphology of Pathogenic Fungi Isolated in the Qatari Hospital SeAng

Ridin Balakrishnan Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University-‐Qatar

Jonathan Finkel, Ph.D.

Fungal Species 37oC 32oC

Methods: -‐  Various Yeast strains grown at 24oC/37oC for 3-‐4 hours. -‐  YPD used to grow at 24oC. -‐  RPMI/M199 used to grow at 37oC. -‐ Thorough shaking. -‐  10 ul observed using phase contrast microscopy. -‐  Various morphologies analyzed.

3hrs incuba.on + shaking 10 ul

Phase Contrast Microscopy

Background: Yeast Form Pseudohyphal Hyphal Arthroconidial

Filamentous •  The ability to filament is essen.al for infec.on by pathogenic fungi. •  The yeast form cells are thought to be the commensal form and used in biofilms to further propagate in a host before becoming virulent.

•  The fungi contain mechanisms to switch between these different forms.

Different morphologies of Yeast

Detection of Genetically Modified Organisms in Food Products

AuthorsHiba Al-Ashtal (BS 2013) Hadya Elshakh (BS 2013) Mohammad Younes (BS 2013)

Faculty AdvisorsAnnette Vincent, Ph.D.


Abstract:Geneticallymodifiedorganisms(GMOs),havetheirgeneticmakeupmodifiedtoconferaspecifictraitthat

allowsforanadvantageingrowth.Todate,geneticallymodifiedcorn,soyandcanolaarewidelyavailablein

themarket.AlthoughGMOsarenotgrowninQatar,itisunknownwhetherornotimportedingredientsused

inthemanufactureofvariousfoodproductscontainGMOs.Thepurposeofthisprojectwastodeterminethe

presenceofcornandsoybeaninvariousfoodproducts.ThiswasdoneusingbothDNAandproteinbased

analysis. SingleandmultiplexPCRwereconducted forDNAanalysis, todetect thepresenceofvarious

transgenicmodificationsthatarecommonincornandsoybeans.Themostcommonpromoterandtermina-

tor,Camv35SandNOSrespectivelywere targeted for thesoybean.Furthermore, themostcommonly in-

sertedgenes,namelypatandCP4 EPSPS,werealsotargetedforthesoy.Forthecornthe invertase,pat,bar

andcry9BgenesweretargetedduringPCR,aswellastheCamv35Spromoter.However,thePCRshowed

noapparentindicationofGMOsinanyofthefoodproducts.Fortheprotein-basedanalysis,anELISAwas

usedtodetectthePATand CP4 EPSPSenzymeproductsofthepatandCP4 EPSPStransgenesinGMOs.

AsanELISAisahighlysensitivedetectionmethod,theCP4 EPSPSwasdetectedinallfoodproductsindicat-

ingthepresenceofGMcornandsoybeanintermsoftheCP4 EPSPStransgene.However,thePATenzyme

wasnotdetectedsuggestingthatthepatgenewasnotusedinconstructingtheGMcornandsoyinthe

foodproducts.TheresultsoftheexperimentsuggestthatthefoodproductscontainGMOs,specificallythe

CP4 EPSPStransgenewasusedinproducingGMcornandsoybean.Furtheranalysisneedstobedoneto

confirmtheresults.

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Detection of Genetically Modified Organisms in Food Products

Hadya Elshakh Hiba Al-Ashtal Mohammad Younes Annette Vincent, Ph.D [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Introduction

• GMOs are organism’s whose genetic makeup is altered to confer a desirable trait. Currently, most GMOs are crops that contain growth advantages such as herbicide resistance.

• A cassette with a promoter, transgene, and terminator is inserted into the host genome’s DNA by various methods.

• Soy and corn are the main crops that are genetically modified. Although Qatar does not grow GM crops, it is unknown whether imported ingredients contain GMOs

[1] James, D., Schmidt, A., Wall, E., Green, M., Masri, S. 2003. “Reliable Detection and Identification of Genetically Modified Maize, Soybean, and Canola by Multiplex PCR Analysis”. Journal of Agricultural and Food chemistry. 51: 5829-5838.

http://www.agmrc.org/commodities__products/vegetables/sweet-corn/http://www.hiddensoy.com/soy-health-risks.php

Purpose

• Producing GMOs has been an active area of research since the 1990s.

• Researches have been searching for new methods and advantageous transgenes to make GMOs and enhance crop yield.

• The downfall of GMOs is that a certain modification or spontaneous mutation may produce allergens or other unknown consequences.

• Hence, consumer food products containing GMOs must be labeled. Labeling requires the ability to detect genetic modifications.

• In this study, GM soy and corn were attempted to be detected in food products

http://www.21food.com/products/soya-beans-and-soya-bean-oil-419294.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kit_Kat http://www.americansweets.co.uk/quaker-yellow-corn-meal-mix-can-be-used-for-nigellas-spoonbread-680g-625-p.asp

http://www.21food.com/products/corn-curls-processing-line-84301.html Methods • There are two approaches to detect the

presence of GMOs. First, DNA analysis can be conducted to detect the inserted transgene. Second, protein based methods can be used since usually transgenes will encode for a protein

• The Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used to amplify a specific DNA sequence such that it can be detected. Multiplex PCR was used as it targets multiple genes for screening within a single reaction.

1. Soy PCR targets: CamV35S promoter, Nos terminator, Lec1, pat, cp4 EPSPS

2. Corn PCR targets: CamV35S promoter, Nos terminator, invertase, bar, cry9b, pat, cp4 EPSPS

• An Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) was used to detect proteins of interest. PAT and CP4 EPSPS are commonly grown soy crops as they confer resistance to LibertyLink® and Roundup Ready® herbicides respectively.The PAT and CP4 EPSPS enzymes were targeted via a sandwich ELISA.

http://xnet.rrc.mb.ca/davidb/other_nucleic_roles.htm

http://www.leinco.com/sandwich_elisa

Results

• Multiplex PCR was inconclusive, likely due to non optimal conditions such as low DNA concentrations

• Roundup Ready soy grown locally but notlabeled • Could’ve been PAT in KitKat, cornmeal, and crispy curls

chips but it was too processed • Imported ingredients may not be tested for GMOs

Conclusion

Figure 1: Multiplex PCR Gel Electrophoresis Results for Soy and Corn Food Products.

Table 1: ELISA Results for PAT and CP4 EPSPS in Soy and Corn Food Products.

Investigation of Legal and Regulatory Obstacles to Becoming an Entrepreneur in Qatar

AuthorsChaudry, Anas (BA 2013) Shahid, Raheem (BA 2014)

AdvisorGeorge White, Ph.D.

CategoryBusiness Administration

AbstractTheposterwilldemonstratewhatwehavelearntthroughourresearchonlegalandregulatoryobstaclestobecominganentrepreneur inQatar. Itcontains informationrelatedtowhatwegatheredfromoursurveys,interviewandliteratureresearch.Itisasummaryofwhatwehaveconcludedfromtheresearchandsomebackgroundonthetopic.

Qatar isaprosperousandgrowingnation;andhas recentlybecome the richesteconomy in theworld intermsofGDPpercapita.Ithasopportunitiesforinvestorsandentrepreneurs.However,thereisaconstrainton non-Qatari entrepreneurswhowant to open a newbusiness presented by theQatari ownership law.Thiscouldrestricttheiraspirationsandmanyideascouldbeleftthereinthevoid.Thisresearchexaminedhowtheownershiplawmaydiscouragenon-Qatariownershipandcouldhindereconomicgrowth.Primaryandsecondaryresearchwillbeusedtoanswerthisquestion.Primaryresearchincludedfieldsurveysandsecondaryresearchincludedanevaluationoftheliterature.

Analyzing the graduating class, their aspirations to become entrepreneurs, to become leaders and thechallengestheyfacedandotherstoriesrelatedtostartupsinQatar,wecameupwiththistopic.Furthermore,Qatarvision2030triestoempoweritscitizens,sowewantedtoseewhatlawsexisttoincreaseentrepreneurshipinQatar.TherearemisconceptionsrelatedtoentrepreneurshiplawsoperatinginQatar,whichwewantedtochangeamongstthesociety.Moreover,thisstepwasnecessarybecausealthoughtheinformationisthere,

nocompactsourcecontainingsuchknowledgeispresent,whichcouldbeusefulforaspiringentrepreneurs.

9

Investigation of Legal and Regulatory Obstacles to Becoming an Entrepreneur in Qatar

How does the ownership law discourages ownership and hinder economic growth in Qatar?

Introduction:

• Qatar is an oil & natural gas based economy •Second highest GDP per capita •Qatar 2030 vision: Business oriented & knowledge based economy •People prefer jobs over entrepreneurship

Problems: •Under ownership Law 13 of 2000, an expat can only own 49% of the business •Amendments to the Law in 2010 allowed 100% ownership in all sectors except banking, insurance and real estate •There is an apparent miscommunication of this law •There are several that an expat is required to go through before completing the process •Therefore, fully owned business becomes difficult for an expatriate

Findings: •25% of the expats did not pursue the business because of the law •70% Qataris did not like the idea of the ownership law •90% expats resented the law

Anas Chaudry Raheem Shahid Advisor: George White

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Yes No Don't care

Would it be good for the Qatari economy if the government eliminated ownership law?

Methodology

Primary Research

Questionnaires 20 Surveys Entrepreneurs

One-on-one Interviews

12 Interviews of Qatari & Non Qatari

Entrepreneurs

Literature Review

Internet Articles

Government Data

Age Group

• 18 – 40 years

Gender

• Male • Female

Nationalities

• Qataris • Non Qataris

(Including other Arabs)

Research Results: •Incentives are misaligned with entrepreneurship •Mutual agreement of profit sharing •Maturity of the business ecosystem is not present •Helps to retain knowledge in the country •Encourages the expatriates to follow Qatar 2030 vision

Conclusion: •Qatar has taken initiative to become a knowledge based economy with the establishment of Qatar 2030 vision •People face regulatory problems pertaining to entrepreneurship •It will take time for the incentives and the environment to align for the benefit for the entrepreneurs.

Expats 71%

Qataris 16%

Arabs 13%

Population Breakdown

Home-Based Business: A Growing Phenomenon

AuthorsAbdulrahman Al-Muftah (BA 2013)Maryam Al-Subaie (BA 2013)Maryam Al-Thani (BA 2013)

Faculty AdvisorsGeorge White, Ph.D.


AbstractDuringthelastfiveyearstherehasbeenanupsurgeinthenumberofhome-basedbusinessesinQatar.Thisresearch investigatesthereasonsbehindthesuddensurge inhomebusinesses, thesupport theyreceivefromorganizationssuchasBedaya,SocialDevelopmentCenterandRodaCenter,aswellasthefutureofhome-basedbusinessesinQatar.

Manyyoungentrepreneurs in thecountryhavenoticedanabsence in themarket forbusinesses thatselldesserts (cupcakesmorespecifically), fashionaccessoriesandabayas.Creatingahome-basedbusinesswasonewayof seizing thisopportunityandmeeting themarketdemand,atminimal start-upcostsandreducedrisk.

Interviewswereconductedwith threecenters thatprovidecareerandentrepreneurshipguidanceaswellassevenhome-basedbusinessesthathavebeenoperatingforat leastayear.TheresearchshowedthatBedaya,SocialDevelopmentandRodaCentersplayedpredominantrolesintheriseofpopularityinthistypeofbusiness.Theadvancements insocialmediahavealsomadeitveryeasyforaspiringentrepreneurstoreachouttocustomersatrelativelylowcosts.

Thegrowthofhome-basedbusinessesinQatarisanundocumentedphenomenon.Thestudyincreasestheawarenessofhome-basedbusinessinthecountryandisaresearchplatformforfurtherinvestigationinthefield.

11

The aim of this study is to investigate the suc-cess and growth of home based businesses in Qatar. The phenomenon of home businesses in Qatar is a result of a lack of desert shops and abaya shops in the region. At the time when these home based business owners started creating cupcakes there were very few or even no cup-cake stores in Qatar whereas cupcakes are very popular in the UK and the USA. Many residents in Qatar were fascinated by the cupcakes sold abroad and these cupcake owners realized the incredibly high potential for cupcake stores in Qatar The cupcake and desert home businesses in Qatar are very successfu The same methodol-ogy applies to abaya designers, there are two to three main abaya stores in Qatar that are sold in the malls in Qatar and they are Al-Motahajiba, Hanayeen and My Fair Lady. However, these styles in the eyes of many con-sumers lack creativity and originality and are pro-

BedayaWhen approached by entrepreneurs and home-businesses, Bedaya usually follows a 5 steps process.

step 1Innovate

step 2Design

step 3Promote

step 4Fund

step 5Launch

Social Development Center

The Social Development Center launched a program,“Badr wa int Gadr” which was estab-lished in 2000 in order to help and provide full entrepreneurial support to entrepreneurs in Qatar. The primary objectives of the “Badr wa int Gadr” program are to increase the success rate of entrepreneurial projects and to develop the entrepreneurship environment in Qatar. of their family in terms of business experience and knowledge.

RoudhaAlmost %60 of home businesses in Qatar, are started up by women; a statistic Roudha and Carnegie Mellon could not ignore. This center would become the first of its kind to not only help out struggling home businesses, but also most importantly legalize them.

36% 40% 42% 46% 50% 46%

1972 1977 1982 1987 1992 1997

26%

Roudha’s main focus, are home busi-nesses in Qatar. Having said this, the rise in female students in Qatar outnumbers the number of male students. This, has resulted in more businesses opened up by women, as this clever illustration depicts below:

2. Home-Based Businesses: Case Studies from DohaRemeya: photography studio

Barriers/ Challenges

Budget41%

Other20%

Business Knoweledge20%

Government17%

Family2%

28% 39% 38% 38%

Home-Based Business: A Growing Phenomenon Faculty Advisor: George White, Ph.D.

Introduction

Research1. Entrepreneurship & Career Guidance Centres:

Kharaweesh: handmade accessories

Terzi Designs: abayas

Frosting Qatar: bakery

Aishaz Collection: abayas

In conclusion, there are two problems that home business owners and potential home business owners face. The first problem involves the reluctance of some Qatari women to present in front of, or, interact with men. The second problem that these home business owners face is that they are not aware of the importance of legalizing their business.

Results & Conclusions

Maryam Al-Subaie | Maryam Al-Thani | Abdulrahman Al-Muftah

An Authorization Model for the Web Programming Language Qwel

AuthorLulwa Ahmed El-Matbouly (CS 2013)

Faculty AdvisorThierry Sans, Ph.D.

CategoryComputer Science

AbstractWiththefastgrowthofwebtechnology,itisbecomingeasierfordeveloperstodesignanddeploycomplex

webapplications.However,securingsuchwebapplicationsisbecominganincreasinglycomplextaskasthis

technologyprovideslimitedsupport.Oneofthemainchallengesistobeabletorestrictaccesstospecific

userswiththerightprivileges.Forexample,auniversitymightwanttorestrictaccesstointernalwebservices

tostudentscurrentlyenrolled in itsprogram.Writingsuchasecurewebapplication iscomplex,because

developersare required to reasonaboutdistributedcomputationand towritecodeusingheterogeneous

languages,oftennotoriginallydesignedwithdistributedcomputinginmind,norbuilt-insecurityfeatures.

Qwelisanexperimentalprograminglanguageforthewebthataimsatprovidingdeveloperswithanexpressive

languagethatissimpleandeasytouseforthepurposeofbuildingwebserviceswithembeddedsecurity

constraints.

ThegoalofthisresearchistoextendQwelwithbuilt-insecurityfeaturestoallowdeveloperstodefineaccess

controlpoliciesandissuecredentialstousers.Atfirst,wedesignedanaccesscontrollogictoreasonabout

distributedaccesscontrol.Lateron,basedonthislogic,wewereabletoextendthesyntaxandsemanticsof

Qwelwithnewsecurityfeatures.Usingthisextension,aprogrammerisabletograntcredentialstousersand

expresssecuritypolicies.Thesepoliciesarecheckeddynamicallyand,onlywhentheyaresatisfied,access

to the requestedservice isgranted. Asa result,weshowedhowthisextensioncanbeused toexpress

commonscenariosaswellasmoresophisticatedonesthatarebeyondcurrenttechnology.

13

An Authorization Model For The Web Programming Language Qwel Lulwa Ahmed El-Matbouly [email protected]

Thierry Sans (Advisor) [email protected]

let univCred = call [email protected] with <“Alice”,”pass4alice”> <simReport,plagCred> = call [email protected] with <“Once upon a time ...”,univCred> univPlagCred = univCred + plagCredin call [email protected] with <simReport,univPlagCred>end

let simReport = call [email protected] with “Once upon a time ...” in call [email protected] with simReportend

[email protected]

publish doc:string = let report = <doc, calculateSimilarity(doc)>in reportend

[email protected]

publish s as <doc,report> = store(s)

Sends the document to noplagiarism.com and obtains the similarity report in return

Calculates the similarity report and returns it with the original document

Stores the original document and its similarity report

Forwards the document and its similarity report to the submission.org

[email protected]

publish caller doc:string =let report = <doc, calculateSimilarity(doc)> plagCred = cred(issuer(report))in <report,plagCred>endprotect univ.edu says student(caller)

[email protected]

publish caller s as <report,cred> = store(s)protect univ.edu says student(caller) and noplagiarism.com says issuer(report)

Sends the login and password to univ.edu and obtains a student credential in return

Creates a credential vouching that plagiarism.org is the issuer of the report

The policy ensures that univ.edu issued the credential saying that the caller (Alice here) is a student

Concatenates the univ.edu credential with the noplagiarism.com credential

The policy ensures that:1) univ.edu issued the credential saying that the caller (Alice here) is a studentand 2) noplagiarism.com issued the credential saying ensuring its authenticity

[email protected]

publish caller p as <login,pwd> = if check(login,pwd) then cred(student(caller)) else raise AccessDeniedException

Creates a credential vouching that the caller (Alice here) is a student at univ.edu

Plagiarism0

1

2

1

2

Using this Qwel extension, a programmer is able to grant credentials to users and express security policies. These policies are checked dynamically and only when they are satisfied, access to the requested service is granted. As a result, we showed how this extension can be used to express common scenarios as well as more sophisticated ones that are beyond current technology.

Plagiarism

Problem Securing web applications is a complex task

With the fast growth of web technology, it is becoming easier for developers to design and deploy complex web applications. However, securing such web applications is becoming an increasing complex task as this technology provides limited support. One of the main challenge is to be able to restrict access to specific users with the right privileges.

Qwel is an experimental programing language for the web that aims at providing developers with an expressive language, yet simple and easy to use for the purpose of building web services with embedded security constraints. The goal of this research is to extend Qwel with built-in security features to allow to developers to define access control policies and issue credentials to users.

Solution Designing a better programming language for building secure web application

First, we designed an access control logic to reason about distributed access control to be able to

·express credentials as properties issued by trusted authorities e.g. the similarity report comes from noplagiarism.com

·express security policies as sets of conditions that must be true based on issued credentials e.g. only a student from univ.edu can obtain a similarity report

Second, based on this logic, we were ale to extended the syntax and semantics of Qwel with new security constructs.

Methodology Extending Qwel with new features to express credentials and access control policies

Conclusion A web language with primitives for access control

Arabic Accented Facial Expressions for a 3D Agent

AuthorAmna AlZeyara (CS 2014)

Faculty AdvisorsMajd F. Sakr, Ph.D.Micheline Ziadeh


AbstractIn this studyweattempt to identify anddevelop a suitable set of facial expressions for a 3Dagent that

hasArabicfacialfeatures.WealsoevaluatehowArabsandnon-ArabsrecognizeArabicfacialexpressions

implementedona3Dagent.

Asshowninpreviousresearch,a3Dagent’semotionsenhancetheinteractionbetweentheagentandhumans.

Theexpressionsdisplayedalongwiththeemotionshouldmatchhumanbehavior,aspeopleapplytheirsocial

rulesonthe3Dagents.Expressions,asinlanguage,exhibitculture-specificaccentswhenexpressingcertain

emotions.Hence,expressionsshouldrelatetoaspecificculture,otherwise,misunderstandingsmightoccur

when interpreting facial expressions. Furthermore, people expect a 3D agent’s behavior to alignwith its

features.Therefore,a3DagentwithArabicfeaturesmustdisplayArabicaccentedfacialexpressions.

In thiswork,we implement sixArabic facial expressionson the3DagentbasedonArabichuman facial

expression.AdatabaseofArabicaccentedfacialexpressionsdoesnotexist.Toovercomethis,weacquire

expressionsbytakingvideosofArabfemalesnarratingstoriesthatinvokedifferentemotions.Weextractthe

expressionsfromthevideosandimplementthemonthe3DagentusingtheFacialActionCodingSystem.We

thenrunasurveytoevaluateArabs’andnon-Arabs’recognitionofthefacialexpressions.

Ourresultsshowthattherecognitionofpositiveexpressions(happinessandsurprise)ishighanddifferslightly

betweenArabsandnon-Arabs.As fornegativeexpressions (anger,disgust,andsadness) the recognition

is lowandalsodiffersslightlybetweenArabsandnon-Arabs,except fordisappointment,which isbetter

recognizedbyArabs.Theseresultsrevealthatpositiveexpressions,whenimplementedona3Dagent,are

easilyrecognized.Further,wefindthatdisappointmentisaculturallydependentexpressionforArabs.

15

Collec&on 1) Select 6 emo,ons: anger, disgust, surprise, happiness, sadness and disappointment. 2) Iden,fy the Arabic accent in each expression that displays the emo,on by recording the expressions of Arab female students

Amna AlZeyara [email protected]

Advisors: Dr. Majd Sakr [email protected]

Problem statement

Mo&va&on

Approach

Results

•  Facilitate the interac,on between humans and a 3D agent by focusing on the development of the 3D agent’s facial expressions

•  Evaluate Arabs and non-‐Arabs recogni,on of Arabic expressions implemented on a 3D agent

Overall Goal

Improve the interac,on between humans and a cross-‐cultural 3D agent

A 3D agent must display emo,ons to be believable

Humans expect agents

to show human-‐like behavior

The 3D agent features induces opinions about it

A 3D agent with Arabic

facial feature must display Arabic facial expressions

Arabs and non-‐Arabs recogni,on of an emo,on is shown below. For each pair, Arab’s percentage is shown on the top.

Conclusion

The experiment We asked par,cipants about: age, gender, origin and countries they lived at. Then we asked them to choose the most appropriate expression for each emo,on by using the following matrix:

•  Arabs and non-‐Arabs beRer recognize Arabic posi,ve facial expressions that are implemented on a 3D agent.

•  Although sadness and disappointment are claimed to send the same signal, Arabs were beRer able to dis,nguish between the two expressions.

•  Disappointment, when implemented on 3D agent, is more culturally dependent than other expressions.

Recognized as

Sadness Disgust Anger Disappointment Surprise Happiness

Inte

nded

em

otio

n

Sadness 9% 9% 49% 33% 0% 0%

8% 10% 42% 39% 0% 0%

Disgust 51% 35% 7% 7% 0% 0%

31% 31% 15% 23% 0% 0%

Anger 2% 42% 35% 2% 19% 0%

1% 51% 35% 1% 11% 0%

Disappointment 33% 7% 5% 56% 0% 0%

59% 4% 0% 35% 1% 0%

Surprise 2% 5% 2% 0% 74% 16%

0% 3% 3% 0% 79% 15%

Happiness 2% 2% 2% 2% 7% 84%

0% 1% 4% 1% 8% 85%

Mecheline Ziadee [email protected]

Implementa&on and Verifica&on 1) Implement the expressions using the Facial Ac,on Coding System 2)Verify the implementa,on of the expre-‐ssions using a small scale experiment

Evalua&on of recogni&on 1) Evaluate the recogni,on of the expressions by Arabs and non-‐Arabs using a large scale experiment

CMUQ Official Android App

AuthorsAli Elgazar (CS 2015)Danah Abdullah (CS 2015)

Faculty AdvisorsMark Stehlik

CategoryComputerScience

AbstractTheposterservestopromotetheCarnegieMellonUniversityinQatar(CMUQ)AndroidApplication,which

iscurrentlyunderproductionandhasanexisting functionaldemo.Though theposterdoesnotdetail all

thefunctionsoftheapplication,animageofthephonewiththeapplicationrunningwillillustrateageneral

conceptofitscapabilities.

TheresearchtopicinvolvesthedevelopmentofthefirsteverCMUQofficialandroidapplication,whichserves

asadatabaseofinformationregardingcurrentnewsandeventstakingplaceatCMUQ.Theapplicationwill

bemadeavailableonthemarketforstudents.

Theinspirationfortheappcamefromapersonalexperience.Oneoftheauthorswasinspiredtodevelop

theapplicationduringwinterbreak,whenhemissedaneventthathehadlearnedabouttoolate.AtCMU-Q,

studentsareoftenbombardedwithsomanyevents that itbecomestedioustokeeptrackofallof them.

Theappisdesignedtoremedythesituation.Theapplicationneededtobequicklyandeasilyaccessible,so

designingitforPCwasruledoutinordertoavoidthehassleoflogginginwheneverauserneededtocheck

forupcomingevents.Thebestsolutionwouldbetohavetheapplicationwiththeuseratalltimes.Forthat

reason,wedecidedtodeveloptheapplicationforandroid,usingeclipseandaSamsungS3phoneduring

theresearchandtestingprocess.

Thisresearchprojectisofgreatimportanceforthelocalcommunity.

17

Interaction Analysis of a Multi-Lingual Robot Receptionist

AuthorsNaassih Gopee (CS 2016)Lamana Mulaffer (CS 2015)John Naguib (CS 2016)Micheline Ziadee

Faculty AdvisorMajd F. Sakr, Ph.D.


Abstract: In thisworkwe analyze human interactionswithHala, a bi-lingual robot receptionist, in order to identifyvariationsacrossArabicandEnglishinteractions.Thelargerscopeofthisworkistostudytheinfluenceofsocio-culturalnormsonhuman-robot interactionswithinamulticultural,yetprimarilyethnicArab,setting.Ouranalysiswillhelpimpactfuturedesigndecisionstobetteradapttherobottointeractinthosespecificlanguages.Inpreviousworkwehaveidentifiedseveralvariationsinuserinteractionswiththerobot.Specifi-callyandforEnglishinteractions,wehaveobservedthatnativeArabicspeakersconverse25%longerthannon-ArabicspeakersandtheytendtothanktherobotlessthannativeEnglishspeakers.

HalahasbeendeployedatCarnegieMellonUniversityinQatar’sreceptionsinceOctober2009.Halautilizesarule-basedmatchingsysteminordertorespondtouserqueries.Thenumberandspectrumofrulesdic-tatesHala’sabilitytoproviderelevantanswerstoawidevarietyofqueries.ThemajorityofHala’srules(96%)wereinEnglishuntilDecember2012.Afterthatpoint,wedevelopedsymmetriccontentbetweenEnglishandArabicrules.AllinteractionswithHala,whetherinEnglishorArabic,arelogged.Inordertoidentifyifvaria-tionsexistweanalyzethelogs.AscriptisdevelopedtowritethelogsintoaMySQLdatabaseandthelogdataisthereaftercleansedtoremovespuriousinteractions.Statisticalanalysisisperformedonthedatainordertoidentifyvariationsofinteractionsacrossdifferentlanguages.

Accordingtoouranalysis,85%oftheinteractionsareinEnglish,3%inArabicand12%aremixed(ArabicandEnglish)interactions.Theaveragedurationofaninteractionacrosslanguagesisunder2minutesandincludesanaverageof4.73queries.However,EnglishinteractionscontaintwiceasmanyqueriesasArabiconesandmixedinteractionscontainmorethantwiceasmanyqueriesasEnglishinteractions.AfterequalizingHala’sEnglishandArabicknowledge-base,weobserveanincreaseinmixedinteractionsby6.5%.AsfortheArabicinteractions,theaveragedurationis8%longerandtheaveragenumberofqueriesisupby25%.Theseresultsindicatesignificantvariationsinhuman-robotinteractionsacrossdifferentlanguages.Increas-ingtheArabiccontenthasimpactedtheArabicinteractions.Inourfuturework,weattempttofurtherstudythesecrosslanguagevariationsinmulti-lingualhuman-robotinteraction.

19

I Want my Mommy

AuthorsFahim Dalvi (CS 2014)Syed Moosavi (CS 2014)

Faculty AdvisorSaquib Razak, Ph.D.


Abstract“IwantmyMommy”isaresearchprojectthatlooksatusingwirelesstechnologiessuchasBluetoothtosolve

theproblemofcrowdcontrolbylimitingthenumberoflostpeopleincrowds.Theconceptofthesolutionis

basedonthefactthatincrowdedareas,peoplewanttostaywiththeirgroups.Inordertomakesurethat

peoplestaywiththeirgroupsorhaveinformationaboutthelocationoftheirgroupmembers,wedevelopthe

algorithmthatallowsadevicetoautomaticallydetectone’sgroupmembersandthenprovidethelocationof

thesegroupmembersincasethatpersonislost.

Inthisresearchproject,wewouldliketofindouthoweffectiveouralgorithmisinfindinggroupswithinalarge

crowdandhowhelpfulthedeviceisinhelpinglostpeople.Forthisresearchproject,wewouldliketosimulate

thesituationofacrowdedareaandgivedevicestoanumberofstudentsthatwouldwanttoparticipatein

theresearchstudy.Afterprovidingthestudentswiththedevices,wewillcheckafterafewdaysifthedevices

haveselectedthecorrectgroupmembers.Wewouldthenseeifadevicewouldbeabletoprovidetheloca-

tionofthegroupmemberswhenthedeviceisnotinproximitywithotherdevices.

21

I want my Mommy

Abstract

Fahim Dalvi [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Saquib Razak Syed Hashim Moosavi

Experiment

• Android phones are being used by 20 students of CMUQ for Wireless research and their wireless data is continuously being collected for analysis

• Both the location (with respect to the access points) and the proximity of an individual to his/her neighbors helps in the classif ication of groups

• The experiment wil l be performed with a larger group of students after preliminary results to simulate a crowded area

• Identify an individual’s “neighbors” based on the proximity in the crowded area and the time of contact by using Bluetooth

• Use the Wi-Fi of the individual’s wireless device (Android phone in our experiment) to get the latest location of the individual and periodically send it to the server

• Find the best way to categorize people into groups by using the information from the wireless device and provide them with the way of reaching out to them when lost

Using Wireless Research to limit the number of lost people

Problem

Solution

“I want my Mommy ” is a research project that aims to use wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to quickly locate people in a large crowd, subsequently reducing the number of lost people. In several crowded areas such as Makkah and Disneyland, people getting separated(specially children and elderly) from their famil ies is a huge problem. This is currently handled manually by making announcements or giving people tags with information written on them. Unfortunately, these solutions do not work in highly crowded areas, both because of the number of people entering the location, and because of the size of these places. We plan to devise an algorithm using commonly existing wireless technologies to reduce the number of lost people by categorizing the crowd into groups without any barrier-to-entry.

• Crowded places generally have a lot of people entering the premises

• Identifying groups at this point is t ime consuming, and is a barrier to entry

• People spend most of their t ime with their respective groups

• The time spent with the group initial ly is not used for the classif ication of an individual’s “neighbors”

• A lost person is unable to locate his/her group in the large crowd due to lack of infrastructure

• Manual announcements/ non-electronic tagging is used that is not very effective

Semiotic Circles: An Inclusive Methodology for Human Computer Interaction Design

AuthorKenrick Fernandes (CS 2014)

Faculty AdvisorAndreas Karatsolis, Ph.D


AbstractWiththeproliferationofincreasinglypowerfulandportablecomputingdevicesthroughoutourlives,the

qualityofourexperienceusingthesedevicesbecomesevermoreimportant.Users’interactionsmustbe

supported,notcontrolled,bythesedevices.Inthefieldofhuman-computerinteraction(HCI),theuseof

human-centeredresearchmethodsisessentialforamoreinclusiveuserexperience.Ourproject’sobjective

wastodesignamethodologywhichwouldhelpusobtainparticipants’perspectivesregardinganeduca-

tionalsymposium.Helpingtheseideassurfaceenabledustoworktowardsthecreationofawebpresence

tosupportthesymposium.

Thehybridmethodologywedesignedisbasedonexistingpaperprototypingandthink-aloudprotocolswith

theadditionofanofflinetaggingsystem.Thiscombinationoftools,alongwiththetaggingsystem,sup-

portedourcreationofcompositevisualizationstorepresentasynthesisofviewpoints.Weintendtousethe

knowledgegainedfromtheprocesstodesignawebpresencethatwillfacilitateandsupportinteractions

betweenpeople.

Inthispostersession,wepresenttheHCImethodologywecreatedandtheprotocolsweusedtomove

fromabstractconceptstoconcretetangibles.Wealsoinviteyoutotagthefinalcompositemodelandex-

periencetheoutcomesofthisproject.

23

Semiotic circleS An incluSive methodology For humAn computer interAction deSign

RefeRences1. Carroll, J. M. (2003). HCI models, theories, and frameworks toward a multidisciplinary science. San Francisco, Calif.: Morgan Kaufmann.2. Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action | Video on TED.com. (n.d.). TED: Ideas worth spreading. Retrieved April 14, 2013, from http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html

STEP 1 - ThE DESign

STEP 2 - ThE SESSion

STEP 3 - ThE SynThESiS

Andreas KaratsolisEnglish [email protected]

Advances in technology have penetrated all aspects of our lives. Consequently, our interactions with devices and other users become more significant and demand meaningful design approaches. In the last few years, several methodologies for hci design have been proposed[1], which attempt to capture information from multi-layered user hierarchies. We have designed an inclusive methodology which acknowledges all participant perspectives and facilitates interaction between stakeholders.

our ChallEngE

Using well-established methodologies such as the Think-Aloud protocol, Paper Prototyping and Object Labeling, we developed a hybrid methodology called Semiotic Circles. This methodology allows for capturing of a participant’s thoughts, which we combine with a visualization exercise and tagging system to promote freedom of expression. This way we are enacting a genuinely inclusive model, as all the concepts and relationships between them are represented as participants have identified them.

our inSPiraTion

Six printed and cut out tokens can be pasted on the visualization sheet. They are used to tag topics and relationships already put down on paper. They represent other Generalist Questions as well as specifying tags for the the web presence and a speech bubble.

Multiple sheets are then synthesized with the tagging tokens as focal points, to generate a 3D model of the aggregate opinions of the group. Tokens are essentially stacked in towers to add an extra dimension.

We designed an instrument on a large A0 sized sheet containing concentric circles representing three of the Generalist Questions: Why, How and What ?

Participants are briefed about the Think-Aloud protocol and the purpose of the sheet and the tokens. They are then free to place tokens and create connections. The sequence of actions is drawn on the left

one such synthesized model is below - play with it and tag your topics

Kenrick FernandesCS [email protected]

faculty advisoRstudent

Multi-Robot Coordination

AuthorSidra Alam (CS 2013)

Faculty AdvosorSaquib Razak, Ph.D.


AbstractInthecontextofcomplexmulti-robotsystems,consensus-basedtaskallocationalgorithmsarebeing

researchedextensivelybecauseoftheirrobustnessinhandlingthegrowingnumberofrobotsinateam[1].

Multi-robotsystemsarebeingstudiedanddevelopedinthecontextofdisasterstrickenareas.Insuchcriti-

calscenarios,coordinationandcommunicationduringtaskallocationbecomevitalfactorstooptimallyuse

alltheavailableresources.Inthisreport,wehavestudiedandimplementedtheconsensus-basedauction

algorithm(CBAA)[2],inparallelwithtaskexecution,asproposedbyDaset al.in[1].Furthermore,weaimto

proposeanalgorithmtomaintainconnectivityinthisconsensus-basedalgorithm.

25

In the context of complex multi-robot systems, consensus based task allocation algorithms are being researched on extensively because of their robustness in handling the growing number of robots in a team [1]. Multi-robot systems are being studied and developed in the context of disaster stricken areas. In such critical scenarios, coordination and communication during task allocation become vital factors to optimally use all the available resources. In this report, we have studied and implemented the consensus-based auction algorithm (CBAA) [2], in parallel with task execution, as proposed by Das et al. in [1]. Furthermore, we aim to propose an algorithm to maintain connectivity in this consensus-based algorithm.

Multi-Robot Coordination algorithms can be emulated on real mobile

systems to deliver the coordination functionality in the event of task delegation.

Consider the rescue scenario, where doctors have to attend to patients after a disaster. The doctors play the role of robots in such a

scenario and use a mobile device in order to communicate and coordinate task delegation. Time is of the essence and any redundant

task allocation could cost a person’s life

We are working on the Consensus Based Allocation Algorithm (CBAA) which uses a decentralized approach to delegate the tasks amongst the

robots. Agents place bids on tasks with values based on their own Situational Awareness. The highest bid wins the assignment.

The testing for this algorithm assumes connectivity at all times which could result in redundant task allocations if implemented on a real system which has a range of communication and hence is prone to

network dis-connectivity. In our approach we take in to consideration, network dis-connectivity during task allocation and assign a very high

cost to bids which result in dis-connectivity.

We have simulated CBAA in java and have tested it

on scenarios with and without range of network communication. We have compared the results to

measure performance and to evaluate scenarios where the algorithms produce lower performance.

Abstract Experiments

Why Do We Care?

Results

Current Algorithm, Problem &

Our Strategy

References

[1] G. P. Das, Member, IEEE, T. M. McGinnity, Senior Member, IEEE, S. A. Coleman, and L. Behera, Senior Member,

IEEE (2011) A Fast Distributed Auction and Consensus Process Using Parallel Task Allocation and Execution

[2] H.-L. Choi, L. Brunet, and J. P. How. Consensus-based decentralized auctions for robust task allocation. IEEE Trans.

on Robotics, 25 (4):912 – 926, 2009.

Currently, we are implementing and testing CBAA in the context of network connectivity, in simulation. Next, we would be implementing our proposed protocol to compare it against the existing one. Real-systems: The main aim of this research is to emulate this modified CBAA on a real mobile system and evaluate it.

Future Work

Towards Computational Offloading in Mobile Clouds

AuthorAfnan Fahim (CS 2013)

Faculty AdvisorKhaled Harras, Ph.D.


AbstractItiscommonpracticeformobiledevicestooffloadcomputationallyheavytaskstoacloud,whichhasgreater

computationalresources.However,thistypeofoffloadinghasbeenexpensiveduetohighenergycostsand

highlatency,whichexistsbetweenthecloudandtheoffloadingmobiledevice.Asananswertothisproblem,

“Cloudlets”wereproposed:smallercloudsplacedclosertousersthatwouldmakemobiletaskoffloading

lessexpensiveintermsofenergywasteandtimeconsumption.Theideaofreducingcommunicationcosts

byexecutingclosertotheoffloaderdevicewasthenextendedtointroducemobilecloudcomputing-where

theideaistooffloadtaskstonearbydevices-betheymobileorstationary-soastoreducecommunication

costsandlatency.

Inthiswork,ourfirstcontributionistomotivatethegainincomputationtimeandenergyconsumedthatcan

bemadebyoffloadingtonearbydevices.Wedothisbyemulatingnetworkconditionsthatexistfordifferent

communication technologiesprovidedbymodernmobiledevices.Asopposed toemulatedexperiments,

currentlyitisachallengetocarryoutrealexperimentsonmobiledevicessincenoapplicationsexistthatcan

distributedifferentamountsofdataandcomputationtonearbydevicesusingdifferentcommunicationtech-

nologies.Thus,asasecondcontribution,wealsopresentanAPIthatallowscreationandoffloadingoftasks

byamobiledevicetoanetworkofnearbydevices.Anotherchallengeinmobilecloudcomputingistodecide

whichdevicetooffloadataskto.Asathirdcontribution,ourworkalsopresentsalgorithmstoleveragesocial

contextwhenmakingoffloadingdecisionstonearbydevices.

27

I. MOTIVATION

III. MAKING THE CASE FOR MDC OFFLOADING

IV. THE MDC EXPERIMENTAL PLATFORM

V. CONCLUSIONS & ONGOING WORK

References1. C. Shi, V. Lakafosis, M. H. Ammar, and E. W. Zegura, “Serendipity:enabling remote computing among intermittently connected mobile devices,” in MobiHoc, 2012, pp. 145–1542. B.-G. Chun, S. Ihm, P. Maniatis, M. Naik, and A. Patti, “Clonecloud: elastic execution between mobile device and cloud,” in Proceedings of the conference on Computer systems, ser. EuroSys ’11. New York, NY, : ACM, 20113. E. Cuervo, A. Balasubramanian, D. ki Cho, A. Wolman, S. Saroiu, R. Chandra, and P. Bahl, “Maui: making smartphones last longer with code offload,” in MobiSys’10, 20104. Mahadev Satyanarayanan, Paramvir Bahl, Ramón Caceres, and Nigel Davies. 2009. The Case for VM-Based Cloudlets in Mobile Computing. IEEE Pervasive Computing 8, 4 (October 2009), 5. Qatar’s ICT Landscape 2013: Households and Individuals – ICT Qatar Annual Report - http://www.ictqatar.qa/sites/default/files/documents/Qatar%20ICT%20Landscape_EN.pdf6. Microsoft Tag Mobile Usage Survey - http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/2011-mobile-statistics-stats-facts-marketing-infographic/

Java App

RTT

Computation

Java App

Data ComputationB/W PLR

FreeBSD

IP Firewalls

Ubuntu

Java Sockets

Client Server

Traffic Shaper

FreeBSD

II. OFFLOADING OPTIONS

• Mobile usage is overtaking laptop/desktop usage [6]

• Average Household in Qatar owns 3mobile phones and a tablet [5]

• New applications require a lot of computation and data processing:• Face Recognition• Video Games

• Offloading mobile computation and data is a trend that has just begun

• This offloading impacts application latency and consumes energy

• Task: Combination of Data (MB) and Computation (MFLOP)• Computation: Carried out as floating point matrix operations.• Data: Text of known size in MB.• Metrics: Offloader Energy & Total Time to Complete Task

Emulation setup for testing energy and time tradeoffs when offloading

Energy Circuitry Energy Results MDC App

MDC Experimental Results • For compute intensive tasks we have shown energy and time gain using MDC

• We can now test different offloading strategies using the MDC API

• Identifying when and who to offload computational tasks using social context and contact history

• Addressing intermittent connectivity in MDC devices

Apps that offload custom tasks do not exist. We thus created an API with these features:

Towards Computational Offloading in Mobile Device Clouds

Afnan Fahim, Abderrahmen Mtibaa and Khaled A. HarrasCarnegie Mellon University Qatar

• MDC can save both energy and time depending on task complexity and data

• WiFi based offloading - 2x and 3x faster than Bluetooth and 3G• Bluetooth 4 - 80% less energy compared to WiFi

• PreOffloader:Define Tasks as [Data, Computation]

• LocalExecutor: Execute tasks on the local device

• BluetoothOffloader:Offload tasks in parallel using Bluetooth

• WiFiDirectOffloader:Similar to Bluetooth offloader

• RemoteOffloader: Offload tasks to remote devices using WiFi

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PyExoplanets: A Computed Application for Detecting Exoplanet Transits on Stars’ Light Curves

AuthorsNoora J. Al-Muftah (CS 2016)

Faculty AdvisorSaquib Razak, Ph.D.


AbstractOnewayofdetectingextrasolarsystemplanets(planetsthatorbitstarsoutsideoursolarsystem)isbythetransitmethod.Inthismethod,astronomersusethelightcurves(plotofthebrightnessofastaroveraperiodoftime).Ifadecreaseinthebrightnessofthestarisnoticedinthelightcurve,thenitcanbefurtherdeducedifitiscausedbyanobject(planet)thatblocksthestar’semittedlightbypassinginfrontofit.ProjectslikeNASA’sKeplermissionproduces thousandsofstars’ lightcurvessearching forexoplanets.One resultingproblemisthatitisdifficultandtimeconsumingtoanalyzealloftheselightcurvesonebyone.

Formyproject, Ihavedevelopedanastronomicaldataanalysisapplication thatcanshorten theprocessoffindingtransitsbyapplyinganimageanalysismethodonthegraphofthelightcurve.Inmyapplication,PyExoplanets, Iselected lightcurvedata fromtheKeplermissionFITSfiles forplanetary-candidatestarsobservedintheQ3quarterset.MyapplicationwasdevelopedusingPython,thePythonImageLibraryforanalyzingthelightcurveimage,PyFITSforreadingFITSfiles,Matplotlibforplottingthestar’sdata,andvisualPythonforproducingsimple3Danimationofthestarandtheexoplanet.Myprojectisaninitialstepincreatingacompletecomputerapplicationthatcanpotentiallyassistastronomersintheprocessoffindingexoplanets.

29

PyExoplanets Computed Application for Detecting Exoplanets’ Transits on Stars’ Light Curves

Noora J. Al-‐Mu-ah nmu%[email protected]

Advisor: Saquib Razak, Ph.D.

Problem and Motivation •  Current projects such as NASA’s Kepler mission [1]

produce thousands of stars’ light curves searching for extrasolar planets

•  DetecDng Exoplanet transits on large light curve data set takes Dme and effort

•  An applicaDon is needed to assist in this process by detecDng possible planet transits and hence illuminaDng the number of false planetary candidates

[1] hJp://kepler.nasa.gov/

Solution Transit DetecBon Method: •  Created an Image Analysis method that detects

Exoplanet transits on light curves and outlines the region

•  Algorithm analyzes the data trends and outlines any possible transits on the graph of the light curve

Data source: Kepler Q3 quarter set hJp://archive.stsci.edu/pub/kepler/lightcurves/

PyExoplanets Application features I.  Analyzes individual Kepler planetary candidates II.  Plots staDsDcs for a set of Kepler planetary

candidates III. Animates a 3D visualizaDon of star and

Exoplanet

Main interface of Application

Animation interface

Computer Science

Future work •  Improve the Image Analysis method to increase

accuracy and reduce false detecDons

•  Develop the applicaDon to be able to handle all types of light curves’ plots

•  Enhance runDme for the detecDon process

Unsupervised Word Segmentation and Statistical Machine Translation

AuthorHanan Alshikhabobakr (CS 2013)

Faculty AdvisorKemal Oflazer, Ph.D.


AbstractTranslationishighlydependentonhowmuchweknowaboutthetext,sothemoreaccurateanalysistheword

giventoatranslator,thebetterthetranslationresultweget.Onewayofanalyzingawordistosegmentthe

wordintogrammaticallymeaningfullinguisticsegments(Suchas“playing”segmentedinto“play+ing”).This

researchlooksatArabicwordsegmentationthatisindependentofhumansupervision,sowearemeasuring

the precision of UnsupervisedWord Segmenters. We then measure how much the UnsupervisedWord

Segmenterimprovestranslation.

ThisresearchutilizedtheserversallocatedfortheNaturalLanguageProcessinggroupatCMUQ,wherethey

storethestateoftheartsystemsofNLP,whichrequirearelativelyhugeamountofdiskspacetorunthem.

Thisresearchwillcontributetothedevelopmentofintelligentmachinetranslation,especiallytotheArabic-

to-Englishtranslation.

31

What Affects Students’ Acceptance and Use of Technology?A test of UTAUT in the context of a higher-education institution in Qatar

AuthorFatema Akbar (IS & BA 2013)

Faculty AdvisorDaniel C. Phelps, MLIS, Ph.D., CISA

CategoryInformation Systems

AbstractTechnology is increasingly being integrated in classrooms to facilitate and enhance students’ learning.However,thesuccessofnewtechnologyintroductionscannotbeachievedifthestudentsdonotacceptandusethetechnology.Thisresearchprojectexaminedthefactorsinfluencingstudents’acceptanceanduseoftechnologyinahigher-educationinstitutioninQatarbytestingtheUnifiedTheoryofAcceptanceandUseofTechnology(UTAUT)(venkateshet.al,2003).

UTAUTisoneofthemostprominenttheoreticalmodelsoftechnologyadoption.Itsynthesizeseightprevioususer acceptance andmotivationmodels and suggests that four core constructs are direct determinantsof technology acceptance and use: Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, andFacilitatingConditions.Thetheoryalsosuggeststhattheeffectofthesefourconstructsismoderatedbyage,gender,experienceandvoluntarinessofuse.

AmongthestudiescitingUTAUT,veryfewimplementthefullmodelandexamineallofitsconstructs.ThisstudyusesthecompleteUTAUTasamodeltoexaminethefactorsthatinfluencestudents’acceptanceanduseoftechnologyinaneworganizationalandculturalcontextthatUTAUThasnotbeenpreviouslytestedin.Thisstudycanproviderecommendationstohelppreparetherightenvironmentandtrainingbeforeanewtechnologyisintroducedforstudents.Additionally,thisresearchaddstostudiesabouttheapplicabilityofUTAUTinaneducationalenvironmentbyextendingthediversityofthestudiedsample.

33

WHAT AFFECTS STUDENTS’ACCEPTANCE & USE OF TECHNOLOGY?

Fatema AkbarIS & BA [email protected]

A test of UTAUT in the context of a higher-education institution in Qatar

INTRODUCTION METHOD

UTAT is a prominent theory providing a technology acceptance and use model that synthesizes eight previous technology adoption and motivation models. This study uses the complete UTAUT as a model to examine the factors that influence students’ acceptance and use of technology in a new organizational and cultural context that UTAUT has not been previously tested in.

Students’ acceptance and use of technologies introduced in their academic environments is an important factor in determining the success of these technologies.

UTAUT was tested by conducting a panel study collecting data from students in classes where new technologies were introduced. The students filled online surveys about their thoughts and feelings towards the technology three times throughout the semester to measure how their perceptions change with increased experience.

WHAT?

Unified Theory of Acceptance &

Use of Technology (UTAUT)

WHERE?

Higher Education Institution in

Qatar

WHY?

To examine factors influencing

students’ tech acceptance

MODEL HYPOTHESES & RESULTS

As shown in the graph above, some hypotheses of the UTAUT model were supported, while others were not. The differences in results between this study and what the UTAUT model suggests can be attributed to the different cultural and organizational contexts this study tests UTAUT in.

The study found that performance expectancy, facilitating conditions and attitude towards using technology are significant determinants of technology acceptance. Additionally, acceptance of technology and facilitating conditions are significant determinants of the actual use of technology.

Other constructs and moderators had a significant influence on technology acceptance only in one point of the semester. For example, computer self-efficacy was significant only in the beginning of the semester when students had no experience with the technology.

Future research should focus on adding education context-specific constructs to the UTAUT model and study further relationships between the constructs and technology acceptance. This will help prepare the right environment and training for students before introducing new technologies to improve technology acceptance.

OStudent

Reactions

T1: 1 week

XIntroduction/

Training

OStudent

Reactions/Usage

Measurement

T3: 8 weeks

OStudent

Reactions/Usage

Measurement

T2: 4 weeks

XSystem

Use

XSystem

Use

CONCLUSION

Supported Partially supportedNot supportedNew findings

Performance Expectancy

Effort Expectancy

Social Influence

Facilitating Conditions

Use Behavior(Actual Use)

Behavioral Intention

(Acceptance)

Gender Age Experience Voluntariness

Attitude towards using technology

Software Development Project Electronic Resolution

AuthorsTasneem Jahan (IS 2013)Reham Al Tamime (IS 2013)

Faculty AdvisorMaher Hakim, Ph.D.

CategoryInformation Systems

AbstractTheModelUnitedNations,THIMUNQatar,organizesconferencesforhighschoolstudentswheretheydis-

cussanddebatespecificissuesbysubmittingtheirproposalsindocumentformat.Theorganizationusesa

documentmanagementtool,whichisknownasaResolutionManagementSystemtoorganizeandmanage

thedocumentsandresolutionssubmittedbythestudents.Thesystemisacriticalfactorforthesuccessof

theconferences,therefore,wehavedesignedabettersystemthatminimizestheerrorsthathaveoccurred

inthepastandthusmaximizestheconvenienceinusingsuchasystem.

Ourresearchfocusedonfindingproblemsinthecurrenttool,byconductinginterviewsandfocusgroups,

aswellasbyobservingusers.Theresultscontributedinbuildinganewsystem(Eresolution)byourteam

thataddressesallthecurrentissues.

Ourvisionwastodevelopasystemthatisefficient;fulfillsthefunctionsofresolutionsubmissionand

management;savesconferencememberstime,energyandeffort;isrichinfunctions;isuserfriendlyand

aestheticallyappealing;andisavailabletouseforaminimumamountofcharge.Theposterwillgivea

summaryoftheprocessstartingfromresearch,design,implementation,testinganddeliveringtoTHIMUN

Qatar.

35

Current System Problems: • Very Hard to Use • Lack Supportive Functionalities• Not Visually Pleasing• Confusing and Not User Friendly

Needs & Improvement:Since the RMS is a critical success factor for the MUN conferences, the client was not satisfied about the overall system. Our team got asked to come up with better solution that maximizes the convenience of using such system and solves the current problems.

Software Development Project Electronic Resolution

Reham Al Tamime: [email protected] Jahan: [email protected]

Faculty Advisor: Maher Hakim | Information Systems

Project Overview Client:THIMUN QATARModel United Nations (MUN)

Problems Research & Data Collection: • Observations • Test Aloud Protocols • Interviews • Focus Groups

Current RMS:

SolutionE-Resolution:

System Success Attributes: User Friendly • Clear Fonts & Icons • Indicative Arrows for Steps • Interactive Help Page

System Success Attributes: Extra Features Added • Enter Votes • Admin Dashboard & Guest Page • Search Features • More Account Settings

System Success Attributes: Availability Security Aesthetic Values Added

Testing

Resolution Management System (RMS): A system that is used currently by THIMUN Qatar in order to create conferences, committees, and assign users to these conferences and committees depending on the role that they play in the conference. The system also supports differentfunctionalities such as uploading a resolution document, editing it and determining its result after conference’s debate.

Results: • 100% of sample agree that system is simple and flexible • 80% confirm that the system is very functional and helpful • 90% recognize the easiness of system use and navigation

Implementation Tools: Backend: SQLight | PostgreSQLFrontEnd:HTML | CSS | JavaScript | Bootstrap Connecting Front & Backend: Ruby on Rails

Deployment: Heroku | Amazon S3

Privacy and e-commerce in the Arab Culture

AuthorMarwa Al-Fakhri (IS 2013)

Faculty AdvisorsDaniel Phelps, Ph.D. John Gasper, Ph.D.

CategoryInformation Systems and Social Sciences

AbstractThe trend of online shopping is catching on in the Arab world. This research investigates the effect ofinformation availability regarding privacy on Arab consumers’ decisionmaking whenmaking purchasingattitudes.WehypothesizethattheArabculturewill influencethedecisionmakingofArabconsumers;themoreculturallysensitivetheitempurchasedis,themoreconsumersarewillingtopayforonlineprivacywhenpresentedwithinformationabouthowprivatetheshoppingwebsitesare.Resultssupportthishypothesis,participantsexhibitedwillingnesstopayforprivacymoreonaveragewhentheywerepurchasingcigarettesthanwhentheywerepurchasingbatteries.ThefindingsofthisresearchwillgiveusabetterinsightintoArabconsumers’decisionmakingandwillbetterinformthedesignofonlinetoolsthatbetterserveconsumers’needs.

37

The Effect of type of Display on Conjoint Studies

AuthorsEl Houssain El Marabti (BA 2013) Marwa Al-Fakhri (IS 2013)

Faculty AdvisorPeter Stüttgen, Ph.D.


AbstractConjointanalysisisoneofthemostwidelyusedtoolsinmarketingresearchtoestimateconsumers’prefer-

ences.Thisresearchinvestigatestheaffectoftwofactors(displaytypeandeaseofdataacquisition)onthe

estimatedpreferencesinconjointanalysis.Wehypothesizethatthetypeofdisplaydoesnotaffecttherela-

tiveestimatedpreferences,butaffectsthescaleoftheestimatedparameters,assupportedbytheliterature.

Also,wehypothesizethatattributesthataremoreeasilyacquiredwillbeestimatedasbeingmoreimportant.

Usinga2x2design,wemanipulatedisplaytypebyrepresentingthechoicesetsinlistformatandinpicto-

rialformatandmanipulatetheeaseofdataacquisitionbythenumberofalternativesinachoiceset(3vs.15

alternatives).Analysisoftheresultssupportsbothhypotheses.Thefindingsofthisresearchareimportantfor

implementationofconjointanalysisstudiesinthebusinessworld.

39

Options Evaluation Choices

Type of Display

Ease of info Acquisition

number of options Data

acquired

Hypotheses

Research questionDoes the presentation style and type of display of the different levels of attributes affect the outcome of conjoint studies and ease of info acquisition?

The effect of type of display onconjoint studies

Estimated relative importances

List of fifteenpictures different

than the other display methods

The graph above showsthe different distributionsof all the choices displaymethods, and shows how

different the 15 pictures listis from the others.

Literature review(LOUVIERE et al. 1987): Parks study; text vs images. Results suggest no statistical difference. (JANSEN et al. 2009): Housing study; visual vs verbal. Results show directional difference but it was ruled out due to coincidental details. (ORZECHOWSKI et al. 2005): Housing study; text vs multimedia. Results suggest no difference in relative importanceof attributes but a different scale.

Methodology

115 subjects participated in the experiment. They were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions; 3 options text, 3 options images, and 15 options text. Participants wererecruited in Education City and were compensated with 36 QR.

Data Collection - Summer 2012

AnalysisMultinomial Logit model estimated in Bayesian fashion using MCMC as implemented in the Bayesian package in R.

64 participants were recruited in Education City and were compensated with 50 QR. They were shown pictures of the options and their eye movements were tracked to see how many options they looked at before they make their finale choice.

Data Collection - Fall 2011

Estimated relative importances of the three attributes in decision making:

List of three choices

List of fifteen choices

Type of display will affect Ease of Info Acquisition. It will not affect the relativepreferences but will affect the scale.

Attributes that are easily acquired becomemore important.

List of three pictures

List of fifteen pictures

Hypothesis 1

Hypothesis 2

Researchers: El Houssain El Marabti & Marwa Al-Fakhri

Brand, 26%

Flavor, 59%

Price, 15%

Brand, 27%

Flavor, 38%

Price, 35%

Advisor: Peter Stuttgen

Arab Spring Newspaper Coverage: A Comparative Analysis

AuthorsJiyda Mint Moussa (CS 2014) Sophie Qingjia Jiang (NU-Q 2016)

Faculty AdvisorDavid Emmanuel Gray, Ph.D.

CategoryGeneral Education

Abstract:TheArabSpringhasbroughtalotofinternationalattentiontodemocratizationintheArabworld.Consider-ing thatmassmediaoften is theprimarysourceof informationconcerningconflictsand revolutions, it isimportanttoexaminewhattypeofmediacoveragehasbeenaffordedtoeventsinMiddleEasternandNorthAfricannations.Inparticular,weproposeexaminingandcomparingthecoveragebyQatariEnglishnewspa-persagainstthatofnewspapersoutsideQatar.Didthesedifferentnewspapersfocusoncoveringthesamecountriesandevents?Dotheyimmediatelyrespondtoalltheimportanteventsastheyhappen?WasthereadifferenceinhowtheyfocusedonQatar’s involvement inprovidingmilitaryandfinancial assistancetocertaingroupsinvolvedintheseuprisings?ThisstudyexaminesthesimilarityanddifferencesinthenewscoverageoftheArabSpringbycomparingthereportingoftheNewyorkTimesandGuardianwiththatofQa-tar’sGulfTimesandPeninsula.WeexploredifferencesincoverageamongthesefourpublicationsintermsofsignificantArabSpringeventsandQatar’sinvolvement.

ThedatasetusedinthisstudyconsistsofarticlespublishedbetweenDecember1,2010andDecember25,2012andretrievedfromonlinearchivesoftherespectivenewspapers.Themajorityofthedatawasgath-eredviaanautomatedprocess,forwhichwedesignedacomputerprogramtoscrollthrougheachnewspa-per’sarchiveandextractthearticles.Startingwithamanuallyselectedcollectionofarticlesfromdifferentsources,wethencreatedasecondcomputerprogramto identifywhetheranygivenarticle is likely tobe“ArabSpring”related.Usingthesetwoprograms,weexaminedthefournewspapers’coverageoftheArabSpringbycomparingthenumberofarticleseachnewspaperpublisheddaily inthemonitoredtimeframe.WealsoextractedthemostvitalArabSpringeventsfromitstimelineandcontrastthecoveragefromthosefournewspapers.Finally,weanalyzedtheirextentsofcoverageonQatar’sinvolvementinSyria,especiallycontrastingthedistinctionbetweenQatar’slocalnewspapersandinternationalones.

AbreakdownofthenumberofarticlespublisheddailybyeachnewspapershowsthatintensityofArabSpringcoveragevariedoverfourconsecutivetimeperiods.Italsoshowsthatthefocusandcoveragevariedforeachnewspaperacrossthesedifferentphases.Forinstance,intheinitialphase,theNewyorkTimestooktheleadwiththemostpublishedarticleswhiletheGuardianandPeninsulafollowed.However,thePeninsulatooktheleadintheremainingphaseswiththehighestaveragenumberofarticlesperday.FortheGulfTimes,thenumberofarticleswastheleastthroughoutandneverattainedanypeak.Moreimportantly,inthefirsttwophasesweobservedthatthenon-QatarinewspapersandthePeninsulapeakatrelativelythesameintensity.However,inthelasttwophasesofthereporting,whichmostlyrelatetotheSyriancrisis,thePeninsulabreaksawayfromtheothertwonewssourcesandtheamountofcoverageradicallyincreases.ThislasttrendmayreflectQatar’spoliticalinterestinthiscrisis,atopicforfurtherexploration.

41

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Let the Grades Flow!

AuthorsSyed T. Haider (BA 2014)Aveed A. Sheikh (BA 2014)

Faculty AdvisorDavid Emmanuel Gray, Ph.D.

CategoryGeneral Education

AbstractCsikszentmihalyireferstoflow,or“optimalexperience,”asastateofcompleteimmersioninmeaningfulactivity.Apersoninflowischaracterizedbyfeelingsofenjoymentorsatisfactionintheongoingprocessofthatactivity.Csikszentmihalyi’stheoryentailsthatanindividualisconsideredinflowwhentheactivity’sperceiveddifficultybalanceswiththatperson’sperceivedskills.Inordertodeterminetheimplicationsofthistheoryonstudents,weexploredtheflowphenomenoninsideaclassroomenvironment.Thisinvolvedfocusingonaparticularcoursefortheentiretyofthesemester,andgauginghowstudentskillandchal-lengescomparedanditsimplicationsontheiracademicperformanceintheclass.Themainquestionweendeavortoanswer:Arestudentsinflowbetteracademicperformersascomparedtothestudentswhoarenotinflow?

Thesamplesforthisresearchwerestudentsenrolledinthecourse“IntroductiontoLogicalReasoning”,of-feredjointlybyCarnegieMellonUniversityinQatarandNorthwesternUniversityinQatar.Aftereveryclasslecture,quiz,workshop,andexam,studentswereaskedtofilloutaone-pagesurvey.Eachsurveyresponsewasthenassignedtooneofthefollowingfourgroups:

1. Apatheticstudentsshowedalowerthanaveragescoreonchallengeandskills,2. Anxiousstudentsshowedahigherthanaveragescoreonchallengeandlowerthanaveragescoreon

skill,3. Boredstudentsshowedahigherthanaveragescorelevelonskill,andalowerthanaveragescorelevel

onchallenge,and4. Flowstudentsshowedhigherthanaveragescoreonbothchallengeandskills.

Anendofsemestersurveyalsohadstudentscomparetheircurrentabilitiesinlogictowhattheystartedwith.

Theresultsindicatedadifferenceinthegradesandperceivedlearningamongstthefourgroups.Anxiousstudentsreportedthehighestperceivedlearningdistanceamongthefourgroupsofstudents.Moreover,anxiousstudentsshowedapositivecorrelationwithrespecttoperceivedlearningdistances,whereastheotherthreegroupsshowedanegativecorrelation,withboredstudentsreportingthehighest.Theresearchfindingsevensuggestthatstudentengagementlevelintermsofbeingapathetic,bored,andanxiousorinflowaffectstheirclassperformance,withthebestperformancebeingobservedfromstudentswhoareinflow.Eventhoughsomestudentsshowedsignsofbeingapathetic,stilltheyseemedtoenjoythematerial.Similarly,apatheticstudentsshowedmoreinterestascomparedtoanxiousstudents.Weconcludethathavingastructuredclassroomenvironmentthatinitiatesflowcanhelpstudentsperformthebestinclass;astheyareengagedintheexperience,whichleadstoabetterunderstandingofthematerialandhighergrades.

43

1 - Flow Csikszentmihalyi refers to flow, or “optimal experience”, as a state of complete immersion in meaningful activity. According to this theory, an individual is considered in flow when the activity’s perceived difficulty balances with that person’s perceived skills.

4 - Approach After every class lecture, quiz, workshop, and exam, CMU-Q & NU-Q students enrolled in the course “Introduction to Logical Reasoning” were asked to fill out a one-page survey. Each survey response was then assigned to the four groups after calculating the relative z - scores – Flow, Anxious, Apathetic, or Boredom.

Let the Grades Flow! Aveed Sheikh [email protected] Faculty Advisor: David Emmanuel Gray, Ph.D

Syed Tanveer Haider [email protected]

2 - Assumptions In this research study, we are analyzing whether students in flow perform better in class as reflected through their grades and whether these students show a greater learning distance than anxious, apathetic or bored students.

3 - Hypothesis We predict that students, on average, perform better at academics when they are in flow.

5 - Results 0.00 - 0.99: R; 1.00 - 1.99: D; 2.00 - 2.99: C; 3.00 - 3.99: B; 4.00 - 4.99: A

Anxiety Flow

Apathy Boredom

Correlation Coefficient Flow Anxiety Boredom Apathy

Learning Distance -0.016 0.33 -0.31 -0.085

Challenge

Skill

6 - Conclusions Bored students report the highest average grades followed by students who experience flow. The lowest grades were reported by the anxious students. Bored students and those in flow performed the best within all learning channels. Finally, only anxious students showed a positive correlation with perceived learning distances.

7 - Further Work In the future, we hope to extend this research into analyzing similar results in other courses offered at CMU-Q, NU-Q or other universities. The results from the research study also suggest that we need to build a platform that can track and provide immediate feedback to the course instructor on how students are performing in a particular course. Such a platform will help him/her better design the course and structure the classroom in a manner that initiates flow in students, whereby enhanc-ing their learning experience and overall performance.

* A larger mean count represents more engagement. (Mean count ranges from 0-4)

8 - References Csikszentmihalyi, M. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper and Row.

Decentralized Execution of Multiset Rewriting Rules for Ensembles

AuthorEdmund Lam, Ph.D.

Faculty AdvisorIliano Cervesato, Ph.D.

CategoryPostgraduate

AbstractParallelanddistributedprogrammingiswidelyknowntobeanotoriouslydifficultendeavorandthesearchfor

moreeffectiveparallelanddistributedprogrammingmethodologiesrageson.Inthispresentation,weexplore

exploitingtheconcurrentanddeclarativenatureofmultisetrewritingasahigh-levelprogrammingmodelto

expresscomplexsynchronizationbehaviorsamonganasynchronous“soup”ofabstractcomputationunits

thatwecallanensemble.

Specifically, we introduce CHRê, a concurrent committed-choice rule-based language based on core

principlesofconstraintmultiset rewriting.Wehighlight the technicalchallenges involved indevelopingan

effectivedecentralizedexecutionofCHRê,andbrieflyhighlightouroperationalsemanticsofCHRêthat

guarantees completeness of distributed multiset rewritings while computing rule matches incrementally.

Whilethisproject isatatheoreticalandprototypingphase,wediscussthefutureworksthatwilltakeour

worktothedomainofappliedresearchanddevelopment.

45

Decentralized Execution of Multiset Rewriting Rules for EnsemblesEdmund S. L. Lam and Iliano Cervesato Carnegie Mellon University, Qatar

1. Challenges of Parallel and Distributed Programming

� A notoriously laborious and difficult endeavor� Wide range of technical difficulties (e.g. deadlock, atomicity, fault-tolerance).� Traditional computational problems (e.g. correctness, completeness, termination).� While ensuring scalability and performance effectiveness.

� Open research problem:� Distributed programming frameworks (e.g. Map reduce [DG08], Graph Lab

[LGK+10], Pregel [MAB+10], Mizan [KKAJ10])� Distributed programming languages (e.g. Erlang [AV90], X10 [SSvP07], NetLog

[GW10], Meld [CARG+12])� High-level programming abstractions (e.g. Join Patterns [TR11], Parallel CHR

[LS11])� We seek an approach that is declarative, based on logical foundations,

expressive and concise.� Motivated by chemical reaction equations:

6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2

2. Introducing Rule-Based Multiset Rewriting

� Constraint Handling Rules (CHR) [Fru98]� Rule-based constraint logic programming language.� Based on multiset rewriting over first order predicate terms, called CHR constraints.� Concurrent, committed choice and declarative.

� CHR programs consist of a set of CHR rules of the following form:r : P \ S ⇐⇒ G | B

� Informally means: If we have P and S such that G is satisfiable, replace S with B.� Example: Greatest common divisor (GCD)

base : gcd(0) ⇐⇒ truereduce : gcd(N) \ gcd(M) ⇐⇒ 0 < N ∧ N ≤ M | gcd(M-N)

�gcd(9), gcd(6), gcd(3)� reduce : gcd(6)\gcd(9) ⇐⇒ 0 < 6 ∧ 6 ≤ 9 | gcd(3)� �gcd(3), gcd(6), gcd(3)� reduce : gcd(3)\gcd(6) ⇐⇒ 0 < 3 ∧ 6 ≤ 9 | gcd(3)� �gcd(3), gcd(3), gcd(3)� reduce : gcd(3)\gcd(3) ⇐⇒ 0 < 3 ∧ 6 ≤ 9 | gcd(0)� �gcd(0), gcd(3), gcd(3)� base : gcd(0) ⇐⇒ true

� �gcd(3), gcd(3)� reduce : gcd(3)\gcd(3) ⇐⇒ 0 < 3 ∧ 6 ≤ 9 | gcd(0)� �gcd(0), gcd(3)� base : gcd(0) ⇐⇒ true

� �gcd(3)�

3. CHRe, Distributed Multiset Rewriting for Ensembles

� Elements are distributed across distinct locations (k1, k2, etc..), eachpossessing its own multiset of elements.

�edge(k2, 1), ..�@k1 ←→ �edge(k1, 2), edge(k3, 8), ..�@k2

↖ ↓�edge(k1, 10)�@k3

� Rewrite rules explicitly reference the relative location of constraints:base rule : [X]edge(Y ,D)\. ⇐⇒ [X]path(Y ,D).elim rule : [X]path(Y ,D1)\[X]path(Y ,D2) ⇐⇒ D1 < D2 | true.trans rule : [X]edge(Y ,D), [Y]path(Z ,D′) ⇐⇒ X!=Z | [X]path(Z ,D + D′).

[l]c specifies that matching c is located at l .� Rewrite rules can specify “local” rewriting:

�edge(k2, 1), path(k2, 1), path(k2, 10)�@k1 ...

� �edge(k2, 1), path(k2, 1)�@k1 ... [k1]path(k2, 1)\[k1]path(k2, 10) ⇐⇒ 1 < 10 | true.

� Rewrite rules can specify link-restricted rewriting:�edge(k2, 1), ..�@k1 ←→ �path(k3, 8), edge(k1, 2), edge(k3, 8), ..�@k2

↖ ↓�edge(k1, 10)�@k3

��edge(k2, 1), path(k3, 9), ..�@k1 ←→ �path(k3, 8), edge(k1, 2), edge(k3, 8), ..�@k2

↖ ↓�edge(k1, 10)�@k3

[k1]edge(k2, 1), [k2]path(k3, 8) ⇐⇒ k1!=k3 | [k1]path(k3, 9)

4. Example: Parallel Mergesort

Parallel mergesort: Assumes tightly coupled ensembles (multicore,shared memory, etc..)[X]unsorted([I]) ⇐⇒ [X]sorted([I]).[X]unsorted(Xs) ⇐⇒ len(Xs) > 2 | exists Y . exists Z . let (Ys, Zs) = split(Xs).

[Y]parent(X), [Y]unsorted(Ys), [Z]parent(X), [Z]unsorted(Zs).[X]sorted(Xs), [X]parent(Y ) ⇐⇒ [Y]unmerged(Xs).[X]unmerged(Xs1), [X]unmerged(Xs2) ⇐⇒ [X]sorted(merge(Xs1,Xs2))

� New locations “dynamically” created to solve sub-problems.� completed sub-problems are transmitted to the “parent” location.

5. Example: Distributed Hyper-Quicksort

Distributed Hyper-Quicksort: Assumes loosely coupled ensembles(network, message passing interface, etc..)

- - “Local” sorting algorithm Parallel merge sort rules...

- - Distributed Hyper quicksort rules[X]sorted(Xs), [X]leader()\[X]leaderLinks(G) ⇐⇒ len(G) > 1 |

let LG,GG=split(G). [X]leaderLinks(LG),[head(GG)]leader(), [head(GG)]leaderLinks(GG),{[Y]median(Xs[len(Xs)/2]) | Y in G}{[Y]partnerLink(Z) | Y , Z in zip(LG,GG)}

[X]median(M), [X]sorted(Xs) ⇐⇒ let Ls,Gs=partition(Xs,M).[X]leqM(Ls), [X]grM(Gs)[X]partnerLink(Y ), [X]grM(Xs), [Y]leqM(Ys) ⇐⇒ [X]leqM(Ys), [Y]grM(Xs)[X]leqM(Ls1), [X]leqM(Ls2) ⇐⇒ [X]sorted(merge(Ls1, Ls2))[X]grM(Gs1), [X]grM(Gs2) ⇐⇒ [X]sorted(merge(Gs1,Gs2))

� Data (unsorted numbers) initially distributed across 2n locations.� In termination (quiescence), 2n locations are in total order.

6. Main Challenges

� Effective execution of multiset rewriting in decentralized context:� Incremental matching� Termination on quiescence� Interrupt (event) driven matching

� Execution of link-restricted rewrite rules is non-trivial:[X]partnerLink(Y ), [X]grM(Xs), [Y]leqM(Ys) ⇐⇒ [X]leqM(Ys), [Y]grM(Xs)� Requires that locations X and Y rewrites respective multisets atomicity .� In general (n locations involved), its essentially n-consensus problem.

� Designing effective mappings from locations to computation resources� Initialization: How are “locations” distributed across actual distributed system?� Load-balancing: How are dynamically created “locations” distributed?

� Designing the Language:� What are the minimal core language features?� What extended language features do we need?� What kind of type safety guarantees can we provide?

� Existing woes and challenges of distributed programming:� Fault tolerance and recovery.� Serializability of distributed execution.

7. Current Contributions and Results

� Developed an operational semantics for 0-link restricted rewriting� Based on CHR refined operational semantics [DSdlBH04].� Decentralized, Incremental, interrupt driven execution.� Proven soundness and completeness (exhaustiveness) of rewriting

� Formalized encoding of n-link restricted rewriting into 0-link restrictedrewriting� Based on 2 Phase commit n-consensus protocol [ML85].� Optimized encoding for 1-link restricted rewriting� General encoding for n-link restricted rewriting

� Prototype implementation� Implemented in Python, decentralized execution via OpenMPI bindings and thread

scheduling via multi-threading libraries.� CHR based optimization of multiset matching (e.g. optimal join ordering, indexing

for non-linear patterns, early guard scheduling)� Basic resource mapping: Initial locations mapped to OpenMPI nodes, dynamically

created locations mapped to threaded computation at source of creation.

8. Future Works

� Finalizing language design and high performance implementation� C, C++ or Haskell(GHC) as source language� Improving high-level feature encodings� Explore implementation via Pregel [MAB+10] or Mizan [KKAJ10].

� Improve language design� Aggregates, linear comprehensions, Datalog style retraction� Extending core language� New features via encoding in core language

� Dealing with unreliable communications and faulty computationresources� Fault tolerance backends and fault recovery interfaces� Improved n-link restriction encodings (via 3 Phase commit [KD95] or Paxos

Algorithm [Lam98])

∗ Funded by the Qatar National Research Fund as project NPRP 09-667-1-100(Effective Programming for Large Distributed Ensembles)

http://www.qatar.cmu.edu/˜sllam/ [email protected]

ClusterLoc: Exploiting Short Range Wireless Technologies for Energy Efficient Localization

AuthorMohammed Tarek Abdellatif

Faculty AdvisorKhaled Harras, Ph.D.


AbstractWith the ubiquity of WiFi-enabled smartphones, and large-scale access point deployment, WiFi-based

localization isoneof themostpromising indoor localizationsystems.ExistingWiFi localizationsolutions,

however, exhibit high power demand due to the periodic updates required, which raises the barrier for

deploymentsincebattery life isacrucial resource. In thisposter,weproposeacluster-based localization

algorithm, integrate it with our GreenLoc architecture, and evaluate its performance via simulation and

prototypeimplementation.

Wedesignand implementaproximity-basedclusteringalgorithm(CLoc)asarepresentativestrategythat

weintegratewithGreenLoc.CLocuseslowenergywirelesstechnologies,suchasBluetooth,todetectand

clusterindividualsmovingtogether.Itthenassignsagrouprepresentativetoactasadesignatedcluster-head

(CH)thatwouldbeconstantlytracked.Thelocationofothergroupmembersistheninferredsolongasthey

remainwithinproximityofthecorrespondingcluster-head.CLocdynamicallyhandlesthemergerorsplitting

ofclustersasaresultofmobility.

WeimplementaprototypeofGreenLocandtestitsoperationoverdifferentAndroiddevices.Wealsoevaluate

theimpactofourarchitecturebystudyingtheperformanceofourproposedCLocstrategyinourprototypeas

wellasviatheQualNetsimulatortoobtainmorescalableresults.Ourinitialresultsshowthatwecanachieve

upto60%energyreductionwitharelativelysmalldegradationinlocalizationaccuracyaveraging2meters.

Thisaccuracyreductionisnon-impactfulgiventhetypicalapplicationsexpectedtoleverageoursystem.

47

I. LOCALIZATION APPLICATIONS

Exploiting Short Range Wireless Technologies For Energy Efficient Localization

M.Tarek Abdellatif, Abderrahmen Mtibaa, and Khaled A. HarrasCarnegie Mellon University Qatar

II. MOTIVATION

III. SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

IV. SIMULATION SETUP IV. SIMULATION RESULTS

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mob

ility

VII. CONCLUDION & FUTURE WORK

References

The Cloc clustering algorithmThe GreenLoc architecture

Indoor LocalizationVarious technologiesApplications:

• School campus• Guided tours of museums• Social networking• Hospitals Different energy saving strategies [2]

Outdoor LocalizationDominated by GPSApplications:

• Navigation & Tracking of assets• Social networking• Calling a cab• Emergency road side assistance

The impact of the mobility model and clustering range on localizationerror and average power consumption [4]

The impact of mobility on Ploc, Cloc,and MCLoc

The impact of various joining and splittingconfidences on ALE and APC

We implement a prototype of GreenLoc [5] thatcomprises of three parts: (i) a generic localization server Ploc(ii) the GreenLoc architecture implementing CLoc and (iii)GreenLoc mobile client.

We test CLoc using 5 android devices; Samsung GalaxySI, Samsung Galaxy SII, and 3 Google Nexus One phones, allrunning the Android OS 2.3.

Normalized APC from CLoc when compared with PLoc.

• We achieve 60% reduction in localizationenergy per node with 28% accuracydegradation averaging 2 meters.

• Indoor Localization Architecture• We introduced a novel way to track

representative nodes using clustering.• Prototype implementation.• Large-scale testing.• Utilizing social data to improve clustering.• Power consumption fairness across

nodes.

Time = 0 mins

Time = 20 mins

Parameters Table

Metrics Table

VI. PROTOTYPE IMPLEMENTATION

Equations for ADE and APC

Scenario Outline

[1] Qualnet 5.0. http://www.scalable-networks.com.[2] Chuang wen You, Yi-Chao Chen, Ji-Rung Chiang, P. Huang, Hao hua Chu, and Seng-Yong Lau. Sensor-enhanced mobility prediction for energy-efficient localization. In SECON, 2006. [3] Moustafa Youssef and Ashok Agrawala. The Horus WLAN Location Determination System. In ACM Journal of Wireless Networks (WINET), 14:3 June 2007. [4] R. Friedman, A. Kogan, and Y. Krivolapov. On power and throughput tradeoffs of wifi and bluetooth in smartphones. In INFOCOM, 2011. [5] M. Abdellatif, A. Mtibaa, K . Harras, and M. Youssef. GreenLoc: An Energy Efficient Architecture for WiFi-based Indoor Localization on Mobile Phones. In ICC, 2013.

Simulation results using the Qualnet network simulator [1]

Performance and Cost Analysis of MapReduce Applications on Public Clouds

AuthorFan Zhang, Ph.D.

Faculty AdvisorMajd Sakr, Ph.D.


Abstract:TheMapReduceprogrammingmodelisawidelyacceptedsolutiontoaddresstherapidgrowthofbig-data

processingdemands.variousMapReduceapplicationswithaverylargevolumeofinputdatacanrunonan

elasticcomputecloudcomposedofmanydistributedcomputinginstances.Apubliccloudprovider,suchas

AmazonEC2,offersaspectrumofcloudresourceswithvaryingcosts.Clouduserstypicallyrenttheseelas-

ticcloudresourcesasvirtualmachines(vMs)inapay-as-you-gomodeltohaveaccesstolargescalecloud

resources.However,differentapplicationsscaledifferentlybasedontheirtype,behaviorandeffectiveuseof

resourcesavailable.

In thiswork,weattempt tocharacterizehowMapReduceperformance isaffectedby increasedcompute

resources foravarietyofapplication types.Since resourcesonpubliccloudsare rented,wecarryouta

performancecostanalysisinordertoassesstheefficiencyofasuiteofMapReduceapplicationsatutilizing

arangeofcomputeresources.Theseapplicationsspanacrossdata-andcompute-intensivebenchmarks.

Throughempiricalevidence,weobserveawidevariationinspeedup(5.2Xto36.7X)

andcost(3.6Xto9.7X),acrosstheapplicationswhentheclustersizeisincreasedto64

vMs.Map-intensiveapplications,suchasTermvectorandGrep,showahigherspeedupasweincreasethe

numberofvMswithoutasignificantincreaseincost.However,reduce-intensiveapplicationssuchasSort

exhibitlimitedspeedupandhencecostalotmoresincemoreresourcesareutilizedforalongerperiod.Given

thiswidevariation,wemeasuretheefficiencyofapplicationstoutilizecomputeresourcesasthenumberof

vMsisscaledfrom1to64.WeobserveanegativeslopeinefficiencyasthenumberofvMsisincreased

acrossallapplications.At64vMs,theapplicationefficiencyrangeisfrom57%downto8%.Someapplica-

tions,suchasSort,exhibita

steepnegativeslopeinefficiencywhenthenumberofvMsisincreasedfrom2to4.WordCountmaintainsa

highefficiencyat4vMsbutexhibitsasteepnegativeslopewhenincreasingthevMsto8onwards.Grepon

theotherhandexhibitsaslightbutsteadynegativeslopefrom2to64vMs.Theefficiencyofanapplication

canguidecloudusersinchoosingappropriatecomputingresourcesbasedoncomputeresourcebudgets

anddeadlines.

49

Fan Zhang School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar

{fanzhan1, msakr}@qatar.cmu.edu

Majd Sakr

Characterization of MapReduce Applications on Private and Public Cloud Platforms

Hadoop MapReduce Framework MapReduce Application Types

Characterization on a Public Cloud Platform

Future Work 1. Build a compute cluster with varied bandwidth to further verify the network-

demanding characteristics of Reduce-intensive applications.2. Develop a viable performance model, which takes into account the Map- and

Reduce-intensive phases, and incorporates the impact on performance and cost.3. Employ a larger cluster on both private and public cloud platforms to evaluate more

diverse benchmark applications across a variety of input data sets.

Characterization on a Private Cloud Platform

Conclusion 1. Performance of Map-intensive applications is highly dependent on the capacity of the

compute resources provisioned. Increasing the number of Map tasks will lead toimproved performance if sufficient resources exist to enable concurrency.

2. Performance of Reduce-intensive applications is highly dependent on the capacity ofthe network substrate to shuffle intermediate data in the Reduce phase.

3. A wide variation is observed in speedup and cost across applications whenprovisioning larger clusters – 4X speedup at 10X cost to 36X speedup at 5X cost. Weattribute this variation to the efficiency of applications to utilize cloud resources.

Public Cloud Platform

Performance

Cost

Cost Performance

Scalability Efficiency

Private Cloud Platform vCPU Memory Timeline Analysis

Map Reduce Input Data

Map Reduce

Shuffled Data

Output Data

Input Data

Map-intensive Application: WordCount

Reduce-intensive Application: Sort

Shuffled Data

Output Data

Local I/O Network Network

Local I/O Network Network

The QALB Project: Building Resources and Systems for the Automatic Correction of Arabic Text

AuthorsWajdi Zaghouani, Ph.D.

Faculty AdvisorBehrang Mohit, Ph.D.


AbstractWepresentourefforts inbuildingQALB,TheQatarArabicLanguageBankofedits.Thefirstgoalof this

projectistocreatealargecorpus(approximately2millionwords)ofhuman-correctedArabictextproduced

bynativespeakers,non-nativespeakers,andmachines.Theannotatedcorpuswillprovidetrainingdatafor

futurestatisticalArabicerrorscorrectiontools.

InordertobuildtheQALBcorpus,wecreatedcomprehensiveArabicerrorsannotationguidelinestobeused

bytheteamofannotatorsandvolunteersparticipatinginthisproject.Furthermore,wecreatedaweb-based

annotationtoolandanannotationworkflowmanagement interfacetobeusedduringthisproject.Wewill

demonstratethecurrentannotationframeworkandtheoutcomeofthepilotannotationphaseoftheproject.

OncetheQALBcorpusisready,weplantobuildanautomaticArabicerrorscorrectionframework.

ThisprojectissupportedbyNPRPgrant4-1058-1-168fromQatarNationalResearchFund(QNRF).

51

The QALB Project:

1. Problem StatementHow can we fix automatically the errors found in Arabic text ? How can we improve the English-Arabic machine translation output ?

2. Solution Build resources and systems for the automatic correction of various Arabic text.

Wajdi Zaghouani [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Behrang Mohit Ossama Obeid

5. QALB ANNOTATION Guidelines Requirement : comprehensive and coherent annotation guidelines which cover: Spelling Errors Punctuation Errors Lexical Errors Morphology Errors Syntactic Errors Dialectal Usage Correction

6. Annotation Tool Intuitive interfaces for:

• Correcting errors.• Move, merge, split, insert words• Managing annotation workflow.

Automate simple corrections.

Building Resources and Systems forthe Automatic Correction of Arabic Text

4. QALB Corpus Machine Translation output. Native speaker errors (eg. dialectal words). Non-native speaker errors. Student essays

7. Ongoing Progress

Acknowledgement This research was supported by Qatar NationalResearch Fund (QNRF), NPRP grant 4-1058-1-168

Kemal Oflazer

3. The QALB (Qatar Arabic Language Bank ) ProjectThe project is composed of two components: Corpus of Arabic error corrections. Automatic correction tool for Arabic.

Annotation Automatic Correction Tool

Contributing to a research effort on improving Arabic digital content.

Requirement: high school level Arabic knowledge.

8. Summer job opportunity

Figure 3: The QALB annotation screen. Figure 4: The QALB annotation pipeline.

Figure 5: Split word correction example.

Figure 6: Word correction functions.

Type-Based Productivity of Stream Definitions

AuthorJorge Luis Sacchini, Ph.D.


AbstractInfinitedatastructuresareusedfordefiningnon-terminatingprocessessuchaswebservers,operatingsys-

tems,ornetworkprotocols.Aprimeex-ampleofaninfinitedatastructureisastream,whichrepresentsan

infinitesequenceofelements.

Adesirablepropertyofastreamdefinitionisproductivity.Astreamdefinitionisproductiveifcomputingany

ofitselementstakesafiniteamountoftime.Inotherwords,productivedefinitionscannotgetstuck.

Proofassistantsand theoremproversenforceproductivityofstreamdefinitions inorder toensure logical

consistency.However,theyusuallyrelyonsyntacticmethodsthatarerelativelyrestrictiveanddifficulttouse.

Inthisworkweproposeatype-basedmethodforensuringproductivityofstreamdefinitions,whichismore

expressiveandintuitivethanthesyntactic-basedmethodsnormallyused.Furthermore,type-basedmeth-

odsarecompositional,whicheasesthetaskofdevelopinglargespecifications.Weextendedtheunderlying

theoryof theCoqproofassistantwitha type-basedproductivitycheckerandshowed that theapproach

preservessoundness(i.e.logicalconsistency).

53

•••

•server :: Requests → Answersserver(ClientReq : reqs) = ServerAns : server reqs

•server :: Requests → Answersserver(ClientReq : reqs) = server reqs

•server :: Requests → Answersserver(CReq : reqs) = if (overloaded)

then server reqselse SrvAns : server reqs

•

•

� ��

•

•

� ��

•

•

Formorethanacentury,CarnegieMellonUniversityhasbeeninspiring

innovationsthatchangetheworld.Consistentlytopranked,Carnegie

Mellonhasmorethan12,000students,90,000alumniand5,000faculty

andstaffglobally.

In2004,QatarFoundation invitedCarnegieMellon to joinEducation

City,agroundbreakingcenter forscholarshipandresearch.Students

frommorethan40differentcountriesenrollatourworld-classfacilities

inEducationCity.

Carnegie Mellon Qatar offers undergraduate programs in biological

sciences, business administration, computational biology, computer

scienceandinformationsystems.CarnegieMellonisfirmlycommitted

to Qatar’s National vision 2030 by developing people, society, the

economyandtheenvironment.

Learnmoreatwww.qatar.cmu.edu

P. O . B o x 2 4 8 6 6 | E d u c a t i o n C i t y, D o h a , Q a t a r | P h : + 9 7 4 4 4 5 4 8 4 0 0 | F a x : + 9 7 4 4 4 5 4 8 4 1 0 | w w w. q a t a r. c m u . e d u

Documents

Meeting of the Minds, 2013