The potential for machine learning systems to improve via a mutually beneficial exchange of information with users has yet to be explored in much detail. Previously, we found that users were willing to provide a generous amount of rich feedback to machine learning systems, and that the types of some...
This dissertation explores the idea of applying machine learning technologies to help computer users find information and better organize electronic resources, by presenting the research work conducted in the following three applications: FolderPredictor, Stacking Recommendation Engines, and Integrating Learning and Reasoning.
FolderPredictor is an intelligent desktop software tool that helps...
If basic assumptions about how knowledge workers conceptualize and use work units are wrong, then any solutions resting on those assumptions are unlikely to be successful since, instead of decreasing costs, they will lead to increasing them. This paper reports on how knowledge workers understand, use and switch between units...
A remote Digital Signal Processing (DSP) lab for the Internet is developed to give students the opportunity to work together online with a remotely located Digital Signal Processor (DSP). Students in different locations can work together with the DSP as if they were present in the lab. To make this...
Desktop widget engines have emerged as an alternative for completing simple tasks without the need for a full-blown application or constant user interaction. Widgets can simply display data in a compact and visually appealing manner (such as stock tickers, weather forecasts, and news notifications), or go so far as to...
Approximate string matching is commonly used to align genetic sequences (DNA
or RNA) to determine their shared characteristics. In contrast with the standard
dynamic programming methods which use local edit distance models, the Walking
Tree heuristic method was created to handle non-local changes, e.g., translocations,
inversions, and duplications, altogether and...
The meaning of biological sequences is a central problem
of modern biology. Although string matching is well understood
in the edit-distance model, biological strings
with transpositions and inversions violate this model's
assumptions. To align biologically reasonable strings, we
proposed the Walking Tree Method [4,5,6,7,8], an
approximate string alignment method that...
Participation in physical activity has important health benefits among individuals with disabilities, whereas inactive lifestyles may lead to secondary limiting health conditions. However, few people with disabilities regularly participate in the recommended amount of health-related physical activities. Low rate of participation may be related to low motivation due to interconnected...
This thesis describes the implementation of an interface for querying established correspondences between anatomical structures across species. I was the main developer of this query engine, called the Comparative Anatomy Information System. My work involved developing methods to query the knowledge base, perform the specified comparison, display the anatomical hierarchies...