Thesis
J.C. Goodwin (2007) “Ontology Integration within a Service-Oriented Architecture for Sensor Networks.”
Journal
J.C. Goodwin and D.J. Russomanno. (To Appear) “Ontology Integration within a Service-Oriented Architecture for Expert System Applications using Sensor Networks,” Journal of Expert Systems
D.J. Russomanno, A.L. Curry, G.S. Atanasova, L.C. Hunt, and J.C. Goodwin (2007) “DefibViz: A Visualization Tool for the Assessment of Electrode Parameters on Transthoracic Defibrillation Thresholds,” IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine
D.J. Russomanno and J.C. Goodwin (2006) “Animation and Visualization Tools: From Undergraduate Projects to Pedagogical Aids,” Journal of STEM Education
Conference
J. Qualls, D.J. Russomanno, and J.C. Goodwin (2007) “Hinged-Sliced Visualization of Defibrillation Induced Voltage Gradients,” The 2007 International Conference on Modeling, Simulation and Visualization Methods
J.C. Goodwin and D.J. Russomanno. (2007) “Survey of Semantic Extensions to UDDI: Implications for Sensor Services,” The 2007 International Conference on Semantic Web and Web Services
D.J. Russomanno, A. Lambert, and J.C. Goodwin. (2007) “Data Visualization in the High-School Physics Classroom: Pathway to Engineering and Computer Science Careers?,” The 2007 International Conference on Frontiers in Education: Computer Science and Computer Engineering
Book Chapter
D.J. Russomanno and J.C. Goodwin (2007) “OntoSensor: An Ontology for Sensor Network Application Development, Deployment, and Management,” Handbook of Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networking, McGraw Hill
Poster
J.C. Goodwin and D.J. Russomanno. (2006, Poster) “An Ontology-Based Sensor Network Prototype Environment,” Fifth International Conference on Information Processing in Sensor Networks, Nashville, TN.
J.C. Goodwin, J. Zhang, and T.R. Johnson. (2008, Poster Abstract (Non-peer Reviewed)) “ Modeling Emergency Care as a Complex Adaptive System: Implications for Patient Quality,” KECK Annual Research Conference 2008, Houston, TX.
J.C. Goodwin, J. Zhang, and T.R. Johnson. (2008, Poster Abstract) “ Modeling Emergency Care as a Complex Adaptive System,” 2008 University of Texas Health Science Center Annual Research Day, Houston, TX.
THESIS
Ontology Integration within a Service-Oriented Architecture for Sensor Networks
This thesis describes the development and implementation of an ontology-based network centric service-oriented architecture for discovery of sensor services using semantics. The architecture enables software agents to discover ubiquitous sensors referencing machine-interpretable service descriptions, such as those proposed by the Semantic Web effort, enabling on-the-fly utilization of sensors for applications that might not have been anticipated on initial deployment. The developed architecture overcomes some of the limitations of the current service-oriented architecture technologies that rely solely on XML data structures and syntax-based search mechanisms for discovery of Web services. The architecture developed in this thesis allows for the generalization, specialization, performance property, supported application, and instance semantic processing to satisfy queries. Furthermore, the architecture seeks to enhance the syntactic search for sensor services by extracting semantic metadata from a sensor ontology pertinent to satisfying a query and saving it in the service registry.
Journal
Ontology Integration within a Service-Oriented Architecture for Expert System Applications using Sensor Networks
This paper describes the development of an architecture for the discovery of sensor services leveraging ontology-based semantics in the search query. A prototype has been implemented based upon the architecture and can be used to support the development of expert system applications in which sensors of certain types, operational capabilities, or physical properties are required to support applications within a network-centric environment. In the prototype, sensor services are listed in a registry that references a machine-interpretable ontology. The registry conforms to the Universal Discovery and Description Interface (UDDI) specification, but it is augmented with semantic matching via an ontology to increase the likelihood that relevant sensor services are discovered when needed by expert system applications.
Journal
DefibViz: A Visualization Tool for the Assessment of Electrode Parameters on Transthoracic Defibrillation Thresholds
DefibViz is a software application developed for defibrillation simulation and visualization. It exploits both surface techniques and methods for the interactive exploration of volumetric datasets for the analysis of transthoracic defibrillation simulation results. DefibViz has a graphical user interface for the specification of the shape, size, position, and applied voltage of a defibrillator’s electrodes. An option is provided for using three-dimensional slice plane widgets, which operate on the volumetric datasets, such that the distribution of the voltage gradient induced by an electric shock can be visually inspected in various tissues throughout the torso and myocardium. There is also functionality to threshold the magnitude of the voltage gradient to be visualized via boundaries specified by the user. One goal of DefibViz is to enhance understanding of how electrode parameters relate to the change of the voltage gradient distribution throughout the heart, which may help lead to optimal defibrillator design. DefibViz is significant in that it integrates simulation and visualization software, which previously required the running of several independent software executables, into an enhanced, seamless, and comprehensive software application.
Journal
D.J. Russomanno and J.C. Goodwin (2006) “Animation and Visualization Tools: From Undergraduate Projects to Pedagogical Aids,” Journal of STEM Education
Animation and visualization tools are being designed, implemented, and maintained primarily by undergraduate students at The University of Memphis as part of an interdisciplinary data visualization course established via an NSF/CCLI grant. Currently, the tools consist of modules in projectile motion, conservation of momentum, and elementary airplane dynamics, as well as tools for visualizing large medical domain data. Students are involved in a requirements elicitation process, with input provided by high-school teachers, to develop applications that may have pedagogical utility in high schools in the Mid-South area. Teachers are using the tools in the classroom and acquiring data to assess the tools effectiveness as pedagogical aids, while undergraduate students are receiving feedback regarding their software designs.
Conference
Hinged-Sliced Visualization of Defibrillation Induced Voltage Gradients
DefibViz is a research application developed for defibrillation simulation and visualization. Both geometric rendering and interactive exploration of volume data techniques are exploited in DefibViz. DefibViz includes use of three-dimensional (3-D) slice plane widgets such that the distribution of the voltage gradient induced by a simulated shock can be visually inspected throughout the heart and torso. This paper presents an extension to DefibViz with hinged-sliced interaction to explore the volumetric datasets. As part of our work, hinge-slicing source code has been extracted from a prior stand-alone application and enhanced so that it can be more readily integrated into visualization applications.
Conference
Survey of Semantic Extensions to UDDI: Implications for Sensor Services
Abstract-The ability for software agents to discover, query, and task ubiquitous sensors requires machineinterpretable service descriptions, such as those proposed by the Semantic Web effort. Descriptions that support deep semantics will enable on-the-fly utilization of sensors for applications that might not have been anticipated on initial deployment. Semantic Web service discovery and dynamic composition requires formal semantic descriptions of inputs, outputs, preconditions, and effects of services. Universal Description Discovery and Integration (UDDI) provides a registry for publication and discovery of Web services, but it lacks the semantics needed for discovery and interoperation as envisioned by the Semantic Web community due to UDDI’s syntax-based search. This paper surveys representative approaches for incorporating semantic capabilities within the existing UDDI infrastructure and then proposes an architecture for sensor services within an ontology-based networkcentric environment.
Conference
Data Visualization in the High-School Physics Classroom: Pathway to Engineering and Computer Science Careers?
This paper describes high-school student survey results related to outreach aspects of an interdisciplinary data visualization course established in part through a National Science Foundation grant at the University of Memphis. The survey focuses on the influence of outreach activities on high-school physics students’ awareness and interest in data visualization, how visualization can be used in engineering applications, the types of work engineering and computer science careers offer, the skills needed for success in such careers, and the students’ overall interest in engineering and computer science as a college major.
Book Chapter
OntoSensor: An Ontology for Sensor Network Application Development, Deployment, and Management
This chapter describes the potential utilization of an ontology in heterogeneous sensor network environments to facilitate discovery, query, tasking, inference, and interoperation of a myriad of sensor types. As sensor networks advance, they will no longer be dedicated to specific applications in which a priori knowledge of the sensors’ capabilities and access methods are procedural bundled within application-specific software. In dynamic scenarios, declarative knowledge sources are required to support the on-the-fly utilization of sensors by software agents. A laboratory environment and evolving sensor ontology have been constructed to experiment with such scenarios. OntoSensor has been implemented using the Web Ontology Language to model sensor properties, associations, and services providing meta data about sensor types, as well as the knowledge required for subsequent interoperability given that the sensors may contribute to an agent’s overall goal.
Poster
Ontology-based Sensor Network Prototype Environment
Abstract—This paper describes work-in-progress development of an ontology-based, sensor network prototype environment to facilitate research in distributed, heterogeneous sensor inference, fusion, tasking and control. Currently, the prototype environment consists of wireless sensing capabilities that include temperature, acceleration, GPS, light, barometric pressure, magnetic field and acoustic measurements, with wired visible, infrared, and other high-bitrate sensors pending integration. Communication links formed by the sensors permit the aggregation of data at the base stations. Each base station includes a process that generates a sensor data repository from the raw percepts, which is marked up using the Web Ontology Language (OWL) to reference the OntoSensor ontology. Each sensor type in OntoSensor is defined using concepts, associations, and services providing meta data about each sensor, as well as requisite knowledge for interoperability and data fusion. A software agent developed in SWI PROLOG loads the OWL sensor repositories into its knowledge base for subsequent application. Currently, the agent only supports ad-hoc queries of the sensor repositories to discover trends in the measurements. Plans for future work include demonstration of proof-of-concept utility of sensor ontologies in distributed sensor processing and control.
Poster
Modeling Emergency Care as a Complex Adaptive System: Implications for Patient Safety
Abstract: The Emergency Room is a non-deterministic environment where decisions are made on an ad-hoc basis through opportunistic and collaborative planning. The emergent behavior of the ER results in errors that arise from system complexity and can be arduous to predict based solely upon a unitary clinical agent. Modeling emergency care as a Complex Adaptive System avoids over simplification through reductionist linear decomposition of the system by emphasizing the non-linear interactions of clinicians that lead to self-organization and emergent behavior. The view of the emergency room as a superorganism with medical error as an emergent property may lead to process change or active interventions that could improve health care quality.