Left for UMASSD at around 7:30 am. We made a few pit stops along the way and got to North Dartmouth at around 12:30. We checked into the Dartmouth Motor Inn. We went to the Dartmouth Mall which is pretty nice. It has the same stores we do, Old Navy, Sears, JC Penney, etc. We ate at Ruby Tuesdays which is like Applebeeís , we walked around the mall, we also saw Wal-Mart, Stop and Shop, Dunkin Donuts, a movie theatre. We looked at the Campus, which is huge and my little area is kind of like its own little town. We went to bed, though we were terrified of being eaten by mosquitoes.
June 2nd
We left the motel at 9:30 and went to Friendlyís to eat breakfast. We went to
Wal-Mart for some last minute shopping, and then we went to my room. I am in Cedar Dell South , so far I have four roommates, and ONE shower. Tomorrow I have to get my Official student pass and a parking sticker. Right now I am very bored. I have to finish reading for my project.
June 3rd
Well today was a pretty trying day. I went to the UMASS PASS office to get my new id, and parking pass. So I get it in two minutes , which I thought was awesome. So I get to my front door , swipe my card, and I hear this annoying noise and see a flashing red button, which signifies that I am not allowed in. So I knock hoping one of my roommates is up because it is 9:30 am. No one answers. So I go back to the office, thank God I have my car, and they tell me their machine is down and I have to have one of the RAís let me in. They told me their machine wonít be running until the afternoon. So I go back to my apartment. I knock and finally my roommate lets me in. But then I canít get into my bedroom. So we call the RA, who is one of my roommates, and she finally comes, and I get into my room. I figure since I canít fix this problem maybe I can get my Internet access and e-mail set up. So I call the CIT office and no one answers. So I decide to go there and leave my front door and bedroom door open, so I donít get locked out. I get there and I have to fill out a form. She gives me a username and password and e-mail address. And then says I have to wait until they configure my computer. So I decide to bring my laptop to them so they can do it. So they fix it and say it will be running later in the afternoon. I go back to my room, and keep calling the UMASS PASS office until they tell me its okay to come up and get my new id. So finally at 2:30 itís fixed. I go back and they give me my card but tell me it will only work for my own bedroom door not the front door. They say maybe later night or early tomorrow it will be fixed. So I am so upset at this point, so I go back to my room. And to cheer me up in walks the cute neighbor. He came buy to make sure my laptop is working. So he sets it up and it works. Then I see a guy at my door. He came to fix my front door so my card can work. So finally at 3:30 I am all set up. My card works, my e-mail and Internet works. Everything turned out okay.
June 4th
Today is my first day of work. I got up at 8:00. And left to go to the Dion Building to see Professor Valova and start working on the project. She told me that the first 2 weeks I will be researching Adaptive Resonance Theory, such as what is it used for, can I implement it using MATLAB, and is it a good model for what I want to show, this paper has to be 5-6 pages long. The next 3 weeks I will be working Self-Organizing Maps, this paper must be longer. The last 5 weeks will be dedicated to my research, basically genetic sequencing using Neural Networks. For instance, Neural Networks and Genetic Algorithms. It seems like I am going to be busy. One good thing is for the first two weeks I can stay in my room and work from my computer to write the paper. But whenever I have to print something I have to go to the lab. Itís only 5:30 right now so maybe I will eat something and then try to finish reading and set myself with an outline for the first paper.
June 5th
Today Professor Valova and I discussed in detail what we want to research on Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART). The research will focus on Adaptive Resonance Theory and its application in diagnosing and/or treating schizophrenia or other mental disorders. Another aspect of the project will focus on how well do ART networks model the brain and if it does not model the brain accurately are there any other competitive networks that do. For the most of the day I have been researching articles on full text Internet databases about using Adaptive Resonance Theory and Schizophrenia. I have found many interesting applications of ART and patterns of brain waves in Schizophrenic patients. I have also found other medical applications of ART such as modeling the muscle stimulations in patients with paralysis, and modeling blood flow with ART to understand irregular heart beats or cardiac arrhythmia. In addition to finding research on ART I have found many articles on Neural Networks and its uses in electronics, however Professor Valova and I are concentrating on medical aspects using Neural Networks. Professor Valova and I wanted to research ART and Alzheimerís a disease caused by the degeneration of brain cells. However, I was not very successful with Alzheimerís disease. However I did come across research about Parkinsonsís disease and modeling neurotransmitters with Neural Networks. Parkinsonís disease is very similar to Alzheimerís disease in that scientists believe they are both caused by abnormalities in the basal ganglia of the brain and also lack of or abundance of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, which is also found to be an issue in schizophrenic patients.
June 6th
Today I began writing my paper on ART and its applications in disease. I also started building my webpage. I have never designed a website, so it was quite an adventure trying to decide how I was going to begin. I went to www.geocities.com because I know my friend has a website there and she said it is very easy to get started and also its free to maintain the website. So on the website for geocities is says ìSign up for a free websiteî. So I did. I went to Yahoo!PageWizards because the caption said it has easy-to-follow steps. I went there and it was quite simple. Since I donít know HTML, I couldnít write the code in it. My programming skills are in C++, MATLAB, a little bit of PERL, but not HTML. However, I was willing to try to use the websites help index. So I chose my homepage design and followed the steps. I included my info, links to Prof.Valovaís page, and some general info about the project. I did not want to include too much miscellaneous information so I decided to stick to the project and some minor details of other activities. I seemed to have a little trouble finding out how to upload files from my computer on to my website. Lightbulb, on the geocities website it has an Easy Upload toolbox. I went to the CRA website to see what the committee wants me to include on the website. I decided when I finish writing the paper, I can upload it on the website so everyone can see the first research project. I think I will finish the paper by Tuesday, and upload it Wednesday. I also want to include Prof.Valovaís proposal of the project, so everyone can see the entire projectís outline.
My paper outline is completed. Continue Reading My Log Entries
Link to my paper outline
