Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Fine-Grained Topic Models Using Anchor Words, Jeffrey A. Lund

Theses and Dissertations

Topic modeling is an effective tool for analyzing the thematic content of large collections of text. However, traditional probabilistic topic modeling is limited to a small number of topics (typically no more than hundreds). We introduce fine-grained topic models, which have large numbers of nuanced and specific topics. We demonstrate that fine-grained topic models enable use cases not currently possible with current topic modeling techniques, including an automatic cross-referencing task in which short passages of text are linked to other topically related passages. We do so by leveraging anchor methods, a recent class of topic model based on non-negative matrix …

Electrical Characterization Of Crystalline Uo2, Tho2 And U0.71Th0.29O2, Christina L. Dugan

Theses and Dissertations

Uranium dioxide (UO₂), thorium dioxide (ThO₂), and U_xTh_1-xO₂ alloys are characterized for suitability in uranium-based neutron detectors. ThO₂ was studied for an envisioned UO₂/ThO₂ heterojunction. A U_0.71Th_0.29O₂ alloy was studied because of its resistance to oxidation and potential use in surface passivation. The U_0.71Th_0.29O₂ effective Debye temperature of 217± 24 K was measured using temperature-dependent x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). The specific heat capacity for the U_0.71Th_0.29O₂ alloy was calculated from the Debye …

Evaluating An Educational Cybersecurity Playable Case Study, Tanner West Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The realities of cyberattacks have become more and more prevalent in the world today. Due to the growing number of these attacks, the need for highly trained individuals has also increased. Because of a shortage of qualified candidates for these positions, there is an increasing need for cybersecurity education within high schools and universities. In this thesis, I discuss the development and evaluation of Cybermatics, an educational simulation, or playable case study, designed to help students learn and develop skills within the cybersecurity discipline.

This playable case study was designed to allow students to gain an understanding of the field …

Designing Cybersecurity Competitions In The Cloud: A Framework And Feasibility Study, Chandler Ryan Newby

Theses and Dissertations

Cybersecurity is an ever-expanding field. In order to stay current, training, development, and constant learning are necessary. One of these training methods has historically been competitions. Cybersecurity competitions provide a method for competitors to experience firsthand cybersecurity concepts and situations. These experiences can help build interest in, and improve skills in, cybersecurity.

While there are diverse types of cybersecurity competitions, most are run with on-premise hardware, often centralized at a specific location, and are usually limited in scope by available hardware. This research focuses on the possibility of running cybersecurity competitions, specifically CCDC style competitions, in a public cloud environment. …

Enabling Auditing And Intrusion Detection Of Proprietary Controller Area Networks, Brent C. Stone

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this dissertation is to provide automated methods for security researchers to overcome ‘security through obscurity’ used by manufacturers of proprietary Industrial Control Systems (ICS). `White hat' security analysts waste significant time reverse engineering these systems' opaque network configurations instead of performing meaningful security auditing tasks. Automating the process of documenting proprietary protocol configurations is intended to improve independent security auditing of ICS networks. The major contributions of this dissertation are a novel approach for unsupervised lexical analysis of binary network data flows and analysis of the time series data extracted as a result. We demonstrate the utility …

A Microscopic Simulation Laboratory For Evaluation Of Off-Street Parking Systems, Yun Yuan

Theses and Dissertations

The parking industry produces an enormous amount of data every day that, properly analyzed, will change the way the industry operates. The collected data form patterns that, in most cases, would allow parking operators and property owners to better understand how to maximize revenue and decrease operating expenses and support the decisions such as how to set specific parking policies (e.g. electrical charging only parking space) to achieve the sustainable and eco-friendly parking.

However, there lacks an intelligent tool to assess the layout design and operational performance of parking lots to reduce the externalities and increase the revenue. To address …

Conversion Of A Simulator Written In C++ To Js And Optimizing The Simulation Parameters Using Evolutionary Algorithms, Venkata Sivasai Pavan Kumar Lottala

Theses and Dissertations

A discrete event simulator written in C++ is converted in to Java Script, that tracks the

blood glucose level of a person in response to a timed sequence of diet and exercise activities. Its

main objective is to capture the average impact of the various diet/exercise activities on the blood

glucose level. The main aim for translation of the code in to Java Script is that the simulator can

be hosted on the Google Firebase Cloud and can be available for the public use. The optimization

of the simulator parameters such as excretionKidney_impact, glut4Impact_,

glycolysisMinImpact_, gngImpact_, peakinsulinLevel_, glycolysisMaxImpact_,

liverGlycogenBreakdownImpact_ and …

Concurrency Analysis In Javascript Programs Using Arrows, Joshua Cochrane

Theses and Dissertations

Concurrency errors are difficult to detect and correct in asynchronous programs such as those implemented in JavaScript. One reason is that it is often difficult to keep track of which parts of the program may execute in parallel and potentially share resources in unexpected, and perhaps unintended, ways. While programming constructs such as promises can help improve the readability of asynchronous JavaScript programs that were traditionally written using callbacks, there are no static tools to identify asynchronous functions that run in parallel, which may potentially cause concurrency errors.

In this work, we present a solution for implementing JavaScript programs using …

River Bank Inducement Influence On A Shallow Groundwater Microbial Community And Its Effects On Aquifer Reactivity, Natalie June Gayner

Theses and Dissertations

Placing groundwater wells next to riverbanks to draw in surface water, known as riverbank inducement (RBI), is common and proposed as a promising and sustainable practice for municipal and public water production across the globe. However, these systems require further investigation to determine risks associated with river infiltration especially with rivers containing wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent. Since microbes drive biogeochemical transformations in groundwater and largely affect water quality, it is important to understand how the microbial communities in drinking water wells are affected by river infiltration. This study investigated if, and to what extent, the microbial community in a …

Zgjerueshmëria E Infrastrukturës Përmes Metodave Të Virtualizimit Të Aplikacioneve Në Nivel Të Sistemit Operativ, Altin Ukshini

Theses and Dissertations

Zhvillimi dhe menaxhimi i aplikacioneve fleksibile dhe të zgjerueshme lehtë është një sfidë operacionale dhe e dizajnimit të infrastrukturës kur kemi të bëjmë me aplikacione dhe platforma të mëdha. Virtualizimi i aplikacioneve në nivel të Sistemit Operativ (konteinerizimi) ka bërë bujë në përdorim tek infrastrukturat dhe serverët në cloud, si dhe në mënyrën se si sot zhvillohen softuerët që të jenë të zgjerueshëm në aspekt të infrastrukturës dhe fleksibilitetit të zhvillimit. Në këtë punim shtjellohet veçmas për teknologjitë e ndryshme të konteinerizimit të aplikacioneve dhe për rëndësinë që ka sot kjo teknologji në zhvillimin e softuerit dhe dizajnimin e arkitekturave …

Krahasimi Në Mes Spring Boot Framework Dhe Jee Framework, Astrit Berisha

Theses and Dissertations

Në këtë punim ne do të bëjmë dallimin dhe ngjajshmerin në mes dy framework se cila prej këtyre dy framework mundëson zhvillimin e shpejtë të aplikacioneve, zvogëlon nevojën për programim si dhe sa janë të sigurta. Meqë përdorimi i këtyre dy framework është për zhvillimin e aplikacioneve, atëherë edhe përdorimi i tyre është po aq i rëndësishëm, të cilat na tregojn se çfarë lloj programesh mund ose duhet të ndërtohet dhe si do të ndërlidhen. Gjetjet janë të bazuara në një rishikim të historisë së të dy framework, dhe veçanërisht në atë se si kane ardhur deri te zhvillimi për …

Aplikimi I Internet Of Things Në Smart City, Genita Tahiri

Theses and Dissertations

Që kur u prezantua koncepti i një Smart City, Internet of Things është konsideruar infrastruktura kryesore në një smart city. Studimi aktual përshkruan rëndësinë e teknologjive IoT në teknologji udhërrëfyesi (TRM) të një smart city. Për më tepër, rreth 200 ekspertë hulumtojnë rëndësinë dhe thelbin e komponentëve të detajuar të teknologjive IoT për një smart city. Aplikacionet e reja të IoT janë duke bërë të mundur iniciativat e Smart City në të gjithë botën. Ai siguron aftësinë për të monitoruar, menaxhuar dhe kontrolluar pajisjet në distancë, dhe për të krijuar njohuri të reja dhe informacion të zbatueshëm nga rrjedhat masive …

Analizimi Dhe Implementimi I Kornizave Të Testimit Të Automatizuar Selenium Dhe Sahi, Kaltrina Baftiu

Theses and Dissertations

Testimi është bërë pjesë integrale e ciklit të zhvillimit të softuerit (SDLC). Përmes mjeteve të automatizuara të testimit me burim të hapur, kostoja e tërë procesit të testimit, si dhe koha që duhet për të kryer procesin e testimit, është zvogëluar ndjeshëm. Qëllimi kryesor i këtij materiali hulumtues është të analizojë mjetet e testimit të internetit Selenium dhe Sahi për të krahasuar karakteristikat e tyre dhe performancën në mënyrë që një përdorues i veçantë të mund të zgjedhë një mjet që është i përshtatshëm në aspektin e përdorshmërisë dhe karakteristikat e kërkuara për një detyrë specifike. Zgjedhja e një kornize …

Siguria E Të Dhënave Në Implementimet E Iot Në Sistemet Ehealth, Iliriana Shala

Theses and Dissertations

Në jetën tonë të sotme ne gjithmonë duhet të merremi me informacionin që luan një rol të rëndësishem në jetën tonë.Njëra nga burimet kryesore të informacionit është padyshim interneti.Gjërat që na rrethojnë po veprojnë me zgjuarsi dhe po e bëjnë jetën tonë njerëzore më të mençur.Këto gjëra veprojnë me zgjuarsi pasi janë të lidhura me internetin dhe kështu quhen “Internet of Things (IoT)”.Pajisjet e IoT mbledhin dhe i shpërndajnë informatat direkt me njëra tjetrën në cloud platforma, duke e bërë të mundur grumbullimin, ruajtjen dhe analizimin e të dhënave më shpejtë dhe më saktë.IoT ofron një premtim të madh në …

Menaxhimi I Rrezikut Të Sigurisë Së Informacionit, Valon Perçuku

Theses and Dissertations

Ky punim është përpjekja ime për ta trajtuar çështjen e menaxhimit të rrezikut të sigurisë së informacionit si dhe aspektin se si rreziku perceptohet nga organizatat. Gjatë punimit nuk kam bërë ndonjë dallim të theksuar nga ajo se si organizatat apo kompanitë lokale në Kosovë operojnë krahas atyre ndërkombëtare; kjo sepse, ka pak dallim në mënyrën që operojmë. Si në Kosovë ashtu edhe ndërkombëtarisht organizatat janë të vëna përballë një rreziku që ka formën ndoshta edhe natyrën e njëjtë, përveç probabilitetit që mund të jetë më i madh bazuar në natyrën e organizatës dhe perceptimit global që ka, edhe në …

The Built Landscape And Ecological Behavior: Patterns For Readdressing Environmental Thinking In Residence Hall Design, Sarah Keogh

Theses and Dissertations

This research addresses how architectural design processes and practices are implicated and/or reflected in social constructions of ecological thinking. It is generally recognized that human behaviors are affecting climate change and giving rise to a plethora of ecological issues; yet a transformation of widespread behavior has not yet followed. This raises questions. In the field of architecture, how can the built landscape function to encourage and support sustainable behavior patterns?

Looking at universities as locations that are embedded in their urban contexts and have influence both on their surrounding communities and on year after year of students who pass through, …

Graphene-Based Materials Coated On Zeolite For The Removal Of Persistent Organic Pollutants From Water, Yan Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

Adsorption is a fast, low-cost and the most commonly implemented water treatment technology for the removal of multiple contaminations from ground water, drinking water or wastewater. Difficulties in removing persistent organic pollutants (POPs) to improve quality and safety of treated water sources require the exploration of novel and multifunctional materials. Graphene-based materials having unique structures, high specific surface areas and tailorable functional groups are promising candidates as adsorbents.

The main goal of this work is to fabricate a novel adsorbent made of GO/rGO attached on natural zeolite substrates for the removal of variably charged organic model compounds and POPs in …

Measurement Of The Cross Section Of Top Quark Pairs In Association With A Photon In Lepton+Jets Events At √S =13 Tev, Titas Roy

Theses and Dissertations

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is the world’s biggest and most powerful accelerator. Colliding protons at the highest centre of mass energy yet, data are being collected by the detectors at an unprecendented rate, making it possible to search for new particles as well as make precise measurements. With the increase in statistics and energy of the data collected, it is now possible to make precise measurements with events that have a relatively low probability of occuring. In this thesis, the production cross section of a top quark pair plus a radiated photon, tt¯+γ, is measured in proton-proton …

1. Synthesis And Characterization Of A Vanadium Based Transition State Mimic For Organophosphate Hydrolase 2. Catalytic Oxidation Of Thioanisole And 2-Chloroethyl Ethyl Sulfide Using Resin Bead Supported Oxoperoxidovanadium(V) Complexes, Efram Goldberg

Theses and Dissertations

Two vanadium(V) complexes were prepared for different projects. First the ONS tridentate ligand 14 was prepared according to literature procedure. This ligand was chosen to make the ONS dioxovanadium complex 15 for conjugation to a protein and to eventually elicit catalytic antibodies for the hydrolysis of the chemical weapon VX. Complex 15 was prepared in 65% overall yield and a full characterization was performed including X-ray diffraction. Initial screening performed at the Naval Research Laboratory indicated an IC50 of 84 nM for inhibition of a bacterial cholinesterase. It was also found to be 50% as effective as the control antiobiotic …

Collection And Analysis Of Digital Forensic Data From Devices In The Internet Of Things, Raed Alharbi

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the abundance articles that have been written about the Internet of Things (IoT), little attention has been given to how digital forensics approaches can be utilized to direct advanced investigations in IoT-based frameworks. As of yet, IoT has not completely adjusted to digital forensic strategies given the fact that current digital forensic tools and functions are not ready to tackle the complexity of IoT frameworks for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and testing potential evidence from IoT environments that might be utilized as permissible evidence in a court. Hence, the issue addressed is that; currently, there is no accepted …

Towards Enhanced Security For Automotive Operating Systems, Maksym Hryhorenko

Theses and Dissertations

Modern automotive infotainment systems are represented by highly complex components with broad functionality and network capabilities. As a result, they are becoming more exposed to the outer world, thus turning into potentially lucrative targets for remote cyber attacks. In the worst case scenario, an attacker could gain complete control over critical vehicle’s systems, for instance, steering, braking, engine, etc. This thesis proposes security hardening features based on ARM’s TrustZone technology for infotainment systems that ensures confidentiality and integrity of critical applications. In addition, we present a technique that allows to mitigate the impact of certain attacks on the car’s internal …

Lighting A Path To Biofouling Prevention: Investigating The Effect Of Ultraviolet Light On Biofouling, Cierra Rose Braga

Theses and Dissertations

Ultraviolet light (UV) is considered an environmentally friendly antifouling method because it disrupts biological growth without the release of harmful toxins. The application of UV for the marine shipping industry is a relatively new concept, and there still remains many unknowns before it can be fully implemented. This research investigated several aspects of applying UVC for the control of fouling. A novel method of using embedded UV LEDs within a silicone coating for fouling control proved to be very effective at preventing fouling. The research also investigated the effect of using an external UVC light treatment to control fouling on …

Wind-Driven Setup, Roughness, And Drag Over A Depth- And Fetch-Limited Coastal Estuary, Jeffrey Allen Colvin

Theses and Dissertations

The understanding of the momentum exchange across the air-sea interface is critical to accurately model and forecast wind speed, wave properties, setup, and circulation. This is particularly true for a restricted estuary, such as the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), where wind is the driving force behind water movement due to the limited number of direct ocean connections. Current atmospheric and hydrodynamic models use formulations of the drag coefficient and/or roughness length based on open ocean studies in which wave properties are not considered. This dissertation develops two parameterizations – one for wind setup and one for the drag coefficient – …

Blow-Up Solutions Of Wave Map Equations With Periodic In Time Speed Of Propagation, Nathalie M. Luna-Rivera

Theses and Dissertations

We study the initial value problem for the wave map equation with time-dependent speed of propagation. In particular, for arbitrary, small, and smooth initial data we construct blow-up solutions of the wave map with coefficients that are periodic in time. For the proof we use Lyapunov-Floquet theory and Borg’s theorem.

Studying Mechanical And Structural Properties Of Β-Lg And Β-Cn Fibrils Using Atomic Force Microscopy, Hugo A. Villar

Theses and Dissertations

Amyloid fibrils from milk proteins have recently been the subject of extensive investigations in biophysics. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the dynamics of fibrillation and the mechanical properties of β-LG and β-CN fibers using AFM-Quantitative Nanomechanical Mapping (QNM) and AFM-force spectroscopy. β-LG required one day of heating at 80 °C , pH 2 to fibrillate in solution; β-CN required three days. Using the AFM-QNM mode an average elastic modulus of 4.3 GPa was determined for the β-LG fibers and 3.1 GPa for β-casein fibers. A persistence length of 920 nm was determined using end to end distance …

Effects On Altering Reaction Conditions In Suzuki Cross Coupling Reactions Using The Microwave, Javier Alejandro Perez

Theses and Dissertations

Over the last few decades, Suzuki coupling has become a common process for the synthesis of intermediates in pharmaceutical and industrial applications. It is well known that palladium is an effective catalyst for the formation of cross-coupled products. Therefore, this catalyst was tested in a series of reactions. Also, it is believed that other catalyst with similar properties to palladium can work, for example cerium. Therefore, a cerium hydroxide catalyst was synthesized in lab and used as a potential catalyst for the Suzuki reaction. For this study, some bases were investigated (NaOH, Na2CO 3, K3PO4, NaNO3, NaHCO3, etc) for the …

First Steps In Retrofitting A Versatile Software Testing Infrastructure To Android, Carol Anne Oliver

Theses and Dissertations

Are existing software testing technologies satisfying the needs of mobile software testing practitioners? This dissertation provides evidence that the existing technologies fall short of practitioner’s actual needs and analyzes some reasons why this is so. The first contribution presents a framework for analyzing the software testing needs of practitioners, which is then used to assess the existing software testing tools and body of research, revealing significant gaps. The second contribution proposes a vision for a new software testing technology for mobile apps, which is then applied to a real-world problem causing problems for software testing practitioners (namely, the verification of …

Multi-Base Chains For Faster Elliptic Curve Cryptography, Saud Al Musa

Theses and Dissertations

This research addresses a multi-base number system (MBNS) for faster elliptic curve cryptography (ECC). The emphasis is on speeding up the main operation of ECC: scalar multiplication (tP). Mainly, it addresses the two issues of using the MBNS with ECC: deriving optimized formulas and choosing fast methods. To address the first issue, this research studies the optimized formulas (e.g., 3P, 5P) in different elliptic curve coordinate systems over prime and binary fields. For elliptic curves over prime fields, affine Weierstrass, Jacobian Weierstrass, and standard twisted Edwards coordinate systems are reviewed. For binary elliptic curves, affine, Lambda-projective, and twisted mu4-normal coordinate …

Waddle - Always-Canonical Intermediate Representation, Eric Drew Fritz

Theses and Dissertations

Program transformations that are able to rely on the presence of canonical properties of the program undergoing optimization can be written to be more robust and efficient than an equivalent but generalized transformation that also handles non-canonical programs. If a canonical property is required but broken earlier in an earlier transformation, it must be rebuilt (often from scratch). This additional work can be a dominating factor in compilation time when many transformations are applied over large programs. This dissertation introduces a methodology for constructing program transformations so that the program remains in an always-canonical form as the program is mutated, …

Multidecadal Variability In Climate Models And Observations, Alex Carl Oser

Theses and Dissertations

Climate change attribution and prediction using state-of-the-art models continue to garner an ever-growing focus amongst both the scientific community and public alike. Recent analyses showing discrepancies in the structure of modeled and observed decadal climate variability (DCV), therefore, have engendered efforts to not only diagnose the dynamics underpinning observed DCV, but also to characterize the behavior of DCV within climate models. In this thesis, we employ Multichannel Singular Spectrum Analysis (M-SSA) to show that while the DCV signal in observations is best described as a coherent oscillation with complex propagation across the globe, modeled DCV lacks this structure altogether. Specifically, …