Digital Commons Network^™

On The Pursuit Of Developer Happiness: Webcam-Based Eye Tracking And Affect Recognition In The Ide, Tamsin Rogers

Honors Theses

Recent research highlights the viability of webcam-based eye tracking as a low-cost alternative to dedicated remote eye trackers. Simultaneously, research shows the importance of understanding emotions of software developers, where it was found that emotions have significant effects on productivity, code quality, and team dynamics. In this paper, we present our work towards an integrated eye-tracking and affect recognition tool for use during software development. This combined approach could enhance our understanding of software development by combining information about the code developers are looking at, along with the emotions they experience. The presented tool utilizes an unmodified webcam to capture …

Nft Sneaker Marketplace Design, Testing, And Challenges, Chris Zhu

Honors Theses

This paper introduces the preliminary background and implementation of the NFT sneaker marketplace. Specifically, we build sneaker NFTs on top of ERC-20 within the Ethereum network and use a top-to-bottom design mechanism. Our website performs well in its functionality, compatibility, and performance. We discuss possible future steps for security implementation. In particular, we recommend using a cold wallet for clients' transactions and implementing multi-signature contracts to avoid spoofing and repudiation. Introducing the sneaker NFT marketplace will vastly reduce the costs of transactions and delivery time in the physical sneaker marketplace. We hope investors in the physical asset space can find …

Challenges Of Constructing Entrainment Map For Arbitrary Circadian Models, Yuxuan (Nelson) Wu

Honors Theses

The entrainment map, developed by Dr.Diekman and Dr.Bose, is claimed to be a 1-dimensional map that produces a better prediction for phase-locking than methods than the phase response curve for circadian models. In his paper, he constructs the entrainment map for the two-dimensional circadian model, the Novak-Tyson model, and the other two higher-dimensional circadian models. For this thesis, we concentrate on exploring if it is viable to construct the entrainment map for other circadian models that are not included in his paper: the Becker-Weimann model and the Relogio model. In addition, we discuss the challenges of constructing the entrainment map …

Decoding Cyclic Codes Via Gröbner Bases, Eduardo Sosa

Honors Theses

In this paper, we analyze the decoding of cyclic codes. First, we introduce linear and cyclic codes, standard decoding processes, and some standard theorems in coding theory. Then, we will introduce Gr¨obner Bases, and describe their connection to the decoding of cyclic codes. Finally, we go in-depth into how we decode cyclic codes using the key equation, and how a breakthrough by A. Brinton Cooper on decoding BCH codes using Gr¨obner Bases gave rise to the search for a polynomial-time algorithm that could someday decode any cyclic code. We discuss the different approaches taken toward developing such an algorithm and …

Estimating Heading From Optic Flow With Neural Networks, Natalie T. Maus

Honors Theses

Humans have a remarkable ability to estimate their direction of self-motion, or heading, based on visual input stimulus (optic flow). Machines, on the other hand, have a difficult time with this task, especially when flow is introduced that is inconsistent with the motion of the observer. For example, when moving objects enter the field of view, their motion provides inconsistent flow data which often disrupts heading estimates of current heading estimation models. We investigate the ability of neural networks to estimate heading from optic flow data and the limitations of these models when different variations of inconsistent flow are introduced. …

Convolutional Audio Source Separation Applied To Drum Signal Separation, Marius Orehovschi

Honors Theses

This study examined the task of drum signal separation from full music mixes via both classical methods (Independent Component Analysis) and a combination of Time-Frequency Binary Masking and Convolutional Neural Networks. The results indicate that classical methods relying on predefined computations do not achieve any meaningful results, while convolutional neural networks can achieve imperfect but musically useful results. Furthermore, neural network performance can be improved by data augmentation via transposition – a technique that can only be applied in the context of drum signal separation.

Pollen: A Secure, Decentralized Wireless Communication Platform, Max Perrello

Honors Theses

In this article, we detail an encrypted, internet-independent messaging platform, of which we built a prototype. This thesis also describes the challenges faced in the process, as well as potential future enhancements.

Measuring Differential Forest Growth In The Sheepscot River Headwaters With Bitemporal Lidar, Soren Denlinger

Honors Theses

In recent years, lidar has proven itself as a forestry tool capable of accurate, large- scale inventories. Lidar has even shown utility in multitemporal analysis and growth assessment, given high-resolution or small-scale point clouds. However, lidar’s efficacy as a multitemporal tool with relatively low-resolution, large-scale datasets is comparatively unknown. In this study, I compared forest in Midcoast Maine bitemporally, with publicly available datasets from the years 2007 and 2012. Specifically, I compared differences in growth characteristics of riparian, wetland, and upland forests. Although the 2007 dataset (created for geomorphological research) and the 2012 dataset (statewide, general-purpose) possess varying point densities …

Mechanism Design, Matching Theory And The Stable Roommates Problem, Yashaswi Mohanty

Honors Theses

This thesis consists of two independent albeit related chapters. The first chapter introduces concepts from mechanism design and matching theory, and discusses potential applications of this theory, particularly in relation to dorm allocations in colleges. The second chapter investigates a subset of the dorm allocation problem, namely that of matching roommates. In particular, the paper looks at the probability of solvability of random instances of the stable roommates game under the condition that preferences are not completely random and exogenous but endogenously determined through a dependence on room choice. These probabilities are estimated using Monte-Carlo simulations and then compared with …

Normal Surfaces And 3-Manifold Algorithms, Josh D. Hews

Honors Theses

This survey will develop the theory of normal surfaces as they apply to the S3 recognition algorithm. Sections 2 and 3 provide necessary background on manifold theory. Section 4 presents the theory of normal surfaces in triangulations of 3-manifolds. Section 6 discusses issues related to implementing algorithms based on normal surfaces, as well as an overview of the Regina, a program that implements many 3-manifold algorithms. Finally section 7 presents the proof of the 3-sphere recognition algorithm and discusses how Regina implements the algorithm.

An Alternative Approach To Training Sequence-To-Sequence Model For Machine Translation, Vivek Sah

Honors Theses

Machine translation is a widely researched topic in the field of Natural Language Processing and most recently, neural network models have been shown to be very effective at this task. The model, called sequence-to-sequence model, learns to map an input sequence in one language to a vector of fixed dimensionality and then map that vector to an output sequence in another language without any human intervention provided that there is enough training data. Focusing on English-French translation, in this paper, I present a way to simplify the learning process by replacing English input sentences by word-by-word translation of those sentences. …

Correcting Pedestrian Dead Reckoning With Monte Carlo Localization Boxed For Indoor Navigation, Akira T. Murphy

Honors Theses

Localization of phones is a ubiquitous part of the modern mobile electronics landscape. However, there are many situations where the current method of networked localization fails. A Pedestrian Dead Reckoning System where the location of the user is calculated by counting the steps and direction of the user was implemented as an iOS app with python for data analysis. A novel algorithm for wireless sensor localization using Ad-Hoc Bluetooth networks was proposed. A small experiment was performed proving that the system is nearly equal to state of the art algorithms.

Using Genetic Algorithms To Evolve Artificial Neural Networks, William T. Kearney

Honors Theses

This paper demonstrates that neuroevolution is an effective method to determine an optimal neural network topology. I provide an overview of the NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies (NEAT) algorithm, and describe how unique characteristics of this algorithm solve various problem inherent to neuroevolution (namely the competing conventions problem and the challenges associated with protecting topological innovation). Parallelization is shown to greatly speed up efficiency, further reinforcing neuroevolution as a potential alternative to traditional backpropagation. I also demonstrate that appropriate parameter selection is critical in order to efficiently converge to an optimal topology. Lastly, I produce an example solution to a medical …

A Web Application In Rest: The Design, Implementation, And Evaluation Of A Web Application Based On RePresentational STate TRansfer, William O’Brien

Honors Theses

It is no secret the Internet has evolved at an alarming rate since its public debut in the early 90s. What began as a simple way for users to publish files has evolved into a platform for impressively complex interactive applications. Now, applications once restricted to a single operating system are made available to all through advancements in browser technology and libraries. For a long time, Adobe has offered Photoshop as a far from trivial image editing program for around $100 to the Windows and Mac platforms. Recently, a web application emulating Photoshop’s features has been made freely available to …

Optimization And Analysis Of A Model Of The Mammalian Circadian Clock, Andrew M. Cox

Honors Theses

Circadian rhythms are found in plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria and are responsible for the regulation of many biological, physiological, behavioral, and metabolic activities. In mammals, the “master” clock is embedded in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the anterior hypothalamus. It is composed of thousands of cells signaling each other to synchronize and produce a unified rhythm. It is hypothesized that this communication enables the clock to rescue rhythms in gene knockout experiments that destroy oscillations at the single cell level. Henry Mirsky developed a model of this gene regulatory network within a single cell in 2009, but the published …

Foundations And Interpretations Of Quantum Mechanics, Cory Johnson

Honors Theses

The first famous thought experiment of Einstein gives rise to his theories of relativity, the bedrock of modern astrophysics and cosmology. His second famous thought experiment begins the investigation into the foundations of quantum mechanics. It leads to a paradox, inspiring various 'no-go' theorems proven by Bell, Kochen, and Specker. Physicists and philosophers worldwide become increasingly dissatisfied with the probabilistic complementarity interpretation (Born-Bohr) and eventually offer their own accounts of the theory. By the end of the 20th century two alternative approaches stand out as the best candidates: Both the hidden variables interpretation (de Broglie-Bohm) and the many worlds interpretation …

Effects Of Context Of Natural And Artifactual Objects On Categorization, Linsey Walker

Honors Theses

Categorization of animals and vehicles in different contexts was investigated in three experiments using event related potentials (ERPs). The presence of a background and congruency of the background in relation to the object were both manipulated in order to determine the effects of context on visual processing. In Experiment 1, adults were presented with images of animals and vehicles in two conditions: situated in a congruent context (e.g. an animal in a field) and in the absence of a context (an animal in a white homogeneous background). In experiment 2, adults were presented with images of animals and vehicles in …

Pov-It: The Pov-Ray Interactive Tutorial, Eleanor O'Rourke

Honors Theses

The Persistence of Vision Ray Tracer, commonly known as POV-Ray, is a computer graphics package that can be used to produce highly sophisticated and photorealistic images and animations. POV-Ray is widely used in the computer graphics community for a diverse variety of applications, including teaching college courses, creating visual music animations, and generating computer art. Although the popularity of POV-Ray is apparent, the teaching materials available for the package are confusing, disorganized, and inaccessible. In this project, I have designed an online system that provides a series of interactive tutorials that teach users how to create images using the POV-Ray …

Gauguin : Generating Art Using Genetic Algorithms & User Input Naturally, Thomas E. Cook

Honors Theses

This paper outlines an undergraduate research project demonstrating an application of evolutionary computation in the context of computer art. The project, named GAUGUIN, combines the visual impact of modern computer graphics with the computational power of genetic algorithms. GAUGUIN allows the user to become a creator of art, without requiring any technical or artistic training. By using an intuitive and easily comprehensible process like evolution to create the composition, the user simply needs to evaluate a sequence of compositions. Mimicking the biological process of evolution, the system will evolve the works in order to achieve images that are more visually …

World Bank -Cpa Conflict: The Struggle To Define Human Rights And Development In The Philippines, Adam B. Robbins

Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes the interactions between the World Bank (hereafter, the Bank) and the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), an indigenous and environmental advocacy group based in the Cordillera region of Luzon, in the Philippines. Using data gathered through both text-based and participatory research methods, I analyze the discursive relationship and violent confrontations between the two organizations. Conflicting development and human rights values cause the majority of these conflicts. I focus on how each organization enacts development and human rights, and how this leads to conflict. Ultimately, I intend for this thesis to offer practical guidance for the reader involved in …

Position Tracking And Motion Prediction Using Fuzzy Logic, Patrick Rodjito

Honors Theses

Unlike with traditional, computationally expensive algorithms, with Fuzzy Logic (FL) one does not have to own a fast computer or very precise measuring instruments to get good results. At lower costs, FL provides a simple way to arrive at a definite conclusion based upon vague, ambiguous, imprecise, noisy, or missing input information. This is a facet of AI that appears to resemble human intuition in an important way: the ability to make quick and urgent judgment calls, on the spot, without the need to be absolutely certain of the input. The benefit brought by a low-cost solution like FL to …

Jess – A Java Security Scanner For Eclipse, Russell Spitler

Honors Theses

Secure software is the responsibility of every developer. In order to help a developer with this responsibility there are many automated source code security auditors. These tools perform a variety of functions, from finding calls to insecure functions to poorly generated random numbers. These programs have existed for years and perform the security audit with varying degrees of success.

Largely missing in the world of programming is such a security auditor for the Java programming language. Currently, Fortify Software produces the only Java source code security auditor; this is a commercially available package.

This void is what inspired JeSS, Java …

Designing And Implementing A User-Focused Web-Based Database System, Rachel Noiseux

Honors Theses

The goal of this project was to combine two different fields within computer science to produce a system that would be beneficial to a wide variety of people. The first area, user-centered design, studies how users interact with an interface and the motivation behind the decisions they make when interacting with the interface. The second area, databases, explores different techniques for storing and retrieving large amounts of data.

Visual Expectations: Using Machine Learning To Identify Patterns In Psychological Data, Skyler Place

Honors Theses

The goal of this project was to utilize the tools of machine learning to evaluate the data obtained through experiments in psychology. Advanced pattern finding algorithms are an effective approach to analyzing large sets of data, from any domain of science. Consequently, we have a psychological question and hypothesis, and a separate machine learning technique to assess these claims. The realm of psychology that I focused on is visual cognition, and how an individual's knowledge affects how they see the world. This alteration of visual data is a part of perception -when the brain enhances the data coming in from …

Creating A Video Device Application, Kevin Septor

Honors Theses

A video device, such as a webcam, has the capability to be used in many ways, including recording video and behaving like a security camera. A TV tuner card can also record video, and in addition be used for watching television. However, the video hardware and device driver the operating system uses to access it are only capable of delivering raw frames of video. A user space application is necessary for exploiting the capabilities of such a device beyond reading sequential frames of video. This research explores the desiderata in a powerful video device application, and introduces a program that …

Coolest Mud Ever, Kevin Radloff

Honors Theses

MUDs, or Multi-User Dungeons, are text-based online multiplayer roleplaying games. Players type commands that allow them to interact with other players in a virtual world, and also interact with the world itself, for example, picking up objects or casting spells. The goal of The Coolest MUD Ever (CME) was to build the basis of an event driven and completely extensible MUD engine with unheard of levels of environmental realism. Whereas other MUDs are organized as a set of distinct nodes in which gameplay occurs exclusively of each other node, my MUD will blur the lines between nodes. While players still …

Extending Csp To Disambiguate Linda Predicate Operations, Kyle Burke

Honors Theses

The Tuple Space communication environment is plagued by the apparent ambiguity present in the predicate operations of Linda, the programming extension used to implement Tuple Space. It bas been shown that by using a method of reasoning which describes only sequentialized traces of events, it is unclear what a failed predicate operation actually means. Using an operational semantics model of Tuple Space, an analysis of the predicate operations using a description of events occurring simultaneously has disambiguated the meanings of the failure cases. Here an algebraic model is provided, using the Communicating Sequential Process (CSP) process algebra as a base. …

Sedimentological And Plant Taphonomic Evaluation Of The Early Middle Devonian Trout Valley Formation, Jonathan Allen

Honors Theses

The Trout Valley Formation of Emsian-Eifelian age, outcropped in Baxter State Park, Maine, consists offluvial and coastal deposits preserving early land plants. Massive, crudely bedded conglomerate represents deposits of proximal braided channels on an alluvial fan complex. Lithic sandstone bodies in channel-form geometries represent deposits of river channels draining the Acadian highlands whereas associated siltstones represent overbank deposits, intertidal flats, and tidal channels. Localized lenticular quartz arenites represent nearshore shelf bar deposits that were storm influenced. The majority of plant assemblages preserved mainly in siltstone lithologies are allochthonous and parautochthonous, with only one autochthonous assemblage identified in the sequence. Plant …

Communicator-In-Chief: Presidential Use Of Television Past, Present, And Future, Jenna Wasson

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to determine how television has changed as a communication medium for presidents over the past half century. An evaluation of the evolving ways presidents use television to communicate with and to build support from the American people has been conducted. Presidential communication strategies have been identified by drawing primarily from primary sources written by presidents and White House staff. Television technology and the television audience have changed over the years. Presidents have taken a more pro-active, aggressive role in their efforts to harness television for their own purposes. Why have these changes occurred? What impact have these …

Modeling A Real-Time Economics Simulation With User-Coded Agents In An Object-Oriented Database, Kevin Simons

Honors Theses

A simulation tbat models the stock market with real-time stock quotes was created. Users can translate their own theories about investing into Java code, which is then used to create an intelligent agent. The agent is inserted into the simulation, which allows the agent to gather data from the model. Based on this data, the agent uses the algorithm the user wrote to buy and sell stocks. Such as model provides a means of testing investment theories before investing.