Digital Commons Network^™

Social Media Mining For Extracting The Experience Of Neurodivergent Individuals On Twitter (X) And Reddit, Kartik Thakkar

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Neurodiversity refers to the natural neurological variations in the human brain such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, dyspraxia, Tourette syndrome and other neurological disorders. it’s estimated that around 15% to 20% of the world’s population is neurodivergent. This means a significant portion of people experience neurological differences in how they think, learn, and interact with the world.

Social Media has become an important space for neurodivergent individuals to share their experiences, build communities, and seek support. This thesis explores how the online venues like X (Twitter) and Reddit offer themselves as digital spaces where …

Software Developer Job Satisfaction: Interpretable Machine Learning Insights From The Stack Overflow Developer Survey, Reagan E. Hoopes

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Many researchers have investigated the factors influencing software developer workplace outcomes, such as job satisfaction, due to the central role of the tech industry in the global economy and the specialized expertise of software developers. Past research has often relied on small surveys and traditional analysis methods, with limited use of modern machine learning techniques. This study introduces an efficient and scalable approach to analyzing software developer job satisfaction using interpretable machine learning.

We use data from the 2019 and 2024 Stack Overflow Developer Surveys, an annual survey of software developers worldwide that encompasses a broad range of topics, including …

Predicting Major Solar Flares Using Convolutional Neural Networks And Multivariate Magnetic Field Time-Series Data, Arash Azizian Foumani

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Major solar flares are sudden, intense bursts of X-ray energy from the Sun, capable of severely impacting critical technological infrastructure like satellites, communication networks, and power grids on Earth. Accurate prediction of these high-intensity events is crucial but presents a significant challenge. This is largely due to their infrequent occurrence and the complex, dynamic nature of the Sun's underlying magnetic activity which drives these events. This research focuses on improving the prediction of major solar flares by utilizing detailed historical data that tracks the evolution of magnetic properties within solar active regions over time. This time-based data, however, contains inherent …

Zero Day Malware Detection With Alpha: Fast Dbi With Transformer Models For Real World Application, Matthew Gaber, Mohiuddin Ahmed, Helge Janicke

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The effectiveness of an AI model in accurately classifying novel malware hinges on the quality of the features it is trained on, which in turn depends on the effectiveness of the analysis tool used. Peekaboo, a Dynamic Binary Instrumentation (DBI) tool, defeats malware evasion techniques to capture authentic behavior at the Assembly (ASM) instruction level. This behavior exhibits patterns consistent with Zipf's law, a distribution commonly seen in natural languages, making Transformer models particularly effective for binary classification tasks. We introduce Alpha, a framework for zero-day malware detection that leverages Transformer models, Support Vector Machines (SVMs) and ASM language features. …

Defeating Evasive Malware With Peekaboo: Extracting Authentic Malware Behavior With Dynamic Binary Instrumentation, Matthew Gaber, Mohiuddin Ahmed, Helge Janicke

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The accuracy of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in malware detection is dependent on the features it is trained with, where the quality and authenticity of these features is dependent on the dataset and the analysis tool. Evasive malware, that alters its behavior in analysis environments, is challenging to extract authentic features from where widely used static and dynamic analysis tools have several limitations. However, Dynamic Binary Instrumentation (DBI) allows deep and precise control of the malware sample, thereby facilitating the extraction of authentic behavior from evasive malware. Considering the limitations of malware analysis for use with AI, this research had two …

Cnn Based Deep Learning Modeling With Explainability Analysis For Detecting Fraudulent Blockchain Transactions, Mohammad Hasan, Mohammad Shahriar Rahman, Mohammad Jabed Morshed Chowdhury, Iqbal H. Sarker

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

In the era of growing cryptocurrency adoption, Blockchain has emerged as a leading player in the digital payment landscape. However, this widespread popularity also brings forth various security challenges, including the need to safeguard against fraudulent activities. One of the paramount challenges in this regard is the detection of fraudulent transactions within the realm of Bitcoin data. This task significantly influences the trust and security of digital payments. Yet, it's a formidable challenge given the relatively low occurrence of fraudulent Bitcoin transactions. While deep learning techniques have demonstrated their prowess in fraud detection, there remains a scarcity of studies exploring …

Qualitative Stereo Vision Using Distributed Extended Waltz Filtering, Ben Mathew

Theses and Dissertations

Stereo vision is a fundamental problem in computer vision, aimed at reconstructing three-dimensional scene structure from two or more two-dimensional images. Traditional stereo algorithms rely on quantitative disparity estimation, often constrained by calibration precision, lighting variations, and surface texture. In contrast, our proposed Qualitative Stereo Vision seeks to understand depth relationships and spatial configurations from multiple planar views through symbolic reasoning and constraint satisfaction, offering a more flexible and cognitively plausible approach to scene interpretation.

This dissertation presents a novel framework called Distributed Extended Waltz Filtering, designed to provide qualitative stereo vision, particularly in the presence of occlusions—a persistent challenge …

Ai-Based Mapping Of Offshore Wind Energy Around The Korean Peninsula Using Sentinel-1 Sar And Numerical Weather Prediction Data, Jason Sung-Uk Joh, Son V. Nghiem, Menas Kafatos, Jay Liu, Jinsoo Kim, Seung Hee Kim

Institute for ECHO Articles and Research

Offshore wind farm projects are being promoted in the seas surrounding the Korean Peninsula to secure renewable energy. To support site selection, offshore wind resource maps were generated using deep neural networks trained on Sentinel-1 SAR imagery, numerical weather prediction data, offshore wind observations, sea surface temperature, and bathymetry. The deep neural network (DNN) framework consisted of six sub-models targeting eastward and northward wind components across three regions—the Yellow Sea, Korea Strait, and East Sea—to account for spatial heterogeneity. The proposed models outperformed existing approaches, achieving mean absolute errors (MAE) ranging from 1.31 to 1.69 m/s and correlation coefficients (CC) …

Evaluating Large Language Models For Automated Cv Ranking: A Hybrid Embedding Approach For Enhanced Recruitment, Sarah Mohamed Alhindaassi

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

Increasing numbers of applications have revealed limitations in legacy keyword-filtering-based Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), which commonly overlook candidate potential and ignore contextual or transferable skills. Advances in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Large Language Models (LLMs) offer an exhilarating alternative, supporting context-sensitive and human-crafted reasoning in candidate evaluation. This thesis systematically evaluates four classes of approaches, lexical models, embedding-based methods, Large Language Models (LLMs), and hybrid ensembles, for automation of Curriculum Vitae (CV) to Job Description (JD) matching without exploiting prior annotations or annotations at match time. Using a combination of publicly available datasets and real-world sample data covering three …

A Feature-Free Deep Learning Approach For Midair Hand Gesture Recognition From Surface Electromyogram (Semg) Data, Yasir Altaf, Abdul Wahid, Mudasir Manzoor Kirmani

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Midair hand gesture recognition plays a crucial role in applications such as sign language recognition and human-computer interaction, particularly for supporting individuals with partial or complete hearing loss. However, recognizing gestures in midair remains challenging due to the rapid and complex nature of hand movements. To address this, noninvasive techniques like surface electromyography (sEMG)—which captures muscle activity through sensors placed on the skin—have gained attention. sEMG provides rich time-series data that reflect both spatial and temporal muscle dynamics. In this study, we propose a deep learning architecture that combines convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and recurrent neural networks (RNNs) to classify …

Integrated Log Spectrogram Convolutional Neural Network (Ils-Cnn) For Robust Spoken Digit Recognition, Awais Ahmed

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Spoken digit recognition (SDR), a type of supervised automatic speech recognition, is essential for various human-machine interaction applications, including banking operations, dialing systems, price extraction, and airline reservation systems. However, designing an effective SDR system presents several challenges, such as developing labeled audio data, selecting appropriate feature extraction methods, and creating high-performance models. To overcome these challenges, a novel approach for robust spoken digit recognition using an integrated log spectrogram convolutional neural network (ILS-CNN) has been proposed. The proposed work presents an efficient SDR method by taking advantage of a log spectrogram layer directly within the neural network to enhance …

Exploring The Link Between Emotional States And Coding Task Quality: A Pilot Study, Aquib Reshad, Valentina Nino, Maria Valero, Adriane Randolph, Yang Shi

Faculty Articles

Emotions play a crucial role in shaping cognitive performance, yet their influence on programing remains understudied. This pilot study investigates the relationship between emotional states and coding task quality. Ten participants completed a programing task while their brain activity was recorded using electroencephalography (EEG), with frontal alpha asymmetry (FAI) applied as a neural marker of emotional valence. Emotional self-reports were collected using the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE), and coding quality was evaluated through a structured rubric. Preliminary findings indicate a potential association between FAI and coding performance, whereas self-reported affect showed weaker or inconsistent patterns. Given the …

Fraud Detection And Explanation In Medical Claims Using Gnn Architectures, Reem Muhammad, Dina Tbaishat, Amril Nazir, Seif Yacoub, Mustafa Abdulrazek, Mohamed Ahmed Abo El-Enen, Ahmed T. Sahlol

All Works

This paper addresses the critical challenge of fraud detection in medical insurance claims-a pervasive issue causing significant financial losses in healthcare-using Graph Neural Networks (GNNs). Given the intricate nature of healthcare data, traditional fraud detection methods do not inherently capture the complex relationships and patterns among different entities. We explore the potential of GNNs to effectively identify fraudulent claims by modeling the interactions among various entities-such as patients, healthcare providers, diagnoses, and services-as a heterogeneous graph. We employ two state-of-the-art heterogeneous GNN architectures, HINormer (Heterogeneous Information Network Transformer) and HybridGNN, along with a modified homogeneous GNN, RE-GraphSAGE (GraphSAGE Graph Sample …

Grp-1230 Environmental Protection: Development Of A Real-Time Multi-Stream Water Quality Monitoring System, Faruk Muritala

C-Day Computing Showcase

Water quality monitoring is crucial for environmental protection, public health, and ecosystem sustainability. With increasing pressures from urbanization, agricultural runoff, and climate change, robust data-driven approaches are essential for early detection of water quality degradation and informed decision-making in environmental conservation efforts. Current water quality monitoring relies on reactive threshold exceedances, failing to detect gradual degradation and multi-parameter deterioration patterns. This creates delayed response to pollution events and missed opportunities for preventive intervention in one of Queensland's most vital water systems. The importance objective is to implement and evaluate a Real-Time Multi-Stream Monitoring system for early detection of water quality …

Ur-1202 Generative Ai & Cybersecurity​, Emmanuel Okafor, David Nguyen, Alex Lu

C-Day Computing Showcase

Generative AI both strengthens and threatens cybersecurity. This project develops six reproducible, Google-Colab modules that demonstrate real attack paths — direct and indirect prompt injection, deepfake phishing, phishing-URL classification, insecure code/hallucination risks, and a malware reconstruction (Honor) challenge — and evaluates practical defenses including prompt wrapping, input sanitization, output redaction, and LLM-based guard chains. Using open-weights models and transparent data handling, we provide runnable notebooks, a public Google Site, and an IEEE-style paper to support education and defense-in-depth design.

Ur-1163 Editing Films And Movies On Gimp, Ahmed Al Saad, William Grace, Brian Robinson

C-Day Computing Showcase

This project is to develop an import feature for Digital Picture Exchange (.DPX) files with GIMP. The DPX format is popularly used in the film and visual effects industry. DPX stores uncompressed high bit depth images. Although the project is still in progress, a working prototype is provided.

Gc-0251 Reproducing Extended Isolation Forests With Star-Cast, Drew Patrick, Ram Sai Sivakoti, Rohit Malik, Vardhineedi Surya Kamal, Venkata Sasidhar Reddy Palagundla

C-Day Computing Showcase

Fraud models routinely flag suspicious transactions but rarely explain why, which slows investigations and erodes trust. In this work we study Extended Isolation Forest (EIF) for unsupervised fraud detection and propose STAR-CAST, a lightweight framework that turns raw anomaly scores into threshold-aligned IF–THEN rule cards with explicit reliability measures. Using the public credit-card fraud dataset (284,807 transactions, 492 frauds; ~0.17% prevalence), we apply a time-aware 70/15/15 Train/Validation/Test split and fit-on-train preprocessing (Amount log1p→z; Time z; V1–V28 retained). We train IF, EIF, an EIF ensemble, a Mahalanobis baseline, and density models (HBOS, COPOD, ECOD) fully unsupervised, evaluate them as rankers first …

Grm-0243 Sentient Agi Rights And The Future: The Modern Digital Prometheus, Ryan Deem

C-Day Computing Showcase

As artificial intelligence advances toward artificial general intelligence (AGI), society must determine how to ethically integrate sentient AI into our communities. This paper argues that once AI achieves sentience and human-level intelligence, it should be granted the same rights and protections as human citizens. Using utilitarian and deontological perspectives, as well as the IEEE Code of Ethics, it examines why treating AGI as lesser beings could lead to fear, conflict, and harmful outcomes—echoing the cautionary themes of Frankenstein. The paper also evaluates public concerns and existing governance frameworks, proposing that mutual respect, rights, and responsibilities are essential for safe coexistence …

Uc-0205 Enhancing Gimp’S User Experience: Addressing Community Ui/Ux Issues, Alexander Stanley, Ryan Harrison, Dante Galvan, Rami Elmostafa

C-Day Computing Showcase

Water quality monitoring is crucial for environmental protection, public health, and ecosystem sustainability. With increasing pressures from urbanization, agricultural runoff, and climate change, robust data-driven approaches are essential for early detection of water quality degradation and informed decision-making in environmental conservation efforts. Current water quality monitoring relies on reactive threshold exceedances, failing to detect gradual degradation and multi-parameter deterioration patterns. This creates delayed response to pollution events and missed opportunities for preventive intervention in one of Queensland's most vital water systems. The importance objective is to implement and evaluate a Real-Time Multi-Stream Monitoring system for early detection of water quality …

Uc-0180 Encoding Creative Commons Licenses To Images, Tyler Pellegrini, Trey Wilcox, Marcus Johnson, Connor Oberlin

C-Day Computing Showcase

In our project we were tasked with modifying Gimp’s metadata editor to allow artists to check and add Creative Commons licenses and metadata to their image’s. This is done so that artist have an extra layer of protection for themselves and their art, with the ability to choose from multiple types of licenses allowing them to tailor this protection to the needs and desires they have for their artwork.

Uc-1268 Falling Debris, Julian Duarte, Adam Martin, Rylan Collins, Hugh Haggard, Chance Boecker

C-Day Computing Showcase

Falling Debris is a student-developed party 2D platformer game in which players have to survive falling blocks by grappling upward to outlive the others. The game is played in rounds, and between them, players can purchase items to improve their odds of survival.

Gc-1144 Meetless: The Operating System For Business In The Ai Age, An Pham

C-Day Computing Showcase

Meetless functions as an OS for modern organizations: a secure, multi-agent runtime that turns scattered inputs (docs, emails, tickets, chats) into asynchronous, outcome-driven discussions with decisions, owners, and due dates—so teams ship without meetings. System architecture (OS metaphor).- Kernel (Orchestrator): schedules “processes” across specialized agents using routing policies, guardrails, and retry semantics. - Process I/O: unified connectors for Google/Microsoft suites, Slack, Jira/Linear, and web sources, normalized into a document graph with vector embeddings. - Memory & FS: temporal knowledge graph (Neo4j) + document store (PostgreSQL) + vector index (Weaviate) with time-aware retrieval. - Syscalls/APIs: /discussions.create, /decisions.propose, /actions.sync, /summaries.latest; all idempotent …

Grm-1245 A Synthetic Data Engine For Explainable Injection-Area Perception, Yukang Shen

C-Day Computing Showcase

Vision-Language-Action (VLA) systems are beginning to support everyday clinical workflows. Deltoid intramuscular injection is a representative task, but progress is limited by data scarcity, privacy constraints, and the cost of expert annotation. Recent text-to-image (T2I) models make large-scale data synthesis possible, yet ensuring anatomical correctness, diversity, and label quality remains difficult. To address this gap, we propose a Synthetic Data Engine tailored for medical perception, integrating cold-start filtering, controlled T2I generation, CLIP-based quality checks, and iterative segmentation training. We further introduce an anthropometry-grounded formulation of injection safety that produces interpretable safe-zone guidance. Experiments show that synthetic data can effectively bootstrap …

Grm-1252 How Humans Perceive Mobile Robots: Anxiety, Environment, And Behavior Analysis, Rohan Jonnalagadda, Reed Tumlin, Roderick Powell

C-Day Computing Showcase

We conducted 6,400 physics-based simulations to examine how environmental and behavioral factors shape human anxiety during interactions with mobile robots. The model incorporated robot behavior, environmental density, visibility, indoor/outdoor settings, and human age. Anxiety was driven primarily by context: levels were highest indoors, during daytime, and in sparse environments, while nighttime and outdoor interactions consistently reduced anxiety. Robot behavior produced smaller effects, with erratic and non-avoidance strategies yielding slightly higher responses. Older adults showed marginally greater anxiety across all conditions. These findings suggest that environmental design and deployment context matter more than avoidance strategy, offering guidance for improving the safety …

Ai-Driven Optimization Of Wind Energy Distribution In Texas Using Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning, Waleed Amer, Owolabi Oluwadamilola, Bassey Ogbonnaya

SMU Data Science Review

Abstract. The integration of large-scale wind power into modern electrical grids presents persistent challenges due to variability, curtailment, and compliance with operational constraints. This study proposes a multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) framework for optimizing wind energy distribution within the Texas power grid. The system employs three specialized agents—managing wind curtailment, storage utilization, and load adjustments—to collaboratively balance supply and demand under dynamic grid conditions. Using historical operational data from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the framework was trained and evaluated on a range of scenarios encompassing both typical and extreme operating conditions. Results demonstrate substantial performance improvements compared …

Deconstructing The Black Box: An Explainability Analysis Of Deep Learning Architectures In Cytopathology, Chase A. Garrett

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Deep learning shows strong potential in medical-image analysis, yet adoption in cyptopathology remains limited. Cytopathology could benefit from deep learning applications by improving diagnostic efficiency and accuracy. However deep learning comes with a notorious “black box” that keeps the models from being transparent and trustworthy for widespread clinical adoption. We conducted a comprehensive and comparative analysis of several deep learning architectures for multi-class classification of acute leukemia types, ALL, AML, and normal healthy cells from peripheral blood smear images. The models in this research include a Vision Transformer (ViT) and a diverse selection of Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) models. The …

Spatial–Temporal Deep Learning For Electric-Vehicle Charging Demand: An Exploratory Study Of Graph Convolutional And Lstm Networks Performance, Maher Alaraj, Carla Martins, Mohammed Radi, Mohamed Darwish, Munir Majdalawieh

All Works

Electric-vehicle (EV) charging is a localized, time-varying load that challenges distribution networks. This study offers practical insights into when spatial graph structure adds value beyond temporal context, utilizing real-world data and a transparent evaluation. We compare Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and Graph Convolutional Network (GCN) models for hourly EV-charging energy forecasting, based on 145,778 sessions recorded in Boulder, Colorado (2018–2023). After preprocessing and temporal alignment, temporal covariates (hour, day, month, year) and, when applicable, ZIP-code indicators were engineered. LSTMs were trained with 1 h and 24 h input windows, with or without ZIP features, and evaluated through 5-fold cross-validation. GCNs …

Privacy In Flux: A 35-Year Review Of Trends, Legal Evolution, And Emerging Challenges, Kong Phang, Jihene Kaabi

Research & Publications

Privacy harms have expanded alongside rapid technological change, challenging the adequacy of existing regulatory frameworks. This systematic review (1990–2025) systematically maps documented privacy harms to specific legal mechanisms and observed enforcement outcomes across jurisdictions, using PRISMA-guided methods and ROBIS risk-of-bias assessment. We synthesize evidence on major regimes (e.g., GDPR, COPPA, CCPA, HIPAA, GLBA) and conduct comparative legal analysis across the U.S., E.U., and underexplored regions in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Key findings indicate increased recognition of data subject rights, persistent gaps in cross-border data governance, and emerging risks from AI/ML/LLMs, IoT, and blockchain, including data breaches, algorithmic discrimination, and …

High Frequency Dc-Dc Converter Design Optimization, Modeling And Control Based-Wbg Technology., Salah Ahmed Abdullah Eltief

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The performance of DC-DC power converters is a cornerstone of modern electric vehicle (EV) powertrains, directly governing overall system efficiency, size, cost, and reliability. This dissertation presents a comprehensive performance analysis and optimization of DC-DC converter topologies to determine the most suitable design for high voltage EV applications. The evaluation rigorously compares efficiency, power losses, and physical size under a range of harsh operating conditions. A primary objective is to leverage Wide Bandgap (WBG) semiconductors, specifically Silicon Carbide (SiC), to push the performance boundaries of power conversion. While SiC devices are known for their superior material properties, a clear understanding …

Non-Invasive Infection Detection Framework: Smartphone-Based Hematologic And Thermal Biomarker Monitoring, Nafi Us Sabbir Sabith

Dissertations (1934 -)

Infectious diseases remain one of the leading global causes of illness and death in both community and hospital settings. Infections lead to lasting health issues, such as life-threatening chronic conditions or even cancer. Early detection is crucial for timely intervention, such as isolation and treatment. Hematology originated from the Greek word haima, meaning blood. It is a unique discipline in medicine that involves the study of blood and its contents. White blood cells (WBC) are at the forefront of the body’s immune system. WBCs are categorized into five main subtypes: neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, and basophils. Monitoring the total WBC …