Digital Commons Network^™

An Optimization Tool For A Standalone Photovoltaic System, Johanes Kasilima

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Stand-alone photovoltaic systems (SAPV) are often used in remote areas where access to grid electricity is limited. This system depends on solar energy. However, Photovoltaic (PV) systems need a greater initial investment than conventional sources of energy, and their effectiveness is reliant on a number of environmental conditions such as the unpredictable solar radiation. One step in reducing the investment cost of a PV system is determining the optimal size of solar PV components that minimize costs. This paper presents a Particle Swarm based optimization tool for sizing Stand-alone PV systems. The optimization tool selects the optimal Levelized Cost of …

Optimization Pump As Turbine Coupled To A Self-Excited Induction Generator Using Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm, Emanuel J. Nyirenda

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

As a way of accelerating the deployment of affordable and clean renewable energy generation technologies, applying a pump working as a turbine coupled to a self-excited induction generator is gaining popularity in various areas including energy recovery and micro hydro systems. However, it is currently challenging to predict the performance of the PAT-SEIG system and there is no agreed-upon rule on the selection of the appropriate system to be installed at a particular site. This paper has presented multi-objective optimization to select the best operating point of the PAT-SEIG system. The results show that the peak efficiencies for the PAT …

Evaluation Of Cybersecurity In Remote Working Settings For Mobile Network Operators, Victoria Mahabi

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Cybersecurity has increasingly been a primary concern to people as technology advances and allows them to work remotely. This study thus evaluated the cybersecurity posture for organisations that have opted for remote working culture, whereas emerging cyber threats, practices to combat them, and appropriate guidelines for managing cyber threats were discussed. The study used a descriptive design with a quantitative approach from 118 information technology personnel working for Tanzania's three major mobile network operators (MNOs). SPSS analysed the collected data. The study revealed that predominant cyber-threats affecting MNOs in remote working include human errors, phishing attacks, malicious domains, denial of …

Advancing Mobile Sensing In Dynamic Environments, Weichen Wang

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

This thesis presents a comprehensive exploration of enhancing mobile sensing capabilities to address various aspects of human behavior, mental health, personality, social functioning and beyond. We redesign the StudentLife app to improve its sensing efficiency and dependability, enabling support for multi-year-long studies. By adopting new app design, this study addresses the technical challenges of continuous sensing and enhances system robustness. The work is organized into several key studies that collectively aim to expand the scope of mobile sensing in diverse and complex environments.

The first study broadens the scope of mobile sensing to assess personality traits, exploring the potential of …

Assessment Of Risk Factors Related To Body Pain Complaints In Tanzania Construction Industry, Fatma K. Mohamed

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

The construction industry is associated with risks that can result in musculoskeletal diseases. Although young male workers who are presumed to be healthy dominate the industry in Tanzania, body pain complaints have been widely reported. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence and causes of body pains in workers. A cross-sectional study involving 396 workers was conducted. A chi square test was used for testing association of independent categorical variables and binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine predictors for body pain complaints. The results show that all study participants complained of at least one form …

A Discussion On Estimation Of The Best Constant For Spherical Restriction Inequalities, Hongyi Liu

Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Honors Projects

The restriction conjecture asks for a meaningful restriction of the Fourier transform of a function to a sufficiently curved lower dimensional manifold. It then conjectures certain size estimates for this restriction in terms of the size of the original function. It has been proven in 2 dimensions, but it is open in dimensions 3 and larger, and is an area of much recent active effort. In our study, instead of aiming to prove the restriction conjecture, we target understanding its worst-case scenarios within known estimates. Specifically, we investigate the extension operator applied to antipodally concentrating profiles, examining the ratio of …

Develop An Interactive Python Dashboard For Analyzing Ezproxy Logs, Andy Huff, Matthew Roth, Weiling Liu

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

This paper describes the development of an interactive dashboard in Python with EZproxy log data. Hopefully, this dashboard will help improve the evidence-based decision-making process in electronic resources management and explore the impact of library use.

Russian Verbs Of Sound’S Web-Scraping Results From The A.A. Zalizniak Grammatical Dictionary And The Russian National Corpus. Multi-Dimensional Scaling Techniques And Visualization Strategies, John Simmons, Irina V. Ivliyeva

Graduate Student Research & Creative Works

This project aims to enhance web extraction techniques pertaining to a specific lexical-semantic group of Russian verbs of sounds, which undergo semantic modifications at the word-formation level (affixation). Additionally, it seeks to organize search results in a manner conducive to linguistic research using Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) techniques and novel visualization strategies.

The primary objective in this phase of the research was to gather, consolidate, analyze, and present a comprehensive index of all forms of verbs of sound sourced from the A.A. Zalizniak Grammatical Dictionary of the Russian language, hyperlink each verbal form in this index with the Russian National Corpus …

Rainbowcake: Mitigating Cold-Starts In Serverless With Layer-Wise Container Caching And Sharing, Hanfei Yu, Rohan Basu Roy, Christian Fontenot, Devesh Tiwari, Jian Li, Hong Zhang, Hao Wang, Seung Jong Park

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Serverless Computing Has Grown Rapidly as a New Cloud Computing Paradigm that Promises Ease-Of-Management, Cost-Efficiency, and Auto-Scaling by Shipping Functions Via Self-Contained Virtualized Containers. Unfortunately, Serverless Computing Suffers from Severe Cold-Start Problems - -Starting Containers Incurs Non-Trivial Latency. Full Container Caching is Widely Applied to Mitigate Cold-Starts Yet Has Recently Been Outperformed by Two Lines of Research: Partial Container Caching and Container Sharing. However, Either Partial Container Caching or Container Sharing Techniques Exhibit their Drawbacks. Partial Container Caching Effectively Deals with Burstiness While Leaving Cold-Start Mitigation Halfway; Container Sharing Reduces Cold-Starts by Enabling Containers to Serve Multiple Functions While Suffering …

Graph-Based Learning, Jason Gronn

Honors Projects

An educational approach to teaching students based on prerequisite knowledge they may or may not have is presented. This approach represents educational content in the form of a graph, where edges link each topic to the prerequisites of that topic. A proof-of-concept website is created based on this approach, where qualitative results are observed and a number of conclusions are drawn. Some of the findings are that, while it can prevent users from being confused by lacked prior knowledge, the users may instead be confused by the presentation of the graph structure. The work finds that the approach is workable, …

Osint Research Studios: A Flexible Crowdsourcing Framework To Scale Up Open Source Intelligence Investigations, A. Mukhopadhyay, Sukrit Venkatagiri, K. Luther

Computer Science Faculty Works

Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) investigations, which rely entirely on publicly available data such as social media, play an increasingly important role in solving crimes and holding governments accountable. The growing volume of data and complex nature of tasks, however, means there is a pressing need to scale and speed up OSINT investigations. Expert-led crowdsourcing approaches show promise, but tend to either focus on narrow tasks or domains, or require resource-intense, long-term relationships between expert investigators and crowds. We address this gap by providing a flexible framework that enables investigators across domains to enlist crowdsourced support for discovery and verification of …

Priming Through Persuasion: Towards Secure Password Behavior, Rizu Paudel, Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen

Computer Science Student Research

Users tend to create weak passwords even for the important accounts. The prior research shed light on user’s insecure password behavior, and why the interventions, including requirement specification (e.g., password composition policies) and feedback systems (e.g., password meters) fail in practice. To this end, we propose and evaluate the concept: priming-through-persuasion in the realm of secure password creation. In particular, we created visual designs, aimed at priming users about the repercussions of weak passwords before their password creation. We base our designs on two forms of persuasion methods: pathos and logos. Pathos appeals to people’s emotion in order to persuade …

“It’S Hard For Him To Make Choices Sometimes And He Needs Guidance”: Re-Orienting Parental Control For Children, Prakriti Dumaru, Hanieh Atashpanjeh, Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen

Computer Science Student Research

With access to devices and online platforms at an increasingly younger age, it is essential to protect children from potential online risks. In our studies, we particularly focused the parents who have a child under 13 years of age. To this end, deriving from developmental psychology, we base our low-fidelity prototype design (termed as ‘treatment’) on a set of design principles focusing on open communication, instilling self-regulation, and availing granularity along with designs of existing Google’s parental control as a baseline. First, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 parents to understand their perceptions, including suggestions for design improvement within our …

A Transcendental Phenomenological Study Of Multimedia-Based Pedagogy: Experiences Of Elementary School Teachers In Developing Cognitively Stimulating Instruction, Siyanbola Enitan Balogun

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to understand the lived experiences of elementary school teachers in developing multimedia-based teaching materials that stimulate cognition and aid in improving learners' comprehension and academic achievements for elementary students in the urban city of Lagos, Nigeria. The central question guiding this study is: What are elementary teachers' experiences incorporating and designing multimedia-based pedagogy to create cognitively stimulating instructional material for their learning environment? A transcendental phenomenological study was conducted at two elementary schools—Camden Elementary School (CES) and Goshen Elementary School (GES). The study utilized Mayer's cognitive theory of multimedia learning (CTML) as …

A Survey Of The Murray State University Csis Department Of Student And Instructor Attitudes In Relation To Earlier Introduction Of Version Control Systems, Gavin Johnson

Honors College Theses

Over the previous 20 years, the software development industry has overseen an evolution in application of Version Control Systems (VCS) from a Centralized Version Control System (CVCS) format to a Decentralized Version Control Format (DVCS). Examples of the former include Perforce and Subversion whilst the latter of the two include Github and BitBucket. As DVCS models allow software contributors to maintain their respective local repositories of relevant code bases, developers are able to work offline and maintain their work with relative fault tolerance. This contrasts to CVCS models, which require software contributors to be connected online to a main server. …

Gpr-108 Revolutionizing Reflective Learning In Higher Education: An Llm-Based Analytical Approach, Bharath Y Yadla, Mourya Teja Kunuku

C-Day Computing Showcase

This project introduces a novel LLM-based system to automate The analysis of student reflections, enhancing reflective learning in higher education. Leveraging advanced ML and NLP technologies, the system provides personalized, in-depth feedback by identifying learning outcomes and challenges. Employing the OpenAI API and LangChain framework, it offers a nuanced understanding of student learning trajectories. The methodology involves collecting data via the Minute Paper technique, enabling targeted instructional adjustments. Preliminary results indicate a significant improvement in analyzing and addressing students' educational needs.

Uc-35 Ksu Ccse Crm, Alex Curran, Dj Mitchell, Christian Miller

C-Day Computing Showcase

Our task was to select, implement and customize a CRM solution for the College of Computing and Software Engineering to more effectively manage communication with industry partners and manage projects such as capstones, and C-Day. Our team selected SuiteCRM as our recommendation and have implemented an instance on a virtual machine provided by UITS. We have customized branding including using a KSU logo provided by the Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing, as well as customizations based on the official KSU color pallete. The process we used to select our CRM recommendation involved gathering requirements from our sponsor and comparing …

Gc-8 Informal Learning Artificial Intelligence Large Language Model Fine-Tuning On The Select Topic Of Entrepreneurship, Kristen Gabby, Melina Castellon, Jyothi Sampathirao

C-Day Computing Showcase

This project explored the usage and development of open-source Large Language Model (LLM) Artificial Intelligence (AI) with a chat feature, specifically to fine-tune on the topic of entrepreneurship. This project sought to showcase the adaptability of open-source LLMs and highlight challenges and solutions faced in leveraging those LLMs. The primary goal was to show proof of concept that training a LLM on the selected subject can create a specialized AI chat for informal learning.

Uc-75 Mineticket Discord Ticket Management Bot, Dean Rice, Arturo Martinez, Grace Shell, Solomon Thao, Palmer Brown

C-Day Computing Showcase

We made use of the discord.py python library to manage the framework of the bot, since discord relies on a RESTful API for all of its bots. This layer of abstraction allowed us to focus on the important things, such as sanitizing inputs for SQL queries and building out a large, fully customizable feature set so future adjustments are made simple and easy as changing entries within a configuration file. Our goal was to make the bot as easy to update as possible, with the hope that, should requirements change in the future, the sponsor can quickly modify existing code …

Gc-67 Automatic Daily Financing Headlines Collection, Storage, Analysis And Presentation, Sahithi Atimamula, Jasminn O Evans, Julian Reyes, Victoria Castro, Krista G Settle

C-Day Computing Showcase

The "Automatic Daily Financing Headlines Collection, Storage, Analysis, and Presentation" project aims to streamline the process of gathering financial headlines from financial news sources, storing them systematically, performing analysis, and presenting the insights in a user-friendly format. This automation project is designed to provide timely and relevant financial information to users interested in staying informed about market trends, economic news, and financial events. By automating the entire workflow, users can stay informed, make data-driven decisions, and navigate the dynamic landscape of financial news with ease. The project embodies the fusion of automation, data analytics, and user-centric design to create a …

Uc-33 Big Munchin', Tabitha Reynolds, Steven M Amerson, David J Buck, Jacques P Gatipon, Aaliyah Mcelrath, Nick S Watson

C-Day Computing Showcase

Big Munchin' is a video game designed to help teach portioning skills and promote healthy eating habits. The overall metabolic health of individuals in America is comparatively low to other countries. Metabolic health is bolstered by several factors including exercise and a proper diet consisting of essential vitamins, proteins, and other important biomolecules.The increased cost of healthy nutrient-rich foods and a lack of proper nutritional education have hindered the overall metabolic health of modern Americans. Engaging individuals in learning more about nutritional health can be a difficult task made easier by an engaging experience that stays in the user’s minds. …

Uc-40 Asynchronous, Ryan A Whisenhunt, Peyton T Lee, Kenneth Wardlaw, Benjamin T Haaf, Carter L Good, Cory A Ridley

C-Day Computing Showcase

Cultural assimilation is the topic on the mind of the protagonist of our game, Asynchronous. Maxwell, a diplomat from a real-time world, must adapt in a foreign land where the people live turn-based lives. We explore this topic through the lens of traditional JRPG gameplay where the player must decide when to adapt to this new culture and when to act on their own accord. By representing this idea ludically, we hope to better convey the mindset and emotional state of being an outsider to the player.

Uc-73 Spacewalkers: Tilt 5, Charles D Mossor, Jacob Hundley, Ifran Ambahun, Joshua Whorton

C-Day Computing Showcase

Our project (and presentation as a whole) is to create an immersive and fun casual game experience using the Tilt 5 system. We made a tower defense game that uses the player’s input with the Tilt 5 in order to defend against enemies. By delivering a variety of enemies, levels, and towers in our game, we further enhanced the experience.

Gc-104 Edai – Ai Enabled Teaching Robot For Informal Learning, Jennifer Bower, Shane Williams, Justice Fuller

C-Day Computing Showcase

We began our project by researching various popular, open-source AI tools that are available today. After we chose to focus on ChatGPT as our AI tool, we decided on cybersecurity as our subject matter. Next, we researched traditional cybersecurity training methods used by companies to train their employees on cybersecurity issues. Our project focused on determining whether or not open-source AI tools such as ChatGPT could replace traditional cybersecurity training tools and methods for companies.

Gc-17 Crm For Ccse Department Of Ksu, Venkatesh Alla, Keerthi Nannapaneni, Vinay Kumar Rapolu

C-Day Computing Showcase

This project outlines the development of a bespoke Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system specifically designed for the College of Computer and Software Engineering (CCSE). The initiative aims to centralize customer information into a unified repository, thereby enhancing the confidentiality, management, and optimization of data and communication processes within the college. The CRM system will integrate features for detailed profiles, communication optimization, complex workflow management, document repository, and data migration to ensure efficiency and data integrity. It will also facilitate seamless interaction with Microsoft 365 and Outlook, supporting the college's operational needs and maintaining its commitment to excellence in education and …

Gc-22 Fabric Moderation Ticketing Mod For Minecraft, John Lambert, Kathy Nguyen, Hayden B Scarbrough, Dasiane Taplin

C-Day Computing Showcase

This project targets enhancing the KSU Esports program’s Minecraft server by implementing an in-game ticketing system. The system will enable players to report any instances of in-game incidents/issues seamlessly within the game environment. The integration with the KSU Minecraft Discord server will facilitate efficient communication between players and administrators. With a user-friendly interface and optimized resource usage, the system aims to streamline moderation processes.

Gc-84 Owl Cyber Defense Systems, Randolph S Gilstrap, Christopher Dunbar, Stephanie Aguirre, Ryan M Leblanc, Justin Place

C-Day Computing Showcase

Owl Cyber Defense Systems is a fictitious (for now?) start-up offering comprehensive cybersecurity solutions for small and medium businesses. Our premier flagship product is an AI Chatbot that answers security related questions and provides vetted code and security settings to secure and harden a variety of systems. Starting with the initial concept, we methodically progressed through the business planning process, carefully considering technology usage and design. This comprehensive approach ultimately enabled us to develop a robust set of client offerings. We used a hybrid approach combining Agile Scrum and traditional Waterfall methodologies to complete the project. We utilized Jira Project …

Gmr-107 An Integrated Architecture For Maintaining Security In Cloud Computing Using Blockchain, Namratha Tavva, Ashrith Kumar Devara, Gar H Lock

C-Day Computing Showcase

Cloud services are vulnerable to assaults because of their widespread availability. Since cloud computing is still a relatively new service, there is a real risk that sensitive information might be altered while in transit. Because of this, bad actors may gain an edge by manipulating data. Clients using the cloud for a wide range of use cases want to know that their data is reliable and secure. Blockchain, on the other hand, is an immutable digital ledger that may be used with cloud computing to provide an immutable cloudbased data storage and processing system. In this work, we present a …

Gmr-29 Identification Of Ai-Generated Images, Chris Foster, Joshua Brock, Harini Kottala, Srilatha Korrapati

C-Day Computing Showcase

With the quick rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), generative AI models have greatly increased the volume and velocity of data creation. Among that data, AI-generated images have become a highly discussed topic, especially when discussing the potential dangers of these AI models. Due to these dangers, being able to distinguish AI-generated art from human-made art is becoming a necessity. Additionally, as these AI-models improve, it is becoming increasingly difficult for humans to determine whether art is AI-generated or human-made. This paper proposes the further exploration of the effectiveness of a current state of the art AI-image identification model.

Gmr-59 Customer Segmentation For Marketing Campaigns Using K-Means Clustering, Jaswanthi Vellanki, Hrithik Singh Chandel, Vyghni Sudha Kommineni, Priyanka A Bagal, Rutvikkumar K Ramani

C-Day Computing Showcase

The objective of this project is to use K-means clustering an unsupervised machine learning algorithm to categorize customers based on characteristics such as demograp hics, purchasing history and interaction behavior. The purpose is to discover different client segments that can be targeted with specialized marketing techniques that improve marketing campaign efficiency and increase consumer satisfaction and engagement.