Digital Commons Network^™

Fast Hardware-Oriented Algorithm For 3d Positioning In Line-Of-Sight And Singlebounced Non-Line-Of-Sight Environments, Cem Yağli, Emre Özen, Ari̇f Akkeleş

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

The ability to find the location of a mobile object and track it in two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) space is an indispensable feature of wireless communication systems. In particular, the increase in demand for using self-navigation technology in unmanned vehicles is attracting additional attention to this area of research. The methods and techniques developed for these systems compete in terms of simplicity, performance, and accuracy. However, the majority of solutions focus on only one of these performance metrics and are not applicable to the projected systems. In this study, a new location estimation solution that satisfies all three performance …

Characterization Of Different Crowd Behaviors Using Novel Deep Learningframework, Abdullah Jaman Alzahrani, Sultan Daud Khan

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Crowd behavior understanding is recognized as a complex problem due to unpredictable behavior of humans and complex interactions of individuals in groups. For crowd managers, it is crucial to understand the crowd dynamics to manage the crowd efficiently and effectively. Current practice of crowd management is based on manual analysis of the scene. Such manual analysis of the scene is a tedious job and usually prone to errors due to limited human capabilities. Therefore, the task of automatizing crowd analysis has received tremendous attention from the research community during the recent years. In this paper, we propose a deep model …

On Performance Analysis Of Multioperator Ran Sharing For Mobile Networkoperators, Yekta Türk, Engi̇n Zeydan

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Enhancing the coverage and eliminating the poor performance is key to balance end-user experience andfuture network investments for mobile network operators (MNOs). Although vast amounts of infrastructure investmentsare provided by MNOs, there are still coverage and capacity planning problems at remote locations. This is because,in most cases, the population density and return-of-investments are low in those areas. In this paper, radio accessnetwork (RAN) sharing paradigm is utilized on experimental sites in Turkey to accommodate user equipment of multiplenetwork operators under the same cell sites. We first investigate characteristics, benefits, and limitations of two differentRAN sharing deployment scenarios. Then, a city-wide …

Mental Health Incorporation In Nebraskan Recovery Plans Following The 2019 Midwestern Floods, Isabelle Murray

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

In March 2019, Nebraska was hit with major floods that caused extensive damage throughout the state. Nebraskans spent the following months recovering from many aspects of the natural disaster. One aspect of emergency response and the act of recovery that is commonly overlooked is the mental health of individuals following the traumatic events. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the level of incorporation of mental health care and services in recovery plans following natural disasters. The qualitative analysis of recovery plans focused on Nebraska and the county-level response to the 2019 Midwestern floods. The objectives were to identify …

Artificial Intelligence As Evidence, Paul W. Grimm, Maura R. Grossman, Gordon V. Cormack

Faculty Scholarship

This article explores issues that govern the admissibility of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) applications in civil and criminal cases, from the perspective of a federal trial judge and two computer scientists, one of whom also is an experienced attorney. It provides a detailed yet intelligible discussion of what AI is and how it works, a history of its development, and a description of the wide variety of functions that it is designed to accomplish, stressing that AI applications are ubiquitous, both in the private and public sectors. Applications today include: health care, education, employment-related decision-making, finance, law enforcement, and the legal …

A Gender And Race Theoretical And Probabilistic Analysis Of The Recent Title Ix Policy Changes, Jordan Wellington

Scripps Senior Theses

On May 6th, 2020, after extensive public comment and review, the Department of Education published the final rule for the new Title IX regulations, which took effect in schools on August 14th. Title IX is the nearly fifty year old piece of the Education Amendments that prohibits sexual discrimination in federally funded schools. Several of these changes, such as the inclusion of live hearings and cross examination of witnesses, have been widely criticized by victims’ rights advocates for potentially retraumatizing victims of sexual assault and discouraging students from pursuing a Title IX claim. While the impact of the new regulations …

Four Opportunities For Se Ethics Education, Alicia M. Grubb

Computer Science: Faculty Publications

Many software engineers direct their talents to- wards software systems which do not fall into traditional definitions of safety critical systems, but are integral to society (e.g., social media, expert advisor systems). While codes of ethics can be a useful starting point for ethical discussions, codes are often limited in scope to professional ethics and may not offer answers to individuals weighing competing ethical priorities. In this paper, we present our vision for improving ethics education in software engineering. To do this, we consider current and past curricular recommendations, as well as recent efforts within the broader computer science community. …

Activity Based Traffic Indicator System For Monitoring The Covid-19 Pandemic, Justin Junsay, Aaron Joaquin Lebumfacil, Ivan George Tarun, William Emmanuel S. Yu

Department of Information Systems & Computer Science Faculty Publications

This study describes an activity based traffic indicator system to provide information for COVID-19 pandemic management. The activity based traffic indicator system does this by utilizing a social probability model based on the birthday paradox to determine the exposure risk, the probability of meeting someone infected (PoMSI). COVID-19 data, particularly the 7-day moving average of the daily growth rate of cases (7-DMA of DGR) and cumulative confirmed cases of next week covering a period from April to September 2020, were then used to test PoMSI using Pearson correlation to verify whether it can be used as a factor for the …

Detection Of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene Using A Colorimetric Gold Nanoparticle Air Cassette Filter, Andrea I. Ferrer Vega

Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects

Trinitrotoluene (TNT) is an explosive commonly used during military and terrorist activities. Current methods to identify this compound require sampling, transport and analysis at a forensic lab using analytical instrumentation. However, on-site detection is needed to assist efforts to prevent detonation. Gold nanoparticles have been used as sensors throughout the years due to their versatility and surface enhanced Raman scattering properties in the presence of an analyte and low limits of detection. By taking advantage of the Meisenheimer complex that TNT forms in the presence of amines, it is possible to determine its presence at picogram levels. Subsequently, adhering amine …

Weather-Related Carbon Monoxide Poisoning In The United States: 2000-2019, Bailey Raine Stevens

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless gas that can cause injury or death if inhaled. CO is a frequent secondary hazard induced by the aftereffects of natural hazards as individuals, families, and communities will often seek alternative power sources for heating, cooking, lighting, and cleanup during the emergency and recovery phases of a disaster. These alternative power sources – such as generators, petrol heaters, and vehicles, exhaust CO – can ultimately build to toxic levels in enclosed areas. Ever-increasing environmental and societal changes combined with an aging infrastructure are increasing the odds of power failures during hazardous weather events, …

Workshop Outcomes Report: 1st International Workshop On Seismic Resilience Of Arctic Infrastructure And Social Systems, Majid Ghayoomi, Katharine Duderstadt, Alexander Kholodov, Alexander Shiklomanov, Matthew Turner, Elham Ajorlou

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Abnormal Behavior Detection Using Sparse Representations Through Sequentialgeneralization Of K-Means, Ahlam Aldhamari, Rubita Sudirman, Nasrul Humaimi Mahmood

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

The potential capability to automatically detect and classify human behavior as either normal or abnormal events is an important aspect in intelligent monitoring/surveillance systems. This study presents a new high-performance framework for detecting behavioral abnormalities in video streams by utilizing only the patterns for normal behaviors. In this paper, we used a hybrid descriptor, called a foreground optical flow energy (FGOFE), which makes use of two effective motion techniques in order to extract the most descriptive spatiotemporal features in video sequences. The FGOFE descriptor can effectively capture both weak and sudden incidents in a scene. The sequential generalization of k-means …

Strategies To Control Costs At U.S. Commercial Nuclear Power Plants, Gregory J. Lindamood

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Commercial nuclear power plants in the United States are not cost competitive because of high operating and maintenance costs and historically low natural gas prices, resulting in the potential for premature plant closure of up to 25% of the operating power plants by 2025. Premature plant closure could impact the consumer through higher electricity rates, increased air pollution, and electric grid instability from increased renewable usage. Grounded in the behavioral decision theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore successful strategies nuclear leaders used to control costs and ensure competitiveness. Data were collected through semistructured interviews …

On The Acceptance Of Urban Beavers In Martinez, California, Zane A. Eddy

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

As ecosystem engineers, beavers construct complex riparian and wetland habitats that benefit many other species, including endangered salmonids. Through their landscape alterations, beavers also promote increased groundwater recharge and provide refugia during wildfires and high flow events by impounding water and allowing it to spread across the landscape. Prior to the North American colonial fur trapping campaigns, there were between 60 and 400 million beavers in North America. By the beginning of the 20th century, beavers were extirpated from many parts of the continent, however through human efforts, their population has since rebounded to between 10 and 15 million. The …

Loon Lake 2021 Water Quality Full Annual Report, Amanda Mcquaid, Robert Craycraft

UNH Cooperative Extension

A Water Quality Report by UNH CE Lakes Lay Monitoring Program for Loon Lake in Effingham, NH.

Characterization Of Modern Ammunition And Background Profiles: A Novel Approach And Probabilistic Interpretation Of Inorganic Gunshot Residue, Korina Layli Menking-Hoggatt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Gunshot residue (GSR) can provide essential clues in gun-related investigations. The standard practice for GSR analysis uses SEM-EDS, with the capability for single particle elemental and morphological analysis. However, the method is time-consuming and based on categorical classification models without considering case circumstances. Therefore, complementary and more encompassing methods are needed to improve evidence interpretation of modern ammunition. This research aims to fill these demands by developing standard materials and alternative methods to characterize and interpret IGSR.

This study developed primer GSR (pGSR) standards from sixty discharged primers that were fully characterized by three techniques. The number of GSR particles, …

Glacial Deposits, Vol. 46, 2021, Department Of Geography, Geology, And The Environment

Glacial Deposits

Newsletter of the Department of Geography, Geology, and the Environment

Corrosion Of Coated And Uncoated Steel Reinforcement In Concrete, Jana Abou Shakra, Rouba Joumblat, Jamal Khatib, Adel Elkordi

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

Corrosion of reinforcing steel is the one of the main causes of deterioration in reinforced concrete structure. During the initial stage of corrosion, the steel volume increases. This creates tensile stresses in the concrete, which can eventually lead to cracking, delamination, and spalling. This potential risk of corrosion in a structure is quite unpredictable. Therefore, this paper examines the influence of accelerated corrosion on the bond between concrete and the coated and uncoated steel bars. The bar coating consisted of epoxy rich in zinc. Six concrete mixes were prepared. Three mixes had cement contents of 300, 400 and 500 Kg/m3 …

Market Viability Of An Avoided Wildfire Ghg Emission Accounting Framework For California, Justine Bui

Master's Projects and Capstones

Forests in California and elsewhere are under an increasing threat of uncharacteristically large and severe wildfires. Fuel treatments, such as tree density reduction or prescribed burns, can alter wildfire behavior and potentially reduce risk. An environmental consulting group is currently developing a probability-based greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions accounting framework that would provide tools to quantify GHG benefits of fuel treatments and help fund said treatments through carbon offset credits. This framework is being developed in collaboration with key stakeholders (such as public agencies, carbon offset registries, non-profit organizations, and the private sector) in the western United States. A market assessment …

Integrated Management Of Feral Camels In Ngaanyatjarra Aboriginal Lands, Australia, Gordon Sanders, A. Knight

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

The Killingly Mascot Case Study, Jordan Lumpkins

School of Professional Studies

In the summer of 2019, in Killingly, Connecticut the local Board of Education voted to retire the "Redmen" mascot name it had used for nearly a century. This legislation was widely opposed and received extensive media coverage. Within a few months, the town experienced a massive political referendum where several local Board of Education members and Councilmen were replaced by single issue politicians promising to reinstate the "Redmen" name. Now holding a majority on the Board of Education, these Board members made Killingly the first school in U.S. history to reinstate a mascot after being deemed "derogatory."

It is the …

Seismic Loading Effects Within Orthogonally Connected Steel Lateral Force Resisting Systems, Alhussin Faraj Aliwan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Steel buildings located within seismically active regions require special design considerations to ensure public safety and prevent collapse during an extreme seismic event. Two commonly used steel systems are special moment frames (SMFs) and buckling-restrained braced frames (BRBFs). When two seismic systems share a common column in an orthogonal configuration (such as at a building corner), design specifications currently consider a 100+30 rule wherein the shared column is designed for 100% fuse demand in one direction, plus 30% fuse demand from the other direction. While this rule has been shown to be reasonable for elastic building response, a few studies …

Confronting Wicked Crypto: Wicked Problems, Encryption Policy, And Exceptional Access Technology, Kevin Nicholas Kredit

Masters Theses

Public debate has resumed on the topic of exceptional access (EA), which refers to alternative means of decryption intended for law enforcement use. The resumption of this debate is not a renege on a resolute promise made at the end of the 1990s “crypto war”; rather, it represents a valid reassessment of optimal policy in light of changing circumstances. The imbalance between privacy, access, and security in the context of constantly changing society and technology is a wicked problem that has and will continue to evade a permanent solution. As policymakers consider next steps, it is necessary that the technical …

Deicing Impacts On The Danforth Campus, Fall 2020, Lucy Armstrong, Kaela Evans, Kelly Fujimoto, Sydney Hornitschek, Genna Torgan

Sustainability Exchange Projects

De-Icing Impacts on the Danforth Campus, Sustainability Exchange, Washington University in St. Louis, Fall 2020.

College Of Natural Sciences 2020 Year-End Publication, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

This is the inaugural issue of the College of Natural Sciences' year-end publication.

Contents:

[Page] 4 COVID-19 Response
[Page] 6 Student Success
[Page] 8 Faculty Excellence
[Page] 10 Awards and Recognition

Artificial Intelligence For Social Impact: Learning And Planning In The Data-To-Deployment Pipeline, Andrew Perrault, Fei Fang, Arunesh Sinha, Milind Tambe

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

With the maturing of artificial intelligence (AI) and multiagent systems research, we have a tremendous opportunity to direct these advances toward addressing complex societal problems. In pursuit of this goal of AI for social impact, we as AI researchers must go beyond improvements in computational methodology; it is important to step out in the field to demonstrate social impact. To this end, we focus on the problems of public safety and security, wildlife conservation, and public health in low-resource communities, and present research advances in multiagent systems to address one key cross-cutting challenge: how to effectively deploy our limited intervention …

Teaching Applications And Implications Of Blockchain Via Project-Based Learning: A Case Study, Kevin Mentzer, Mark Frydenberg, David J. Yates

Information Systems and Analytics Department Faculty Journal Articles

This paper presents student projects analyzing or using blockchain technologies, created by students enrolled in courses dedicated to teaching blockchain, at two different universities during the 2018-2019 academic year. Students explored perceptions related to storing private healthcare information on a blockchain, managing the security of Internet of Things devices, maintaining public governmental records, and creating smart contracts. The course designs, which were centered around project-based learning, include self-regulated learning and peer feedback as ways to improve student learning. Students either wrote a research paper or worked in teams on a programming project to build and deploy a blockchain-based application using …

Functional Kernel Density Estimation: Point And Fourier Approaches To Time Series Anomaly Detection, Michael R. Lindstrom, Hyuntae Jung, Denis Larocque

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

We present an unsupervised method to detect anomalous time series among a collection of time series. To do so, we extend traditional Kernel Density Estimation for estimating probability distributions in Euclidean space to Hilbert spaces. The estimated probability densities we derive can be obtained formally through treating each series as a point in a Hilbert space, placing a kernel at those points, and summing the kernels (a “point approach”), or through using Kernel Density Estimation to approximate the distributions of Fourier mode coefficients to infer a probability density (a “Fourier approach”). We refer to these approaches as Functional Kernel Density …

Formulating A Crowd State Prediction Problem For Application To Crowd Control, Brooks A. Butler

Theses and Dissertations

This project considers a new application of crowd control, namely, keeping the public safe during large scale demonstrations. This problem is difficult for a variety of reasons, including limited access to informative sensing and effective actuation mechanisms, as well as limited understanding of crowd psychology and dynamics. This project takes a first step towards solving this problem by formulating a crowd state prediction problem in consideration of recent work involving crowd behavior identification, crowd movement modeling, and crowd psychology modeling. We build a non-linear crowd behavior model incorporating components of personality modeling, human emotion modeling, group opinion dynamics, and group …

Cyber-Situational Crime Prevention And The Breadth Of Cybercrimes Among Higher Education Institutions, Sinchul Back, Jennifer Laprade

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

Academic institutions house enormous amounts of critical information from social security numbers of students to proprietary research data. Thus, maintaining up to date cybersecurity practices to protect academic institutions’ information and facilities against cyber-perpetrators has become a top priority. The purpose of this study is to assess common cybersecurity measures through a situational crime prevention (SCP) theoretical framework. Using a national data set of academic institutions in the United States, this study investigates the link between common cybersecurity measures, crime prevention activities, and cybercrimes. By focusing on the conceptualization of cybersecurity measures as SCP techniques, this study also offers the …