Digital Commons Network^™

Smoothing Of Convolutional Neural Network Classifications, Glen R. Drumm

Theses and Dissertations

Smoothing convolutional neural networks is investigated. When intermittent and random false predictions happen, a technique of average smoothing is applied to smooth out the incorrect predictions. While a simple problem environment shows proof of concept, obstacles remain for applying such a technique to a more operationally complex problem.

Autonomous And Resilient Management Of All-Source Sensors For Navigation Integrity: A Comparison And Analysis, Niles A. Tate

Theses and Dissertations

When navigating using Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), multiple/redundant, synchronous pseudorange measurements are readily available. However, when navigating in a GNSS degraded and/or denied region, this is not guaranteed. In response to this challenge, the ANT Center developed a framework known as Autonomous and Resilient Management of All-source Sensors (ARMAS). The ARMAS framework is designed to be resilient towards data corruption caused from mismodeled, uncalibrated, and faulty sensors. This thesis further expands on this work by performing a comparison against a Residual-Based Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RBRAIM) scheme using simulated and real flight data to evaluate each systems performance.

Obsolescence: Evaluating An Educational Serious Game On Artificial Intelligence Impacts To Military Strategic Goals, Timothy C. Kokotajlo

Theses and Dissertations

Artificial Intelligence (AI) threatens to bring significant disruption to all aspects of military operations. This research develops a Serious Game (SG) and assessment methodology to provide education on the mindsets required for engaging with disruptive AI technologies. The game, Obsolescence, teaches strategic-level concepts recommended to the Department of Defense (DoD) from a compilation of reports on the current and future state of AI and warfighting. The methodology for assessing the educational value of Obsolescence addresses common challenges such as subjective reporting, control groups, population sizes, and measuring abstract or high levels of learning. The games proposed educational value is tested …

Development Of A Methodology For The Quantification Of Reaerosolization Of A Biological Contaminant Surrogate Particle From Military Uniform Fabric, George D. Cooksey

Theses and Dissertations

During a mass casualty medical evacuation after a bioaerosol attack, a decontamination method is needed that is effective at both decontamination and preventing the secondary hazard of biological particles reaerosolizing from contaminated clothing. However, neither the efficacy of current decontamination methods nor the risk of biological particle reaerosolization is significantly explored in existing literature. The goals of this thesis were to develop a repeatable methodology to quantify the reaerosolization of a biological contaminate off Airman Battle Uniform (ABU) fabric swatches, and to test the efficacy of one decontamination method (high-volume, low-pressure water) using 1 mpolystyrene latex (PSL) spheres as a …

Cybersecurity Risk In U.S. Critical Infrastructure: An Analysis Of Publicly Available U.S. Government Alerts And Advisories, Zachary Lanz

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

As threat actor operations become increasingly sophisticated and emphasize the targeting of critical infrastructure and services, the need for cybersecurity information sharing will continue to grow. Escalating demand for cyber threat intelligence and information sharing across the cybersecurity community has resulted in the need to better understand the information produced by reputable sources such as U.S. CISA Alerts and ICS-CERT advisories. The text analysis program, Profiler Plus, is used to extract information from 1,574 U.S. government alerts and advisories to develop visualizations and generate enhanced insights into different cyber threat actor types, the tactics which can be used for cyber …

Subject Matter Experts’ Feedback On Experimental Procedures To Measure User’S Judgment Errors In Social Engineering Attacks, Tommy Pollock, Yair Levy, Wei Li, Ajoy Kumar

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

Distracted users can fail to correctly distinguish the differences between legitimate and malicious emails or search engine results. Mobile phone users can have a more challenging time identifying malicious content due to the smaller screen size and the limited security features in mobile phone applications. Thus, the main goal of this research study was to design, develop, and validate a set of field experiments to assess user’s judgment when exposed to two types of simulated social engineering attacks: phishing and Potentially Malicious Search Engine Results (PMSER), based on the interaction of the environment (distracting vs. non-distracting) and type of device …

A Taxonomy Of Cyberattacks Against Critical Infrastructure, Miloslava Plachkinova, Ace Vo

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

The current study proposes a taxonomy to organize existing knowledge on cybercrimes against critical infrastructure such as power plants, water treatment facilities, dams, and nuclear facilities. Routine Activity Theory is used to inform a three-dimensional taxonomy with the following dimensions: hacker motivation (likely offender), cyber, physical, and cyber-physical components of any cyber-physical system (suitable target), and security (capable guardian). The focus of the study is to develop and evaluate the classification tool using Design Science Research (DSR) methodology. Publicly available data was used to evaluate the utility and usability of the proposed artifact by exploring three possible scenarios – Stuxnet, …

Prime Factors: America’S Prioritization Of Literacy Over Numeracy And Its Relationship To Systemic Inequity, Troy Smith

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

For much of American history, literacy has been prioritized in K-12 education and society, at large, at the expense of numeracy. This lack of numerical emphasis has established innumeracy as an American cultural norm that has resulted in America not producing a sufficient number of numerate citizens, and ranking poorly on mathematical performance in international comparisons. This paper investigates the decisions and circumstances that led to this under prioritization, along with the public and cultural impact of said actions. Toward this end, literature regarding contemporary and historical influences on American mathematics education (e.g., civic, policy, and parental) was reviewed. The …

Track Deception Modeling Method Based On Multi-Jammer Cooperation, Wang Rui, Xiangyang Li, Zhili Zhang, Hongguang Ma

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: The false track generated by the jammer formation is an effective interference measure against networked radars. This paper starts from the basic principle of false track generation and presents the model of the measurement error of the radar for the false track and the control error of the jammer formation. It also presents an analysis of the effects of these errors on the false track. The effectiveness of the false track is further analyzed through the confrontation scenario between the rectangular front formation of a certain type of equipment and networked radars. The simulation results show that the false …

Improved Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm For Jamming Resource Allocation, Qingyun Wang, Dezhong Jiao, Shi Shuo, Genyan Peng, Junhua Sun, Yuxin Duan

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is a new intelligence optimization algorithm. When applied to jamming resource allocation, the velocity of convergence in optimization process is slow and the probability of obtaining the global optimal solution is low. In order to raise the efficiency of jamming resource allocation and the probability of getting global optimal solution, the attenuation factor is improved to a variable that changes according to the exponential function in optimization process. The attenuation factor is taken as a relatively small value in the initial search phase, and increases monotonically and exponentially as the number of iterations increases. Simulation …

Can Lethal Autonomous Weapons Be Just?, Noreen L. Herzfeld, Robert H. Latiff

Computer Science Faculty Publications

In 2018 the United States Department of Defense (DoD) created a new Joint Artificial Intelligence Center to study the adoption of AI by the military. Their strategy, outlined in a document entitled, “Harnessing AI to Advance Our Security and Prosperity,” proposes to accelerate the adoption of AI in the military by fostering a culture of experimentation and calculated risk taking, noting that AI will change the character of the future battlefield and, even more, the pace of battle. Is there any way to ensure that this future battlefield will be just? Can the age-old precepts of just warfare help guide …

“Abolition As Presence”: An East Bay Ca Case Study Of Black Food Geographies, Ayize James

Environmental Studies Honors Projects

Using abolitionist methodologies, the author argues that food activism contests “food deserts” by making food present in sources alternative to supermarkets. The project can be broken into two central inquiries: (1) How do race and class formations in the East Bay generate landscapes of food inaccess that are labeled “food deserts”? and (2) How does food activism in the East Bay generate lasting alternatives to supermarkets?, which is explored through three case studies of food justice organizing in the East Bay.

Deepfakes: Ai Technology Of The Future, Hosanna Root

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

Deepfakes technology’s danger stems from its ability to create realistic but fake synthesized media that people often identify as something that is real. With this powerful technology in the wrong hands, deepfakes can cause devastating havoc through information warfare, election campaign disruptions, and more, creating distrust in society. Disinformation is already rampant today, even without wide deployments of deepfakes, which is concerning given the fact that deepfakes’ nefarious full potentials are yet to be reached.

Speciation And Nucleation Of An(Iv) In Aqueous Media, Saikot Mazumder

Dissertations and Theses

Actinide molecular metal oxides are a family of clusters composed of a variable number of An(IV) centers connected through a network of oxygen and hydroxide ligands with many potential applications in nuclear waste reprocessing and environmental remediation. However, our knowledge regarding the aqueous speciation of actinide ions and their preferred nucleation pathway to form high nuclearity clusters is limited compared to their transition metal counterparts. Here, we present a computational study on the speciation and nucleation of actinide ions up to 4+ in aqueous media in the presence of zwitterionic glycine ligands. Both eight and nine coordinated species were considered. …

Anatomy Of An Internet Hijack And Interception Attack: A Global And Educational Perspective, Ben A. Scott, Michael N. Johnstone, Patryk Szewczyk

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The Internet’s underlying vulnerable protocol infrastructure is a rich target for cyber crime, cyber espionage and cyber warfare operations. The stability and security of the Internet infrastructure are important to the function of global matters of state, critical infrastructure, global e-commerce and election systems. There are global approaches to tackle Internet security challenges that include governance, law, educational and technical perspectives. This paper reviews a number of approaches to these challenges, the increasingly surgical attacks that target the underlying vulnerable protocol infrastructure of the Internet, and the extant cyber security education curricula; we find the majority of predominant cyber security …

Fiber Optic Pressure Measurements Open Up New Experimental Possibilities In Hydrogeology, Carsten Leven, Warren Barrash

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Fiber-optic (FO) technology is being used increasingly for measurement methods in a variety of environmental applications. However, FO pressure transducers are rarely used in hydrogeological applications. We review the current state of Fabry-Pérot interferometry-based FO pressure transducers, including their advantages and limitations, as another option for high-resolution pressure- or head-change measurements in conventional or advanced aquifer testing. Resolution and precision specifications of FO transducers meet or exceed commonly used non-FO pressure transducers. Due to their design, FO transducers can be used in small-diameter (innerdiameter≥1/4 inch) and continuous multichannel tubing (CMT), sampling points, multilevel packer systems, and Direct Push-based in situ …

Cyber Whistleblowers: The Black Sheep Of Whistleblowing?, Andrew Wisniewski Jr.

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

From the Introduction:

Contrary to popular belief, this paper argues that cyber whistleblowing can contribute to a greater cyber security posture. However, this requires the development of clearer legal obligations and protections for cyber whistleblowers. This paper will explore the psychology behind whistleblowing, the effectiveness of whistleblowing in a cybersecurity context, how to create a safer and more transparent environment for whistleblowers and companies, and how current laws contribute to cyber whistleblowing.

Toward A Student-Ready Cybersecurity Program: Findings From A Survey Of Stem-Students, Lora Pitman, Brian K. Payne, Tancy Vandecar-Burdin, Lenora Thorbjornsen

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

As the number of available cybersecurity jobs continues to grow, colleges strive to offer to their cybersecurity students an environment which will make them sufficiently prepared to enter the workforce after graduation. This paper explores the academic and professional needs of STEM-students in various higher education institutions across Virginia and how cybersecurity programs can cater to these needs. It also seeks to propose an evidence-based approach for improving the existing cybersecurity programs so that they can become more inclusive and student-ready. A survey of 251 college students in four higher-education institutions in Virginia showed that while there are common patterns …

Mil-53(Al) Catalytic Synthesis Of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate), Ji Wang, Qingyin Wang, Gongying Wang

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is one of the world's five major engineering plastics and is widely used in various fields. At present, the main catalysts used in the synthesis of PET are antimony, titanium, and aluminum metal compounds. Among them, antimony-based catalysts are poisonous and the titanium-based catalyst products are relatively yellow in hue. The aluminum-based catalyst has the advantages of low price and environmental friendliness, but current research shows that the organoaluminum catalyst has the problem of hydrolysis, and MIL-53 (Al) has good stability and will not affect the environment, so we add a catalyst before the esterification reaction, and …

Can Environmental Law Solve The "Forever Chemical" Problem?, Mark P. Nevitt, Robert V. Percival

Faculty Articles

Although federal environmental law purports to provide the public with comprehensive protection against chemical risks, the U.S. chemical industry is characterized by self­ regulation. This self-regulation is exemplified by the dangers posed by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (''PFAS'')­ broad classes of persistent toxic substances that have now entered nearly every American's bloodstream and hundreds of public drinking water systems. Despite data linking exposure to these "forever chemicals" to cancer, infertility, and a host of other public health harms, environmental law has failed to safeguard the American people from PFAS' toxic legacy. How did this occur? And what should be done …

Molecular Engineering Of Self-Immolative Polymers As Chemically Responsive Temporary Adhesives For Protective Garments, Hana J. Yarbrough

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

The long-term goal of this thesis is to design novel chemical protective garments that both shield and sense for chemical warfare agents. The overarching hypothesis of this work is that joining textiles with a chemically responsive temporary adhesive will reduce the permeability of and detect hazardous analytes across fabric boundaries. Work towards achieving this goal and testing this hypothesis is separated into two chapters. The first chapter reports the development of a self-immolative polymer, poly(phthalaldehyde), into a stimuli-responsive temporary adhesive. Developing poly(phthalaldehyde) as a robust adhesive that rapidly releases substrates would be a significant and novel contribution to the fields …

Strategies Using Threat Intelligence To Detect Advanced Persistent Threats: A Qualitative Case Study, Melisa A. Joyner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Advanced persistent threats (APTs) targeting critical infrastructures can adversely impact human lives. Cyber security analysts are concerned with APT attacks because they make it challenging to defend critical infrastructures. Grounded in routines activity theory (RAT), the purpose of this qualitative exploratory multiple case study was to explore strategies cybersecurity analysts use to defend critical infrastructures from APT attacks. Data were collected through interviews with 8 participants and documents from two organizations. Participants were required to have experience analyzing network traffic on a critical infrastructure network, one year of cyber threat hunting experience, prior or current knowledge of cyber threat intelligence …

An Exploration On Apts In Biocybersecurity And Cyberbiosecurity, Xavier-Lewis Palmer, Lucas Potter, Saltuk Karahan

School of Cybersecurity Faculty Publications

Novel and complex digital threats that are increasingly interwoven with means and products of biology that can affect society. Much work in Biocybersecurity/Cyberbiosecurity (BCS/CBS) discuss vulnerabilities, but few deeply address malicious actor varieties as attacks at this intersection are new. The path to those attacks remains mostly theoretical, presenting considerable difficulty to accomplish in practical scenarios. In terms of advanced persistent threats (APTs) this of course needs to change as biomanufacturing facilities are at risk, considering Covid-19 and other potential pandemics. Further attacks are not out of reach and thus we must start to imagine how BCS APTs may appear. …

The Amorphous Nature Of Hackers: An Exploratory Study, Kento Yasuhara, Daniel Walnycky, Ibrahim Baggili, Ahmed Alhishwan

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

In this work, we aim to better understand outsider perspectives of the hacker community through a series of situation based survey questions. By doing this, we hope to gain insight into the overall reputation of hackers from participants in a wide range of technical and non-technical backgrounds. This is important to digital forensics since convicted hackers will be tried by people, each with their own perception of who hackers are. Do cyber crimes and national security issues negatively affect people’s perceptions of hackers? Does hacktivism and information warfare positively affect people’s perception of hackers? Do individual personality factors affect one’s …

Effect Of Freestream Noise On Hypersonic Crossflow-Induced Boundary-Layer Transition, Andrew Bustard, Thomas J. Juliano, Harrison B. Yates, Mark Noftz, Joseph Jewell

Publications

Between the windward and leeward rays, boundary-layer transition on cones at angle of attack in hypersonic flow is dominated by the crossflow instability [1, 2], wherein stationary and/or traveling crossflow vortices develop and can breakdown into turbulence [3]. Stationary crossflow modes are caused by surface roughness or any other steady forcing and produce disturbances that are fixed in place on the surface [3–6]. Stationary vortices create a generalized inflection point in the velocity profile that is inviscidly unstable [7]. This distorted mean flow develops secondary instabilities, whose growth and breakdown is one path to turbulence [8–10]. Traveling crossflow modes are …

It Permeated Everything: A Lived Experience Of Slow Violence And Toxicological Disaster, Tara Jo Holmberg

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Impacts of disasters on individuals are dependent on numerous factors: local to international political dynamics, socioeconomics, geography, educational background, and outside support among others. Currently, much of disaster research focuses on those of natural origin, acute and large-scale environmental events, emergency management, and the ability of individuals, communities, and societies to prepare for, and recover from, likely known disasters in their region. However, there is a lack of data about individual experiences through ‘invisible’ anthropogenic disasters, especially those that fall under the umbrella of slow environmental violence (Davies, 2019; Rice, 2016). Through critical phenomenological autoethnography, I examine an individual experience …

Development Of Electrochemical Detection For Cortisol And Hepatitis C Virus Core Antigen, Pannaporn Pusomjit

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This dissertation focused on the development of electrochemical biosensors for the determination of essential biomarkers by using a label-free assay. This dissertation can be divided into two parts. In the first part, a non-invasive aptamer-based electrochemical biosensor using disposable screen-printed graphene electrodes (SPGEs) was developed for simple, rapid, and sensitive determination of cortisol. The specific recognition of the cortisol DNA aptamer (CApt) was modified with streptavidin magnetic beads (MBs) before simple immobilization onto the electrode surface using a neodymium magnet. The electrochemical behavior of the aptamer-based biosensor was assessed by using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). Furthermore, …

สมรรถนะดิจิทัลขององค์กรทหาร: การวิเคราะห์องค์ประกอบเชิงสำรวจและเชิงยืนยันพหุระดับ, รัมณรา สมประสงค์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

สมรรถนะดิจิทัลขององค์กรทหารในปัจจุบันมีความสำคัญต่อการปฏิบัติงานในยุคของการเปลี่ยนแปลงทางดิจิทัลที่เกิดขึ้นอย่างรวดเร็ว งานวิจัยนี้เป็นงานวิจัยเชิงบรรยาย มีวัตถุประสงค์ดังนี้ 1) เพื่อสังเคราะห์ตัวชี้วัดสมรรถนะดิจิทัลขององค์กรทหาร 2) เพื่อสำรวจองค์ประกอบพหุระดับสมรรถนะดิจิทัลขององค์กรทหาร 3) เพื่อตรวจสอบความสอดคล้องเชิงประจักษ์ขององค์ประกอบพหุระดับสมรรถนะดิจิทัลขององค์กรทหาร ตัวอย่างวิจัย เป็นบุคลากรระดับปฏิบัติการในองค์กรทหารสังกัดกระทรวงกลาโหม 50 หน่วยงาน จำนวน 860 คน สำหรับใช้ในการวิเคราะห์องค์ประกอบเชิงสำรวจพหุระดับ และจำนวน 863 คน สำหรับใช้ในการวิเคราะห์องค์ประกอบเชิงยืนยันพหุระดับ เครื่องมือที่ใช้ในการวิจัยเพื่อการวิเคราะห์องค์ประกอบพหุระดับ คือแบบวัดสมรรถนะดิจิทัลขององค์กรทหาร ประกอบไปด้วย 2 ตอน คือ ข้อมูลพื้นฐานของกำลังพลผู้ตอบแบบสอบถาม และแบบวัดสมรรถนะดิจิทัลขององค์กรทหาร จำนวน 69 ข้อคำถาม วิเคราะห์ข้อมูลด้วยโปรแกรม IBM SPSS Statistics 22 และ MPlus6 ผลการวิจัยพบว่า (1) ตัวชี้วัดสมรรถนะดิจิทัลขององค์กรทหาร ประกอบไปด้วย 16 ตัวชี้วัด ได้แก่ 1) การวางแผนการใช้งานอุปกรณ์เทคโนโลยีดิจิทัลแบบบูรณาการ 2) การสืบค้นข้อมูลทางดิจิทัล 3) การประเมินความน่าเชื่อถือของข้อมูล 4) การใช้งานเทคโนโลยีเบื้องต้น 5) การแก้ปัญหาจากการใช้เทคโนโลยีดิจิทัล 6) การใช้อินทราเน็ตขององค์กร 7) การรักษาความลับในโลกไซเบอร์ 8) การจัดการไฟล์ดิจิทัลทางการทหาร 9) การเข้าถึงไฟล์ดิจิทัลในกรณีปฏิบัติงานนอกสถานที่ 10) การจัดการฐานข้อมูลทางการทหาร 11) การใช้สื่อดิจิทัลทางไกลเพื่อการสื่อสารทางการทหาร 12) การนำเสนอข้อมูลทางทหารในรูปแบบดิจิทัล 13) การสร้างสิ่งแวดล้อมทางดิจิทัลเพื่อการทำงาน 14) การตระหนักถึงความปลอดภัยบนโลกไซเบอร์ 15) การรักษามารยาทในสังคมดิจิทัล 16) เจตคติต่อการใช้เทคโนโลยีดิจิทัลในองค์กร (2) องค์ประกอบเชิงสำรวจพหุระดับสมรรถนะดิจิทัลขององค์กรทหาร มีจำนวน 3 โมเดล คือ 1) องค์ประกอบระดับระดับบุคคล 4 องค์ประกอบ ระดับองค์กร 1 องค์ประกอบ 2) องค์ประกอบระดับบุคคล 4 องค์ประกอบ ระดับองค์กร 2 องค์ประกอบ 3) องค์ประกอบระดับบุคคล …

Social Disorganisation Theory And Violent Crime: A Spatial-Econometric Analysis Of Chicago And Sydney, Anthony N. Greening

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The spatialisation of violent crime is explored in two large case studies, Chicago and Sydney, using spatial econometric methods and macro-sociological variables derived from Social Disorganisation Theory.

Social Disorganisation Theory (SDT) is introduced in terms of its formulation in response to highly specific conditions arising in Chicago, as well as its adoption of methodological and theoretical developments from existing traditions. This specificity belies its breadth of application and enduring presence in criminology. With “Social Disorganisation Theory” hosting a wealth of highly nuanced academic dialogue conducted under its banner, current incarnations of SDT appear as branches on an evolutionary tree. This …

On Implementing And Testing The Rsa Algorithm, Kien Trung Le

Senior Independent Study Theses

In this work, we give a comprehensive introduction to the RSA cryptosystem, implement it in Java, and compare it empirically to three other RSA implementations. We start by giving an overview of the field of cryptography, from its primitives to the composite constructs used in the field. Then, the paper presents a basic version of the RSA algorithm. With this information in mind, we discuss several problems with this basic conception of RSA, including its speed and some potential attacks that have been attempted. Then, we discuss possible improvements that can make RSA runs faster and more secure. On the …