Digital Commons Network^™

Enhancing Cyber Resilience Through Traffic Generation Patterns In Complex Networks: A Study On Cascading Failures, Aymar Le Père Tchimwa Bouom, Jean-Pierre Lienou, Wilson Ejuh Geh, Frederica Nelson, Sachin Shetty, Charles Kamhoua

VMASC Publications

Network resilience is the capacity of a network to maintain and restore its fundamental operations during or after a failure. This paper investigates the resilience of communication networks with heterogeneous nodes, with host nodes that generate and receive packets and routers that only forward packets. We focus on how traffic generation patterns, defined as the distribution of data packet creation across hosts, affect network resilience. While previous studies identified optimal host placements that balance traffic loads and enhance network performance, this research explores how traffic generation patterns influence network resilience, particularly during cascading failures, where the failure of one node …

Reverse-Engineering Of Disinformation Campaigns During The War In Ukraine, Lora Pitman, Ava Baratz, Kelly Morgan, Marcy Alvarado

School of Cybersecurity Faculty Publications

Information operations have long been a part of warfare. Disinformation campaigns, in particular, are usually launched by states in order to mislead and confuse populations in adversarial countries, but also to obtain support for their actions from domestic audiences. These campaigns threaten human security, at the individual level, but also state- and even international security. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia came with a new wave of disinformation not only in Ukraine itself, but also in countries from various other continents. This paper studies the characteristics of the spread of disinformation from the first day of the war in February …

Different Visions From Biosview: A Brief Report, Lucas N. Potter, Xavier-Lewis Palmer

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

In this collaborative research endeavor at the intersection of biological safety and cybersecurity for BiosView labs, the authors highlight their engagement with a diverse student cohort. The chapter delves into the motivation behind collaborations extending beyond traditional academic research environments, emphasizing inclusivity. The meticulous examination of student demographics, including gender, self-reported ethnicity, and national origin, is detailed in the methodology. A student-centric approach is central to the exploration, focusing on aligning teaching and management styles with unique student needs. The chapter elaborates on effective teaching methodologies and management practices tailored for BiosView labs. A dedicated section emphasizes the purpose of …

Autonomous Strike Uavs For Counterterrorism Missions: Challenges And Preliminary Solutions, Meshari Aljohani, Ravi Mukkamala, Stephan Olariu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

UAVs are becoming a crucial tool in modern warfare, primarily due to their cost-effectiveness, risk reduction, and ability to perform a wider range of activities. The use of autonomous UAVs to conduct strike missions against highly valuable targets is the focus of this research. Due to developments in ledger technology, smart contracts, and machine learning, such activities formerly carried out by professionals or remotely flown UAVs are now feasible. Our study provides the first in-depth analysis of challenges and potential solutions for successful implementation of an autonomous UAV mission.

Rising Threat - Deepfakes And National Security In The Age Of Digital Deception, Dougo Kone-Sow

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

This paper delves into the intricate landscape of deepfakes, exploring their genesis, capabilities, and far-reaching implications. The rise of deepfake technology presents an unprecedented threat to American national security, propagating disinformation and manipulation across various media formats. Notably, deepfakes have evolved from a historical backdrop of disinformation campaigns, merging with the advancements of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to craft convincing but false multimedia content.

Examining the capabilities of deepfakes reveals their potential for misuse, evidenced by instances targeting individuals, companies, and even influencing political events like the 2020 U.S. elections. The paper highlights the direct threats posed by …

How Chatgpt Can Be Used As A Defense Mechanism For Cyber Attacks, Michelle Ayaim

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

The powers of OpenAI's groundbreaking AI language model, ChatGPT, startled millions of users when it was released in November. But for many, the tool's ability to further accomplish the goals of evil actors swiftly replaced their initial excitement with significant concerns. ChatGPT gives malicious actors additional ways to possibly compromise sophisticated cybersecurity software. Leaders in a sector that is currently suffering from a 38% global spike in data breaches in 2022 must acknowledge the rising influence of AI and take appropriate action. Cybercriminals are writing more complex and focused business email compromise (BEC) and other phishing emails with the assistance …

The Propagation And Execution Of Malware In Images, Piper Hall

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

Malware has become increasingly prolific and severe in its consequences as information systems mature and users become more reliant on computing in their daily lives. As cybercrime becomes more complex in its strategies, an often-overlooked manner of propagation is through images. In recent years, several high-profile vulnerabilities in image libraries have opened the door for threat actors to steal money and information from unsuspecting users. This paper will explore the mechanisms by which these exploits function and how they can be avoided.

Her Precious White Body/Her Tender Black Flesh: The Gothic Link To Black Women's (Mis)Treatment In Real Life And On The Page, Madisty R. Thomas

English Theses & Dissertations

As a work in progress, this thesis explores the interplay between historical and contemporary devaluation of and violence against Black women, materially and discursively, including visual mediums and written text. Specifically, I focus on the gothic novel to illuminate the impact race-based inventions such as chattel slavery and human exhibitions, as well as the generic tropes of the Gothic, have had on Black women’s representation and lived experience via a wide-ranging introduction and close examination of Richard Marsh’s The Beetle. Additionally, the conclusion attempts to suggest how Black women and girls might survive in this antiblack world, thus escape …

Effects Of A Climbing-Specific Training Program On Upper-Body Power In Novice Climbers Compared To Advanced Climbers, Dallas E. Wood

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Muscular strength and muscular endurance are integral physical components of rock climbing. The hypothesis of this study was that a climbing-specific training program would improve physical fitness specific to climbing and improve performance on a relevant indoor rock-climbing test in novice climbers.

Twenty-one novice recreational climbers were matched for sex and climbing performance and randomly assigned. The experimental (EXP, n = 11) group was provided a climbing-specific, six-week training program. The control (CON, n = 10) group continued training as usual. Pre- and post-tests involved anthropometric tests, the ape-index test (arm span to height ratio), a weighted pull-up test, a …

From Donatello To Michelangelo: A Franciscan Angel, Kayla M. Bruce

Institute for the Humanities Theses

During the Italian Renaissance, images of angels and of the Virgin Mary were incredibly commonplace and were often used to denote the Virgin in her role as prophetess. The Virgin was often shown surrounded by angels in the background or flanking her on either side. However, in the fifteenth century, a motif appeared where an angel head was depicted on either the Virgin’s diadem or on her chest as a decorative brooch. This specific motif only appeared in images of the Virgin and the Christ Child. It was also only employed by Florentine artists and began with the Florentine sculptor, …

Faster, Cheaper, And Better Cfd: A Case For Machine Learning To Augment Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes, John Peter Romano Ii

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In recent years, the field of machine learning (ML) has made significant advances, particularly through applying deep learning (DL) algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI). The literature shows several ways that ML may enhance the power of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to improve its solution accuracy, reduce the needed computational resources and reduce overall simulation cost. ML techniques have also expanded the understanding of underlying flow physics and improved data capture from experimental fluid dynamics.

This dissertation presents an in-depth literature review and discusses ways the field of fluid dynamics has leveraged ML modeling to date. The author selects and describes …

Deep-Learning-Based Classification Of Digitally Modulated Signals, John A. Snoap

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation presents several novel deep-learning (DL)-based approaches for classifying digitally modulated signals, one method of which involves the use of capsule networks (CAPs) together with cyclic cumulant (CC) features of the signals. These were blindly estimated using cyclostationary signal processing (CSP) and were then input into the CAP for training and classification. The classification performance and the generalization abilities of the proposed approach were tested using two distinct datasets that contained the same types of digitally modulated signals but had distinct generation parameters. The results showed that the classification of digitally modulated signals using CAPs and CCs proposed in …

Monarch, Philip Walzer (Editor)

Monarch Magazine

Summer 2023 issue of Monarch, the Old Dominion University Magazine.

Subtitled: The Launch of a New Era

Iot Health Devices: Exploring Security Risks In The Connected Landscape, Abasi-Amefon Obot Affia, Hilary Finch, Woosub Jung, Issah Abubakari Samori, Lucas Potter, Xavier-Lewis Palmer

School of Cybersecurity Faculty Publications

The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) spans decades, and the same can be said for its inclusion in healthcare. The IoT is an attractive target in medicine; it offers considerable potential in expanding care. However, the application of the IoT in healthcare is fraught with an array of challenges, and also, through it, numerous vulnerabilities that translate to wider attack surfaces and deeper degrees of damage possible to both consumers and their confidence within health systems, as a result of patient-specific data being available to access. Further, when IoT health devices (IoTHDs) are developed, a diverse range of …

Attitudes Of Ethnic Minorities Towards National Defense And Security In The Triadic Nexus: The Case Of Russian-Speakers In Estonia, Nikita Lumijoe

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The contested loyalty of ethnic minorities between the host nation and ethnocultural homeland can play a significant role in the formation of geopolitical tensions as well as civil and ethnic-based conflicts. When the ethnocultural homeland of an ethnic minority increases the scale of intervention into the inner affairs of the host countries using hybrid, cognitive and even military wise, the attitudes of ethnic minorities towards national security and defense policy become a strategic asset for both sides.

In 2014, pro-Russian separatism in Ukraine focused the attention of the international community to the political attitudes of Russian-speaking ethnic minorities in Eastern …

A Qualitative Analysis Of The Relationship Between Cyberthreats And Democratic Backsliding, Amy I. Browning

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

Interstate conflict has developed beyond conventional tactics to include the cyber realm, making cybersecurity a key component of international relations and an integral part of state defense plans. Research in international security has included the analyses of the relative success or failures of particular cyberattacks. However, the instigators behind these attacks receive comparatively little attention, leaving a gap in knowledge for when, why, and where cyberthreats are likely to emerge. Recent analysis has found that democratic institutions are likely to hinder state-sponsored cyberattack initiation. A consideration that the latest wave of global democratic backsliding could be fueling cyberthreats must be …

Cyber Security In Cyber Space, James D. Lee Jr.

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

For almost twenty years, the Internet has been a driving force in global communication and an integral part of people's everyday lives. As a result of technical developments and declining prices, over 3 billion people worldwide now utilize the Internet. The Internet has created a global infrastructure, and it is worth billions of dollars annually to the global economy (Judge et al.). Today's economic, commercial, cultural, social, and governmental activities and exchanges occur in Cyberspace, involving individuals, enterprises, non-profit organizations, and government and governmental agencies (Aghajani and Ghadimi 220). Cyberspace is the birthplace of much of the world's most essential …

Dreaming Of Empire: Visions Of Rome And Imperialist Ideology In Twenty-First Century Cinema, Nathan Keckley

Undergraduate Research Symposium

The blockbuster film Gladiator kickstarted a new wave of ancient historical epics. Some of these, following Gladiator’s lead, drew explicit parallels between ancient Rome and contemporary America – notably Centurion (2010) and The Eagle (2011). The Rome-America analogy allowed Gladiator and its progeny to critique American society, and these critiques have received substantial scholarly attention. Given that these films were produced while America was waging controversial wars, it is unsurprising that one of the critiques they chiefly employ – and one of those scholars have most readily seized upon – is that of American imperialism. Gladiator, Centurion, and The Eagle …

Nieubuurt On Sloss, 'Tyrants On Twitter: Protecting Democracies From Information Warfare', Joshua Nieubuurt

English Faculty Publications

[First paragraph] Information warfare (IW) in the twenty-first century has become a major issue facing democracies across the globe. In Tyrants on Twitter: Protecting Democracies from Information Warfare, David L. Sloss focuses on how legislation may help stem the tide of nefarious authoritarian state actors. Sloss posits that IW in the twenty-first century is allowing democratic decay and that an allied transnational front based on common legislation is a necessary step in equalizing the playing field. Sloss specifically focuses on state agents of Russia and China, calling for limitations on known state actors and eliminating malevolent agents' ability to …

Choices For U.S. Contributions To Nato: Stability Policing In The Age Of Multi-Domain Operations, Nathan M. Colvin

Graduate Research Conference (GSIS)

The United States Army claims they are a “force out of position” and must transform for large-scale combat operations (LSCO). The current narrative toward LSCO warfighting comes at the expense of lessons hard-won over decades of small wars and stability operations. The focus on LSCO is an oversimplification of the complexity and ambiguity of the future operating environment. The Army is trading clarity of narrative at the expense of a force balanced for both LSCO and non-LSCO operations. LSCO perspective assumes a worst-case scenario of war over more likely scenarios of continuous disruptions across a spectrum of conflict, which may …

Ddr, Cassandra Jagroop

Graduate Research Conference (GSIS)

Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) has been a facet of post-conflict resolution since the 1980s. DDR seeks to address a wide range of issues varying from security to human rights, law, elections, and governance. One of the major issues arising from a conflict region are armed groups involved in the fighting and how to handle them. These armed groups represent the deep insecurity and lack of faith the population has in the state mechanism (Rondeau 2011, 654), thus in order to move ahead in the post-conflict situation the issue of armed groups needs to be tackled. The evolution of warfare …

Complex Global Value Chains And Economic Interdependence: A New Look At The Opportunity Costs Argument, Melle Scholten

Graduate Research Conference (GSIS)

The classical economic interdependence argument states that trade and investment between countries make conflict less likely, because they increase the opportunity costs of war. War means that trade and investment will dry up, to the detriment of society as a whole. The increased opportunity costs of war (vis-`a-vis peace) means war will be less likely to occur between interdependent states. Certain strands of realism have challenged this assertion. They argue that expectations that trade will decline in future can be a strong incentive for initiating conflict. Giving increasing political and economic tensions between the world’s superpowers – the USA and …

Patch-Wise Training With Convolutional Neural Networks To Synthetically Upscale Cfd Simulations, John P. Romano, Alec C. Brodeur, Oktay Baysal

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper expands the authors’ prior work[1], which focuses on developing a convolutional neural network (CNN) model capable of mapping time-averaged, unsteady Reynold’s-averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) simulations to higher resolution results informed by time-averaged detached eddy simulations (DES). The authors present improvements over the prior CNN autoencoder model that result from hyperparameter optimization, increased data set augmentation through the adoption of a patch-wise training approach, and the predictions of primitive variables rather than vorticity magnitude. The training of the CNN model developed in this study uses the same URANS and DES simulations of a transonic flow around several NACA 4-digit airfoils …

Chapter 1: Introduction, Sue C. Kimmel

A Guide to Library Careers: Choosing Your Path

[First paragraph]

Welcome to this book about careers in today’s libraries. If you are wondering about career options in today’s libraries and other information workspaces, this book provides an overview of different kinds of libraries with advice for seeking a position with a library degree. Libraries today are undergoing many transformations and offer multiple career paths.

Anti-American Stance In Turkey: A Twitter Case Study, Gowri Prathap, Alex Korb, Luke Palmieri, Ekrem Kaya, Saltuk Karahan, Hamdi Kavak

School of Cybersecurity Faculty Publications

The availability of social media and biased actors exacerbated Anti-American and Anti-Western views to extremes. In this paper, we report our efforts in analyzing anti-American views on Twitter. We have collected over three years of Turkish tweets related to the US, translated them into English, and analyzed these tweets using various computational social science tools. We found that Turkish tweets related to the US are significantly negative, and emotions reflect disgust and anger. Furthermore, we found that the source of the negative views stems from political actors like Trump or Biden rather than general hatred. Our results shed light on …

Underwater Communication Acoustic Transducers: A Technology Review, Laila Shams, Tian-Bing Xu, Zhongqing Su (Ed.), Branko Glisic (Ed.), Maria Pina Limongelli (Ed.)

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper provides a comprehensive review on transducer technologies for underwater communications. The popularly used communication transducers, such as piezoelectric acoustic transducers, electromagnetic acoustic transducers, and acousto-optic devices are reviewed in detail. The reasons that common air communication technologies are invalid die to the differences between the media of air and water are addresses. Because of the abilities to overcome challenges the complexity of marine environments, piezoelectric acoustic transducers are playing the major underwater communication roles for science, surveillance, and Naval missions. The configuration and material properties of piezoelectric transducers effects on signal output power, beamwidth, amplitude, and other properties …

Commentary On Healthcare And Disruptive Innovation, Hilary Finch, Affia Abasi-Amefon, Woosub Jung, Lucas Potter, Xavier-Lewis Palmer

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Exploits of technology have been an issue in healthcare for many years. Many hospital systems have a problem with “disruptive innovation” when introducing new technology. Disruptive innovation is “an innovation that creates a new market by applying a different set of values, which ultimately overtakes an existing market” (Sensmeier, 2012). Modern healthcare systems are historically slow to accept new technological advancements. This may be because patient-based, provider-based, or industry-wide decisions are tough to implement, giving way to dire consequences. One potential consequence is that healthcare providers may not be able to provide the best possible care to patients. For example, …

Biocybersecurity And Deterrence: Hypothetical Rwandan Considerations, Issah Samori, Gbadebo Odularu, Lucas Potter, Xavier-Lewis Palmer

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Digitalization and sustainability are popular words within modern disciplines as practitioners each look toward the future of their respective fields. Specifically for the African continent, which is making great strides in developmental targets, those two terms are central to core aspects of policy initiatives that may foster cooperation across its varied lands and nations. One of the underlying challenges that confront Africa is a lack of strong regional integration across socioeconomic and political programs; there is value in African regions having more regional connectedness. We assess the rate of regional integration and development in Africa and discuss how to alleviate …

Convolutional-Neural-Network-Based Des-Level Aerodynamic Flow Field Generation From Urans Data, John P. Romano, Oktay Baysal, Alec C. Brodeur

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

The present paper culminates several investigations into the use of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) as a post-processing step to improve the accuracy of unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) simulations for subsonic flows over airfoils at low angles of attack. Time-averaged detached eddy simulation (DES)-generated flow fields serve as the target data for creating and training CNN models. CNN post-processing generates flow-field data comparable to DES resolution, but after using only URANS-level resources and properly training CNN models. This document outlines the underlying theory and progress toward the goal of improving URANS simulations by looking at flow predictions for a class of …

S-400s, Disinformation, And Anti-American Sentiment In Turkey, Russell "Alex" Korb, Saltuk Karahan, Gowri Prathap, Ekrem Kaya, Luke Palmieri, Hamdi Kavak, Richard L. Wilson (Ed.), Major Brendan Curran (Ed.)

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

As social and political discourse in most countries becomes more polarized, anti-Americanism has risen not only in the Middle East and Latin America but also among the U.S. allies in Europe. Social media is one platform used to disseminate anti-American views in NATO countries, and its effectiveness can be magnified when mass media, public officials, and popular figures adopt these views. Disinformation, in particular, has gained recognition as a cybersecurity issue from 2016 onward, but disinformation can be manufactured domestically in addition to being part of a foreign influence campaign. In this paper, we analyze Turkish tweets using sentiment analysis …