Digital Commons Network^™

Aligning Business Decision Making To Strategy, Donald J. Barnes, Katherine A. Dominguez, Whitney J. Vazquez

Theses

"Hurry up and wait" is a recipe for inefficiency. Some product development projects start and stop and start again, with team members being added and removed throughout the process. The cost of this lurching does not appear to be well quantified. Moving technical talent from one project to another may assume 100% engineering efficiency, which is not the case. Hidden effects of engineers being moved include having to "spin up" on the new project and learn where the last team members left off (which may not be well documented), repeating initial work, and lowered efficiency and morale on the part …

Bayesian Analysis For Photolithographic Models, Andrew M. Burbine

Theses

The use of optical proximity correction (OPC) as a resolution enhancement technique (RET) in microelectronic photolithographic manufacturing demands increasingly accurate models of the systems in use. Model building and inference techniques in the data science community have seen great strides in the past two decades in the field of Bayesian statistics. This work aims to demonstrate the predictive power of using Bayesian analysis as a method for parameter selection in lithographic models by probabilistically considering the uncertainty in physical model parameters and the wafer data used to calibrate them. We will consider the error between simulated and measured critical dimensions …

Smart Grid Privacy Through Distributed Trust, Benjamin Lipton

Theses

Though the smart electrical grid promises many advantages in efficiency and reliability, the risks to consumer privacy have impeded its deployment. Researchers have proposed protecting privacy by aggregating user data before it reaches the utility, using techniques of homomorphic encryption to prevent exposure of unaggregated values. However, such schemes generally require users to trust in the correct operation of a single aggregation server. We propose two alternative systems based on secret sharing techniques that distribute this trust among multiple service providers, protecting user privacy against a misbehaving server. We also provide an extensive evaluation of the systems considered, comparing their …

Towards Automated Analysis Of Urban Infrastructure After Natural Disasters Using Remote Sensing, Colin Axel

Theses

Natural disasters, such as earthquakes and hurricanes, are an unpreventable component of the complex and changing environment we live in. Continued research and advancement in disaster mitigation through prediction of and preparation for impacts have undoubtedly saved many lives and prevented significant amounts of damage, but it is inevitable that some events will cause destruction and loss of life due to their sheer magnitude and proximity to built-up areas. Consequently, development of effective and efficient disaster response methodologies is a research topic of great interest.

A successful emergency response is dependent on a comprehensive understanding of the scenario at hand. …

Teaching Agents With Deep Apprenticeship Learning, Amar Bhatt

Theses

As the field of robotic and humanoid systems expand, more research is being done on how to best control systems to perform complex, smart tasks. Many supervised learning and classification techniques require large datasets, and only result in the system mimicking what it was given. The sequential relationship within datasets used for task learning results in Markov decision problems that traditional classification algorithms cannot solve. Reinforcement learning helps to solve these types of problems using a reward/punishment and exploration/exploitation methodology without the need for datasets. While this works for simple systems, complex systems are more difficult to teach using traditional …

Deep Liquid State Machines With Neural Plasticity And On-Device Learning, Nicholas M. Soures

Theses

The Liquid State Machine (LSM) is a recurrent spiking neural network designed for efficient processing of spatio-temporal streams of information. LSMs have several inbuilt features such as robustness, fast training and inference speed, generalizability, continual learning (no catastrophic forgetting), and energy efficiency. These features make LSM’s an ideal network for deploying intelligence on-device.

In general, single LSMs are unable to solve complex real-world tasks. Recent literature has shown emergence of hierarchical architectures to support temporal information processing over different time scales. However, these approaches do not typically investigate the optimum topology for communication between layers in the hierarchical network, or …

Pipelined Implementation Of A Fixed-Point Square Root Core Using Non-Restoring And Restoring Algorithm, Vyoma Sharma

Theses

Arithmetic Square Root is one of the most complex but nevertheless widely used operations in modern computing. A primary reason for the complexity is the irrational nature of the square root for non-perfect numbers and the iterative behavior required for square root computation. A typical RISC implementation of Square Root Computation can take anywhere from 200 - 300 cycles. If significant usage is encountered, this could result in an impact in run-time cost which would justify a direct hardware implementation that achieves the same result in as little as 20 clock cycles. Additionally, the implementation is pipelined to achieve even …

Sensor Fusion And Deep Learning For Indoor Agent Localization, Jacob F. Lauzon

Theses

Autonomous, self-navigating agents have been rising in popularity due to a push for a more technologically aided future. From cars to vacuum cleaners, the applications of self-navigating agents are vast and span many different fields and aspects of life. As the demand for these autonomous robotic agents has been increasing, so has the demand for innovative features, robust behavior, and lower cost hardware. One particular area with a constant demand for improvement is localization, or an agent's ability to determine where it is located within its environment. Whether the agent's environment is primarily indoor or outdoor, dense or sparse, static …

Improving The Design And Application Of Insulator-Based Dielectrophoretic Devices For The Assessment Of Complex Mixtures, Mario A. Saucedo-Espinosa

Theses

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is an electrokinetic (EK) transport mechanism that exploits polarization effects when particles are exposed to a non-uniform electric field. This dissertation focused on the development of high-performance insulator-based DEP (iDEP) devices. A detailed analysis of the spatial forces that contribute to particle movement in an iDEP device is provided. In particular, this analysis shows how particle size and shape affects the regions where particles are likely to be retained due to dielectrophoretic trapping. The performance of these trapping regions was optimized using a systematic approach that integrates the geometrical parameters of the array of insulating structures. Devices that …

Iii-Nitride Nanowire Light-Emitting Diodes: Design And Characterization, Dipayan Datta Choudhary

Theses

III-nitride semiconductors have been intensively studied for optoelectronic devices, due to the superb advantages offered by this materials system. The direct energy bandgap III-nitride semiconductors can absorb or emit light efficiently over a broad spectrum, ranging from 0.65 eV (InN) to 6.4 eV (AlN), which encompasses from deep ultraviolet to near infrared spectrum. However, due to the lack of native substrates, conventional III-nitride planar heterostructures generally exhibit very high dislocation densities that severely limit the device performance and reliability. On the other hand, nanowire heterostructures can be grown on lattice mismatched substrates with drastically reduced dislocation densities, due to highly …

Measurement Of Finger Coordination During A Motor Learning Task, Robert Ebel

Theses

The focus of this study is to observe the changes in whole hand grasp strategy, in healthy subjects, over time in a series of isometric force control learning tasks. During a series of trials with real-time visual feedback of the five finger forces, subjects adapted their grasp strategy in order to reach the target in a time efficient manner. In early trials, it is very evident that subjects focus on controlling the force output of one finger at a time until they reach the goal. As the block of trials progresses, subjects alter their strategy to a more coordinated movement …

Undersampling Ga-Svm For Network Intrusion Detection, Zhenyu He

Theses

Network intrusion detection is one of the hottest issues in the world. An increasing number of researchers and engineers deal with this problem by using machine learning methods. However, how to improve the identification accuracy of all the attack classes remains unsolved since the dataset is an imbalanced one with high imbalance ratio. This thesis work intends to build a classifier to achieve high classification accuracy. It proposes an undersampling Genetic Algorithm-Support Vector Machine (GA-SVM) method to handle this problem. It applies an undersampling method in GA-SVM. To solve the multiclassification problem with a binary classifier, this work proposes to …

Decision Tree Rule-Based Feature Selection For Imbalanced Data, Haoyue Liu

Theses

A class imbalance problem appears in many real world applications, e.g., fault diagnosis, text categorization and fraud detection. When dealing with an imbalanced dataset, feature selection becomes an important issue. To address it, this work proposes a feature selection method that is based on a decision tree rule and weighted Gini index. The effectiveness of the proposed methods is verified by classifying a dataset from Santander Bank and two datasets from UCI machine learning repository. The results show that our methods can achieve higher Area Under the Curve (AUC) and F-measure. We also compare them with filter-based feature selection approaches, …

Smart Polymeric Temperature Sensors – For Biological Systems, Greenee Anilkumar Sinha

Theses

The damaged brain is vulnerable to increase in brain temperature after a severe head injury. Continuous monitoring of intracranial temperature depicts functionality essential to the treatment of brain injury Many innovations have been made in the biomedical industry relying on electronic implants in treating condition such as traumatic brain injury (TBI) or other cerebral diseases. Hence, a methodical and reliable way to measure the temperature is crucial to assess the patient’s situation. In this investigation, an analysis of various approaches to detect the change in the temperature due to resistance, current-voltage characteristics with respect to time has been evaluated. Also, …

Power Dissipation And Power Correlations For A Retreatblade Impeller Under Different Baffling Conditions, Chadakarn Sirasitthichoke

Theses

Glass-lined stirred reactors and tanks are commonly used in the pharmaceutical industry because of their corrosion resistance, ease of cleanliness and minimization of product contamination. Most industrial glass-lined tank reactors are provided with a torispherical tank bottom and a retreat curve impeller with low impeller clearance from the vessel bottom. The power, P, dissipated by the impeller is a critical process parameter to mixing processes to achieve the desired mixing effect, especially since the power per unit volume, P/V, directly controls mass transfer processes and other mixing phenomena. However, little information has been published about the power dissipation and the …

The Use Of Social Media As A Marketing Tool In Kosovo: Current Trends And Opportunities, Robert Ejupi

Theses

The purpose of this Honors project paper is to explore the current trends of social media marketing in Kosovo. More specifically, the study aims at determining what the most used social media outlets are, what viewpoints do representatives of various companies have on the credibility of social media as a marketing channel and whether they measure the effectiveness of their social media campaigns. Furthermore, the study’s aim is to explore the other side of the picture; how responsive are customers to marketing campaigns perpetrated in social media and how is their purchasing behavior influenced by these campaigns. The research methodology …

The Effectiveness Of Social Assistance Scheme In Kosovo, Jehona Karavidaj

Theses

Social Assistance Schemes are part of social protection systems that aim poverty alleviation. Social assistance benefits are designed with the purpose of providing the poor with minimum standards of living as means to escape from poverty. Different countries have implemented different provisions regarding the amount of social assistance benefits, the eligibility criteria, as well as the types of cash and in-kind benefits provided as part of social assistance schemes. These differences have been based on the conditions and instruments each country has used to target the marginalized groups.

The development of social protection schemes in Kosovo has started in the …

Profiling The Neurovascular Cell Interactions In Alcohol Exposure And Hiv-1 Infection, Agnieszka Agas

Theses

Alcohol use is known to exacerbate the progression of human immunodeficiency virus associated acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or HIV/AIDS in the brain, known as the NeuroAIDS. The mechanisms of this accelerated progression are still poorly understood. The purpose of my thesis is to review the parameters contributing to the co-morbid effects of alcohol in the progression of NeuroAIDS. The first aim will evaluate the exacerbating effects of alcohol on HIV-1 transmission, infection, and the role of metabolic energy imbalance during NeuroAIDS progression, which will enable me to formulate the possible mechanism for NeuroAIDS progression. The second aim will help me establish …

A Fuzzy Logic-Based Text Classification Method For Social Media, Keyuan Wu

Theses

Social media offer abundant information for studying people’s behaviors, emotions and opinions during the evolution of various rare events such as natural disasters. It is useful to analyze the correlation between social media and human-affected events. This study uses Hurricane Sandy 2012 related Twitter text data to conduct information extraction and text classification. Considering that the original data contains different topics, we need to find the data related to Hurricane Sandy. A fuzzy logic-based approach is introduced to solve the problem of text classification. Inputs used in the proposed fuzzy logic-based model are multiple useful features extracted from each Twitter’s …

Performance Evaluation Of Mpls In A Virtualized Service Provider Core (With/Without Class Of Service), Utkarsh Shah

Theses

The last decade has witnessed a major change in the types of traffic scaling the Internet. With the development of real-time applications several challenges were faced within traditional IP networks. Some of these challenges are delay, increased costs faced by the service provider and customer, limited scalability, separate infrastructure costs and high administrative overheads to manage large networks etc. To combat these challenges, researchers have steered towards finding alternate solutions.

Over the recent years, we have seen an introduction of a number of virtualized platforms and solutions being offered in the networking industry. Virtual load balancers, virtual firewalls, virtual routers, …

Barriers To Small And Medium Enterprises In Kosovo, Art Raifi

Theses

The aim of this research project is to identify the major barriers which restrict the growth of the SME sector in Kosovo. First, the impact of SMEs in a countries economy is established – which is then compared against two countries from different economic categories – the United Kingdom and Kosovo. Second, in accordance with primary and secondary data, the major barriers are identified and thoroughly discussed. Lastly, based on the findings, recommendations have been developed. The methods used to acquire data include: surveys, in-depth interviews and the use of secondary sources.

The Influence Of Ethnocentrism In Food Neophobic Students, Ana Carolina Jurza Rios

Theses

Economic and social changes occurring after Croatia´s entrance to European Union require a more intense research on consumers´ openness to a new and globalized market. A concept known as Consumer Ethnocentrism, when consumers prefer buying domestic rather than foreign products because is detrimental to national economy, is strongly present in post-war markets in the West Balkans. Another phenomenon related to peoples´ fear of trying new or unknown food, called Food Neophobia, has been under study in America and in some European countries. Despite the long list of articles focusing their attention on Consumer Ethnocentrism in the Balkans, none research has …

Parents’ Perspectives: How They Use Behavior Modification Techniques With Toddlers Aged 1-3, Diana H. Solt

Theses

Role-models, most often parents, are vital in the process of teaching children how to communicate and resolve conflicts. Children, specifically toddlers just learning to speak, may present unique disciplining challenges. This study examined the various methods of conflict management strategies parents use to try and change their toddler children’s behaviors. The main parental strategies studied include: verbal, imitative, physical, and no-action. Using a snowball sampling approach, 28 men and women participants were interviewed. The findings show that parents most often used verbal or imitative techniques to discipline their children. However an overwhelming majority agreed that verbal techniques do not work …

Effectiveness Of Youtube Advertising: A Study Of Audience Analysis, Paula R. Rodriguez

Theses

Social media have become an important platform for companies to connect with their target

audience and make an impression. With the rise of digital platforms, effectiveness of advertisements has become an important area of study for marketers to determine the most efficient and appropriate medium of communication to place their advertisements. Drawing on the media richness theory framework, this study investigates YouTube advertising effectiveness based on the multiplicity of cues in the videos and the possible feedback channels offered by the platform. Using a cross-sectional survey method, participants from the Dominican Republic (n = 109) and the United States (n …

High-Dimensional Linear And Functional Analysis Of Multivariate Grapevine Data, Uday Kant Jha

Theses

Variable selection plays a major role in multivariate high-dimensional statistical modeling. Hence, we need to select a consistent model, which avoids overfitting in prediction, enhances model interpretability and identifies relevant variables. We explore various continuous, nearly unbiased, sparse and accurate technique of linear model using coefficients paths like penalized maximum likelihood and nonconvex penalties, and iterative Sure Independence Screening (SIS). The convex penalized (pseudo-) likelihood approach based on the elastic net uses a mixture of the ℓ1 (Lasso) and ℓ2 (ridge regression) simultaneously achieve automatic variable selection, continuous shrinkage, and selection of the groups of correlated variables. Variable selection using …

Identification Of Differential Expression Of P53 Associated Rnas At 3 Different Treatment Timepoints, And Association With Chip-Seq Identified P53 Genes., Julia Freewoman

Theses

Called “the guardian of the genome,” p53 is one of the most studied proteins associated with cancer. After activation, p53 induces its target genes with different kinetics, i.e., early induction or delayed induction. However, this difference in kinetics of gene induction has not been examined genome-wide. This study uses RNA-seq time course data (0-hour, 6-hour, 12-hour and 24-hour) via drug induction with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), and compares that data to previously published ChIP-seq data. We found that, while there is an induction of a number of genes at 6 hours, there appears to be a delayed phase of induction occurring at …

Assembly Language, Joe S. Lee

Theses

“Assembly Language” is a culmination of an exploration, through the medium of ceramics, in understanding complexity that arises through the interactions between simple components.

In the realm of computer science, the term “Assembly Language” refers to a low-level programming language for any programmable digital device. It is typically just one step above writing in the raw ones and zeros of binary. Every program at some point needs to be translated into assembly language so that it can be understood by the device, and every program that has ever been written for a digital device is essentially composed of a series …

On Increasing Trust Between Developers And Automated Refactoring Tools Through Visualization, Alexander Bogart

Theses

In software development, maintaining good design is essential. The process of refactoring enables developers to improve this design during development without altering the program’s existing behavior. However, this process can be time-consuming, introduce semantic errors, and be difficult for developers inexperienced with refactoring or unfamiliar with a given code base. Automated refactoring tools can help not only by applying these changes, but by identifying opportunities for refactoring. Yet, developers have not been quick to adopt these tools due to a lack of trust between the developer and the tool. We propose an approach in the form of a visualization to …

Estimating Top-Of-Atmosphere Thermal Infrared Radiance Using Merra-2 Atmospheric Data, Tania Kleynhans

Theses

Space borne thermal infrared sensors have been extensively used for environmental research as well as cross-calibration of other thermal sensing systems. Thermal infrared data from satellites such as Landsat and Terra/MODIS have limited temporal resolution

(with a repeat cycle of 1 to 2 days for Terra/MODIS, and 16 days for Landsat). Thermal instruments with finer temporal resolution on geostationary satellites have limited utility for cross-calibration due to their large view angles. Reanalysis atmospheric data is available on a global spatial grid at three hour intervals making it a potential alternative to existing satellite image data. This research explores using the …

Adding Security To Control Area Network Of Vehicles By Using Sha-3, Aidin Ameri

Theses

The lack of security in the vehicles on the road is real and should be taken seriously. Since the lifespan of vehicles has average of eleven years, this means if we start to implement new changes to vehicles today, it would takes eleven years to make sure most vehicles on the road support our implementation. This is important as the number of lines of codes in vehicles are ever increasing and becoming more autonomous with the ability for vehicles to drive themselves. But there is no security implemented in their low level systems such as the Control Area Network which …