Digital Commons Network^™

Trust And Suspicion As A Function Of Cyber Security In Human Machine Team (Hmt) Of Unmanned Systems, Dhaher M. Alshammari

Theses and Dissertations

The research focuses on cyber-attacks on cyber-physical systems of the unmanned vehicles that are characteristically used in the military, particularly the Air Force. Unmanned systems are exposed to various risks as the capacity of cyber attackers continue to expand, raising the need for speedy and immediate responses. The advances in military technologies form the basis of the research that explores the challenges faced in the timely detection and response to cyber-attacks. The purpose of the research is to study the connections between operator suspicion and the detection and response to cyber-attacks alongside the identification of theory of suspicion as the …

Masat Emergjente Pas Hakimit, Allen Pajaziti

Theses and Dissertations

Në ditët e sotme kemi dëshmi që zhvillimi i teknologjisë ështe në rritje të hovshme dhe përderisa ne korrim benefite jashtëzakonisht të mëdhaja ne duhet të parashtrojmë pyetjën se a kemi masa mbrojtëse të mjaftueshme që mos të kompromitohen integriteti, konfidencialiteti dhe disponushmëria e të dhënave tona, si dhe masat emergjente të cilat duhet të ndërmarrë një individ, ose një kompani në teresi për të parandaluar dëme të medha nga një sulm kibernetik. Njëra nga pikat kyçe që zgjuan interesin tim rreth shtjellimit të kësaj teme.

Operational Decision Making Under Uncertainty: Inferential, Sequential, And Adversarial Approaches, Andrew J. Keith

Theses and Dissertations

Modern security threats are characterized by a stochastic, dynamic, partially observable, and ambiguous operational environment. This dissertation addresses such complex security threats using operations research techniques for decision making under uncertainty in operations planning, analysis, and assessment. First, this research develops a new method for robust queue inference with partially observable, stochastic arrival and departure times, motivated by cybersecurity and terrorism applications. In the dynamic setting, this work develops a new variant of Markov decision processes and an algorithm for robust information collection in dynamic, partially observable and ambiguous environments, with an application to a cybersecurity detection problem. In the …

Alternative Therapeutic Mechanisms Of Novel Phenoxyalkyl Pyridinium Oximes To Treat Organophosphorus Compounds, Royce Harrison Nichols

Theses and Dissertations

Organophosphates (OPs), such as nerve agents and insecticides, potently inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Oximes, such as the currently FDA approved oxime 2-PAM, remove the OP from the inhibited enzyme. 2-PAM is effective against select OPs and cannot effectively pass the blood-brain barrier to attenuate OP induced CNS damage. Our laboratory has synthesized a series of substituted phenoxyalkyl pyridinium oximes (Patent number: 9,227,937) that have demonstrated increased survival rates compared to 2-PAM. This research investigated 1) in vitro oxime reactivation of rat, human, and guinea pig serum BChE after inhibition by nerve agent and insecticidal OPs; 2) in vitro determination of reactivation …

The Scientific Romances Of Jules Verne And H.G. Wells: Imperialism Disguised As Progress In The Early Days Of Science Fiction, Timothy Ferris

Theses and Dissertations

Frequently in their respective oeuvres, Verne and Wells write in a rhetoric of conquest that almost always translates to discovering a more efficient means of taming wild, non-European environments. These goals extend not only to the lands that their protagonists explore, but also to human beings and other life that may populate them. Indeed, the underlying focus—the one that is masked behind the thrill and adventure of both Wells and Verne—is none other than the march of progress as understood by middle-class Europeans in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Progress can produce positivistic optimism, and it can also …

Post-Coloniality In Plutarch's Lives Of Philopoemen And Flamininus, John Benjamin Martin

Theses and Dissertations

Plutarch’s Life of Philopoemen and Life of Titus Flamininus are often overlooked in favor of Plutarch’s more famous subjects. However, this biographical pair uniquely treats contemporary figures on opposing sides of the conflicts of the early 2nd century BCE: Philopoemen as the last great Greek general fighting for freedom, and Flamininus as the Roman general whose actions brought about Greece’s subjugation to Rome. Reading these biographies through a post-colonial lens reveals Plutarch’s internal resistance to the Roman subjugation. I argue that, although Plutarch does not outwardly denigrate the Roman conquest, he uses Flamininus and his flaws to criticize Rome’s subjugation …

Modified Ambient Mass Spectrometric Methods For Field Screening And Confirmation Of Forensic Evidence, William Lee Fatigante

Theses and Dissertations

The utility of field-portable analytical instrumentation has the potential to revolutionize many fields of science, particularly for forensic science and law enforcement. While colorimetric testing can be employed for drug evidence screening, the influx of novel psychoactive substances has significantly decreased the effectiveness of this investigation strategy. One approach to meeting the needs of today’s practitioner is coupling flexible, ambient ionization techniques with portable mass spectrometric (MS) instrumentation. Ambient ionization techniques have a rich history of being amendable to the sample at hand. Since their inception in 2005, numerous techniques saturate the field. The main drive for this development is …

The Impact Of Mindfulness Practices On The Dispositions Of Eight Third-Grade Elementary Students At An Elementary School In The Southeast Region Of The United States, Jakob Lauffer

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to examine the impact mindfulness sessions had on the dispositions of eight third-grade students. In the Spring of 2019, mindfulness practices were presented to third-graders in their regular classroom setting every Monday and Thursday over the six-week qualitative action research study. During this time, the teacher-researcher administered 15-minute mindful lessons that aimed to help increase coping strategies in the student population. The instruments used for data collection in this qualitative action research study were: a pre/post-intervention questionnaire, weekly exit slips utilizing multiple choice and open-ended questions, field notes, and digital video recordings. Students utilized …

Two Essays On Market Entry And Exit: Empirical Evidence From Airline Industry, Sina Aghaie

Theses and Dissertations

The proliferation of low-cost competitors has increasingly eroded incumbent firms’ market shares and profitability in recent decades. However, incumbents are still uncertain about how to handle this new challenge. The two essays in this dissertation aim to contribute to the marketing strategy and competitive dynamics literature by exploring the link between incumbents’ marketing-mix activities and low-cost rival’s market entry, exit, and the threat of entry decisions.

In the first essay, I study a common and important phenomenon – the marketing tactics that incumbent firms employ to drive new low-cost entrants out of the market. Specifically, I investigate how incumbents’ price, …

The Terror Pandemic: The International Diffusion Of Terrorism, Stephen Michael Chicoine

Theses and Dissertations

The online recruitment efforts of ISIS have raised questions about the new role of the internet in the spread of terrorism. However, the use of the mass media by terrorist groups to recruit and spread is not unique to ISIS or the digital age and has been an aspect of terrorism since its modern conception. To explain the spread of terrorism historically and understand the unique dimensions of terrorism and the internet, a cultural explanation is proposed to explain the process through terrorism spreads as well as the content that inspires violence. This study includes two major parts: a virtual …

The Mediation Of The Cross: Spatiality And Syncretism In Pedro Páramo And Grande Sertão: Veredas, Faith Arianna Blackhurst

Theses and Dissertations

Juan Rulfo and João Guimarães Rosa stand at a literary crossroads, the intersection where traditional regionalists and celebrated Boom-era novelists meet. Although Rulfo and Guimarães Rosa chose the Mexican Llano Grande and the Brazilian sertão of Minas Gerais as the settings of their most celebrated novels, they go far beyond the techniques of traditional regionalism by distancing themselves from their national literatures. They universalize their narratives by incorporating universal religious themes, including the symbol of the cross. The symbol of the cross/crossroad has been analyzed and alluded to in a handful of essays on Pedro Páramo and Grande sertão: Veredas …

"Dhakirat Al-Alam": Palestinian Traumatic Memory In Three Works By Elias Khoury, Nourhan Tewfik

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis project traces the development of a Palestinian counter-narrative of trauma in the literary works of Lebanese novelist, editor and critic Elias Khoury. It does so by looking at three novels by Khoury: the first work is Mamlakat al-ghurabā’ (The Kingdom of Strangers, 1993), which introduces his project on narrating the Palestinian experience and meditates on the potential structure of a Palestinian trauma narrative. Probably his most read work, the second novel, Bāb al-shams (Gate of the Sun, 1998), builds on these beginnings by re-enacting an incomplete, fragmented and non-teleological narrative of Palestinian traumatic memory. The same preoccupation with …

Persuasion, Political Warfare, And Deterrence: Behavioral And Behaviorally Robust Models, William N. Caballero

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines game theory models in the context of persuasion and competition wherein decision-makers are not completely rational by considering two complementary threads of research. The first thread of research pertains to offensive and preemptively defensive behavioral models. Research in this thread makes three notable contributions. First, an offensive modeling framework is created to identify how an entity optimally influences a populace to take a desired course of action. Second, a defensive modeling framework is defined wherein a regulating entity takes action to bound the behavior of multiple adversaries simultaneously attempting to persuade a group of decision-makers. Third, an …

How Isis Addresses Women From Western And Middle-Eastern Backgrounds: A Discourse Analysis, Kesmat Taha Nassar

Theses and Dissertations

Although the atrocities the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) commits against women on daily basis are no secret, hundreds of women from different parts of the world have pledged their allegiance to the terrorist group and many more are susceptible to radicalization. The group has capitalized on the opportunity the internet provides to spread their propaganda; however, this also means that it has provided researchers with a lot of accessible data to study. The focus of this thesis is on the language used in by ISIS in articles addressing women in its official online magazines. In order to …

Understanding The Experiences Of K-12 Esl Teachers Teaching Refugees In Cairo: The Case Of Sudanese And Syrian Community Schools, Diane Joseph Lakah

Theses and Dissertations

The refugee crisis has become a global crisis and concern. Refugees flee their country of origin and seek refuge in host countries, where they need to survive in a new society and culture. English language is an international language and refugees in Egypt aspire to resettle in a developed country like the United States of America or Canada where English language is a necessity for them to communicate and find job opportunities to advance their socio-economic standard. The purpose of this study is to explore and understand in depth the aspects that shape the experiences, perceptions, and roles of English …

The Weaponization Of Artificial Intelligence (Ai) And Its Implications On The Security Dilemma Between States: Could It Create A Situation Similar To "Mutually Assured Destruction" (Mad), Gilan Osama Dahab

Theses and Dissertations

There is no a consensus in the IR literature on the possible implications of AI for cyber or nuclear capabilities, and whether AI would exacerbate, or potentially mitigate, the security dilemma between actors with varying capabilities. This capstone project explores these questions, using experts' interviews and secondary data. It has tackled the issue under study by using the most-similar method in which most of the variables are similar. The paper argues the weaponization of AI exacerbates the security dilemma between states since it increases uncertainty. What is actually problematic about the military AI applications, as opposed to other military capabilities, …

Words Speak Louder Than Actions: The Power Of Vocality And Oral Communication In Medieval Viking Literature, Yasmine Abdel-Jawad

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the nature of oral communication within medieval Nordic societies, specifically focusing on the usage of various speech acts in classic Viking literary texts. This essay explores the language employed by Viking characters, noting the ways in which they could demonstrate their power/authority through words as well as the way in which verbal ability could either elevate or diminish one’s social status.

To The Peaches, Jazmine Hayes

Theses and Dissertations

My work focuses on erased histories and the ways these histories are preserved through cultural traditions. I explore histories across the African diaspora with specificity on African American culture and black female subjectivity.

Defense In Desolation, Dounia Bendris

Theses and Dissertations

This paper discusses different forms of defense strategies in architecture throughout history as well as how a building’s function morphs over time in relation to the political and social climate that surrounds it. Both of these concepts provide a framework for understanding my thesis drawing, “Defense in Desolation,” which uses bunkers in abandonment as a reference to the psychological impact of architecture outside of functionality.

The Effects Of Inhibitory Control And Perceptual Attention On Cyber Security, Ed Pearson

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation recommends research to investigate the effects inhibitory control and perceptual attention have on the cyber security decision-making process. Understanding the effects that inhibitory control and perceptual attention have on the security decision- making process will allow for better defenses to be developed against social engineering and phishing. A survey and review of previous research in the area of Human Computer- Interaction and Security is presented. An experiment is performed to evaluate inhibitory control, which is composed of prepotent response inhibition, resistance to distractor interference, and resistance to proactive interference (PI). Additionally, the experiment evaluates perceptual attention and the …

Using Internal State Variables To Model Shear Influenced Plasticity And Damage Effects Of High Velocity Impact Of Ductile Materials, Luke Andrew Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

A physically motivated Internal State Variable (ISV) constitutive model is extended to account for shear influenced void evolution for predicting damage behavior in ductile solids. The revised ISV model is calibrated for an aluminum 7085-T711 alloy using a series of microstructure and mechanical property quantification experiments. The calibrated ISV model for the aluminum alloy is implemented in an implicit finite-element code (Abaqus) to simulate the deformation of notch Bridgman tension specimens at a variety of stress states and temperatures. The model revisions and calibrated aluminum ISV model are validated through successful prediction of mechanical and microstructure evolution for structures subjected …

Efficacy Of Novel Pyridinium Oximes Against Two Organophosphates In Female Sprague Dawley Rats, Jason Michael Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

Anticholinesterase organophosphate (OP) compounds were developed as insecticides and are also used as nerve agents in chemical warfare. Treatment against acute OP toxicity includes oximes which reactivate phosphorylated acetylcholinesterase (AChE) restoring enzymatic activity. The oxime currently approved for use in the U.S., pralidoxime (2-PAM), has limited efficacy penetrating the blood-brain barrier. Our laboratory has developed novel substituted phenoxyalkyl pyridinium oximes (US Patent 9,227,937) designed to more effectively penetrate the central nervous system. This research investigated any differences in oxime reactivation among four age/sex groups and also survivability in adult female Sprague Dawley rats challenged with a lethal dose of OP. …

Strategy, Implementation, And State-Building Why Governance Failed After The Post-2011 Drawdown Of Us Forces From Iraq?, Charles Allen Baxter

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I argue that US Military and Civilian leadership in Iraq, while both well-trained and well-intentioned, implemented a failed strategy that sought to fill institutional gaps within various national and sub-national governmental entities. This strategy provided short-term gains by increasing the capacity and capability of Iraq’s government to deliver public goods and services to its citizens thereby improving government legitimacy. Yet, in the long-term, a largely decentralized approach to development, a maladaptive transition plan, and an illusory estimate of the capacity of the security apparatus within Iraq proved detrimental to the broader US strategic objectives and state-building efforts …

Identifying The Molecular Mechanisms Responsible For Persistent Effects Of Developmental Exposure To Chlorpyrifos On Behavior, Navatha Alugubelly

Theses and Dissertations

Chlorpyrifos (CPF) is one of the most widely used organophosphorus insecticides (OPs). The developmental exposure to low levels of CPF results in the inhibition of the endocannabinoid metabolizing enzyme fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and in altered emotional behavior (increased social play) without affecting the acetylcholinesterase, the canonical target of OPs. However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for this increased social play are not known. In this study, male rat pups were exposed orally to either corn oil, 0.75 mg/kg CPF, or 0.02 mg/kg PF-04457845 (PF; a specific inhibitor of FAAH) daily from postnatal day 10 (PND10) - PND16. This dosage …

Shaping The Southeastern Conference: Commercialization And Deregulation During The Great Depression And World War Ii, James Lawrence Watkins

Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation examines how member institutions in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) managed their college football programs during World War II. This time period in college sport history is unique because a few university presidents at SEC institutions believed the war gave them the opportunity to permanently implement reforms such as reducing practice hours and limiting the high salaries of coaches. Previous historiography demonstrates that these reforms did not come to fruition. Why were the university presidents and faculty, who claimed responsibility for governing the SEC, unable to capitalize on the opportunity they believed the war had given them to reform …

The Reference Autonomous Mobility Model A Framework For Predicting Autonomous Unmanned Ground Vehicle Performance, Phillip J. Durst

Theses and Dissertations

Mobility modeling is a critical step in the ground vehicle acquisition process for military vehicles. Mobility modeling tools, and in particular the NATO Reference Mobility Model (NRMM), have played a critical role in understanding the mission-level capabilities of ground vehicles. This understanding via modeling supports not only developers during early vehicle design but also decision makers in the field previewing the capabilities of ground vehicles in real-world deployments. Due to decades of field testing and operations, mobility modeling for traditional ground vehicles is well-understood; however, mobility modeling tools for evaluating autonomous mobility are sparse. Therefore, this dissertation proposes and derives …

Seen And Unseen: Visualizing Contradictions In Postwar Japan, 1950s–1960s, Christina Lai

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis offers a comparative study on how photography visualizes the political dynamics, ideological and psychological contradictions in postwar Japan. The discussion includes the exhibition The Family of Man in Tokyo (1956), Werner Bischof and Robert Capa’s photographs of Japan, and local photographers Ken Domon and Shomei Tomatsu.

"The Most Forgotten Unit In The Most Forgotten Theatre Of That War:" A History Of The Mars Task Force In The Burma Theatre Of World War Ii, August 1944-October 1945, Matthew James Camina

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis discusses the significance of the (MTF) in Burma during World War II and how the MTF has been generally overlooked by historians. What little historical attention the Mars Task Force has received has frequently been brief and inaccurate. The Mars Task Force was a classified Long Range Penetration Force that trekked some 300 miles behind enemy-lines and went on the offensive in Burma to weaken the Japanese in their war with the Nationalists Chinese. This epic march was on foot, with mules, and supplied through airdrops. This thesis represents one of the few studies of the Mars Task …

The Arkansas Colored Auxiliary Council: Black Activism During World War I, 1917-1918, Crystal Gail Shurley

Theses and Dissertations

Before the United States entered World War I, President Wilson and Congress established the Council of National Defense, August 29, 1916. Each state formed a State Council that oversaw the structure and organization of smaller county councils, community councils, women's committee, and black auxiliary councils. Scholarship focused on Arkansas State Council of Defense (ASCD) is scarce, but scholarship on Colored Auxiliary Council of Defense (CACD) for Arkansas is virtually nonexistent. This digital history project, titled The Arkansas Colored Auxiliary Council: Black Activism during World War I, 1917-1918, explores the history of CACD, its formation, individuals involved, and some of its …

Tracing The Genesis Of The English Requiem Through Selected Works, V. Dwight Dockery, Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

This document investigates the “English Requiem,” coined by the present author as a subgenre of the broader compositional genre of the Requiem. This subgenre demonstrates certain characteristics including grandeur in scale, implementation of non- standard religious text(s), especially the English Burial Service, and/or the utilization of (often secular) English poetry. The subgenre’s genesis is found in English composers’ response to the dead from the First World War (1914-1918), which coincided with the English Musical Renaissance of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. The purpose of this document is to provide a clear understanding of the development of the English Requiem within …