Digital Commons Network^™

Beyond The Frontiers Of Timeline-Based Planning, Riccardo De Benedictis

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Any agent, either biological or artificial, understands how to behave in its environment according to its prior knowledge and to its prior experience. The process of deciding which actions to undertake and how to perform them so as to achieve some desired objective is called deliberation. In particular, planning is an abstract and explicit deliberation process that chooses and organizes actions, by anticipating their expected outcomes, with the aim to achieve, as best as possible, some pre-stated objectives called goals. Among the most widespread approaches to automated planning, the classical approach broadly pursues to the following definition of planning: starting …

The Case Of Inter-Expert Creative Collaboration In Science Gallery Dublin: A Discourse Analytical Approach, Diane Tangney [Thesis]

Doctoral

The phenomenon of creativity has been a focus of enquiry by psychologists for many years. Compared with individual creativity, much less is known about creativity in collaborative contexts (Glăveanu, 2010; Sawyer, 2010). Taking a sociocultural view of creativity, this study contributes to an emerging strand of research that focusses centrally on how creativity unfolds in the performance of creative collaboration.

The research design followed an inductive path conducive to theory building and employed a single case study method (Yin, 2009). Science Gallery Dublin, part of Trinity College Dublin (TCD), is presented as a special place for creative collaboration.

In response …

The Lattice Boltzmann Method For Flows With Slip And No-Slip Boundaries, Seemaa Abdulsattar Mohammed

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This thesis assesses and extends a modern method to study the physics of simple and complex flows by using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). With the moment-based boundary conditions, different problems with no-slip and slip boundaries are simulated. The moment method is based on the specification of the appropriate hydrodynamic moments of LBM. Throughout this thesis, distinct collision operators of D2Q9 LBM are presented and examined; the models include the Bhatnager-Gross-Krook (BGK), multiple relaxation time (MRT) and a special case of the last model which is two relaxation times (TRT-LBM). Simple numerical simulations are given and the LBM proved its …

An Evaluation Of Targeted Security Awareness For End Users, Najem Mahmoud Ahmmed Ahmmed

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Users are frequently cited as being the weakest link in the information security chain. However, in many cases they are ill-positioned to follow good practice and make the necessary decisions. Part of the reason here is that even if security awareness, training and/or education have been provided, some of the key points may have been forgotten by the time that users find themselves facing security-related decisions. There are several scenarios in which users find themselves facing security-related decisions. However, while in such situations, many do not have an adequate understanding of security and do not receive the appropriate advice to …

The Agile Model-Driven Method, Klaus Mairon

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Today the development of business applications is influenced by increased project complexity, shortened development cycles and high expectations in quality. Rising costs in the software development are an additional motivation to improve the productivity by the choice of a suitable development process. In the development of complex applications models are of great importance. Models reduce complexity by abstraction. Additionally, models offer the possibility to build different views onto an application. If models are sufficiently formal they are suitable for the automated transformation into source code. For this reason, an important acceleration and quality factor in the software development is attributed …

Microbial Community Responses To Vanadium Distributions In Mining Geological Environments And Bioremediation Assessment, Baogang Zhang, Song Wang, Muhe Diao, Jie Fu, Miaomiao Xie, Jiaxin Shi, Ziqi Liu, Yufeng Jiang, Xuelong Cao, Alistair G.L. Borthwick

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

AbstractVanadium mining activities can cause contamination of the surrounding geological environment. Vanadium may exist in multiple matrices due to its migration and transformation, forming interactive relationships; however, the connection between vanadium distributions in multiple matrices and microbial community responses remains largely unknown. Vanadium is a redox‐sensitive metal that can be microbiologically reduced and immobilized. To date, bioremediation of vanadium‐contaminated environments by indigenous microorganisms has rarely been evaluated. This paper reports a systematic investigation into vanadium distributions and microbial communities in soils, water, and sediment from Panzhihua, China. Large vanadium contents of 1130.1 ± 9.8 mg/kg and 0.13 ± 0.02 mg/L …

Analytical And Numerical Simulations Of An Oscillating Water Column With Humidity In The Air Chamber, E. Medina-Lopez, A. G.L. Borthwick, A. Moñino

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Human Semaphorin 3 Variants Link Melanocortin Circuit Development And Energy Balance, Der Klaauw Aa Van, S Croizier, De Oliveira E Mendes, Lkj Stadler, S Park, Y Kong, Mc Banton, P Tandon, Ae Hendricks, Jm Keogh, Se Riley, S Papadia, E Henning, R Bounds, Eg Bochukova, V Mistry, S O’Rahilly, Rb Simerly, Jen Minchin, I Barroso, Ey Jones, Sg Bouret, Is Farooqi

School of Biomedical Sciences

No abstract provided.

Advancing User Authentication And Access Management, Jeffery Crume

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

In order for online systems to transact business or exchange other sensitive information, there must be an environment where the parties involved can verify that the other is who they claim to be. Authentication mechanisms provide this verification process, thereby, improving confidence in the confidentiality and integrity of communications. However, attackers can exploit this trust if they are able to successfully impersonate a legitimate user and gain access to the system with all the rights and privileges of that user. One particularly difficult class of attacks of this sort involves an attacker inserting themselves between the end user and the …

Foundations Of Offshore Wind Turbines: A Review, Xiaoni Wu, Yu Hu, Ye Li, Jian Yang, Lei Duan, Tongguang Wang, Thomas Adcock, Zhiyu Jiang, Zhen Gao, Zhiliang Lin, Alistair Borthwick, Shijun Liao

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Explicit Radial Basis Function Collocation Method For Computing Shallow Water Flows, Elmiloud Chaabelasri, Mohammed Jeyar, Alistair G.L. Borthwick

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Network Security Intelligence Centres For Information Security Incident Management, Natalia Miloslavskaya

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Intensive IT development has led to qualitative changes in our living, which are driving current information security (IS) trends and require sophisticated structures and adequate approached to manage IS for different businesses. The wide range of threats is constantly growing in modern intranets; they have become not only numerous and diverse but more disruptive. In such circumstances, organizations realize that IS incidents’ timely detection and prevention in the future (what is more important) are not only possible but imperative. Any delay and only reactive actions to IS incidents put their assets under risk. A properly designed IS incident management system …

Low Cost Graphene Oxide Aerogels For The Removal Of Pb+2 From Drinking Water, S Awan, J Bloor, D Jenkins, R Handy

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Decentralized Hamiltonian Control Of Multi-Der Isolated Microgrids With Meshed Topology, Mohamed Toub, Rush Robinett, Mohamed Maaroufi, Ghassane Aniba

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The new electricity grid of the future, smart grid, can be seen as the interconnection of multiple microgrids. These microgrids are usually composed of distributed energy resources (DERs) that connect to each other in different topologies. Therefore, the modeling and control of meshed microgrids are requisite. This paper presents a mathematical approach for the modeling and decentralized control of multi-DER isolated microgrids (ImGs) with a meshed topology. Based on the advanced control scheme: Hamiltonian surface shaping and power flow control (HSSPFC), decentralized controllers are designed independently using only local information. These controllers regulate the voltage at the point of common …

A Model For User-Centric Information Security Risk Assessment And Response, Manal Alohali

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Managing and assessing information security risks in organizations is a well understood and accepted approach, with literature providing a vast array of proposed tools, methods and techniques. They are, however, tailored for organizations, with little literature supporting how these can be achieved more generally for end-users, i.e. users, who are solely responsible for their devices, data and for making their own security decisions. To protect against them, technical countermeasures alone has been found insufficient as it can be misused by users and become vulnerable to various threats. This research focuses on better understanding of human behavior which is vital for …

Relativistic Charge Dynamics In Electromagnetic Fields, Lauren Ansell

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

In this thesis we consider the motion of a charged particle in strong electromagnetic background elds, having in mind applications to state-of-the-art high-power lasers. To nd solutions of the Lorentz force equation of motion, we make use of Noether's theorem to identify conserved quantities of the charge dynamics. We will explain how, given enough symmetries, a dynamical system becomes integrable or, with a maximum number of conserved quantities, maximally superintegrable. Beginning with charged particles in vector background elds, we shall show that the relevant symmetry group is the Poincar e group. The dynamics for constant and univariate elds is classi …

Transparent User Authentication For Mobile Applications, Saud Nejr S Alotaibi

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The use of smartphones in our daily lives has grown steadily, due to the combination of mobility and round-the-clock multi-connectivity. In particular, smartphones are used to perform activities, such as sending emails, transferring money via mobile Internet banking, making calls, texting, surfing the Internet, viewing documents, storing medical, confidential and personal information, shopping online and playing games. Some active applications are considered sensitive and confidential and the risks are high in the event of the loss of any sensitive data or privacy breaches. In addition, after the point of entry, using techniques such as a PIN or password, the user …

Analysis And Design Of Castellated Beams, Sahar Sahib Elaiwi

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The castellated beam is one of the steel members which uses less material, but has equal performance as the I-beam of the same size. Most of the castellated beams are fabricated from a standard universal I-beam or H-column, by cutting the web on a half hexagonal line down the centre of the beam, then these two halves are moved directly across by a half unit of spacing and re-joined by welding. This process leads to increasing the beam’s depth and thus the bending strength and stiffness about the major axis, without adding additional materials. This allows castellated beams to be …

An Object-Based Multimedia Forensic Analysis Tool, Shahlaa Talib Mashhadani

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

With the enormous increase in the use and volume of photographs and videos, multimedia-based digital evidence now plays an increasingly fundamental role in criminal investigations. However, with the increase, it is becoming time-consuming and costly for investigators to analyse content manually. Within the research community, focus on multimedia content has tended to be on highly specialised scenarios such as tattoo identification, number plate recognition, and child exploitation. An investigator’s ability to search multimedia data based on keywords (an approach that already exists within forensic tools for character-based evidence) could provide a simple and effective approach for identifying relevant imagery. This …

Improving Group Integrity Of Tags In Rfid Systems, Reem Alkanhel

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Checking the integrity of groups containing radio frequency identification (RFID) tagged objects or recovering the tag identifiers of missing objects is important in many activities. Several autonomous checking methods have been proposed for increasing the capability of recovering missing tag identifiers without external systems. This has been achieved by treating a group of tag identifiers (IDs) as packet symbols encoded and decoded in a way similar to that in binary erasure channels (BECs). Redundant data are required to be written into the limited memory space of RFID tags in order to enable the decoding process. In this thesis, the group …

Atomic Spectrometry Update: Review Of Advances In The Analysis Of Metals, Chemicals And Materials, Simon Carter, Robert Clough, Andy Fisher, Bridget Gibson, Ben Russell, Julia Waack

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

This review covers advances in the analysis of advanced materials, metals, fuels and lubricants, nanostructures, ceramics, refractories, organic and inorganic chemicals, catalysts and nuclear materials by a range of techniques including X-ray, ICP, LIBS, mass spectrometry, synchrotron-based techniques, plus non-destructive and ablation surface techniques.

Graphene/Silicon Schottky Junction Solar Cells With High Efficiency, Ahmed Suhail

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Silicon p-n junction solar cells have a power conversion efficiency (PCE) up to 12%. Graphene, which has unique properties is an excellent material for solar cells with the potential to achieve higher PCEs. Since 2009, researchers have started to integrate CVD-graphene with Si substrates to develop Schottky junction solar cells with potentially higher PCE. However, there are several challenges remaining in designing and fabricating these cells. In this project, a novel graphene/Si Schottky junction solar cell with a back-contact structure was fabricated to increase the active area and also enable a texturing process to be implemented on the front of …

Bioelectrical User Authentication, Timibloudi Stephen Enamamu

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

There has been tremendous growth of mobile devices, which includes mobile phones, tablets etc. in recent years. The use of mobile phone is more prevalent due to their increasing functionality and capacity. Most of the mobile phones available now are smart phones and better processing capability hence their deployment for processing large volume of information. The information contained in these smart phones need to be protected against unauthorised persons from getting hold of personal data. To verify a legitimate user before accessing the phone information, the user authentication mechanism should be robust enough to meet present security challenge. The present …

Dynamic Instability Of Castellated Beams Subjected To Transverse Periodic Loading, S Elaiwi, B Kim, L-Y Li

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Securing Cloud Storage By Transparent Biometric Cryptography, Leith Abed

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

With the capability of storing huge volumes of data over the Internet, cloud storage has become a popular and desirable service for individuals and enterprises. The security issues, nevertheless, have been the intense debate within the cloud community. Significant attacks can be taken place, the most common being guessing the (poor) passwords. Given weaknesses with verification credentials, malicious attacks have happened across a variety of well-known storage services (i.e. Dropbox and Google Drive) – resulting in loss the privacy and confidentiality of files. Whilst today's use of third-party cryptographic applications can independently encrypt data, it arguably places a significant burden …

Fcmdt: A Novel Fuzzy Cognitive Maps Dynamic Trust Model For Cloud Federated Identity Management, Keltoum Bendiab, Stavros Shiaeles, S. Boucherkha, Bogdan Ghita

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Bbgdash: A Max-Min Bounded Bitrate Guidance For Sdn Enabled Adaptive Video Streaming, Ali Edan Al-Issa, Abdelhak Bentaleb, Thomas Zinner, Is Haka Mkwawa, Bogdan Ghita

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Performance Analysis Of Data Fragmentation Techniques On A Cloud Server, Nelson Santos, Salvatore Lentini, Enrico Grosso, Bogdan Ghita, Giovanni Masala

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The advancements in virtualisation and distributed computing have allowed the cloud paradigm to become very popular among users and resources. It allows companies to save costs on infrastructure and maintenance and to focus on the development of products. However, this fast-growing paradigm has brought along some concerns from users, such as the integrity and security of the data, particularly in environments where users rely entirely on providers to secure their data. This paper explores different techniques to fragment data on the cloud and prevent direct unauthorised access to the data. It explores their performance on a cloud instance, where the …

Numerical Modelling Of Responses Of Offshore Wave Energy Converters In Extreme Waves, Pierre-Henri Musiedlak

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Wave Energy is a promising sector for sustainable low-carbon energy production. Despite the effort put in the last decade, concerning problems remained unsolved. Numerical modelling can play a key role in the assessment of extreme responses necessary to the understanding of Wave Energy Converter (WEC) capacity to survive extreme conditions. However, high-fidelity codes are too time-consuming for industries, while codes of lower fidelity are based on major physical assumptions inducing concerning uncertainties. Therefore, the present study - sponsored jointly by DNV GL and the University of Plymouth - develops an hybrid model coupling the low-fidelity model WaveDyn, with a Computational …

Novel Trust Consensus Protocol And Blockchain-Based Trust Evaluation System For M2m Application Services, Besfort Shala, Ulrich Trick, Armin Lehmann, Bogdan Ghita, Stavros Shiaeles

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.