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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons™
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- Clustering (2)
- Cordon and search (2)
- Distributed (2)
- Graph theoretic (2)
- Model checking (2)
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- Robots (2)
- Robustness (2)
- Secure email (2)
- Security (2)
- Swarm (2)
- 3D animation (1)
- Active Learning (1)
- AdWords (1)
- Animated film (1)
- Artificial neural networks (1)
- Authentication (1)
- Batch flow systems (1)
- Behavioral research (1)
- Binary relevance (1)
- Censorship (1)
- Character effects (1)
- Cloth simulation (1)
- Cloud storage (1)
- Cluster Refinement (1)
- Collaborative communication (1)
- Comparable to genetic (1)
- Computational creativity (1)
- Content-based encryption (1)
- Coupling security (1)
- Cybersecurity (1)
- Publication Type
Articles 1 - 30 of 31
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Algorithms For Learning The Structure Of Monotone And Nonmonotone Sum-Product Networks, Aaron W. Dennis
Algorithms For Learning The Structure Of Monotone And Nonmonotone Sum-Product Networks, Aaron W. Dennis
Theses and Dissertations
The sum-product network (SPN) is a recently-proposed generative, probabilistic model that is guaranteed to compute any joint or any marginal probability in time linear in the size of the model. An SPN is represented as a directed, acyclic graph (DAG) of sum and product nodes, with univariate probability distributions at the leaves. It is important to learn the structure of this DAG since the set of distributions representable by an SPN is constrained by it. We present the first batch structure learning algorithm for SPNs and show its advantage over learning the parameters of an SPN with fixed architecture. We …
Towards Using Certificate-Based Authentication As A Defense Against Evil Twins In 802.11 Networks, Travis S. Hendershot
Towards Using Certificate-Based Authentication As A Defense Against Evil Twins In 802.11 Networks, Travis S. Hendershot
Theses and Dissertations
Wireless clients are vulnerable to exploitation by evil twins due to flaws in the authentication process of 802.11 Wi-Fi networks. Current certificate-based wireless authentication protocols present a potential solution, but are limited in their ability to provide a secure and usable platform for certificate validation. Our work seeks to mitigate these limitations by exploring a client-side strategy for utilizing alternative trust models in wireless network authentication. We compile a taxonomy of various trust models for conducting certificate-based authentication of wireless networks and methodically evaluate each model according to desirable properties of security, usability, and deployability. We then build a platform …
A Common Misconception In Multi-Label Learning, Michael Benjamin Brodie
A Common Misconception In Multi-Label Learning, Michael Benjamin Brodie
Theses and Dissertations
The majority of current multi-label classification research focuses on learning dependency structures among output labels. This paper provides a novel theoretical view on the purported assumption that effective multi-label classification models must exploit output dependencies. We submit that the flurry of recent dependency-exploiting, multi-label algorithms may stem from the deficiencies in existing datasets, rather than an inherent need to better model dependencies. We introduce a novel categorization of multi-label metrics, namely, evenly and unevenly weighted label metrics. We explore specific features that predispose datasets to improved classification by methods that model label dependence. Additionally, we provide an empirical analysis of …
Verification Of Task Parallel Programs Using Predictive Analysis, Radha Vi Nakade
Verification Of Task Parallel Programs Using Predictive Analysis, Radha Vi Nakade
Theses and Dissertations
Task parallel programming languages provide a way for creating asynchronous tasks that can run concurrently. The advantage of using task parallelism is that the programmer can write code that is independent of the underlying hardware. The runtime determines the number of processor cores that are available and the most efficient way to execute the tasks. When two or more concurrently executing tasks access a shared memory location and if at least one of the accesses is for writing, data race is observed in the program. Data races can introduce non-determinism in the program output making it important to have data …
The State Of Man-In-The-Middle Tls Proxies: Prevalence And User Attitudes, Mark Thomas Oneill
The State Of Man-In-The-Middle Tls Proxies: Prevalence And User Attitudes, Mark Thomas Oneill
Theses and Dissertations
We measure the prevalence and uses of Man-in-the-Middle TLS proxies using a Flash tool deployed with a Google AdWords campaign. We generate 15.2 million certificate tests across two large-scale measurement studies and find that 1 in 250 TLS connections are intercepted by proxies. The majority of these proxies appear to be benevolent, however we identify over 3,600 cases where eight malware products are using this technology nefariously. We also find thousands of instances of negligent, duplicitous, and suspicious behavior, some of which degrade security for users without their knowledge. Distinguishing these types of practices is challenging in practice, indicating a …
Peering Through The Cloud—Investigating The Perceptions And Behaviors Of Cloud Storage Users, Justin Chun Wu
Peering Through The Cloud—Investigating The Perceptions And Behaviors Of Cloud Storage Users, Justin Chun Wu
Theses and Dissertations
We present the results of a survey and interviews focused on user perceptions and behaviors with respect to cloud storage services. In particular, we study behaviors such as which services are used, what types of data are stored, and how collaboration and sharing are performed. We also investigate user attitudes toward cloud storage on topics such as payment, privacy, security, and robustness. We find that users are drawn to cloud storage because it enables robust, ubiquitous access to their files, as well as enabling sharing and collaborative efforts. However, users' preferred medium for file sharing continues to be email, due …
Creating And Automatically Grading Annotated Questions, Alicia Crowder Wood
Creating And Automatically Grading Annotated Questions, Alicia Crowder Wood
Theses and Dissertations
We have created a question type that allows teachers to easily create questions, helps provide an intuitive user experience for students to take questions, and reduces the time it currently takes teachers to grade and provide feedback to students. This question type, or an "annotated" question, will allow teachers to test students' knowledge in a particular subject area by having students "annotate" or mark text and video sources to answer questions. Through user testing we determined that overall the interface and the implemented system decrease the time it would take a teacher to grade annotated quiz questions. However, there are …
From Qualitative To Quantitative: Supporting Robot Understanding In Human-Interactive Path Planning, Daqing Yi
From Qualitative To Quantitative: Supporting Robot Understanding In Human-Interactive Path Planning, Daqing Yi
Theses and Dissertations
Improvements in robot autonomy are changing human-robot interaction from low-level manipulation to high-level task-based collaboration. When a robot can independently and autonomously executes tasks, a human in a human-robot team acts as a collaborator or task supervisor instead of a tele-operator. When applying this to planning paths for a robot's motion, it is very important that the supervisor's qualitative intent is translated into aquantitative model so that the robot can produce a desirable consequence. In robotic path planning, algorithms can transform a human's qualitative requirement into a robot's quantitative model so that the robot behavior satisfies the human's intent. In …
The Quest To Secure Email: A Usability Analysis Of Key Management Alternatives, Jeffrey Thomas Andersen
The Quest To Secure Email: A Usability Analysis Of Key Management Alternatives, Jeffrey Thomas Andersen
Theses and Dissertations
The current state of email security is lacking, and the need for end-to-end encryption of email is clear. Recent research has begun to make progress towards usable, secure email for the masses (i.e., novice users without IT support). In this paper, we evaluate the usability implications of three different key management approaches: PGP, IBE, and passwords. Our work is the first formal A/B evaluation of the usability of different key management schemes, and the largest formal evaluation of secure email ever performed. Our results reveal interesting inherent usability trade-offs for each approach to secure email. Furthermore, our research results in …
Usable, Secure Content-Based Encryption On The Web, Scott Ruoti
Usable, Secure Content-Based Encryption On The Web, Scott Ruoti
Theses and Dissertations
Users share private information on the web through a variety of applications, such as email, instant messaging, social media, and document sharing. Unfortunately, recent revelations have shown that not only is users' data at risk from hackers and malicious insiders, but also from government surveillance. This state of affairs motivates the need for users to be able to encrypt their online data.In this dissertation, we explore how to help users encrypt their online data, with a special focus on securing email. First, we explore the design principles that are necessary to create usable, secure email. As part of this exploration, …
A Distributed Control Algorithm For Small Swarms In Cordon And Patrol, C Kristopher Alder
A Distributed Control Algorithm For Small Swarms In Cordon And Patrol, C Kristopher Alder
Student Works
Distributed teams of air and ground robots have the potential to be very useful in a variety of application domains, and much work is being done to design distributed algorithms that produce useful behaviors. This thesis presents a set of distributed algorithms that operate under minimal human input for patrol and cordon tasks. The algorithms allow the team to surround and travel between objects of interest. Empirical analyses indicate that the surrounding behaviors are robust to variations on the shape of the object of interest, communication loss, and robot failures.
Using Perceptually Grounded Semantic Models To Autonomously Convey Meaning Through Visual Art, Derrall L. Heath
Using Perceptually Grounded Semantic Models To Autonomously Convey Meaning Through Visual Art, Derrall L. Heath
Theses and Dissertations
Developing advanced semantic models is important in building computational systems that can not only understand language but also convey ideas and concepts to others. Semantic models can allow a creative image-producing-agent to autonomously produce artifacts that communicate an intended meaning. This notion of communicating meaning through art is often considered a necessary part of eliciting an aesthetic experience in the viewer and can thus enhance the (perceived) creativity of the agent. Computational creativity, a subfield of artificial intelligence, deals with designing computational systems and algorithms that either automatically create original and functional products, or that augment the ability of humans …
The Asynchronous T-Step Approximation For Scheduling Batch Flow Systems, David R. Grimsman
The Asynchronous T-Step Approximation For Scheduling Batch Flow Systems, David R. Grimsman
Theses and Dissertations
Heap models in the max-plus algebra are interesting dynamical systems that can be used to model a variety of tetris-like systems, such as batch flow shops for manufacturing models. Each heap in the model can be identified with a single product to manufacture. The objective is to manufacture a group of products in such an order so as to minimize the total manufacturing time. Because this scheduling problem reduces to a variation of the Traveling Salesman Problem (known to be NP-complete), the optimal solution is computationally infeasible for many real-world systems. Thus, a feasible approximation method is needed. This work …
A Distributed Control Algorithm For Small Swarms In Cordon And Patrol, C Kristopher Alder
A Distributed Control Algorithm For Small Swarms In Cordon And Patrol, C Kristopher Alder
Theses and Dissertations
Distributed teams of air and ground robots have the potential to be very useful in a variety of application domains, and much work is being done to design distributed algorithms that produce useful behaviors. This thesis presents a set of distributed algorithms that operate under minimal human input for patrol and cordon tasks. The algorithms allow the team to surround and travel between objects of interest. Empirical analyses indicate that the surrounding behaviors are robust to variations on the shape of the object of interest, communication loss, and robot failures.
Intelligent Pen: A Least Cost Search Approach To Stroke Extraction In Historical Documents, Kevin L. Bauer
Intelligent Pen: A Least Cost Search Approach To Stroke Extraction In Historical Documents, Kevin L. Bauer
Theses and Dissertations
Extracting strokes from handwriting in historical documents provides high-level features for the challenging problem of handwriting recognition. Such handwriting often contains noise, faint or incomplete strokes, strokes with gaps, overlapping ascenders and descenders and competing lines when embedded in a table or form, making it unsuitable for local line following algorithms or associated binarization schemes. We introduce Intelligent Pen for piece-wise optimal stroke extraction. Extracted strokes are stitched together to provide a complete trace of the handwriting. Intelligent Pen formulates stroke extraction as a set of piece-wise optimal paths, extracted and assembled in cost order. As such, Intelligent Pen is …
Confirm: Clustering Of Noisy Form Images Using Robust Matching, Christopher Alan Tensmeyer
Confirm: Clustering Of Noisy Form Images Using Robust Matching, Christopher Alan Tensmeyer
Theses and Dissertations
Identifying the type of a scanned form greatly facilitates processing, including automated field segmentation and field recognition. Contrary to the majority of existing techniques, we focus on unsupervised type identification, where the set of form types are not known apriori, and on noisy collections that contain very similar document types. This work presents a novel algorithm: CONFIRM (Clustering Of Noisy Form Images using Robust Matching), which simultaneously discovers the types in a collection of forms and assigns each form to a type. CONFIRM matches type-set text and rule lines between forms to create domain specific features, which we show outperform …
Barriers To Initiation Of Open Source Software Projects In Research Libraries, Jason Curtis Thacker
Barriers To Initiation Of Open Source Software Projects In Research Libraries, Jason Curtis Thacker
Theses and Dissertations
Libraries share a number of core values with the Open Source Software (OSS) movement, suggesting there should be a natural tendency toward library participation in OSS projects. However, Dale Askey's 2008 Code4Lib column entitled We Love Open Source Software. No, You Can't Have Our Code, claims that while libraries are strong proponents of OSS, they are unlikely to actually contribute to OSS projects. He identifies, but does not empirically substantiate, six barriers that he believes contribute to this apparent inconsistency. The goal of this thesis is to empirically investigate not only Askey's central claim but also the six barriers he …
An Analyzer For Message Passing Programs, Yu Huang
An Analyzer For Message Passing Programs, Yu Huang
Theses and Dissertations
Asynchronous message passing systems are fast becoming a common means for communication between devices. Two problems existing in message passing programs are difficult to solve. The first problem, intended or otherwise, is message-race where a receive may match with more than one send in the runtime system. This non-determinism often leads to intermittent and unexpected behavior depending on the resolution of the race. Another problem is deadlock, which is a situation in that each member process of the group is waiting for some member process to communicate with it, but no member is attempting to communicate with it. Detecting if …
Graphical Narrative Interfaces: Representing Spatiotemporal Information For A Human-Robot Team With A Highly Autonomous Robot, Hiroaki Nakano
Graphical Narrative Interfaces: Representing Spatiotemporal Information For A Human-Robot Team With A Highly Autonomous Robot, Hiroaki Nakano
Theses and Dissertations
Having a well-developed Graphical User Interface (GUI) is often necessary for a human-robot team, especially when the human and the robot are not in close proximity to each other or when the human does not interact with the robot in real time. Most current GUIs process and display information in real time, but the time to interact with these systems does not scale well when the complexity of the displayed information increases or when information must be fused to support decision-making. We propose a new interface concept, a Graphical Narrative Interface (GNI), which presents story-based summaries driven by accumulated data. …
Examining The Longitudinal Nature Of Information Privacy Perceptions And Behaviors
Examining The Longitudinal Nature Of Information Privacy Perceptions And Behaviors
Journal of Undergraduate Research
The purpose of this project was to develop and execute improved research methodology for studying how consumer information privacy perceptions and behaviors change over time. This project is unique because most of the behavioral research regarding information privacy (and with mobile devices in particular) had previously been based entirely on surveys and laboratory experiments with low external validity. Therefore, to accomplish our objective, several mobile applications were developed or improved with built-in capabilities for experimental manipulations which were tested in real-life field studies. We found several interesting new findings which have resulted in published conference paper proceedings with student authors …
Handwriting Recognition Through Distance-Based Morphing And Energy Minimization, Dr. William Barrett
Handwriting Recognition Through Distance-Based Morphing And Energy Minimization, Dr. William Barrett
Journal of Undergraduate Research
During the past year, I have had the opportunity to mentor two undergraduate students as we performed research for improving technologies used for family history. The specific projects each student worked on, the outcomes of the projects, and the mentoring are described below.
Increment - Interactive Cluster Refinement, Logan Adam Mitchell
Increment - Interactive Cluster Refinement, Logan Adam Mitchell
Theses and Dissertations
We present INCREMENT, a cluster refinement algorithm which utilizes user feedback to refine clusterings. INCREMENT is capable of improving clusterings produced by arbitrary clustering algorithms. The initial clustering provided is first sub-clustered to improve query efficiency. A small set of select instances from each of these sub-clusters are presented to a user for labelling. Utilizing the user feedback, INCREMENT trains a feature embedder to map the input features to a new feature space. This space is learned such that spatial distance is inversely correlated with semantic similarity, determined from the user feedback. A final clustering is then formed in the …
Enabling Optimizations Through Demodularization, Blake Dennis Johnson
Enabling Optimizations Through Demodularization, Blake Dennis Johnson
Theses and Dissertations
Programmers want to write modular programs to increase maintainability and create abstractions, but modularity hampers optimizations, especially when modules are compiled separately or written in different languages. In languages with syntactic extension capabilities, each module in a program can be written in a separate language, and the module system must ensure that the modules interoperate correctly. In Racket, the module system ensures this by separating module code into phases for runtime and compile-time and allowing phased imports and exports inside modules. We present an algorithm, called demodularization, that combines all executable code from a phased modular program into a single …
Resolving “Mixed” Privacy Signals Untangling The Anchoring And Adjustment In The Presence Of Multiple Signals, Thong Pham, Mark Keith
Resolving “Mixed” Privacy Signals Untangling The Anchoring And Adjustment In The Presence Of Multiple Signals, Thong Pham, Mark Keith
Journal of Undergraduate Research
As the technologies enabling mobile and ubiquitous information rapidly evolve, so do the information privacy risks to consumers (Belanger and Crossler 2011; Pavlou 2011; Smith et al. 2011). Perceived privacy risk has been demonstrated to be a critical factor in both information disclosure intentions (Dinev and Hart 2006; Lowry et al. 2011; Xu et al. 2010) and behaviors (Keith et al. 2013; Lowry et al. 2011; Posey et al. 2010).
Changing The World Of Research As We Know It, Aaron Sainsbury, Thomas Meservy
Changing The World Of Research As We Know It, Aaron Sainsbury, Thomas Meservy
Journal of Undergraduate Research
Research plays a vital role in the advancement of knowledge. In conjunction, feedback through idea exchange, peer reviews, and formal reviews play a vital role in every research project. With the current academic organizations in place, the impact of feedback is not fully realized because of the structure of how and when feedback is received. While collaborative communication among researchers is increasingly more reliant upon technology, there is little focus on the development and implementation of a technologybased collaboration scheme to support and sustain scientific idea exchanges among researchers.
Real-Time Webpage Adaptation For Improved User Accessibility, Parker Williams, Jeff Jenkins
Real-Time Webpage Adaptation For Improved User Accessibility, Parker Williams, Jeff Jenkins
Journal of Undergraduate Research
Hand tremors are experienced by millions of individuals on a daily basis, the main cause being neurological disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. Essential Tremor, “a progressive neurologic condition that causes involuntary rhythmic trembling of the hands,” affects 10 million Americans of all ages1. It is estimated that 87% of individuals ages 18-29, 86% of individuals ages 30-49, 76% of individuals ages 50-64, and 70% of individuals ages 65 and older go online daily2. With an increasing number of individuals who have access to and use of the internet, creating a real-time adaptable webpage environment for those with …
Packet Inspection And Modification For Mobile Devices: Trustbase, Scott Heidbrink, Daniel Zappala
Packet Inspection And Modification For Mobile Devices: Trustbase, Scott Heidbrink, Daniel Zappala
Journal of Undergraduate Research
While there is a long tradition of providing protection against attackers for desktop and laptop devices, there has been less work in the mobile space. A common tool used by antivirus software is to inspect all packets entering or leaving a computer, to check for viruses or other malware. There are currently no generalpurpose tools for Android devices that provide for packet inspection and modification. There are a few tools that allow for packet capturing on mobile devices, but they can only function on “rooted” devices and do not allow modification. Since most users do not “root” their devices, these …
Epigenetic Cost Matrix, Spring Cullen, Dr. Mark Clement
Epigenetic Cost Matrix, Spring Cullen, Dr. Mark Clement
Journal of Undergraduate Research
Epigenetics is of vital importance, comparable to genetics, in predicting the outcome of illnesses. Bisulfite sequencing (BS) provides short DNA fragments that must be mapped in order to discover epigenetic markers. The purpose of this project is to find an optimal cost matrix to map sequences from BS DNA to a reference genome to determine patterns of methylation. A more efficient BS cost matrix will contribute to the ongoing effort to understand the epigenome and analyze data collected.
Messageguard: A Secure Webmail System Coupling Security With Usability, Joshua Lowe, Kent Seamons
Messageguard: A Secure Webmail System Coupling Security With Usability, Joshua Lowe, Kent Seamons
Journal of Undergraduate Research
While working on my undergraduate degree, I developed an interest for computer security and started working in the Internet Security Research Lab on campus. A PhD student who I had worked with before previously, had proposed a webmail system called MessageGuard as an ubiquitous web encryption extension. The idea behind the system is to be fully open sourced, very easy to use, and extremely secure. Not only was I able to help work on several aspects of this project with PHD, Master’s, and undergraduate students alike, but I was able to put in practice what I was learning in my …
Streamlining The 3d Animation Process, Dylan Hoffman, Kelly Loosli
Streamlining The 3d Animation Process, Dylan Hoffman, Kelly Loosli
Journal of Undergraduate Research
I knew from the beginning that this project – centered around improving the collaborative process of making a 3D animated film across several “stages” and made by several artists of different specialties, temperaments, and backgrounds – would be two-fold. The first phase was learning more about the process itself, and how each phase related to another. The second, zoning in on an area that has been a weakness for BYU Animated Films in the past – character effects and cloth simulation. The project evolved much over the course of the year, with far more time and value being placed in …