Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Securing Critical Cyber Infrastructures And Functionalities Via Machine Learning Empowered Strategies, Tao Hou

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning plays a vital role in understanding threats, vulnerabilities, and security policies. In this dissertation, two machine learning empowered approaches on improving the security of critical cyber infrastructures and functionalities will be discussed.

The first work focuses on preventing attacks that use adversarial, active end-to-end topology inference to obtain the topology information of a target network. The topology of a network is fundamental for building network infrastructure functionalities. In many scenarios, enterprise networks may have no desire to disclose their topology information. To this end, we propose a Proactive Topology Obfuscation (ProTO) system that adopts a detect-then-obfuscate framework: (i) …

Space-Efficient Algorithms And Verification Schemes For Graph Streams, Prantar Ghosh

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Structured data-sets are often easy to represent using graphs. The prevalence of massive data-sets in the modern world gives rise to big graphs such as web graphs, social networks, biological networks, and citation graphs. Most of these graphs keep growing continuously and pose two major challenges in their processing: (a) it is infeasible to store them entirely in the memory of a regular server, and (b) even if stored entirely, it is incredibly inefficient to reread the whole graph every time a new query appears. Thus, a natural approach for efficiently processing and analyzing such graphs is reading them as …

From Equal-Mass To Extreme-Mass-Ratio Binary Inspirals: Simulation Tools For Next Generation Gravitational Wave Detectors, Samuel Douglas Cupp

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Current numerical codes can successfully evolve similar-mass binary black holes systems, and these numerical waveforms contributed to the success of the LIGO Collaboration's detection of gravitational waves. LIGO requires high resolution numerical waveforms for detection and parameter estimation of the source. Great effort was expended over several decades to produce the numerical methods used today. However, future detectors will require further improvements to numerical techniques to take full advantage of their detection capabilities. For example, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will require higher resolution simulations of similar-mass-ratio systems than LIGO. LISA will also be able to detect extreme-mass-ratio inspiral …

On-Line Process Physics Tests Via Lyapunov-Based Economic Model Predictive Control And Simulation-Based Testing Of Image-Based Process Control, Henrique Oyama, A. F. Leonard, Minhazur Rahman, Govanni Gjonaj, Michael Williamson, Helen Durand

Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Faculty Research Publications

Next-generation manufacturing involves increasing use of automation and data to enhance process efficiency. An important question for the chemical process industries, as new process systems (e.g., intensified processes) and new data modalities (e.g., images) are integrated with traditional plant automation concepts, will be how to best evaluate alternative strategies for data-driven modeling and synthesizing process data. Two methods which could be used to aid in this are those which aid in testing data-based techniques on-line, and those which enable various data-based techniques to be assessed in simulation. In this work, we discuss two techniques in this domain which can be …

The Regulation Of Atg9a-Mediated Aggrephagy By An Ulk1-Independent Atg13-Atg101 Complex, Joshua Youngs

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Aggrephagy, a type of autophagy, is an essential cellular process by which protein aggregates are collected and broken down in the lysosome. Protein aggregates are implicated in several diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and cancer. Here, we investigate the ATG13-ATG101 protein complex, a sub-complex of the canonical ULK1 complex whose regulatory role in aggrephagy is not completely understood. We also develop a protein fragment complementation (PFC) assay using the biotin ligase TurboID to study the functions of the ATG13-ATG101 complex with increased specificity. We demonstrate that ATG13 is required for optimal degradation of p62-ubiquitin condensates. We also show that a …

Machine Learning With Kay, Lasith Niroshan, James Carswell

Conference Papers

Computational power is very important when training Deep Learning (DL) models with large amounts of data (Wooldridge, 2021). Hence, High-Performance Computing (HPC) can be leveraged to reduce computational cost, and the Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC) provides significant infrastructure and services for research and development to both academia and industry. A portion of ICHEC's HPC system has been allocated for institutional access, and this paper presents a case study of how to use Kay (Ireland's national supercomputer) in the remote sensing domain. Specifically, this study uses clusters of Kay Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) for training DL models to extract …

Draft Final Revised Butte Reduction Works (Brw) Smelter Area Mine Waste Remediation And Contaminated Groundwater Hydraulic Control Site Pre-Design Investigation (Pdi) Evaluation Report, Atlantic Richfield Company, Josh Bryson

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Genomic Tools Reveal Complex Social Organization Of An Invasive Large Mammal (Sus Scrofa), Chelsea L. Titus, Courtney F. Bowden, Timothy J. Smyser, Stephen L. Webb, James C. Beasley

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

A comprehensive understanding of sociality in wildlife is vital to optimizing conservation and management efforts. However, sociality is complicated, especially for widely distributed species that exhibit substantive behavioral plasticity. Invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa), often representing hybrids of European wild boar and domestic pigs, are among the most adaptable and widely distributed large mammals. The social structure of wild pigs is believed to be similar to European wild boar, consisting of matriarchal groups (sounders) and solitary males. However, wild pig social structure is understudied and largely limited to visual observations. Using a hierarchical approach, we incorporated genomic tools …

"Examining Continent-Scale Variation In Aerial Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Communities Using Edna, Raechel Hearth

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi form an important symbiosis with plants that make these fungi critical for plant health and ecosystem functioning. Although previous studies have shown that AM fungi disperse through the air, few studies have examined which environmental factors may be impacting their dispersal and aerial community composition, especially at large geographical scales. The goal of this study was to determine which environmental factors influenced air-dispersed AM fungal species composition across five different research sites in the Midwest and Western regions of the United States. By collecting dust at three different heights in the air, using modified Wilson and …

Symmetry And Control In Thermodynamics, Emily Adlam, L. Uribarri, N. Allen

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We explore the relationship between symmetry and entropy, distinguishing between symmetries of state and dynamical symmetries, and in the context of quantum thermodynamics between symmetries of pure and mixed states. Ultimately, we will argue that symmetry in thermodynamics is best understood as a means of control within the control theory paradigm, and we will describe an interesting technological application of symmetry-based control in the context of a quantum coherence capacitor. Symmetry, the concept from which Noether derived the conservation laws of physics, is one of the most important guiding principles of modern physics. Moreover, symmetry is often regarded as a …

Opinion Profile Dynamics With Uniform Bounded Confidence: Analysis & Simulations, Jason Echevarria

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

An opinion profile can describe a set of individuals, groups or entities that form an opinion over a topic. Given a number of agents, a time evolving opinion denoted by a vector can be described over time using the linear mode where is a time variable and the matrix (which might depend on time and the current profile) contains the weights that affect the dynamics of profile . With varying conditions over time, these profiles can form groups, polarize, fragment, or reach consensus. In this work, we investigate the uniform bounded confidence model: an agent adjusts their opinion over time …

Electron Backscatter Diffraction Analysis Of Olivine In Ureilite Meteorites: Evaluation Of The Partially Magmatic Catastrophic Disruption Model Of The Ureilite Parent Body (Upb), James Karl Frye

Dissertations and Theses

Past studies of olivine have yielded insights into crystallographic slip systems and how they are activated thermally. Using this information in conjunction with Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) analysis and metrics developed for chondrites, I constrained the thermal environment and the cooling rate for four ureilite meteorites in an attempt to test the model of catastrophic disruption of the ureilite parent body while it was partly molten. Present evidence for deformation, along with thermal metrics, were examined in order to conclude the following: Deformation of the meteorites took place at high temperatures followed by swift cooling, leaving little time for annealing. …

Studies In The Use Of 1,1'-Di(1-Hydroxyethyl)Ferrocene As A Flame Retardant For Polyurethanes, Chanel Yeary

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Significant research in non-toxic flame retardants (FR) has been performed in recent years since the dangerous consequences of halogenated FR were found. As early as the 1970’s, carcinogenic the side effects of halogenated compounds were being acknowledged. Since the early 2000’s halogenated FRs began being phased out of use due to these negative side effects. Since then, significant research has been exploring alternative effective flame retardants. Ferrocene (Fc) is a promising alternative to halogenated FRs due to its nontoxicity and FR properties. This research will report on the synthesis of 1,1’-di(1-hydoxyethyl) ferrocene (DHEFc) and its incorporation into a polyurethane. A …

Mos Compatible Deposited Materials For Optical Interconnects, Simone Iadanza

Theses

The recent years' exponential growth of data transmission in datacom and telecom technology (such as in Wavelength Division Multiplexing - WDM) has highlighted the energy consumption challenges of electronics, shifting research and industry interest towards optical interconnects. Novel and more efficient integrated photonics is being given the objective to face the ever-increasing demand for speed and bandwidth. This has initiated, in both industrial and academic environments, a quest for low-power, compact and cost-effective optical interconnects that can be integrated on electronic boards of Datacentres and transceivers all over the world. In this thesis, different types of WDM compatible Hybrid External …

Editorial, Michael E. Whitman, Herbert J. Mattord, Hossain Shahriar

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

Since 2016, it has been the mission of the Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research, and Practice (JCERP) to be a premier outlet for high-quality information security and cybersecurity-related articles of interest to teaching faculty and students. This is the 12^th edition of the (JCERP) and, as ever, we are seeking authors who produce high-quality research and practice-oriented articles focused on the development and delivery of information security and cybersecurity curriculum, innovation in applied scholarship, and industry best practices in information security and cybersecurity in the enterprise for double-blind review and publication. The journal invites submissions on Information Security, Cybersecurity, …

Osm-Gan: Using Generative Adversarial Networks For Detecting Change In High-Resolution Spatial Images, Lasith Niroshan, James Carswell

Articles

Detecting changes to built environment objects such as buildings/roads/etc. in aerial/satellite (spatial) imagery is necessary to keep online maps and various value-added LBS applications up-to-date. However, recognising such changes automatically is not a trivial task, and there are many different approaches to this problem in the literature. This paper proposes an automated end-to-end workflow to address this problem by combining OpenStreetMap (OSM) vectors of building footprints with a machine learning Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) model - where two neural networks compete to become more accurate at predicting changes to building objects in spatial imagery. Notably, our proposed OSM-GAN architecture achieved …

Learning To Generalize Dispatching Rules On The Job Shop Scheduling, Zangir Iklassov, Dmitrii Medvedev, Ruben Solozabal, Martin Takac

Machine Learning Faculty Publications

This paper introduces a Reinforcement Learning approach to better generalize heuristic dispatching rules on the Job-shop Scheduling Problem (JSP). Current models on the JSP do not focus on generalization, although, as we show in this work, this is key to learning better heuristics on the problem. A well-known technique to improve generalization is to learn on increasingly complex instances using Curriculum Learning (CL). However, as many works in the literature indicate, this technique might suffer from catastrophic forgetting when transferring the learned skills between different problem sizes. To address this issue, we introduce a novel Adversarial Curriculum Learning (ACL) strategy, …

Unique Role Of Vimentin Networks In Compression Stiffening Of Cells And Protection Of Nuclei From Compressive Stress, Katarzyna Pogoda, Fitzroy Byfield, Piotr Deptuła, Mateusz Cieśluk, Łukasz Suprewicz, Karol Skłodowski, Jordan L. Shivers, Anne Van Oosten, Katrina Cruz, Ekaterina Tarasovetc, Ekaterina L. Grishchuk, Fred C. Mackintosh, Robert Bucki, Alison E. Patteson, Paul A. Janmey

Physics - All Scholarship

In this work, we investigate whether stiffening in compression is a feature of single cells and whether the intracellular polymer networks that comprise the cytoskeleton (all of which stiffen with increasing shear strain) stiffen or soften when subjected to compressive strains. We find that individual cells, such as fibroblasts, stiffen at physiologically relevant compressive strains, but genetic ablation of vimentin diminishes this effect. Further, we show that unlike networks of purified F-actin or microtubules, which soften in compression, vimentin intermediate filament networks stiffen in both compression and extension, and we present a theoretical model to explain this response based on …

A Complete Process Of Text Classification System Using State-Of-The-Art Nlp Models, Varun Dogra, Sahil Verma, Kavita, Pushpita Chatterjee, Jana Shafi, Jaeyoung Choi, Muhammad Fazal Ijaz

Computer Science Faculty Research

With the rapid advancement of information technology, online information has been exponentially growing day by day, especially in the form of text documents such as news events, company reports, reviews on products, stocks-related reports, medical reports, tweets, and so on. Due to this, online monitoring and text mining has become a prominent task. During the past decade, significant efforts have been made on mining text documents using machine and deep learning models such as supervised, semisupervised, and unsupervised. Our area of the discussion covers state-of-the-art learning models for text mining or solving various challenging NLP (natural language processing) problems using …

Gas Phase Techniques For The Study Of Biomolecular And Supramolecular Structures And Chemistry, Andrew J. Arslanian

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation expounds on the investigations of the structure and chemistry of peptides and supramolecular host-guest systems in the gas phase. These investigations used two different kinds of analytical instrument: Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) and ion mobility mass spectrometry (IM-MS, IMS). These investigations were complemented by chemical modeling. The FTICR was used to radially trap ions with its 4.7 T magnet, which allowed the ions to undergo sustained off-resonance irradiation collision-induced dissociation (SORI-CID). A subsequent event then measured the collision cross sections (σ) of the targeted precursor ion and one of the selected product ions. These …

Determining American Sign Language Joint Trajectory Similarity Using Dynamic Time Warping (Dtw), Rohith Mandavilli

Computer Science Senior Theses

As American Sign Language (ASL), the language used by Deaf/Hard of Hearing (D/HH) Americans has grown in popularity in recent years, an unprecedented number of schools and organizations now offer ASL classes. Many hold misconceptions about ASL, assuming it is easily learned; however due to its rich, complex grammatical construction, it’s not mastered easily beyond a basic level. Therefore, it becomes ever more important to improve upon existing techniques to teach ASL. The Dartmouth Applied Learning Initiative (DALI) at Dartmouth college in coordination with the Robotics and Reality Lab developed an application on the Oculus Quest that helps D/HH individuals …

An Empirical Study On Sampling Approaches For 3d Image Classification Using Deep Learning, Nicholas Michelette

Theses and Dissertations

A 3D classification method requires more training data than a 2D image classification method to achieve good performance. These training data usually come in the form of multiple 2D images (e.g., slices in a CT scan) or point clouds (e.g., 3D CAD modeling) for volumetric object representation. The amount of data required to complete this higher dimension problem comes with the cost of requiring more processing time and space. This problem can be mitigated with data size reduction (i.e., sampling). In this thesis, we empirically study and compare the classification performance and deep learning training time of PointNet utilizing uniform …

Finding Patterns In The Inertia Of The Distance Squared Matrix Of Unicyclic Graphs, Kellon Sandall, Mark Kempton, Christian Howell

Undergraduate Honors Theses

We analyze the spectrum of the distance squared matrix of a tree and give a relation between the inertia of the distance squared matrix and the structure of the tree. We take the result one step further and consider the addition of exactly one cycle in the tree. We obtain an expression for the inertia of the distance squared matrix of a cycle graph. We obtain a bound on the inertia of the distance squared matrix of an arbitrary unicyclic graph.

Synthesis Of Yaku’Amide A Analogues And Impact Of Dehydroamino Acids On The Structure And Stability Of Incipient 310 Helical Peptides, Daniel Joaquin

Theses and Dissertations

The first project in this dissertation describes the total synthesis of yaku’amide A analogues. Natural product yaku’amide A possesses potent anticancer activity and exhibits a novel mode of action. However, due to its complex asymmetrical isoleucine dehydroamino acids, the synthesis of this polypeptide poses a unique challenge. Despite the efficient synthesis developed in our lab, the total synthesis of this natural product remains lengthy. In order to simplify the overall synthesis, symmetrical dehydroamino acids were incorporated to replace the dehydroisoleucine residues yielding two analogues of yaku’amide A that closely resembles the conformation of the natural product. Biological testing of the …

Maternal Lineage And Habitat Use Patterns Explain Variation In The Fecundity Of A Critically Endangered Baleen Whale, Ana L. Bishop, Leah M. Crowe, Philip K. Hamilton, Erin L. Meyer-Gutbrod

Faculty Publications

The critically endangered North Atlantic right whale population (Eubalaena glacialis) has experienced multiple periods of decreased reproduction within its observable history, which have played a role in the overall decline of the species. In addition to this synchronized variation in reproduction across the population, there exists considerable individual variation in fecundity. To determine the impacts of family history and habitat use behavior on these individual variations in fecundity, photo identification data collected during four decades of visual monitoring were used to create a calving index for sexually mature females that could be used to evaluate matrilineal influence on …

What-Is And How-To For Fairness In Machine Learning: A Survey, Reflection, And Perspective, Zeyu Tang, Jiji Zhang, Kun Zhang

Machine Learning Faculty Publications

Algorithmic fairness has attracted increasing attention in the machine learning community. Various definitions are proposed in the literature, but the differences and connections among them are not clearly addressed. In this paper, we review and reflect on various fairness notions previously proposed in machine learning literature, and make an attempt to draw connections to arguments in moral and political philosophy, especially theories of justice. We also consider fairness inquiries from a dynamic perspective, and further consider the long-term impact that is induced by current prediction and decision. In light of the differences in the characterized fairness, we present a flowchart …

A Repeating Fast Radio Burst Associated With A Persistent Radio Source, C.-H. Niu, K. Aggarwal, D. Li, X. Zhang, S. Chatterjee, C.-W. Tsai, W. Yu, C. J. Law, S. Burke-Spolaor, J. M. Cordes, Y.-K. Zhang, S. K. Ocker, J.-M. Yao, P. Wang, Y. Feng, Y. Niino, C. Bochenek, M. Cruces, L. Connor, J.-A. Jiang, S. Dai, R. Luo, G.-D. Li, C.-C. Miao, J.-R. Niu, R. Anna-Thomas, J. Sydnor, D. Stern, W.-Y. Wang, M Yuan, Y.-L. Yue, D.-J. Zhou, Z Yan, W.-W. Zhu, B. Zhang

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

The dispersive sweep of fast radio bursts (FRBs) has been used to probe the ionized baryon content of the intergalactic medium1, which is assumed to dominate the total extragalactic dispersion. Although the host-galaxy contributions to the dispersion measure appear to be small for most FRBs2, in at least one case there is evidence for an extreme magneto-ionic local environment3,4 and a compact persistent radio source5. Here we report the detection and localization of the repeating FRB 20190520B, which is co-located with a compact, persistent radio source and associated with a dwarf host galaxy of high specific-star-formation rate at a redshift …

2022 Revised Draft Final Unreclaimed Sites Quality Assurance Project Plan (Qapp), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Video Anomaly Detection: Practical Challenges For Learning Algorithms, Keval Doshi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Anomaly detection in surveillance videos is attracting an increasing amount of attention. Despite the competitive performance of several existing methods, they lack theoretical performance analysis, particularly due to the complex deep neural network architectures used in decision making. Additionally, real-time decision making is an important but mostly neglected factor in this domain. Much of the existing methods that claim to be online, depend on batch or offline processing in practice. Furthermore, several critical tasks such as continual learning, model interpretability and cross-domain adaptability are completely neglected in existing works. Motivated by these research gaps, in this dissertation we discuss our …

A Digital Application For Assessment Of Neurocognitive Disabilities, Thomas H. Auriemma

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Neuropsychological assessment is designed to identify neurocognitive impairment and has traditionally relied on pen-and-paper tests. The behavior collected from these tests is usually expressed as a total summary score or a score that reflects a restricted number of features that assess errors. There is now interest in coupling traditional paper and pencil tests with digital assessment technology. In this context traditional metrics such as summary scores are still available. However, using digital technology, a host of time-based parameters can now be obtained. These time-based parameters include the total time to complete the task or total time to completion, as …