Computer Sciences Commons^™

Robust Object Tracking: A Path-Planning Approach, Bryant Eldon Chandler

Theses and Dissertations

When attempting to follow ground-based moving objects (hereafter referred to as ``waldos'') using an unmanned air vehicle (UAV), occlusion can become a significant problem for computer vision algorithms designed to track the object. When a waldo is occluded, the computer vision algorithm loses the track and the UAV's ability to predict movement degrades. We propose a path-planning and replanning method that moves a UAV to a location that maximizes the important waldos that can be seen while accounting for occlusion, and attempts to maximize the area it can see during travel. The proposed work moves beyond state-of-the-art algorithms designed to …

A Trivium-Inspired Pseudorandom Number Generator With A Statistical Comparison To The Randomness Of Securerandom And Trivium, Latoya Niesha Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

A pseudorandom number generator (PRNG) is an algorithm that produces a sequence of numbers which emulates the characteristics of a random sequence. In comparison to its genuine counterpart, PRNGs are considered more suitable for computing devices in that they do not consume a lot of resources (in terms of memory) and their portability; they can also be used on a wide range of devices. Cryptographically Secure PRNGs (CSPRNGs) are the only type of PRNGs suitable for cryptographic applications. They are specially designed to withstand security attacks. In this thesis, we provide descriptions of two CSPRNGs: Trivium, a hardware-based stream cipher …

Evaluating A Personal Stress Monitoring System, Sneha Gogineni

Theses and Dissertations

Now-a-days, Life is generally much more stressful than in the past. "Stress" is the word that we use when we feel that we are overloaded mentally in our thoughts and wonder whether we can really cope with those placed upon us. Sometimes, stress gets us going and they are good for us but at other times, it could be the cause to undermine both our mental and physical health. The way we respond to a challenge can be considered as a kind of stress. Part of our response to a challenge is physiological and affects our own physical state. When …

A Comparative Study Of Cognitive Systems For Learning, Praneetha Mandava

Theses and Dissertations

Learning is the modification of a behavioral tendency by experience. Memory and reasoning are the most important aspects for learning in humans; information is temporarily stored in the short-term memory and processed, compared with existing memories and stored in long-term memory, and can be re-used when needed. One way to describe an organized pattern of thought or behavior and the categories of information along with their relationships is by using schemas. A cognitive script is one form of a schema that evolves over multiple exposures to the same set of stimuli and/or repeated enactment of a particular behavior. This research …

Fractals, Randomization, Optimal Constructions, And Replication In Algorithmic Self-Assembly, Cameron Chalk

Theses and Dissertations

The problem of the strict self-assembly of infinite fractals within tile self-assembly is considered. In particular, tile assembly algorithms are provided for the assembly of the discrete Sierpinski triangle and the discrete Sierpinski carpet.

The robust random number generation problem in the abstract tile assembly model is introduced. First, it is shown this is possible for a robust fair coin flip within the aTAM, and that such systems guarantee a worst case O(1) space usage. This primary construction is accompanied with variants that show trade-offs in space complexity, initial seed size, temperature, tile complexity, bias, and extensibility.

This work …

A Study On The Effects Of Mutation On Populations Using Strategies While Playing Iterative Prisoner's Dilemma, Ramses Romulus De Guzman Reyes

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the effects different types of mutation and mutation rates have on populations using strategies while playing the Iterative Prisoners Dilemma (IPD). The system used in order to conduct this study was used in Leas et al. (2016), which uses genetic algorithms as a means of studying memory and its impact on populations playing IPD. For this study, experiments are organized into three different environments: Control, Static and Dynamic. The Control Environment focuses on analyzing the system and forming initial results. The Static Environment focuses on studying the effects of different rates on strategic populations playing IPD, while …

Randomized Approach Tor Set Cover With Multiple Phases*, Ujjwol Subedi

Theses and Dissertations

We Develop an interactive algorithm for the set cover problem. The algorithm uses multiple stages and select some sets each stage via random samples among the uncovered points. We show that it has a O(log n)—approximation ratio and takes O(log n) rounds and O(m2+ϵ ) samples each round, where n is the size of universal set and m is the number of sets.

We also prove a Ω(√logn/loglogn) lower bound for both the number of phases if each phase has poly(m) the number of samples.

Network Reconstruction And Vulnerability Analysis Of Financial Networks, Nathan Scott Woodbury

Theses and Dissertations

Passive network reconstruction is the process of learning a structured (networked) representation of a dynamic system through the use of known information about the structure of the system as well as data collected by observing the inputs into a system along with the resultant outputs. This work demonstrates an improvement on an existing network reconstruction algorithm so that the algorithm is capable of consistently and perfectly reconstructing a network when system inputs and outputs are measured without error. This work then extends the improved network reconstruction algorithm so that it functions even in the presence of noise as well as …

Open Census For Addressing False Identity Attacks In Decentralized Social Networks, Song Qin

Theses and Dissertations

We address the problem of estimating the population of a given area (e.g., a city). Unlike a centralized census where identities are reported to a single principal agency (e.g., U.S. Census Bureau) and are stored on a centralized data server, the proposed decentralized census distributes reported identities in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. Peers in this network can also distribute opinions on whether some of the reported identities are correct or false. The estimation of the count of correct identities is based on the available information. A decentralized census enables individuals to independently verify governmental census data. The results of a …

Bird's Eye View: Cooperative Exploration By Ugv And Uav, Shannon Hood

Theses and Dissertations

This paper proposes a solution to the problem of cooperative exploration using an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) and an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). More specifically, the UGV navigates through the free space, and the UAV provides enhanced situational awareness via its higher vantage point. The motivating application is search and rescue in a damaged building. A camera atop the UGV is used to track a fiducial tag on the underside of the UAV, allowing the UAV to maintain a fixed pose relative to the UGV. Furthermore, the UAV uses its front facing camera to provide a birds-eye-view to the remote …

High Fidelity Adaptive Cyber Emulation, Samir Mammadov

Theses and Dissertations

While looking for a high-level adaptive traffic generation tool, we came to realize that no such tool exists that can be used for rapid development while being platform agnostic. Having reviewed a wide array of tools to either implement user models or simulate traffic, we were unable to find a tool with the right capabilities while maintaining complexity, portability and extensibility. To overcome these issues, we introduce a new adaptive user-modelling framework for the specific use case of cyber activity emulation. Our framework supports the creation of high-level user models that can react to changes in their environments and vary …

Effects Of Virtualization In Database Benchmarking, Jigarkumar Jayantibhai Rathod

Theses and Dissertations

Many applications are being deployed on the cloud because virtualization provides inexpensive virtual machines which are easy to create and use. To perform benchmark in scale, one has to rely on virtualization. Virtualization itself, however affects the performance of the database systems. In this thesis, we investigate the unanticipated effects of the virtualization on the database systems by running experiments on virtual machines. The results of our experiments indicate that the performance of a virtual machine is highly influenced by the host machine.

A Green Form-Based Information Extraction System For Historical Documents, Tae Woo Kim

Theses and Dissertations

Many historical documents are rich in genealogical facts. Extracting these facts by hand is tedious and almost impossible considering the hundreds of thousands of genealogically rich family-history books currently scanned and online. As one approach for helping to make the extraction feasible, we propose GreenFIE—a "Green" Form-based Information-Extraction tool which is "green" in the sense that it improves with use toward the goal of minimizing the cost of human labor while maintaining high extraction accuracy. Given a page in a historical document, the user's task is to fill out given forms with all facts on a page in a document …

Identifying The Brain Mechanisms Encoding Trust Behaviors, Gokce Hazaroglu

Theses and Dissertations

Early life trauma may disrupt the family dynamic by altering trust. The purpose of this dissertation is to understand the brain mechanisms that encode trust. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) researchers are currently conducting a triadic cooperative experiment (TCE) while participants’ brain activity is concurrently being recorded via a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner. The TCE is a socioeconomic task in which two caregivers and an adolescent take turns transferring wealth to each other which is multiplied by a constant factor. The task encourages cooperation between participants by first, randomly assigning who must give wealth on any …

Satellite Detection And Ranging System, A S M Sarwar Zahan

Theses and Dissertations

The thrust on Nano-satellite technologies is increasing day by day. Research is going on to detect satellites in austere environment. However, the technology of tracking the satellite in both in-formation and out of formation is yet to discover. I propose a novel algorithm to detect satellites in regular orbit and even in different close operations, i.e. docking, inspection and rendezvous. I aim to modify two existing and promising image processing algorithms and apply towards my own satellite detection problem. Various image processing algorithms have incorporated to enable tracking of the Target Flight Unit (T-FU) from the Chase Flight Unit (C-FU). …

Identifying Temporal Structure In Fmri Bold Signal, Onder Hazaroglu

Theses and Dissertations

To better understand the brain’s structure and function, we need to be able to measure the brain’s activity. The field of measuring the brain is neuroimaging. Neuroimaging methodology predominantly relies on the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) contrast signal. Although the BOLD signal is a valid measure, it is an indirect measure of neural activity. Rather, two interacting latent components comprise BOLD: 1) neural events, which encode cognitive processes, and 2) physiological responses to neural events, which are well-modeled by the Hemodynamic Response Function (HRF). In this dissertation, we explore models of these components via …

Stream Data Quality Assessment Based On Distributed Computing Platforms, Wei Dai

Theses and Dissertations

In this era of big data, data quality will be increasingly important because people need high quality data to make decisions, analyze patterns, and discover knowledge. So, measuring data quality is a vital mission. In this thesis, Chapter 1 is the introduction, Chapter 2 is a literature review, Chapter 3 illustrates how to discover potentially important data based on a reference algorithm, a frequency algorithm, and an entropy algorithm, in Chapter 4, the author offers a concise five-layer data quality framework to measure stream data quality scorecards, in Chapter 5, the author shows how to visualize data quality scorecards through …

Blocking Strategies For Performing Entity Resolution In A Distributed Computing Environment, Pei Wang

Theses and Dissertations

Entity resolution (ER) is an O(n2) problem where n is the number of records to be processed. The pair-wise nature of ER makes it impractical to perform on large datasets without the use of a technique called blocking. In blocking the records are separated into groups (called blocks) in such a way the records most likely to match are within the same block. The ER system only compares pairs of records within the same block, thus reducing the total number of pairs to match. Traditionally, blocking algorithms build inverted indices in memory to quickly locate potential matches. With the advent …

Krahasimi Në Mes Të Apache Cordova Dhe Xamarin, Bekim Koci

Theses and Dissertations

Qëllimi kryesor i këtij studimi është të përcaktojë se cilën cross-platform në mes të Apache Cordovas dhe Xamarin duhet të zgjedhim për zhvillimin e një mobile aplikacioni në të ardhmen varësisht nga karakteristikat që do të ketë aplikacioni, më qellim për të ofruar një punë të mirë për një çmim të mirë për konsumatorin.

Apache Cordova mundëson zhvillimin e aplikacioneve mobile duke përdorur teknologjitë e zhvillimit web të tilla si HTML, CSS dhe JavaScript. Kjo platforme është shumë e lehtë dhe e përshtatshme për aplikacione të thjeshta. Nevojë vetëm për të krijuar një aplikacion dhe do të duket njëjtë në …

Responsive Design Vs Adaptive Design, Rilind Elezaj

Theses and Dissertations

Ky studim është përqendruar në implementimin e dy web dizajneve të cilat përdoren për të shfaqur përmbajtjen e njejtë në pajisje të ndryshme. Duke u bazuar në literaturën e tanishme e cila nuk ka ndonjë shpjegim të detajuar në diferencat mes Responsive web design dhe Adaptive web design, synim i këtij studimi ishte testimi i bazuar në zhvillim. Së këndejmi dy websajte u zhvilluan në metoda të ndryshme për t’i parë dallimet praktike, një pyetësor u krijua për analizimin e tregut si dhe u intervistua një inxhinier i softverit në aspektin biznesor. Rezultatet e nxjerra tregojnë që dizajni Responsive …

Language Relations On Twitter: A Network Science Approach, Priya Saha

Theses and Dissertations

Online social networks (e.g., Twitter and Facebook) play a vital role in the spreading of information in today’s world. Interestingly, the spread of information is enabled by the existence of an underlying connectivity of the users. One factor influencing the online connectivity, which only recently has been receiving attention, is the language used by the user in his or her activities. The understanding of information propagation from the perspective of languages is of particular interest because we live in a world with a very diverse set of languages. Using Network Science approaches, we demonstrate that Twitter users have a strong …

A Survey Of Impact Analysis Tools For Effective Code Evolution, Stephanie Perez Day Galbo

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Software maintenance and evolution are becoming noticeably more im- portant activities in the software development process, with the growing popularity of Agile/SCRUM and continuous integration. Impact analysis, the activity of identifying the consequences of a change before the change is made, can help the developer under- stand the consequences of their potential changes and therefore make informed decisions about incremental changes, with the ultimate goal of minimizing negative impacts on the current baseline. To aid developers with impact analysis, there are a number of tools with a variety of capabilities to facilitate this process. Aim: In order to help …

Increasing Cyber Resiliency Of Industrial Control Systems, Andrew J. Chaves

Theses and Dissertations

Industrial control systems (ICS) are designed to be resilient, capable of recovering from process faults and failures with limited impact to operations. Current ICS resiliency strategies use redundant PLCs. However, these redundant PLCs, being of similar make and model, can be exploited by the same cyber attack, defeating the ICS's resiliency strategy. This research proposes a resiliency strategy for ICS that employs an active defense technique to remove the cyber common cause failure. The resiliency of the active defense strategy is compared to traditional ICS resiliency by implementing both strategies in a semi-simulated wastewater treatment plant aeration basin that experiences …

Multi-Plc Exercise Environments For Training Ics First Responders, Joseph K. Daoud

Theses and Dissertations

When systems are targeted by cyber attacks, cyber first responders must be able to react effectively, especially when dealing with critical infrastructure. Training for cyber first responders is lacking and most existing exercise platforms are expensive, inaccessible or ineffective. This paper presents a mobile training platform which incorporates a variety of programmable logic controllers into a single system which facilitates the development of the unique skills required of cyber first responders operating in the realm of industrial control systems. The platform is modeled after a jail in the northeastern United States and was developed to maximize realism. Example training scenarios …

A Framework For Categorization Of Industrial Control System Cyber Training Environments, Evan G. Plumley

Theses and Dissertations

First responders and professionals in hazardous occupations undergo training and evaluations for the purpose of mitigating risk and damage. For example, helicopter pilots train with multiple categorized simulations that increase in complexity before flying a real aircraft. However in the industrial control cyber incident response domain, where incident response professionals help detect, respond and recover from cyber incidents, no official categorization of training environments exist. To address this gap, this thesis provides a categorization of industrial control training environments based on realism. Four levels of environments are proposed and mapped to Blooms Taxonomy. This categorization will help organizations determine which …

Autoprov: An Automated File Provenance Collection Tool, Ryan A. Good

Theses and Dissertations

A file's provenance is a detailing of its origins and activities. There are tools available that are useful in maintaining the provenance of a file. Unfortunately for digital forensics, these tools require prior installation on the computer of interest while provenance generating events happen. The presented tool addresses this by reconstructing a file's provenance from several temporal artifacts. It identifies relevant temporal and user correlations between these artifacts, and presents them to the user. A variety of predefined use cases and real world data are tested against to demonstrate that this software allows examiners to draw useful conclusions about the …

Active Response Using Host-Based Intrusion Detection System And Software-Defined Networking, Jonathon S. Goodgion

Theses and Dissertations

This research proposes AHNSR: Active Host-based Network Security Response by utilizing Host-based Intrusion Detection Systems (HIDS) with Software-Defined Networking (SDN) to enhance system security by allowing dynamic active response and reconstruction from a global network topology perspective. Responses include traffic redirection, host quarantining, filtering, and more. A testable SDN-controlled network is constructed with multiple hosts, OpenFlow enabled switches, and a Floodlight controller, all linked to a custom, novel interface for the Open-Source SECurity (OSSEC) HIDS framework. OSSEC is implemented in a server-agent architecture, allowing scalability and OS independence. System effectiveness is evaluated against the following factors: alert density and a …

A Framework For Understanding, Prioritizing, And Applying Systems Security Engineering Processes, Activities, And Tasks, Stephen Khou

Theses and Dissertations

Current systems security practices lack an effective approach to prioritize and tailor systems security efforts to develop and field secure systems in challenging operational environments, which results in business and mission stakeholders becoming more susceptible to an array of disruptive events. This work informs Systems Engineers on recent developments in the field of system security engineering and provides a framework for more fully understanding the application of Systems Security Engineering (SSE) processes, activities, and tasks as described in the recently released National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-160. This SSE framework uniquely offers a repeatable and tailorable …

Applying Cyber Threat Intelligence To Industrial Control Systems, Matthew P. Sibiga

Theses and Dissertations

A cybersecurity initiative known as cyber threat intelligence (CTI) has recently been developed and deployed. The overall goal of this new technology is to help protect network infrastructures. Threat intelligence platforms (TIPs) have also been created to help facilitate CTI effectiveness within organizations. There are many benefits that both can achieve within the information technology (IT) sector. The industrial control system (ICS) sector can also benefit from these technologies as most ICS networks are connected to IT networks. CTI and TIPs become resourceful when using indicators of compromise (IOCs) from known ICS malware attacks and an open source intrusion detection …

A Sandbox In Which To Learn And Develop Soar Agents, Daniel Lugo

Theses and Dissertations

It is common for military personnel to leverage simulations (and simulators) as cost-effective tools to train and become proficient at various tasks (e.g., flying an aircraft and/or performing a mission, among others). These training simulations often need to represent humans within the simulated world in a realistic manner. Realistic implies creating simulated humans that exhibit behaviors that mimic real-world decision making and actions. Typically, to create the decision-making logic, techniques developed from the domain of artificial intelligence are used. Although there are several approaches to developing intelligent agents; we focus on leveraging and open source project called Soar, to define …