Computer Sciences Commons^™

Conflict Profiles And Team Outcomes In Cross-Disciplinary Teams: An Integrated Latent Profile Analysis And Natural Language Processing Approach, Francisco Cima, Pilar Pazos

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Team conflict is a naturally emerging phenomenon resulting from individuals' interactions during project execution. Cross-disciplinary teams can experience higher levels of conflict than single-discipline teams because of the increased diversity of knowledge and perspectives. Research has shown that team conflict can emerge from different types of disagreements (cognitive and interpersonal), which have different implications for team functioning. Past empirical research has focused on the impact of both conflict types independent from each other while overlooking their combined effects. This work examines the conflict profiles resulting from the combined levels of interpersonal and cognitive disagreements and their association with team outcomes. …

Advancing Clinical Bacterial Diagnosis: Gram-Stained Whole-Slide Image Classification With Attention-Based Deep Learning, Jack Mcmahon

Computer Science Senior Theses

We introduce a new method for the classification of Gram-stained WSIs. As a test for the diagnosis of blood infections, Gram stains are highly relevant to informing patient treatment. Rapid analysis of Gram stains has been shown to be positively associated with better clinical outcomes, indicating the need for better tools to aid in automatic Gram stain analysis. To date, this area of research has been underexplored, with previous studies relying on the manual patch-level annotation of WSIs to generate training data. This is the first application of a transformer-based model to Gram-stain WSI classification, an approach that is far …

Persistent Relative Homology For Topological Data Analysis, Christian J. Lentz

Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Honors Projects

A central problem in data-driven scientific inquiry is how to interpret structure in noisy, high-dimensional data. Topological data analysis (TDA) provides a solution via the language of persistent homology, which encodes features of interest as holes within a filtration of the data. The recently presented U-Match Decomposition places the standard persistence computation in a flexible form, allowing for straight-forward extensions of the algorithm to variations of persistent homology. We describe U-Match Decomposition in the context of persistent homology, and extend it to an algorithm for persistent relative homology, providing proofs for the correctness and stability of the presented algorithm.

Understanding Impact Of Graph Structure On Knowledge Graph Embedding, Brandon Dave

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The effectiveness of a deployed knowledge graph is commonly evaluated with defined use-cases from domain experts. This poses challenges during the development cycle in determining how to represent data. Developers of a knowledge graph can optionally include semantics into a knowledge graph by abstracting the data representation in such a way that mirrors information as it exists in the real world. Consequently, the abstraction is represented by additional layers, resulting in performant differences in knowledge graph embedding; such as, the embedded model's ability to infer facts between entities through link predictions. This thesis presents a comprehensive analysis of the performance …

Ai-Enabled Hardware Security Approach For Aging Classification And Manufacturer Identification Of Sram Pufs, Harshdeep Singh

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Semiconductor microelectronics integrated circuits (ICs) are increasingly integrated into modern life-critical applications, from intelligent infrastructure and consumer electronics to the Internet of Things (IoT) and advanced military and medical systems. Unfortunately, these applications are vulnerable to new hardware security attacks, including microelectronics counterfeits and hardware modification attacks. Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) are state-of-the-art hardware security solutions that utilize process variations of integrated circuits for device authentication, secret key generation, and microelectronics counterfeit detection. The negative impact of aging on Static Random Access Memory Physical Unclonable Functions (SRAM PUFs) has significant consequences for microelectronics authentication, security, and reliability. This research thoroughly …

Ml-Assisted Side Channel Security Approaches For Hardware Trojan Detection And Puf Modeling Attacks, Niraj Prasad Bhatta

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Hardware components are becoming prone to threats with increasing technological advances. Malicious modifications to such components are increasing and are known as hardware Trojans. Traditional approaches rely on functional assessments and are not sufficient to detect such malicious actions of Trojans. Machine learning (ML) assisted techniques play a vital role in the overall detection and improvement of Trojan. Our novel approach using various ML models brings an improvement in hardware Trojan identification with power signal side channel analysis. This study brings a paradigm shift in the improvement of Trojan detection in integrated circuits (ICs). In addition to this, our further …

Multi-Semantic-Stage Neural Networks For Robust And Interpretable Deep Learning, Christopher J. Menart

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Deep neural networks have great representational power. However, most deep neural nets today optimize directly for performance on a single task defined only by labeled training data. This excludes potential sources of knowledge and ways of learning which could improve their performance, and address challenges, such as explainability, which are pressing to the field. We propose a framework for neural network architecture which generalizes it to a graph of many semantically-meaningful variables. We call it the Multi-Semantic-Stage Neural Network (MSSNN). An MSSNN models its domain as a web of conditional probabilities, i.e. a collection of inter-related tasks which can learn …

Pneumonia Detection With Limited And Imbalanced Data Using Energy-Based Out-Of-Distribution Technique, Jasbin Karki

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The automated detection of pneumonia through chest X-ray presents a critical challenge in medical diagnostics, particularly due to the restrictions of limited and imbalanced chest X-ray data for training AI models. Traditional methods that depend on softmax confidence scores can be overconfident even when generating erroneous outputs especially when they are processing completely new inputs, leading to unreliable diagnostic results. This research addresses challenges in AI models which aim to develop a robust pneumonia detection system using an Energy-Based Out-of-Distribution (OOD) technique that can work effectively even with limited and imbalanced data. The study focused on creating a more reliable …

Test-Time Backdoor Attack Using Universal Perturbation, Jesse Alexander Smith

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The rapid growth and widespread reliance on machine learning (ML) systems across critical applications such as healthcare, autonomous driving, and cybersecurity have un- derscored their transformative potential and heightened their susceptibility to adversarial attacks and vulnerabilities. This thesis investigates vulnerabilities in ML models, focusing on backdoor attacks, including naive backdoor attack, feature collision backdoor attack, hidden trigger backdoor attack, and test-time backdoor attack using universal perturbation technique. These methodologies demonstrate how adversaries can automate and conceal malicious behaviors to achieve specific objectives, posing significant challenges to ML model integrity and trustworthiness. The research provides a comprehensive analysis of the theoretical …

Semantics-Aware Text-Guided Aerial Image Synthesis By Feature Augmented Diffusion Models, Douglas J. Townsell

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Aerial imagery provides crucial insights for various fields, including remote monitoring, environmental assessment, and autonomous navigation. However, the availability of aerial image datasets is limited due to privacy concerns and imbalanced data distribution, impeding the development of robust deep learning models. While recent text-guided generative models have shown promise in synthesizing high-quality images, they fall short in handling the unique challenges of aerial imagery, including densely packed objects, intricate spatial relationships, and the absence of paired text-aerial image datasets. To tackle these limitations, we propose STARS, a groundbreaking framework for Semantic-aware Text-guided Aerial image Refinement and Synthesis. STARS introduces a …

Graph-Centric Bot Detection: Addressing Extreme Data Imbalances, Heterophily, And Scarcity, Bradley T. Ashmore

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The digital landscape is ever-evolving. In recent years the amount of bot traffic, traffic generated by autonomous applications over the internet has increased significantly. Many bots perform useful and needed functions, however, malicious bots are known sources of both common and emerging security threats. Denial-of-Services (DoS), information theft, and credential stuffing have all been conducted by malicious software running on unknowingly infected machines. The dichotomy of useful bots operating in the same networks as malicious bots combined with novel bot attacks and an ever-increasing number of personal devices connecting to the Internet drives the need for continued advancement of malicious …

A Trusted Adversarial Ml Countermeasure Approach For Secure And Resilient Ai-Driven Hardware Trojan Detection, Mohammed G M Alkurdi

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Semiconductor microelectronics Integrated Circuits (ICs) are increasingly integrated into critical life applications including medical, aerospace, and Internet of things. Their increasing importance as a technology gave rise to critical concerns regarding their security. This has led to the focus of the research community on hardware Trojans, which are malicious modifications to the ICs with undesirable outcomes. Their detection is becoming increasingly critical, with many researchers proposing methods to do so such as reverse engineering, logic testing, and side-channel analysis. Many of these proposals utilize machine learning methods to detect these malicious modifications with high accuracy and confidence. However, machine learning …

Voiceattack: Fingerprinting Voice Command On Vpn-Protected Smart Home Speakers, Xiaoguang Guo, Keyang Yu, Qi Li, Dong Chen

Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

Recently, there are growing security and privacy concerns regarding smart voice speakers, such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home. Extensive prior research has shown that it is surprisingly easy to infer Amazon Alexa voice commands over their network traffic data. To prevent these traffic analytics (TA)-based inference attacks, smart home owners are considering deploying virtual private networks (VPNs) to safeguard their smart speakers. In this work, we design a new machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL)-powered attack framework---VoiceAttack that could still accurately fingerprint voice commands on VPN-encrypted voice speaker network traffic. We evaluate VoiceAttack under 5 different real-world settings …

Statically Controlled Synchronized Lane Architectures, Scott K. Pomerville

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Modern superscalar processors dominate the field of computing. While dynamic execution allows for versatility in code, these processors are complex. Statically scheduled code has historically enabled simpler processor designs, but static scheduling cannot account for variables that are unknown at compile time. Furthermore, static scheduling has many inefficiencies, such as the need to insert a large number of nops for code in traditional Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) processors. In this dissertation, we explore a novel architectural approach for statically scheduled code by breaking the code into several synchronous instruction streams. By representing code in a fundamentally new way, we …

Enhancing Students’ User Experience With A Code Critiquer, Laura E. Albrant

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This thesis explores the role of human factors in the realm of code critiquers and students’ experiences with them. Across three studies, the work utilized Design Thinking to improve the user experience of WebTA for introductory engineering students learning MATLAB. The first two studies gathered observational and interview data to empathize, define, and ideate a new user interface (UI). Said UI was prototyped and then tested with the third study. Overall, the surveys’ data suggests that most students found the new design to be more appealing, useful, and purposeful; however, there is still plenty of room for improvement. Additionally, analysis …

The Impact Of Eye-Tracking On Mixed Reality Typing, Cecilia Schmitz

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Accuracy and speed are pivotal when typing. We hypothesized that the lack of tactile feedback on midair mixed reality keyboards may adversely impact typing performance, especially when ten fingers are used to type. We examined the differences in performance when participants typed on a virtual keyboard using just their index fingers versus all ten fingers. The keyboard was deterministic (without auto-correct), relied only on the headset's egocentric cameras for sensing, and included symbol keys. We used a novel eye-tracking technique to mitigate accidental key presses. The technique was successful at reducing error rates, though participants still typed faster using their …

Applications Of Independent And Identically Distributed (Iid) Random Processes In Polarimetry And Climatology, Dan Kestner

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The unifying theme of this thesis is the characterization of “perfect randomness,” i.e., independent and identically distributed (IID) stochastic processes as these are applied in physical science. Two specific and mathematically distinct applications are chosen: (i) Radar and optical polarimetry; (ii) Analysis of time series in meteorology. In (i), IID process of a special kind, namely, with a distribution defined by symmetry, is used to link its multivariate Gaussian density to uniformity on the Poincaré sphere. This “statistical ellipsometry” approach is then used to relate polarimetric mismatches or imbalances to ellipsometric variables and suitably chosen cross-correlation measures. In (ii), recently …

The Integration Of Neuromorphic Computing In Autonomous Robotic Systems, Md Abu Bakr Siddique

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have come a long way in many cognitive tasks by training on large, labeled datasets. However, this method has problems in places with limited data and energy, like when planetary robots are used or when edge computing is used [1]. In contrast to this data-heavy approach, animals demonstrate an innate ability to learn by communicating with their environment and forming associative memories among events and entities, a process known as associative learning [2-4]. For instance, rats in a T-maze learn to associate different stimuli with outcomes through exploration without needing labeled data [5]. This learning paradigm …

Integrating Arcgis And Redux Using Middleware, Vishnu Vardhan Reddy Rapuru

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The integration of ArcGIS with Redux through middleware presents a novel approach to managing state in geospatial applications. This report outlines the process and benefits of combining ArcGIS’s robust mapping and analytics capabilities with Redux’s predictable state container for JavaScript apps. It begins with an introduction to both technologies, followed by a detailed discussion on the architecture design, focusing on the role of middleware as the linchpin in this integration[1]. The paper highlights the benefits, such as improved state management and application performance, and addresses the challenges encountered during the integration process. Implementation details are provided, including the setup of …

Optimizing Php Api Calls With Pagination And Caching, Parsharam Reddy Sudda

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The Keweenaw Time Traveler (KeTT) project is devoted to mapping the historical and social landscapes of the Keweenaw Peninsula. During the project, it was discovered that the server-side performance needed improvement. To address this issue, the "Optimizing PHP API Calls with Pagination and Caching" initiative was launched. This initiative focused on refining API calls, implementing server caching and pagination, and fortifying security against common vulnerabilities. The project successfully mitigated risks associated with SQL Injection and XSS through meticulous code enhancements while improving error handling. Additionally, the introduction of Scroll-Induced Pagination optimized data delivery, significantly reducing response times, and elevating the …

Wave Energy Converter Wave Force Prediction Using A Neural Network, Morgan Kline

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Due to the unpredictable nature of large bodies of water, wave energy can be a difficult renewable resource to rely on. One way to make Wave Energy Converters (WECs) more efficient is to apply a control strategy. In many control solutions, it is assumed that the wave excitation force is known into the future. In many instances, especially with complex waveforms, this is simply not the case. Simulation studies have shown the promise of wave force prediction using neural networks. This study demonstrates this experimentally and aims to characterize the important factors when designing such a network. Several wave elevation …

Recovering Access Control Via Disk Forensics On Low-Level Flash Memory, Caleb J. Rother

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In the history of access control, nearly every system designed has relied on the operating system (OS) to enforce the access control protocols. However, if the OS (and specifically root access) is compromised, there are few if any solutions that can get users back into their system efficiently. In this work, we have proposed a novel approach that allows secure and efficient rollback of file access control after an adversary compromises the OS and corrupts the access control metadata. Our key observation is that the underlying flash memory typically performs out-of-place updates. Taking advantage of this unique feature, we can …

Programming By Voice, Sadia Nowrin

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Programmers typically rely on a keyboard and mouse for input, which poses significant challenges for individuals with motor impairments, limiting their ability
to effectively input programs. Voice-based programming offers a promising alternative,
enabling a more inclusive and accessible programming environment. Insights from interviews with motor-impaired programmers revealed that memorizing unnatural commands in existing voice-based programming systems led to frustration. In this work, we explore how programmers naturally speak a single line of code and present a comprehensive methodology for a voice programming system aimed at making programming more accessible for diverse users. To achieve this, we adopted a two-step pipeline. …

A Virtual Time Driven Simulator For Devs Models, Ronald R. Stempien

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

When simulating a system that includes some software component, simulation authors are faced with the problem of how to appropriately model the software within the simulation. While many formal methods for modeling software exist, in some contexts these may not be appropriate or viable for a given simulation. Instead, simulation authors may model a computer within the simulation, and run the software in question “as is” on the modeled machine. In this work, we introduce a theoretical framework to allow for the use of hardware virtualization technologies as a hardware accelerator for CPU models in Discrete Event System Specification (DEVS) …

Dynamic Memory Management For Key-Value Store, Yuchen Wang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

To minimize the latency of accessing back-end servers, modern web services often use in-memory key-value (k-v) stores at the front end to cache frequently accessed objects. Due to the limited memory capacity, these stores must be configured with a fixed amount of memory. Consequently, cache replacement is required when the footprint of the accessed objects exceeds the cache size.

This thesis presents a comprehensive exploration of advanced dynamic memory management techniques for k-v stores. The first study conducts a detailed analysis of K-LRU, a random sampling-based replacement policy, proposing a dynamic K configuration scheme to exploit the potential miss ratio …

Model Guided Memory Optimization For Key-Value Caches, Daniel Byrne

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Modern web services deploy key-value caches to store popular requests to backend systems. As such, how the cache stores data impacts both the cache miss ratio and throughput. Therefore, in this thesis, we introduce and apply cache modeling techniques to optimize the memory organization of a key-value cache to improve overall cache performance.

Specifically, we begin with a single-level key-value cache and use miss ratio curves to adjust the memory assigned to the residing applications dynamically. This leads to an improvement in miss ratio up to 25% over state-of-the-art techniques and an 8.8% improvement in cache throughput. We then consider …

Improving The Robustness Of Neural Networks To Adversarial Patch Attacks Using Masking And Attribution Analysis, Atandra Mahalder

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Computer vision algorithms, including image classifiers and object detectors, play a pivotal role in various cyber-physical systems, spanning from facial recognition to self-driving vehicles and security surveillance. However, the emergence of real-world adversarial patches, which can be as simple as stickers, poses a significant threat to the reliability of AI models utilized within these systems. To address this challenge, several defense mechanisms such as PatchGuard, Minority Report, and (De)Randomized Smoothing have been proposed to enhance the resilience of AI models against such attacks. In this thesis, we introduce a novel framework that integrates masking with attribution analysis to robustify AI …

Music Recommendation Using Exemplars And Contrastive Learning, Tina Tran

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The popularity of AI audio applications is growing, it is used in chatbots, automated voice translation, virtual assistants, and text-to-speech translation. Audio classification is crucial in today’s world with a growing need to sort and classify millions of existing audio data with increasing amounts of new data uploaded over time. In the area of classification lies the difficult and lucrative problem of music recommendation. Research in music recommendation has trended over time towards collaborative-based approaches utilizing large amounts of user data. These approaches tend to deal with the cold-start problem of insufficient data and are costly to train. We look …

Wakening Past Concepts Without Past Data: Class-Incremental Learning From Online Placebos, Yaoyao Liu, Yingying Li, Bernt Schiele, Qianru Sun

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Not forgetting old class knowledge is a key challenge for class-incremental learning (CIL) when the model continuously adapts to new classes. A common technique to address this is knowledge distillation (KD), which penalizes prediction inconsistencies between old and new models. Such prediction is made with almost new class data, as old class data is extremely scarce due to the strict memory limitation in CIL. In this paper, we take a deep dive into KD losses and find that "using new class data for KD"not only hinders the model adaption (for learning new classes) but also results in low efficiency for …

Introducing Flexible Assessment Into A Computer Networks Course: A Case Study, Joe Meehean

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

With overall positive results and limited drawbacks, I have adapted modern pedagogical techniques to address a common difficulty encountered when teaching a computer networks course. Due to the tiered nature of the skills taught in the course, students often fail unnecessarily. Using mastery learning, competency-based education, and specifications grading as a foundation, I have developed a course that allows students with varied skills and abilities to pass. The heart of this approach is the flexible assessment of programming assignments which eliminates due dates and allows students to have their work graded and regraded without penalty. Flexible assessment also defines an …