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ContributorsDeliwala, Dheeti (Author) / Bryan, Chris (Thesis director) / Strickland, James (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2023-12
Description
Human civilization within the last two decades has largely transformed into an online one, with many of its associated activities taking place on computers and complex networked systems -- their analog and real-world equivalents having been rendered obsolete.These activities run the gamut from the ordinary and mundane, like ordering food, to complex and large-scale, such as those involving critical infrastructure or global trade and communications.
Unfortunately, the activities of human civilization also involve criminal, adversarial, and malicious ones with the result that they also now have their digital equivalents.
Ransomware, malware, and targeted cyberattacks are a fact of life today and are instigated not only by organized criminal gangs, but adversarial nation-states and organizations as well.
Needless to say, such actions result in disastrous and harmful real-world consequences. As the complexity and variety of software has evolved, so too has the ingenuity of attacks that exploit them; for example modern cyberattacks typically involve sequential exploitation of multiple software vulnerabilities.Compared to a decade ago, modern software stacks on personal computers, laptops, servers, mobile phones, and even Internet of Things (IoT) devices involve a dizzying array of interdependent programs and software libraries, with each of these components presenting attractive attack-surfaces for adversarial actors.
However, the responses to this still rely on paradigms that can neither react quickly enough nor scale to increasingly dynamic, ever-changing, and complex software environments.
Better approaches are therefore needed, that can assess system readiness and vulnerabilities, identify potential attack vectors and strategies (including ways to counter them), and proactively detect vulnerabilities in complex software before they can be exploited. In this dissertation, I first present a mathematical model and associated algorithms to identify attacker strategies for sequential cyberattacks based on attacker state, attributes and publicly-available vulnerability information.Second, I extend the model and design algorithms to help identify defensive courses of action against attacker strategies.
Finally, I present my work to enhance the ability of coverage-based fuzzers to identify software vulnerabilities by providing visibility into complex, internal program-states.
ContributorsPaliath, Vivin Suresh (Author) / Doupe, Adam (Thesis advisor) / Shoshitaishvili, Yan (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Ruoyu (Committee member) / Shakarian, Paulo (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
The Patient Guidance Project was created by a team of research assistants in the Arizona Cancer Evolution Center as a source of supplemental education and support for recently diagnosed cancer patients. Extensive background research in the form of literature reviews highlighted disparities between the information patients want and are receiving, as well as between average literacy levels of patients and the literacy levels at which cancer information is commonly provided. The Patient Guidance Project has published comprehensive guides for specific types of cancer, which so far include metastatic melanoma, glioblastoma, prostate cancer, oral cancer, kidney cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer. The content of the guides is intended to bridge the gaps in information for patients with an emphasis on treatment options, treatment side effects, and psychological support resources, which surveys have identified as the topics patients want information on most. Written at a sixth-grade literacy level, which over half of adults in the U.S. read at, the guides are meant to be of benefit to as many people as possible. In the future, the team hopes to expand the Patient Guidance Project to include more cancer types, guides in different languages, and multimodal features to increase their effectiveness.
ContributorsWilliams, Erica (Author) / Maley, Carlo (Thesis director) / Baciu, Cristina (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2022-12
Description
When looking at drawings of graphs, questions about graph density, community structures, local clustering and other graph properties may be of critical importance for analysis. While graph layout algorithms have focused on minimizing edge crossing, symmetry, and other such layout properties, there is not much known about how these algorithms relate to a user’s ability to perceive graph properties for a given graph layout. This study applies previously established methodologies for perceptual analysis to identify which graph drawing layout will help the user best perceive a particular graph property. A large scale (n = 588) crowdsourced experiment is conducted to investigate whether the perception of two graph properties (graph density and average local clustering coefficient) can be modeled using Weber’s law. Three graph layout algorithms from three representative classes (Force Directed - FD, Circular, and Multi-Dimensional Scaling - MDS) are studied, and the results of this experiment establish the precision of judgment for these graph layouts and properties. The findings demonstrate that the perception of graph density can be modeled with Weber’s law. Furthermore, the perception of the average clustering coefficient can be modeled as an inverse of Weber’s law, and the MDS layout showed a significantly different precision of judgment than the FD layout.
ContributorsSoni, Utkarsh (Author) / Maciejewski, Ross (Thesis advisor) / Kobourov, Stephen (Committee member) / Sefair, Jorge (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
I center my analysis on Amazon’s recent foray into alternative history The Man in the High Castle premised on Philip K. Dick’s 1962 novel of the same name. Amazon Studio’s production The Man in the High Castle builds upon the premise of an alternative history where World War II ends differently. Here, the diegetic narrative depicts a United States split into three distinct regions: the east coast, now part of the German Reich; the Neutral Zone, or most of the Midwest and the Rocky Mountains; and the west coast, controlled by Japanese Empire. The film version debuted in 2015 as a series extending to four seasons of 10 episodes a piece by 2019. I argue that the show takes cues from modern political tensions, the rise of the alt-right and “post-truth” media manipulations, to intentionally destabilize viewers’ memories of the historical past. By blurring the boundaries between the diegetic reality of the show and our accepted version of history, The Man in the High Castle disrupts the facility in which the viewer assumes alignment with memory and past, opting instead for a complicated refiguring of the political present. Here I articulate how film as a medium tampers with the viewer’s ontological understanding of image by collapsing history and fiction together. Additionally, the capacity of film to provoke empathy from viewers complicates the universal condemnation of Nazism we are familiar with and permits viewers to see the banality of evil in this reimagined history. Finally, I discuss how film as a medium capitalizes on the incompleteness of memory and the loopholes of history to fabricate viewer memory.
ContributorsAbele, Kelsey Taylor (Author) / Brouwer, Daniel (Thesis advisor) / Carlson, Adina (Committee member) / Hedberg Olenina, Ana (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
American Sign Language (ASL) is used for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) individuals to communicate and learn in a classroom setting. In ASL, fingerspelling and gestures are two primary components used for communication. Fingerspelling is commonly used for words that do not have a specifically designated sign or gesture. In technical contexts, such as Computer Science curriculum, there are many technical terms that fall under this category. Most of its jargon does not have standardized ASL gestures; therefore, students, educators, and interpreters alike have been reliant on fingerspelling, which poses challenges for all parties. This study investigates the efficacy of both fingerspelling and gestures with fifteen technical terms that do have standardized gestures. The terms’ fingerspelling and gesture are assessed based on preference, ease of use, ease of learning, and time by research subjects who were selected as DHH individuals familiar with ASL.
The data is collected in a series of video recordings by research subjects as well as a post-participation questionnaire. Each research subject has produced thirty total videos, two videos to fingerspell and gesture each technical term. Afterwards, they completed a post-participation questionnaire in which they indicated their preference and how easy it was to learn and use both fingerspelling and gestures. Additionally, the videos have been analyzed to determine the time difference between fingerspelling and gestures. Analysis reveals that gestures are favored over fingerspelling as they are generally preferred, considered easier to learn and use, and faster. These results underscore the significance for standardized gestures in the Computer Science curriculum for accessible learning that enhances communication and promotes inclusion.
ContributorsKarim, Bushra (Author) / Gupta, Sandeep (Thesis director) / Hossain, Sameena (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
This thesis details a Python-based software designed to calculate the Jones polynomial,
a vital mathematical tool from Knot Theory used for characterizing the topological and
geometrical complexity of curves in 3-space, which is essential in understanding physical
systems of filaments, including the behavior of polymers and biopolymers. The Jones
polynomial serves as a topological invariant capable of distinguishing between different
knot structures. This capability is fundamental to characterizing the architecture of
molecular chains, such as proteins and DNA. Traditional computational methods for
deriving the Jones polynomial have been limited by closure-schemes and high execu-
tion costs, which can be impractical for complex structures like those that appear in
real life. This software implements methods that significantly reduce calculation times,
allowing for more efficient and practical applications in the study of biological poly-
mers. It utilizes a divide-and-conquer approach combined with parallel computing and
applies recursive Reidemeister moves to optimize the computation, transitioning from
an exponential to a near-linear runtime for specific configurations. This thesis provides
an overview of the software’s functions, detailed performance evaluations using protein
structures as test cases, and a discussion of the implications for future research and
potential algorithmic improvements.
ContributorsMusfeldt, Caleb (Author) / Panagiotou, Eleni (Thesis director) / Richa, Andrea (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
This research examines supply chain performance and antecedents to better supply chain performance in manufacturing organizations, with a focus on manufacturing organizations following engineer-to-order and assemble-to-order production models. The variables of supply chain integration, internal communication, employee satisfaction, leader support, and the alignment of information and communication technology are empirically supported in affecting supply chain performance, and thus carry managerial and organizational implications in how they can be influenced, ideally for the benefit of manufacturing organizations. The data gathered for this study was obtained through interviews with sourcing professionals, as well as surveys distributed to corporate manufacturing employees. The findings on these variables fall in line with previous research explored in the report, adding credibility to previous studies, as well as their associated recommendations and implications. Organizational management and leadership, to improve supply chain performance, must strategically integrate information and communication technology, be clear and consistent in their messaging to employees, engage in effective conflict resolution, and provide support for necessary transparency and communication-enhancing initiatives.
ContributorsKoeppen, Matthew (Author) / Wiedmer, Robert (Thesis director) / Hogan, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
The purpose of this dissertation is to explore how humans experience relationships with machines such as love and sex dolls and robots. This study places a particular emphasis on in-depth, rich, and holistic understanding of people’s lived experiences in the context of human-machine relationships and draws on human-machine communication scholarship by examining media evocation perspectives, the role of illusions, and the topic of care. Therefore, this study uses a funneled serial interview design employing three waves of semi-structured interviews (N = 47) with 29 love and sex doll owners and users. Utilizing a phronetic iterative qualitative data analysis approach coupled with metaphor analysis, the findings of this study reveal how participants experience dolls as evocative objects and quasi-others. Moreover, the findings illustrate how participants actively construct and (re)negotiate authenticity in their human-machine relationships, driven by a cyclical process between doll characteristics (agency and presence) and doll owner characteristics (imagination and identity extension) that results in an illusion of being cared for. This study extends previous scholarship by: 1) showcasing a new type of mute machines, namely humanoid mute relational machines; 2) adding empirical evidence to the largely theoretical work on dolls and doll owners; 3) adding empirical evidence to and extending media evocation perspectives by illustrating the suitability of participant metaphors for understanding machines’ evocative nature; and 4) proposing an integrative model of care and illusions that lays the foundation for a new relational interaction illusion model to be examined in future research. This study also discusses practical implications for doll owners, the public, and doll developers.
ContributorsDehnert, Marco (Author) / Sharabi, Liesel L (Thesis advisor) / Tracy, Sarah J (Thesis advisor) / Edwards, Autumn P (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
College graduates are expected to acquire certain skill sets that are necessary andsought after by potential employers, as many industries in the United States continue to
grow a global footprint. Employers also value good communication skills, and
communication classes are a staple of most general education curricula, including those
taught on community college campuses. The diversity of the student populations on
community college campuses in the United States is vast, as is the cultural wealth
accompanying this diversity. Diverse and internationalized student populations at
community colleges include local students living in communities surrounding community
colleges and international students studying abroad in the United States. This action
research study infused intercultural intelligence activities into a third culture
Communication 100 classroom using the prescribed course objectives to prepare both
local and international students to enter a global, or a glocal-local (glocal) workforce.
This was done by having local and international students communicate, share, and teach
each other and their instructor via their cultural capital in a third culture classroom.
Mixed methods were employed by collecting student reflection journals after completing
four class activities that introduced them to the principles of cultural intelligence.
Students in an experimental class and two control classes completed the Global
Perspectives Inventory (GPI) as a pre- and post-assessment. The experimental students’
GPI scores indicated they perceived themselves to have grown more on all seven
variables in the study and felt more prepared to enter a global workforce. In the
experimental class, results from both qualitative and quantitative data indicated that the
international and local Latine students had comparable cultural intelligence skills upon
entering the class and that they felt they learned more about the world by working with
each other. Their perceptions changed in a positive direction regarding their intercultural
intelligence growth, and they felt more prepared to enter a global and glocal workforce
due to their participation in the Communication 100 third culture classroom.
ContributorsPetit, Annique (Author) / Judson, Eugene (Thesis advisor) / Hesse, Maria (Committee member) / Amavisca Reyes, Nora (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024