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If “a picture is worth a thousand words,” then a video may be worth a thousand pictures. Videos have been increasingly used in multiple applications, including surveillance, teleconferencing, learning and experience sharing. Since a video captures a scene from a particular viewpoint, it can often be understood better if presented within a larger spatial context. We call such interactive visualizations that combine videos with their spatial context "Contextualized Videos". Over recent years, multiple innovative Contextualized Video interfaces have been proposed to taking advantage of the latest computer graphics and video processing technologies. These interfaces opened a huge design space with numerous design possibilities, each with its own benefits and limitations. To avoid piecemeal understanding of the design space, this dissertation systematically designs and evaluates Contextualized Video interfaces based on a taxonomy of tasks that can potentially benefit from Contextualized Videos. This dissertation first formalizes a design space. New designs are created incrementally along the four major dimensions of the design space. These designs are then empirically compared through a series of controlled experiments using multiple tasks. The tasks are carefully selected from a task taxonomy, which helps to avoid piecemeal understanding of the effect of the designs. Our design practices and empirical evaluations result in a set of design guidelines on how to choose proper designs according to the characteristics of the tasks and the users. Finally, we demonstrate how to apply the design guidelines to prototype a complex interface for a specific video surveillance application. / Ph. D.

Mosquito surveillance is an integral part of understanding mosquito-borne disease, including and not limited to the La Crosse virus. The primary container-inhabiting Aedeni vectors include Aedes triseritatus, Aedes albopictus, and Aedes japonicus. To better understand the efficacy of gravid traps and oviposition traps as surveillance methods for these mosquitoes, field studies were conducted in three different habitat types. Ae. triseriatus, Ae. albopictus, Ae. japonicus, and Aedes aegypti eggs were described with the aid of color images and SEM. All eggs were broadly cigar shaped with Ae. triseriatus and Ae. japonicus eggs being dull or matte black while Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti eggs were shiny jet black. Ae. triseriatus eggs were larger, lighter in color, and have a rougher appearance when compared to Ae. japonicus. Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti can be differentiated by the distinct presence of a micropylar collars in Ae. aegypti. Ovitrap and gravid trap efficacy for the surveillance of Ae. triseriatus, Ae. albopictus, and Ae. japonicus were measured in three different habitats on two different sites. Both sites contained the same 2ha habitats with varying degrees of forest canopy disturbance. Ae. triseriatus was the most abundant mosquito on all sites. Ovitraps and gravid traps were efficient in collecting Ae. triseriatus, while ovitraps were not efficient in collecting Ae. japonicus and Ae. albopictus. / Master of Science in Life Sciences

The military's armed surveillance drones are the most elite modernized weaponry in the twenty-first century. They have introduced a new way to see without being seen. In this paper, I investigate the US military's use of drones in warfare, specifically in terms of distance and what that entails for the operator physically, mentally, and emotionally. My analysis will address the question: how are remotely piloted aircrafts connecting distance and humanity in asymmetric warfare? I argue that drones are unlike any other weapon produced thus far because they introduce a completely new way to fight wars at a distance; therefore, a new understanding of humanity and warfare needs to be established. Warfare by remote control in a post-panoptic society has ended the era of mutual engagement and created one of extensive asymmetry. This thesis also examines the militaries historical motives for pursuing weapons that make the enemy into an objective target below. The data that I use to explore these implications is second-hand anecdotes and interviews of former RPA operators, and various media accounts. Based on this data, I find that drones have made it more difficult to kill a target due to the added surveillance technology that allows the operator to see the effects of his or her weapon in real time. This visualization then has the effect of creating intimacy/reducing emotional distance between the operator and the target. / Master of Arts

No-passing zone crashes constitute a sizable percentage of the total crashes on two-lane rural roads. A detection and warning system has been devised and implemented at a no-passing zone site on route 114 of Southwest Virginia to address this problem. The warning system aims at deterring drivers from illegally conducting a passing maneuver within the no-passing zone area. The violating driver is warned in real time to stop the illegal act. This system is currently operational and its main function is to warn the no-passing zone violator. The aim of this research is to extend the warning system to the opposing vehicle in the same lane of the persistent violator in order to avoid crashes caused by the illegal maneuver that is taking place at a crest vertical curve of the two-lane rural road. In order to test the new system prior to its physical installation, a computer simulation has been developed to represent the real world violation conditions so that a better understanding of the problem and its varying scenarios would be achieved. The new simulation, which is the focus of this thesis, takes advantage of an existing simulation developed earlier to replicate only the illegal maneuver without giving any warnings to the opposing vehicle. The new program simulates the outcome of deploying a warning sign to the opposing driver for crash avoidance purposes assuming that all violators persist to pass the vehicle ahead. More than 712,000 computer runs were conducted to simulate the various possible outcomes including the sensitivity analysis. A critical comparison was made between the previous system that warned only the violating vehicle and the current program that warns both the violator as well as the opposing vehicle. The results indicate that warning the opposing driver would reduce the rate of unavoidable crashes by approximately 11% in the east direction and 13.25% in the west direction. / Master of Science

Google's AdWords processes information about what sorts of content users are browsing for about a quarter of all web site visits. The significance of AdWords' use of this vast amount of personal data lies not in its use for such obviously authoritarian purposes but instead as a network of grey surveillance with Google acting as the hub and the various publishers, advertisers, and users watching (and controlling) each other in distinct ways. Google's model of collective intelligence in its search and ad ranking systems has so deeply intertwined itself into user experiences online (and offline) that it acts as a shared nervous system. AdWords' use of specific words to target simple ads directly connects advertising topics with the content supported by the advertising, encouraging the content to do more of the work of assigning social meaning traditionally done by the ads themselves. And the AdWords pay-per-click ad auction system greatly increases the level of mechanization within the advertising and content production system, replacing the historical human bureaucracy of the advertising industry with the mechanical bureaucracy that is much more difficult to predict or understand. That mechanical bureaucracy shapes, in constitutive but unpredictable ways, the relationship between content and ads that drives the what content is published online and how advertisers and users interact with that content. / Master of Science

L’utilisation de l’information est étroitement liée à sa sécurité. Le fait d’exploiter des vulnérabilités permet à une tierce personne de compromettre la sécurité d’un système d’information. La modélisation des menaces aide à prévoir les attaques les plus probables visant une infrastructure donnée afin de mieux les contrer. Le projet de recherche proposé « Estimation des risques et prédiction des cyber-attaques » vise la combinaison de différentes techniques de prédiction de cyber-attaques pour mieux protéger un système informatique. Il est nécessaire de trouver les paramètres les plus informatifs, à savoir les marqueurs de prédiction d’attaque, pour créer des fonctions de probabilité d’attaque en fonction de temps. La prédiction d’une attaque est essentielle pour la prévention des risques potentiels. Par conséquent, la prévision des risques contribue beaucoup à l’optimisation de la planification budgétaire de la sécurité de l’information. Ce travail scientifique se concentre sur l’ontologie et les étapes d’une cyber-attaque, ainsi que les principaux représentants du côté attaquant et leur motivation. La réalisation de ce travail scientifique aidera à déterminer, en temps réel, le niveau de risque d’un système d’information afin de le reconfigurer et mieux le protéger. Pour établir le niveau de risque à un intervalle de temps sélectionné dans le futur, il faut effectuer une décomposition mathématique. Pour ce faire, nous devons sélectionner les paramètres du système d’information requis pour les prévisions et leurs données statistiques pour l’évaluation des risques. Néanmoins, le niveau de risque réel peut dépasser l’indicateur établi. N’oublions pas que, parfois, l’analyse des risques prend trop de temps et établit des valeurs de risques déjà dépassées. Dans la réalisation de ce travail scientifique, nous continuerons d’examiner la question de l’obtention de valeurs de risque en temps réel. Pour cela, nous introduirons la méthode automatisée d’analyse des risques, qui aidera à révéler la valeur du risque à tout moment. Cette méthode constitue la base pour prédire la probabilité d’une cyber-attaque ciblée. Le niveau de risque établi permettra d’optimiser le budget de sécurité de l’information et de le redistribuer pour renforcer les zones les plus vulnérables. / The use of information is inextricably linked with its security. The presence of vulnerabilities enables a third party to breach the security of information. Threat modelling helps to identify those infrastructure areas, which would be most likely exposed to attacks. This research project entitled “Risk estimation and prediction of cyber attacks” aims to combine different techniques for predicting cyber attacks to better protect a computer system. It is necessary to find the most informative parameters, namely the attack prediction markers, to create functions of probability of attack as a function of time. The prediction of an attack is essential for the prevention of potential risk. Therefore, risk forecasting contributes a lot to the optimization of the information security budget planing. This scientific work focuses on ontology and stages of a cyberattack, as well as the main representatives of the attacking side and their motivation. Carrying out this scientific work will help determine, in real time, the risk level of an information system in order to reconfigure and better protect it. To establish the risk level at a selected time interval in the future, one has to perform a mathematical decomposition. To do this, we need to select the required information system parameters for the predictions and their statistical data for risk assessment. Nevertheless, the actual risk level may exceed the established indicator. Let us not forget that sometimes, the risk analysis takes too much time and establishes already outdated risk values. In this scientific work, we will continue reviewing the issue of obtaining real-time risk values. For this, we will introduce the automated risk analysis method, which will help to reveal the risk value at any time point. This method forms the basis for predicting the probability of a targeted cyber attack. The established risk level will help to optimize the information security budget and redistribute it to strengthen the most vulnerable areas.

As unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) increasingly become integral to surveillance and reconnaissance (S&R) operations, their susceptibility to cyber threats poses significant risks to operational integrity. The current cybersecurity protocols often fail to address UAV operations’ unique vulnerabilities and challenges in S&R contexts, highlighting a gap in specialized cybersecurity strategies. This research adapts the MITRE ATTACK framework to enhance cybersecurity approaches, safeguarding UAVs against evolving cyber threats. This thesis maps existing vulnerabilities against comprehensive tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) through a scenario-based analysis. Hypothetical and practical S&R operation case studies demonstrate the applicability of proposed cybersecurity strategies, validating their effectiveness in mitigating specific threats and the need for more specified cybersecurity protocols. The findings advocate for continuous innovation and vigilance in UAV cybersecurity, contributing to the protection of UAVs in S&R missions and emphasizing the dynamic nature of cybersecurity challenges in UAV operations.

Acts of violence and student misbehavior in our nation’s schools are widely documented. In response, some schools employ video surveillance cameras (VSCs) in their hallways. Student, parent, and teacher perceptions of video surveillance monitoring are essentially unknown. This study examines the effect, if any, of the presence of video surveillance cameras in schools. It specifically considers their effect on the attitudes of students, parents, and teachers toward student behavior, school safety, and feelings of privacy. The scope of this study was limited to the students, parents, and teachers of one middle school and the students of another middle school. The first school utilized video surveillance monitoring in school hallways, the second did not. The population included the 2690 middle school students of School A and School B. The population also included the 89 teachers and over 1350 parents of School A. Thirty percent of the students in each of the two schools were chosen through a random selection of homeroom classes and given consent forms to return signed by their parent. The researcher expected a return rate of 15 percent. Homeroom teachers administered a short questionnaire during the regularly scheduled advisory period. Questionnaires were sent to School A parents who indicated a willingness to participate in this study. All School A teachers, excluding those absent, consented to participation and completed the questionnaire during a scheduled faculty meeting. No anticipated risks or benefits to participants existed in this study. Students and teachers remained anonymous. Parental participation was confidential and identifiable only by a predetermined code. Data analysis consisted of determining the frequencies of each response and percentages of respondents in each category of the five point response categories. Cross tabulations and a chi-square test were conducted on the data. This study permits school officials to examine student, parent, and teacher attitudes toward video surveillance monitoring in middle school hallways. Favorable attitudes may indicate that video cameras effectively curtail student misbehavior and increase safety. / Ed. D.