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Investigating speech enhancement towards robust synthetic audio spoofing detection in the wild
No full textPresented to the 21st Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP) held at the Rhatigan Student Center, Wichita State University, April 11, 2025.Research completed in the School of Computing, Wichita State University and the Department of Computer Science, INRS-Canada.Logical access (LA) attacks involve the use of Text-to-Speech (TTS) or voice conversion (VC) techniques to generate spoofed speech data. This represents a serious threat to automatic speaker verification as intruders can use such attacks to bypass biometric security systems. In this study, we train a state-of-the-art model to distinguish between bonafide and spoofed speech samples, and we investigate its performance in the wild. For that, we used the LA data provided in the ASVspoof 2019 Challenge in the presence of different levels and types of background noises. We also explored two enhancement algorithms, namely SEGAN and MetricGAN+, to mitigate the detrimental effects of noisy speech. Results show that applying enhancement prior to the LA task can improve performance in more degraded scenarios. We also found that quality measures, such as PESQ, can be an important asset as indicator of enhancement algorithms performance.Graduate School, Academic Affairs, University Librarie
Multi-Higgs boson production via photon fusion at muon colliders in the Triplet Higgs Model
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)-- Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Mathematics, Statistics, and PhysicsIn this dissertation, I present predictions for the scattering cross sections of Higgs boson pair and triple production via photon fusion at future muon colliders within the framework of the Higgs Triplet Model, a beyond-the-Standard Model theory that generates neutrino masses. High-energy muon beams can emit collinear photons, leading to the production of multi-Higgs final states through loop-induced processes. Thus, I focus on the processes and via photon fusion, utilizing the Effective Photon Approximation for cross-section predictions. Our analysis includes contributions from singly and doubly charged Higgs bosons and their couplings to CP-even scalars. I have established my own parameter scanning method, as taking the masses of the scalars as inputs is challenging due to model consistency constraints. I compare total cross sections and kinematic distributions with Standard Model predictions, utilizing automated one-loop calculators for numerical amplitude evaluations and Monte Carlo phase-space integrators for collider simulations at center-of-mass energies ranging from 2 TeV to 10 TeV
Conceptual artist, cognitive film: Miklós Erdely at the Balázs Béla Studio
No full textClick on the DOI link to access this article at the publishers website (may not be free).The Hungarian Balazs Bela Studio (BBS), established in 1959 to create opportunities for young filmmakers, was unique in former Eastern Europe in the way it gave nonprofessional filmmakers access to the medium from the late 1960s to the 1980s. Its history complicates our understanding of the relationship between official and unofficial culture in the Eastern Bloc as an officially supported studio that gave unofficial artists opportunities to co-opt state resources to produce innovative and subversive work. This chapter gives an overview of how nonprofessional filmmakers, particularly visual artists, came to create important work that applied the insights and methods of conceptual art to film-with a focus on the work and theories of Miklos Erdely as a particularly paradigmatic example. © 2026, IGI Global Scientific Publishing. All rights reserved
Machine learning based predictions for geocentric and cislunar low-thrust orbit raising maneuvers
No full textThesis (M.S.)-- Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Aerospace EngineeringOrbit-Raising maneuvers for satellites utilizing solar electric propulsion allows for substantial mass, and thus cost, savings. Optimization of such trajectories is difficult and requires solving a non-linear, non-convex problem. A new emergent methodology breaks the overarching optimization problem into a sequence of smaller, easy to solve optimization sub-problems. This methodology can provide solutions in a fast and automated manner; however, these solutions fall short of the global optimal. Recognizing this shortcoming, this thesis investigates improving those solutions through the use of machine learning. Not only for typical Near-Earth missions, but also for missions that explore the Cis-Lunar realm.
In this thesis, artificial neural networks are trained to make predictions for two metrics of interest. The first is the number of revolutions for the transfer and the second is the total amount of time the transfer takes. These predictions assist both direct optimization of the sub-optimal solutions that are generated and enables adaptive frameworks for the methodology itself. The first part of this research details recent improvements to the sequential methodology and how it is used to generate training data for the artificial neural networks. Two different transfer examples are presented, one for Near-Earth and a second for Cis-Lunar. The second part of this research discusses the results for the training of various artificial neural networks. Each with a different combination of inputs, hidden layers, and total neurons. Then the best performing architecture combination for each transfer example is selected and its performance over its respective training database is analyzed
Design and simulation of coplanar waveguide structures for ferromagnetic resonance applications
No full textPoster and abstract presented at the FYRE in STEM Showcase, 2025.Research project completed at the Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics.Ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) is widely used to probe the magnetic behavior of materials, and high-frequency transmission structures like coplanar waveguides (CPWs) are essential to ensure signal integrity during such measurements. This project focuses on designing, simulating, and analyzing CPW structures to understand how trace width and dielectric material affect signal reflection, transmission, and impedance. The goal is to identify design parameters that support low-loss broadband operation and are suitable for FMR setups.
Simulations were conducted using MATLAB's Transmission Line Designer. CPW configurations were created using a fixed copper conductor while varying trace widths and dielectric materials, including Teflon, FR4, air, foam, plexiglass, and polystyrene. Characteristic impedance was recorded for each configuration, and S-parameter plots were generated over a frequency range of 0.9 to 1.15 GHz.
The results showed that narrower traces led to higher impedance, while wider traces reduced it. Material choice significantly affected impedance: low-permittivity materials such as air and foam yielded the highest impedance, while FR4 produced lower impedance along with greater signal reflection. S-parameter plots indicated that Teflon provided the most stable and efficient signal transmission across the selected frequency range, while FR4 showed greater loss and more pronounced resonance effects.
These findings demonstrate that both geometry and material selection have a measurable impact on CPW performance. By adjusting trace dimensions and substrate properties, designers can tune the electrical characteristics of CPWs to meet the specific requirements of FMR experiments and other high-frequency applications. Future steps include expanding the frequency range, testing coupled line configurations, and preparing the design for fabrication
Second Hankel determinant for a Bi-univalent function subclass based Gegenbauer (ultraspherical) polynomials
No full textThis is an open access article under the CC BY license.In this paper, we aim to establish a new upper bound approximation for the second Hankel determinant utilizing a certain subclass of the class of normalized analytic and bi-univalent functions in the open unit disk U . These functions have inverses with a bi-univalent analytic continuation to U and are associated with orthogonal polynomials; namely, Gegenbauer polynomials that satisfy subordination conditions on U. Finally, we introduce new essential results derived by specializing the parameter τ employed in our foundational finding. © 2025 The Author(s)
Advancing disability inclusion in nursing education: A call for national data collection and collective leadership
No full textClick on the DOI link to access this article at the publishers website (may not be free).[No abstract available
Palladin modulates actin polymerization and bundling in cell migration and cancer
No full textPoster and abstract presented at the FYRE in STEM Showcase, 2025.Research project completed at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.Within the cytoskeleton, actin filaments are flexible structures that facilitate essential cellular functions such as movement and cell division. The organization and regulation of actin filaments and networks involve a variety of actin-binding proteins, one of which is palladin. Palladin plays a crucial role in regulating actin architecture in actively migrating cells and is often upregulated in response to more aggressive cancers, including breast and pancreatic cancers. However, the mechanisms through which palladin influences actin polymerization and filament bundling during cell migration are not fully understood. Experimental evidence from co-sedimentation assays suggests that palladin may affect both actin organization and the rate of polymerization. To investigate these effects, we employed Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy (TIRFM) using in vitro purified proteins. By tracking individual filaments, we quantified the polymerization rates of actin under varying concentrations of both actin monomers and palladin. Our preliminary findings indicate that palladin enhances actin polymerization, which aligns with previous bulk measurements. For instance, one representative actin filament polymerized alone at a rate of approximately 0.048 µm/sec, while another actin strand in the presence of palladin polymerized at a rate of approximately 0.1342 µm/sec. Furthermore, TIRFM visualization revealed distinct differences in filament architecture. While actin alone formed primarily unbranched linear filaments, the addition of palladin promoted not only bundling but also the formation of highly branched, dendritic actin networks. These changes were accompanied by occasional bursts of filament elongation, suggesting that palladin may transiently accelerate polymerization and facilitate the assembly of higher-order structures. Our findings improve the understanding of how palladin modulates actin dynamics at the molecular level, particularly during the formation of complex filament architectures. Given palladin's known upregulation in aggressive cancers, its role in enhancing actin polymerization and bundling may contribute to the increased motility and invasiveness of cancer cells. This work lays the foundation for future studies exploring palladin as a potential therapeutic target in cytoskeletal regulation and cancer metastasis
Lightning protection covering
No full textWSU inventors: Billy Marvin Martin, NIARApplication No: 17/929,168 filed September 1, 2022. Patent No: US 12264653 B2 granted April 1, 2025.A protective covering can protect a surface of a composite article from lightning strikes, wherein the surface includes at least one grounding connection. The covering includes a conductive sheet formed from electrically conductive material configured to be affixed to the composite article over a portion of the surface adjacent the grounding connection; and a perforated overlaminate sheet comprising a dielectric material configured to be affixed to the composite article over the conductive sheet. The perforated overlaminate sheet distributes electrical current of the lighting strikes over an area of the protective covering
Integrated structural model of the palladin-actin complex using XL-MS, docking, NMR, and SAXS
No full textClick on the DOI link to access this article at the publishers website (may not be free).Palladin is an actin-binding protein that accelerates actin polymerization and is linked to the metastasis of several types of cancer. Previously, three lysine residues in an immunoglobulin-like domain of palladin have been identified as essential for actin binding. However, it is still unknown where palladin binds to F-actin. Evidence that palladin binds to the sides of actin filaments to facilitate branching is supported by our previous study showing that palladin was able to compensate for Arp2/3 in the formation of Listeria actin comet tails. Here, we used chemical crosslinking to covalently link palladin and F-actin residues based on spatial proximity. Samples were then enzymatically digested, separated by liquid chromatography, and analyzed by tandem mass spectrometry. Peptides containing the crosslinks and specific residues involved were then identified for input to the HADDOCK docking server to model the most likely binding conformation. Small-angle x-ray scattering was used to provide further insight into palladin flexibility and the binding interface, and NMR spectra identified potential interactions between palladin's Ig domains. Our final structural model of the F-actin:palladin complex revealed how palladin interacts with and stabilizes F-actin at the interface between two actin monomers. Three actin residues that were identified in this study also appear commonly in the actin-binding interface with other proteins such as myotilin, myosin, and tropomodulin. An accurate structural representation of the complex between palladin and actin extends our understanding of palladin's role in promoting cancer metastasis through the regulation of actin dynamics. © 2025 The Protein Society