Malware Detection using Behavioral Whitelisting of Software

The detection of malware has been an active area of research for a long period of time. In today’s world of computing, one of the major threats come from different kinds of malware, which makes it imperative to create malware detectors that can sense the presence of malware on our systems. However, with the rapid growth of polymorphic and metamorphic malware, many such malware-detection tools fail quickly or have a high rate of false positives. Our work tackles the problem by creating benign software detectors. Our thesis is that the number of potential malware far outnumbers the number of benign software on a computer system and hence one should detect malware as anomalies in the expected behavior of benign applications instead of trying to build behavioral models for every possible type of malware.M.S., Computer Science -- Drexel University, 201

Kidney Transplant Length of Stay: A Data Driven Quality Improvement Project

Kidney transplant has been deemed a cost-effective treatment for end-stage renal disease. Medicare is the primary payor for the kidney transplant diagnosis-related group and payment is based on a 5.5-day length of stay. Exceeding this designated length of stay leads to financial loss for organizations. The purpose of this quality improvement project is to provide a gap analysis between actual care provided and expected care during the discharge process of a kidney transplant recipient. The clinical nurse leader graduate student anticipated that identified gaps in expected care would drive evidence-based interventions that may reduce length of stay in this patient population. Since case management has a profound effect on the discharge process, the organizational case management policy Assessment and Discharge Planning for the Transplant Recipient was utilized as the foundational document for the gap analysis. Results of the gap analysis found that communication techniques may be a barrier to earlier discharge at this institution. An analysis of the data collected revealed that formal interprofessional discharge rounds are not being conducted and that communication to the outpatient transplant social worker is 30.7%. A literature review provided evidence that utilizing TeamSTEPPS to improve interprofessional communication during the discharge process could reduce kidney transplant hospitalization by 1-day. If the stakeholders at this academic hospital successfully improved communication during the discharge process via TeamSTEPPS, this change could potentially save the organization $60,000 annually.M.S.N., Clinical Nurse Leader -- Drexel University, 201

The Role of GSK3[beta] in the Parvalbumin-Pyramidal Prefrontal Cortex Microcircuit

Glycogen synthase kinase 3[beta] (GSK3[beta]), an enzyme classically focused on in the context of metabolism, has gained interest regarding its involvement in psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders largely due to the beneficial effects of lithium, a direct inhibitor of GSK3[beta], administration in both animal research and clinically. Recently GSK3 inhibitors were highlighted as promising rescuers of cognitive impairments for a gamut of CNS disorders. Complex cognitive behaviors regulated by the prefrontal cortex (PFC) depend on an optimal balance of excitation and inhibition (E/I), which is essential for driving computational activity of cortical circuits. Glutamatergic pyramidal neurons mediate the excitatory component, while GABAergic interneurons facilitate inhibition. Growing evidence supports that fast-spiking parvalbumin (PV) interneurons are critical regulators of the E/I balance, shaping and synchronizing excitatory activity that improves clarity through contrast. Furthermore, disruption of either NMDARs or PV-GABAergic neurotransmission is strongly implicated in disorders with cognitive impairments. Albeit, how excitatory receptors on PV interneurons are regulated and how this affects cognitive function remains unknown. Our previous findings support that GSK3[beta] is a promising therapeutic target, leading us to elucidate its role in PV interneurons. To address these questions, we have generated a novel triple-transgenic conditional mouse with GSK3[beta] genetically deleted from PV interneurons. PV-GSK3[beta]-/- resulted in increased excitability and sensitivity to synaptic inputs, as well as augmented excitatory synaptic strength in PV interneurons. PV-GSK3[beta]-/- also demonstrated augmented NMDA functionality in mPFC pyramidal neurons. More importantly, these synaptic changes are correlated with accelerated learning with no changes in locomotion and sociability. Our study, for the first time, examined how GSK3[beta] activity affects learning capability via regulation of PV interneurons. This study provides novel insight into how GSK3[beta] may contribute to the disorders afflicted by cognitive deficits.Ph.D., Neuroscience -- Drexel University, 201

Hand Off Communication Tool Between Nursing Staff and Provider for Reducing 30 Day Hospital Readmission in an Assisted Living Facility

Background: Ineffective or inadequate communication is a leading cause of poor health outcomes as well as quality of health care when dealing with complex chronic conditions in older adults (Jones, et al, 2015). This is usually the result of substandard communication of important health information between provider and their patients. This , is turn, leads to poor care coordination, thereby leading to avoidable hospital readmission from skilled nursing facility.D.N.P., Nursing Practice -- Drexel University, 201

Continuous Monitoring of Software Evolution

As software continues to evolve, complexity accumulates through various maintenance activities, such as bug fixes, new feature implementations, etc., inevitably resulting in architecture degradation that can cause significant maintenance difficulties into the software systems. Therefore, continuous monitoring of software evolution and quality is crucial for developers and architects. Current state-of-the-art research analyzes software evolution among different releases by tracking software problems, such as code smells or anti-pattern etc, or monitoring metrics which reflect software complexity or quality, such as McCabe complexity or decouple level, etc. While these artifacts provide valuable insights to software evolution, they have some limitations. First, these code smells or anti-pattern detection tools report too many problems, most of which are false positives and are not causing maintenance cost. Second, these techniques failed to report these problems early as a threshold is required in their measurements. For example, one anti-pattern is called Unstable Interface. According to its default setting, a file will be detected as an unstable interface if it has 1% of all the project's files as dependents and has co-changed with at least 10 of them at least two times. So when such a problem is detected, it has already incurred severe negative impacts. In this dissertation, we propose three novel evolutionary models: propagation pattern, maintenance community and active hotspot to address these problems. The rationale behind these models is to use issues as first-class entities to continuously monitor the changes to a system instead of scanning discrete releases of the whole system. We focus on problematic files in issues which are the early warning signs of smells and anti-patterns. Propagation patterns reveal the propagation of changes in non-trivial issues and they are atomic smells as they can be mapped to common smells and anti-patterns. Maintenance communities capture files groups addressing an issue in a project's revision history as a community and detect the most persistent communities in software evolution. In addition, we proposed to use the files modified by multiple issues as seeds and group these seeds along with files in which changes are actively propagating to and from these seeds as an active hotspot. We studies dozens of open-source projects, covering hundreds of releases, thousands of security and general issues, and millions of lines of code, and our results show that propagation pattern can identify problematic smells and maintenance community can detect file groups linked by issues so that developers can prioritize these most severe problems in their systems. Most importantly, by monitoring the emergence and evolution of active hotspots, it is possible to detect signs of software degradation 18 to 25 months earlier than another state-of-the-art tool, so that these problems won't accumulate into severe maintenance costs. Furthermore, we implemented a tool suite to automatically detect and visualize the life cycle, such as the birth, growth and the death, of maintenance community and active hotspot. In this way, not only can developers detect true problems more precisely, but they can also identify these problems early, as they emerge, to prevent further severe maintenance cost.Ph.D., Computer Science -- Drexel University, 201

Evaluation of environmental and nutritional changes in a home food environment intervention for weight loss

There is a pressing need to improve standard behavioral weight loss (BWL) programs to improve both short-term and long-term weight loss outcomes. One limitation of current BWL programs is that they rely heavily on participants’ own self-control to make and sustain major changes to their diet and overall energy intake. However, the reliability of willpower alone to maintain weight loss has been called into question; over time, when weight loss slows and motivation drops, adherence to the implementation of core BWL skills and principles may drop and lead to weight regain. Increased structure and targeted skills designed to shift the burden away from self-control could help improve dietary intake and weight loss outcomes in BWL. The current study aimed to investigate changes in the home food environment and dietary intake across three weight loss conditions: standard behavior therapy, behavior therapy plus meal replacement provisions, and behavior therapy supplemented with nutritional and food environment counseling (Nutritrol). Across all three conditions, results showed that participants were able to make positive quantitative (i.e., reductions in overall energy intake) and qualitative (e.g., decrease in percentage of energy intake coming from fat) changes over the course of the intervention, although the sustainability of these changes in the follow-up period was mixed. Over time, Nutritrol showed a meaningful advantage over the other conditions regarding the percentage of intake that came from carbohydrates and fats, and the overall amount of fiber that was consumed. Contrary to our hypotheses, no other differences were detected in dietary quality, quantity of energy intake, or obesogenic nature of the home food environment between conditions. Possible explanations for these lack of significant findings, including measurement tool limitations or insufficient treatment doses, are discussed.M.S., Psychology -- Drexel University, 201

Clay in Peer Consultation: Creative Processing for Counseling Trainees

This paper outlines the development and implementation of a clay consultation method. It was created to promote peer socialization and connection amongst counseling trainees within a counseling center setting. This method provided an introduction into the use of creative expression as a clinical processing tool in exploring and reflecting on trainee development using the medium of clay. Observations gathered from its implementation appeared to elicit a playful, joyful, and insightful experience in conceptualizing clinical development in a creative way. Reflections and recommendations are offered for future exploration for trainees in college counseling centers and beyond.M.A., Art Therapy and Counseling -- Drexel University, 201

Implementation of an Incident-based Nurse Peer Review Program

Nurse peer review has long been recognized as a method of ensuring competence, safety, and quality patient care. There are currently no guidelines as to how to conduct nurse peer review and many hospitals struggle to implement an effective nurse peer review program. Many parallel quality review methods exist, including Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and Serious Event Review (SER), but these mechanisms allow other disciplines to review and evaluate nursing practice, something they are not trained in nor competent to do. Nurses need their own venue for reviewing and evaluating nursing practice. The literature supports the use of nurse peer review, reporting positive benefits for nurses, patients, and organizations. This quality improvement project used a pilot study and Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) model to develop an incident-based nurse peer review program. The pilot study occurred over a three-week period during which clinical nurses attended three peer review sessions to evaluate nine cases of near misses and adverse events. Evaluation and feedback were sought at the end of each session. The resulting feedback was overwhelming positive, with clinical nurses reporting increased satisfaction with the peer review process and believing that the program would lead to improved nursing practice. The pilot study also resulted in the identification of several educational opportunities which were referred to the appropriate committees and departments. Minor revisions were made over the three sessions, resulting in a program to be implemented at the organizational level.D.N.P., Nursing Practice -- Drexel University, 201

Bringing Connection through Movement for Latinos with Dementia: A Grant Proposal Project

There is an increased risk of being diagnosed with dementia with the increased life expectancy within the United States. While the growing Latino population in the United States, there is a need to provide culturally competent therapeutic services to those in need. The United Community Center has been serving the Latino population in Milwaukee, Wisconsin since 1970. As one of their services, they provide respite to caregivers of older adults with dementia through an adult day care. The purpose of this capstone project was to learn about the cultural influences and proposer methods for developing a dance/movement therapy program at the United Community Center: Adult Day Center. The literature review included the cultural trends in healthcare, caregiver education on dementia, different theoretical approaches and creative approaches to working in dementia care. The literature review helped formulate a need fore the population, develop methods and goals, and inform how to implement a new dance/movement therapy program. The aim of the program is to incorporate a psychosocial approach, educate caregivers on nonverbal communication, and help increase the sense of vitality in the lives of older adults with dementia. The grant proposal was tailored to fit the requirements for the Wisconsin Arts Board: Creative Communities grant.M.A., Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling -- Drexel University, 201

The Dance of Attachment: Exploring Dance/Movement Therapy with International/Transracial Adoptees

The purpose of this capstone thesis was to write a journal article manuscript that could be submitted for publishing to the American Journal of Dance Therapy or another academic journal. The article written for submission explores the intersections between international and transracial adoption, attachment theory, and dance/movement therapy, with a particular focus on how dance/movement therapy might help to strengthen the attachment relationship between adoptive caregivers and adoptees. Previous research that highlights the connection between relational trauma and attachment patterns people form, in addition to attachment pattern concerns present among those who are adopted, serve as the foundational base for the article. The article’s main emphasis focuses on how the creative arts therapies and specifically how dance/movement therapy may serve as a way to help strengthen attachment patterns based on past research looking at the effectiveness these therapies have when working with those who have relational trauma. As proposed by the author, dance/movement therapy may help to foster a secure attachment between adoptive caregiver and adoptee through breath work, being mindful of space, mirroring and attuning to one another, and addressing implicit body memory. Reflections and future considerations for further exploration are also discussed.M.A., Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling -- Drexel University, 201