Live Musical Steganography

Live Musical Steganography is a project created as a way to combine the two typically unrelated fields of music and information security into a cohesive entity that will hopefully spark one’s imagination and inspire further development that could one day be beneficial in the world of security. For those who are unfamiliar with the term steganography, it can be defined as the art and science of preserving the integrity and confidentiality of a message by hiding the existence of that message within some larger body of data. In the field of steganography, much research and development has gone into methods of obscuring the presence of information digitally in photos or audio files. However, this project is unique in that the information is hidden in a composition that can be performed without unsuspecting listeners being aware of the modification of the piece to include a secret message. The process of transmission is as follows. There is a sender (call her Alice) and a recipient (call him Bob). Alice and Bob are in a place where they can be near each other without having to seemingly be together (like a park). Alice would play her modified composition, which contains the secret message within the work. While Bob is aware that a message is being transmitted and records the performance accordingly, everyone else would probably just assume that Alice is playing her piece because music is her hobby. Bob would then compare Alice’s performance to the notes of the original composition and write down the notes that differ. From there, he would be able to obtain the secret message. The most interesting part of this project is the fact that the piece that Alice plays sounds just as musical as the original composition. Now that the basic gist of how the message will be transmitted has been addressed, we can briefly discuss the algorithm for inserting the message into a composition. The first step is to choose a composition large enough to conceal a message. Next, the message should be encrypted into what is known as a ciphertext so that if security was somehow compromised and the message was retrieved, it would be a jumble of letters instead of a coherent message. After encrypting the message, each letter of the message should be turned into a corresponding note and inserted consistently (such as every third note of each measure) into the composition. The resulting composition is now ready for Alice to play for Bob. While there is an added layer of security provided with the message being encrypted before being inserted into the composition, most of the security of the message lies in the unassuming nature of the set-up. If the transmission between Alice and Bob were to occur in a park, then the casual observer may see what appears to be a normal day with a couple jogging, a mother pushing a stroller, Alice playing around on her flute, Bob on his laptop, and some teens playing Frisbee. In the midst of this normality however, Alice could be transmitting information that is of national importance to Bob

Factors Influencing Attendance, Postpartum Follow-up, and Contraceptive Usage among Teenage CenteringPregnancy® Participants

Background: Teenage mothers are less likely to obtain postpartum examinations and contraception, increasing risks for negative social and health outcomes. The CenteringPregnancy® prenatal care model has been found to improve outcomes. However, little is known about factors influencing CenteringPregnancy® attendance or how this attendance impacts future pregnancy rates among teenagers. Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore the association between CenteringPregnancy® attendance, postpartum return, contraception initiation and method selection. Additionally, the Group Care and Perinatal Behaviors Framework was used to assess the association between food insecurity, housing insecurity, intimate partner violence relationship status, partner group attendance and total CenteringPregnancy® sessions attended. Methods: A retrospective record review was conducted on a consecutive sample of (n=83) pregnant and parenting teenagers, between the ages of 13-19 years, seen at a community based teen health clinic. Analysis: Bivariate relationships between variables were analyzed using Fisher’s exact test, independent t-test and one-way ANOVA. Results: Housing insecurity, food insecurity, intimate partner violence, marital status and partner session attendance were not significant factors associated with participant CenteringPregnancy® attendance. Total CenteringPregnancy® attendance was significantly (p=.04) associated with return for postpartum exam, but not contraception initiation or effectiveness of selected methods. Attendance at session 9 appears to be significantly (p=.041) linked to postpartum contraceptive initiation, with attendance at sessions 9 and 10 also significantly linked to postpartum return (p=.032 and p=.033 respectively). Discussion: While the complex social and economic factors addressed within this study did not impact CenteringPregnancy® attendance in this group of teens, the identification of overall attendance and specific session attendance as significant factors influencing postpartum exam utilization and contraceptive uptake, allows for CenteringPregnancy® delivery sites to make accommodations that may promote teenage patient retention

From the Field: Law-Related Education as a Branch of Civics Education in the United States

Law-related education is “education to equip nonlawyers with knowledge and skills pertaining to the law, the legal process and the legal system, and the fundamental principles and values on which these are based.” Law-related education is a branch of civics education although there is overlap between law-related topics and civics topics because both areas include the study of the Bill of Rights, the study of the function of government institutions, and the study of one’s rights with respect to voting, jury duty, etc. Often, the terms law-related education and civics education are used interchangeably. However, there is a trend for law-related education to be associated with violence prevention. In this article, I provide an overview of the origin of law-related education, a discussion of a law-related education program that I developed for K-12 students, my reflections on implementing the program, key resources that I found during my planning, an overview of state laws that address K-12 law-related and civics education requirements, an analysis of North Carolina’s civics education requirement, and an overview of civics education programs outside the K-12 classroom

On New Procedures of Estimation for Binary Data

In developmental toxity studies, current methods divide animals equally among all treatment groups. New procedures are introduced for estimating correlated binary data. Instead of allocating an equal number to each treatment, observe clusters one at a time until a desired numer of clusters have a chosen number of responses or more. Dose levels, or treatments, known to have many responses would not need as many animals. This procedure could save animals but would not sacrifice any information. Focusing on exchangeable binary data, a new procedure for estimating the probability of a response is investigated. This alternate design is analyzed through a simulation study and applied to a clinical data set. Comparisons are made between past estimators and the new estimator given

Implementasi Penerapan Metode Pembelajaran Active Knowledge Sharing Dalam Meningkatkan Kemampuan Siswa Dalam Menjelaskan Identitas Diri, Keluarga Dan Kerabat Di Kelas 1 SD Negeri 3 Pasir Panjang

Tujuan penelitian menggunakan metode pembelajaran Active Knowledge Sharing agar dapat meningkatkan kemampuan siswa dalam menjelaskan identitas diri, keluarga dan kerabat di kelas I SD Negeri 3 Pasir Panjang. Dengan metode pembelajaran Active Knowledge Sharing dapat meningkatkan hasil relajar siswa dalam belajar IPS kelas 1 khususnya materi identitas diri. Hasil analisis data pada hasil belajar siswa Pada siklus 1 ini menyatakan jumlah siswa yang mendapatkan nilai melebihi standart KKM mengalami peningkatan yaitu sejumlah 8 siswa di bandingkan dengan pra siklus hanya 4 siswa. perolehan hasil belajar siswa yang mengalami peningkatan dimulai dari pelaksanaan pra siklus yaitu hanya ada 4 siswa yang tuntas belajar, kemudian siklus 1 meningkat menjadi 8 siswa sampai pada siklus II mencapai 11 siswa

Column Chromatography of an Oxepine Synthesized from Meldrum\u27s Acid

Undergraduate Basi

A Content Analysis of Major Themes in Young Adult and Middle Grades Novels Published Between 2006 to 2015 That Feature Young Undocumented Immigrants as Protagonists

This paper presents a study of common themes in young adult (YA) and middle grades novels published between 2006 and 2015 that feature young, undocumented immigrant protagonists who live in the United States. The themes found in the novels include the realistic yet sometimes sanitized portrayal of the violent experiences of undocumented immigrants, the protagonists' perilous journeys to the United States, their silence over their status as undocumented immigrants, their refusal to be victims which corresponds with a demonstration of agency, their desire for and assistance in getting an education, and their development or display of a hybrid identity. Overall, the novels have happy endings even in situations in which the protagonists do not obtain United States citizenship. Although the prevalence of happy endings may not be entirely true-to-life, reading the novels may be a starting point for exploring issues relevant to undocumented immigration.Master of Science in Library Scienc

Leadership Experiences With Organizational Infrastructure in Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Programs

Lack of buy-in is a critical factor when initiating organizational change. Although changes are necessary for growth and sustainability, leadership can be met with resistance. Early childhood mental health consultation is a solution-focused intervention to support early childcare providers and educators to improve child outcomes. The implementation of the program requires a well-defined operational model to have greater effectiveness and efficiency. The present case study explored the leadership experience of buy-in to change during the implementation of an early childhood mental health consultation school-based program in a nonprofit organization in the Midwest region of the United States. The Baldrige Excellence Framework was used as the conceptual lens to assess the organization’s effectiveness through its operational components. Data were collected through four semi-structured interviews and a review of organizational documentation and website. A thematic analysis produced themes related to resistance to change: leadership, infrastructure change, strategic planning, and culture change. Results indicated that leadership, change management, and strategic planning are key factors to influence the culture to change and decrease the experiences with resistance. This study has the potential to create positive social change by providing behavioral health leaders with insights to address resistance to change when implementing an early childhood mental health consultation school-based program

Novel Tandem Reaction to Synthesize 2-Formalphenylboronic Acids

Undergraduate Basi

Characterizing Recipients of the Earned Income Tax Credit Across Time - An Examination of Substance Use and Economic Wellbeing

The Federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is the largest anti-poverty cash assistance program in the United States. The purpose of this dissertation is to identify longitudinal patterns of EITC receipt and examine their association with differential health and economic outcomes, to confirm whether the EITC is a short-term safety net and expand upon current literature through further investigation of individuals that comprise the EITC population. In Chapter 1, I provide an overview of the current literature and problem, as well as an overview of the data source and methods used in this dissertation. In Chapter 2, I examined the longitudinal impact of the EITC by identifying distinct patterns of claiming EITC benefits and examining the relationship between those patterns and substance use (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana). I performed a longitudinal latent class analysis (LLCA) of individuals who answered a question on claiming the EITC from 2003 to 2010 (n=8,514) to identify longitudinal patterns of EITC receipt. I found that EITC trajectories differed in their reported tobacco and alcohol use but not marijuana or illicit drugs. In Chapter 3, I further explored the relationship between previously identified EITC trajectories and outcomes of economic wellbeing such as material hardship and income-based poverty measures. I found significant differences in reported assets and debts across the EITC trajectories. In Chapter 4, I further examined the co-occurrence between these EITC trajectories and patterns of substance use across time to determine if claiming the EITC may be contributing to differential substance use behaviors. I performed a latent transition analysis (LTA) of EITC trajectories and three substance use trajectories (Tobacco, Alcohol, marijuana), separately. I found that some EITC trajectories were more likely to have a unique substance use trajectory than others. Finally, in Chapter 5, I provided an overview of results and synthesis of finding, discussed implications for the field of public health, and future directions for this body of research