Forensic Cell Site Analysis: Mobile Network Operator Evidence Integrity Maintenance Research

Mobile Network Operator (MNO) and Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) evidence have become an important evidentiary focus in the courtroom. This type of evidence is routinely produced as business records under U.S. Federal Rules of Evidence for use in the emerging discipline of Forensic Cell Site Analysis. The research was undertaken to determine if evidence produced by operators should be classified as digital evidence and, if so, what evidence handling methodologies are appropriate to ensure evidence integrity. This research project resulted in the creation of a method of determining if business records produced by MNO/MVNO organizations are digital evidence and whether evidentiary integrity is maintained in the conveyance of evidence between MNO/MVNO records custodians, law enforcement investigators and attorneys in criminal and civil cases. Block-chain based Distributed Ledger Technology was examined as a feasible evidence integrity maintenance solution

Forensic Cell Site Analysis: A Validation & Error Mitigation Methodology

The E911 Initiative in the mid-1990s established an opportunity to obtain location specific digital evidence of subscriber activity from cellular carriers. Call Detail Records (CDR) containing Cell Site Location Information (CSLI) evidence production was made available from cellular carriers in response to the CALEA, 911 and ECPA acts. In the late 1990s, cellular carriers began to produce evidence for investigative and litigation purposes. CDR/CSLI evidence has become an important evidentiary focus in the courtroom. This research project resulted in the creation of a method of validating cellular carrier records accuracy and mitigating errors in forensic cell site analyst conclusions. The process establishes a scientific foundation critical to satisfying key Daubert requirements. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) awarded a patent for this methodology

Longitudinal Results With Intratympanic Dexamethasone in the Treatment of Ménière’s Disease

To assess patient satisfaction with vertigo control using intratympanic (IT) dexamethasone (12 mg/mL) for medically refractory unilateral Meniere's disease. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Tertiary referral neurotology clinic. PATIENTS: One hundred twenty-nine subjects diagnosed with unilateral Meniere's disease still having vertigo despite medical therapy. INTERVENTION: IT dexamethasone injections as needed to control vertigo attacks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: A Kaplan-Meier time-to-event method was used to determine the rate of "survival," meaning sufficient satisfaction with vertigo control that the subject did not wish to have subsequent ablative treatment. "Failure" was defined as poor control and the choice to proceed to ablative treatment. RESULTS: Acceptable vertigo control ("survival") was achieved in 117 (91%) of 129 subjects. Vertigo control required only one dexamethasone injection in 48 (37%), 2 injections in 26 (20%), 3 injections in 18 (14%), and 4 injections in 10 (8%). More than 4 injections were needed in 15 subjects (21%). Of 12 failures (9%), 9 occurred within 6 months of the first IT dexamethasone injection. Follow-up data for 2 years were available for 96 subjects. Of these, 87 (91%) had vertigo control with IT dexamethasone, of whom 61 (70)% required no further injections after 2 years, 23 (26%) continued to receive IT dexamethasone injections, and 3 (3%) chose IT gentamicin treatment. CONCLUSION: IT dexamethasone injection therapy on an as-needed outpatient basis can provide vertigo control that is satisfactory in patients with Meniere's disease. The Kaplan-Meier method addresses the need for an outcome measure suited to repeated treatments and variable lengths of follow-up. However, due to the retrospective nature of this study, the presence of bias caused by loss of subjects from follow-up cannot be ruled out

Taking reincarnation seriously: Critical discussion of some central ideas from John Hick

Reincarnation has not been entirely neglected in the philosophy of religion but it has not always been taken seriously or carefully discussed in relation to its role in believers’ lives. John Hick is exceptional insofar as he gave sustained attention to the belief, at least as it features in the philosophies of Vedānta and Buddhism. While acknowledging the value of Hick’s recognition of the variety of reincarnation beliefs, this article critically engages with certain aspects of his approach. It argues that Hick’s search for a ‘criterion’ of reincarnation is misguided, and that his distinction between ‘factual’ and ‘mythic’ forms of the doctrine is over-simplifying

Development of a Benchmark Eddy Flux Evapotranspiration Dataset for Evaluation of Satellite-Driven Evapotranspiration Models Over the CONUS

A large sample of ground-based evapotranspiration (ET) measurements made in the United States, primarily from eddy covariance systems, were post-processed to produce a benchmark ET dataset. The dataset was produced primarily to support the intercomparison and evaluation of the OpenET satellite-based remote sensing ET (RSET) models and could also be used to evaluate ET data from other models and approaches. OpenET is a web-based service that makes field-delineated and pixel-level ET estimates from well-established RSET models readily available to water managers, agricultural producers, and the public. The benchmark dataset is composed of flux and meteorological data from a variety of providers covering native vegetation and agricultural settings. Flux footprint predictions were developed for each station and included static flux footprints developed based on average wind direction and speed, as well as dynamic hourly footprints that were generated with a physically based model of upwind source area. The two footprint prediction methods were rigorously compared to evaluate their relative spatial coverage. Data from all sources were post-processed in a consistent and reproducible manner including data handling, gap-filling, temporal aggregation, and energy balance closure correction. The resulting dataset included 243,048 daily and 5,284 monthly ET values from 194 stations, with all data falling between 1995 and 2021. We assessed average daily energy imbalance using 172 flux sites with a total of 193,021 days of data, finding that overall turbulent fluxes were understated by about 12% on average relative to available energy. Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that daily average latent energy flux may be typically understated slightly more than sensible heat flux. This dataset was developed to provide a consistent reference to support evaluation of RSET data being developed for a wide range of applications related to water accounting and water resources management at field to watershed scales

OpenET : filling a critical data gap in water management for the western United States.

The lack of consistent, accurate information on evapotranspiration (ET) and consumptive use of water by irrigated agriculture is one of the most important data gaps for water managers in the western United States (U.S.) and other arid agricultural regions globally. The ability to easily access information on ET is central to improving water budgets across the West, advancing the use of data-driven irrigation management strategies, and expanding incentive-driven conservation programs. Recent advances in remote sensing of ET have led to the development of multiple approaches for field-scale ET mapping that have been used for local and regional water resource management applications by U.S. state and federal agencies. The OpenET project is a community-driven effort that is building upon these advances to develop an operational system for generating and distributing ET data at a field scale using an ensemble of six well-established satellite-based approaches for mapping ET. Key objectives of OpenET include: Increasing access to remotely sensed ET data through a web-based data explorer and data services; supporting the use of ET data for a range of water resource management applications; and development of use cases and training resources for agricultural producers and water resource managers. Here we describe the OpenET framework, including the models used in the ensemble, the satellite, meteorological, and ancillary data inputs to the system, and the OpenET data visualization and access tools. We also summarize an extensive intercomparison and accuracy assessment conducted using ground measurements of ET from 139 flux tower sites instrumented with open path eddy covariance systems. Results calculated for 24 cropland sites from Phase I of the intercomparison and accuracy assessment demonstrate strong agreement between the satellite-driven ET models and the flux tower ET data. For the six models that have been evaluated to date (ALEXI/DisALEXI, eeMETRIC, geeSEBAL, PT-JPL, SIMS, and SSEBop) and the ensemble mean, the weighted average mean absolute error (MAE) values across all sites range from 13.6 to 21.6 mm/month at a monthly timestep, and 0.74 to 1.07 mm/day at a daily timestep. At seasonal time scales, for all but one of the models the weighted mean total ET is within ±8% of both the ensemble mean and the weighted mean total ET calculated from the flux tower data. Overall, the ensemble mean performs as well as any individual model across nearly all accuracy statistics for croplands, though some individual models may perform better for specific sites and regions. We conclude with three brief use cases to illustrate current applications and benefits of increased access to ET data, and discuss key lessons learned from the development of OpenET