A Survey of Software-based String Matching Algorithms for Forensic Analysis

Employing a fast string matching algorithm is essential for minimizing the overhead of extracting structured files from a raw disk image. In this paper, we summarize the concept, implementation, and main features of ten software-based string matching algorithms, and evaluate their applicability for forensic analysis. We provide comparisons between the selected software-based string matching algorithms from the perspective of forensic analysis by conducting their performance evaluation for file carving. According to the experimental results, the Shift-Or algorithm (R. Baeza-Yates & Gonnet, 1992) and the Karp-Rabin algorithm (Karp & Rabin, 1987) have the minimized search time for identifying the locations of specified headers and footers in the target disk. Keywords: string matching algorithm, forensic analysis, file carving, Scalpel, data recover

Trapped modes near Venice storm gates

Thesis (M.Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1999.Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-93).by Ching-Yi Liao.M.Eng

Cultural and Family Factors on Caregiver Involvement in Communication Interventions for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual Developmental Disability: A Meta-Analytic Review, Systematic Review, and Single-Case Research

Caregiver involvement, which means the collaboration between caregivers and professionals, plays an important role in the outcomes of communication skills for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual/developmental disability (IDD). However, culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) families do not receive sufficient culturally- and linguistically- appropriate support due to language and cultural barriers. The purposes of the present research were (a) to conduct a meta-analytic review determining the effects of caregiver involvement for promoting communication skills of children with ASD and IDD; (b) to summarize the characteristics of single-case studies on caregiver involvement in communication interventions for CLD families of children with ASD and IDD for recommendations on culturally responsive practices; and (c) to conduct a single-case experimental design study evaluating the effects of a culturally responsive parent coaching on multimodal communication protocol for CLD parents of children with ASD. The results of the first article indicated that the overall effect size for family involvement showed a small effect on child communicative outcomes. Also, there were statistically significant differences in child communication outcomes between the different dosage groups. The findings of the second article suggested that caregiver involvement can improve communication behavior in CLD individuals with ASD and IDD; however, there is a need to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate support to CLD caregivers during parent training. Visual and statistical analyses in the third article indicated a functional relation in the effectiveness of the culturally responsive parent coaching, the improvement of communication skills in children with ASD, and high acceptability of culturally responsive parent coaching on the multimodal communication protocol. The findings of this research have implications for cultural and family factors on caregiver involvement in improving communication skills for children with ASD and IDD. Some limitations should be considered, including the inclusion of only single case research, the greater focus on intervention characteristics provided to caregiver characteristics, and the inclusion of limited studies published in Asia for the first/second study. Also. small sample size and the inclusion of only Chinese speaking caregiver participants were two major limitations for the third study. Implications for future research and practice were also addressed

Highly Sulfated Forms of Heparin Sulfate Are Involved in Japanese Encephalitis Virus Infection

AbstractJapanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infects a broad range of cell types in vitro, though little is known about the initial events of JEV infection. In the present study, we found that highly sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are involved in infection of both neurovirulent (RP-9) and attenuated (RP-2ms) JEV strains. Competition experiments using highly sulfated GAGs, heparin and dextran sulfate, demonstrated an inhibition of JEV's attachment and subsequent infection of BHK-21 cells. Treatment of target cells by a potent sulfation inhibitor, sodium chlorate, greatly reduced viral binding ability as well as infection, suggesting a critical role of GAGs' sulfation status on the cellular surface in JEV infection. This phenomenon was confirmed by the manifestation of a distinct binding efficiency of JEV to the wild-type CHO cell line and its mutants with defects in GAG biosynthesis. We also demonstrated the binding of JEV particles and virus envelope glycoprotein to immobilized heparin beads. Furthermore, the addition of heparin suppressed the cytopathic effects induced by JEV infection in cultured cells. Our results establish that the highly sulfated form of GAGs on cell surfaces plays a determining role in the early stage of in vitro JEV infection

Effects of computer-based cognitive training combined with physical training for older adults with cognitive impairment: A four-arm randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: Combined physical (PHY) and cognitive (COG) training in sequential (SEQ) and simultaneous (SIMUL) sessions may delay the progression of cognitive impairment. To date, no study has directly compared in older adults with cognitive impairment the effects of COG training, PHY training, SEQ motor-cognitive training and SIMUL motor-cognitve training on specific indices of cognitive performance and activities of daily living (ADL). The purpose of this study was to determine whether SEQ and SIMUL motor-cognitive training can improve treatment outcomes compared with PHY or COG training alone. We also aimed to compare the effects of SEQ versus SIMUL motor-cognitive training on cognitive functions and instrumental ADL (IADL) in older adults with cognitive impairment. METHODS: A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted. Eighty older adults with cognitive impairment were randomly assigned to COG, PHY, SEQ or SIMUL training groups. The intervention consisted of 90-min training sessions, totaling 36 sessions. Outcome measures were the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, three subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) and the Lawton IADL scale. RESULTS: Significant interaction effects between group and time were found in WMS-spatial span ( CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed SEQ and SIMUL motor-cognitive training led to more pronounced improvements in visuospatial working memory or verbal memory compared with isolated COG or PHY training for community-based older adults with cognitive impairment. For enhancing effects on IADL, we suggest the use of sensitive measurement tools and context-enriched cognitive training involving real-life task demands

Neuroprotective Effect of Paeonol Mediates Anti-Inflammation via Suppressing Toll-Like Receptor 2 and Toll-Like Receptor 4 Signaling Pathways in Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion Injured Rats

Paeonol is a phenolic compound derived from Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews (MC) and P. lactiflora Pall (PL). Paeonol can reduce cerebral infarction volume and improve neurological deficits through antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects. However, the anti-inflammatory pathway of paeonol remains unclear. This study investigated the relationship between anti-inflammatory responses of paeonol and signaling pathways of TLR2 and TLR4 in cerebral infarct. We established the cerebral ischemia-reperfusion model in Sprague Dawley rats by occluding right middle cerebral artery for 60 min, followed by reperfusion for 24 h. The neurological deficit score was examined, and the brains of the rats were removed for cerebral infarction volume and immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis. The infarction volume and neurological deficits were lower in the paeonol group (pretreatment with paeonol; 20 mg/kg i.p.) than in the control group (without paeonol treatment). The IHC analysis revealed that the number of TLR2-, TLR4-, Iba1-, NF-κB- (P50-), and IL-1β-immunoreactive cells and TUNEL-positive cells was significantly lower in the paeonol group; however, the number of TNF-α-immunoreactive cells did not differ between the paeonol and control groups. The paeonol reveals some neuroprotective effects in the model of ischemia, which could be due to the reduction of many proinflammatory receptors/mediators, although the mechanisms are not clear