Cases of Lyme Disease Appear to Follow Periodic Cycles Linked to Geography

We are studying the spread of Lyme disease through Wisconsin. It is important because the number of people diagnosed with Lyme Disease in the US is around 300,000, annually (CDC 2017). The CDC has collected data of reported Lyme Disease cases since 2001. When looking at the data we noticed that the trends of cases of Lyme disease followed a cyclical pattern. The cycles varied widely. We hypothesized that environmental and geographical factors could affect the main vector of Lyme Disease, Ixodes scapularis (the black-legged tick). After analyzing Lyme Disease data from the CDC and using a map making software (Paint Maps 2018), we found that geographical distribution had a marked effect on the rate at which counties cycled between up and down trends in infection rates. These findings are important because they give us more insight into possible control methods to keep the black-legged tick, and therefore Lyme Disease, at a manageable level

CAN WE LEARN FROM HACKERS TO PROTECT VICTIMS?

This project examines the protection methods suggested by hackers to guard against online victimization through the lens of Situation Crime Prevention. Data were collected from 85 webpages representing three categories of electronic communications: forums, blogs, and fan pages. The goal of this project was to identify which of the 25 opportunity reduction techniques the hacking community recommend most often, as well as, what level of expertise was associated with the suggested security measures. Results indicate that the technique most recommended by the hacking community was to remove targets with 27% of the total codings. From the results three themes were found: (1) most recommendations are such that implementing the strategies would serve to protect against opportunistic, low-skilled attacks; (2) most recommendations could be considered routine precautions, that when bundled, would secure most people against cyber-theft; and finally, (3) the Situational Crime Prevention framework was not fully realized because much of cyber-theft does not involve direct victim-perpetrator interactions. From these three themes policy recommendation and limitations are presented as well as avenues for future research

Integrated Photonics: Illuminating the History and Expanding Photonics Education

Photonics today is on the cusp of revolutionizing computing, just as it has already revolutionized communication, and becoming to this century what electricity was to the last (Sala, 2016). Even so, most people don\u27t know just how essential optics and photonics are, and today those fields face a major staffing shortage. In order to combat this, various initiatives have strived to drum up more interest in optics and photonics, with several focusing on pre-college age groups in order to get students involved sooner. To contribute to this effort, a partnership with the Boy Scouts organization is recommended. For this purpose, a proposed \u27Optics and Photonics Merit Badge\u27 is a focus of this project, including requirements, educational materials, and criteria for awarding it