From Design Inception through Project Completion: Constructing a Secure Homestead in Swaziland, Africa

This paper documents the year-long scholastic and experiential journey of a multi-disciplinary, student design team from schematic design through construction administration. The student team worked in tandem with an Architectural Technology professor designing and building a sustainable and secure homestead, or one-room home, in Swaziland, Africa. This experience gave students exposure to the design process from project programming through construction completion, and this paper will focus on describing and documenting both the student and professor experiences for the project’s entirety. The student’s perspective will focus on personal involvement and perceived academic outcomes from the project exposure, while the professor’s perspective will focus on the learning outcomes from the student team involved in the process, as well as extrapolating how this experience could be applied elsewhere

A Survey on Securing Personally Identifiable Information on Smartphones

With an ever-increasing footprint, already topping 3 billion devices, smartphones have become a huge cybersecurity concern. The portability of smartphones makes them convenient for users to access and store personally identifiable information (PII); this also makes them a popular target for hackers. This survey shares practical insights derived from analyzing 16 real-life case studies that exemplify: the vulnerabilities that leave smartphones open to cybersecurity attacks; the mechanisms and attack vectors typically used to steal PII from smartphones; the potential impact of PII breaches upon all parties involved; and recommended defenses to help prevent future PII losses. The contribution of this research is recommending proactive measures to dramatically decrease the frequency of PII loss involving smartphones

A Study of Existing Cross-Site Scripting Detection and Prevention Techniques Using XAMPP and VirtualBox

Most operating websites experience a cyber-attack at some point. Cross-site Scripting (XSS) attacks are cited as the top website risk. More than 60 percent of web applications are vulnerable to them, and they ultimately are responsible for over 30 percent of all web application attacks. XSS attacks are complicated, and they often are used in conjunction with social engineering techniques to cause even more damage. Although prevention techniques exist, hackers still find points of vulnerability to launch their attacks. This project explored what XSS attacks are, examples of popular attacks, and ways to detect and prevent them. Using knowledge gained and lessons-learned from analyzing prior XSS incidents, a simulation environment was built using XAMPP and VirtualBox. Four typical XSS attacks were launched in this virtual environment, and their potential to cause significant damage was measured and compared using the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Calculator. Recommendations are offered for approaches to impeding XSS attacks including solutions involving sanitizing data, whitelisting data, implementing a content security policy and statistical analysis tools

Student Success in Themed-Learning Communities

In a Themed-Learning Community students enroll with a cohort group of peers in a series of courses designed for their major area of study. Typically, these are freshmen students in their first semester of post-secondary education. They are new to their university, their campus, and their field of study. In theory, by enrolling with other students who are also beginning their college careers they benefit from comradery, a shared set of experiences in multiple classes, and a team of faculty members who work together to facilitate the themed-learning experience. At the conclusion of the freshman year, the hypothesis is that higher student retention will be realized by the cohort of Themed-Learning Community students as compared to other freshman-year students in the same program of study. The Themed-Learning Community program studied in this paper seeks to realize the benefits and minimize potential disadvantages of participation by its freshmen students. It analyzes results of numbers of students who continue in the field of study based on their participation in a Themed-Learning Community compared to students in traditional course enrollment who complete the same series of courses outside of the Themed-Learning Community framework. Both objective assessment instruments as well as student and faculty perception will be analyzed in addition to final retention results. After an initial offering of three successive years with freshmen classes in Themed-Learning Communities, the program’s faculty members seek to identify improvements to the program as well as to determine its level of success in student learning and improved student retention after the freshman year

Aggregated Packet Transmission in Duty-Cycled WSNs: Modeling and Performance Evaluation

[EN] Duty cycling (DC) is a popular technique for energy conservation in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) that allows nodes to wake up and sleep periodically. Typically, a single-packet transmission (SPT) occurs per cycle, leading to possibly long delay. With aggregated packet transmission (APT), nodes transmit a batch of packets in a single cycle. The potential benefits brought by an APT scheme include shorter delay, higher throughput, and higher energy efficiency. In the literature, different analytical models have been proposed to evaluate the performance of SPT schemes. However, no analytical models for the APT mode on synchronous DC medium access control (MAC) mechanisms exist. In this paper, we first develop a 3-D discrete-time Markov chain (DTMC) model to evaluate the performance of an APT scheme with packet retransmission enabled. The proposed model captures the dynamics of the state of the queue of nodes and the retransmission status and the evolution of the number of active nodes in the network, i.e., nodes with a nonempty queue. We then study the number of retransmissions needed to transmit a packet successfully. Based on the observations, we develop another less-complex DTMC model with infinite retransmissions, which embodies only two dimensions. Furthermore, we extend the 3-D model into a 4-D model by considering error-prone channel conditions. The proposed models are adopted to determine packet delay, throughput, packet loss, energy consumption, and energy efficiency. Furthermore, the analytical models are validated through discrete-event-based simulations. Numerical results show that an APT scheme achieves substantially better performance than its SPT counterpart in terms of delay, throughput, packet loss, and energy efficiency and that the developed analytical models reveal precisely the behavior of the APT scheme.This work was supported in part by the EU FP7-PEOPLE-IRSES Program under Grant 247083 (Project S2EuNet). The work of J. Martinez-Bauset was supported in part by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain under Grant TIN2013-47272-C2-1-R. The work of M. A. Weitnauer was supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Grant CNS-1017984.Guntupalli, L.; Martínez Bauset, J.; Li, FY.; Weitnauer, MA. (2017). Aggregated Packet Transmission in Duty-Cycled WSNs: Modeling and Performance Evaluation. IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology. 66(1):563-579. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVT.2016.2536686S56357966

Analysis of atmospheric spectra for trace gases

The objective is the comprehensive analysis of high resolution atmospheric spectra recorded in the middle-infrared region to obtain simultaneous measurements of coupled parameters (gas concentrations of key trace constituents, total column amounts, pressure, and temperature) in the stratosphere and upper troposphere. Solar absorption spectra recorded at 0.002 and 0.02 cm exp -1 resolutions with the University of Denver group's balloon-borne, aircraft borne, and ground-based interferometers and 0.005 to 0.01 cm exp -1 resolution solar spectra from Kitt Peak are used in the analyses

New knowledge and new constraints: the case of NHS Direct

Call centres have mushroomed as a new dominant paradigm for service delivery. This paper presents data from fieldwork into tele-nursing within the UK health service, NHS Direct, as ‘nursing down the phone’ can be seen as a new expression of this wider development. We argue that nursing as a category of work has not been transformed through the advent of telenursing, unlike the situation in commercial call centres. Rather tele-nursing has appeared and developed as one further specialism within the nursing medical repertoire. Furthermore, the organisation of NHS Direct, as a nurse-led and dominated service, may have permitted nurses to expand their knowledge and professional power. But we are not suggesting either an upskilling or knowledge worker thesis as two developments put pressure on nurse’s work. The first is the call centre pressures operating within NHS Direct, despite its’ non-commercial and information/referral character as a health advisory service and the presence of a discourse of transformation with management. The second is the operation of a Clinical Assessment System (CAS) that nurses are obliged to use when responding to caller/patient enquiries. Our conclusions point towards the interplay between occupational autonomy and organisational control within a new service that has not yet finalised its design for the job of a tele-nurse

Clinical decision support systems for opioid prescribing for chronic non-cancer pain in primary care : a scoping review

Background and Objectives: Clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) may help clinicians prescribe opioids for chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) more appropriately. This scoping review determined the extent and range of the current evidence on CDSSs for opioid prescribing for CNCP in primary care, and whether investigators followed best evidence and current guidance in designing, implementing and evaluating these complex interventions. Methods: We searched 9 electronic databases and other data sources for studies from January 1, 2008 to October 11, 2019. Two reviewers independently screened the citations. One reviewer extracted data and a second verified for accuracy. INCLUSION CRITERIA: study of a CDSS for opioid prescribing for CNCP in a primary care clinical setting. We reported quantitative results in tables and qualitative results in narrative form. Results: Our search yielded 5068 records, of which 14 studies met our inclusion criteria. All studies were conducted in the United States. Six studies examined local (eg, health center) CDSSs and 8 examined prescription drug monitoring program CDSSs. Three CDSSs incorporated evidence-based components. Study aims were heterogeneous and study designs included both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. No studies assessed patient health outcomes. Few studies appeared to be following guidance for evaluating complex interventions.  Conclusions: Few studies have rigorously assessed the use of CDSSs for opioid prescribing for CNCP in primary care settings. Going forward, investigators should include evidence-based components into the design of CDSSs and follow guidance for the development and evaluation of complex interventions.PostprintPeer reviewe

Quantification of amine- and alcohol-containing metabolites in saline samples using pre-extraction benzoyl chloride derivatization and ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC MS/MS)

© The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Widner, B., Kido Soule, M. C., Ferrer-González, F. X., Moran, M. A., & Kujawinski, E. B. Quantification of amine- and alcohol-containing metabolites in saline samples using pre-extraction benzoyl chloride derivatization and ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC MS/MS). Analytical Chemistry, 93(11), (2021): 4809-4817, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.0c03769.Dissolved metabolites serve as nutrition, energy, and chemical signals for microbial systems. However, the full scope and magnitude of these processes in marine systems are unknown, largely due to insufficient methods, including poor extraction of small, polar compounds using common solid-phase extraction resins. Here, we utilized pre-extraction derivatization and ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS) to detect and quantify targeted dissolved metabolites in seawater and saline culture media. Metabolites were derivatized with benzoyl chloride by their primary and secondary amine and alcohol functionalities and quantified using stable isotope-labeled internal standards (SIL-ISs) produced from 13C6-labeled benzoyl chloride. We optimized derivatization, extraction, and sample preparation for field and culture samples and evaluated matrix-derived biases. We have optimized this quantitative method for 73 common metabolites, of which 50 cannot be quantified without derivatization due to low extraction efficiencies. Of the 73 metabolites, 66 were identified in either culture media or seawater and 45 of those were quantified. This derivatization method is sensitive (detection limits = pM to nM), rapid (∼5 min per sample), and high throughput.Funding included the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (Award GBMF5503 to M.A.M. and E.B.K.), Simons Foundation International (Award 409923 to E.B.K.), and the National Science Foundation (Award 1656311 to M.A.M.)