Investigation of Attitudes Towards Security Behaviors

Cybersecurity attacks have increased as Internet technology has proliferated. Symantec’s 2013 Internet Security Report stated that two out of the top three causes of data breaches in 2012 were attributable to human error (Pelgrin, 2014). This suggests a need to educate end users so that they engage in behaviors that increase their cybersecurity. This study researched how a user’s knowledge affects their engagement in security behaviors. Security behaviors were operationalized into two categories: cyber hygiene and threat response behaviors. A sample of 194 San José State University students were recruited to participate in an observational study. Students completed a card sort, a semantic knowledge quiz, and a survey of their intention to perform security behaviors. A personality inventory was included to see if there would be any effects of personality on security behaviors. Multiple regression was used to see how card sorting and semantic knowledge quiz scores predicted security behaviors, but the results were not significant. Despite this, there was a correlation between cyber hygiene behaviors and threat response behaviors, as well as the Big Five personality traits. The results showed that many of the Big Five personality traits correlated with each other, which is consistent with other studies’ findings. The only personality trait that had a correlation with one of the knowledge measures was neuroticism, in which neuroticism had a negative correlation with the semantic knowledge quiz. Implications for future research are discussed to understand how knowledge, cyber hygiene behaviors, and threat response behaviors relate

Analysis of Policy Issues Relating to Public Investment in Private Freight Infrastructure, MTI Report 99-03

The Norman Y. Mineta International Institute for Surface Transportation Policy Studies (IISTPS) at San José State University conducted this study to review the issues and implications involved in the investment of public funds in private freight infrastructure. After thorough legal research, the project team reached the following conclusions: LEGAL ANALYSIS: The California legislature has the legal power to invest public funds in privately-owned freight infrastructure projects State Highway funds, excepting gas tax revenues, may be used for investment in freight infrastructure projects. Gas tax revenues are restricted to highway use by current interpretations of the California Constitution. A challenge to this interpretation is not recommended. Gas tax revenues may be invested in roadway segments of freight infrastructure projects. RECOMMENDATIONS An analytical system of guidelines should be developed to score and evaluate any proposed freight infrastructure project. Economic development must be included in these scoring guidelines. Public agencies should maintain political contacts in order to control the political short-circuits of the planning process. The California Department of Transportation should develop a Freight Improvement Priority System for the purpose of prioritizing all freight improvement projects

The Functional Autism Connectome

This presentation provides an overview of a dissertation regarding functional brain networks in autism based on signal transduction and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research.

Kelley, D.J. (2008). Functional connectivity of affective face processing networks in autism. Dissertation Abstract International, 69(5), 2816B, 458 pages. (UMI No. AAT 3314120; ISBN: 9780549628781). Retrieved December 22, 2008, from Dissertations and Theses database.

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Team Building & Coaching

A supervisor’s ability to make proper hires and coach existing employees is related to the creation of a pipeline of future supervisors. As corporations grow, so does its personnel. As the personnel grows, so does the need for more leaders that can appropriately manage personnel without human resource intervention. This paper discusses the need for an internally designed program created to help existing supervisors build a bench of future company leaders. Background information of the company is discussed along with the importance of staff development in achieving its mission. A literature review was performed to determine the benefits of an internally designed program. An internal employee survey was also conducted to determine if there is a need. It is determined that an internally designed program for leadership is beneficial if designed properly. It is also determined that existing employees feel that they would benefit from such a program. The impact that Covid-19 had on the research and analysis is included. The paper concludes with sample materials for the program and includes an online classroom outline. Evaluation for the program at all levels is proposed. The appendices contain samples of the training materials proposed for the Team Building & Coaching program

Wave-induced boundary mixing in a partially mixed estuary

We present observations that reveal the existence of horizontally propagating, tidally-driven, high-frequency internal wave (IW) packets in a channel of the partially mixed St. Lawrence Estuary. The packets propagate transversely to the channel axis and collide with the shoaling lateral boundaries. The structure and energy of IWs are diagnosed with a two-dimensional, nonlinear nonhydrostatic model, and the results are compared with weakly nonlinear Korteweg-de-Vries (KdV) theory. The behavior of IWs running into the shoaling lateral boundary is examined in terms of published laboratory and numerical experiments. Our analysis indicates that IWs break on the slope, during which 6% of their energy is converted into potential energy through vertical mixing. The corresponding buoyancy flux, when averaged over the surf zone and the time of the mixing event, is more than an order of magnitude larger than values predicted by a published non-IWresolving three-dimensional (3D) baroclinic circulation model of the region. Even averaging across the full domain and tidal period yields mixing rates that are a significant proportion of those in the 3D circulation model. These indirect inferences suggest that wave-induced boundary mixing may be of general significance in partially mixed estuaries

Acquisition of Digitial Geophysical Equipment for University of Maine Sea-Level, Coastal and Lacustrine Research

This Major Research Instrumentation award to University of Maine provides geophysical instrumentation for study of sea level and related coastal research. Consisting of a side-scan sonar system, seismic reflection profiler, digital data processing system and a vibracorer, it will be particularly used for research into evolution of coastal and nearshore systems and climate change in glaciomarine environments, especially the Gulf of Maine and adjacent environs. Research plans by University of Maine faculty and students will focus on the acquisition of data needed to model processes of change near former ice sheet margins. The facility plans to build on research partnerships developed over many years with state and federal agencies, private industry and other groups. The project is supported by the Division of Ocean Sciences at NSF. University of Maine will provide cost-share support for more than 40% of total project costs

On the Catholic Identity of Students and Schools: Value Propositions for Catholic Education

The Catholic school sector is under significant stress with declining enrollments and schools closing in virtually every diocese in the United States. This paper examines two value propositions for Catholic education. One is its role in providing foundational support for the development of personal spiritual identity in emerging adulthood and across the lifecourse. The second is the contribution of Catholic education to moral-character formation. Both propositions are relatively underdeveloped. The question of students’ personal spiritual identity is overshadowed by the understandable concern with the Catholic identity of schools. The question of moral-character formation is subsumed by catechesis and liturgy but is otherwise remanded to the hidden curriculum. We argue that Catholic education can make a powerful claim on parents and students to the extent that explicit attention is drawn to spiritual identity and moral-character formation. Several features of the Catholic school advantage with respect to school ethos can be recruited to this end. Directions for future research are noted