Digital Commons Network^™

Discounting Of Delayed And Probabilistic Rewards By Women With And Without Binge Eating Disorder, Jamie Manwaring

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Obese individuals with binge eating disorder: BED) exhibit more general and eating-disordered psychopathology than obese individuals without BED. Binge eating also impedes weight-loss efforts, already difficult in an obese population. A better basic understanding of binge eating and obesity is needed to refine treatments for both conditions. Discounting, an experimental paradigm that examines changes in the value of delayed or uncertain outcomes, may provide an objective assessment of impulsive behavior. Impulsivity may perpetuate binge eating, but discounting tasks have never been evaluated with eating disordered individuals. A discounting procedure could help differentiate individuals with eating/weight problems from controls in terms …

Structural Rna Homology Search And Alignment Using Covariance Models, Eric Nawrocki

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Functional RNA elements do not encode proteins, but rather function directly as RNAs. Many different types of RNAs play important roles in a wide range of cellular processes, including protein synthesis, gene regulation, protein transport, splicing, and more. Because important sequence and structural features tend to be evolutionarily conserved, one way to learn about functional RNAs is through comparative sequence analysis - by collecting and aligning examples of homologous RNAs and comparing them. Covariance models: CMs) are powerful computational tools for homology search and alignment that score both the conserved sequence and secondary structure of an RNA family. However, due …

The Mechanisms And Roles Of Feedback Loops For Visual Processing, Jing Shao

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Signal flow in the brain is not unidirectional; feedback represents a key element in neural signal processing. To address the question on how do neural feedback loops work in terms of synapses, microcircuitry, and systems dynamics, we developed a chick midbrain slice preparation to study and characterize one important feedback loop within the avian visual system: isthmotectal feedbackloop. The isthmotectal feedback loop consists of the optic tectum: OT) and three nucleus isthmi: Imc, Ipc and SLu. The tectal layer 10 neurons project to ipsilateral Imc, Ipc and SLu in a topographic way. In turn Ipc and SLu send back topographical: …

Electrocardiographic Consequences Of Electrical And Anatomical Remodeling In Diabetic And Obese Humans, Shuli Wang

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Background. Diabetes and obesity are two major risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Both can cause changes due to cardiac sources in body-surface potentials: BSPs), that is, in electrocardiograms: ECGs). By identifying the major effects of diabetes and obesity on BSPs, we hope to reveal the electrical phenotype of diabetes in body-surface ECGs in the presence of obesity. Methods. A Bidomain Platform was constructed to link heart-surface transmembrane potentials: TMPs) and BSPs. The Forward-Problem Module of the platform calculates BSPs from a bidomain-model of myocyte TMPs and torso anatomy. The platform also contains a Cardio-myocyte TMP Estimation Module in which an …

Properties Of Neutron Star Critical Collapses, Mew-Bing Wan

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Critical phenomena in gravitational collapse opened a new mathematical vista into the theory of general relativity and may ultimately entail fundamental physical implication in the astrophysical realm, especially in gravitational collapse scenarios. However, at present, the dynamics of critical phenomena in realistic astrophysical gravitational collapse scenarios are still largely unknown. My thesis seeks to understand the properties of the neutron star critical solution, understand the properties of the threshold in the solution space of the Einstein field equations between the black hole and a neutron star phases, and clarify the implication these results on realistic astrophysical scenarios. We develop a …

Contributions To The Methodology Of Electrocardiographic Imaging (Ecgi) And Application Of Ecgi To Study Mechanisms Of Atrial Arrhythmia, Post Myocardial Infarction Electrophysiological Substrate, And Ventricular Tachycardia In Patients, Yong Wang

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Contributions to the Methodology of Electrocardiographic Imaging: ECGI) and Application of ECGI to Study Mechanisms of Atrial Arrhythmia, Post Myocardial Infarction Electrophysiological Substrate, and Ventricular Tachycardia in Patients by Yong Wang Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering Washington University in St. Louis, 2009 Professor Yoram Rudy, Chair Electrocardiographic Imaging: ECGI) is a noninvasive imaging modality for cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmia. ECGI reconstructs epicardial potentials, electrograms and isochrones from body-surface electrocardiograms combined with heart-torso geometry from computed tomography: CT). The application of a new meshless method, the Method of Fundamental Solutions: MFS) is introduced to ECGI with …

Graduate Accounting Students' Perception Of It Forensics: A Multi-Dimensional Analysis, Grover S. Kearns

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Forensics and information technology (IT) have become increasingly important to accountants and auditors. Undergraduate accounting students are introduced to general IT topics but discussion of forensic knowledge is limited. A few schools have introduced an undergraduate major in forensic accounting. Some graduate schools offer accounting students an emphasis in forensic or fraud accounting that includes instruction in forensics and information technology. When students do not view the IT topics as being equally important to their careers as traditional accounting topics, these attitudes may reduce the quality of the course. In an effort to assess student attitudes, a survey of 46 …

Continuous Fraud Detection In Enterprise Systems Through Audit Trail Analysis, Peter J. Best, Pall Rikhardsson, Mark Toleman

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Enterprise systems, real time recording and real time reporting pose new and significant challenges to the accounting and auditing professions. This includes developing methods and tools for continuous assurance and fraud detection. In this paper we propose a methodology for continuous fraud detection that exploits security audit logs, changes in master records and accounting audit trails in enterprise systems. The steps in this process are: (1) threat monitoringsurveillance of security audit logs for ‘red flags’, (2) automated extraction and analysis of data from audit trails, and (3) using forensic investigation techniques to determine whether a fraud has actually occurred. We …

Table Of Contents

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

No abstract provided.

Detection Of Steganography-Producing Software Artifacts On Crime-Related Seized Computers, Asawaree Kulkarni, James Goldman, Brad Nabholz, William Eyre

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Steganography is the art and science of hiding information within information so that an observer does not know that communication is taking place. Bad actors passing information using steganography are of concern to the national security establishment and law enforcement. An attempt was made to determine if steganography was being used by criminals to communicate information. Web crawling technology was used and images were downloaded from Web sites that were considered as likely candidates for containing information hidden using steganographic techniques. A detection tool was used to analyze these images. The research failed to demonstrate that steganography was prevalent on …

Correlating Orphaned Windows Registry Data Structures, Damir Kahvedžić, Tahar Kechadi

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Recently, it has been shown that deleted entries of the Microsoft Windows registry (keys) may still reside in the system files once the entries have been deleted from the active database. Investigating the complete keys in context may be extremely important from both a Forensic Investigation point of view and a legal point of view where a lack of context can bring doubt to an argument. In this paper we formalise the registry behaviour and show how a retrieved value may not maintain a relation to the part of the registry it belonged to and hence lose that context. We …

Insecurity By Obscurity: A Review Of Soho Router Literature From A Network Security Perspective, Patryk Szewczyk, Craig Valli

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Because of prevalent threats to SoHo based ADSL Routers, many more devices are compromised. Whilst an end-user may be at fault for not applying the appropriate security mechanisms to counter these threats, vendors should equally share the blame. This paper reveals that the lack of security related content and poor overall design could impact on end-users’ interpretation and willingness to implement security controls on their ADSL router. It argues that whilst the number of threats circulating the Internet is increasing, vendors are not improving their product literature.

Electronic Forms-Based Computing For Evidentiary Analysis, Andy Luse, Brian Mennecke, Anthony M. Townsend

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The paperwork associated with evidentiary collection and analysis is a highly repetitive and time-consuming process which often involves duplication of work and can frequently result in documentary errors. Electronic entry of evidencerelated information can facilitate greater accuracy and less time spent on data entry. This manuscript describes a general framework for the implementation of an electronic tablet-based system for evidentiary processing. This framework is then utilized in the design and implementation of an electronic tablet-based evidentiary input prototype system developed for use by forensic laboratories which serves as a verification of the proposed framework. The manuscript concludes with a discussion …

Book Review: Cyber Security And Global Information Assurance: Threat Analysis And Response Solutions, Gary C. Kessler

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

I freely admit that this book was sent to me by the publisher for the expressed purpose of my writing a review and that I know several of the chapter authors. With that disclosure out of the way, let me say that the book is well worth the review (and I get to keep my review copy).
The preface to the book cites the 2003 publication of The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace by the White House, and the acknowledgement by the U.S. government that our economy and national security were fully dependent upon computers, networks, and the telecommunications infrastructure. …

Table Of Contents

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

No abstract provided.

A Synopsis Of Proposed Data Protection Legislation In Sa, Francis S. Cronjé

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Privacy International1 made the following statement regarding South Africa’s financial sector in its 2005 world survey: “South Africa has a well-developed financial system and banking infrastructure. Despite the sophistication of the financial sector, the privacy of financial information is weakly regulated by a code of conduct for banks issued by the Banking Council.” This extract highlights some of the problems South Africa are experiencing with its current status on privacy as viewed from an International perspective. In recent years the International society has stepped up its efforts in creating a global village wherein the individual could be assured of having …

Prevention Is Better Than Prosecution: Deepening The Defence Against Cyber Crime, Jacqueline Fick

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

In the paper the author proposes that effectively and efficiently addressing cyber crime requires a shift in paradigm. For businesses and government departments alike the focus should be on prevention, rather than the prosecution of cyber criminals. The Defence in Depth strategy poses a practical solution for achieving Information Assurance in today’s highly networked environments. In a world where “absolute security” is an unachievable goal, the concept of Information Assurance poses significant benefits to securing one of an organization’s most valuable assets: Information. It will be argued that the approach of achieving Information Assurance within an organisation, coupled with the …

Telecommunications Liberalisation In Africa: Proposed Regulatory Model For The Sadc Region, Z. N. Jobodwana

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The liberalisation of the telecommunication industry in Africa, and the further development of the region’s physical infrastructure was accompanied by the further development of Africa’s information, communication and technology infrastructure. Competition within the industry stimulated heavy economic investment in other sectors of the economy. The outcome of liberalisation also included the establishment of community-based structures that continue to enable communities to manage their own development and gain access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in an unprecedented manner. The telecommunication infrastructure further stimulated the fast development of other related services, for example, ecommerce and mobile commerce (m-commerce), e-government, internet banking, …

Table Of Contents

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

No abstract provided.

Qualitative Examination Of Satisfaction With Three Expert System Interventions To Reduce Cancer, Jennifer M. Doucet

Open Access Dissertations

Expert Systems are computerized population programs that can provide tailored interventions for behavior changes. These systems have been used in various population samples throughout the United States, however, no one has qualitatively examined the experiences of participants. In this research, participants had three cancer risks (i.e. poor diet, sedentary lifestyle and smoking) and were provided interventions in one of three types of Expert Systems (i.e. Telecommunications, Modular or Integrated). The experiences and satisfaction of 56 participants across the United States using these Expert Systems were examined, with special attention given to demographic differences. Qualitative methodologies were employed to design and …

The Influence Of Diagnostic Labels, Gender, And Ethnicity On Teacher Perceptions, Expectancies, And Attributions: A Consideration Of Closure, Acceptance, And Stigmatization, Deanna Rae Voisine

Open Access Dissertations

The present study sought to determine the impact of diagnostic labels, gender, and ethnicity on teachers' perceptions, expectancies, and attributions. Following a pilot study to determine if the measure had adequate reliability, approximately 3630 instructional letters were distributed to 65 schools in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The Teacher Attitude and Attribution Scale (TAAS; Voisine, 2008), a 42 item questionnaire, measured teachers' perceptions, expectancies, and attributions (for parent/family factors, student factors, and teacher/school factors) for a hypothetical student. Vignettes at the start of the questionnaire detailed the student's behavioral problems and had the student's gender (male/female), ethnicity (Hispanic/Caucasian), and diagnostic …

The Relationship Between Assistive Technology State Standards For Teachers, Assistive Technology Implementation, And Student Performance In The Context Of Evidence-Based Practice, Elizabeth Minchin Dalton

Open Access Dissertations

Purpose: Consideration of assistive technology (AT) for special education students has been federally mandated since 1997. Since the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), rigorous evidence-based educational practices are also mandated. While national technology standards for teachers in general education exist to guide educational technology (ET), it is not clear if AT standards exist for U.S. teachers, or on what evidence standards are based. The purposes of this study, therefore , were to 1) describe three state-level regulatory elements related to AT: i) presence of formally adopted AT standards , ii) level of scientific evidence supporting those standards and …

Electrocorticographic Neural Correlates Of Arm Movements And Associated Goal Orientation In Humans, Nicholas Anderson

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

This thesis analyzed the cortical representation of arm kinematics, target encoding, and goal encoding using subdural electrocorticographic: ECoG) recordings in humans. Using a joystick-based visuomotor task, subjects performed both a standard, delayed match-to-sample center-out task as well as a circular tracing task. Spectral analyses of the ECoG signals clearly showed significant cosine tuning for hand velocity, direction, position and speed throughout the cortex. In particular, velocity tuning was best represented spectrally in a high gamma band from around 90-150 Hz in the primary motor cortical regions. In dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: DLPFC), cortical activity in the 150-250 Hz band of the …

Discovery Of Inactive E* Conformations In Thrombin And Other Vitamin K- Dependent Clotting Proteases, Alaji Bah

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Serine proteases of the chymotrypsin family play important roles in the regulation and function of numerous biological processes including digestion, blood coagulation, fibrinolysis, development, fertilization, apoptosis and immunity. For many of these proteases, activity unfolds when a zymogen is activated by limited proteolysis and the associated conformational changes result in the formation of a proper active site and oxyanion hole, both of which are required for efficient hydrolysis of peptide bonds. The transition from zymogen to active enzyme, E, thus provides critical temporal and spatial regulatory mechanism of protease function. Catalytic activity of serine proteases belonging to Vitamin K-dependent clotting …

Connections Between Floer-Type Invariants And Morse-Type Invariants Of Legendrian Knots., Michael Henry

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

We investigate existing Legendrian knot invariants and discover new connections between the theory of generating families, normal rulings and the Chekanov-Eliashberg differential graded algebra: CE-DGA). Given a Legendrian knot $\sK$ with generic front projection $\sfront$, we define a combinatorial/algebraic object on $\sfront$ called a \emph{Morse complex sequence}, abbreviated MCS. An MCS encodes a finite sequence of Morse homology complexes. Every suitably generic generating family for $\sfront$ admits an MCS and every MCS has a naturally associated graded normal ruling. In addition, every MCS has a naturally associated augmentation of the CE-DGA of the Ng resolution $\sNgres$ of the front $\sfront$. …

A Hermeneutic Exploration Of The Literature Of Technology: Prometheus Bound, Frankenstein And Battlestar Galactica, William Blais

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are few phenomena in contemporary culture that are more dynamic and impactful than technology. That said the understanding of technology held by most therapists is overly simple or, at best, based on one-dimensional critiques of technological life. The present study endeavors to build a broader understanding of technology that allows for both a robust critique and a more accepting recognition of its potential contributions. The present study explores the archetypally invariant structure of technology as well as the more culturally and historically contingent elements of several of its historically specific expressions. It engages this material through a series of …

The Impact Of Early Childhood Education Upon The Black-White Achievement Gap, Linda Zane

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It can be argued that the current Black-White achievement gap provides evidence for a long-standing history of racial inequity within American society, as well as an informative barometer of progress toward educational parity. By all accounts, the measurements registered by this barometer continue to be cause for alarm. The disturbing Black-White achievement gap has been shown to be present in both mathematics and reading at every grade studied, from grades one through twelve (Jacobson, Olsen, Rice, Sweetland, & Ralph, 2001).

Many solutions have been put forth in an effort to reduce or eliminate this gap, but the findings of this …

Radiative Transfer Models Of The Galactic Center, Everett A. Schlawin

Honors Papers

This thesis discusses research being done to understand the inner parts of the Milky Way Galaxy. We already know that there are dense star clouds, a supermassive black hole, and a large bar structure, but much of the inner galaxy is shrouded in mystery. Dust absorption, for one thing, prevents us from seeing the galactic center directly with our eyes.

To help understand the elusive inner Milky Way, we examine radio telescope data taken in Antarctica by Oberlin College Professor Chris Martin. His gigahertz radio observations were already analyzed to help understand how gas funnels into the Milky Way's supermassive …

Infrared Spectroscopy Of H2 Trapped In Metal Organic Frameworks, Jesse Bennett Hopkins

Honors Papers

In this thesis we examine the hydrogen storage properties of four different materials. Because of the global climate crisis and the growing realization that petroleum resources are limited, there has been a strong push to find alternative means of energy storage. At the forefront of this push is the hydrogen economy, the idea that hydrogen gas is a bountiful, clean, alternative means of energy storage. One step towards realizing the hydrogen economy is finding a practical means of hydrogen storage.

The conventional methods of hydrogen storage are in high-pressure gas cylinders or as a liquid. Both of these methods are …

Topology And Infinite Graphs, Nicholas Blackburn Lowery

Honors Papers

The main focus of this paper will be on two very different areas in which topology is relevant to the study of infinite graphs. The first is the mechanics of compactness proofs, which use a particular group of lemmas to extend results about finite subgraphs to apply to an entire infinite graph. We will explore these results by using them to prove a result of de Bruijn and Erdos, that an infinite graph is k-colorable if its finite subgraphs are k-colorable, in several different ways.

The second area is a relatively new area of study pioneered by Diestel which redefines …