Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Phishing, Irda Voli

Mathematics and Computer Science Capstones

Phishing is a cybercrime that involves a hacker identifying as a real person or institution that targets people over text message, phone calls, and emails. The hacker tries to scam the target into giving up personal information. People are targeted through text messages, phone calls, and emails. More recently in 2020 when covid became a major issue, phishing started becoming more and more popular for ways to scam. The messages became more specific, and job sites became more believable. According to article “Phishing Attacks Soar 220% During COVID-19 Peak as Cybercriminal Opportunism Intensifies”, David Warburton says:

COVID-19 continues to significantly …

Ransomware, Eleanor Mancini

Mathematics and Computer Science Capstones

This paper explores ransomware and it’s effect on organizations with the intent of uncovering the ideal way for an organization to handle an attack. It begins with a short introduction of ransomware and it’s similarities and differences to traditional crimes, such as theft. Then the paper explains the two main categories of ransomware – crypto-ransomware and locker ransomware – and how most variants are derived from these categories. It includes a description of each category and the typical ways an organization would encounter it. The paper examines the emergence of ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) and how it’s divide-and-conquer nature allows cybercriminals to …

Going Dark And Encryption, Brendan Funk

Mathematics and Computer Science Capstones

Law officers across the country and around the world are being left in the technological dust by their criminal counterparts. They have no problem obtaining evidence, however they run into issues accessing this information due to various encryption techniques being used. This phenomenon has been dubbed the “Going Dark” problem. James Comey describes the Going Dark problem as, “We have the legal authority to intercept and access communications and information pursuant to court order, but we often lack the technical ability to do so” (Comey, 2014).

The Going Dark problem is a relatively new problem facing law enforcement officers (LEOs) …

The Negative Economic Impacts Of Money Laundering In Kenya, Thailand And France, Peyton Tollaksen

Mathematics and Computer Science Capstones

Cybercrime has grown exponentially around the world due to consistently changing technology and the craftiness of cybercriminals often outpacing that of security officers. In the past three decades, cybercrime has been expedited and globally expanded due to the accumulated experience of these criminals, who take advantage of the new found black market, cryptocurrency, and other operations. According to a report published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies titled, “Economic Impact of Cybercrime,” it was found that, “close to $600 billion, nearly one percent of global GDP, is lost to cybercrime each year” (2018). Unfortunately, this number will only …

What Is A Number?, Nicholas Radley

HON499 projects

This essay is, in essence, an attempt to make a case for mathematical platonism. That is to say, that we argue for the existence of mathematical objects independent of our perception of them. The essay includes a somewhat informal construction of number systems ranging from the natural numbers to the complex numbers.

Data Poisoning: A New Threat To Artificial Intelligence, Nary Simms

Mathematics and Computer Science Capstones

Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption is rapidly being deployed in a number of fields, from banking and finance to healthcare, robotics, transportation, military, e-commerce and social networks. Grand View Research estimates that the global AI market was worth 93.5 billion in 2021 and that it will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38.1% from 2022 to 2030. According to a 2020 MIT Sloan Management survey, 87% of multinational corporations believe that AI technology will provide a competitive edge. Artificial Intelligence relies heavily on datasets to train its models. The more data, the better it learns and predicts. However, …

Quantification Of Mineral Reactivity Using Machine Learning Interpretation Of Micro-Xrf Data, Julie J. Kim, Florence Ling, Dan A. Plattenberger, Andres F. Clarens, Catherine A. Peters

Environmental Science Faculty Work

Accurate characterizations of mineral reactivity require mapping of spatial heterogeneity, and quantifications of mineral abundances, elemental content, and mineral accessibility. Reactive transport models require such information at the grain-scale to accurately simulate coupled processes of mineral reactions, aqueous solution speciation, and mass transport. In this work, millimeter-scale mineral maps are generated using a neural network approach for 2D mineral mapping based on synchrotron micro x-ray fluorescence (μXRF) data. The approach is called Synchrotron-based Machine learning Approach for RasTer (SMART) mapping, which reads μXRF scans and provides mineral maps of the same size and resolution. The SMART mineral classifier is trained …

Routing And Spectrum Allocation In Spectrum-Sliced Elastic Optical Path Networks: A Primal-Dual Framework, Yang Wang, Chaoyang Li, Qian Hu, Jabree Flor, Maryam Jalalitabar

Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Faculty Work

The recent decade has witnessed a tremendous growth of Internet traffic, which is expected to continue climbing for the foreseeable future. As a new paradigm, Spectrum-sliced Elastic Optical Path (SLICE) networks promise abundant (elastic) bandwidth to address the traffic explosion, while bearing other inherent advantages including enhanced signal quality and extended reachability. The fundamental problem in SLICE networks is to route each traffic demand along a lightpath with continuously and consecutively available sub-carriers, which is known as the Routing and Spectrum Allocation (RSA) problem. Given its NP-Hardness, the solutions to the RSA problem can be classified into two categories: optimal …

Progress Towards Synthesis And Characterization Of Bay-Annulated Indigo Chromophores, Katherine Weiss, Denise Femia

HON499 projects

Through acetylation, N,N’-diacetylindigo was synthesized from indigo. N,N’-diacetylindigo and 2-thiopheneacetyl chloride were combined in an attempt to synthesize 7-thiophenyl bayannulated indigo (BAI). After 1H NMR characterization, it was found that the product was not 7-thiophenyl BAI. A previously synthesized sample of 7-phenyl BAI was purified. UV-VIS absorbance, fluorescence, IR, and 1H NMR were used to characterize the compounds.

Tommy John Surgery: Potential Risk Factors And Causes In Major League Pitchers, Ethan Rhinehart

Analytics Capstones

Since 1974, over 270 Tommy John surgeries have been performed on pitchers at the major league level. Thousands more surgeries have been performed on minor league, college, high school and youth pitchers. As more biomechanical and statistical research has been conducted over the past few decades, a clearer picture of some of the risks and causes that lead to serious elbow injuries in pitchers have been found. This paper explores the research surrounding several of those factors, including pitching mechanics, pitch velocity, and pitch type. Using a data set comprised of major league pitchers that have undergone Tommy John surgery …

Impact Of Lost Gas Tax Revenue Due To Sale Of Electric Vehicles: Analysis And Recommendations For The 50 States, Jennifer Ricciuti

Analytics Capstones

Although states might have policy reasons to encourage the use of Electric Vehicles (EVs), the impact of future U.S. EV sales present a significant loss of gas tax revenue for each of the states, as these vehicles do not require gas to operate. For the last three years the number of Electric Vehicle registrations have doubled and are steadily increasing as a result of people becoming more economically and ecologically minded. This is proving to be an optimal choice for car purchasers over standard Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles, as research has shown that Electric Vehicles are superior for exhibiting …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Bay-Annulated Indigo Derivatives As Ligands For Photoactive Metal Complexes, Jacob Mayer, Denise Femia

HON499 projects

Synthesis and Characterization of Bay-Annulated Indigo Derivatives as Ligands for Photoactive Metal Complexes

Jacob Mayer¹, Denise Femia¹

1. La Salle University, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Indigo-based chromophores are of interest for organic photovoltaics due to their light absorption properties and tunability. Indigo exhibits a high molar extinction coefficient which allows for a small amount of material to absorb a large amount of energy. Research in organic photovoltaics is important for the development of alternative sources of energy. Unlike traditional silicon photovoltaics, synthetic modifications can be made to indigo to alter its excited state lifetime, absorption, and …

Metals Coprecipitation With Barite: Nano-Xrf Observation Of Enhanced Strontium Incorporation, Heather A. Hunter, Florence Ling, Catherine A. Peters

Environmental Science Faculty Work

Coprecipitation can be an effective treatment method for the removal of environmentally relevant metals from industrial wastewaters such as produced waters from the oil and gas industry. The precipitation of barite, BaSO4, through the addition of sulfate removes barium while coprecipitating strontium and other alkaline earth metals even when these are present at concentrations below their solubility limit. Among other analytical methods, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) nanospectroscopy at the Hard X-ray Nanoprobe (HXN) beamline at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) was used to quantify Sr incorporation into barite. Thermodynamic modeling of (Ba,Sr)SO4 solid solutions was done using solid solution—aqueous …

Franklin Township Municipal Broadband And Wireless Network, William Galtieri

Mathematics and Computer Science Capstones

Franklin Township is a municipality in Somerset County, New Jersey covering an area of approximately 46.15 square miles and a population of 62,300 as of the 2010 Census. The town relies on a cellular provider to provide data connections for computers in municipal vehicles such as police cars, public works vehicles, fire inspection trucks, building inspectors and other departments. Additionally, the municipality pays for connections for security cameras at remote facilities and for smart garbage can monitoring throughout the town. These services are costly for the municipality and create a dependency on service providers for access to information needed by …

Developing Issue Of Money Laundering Though Online Casinos, Matthew Thom

Economic Crime Forensics Capstones

This capstone examines the developing issue of money laundering through online gambling sites which are extensions of casinos located within the United States. The online gambling scene is rapidly growing; and these venue will soon become targets for money laundering by criminals, human traffickers, and even terrorists. "Internet gambling and online capabilities have become a haven for money laundering activities...internet gambling operations are vulnerable to be used, not only for money laundering, but also criminal activities ranging from terrorist financing to tax evasion” (Fbi Confirms Online Gambling Opens Door To Fraud, Money Laundering; Age Verification Software Ineffective. (2009, Dec 04) …

Malicious Digital Penetration Of United States Weaponized Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems: A National Security Perspective Concerning The Complexity Of Military Uavs And Hacking, Edwin Bell

Mathematics and Computer Science Capstones

The United States’ (US) military unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has seen increased usage under the post 9/11 military engagements in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and within American borders. However, the very digital networks controlling these aircrafts are now enduring malicious intrusions (hacking) by America’s enemies. .

The digital intrusions serve as a presage over the very digital networks the US relies upon to safeguard its national security and interests and domestic territory. The complexity surrounding the hacking of US military UAVs appears to be increasing, given the advancements in digital networks and the seemingly inauspicious nature of artificial intelligence and …

Data Mining Techniques For Predicting Real Estate Trends, David Vargason

Mathematics and Computer Science Capstones

A wide variety of businesses and government agencies support the U.S. real estate market. Examples would include sales agents, national lenders, local credit unions, private mortgage and title insurers, and government sponsored entities (Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae), to name a few. The financial performance and overall success of these organizations depends in large part on the health of the overall real estate market. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the construction of one single-family home of average size creates the equivalent of nearly 3 new jobs for a year (Greiner, 2015). The economic impact is significant, …

Interview Of Alice L. Hoersch, Ph.D., Alice L. Hoersch Ph.D., Selena Bemak

All Oral Histories

Alice Lynn Hoersch was born in 1950 in Abington, PA to Albert and Alice Hoersch. She moved to Honey Brook, located in Chester County, PA at two-years-old. Hoersch lived in Honey Brook until she finished graduate school in 1977. She attended Honey Brook Elementary School. She graduated as valedictorian from Twin Valley High School in 1968. Hoersch studied geology at Bryn Mawr College, graduating in 1972. She received both her master’s and Ph.D. in metamorphic petrology from Johns Hopkins University in 1974 and 1977, respectively. The same year she obtained her Ph.D., Hoersch began teaching as an assistant professor of …

Interview Of Stephen Andrilli, Ph.D., Stephen Francis Andrilli Ph.D., Jane Highley

All Oral Histories

Stephen Francis Andrilli was born in August 1952 in Bryn Mawr, PA. He was born to Francis and Leatrice Andrilli. Dr. Andrilli is the oldest of four children; his three sisters are Carol (now Carol Strosser), Patricia (now Patricia Kempczynski), and Barbara (now Barbara Parkes). Aside from a few years of living in Gettysburg, Dr. Andrilli has lived in the Philadelphia area for most of his life. He attended St. Jerome School, where he finished 8th grade. He then attended LaSalle College High School, where he graduated in 1969 at age 16. He entered La Salle University (formerly La Salle …

Ligand-Protein Binding Of Cantharidin And Norcantharidin On Hsf1: A Docking Study, Daniel Coyle

HON499 projects

Previous research provides experimental evidence that cantharidin acts as an inhibitor of HSF1 in cancer cells whereas the similar norcantharidin exhibits no inhibitory activity on HSF1. This computational study utilized Autodock to suggest both binding site(s) and binding energies of cantharidin and norcantharidin on HSF1. This study found cantharidin to consistently bind stronger than norcantharidin in the same area on HSF1 when assuming a rigid protein structure.

Privileged Access Management, Anea Cobia

Economic Crime Forensics Capstones

Security breaches are becoming a common occurrence in society today. When breaches occur, people are often left wondering how they will be affected and what steps can be taken to protect them. The passing of stricter standards and regulations has not slowed would be hackers from crafting ways to breach networks. While there are many ways that a breach can occur, the focus of this paper will be to look at the usage of credentials and privileged accounts. Specifically, the idea of privilege access management and methods for protecting credentials will be examined.

Development Of A Personal Logbook Android Application, John Byrnes

Economic Crime Forensics Capstones

Development of a mobile app to keep up with animal information.

The Benefits Of Artificial Intelligence In Cybersecurity, Ricardo Calderon

Economic Crime Forensics Capstones

Cyberthreats have increased extensively during the last decade. Cybercriminals have become more sophisticated. Current security controls are not enough to defend networks from the number of highly skilled cybercriminals. Cybercriminals have learned how to evade the most sophisticated tools, such as Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDPS), and botnets are almost invisible to current tools. Fortunately, the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) may increase the detection rate of IDPS systems, and Machine Learning (ML) techniques are able to mine data to detect botnets’ sources. However, the implementation of AI may bring other risks, and cybersecurity experts need to find a …

Accepting Blockchain Tech To Increase Bitcoin Acceptance, Oscar Nawrot

Economic Crime Forensics Capstones

Cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin leading the charge, are the beginning of something new because this ideology is attempting to change the way people store and use money - led by an influx of technological innovation and success. If executed accordingly, blockchain has the chance to completely change our world for the better. With Bitcoin being driven by advanced blockchain technology, this digital currency has the ability to decentralize one of the most important aspects of life - money. This in turn would allow for people to take direct control of their money without the need for being completely dependent on bank …

Social Engineering In Call Centers And Ways To Reduce It, Maureen York

Economic Crime Forensics Capstones

Social engineering is the use of trickery, deception, persuasion, emotional manipulation, impersonation, and abuse of trust to gain information or access through the use of a human interface (Thompson, 2006). Social engineering relies on the human behavior in order to gain information or access. The technique of social engineering can be performed in numerous ways and has been proven to be an effective way for perpetrators to obtain valuable information.

This capstone project, I will focus on social engineering of call centers and the steps organizations can take to reduce it. For most organizations, the call centers or customer support …

Understanding The Importance Of Ferpa & Data Protection In Higher Education. An Application: Website At La Salle University, Robert Frank, Lynne Wagner

Mathematics and Computer Science Capstones

Personal data protection is a paramount conversation globally. The higher education industry is abundant in varying types of highly sensitive information; the security of this data is critical, requiring all stakeholders be educated and aware of the standards and best practice securing it. This project’s main outcome is to conduct in-depth research on personal data protection regulations within higher education and the development of an example educational webpage for the La Salle University community relating to policy, practice, and procedures of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

The Mission of La Salle University affirms a community commitment to …

Rcon Administration Tool Designed For Use With Garry’S Mod And Source Servers, John Gibbons

Mathematics and Computer Science Capstones

The proposed project is an Android application designed to interact with the Source RCON protocol. Defined below: The Source RCON Protocol is a TCP/IP-based communication protocol used by Source Dedicated Server, which allows console commands to be issued to the server via a "remote console", or RCON. The most common use of RCON is to allow server owners to control their game servers without direct access to the machine the server is running on. In order for commands to be accepted, the connection must first be authenticated using the server's RCON password, which can be set using the console variablercon_password.

A Novel Three-Stage Distance-Based Consensus Ranking Method, Nazila Aghayi, Madjid Tavana

Business Systems and Analytics Faculty Work

In this study, we propose a three-stage weighted sum method for identifying the group ranks of alternatives. In the first stage, a rank matrix, similar to the cross-efficiency matrix, is obtained by computing the individual rank position of each alternative based on importance weights. In the second stage, a secondary goal is defined to limit the vector of weights since the vector of weights obtained in the first stage is not unique. Finally, in the third stage, the group rank position of alternatives is obtained based on a distance of individual rank positions. The third stage determines a consensus solution …

Quantum Roaming Dynamics On Model Double Morse And Ion-Molecule Potentials, Luke O'Connor

HON499 projects

The quantum dynamics on a pair of model two dimensional potential energy surfaces is studied using time-independent and wave packet analyses. The first potential is a reduced dimensional model of an ion-dipole reaction and the second is a planar double Morse potential. Both potentials have been of recent interest in characterizing the roaming reaction mechanism using classical dynamics. Roaming resonance states related to the classically observed roaming dynamics are isolated, and quantum signatures of roaming on these potentials are discussed. The effects of the shape of the double Morse potential on the quantum dynamics are also considered.

Applying Modern Software Development Methodologies To Elearning, Martin Tyszka

Mathematics and Computer Science Capstones

Modern rapid application and agile development methodologies have been key to getting software to market quickly and ensuring that it meets customer needs. The improvements brought about by these methodologies are not limited to the product, but also improve the development process through the feedback approach integral to the methodology. eLearning, the content and technology that enables learning via the Internet, has been adopted by businesses based on its advantages in lower costs, increased productivity, and flexibility when compared to traditional training approaches. This has resulted in a growth in this area. eLearning has been developed following tradition Instructional Design …