Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Thin Film Optical Filter Fabrication And Characterization, Adam G. Hammouda, David P. Shelton

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Thin film coatings have a large number of applications. For example, one can eliminate unwanted reflection on a photographic lens or unwanted wavelengths of light in optics experimentation. The fabrication and characterization of films whose refractive indices can be arbitrarily modulated (‘Rugate Filters’) is an ongoing exploration in materials science1,2. Therefore, calibrating a process which can manufacture such films is a relevant pursuit in forwarding such explorations. Reactive magnetron sputter deposition is a commonly used technique for the productions of thin films3,4. This technique steadily flows reactive gas (RG) into a vacuum chamber in which an electric field has been …

Geochemistry Of Pyrite And Whole Rock Samples From The Getchell Carlin–Type Gold Deposit, Humboldt County, Nevada, Tim A. Howell, Jean S. Cline

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Carlin-type gold deposits were not recognized as a new major type of gold deposit until the 1960’s. The Getchell deposit, which is now known to be a Carlin-type gold deposit, was discovered in 1934 (Joralemon, 1951). This deposit is located in north central Nevada (Fig. 1). Much is known about the physical characteristics of Carlin-type gold deposits (Cline et al., 2005). An unusual characteristic of these deposits is that free gold is generally not present. Instead, gold occurs as sub-micrometer particles in the mineral pyrite or marcasite. The marcasite and pyrite that are gold bearing commonly occur as rims on …

Synthesis Of Bis-Styrylbenzene Derivatives Via Wittig-Horner Reaction, Joseph K. Wray, Tae Soo Jo, Pradip K. Browmik

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Alzheimer’s Disease is now one of the most common diseases affecting the elderly population. Recently, bis-styrylbenzene derivatives have been shown to reduce the formation of Beta-amyloid plaques in the brain which are profoundly correlated with this disease. Finding new biologically active compounds which can reduce or prevent Alzheimer’s Disease has drawn much attention over the past few decades. Georg Wittig, Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry, 1979.

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program 2010, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) cultivates and supports research partnerships and invites undergraduates to work as the junior colleagues of faculty. The program offers the opportunity to work on cutting edge research—whether you join established research projects or pursue your own ideas. As participants, undergraduates engage in each phase of standard research activity: developing research plans, writing proposals, conducting research, analyzing data. and presenting research results in oral and written form. The projects take place over the summer, and research can be done in any academic department or interdisciplinary laboratory. Projects can last for an entire semester, and many …

Gender Ideology In The Physical Sciences: Philosophical Arguments, ÁGnes KováCs, LáSzló Ropolyi

XIV IAPh Symposium 2010

This presentation is part of the Feminist Perspectives in the Sciences: Physics, Chemistry and Climate Science track.

Feminist science criticism has overwhelmingly concerned itself with biological theories on sex and gender difference. Feminist critics (Bleier, Hubbard, Fausto-Sterling, Haraway) have discredited these theories by arguing that gender bias resulted in cognitive distortions and misrepresentation of the subject of inquiry. Feminist philosophers of science (Harding, Longino, and Nelson, among others), elaborated epistemological frameworks to account for these gender biases in science. There is nothing specific in their theories which would limit their validity to the social and life sciences, and yet no …

Effects Of Restaurant Green Practices: Which Practices Are Important And Effective?, Eunha Jeong, Soocheong Jang

Caesars Hospitality Research Summit

As customers’ ecological concern is steadily increasing, demand for products and services designed to be less harmful to the environment has augmented. By executing green practices, many business owners believe the image of their companies can be improved. Furthermore, the improved image may eventually motivate the customers to use products or services offered by the green company. The restaurant industry is witnessing the green movement as well. Restaurant owners adopt green practices to their properties with the purpose of creating a distinctive image that can differentiate them from their competitors. Therefore, restaurateurs strive to get this competitive advantage by introducing …

Hotel Guests’ Perceptions Of Sustainable Hotel Practices In A Mexican Destination, Orie Berezan, Michelle Millar, Carola Raab

Caesars Hospitality Research Summit

Hotel selection and attributes that are important to travelers has been extensively researched using a variety of methods (Dolnicar, 2002). Dolnicar & Otter (2003) confirmed, after reviewing 21studies related to hotel attributes, cleanliness as the top priority, followed by hotel location. In total, 173 attributes were identified that were related to image, price/value, the hotel itself, and service (Lockyer, 2005). None of those attributes, however, were related to environmental attributes of a hotel. For more than a decade, the hospitality industry has been under pressure by government legislation and regulations to implement environmental strategies and thereby reduce their carbon footprint …

The Defiance College Undergraduate Major In Digital Forensic Science: Setting The Bar Higher, Gregg H. Gunsch

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

This paper provides background information to accompany the panel discussion on Curriculum Design and Implementation in Computer Forensics Education. It is specifically focused on the content and delivery of Defiance College’s undergraduate (B.S.) program majoring in Digital Forensic Science (DFS). The genesis and evolution of the Defiance College DFS program are described, along with its successes, challenges and known opportunities for improvement. The desired outcomes of the panel discussion include articulating the necessary components of an undergraduate program, refining expectations of knowledge and skills required of students upon graduation, and suggesting strategies for achieving those expectations despite inevitable resource limitations …

Computer Forensics For Graduate Accountants: A Motivational Curriculum Design Approach, Grover S. Kearns

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Computer forensics involves the investigation of digital sources to acquire evidence that can be used in a court of law. It can also be used to identify and respond to threats to hosts and systems. Accountants use computer forensics to investigate computer crime or misuse, theft of trade secrets, theft of or destruction of intellectual property, and fraud. Education of accountants to use forensic tools is a goal of the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants). Accounting students, however, may not view information technology as vital to their career paths and need motivation to acquire forensic knowledge and skills. …

Digital Records Forensics: A New Science And Academic Program For Forensic Readiness, Luciana Duranti, Barbara Endicott-Popovsky

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

This paper introduces the Digital Records Forensics project, a research endeavour located at the University of British Columbia in Canada and aimed at the development of a new science resulting from the integration of digital forensics with diplomatics, archival science, information science and the law of evidence, and of an interdisciplinary graduate degree program, called Digital Records Forensics Studies, directed to professionals working for law enforcement agencies, legal firms, courts, and all kind of institutions and business that require their services. The program anticipates the need for organizations to become “forensically ready,” defined by John Tan as “maximizing the ability …

A Layered Framework Approach To Mitigate Crimeware, Mathew Nyamagwa

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Crimeware attacks are growing at such an alarming rate and are becoming so prevalent that the FBI now rank cybercrime among its top priorities after terrorism and espionage. New studies estimate cyber crimes cost firms an astounding $1 trillion annually. But the good news? Over 80% of them are preventable. Crimeware is not a purely technical threat but more or a socio-technical affair. This clearly brings out the fact that computers do not commit a crime, but we (humans) do! In this paper I propose a layered approach that involves all stakeholders from end-users to service-providers and law enforcement to …

Canvass - A Steganalysis Forensic Tool For Jpeg Images, Jennifer L. Davidson, Jaikishan Jalan

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Steganography is a way to communicate a message such that no one except the sender and recipient suspects the existence of the message. This type of covert communication lends itself to a variety of different purposes such as spy-to-spy communication, exchange of pornographic material hidden in innocuous image files, and other illicit acts. Computer forensic personnel have an interest in testing for possible steganographic files, but often do not have access to the technical and financial resources required to perform steganalysis in an effective manner. This paper describes the results of a funded effort by a grant from the National …

Measuring Whitespace Patterns As An Indication Of Plagiarism, Ilana Shay, Nikolaus Baer, Robert Zeidman

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

There are several different methods of comparing source code from different programs to find copying1 . Perhaps the most common method is comparing source code statements, comments, strings, identifiers, and instruction sequences. However, there are anecdotes about the use of whitespace patterns in code. These virtually invisible patterns of spaces and tabs have been used in litigation to imply copying, but no formal study has been performed that shows that these patterns can actually identify copied code. This paper presents a detailed study of whitespace patterns and the uniqueness of these patterns in different programs.

Keywords: Copyright Infringement, Intellectual Property, …

Electronic Discovery: A Fool’S Errand Where Angels Fear To Tread?, Milton Luoma, Vicki Luoma

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Electronic discovery has transformed the discovery phase of civil litigation in recent years. The expectations of lawyers and parties were initially established in the Rowe and Zubulake cases that led to a complete revision of the electronic discovery rules contained in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Subsequent cases have underscored the importance of document search methodologies and implications for attorneys, IT professionals, and digital forensics professionals. The authors review how electronic discovery has evolved thus far and offer recommendations regarding the electronic discovery process.

Keywords: Electronic discovery, e-discovery, keyword search, concept search,

Hard Disk Storage: Firmware Manipulation And Forensic Impact And Current Best Practice, Gareth Davies, Iain Sutherland

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The most common form of storage media utilized in both commercial and domestic systems is the hard disk drive, consequently these devices feature heavily in digital investigations. Hard disk drives are a collection of complex components. These components include hardware and firmware elements that are essential for the effective operation of the drive. There are now a number of devices available, intended for data recovery, which can be used to manipulate the firmware components contained within the drive. It has been previously shown that it is possible to alter firmware for malicious purposes, either to conceal information or to prevent …

Social Networking: A Boon To Criminals, Tejashree D. Datar, Richard Mislan

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

With the world getting more and more digitized, social networking has also found a place in the cyber world. These social networking sites (SNSs) which enable people to socialize, and build and maintain relationships are attracting attention of all kinds of people such as teens, adults, sports persons, and even businesses. But these SNSs are also getting unwanted attention from people like sexual predators, spammers, and people involved in criminal and illegal activities. This paper talks about SNSs and how these sites are exploited for criminal or illegal activity. The SNSs are discussed in detail with respect to user profiles, …

Organizational Handling Of Digital Evidence, Sheona A. Hoolachan, William B. Glisson

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

There are a number of factors that impact a digital forensics investigation. These factors include: the digital media in question, implemented processes and methodologies, the legal aspects, and the individuals involved in the investigation. This paper presents the initial idea that Digital Forensic Practice (DFP) recommendations can potentially improve how organizations handle digital evidence. The recommendations are derived from an in-depth survey conducted with practitioners in both commercial organizations and law enforcement along with supporting literature. The recommendations presented in this paper can be used to assess an organization’s existing digital forensics practices and a guide to Digital Forensics Improvement …

A Framework To Integrate The Data Of Interview Investigation And Digital Evidence, Fahad Alshathry

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The physical interview process in crime investigation produces an extremely large amount of data, particularly in big cases. In comparison, examiners of digital evidence have enormous amounts of data to search through whilst looking for data relating to the investigation. However, the links between their results are limited. Whilst investigators need to refute or support their hypothesis throughout, digital evidence examiners often use search based keywords. These keywords are usually created from evidence taken from the physical investigation reports and this basic method has been found to have many shortcomings and limitations. This paper proposes a highly automatic framework to …

Developing Voip Honeypots: A Preliminary Investigation Into Malfeasant Activity, Craig Valli

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

30 years ago PABX systems were compromised by hackers wanting to make long distance calls at some other entities expense. This activity faded as telephony became cheaper and PABX systems had countermeasures installed to overcome attacks. Now the world has moved onto the provision of telephony via broadband enabled Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) with this service now being provided as a replacement for conventional fixed wire telephony by major telecommunication providers worldwide. Due to increasing bandwidth it is possible for systems to support multiple voice connections simultaneously. The networked nature of the Internet allows for attackers of these VoIP …

Higate (High Grade Anti‐Tamper Equipment) Prototype And Application To E‐Discovery, Yui Sakurai, Yuki Ashino, Tetsutaro Uehara, Hiroshi Yoshiura, Ryoichi Sasaki

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

These days, most data is digitized and processed in various ways by computers. In the past, computer owners were free to process data as desired and to observe the inputted data as well as the interim results. However, the unrestricted processing of data and accessing of interim results even by computer users is associated with an increasing number of adverse events. These adverse events often occur when sensitive data such as personal or confidential business information must be handled by two or more parties, such as in the case of e-Discovery, used in legal proceedings, or epidemiologic studies. To solve …

Developing A Baccalaureate Digital Forensics Major, John H. Riley

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

As colleges and universities consider instituting a bachelor’s degree in digital forensics or computer forensics, there are numerous questions to be addressed. While some of these normally occur in the development of any new major, there are aspects of digital forensics which do not often (if ever) occur in other majors. We discuss the issues that should be resolved in the development of a baccalaureate degree program in digital forensics.

Keywords: Digital forensics major. Computer forensics major.

Introduction To Selecting Subsets Of Traits For Quantitative Trait Loci Analysis, Tilman Achberger, James C. Fleet, David E. Salt, R. W. Doerge

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping is a popular statistical method that is often used in agricultural applications to identify genomic regions associated with phenotypic traits of interest. In its most common form, a QTL analysis tests one phenotypic trait at a time using a variety of research hypotheses that depend on the application. When multiple traits are available, there are considerable benefits to analyzing subsets of biologically related traits in a multipletrait QTL mapping framework. Determining the most informative subset(s) of traits is the critical challenge that we address in this work. We present our approach, as well as simulations …

After Further Review: An Update On Modeling And Design Strategies For Agricultural Dose-Response Experiments, M. J. Frenzel, W. W. Stroup, E. T. Paparozzi

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Research investigating dose-response relationships is common in agricultural science. This paper is an expansion on previous work by Guo, et al. (2006) motivated by plant nutrition research in horticulture. Plant response to level of nutrient applied is typically sigmoidal, i.e. no response at very low levels, observable response at mid-levels, point-of-diminishing returns and plateau at high levels. Plant scientists need accurate estimates of these response relationships for many reasons, including determining the lower threshold below which plants show deficiency symptoms and the point of diminishing returns, above which excessive doses are economically and environmentally costly. Guo et al. presented models …

A Non-Parametric Empirical Bayes Approach For Estimating Transcript Abundance In Un-Replicated Next-Generation Sequencing Data, Sanvesh Srivastava, R. W. Doerge

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Empirical Bayes approaches have been widely used to analyze data from high throughput sequencing devices. These approaches rely on borrowing information available for all the genes across samples to get better estimates of gene level expression. To date, transcript abundance in data from next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies has been estimated using parametric approaches for analyzing count data, namely – gamma-Poisson model, negative binomial model, and over-dispersed logistic model. One serious limitation of these approaches is they cannot be applied in absence of replication. The high cost of NGS technologies imposes a serious restriction on the number of biological replicates …

Nonlinear Regression Parameters As Outcomes: Simple Vs. Sophisticated Analyses, Reid D. Landes

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Sometimes a nonlinear regression parameter for an individual is the outcome of interest. But due to variability among individuals, the individuals’ regression parameters cannot be estimated with the same amount of precision. This problem of heterogeneous variance complicates the ultimate goal of estimating population-level regression parameters with two usual methods: (i) the simple arithmetic mean of individually estimated regression parameters and (ii) random coefficients regression (RCR). Weights are proposed for each method to account for the heterogeneity problem. The methods are illustrated with chick weights collected over time. Monte Carlo simulation allows comparison of statistical properties of the four estimators …

Approximate Bayesian Approaches For Reverse Engineering Biological Networks, Andrea Rau, Florence Jaffr´Ezic, Jean-Louis Foulley, R. W. Doerge

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Genes are known to interact with one another through proteins by regulating the rate at which gene transcription takes place. As such, identifying these gene-to-gene interactions is essential to improving our knowledge of how complex biological systems work. In recent years, a growing body of work has focused on methods for reverse-engineering these so-called gene regulatory networks from time-course gene expression data. However, reconstruction of these networks is often complicated by the large number of genes potentially involved in a given network and the limited number of time points and biological replicates typically measured. Bayesian methods are particularly well-suited for …

On Testing For Significant Quantitative Trait Loci (Qtl) Effects When Variances Are Unequal, Pradeep Singh, Shesh N. Rai

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

The basic theory of QTL (Quantitative Trait Loci) mapping is to score a population for a quantitative trait according to the marker genotype, and then to use statistics to identify differences associated with the markers and the quantitative trait of interest. Permutation based methods have been used to estimate threshold values for quantitative mapping. The permutation test based on the Student t-test for equality of means does not control Type I error rate to its nominal value when variances are unequal. In this study we propose a modification of the Student t-test based on the jackknife estimator of population variance. …

Functional Divergence Of Duplicated Genes In The Soybean Genome, Paul L. Auer, R. W. Doerge

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

The soybean genome has undergone many different evolutionary changes that are observable with modern technologies. Of particular interest to scientists and plant breeders is the fact that the soybean genome exhibits features of genome duplication from millions of years ago. Genes that were copied during the duplication event have since diverged functionally. Identifying functionally divergent duplicate genes may provide insight into the evolution of soybean. To investigate functional divergence, transcripts from seven different tissue samples of pooled soybean messenger RNA were sequenced using the Solexa next-generation sequencer and analyzed for gene expression. We tested differential expression of duplicated genes within …

Generalized Linear Mixed Model Estimation Using Proc Glimmix: Results From Simulations When The Data And Model Match, And When The Model Is Misspecified, Debbie Boykin, Mary J. Camp, Luann Johnson, Matthew Kramer, David Meek, Debra Palmquist, Bryan Vinyard, Mark West

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

A simulation study was conducted to determine how well SAS® PROC GLIMMIX (SAS Institute, Cary, NC), statistical software to fit generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs), performed for a simple GLMM, using its default settings, as a naïve user would do. Data were generated from a wide variety of distributions with the same sets of linear predictors, and under several conditions. Then, the data sets were analyzed by using the correct model (the generating model and estimating model were the same) and, subsequently, by misspecifying the estimating model, all using default settings. The data generation model was a randomized complete block …

Using Time-Series Intervention Analysis To Model Cow Heart Rate Affected By Programmed Audio And Environmental/Physiological Cues, Dean M. Anderson, Norbert Remenyi, Leigh W. Murray

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

This research is the first use of Box-Jenkins time-series models to describe changes in heart rate (HR) of free-ranging crossbred cows (Bos taurus) receiving both programmed audio cues from directional virtual fencing (DVFTM) devices and non-programmed environmental/physiological cues. The DVFTM device is designed to control the animal's location on the landscape. Polar Accurex® devices were used to capture HR every minute between 19 and 24 March 2003, when three mature free-ranging beef cows, previously habituated to the DVFTM device, were confined to a brush-infested area of an arid rangeland paddock. Global positioning system (GPS) electronics were used to record each …