Matching Items (34)
Description
The Web is one of the most exciting and dynamic areas of development in today’s technology. However, with such activity, innovation, and ubiquity have come a set of new challenges for digital forensic examiners, making their jobs even more difficult. For examiners to become as effective with evidence from the Web as they currently are with more traditional evidence, they need (1) methods that guide them to know how to approach this new type of evidence and (2) tools that accommodate web environments’ unique characteristics.
In this dissertation, I present my research to alleviate the difficulties forensic examiners currently face with respect to evidence originating from web environments. First, I introduce a framework for web environment forensics, which elaborates on and addresses the key challenges examiners face and outlines a method for how to approach web-based evidence. Next, I describe my work to identify extensions installed on encrypted web thin clients using only a sound understanding of these systems’ inner workings and the metadata of the encrypted files. Finally, I discuss my approach to reconstructing the timeline of events on encrypted web thin clients by using service provider APIs as a proxy for directly analyzing the device. In each of these research areas, I also introduce structured formats that I customized to accommodate the unique features of the evidence sources while also facilitating tool interoperability and information sharing.
In this dissertation, I present my research to alleviate the difficulties forensic examiners currently face with respect to evidence originating from web environments. First, I introduce a framework for web environment forensics, which elaborates on and addresses the key challenges examiners face and outlines a method for how to approach web-based evidence. Next, I describe my work to identify extensions installed on encrypted web thin clients using only a sound understanding of these systems’ inner workings and the metadata of the encrypted files. Finally, I discuss my approach to reconstructing the timeline of events on encrypted web thin clients by using service provider APIs as a proxy for directly analyzing the device. In each of these research areas, I also introduce structured formats that I customized to accommodate the unique features of the evidence sources while also facilitating tool interoperability and information sharing.
ContributorsMabey, Michael Kent (Author) / Ahn, Gail-Joon (Thesis advisor) / Doupe, Adam (Thesis advisor) / Yau, Stephen S. (Committee member) / Lee, Joohyung (Committee member) / Zhao, Ziming (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
A novel clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated (CRISPR/Cas) tool for simultaneous gene editing and regulation was designed and tested. This study used the CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) endonuclease in complex with a 14-nucleotide (nt) guide RNA (gRNA) to repress a gene of interest using the Krüppel associated box (KRAB) domain, while also performing a separate gene modification using a 20-nt gRNA targeted to a reporter vector. DNA Ligase IV (LIGIV) was chosen as the target for gene repression, given its role in nonhomologous end joining, a common DNA repair process that competes with the more precise homology-directed repair (HDR).
To test for gene editing, a 20-nt gRNA was designed to target a disrupted enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) gene present in a reporter vector. After the gRNA introduced a double-stranded break, cells attempted to repair the cut site via HDR using a DNA template within the reporter vector. In the event of successful gene editing, the EGFP sequence was restored to a functional state and green fluorescence was detectable by flow cytometry. To achieve gene repression, a 14-nt gRNA was designed to target LIGIV. The gRNA included a com protein recruitment domain, which recruited a Com-KRAB fusion protein to facilitate gene repression via chromatin modification of LIGIV. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to quantify repression.
This study expanded upon earlier advancements, offering a novel and versatile approach to genetic modification and transcriptional regulation using CRISPR/Cas9. The overall results show that both gene editing and repression were occurring, thereby providing support for a novel CRISPR/Cas system capable of simultaneous gene modification and regulation. Such a system may enhance the genome engineering capabilities of researchers, benefit disease research, and improve the precision with which gene editing is performed.
To test for gene editing, a 20-nt gRNA was designed to target a disrupted enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) gene present in a reporter vector. After the gRNA introduced a double-stranded break, cells attempted to repair the cut site via HDR using a DNA template within the reporter vector. In the event of successful gene editing, the EGFP sequence was restored to a functional state and green fluorescence was detectable by flow cytometry. To achieve gene repression, a 14-nt gRNA was designed to target LIGIV. The gRNA included a com protein recruitment domain, which recruited a Com-KRAB fusion protein to facilitate gene repression via chromatin modification of LIGIV. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to quantify repression.
This study expanded upon earlier advancements, offering a novel and versatile approach to genetic modification and transcriptional regulation using CRISPR/Cas9. The overall results show that both gene editing and repression were occurring, thereby providing support for a novel CRISPR/Cas system capable of simultaneous gene modification and regulation. Such a system may enhance the genome engineering capabilities of researchers, benefit disease research, and improve the precision with which gene editing is performed.
ContributorsChapman, Jennifer E (Author) / Kiani, Samira (Thesis advisor) / Ugarova, Tatiana (Thesis advisor) / Marchant, Gary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Noninvasive prenatal testing using cell-free fetal DNA (CffDNA) testing is a rapidly developing area in prenatal diagnosis. Fetal genetic testing can occur with a simple maternal blood sample, since CffDNA can be found in maternal plasma. Thus, no harm is caused to mother or fetus to obtain this genetic information, providing significant benefits for those users. How the test should be integrated in existing prenatal programs has yet to be seen. CffDNA testing is an exciting technology and has attracted attention from many stakeholders, yet the lack of regulation and guidance has left legal, ethical, and social questions unanswered. This paper outlines a number of those issues expressed in the present literature on the matter.
ContributorsVeeder, Shaylynn Lee (Author) / Marchant, Gary (Thesis director) / Robert, Jason (Committee member) / Milleson, Valerye (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Data has quickly become a cornerstone of society. Across our daily lives, industry, policy, and more, we are experiencing what can only be called a “data revolution” igniting ferociously. While data is gaining more and more importance, consumers do not fully understand the extent of its use and subsequent capitalization by companies. This paper explores the current climate relating to data security and data privacy. It aims to start a conversation regarding the culture around the sharing and collection of data. We explore aspects of data privacy in four tiers: the current cultural and social perception of data privacy, its relevance in our daily lives, its importance in society’s dialogue. Next, we look at current policy and legislature in place today, focusing primarily on Europe’s established GDPR and the incoming California Consumer Privacy Act, to see what measures are already in place and what measures need to be adopted to mold more of a culture of transparency. Next, we analyze current data privacy regulations and power of regulators like the FTC and SEC to see what tools they have at their disposal to ensure accountability in the tech industry when it comes to how our data is used. Lastly, we look at the potential act of treating and viewing data as an asset, and the implications of doing so in the scope of possible valuation and depreciation techniques. The goal of this paper is to outline initial steps to better understand and regulate data privacy and collection practices. Our goal is to bring this issue to the forefront of conversation in society, so that we may start the first step in the metaphorical marathon of data privacy, with the goal of establishing better data privacy controls and become a more data-conscious society.
ContributorsAnderson, Thomas C (Co-author) / Shafeeva, Zarina (Co-author) / Swiech, Jakub (Co-author) / Marchant, Gary (Thesis director) / Sopha, Matthew (Committee member) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This paper details the regulations and the history behind the new federal mandatory GMO labeling law that was enacted in the United States on July 29, 2016. In addition, it will analyze a similar bill, House of Representatives Bill 1599, that was in committee (in the House and Senate) around the same time as this new law. Furthermore, this paper will discuss the reasons this new GMO labeling law is controversial, highlighting both the opposing and supporting arguments for the bill, and in turn analyzing the arguments behind both. This article will go into depth about the regulations of each of these bills, and will highlight the stark differences between the two, as well as analyze the possible affects we may see occur in U.S. law and corporate transparency as a result. Using foreign precedent as well as U.S. precedent, this paper will discuss whether the new GMO labeling law might be challenged in Court, and if so, whether or not the Courts would validate the law or hold it unconstitutional based on the Supremacy Clause, First Amendment Protection of Commercial Speech and the Commerce Clause.
ContributorsDel Giorno, Daniel Joseph (Author) / Marchant, Gary (Thesis director) / Cardineau, Guy (Committee member) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The focus shift towards Silicon Valley and similar ecosystems in the past decade, the recent boom in startups and entrepreneurship, and the resurgence of venture capital funding is fueling rapid advancement of modern technologies, such as software, biotechnology, and renewable energy. One facet of the growing entrepreneurial landscape features healthcare technology—a field of research centered upon various technical advances in medicine, software, and hardware. Trends in healthcare technology commercialization represent a promising opportunity for disruption in the healthcare industry. The integration of rapidly iterating software with medical research, timed perfectly with the passage of the Affordable Care Act and the boom of venture capital investment in both Big Data and mobile technology, has the healthcare technology primed for explosive growth over the next decade. Investment data indicates that strong public market activity in the past year will continue to fuel venture capital growth in both the biotechnology and digital health sectors, with the potential for multiple large exits by life sciences companies, more than even software, in the coming year.
ContributorsPatel, Nisarg (Co-author) / Yun, Kwanho (Co-author) / Wang, Xiao (Thesis director) / Marchant, Gary (Committee member) / Peck, Sidnee (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The thesis is an investigation on current regulations of commercial aircraft landing and take-off procedures and an analysis of potential weaknesses within the regulatory system for commercial aerospace. To determine such flaws, an area of worse-case scenarios with regard to the aforementioned flight operations was researched. The events selected to best-depict these scenarios where incidents of aircraft overrunning the runway, referred to as runway excursions. A case-study conducted of 44 federal investigations of runway excursions produced data indicating four influential factors within these incidents: weather, pilot error, instrument malfunction, and runway condition. Upon examination, all but pilot error appeared to have federal enforcement to diminish the occurrence of future incidents. This is a direct result of the broad possibilities that make up this factor. The study then searched for a consistent fault within the incidents with the results indicating an indirect relationship of thrust reversers, a technique utilized by pilots to provide additional braking, to these excursions. In cases of thrust reverser failure, pilots' over-reliance on the system lead to time being lost from the confusion produced by the malfunction, ultimately resulting in several different runway excursions. The legal implication with the situation is that current regulations are ambiguous on the subject of thrust reversers and thus do not properly model the usage of the technique. Thus, to observe the scope of danger this ambiguity presents to the industry, the relationship of the technique to commercial aerospace needed to be determined. Interviews were set-up with former commercial pilots to gather data related to the flight crew perspective. This data indicated that thrust reversers were actively utilized by pilots within the industry for landing operations. The problem with the current regulations was revealed that the lack of details on thrust reverser reflected a failure of regulations to model current industry flight operations. To improve safety within the industry, new data related to thrust reverser deployment must be developed and enforced to determine appropriate windows to utilize the technique, thus decreasing time lost in confusion that results from thrust reversers malfunction. Future work would be based on producing simulations to determine said data as well as proposing the policy suggestions produced by this thesis.
ContributorsCreighton, Andrew John (Author) / Takahashi, Timothy (Thesis director) / Marchant, Gary (Committee member) / Kimberly, Jimmy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
I will be redacting my thesis on a project I will be a party of over the next two semesters through Innovation Space. This program is a joint venture between the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering and W.P. Carey School of Business in which we form an interdisciplinary team to work on and develop products that create market value all the while serving societal needs and minimizing environmental impacts. In short we are an entrepreneurial venture that will go through every facet of bringing a project from the imagination to market. My role in this project will be to conduct research while brainstorming potential applications of my results. I will be in addition sharing and exercising my expertise in the field of Supply Chain management and business in general to support the other disciplines on my team. Furthermore, as a business student I will be personally responsible for developing a strategic plan once we have determined a potential product, I will analyze any sort of market forecast applicable to my topic and ideate any sort of customer relations to follow through with our product. To add to these tasks, I will also ensure a positive cash flow for the project in general. As the thesis specific part of the project I will be writing about the legal implications involved in the development of an idea into a marketable and financially viable product. I will be analyzing various aspects of patent law as well as potentially private international law in regards to sourcing.
ContributorsGanase, Ketan Mael (Author) / Marchant, Gary (Thesis director) / Peck, Sidnee (Committee member) / Boradkar, Prasad (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
In a world in which technologies proliferate at a rapid rate, it is no surprise that the medical device industry has grown in leaps and bounds. This surge in medical technology, especially implantable medical technology, has altered the modern operating room, transforming surgery from a technique-driven activity into a technology-driven profession. This reliance upon technologies has fostered close ties between physicians and the medical device industry and within this relationship, medical device representatives play an integral role. This paper will investigate the relationship that exists between physicians and the medical device industry along with the potential conflicts of interest that may result due to this relationship. I will focus in particular on orthopedic medical devices due to media attention as a result of a 2007 Department of Justice settlement involving the leading orthopedic companies. This case proved instrumental in highlighting previously unknown instances in which conflicts of interest were occurring in the medical device industry.
ContributorsLove, Kailey (Author) / Robert, Jason (Thesis director) / Marchant, Gary (Committee member) / Buchholtz, Stephanie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School for the Science of Health Care Delivery (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Detecting cyber-attacks in cyber systems is essential for protecting cyber infrastructures from cyber-attacks. It is very difficult to detect cyber-attacks in cyber systems due to their high complexity. The accuracy of the attack detection in the cyber systems depends heavily on the completeness of the collected sensor information. In this thesis, two approaches are presented: one to detecting attacks in completely observable cyber systems, and the other to estimating types of states in partially observable cyber systems for attack detection in cyber systems. These two approaches are illustrated using three large data sets of network traffic because the packet-level information of the network traffic data provides details about the cyber systems.
The approach to attack detection in cyber systems is based on a multimodal artificial neural network (MANN) using the collected network traffic data from completely observable cyber systems for training and testing. Since the training of MANN is computationally intensive, to reduce the computational overhead, an efficient feature selection algorithm using the genetic algorithm is developed and incorporated in this approach.
In order to detect attacks in cyber systems in partially observable environments, an approach to estimating the types of states in partially observable cyber systems, which is the first phase of attack detection in cyber systems in partially observable environments, is presented. The types of states of such cyber systems are useful to detecting cyber-attacks in such cyber systems. This approach involves the use of a convolutional neural network (CNN), and unsupervised learning with elbow method and k-means clustering algorithm.
The approach to attack detection in cyber systems is based on a multimodal artificial neural network (MANN) using the collected network traffic data from completely observable cyber systems for training and testing. Since the training of MANN is computationally intensive, to reduce the computational overhead, an efficient feature selection algorithm using the genetic algorithm is developed and incorporated in this approach.
In order to detect attacks in cyber systems in partially observable environments, an approach to estimating the types of states in partially observable cyber systems, which is the first phase of attack detection in cyber systems in partially observable environments, is presented. The types of states of such cyber systems are useful to detecting cyber-attacks in such cyber systems. This approach involves the use of a convolutional neural network (CNN), and unsupervised learning with elbow method and k-means clustering algorithm.
ContributorsGuha, Sayantan (Author) / Yau, Stephen S. (Thesis advisor) / Ahn, Gail-Joon (Committee member) / Huang, Dijiang (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016