1925 research outputs found
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Design and implementation of memory physically unclonable functions on low-power devices
Get PDFCryptography plays a vital role in safeguarding our sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands. It relies on symmetrical encryption methods like Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and asymmetrical encryption methods such as Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) for authentication between parties. However, the management of cryptographic keys introduces vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. Moreover, the security of asymmetric encryption methods like RSA and ECC can be compromised by powerful quantum computers.Moreover, a key primitive in cryptography is the random number generator (RNG). Randomness is required in various cryptographic protocols, such as randomizing encryption operations or generating random challenges in authentication. Standard libraries often provide Pseudo-Random Number Generators (PRNGs), which are deterministic and vulnerable to attacks. Cryptographically-Secure Pseudo-Random Number Generators (CSPRNGs) produce highly unpredictable sequences, but they are complex and resource-intensive, making them impractical for low-power devices.
Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs) present a potential solution for addressing challenges in authentication, key management, and random number generation. PUFs offer a unique digital fingerprint that cannot be influenced or replicated, making them well-suited for generating one-time keys. Moreover, PUFs can be True Random Number Generators (TRNGs), producing true random sequences with minimal power consumption and computational resources. By utilizing PUFs for these purposes, cryptographic systems can enhance their security by generating secure keys and the availability of highly unpredictable random numbers.
There are various different PUFs, and one widely used PUF is the static random-access memory (SRAM) PUF. However, there are also promising emerging memory technologies like resistive random-access memory (ReRAM) and magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM) PUFs. These innovative PUFs show great potential in enhancing the overall security of cryptographic systems. By leveraging these advanced PUF technologies, cryptographic systems can further bolster their security measures.
The primary aim of this research is to implement and examine MRAM, SRAM, and ReRAM PUF devices on low-power client devices and incorporate them into cryptographic applications. The study demonstrates that SRAM and MRAM devices suit a unique ternary-addressable physically unclonable function (TAPUF) design. This design not only generates dependable cryptographic keys but also produces true random sequences that successfully pass the National Institute of Technology (NIST) Statistical Testing Suite for random numbers. Moreover, it also shows that the analog responses of pre-formed ReRAM cells can encapsulate a message, even when applied on a low-power microcontroller
Afghan female teachers' stories and experiences
No full textThe purpose of the study was to highlight and share the experiences and stories of Afghan female schoolteachers in Herat, Afghanistan. The goal was to put forth their voices, aspirations, and experiences as they are transitioning into the current regime under the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan that imposes an extreme interpretation of the Sharia Law as opposed to common law. The research focused on how these teachers’ experiences and stories have shaped their personal and professional identities as well as how they navigate their lives in both these areas in the changing context of the country. This exploratory research study was situated within the critical narrative inquiry framework, the primary goal of which was to give voice to female teachers and highlight their personal stories as well as stories of teaching and adaptation in the past and the new establishment. I was also interested to see how these teachers conceptualize the role and influence of power structures in the development of their personal and professional lives.
A group of twelve female high school teachers across different schools in Herat, Afghanistan participated in this study. The data was collected through multiple semi-structured interviews with each teacher. Clandinin and Connelly's (2000) three-dimensional space element approach guided the development of interview questions and the narratives’ formation. The data collected were analyzed through thematic analysis within a critical pedagogical framework where pirori themes of role, power, and identity were explored. The most common themes that surfaced from the stories of the teachers are (a) a strong sense of cultural, and religious identity iii as an Afghan woman, (b) the role of a supportive male figure in the family, (c) resilience, and resistance, and (d) the transcendence of teachers’ role beyond their classrooms
“Care is a very big word”: conceptualizations, reflections, and perceptions related to healthcare, space, and identity amongst queer, young Texans
Get PDFThe modern healthcare industry overwhelmingly advantages white, cisgender, non-disabled, wealthy, heterosexual people to the disadvantage of all people who fall beyond these narrow identities. This trend is explained by existing scholars through various deconstruction means related to Marxism, neoliberalism, and histories of white supremacy in the United States. Outside of leftist scholarship, topics related to healthcare, including abortion and private insurance, are not understood completely enough to make way for meaningful change. In this thesis project, queer Texans in their 20s share their lived experiences and their experiences in healthcare settings in the United States. Abolitionist theory creates new opportunities for understanding and overcoming inequity and discriminatory systemic practices. This qualitative research project explores possibilities for a more equitable, safe, healthy world, and relies heavily on the retold lives of queer Texans
Investigation of the distribution of Aedes aegypti in Maricopa county, Arizona
Get PDFAedes aegypti is the primary vector of dengue, yellow fever, Zika, and Chikungunya viruses. In recent years, mosquito-borne diseases have reemerged as a pressing public health issue around the world, as the geographic distribution of mosquitoes has increased rapidly. Maricopa County, Arizona is at risk for outbreaks of disease caused by viruses transmitted by Ae. aegypti due to the established presence of the mosquito vector and the high volume of travelers coming to Arizona from areas with endemic Ae. aegypti-borne viruses. Although much research exists on the broad distribution of this mosquito, there is less understanding of the local distribution and range of the vector in a desert climate. This dissertation employs a combination of spatial analysis, statistical analysis, and phylogenomic analysis to develop a better understanding of the local factors that support mosquito populations and the movement of mosquito populations over time and space in Maricopa County, AZ; this is the first time these methods have been used to study the recently established mosquito population in this area. A better understanding of the Ae. aegypti population is a critical component of implementing effective public health efforts that address outbreaks of associated disease. The hypothesis of these studies was that Ae. aegypti is not uniformly distributed throughout Maricopa County and that genetically distinct populations are separated by short distances given the commonly held belief that this mosquito travels very short distances during its lifetime. The results indicated that although there are areas within Maricopa County, AZ that appear to be more suitable for the vector, there is more extensive mixture between populations in Maricopa County than expected. Additionally, we found a positive association between Ae. aegypti adult female populations and median income and structure age in a given area, suggesting that older, wealthier neighborhoods may provide suitable habitat for this mosquito. Through the phylogenomic analysis, we identified two potential source locations from 2020 that are seeding populations of this vector throughout Maricopa County, AZ. Given these findings, it may be advisable to increase the range of public health and mosquito surveillance efforts related to the detection of Ae. aegypti-borne viruses; targeting vector control efforts to source locations or older, wealthier neighborhoods should also be considered. Importantly, it is essential to note that the findings presented in this dissertation are preliminary, and further research is urgently needed to better our understanding of the preferred habitat and range of the vector in this area
The Postcard
No full textThis project, titled The Postcard, is a culmination of fictional, autobiographical, and biographical work, which all began in the fall of 2014, when my family received a postcard from my deceased grandfather, Ken Jablon. Knowing I wanted to write about this true story and the events which followed, I became compelled to complete this particular project after attending Matt Bell’s 2021 Cinder Skies Reading of his ecofabulist book, Appleseed. From there, I realized I could use magical realism to tell the parts of the story which are fiction, but which capture the essence of the questions I wanted most to explore: What is reality? How does one's experience of reality transform after death? What is it like to relive memory? What if the afterlife could be a temporary place—what would this place look like?
What resulted is The Postcard: a 46,000 word novel which follows numerous timelines: my grandfather in life and in death; myself in childhood and after my grandfather’s death. The story follows Kenny as he unknowingly traverses the afterlife, revisiting moments in time and memory as the material world unravels around him. In Kenny’s afterlife, time is nonlinear, with the post-death world bleeding into and overlapping with the material world of the living—especially in that place from where the postcard originated. As Kenny hurtles toward a total dissolution of the self, he must grapple with the life he once lead, discovering his own shortcomings (including his failures as a father and his friendships with other flawed men), accept his death, and commit one final act of will on the world of the living before he is able to move on: that is, to send a postcard to his family.
Interwoven with Kenny’s surrealist tale is the memoir of the author, at two pivotal periods in time: 1) her journey to Cuenca, the origin place of the postcard, in search of the impossible---some trace of her grandfather; and 2) the formative moments of her childhood spent at her grandfather Kenny’s house in the Appalachian college town, Frostburg, which at times are also as horrific and surreal as the events experienced from Kenny’s after death perspective. The Postcard is a story of family, identity, and loss told through two unique generational and gendered perspectives. It is about freewill and the way reality is shaped through our perspective as conscious beings. It is about two tales that are intrinsically intertwined: one a story of unsuspecting transferal leading to discovery; and the other a story of intentional seeking leading to the acceptance that some things are just not meant to be known.
For these preliminary drafts, I focused on capturing the essence of the story as I know it, my relationship with Kenny, and his character as a man, teacher, father, and grandfather. I focused, also, on piecing together these seemingly disparate timelines into something cohesive. In future revisions (as the novel draft is still a work in progress), I will be interested in doing additional research to focus on grounding the story in a larger conversation. Uncomfortable themes of white colonialism in brown spaces like Cuenca, Ecuador, pervade this piece. I’m not yet sure how best to address them: what to portray, and what to reveal of the characters’ own biases in relation to the narrator’s. If this story is ever to be published, I imagine that final result will be wildly different from what exists on the page today. I plan, for instance, to at some point hire a sensitivity reader to help me pinpoint uncomfortable truths.
But this work is a start in that direction. Existing works which helped to shape this novel include: George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo; Gabriel García Márquez’s Strange Pilgrims; Ingrid Rojas Contreras’ The Man Who Could Move Clouds; and countless other books, stories, and other media about death, family, or which include magical realist or surrealist themes and motifs. I feel this work might situate well among the autofiction popularly being published by MFA graduates today
Effects of complex spatial patterns on bark beetle-caused tree mortality in northern Arizona
Get PDFBark beetles are native forest insects that cause low levels of tree mortality at endemic population levels and have the potential to cause widespread mortality when populations increase. High stand densities increase competition between trees, increasing tree stress and susceptibility to mortality from bark beetles. Recent silvicultural treatments in northern Arizona create complex spatial patterns, leading to variable individual tree competition within treated stands. However, the effect of variable individual tree competition on mortality from bark beetles is understudied. We examined the effects of tree competition on bark beetle-caused tree mortality in paired treated and untreated stands using randomly located stand-scale plots and paired individual tree-scale plots. Biotic and abiotic data were collected. We asked the following questions: 1. Is there less inter-tree competition around a bark beetle-killed tree compared with a similarly sized live tree? 2. Is there less competition around a bark beetle-killed tree compared with the overall stand-scale competition? 3. Is tree size influencing bark beetle-caused tree mortality? 4. Is site productivity an influencing factor in tree competition and overall bark beetle-caused tree mortality? We calculated differences between treated and untreated stands, individual tree-scale plots, and individual tree- and stand-scale means then analyzed the data using weighted t-tests, and paired and unpaired t-tests. Although few significant differences were found between the paired individual tree-scale plots, between individual tree-scale and stand-scale competition (inferred from stand density index, basal area, and trees per acre), or between treated and untreated stands, there was a notable amount of variation (assessed from the coefficient of variation) in the data and differences within individual stands, which may indicate that reducing stand density does not always reduce susceptibility to bark beetle-caused tree mortality in northern Arizona. Furthermore, they could influence the perception of the relationship between bark beetles and tree competition because our results deviate from historical trends (high densities = susceptibility to bark beetles). This study highlights the importance and need for monitoring, even of well-studied disturbances
Virtual applications in public archaeology: digital platforms, access, and the effects of a pandemic
Get PDFThis thesis explores the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on public archaeology and heritage education in the American Southwest. Digital tools such as 3D photogrammetry modeling, photo galleries, educational videos, and virtual tours are translating experiential archaeology into online visualization and education, encouraging multi-access public engagement. This research focuses on public national monuments in central northern Arizona and includes a statistical analysis of recreational visitation patterns pre and post COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020 and an evaluation of public forum reviews, summarizing pandemic impact during 2020 and 2021. The public can access practical digital solutions to pandemic closures and supplemental web-visualization content through the Walnut Canyon Nine Room Virtual Model Project and educational video curriculum at Elden Pueblo. This thesis uses statistical analysis, public reviews, and digital internship observations to argue that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted routine hands-on public archaeology, but positively affected more use of digital platforms for public engagement; however, multivocal community concerns and technological ethics are necessary considerations in digital archaeology and heritage management
The warped forest: a young woman’s chronology of chronic pain & the healthcare funnel
No full textThe Warped Forest is a collection of creative nonfiction essays that braids research and medical memoir, akin to the work of Katherine Standefer in her debut book Lightning Flowers as well as Sarah Ramey’s The Lady’s Handbook For Her Mysterious Illness and Caren Beilin’s Blackfishing the IUD. This hybrid assortment of long-form essays, medical documents, and poetic vignettes explores the nuanced doctor-patient interface from the injured’s perspective, finding its strength in a variety of forms.
At 22, I experienced my first episode: a radiating bite, angry and gridlocked deep inside my spine. This would become the epicenter of my low back pain (LBP), the localized beginning from which all else spidered out—numbness, tingling, limitations. Barely 23, and the bite moved, fastening itself from my lumbar region into my hip, then knee, then calf. I felt shooting stars, flickering; hornets nesting inside my leg, humming incessantly. Doctors tried X-rays, then an MRI. Two epidural steroids, one surgeon, two osteopaths, eighteen months of physical therapy, two nurse practitioners, one counselor. And counting.
This collection speaks to the dangers of assembly line medical practices, the importance of acknowledging our mind-body connection, and the benefits of collaborative healthcare. My sciatic stars are nothing special—80% of the American population will at some point experience low back pain—and so, my LBP journey is not new or uncharted, but misinformed. And I am lucky, eventually finding effective treatment and thoughtful practitioners.
However, what becomes central to this funnel I experience, as well as a central frustration, is our—humanity’s—widespread lack of knowledge. It’s not a doctor’s incompetence, but the reality that there is too much we don’t know (or ask or test) about chronic pain. Broken bones and ripped skin can take comfort in procedure; aching backs and joints and bodies become experiments. So, within these essays and poems, I consider how place, and displacement, bear upon the body. Because while back pain itself isn’t unusual, living with it as a young person is
Protected and extractive spaces: a political ecological analysis of conservation and mining around the Junín National Reserve, Peru
Get PDFConservation and mining are distinct forms of natural resource management that have dissimilar impacts on environments and communities and represent contrasting ways of understanding the landscape. Convergences of conservation and mining in the same area, moreover, can have complex social-ecological and spatial implications. The Junín National Reserve (RNJ), located in the highland regions of Junín and Pasco in central Peru, is one such case – yet it remains considerably overlooked by existing literature. Using a political ecology framework, this thesis examines how the intersection of conservation and extractivism around the RNJ produces space across the landscape. An actor-oriented approach is utilized to consider how different actors such as Peru’s protected area service, mining corporations, NGOs, regional authorities, and local communities understand and use resources and space. Interviews with diverse actors were conducted and illuminated a web of power-laden relations that extends far beyond the study site. Pervasive entanglements of both conservation and mining with social life (re)produce emergent spaces and conflicting hegemonies throughout the landscape of highland Junín and Pasco. Ultimately, this thesis argues that the spatialities of conservation activity and subsoil mineral extraction serve to co-produce one another. These insights underscore the political nature of resource governance convergence and suggest that social-ecological systems analysis would benefit from critically engaging with production of space perspectives
A qualitative grounded theory examining the interplay between anxiety and self-esteem among female Mexican American adolescents
Get PDFFemale Mexican American adolescents are at an increased risk for experiencing symptoms of anxiety and low self-esteem, which are often undiagnosed and untreated. Research with female Mexican American adolescents on the interplay between anxiety and self-esteem is lacking. This study explores the interplay between self-reported symptoms of anxiety and self-esteem from the perspectives of female Mexican American adolescents and mental health therapists (MHTs) in Arizona. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 adolescents (14-17 years) and qualitative focus groups were conducted with 17 MHTs via Zoom. Data were transcribed verbatim using Trint software, stored and analyzed in ATLAS.ti 8 Windows, and analyzed through grounded theory according to Charmaz. Participant perspectives on the interplay between self-reported symptoms of anxiety and self-esteem were described through six main themes and seven subthemes with majority of participants expressing there is an interplay between anxiety and self-esteem. The interplay can be influenced by external factors, pressure and stress, being perceived by others, and the experience of navigating multiple cultures. Participants discussed strategies to address the interplay between anxiety and self-esteem and suggested positive ways to do so. The identified strategies represent one main theme ‘to feel connected and have meaningful relationships’ and was further broken down into five subthemes: importance of informal and formal supports, enhancing relationships – informal and formal strategies, community and environmental supports, cultural experience, and the need for political action. These findings shed new light into the interplay and treating symptoms of anxiety and low self-esteem among female Mexican American adolescents. Female Mexican American adolescents are more likely to experience symptoms of anxiety than adolescents of other ethnic groups and are at greater risk for experiencing stressors related to socioeconomic status, acculturation, and family stress, yet tend not to receive services. Participants identified the desire for enhancing relationships, supporting connection to peers and community resources, and creating programs and interventions to address symptoms of anxiety and low self-esteem among female Mexican American adolescents. To improve clinical outcomes, perspectives of female Mexican American adolescents should be prioritized in identifying strategies to address symptoms of anxiety and low self-esteem