Shooting crime is a serious public health problem in the US. The analysis of any historical crime data reveals that crime is non-randomly distributed in time and space. Based on this notion, hot spots policing has gained its momentum to effectively predict future crime locations. Recent studies; however, pointed out that traditional hot spots policing occasionally predict rare crimes such as homicides and shootings due to their less frequent recurring counts in a given place and time (specifically for shorter time periods such as weeks and months). Given this context, we developed a new shooting prediction system (SHOPS) to explore whether recent dynamic/mobility activity patterns of known violent individuals increase the prediction of short-term fatal and non-fatal shootings compared to the traditional hot spots policing. Findings suggest that SHOPS predicts fatal and non-fatal shooting locations more precisely by identifying fewer hotspot locations. Policy implications of the study were discussed in the conclusion section.
The principles of minimalist design are evident in much of the technology we use today. This is especially the case with mobile applications. The most successful of which attempt to minimize the amount of user input needed to provide users with the information they are seeking. Although many mobile applications use data gathered by in-system activity such as a GPS to minimize input from users—some systems require user input, such is the case with roommate matching. This study utilizes the RoomUP mobile application as a testbed to define minimal criteria that can be used to gather user input and produce a compatible roommate match. Participatory design with prospective student users is used to reduce the number of variables and provide recommendations for a minimalistic user interface. The resulting prototype is then used to verify that it meets design goals and supports a satisfactory user experience.
Virtual Reality’s recent commercialization has created a potential for its implementation into classroom and training environments. Past adoptions of this technology and their efficacy are explored in the literature review. This paper outlines the possibility of combining current VR technology with custom hardware allowing the user to interact with physical and mechanical object within virtual worlds and its implication on the future of kinesthetic learning and training in hazardous or expensive scenarios.
The healthcare industry is thriving and the abundant amount of data involved raises call for help
relating to managing and maintaining them. It becomes a hassle to keep the data in it’s required
place and to pull and retrieve whenever necessary. The search for a proper data mining technique
to enhance the process is always appreciated and encouraged. Our era is controlled by the
upcoming technologies that are fast paced and yield great results. There is always a scope for
improvement and optimization. Every individual from every generation has been an avid user of
mobile phone and its applications. Healthcare facilities have slowly begun to depend on applications and technologies associated and supported by mobile phones and other networking platforms in order to have everyone within the facility and also the patients who have ties to the facility have access to the information that they are entitled to have.
With the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and stress among young adult populations, adaptive and innovative treatment options
must be considered for the future. While there are various approaches to mental health treatment, art therapy is one traditional
method that has been used to treat the symptoms of mental health disorders across various health contexts and populations. Some art
therapists have even integrated information and communication technologies (ICTs) into their practices. With these factors in mind
and considering the prominence of ICTs use among student populations, this study seeks to understand how the immersion and
presence afforded by one such technology, virtual reality (VR), can impact the outcomes of art therapy practices. Through the use of
an arts-based VR application, Tilt Brush, this study compares traditional art therapy methods as they are employed in and outside of
VR. Through the comparison of self-reported measures, we can better understand the possibilities and effectiveness of art therapy
practices delivered via Tilt Brush VR.
Hypervisor-based hardware virtualization- also known as the first phase of virtualization uses Virtual Machines (VM) to provide better hardware resource utilization and application isolation. A VM provides some level of portability, but still requires a full operating system (OS) with all the binaries and libraries required to run the service it hosts. Therefore, moving an application from a development to a production environment for instance is no different than moving them between two Physical Machines (PM). Container-based virtualization-sometimes known as the next phase of virtualization addresses some of these limitations by providing virtualization at the OS level. Docker is an open source engine launched in 2013 by a company called Docker, Inc. Docker is used to manage the lifecycle of containers. Using containers, it is no longer necessary to dedicate an entire VM to an application in order to provide isolation, thus saving OS license costs. In this project we plan to formulate a generic model that can be used to fine tune a container-based setup for maximum performance benefit.
In this paper, I study how general technology users perceive the dark web. In this study,
I conducted research on what these users know about dark web technologies, activities,
content, and how their perceptions changed after a first-hand experience on dark web
marketplaces and sites. I aimed to tackle myths and misconceptions that users had about the
dark web and present new data in order to educate and bring awareness to the dark web to
those who may never have the opportunity or reason to come upon this information on their
own. It is my hope that the findings of this paper and the experiences of the participants will
foster the spread of knowledge and awareness to both the threats and benefits that the dark
web contributes to society.
In this paper, I study how medical records are being used by cyber-criminal for financial gain and patient manipulation. I studied what kind of criminal organizations may be involved in these operations and confirmed incidents from the black market. I conducted a literature review which generated several sources from online databases. I determined five major criminal factions that are most likely to use compromised medical records, determined possible motivations and looked at several cases of medical records being sold on the black market. The healthcare industry’s digitization efforts have left it tremendously ill-equip to combat emerging threats. It is evident that the healthcare industry must take extreme measures in order to counteract the evolving threat landscape. It is my hope that the findings of paper will being to shed light on these issues and help healthcare professionals understand what kind of threats the industry is facing.
