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1. Introduction to Descriptive Research Administration Statistics using Excel

   https://doi.org/10.13023/NMCQ-8092  

   Wagner, Alex (May 2024, University of Kentucky Libraries)

   This session is a basic introduction to descriptive statistics for research administration professionals. No worries! Excel will be used throughout, nothing will be calculated by hand. Averages (means), medians, standard deviations, correlations and other basic statistical concepts will be explained using only research administration data as context. A sample research administration data set will be provided and Excel will be used to analyze the data. Some sample charts and best practices in creating these charts will also be shown. Again using Excel. This is the perfect session for anyone in research administration whose roles include analyzing data using descriptive statistics. Whether you are new to statistics or whether you can't remember a statistics class you might have taken at some point. Basic knowledge of Excel would be helpful for this session. 

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2. SYMBEXCEL: Automated Analysis and Understanding of Malicious Excel 4.0 Macros

   https://doi.org/10.1109/SP46214.2022.9833765  

   Ruaro, Nicola; Pagani, Fabio; Ortolani, Stefano; Kruegel, Christopher; Vigna, Giovanni (May 2022, 2022 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP))

   Malicious software (malware) poses a significant threat to the security of our networks and users. In the ever-evolving malware landscape, Excel 4.0 Office macros (XL4) have recently become an important attack vector. These macros are often hidden within apparently legitimate documents and under several layers of obfuscation. As such, they are difficult to analyze using static analysis techniques. Moreover, the analysis in a dynamic analysis environment (a sandbox) is challenging because the macros execute correctly only under specific environmental conditions that are not always easy to create. This paper presents SYMBEXCEL, a novel solution that leverages symbolic execution to deobfuscate and analyze Excel 4.0 macros automatically. Our approach proceeds in three stages: (1) The malicious document is parsed and loaded in memory; (2) Our symbolic execution engine executes the XL4 formulas; and (3) Our Engine concretizes any symbolic values encountered during the symbolic exploration, therefore evaluating the execution of each macro under a broad range of (meaningful) environment configurations. SYMBEXCEL significantly outperforms existing deobfuscation tools, allowing us to reliably extract Indicators of Compromise (IoCs) and other critical forensics information. Our experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach, especially in deobfuscating novel malicious documents that make heavy use of environment variables and are often not identified by commercial anti-virus software. 

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3. Advancing with age: Older adults excel in comprehension of novel metaphors.

   https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000836  

   Ichien, Nicholas; Stamenković, Dušan; Whatley, Mary C; Castel, Alan D; Holyoak, Keith J (June 2024, Psychology and Aging)

   Older adults may experience certain forms of cognitive decline, but some forms of semantic memory remain intact in older age. To address how metaphor comprehension changes with age and whether metaphor comprehension relies more heavily on analogical reasoning (supported by fluid intelligence) or on conceptual combination (supported by crystalized intelligence), we compared performance of younger and older adults. In two experiments, healthy older adults (54–88 years) scored lower on a measure of fluid intelligence (Ravens Progressive Matrices) but higher on a measure of crystalized intelligence (Mill Hill Vocabulary Test) relative to younger adults (18–34 years). Groups were equally successful in comprehending relatively easy metaphors (Study 1), but older adults showed a striking advantage over younger adults for novel literary metaphors (Study 2). Mixed-effects modeling showed that measures of fluid and crystalized intelligence each made separable contributions to metaphor comprehension for both groups, but older adults relied more on crystalized intelligence than did younger adults. These age-related dissociations clarify cognitive effects of aging and highlight the importance of crystalized intelligence for metaphor comprehension in both younger and older adults. 

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4. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR MAML TO EXCEL IN FEW-SHOT CLASSIFICATION

   Ye, Han-Jia; Chao, Wei-Lun (April 2022, International Conference on Learning Representations)
5. Preparing 8th Grade Students to Excel in Physical Science: HandsOn Physics (HOP)!

   https://doi.org/10.15695/jstem/v1i1.24  

   Dizbay-Onat, Melike; Wyss, J. Michael (January 2018, The Journal of STEM Outreach)