<p>Habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation threaten the World’s ecosystems and species. These, and other threats, will likely be exacerbated by climate change. Due to a limited budget for conservation, we are forced to prioritize a few areas over others. These places are selected based on their uniqueness and vulnerability. One of the most famous examples is the biodiversity hotspots: areas where large quantities of endemic species meet alarming rates of habitat loss. Most of these places are in the tropics, where species have smaller ranges, diversity is higher, and ecosystems are most threatened.</p><p> Species distributions are useful to understand ecological theory and evaluate extinction risk. Small-ranged species, or those endemic to one place, are more vulnerable to extinction than widely distributed species. However, current range maps often overestimate the distribution of species, including areas that are not within the suitable elevation or habitat for a species. Consequently, assessment of extinction risk using these maps could underestimate vulnerability.</p><p>In order to be effective in our quest to conserve the World’s most important places we must: 1) Translate global and national priorities into practical local actions, 2) Find synergies between biodiversity conservation and human welfare, 3) Evaluate the different dimensions of threats, in order to design effective conservation measures and prepare for future threats, and 4) Improve the methods used to evaluate species’ extinction risk and prioritize areas for conservation. The purpose of this dissertation is to address these points in Colombia and other global biodiversity hotspots.</p><p>In Chapter 2, I identified the global, strategic conservation priorities and then downscaled to practical local actions within the selected priorities in Colombia. I used existing range maps of 171 bird species to identify priority conservation areas that would protect the greatest number of species at risk in Colombia (endemic and small-ranged species). The Western Andes had the highest concentrations of such species—100 in total—but the lowest densities of national parks. I then adjusted the priorities for this region by refining these species ranges by selecting only areas of suitable elevation and remaining habitat. The estimated ranges of these species shrank by 18–100% after accounting for habitat and suitable elevation. Setting conservation priorities on the basis of currently available range maps excluded priority areas in the Western Andes and, by extension, likely elsewhere and for other taxa. By incorporating detailed maps of remaining natural habitats, I made practical recommendations for conservation actions. One recommendation was to restore forest connections to a patch of cloud forest about to become isolated from the main Andes.</p><p>For Chapter 3, I identified areas where bird conservation met ecosystem service protection in the Central Andes of Colombia. Inspired by the November 11th (2011) landslide event near Manizales, and the current poor results of Colombia’s Article 111 of Law 99 of 1993 as a conservation measure in this country, I set out to prioritize conservation and restoration areas where landslide prevention would complement bird conservation in the Central Andes. This area is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, but also one of the most threatened. Using the case of the Rio Blanco Reserve, near Manizales, I identified areas for conservation where endemic and small-range bird diversity was high, and where landslide risk was also high. I further prioritized restoration areas by overlapping these conservation priorities with a forest cover map. Restoring forests in bare areas of high landslide risk and important bird diversity yields benefits for both biodiversity and people. I developed a simple landslide susceptibility model using slope, forest cover, aspect, and stream proximity. Using publicly available bird range maps, refined by elevation, I mapped concentrations of endemic and small-range bird species. I identified 1.54 km2 of potential restoration areas in the Rio Blanco Reserve, and 886 km2 in the Central Andes region. By prioritizing these areas, I facilitate the application of Article 111 which requires local and regional governments to invest in land purchases for the conservation of watersheds.</p><p>Chapter 4 dealt with elevational ranges of montane birds and the impact of lowland deforestation on their ranges in the Western Andes of Colombia, an important biodiversity hotspot. Using point counts and mist-nets, I surveyed six altitudinal transects spanning 2200 to 2800m. Three transects were forested from 2200 to 2800m, and three were partially deforested with forest cover only above 2400m. I compared abundance-weighted mean elevation, minimum elevation, and elevational range width. In addition to analyzing the effect of deforestation on 134 species, I tested its impact within trophic guilds and habitat preference groups. Abundance-weighted mean and minimum elevations were not significantly different between forested and partially deforested transects. Range width was marginally different: as expected, ranges were larger in forested transects. Species in different trophic guilds and habitat preference categories showed different trends. These results suggest that deforestation may affect species’ elevational ranges, even within the forest that remains. Climate change will likely exacerbate harmful impacts of deforestation on species’ elevational distributions. Future conservation strategies need to account for this by protecting connected forest tracts across a wide range of elevations.</p><p> In Chapter 5, I refine the ranges of 726 species from six biodiversity hotspots by suitable elevation and habitat. This set of 172 bird species for the Atlantic Forest, 138 for Central America, 100 for the Western Andes of Colombia, 57 for Madagascar, 102 for Sumatra, and 157 for Southeast Asia met the criteria for range size, endemism, threat, and forest use. Of these 586 species, the Red List deems 108 to be threatened: 15 critically endangered, 29 endangered, and 64 vulnerable. When ranges are refined by elevational limits and remaining forest cover, 10 of those critically endangered species have ranges < 100km2, but then so do 2 endangered species, seven vulnerable, and eight non-threatened ones. Similarly, 4 critically endangered species, 20 endangered, and 12 vulnerable species have refined ranges < 5000km2, but so do 66 non-threatened species. A striking 89% of these species I have classified in higher threat categories have <50% of their refined ranges inside protected areas. I find that for 43% of the species I assessed, refined range sizes fall within thresholds that typically have higher threat categories than their current assignments. I recommend these species for closer inspection by those who assess risk. These assessments are not only important on a species-by-species basis, but by combining distributions of threatened species, I create maps of conservation priorities. They differ significantly from those created from unrefined ranges.</p> / Dissertation

This diploma thesis deals with the biodiversity hotspots - high biodiversity areas with a large proportion of endemic species, which also has already lost a significant part of its natural habitat. The historical development of the biodiversity hotspots concept is described, all 34 hotspots is characterized, species diversity and endemism of plants and animals, potential natural vegetation is analysed, as well as threats, anthropogenic impact and conservation considering protected areas, categories I-IV areas of the IUCN protected areas management system, and national parks. A complete digital vector database of national parks was created. Qualitative importance of each hotspot is evaluated using the Myers method and areas of the world with the highest conservation priority are identified. Keywords: biodiversity hotspots, habitat quality, protected areas, national parks

Locating a ligand-binding site is an important first step in structure-guided drug discovery, but current methods typically assess the pocket as a whole, doing little to suggest which regions and interactions are the most important for binding. This thesis introduces Fragment Hotspot Maps, a grid-based method that samples atomic propensities derived from interactions in the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) with simple molecular probes. These maps specifically highlight fragment-binding sites and their corresponding pharmacophores, offering more precision over other binding site prediction methods. The method is validated by scoring the positions of 21 fragment and lead pairs. Fragment atoms are found in the highest scoring parts of the map corresponding to their atom type, with a median percentage rank of 98%. This is reduced to 72% for lead atoms, showing that the method can differentiate between the hotspots, and the warm spots later used during fragment elaboration. For ligand-bound structures, they provide an intuitive visual guide within the binding site, directing medicinal chemists where to grow the molecule and alerting them to suboptimal interactions within the original hit. These calculations are easily accessible through a simple to use web application, which only requires an input PDB structure or code. High scoring specific interactions predicted by the Fragment Hotspot Maps can be used to guide existing computer aided drug discovery methods. The Hotspots Python API has been created to allow these work flows to be executed programmatically through a single Python script. Two of the functions use scores from the Fragment Hotspot Maps to guide virtual screening methods, docking and field-based ligand screening. Docking virtual screening performance is improved by using a constraint selected from the highest scoring polar interaction. The field-based ligand screener uses modified versions of the Fragment Hotspot Maps directly to predict and score the binding pose. This workflow gave comparable results to docking, and for one target, Glucocorticoid receptor (GCR), showed much better results, highlighting its potential as an orthogonal approach. Fragment Hotspot Maps can be used at multiple stages of the drug discovery process, and research into these applications is ongoing. Their utility in the following areas are currently being explored: to assess ligandability for both individual structures and across proteomes, to aid in library design, to assess pockets throughout a molecular dynamics trajectory, to prioritise crystallographic fragment hits and to guide hit-to-lead development.

The theoretical part presents the various international organizations dealing with the security situation in Europe and also the immigration policy of the Czech Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany. Immigration policy in Germany is included on the grounds that in 2015 it was Germany that has become a country facing the greatest influx of migrants, to the point where the number of registered asylum seekers in the local asylum system exceeded 1 million. Germany, unlike the Czech Republic, has long-term experience in the area of asylum and immigration policy. Moreover, it tries to approach the immigration in a positive way, among others in an effort to fill gaps in the labour market. Germany takes providing assistance to people fleeing war as a moral obligation, and urges other countries to show the same solidarity. As a member state of the European Union and other organizations, the Czech Republic must act according to the rules that international communities enforce, thereby it surrenders, to some extent, its sovereignty when taking the relevant decisions. The aim of present work was to determine threats posed by the acceptance of immigrants and to propose ways to minimize these threats. A secondary aim was to compare the system of refugee reception in the Czech Republic and abroad, particularly in the Land of Bavaria, Germany, that the migration wave in 2015 affected the most of all federal states. In order to obtain the documents necessary to achieve the objectives, we started working with the landlord of an accommodation facility intended for applicants of international protection, in Goldbach (Germany). There we tracked the asylum and integration process of accommodated refugees. To compare the approach in the Czech Republic, we chose the progress and development of the Czech project Generation 21 on the resettlement of Iraqi refugees into the country. Additional information was drawn through lectures and panel discussions with experts on this issue. All the data contributed to answering the research question: whether the strategy of the Czech Republic in terms of receiving refugees has any perspective. The chapter "Results" is devoted to the EU's efforts to create a new, more efficient mechanism that would respond more flexibly than the current system of migration and asylum policy in the EU. In May 2015, the EU submitted to its Member States the "European Programme for Migration", that among others proposed so much publicly discussed mechanism of relocation, resettlement, and hotspot system and return policy. In this case, the work evaluated the proposal, using statistical data obtained from the official databases of the EU, and also thanks to the contribution of Czech experts. In addition, this chapter presents statistical data describing the process of migration waves in 2015, which are interlaced with actual data obtained directly from selected immigrants. The first reference to the applicant for international protection in Germany were foreigners from Iraq and Ethiopia, who, a half a year later, were joined by nationals from Syria. The research at the site showed the real functioning of migration and asylum system. 30 % of all asylum applicants from across the EU headed to Germany. The priority of this country was particularly its asylum policy. The Czech Republic, as a transit country with a share of less than 1% of applicants, focused on the control of illegal migration. This position was one of the factors that led to the failure of the project Generation 21. In the course of the operation this project resettled 89 refugees from Iraq, more than half of whom then renounced the asylum in order to travel to Germany. It is the secondary movement of immigrants that is threatening the existence of the Schengen area and points out the unsatisfactory effectiveness of the mechanisms proposed by the EU.

Atropelamentos de animais silvestres são a principal causa de mortalidade de origem antrópica de vertebrados terrestres. Além da mortalidade direta, as populações animais também são fragmentadas e isoladas por rodovias, que podem atuar como filtro ou barreira ao movimento da fauna. A indicação e implementação de medidas mitigadoras têm sido uma estratégia cada vez importante, ampliando a necessidade de desenvolver e qualificar métodos para avaliar os impactos e indicar áreas prioritárias. Essa tese de doutorado foi concebida com a preocupação de investigar certos temas relacionados à mortalidade e fragmentação por rodovias. No primeiro capítulo, discuto como a qualificação da pesquisa e do licenciamento podem colaborar com este cenário. No segundo capítulo, apresento uma revisão de diferentes métodos de análise espacial utilizados para testar se existe a presença de agregações de atropelamento e para localizar onde estão estas agregações. No terceiro capítulo, apresento os resultados de um modelo de simulação baseado em indivíduos, que mostra que a localização dos hotspots muda ao longo do tempo em função da diminuição das populações próximas a trechos de rodovias com maior letalidade, o que torna a mortalidade per capita um melhor indicador da necessidade de mitigação. No último capítulo avaliei o efeito da rede de rodovias na fragmentação de habitat nos campos sulinos do Rio Grande do Sul, e demonstro que considerar o efeito da rede de rodovias como uma barreira aos movimentos da fauna modifica de forma severa a percepção que temos sobre o status de conservação dos campos. Esta tese pode ter dois tipos principais de implicações: a aplicação direta dos resultados aqui apresentados nas avaliações dos impactos de rodovias e planejamento da mitigação, e a influência em novos rumos de pesquisa na ecologia de rodovias. / Roads are responsible for a series of impacts to ecosystems, and some authors point out that road-kills are the main cause of terrestrial vertebrate mortality from anthropogenic causes. Besides direct mortality, wildlife populations are also fragmented and isolated by roads, as they can act as barriers or filters to wildlife movement. Implementing mitigation measures had become an important conservation strategy, but the need to prioritize areas brings the urgency to develop and qualify methods to assess road impacts and indicate priority areas. This doctorate thesis was developed with the concern of investigating subjects related to wildlife mortality and fragmentation by roads. In the first chapter I discuss how qualifying research and environmental licensing may contribute in this scenario. In the second chapter, I present a review of different methods of spatial analysis that have been used to test the presence of clustering on road-kill data and to identify road-kill hotpots. In the third chapter, I present the results of simulations of an individual-based model that shows that the location of road-kill hotspots change in time due to population depression near high-risk road segments; making per capita mortality a better indicator of the need for mitigation. In the last chapter, I evaluated the effect of the road network on habitat fragmentation of South Brazilian grasslands in Rio Grande do Sul State, and I show that considering the road network as a barrier changes severely our perception about grassland conservation status. This thesis may have two types of implications: the direct applications of the results presented here in environmental impact assessment of roads and in mitigation planning, or the influence on new paths to study road effects on wildlife.

Atropelamentos de animais silvestres são a principal causa de mortalidade de origem antrópica de vertebrados terrestres. Além da mortalidade direta, as populações animais também são fragmentadas e isoladas por rodovias, que podem atuar como filtro ou barreira ao movimento da fauna. A indicação e implementação de medidas mitigadoras têm sido uma estratégia cada vez importante, ampliando a necessidade de desenvolver e qualificar métodos para avaliar os impactos e indicar áreas prioritárias. Essa tese de doutorado foi concebida com a preocupação de investigar certos temas relacionados à mortalidade e fragmentação por rodovias. No primeiro capítulo, discuto como a qualificação da pesquisa e do licenciamento podem colaborar com este cenário. No segundo capítulo, apresento uma revisão de diferentes métodos de análise espacial utilizados para testar se existe a presença de agregações de atropelamento e para localizar onde estão estas agregações. No terceiro capítulo, apresento os resultados de um modelo de simulação baseado em indivíduos, que mostra que a localização dos hotspots muda ao longo do tempo em função da diminuição das populações próximas a trechos de rodovias com maior letalidade, o que torna a mortalidade per capita um melhor indicador da necessidade de mitigação. No último capítulo avaliei o efeito da rede de rodovias na fragmentação de habitat nos campos sulinos do Rio Grande do Sul, e demonstro que considerar o efeito da rede de rodovias como uma barreira aos movimentos da fauna modifica de forma severa a percepção que temos sobre o status de conservação dos campos. Esta tese pode ter dois tipos principais de implicações: a aplicação direta dos resultados aqui apresentados nas avaliações dos impactos de rodovias e planejamento da mitigação, e a influência em novos rumos de pesquisa na ecologia de rodovias. / Roads are responsible for a series of impacts to ecosystems, and some authors point out that road-kills are the main cause of terrestrial vertebrate mortality from anthropogenic causes. Besides direct mortality, wildlife populations are also fragmented and isolated by roads, as they can act as barriers or filters to wildlife movement. Implementing mitigation measures had become an important conservation strategy, but the need to prioritize areas brings the urgency to develop and qualify methods to assess road impacts and indicate priority areas. This doctorate thesis was developed with the concern of investigating subjects related to wildlife mortality and fragmentation by roads. In the first chapter I discuss how qualifying research and environmental licensing may contribute in this scenario. In the second chapter, I present a review of different methods of spatial analysis that have been used to test the presence of clustering on road-kill data and to identify road-kill hotpots. In the third chapter, I present the results of simulations of an individual-based model that shows that the location of road-kill hotspots change in time due to population depression near high-risk road segments; making per capita mortality a better indicator of the need for mitigation. In the last chapter, I evaluated the effect of the road network on habitat fragmentation of South Brazilian grasslands in Rio Grande do Sul State, and I show that considering the road network as a barrier changes severely our perception about grassland conservation status. This thesis may have two types of implications: the direct applications of the results presented here in environmental impact assessment of roads and in mitigation planning, or the influence on new paths to study road effects on wildlife.

Atropelamentos de animais silvestres são a principal causa de mortalidade de origem antrópica de vertebrados terrestres. Além da mortalidade direta, as populações animais também são fragmentadas e isoladas por rodovias, que podem atuar como filtro ou barreira ao movimento da fauna. A indicação e implementação de medidas mitigadoras têm sido uma estratégia cada vez importante, ampliando a necessidade de desenvolver e qualificar métodos para avaliar os impactos e indicar áreas prioritárias. Essa tese de doutorado foi concebida com a preocupação de investigar certos temas relacionados à mortalidade e fragmentação por rodovias. No primeiro capítulo, discuto como a qualificação da pesquisa e do licenciamento podem colaborar com este cenário. No segundo capítulo, apresento uma revisão de diferentes métodos de análise espacial utilizados para testar se existe a presença de agregações de atropelamento e para localizar onde estão estas agregações. No terceiro capítulo, apresento os resultados de um modelo de simulação baseado em indivíduos, que mostra que a localização dos hotspots muda ao longo do tempo em função da diminuição das populações próximas a trechos de rodovias com maior letalidade, o que torna a mortalidade per capita um melhor indicador da necessidade de mitigação. No último capítulo avaliei o efeito da rede de rodovias na fragmentação de habitat nos campos sulinos do Rio Grande do Sul, e demonstro que considerar o efeito da rede de rodovias como uma barreira aos movimentos da fauna modifica de forma severa a percepção que temos sobre o status de conservação dos campos. Esta tese pode ter dois tipos principais de implicações: a aplicação direta dos resultados aqui apresentados nas avaliações dos impactos de rodovias e planejamento da mitigação, e a influência em novos rumos de pesquisa na ecologia de rodovias. / Roads are responsible for a series of impacts to ecosystems, and some authors point out that road-kills are the main cause of terrestrial vertebrate mortality from anthropogenic causes. Besides direct mortality, wildlife populations are also fragmented and isolated by roads, as they can act as barriers or filters to wildlife movement. Implementing mitigation measures had become an important conservation strategy, but the need to prioritize areas brings the urgency to develop and qualify methods to assess road impacts and indicate priority areas. This doctorate thesis was developed with the concern of investigating subjects related to wildlife mortality and fragmentation by roads. In the first chapter I discuss how qualifying research and environmental licensing may contribute in this scenario. In the second chapter, I present a review of different methods of spatial analysis that have been used to test the presence of clustering on road-kill data and to identify road-kill hotpots. In the third chapter, I present the results of simulations of an individual-based model that shows that the location of road-kill hotspots change in time due to population depression near high-risk road segments; making per capita mortality a better indicator of the need for mitigation. In the last chapter, I evaluated the effect of the road network on habitat fragmentation of South Brazilian grasslands in Rio Grande do Sul State, and I show that considering the road network as a barrier changes severely our perception about grassland conservation status. This thesis may have two types of implications: the direct applications of the results presented here in environmental impact assessment of roads and in mitigation planning, or the influence on new paths to study road effects on wildlife.

Submitted by (ana.araujo@ufrpe.br) on 2016-08-12T14:38:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Rosilda Benecio de Souza.pdf: 1979743 bytes, checksum: 6e2df03119bd441a84297bc73d2befeb (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-12T14:38:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rosilda Benecio de Souza.pdf: 1979743 bytes, checksum: 6e2df03119bd441a84297bc73d2befeb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-02-17 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / Vegetation and forest fires affect millions of hectares of Brazilian land and have severe ecological, social and economic consequences, including emissions of green house gases, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion etc. To establish efficient methods for prevention and suppression of fires, which is crucial for preservation of environment, it is necessarily to know the spatial location and time of occurrence of fires, burned area, why they occur, and how they initiate and propagate. Several satellite systems are currently available for monitoring different fire characteristics: dry areas that are susceptible to fire, actively flaming fires, burned area and smoke, and trace gas emissions. Hot pixels are satellite image pixels with infrared intensity corresponding to burning vegetation. Depending of image resolution, a hot pixel may represent one fire, or a part of a larger fire. Together with other satellite data, the number of hot pixels can be used to estimate the burned area and predict environmental and economics consequences. In this work we study the dynamics of hot pixels detected in Brazil by satellite NOAA-12 during the period 1998-2007, using the method Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis, which serves to detect and quantify multifractal properties of non-stationary temporal series. We calculate the generalized Hurst exponent h(q), Renyi exponent (q) and singularity spectrum f( ). The results show the existence of power-law long-term correlations that are described by a hierarchy of scaling exponents, which is the consequence of an underlying multifractal stochastic process. Based on this empirical result we also show that the Multifractal Cascade Model can be used to produce synthetic data for hot pixels dynamics. The observed multifractal property of temporal series of hot pixels should be incorporated in theoretical models and computer simulations of the fire dynamics and related phenomena. / Queimadas e incêndios florestais atingem milhões de hectares de terras brasileiras, causando graves consequências ecológicas, sociais e econômicas, incluindo emissões de gases do efeito estufa, perda de biodiversidade, erosão do solo, etc. Para estabelecer métodos eficientes para prevenção e supressão do fogo, importantes para proteção do meio ambiente, é necessário conhecer onde, quando e porquê os incêndios ocorrem, a área queimada e como se iniciam e se propagam. Atualmente, vários satélites são disponibilizados para monitoramento das características do fogo: áreas de risco, incêndios atualmente ativos, área queimada, fumaça e emissão de gases. Focos de calor são pixels na imagem de satélite, com intensidade infravermelha correspondente a vegetação queimada. Dependendo da resolução, um foco pode representar uma queimada ou parte de um incêndio maior. O número de focos combinado a outras informações fornecidas pelos satélites pode ser usado para estimar a área queimada, e prever as consequências ecológicas e econômicas. Neste trabalho, foi estudada a dinâmica de focos de calor detectados no Brasil pelo satélite NOAA-12, durante o período 1998-2007, utilizando o método Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis, desenvolvido para detecção e quantificação das propriedades mutifractais das séries temporais não estacionárias. Foram calculados o expoente generalizado de Hurst h(q), o expoente Renyi (q) e o espectro de singularidade f( ). Os resultados mostraram a existência de correlações de longo alcance, caracterizadas por uma hierarquia dos expoentes de escala, conseqüência de um processo estocástico multifractal. Baseado nos resultados empíricos, também foram mostrados que o Multifractal Cascade Model pode ser usado para gerar séries artificiais dos focos de calor. A propriedade multifractal da dinâmica dos focos de calor poderá ser incorporada em modelos teóricos e simulações computacionais de dinâmica de incêndios e fenômenos relacionados.

With the advent of technology scaling lifetime reliability is an emerging threat in high-performance and deadline-critical systems. High on-chip thermal gradients accelerates localised thermal elevations (hotspots) which increases the aging rate of the semiconductor devices. As a result, reliable operation of the processors has become a challenging task. Therefore, cost effective schemes for estimating temperature and reliability are crucial. In this work we present a reliability estimation scheme that is based on a light-weight temperature estimation technique that monitors hardware events. Unlike previously pro- posed hardware counter-based approaches, our approach involves a linear-temporal-feedback estimator, taking into account the effects of thermal inertia. The proposed approach shows an average absolute error of We then present a counter-based technique to estimate the thermal accelerated aging factor (TAAF), which is an indicator of lifetime reliability. Results demonstrate that the estimation error is within [−3, +5].

Users and providers benefit considerably from public Wi-Fi hotspots. Users receive wireless Internet access and providers draw new prospective customers. While users are able to enjoy the ease of Wi-Fi Internet hotspot networks in public more conveniently, they are more susceptible to a particular type of fraud and identify theft, referred to as evil twin attack (ETA). Through setting up an ETA, an attacker can intercept sensitive data such as passwords or credit card information by snooping into the communication links. Since the objective of free open (unencrypted) public Wi-Fi hotspots is to provide ease of accessibility and to entice customers, no security mechanisms are in place. The public’s lack of awareness of the security threat posed by free open public Wi-Fi hotspots makes this problem even more heinous. Client-side systems to help wireless users detect and protect themselves from evil twin attacks in public Wi-Fi hotspots are in great need. In this dissertation report, the author explored the problem of the need for client-side detection systems that will allow wireless users to help protect their data from evil twin attacks while using free open public Wi-Fi. The client-side evil twin attack detection system constructed as part of this dissertation linked the gap between the need for wireless security in free open public Wi-Fi hotspots and limitations in existing client-side evil twin attack detection solutions. Based on design science research (DSR) literature, Hevner’s seven guidelines of DSR, Peffer’s design science research methodology (DSRM), Gregor’s IS design theory, and Hossen & Wenyuan’s (2014) study evaluation methodology, the author developed design principles, procedures and specifications to guide the construction, implementation, and evaluation of a prototype client-side evil twin attack detection artifact. The client-side evil twin attack detection system was evaluated in a hotel public Wi-Fi environment. The goal of this research was to develop a more effective, efficient, and practical client-side detection system for wireless users to independently detect and protect themselves from mobile evil twin attacks while using free open public Wi-Fi hotspots. The experimental results showed that client-side evil twin attack detection system can effectively detect and protect users from mobile evil twin AP attacks in public Wi-Fi hotspots in various real-world scenarios despite time delay caused by many factors.