Ethanol accumulation during severe drought may signal tree vulnerability to detection and attack by bark beetles

Treesearch

Rick G. Kelsey; D. Gallego; F.J. Sánchez-Garcia; J.A. Pajares

2014-01-01

Tree mortality from temperature-driven drought is occurring in forests around the world, often in conjunction with bark beetle outbreaks when carbon allocation to tree defense declines. Physiological metrics for detecting stressed trees with enhanced vulnerability prior to bark beetle attacks remain elusive. Ethanol, water, monoterpene concentrations, and composition...

Quantitative patterns in drone wars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia-Bernardo, Javier; Dodds, Peter Sheridan; Johnson, Neil F.

2016-02-01

Attacks by drones (i.e., unmanned combat air vehicles) continue to generate heated political and ethical debates. Here we examine the quantitative nature of drone attacks, focusing on how their intensity and frequency compare with that of other forms of human conflict. Instead of the power-law distribution found recently for insurgent and terrorist attacks, the severity of attacks is more akin to lognormal and exponential distributions, suggesting that the dynamics underlying drone attacks lie beyond these other forms of human conflict. We find that the pattern in the timing of attacks is consistent with one side having almost complete control, an important if expected result. We show that these novel features can be reproduced and understood using a generative mathematical model in which resource allocation to the dominant side is regulated through a feedback loop.

A chance-constrained programming model to allocate wildfire initial attack resources for a fire season

Treesearch

Yu Wei; Michael Bevers; Erin Belval; Benjamin Bird

2015-01-01

This research developed a chance-constrained two-stage stochastic programming model to support wildfire initial attack resource acquisition and location on a planning unit for a fire season. Fire growth constraints account for the interaction between fire perimeter growth and construction to prevent overestimation of resource requirements. We used this model to examine...

Importance of resin ducts in reducing ponderosa pine mortality from bark beetle attack.

PubMed

Kane, Jeffrey M; Kolb, Thomas E

2010-11-01

The relative importance of growth and defense to tree mortality during drought and bark beetle attacks is poorly understood. We addressed this issue by comparing growth and defense characteristics between 25 pairs of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) trees that survived and trees that died from drought-associated bark beetle attacks in forests of northern Arizona, USA. The three major findings of our research were: (1) xylem resin ducts in live trees were >10% larger (diameter), >25% denser (no. of resin ducts mm(-2)), and composed >50% more area per unit ring growth than dead trees; (2) measures of defense, such as resin duct production (no. of resin ducts year(-1)) and the proportion of xylem ring area to resin ducts, not growth, were the best model parameters of ponderosa pine mortality; and (3) most correlations between annual variation in growth and resin duct characteristics were positive suggesting that conditions conducive to growth also increase resin duct production. Our results suggest that trees that survive drought and subsequent bark beetle attacks invest more carbon in resin defense than trees that die, and that carbon allocation to resin ducts is a more important determinant of tree mortality than allocation to radial growth.

Allocating resources to large wildland fires: a model with stochastic production rates

Treesearch

Romain Mees; David Strauss

1992-01-01

Wildland fires that grow out of the initial attack phase are responsible for most of the damage and burned area. We model the allocation of fire suppression resources (ground crews, engines, bulldozers, and airdrops) to these large fires. The fireline at a given future time is partitioned into homogeneous segments on the basis of fuel type, available resources, risk,...

DETERMINING ELECTRONIC AND CYBER ATTACK RISK LEVEL FOR UNMANNED AIRCRAFT IN A CONTESTED ENVIRONMENT

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-08-01

AIR COMMAND AND STAFF COLLEGE AIR UNIVERSITY DETERMINING ELECTRONIC AND CYBER ATTACK RISK LEVEL FOR UNMANNED AIRCRAFT IN A CONTESTED ENVIRONMENT...iii ABSTRACT During operations in a contested air environment, adversary electronic warfare (EW) and cyber-attack capability will pose a high...10 Russian Federation Electronic Warfare Systems ...................................................12 Chinese Cyber Warfare Program

A new way to improve the robustness of complex communication networks by allocating redundancy links

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Chunhui; Peng, Yunfeng; Zhuo, Yue; Tang, Jieying; Long, Keping

2012-03-01

We investigate the robustness of complex communication networks on allocating redundancy links. The protecting key nodes (PKN) strategy is proposed to improve the robustness of complex communication networks against intentional attack. Our numerical simulations show that allocating a few redundant links among key nodes using the PKN strategy will significantly increase the robustness of scale-free complex networks. We have also theoretically proved and demonstrated the effectiveness of the PKN strategy. We expect that our work will help achieve a better understanding of communication networks.

Command Disaggregation Attack and Mitigation in Industrial Internet of Things

PubMed Central

Zhu, Pei-Dong; Hu, Yi-Fan; Cui, Peng-Shuai; Zhang, Yan

2017-01-01

A cyber-physical attack in the industrial Internet of Things can cause severe damage to physical system. In this paper, we focus on the command disaggregation attack, wherein attackers modify disaggregated commands by intruding command aggregators like programmable logic controllers, and then maliciously manipulate the physical process. It is necessary to investigate these attacks, analyze their impact on the physical process, and seek effective detection mechanisms. We depict two different types of command disaggregation attack modes: (1) the command sequence is disordered and (2) disaggregated sub-commands are allocated to wrong actuators. We describe three attack models to implement these modes with going undetected by existing detection methods. A novel and effective framework is provided to detect command disaggregation attacks. The framework utilizes the correlations among two-tier command sequences, including commands from the output of central controller and sub-commands from the input of actuators, to detect attacks before disruptions occur. We have designed components of the framework and explain how to mine and use these correlations to detect attacks. We present two case studies to validate different levels of impact from various attack models and the effectiveness of the detection framework. Finally, we discuss how to enhance the detection framework. PMID:29065461

Command Disaggregation Attack and Mitigation in Industrial Internet of Things.

PubMed

Xun, Peng; Zhu, Pei-Dong; Hu, Yi-Fan; Cui, Peng-Shuai; Zhang, Yan

2017-10-21

A cyber-physical attack in the industrial Internet of Things can cause severe damage to physical system. In this paper, we focus on the command disaggregation attack, wherein attackers modify disaggregated commands by intruding command aggregators like programmable logic controllers, and then maliciously manipulate the physical process. It is necessary to investigate these attacks, analyze their impact on the physical process, and seek effective detection mechanisms. We depict two different types of command disaggregation attack modes: (1) the command sequence is disordered and (2) disaggregated sub-commands are allocated to wrong actuators. We describe three attack models to implement these modes with going undetected by existing detection methods. A novel and effective framework is provided to detect command disaggregation attacks. The framework utilizes the correlations among two-tier command sequences, including commands from the output of central controller and sub-commands from the input of actuators, to detect attacks before disruptions occur. We have designed components of the framework and explain how to mine and use these correlations to detect attacks. We present two case studies to validate different levels of impact from various attack models and the effectiveness of the detection framework. Finally, we discuss how to enhance the detection framework.

Optimal resource allocation for defense of targets based on differing measures of attractiveness.

PubMed

Bier, Vicki M; Haphuriwat, Naraphorn; Menoyo, Jaime; Zimmerman, Rae; Culpen, Alison M

2008-06-01

This article describes the results of applying a rigorous computational model to the problem of the optimal defensive resource allocation among potential terrorist targets. In particular, our study explores how the optimal budget allocation depends on the cost effectiveness of security investments, the defender's valuations of the various targets, and the extent of the defender's uncertainty about the attacker's target valuations. We use expected property damage, expected fatalities, and two metrics of critical infrastructure (airports and bridges) as our measures of target attractiveness. Our results show that the cost effectiveness of security investment has a large impact on the optimal budget allocation. Also, different measures of target attractiveness yield different optimal budget allocations, emphasizing the importance of developing more realistic terrorist objective functions for use in budget allocation decisions for homeland security.

Secure Data Aggregation in Wireless Sensor Network-Fujisaki Okamoto(FO) Authentication Scheme against Sybil Attack.

PubMed

Nirmal Raja, K; Maraline Beno, M

2017-07-01

In the wireless sensor network(WSN) security is a major issue. There are several network security schemes proposed in research. In the network, malicious nodes obstruct the performance of the network. The network can be vulnerable by Sybil attack. When a node illicitly assertions multiple identities or claims fake IDs, the WSN grieves from an attack named Sybil attack. This attack threatens wireless sensor network in data aggregation, synchronizing system, routing, fair resource allocation and misbehavior detection. Henceforth, the research is carried out to prevent the Sybil attack and increase the performance of the network. This paper presents the novel security mechanism and Fujisaki Okamoto algorithm and also application of the work. The Fujisaki-Okamoto (FO) algorithm is ID based cryptographic scheme and gives strong authentication against Sybil attack. By using Network simulator2 (NS2) the scheme is simulated. In this proposed scheme broadcasting key, time taken for different key sizes, energy consumption, Packet delivery ratio, Throughput were analyzed.

United Kingdom transient ischaemic attack (UK-TIA) aspirin trial: interim results

PubMed Central

1988-01-01

From 1979 to 1985, 2435 patients thought to have had a transient ischaemic attack or minor ischaemic stroke were allocated at random to receive long term blind treatment with either aspirin 600 mg twice daily (n=815), aspirin 300 mg once daily (806), or placebo (814). Treatment continued with about 85% compliance until September 1986 (mean four years). The odds of suffering one or more of four categories of event—namely, non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal major stroke, vascular death, or non-vascular death—were 18% less in the two groups allocated to receive aspirin than in the group allocated to receive placebo (2p=0·01). The more relevant but less frequent composite event of disabling stroke or vascular death was reduced by only 7%; this reduction was not significantly different from zero, but nor was it significantly different from a 25% reduction. There was no definite difference between responses to the 300 mg and 1200 mg daily doses, except that the lower dose was significantly less gastrotoxic. PMID:2894232

77 FR 37944 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; International Securities Exchange, LLC; Notice of Filing of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-25

... same class as an affiliate if CBOE uses in that class an allocation algorithm that allocates electronic... in a particular options class an allocation algorithm that does not allocate electronic trades, in... bid or offer. Unlike the CBOE, the ISE allocation algorithm does not provide for the potential...

Security under Uncertainty: Adaptive Attackers Are More Challenging to Human Defenders than Random Attackers

PubMed Central

Moisan, Frédéric; Gonzalez, Cleotilde

2017-01-01

Game Theory is a common approach used to understand attacker and defender motives, strategies, and allocation of limited security resources. For example, many defense algorithms are based on game-theoretic solutions that conclude that randomization of defense actions assures unpredictability, creating difficulties for a human attacker. However, many game-theoretic solutions often rely on idealized assumptions of decision making that underplay the role of human cognition and information uncertainty. The consequence is that we know little about how effective these algorithms are against human players. Using a simplified security game, we study the type of attack strategy and the uncertainty about an attacker's strategy in a laboratory experiment where participants play the role of defenders against a simulated attacker. Our goal is to compare a human defender's behavior in three levels of uncertainty (Information Level: Certain, Risky, Uncertain) and three types of attacker's strategy (Attacker's strategy: Minimax, Random, Adaptive) in a between-subjects experimental design. Best defense performance is achieved when defenders play against a minimax and a random attack strategy compared to an adaptive strategy. Furthermore, when payoffs are certain, defenders are as efficient against random attack strategy as they are against an adaptive strategy, but when payoffs are uncertain, defenders have most difficulties defending against an adaptive attacker compared to a random attacker. We conclude that given conditions of uncertainty in many security problems, defense algorithms would be more efficient if they are adaptive to the attacker actions, taking advantage of the attacker's human inefficiencies. PMID:28690557

A decision framework for managing risk to airports from terrorist attack.

PubMed

Shafieezadeh, Abdollah; Cha, Eun J; Ellingwood, Bruce R

2015-02-01

This article presents an asset-level security risk management framework to assist stakeholders of critical assets with allocating limited budgets for enhancing their safety and security against terrorist attack. The proposed framework models the security system of an asset, considers various threat scenarios, and models the sequential decision framework of attackers during the attack. Its novel contributions are the introduction of the notion of partial neutralization of attackers by defenders, estimation of total loss from successful, partially successful, and unsuccessful actions of attackers at various stages of an attack, and inclusion of the effects of these losses on the choices made by terrorists at various stages of the attack. The application of the proposed method is demonstrated in an example dealing with security risk management of a U.S. commercial airport, in which a set of plausible threat scenarios and risk mitigation options are considered. It is found that a combination of providing blast-resistant cargo containers and a video surveillance system on the airport perimeter fence is the best option based on minimum expected life-cycle cost considering a 10-year service period. © 2014 Society for Risk Analysis.

Dimensional structure of bodily panic attack symptoms and their specific connections to panic cognitions, anxiety sensitivity and claustrophobic fears.

PubMed

Drenckhan, I; Glöckner-Rist, A; Rist, F; Richter, J; Gloster, A T; Fehm, L; Lang, T; Alpers, G W; Hamm, A O; Fydrich, T; Kircher, T; Arolt, V; Deckert, J; Ströhle, A; Wittchen, H-U; Gerlach, A L

2015-06-01

Previous studies of the dimensional structure of panic attack symptoms have mostly identified a respiratory and a vestibular/mixed somatic dimension. Evidence for additional dimensions such as a cardiac dimension and the allocation of several of the panic attack symptom criteria is less consistent. Clarifying the dimensional structure of the panic attack symptoms should help to specify the relationship of potential risk factors like anxiety sensitivity and fear of suffocation to the experience of panic attacks and the development of panic disorder. In an outpatient multicentre study 350 panic patients with agoraphobia rated the intensity of each of the ten DSM-IV bodily symptoms during a typical panic attack. The factor structure of these data was investigated with nonlinear confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The identified bodily symptom dimensions were related to panic cognitions, anxiety sensitivity and fear of suffocation by means of nonlinear structural equation modelling (SEM). CFA indicated a respiratory, a vestibular/mixed somatic and a cardiac dimension of the bodily symptom criteria. These three factors were differentially associated with specific panic cognitions, different anxiety sensitivity facets and suffocation fear. Taking into account the dimensional structure of panic attack symptoms may help to increase the specificity of the associations between the experience of panic attack symptoms and various panic related constructs.

Methods, media, and systems for detecting attack on a digital processing device

DOEpatents

Stolfo, Salvatore J.; Li, Wei-Jen; Keromylis, Angelos D.; Androulaki, Elli

2014-07-22

Methods, media, and systems for detecting attack are provided. In some embodiments, the methods include: comparing at least part of a document to a static detection model; determining whether attacking code is included in the document based on the comparison of the document to the static detection model; executing at least part of the document; determining whether attacking code is included in the document based on the execution of the at least part of the document; and if attacking code is determined to be included in the document based on at least one of the comparison of the document to the static detection model and the execution of the at least part of the document, reporting the presence of an attack. In some embodiments, the methods include: selecting a data segment in at least one portion of an electronic document; determining whether the arbitrarily selected data segment can be altered without causing the electronic document to result in an error when processed by a corresponding program; in response to determining that the arbitrarily selected data segment can be altered, arbitrarily altering the data segment in the at least one portion of the electronic document to produce an altered electronic document; and determining whether the corresponding program produces an error state when the altered electronic document is processed by the corresponding program.

Methods, media, and systems for detecting attack on a digital processing device

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stolfo, Salvatore J.; Li, Wei-Jen; Keromytis, Angelos D.

Methods, media, and systems for detecting attack are provided. In some embodiments, the methods include: comparing at least part of a document to a static detection model; determining whether attacking code is included in the document based on the comparison of the document to the static detection model; executing at least part of the document; determining whether attacking code is included in the document based on the execution of the at least part of the document; and if attacking code is determined to be included in the document based on at least one of the comparison of the document tomore » the static detection model and the execution of the at least part of the document, reporting the presence of an attack. In some embodiments, the methods include: selecting a data segment in at least one portion of an electronic document; determining whether the arbitrarily selected data segment can be altered without causing the electronic document to result in an error when processed by a corresponding program; in response to determining that the arbitrarily selected data segment can be altered, arbitrarily altering the data segment in the at least one portion of the electronic document to produce an altered electronic document; and determining whether the corresponding program produces an error state when the altered electronic document is processed by the corresponding program.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Canavan, G.H.

This note studies the impact of maximizing the stability index rather than minimizing the first strike cost in choosing offensive missile allocations. It does so in the context of a model in which exchanges between vulnerable missile forces are modeled probabilistically, converted into first and second strike costs through approximations to the value target sets at risk, and the stability index is taken to be their ratio. The value of the allocation that minimizes the first strike cost for both attack preferences are derived analytically. The former recovers results derived earlier. The latter leads to an optimum at unity allocationmore » for which the stability index is determined analytically. For values of the attack preference greater than about unity, maximizing the stability index increases the cost of striking first 10--15%. For smaller values of the attack preference, maximizing the index increases the second strike cost a similar amount. Both are stabilizing, so if both sides could be trusted to target on missiles in order to minimize damage to value and maximize stability, the stability index for vulnerable missiles could be increased by about 15%. However, that would increase the cost to the first striker by about 15%. It is unclear why--having decided to strike--he would do so in a way that would increase damage to himself.« less

Autonomous self-organizing resource manager for multiple networked platforms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, James F., III

2002-08-01

A fuzzy logic based expert system for resource management has been developed that automatically allocates electronic attack (EA) resources in real-time over many dissimilar autonomous naval platforms defending their group against attackers. The platforms can be very general, e.g., ships, planes, robots, land based facilities, etc. Potential foes the platforms deal with can also be general. This paper provides an overview of the resource manager including the four fuzzy decision trees that make up the resource manager; the fuzzy EA model; genetic algorithm based optimization; co-evolutionary data mining through gaming; and mathematical, computational and hardware based validation. Methods of automatically designing new multi-platform EA techniques are considered. The expert system runs on each defending platform rendering it an autonomous system requiring no human intervention. There is no commanding platform. Instead the platforms work cooperatively as a function of battlespace geometry; sensor data such as range, bearing, ID, uncertainty measures for sensor output; intelligence reports; etc. Computational experiments will show the defending networked platform's ability to self- organize. The platforms' ability to self-organize is illustrated through the output of the scenario generator, a software package that automates the underlying data mining problem and creates a computer movie of the platforms' interaction for evaluation.

Dynamically allocating sets of fine-grained processors to running computations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Middleton, David

1988-01-01

Researchers explore an approach to using general purpose parallel computers which involves mapping hardware resources onto computations instead of mapping computations onto hardware. Problems such as processor allocation, task scheduling and load balancing, which have traditionally proven to be challenging, change significantly under this approach and may become amenable to new attacks. Researchers describe the implementation of this approach used by the FFP Machine whose computation and communication resources are repeatedly partitioned into disjoint groups that match the needs of available tasks from moment to moment. Several consequences of this system are examined.

Cotton defense induction patterns under spatially, temporally and quantitatively varying herbivory levels

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The optimal defense theory (ODT) predicts that plants allocate defense compounds to their tissues depending on its value and the likelihood of herbivore attack. Whereas ODT has been confirmed for static damage levels it remains poorly understood if ODT holds true for defense organization of inducibl...

Two Reconfigurable Flight-Control Design Methods: Robust Servomechanism and Control Allocation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burken, John J.; Lu, Ping; Wu, Zheng-Lu; Bahm, Cathy

2001-01-01

Two methods for control system reconfiguration have been investigated. The first method is a robust servomechanism control approach (optimal tracking problem) that is a generalization of the classical proportional-plus-integral control to multiple input-multiple output systems. The second method is a control-allocation approach based on a quadratic programming formulation. A globally convergent fixed-point iteration algorithm has been developed to make onboard implementation of this method feasible. These methods have been applied to reconfigurable entry flight control design for the X-33 vehicle. Examples presented demonstrate simultaneous tracking of angle-of-attack and roll angle commands during failures of the fight body flap actuator. Although simulations demonstrate success of the first method in most cases, the control-allocation method appears to provide uniformly better performance in all cases.

Resource allocation in Copaifera langsdorffii (Fabaceae): how supra-annual fruiting affects plant traits and herbivory?

PubMed

da Costa, Fernanda Vieira; de Queiroz, Antônio César Medeiros; Maia, Maria Luiza Bicalho; Júnior, Ronaldo Reis; Fagundes, Marcilio

2016-06-01

Plants have limited resources to invest in reproduction, vegetative growth and defense against herbivorous. Trade-off in resources allocation promotes changes in plant traits that may affect higher trophic levels. In this study, we evaluated the trade-off effect between years of high and low fruiting on the investment of resources for growth and defense, and their indirect effects on herbivory in Copaifera langsdorffii. Our questions were: (i) does the resource investment on reproduction causes a depletion in vegetative growth as predicted by the Carbon/Nutrient Balance hypothesis (CNBH), resulting in more availability of resources to be allocated for defense?, (ii) does the variation in resource allocation for growth and defense between years of high and low fruiting leads to indirect changes in herbivory? Thirty-five trees located in a Cerrado area were monitored during 2008 (year of high fruiting) and 2009 (year of no fruiting) to evaluate the differential investment in vegetative traits (biomass, growth and number of ramifications), plant defense (tannin concentration and plant hypersensitivity) and herbivory (galling attack and folivory). According to our first question, we observed that in the fruiting year, woody biomass negatively affected tannin concentration, indicating that fruit production restricted the resources that could be invested both in growth as in defense. In the same way, we observed an inter-annual variation in herbivorous attack, and found that plants with higher leaf biomass and tannin concentration, experienced higher galling attack and hypersensitive reaction, regardless years. These findings suggested that plants’ resistance to herbivory is a good proxy of plant defense and an effective defense strategy for C. langsdorffii, besides the evidence of indirect responses of the third trophic level, as postulated by the second question. In summary, the supra-annual fruiting pattern promoted several changes on plant development, demonstrating the importance of evaluating different plant traits when characterizing the vegetative investment. As expected by theory, the trade-off in resource allocation favored changes in defense compounds production and patterns of herbivory. The understanding of this important element of insect-plant interactions will be fundamental to decipher coevolutionary life histories and interactions between plant species reproduction and herbivory. Besides that, only through long-term studies we will be able to build models and develop more accurate forecasts about the factors that trigger the bottom-up effect on herbivory performance, as well the top-down effect of herbivores on plant trait evolution.

Resource allocation to defense and growth are driven by different responses to generalist and specialist herbivory in an invasive plant

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Invasive plants often have novel biotic interactions in their introduced ranges. These interactions, including less frequent herbivore attacks, may convey a competitive advantage over native plants. However, herbivores vary in their responses to different plant defenses and plants vary their defense...

Linear Quadratic Tracking Design for a Generic Transport Aircraft with Structural Load Constraints

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burken, John J.; Frost, Susan A.; Taylor, Brian R.

2011-01-01

When designing control laws for systems with constraints added to the tracking performance, control allocation methods can be utilized. Control allocations methods are used when there are more command inputs than controlled variables. Constraints that require allocators are such task as; surface saturation limits, structural load limits, drag reduction constraints or actuator failures. Most transport aircraft have many actuated surfaces compared to the three controlled variables (such as angle of attack, roll rate & angle of side slip). To distribute the control effort among the redundant set of actuators a fixed mixer approach can be utilized or online control allocation techniques. The benefit of an online allocator is that constraints can be considered in the design whereas the fixed mixer cannot. However, an online control allocator mixer has a disadvantage of not guaranteeing a surface schedule, which can then produce ill defined loads on the aircraft. The load uncertainty and complexity has prevented some controller designs from using advanced allocation techniques. This paper considers actuator redundancy management for a class of over actuated systems with real-time structural load limits using linear quadratic tracking applied to the generic transport model. A roll maneuver example of an artificial load limit constraint is shown and compared to the same no load limitation maneuver.

Propagating Mixed Uncertainties in Cyber Attacker Payoffs: Exploration of Two-Phase Monte Carlo Sampling and Probability Bounds Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chatterjee, Samrat; Tipireddy, Ramakrishna; Oster, Matthew R.

Securing cyber-systems on a continual basis against a multitude of adverse events is a challenging undertaking. Game-theoretic approaches, that model actions of strategic decision-makers, are increasingly being applied to address cybersecurity resource allocation challenges. Such game-based models account for multiple player actions and represent cyber attacker payoffs mostly as point utility estimates. Since a cyber-attacker’s payoff generation mechanism is largely unknown, appropriate representation and propagation of uncertainty is a critical task. In this paper we expand on prior work and focus on operationalizing the probabilistic uncertainty quantification framework, for a notional cyber system, through: 1) representation of uncertain attacker andmore » system-related modeling variables as probability distributions and mathematical intervals, and 2) exploration of uncertainty propagation techniques including two-phase Monte Carlo sampling and probability bounds analysis.« less

Correlations and forecast of death tolls in the Syrian conflict.

PubMed

Fujita, Kazuki; Shinomoto, Shigeru; Rocha, Luis E C

2017-11-16

The Syrian armed conflict has been ongoing since 2011 and has already caused thousands of deaths. The analysis of death tolls helps to understand the dynamics of the conflict and to better allocate resources and aid to the affected areas. In this article, we use information on the daily number of deaths to study temporal and spatial correlations in the data, and exploit this information to forecast events of deaths. We found that the number of violent deaths per day in Syria varies more widely than that in England in which non-violent deaths dominate. We have identified strong positive auto-correlations in Syrian cities and non-trivial cross-correlations across some of them. The results indicate synchronization in the number of deaths at different times and locations, suggesting respectively that local attacks are followed by more attacks at subsequent days and that coordinated attacks may also take place across different locations. Thus the analysis of high temporal resolution data across multiple cities makes it possible to infer attack strategies, warn potential occurrence of future events, and hopefully avoid further deaths.

Cyber Security Threats to Safety-Critical, Space-Based Infrastructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, C. W.; Atencia Yepez, A.

2012-01-01

Space-based systems play an important role within national critical infrastructures. They are being integrated into advanced air-traffic management applications, rail signalling systems, energy distribution software etc. Unfortunately, the end users of communications, location sensing and timing applications often fail to understand that these infrastructures are vulnerable to a wide range of security threats. The following pages focus on concerns associated with potential cyber-attacks. These are important because future attacks may invalidate many of the safety assumptions that support the provision of critical space-based services. These safety assumptions are based on standard forms of hazard analysis that ignore cyber-security considerations This is a significant limitation when, for instance, security attacks can simultaneously exploit multiple vulnerabilities in a manner that would never occur without a deliberate enemy seeking to damage space based systems and ground infrastructures. We address this concern through the development of a combined safety and security risk assessment methodology. The aim is to identify attack scenarios that justify the allocation of additional design resources so that safety barriers can be strengthened to increase our resilience against security threats.

Forest biogeochemistry in response to drought

Treesearch

William H. Schlesinger; Michael C. Dietze; Robert B. Jackson; Richard P. Phillips; Charles C. Rhoades; Lindsey E. Rustad; James M. Vose

2015-01-01

Trees alter their use and allocation of nutrients in response to drought, and changes in soil nutrient cycling and trace gas flux (N2O and CH4) are observed when experimental drought is imposed on forests. In extreme droughts, trees are increasingly susceptible to attack by pests and pathogens, which can lead to major changes in nutrient flux to the soil....

Protecting water and wastewater infrastructure from cyber attacks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panguluri, Srinivas; Phillips, William; Cusimano, John

2011-12-01

Multiple organizations over the years have collected and analyzed data on cyber attacks and they all agree on one conclusion: cyber attacks are real and can cause significant damages. This paper presents some recent statistics on cyber attacks and resulting damages. Water and wastewater utilities must adopt countermeasures to prevent or minimize the damage in case of such attacks. Many unique challenges are faced by the water and wastewater industry while selecting and implementing security countermeasures; the key challenges are: 1) the increasing interconnection of their business and control system networks, 2) large variation of proprietary industrial control equipment utilized, 3) multitude of cross-sector cyber-security standards, and 4) the differences in the equipment vendor's approaches to meet these security standards. The utilities can meet these challenges by voluntarily selecting and adopting security standards, conducting a gap analysis, performing vulnerability/risk analysis, and undertaking countermeasures that best meets their security and organizational requirements. Utilities should optimally utilize their limited resources to prepare and implement necessary programs that are designed to increase cyber-security over the years. Implementing cyber security does not necessarily have to be expensive, substantial improvements can be accomplished through policy, procedure, training and awareness. Utilities can also get creative and allocate more funding through annual budgets and reduce dependence upon capital improvement programs to achieve improvements in cyber-security.

Crow Ressurection: The Future of Airborne Electronic Attack

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

strike assets by attempting to gain and maintain control of the electromagnetic spectrum. 15. SUBJECT TERMS 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17...receiving his commission through Officer Training School in 2000, Major Howard served as an RC-135V/W RIVET JOINT EWO at Offutt AFB, Nebraska...significant Airborne Electronic Attack challenges in protecting strike assets by attempting to gain and maintain control of the electromagnetic spectrum

Toward a mechanistic modeling of nitrogen limitation on vegetation dynamics.

PubMed

Xu, Chonggang; Fisher, Rosie; Wullschleger, Stan D; Wilson, Cathy J; Cai, Michael; McDowell, Nate G

2012-01-01

Nitrogen is a dominant regulator of vegetation dynamics, net primary production, and terrestrial carbon cycles; however, most ecosystem models use a rather simplistic relationship between leaf nitrogen content and photosynthetic capacity. Such an approach does not consider how patterns of nitrogen allocation may change with differences in light intensity, growing-season temperature and CO(2) concentration. To account for this known variability in nitrogen-photosynthesis relationships, we develop a mechanistic nitrogen allocation model based on a trade-off of nitrogen allocated between growth and storage, and an optimization of nitrogen allocated among light capture, electron transport, carboxylation, and respiration. The developed model is able to predict the acclimation of photosynthetic capacity to changes in CO(2) concentration, temperature, and radiation when evaluated against published data of V(c,max) (maximum carboxylation rate) and J(max) (maximum electron transport rate). A sensitivity analysis of the model for herbaceous plants, deciduous and evergreen trees implies that elevated CO(2) concentrations lead to lower allocation of nitrogen to carboxylation but higher allocation to storage. Higher growing-season temperatures cause lower allocation of nitrogen to carboxylation, due to higher nitrogen requirements for light capture pigments and for storage. Lower levels of radiation have a much stronger effect on allocation of nitrogen to carboxylation for herbaceous plants than for trees, resulting from higher nitrogen requirements for light capture for herbaceous plants. As far as we know, this is the first model of complete nitrogen allocation that simultaneously considers nitrogen allocation to light capture, electron transport, carboxylation, respiration and storage, and the responses of each to altered environmental conditions. We expect this model could potentially improve our confidence in simulations of carbon-nitrogen interactions and the vegetation feedbacks to climate in Earth system models.

Toward a Mechanistic Modeling of Nitrogen Limitation on Vegetation Dynamics

PubMed Central

Xu, Chonggang; Fisher, Rosie; Wullschleger, Stan D.; Wilson, Cathy J.; Cai, Michael; McDowell, Nate G.

2012-01-01

Nitrogen is a dominant regulator of vegetation dynamics, net primary production, and terrestrial carbon cycles; however, most ecosystem models use a rather simplistic relationship between leaf nitrogen content and photosynthetic capacity. Such an approach does not consider how patterns of nitrogen allocation may change with differences in light intensity, growing-season temperature and CO2 concentration. To account for this known variability in nitrogen-photosynthesis relationships, we develop a mechanistic nitrogen allocation model based on a trade-off of nitrogen allocated between growth and storage, and an optimization of nitrogen allocated among light capture, electron transport, carboxylation, and respiration. The developed model is able to predict the acclimation of photosynthetic capacity to changes in CO2 concentration, temperature, and radiation when evaluated against published data of Vc,max (maximum carboxylation rate) and Jmax (maximum electron transport rate). A sensitivity analysis of the model for herbaceous plants, deciduous and evergreen trees implies that elevated CO2 concentrations lead to lower allocation of nitrogen to carboxylation but higher allocation to storage. Higher growing-season temperatures cause lower allocation of nitrogen to carboxylation, due to higher nitrogen requirements for light capture pigments and for storage. Lower levels of radiation have a much stronger effect on allocation of nitrogen to carboxylation for herbaceous plants than for trees, resulting from higher nitrogen requirements for light capture for herbaceous plants. As far as we know, this is the first model of complete nitrogen allocation that simultaneously considers nitrogen allocation to light capture, electron transport, carboxylation, respiration and storage, and the responses of each to altered environmental conditions. We expect this model could potentially improve our confidence in simulations of carbon-nitrogen interactions and the vegetation feedbacks to climate in Earth system models. PMID:22649564

PACE: Proactively Secure Accumulo with Cryptographic Enforcement

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-05-27

Abstract—Cloud-hosted databases have many compelling ben- efits, including high availability , flexible resource allocation, and resiliency to attack...infrastructure to the cloud. This move is motivated by the cloud’s increased availability , flexibility, and resilience [1]. Most importantly, the cloud enables...a level of availability and performance that would be impossible for many companies to achieve using their own infrastructure. For example, using a

76 FR 32392 - Notice of Allocation Availability (NOAA) Inviting Applications for the CY 2011 Allocation Round...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-06

... Availability (NOAA) Inviting Applications for the CY 2011 Allocation Round of the New Markets Tax Credit... charts) in electronic form (see Section IV.D. of this NOAA for more details). Applications must meet all eligibility and other requirements and deadlines, as applicable, set forth in this NOAA. Allocation applicants...

A computerized, self-administered questionnaire to evaluate posttraumatic stress among firefighters after the World Trade Center collapse.

PubMed

Corrigan, Malachy; McWilliams, Rita; Kelly, Kerry J; Niles, Justin; Cammarata, Claire; Jones, Kristina; Wartenberg, Daniel; Hallman, William K; Kipen, Howard M; Glass, Lara; Schorr, John K; Feirstein, Ira; Prezant, David J

2009-11-01

We sought to determine the frequency of psychological symptoms and elevated posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) risk among New York City firefighters after the World Trade Center (WTC) attack and whether these measures were associated with Counseling Services Unit (CSU) use or mental health-related medical leave over the first 2.5 years after the attack. Shortly after the WTC attack, a computerized, binary-response screening questionnaire was administered. Exposure assessment included WTC arrival time and "loss of a co-worker while working at the collapse." We determined elevated PTSD risk using thresholds derived from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision, and a sensitivity-specificity analysis. Of 8487 participants, 76% reported at least 1 symptom, 1016 (12%) met criteria for elevated PTSD risk, and 2389 (28%) self-referred to the CSU, a 5-fold increase from before the attack. Higher scores were associated with CSU use, functional job impairment, and mental health-related medical leave. Exposure-response gradients were significant for all outcomes. This screening tool effectively identified elevated PTSD risk, higher CSU use, and functional impairment among firefighters and therefore may be useful in allocating scarce postdisaster mental health resources.

B vitamins in patients with recent transient ischaemic attack or stroke in the VITAmins TO Prevent Stroke (VITATOPS) trial: a randomised, double-blind, parallel, placebo-controlled trial.

PubMed

2010-09-01

Epidemiological studies suggest that raised plasma concentrations of total homocysteine might be a risk factor for major vascular events. Whether lowering total homocysteine with B vitamins prevents major vascular events in patients with previous stroke or transient ischaemic attack is unknown. We aimed to assess whether the addition of once-daily supplements of B vitamins to usual medical care would lower total homocysteine and reduce the combined incidence of non-fatal stroke, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and death attributable to vascular causes in patients with recent stroke or transient ischaemic attack of the brain or eye. In this randomised, double-blind, parallel, placebo-controlled trial, we assigned patients with recent stroke or transient ischaemic attack (within the past 7 months) from 123 medical centres in 20 countries to receive one tablet daily of placebo or B vitamins (2 mg folic acid, 25 mg vitamin B6, and 0.5 mg vitamin B12). Patients were randomly allocated by means of a central 24-h telephone service or an interactive website, and allocation was by use of random permuted blocks stratified by hospital. Participants, clinicians, carers, and investigators who assessed outcomes were masked to the assigned intervention. The primary endpoint was the composite of stroke, myocardial infarction, or vascular death. All patients randomly allocated to a group were included in the analysis of the primary endpoint. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00097669, and Current Controlled Trials, ISRCTN74743444. Between Nov 19, 1998, and Dec 31, 2008, 8164 patients were randomly assigned to receive B vitamins (n=4089) or placebo (n=4075). Patients were followed up for a median duration of 3.4 years (IQR 2.0-5.5). 616 (15%) patients assigned to B vitamins and 678 (17%) assigned to placebo reached the primary endpoint (risk ratio [RR] 0.91, 95% CI 0.82 to 1.00, p=0.05; absolute risk reduction 1.56%, -0.01 to 3.16). There were no unexpected serious adverse reactions and no significant differences in common adverse effects between the treatment groups. Daily administration of folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 to patients with recent stroke or transient ischaemic attack was safe but did not seem to be more effective than placebo in reducing the incidence of major vascular events. These results do not support the use of B vitamins to prevent recurrent stroke. The results of ongoing trials and an individual patient data meta-analysis will add statistical power and precision to present estimates of the effect of B vitamins. Australia National Health and Medical Research Council, UK Medical Research Council, Singapore Biomedical Research Council, Singapore National Medical Research Council, Australia National Heart Foundation, Royal Perth Hospital Medical Research Foundation, and Health Department of Western Australia. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tactical Determinants of Setting Zone in Elite Men'S Volleyball

PubMed Central

Afonso, Jose; Esteves, Francisca; Araújo, Rui; Thomas, Luke; Mesquita, Isabel

2012-01-01

The interactions between two opposing teams lead to the emergence of unique game patterns. In volleyball, attack efficacy emerges as the strongest predictor of the final result and thus it becomes of foremost importance to understand which game patterns afford the attaining of higher attack efficacies. These rely on the quality of the setting action. In turn, the serve and the serve reception constrain the setter's actions and the attacker's efficacy. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine predictors of the setting zone in elite-level men's volleyball. Thirty-one matches of the 2007 World Cup were analyzed, in total 5117 rallies. The dependent variable was the setting zone, and the independent variables were the server player, serve type, serve direction, serve depth, reception zone, receiver player and reception type. Multinomial logistic regression was applied, in order to obtain the estimated likelihood of occurrence of the dependent variable, based on the values of the independent variables (p < 0.05). Only the serve direction showed not to be predictive of the setting zone. Concerning the remaining variables, the tennis jump serve, serves from the middle-player, deep serves, reception near the endline or sidelines, reception by the zone 4 attackers when in defensive zone, and low reception all proved to impair the quality of reception, demanding the setter to play more often in the not acceptable setting zone. Results suggest that, at this level, practice of serve-reception should preferably cover the deep tennis jump serve, and attempt to afford the libero more opportunities to receive. By focusing on the variables with the most predictive power, performers may better allocate their attention towards the most pertinent cues at each moment. Knowledge of these interactive models provides valuable insights into the dynamics of the action sequences, affording coaches important information and guidance. Key pointsA set of key variables interact and allow predicting the setting zone, an important variable in determining attack efficacy in high-level men's volleyball.The tennis jump serve, deep serves, receptions near the endline or sidelines, serves from the middle-players, receptions by the zone 4 attackers when in defensive zone, and low reception enhance the utilization of non-ideal setting zones.By focusing on the variables with the most predictive power, performers may better allocate their attention towards the most pertinent cues at each moment.Knowledge of these interactive models provides valuable insights into the dynamics of the action sequences, affording coaches important information and guidance. PMID:24149123

Pandemic influenza-implications for critical care resources in Australia and New Zealand.

PubMed

Anderson, Therese A; Hart, Graeme K; Kainer, Marion A

2003-09-01

To quantify resource requirements (additional beds and ventilator capacity), for critical care services in the event of pandemic influenza. Cross-sectional survey about existing and potential critical care resources. Participants comprised 156 of the 176 Australasian (Australia and New Zealand) critical care units on the database of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS) Research Centre for Critical Care Resources. The Meltzer, Cox and Fukuda model was adapted to map a range of influenza attack rate estimates for hospitalisation and episodes likely to require intensive care and to predict critical care admission rates and bed day requirements. Estimations of ventilation rates were based on those for community-acquired pneumonia. The estimated extra number of persons requiring hospitalisation ranged from 8,455 (10% attack rate) to 150,087 (45% attack rate). The estimated number of additional admissions to critical care units ranged from 423 (5% admission rate, 10% attack rate) to 37,522 (25% admission rate, 45% attack rate). The potential number of required intensive care bed days ranged from 846 bed days (2 day length of stay, 10% attack rate) to 375,220 bed days (10 day length of stay, 45% attack rate). The number of persons likely to require mechanical ventilation ranged from 106 (25% of projected critical care admissions, 10% attack rate) to 28,142 (75% of projected critical care admissions, 45% attack rate). An additional 1,195 emergency ventilator beds were identified in public sector and 248 in private sector hospitals. Cancellation of elective surgery could release a potential 76,402 intensive care bed days (per annum), but in the event of pandemic influenza, 31,150 bed days could be required over an 8- to 12-week period. Australasian critical care services would be overwhelmed in the event of pandemic influenza. More work is required in relation to modelling, contingency plans, and resource allocation.

The potential economic burden of Zika in the continental United States.

PubMed

Lee, Bruce Y; Alfaro-Murillo, Jorge A; Parpia, Alyssa S; Asti, Lindsey; Wedlock, Patrick T; Hotez, Peter J; Galvani, Alison P

2017-04-01

As the Zika virus epidemic continues to spread internationally, countries such as the United States must determine how much to invest in prevention, control, and response. Fundamental to these decisions is quantifying the potential economic burden of Zika under different scenarios. To inform such decision making, our team developed a computational model to forecast the potential economic burden of Zika across six states in the US (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) which are at greatest risk of Zika emergence, under a wide range of attack rates, scenarios and circumstances. In order to accommodate a wide range of possibilities, different scenarios explored the effects of varying the attack rate from 0.01% to 10%. Across the six states, an attack rate of 0.01% is estimated to cost $183.4 million to society ($117.1 million in direct medical costs and $66.3 million in productivity losses), 0.025% would result in $198.6 million ($119.4 million and $79.2 million), 0.10% would result in $274.6 million ($130.8 million and $143.8 million) and 1% would result in $1.2 billion ($268.0 million and $919.2 million). Our model and study show how direct medical costs, Medicaid costs, productivity losses, and total costs to society may vary with different attack rates across the six states and the circumstances at which they may exceed certain thresholds (e.g., Zika prevention and control funding allocations that are being debated by the US government). A Zika attack rate of 0.3% across the six states at greatest risk of Zika infection, would result in total costs that exceed $0.5 billion, an attack rate of 1% would exceed $1 billion, and an attack rate of 2% would exceed $2 billion.

Multi-Gigabit Free-Space Optical Data Communication and Network System

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-01

IR), Ultraviolet ( UV ), Laser Transceiver, Adaptive Beam Tracking, Electronic Attack (EA), Cyber Attack, Multipoint-to-Multipoint Network, Adaptive...FileName.pptx Free Space Optical Datalink Timeline Phase 1 Point-to-point demonstration 2012 Future Adaptive optic & Quantum Cascade Laser

Cyber Power: Attack and Defense Lessons from Land, Sea, and Air Power

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-06-01

over defense for a long time to come. The logical conclusion is that effective electronic and cyber defense are impossible. However, in...air attack with sufficient accuracy and warning time to mount an effective defense. 3 The 1...considering the suddenness of the attack, it is unlikely that the enemy would have time enough to parry the blow effectively either in the air or from the

Influence of temperature on patch residence time in parasitoids: physiological and behavioural mechanisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moiroux, Joffrey; Abram, Paul K.; Louâpre, Philippe; Barrette, Maryse; Brodeur, Jacques; Boivin, Guy

2016-04-01

Patch time allocation has received much attention in the context of optimal foraging theory, including the effect of environmental variables. We investigated the direct role of temperature on patch time allocation by parasitoids through physiological and behavioural mechanisms and its indirect role via changes in sex allocation and behavioural defences of the hosts. We compared the influence of foraging temperature on patch residence time between an egg parasitoid, Trichogramma euproctidis, and an aphid parasitoid, Aphidius ervi. The latter attacks hosts that are able to actively defend themselves, and may thus indirectly influence patch time allocation of the parasitoid. Patch residence time decreased with an increase in temperature in both species. The increased activity levels with warming, as evidenced by the increase in walking speed, partially explained these variations, but other mechanisms were involved. In T. euproctidis, the ability to externally discriminate parasitised hosts decreased at low temperature, resulting in a longer patch residence time. Changes in sex allocation with temperature did not explain changes in patch time allocation in this species. For A. ervi, we observed that aphids frequently escaped at intermediate temperature and defended themselves aggressively at high temperature, but displayed few defence mechanisms at low temperature. These defensive behaviours resulted in a decreased patch residence time for the parasitoid and partly explained the fact that A. ervi remained for a shorter time at the intermediate and high temperatures than at the lowest temperature. Our results suggest that global warming may affect host-parasitoid interactions through complex mechanisms including both direct and indirect effects on parasitoid patch time allocation.

LOTUS 1-2-3 and Decision Support: Allocating the Monograph Budget.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perry-Holmes, Claudia

1985-01-01

Describes the use of electronic spreadsheet software for library decision support systems using personal computers. Discussion covers templates, formulas for allocating the materials budget, LOTUS 1-2-3 and budget allocations, choosing a formula, the spreadsheet itself, graphing capabilities, and advantages and disadvantages of templates. Six…

Web Forms and Untraceable DDoS Attacks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jakobsson, Markus; Menczer, Filippo

We analyze a Web vulnerability that allows an attacker to perform an email-based attack on selected victims, using standard scripts and agents. What differentiates the attack we describe from other, already known forms of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks is that an attacker does not need to infiltrate the network in any manner - as is normally required to launch a DDoS attack. Thus, we see this type of attack as a poor man's DDoS. Not only is the attack easy to mount, but it is also almost impossible to trace back to the perpetrator. Along with descriptions of our attack, we demonstrate its destructive potential with (limited and contained) experimental results. We illustrate the potential impact of our attack by describing how an attacker can disable an email account by flooding its inbox; block competition during on-line auctions; harm competitors with an on-line presence; disrupt phone service to a given victim; disconnect mobile corporate leaders from their networks; and disrupt electronic elections. Finally, we propose a set of countermeasures that are light-weight, do not require modifications to the infrastructure, and can be deployed in a gradual manner.

42 CFR 495.358 - Cost allocation plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... (CONTINUED) STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATION STANDARDS FOR THE ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD TECHNOLOGY INCENTIVE... acquire HIT equipment and services under this subpart are subject to cost allocation plan requirements in...

0.5-45GHz Simultaneous Transmit and Receive (STAR) Antenna System for Electronic Attack

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-17

0.5-45GHz Simultaneous Transmit and Receive (STAR) Antenna System for Electronic Attack Mohamed Elmansouri, Prathap Valaleprasannakumar, Elie...Colorado, US, 80309 Abstract: A shared antenna aperture for simultaneous transmit and receive (STAR) operating from 0.5 to 45GHz with isolation...50dB over the entire band is discussed. The co-located antenna aperture system is designed across 4 overlapping bands: 0.5-2.5GHz, 2-7GHz, 6-19GHz

Detecting Heap-Spraying Code Injection Attacks in Malicious Web Pages Using Runtime Execution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Younghan; Kim, Hyoungchun; Lee, Donghoon

The growing use of web services is increasing web browser attacks exponentially. Most attacks use a technique called heap spraying because of its high success rate. Heap spraying executes a malicious code without indicating the exact address of the code by copying it into many heap objects. For this reason, the attack has a high potential to succeed if only the vulnerability is exploited. Thus, attackers have recently begun using this technique because it is easy to use JavaScript to allocate the heap memory area. This paper proposes a novel technique that detects heap spraying attacks by executing a heap object in a real environment, irrespective of the version and patch status of the web browser. This runtime execution is used to detect various forms of heap spraying attacks, such as encoding and polymorphism. Heap objects are executed after being filtered on the basis of patterns of heap spraying attacks in order to reduce the overhead of the runtime execution. Patterns of heap spraying attacks are based on analysis of how an web browser accesses benign web sites. The heap objects are executed forcibly by changing the instruction register into the address of them after being loaded into memory. Thus, we can execute the malicious code without having to consider the version and patch status of the browser. An object is considered to contain a malicious code if the execution reaches a call instruction and then the instruction accesses the API of system libraries, such as kernel32.dll and ws_32.dll. To change registers and monitor execution flow, we used a debugger engine. A prototype, named HERAD(HEap spRAying Detector), is implemented and evaluated. In experiments, HERAD detects various forms of exploit code that an emulation cannot detect, and some heap spraying attacks that NOZZLE cannot detect. Although it has an execution overhead, HERAD produces a low number of false alarms. The processing time of several minutes is negligible because our research focuses on detecting heap spraying. This research can be applied to existing systems that collect malicious codes, such as Honeypot.

The effects of folic acid and pyridoxine supplementation on characteristics of migraine attacks in migraine patients with aura: A double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled, clinical trial.

PubMed

Askari, Gholamreza; Nasiri, Morteza; Mozaffari-Khosravi, Hassan; Rezaie, Masod; Bagheri-Bidakhavidi, Mahdieh; Sadeghi, Omid

2017-06-01

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of folic acid alone and in combination with pyridoxine on characteristics of migraine attacks in adult migraine patients with aura. This double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled, clinical trial was conducted on 95 migraine patients with aura (age range 18-65 y) in Isfahan, Islamic Republic of Iran, in 2014. Patients were randomly allocated to receive folic acid (5 mg/d) plus pyridoxine (80 mg/d) or folic acid alone (5 mg/d) or placebo (lactose) for 3 mo. Characteristics of migraine attacks including headache severity, attacks frequency, duration, and headache diary results (HDRs) were obtained for each patient at baseline and at the end of the study. Folic acid plus pyridoxine intake resulted in a significant decrease compared with placebo in headache severity (-2.71 ± 0.08 versus -2.19 ± 0.05; P < 0.001), attack frequency (-3.35 ± 0.09 versus -2.73 ± 0.05; P < 0.001), duration (-7.25 ± 0.17 versus -6.5 ± 0.07; P < 0.001), and HDR (-74.15 ± 0.2 versus -72.73 ± 0.1; P < 0.001). Additionally, the reduction in these characteristics of migraine attacks in the folic acid plus pyridoxine group was significant compared with the group given folic acid alone (P < 0.001). However, these beneficial effects of the combined supplement became nonsignificant for attack duration compared with the folic acid-only and placebo groups after controlling for confounders. Folic acid intake without pyridoxine did not lead to a significant decrease in characteristics of migraine attacks compared with placebo group. Supplementation of folic acid with pyridoxine could decrease the characteristics of migraine attacks including headache severity, attack frequency, and HDR; however, further studies are needed to shed light on the findings of the present study. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Attack Methodology Analysis: Emerging Trends in Computer-Based Attack Methodologies and Their Applicability to Control System Networks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bri Rolston

2005-06-01

Threat characterization is a key component in evaluating the threat faced by control systems. Without a thorough understanding of the threat faced by critical infrastructure networks, adequate resources cannot be allocated or directed effectively to the defense of these systems. Traditional methods of threat analysis focus on identifying the capabilities and motivations of a specific attacker, assessing the value the adversary would place on targeted systems, and deploying defenses according to the threat posed by the potential adversary. Too many effective exploits and tools exist and are easily accessible to anyone with access to an Internet connection, minimal technical skills,more » and a significantly reduced motivational threshold to be able to narrow the field of potential adversaries effectively. Understanding how hackers evaluate new IT security research and incorporate significant new ideas into their own tools provides a means of anticipating how IT systems are most likely to be attacked in the future. This research, Attack Methodology Analysis (AMA), could supply pertinent information on how to detect and stop new types of attacks. Since the exploit methodologies and attack vectors developed in the general Information Technology (IT) arena can be converted for use against control system environments, assessing areas in which cutting edge exploit development and remediation techniques are occurring can provide significance intelligence for control system network exploitation, defense, and a means of assessing threat without identifying specific capabilities of individual opponents. Attack Methodology Analysis begins with the study of what exploit technology and attack methodologies are being developed in the Information Technology (IT) security research community within the black and white hat community. Once a solid understanding of the cutting edge security research is established, emerging trends in attack methodology can be identified and the gap between those threats and the defensive capabilities of control systems can be analyzed. The results of the gap analysis drive changes in the cyber security of critical infrastructure networks to close the gap between current exploits and existing defenses. The analysis also provides defenders with an idea of how threat technology is evolving and how defenses will need to be modified to address these emerging trends.« less

A Computerized, Self-Administered Questionnaire to Evaluate Posttraumatic Stress Among Firefighters After the World Trade Center Collapse

PubMed Central

Corrigan, Malachy; McWilliams, Rita; Kelly, Kerry J.; Niles, Justin; Cammarata, Claire; Jones, Kristina; Wartenberg, Daniel; Hallman, William K.; Kipen, Howard M.; Glass, Lara; Schorr, John K.; Feirstein, Ira

2009-01-01

Objectives. We sought to determine the frequency of psychological symptoms and elevated posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) risk among New York City firefighters after the World Trade Center (WTC) attack and whether these measures were associated with Counseling Services Unit (CSU) use or mental health–related medical leave over the first 2.5 years after the attack. Methods. Shortly after the WTC attack, a computerized, binary-response screening questionnaire was administered. Exposure assessment included WTC arrival time and “loss of a co-worker while working at the collapse.” We determined elevated PTSD risk using thresholds derived from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision, and a sensitivity-specificity analysis. Results. Of 8487 participants, 76% reported at least 1 symptom, 1016 (12%) met criteria for elevated PTSD risk, and 2389 (28%) self-referred to the CSU, a 5-fold increase from before the attack. Higher scores were associated with CSU use, functional job impairment, and mental health–related medical leave. Exposure–response gradients were significant for all outcomes. Conclusions. This screening tool effectively identified elevated PTSD risk, higher CSU use, and functional impairment among firefighters and therefore may be useful in allocating scarce postdisaster mental health resources. PMID:19890176

A negative feedback signal that is triggered by peril curbs honey bee recruitment.

PubMed

Nieh, James C

2010-02-23

Decision making in superorganisms such as honey bee colonies often uses self-organizing behaviors, feedback loops that allow the colony to gather information from multiple individuals and achieve reliable and agile solutions. Honey bees use positive feedback from the waggle dance to allocate colony foraging effort. However, the use of negative feedback signals by superorganisms is poorly understood. I show that conspecific attacks at a food source lead to the production of stop signals, communication that was known to reduce waggle dancing and recruitment but lacked a clear natural trigger. Signalers preferentially targeted nestmates visiting the same food source, on the basis of its odor. During aggressive food competition, attack victims increased signal production by 43 fold. Foragers that attacked competitors or experienced no aggression did not alter signal production. Biting ambush predators also attack foragers at flowers. Simulated biting of foragers or exposure to bee alarm pheromone also elicited signaling (88-fold and 14-fold increases, respectively). This provides the first clear evidence of a negative feedback signal elicited by foraging peril to counteract the positive feedback of the waggle dance. As in intra- and intercellular communication, negative feedback may play an important, though currently underappreciated, role in self-organizing behaviors within superorganisms. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

76 FR 13688 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; C2 Options Exchange, Incorporated; Notice of Filing and Immediate...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-14

... class-by-class basis which electronic allocation algorithm \\6\\ would apply for rotations. Currently Rule... opening price (with multiple quotes and orders being ranked in accordance with the allocation algorithm in... and quotes ranked in accordance with the allocation algorithm in effect for the class). Any remaining...

[Bio-terrorism, bio-defense, bioethics].

PubMed

Kottow, Miguel

2003-01-01

The terrorist attacks launched on September 11, 2001, ignited fear of further aggression with biological weapons, leading to a discourse and allocation of resources for both defensive and dissuasive/ offensive use in order to counteract such threats. Many such measures involved the investigation and production of biological agents, and the public health field has been called upon to participate in these strategic efforts. Participation by health programs is in moral contradiction with military tactics and should be limited to protecting the health of the purportedly threatened population, in itself a difficult task due to the numerous imponderable factors. The additional resources being made available to public health are largely conditioned on their strategic military application, leaving traditional public health care in its chronic state of insufficient funding and non-egalitarian allocation.

Reconfigurable Flight Control Designs With Application to the X-33 Vehicle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burken, John J.; Lu, Ping; Wu, Zhenglu

1999-01-01

Two methods for control system reconfiguration have been investigated. The first method is a robust servomechanism control approach (optimal tracking problem) that is a generalization of the classical proportional-plus-integral control to multiple input-multiple output systems. The second method is a control-allocation approach based on a quadratic programming formulation. A globally convergent fixed-point iteration algorithm has been developed to make onboard implementation of this method feasible. These methods have been applied to reconfigurable entry flight control design for the X-33 vehicle. Examples presented demonstrate simultaneous tracking of angle-of-attack and roll angle commands during failures of the right body flap actuator. Although simulations demonstrate success of the first method in most cases, the control-allocation method appears to provide uniformly better performance in all cases.

Regional Variation in Causes of Injuries among Terrorism Victims for Mass Casualty Events

PubMed Central

Regens, James L.; Schultheiss, Amy; Mould, Nick

2015-01-01

The efficient allocation of medical resources to prepare for and respond to mass casualty events (MCEs) attributable to intentional acts of terrorism is a major challenge confronting disaster planners and emergency personnel. This research article examines variation in regional patterns in the causes of injures associated with 77,258 successful terrorist attacks that occurred between 1970 and 2013 involving the use of explosives, firearms, and/or incendiaries. The objective of this research is to estimate regional variation in the use of different conventional weapons in successful terrorist attacks in each world region on variation in injury cause distributions. Indeed, we find that the distributions of the number of injuries attributable to specific weapons types (i.e., by cause) vary greatly among the 13 world regions identified within the Global Terrorism Database. PMID:26347857

Proceedings of the Annual National Conference on ADA Technology (9th) Held in Washington, DC on 4-7 March 1991

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-03-07

rsolve the attack; delay whil the weapon has to wait; RESOURCE ALLOCATION . PRIORITY OF signal readiness to CONTROL; TARGETS. AND BIAS OF THE SYSTEM...Communications Systems. focal point for Computer Resource He served as project manager for the Management (CRM), Advanced Software development of the Joint...Interface Test Technology (AST), Ada Technology, Systems (JITS) - the world’s largest Joint/Army Interoperability Testing distributed command and

E-Learning: Managing for Results.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cook, James R.; Heacock, William B.

2003-01-01

Discusses advantages of electronic learning for business, including cost benefits, administrative benefits, and instructional benefits. Considers the increase in electronic learning to cut back on business travel since the September 11th attacks and offers guidelines to achieve business results with electronic learning, including linking learning…

Effects of generalist herbivory on resistance and resource allocation by the invasive plant, Phytolacca americana.

PubMed

Huang, Wei; Ding, Jianqing

2016-04-01

Successful invasions by exotic plants are often attributed to a loss of co-evolved specialists and a re-allocation of resources from defense to growth and reproduction. However, invasive plants are rarely completely released from insect herbivory because they are frequently attacked by generalists in their introduced ranges. The novel generalist community may also affect the invasive plant's defensive strategies and resource allocation. Here, we tested this hypothesis using American pokeweed (Phytolacca americana L.), a species that has become invasive in China, which is native to North America. We examined resistance, tolerance, growth and reproduction of plant populations from both China and the USA when plants were exposed to natural generalist herbivores in China. We found that leaf damage was greater for invasive populations than for native populations, indicating that plants from invasive ranges had lower resistance to herbivory than those from native ranges. A regression of the percentage of leaf damage against mass showed that there was no significant difference in tolerance between invasive and native populations, even though the shoot, root, fruit and total mass were larger for invasive populations than for native populations. These results suggest that generalist herbivores are important drivers mediating the defensive strategies and resource allocation of the invasive American pokeweed. © 2015 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Heavy-Ion Microbeam Fault Injection into SRAM-Based FPGA Implementations of Cryptographic Circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Huiyun; Du, Guanghua; Shao, Cuiping; Dai, Liang; Xu, Guoqing; Guo, Jinlong

2015-06-01

Transistors hit by heavy ions may conduct transiently, thereby introducing transient logic errors. Attackers can exploit these abnormal behaviors and extract sensitive information from the electronic devices. This paper demonstrates an ion irradiation fault injection attack experiment into a cryptographic field-programmable gate-array (FPGA) circuit. The experiment proved that the commercial FPGA chip is vulnerable to low-linear energy transfer carbon irradiation, and the attack can cause the leakage of secret key bits. A statistical model is established to estimate the possibility of an effective fault injection attack on cryptographic integrated circuits. The model incorporates the effects from temporal, spatial, and logical probability of an effective attack on the cryptographic circuits. The rate of successful attack calculated from the model conforms well to the experimental results. This quantitative success rate model can help evaluate security risk for designers as well as for the third-party assessment organizations.

Changes in cytokinins are sufficient to alter developmental patterns of defense metabolites in Nicotiana attenuata

PubMed Central

Brütting, Christoph; Schäfer, Martin; Vanková, Radomira; Gase, Klaus; Baldwin, Ian T.; Meldau, Stefan

2016-01-01

Plant defense metabolites are well-known to be regulated developmentally. The OD theory posits that a tissue’s fitness values and probability of attack should determine defense metabolite allocations. Young leaves are expected to provide a larger fitness-value to the plant and therefore their defense allocations should be higher when compared to older leaves. The mechanisms which coordinate development with defense remain unknown and frequently confound tests of the OD theory predictions. Here we demonstrate that cytokinins modulate ontogeny-dependent defenses in Nicotiana attenuata. We found that leaf cytokinin levels highly correlate with inducible defense expressions with high levels in young and low levels in older leaves. We genetically manipulated the developmental patterns of two different cytokinin classes by using senescence- and chemically-inducible expression of cytokinin biosynthesis genes. Genetically modifying the levels of different cytokinins in leaves was sufficient to alter ontogenic patterns of defense metabolites. We conclude that the developmental regulation of growth hormones that include cytokinins plays central roles in connecting development with defense and therefore in establishing optimal patterns of defense allocation in plants. PMID:27557345

Attack and improvements of fair quantum blind signature schemes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Xiangfu; Qiu, Daowen

2013-06-01

Blind signature schemes allow users to obtain the signature of a message while the signer learns neither the message nor the resulting signature. Therefore, blind signatures have been used to realize cryptographic protocols providing the anonymity of some participants, such as: secure electronic payment systems and electronic voting systems. A fair blind signature is a form of blind signature which the anonymity could be removed with the help of a trusted entity, when this is required for legal reasons. Recently, a fair quantum blind signature scheme was proposed and thought to be safe. In this paper, we first point out that there exists a new attack on fair quantum blind signature schemes. The attack shows that, if any sender has intercepted any valid signature, he (she) can counterfeit a valid signature for any message and can not be traced by the counterfeited blind signature. Then, we construct a fair quantum blind signature scheme by improved the existed one. The proposed fair quantum blind signature scheme can resist the preceding attack. Furthermore, we demonstrate the security of the proposed fair quantum blind signature scheme and compare it with the other one.

Joint Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-17

the GCC must evaluate the need for force protection support following the guidelines of DOD Instruction 3020.41, Contractor Personnel Authorized to...EA electronic attack EM electromagnetic EP emergency preparedness EW electronic warfare FCC functional combatant commander FDO flexible deterrent...their primary destructive mechanism (lasers, radio frequency weapons, particle beams). b. electronic protection. That division of electronic warfare

Formation of sex hormone transients resulting from attack of free radicals.

PubMed

Getoff, Nikola; Schittl, Heike; Gerschpacher, Marion; Quint, Ruth Maria

2013-03-01

Transients of the sex hormones testosterone (TES) and estrone (E1) exhibit an impact on the carcinogenesis of most prostate and breast cancer types. For elucidation of involved reaction mechanisms, in vitro, experiments using γ-ray for generation of attacking hormone transients and UV-light (λ=254 nm) for excitation of hormone molecules were applied. Materials and Methods. Experiments in vitro (Escherichia coli AB1157) incubated with TES and E1, individually as well as in mixture with vitamin C (electron donor), were performed under γ-irradiation in water-alcohol (40/60) medium for clarifying-up the reaction mechanism. The hormone degradation/regeneration processes were studied by high performance liquid chromatography analysis. Independently of hormone molecular structure, the determining factor for the biological properties, such as carcinogenity, were found to be based on the hormone transients. The biological ability of these, however, depends on the chemical properties of the species attacking the corresponding hormone. Hormone degradation can be, at least partly, converted into hormone regeneration by electron transfer from an electron donor (e.g. vitamin C), when available during the period of status nascendi of the hormone radicals.

Reexperiencing symptoms, dissociation, and avoidance behaviors in daily life of patients with PTSD and patients with panic disorder with agoraphobia.

PubMed

Pfaltz, Monique C; Michael, Tanja; Meyer, Andrea H; Wilhelm, Frank H

2013-08-01

Panic attacks are frequently perceived as life threatening. Panic disorder (PD) patients may therefore experience symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The authors explored this in 28 healthy controls, 17 PTSD patients, and 24 PD patients with agoraphobia who completed electronic diaries 36 times during 1 week. Patient groups frequently reported dissociation as well as thoughts, memories, and reliving of their trauma or panic attacks. PTSD patients reported more trauma/panic attack thoughts (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 2.9) and memories (IRR = 2.8) than PD patients. Patient groups relived their trauma or panic attacks equally frequently, and reported comparable bodily reactions and distress associated with trauma or panic attack memories. Clinical groups avoided trauma or panic attack reminders more often than healthy controls (avoidance of trauma- or panic attack-related thoughts (IRR = 8.0); avoidance of things associated with the trauma or panic attack (IRR = 40.7). PD patients avoided trauma or panic attack reminders less often than PTSD patients (avoidance of trauma- or panic attack-related thoughts [IRR = 2.5]; avoidance of things associated with the trauma or panic attack [IRR = 4.1]), yet these differences were nonsignificant when controlling for functional impairment. In conclusion, trauma-like symptoms are common in PD with agoraphobia and panic attacks may be processed similarly as trauma in PTSD. Copyright © 2013 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

Patch Time Allocation and Oviposition Behavior in Response to Patch Quality and the Presence of a Generalist Predator in Meteorus pulchricornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

PubMed Central

Sheng, Sheng; Ling, Meng; Fu-an, Wu; Baoping, Li

2015-01-01

Foraging parasitoids often must estimate local risk of predation just as they must estimate local patch value. Here, we investigate the effects a generalist predator Chlaenius bioculatus (Coleoptera: Carabidae), has on the oviposition behavior and the patch residence decisions of a solitary parasitoid Meteorus pulchricornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in response to the varying host quality of Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae (L2 and L4). M. pulchricornis attacked more L4 than on L2 hosts, with the difference in attack rate varying depending on predation treatments, greater in the presence (either actively feeding or not) of the predator than in the absence of it. The parasitoid attacked fewer L2 and L4 hosts when the predator was actively feeding than when it was not feeding or not present in the patch. M. pulchricornis decreased the patch leaving tendency with increasing rejections of hosts, but increased the tendency in response to the presence of the predator as compared with the absence of it, and furthermore, increased the patch leaving tendency when the predator was actively feeding as compared with when it was not. Our study suggests that M. pulchricornis can exploit high quality patches while minimizing predation risk, by attacking more hosts in high quality patches while reducing total patch time in response to risk of predation. PMID:25943317

Cotton Defense Induction Patterns Under Spatially, Temporally and Quantitatively Varying Herbivory Levels.

PubMed

Eisenring, Michael; Meissle, Michael; Hagenbucher, Steffen; Naranjo, Steven E; Wettstein, Felix; Romeis, Jörg

2017-01-01

In its defense against herbivores, cotton ( Gossypium sp.) relies in part on the production of a set of inducible, non-volatile terpenoids. Under uniform damage levels, in planta allocation of induced cotton terpenoids has been found to be highest in youngest leaves, supporting assumptions of the optimal defense theory (ODT) which predicts that plants allocate defense compounds to tissues depending on their value and the likelihood of herbivore attack. However, our knowledge is limited on how varying, and thus more realistic, damage levels might affect cotton defense organization. We hypothesized that the allocation of terpenoids and densities of terpenoid-storing glands in leaves aligns with assumptions of the ODT, even when plants are subjected to temporally, spatially and quantitatively varying caterpillar ( Heliothis virescens ) damage. As expected, cotton plants allocated most of their defenses to their youngest leaves regardless of damage location. However, defense induction in older leaves varied with damage location. For at least 14 days after damage treatments ended, plants reallocated defense resources from previously young leaves to newly developed leaves. Furthermore, we observed a positive hyperbolic relationship between leaf damage area and both terpenoid concentrations and gland densities, indicating that cotton plants can fine-tune defense allocation. Although it appears that factors like vascular constraints and chemical properties of individual defense compounds can affect defense levels, our results overall demonstrate that induced defense organization of cotton subjected to varying damage treatments is in alignment with key assumptions of the ODT.

Cotton Defense Induction Patterns Under Spatially, Temporally and Quantitatively Varying Herbivory Levels

PubMed Central

Eisenring, Michael; Meissle, Michael; Hagenbucher, Steffen; Naranjo, Steven E.; Wettstein, Felix; Romeis, Jörg

2017-01-01

In its defense against herbivores, cotton (Gossypium sp.) relies in part on the production of a set of inducible, non-volatile terpenoids. Under uniform damage levels, in planta allocation of induced cotton terpenoids has been found to be highest in youngest leaves, supporting assumptions of the optimal defense theory (ODT) which predicts that plants allocate defense compounds to tissues depending on their value and the likelihood of herbivore attack. However, our knowledge is limited on how varying, and thus more realistic, damage levels might affect cotton defense organization. We hypothesized that the allocation of terpenoids and densities of terpenoid-storing glands in leaves aligns with assumptions of the ODT, even when plants are subjected to temporally, spatially and quantitatively varying caterpillar (Heliothis virescens) damage. As expected, cotton plants allocated most of their defenses to their youngest leaves regardless of damage location. However, defense induction in older leaves varied with damage location. For at least 14 days after damage treatments ended, plants reallocated defense resources from previously young leaves to newly developed leaves. Furthermore, we observed a positive hyperbolic relationship between leaf damage area and both terpenoid concentrations and gland densities, indicating that cotton plants can fine-tune defense allocation. Although it appears that factors like vascular constraints and chemical properties of individual defense compounds can affect defense levels, our results overall demonstrate that induced defense organization of cotton subjected to varying damage treatments is in alignment with key assumptions of the ODT. PMID:28270830

Statistical techniques for the characterization of partially observed epidemics.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Safta, Cosmin; Ray, Jaideep; Crary, David

Techniques appear promising to construct and integrate automated detect-and-characterize technique for epidemics - Working off biosurveillance data, and provides information on the particular/ongoing outbreak. Potential use - in crisis management and planning, resource allocation - Parameter estimation capability ideal for providing the input parameters into an agent-based model, Index Cases, Time of Infection, infection rate. Non-communicable diseases are easier than communicable ones - Small anthrax can be characterized well with 7-10 days of data, post-detection; plague takes longer, Large attacks are very easy.

Effectiveness of an electronic patient-centred self-management tool for gout sufferers: a cluster randomised controlled trial protocol.

PubMed

Day, Richard O; Frensham, Lauren J; Nguyen, Amy D; Baysari, Melissa T; Aung, Eindra; Lau, Annie Y S; Zwar, Nicholas; Reath, Jennifer; Laba, Tracey; Li, Ling; McLachlan, Andrew; Runciman, William B; Buchbinder, Rachelle; Clay-Williams, Robyn; Coiera, Enrico; Braithwaite, Jeffrey; McNeil, H Patrick; Hunter, David J; Pile, Kevin D; Portek, Ian; WIlliams, Kenneth Mapson; Westbrook, Johanna I

2017-10-16

Gout is increasing despite effective therapies to lower serum urate concentrations to 0.36 mmol/L or less, which, if sustained, significantly reduces acute attacks of gout. Adherence to urate-lowering therapy (ULT) is poor, with rates of less than 50% 1 year after initiation of ULT. Attempts to increase adherence in gout patients have been disappointing. We aim to evaluate the effectiveness of use of a personal, self-management, 'smartphone' application (app) to achieve target serum urate concentrations in people with gout. We hypothesise that personalised feedback of serum urate concentrations will improve adherence to ULT. Setting and designPrimary care. A prospective, cluster randomised (by general practitioner (GP) practices), controlled trial. GP practices will be randomised to either intervention or control clusters with their patients allocated to the same cluster. The intervention group will have access to the Healthy.me app tailored for the self-management of gout. The control group patients will have access to the same app modified to remove all functions except the Gout Attack Diary. The proportion of patients whose serum urate concentrations are less than or equal to 0.36 mmol/L after 6 months. Secondary outcomes will be proportions of patients achieving target urate concentrations at 12 months, ULT adherence rates, serum urate concentrations at 6 and 12 months, rates of attacks of gout, quality of life estimations and process and economic evaluations. The study is designed to detect a ≥30% improvement in the intervention group above the expected 50% achievement of target serum urate at 6 months in the control group: power 0.80, significance level 0.05, assumed 'dropout' rate 20%. This study has been approved by the University of New South Wales Human Research Ethics Committee. Study findings will be disseminated in international conferences and peer-reviewed journal. ACTRN12616000455460. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Effectiveness of an electronic patient-centred self-management tool for gout sufferers: a cluster randomised controlled trial protocol

PubMed Central

Frensham, Lauren J; Nguyen, Amy D; Baysari, Melissa T; Aung, Eindra; Lau, Annie Y S; Zwar, Nicholas; Reath, Jennifer; Li, Ling; McLachlan, Andrew; Runciman, William B; Buchbinder, Rachelle; Clay-Williams, Robyn; Braithwaite, Jeffrey; McNeil, H Patrick; Pile, Kevin D; Portek, Ian; WIlliams, Kenneth Mapson; Westbrook, Johanna I

2017-01-01

Introduction Gout is increasing despite effective therapies to lower serum urate concentrations to 0.36 mmol/L or less, which, if sustained, significantly reduces acute attacks of gout. Adherence to urate-lowering therapy (ULT) is poor, with rates of less than 50% 1 year after initiation of ULT. Attempts to increase adherence in gout patients have been disappointing. We aim to evaluate the effectiveness of use of a personal, self-management, ‘smartphone’ application (app) to achieve target serum urate concentrations in people with gout. We hypothesise that personalised feedback of serum urate concentrations will improve adherence to ULT. Methods and analysis Setting and design Primary care. A prospective, cluster randomised (by general practitioner (GP) practices), controlled trial. Participants GP practices will be randomised to either intervention or control clusters with their patients allocated to the same cluster. Intervention The intervention group will have access to the Healthy.me app tailored for the self-management of gout. The control group patients will have access to the same app modified to remove all functions except the Gout Attack Diary. Primary and secondary outcomes The proportion of patients whose serum urate concentrations are less than or equal to 0.36 mmol/L after 6 months. Secondary outcomes will be proportions of patients achieving target urate concentrations at 12 months, ULT adherence rates, serum urate concentrations at 6 and 12 months, rates of attacks of gout, quality of life estimations and process and economic evaluations. The study is designed to detect a ≥30% improvement in the intervention group above the expected 50% achievement of target serum urate at 6 months in the control group: power 0.80, significance level 0.05, assumed ‘dropout’ rate 20%. Ethics and dissemination This study has been approved by the University of New South Wales Human Research Ethics Committee. Study findings will be disseminated in international conferences and peer-reviewed journal. Trial registration number ACTRN12616000455460. PMID:29042386

Corrosion-induced microstructural developments in 316 stainless steel during exposure to molten Li2BeF4(FLiBe) salt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Guiqiu; He, Lingfeng; Carpenter, David; Sridharan, Kumar

2016-12-01

The microstructural developments in the near-surface regions of AISI 316 stainless steel during exposure to molten Li2BeF4 (FLiBe) salt have been investigated with the goal of using this material for the construction of the fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (FHR), a leading nuclear reactor concept for the next generation nuclear plants (NGNP). Tests were conducted in molten FLiBe salt (melting point: 459 °C) at 700 °C in graphite crucibles and 316 stainless steel crucibles for exposure duration of up to 3000 h. Corrosion-induced microstructural changes in the near-surface regions of the samples were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in conjunction with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) with EDS capabilities. Intergranular corrosion attack in the near-surface regions was observed with associated Cr depletion along the grain boundaries. High-angle grain boundaries (15-180°) were particularly prone to intergranular attack and Cr depletion. The depth of attack extended to the depths of 22 μm after 3000-h exposure for the samples tested in graphite crucible, while similar exposure in 316 stainless steel crucible led to the attack depths of only about 11 μm. Testing in graphite crucibles led to the formation of nanometer-scale Mo2C, Cr7C3 and Al4C3 particle phases in the near-surface regions of the material. The copious depletion of Cr in the near-surface regions induced a γ-martensite to α-ferrite phase (FeNix) transformation. Based on the microstructural analysis, a thermal diffusion controlled corrosion model was developed and experimentally validated for predicting long-term corrosion attack depth.

Using Trust to Establish a Secure Routing Model in Cognitive Radio Network.

PubMed

Zhang, Guanghua; Chen, Zhenguo; Tian, Liqin; Zhang, Dongwen

2015-01-01

Specific to the selective forwarding attack on routing in cognitive radio network, this paper proposes a trust-based secure routing model. Through monitoring nodes' forwarding behaviors, trusts of nodes are constructed to identify malicious nodes. In consideration of that routing selection-based model must be closely collaborative with spectrum allocation, a route request piggybacking available spectrum opportunities is sent to non-malicious nodes. In the routing decision phase, nodes' trusts are used to construct available path trusts and delay measurement is combined for making routing decisions. At the same time, according to the trust classification, different responses are made specific to their service requests. By adopting stricter punishment on malicious behaviors from non-trusted nodes, the cooperation of nodes in routing can be stimulated. Simulation results and analysis indicate that this model has good performance in network throughput and end-to-end delay under the selective forwarding attack.

Security Attacks and Solutions in Electronic Health (E-health) Systems.

PubMed

Zeadally, Sherali; Isaac, Jesús Téllez; Baig, Zubair

2016-12-01

For centuries, healthcare has been a basic service provided by many governments to their citizens. Over the past few decades, we have witnessed a significant transformation in the quality of healthcare services provided by healthcare organizations and professionals. Recent advances have led to the emergence of Electronic Health (E-health), largely made possible by the massive deployment and adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs). However, cybercriminals and attackers are exploiting vulnerabilities associated primarily with ICTs, causing data breaches of patients' confidential digital health information records. Here, we review recent security attacks reported for E-healthcare and discuss the solutions proposed to mitigate them. We also identify security challenges that must be addressed by E-health system designers and implementers in the future, to respond to threats that could arise as E-health systems become integrated with technologies such as cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and smart cities.

Identifying Student Use of Ball-and-Stick Images versus Electrostatic Potential Map Images via Eye Tracking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williamson, Vickie M.; Hegarty, Mary; Deslongchamps, Ghislain; Williamson, Kenneth C., III

2013-01-01

This pilot study examined students' use of ball-and-stick images versus electrostatic potential maps when asked questions about electron density, positive charge, proton attack, and hydroxide attack with six different molecules (two alcohols, two carboxylic acids, and two hydroxycarboxylic acids). Students' viewing of these dual images…

First-Strike Advantage: The United States’ Counter to China’s Preemptive Integrated Network Electronic Warfare Strategy

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

Ground: Chinese Capabilities for Computer Network Operations and Cyber Espionage,” 9. 57 Lolita C. Baldor, “Chinese Cyber Attacks On U.S. Continue...the Secretary of Defense, 2009. Baldor, Lolita C. “Chinese Cyber Attacks on U.S. Continue Totally Unabated, Leon Panetta.” Huffington Post (2012

What do predators really want? The role of gerbil energetic state in determining prey choice by Barn Owls.

PubMed

Embar, Keren; Mukherjee, Shomen; Kotler, Burt P

2014-02-01

In predator-prey foraging games, predators should respond to variations in prey state. The value of energy for the prey changes depending on season. Prey in a low energetic state and/or in a reproductive state should invest more in foraging and tolerate higher predation risk. This should make the prey more catchable, and thereby, more preferable to predators. We ask, can predators respond to prey state? How does season and state affect the foraging game from the predator's perspective? By letting owls choose between gerbils whose states we experimentally manipulated, we could demonstrate predator sensitivity to prey state and predator selectivity that otherwise may be obscured by the foraging game. During spring, owls invested more time and attacks in the patch with well-fed gerbils. During summer, owls attacked both patches equally, yet allocated more time to the patch with hungry gerbils. Energetic state per se does not seem to be the basis of owl choice. The owls strongly responded to these subtle differences. In summer, gerbils managed their behavior primarily for survival, and the owls equalized capture opportunities by attacking both patches equally.

Comparison between the efficacy of ginger and sumatriptan in the ablative treatment of the common migraine.

PubMed

Maghbooli, Mehdi; Golipour, Farhad; Moghimi Esfandabadi, Alireza; Yousefi, Mehran

2014-03-01

Frequency and torment caused by migraines direct patients toward a variety of remedies. Few studies to date have proposed ginger derivates for migraine relief. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of ginger in the ablation of common migraine attack in comparison to sumatriptan therapy. In this double-blinded randomized clinical trial, 100 patients who had acute migraine without aura were randomly allocated to receive either ginger powder or sumatriptan. Time of headache onset, its severity, time interval from headache beginning to taking drug and patient self-estimation about response for five subsequent migraine attacks were recorded by patients. Patients(,) satisfaction from treatment efficacy and their willingness to continue it was also evaluated after 1 month following intervention. Two hours after using either drug, mean headaches severity decreased significantly. Efficacy of ginger powder and sumatriptan was similar. Clinical adverse effects of ginger powder were less than sumatriptan. Patients' satisfaction and willingness to continue did not differ. The effectiveness of ginger powder in the treatment of common migraine attacks is statistically comparable to sumatriptan. Ginger also poses a better side effect profile than sumatriptan. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Effect of fenofibrate on uric acid and gout in type 2 diabetes: a post-hoc analysis of the randomised, controlled FIELD study.

PubMed

Waldman, Boris; Ansquer, Jean-Claude; Sullivan, David R; Jenkins, Alicia J; McGill, Neil; Buizen, Luke; Davis, Timothy M E; Best, James D; Li, Liping; Feher, Michael D; Foucher, Christelle; Kesaniemi, Y Antero; Flack, Jeffrey; d'Emden, Michael C; Scott, Russell S; Hedley, John; Gebski, Val; Keech, Anthony C

2018-04-01

Gout is a painful disorder and is common in type 2 diabetes. Fenofibrate lowers uric acid and reduces gout attacks in small, short-term studies. Whether fenofibrate produces sustained reductions in uric acid and gout attacks is unknown. In the Fenofibrate Intervention and Event Lowering in Diabetes (FIELD) trial, participants aged 50-75 years with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to receive either co-micronised fenofibrate 200 mg once per day or matching placebo for a median of 5 years follow-up. We did a post-hoc analysis of recorded on-study gout attacks and plasma uric acid concentrations according to treatment allocation. The outcomes of this analysis were change in uric acid concentrations and risk of on-study gout attacks. The FIELD study is registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN64783481. Between Feb 23, 1998, and Nov 3, 2000, 9795 patients were randomly assigned to fenofibrate (n=4895) or placebo (n=4900) in the FIELD study. Uric acid concentrations fell by 20·2% (95% CI 19·9-20·5) during the 6-week active fenofibrate run-in period immediately pre-randomisation (a reduction of 0·06 mmol/L or 1 mg/dL) and remained -20·1% (18·5-21·7, p<0·0001) lower in patients taking fenofibrate than in those on placebo in a random subset re-measured at 1 year. With placebo allocation, there were 151 (3%) first gout events over 5 years, compared with 81 (2%) among those allocated fenofibrate (HR with treatment 0·54, 95% CI 0·41-0·70; p<0·0001). In the placebo group, the cumulative proportion of patients with first gout events was 7·7% in patients with baseline uric acid concentration higher than 0·36 mmol/L and 13·9% in those with baseline uric acid concentration higher than 0·42 mmol/L, compared with 3·4% and 5·7%, respectively, in the fenofibrate group. Risk reductions were similar among men and women and those with dyslipidaemia, on diuretics, and with elevated uric acid concentrations. For participants with elevated baseline uric acid concentrations despite taking allopurinol at study entry, there was no heterogeneity of the treatment effect of fenofibrate on gout risk. Taking account of all gout events, fenofibrate treatment halved the risk (HR 0·48, 95% CI 0·37-0·60; p<0·0001) compared with placebo. Fenofibrate lowered uric acid concentrations by 20%, and almost halved first on-study gout events over 5 years of treatment. Fenofibrate could be a useful adjunct for preventing gout in diabetes. None. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Situational awareness of a coordinated cyber attack

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sudit, Moises; Stotz, Adam; Holender, Michael

2005-03-01

As technology continues to advance, services and capabilities become computerized, and an ever increasing amount of business is conducted electronically the threat of cyber attacks gets compounded by the complexity of such attacks and the criticality of the information which must be secured. A new age of virtual warfare has dawned in which seconds can differentiate between the protection of vital information and/or services and a malicious attacker attaining their goal. In this paper we present a novel approach in the real-time detection of multistage coordinated cyber attacks and the promising initial testing results we have obtained. We introduce INFERD (INformation Fusion Engine for Real-time Decision-making), an adaptable information fusion engine which performs fusion at levels zero, one, and two to provide real-time situational assessment and its application to the cyber domain in the ECCARS (Event Correlation for Cyber Attack Recognition System) system. The advantages to our approach are fourfold: (1) The complexity of the attacks which we consider, (2) the level of abstraction in which the analyst interacts with the attack scenarios, (3) the speed at which the information fusion is presented and performed, and (4) our disregard for ad-hoc rules or a priori parameters.

Exploiting geo-distributed clouds for a e-health monitoring system with minimum service delay and privacy preservation.

PubMed

Shen, Qinghua; Liang, Xiaohui; Shen, Xuemin; Lin, Xiaodong; Luo, Henry Y

2014-03-01

In this paper, we propose an e-health monitoring system with minimum service delay and privacy preservation by exploiting geo-distributed clouds. In the system, the resource allocation scheme enables the distributed cloud servers to cooperatively assign the servers to the requested users under the load balance condition. Thus, the service delay for users is minimized. In addition, a traffic-shaping algorithm is proposed. The traffic-shaping algorithm converts the user health data traffic to the nonhealth data traffic such that the capability of traffic analysis attacks is largely reduced. Through the numerical analysis, we show the efficiency of the proposed traffic-shaping algorithm in terms of service delay and privacy preservation. Furthermore, through the simulations, we demonstrate that the proposed resource allocation scheme significantly reduces the service delay compared to two other alternatives using jointly the short queue and distributed control law.

Lessons From Analyzing the Medical Costs of Civilian Terror Victims: Planning Resources Allocation for a New Era of Confrontations.

PubMed

Ellenberg, Eytan; Taragin, Mark I; Hoffman, Jay R; Cohen, Osnat; Luft-Afik, Daniella; Bar-On, Zvia; Ostfeld, Ishay

2017-12-01

Policy Points: Across the globe, the threat from terrorist attacks is rising, which requires a careful assessment of long-term medical support. We found 3 major sources of costs: hospital expenditures, mental health services dedicated to acute stress reactions, and ambulatory follow-up. During the first year, most of the costs were related to hospitalization and support for stress relief. During the second year, ambulatory and rehabilitation costs continued to grow. Public health specialists should consider these major components of costs and their evolution over time to properly advise the medical and social authorities on allocating resources for the medical and nonmedical support of civilian casualties resulting from war or terror. Across the globe, the threat from terrorist attacks is rising, which requires a careful assessment of long-term medical support. Based on an 18-month follow-up of the Israeli civilian population following the 2014 war in Gaza, we describe and analyze the medical costs associated with rocket attacks and review the demography of the victims who filed claims for disability compensation. We then propose practical lessons to help health care authorities prepare for future confrontations. Using the National Insurance Institute of Israel's (NII) database, we conducted descriptive and comparative analyses using statistical tests (Fisher's Exact Test, chi-square test, and students' t-tests). The costs were updated until March 30, 2016, and are presented in US dollars. We included only civilian expenses in our analysis. We identified 5,189 victims, 3,236 of whom presented with acute stress reactions during the conflict. Eighteen months after the conflict, the victims' total medical costs reached $4.4 million. The NII reimbursed $2,541,053 for associated medical costs and $1,921,792 for associated mental health costs. A total of 709 victims filed claims with the NII for further support, including rehabilitation, medical devices, and disability pensions. We found 3 major sources of costs: hospital expenditures, mental health services dedicated to acute stress reactions, and ambulatory follow-up. During the first year, most of the costs were related to hospitalization and support for stress relief. During the second year, ambulatory and rehabilitation costs continued to grow. Public health specialists should consider these major components of costs and their evolution over time to properly advise the medical and social authorities on allocating resources for the medical and nonmedical support of civilian casualties resulting from war or terror. © 2017 Milbank Memorial Fund.

Impact of Tumarkin attacks on complaints and work ability in Ménière's disease.

PubMed

Pyykkö, Ilmari; Manchaiah, Vinaya; Zou, Jing; Levo, Hilla; Kentala, Erna

2018-05-22

The purpose of the present study was to characterize the occurrence of Tumarkin attacks in patients with Ménière'sdisease (MD), and to study its association with reported complaints, severity of consequences, and also self-reported work ability. The study used a cross-sectional design. Data obtained from the Finnish Ménière Federation using an electronic survey was analyzed. 602 people with MD responded to the survey (62% response rate) with a mean age of 56.7 years and a mean duration of the disease 12.4 years. 49% of the respondents experienced Tumarkin attacks, which lasted for a few seconds to a few minutes. There were significant differences in complaints reported by MD patients with and without Tumarkin attacks. Respondents with Tumarkin attacks experienced various consequences, including tripping, falls, fear, anxiety, problems in dyadic life, and even transient loss of consciousness. Respondents with Tumarkin attacks had more frequently applied for pension than those not having Tumarkin attacks. On an average, respondents with Tumarkin attacks had less self-reported working ability when compared to those without Tumarkin attacks. The current study results suggest various differences in terms of complaints reported, severity of consequences, and the self-reported working ability in MD patients with and without Tumarkin attacks. Hearing healthcare professionals must examine Tumarkin attacks and their consequences in patients with MD during clinical examinations. In addition, the therapy should focus on alleviating the consequences and improving work ability.

Effect of a traditional syrup from Citrus medica L. fruit juice on migraine headache: A randomized double blind placebo controlled clinical trial.

PubMed

Jafarpour, Mehrnaz; Yousefi, Gholamhossein; Hamedi, Azadeh; Shariat, Abdolhamid; Salehi, Alireza; Heydari, Mojtaba

2016-02-17

In Persian ethnomedicine several herbal remedies and functional foods have been used to treat migraine headache which are mostly summarized in Qarabadin-e-kabir (Aghili-Shirazi MH, 1773). One of them is Citron syrup (Sharbat-e-Balang) containing edible Citrus medica L. fruit juice and sugar. The present study was designed to assess the efficacy and safety of Citron syrup on patients with migraine headache. Citron syrup was prepared as described in Qarabadin-e-kabir. In this double blind randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial, ninety patients with migraine headache were allocated to three parallel groups (Citron syrup, propranolol or placebo). Patients received 15ml of Citron syrup, placebo syrup or 20mg of propranolol tablet three times daily after a meal for 4 weeks. Primary outcomes were obtained from three measures: the frequency (per month), mean duration (hour) and mean intensity (visual analogue scale "VAS" 0-10 score) of headache attacks evaluated prior to and following 4 weeks of the intervention. Citron syrup was superior to placebo in reduction of headache attacks intensity (P<0.01) and duration (p<0.0001) and as effective as propranolol in patients with migraine headache (P>0.05). However, unlike propranolol, Citron syrup could not significantly reduce the frequency of attacks compared to placebo. No indication of any serious side effects from Citron syrup was observed. According to obtained results, Citron syrup as a traditional Persian remedy can be suggested as an effective treatment for decreasing pain intensity and duration of attacks in migraine headache and the effectiveness is comparable to propranolol. However, the syrup did not show significant effect on frequency of attacks. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of hormonal crosstalk on plant resistance and fitness under multi-attacker conditions

PubMed Central

Vos, Irene A.; Moritz, Liselotte; Pieterse, Corné M. J.; Van Wees, Saskia C. M.

2015-01-01

The hormone salicylic acid (SA) generally induces plant defenses against biotrophic pathogens. Jasmonic acid (JA) and its oxylipin derivatives together with ethylene (ET) are generally important hormonal regulators of induced plant defenses against necrotrophic pathogens, whereas JAs together with abscisic acid (ABA) are implicated in induced plant defenses against herbivorous insects. Hormonal crosstalk between the different plant defense pathways has often been hypothesized to be a cost-saving strategy that has evolved as a means of the plant to reduce allocation costs by repression of unnecessary defenses, thereby minimizing trade-offs between plant defense and growth. However, proof for this hypothesis has not been demonstrated yet. In this study the impact of hormonal crosstalk on disease resistance and fitness of Arabidopsis thaliana when under multi-species attack was investigated. Induction of SA- or JA/ABA-dependent defense responses by the biotrophic pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis or the herbivorous insect Pieris rapae, respectively, was shown to reduce the level of induced JA/ET-dependent defense against subsequent infection with the necrotrophic pathogen Botrytis cinerea. However, despite the enhanced susceptibility to this second attacker, no additional long-term negative effects were observed on plant fitness when plants had been challenged by multiple attackers. Similarly, when plants were grown in dense competition stands to enlarge fitness effects of induced defenses, treatment with a combination of SA and MeJA did not cause additional negative effects on plant fitness in comparison to the single MeJA treatment. Together, these data support the notion that hormonal crosstalk in plants during multi-attacker interactions allows plants to prioritize their defenses, while limiting the fitness costs associated with induction of defenses. PMID:26347758

Changes in cytokinins are sufficient to alter developmental patterns of defense metabolites in Nicotiana attenuata.

PubMed

Brütting, Christoph; Schäfer, Martin; Vanková, Radomíra; Gase, Klaus; Baldwin, Ian T; Meldau, Stefan

2017-01-01

Plant defense metabolites are well known to be regulated developmentally. The optimal defense (OD) theory posits that a tssue's fitness values and probability of attack should determine defense metabolite allocations. Young leaves are expected to provide a larger fitness value to the plant, and therefore their defense allocations should be higher when compared with older leaves. The mechanisms that coordinate development with defense remain unknown and frequently confound tests of the OD theory predictions. Here we demonstrate that cytokinins (CKs) modulate ontogeny-dependent defenses in Nicotiana attenuata. We found that leaf CK levels highly correlate with inducible defense expressions with high levels in young and low levels in older leaves. We genetically manipulated the developmental patterns of two different CK classes by using senescence- and chemically inducible expression of CK biosynthesis genes. Genetically modifying the levels of different CKs in leaves was sufficient to alter ontogenic patterns of defense metabolites. We conclude that the developmental regulation of growth hormones that include CKs plays central roles in connecting development with defense and therefore in establishing optimal patterns of defense allocation in plants. © 2016 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Patch time allocation and oviposition behavior in response to patch quality and the presence of a generalist predator in Meteorus pulchricornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae).

PubMed

Sheng, Sheng; Ling, Meng; Fu-An, Wu; Baoping, Li

2015-01-01

Foraging parasitoids often must estimate local risk of predation just as they must estimate local patch value. Here, we investigate the effects a generalist predator Chlaenius bioculatus (Coleoptera: Carabidae), has on the oviposition behavior and the patch residence decisions of a solitary parasitoid Meteorus pulchricornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in response to the varying host quality of Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae (L2 and L4). M. pulchricornis attacked more L4 than on L2 hosts, with the difference in attack rate varying depending on predation treatments, greater in the presence (either actively feeding or not) of the predator than in the absence of it. The parasitoid attacked fewer L2 and L4 hosts when the predator was actively feeding than when it was not feeding or not present in the patch. M. pulchricornis decreased the patch leaving tendency with increasing rejections of hosts, but increased the tendency in response to the presence of the predator as compared with the absence of it, and furthermore, increased the patch leaving tendency when the predator was actively feeding as compared with when it was not. Our study suggests that M. pulchricornis can exploit high quality patches while minimizing predation risk, by attacking more hosts in high quality patches while reducing total patch time in response to risk of predation. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Entomological Society of America.

Medical mitigation model: quantifying the benefits of the public health response to a chemical terrorism attack.

PubMed

Good, Kevin; Winkel, David; VonNiederhausern, Michael; Hawkins, Brian; Cox, Jessica; Gooding, Rachel; Whitmire, Mark

2013-06-01

The Chemical Terrorism Risk Assessment (CTRA) and Chemical Infrastructure Risk Assessment (CIRA) are programs that estimate the risk of chemical terrorism attacks to help inform and improve the US defense posture against such events. One aspect of these programs is the development and advancement of a Medical Mitigation Model-a mathematical model that simulates the medical response to a chemical terrorism attack and estimates the resulting number of saved or benefited victims. At the foundation of the CTRA/CIRA Medical Mitigation Model is the concept of stock-and-flow modeling; "stocks" are states that individuals progress through during the event, while "flows" permit and govern movement from one stock to another. Using this approach, the model is able to simulate and track individual victims as they progress from exposure to an end state. Some of the considerations in the model include chemical used, type of attack, route and severity of exposure, response-related delays, detailed treatment regimens with efficacy defined as a function of time, medical system capacity, the influx of worried well individuals, and medical countermeasure availability. As will be demonstrated, the output of the CTRA/CIRA Medical Mitigation Model makes it possible to assess the effectiveness of the existing public health response system and develop and examine potential improvement strategies. Such a modeling and analysis capability can be used to inform first-responder actions/training, guide policy decisions, justify resource allocation, and direct knowledge-gap studies.

Space War Meets Info War: The Integration of Space and Information Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-04-01

spacelift, command and control of satellites, and surveillance and deconfliction of systems in space.” (4, xi) These operations provide the physical ...PSYOPS), electronic warfare (EW), physical attack/destruction, special information operations (SIO), and may include computer network attack. (3, viii... physical security, counter-deception, counter- propaganda, counter-intelligence, EW, and SIO. (3, viii) Information operations employ both lethal and non

Ultrastructure Processing and Environmental Stability of Advanced Structural and Electronic Materials.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-03-01

network dissolution, electron beam simulated desorption, electron signal decay, oxidation, oxide layer , growth kinetics, silicon carbide, assivation...surface layers on silicate glasses are reviewed. A type IIIB glass surface is proposed. The mechanisms of hydrothermal attack of two phase lithia...method to make reliable lifetime predictions. Use of electron beam techniques is essential for understanding surface layers formed on glasses (Section III

COVERT: A Framework for Finding Buffer Overflows in C Programs via Software Verification

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-08-01

is greater than the allocated size of B. In the case of a type-safe language or a language with runtime bounds checking (such as Java), an overflow...leads either to a (compile-time) type error or a (runtime) exception. In such languages , a buffer overflow can lead to a denial of service attack (i.e...of current and legacy software is written in unsafe languages (such as C or C++) that allow buffers to be overflowed with impunity. For reasons such as

17 CFR 37.205 - Audit trail.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... trading; and (iv) Identification of each account to which fills are allocated. (3) Electronic analysis capability. A swap execution facility's audit trail program shall include electronic analysis capability with respect to all audit trail data in the transaction history database. Such electronic analysis capability...

Security of Electronic Voting in the United States

DOE PAGES

King, Charity; Thompson, Michael

2016-10-20

In the midst of numerous high-profile cyber-attacks, the US is considering whether to categorize the US electronic voting system as “critical infrastructure”, to be protected and invested in much the same way as the US power grid or waterways.

Mobile access to virtual randomization for investigator-initiated trials.

PubMed

Deserno, Thomas M; Keszei, András P

2017-08-01

Background/aims Randomization is indispensable in clinical trials in order to provide unbiased treatment allocation and a valid statistical inference. Improper handling of allocation lists can be avoided using central systems, for example, human-based services. However, central systems are unaffordable for investigator-initiated trials and might be inaccessible from some places, where study subjects need allocations. We propose mobile access to virtual randomization, where the randomization lists are non-existent and the appropriate allocation is computed on demand. Methods The core of the system architecture is an electronic data capture system or a clinical trial management system, which is extended by an R interface connecting the R server using the Java R Interface. Mobile devices communicate via the representational state transfer web services. Furthermore, a simple web-based setup allows configuring the appropriate statistics by non-statisticians. Our comprehensive R script supports simple randomization, restricted randomization using a random allocation rule, block randomization, and stratified randomization for un-blinded, single-blinded, and double-blinded trials. For each trial, the electronic data capture system or the clinical trial management system stores the randomization parameters and the subject assignments. Results Apps are provided for iOS and Android and subjects are randomized using smartphones. After logging onto the system, the user selects the trial and the subject, and the allocation number and treatment arm are displayed instantaneously and stored in the core system. So far, 156 subjects have been allocated from mobile devices serving five investigator-initiated trials. Conclusion Transforming pre-printed allocation lists into virtual ones ensures the correct conduct of trials and guarantees a strictly sequential processing in all trial sites. Covering 88% of all randomization models that are used in recent trials, virtual randomization becomes available for investigator-initiated trials and potentially for large multi-center trials.

Deterring watermark collusion attacks using signal processing techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lemma, Aweke N.; van der Veen, Michiel

2007-02-01

Collusion attack is a malicious watermark removal attack in which the hacker has access to multiple copies of the same content with different watermarks and tries to remove the watermark using averaging. In the literature, several solutions to collusion attacks have been reported. The main stream solutions aim at designing watermark codes that are inherently resistant to collusion attacks. The other approaches propose signal processing based solutions that aim at modifying the watermarked signals in such a way that averaging multiple copies of the content leads to a significant degradation of the content quality. In this paper, we present signal processing based technique that may be deployed for deterring collusion attacks. We formulate the problem in the context of electronic music distribution where the content is generally available in the compressed domain. Thus, we first extend the collusion resistance principles to bit stream signals and secondly present experimental based analysis to estimate a bound on the maximum number of modified versions of a content that satisfy good perceptibility requirement on one hand and destructive averaging property on the other hand.

Cyber Risk Management for Critical Infrastructure: A Risk Analysis Model and Three Case Studies.

PubMed

Paté-Cornell, M-Elisabeth; Kuypers, Marshall; Smith, Matthew; Keller, Philip

2018-02-01

Managing cyber security in an organization involves allocating the protection budget across a spectrum of possible options. This requires assessing the benefits and the costs of these options. The risk analyses presented here are statistical when relevant data are available, and system-based for high-consequence events that have not happened yet. This article presents, first, a general probabilistic risk analysis framework for cyber security in an organization to be specified. It then describes three examples of forward-looking analyses motivated by recent cyber attacks. The first one is the statistical analysis of an actual database, extended at the upper end of the loss distribution by a Bayesian analysis of possible, high-consequence attack scenarios that may happen in the future. The second is a systems analysis of cyber risks for a smart, connected electric grid, showing that there is an optimal level of connectivity. The third is an analysis of sequential decisions to upgrade the software of an existing cyber security system or to adopt a new one to stay ahead of adversaries trying to find their way in. The results are distributions of losses to cyber attacks, with and without some considered countermeasures in support of risk management decisions based both on past data and anticipated incidents. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

Aerocapture Guidance Performance for the Neptune Orbiter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Masciarelli, James P.; Westhelle, Carlos H.; Graves, Claude A.

2004-01-01

A performance evaluation of the Hybrid Predictor corrector Aerocapture Scheme (HYPAS) guidance algorithm for aerocapture at Neptune is presented in this paper for a Mission to Neptune and the Neptune moon Triton'. This mission has several challenges not experienced in previous aerocapture guidance assessments. These challengers are a very high Neptune arrival speed, atmospheric exit into a high energy orbit about Neptune, and a very high ballistic coefficient that results in a low altitude acceleration capability when combined with the aeroshell LD. The evaluation includes a definition of the entry corridor, a comparison to the theoretical optimum performance, and guidance responses to variations in atmospheric density, aerodynamic coefficients and flight path angle for various vehicle configurations (ballistic numbers). The benefits of utilizing angle-of-attack modulation in addition to bank angle modulation to improve flight performance is also discussed. The results show that despite large sensitivities in apoapsis targeting, the algorithm performs within the allocated AV budget for the Neptune mission bank angle only modulation. The addition of angle-of-attack modulation with as little as 5 degrees of amplitude significantly improves the scatter in final orbit apoapsis. Although the angle-of-attack modulation complicates the vehicle design, the performance enhancement reduces aerocapture risk and reduces the propellant consumption needed to reach the high energy target orbit for a conventional propulsion system.

2008 Defense Industrial Base Critical Infrastructure Protection Conference (DIB-CBIP)

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-04-09

a cloak -and- dagger thing. It’s about computer architecture and the soundness of electronic systems." Joel Brenner, ODNI Counterintelligence Office...to support advanced network exploitation and launch attacks on the informational and physical elements of our cyber infrastructure. In order to...entities and is vulnerable to attacks and manipulation. Operations in the cyber domain have the ability to impact operations in other war-fighting

Defending Our Satellites: The Need for Electronic Warfare Education and Training

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

intercept Allied bombers attacking at night.9 As a result of the electronic warfare advantage that systems like Window and Airborne Cigar be- stowed...74 | Air & Space Power Journal Defending Our Satellites The Need for Electronic Warfare Education and Training Lt Col E. Lincoln Bonner, USAF...expanding education and training in the use of electronic warfare to defend US satellites and improve their survivability. The following discussion

Tolerance allocation for an electronic system using neural network/Monte Carlo approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Mohammed, Mohammed; Esteve, Daniel; Boucher, Jaque

2001-12-01

The intense global competition to produce quality products at a low cost has led many industrial nations to consider tolerances as a key factor to bring about cost as well as to remain competitive. In actually, Tolerance allocation stays widely applied on the Mechanic System. It is known that to study the tolerances in an electronic domain, Monte-Carlo method well be used. But the later method spends a long time. This paper reviews several methods (Worst-case, Statistical Method, Least Cost Allocation by Optimization methods) that can be used for treating the tolerancing problem for an Electronic System and explains their advantages and their limitations. Then, it proposes an efficient method based on the Neural Networks associated with Monte-Carlo method as basis data. The network is trained using the Error Back Propagation Algorithm to predict the individual part tolerances, minimizing the total cost of the system by a method of optimization. This proposed approach has been applied on Small-Signal Amplifier Circuit as an example. This method can be easily extended to a complex system of n-components.

75 FR 27850 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated; Notice of Filing of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-18

... Change, as Modified by Amendment No. 1 Thereto, Related to the Hybrid Matching Algorithms May 12, 2010... allocation algorithms to choose from when executing incoming electronic orders. The menu format allows the Exchange to utilize different allocation algorithms on a class-by-class basis. The menu includes, among...

To dare or not to dare? Risk management by owls in a predator-prey foraging game.

PubMed

Embar, Keren; Raveh, Ashael; Burns, Darren; Kotler, Burt P

2014-07-01

In a foraging game, predators must catch elusive prey while avoiding injury. Predators manage their hunting success with behavioral tools such as habitat selection, time allocation, and perhaps daring-the willingness to risk injury to increase hunting success. A predator's level of daring should be state dependent: the hungrier it is, the more it should be willing to risk injury to better capture prey. We ask, in a foraging game, will a hungry predator be more willing to risk injury while hunting? We performed an experiment in an outdoor vivarium in which barn owls (Tyto alba) were allowed to hunt Allenby's gerbils (Gerbillus andersoni allenbyi) from a choice of safe and risky patches. Owls were either well fed or hungry, representing the high and low state, respectively. We quantified the owls' patch use behavior. We predicted that hungry owls would be more daring and allocate more time to the risky patches. Owls preferred to hunt in the safe patches. This indicates that owls manage risk of injury by avoiding the risky patches. Hungry owls doubled their attacks on gerbils, but directed the added effort mostly toward the safe patch and the safer, open areas in the risky patch. Thus, owls dared by performing a risky action-the attack maneuver-more times, but only in the safest places-the open areas. We conclude that daring can be used to manage risk of injury and owls implement it strategically, in ways we did not foresee, to minimize risk of injury while maximizing hunting success.

How the oxygen tolerance of a [NiFe]-hydrogenase depends on quaternary structure.

PubMed

Wulff, Philip; Thomas, Claudia; Sargent, Frank; Armstrong, Fraser A

2016-03-01

'Oxygen-tolerant' [NiFe]-hydrogenases can catalyze H2 oxidation under aerobic conditions, avoiding oxygenation and destruction of the active site. In one mechanism accounting for this special property, membrane-bound [NiFe]-hydrogenases accommodate a pool of electrons that allows an O2 molecule attacking the active site to be converted rapidly to harmless water. An important advantage may stem from having a dimeric or higher-order quaternary structure in which the electron-transfer relay chain of one partner is electronically coupled to that in the other. Hydrogenase-1 from E. coli has a dimeric structure in which the distal [4Fe-4S] clusters in each monomer are located approximately 12 Å apart, a distance conducive to fast electron tunneling. Such an arrangement can ensure that electrons from H2 oxidation released at the active site of one partner are immediately transferred to its counterpart when an O2 molecule attacks. This paper addresses the role of long-range, inter-domain electron transfer in the mechanism of O2-tolerance by comparing the properties of monomeric and dimeric forms of Hydrogenase-1. The results reveal a further interesting advantage that quaternary structure affords to proteins.

Realities of Deterrence and Retaliatory Options to Attacks in Space and Cyberspace

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-02-15

instruments of power. It is an evolving landscape of electronic and kinetic threats that may merely scratch the surface of what might be at an...communications satellite; and in 2008, during two separate attacks, hackers accessed National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ) telemetry...unacceptable and to be avoided.23,24 Deterrence between the United States and the Soviet Union was bi-polar, between known adversaries. This is not

Unmanned Vanguard: Leveraging The Operational Effectiveness Of The Israeli Unmanned Aircraft System Program

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-04-01

tactical electronic and optical reconnaissance (both high and low altitude); and 3) electronic combat (jamming and chaff dispensing).7 In contrast, the...sites or other radar sites. IAI designed the Harpy as a loitering UAS that would sit over the battlefield and search for electronic emissions from...tactical reconnaissance, and can be modified to carry different payloads for electronic warfare or attack missions. The Hermes 450 is the smallest

I Was Attacked Online!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hensel, Jan

1996-01-01

Considers some of the problems posed by electronic mail systems when the identity of the user is protected by the server. Suggests that high school instructors and administrators have good reason to circulate electronic messages through a central site, as students need to be protected from exploitative users and prohibited from sending abusive…

26 CFR 1.1060-1 - Special allocation rules for certain asset acquisitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...) (relating to the allocation of adjusted grossed-up basis among the assets of the target corporation when a... of value. P is a company that designs, manufactures, and markets electronic components. It wants to... market value of the non-recognition assets transferred by one party exceeds the fair market value of the...

Analog Processor To Solve Optimization Problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duong, Tuan A.; Eberhardt, Silvio P.; Thakoor, Anil P.

1993-01-01

Proposed analog processor solves "traveling-salesman" problem, considered paradigm of global-optimization problems involving routing or allocation of resources. Includes electronic neural network and auxiliary circuitry based partly on concepts described in "Neural-Network Processor Would Allocate Resources" (NPO-17781) and "Neural Network Solves 'Traveling-Salesman' Problem" (NPO-17807). Processor based on highly parallel computing solves problem in significantly less time.

Herbivore-mediated ecological costs of reproduction shape the life history of an iteroparous plant.

PubMed

Miller, Tom E X; Tenhumberg, Brigitte; Louda, Svata M

2008-02-01

Plant reproduction yields immediate fitness benefits but can be costly in terms of survival, growth, and future fecundity. Life-history theory posits that reproductive strategies are shaped by trade-offs between current and future fitness that result from these direct costs of reproduction. Plant reproduction may also incur indirect ecological costs if it increases susceptibility to herbivores. Yet ecological costs of reproduction have received little empirical attention and remain poorly integrated into life-history theory. Here, we provide evidence for herbivore-mediated ecological costs of reproduction, and we develop theory to examine how these costs influence plant life-history strategies. Field experiments with an iteroparous cactus (Opuntia imbricata) indicated that greater reproductive effort (proportion of meristems allocated to reproduction) led to greater attack by a cactus-feeding insect (Narnia pallidicornis) and that damage by this herbivore reduced reproductive success. A dynamic programming model predicted strongly divergent optimal reproductive strategies when ecological costs were included, compared with when these costs were ignored. Meristem allocation by cacti in the field matched the optimal strategy expected under ecological costs of reproduction. The results indicate that plant reproductive allocation can strongly influence the intensity of interactions with herbivores and that associated ecological costs can play an important selective role in the evolution of plant life histories.

Point-of-care cluster randomized trial in stroke secondary prevention using electronic health records.

PubMed

Dregan, Alex; van Staa, Tjeerd P; McDermott, Lisa; McCann, Gerard; Ashworth, Mark; Charlton, Judith; Wolfe, Charles D A; Rudd, Anthony; Yardley, Lucy; Gulliford, Martin C; Trial Steering Committee

2014-07-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the remote introduction of electronic decision support tools into family practices improves risk factor control after first stroke. This study also aimed to develop methods to implement cluster randomized trials in stroke using electronic health records. Family practices were recruited from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink and allocated to intervention and control trial arms by minimization. Remotely installed, electronic decision support tools promoted intensified secondary prevention for 12 months with last measure of systolic blood pressure as the primary outcome. Outcome data from electronic health records were analyzed using marginal models. There were 106 Clinical Practice Research Datalink family practices allocated (intervention, 53; control, 53), with 11 391 (control, 5516; intervention, 5875) participants with acute stroke ever diagnosed. Participants at trial practices had similar characteristics as 47,887 patients with stroke at nontrial practices. During the intervention period, blood pressure values were recorded in the electronic health records for 90% and cholesterol values for 84% of participants. After intervention, the latest mean systolic blood pressure was 131.7 (SD, 16.8) mm Hg in the control trial arm and 131.4 (16.7) mm Hg in the intervention trial arm, and adjusted mean difference was -0.56 mm Hg (95% confidence interval, -1.38 to 0.26; P=0.183). The financial cost of the trial was approximately US $22 per participant, or US $2400 per family practice allocated. Large pragmatic intervention studies may be implemented at low cost by using electronic health records. The intervention used in this trial was not found to be effective, and further research is needed to develop more effective intervention strategies. http://www.controlled-trials.com. Current Controlled Trials identifier: ISRCTN35701810. © 2014 American Heart Association, Inc.

Transient ischameic attack/stroke electronic decision support: a 14-month safety audit.

PubMed

Lavin, Timothy L; Ranta, Annemarei

2014-02-01

To assess the safety of a Transient Ischameic Attack (TIA)/Stroke Electronic Decision Support (EDS) tool in the primary care setting intended to aid general practitioners in the timely management of transient ischemic attacks (TIAs). A 14-month safety audit reviewing all patients managed with the help of the TIA/Stroke EDS tool. Major morbidity and mortality were assessed by screening patients for subsequent hospital admissions and investigating potential links to EDS use. Seventy-nine patients were managed with the aid of the TIA/Stroke EDS. EDS use resulted in 8 appropriate immediate hospital admissions because of patients being at high risk of stroke. Three patients had delayed admission, but care was fully guideline based and patients had no adverse outcome. Eleven admissions were unrelated to EDS use. Two deaths occurred; these did not result from inappropriate EDS advice. Results suggest that TIA/Stroke EDS use is not associated with major morbidity or mortality. Larger studies are needed to draw more definite conclusions regarding the utility of this TIA/Stroke EDS in preventing strokes. Copyright © 2014 National Stroke Association. All rights reserved.

77 FR 60689 - Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation by Transmission Owning and Operating Public Utilities

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-04

... filings must be submitted in accordance with the Commission's electronic tariff filing (eTariff... eTariff Filing Title field and in the Description field in eFiling. DATES: Effective on October 4... electronic tariff filing (eTariff) requirements in Electronic Tariff Filings, Order No. 714, FERC Stats...

Waging and Fighting e Jihad

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-12-01

across the internet, and terrorists have evolved to become more adept at covert communication. Web chat through on multiplayer online video games ...Tom Wells. “TERRORISTS are using online war games like Call of Duty to plot attacks, The Sun can reveal.” http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news...4205896/Terrorists-play- online - games -like-Call-of- Duty-to-plan-attacks.html#ixzz2E2lOCwjd 10 Daily News and Analysis. “Headley used ’electronic dead

76 FR 1559 - Guidelines for the Use of Electronic Voting Systems in Union Officer Elections

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-11

... voting. Id. However, there are still concerns regarding on-line computer security, viruses and attacks... casting votes at polling sites; electronic voting from remote site personal computers via the Internet..., Washington, DC 20210. Because of security precautions, the Department continues to experience delays in U.S...

Impact of a comprehensive smoke-free law following a partial smoke-free law on incidence of heart attacks at a rural community hospital.

PubMed

Johnson, Eric L; Beal, James R

2013-03-01

Secondhand smoking (passive smoking) is associated with many negative health effects, primarily respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Approximately, 46,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease are associated with secondhand smoke exposure annually in the United States, which is roughly 150 deaths in North Dakota. Studies show that passage of smoke-free laws at the community level can reduce the incidence of heart attack. We conducted a retrospective review of electronic medical records of patients admitted for heart attacks 4 months prior (April 15, 2010 through August 14, 2010) to implementation of the smoke-free ordinance and 4 months following (August 15, 2010 through December 14, 2010) implementation of the comprehensive smoke-free ordinance in Grand Forks, ND, United States. We found an association between the heart attack rate and implementation of the comprehensive smoke-free law. The heart attack rate prior to the ban was 0.5% (83/16,702) compared with 0.3% (63/18,513) after the ban (p = .023). Thus, the rate of heart attacks decreased 30.6% and number of heart attack admissions decreased 24.1%, from 83 to 63, after implementation of a comprehensive smoke-free law. We found an implementation of the comprehensive smoke-free law was associated with a decrease in the heart attack rate. The heart attack rate decreased 30.6%. Our finding was similar to previous community level smoke-free law implementation studies and notable for the change going from a partial smoke-free law to a comprehensive smoke-free law.

A more secure anonymous user authentication scheme for the integrated EPR information system.

PubMed

Wen, Fengtong

2014-05-01

Secure and efficient user mutual authentication is an essential task for integrated electronic patient record (EPR) information system. Recently, several authentication schemes have been proposed to meet this requirement. In a recent paper, Lee et al. proposed an efficient and secure password-based authentication scheme used smart cards for the integrated EPR information system. This scheme is believed to have many abilities to resist a range of network attacks. Especially, they claimed that their scheme could resist lost smart card attack. However, we reanalyze the security of Lee et al.'s scheme, and show that it fails to protect off-line password guessing attack if the secret information stored in the smart card is compromised. This also renders that their scheme is insecure against user impersonation attacks. Then, we propose a new user authentication scheme for integrated EPR information systems based on the quadratic residues. The new scheme not only resists a range of network attacks but also provides user anonymity. We show that our proposed scheme can provide stronger security.

Agent-Centric Approach for Cybersecurity Decision-Support with Partial Observability

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tipireddy, Ramakrishna; Chatterjee, Samrat; Paulson, Patrick R.

Generating automated cyber resilience policies for real-world settings is a challenging research problem that must account for uncertainties in system state over time and dynamics between attackers and defenders. In addition to understanding attacker and defender motives and tools, and identifying “relevant” system and attack data, it is also critical to develop rigorous mathematical formulations representing the defender’s decision-support problem under uncertainty. Game-theoretic approaches involving cyber resource allocation optimization with Markov decision processes (MDP) have been previously proposed in the literature. Moreover, advancements in reinforcement learning approaches have motivated the development of partially observable stochastic games (POSGs) in various multi-agentmore » problem domains with partial information. Recent advances in cyber-system state space modeling have also generated interest in potential applicability of POSGs for cybersecurity. However, as is the case in strategic card games such as poker, research challenges using game-theoretic approaches for practical cyber defense applications include: 1) solving for equilibrium and designing efficient algorithms for large-scale, general problems; 2) establishing mathematical guarantees that equilibrium exists; 3) handling possible existence of multiple equilibria; and 4) exploitation of opponent weaknesses. Inspired by advances in solving strategic card games while acknowledging practical challenges associated with the use of game-theoretic approaches in cyber settings, this paper proposes an agent-centric approach for cybersecurity decision-support with partial system state observability.« less

Security enhanced multi-factor biometric authentication scheme using bio-hash function.

PubMed

Choi, Younsung; Lee, Youngsook; Moon, Jongho; Won, Dongho

2017-01-01

With the rapid development of personal information and wireless communication technology, user authentication schemes have been crucial to ensure that wireless communications are secure. As such, various authentication schemes with multi-factor authentication have been proposed to improve the security of electronic communications. Multi-factor authentication involves the use of passwords, smart cards, and various biometrics to provide users with the utmost privacy and data protection. Cao and Ge analyzed various authentication schemes and found that Younghwa An's scheme was susceptible to a replay attack where an adversary masquerades as a legal server and a user masquerading attack where user anonymity is not provided, allowing an adversary to execute a password change process by intercepting the user's ID during login. Cao and Ge improved upon Younghwa An's scheme, but various security problems remained. This study demonstrates that Cao and Ge's scheme is susceptible to a biometric recognition error, slow wrong password detection, off-line password attack, user impersonation attack, ID guessing attack, a DoS attack, and that their scheme cannot provide session key agreement. Then, to address all weaknesses identified in Cao and Ge's scheme, this study proposes a security enhanced multi-factor biometric authentication scheme and provides a security analysis and formal analysis using Burrows-Abadi-Needham logic. Finally, the efficiency analysis reveals that the proposed scheme can protect against several possible types of attacks with only a slightly high computational cost.

Physical-enhanced secure strategy in an OFDM-PON.

PubMed

Zhang, Lijia; Xin, Xiangjun; Liu, Bo; Yu, Jianjun

2012-01-30

The physical layer of optical access network is vulnerable to various attacks. As the dramatic increase of users and network capacity, the issue of physical-layer security becomes more and more important. This paper proposes a physical-enhanced secure strategy for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing passive optical network (OFDM-PON) by employing frequency domain chaos scrambling. The Logistic map is adopted for the chaos mapping. The chaos scrambling strategy can dynamically allocate the scrambling matrices for different OFDM frames according to the initial condition, which enhance the confidentiality of the physical layer. A mathematical model of this secure system is derived firstly, which achieves a secure transmission at physical layer in OFDM-PON. The results from experimental implementation using Logistic mapped chaos scrambling are also given to further demonstrate the efficiency of this secure strategy. An 10.125 Gb/s 64QAM-OFDM data with Logistic mapped chaos scrambling are successfully transmitted over 25-km single mode fiber (SMF), and the experimental results show that proposed security scheme can protect the system from eavesdropper and attacker, while keep a good performance for the legal ONU.

Quantum hacking on a practical continuous-variable quantum cryptosystem by inserting an external light

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Hao; Kumar, Rupesh; Alleaume, Romain

2015-10-01

We report here a new side channel attack on a practical continuous-variable (CV) quantum key distribution (QKD) system. Inspired by blinding attack in discrete-variable QKD, we formalize an attack strategy by inserting an external light into a CV QKD system implemented Gaussian-modulated coherent state protocol and show that our attack can compromise its practical security. In this attack, we concern imperfections of a balanced homodyne detector used in CV QKD. According to our analysis, if one inserts an external light into Bob's signal port, due to the imperfect subtraction from the homodyne detector, the leakage of the external light contributes a displacement on the homodyne signal which causes detector electronics saturation. In consequence, Bob's quadrature measurement is not linear with the quadrature sent by Alice. By considering such vulnerability, a potential Eve can launch a full intercept-resend attack meanwhile she inserts an external light into Bob's signal port. By selecting proper properties of the external light, Eve actively controls the induced displacement value from the inserted light which results saturation of homodyne detection. In consequence, Eve can bias the excess noise due to the intercept-resend attack and the external light, such that Alice and Bob believe their excess noise estimation is below the null key threshold and they can still share a secret key. Our attack shows that the detector loopholes also exist in CV QKD, and it seems influence all the CV QKD systems using homodyne detection, since all the practical detectors have finite detection range.

An Improved and Secure Anonymous Biometric-Based User Authentication with Key Agreement Scheme for the Integrated EPR Information System.

PubMed

Jung, Jaewook; Kang, Dongwoo; Lee, Donghoon; Won, Dongho

2017-01-01

Nowadays, many hospitals and medical institutes employ an authentication protocol within electronic patient records (EPR) services in order to provide protected electronic transactions in e-medicine systems. In order to establish efficient and robust health care services, numerous studies have been carried out on authentication protocols. Recently, Li et al. proposed a user authenticated key agreement scheme according to EPR information systems, arguing that their scheme is able to resist various types of attacks and preserve diverse security properties. However, this scheme possesses critical vulnerabilities. First, the scheme cannot prevent off-line password guessing attacks and server spoofing attack, and cannot preserve user identity. Second, there is no password verification process with the failure to identify the correct password at the beginning of the login phase. Third, the mechanism of password change is incompetent, in that it induces inefficient communication in communicating with the server to change a user password. Therefore, we suggest an upgraded version of the user authenticated key agreement scheme that provides enhanced security. Our security and performance analysis shows that compared to other related schemes, our scheme not only improves the security level, but also ensures efficiency.

An Improved and Secure Anonymous Biometric-Based User Authentication with Key Agreement Scheme for the Integrated EPR Information System

PubMed Central

Kang, Dongwoo; Lee, Donghoon; Won, Dongho

2017-01-01

Nowadays, many hospitals and medical institutes employ an authentication protocol within electronic patient records (EPR) services in order to provide protected electronic transactions in e-medicine systems. In order to establish efficient and robust health care services, numerous studies have been carried out on authentication protocols. Recently, Li et al. proposed a user authenticated key agreement scheme according to EPR information systems, arguing that their scheme is able to resist various types of attacks and preserve diverse security properties. However, this scheme possesses critical vulnerabilities. First, the scheme cannot prevent off-line password guessing attacks and server spoofing attack, and cannot preserve user identity. Second, there is no password verification process with the failure to identify the correct password at the beginning of the login phase. Third, the mechanism of password change is incompetent, in that it induces inefficient communication in communicating with the server to change a user password. Therefore, we suggest an upgraded version of the user authenticated key agreement scheme that provides enhanced security. Our security and performance analysis shows that compared to other related schemes, our scheme not only improves the security level, but also ensures efficiency. PMID:28046075

Modeling inter-signal arrival times for accurate detection of CAN bus signal injection attacks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moore, Michael Roy; Bridges, Robert A; Combs, Frank L

Modern vehicles rely on hundreds of on-board electronic control units (ECUs) communicating over in-vehicle networks. As external interfaces to the car control networks (such as the on-board diagnostic (OBD) port, auxiliary media ports, etc.) become common, and vehicle-to-vehicle / vehicle-to-infrastructure technology is in the near future, the attack surface for vehicles grows, exposing control networks to potentially life-critical attacks. This paper addresses the need for securing the CAN bus by detecting anomalous traffic patterns via unusual refresh rates of certain commands. While previous works have identified signal frequency as an important feature for CAN bus intrusion detection, this paper providesmore » the first such algorithm with experiments on five attack scenarios. Our data-driven anomaly detection algorithm requires only five seconds of training time (on normal data) and achieves true positive / false discovery rates of 0.9998/0.00298, respectively (micro-averaged across the five experimental tests).« less

Electronic Neural Networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thakoor, Anil

1990-01-01

Viewgraphs on electronic neural networks for space station are presented. Topics covered include: electronic neural networks; electronic implementations; VLSI/thin film hybrid hardware for neurocomputing; computations with analog parallel processing; features of neuroprocessors; applications of neuroprocessors; neural network hardware for terrain trafficability determination; a dedicated processor for path planning; neural network system interface; neural network for robotic control; error backpropagation algorithm for learning; resource allocation matrix; global optimization neuroprocessor; and electrically programmable read only thin-film synaptic array.

Mitigation of corrosion attack on carbon steel coated cermet alloy in different anion contents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khalid, Muhamad Azrin Mohd; Ismail, Azzura

2017-12-01

This research study evaluated the corrosion mechanism attack on carbon steel coated with cermet alloys (WC-9% Ni) in seawater at different sulphate-to-chloride ratios. The four different sulphate-to-chloride ratios were synthesised with the same seawater salinity of 3.5 % and same pH of real seawater. The corrosion tests involved immersion and electrochemical tests. The immersion test is used to determine the cermet coating ability to withstand the corrosion attack based on different ratios of anions present in the seawater at different periods of immersion. The corrosion attack was characterized by optical and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The aggressive anions present in the seawater influenced the corrosion attack on the cermet coating. For immersion test, results revealed that increasing sulphate more than chloride, increased the weight loss of cermets. The electrochemistry analysis showed that the passive layer forms on cermet coating prevented the material from further corrosion attack. However, due to its porosity, the passive layer collapsed and exposed the material for other corrosion reaction. For electrochemical test, the result shows that the solution with sulphate-to-chloride ratio of 0.14 (real seawater) has the highest corrosion current and Open Circuit Potential (OCP) compared to other solutions (different sulphate-to-chloride ratio). In conclusion, sulfate and chloride show their competition to attack the cermet coating on carbon steel and the higher the amount of chloride present in seawater, the higher the corrosion rate and pits formed on the cermet coating.

Security enhanced multi-factor biometric authentication scheme using bio-hash function

PubMed Central

Lee, Youngsook; Moon, Jongho

2017-01-01

With the rapid development of personal information and wireless communication technology, user authentication schemes have been crucial to ensure that wireless communications are secure. As such, various authentication schemes with multi-factor authentication have been proposed to improve the security of electronic communications. Multi-factor authentication involves the use of passwords, smart cards, and various biometrics to provide users with the utmost privacy and data protection. Cao and Ge analyzed various authentication schemes and found that Younghwa An’s scheme was susceptible to a replay attack where an adversary masquerades as a legal server and a user masquerading attack where user anonymity is not provided, allowing an adversary to execute a password change process by intercepting the user’s ID during login. Cao and Ge improved upon Younghwa An’s scheme, but various security problems remained. This study demonstrates that Cao and Ge’s scheme is susceptible to a biometric recognition error, slow wrong password detection, off-line password attack, user impersonation attack, ID guessing attack, a DoS attack, and that their scheme cannot provide session key agreement. Then, to address all weaknesses identified in Cao and Ge’s scheme, this study proposes a security enhanced multi-factor biometric authentication scheme and provides a security analysis and formal analysis using Burrows-Abadi-Needham logic. Finally, the efficiency analysis reveals that the proposed scheme can protect against several possible types of attacks with only a slightly high computational cost. PMID:28459867

Electron Microscopy Characterizations and Atom Probe Tomography of Intergranular Attack in Alloy 600 Exposed to PWR Primary Water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olszta, Matthew J.; Schreiber, Daniel K.; Thomas, Larry E.; Bruemmer, Stephen M.

Detailed examinations of intergranular attack (IGA) in alloy 600 were performed after exposure to simulated PWR primary water at 325°C for 500 h. High-resolution analyses of IGA characteristics were conducted on specimens with either a 1 µm diamond or 1200-grit SiC surface finish using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography techniques. The diamond-polish finish with very little preexisting subsurface damage revealed attack of high-energy grain boundaries that intersected the exposed surface to depths approaching 2 µm. In all cases, IGA from the surface is localized oxidation consisting of porous, nanocrystalline MO-structure and spinel particles along with regions of faceted wall oxidation. Surprisingly, this continuous IG oxidation transitions to discontinuous, discrete Cr-rich sulfide particles up to 50 nm in diameter. In the vicinity of the sulfides, the grain boundaries were severely Cr depleted (to <1 at%) and enriched in S. The 1200 grit SiC finish surface exhibited a preexisting highly strained recrystallized layer of elongated nanocrystalline matrix grains. Similar IG oxidation and leading sulfide particles were found, but the IGA depth was typically confined to the near-surface ( 400 nm) recrystallized region. Difference in IGA for the two surface finishes indicates that the formation of grain boundary sulfides occurs during the exposure to PWR primary water. The source of S remains unclear, however it is not present as sulfides in the bulk alloy nor is it segregated to bulk grain boundaries.

30 CFR 250.1203 - Gas measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Security § 250.1203 Gas measurement. (a) To which meters do MMS requirements for gas measurement apply? MMS requirements for gas measurements apply to all OCS gas royalty and allocation meters. (b) What are the... throughout the system. (4) Equip the meter with a chart or electronic data recorder. If an electronic data...

Action mechanism of tyrosinase on meta- and para-hydroxylated monophenols.

PubMed

Fenoll, L G; Rodríguez-López, J N; Varón, R; García-Ruiz, P A; García-Cánovas, F; Tudela, J

2000-04-01

The relationship between the structure and activity of meta- and para-hydroxylated monophenols was studied during their tyrosinase-catalysed hydroxylation and the rate-limiting steps of the reaction mechanism were identified. The para-hydroxylated substrates permit us to study the effect of a substituent (R) in the carbon-1 position (C-1) of the benzene ring on the nucleophilic attack step, while the meta group permits a similar study of the effect on the electrophilic attack step. Substrates with a -OCH3 group on C-1, as p-hydroxyanisol (4HA) and m-hydroxyanisol (3HA), or with a -CH2OH group, as p-hydroxybenzylalcohol (4HBA) and m-hydroxybenzylalcohol (3HBA), were used because the effect of the substituent (R) size was assumed to be similar. However, the electron-donating effect of the -OCH3 group means that the carbon-4 position (C-4) is favoured for nucleophilic attack (para-hydroxylated substrates) or for electrophilic attack (meta-hydroxylated substrates). The electron-attracting effect of the -CH2OH group has the opposite effect, hindering nucleophilic (para) or electrophilic (meta) attack of C-4. The experimental data point to differences between the maximum steady-state rate (V(M)Max) of the different substrates, the value of this parameter depends on the nucleophilic and electrophilic attack. However, differences are greatest in the Michaelis constants (K(M)m), with the meta-hydroxylated substrates having very large values. The catalytic efficiency k(M)cat/K(M)m is much greater for thepara-hydroxylated substrates although it varies greatly between one substrate and the other. However, it varies much less in the meta-hydroxylated substrates since this parameter describes the power of the nucleophilic attack, which is weaker in the meta OH. The large increase in the K(M)m of the meta-hydroxylated substrates might suggest that the phenolic OH takes part in substrate binding. Since this is a weaker nucleophil than the para-hydroxylated substrates, the binding constant decreases, leading to an increase in K(M)m. The catalytic efficiency of tyrosinase on a monophenol (para or meta) is directly related to the nucleophilic power of the oxygen of the phenolic OH. The oxidation step is not limiting since if this were the case, the para and meta substrates would have the same V(M)max. The small difference between the absolute values of V(M)max suggests that the rate constants of the nucleophilic and electrophilic attacks are on the same order of magnitude.

Mitigating Inadvertent Insider Threats with Incentives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Debin; Wang, Xiaofeng; Camp, L. Jean

Inadvertent insiders are trusted insiders who do not have malicious intent (as with malicious insiders) but do not responsibly managing security. The result is often enabling a malicious outsider to use the privileges of the inattentive insider to implement an insider attack. This risk is as old as conversion of a weak user password into root access, but the term inadvertent insider is recently coined to identify the link between the behavior and the vulnerability. In this paper, we propose to mitigate this threat using a novel risk budget mechanism that offers incentives to an insider to behave according to the risk posture set by the organization. We propose assigning an insider a risk budget, which is a specific allocation of risk points, allowing employees to take a finite number of risk-seeking choice. In this way, the employee can complete her tasks without subverting the security system, as with absolute prohibitions. In the end, the organization penalizes the insider if she fails to accomplish her task within the budget while rewards her in the presence of a surplus. Most importantly. the risk budget requires that the user make conscious visible choices to take electronic risks. We describe the theory behind the system, including specific work on the insider threats. We evaluated this approach using human-subject experiments, which demonstrate the effectiveness of our risk budget mechanism. We also present a game theoretic analysis of the mechanism.

Resilient and Robust High Performance Computing Platforms for Scientific Computing Integrity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jin, Yier

As technology advances, computer systems are subject to increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks that compromise both their security and integrity. High performance computing platforms used in commercial and scientific applications involving sensitive, or even classified data, are frequently targeted by powerful adversaries. This situation is made worse by a lack of fundamental security solutions that both perform efficiently and are effective at preventing threats. Current security solutions fail to address the threat landscape and ensure the integrity of sensitive data. As challenges rise, both private and public sectors will require robust technologies to protect its computing infrastructure. The research outcomes from thismore » project try to address all these challenges. For example, we present LAZARUS, a novel technique to harden kernel Address Space Layout Randomization (KASLR) against paging-based side-channel attacks. In particular, our scheme allows for fine-grained protection of the virtual memory mappings that implement the randomization. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach by hardening a recent Linux kernel with LAZARUS, mitigating all of the previously presented side-channel attacks on KASLR. Our extensive evaluation shows that LAZARUS incurs only 0.943% overhead for standard benchmarks, and is therefore highly practical. We also introduced HA2lloc, a hardware-assisted allocator that is capable of leveraging an extended memory management unit to detect memory errors in the heap. We also perform testing using HA2lloc in a simulation environment and find that the approach is capable of preventing common memory vulnerabilities.« less

Evaluation of Gritting Strategies for High Angle of Attack Using Wind Tunnel and Flight Test Data for the F/A-18

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, Robert M.; Erickson, Gary E.; Fox, Charles H., Jr.; Banks, Daniel W.; Fisher, David F.

1998-01-01

A subsonic study of high-angle-of-attack gritting strategies was undertaken with a 0.06-scale model of the F/A-18, which was assumed to be typical of airplanes with smooth-sided forebodies. This study was conducted in the Langley 7- by 10-Foot High-Speed Tunnel and was intended to more accurately simulate flight boundary layer characteristics on the model in the wind tunnel than would be possible by using classical, low-angle-of-attack gritting on the fuselage. Six-component force and moment data were taken with an internally mounted strain-gauge balance, while pressure data were acquired by using electronically scanned pressure transducers. Data were taken at zero sideslip over an angle-of-attack range from 0 deg to 40 deg and, at selected angles of attack, over sideslip angles from -10 deg to 10 deg. Free-stream Mach number was fixed at 0.30, which resulted in a Reynolds number, based on mean aerodynamic chord, of 1.4 x 10(exp 6). Pressure data measured over the forebody and leading-edge extensions are compared to similar pressure data taken by a related NASA flight research program by using a specially instrumented F/A-18, the High-Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV). Preliminary guidelines for high-angle-of-attack gritting strategies are given.

An Efficient Searchable Encryption Against Keyword Guessing Attacks for Sharable Electronic Medical Records in Cloud-based System.

PubMed

Wu, Yilun; Lu, Xicheng; Su, Jinshu; Chen, Peixin

2016-12-01

Preserving the privacy of electronic medical records (EMRs) is extremely important especially when medical systems adopt cloud services to store patients' electronic medical records. Considering both the privacy and the utilization of EMRs, some medical systems apply searchable encryption to encrypt EMRs and enable authorized users to search over these encrypted records. Since individuals would like to share their EMRs with multiple persons, how to design an efficient searchable encryption for sharable EMRs is still a very challenge work. In this paper, we propose a cost-efficient secure channel free searchable encryption (SCF-PEKS) scheme for sharable EMRs. Comparing with existing SCF-PEKS solutions, our scheme reduces the storage overhead and achieves better computation performance. Moreover, our scheme can guard against keyword guessing attack, which is neglected by most of the existing schemes. Finally, we implement both our scheme and a latest medical-based scheme to evaluate the performance. The evaluation results show that our scheme performs much better performance than the latest one for sharable EMRs.

A Systems-Based Risk Assessment Framework for Intentional Electromagnetic Interference (IEMI) on Critical Infrastructures.

PubMed

Oakes, Benjamin Donald; Mattsson, Lars-Göran; Näsman, Per; Glazunov, Andrés Alayón

2018-06-01

Modern infrastructures are becoming increasingly dependent on electronic systems, leaving them more vulnerable to electrical surges or electromagnetic interference. Electromagnetic disturbances appear in nature, e.g., lightning and solar wind; however, they may also be generated by man-made technology to maliciously damage or disturb electronic equipment. This article presents a systematic risk assessment framework for identifying possible, consequential, and plausible intentional electromagnetic interference (IEMI) attacks on an arbitrary distribution network infrastructure. In the absence of available data on IEMI occurrences, we find that a systems-based risk assessment is more useful than a probabilistic approach. We therefore modify the often applied definition of risk, i.e., a set of triplets containing scenario, probability, and consequence, to a set of quadruplets: scenario, resource requirements, plausibility, and consequence. Probability is "replaced" by resource requirements and plausibility, where the former is the minimum amount and type of equipment necessary to successfully carry out an attack scenario and the latter is a subjective assessment of the extent of the existence of attackers who possess the motivation, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the scenario. We apply the concept of intrusion areas and classify electromagnetic source technology according to key attributes. Worst-case scenarios are identified for different quantities of attacker resources. The most plausible and consequential of these are deemed the most important scenarios and should provide useful decision support in a countermeasures effort. Finally, an example of the proposed risk assessment framework, based on notional data, is provided on a hypothetical water distribution network. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

New insight into sludge reduction induced by different substrate allocation strategy between oxygen and nitrate/nitrite as terminal electron acceptor.

PubMed

Yan, Peng; Guo, Jin-Song; Xu, Yu-Feng; Chen, You-Peng; Wang, Jing; Liu, Zhi-Ping; Fang, Fang

2018-06-01

Sludge reduction based on regulating substrate allocation between catabolism and anabolism as a strategy is proposed to reduce energy and chemicals consumption during wastewater treatment. The results indicated that a sludge reduction of 14.8% and excellent nutrient removal were simultaneously achieved in the low dissolved oxygen (LDO) activated sludge system with a hydraulic retention time of 24 h at 25 °C. Denitrifiers comprised nearly 1/4 of all microorganisms in the system. These denitrifiers converted NO x - to N 2 obtaining a lower biomass yield. The oxidoreductase activity proteins in the LDO sample was more than twice that of the normal DO sample, indicating that catabolism was stimulated by NO x - when replacing O 2 as electron acceptor. Less substrate was used for cell synthesis in the LDO system. Stable sludge reduction without extra energy and chemicals inputs was achieved by regulating the substrate allocation by inducing the bacteria to utilize NO x - instead of O 2 . Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Plasma sprayed coatings for containment of Cu-Mg-Si metallic phase change material

DOE PAGES

Withey, Elizabeth Ann; Kruizenga, Alan Michael; Andraka, Charles E.; ...

2016-01-01

In this study, the performance of Y 2O 3-stabilized ZrO 2 (YSZ), Y 2O 3, and Al 2O 3 plasma sprayed coatings are investigated for their ability to prevent attack of Haynes 230 by a near-eutectic Cu-Mg-Si metallic phase change material (PCM) in a closed environment at 820 °C. Areas where coatings failed were identified with optical and scanning electron microscopy, while chemical interactions were clarified through elemental mapping using electron microprobe analysis. Despite its susceptibility to reduction by Mg, the Al 2O 3 coating performed well while the YSZ and Y 2O 3 coating showed clear areas of attack.more » These results are attributed to the evolution of gaseous Mg at 820 °C leading to the formation of MgO and MgAl 2O 4.« less

47 CFR 2.913 - Submittal of equipment authorization application or information to the Commission.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... COMMISSION GENERAL FREQUENCY ALLOCATIONS AND RADIO TREATY MATTERS; GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS Equipment... must be filed electronically via the Internet. Information on the procedures for electronically filing... from the Internet at https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/cf/eas/index.cfm. (b) Unless otherwise directed...

47 CFR 2.913 - Submittal of equipment authorization application or information to the Commission.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... COMMISSION GENERAL FREQUENCY ALLOCATIONS AND RADIO TREATY MATTERS; GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS Equipment... must be filed electronically via the Internet. Information on the procedures for electronically filing... from the Internet at https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/cf/eas/index.cfm. (b) Unless otherwise directed...

47 CFR 2.913 - Submittal of equipment authorization application or information to the Commission.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... COMMISSION GENERAL FREQUENCY ALLOCATIONS AND RADIO TREATY MATTERS; GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS Equipment... must be filed electronically via the Internet. Information on the procedures for electronically filing... from the Internet at https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/cf/eas/index.cfm. (b) Unless otherwise directed...

47 CFR 2.913 - Submittal of equipment authorization application or information to the Commission.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... COMMISSION GENERAL FREQUENCY ALLOCATIONS AND RADIO TREATY MATTERS; GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS Equipment... must be filed electronically via the Internet. Information on the procedures for electronically filing... from the Internet at https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/cf/eas/index.cfm. (b) Unless otherwise directed...

Improving Remote Voting Security with CodeVoting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joaquim, Rui; Ribeiro, Carlos; Ferreira, Paulo

One of the major problems that prevents the spread of elections with the possibility of remote voting over electronic networks, also called Internet Voting, is the use of unreliable client platforms, such as the voter's computer and the Internet infrastructure connecting it to the election server. A computer connected to the Internet is exposed to viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, malware and other threats that can compromise the election's integrity. For instance, it is possible to write a virus that changes the voter's vote to a predetermined vote on election's day. Another possible attack is the creation of a fake election web site where the voter uses a malicious vote program on the web site that manipulates the voter's vote (phishing/pharming attack). Such attacks may not disturb the election protocol, therefore can remain undetected in the eyes of the election auditors.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kumar, Dinesh; Thapliyal, Himanshu; Mohammad, Azhar

Differential Power Analysis (DPA) attack is considered to be a main threat while designing cryptographic processors. In cryptographic algorithms like DES and AES, S-Box is used to indeterminate the relationship between the keys and the cipher texts. However, S-box is prone to DPA attack due to its high power consumption. In this paper, we are implementing an energy-efficient 8-bit S-Box circuit using our proposed Symmetric Pass Gate Adiabatic Logic (SPGAL). SPGAL is energy-efficient as compared to the existing DPAresistant adiabatic and non-adiabatic logic families. SPGAL is energy-efficient due to reduction of non-adiabatic loss during the evaluate phase of the outputs.more » Further, the S-Box circuit implemented using SPGAL is resistant to DPA attacks. The results are verified through SPICE simulations in 180nm technology. SPICE simulations show that the SPGAL based S-Box circuit saves upto 92% and 67% of energy as compared to the conventional CMOS and Secured Quasi-Adiabatic Logic (SQAL) based S-Box circuit. From the simulation results, it is evident that the SPGAL based circuits are energy-efficient as compared to the existing DPAresistant adiabatic and non-adiabatic logic families. In nutshell, SPGAL based gates can be used to build secure hardware for lowpower portable electronic devices and Internet-of-Things (IoT) based electronic devices.« less

Image encryption based on nonlinear encryption system and public-key cryptography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Tieyu; Ran, Qiwen; Chi, Yingying

2015-03-01

Recently, optical asymmetric cryptosystem (OACS) has became the focus of discussion and concern of researchers. Some researchers pointed out that OACS was not tenable because of misunderstanding the concept of asymmetric cryptosystem (ACS). We propose an improved cryptosystem using RSA public-key algorithm based on existing OACS and the new system conforms to the basic agreement of public key cryptosystem. At the beginning of the encryption process, the system will produce an independent phase matrix and allocate the input image, which also conforms to one-time pad cryptosystem. The simulation results show that the validity of the improved cryptosystem and the high robustness against attack scheme using phase retrieval technique.

Biosurveillance: A Review and Update

PubMed Central

Kman, Nicholas E.; Bachmann, Daniel J.

2012-01-01

Since the terrorist attacks and anthrax release in 2001, almost $32 billion has been allocated to biodefense and biosurveillance in the USA alone. Surveillance in health care refers to the continual systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of data. When attempting to detect agents of bioterrorism, surveillance can occur in several ways. Syndromic surveillance occurs by monitoring clinical manifestations of certain illnesses. Laboratory surveillance occurs by looking for certain markers or laboratory data, and environmental surveillance is the process by which the ambient air or environment is continually sampled for the presence of biological agents. This paper focuses on the ways by which we detect bioterrorism agents and the effectiveness of these systems. PMID:22242207

Identification of concrete deteriorating minerals by polarizing and scanning electron microscopy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gregerova, Miroslava, E-mail: mirka@sci.muni.cz; Vsiansky, Dalibor, E-mail: daliborv@centrum.cz

2009-07-15

The deterioration of concrete represents one of the most serious problems of civil engineering worldwide. Besides other processes, deterioration of concrete consists of sulfate attack and carbonation. Sulfate attack results in the formation of gypsum, ettringite and thaumasite in hardened concrete. Products of sulfate attack may cause a loss of material strength and a risk of collapse of the concrete constructions. The authors focused especially on the microscopical research of sulfate attack. Concrete samples were taken from the Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic. A succession of degrading mineral formation was suggested. Microscope methods represent a new approach to solvingmore » the deterioration problems. They enable evaluation of the state of concrete constructions and in cooperation with hydro-geochemistry, mathematics and statistics permit prediction of the durability of a structure. Considering the number of concrete constructions and their age, research of concrete deterioration has an increasing importance. The results obtained can also be useful for future construction, because they identify the risk factors associated with formation of minerals known to degrade structures.« less

Enamel proteins mitigate mechanical and structural degradations in mature human enamel during acid attack

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lubarsky, Gennady V.; Lemoine, Patrick; Meenan, Brian J.; Deb, Sanjukta; Mutreja, Isha; Carolan, Patrick; Petkov, Nikolay

2014-04-01

A hydrazine deproteination process was used to investigate the role of enamel proteins in the acid erosion of mature human dental enamel. Bright field high resolution transmission electron micrographs and x-ray diffraction analysis show no crystallographic changes after the hydrazine treatment with similar nanoscale hydroxyapatite crystallite size and orientation for sound and de-proteinated enamel. However, the presence of enamel proteins reduces the erosion depth, the loss of hardness and the loss of structural order in enamel, following exposure to citric acid. Nanoindentation creep is larger for sound enamel than for deproteinated enamel but it reduces in sound enamel after acid attack. These novel results are consistent with calcium ion-mediated visco-elasticty in enamel matrix proteins as described previously for nacre, bone and dental proteins. They are also in good agreement with a previous double layer force spectroscopy study by the authors which found that the proteins electrochemically buffer enamel against acid attack. Finally, this suggests that acid attack, and more specifically dental erosion, is influenced by ionic permeation through the enamel layer and that it is mitigated by the enamel protein matrix.

Extracellular Electron Transfer Is a Bottleneck in the Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion of C1018 Carbon Steel by the Biofilm of Sulfate-Reducing Bacterium Desulfovibrio vulgaris.

PubMed

Li, Huabing; Xu, Dake; Li, Yingchao; Feng, Hao; Liu, Zhiyong; Li, Xiaogang; Gu, Tingyue; Yang, Ke

2015-01-01

Carbon steels are widely used in the oil and gas industry from downhole tubing to transport trunk lines. Microbes form biofilms, some of which cause the so-called microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) of carbon steels. MIC by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) is often a leading cause in MIC failures. Electrogenic SRB sessile cells harvest extracellular electrons from elemental iron oxidation for energy production in their metabolism. A previous study suggested that electron mediators riboflavin and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) both accelerated the MIC of 304 stainless steel by the Desulfovibrio vulgaris biofilm that is a corrosive SRB biofilm. Compared with stainless steels, carbon steels are usually far more prone to SRB attacks because SRB biofilms form much denser biofilms on carbon steel surfaces with a sessile cell density that is two orders of magnitude higher. In this work, C1018 carbon steel coupons were used in tests of MIC by D. vulgaris with and without an electron mediator. Experimental weight loss and pit depth data conclusively confirmed that both riboflavin and FAD were able to accelerate D. vulgaris attack against the carbon steel considerably. It has important implications in MIC failure analysis and MIC mitigation in the oil and gas industry.

Extracellular Electron Transfer Is a Bottleneck in the Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion of C1018 Carbon Steel by the Biofilm of Sulfate-Reducing Bacterium Desulfovibrio vulgaris

PubMed Central

Li, Yingchao; Feng, Hao; Liu, Zhiyong; Li, Xiaogang; Gu, Tingyue; Yang, Ke

2015-01-01

Carbon steels are widely used in the oil and gas industry from downhole tubing to transport trunk lines. Microbes form biofilms, some of which cause the so-called microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) of carbon steels. MIC by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) is often a leading cause in MIC failures. Electrogenic SRB sessile cells harvest extracellular electrons from elemental iron oxidation for energy production in their metabolism. A previous study suggested that electron mediators riboflavin and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) both accelerated the MIC of 304 stainless steel by the Desulfovibrio vulgaris biofilm that is a corrosive SRB biofilm. Compared with stainless steels, carbon steels are usually far more prone to SRB attacks because SRB biofilms form much denser biofilms on carbon steel surfaces with a sessile cell density that is two orders of magnitude higher. In this work, C1018 carbon steel coupons were used in tests of MIC by D. vulgaris with and without an electron mediator. Experimental weight loss and pit depth data conclusively confirmed that both riboflavin and FAD were able to accelerate D. vulgaris attack against the carbon steel considerably. It has important implications in MIC failure analysis and MIC mitigation in the oil and gas industry. PMID:26308855

Modelling radicalization: how small violent fringe sects develop into large indoctrinated societies

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

We model radicalization in a society consisting of two competing religious, ethnic or political groups. Each of the ‘sects’ is divided into moderate and radical factions, with intra-group transitions occurring either spontaneously or through indoctrination. We also include the possibility of one group violently attacking the other. The intra-group transition rates of one group are modelled to explicitly depend on the actions and characteristics of the other, including violent episodes, effectively coupling the dynamics of the two sects. We use a game theoretic framework and assume that radical factions may tune ‘strategic’ parameters to optimize given utility functions aimed at maximizing their ranks while minimizing the damage inflicted by their rivals. Constraints include limited overall resources that must be optimally allocated between indoctrination and external attacks on the other group. Various scenarios are considered, from symmetric sects whose behaviours mirror each other, to totally asymmetric ones where one sect may have a larger population or a superior resource availability. We discuss under what conditions sects preferentially employ indoctrination or violence, and how allowing sects to readjust their strategies allows for small, violent sects to grow into large, indoctrinated communities. PMID:28879010

Modelling radicalization: how small violent fringe sects develop into large indoctrinated societies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Short, Martin B.; McCalla, Scott G.; D'Orsogna, Maria R.

2017-08-01

We model radicalization in a society consisting of two competing religious, ethnic or political groups. Each of the `sects' is divided into moderate and radical factions, with intra-group transitions occurring either spontaneously or through indoctrination. We also include the possibility of one group violently attacking the other. The intra-group transition rates of one group are modelled to explicitly depend on the actions and characteristics of the other, including violent episodes, effectively coupling the dynamics of the two sects. We use a game theoretic framework and assume that radical factions may tune `strategic' parameters to optimize given utility functions aimed at maximizing their ranks while minimizing the damage inflicted by their rivals. Constraints include limited overall resources that must be optimally allocated between indoctrination and external attacks on the other group. Various scenarios are considered, from symmetric sects whose behaviours mirror each other, to totally asymmetric ones where one sect may have a larger population or a superior resource availability. We discuss under what conditions sects preferentially employ indoctrination or violence, and how allowing sects to readjust their strategies allows for small, violent sects to grow into large, indoctrinated communities.

Influence of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles on the Sulfate Attack upon Ordinary Portland Cement and Slag-Blended Mortars

PubMed Central

Atta-ur-Rehman; Qudoos, Abdul; Kim, Hong Gi

2018-01-01

In this study, the effects of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles on the sulfate attack resistance of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and slag-blended mortars were investigated. OPC and slag-blended mortars (OPC:Slag = 50:50) were made with water to binder ratio of 0.4 and a binder to sand ratio of 1:3. TiO2 was added as an admixture as 0%, 3%, 6%, 9% and 12% of the binder weight. Mortar specimens were exposed to an accelerated sulfate attack environment. Expansion, changes in mass and surface microhardness were measured. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetry Analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) tests were conducted. The formation of ettringite and gypsum crystals after the sulfate attack were detected. Both these products had caused crystallization pressure in the microstructure of mortars and deteriorated the mortars. Our results show that the addition of nano-TiO2 accelerated expansion, variation in mass, loss of surface microhardness and widened cracks in OPC and slag-blended mortars. Nano-TiO2 containing slag-blended mortars were more resistant to sulfate attack than nano-TiO2 containing OPC mortars. Because nano-TiO2 reduced the size of coarse pores, so it increased crystallization pressure due to the formation of ettringite and gypsum thus led to more damage under sulfate attack. PMID:29495616

Hardening Logic Encryption against Key Extraction Attacks with Circuit Camouflage

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-01

camouflage; obfuscation; SAT; key extraction; reverse engineering; security; trusted electronics Introduction Integrated Circuit (IC) designs are...Encryption Algorithms”, Hardware Oriented Security and Trust , 2015. 3. Rajendran J., Pino, Y., Sinanoglu, O., Karri, R., “Security Analysis of Logic

Deformation and erosion of f.c.c. metals and alloys under cavitation attack

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rao, B. C. S.; Buckley, D. H.

1984-01-01

Experimental investigations have been conducted to determine the early stages of cavitation attack on 6061-T6 aluminum alloy, electrolytic tough pitch copper, brass, and bronze, all having polycrystalline fcc matrices. The surface profiles and scanning electron micrographs show that the pits are initially formed at the grain boundaries, while the grain surfaces are progressively roughened by multiple slip and twinning. The initial erosion is noted to have occurred from the material in the grain boundaries, as well as by fragmentation of part of the grains. Further erosion occurred by shearing and necking of the surface undulations caused by plastic deformation. The mean penetration depth, computed on the basis of mass loss, was lowest on the bronze and greatest on the copper. Attention is given to the relation of cavitation attack to grain size, glide stress and stacking fault energy.

A secure and efficient password-based user authentication scheme using smart cards for the integrated EPR information system.

PubMed

Lee, Tian-Fu; Chang, I-Pin; Lin, Tsung-Hung; Wang, Ching-Cheng

2013-06-01

The integrated EPR information system supports convenient and rapid e-medicine services. A secure and efficient authentication scheme for the integrated EPR information system provides safeguarding patients' electronic patient records (EPRs) and helps health care workers and medical personnel to rapidly making correct clinical decisions. Recently, Wu et al. proposed an efficient password-based user authentication scheme using smart cards for the integrated EPR information system, and claimed that the proposed scheme could resist various malicious attacks. However, their scheme is still vulnerable to lost smart card and stolen verifier attacks. This investigation discusses these weaknesses and proposes a secure and efficient authentication scheme for the integrated EPR information system as alternative. Compared with related approaches, the proposed scheme not only retains a lower computational cost and does not require verifier tables for storing users' secrets, but also solves the security problems in previous schemes and withstands possible attacks.

Privacy and Biometric Passports

PubMed Central

Vakalis, Ioannis

2011-01-01

This work deals with privacy implications and threats that can emerge with the large-scale use of electronic biometric documents, such the recently introduced electronic passport (e-Passport). A brief introduction to privacy and personal data protection is followed by a presentation of the technical characteristics of the e-Passport. The description includes the digital data structure, and the communication and reading mechanisms of the e-Passport, indicating the possible points and methods of attack. PMID:21380483

Military Review, July 1992. Volume 72, Number 7

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-07-01

Electronic tensc. A defender’s raid can force the attacker to Operation Concentration Jamming MILITARY REVIEW * July 1992 37 three days of combat actions...electronic warfare plan is ambitious. more, the strength of the OMG is dissipated Blue CPs and transmitters are jammed on both somewhat by the use of...by an airborne CP. Soviet jamming mitted against the flank of the Blue offensive.] was normally directed at deeper, operational Commitment of the OMG

Secure electronic commerce communication system based on CA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Deyun; Zhang, Junfeng; Pei, Shujun

2001-07-01

In this paper, we introduce the situation of electronic commercial security, then we analyze the working process and security for SSL protocol. At last, we propose a secure electronic commerce communication system based on CA. The system provide secure services such as encryption, integer, peer authentication and non-repudiation for application layer communication software of browser clients' and web server. The system can implement automatic allocation and united management of key through setting up the CA in the network.

Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. Quarterly Report and Semiannual Report to the United States Congress

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-30

Energy Fusion Cell, and allocations include $110 million for oil pipeline exclusion zones—which aim to prevent illegal tapping and sabotage of...sectors in Iraq. This quarter SIGIR highlights two of these programs: the electronic funds transfer ( EFT ) system and U.S. advisory support provided to...the Iraq Stock Exchange. eleCTroniC funds Transfer SIGIR noted last quarter that Iraq finally acti- vated an electronic funds transfer ( EFT ) system

Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction: Quarterly Report and Semiannual Report to the United States Congress

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-30

Cell, and allocations include $110 million for oil pipeline exclusion zones—which aim to prevent illegal tapping and sabotage of pipelines—$51...This quarter SIGIR highlights two of these programs: the electronic funds transfer ( EFT ) system and U.S. advisory support provided to the Iraq Stock...Exchange. eleCTroniC funds Transfer SIGIR noted last quarter that Iraq finally acti- vated an electronic funds transfer ( EFT ) system. The United

Operational advantages of using Cyber Electronic Warfare (CEW) in the battlefield

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yasar, Nurgul; Yasar, Fatih M.; Topcu, Yucel

2012-06-01

While cyberspace is emerging as a new battlefield, conventional Electronic Warfare (EW) methods and applications are likely to change. Cyber Electronic Warfare (CEW) concept which merges cyberspace capabilities with traditional EW methods, is a new and enhanced form of the electronic attack. In this study, cyberspace domain of the battlefield is emphazised and the feasibility of integrating Cyber Warfare (CW) concept into EW measures is researched. The SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis method is used to state the operational advantages of using CEW concept in the battlefield. The operational advantages of CEW are assessed by means of its effects on adversary air defense systems, communication networks and information systems. Outstanding technological and operational difficulties are pointed out as well. As a result, a comparison of CEW concept and conventional EW applications is presented. It is concluded that, utilization of CEW concept is feasible at the battlefield and it may yield important operational advantages. Even though the computers of developed military systems are less complex than normal computers, they are not subjected to cyber threats since they are closed systems. This concept intends to show that these closed systems are also open to the cyber threats. As a result of the SWOT analysis, CEW concept provides Air Forces to be used in cyber operations effectively. On the other hand, since its Collateral Damage Criteria (CDC) is low, the usage of cyber electronic attack systems seems to grow up.

Experimental measurement-device-independent quantum digital signatures over a metropolitan network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Hua-Lei; Wang, Wei-Long; Tang, Yan-Lin; Zhao, Qi; Liu, Hui; Sun, Xiang-Xiang; Zhang, Wei-Jun; Li, Hao; Puthoor, Ittoop Vergheese; You, Li-Xing; Andersson, Erika; Wang, Zhen; Liu, Yang; Jiang, Xiao; Ma, Xiongfeng; Zhang, Qiang; Curty, Marcos; Chen, Teng-Yun; Pan, Jian-Wei

2017-04-01

Quantum digital signatures (QDSs) provide a means for signing electronic communications with information-theoretic security. However, all previous demonstrations of quantum digital signatures assume trusted measurement devices. This renders them vulnerable against detector side-channel attacks, just like quantum key distribution. Here we exploit a measurement-device-independent (MDI) quantum network, over a metropolitan area, to perform a field test of a three-party MDI QDS scheme that is secure against any detector side-channel attack. In so doing, we are able to successfully sign a binary message with a security level of about 10-7. Remarkably, our work demonstrates the feasibility of MDI QDSs for practical applications.

Erosion of phosphor bronze under cavitation attack in a mineral oil

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rao, B. C. S.; Buckley, D. H.

1986-01-01

Experimental investigations on erosion of a copper alloy, phosphor bronze, under cavitation attack in a viscous mineral oil are presented. The details of pit formation and erosion were studied using scanning electron microscopy. The mean depth of penetration, the variations in surface roughness, and the changes in erosion pit size were studied. Cavitation pits formed initially over the grain boundaries while the surface grains were plastically deformed. Erosion of surface grains occurred largely by ductile fracture involving microcracking and removal in layers. The ratio h/a of the depth h to half width a of cavitation pits increased with test duration from 0.047 to 0.55.

Distributed autonomous systems: resource management, planning, and control algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, James F., III; Nguyen, ThanhVu H.

2005-05-01

Distributed autonomous systems, i.e., systems that have separated distributed components, each of which, exhibit some degree of autonomy are increasingly providing solutions to naval and other DoD problems. Recently developed control, planning and resource allocation algorithms for two types of distributed autonomous systems will be discussed. The first distributed autonomous system (DAS) to be discussed consists of a collection of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that are under fuzzy logic control. The UAVs fly and conduct meteorological sampling in a coordinated fashion determined by their fuzzy logic controllers to determine the atmospheric index of refraction. Once in flight no human intervention is required. A fuzzy planning algorithm determines the optimal trajectory, sampling rate and pattern for the UAVs and an interferometer platform while taking into account risk, reliability, priority for sampling in certain regions, fuel limitations, mission cost, and related uncertainties. The real-time fuzzy control algorithm running on each UAV will give the UAV limited autonomy allowing it to change course immediately without consulting with any commander, request other UAVs to help it, alter its sampling pattern and rate when observing interesting phenomena, or to terminate the mission and return to base. The algorithms developed will be compared to a resource manager (RM) developed for another DAS problem related to electronic attack (EA). This RM is based on fuzzy logic and optimized by evolutionary algorithms. It allows a group of dissimilar platforms to use EA resources distributed throughout the group. For both DAS types significant theoretical and simulation results will be presented.

[Ultrastructural changes of myelinated fibers in the brain in continuous and attack-like paranoid schizophrenia].

PubMed

Uranova, N A; Kolomeets, N S; Vikhreva, O V; Zimina, I S; Rakhmanova, V I; Orlovskaya, D D

Previously the authors have reported the ultrastructural pathology of myelinated fibers (MF) in the brain in schizophrenia. The aim of the present study was to compare the effect of disease course on ultrastructural changes of MF. Postmortem electron microscopic morphometric study of MF was performed in the prefrontal cortex, caudate nucleus and hippocampus in 19 cases of paranoid schizophrenia. Fourteen cases of continuous schizophrenia, 5 cases of attack-like schizophrenia and 25 normal matched control cases were studied. The proportion (percentage) of pathological MF was estimated in the prefrontal cortex, layer 5, CA3 area of hippocampus, pyramidal layer, and in the head of the caudate nucleus. The percentage of MF having axonal atrophy and swelling of periaxonal oligodendrocyte process was significantly higher in both continuous and attack-like schizophrenia in all brain structures studied as compared to the control group. In the hippocampus and caudate nucleus, this parameter was increased significantly in attack-like schizophrenia as compared to continuous schizophrenia. In the prefrontal cortex. The percentage of the pathological MF having signs of deformation and destruction of myelin sheaths increased significantly only in continuous schizophrenia as compared to the control group. MF pathology is similar in attack-like and continuous paranoid schizophrenia but differ by the degree of severity of pathological MF. Abnormalities in MF contribute to the disconnectivity between the prefrontal cortex, caudate nucleus and hippocampus.

Preliminary results from a subsonic high angle-of-attack flush airdata sensing (HI-FADS) system: Design, calibration, and flight test evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitmore, Stephen A.; Moes, Timothy R.; Larson, Terry J.

1990-01-01

A nonintrusive high angle-of-attack flush airdata sensing (HI-FADS) system was installed and flight-tested on the F-18 high alpha research flight vehicle. The system is a matrix of 25 pressure orifices in concentric circles on the nose of the vehicle. The orifices determine angles of attack and sideslip, Mach number, and pressure altitude. Pressure was transmitted from the orifices to an electronically scanned pressure module by lines of pneumatic tubing. The HI-FADS system was calibrated and demonstrated using dutch roll flight maneuvers covering large Mach, angle-of-attack, and sideslip ranges. Reference airdata for system calibration were generated by a minimum variance estimation technique blending measurements from two wingtip airdata booms with inertial velocities, aircraft angular rates and attitudes, precision radar tracking, and meteorological analyses. The pressure orifice calibration was based on identifying empirical adjustments to modified Newtonian flow on a hemisphere. Calibration results are presented. Flight test results used all 25 orifices or used a subset of 9 orifices. Under moderate maneuvering conditions, the HI-FADS system gave excellent results over the entire subsonic Mach number range up to 55 deg angle of attack. The internal pneumatic frequency response of the system is accurate to beyond 10 Hz. Aerodynamic lags in the aircraft flow field caused some performance degradation during heavy maneuvering.

Electronic Attack Platform Placement Optimization

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

Processing in VBA ...............................................................33 2. Client-Server Using Two Different Excel Application...6 Figure 3. Screenshot of the VBA IDE contained within all Microsoft Office products...application using MS Excel’s Applicatin.OnTime method. .....................................33 Figure 20. WINSOCK API Functions needed to use TCP via VBA

What Is SEVIS?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hermes, James

2003-01-01

Describes the Student and Visitor Exchange Information System (SEVIS). SEVIS legislation requires institutions to report electronically foreign students' identities and addresses, as well as visa and other information. Reports on updates to the legislation that are being enacted as a result of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Includes…

Correlation between molten vanadium salts and the structural degradation of HK-type steel superheater tubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Carvalho Nunes, Frederico; de Almeida, Luiz Henrique; Ribeiro, André Freitas

2006-12-01

HK steels are among the most used heat-resistant cast stainless steels, being corrosion-resistant and showing good mechanical properties at high service temperatures. These steels are widely used in reformer furnaces and as superheater tubes. During service, combustion gases leaving the burners come in contact with these tubes, resulting in corrosive attack and a large weight loss occurs due to the presence of vanadium, which forms low melting point salts, removing the protective oxide layer. In this work the external surface of a tube with dramatic wall thickness reduction was analyzed using light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The identification of the phases was achieved by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analyses. The results showed oxides arising from the external surface. In this oxidized region vanadium compounds inside chromium carbide particles were also observed, due to inward vanadium diffusion during corrosion attack. A chemical reaction was proposed to explain the presence of vanadium in the metal microstructure.

The oxidation of amino acids by ferrate(V). A pre-mix pulse radiolysis study.

PubMed

Rush, J D; Bielski, B H

1995-06-01

The forms of ferrate(V) which are derived from the one-electron reduction of potassium ferrate (K2FeO4) by ethanol radicals react with representative amino acids (glycine, methionine, phenylalanine and serine) at rates that are greater than 10(5)M-1s-1 near pH 10. The predominant interaction in the alkaline pH range is between the protonated ferrate(V) species, HFeO4(2-), and the amino acid anion. Fe(V) + amino acid-->Fe(III) + NH3 + alpha-keto acid The rate-determining process is the two electron reduction of ferrate(V) to iron(III) with oxidation and subsequent deamination of the amino acid. The reaction appears to involve an entry of the amino acid into the inner coordination sphere of ferrate(V). In all cases, ferrate(V) exhibits preferred attack on the amino group in contrast to the OH radical which attacks the thioether site of methionine and the phenyl ring of phenylalanine.

Attack on Lignified Grass Cell Walls by a Facultatively Anaerobic Bacterium

PubMed Central

Akin, Danny E.

1980-01-01

A filamentous, facultatively anaerobic microorganism that attacked lignified tissue in forage grasses was isolated from rumen fluid with a Bermuda grass-containing anaerobic medium in roll tubes. The microbe, designated 7-1, demonstrated various colony and cellular morphologies under different growth conditions. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that 7-1 attacked lignified cell walls in aerobic and anaerobic culture. 7-1 predominately degraded tissues reacting positively for lignin with the chlorine-sulfite stain (i.e., sclerenchyma in leaf blades and parenchyma in stems) rather than the more resistant acid phloroglucinol-positive tissues (i.e., lignified vascular tissue and sclerenchyma ring in stems), although the latter tissues were occasionally attacked. Turbidimetric tests showed that 7-1 in anaerobic culture grew optimally at 39°C at a pH of 7.4 to 8.0. Tests for growth on plant cell wall carbohydrates showed that 7-1 grew on xylan and pectin slowly in aerobic cultures but not with pectin and only slightly with xylan in anaerobic culture. 7-1 was noncellulolytic as shown by filter paper tests. The microbe used the phenolic acids sinapic, ferulic, and p-coumaric acids as substrates for growth; the more highly methoxylated acids were used more effectively. Images PMID:16345651

Selenium as an electron acceptor during the catalytic mechanism of thioredoxin reductase.

PubMed

Lothrop, Adam P; Snider, Gregg W; Ruggles, Erik L; Patel, Amar S; Lees, Watson J; Hondal, Robert J

2014-02-04

Mammalian thioredoxin reductase (TR) is a pyridine nucleotide disulfide oxidoreductase that uses the rare amino acid selenocysteine (Sec) in place of the more commonly used amino acid cysteine (Cys) in the redox-active tetrapeptide Gly-Cys-Sec-Gly motif to catalyze thiol/disulfide exchange reactions. Sec can accelerate the rate of these exchange reactions (i) by being a better nucleophile than Cys, (ii) by being a better electrophile than Cys, (iii) by being a better leaving group than Cys, or (iv) by using a combination of all three of these factors, being more chemically reactive than Cys. The role of the selenolate as a nucleophile in the reaction mechanism was recently demonstrated by creating a mutant of human thioredoxin reductase-1 in which the Cys497-Sec498 dyad of the C-terminal redox center was mutated to either a Ser497-Cys498 dyad or a Cys497-Ser498 dyad. Both mutant enzymes were incubated with human thioredoxin (Trx) to determine which mutant formed a mixed disulfide bond complex. Only the mutant containing the Ser497-Cys498 dyad formed a complex, and this structure has been determined by X-ray crystallography [Fritz-Wolf, K., Kehr, S., Stumpf, M., Rahlfs, S., and Becker, K. (2011) Crystal structure of the human thioredoxin reductase-thioredoxin complex. Nat. Commun. 2, 383]. This experimental observation most likely means that the selenolate is the nucleophile initially attacking the disulfide bond of Trx because a complex resulted only when Cys was present in the second position of the dyad. As a nucleophile, the selenolate of Sec helps to accelerate the rate of this exchange reaction relative to Cys in the Sec → Cys mutant enzyme. Another thiol/disulfide exchange reaction that occurs in the enzymatic cycle of the enzyme is the transfer of electrons from the thiolate of the interchange Cys residue of the N-terminal redox center to the eight-membered selenosulfide ring of the C-terminal redox center. The selenium atom of the selenosulfide could accelerate this exchange reaction by being a good leaving group (attack at the sulfur atom) or by being a good electrophile (attack at the selenium atom). Here we provide strong evidence that the selenium atom is attacked in this exchange step. This was shown by creating a mutant enzyme containing a Gly-Gly-Seccoo- motif that had 0.5% of the activity of the wild-type enzyme. This mutant lacks the adjacent, resolving Cys residue, which acts by attacking the mixed selenosulfide bond that occurs between the enzyme and substrate. A similar result was obtained when Sec was replaced with homocysteine. These results highlight the role of selenium as an electron acceptor in the catalytic mechanism of thioredoxin reductase as well as its established role as a donor of an electron to the substrate.

The hack attack - Increasing computer system awareness of vulnerability threats

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quann, John; Belford, Peter

1987-01-01

The paper discusses the issue of electronic vulnerability of computer based systems supporting NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) by unauthorized users. To test the security of the system and increase security awareness, NYMA, Inc. employed computer 'hackers' to attempt to infiltrate the system(s) under controlled conditions. Penetration procedures, methods, and descriptions are detailed in the paper. The procedure increased the security consciousness of GSFC management to the electronic vulnerability of the system(s).

Applying Subject Matter Expertise (SME) Elicitation Techniques to TRAC Studies

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-30

prioritisation, budgeting and resource allocation with multi-criteria decision analysis and decision conferencing ”. English. In: Annals of Operations... electronically . Typically, in responding to survey items, experts are not expected to elaborate beyond providing responses in the format requested in the...between them, however irrelevant to probability Kynn and Ayyub.84 For example, an electronic jamming device might disrupt a cell phone signal at certain

Plant pest detection using an artificial nose system: A review

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This paper reviews artificial intelligent noses (or electronic noses) as a fast and noninvasive approach for the diagnosis of insects and diseases that attack vegetables and fruit trees. The particular focus is on bacterial, fungal, and viral infections, and insect damage. Volatile organic compounds...

Tales of the Tape

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glenn, David

2006-01-01

Research psychologists at the University of Texas are using electronically activated recorders (EARs) to study a range of human behavior, including romantic couples' dynamics, cross-cultural variations in sociability, and how students coped after the 9/11 attacks. The EAR studies, although still in their relative infancy, are generating striking…

The New Wizard War: Challenges and Opportunities for Electronic Warfare in the Information Age

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-11-06

Camp: Preparing for Conflict in the Information Age (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1997):175. 17. Jeffrey R . Cares, “An Information Age Combat...60. Stephen Trimble, “US Army Moves Back Into Electronic Attack Mission.” 61. Richard R . Burgess, “Jamming: The Marine Corps Refines Its Vision of...November 7, 2005), http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel= awst &id=news/11075p 2.xml (accessed 29 Oct 07). 74. David A

Special Reports; Homeland Security and Information Management; The Development of Electronic Government in the United States: The Federal Policy Experience; Digital Rights Management: Why Libraries Should Be Major Players; The Current State and Future Promise of Portal Applications; Recruitment and Retention: A Professional Concern.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Relyea, Harold C.; Halchin, L. Elaine; Hogue, Henry B.; Agnew, Grace; Martin, Mairead; Schottlaender, Brian E. C.; Jackson, Mary E.

2003-01-01

Theses five reports address five special issues: the effects of the September 11 attacks on information management, including homeland security, Web site information removal, scientific and technical information, and privacy concerns; federal policy for electronic government information; digital rights management and libraries; library Web portal…

Global network structure of dominance hierarchy of ant workers.

PubMed

Shimoji, Hiroyuki; Abe, Masato S; Tsuji, Kazuki; Masuda, Naoki

2014-10-06

Dominance hierarchy among animals is widespread in various species and believed to serve to regulate resource allocation within an animal group. Unlike small groups, however, detection and quantification of linear hierarchy in large groups of animals are a difficult task. Here, we analyse aggression-based dominance hierarchies formed by worker ants in Diacamma sp. as large directed networks. We show that the observed dominance networks are perfect or approximate directed acyclic graphs, which are consistent with perfect linear hierarchy. The observed networks are also sparse and random but significantly different from networks generated through thinning of the perfect linear tournament (i.e. all individuals are linearly ranked and dominance relationship exists between every pair of individuals). These results pertain to global structure of the networks, which contrasts with the previous studies inspecting frequencies of different types of triads. In addition, the distribution of the out-degree (i.e. number of workers that the focal worker attacks), not in-degree (i.e. number of workers that attack the focal worker), of each observed network is right-skewed. Those having excessively large out-degrees are located near the top, but not the top, of the hierarchy. We also discuss evolutionary implications of the discovered properties of dominance networks. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Global network structure of dominance hierarchy of ant workers

PubMed Central

Shimoji, Hiroyuki; Abe, Masato S.; Tsuji, Kazuki; Masuda, Naoki

2014-01-01

Dominance hierarchy among animals is widespread in various species and believed to serve to regulate resource allocation within an animal group. Unlike small groups, however, detection and quantification of linear hierarchy in large groups of animals are a difficult task. Here, we analyse aggression-based dominance hierarchies formed by worker ants in Diacamma sp. as large directed networks. We show that the observed dominance networks are perfect or approximate directed acyclic graphs, which are consistent with perfect linear hierarchy. The observed networks are also sparse and random but significantly different from networks generated through thinning of the perfect linear tournament (i.e. all individuals are linearly ranked and dominance relationship exists between every pair of individuals). These results pertain to global structure of the networks, which contrasts with the previous studies inspecting frequencies of different types of triads. In addition, the distribution of the out-degree (i.e. number of workers that the focal worker attacks), not in-degree (i.e. number of workers that attack the focal worker), of each observed network is right-skewed. Those having excessively large out-degrees are located near the top, but not the top, of the hierarchy. We also discuss evolutionary implications of the discovered properties of dominance networks. PMID:25100318

Fatal dog attacks in Canada, 1990–2007

PubMed Central

Raghavan, Malathi

2008-01-01

In Canada, public debates on dog attacks are dominated by studies from the United States. An electronic search of media reports in the Canadian Newsstand database, for the years 1990 to 2007, identified 28 fatalities from dog-bite injuries. Predominant factors in this case series were owned, known dogs; residential location; children’s unsupervised access to area with dogs; and rural/remote areas, including aboriginal reserves in the prairies. A higher proportion of sled dogs and, possibly, mixed-breed dogs in Canada than in the United States caused fatalities, as did multiple dogs rather than single dogs. Free-roaming dog packs, reported only from rural communities, caused most on-reserve fatalities. Future studies are needed to assess if this rural/urban divide is observed in nonfatal attacks and if the breeds that bite in Canada are different from the breeds that killed. Breed representation in this paper and, perhaps, multiple-dog overrepresentation should be understood in the context of the overall Canadian dog population. PMID:18624067

Collaborative Defense of Transmission and Distribution Protection and Control Devices Against Cyber Attacks (CODEF) DE-OE0000674. ABB Inc. Final Scientific/Technical Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nuqui, Reynaldo

This report summarizes the activities conducted under the DOE-OE funded project DEOE0000674, where ABB Inc. (ABB), in collaboration with University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), and Ameren-Illinois (Ameren-IL) pursued the development of a system of collaborative defense of electrical substation’s intelligent electronic devices against cyber-attacks (CODEF). An electrical substation with CODEF features will be more capable of mitigating cyber-attacks especially those that seek to control switching devices. It leverages the security extensions of IEC 61850 to empower existing devices to collaborate in identifying and blocking malicious intents to trip circuit breakers, mis-coordinate devices settings, even thoughmore » the commands and the measurements comply with correct syntax. The CODEF functions utilize the physics of electromagnetic systems, electric power engineering principles, and computer science to bring more in depth cyber defense closer to the protected substation devices.« less

Understanding the interacted mechanism between carbonation and chloride aerosol attack in ordinary Portland cement concrete

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Jun; Qiu, Qiwen; Chen, Xiaochi

An experimental study is carried out with the aim to understand the interacted mechanism between carbonation and chloride aerosol attack in ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete. Effects of carbonation on the chloride profile, the chloride binding capacity and the chloride diffusion coefficient are evaluated. Besides, effect of chloride aerosol attack on the carbonation rate is investigated. Concrete specimens with three water-to-cement ratios (0.38, 0.47 and 0.53) are fabricated in this work. Tested results demonstrate that carbonation remarkably affects the chloride profile, reduces the chloride binding capacity, and also accelerates the rate of chloride ion diffusion of concrete. Besides, the presencemore » of chloride aerosol can lead to lower the carbonation depth and increase the pH value of carbonated concrete. Microscopic properties such as morphology, porosity, and pore size distribution for the contaminated concretes are explored by scanning electron microscope and mercury intrusion porosimetry, which provide strong evidence to these research findings.« less

The mechanism of erosion of metallic materials under cavitation attack

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rao, B. C. S.; Buckley, D. H.

1985-01-01

The mean depth of penetration rates (MDPRs) of eight polycrystalline metallic materials, Al 6061-T6, Cu, brass, phosphor bronze, Ni, Fe, Mo, and Ti-5Al-2.5Sn exposed to cavitation attack in a viscous mineral oil with a 20 kHz ultrasonic oscillator vibrating at 50 micron amplitude are reported. The titanium alloy followed by molybdenum have large incubation periods and small MDPRs. The incubation periods correlate linearly with the inverse of hardness and the average MDPRs correlate linearly with the inverse of tensile strength of materials. The linear relationships yield better statistical parameters than geometric and exponential relationships. The surface roughness and the ratio of pit depth to pit width (h/a) increase with the duration of cavitation attack. The ratio h/a varies from 0.1 to 0.8 for different materials. Recent investigations (20) using scanning electron microscopy to study deformation and pit formation features are briefly reviewed. Investigations with single crystals indicate that the geometry of pits and erosion are dependent on their orientation.

Erosion of aluminum 6061-T6 under cavitation attack in mineral oil and water

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rao, B. C. S.; Buckley, D. H.

1985-01-01

Studies of the erosion of aluminum 6061-T6 under cavitation attack in distilled water, ordinary tap water and a viscous mineral oil are presented. The mean depth of penetration for the mineral oil was about 40 percent of that for water at the end of a 40 min test. The mean depth of penetration and its rate did not differ significantly for distilled and tap water. The mean depth of penetration rate for both distilled and tap water increased to a maximum and then decreased with test duration, while that for mineral oil had a maximum during the initial period. The ratio h/2a of the pit depth h to the pit diameter 2a varied from 0.04 to 0.13 in water and from 0.06 to 0.20 in mineral oil. Scanning electron microscopy indicates that the pits are initially formed over the grain boundaries and precipitates while the surface grains are deformed under cavitation attack.

Cryptanalysis and improvement of a quantum communication-based online shopping mechanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Wei; Yang, Ying-Hui; Jia, Heng-Yue

2015-06-01

Recently, Chou et al. (Electron Commer Res 14:349-367, 2014) presented a novel controlled quantum secure direct communication protocol which can be used for online shopping. The authors claimed that their protocol was immune to the attacks from both external eavesdropper and internal betrayer. However, we find that this protocol is vulnerable to the attack from internal betrayer. In this paper, we analyze the security of this protocol to show that the controller in this protocol is able to eavesdrop the secret information of the sender (i.e., the customer's shopping information), which indicates that it cannot be used for secure online shopping as the authors expected. Accordingly, an improvement of this protocol, which could resist the controller's attack, is proposed. In addition, we present another protocol which is more appropriate for online shopping. Finally, a discussion about the difference in detail of the quantum secure direct communication process between regular quantum communications and online shopping is given.

Exploitation of Unintentional Information Leakage from Integrated Circuits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cobb, William E.

2011-01-01

The information leakage of electronic devices, especially those used in cryptographic or other vital applications, represents a serious practical threat to secure systems. While physical implementation attacks have evolved rapidly over the last decade, relatively little work has been done to allow system designers to effectively counter the…

Anonymity in Voting Revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jonker, Hugo; Pieters, Wolter

According to international law, anonymity of the voter is a fundamental precondition for democratic elections. In electronic voting, several aspects of voter anonymity have been identified. In this paper, we re-examine anonymity with respect to voting, and generalise existing notions of anonymity in e-voting. First, we identify and categorise the types of attack that can be a threat to anonymity of the voter, including different types of vote buying and coercion. This analysis leads to a categorisation of anonymity in voting in terms of a) the strength of the anonymity achieved and b) the extent of interaction between voter and attacker. Some of the combinations, including weak and strong receipt-freeness, are formalised in epistemic logic.

HIDEC adaptive engine control system flight evaluation results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yonke, W. A.; Landy, R. J.; Stewart, J. F.

1987-01-01

An integrated flight propulsion control mode, the Adaptive Engine Control System (ADECS), has been developed and flight tested on an F-15 aircraft as part of the NASA Highly Integrated Digital Electronic Control program. The ADECS system realizes additional engine thrust by increasing the engine pressure ratio (EPR) at intermediate and afterburning power, with the amount of EPR uptrim modulated using a predictor scheme for angle-of-attack and sideslip angle. Substantial improvement in aircraft and engine performance was demonstrated, with a 16 percent rate of climb increase, a 14 percent reduction in time to climb, and a 15 percent reduction in time to accelerate. Significant EPR uptrim capability was found with angles-of-attack up to 20 degrees.

Comparison of group transfer, inner sphere and outer sphere electron transfer mechanisms for organometallic complexes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Our studies of reactions of metal carbonyl cations and anions have shown that metal carbonyl cations can catalyze CO exchange reactions on metal carbonyl anions. This result provides further evidence for a mechanism involving attack of the metal carbonyl anion on a carbon of the metal carbonyl cation in CO(exp 2+) transfer reactions. Reaction of metal carbonyl anions with metal carbonyl halides is a common approach to formation of metal-metal bonds. We have begun to use kinetic data and product analysis to understand the formation of homobimetallic versus heterobimetallic products in such reactions. Initial data indicate a nucleophilic attack, possibly through a ring-slippage mechanism.

Electronic Health Record Logs Indicate That Physicians Split Time Evenly Between Seeing Patients And Desktop Medicine.

PubMed

Tai-Seale, Ming; Olson, Cliff W; Li, Jinnan; Chan, Albert S; Morikawa, Criss; Durbin, Meg; Wang, Wei; Luft, Harold S

2017-04-01

Time spent by physicians is a key resource in health care delivery. This study used data captured by the access time stamp functionality of an electronic health record (EHR) to examine physician work effort. This is a potentially powerful, yet unobtrusive, way to study physicians' use of time. We used data on physicians' time allocation patterns captured by over thirty-one million EHR transactions in the period 2011-14 recorded by 471 primary care physicians, who collectively worked on 765,129 patients' EHRs. Our results suggest that the physicians logged an average of 3.08 hours on office visits and 3.17 hours on desktop medicine each day. Desktop medicine consists of activities such as communicating with patients through a secure patient portal, responding to patients' online requests for prescription refills or medical advice, ordering tests, sending staff messages, and reviewing test results. Over time, log records from physicians showed a decline in the time allocated to face-to-face visits, accompanied by an increase in time allocated to desktop medicine. Staffing and scheduling in the physician's office, as well as provider payment models for primary care practice, should account for these desktop medicine efforts. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

"Click Here to Order This Book": A Case Study of Print and Electronic Patron-Driven Acquisition in University College Dublin

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tynan, Mark; McCarney, Eoin

2014-01-01

University College Dublin became the first library in the Republic of Ireland to trial patron-driven acquisition (PDA) as a collection development tool in 2013. A total of 42% of UCD Library's book budget was allocated to the project, which included both electronic and print books. This article describes the twelve month project from the tender…

A Socio-Technical Approach to Preventing, Mitigating, and Recovering from Ransomware Attacks.

PubMed

Sittig, Dean F; Singh, Hardeep

2016-01-01

Recently there have been several high-profile ransomware attacks involving hospitals around the world. Ransomware is intended to damage or disable a user's computer unless the user makes a payment. Once the attack has been launched, users have three options: 1) try to restore their data from backup; 2) pay the ransom; or 3) lose their data. In this manuscript, we discuss a socio-technical approach to address ransomware and outline four overarching steps that organizations can undertake to secure an electronic health record (EHR) system and the underlying computing infrastructure. First, health IT professionals need to ensure adequate system protection by correctly installing and configuring computers and networks that connect them. Next, the health care organizations need to ensure more reliable system defense by implementing user-focused strategies, including simulation and training on correct and complete use of computers and network applications. Concomitantly, the organization needs to monitor computer and application use continuously in an effort to detect suspicious activities and identify and address security problems before they cause harm. Finally, organizations need to respond adequately to and recover quickly from ransomware attacks and take actions to prevent them in future. We also elaborate on recommendations from other authoritative sources, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Similar to approaches to address other complex socio-technical health IT challenges, the responsibility of preventing, mitigating, and recovering from these attacks is shared between health IT professionals and end-users.

A Socio-Technical Approach to Preventing, Mitigating, and Recovering from Ransomware Attacks

PubMed Central

Singh, Hardeep

2016-01-01

Summary Recently there have been several high-profile ransomware attacks involving hospitals around the world. Ransomware is intended to damage or disable a user’s computer unless the user makes a payment. Once the attack has been launched, users have three options: 1) try to restore their data from backup; 2) pay the ransom; or 3) lose their data. In this manuscript, we discuss a socio-technical approach to address ransomware and outline four overarching steps that organizations can undertake to secure an electronic health record (EHR) system and the underlying computing infrastructure. First, health IT professionals need to ensure adequate system protection by correctly installing and configuring computers and networks that connect them. Next, the health care organizations need to ensure more reliable system defense by implementing user-focused strategies, including simulation and training on correct and complete use of computers and network applications. Concomitantly, the organization needs to monitor computer and application use continuously in an effort to detect suspicious activities and identify and address security problems before they cause harm. Finally, organizations need to respond adequately to and recover quickly from ransomware attacks and take actions to prevent them in future. We also elaborate on recommendations from other authoritative sources, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Similar to approaches to address other complex socio-technical health IT challenges, the responsibility of preventing, mitigating, and recovering from these attacks is shared between health IT professionals and end-users. PMID:27437066

The Architectural and Interior Design Planning Process.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Elaine

1994-01-01

Explains the planning process in designing effective library facilities and discusses library building requirements that result from electronic information technologies. Highlights include historical structures; Americans with Disabilities Act; resource allocation; electrical power; interior spaces; lighting; design development; the roles of…

New threats to health data privacy.

PubMed

Li, Fengjun; Zou, Xukai; Liu, Peng; Chen, Jake Y

2011-11-24

Along with the rapid digitalization of health data (e.g. Electronic Health Records), there is an increasing concern on maintaining data privacy while garnering the benefits, especially when the data are required to be published for secondary use. Most of the current research on protecting health data privacy is centered around data de-identification and data anonymization, which removes the identifiable information from the published health data to prevent an adversary from reasoning about the privacy of the patients. However, published health data is not the only source that the adversaries can count on: with a large amount of information that people voluntarily share on the Web, sophisticated attacks that join disparate information pieces from multiple sources against health data privacy become practical. Limited efforts have been devoted to studying these attacks yet. We study how patient privacy could be compromised with the help of today's information technologies. In particular, we show that private healthcare information could be collected by aggregating and associating disparate pieces of information from multiple online data sources including online social networks, public records and search engine results. We demonstrate a real-world case study to show user identity and privacy are highly vulnerable to the attribution, inference and aggregation attacks. We also show that people are highly identifiable to adversaries even with inaccurate information pieces about the target, with real data analysis. We claim that too much information has been made available electronic and available online that people are very vulnerable without effective privacy protection.

New threats to health data privacy

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Along with the rapid digitalization of health data (e.g. Electronic Health Records), there is an increasing concern on maintaining data privacy while garnering the benefits, especially when the data are required to be published for secondary use. Most of the current research on protecting health data privacy is centered around data de-identification and data anonymization, which removes the identifiable information from the published health data to prevent an adversary from reasoning about the privacy of the patients. However, published health data is not the only source that the adversaries can count on: with a large amount of information that people voluntarily share on the Web, sophisticated attacks that join disparate information pieces from multiple sources against health data privacy become practical. Limited efforts have been devoted to studying these attacks yet. Results We study how patient privacy could be compromised with the help of today’s information technologies. In particular, we show that private healthcare information could be collected by aggregating and associating disparate pieces of information from multiple online data sources including online social networks, public records and search engine results. We demonstrate a real-world case study to show user identity and privacy are highly vulnerable to the attribution, inference and aggregation attacks. We also show that people are highly identifiable to adversaries even with inaccurate information pieces about the target, with real data analysis. Conclusion We claim that too much information has been made available electronic and available online that people are very vulnerable without effective privacy protection. PMID:22168526

Oxidation of Carbon Nanotubes in an Ionizing Environment.

PubMed

Koh, Ai Leen; Gidcumb, Emily; Zhou, Otto; Sinclair, Robert

2016-02-10

In this work, we present systematic studies on how an illuminating electron beam which ionizes molecular gas species can influence the mechanism of carbon nanotube oxidation in an environmental transmission electron microscope (ETEM). We found that preferential attack of the nanotube tips is much more prevalent than for oxidation in a molecular gas environment. We establish the cumulative electron doses required to damage carbon nanotubes from 80 keV electron beam irradiation in gas versus in high vacuum. Our results provide guidelines for the electron doses required to study carbon nanotubes within or without a gas environment, to determine or ameliorate the influence of the imaging electron beam. This work has important implications for in situ studies as well as for the oxidation of carbon nanotubes in an ionizing environment such as that occurring during field emission.

Efficacy and safety of ticagrelor versus aspirin in acute stroke or transient ischaemic attack of atherosclerotic origin: a subgroup analysis of SOCRATES, a randomised, double-blind, controlled trial.

PubMed

Amarenco, Pierre; Albers, Gregory W; Denison, Hans; Easton, J Donald; Evans, Scott R; Held, Peter; Hill, Michael D; Jonasson, Jenny; Kasner, Scott E; Ladenvall, Per; Minematsu, Kazuo; Molina, Carlos A; Wang, Yongjun; Wong, K S Lawrence; Johnston, S Claiborne

2017-04-01

Ticagrelor is an effective antiplatelet therapy for patients with coronary atherosclerotic disease and might be more effective than aspirin in preventing recurrent stroke and cardiovascular events in patients with acute cerebral ischaemia of atherosclerotic origin. Our aim was to test for a treatment-by-ipsilateral atherosclerotic stenosis interaction in a subgroup analysis of patients in the Acute Stroke or Transient Ischaemic Attack Treated with Aspirin or Ticagrelor and Patient Outcomes (SOCRATES) trial. SOCRATES was a randomised, double-blind, controlled trial of ticagrelor versus aspirin in patients aged 40 years or older with a non-cardioembolic, non-severe acute ischaemic stroke, or high-risk transient ischaemic attack from 674 hospitals in 33 countries. We randomly allocated patients (1:1) to ticagrelor (180 mg loading dose on day 1 followed by 90 mg twice daily for days 2-90, given orally) or aspirin (300 mg on day 1 followed by 100 mg daily for days 2-90, given orally) within 24 h of symptom onset. Investigators classified all patients into atherosclerotic and non-atherosclerotic groups for the prespecified, exploratory analysis reported in this study. The primary endpoint was the time to occurrence of stroke, myocardial infarction, or death within 90 days. Efficacy analysis was by intention to treat. The SOCRATES trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01994720. Between Jan 7, 2014, and Oct 29, 2015, we randomly allocated 13 199 patients (6589 [50%] to ticagrelor and 6610 [50%] to aspirin). Potentially symptomatic ipsilateral atherosclerotic stenosis was reported in 3081 (23%) of 13 199 patients. We found a treatment-by-atherosclerotic stenosis interaction (p=0·017). 103 (6·7%) of 1542 patients with ipsilateral stenosis in the ticagrelor group and 147 (9·6%) of 1539 patients with ipsilateral stenosis in the aspirin group had an occurrence of stroke, myocardial infarction, or death within 90 days (hazard ratio 0·68 [95% CI 0·53-0·88]; p=0·003). In 10 118 patients with no ipsilateral stenosis, 339 (6·7%) of 5047 patients in the ticagrelor group had an occurrence of stroke, myocardial infarction, or death within 90 days compared with 350 (6·9%) of 5071 in the aspirin group (0·97 [0·84-1·13]; p=0·72). There were no significant differences in the proportion of life-threatening bleeding or major or minor bleeding events in patients with ipsilateral stenosis in the ticagrelor group compared with the aspirin group. In this prespecified exploratory analysis, ticagrelor was superior to aspirin at preventing stroke, myocardial infarction, or death at 90 days in patients with acute ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack when associated with ipsilateral atherosclerotic stenosis. An understanding of stroke mechanisms and causes is important to deliver safe and efficacious treatments for early stroke prevention. AstraZeneca. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multi-criteria analysis of the mechanism of degradation of Portland cement based mortars exposed to external sulphate attack

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

El-Hachem, R.; Roziere, E.; Grondin, F.

2012-10-15

This work aims to contribute to the design of durable concrete structures exposed to external sulphate attacks (ESA). Following a preliminary study aimed at designing a representative test, the present paper suggests a study on the effect of the water-to-cement (w/c) ratio and the cement composition in order to understand the degradation mechanisms. Length and mass measurements were registered continuously, leached calcium and hydroxide ions were also quantified. In parallel, scanning electron microscopy observations as well as X-ray microtomography were realised at different times to identify the formed products and the crack morphology. Test results provide information on the basicmore » aspects of the degradation mechanism, such as the main role of leaching and diffusion in the sulphate attack process. The mortar composition with a low w/c ratio leads to a better resistance to sulphate attack because the microstructure is less permeable. Reducing the C{sub 3}A content results in a macro-cracking decrease but it does not prevent expansion, which suggests the contribution of other expansive products, such as gypsum, in damage due to ESA. The observation of the cracks network in the microstructure helps to understand the micro-mechanisms of the degradation process.« less

How Do You Measure Up?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Marilyn L.; Shontz, Marilyn L.

1999-01-01

Presents findings from the "School Library Journal" survey of school library expenditures for FY 1997-98. Data include: budget allocation; salaries; library collection; technology; staff and certification; access to basic electronic resources; library policy; planning and communication between library media specialists and teachers; and…

Reactions of solvated electrons initiated by sodium atom ionization at the vacuum-liquid interface.

PubMed

Alexander, William A; Wiens, Justin P; Minton, Timothy K; Nathanson, Gilbert M

2012-03-02

Solvated electrons are powerful reagents in the liquid phase that break chemical bonds and thereby create additional reactive species, including hydrogen atoms. We explored the distinct chemistry that ensues when electrons are liberated near the liquid surface rather than within the bulk. Specifically, we detected the products resulting from exposure of liquid glycerol to a beam of sodium atoms. The Na atoms ionized in the surface region, generating electrons that reacted with deuterated glycerol, C(3)D(5)(OD)(3), to produce D atoms, D(2), D(2)O, and glycerol fragments. Surprisingly, 43 ± 4% of the D atoms traversed the interfacial region and desorbed into vacuum before attacking C-D bonds to produce D(2).

The Politics of Defence Budgeting: A Study of Organisation and Resource Allocation in the United Kingdom and the United States,

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-01-01

fourth responsible for guided weapons and electronics across-the-board. Each controller would be an accounting officer directly responsible to... electronics . Thereafter, as Hastie Smith says, "the identification of the systems controllers with their Service boards [the committees corporately...COMM. COMD. ASST SECDEF CNTR & INTEL) (HEALTH AFFAIRS) ASST TO THE SECDEF (ATOMIC ENERGY ) R DEFENSE LLIGENCE SE AGENCIES DEESEDFES)EFENSE DEFENSE

Emergency Notification in an Instant

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galuszka, Peter

2008-01-01

In the past year, adding new security has "become like a religion." The business of electronic notification hadn't really gained much attention until the terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon in 2001, killing more than 3,000 people. Critical attention on alerts got a huge boost after the Virginia Tech…

Department of Defense Public Key Infrastructure Token Protection Profile. Version 2.0

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-03-12

Profile Authors: Tamara Cleveland, Booz·Allen & Hamilton Inc. Michael Alexander, Booz·Allen & Hamilton Inc. Asok Ganguly, Booz·Allen & Hamilton Inc...testing, and electron beam testing. • Other attacks, such as UV or X- rays or high temperatures, could cause erasure of memory. However, erasure of selected

Simulated E-Bomb Effects on Electronically Equipped Targets

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-01

coupling model program (CEMPAT), pursuing a feasible geometry of attack, practical antennas, best coupling approximations of ground conductivity and...procedure to determine these possible effects is to estimate the electromagnetic coupling from first principles and simulations using a coupling model ...Applications .................................... 16 B. SYSTEM OF INTEREST MODEL AS A TARGET ............................. 16 1. Shielding Methods, as

75 FR 65618 - Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725B); Comment Request; Extension

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-26

... requirements to safeguard critical cyber assets.\\4\\ These standards help protect the nation's Bulk-Power System against potential disruptions from cyber attacks.\\5\\ \\3\\ CIP-002-1, CIP-003-1, CIP-004-1, CIP-005-1, CIP... Cyber Asset Identification. Security Management Controls. Personnel and Training. Electronic Security...

Seasonal variation and trends in stroke hospitalizations and mortality in a South American community hospital.

PubMed

Díaz, Alejandro; Gerschcovich, Eliana Roldan; Díaz, Adriana A; Antía, Fabiana; Gonorazky, Sergio

2013-10-01

Numerous studies have reported the presence of temporal variations in biological processes. Seasonal variation (SV) in stroke has been widely studied, but little data have been published on this phenomenon in the Southern Hemisphere, and there have been no studies reported from Argentina. The goals of the present study were to describe the SV of admissions and deaths for stroke and examine trends in stroke morbidity and mortality over a 3-year period in a community hospital in Argentina. Hospital discharge reports from the electronic database of vital statistics between 1999 and 2001 were examined retrospectively. Patients who had a main discharge diagnosis of stroke (ischemic or hemorrhagic) or cerebrovascular accident (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes 431, 432, 434, and 436) were selected. The study sample included 1382 hospitalizations by stroke (3.5% of all admissions). In-hospital mortality demonstrated a winter peak (25.5% vs 17% in summer; P = .001). The crude seasonal stroke attack rate (ischemic and hemorrhagic) was highest in winter (164 per 100,000 population; 95% CI, 159-169 per 100,000) and lowest in summer (124 per 100,000; 95% CI, 120-127 per 100,000; P = .008). Stroke admissions followed a seasonal pattern, with a winter-spring predominance (P = .008). Our data indicate a clear SV in stroke deaths and admissions in this region of Argentina. The existence of SV in stroke raises a different hypothesis about the rationale of HF admissions and provides information for the organization of care and resource allocation. Copyright © 2013 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Characterization and Oxidation Behavior of Rayon-Derived Carbon Fibers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jacobson, Nathan; Hull, David

2010-01-01

Rayon-derived fibers are the central constituent of reinforced carbon/ carbon (RCC) composites. Optical, scanning electron, and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the as-fabricated fibers and the fibers after oxidation. Oxidation rates were measured with weight loss techniques in air and oxygen. The as-received fibers are approximately 10 micron in diameter and characterized by grooves or crenulations around the edges. Below 800 C, in the reaction-controlled region, preferential attack began in the crenulations and appeared to occur down fissures in the fibers.

A study of IEEE 802.15.4 security framework for wireless body area networks.

PubMed

Saleem, Shahnaz; Ullah, Sana; Kwak, Kyung Sup

2011-01-01

A Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) is a collection of low-power and lightweight wireless sensor nodes that are used to monitor the human body functions and the surrounding environment. It supports a number of innovative and interesting applications, including ubiquitous healthcare and Consumer Electronics (CE) applications. Since WBAN nodes are used to collect sensitive (life-critical) information and may operate in hostile environments, they require strict security mechanisms to prevent malicious interaction with the system. In this paper, we first highlight major security requirements and Denial of Service (DoS) attacks in WBAN at Physical, Medium Access Control (MAC), Network, and Transport layers. Then we discuss the IEEE 802.15.4 security framework and identify the security vulnerabilities and major attacks in the context of WBAN. Different types of attacks on the Contention Access Period (CAP) and Contention Free Period (CFP) parts of the superframe are analyzed and discussed. It is observed that a smart attacker can successfully corrupt an increasing number of GTS slots in the CFP period and can considerably affect the Quality of Service (QoS) in WBAN (since most of the data is carried in CFP period). As we increase the number of smart attackers the corrupted GTS slots are eventually increased, which prevents the legitimate nodes to utilize the bandwidth efficiently. This means that the direct adaptation of IEEE 802.15.4 security framework for WBAN is not totally secure for certain WBAN applications. New solutions are required to integrate high level security in WBAN.

A Study of IEEE 802.15.4 Security Framework for Wireless Body Area Networks

PubMed Central

Saleem, Shahnaz; Ullah, Sana; Kwak, Kyung Sup

2011-01-01

A Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) is a collection of low-power and lightweight wireless sensor nodes that are used to monitor the human body functions and the surrounding environment. It supports a number of innovative and interesting applications, including ubiquitous healthcare and Consumer Electronics (CE) applications. Since WBAN nodes are used to collect sensitive (life-critical) information and may operate in hostile environments, they require strict security mechanisms to prevent malicious interaction with the system. In this paper, we first highlight major security requirements and Denial of Service (DoS) attacks in WBAN at Physical, Medium Access Control (MAC), Network, and Transport layers. Then we discuss the IEEE 802.15.4 security framework and identify the security vulnerabilities and major attacks in the context of WBAN. Different types of attacks on the Contention Access Period (CAP) and Contention Free Period (CFP) parts of the superframe are analyzed and discussed. It is observed that a smart attacker can successfully corrupt an increasing number of GTS slots in the CFP period and can considerably affect the Quality of Service (QoS) in WBAN (since most of the data is carried in CFP period). As we increase the number of smart attackers the corrupted GTS slots are eventually increased, which prevents the legitimate nodes to utilize the bandwidth efficiently. This means that the direct adaptation of IEEE 802.15.4 security framework for WBAN is not totally secure for certain WBAN applications. New solutions are required to integrate high level security in WBAN. PMID:22319358

Reduction in perceived stress as a migraine trigger

PubMed Central

Lipton, Richard B.; Hall, Charles B.; Tennen, Howard; DeFreitas, Tiffani A.; Borkowski, Thomas M.; Grosberg, Brian M.; Haut, Sheryl R.

2014-01-01

Objective: To test whether level of perceived stress and reductions in levels of perceived stress (i.e., “let-down”) are associated with the onset of migraine attacks in persons with migraine. Methods: Patients with migraine from a tertiary headache center were invited to participate in a 3-month electronic diary study. Participants entered data daily regarding migraine attack experience, subjective stress ratings, and other data. Stress was assessed using 2 measures: the Perceived Stress Scale and the Self-Reported Stress Scale. Logit-normal, random-effects models were used to estimate the odds ratio for migraine occurrence as a function of level of stress over several time frames. Results: Of 22 enrolled participants, 17 (median age 43.8 years) completed >30 days of diaries, yielding 2,011 diary entries including 110 eligible migraine attacks (median 5 attacks per person). Level of stress was not generally associated with migraine occurrence. However, decline in stress from one evening diary to the next was associated with increased migraine onset over the subsequent 6, 12, and 18 hours, with odds ratios ranging from 1.5 to 1.9 (all p values < 0.05) for the Perceived Stress Scale. Decline in stress was associated with migraine onset after controlling for level of stress for all time points. Findings were similar using the Self-Reported Stress Scale. Conclusions: Reduction in stress from one day to the next is associated with migraine onset the next day. Decline in stress may be a marker for an impending migraine attack and may create opportunities for preemptive pharmacologic or behavioral interventions. PMID:24670889

A global trait-based approach to estimate leaf nitrogen functional allocation from observations

DOE PAGES

Ghimire, Bardan; Riley, William J.; Koven, Charles D.; ...

2017-03-28

Nitrogen is one of the most important nutrients for plant growth and a major constituent of proteins that regulate photosynthetic and respiratory processes. However, a comprehensive global analysis of nitrogen allocation in leaves for major processes with respect to different plant functional types is currently lacking. This study integrated observations from global databases with photosynthesis and respiration models to determine plant-functional-type-specific allocation patterns of leaf nitrogen for photosynthesis (Rubisco, electron transport, light absorption) and respiration (growth and maintenance), and by difference from observed total leaf nitrogen, an unexplained “residual” nitrogen pool. Based on our analysis, crops partition the largest fractionmore » of nitrogen to photosynthesis (57%) and respiration (5%) followed by herbaceous plants (44% and 4%). Tropical broadleaf evergreen trees partition the least to photosynthesis (25%) and respiration (2%) followed by needle-leaved evergreen trees (28% and 3%). In trees (especially needle-leaved evergreen and tropical broadleaf evergreen trees) a large fraction (70% and 73% respectively) of nitrogen was not explained by photosynthetic or respiratory functions. Compared to crops and herbaceous plants, this large residual pool is hypothesized to emerge from larger investments in cell wall proteins, lipids, amino acids, nucleic acid, CO2 fixation proteins (other than Rubisco), secondary compounds, and other proteins. Our estimates are different from previous studies due to differences in methodology and assumptions used in deriving nitrogen allocation estimates. Unlike previous studies, we integrate and infer nitrogen allocation estimates across multiple plant functional types, and report substantial differences in nitrogen allocation across different plant functional types. Furthermore, the resulting pattern of nitrogen allocation provides insights on mechanisms that operate at a cellular scale within leaves, and can be integrated with ecosystem models to derive emergent properties of ecosystem productivity at local, regional, and global scales.« less

A global trait-based approach to estimate leaf nitrogen functional allocation from observations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ghimire, Bardan; Riley, William J.; Koven, Charles D.

Nitrogen is one of the most important nutrients for plant growth and a major constituent of proteins that regulate photosynthetic and respiratory processes. However, a comprehensive global analysis of nitrogen allocation in leaves for major processes with respect to different plant functional types is currently lacking. This study integrated observations from global databases with photosynthesis and respiration models to determine plant-functional-type-specific allocation patterns of leaf nitrogen for photosynthesis (Rubisco, electron transport, light absorption) and respiration (growth and maintenance), and by difference from observed total leaf nitrogen, an unexplained “residual” nitrogen pool. Based on our analysis, crops partition the largest fractionmore » of nitrogen to photosynthesis (57%) and respiration (5%) followed by herbaceous plants (44% and 4%). Tropical broadleaf evergreen trees partition the least to photosynthesis (25%) and respiration (2%) followed by needle-leaved evergreen trees (28% and 3%). In trees (especially needle-leaved evergreen and tropical broadleaf evergreen trees) a large fraction (70% and 73% respectively) of nitrogen was not explained by photosynthetic or respiratory functions. Compared to crops and herbaceous plants, this large residual pool is hypothesized to emerge from larger investments in cell wall proteins, lipids, amino acids, nucleic acid, CO2 fixation proteins (other than Rubisco), secondary compounds, and other proteins. Our estimates are different from previous studies due to differences in methodology and assumptions used in deriving nitrogen allocation estimates. Unlike previous studies, we integrate and infer nitrogen allocation estimates across multiple plant functional types, and report substantial differences in nitrogen allocation across different plant functional types. Furthermore, the resulting pattern of nitrogen allocation provides insights on mechanisms that operate at a cellular scale within leaves, and can be integrated with ecosystem models to derive emergent properties of ecosystem productivity at local, regional, and global scales.« less

77 FR 6803 - Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-09

... report, ``Hidden Tragedy: Underreporting of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses,'' indicating ``that work....'' Based in part on the report's results, Congress allocated funds for NIOSH to conduct a follow-up study using NIOSH's occupational supplement to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS-Work...

Innovation and development of exhibition electronic-commerce based on the properties of electronic-commerce

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jiankang

2017-06-01

There are two roadmaps of accomplishing exhibition electronic-commerce innovation and development. The first roadmap is that the exhibition organizers should seek mutual benefit cooperation with professional electronic-commerce platform of correspondent area with exhibition projects, thus help exhibitors realize their market object. The second roadmap is to promote innovation and development of electronic-commerce (Business-to-Customer) between both exhibitors and purchasers. Exhibition electronic-commerce must focus on innovative development in the following functions: market research and information service; advertising and business negotiation; online trading and online payment. With the aid of electronic-commerce, exhibition enterprise could have distinctive strengths such as transactions with virtualization, transparency, high efficiency and low cost, enhancing market link during enterprise research and development, promoting the efficiency of internal team collaboration and the individuation of external service, and optimizing resource allocation.

Cyberbullying Among Greek High School Adolescents.

PubMed

Gkiomisi, Athanasia; Gkrizioti, Maria; Gkiomisi, Athina; Anastasilakis, Dimitrios A; Kardaras, Panagiotis

2017-05-01

To investigate the presence of cyberbullying among Greek students and the efficacy of proposed preventive interventions. Three types of high schools (private, experimental and public) with different politics on on-line aggression were enrolled. All students of the aforementioned schools were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire. Around 62 % of the high school students experienced cyberbullying by electronic means, especially by cell phone, mostly the public school students (p 0.008). The bully was a stranger in more than 40 % of the cases. Over 60 % of the victims had not seeked help but dealt with the attack on their own. Only 20 % of the victims manifested sleep or eating disorders, physical/ psychological symptoms or changes in their social life as a consequence of the cyber-attack. Cyberbullying is a usual phenomenon among high school students. The bully is frequently unacquainted to the victim. Most of the victims are not physically or psychologically affected by the cyber-attack and do not share the event with anyone. There was a slight difference in the response of the students to cyberbullying among the different school politics of on-line aggression.

Aerodynamic Simulation Analysis of Unmanned Airborne Electronic Bomb

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Jiaoying; Guo, Yachao

2017-10-01

For microelectronic bombs for UAVs, on the basis of the use of rotors to lift the insurance on the basis of ammunition, increased tail to increase stability. The aerodynamic simulation of the outer structure of the ammunition was carried out by FLUENT software. The resistance coefficient, the lift coefficient and the pitch moment coefficient under different angle of attack and Mach number were obtained, and the aerodynamic characteristics of the electronic bomb were studied. The pressure line diagram and the velocity line diagram of the flow around the bomb are further analyzed, and the rationality of the external structure is verified, which provides a reference for the subsequent design of the electronic bomb.

Cyberwarfare and Operational Art

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-05-25

Electronic Attack EMS Electro Magnetic Spectrum FM Field Manual FSB Federal Security Service (Russian Federation) GAO General Accounting Office GRU...Warfare, (Cambridge, MA: O’Reilly Media Inc., 2012), 74. 2 "The Bombe developed in Bletchley by Turing and Welshman and Babbage - all luminaries of...cyberspace domain’s fundamental characteristics. First, cyberspace requires the Electro Magnetic Spectrum ( EMS ) to propagate efficiently. Second

Adaptive Red Teaming on Developmental Technologies

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

between participating technologies. Power sources such as generators, wind turbines , and solar panels are examples of technology that have high...Day Camera xiv RASE Reconnaissance Advanced Sensor and Exploitation RF radio frequency RFI request for information RGPs rocket...used in night vision equipment, or a more complex electronic attack exploiting a weakness in a wireless network. Technological limitations can be

DOD Supply Chain: Preliminary Observations Indicate That Counterfeit Electronic Parts Can Be Found on Internet Purchasing Platforms

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-11-08

Corps’ V-22 Osprey aircraft, and the Navy’s SSN-688 Los Angeles Class nuclear-powered attack submarine . If authentic, these parts provide accurate power...even d Different color epoxy seals were noted within both lots according to SMT Corp., which is common in suspect counterfeit devices

Micro-Structural Study of Fretting Contact Caused by the Difference of the Tin Plating Thickness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ito, Tetsuya; Sawada, Shigeru; Hattori, Yasuhiro; Saitoh, Yasushi; Tamai, Terutaka; Iida, Kazuo

In recent years, there has been increasing demand to miniaturize wiring harness connectors in automobiles due to the increasing volume of electronic equipment and the reduction of the installation space allocated for the electronic equipment in automobiles for the comfort of the passengers. With this demand, contact failure caused by the fretting corrosion is expected to become a serious problem. In this report, we examined micro-structural observations of fretting contacts of two different tin plating thicknesses using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and so on. Based on the results, we compared the microstructure difference of fretting contact caused by the difference of the tin plating thickness.

Limits of Predictability of Cascading Overload Failures in Spatially-Embedded Networks with Distributed Flows.

PubMed

Moussawi, A; Derzsy, N; Lin, X; Szymanski, B K; Korniss, G

2017-09-15

Cascading failures are a critical vulnerability of complex information or infrastructure networks. Here we investigate the properties of load-based cascading failures in real and synthetic spatially-embedded network structures, and propose mitigation strategies to reduce the severity of damages caused by such failures. We introduce a stochastic method for optimal heterogeneous distribution of resources (node capacities) subject to a fixed total cost. Additionally, we design and compare the performance of networks with N-stable and (N-1)-stable network-capacity allocations by triggering cascades using various real-world node-attack and node-failure scenarios. We show that failure mitigation through increased node protection can be effectively achieved against single-node failures. However, mitigating against multiple node failures is much more difficult due to the combinatorial increase in possible sets of initially failing nodes. We analyze the robustness of the system with increasing protection, and find that a critical tolerance exists at which the system undergoes a phase transition, and above which the network almost completely survives an attack. Moreover, we show that cascade-size distributions measured in this region exhibit a power-law decay. Finally, we find a strong correlation between cascade sizes induced by individual nodes and sets of nodes. We also show that network topology alone is a weak predictor in determining the progression of cascading failures.

Trade-Off Between Fitness Gain and Cost Determines Profitability of a Peach Aphid Parasitoid.

PubMed

Khatri, Diwas; He, Xiong Z; Wang, Qiao

2016-08-01

Aphidius colemani (Viereck) (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae) is commercially produced and utilized for biological control of peach aphid Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) on greenhouse crops in many countries. To provide knowledge for the evaluation of parasitoid-host interactions and development of effective mass rearing programs, we investigated how and why host age or size affected fitness gain in A. colemani We show that the parasitoid was significantly more likely to encounter larger hosts and that an encounter almost always triggered an attack attempt. However, the attack attempt did not proportionally translate into oviposition because larger aphids had greater ability to defend themselves and the parasitoid spent more time in handling larger aphids. The host age at parasitization had no effect on emergence rates and sex ratio of parasitoid progeny, suggesting that pupae and larvae have similar survival rate in hosts of different ages and/or the parasitoid females do not adjust sex allocation based on host size. When parasitizing mid-aged hosts, the parasitoid gained maximum fitness for their progeny in developmental period, body size, and parasitism. Taking all findings together, we suggest that parasitizing mid-aged green peach aphid nymphs is most profitable for A. colemani. © The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Panic disorder and locomotor activity

PubMed Central

Sakamoto, Noriyuki; Yoshiuchi, Kazuhiro; Kikuchi, Hiroe; Takimoto, Yoshiyuki; Kaiya, Hisanobu; Kumano, Hiroaki; Yamamoto, Yoshiharu; Akabayashi, Akira

2008-01-01

Background Panic disorder is one of the anxiety disorders, and anxiety is associated with some locomotor activity changes such as "restlessness". However, there have been few studies on locomotor activity in panic disorder using actigraphy, although many studies on other psychiatric disorders have been reported using actigraphy. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between panic disorder and locomotor activity pattern using a wrist-worn activity monitor. In addition, an ecological momentary assessment technique was used to record panic attacks in natural settings. Methods Sixteen patients with panic disorder were asked to wear a watch-type computer as an electronic diary for recording panic attacks for two weeks. In addition, locomotor activity was measured and recorded continuously in an accelerometer equipped in the watch-type computer. Locomotor activity data were analyzed using double cosinor analysis to calculate mesor and the amplitude and acrophase of each of the circadian rhythm and 12-hour harmonic component. Correlations between panic disorder symptoms and locomotor activity were investigated. Results There were significant positive correlations between the frequency of panic attacks and mesor calculated from double cosinor analysis of locomotor activity (r = 0.55) and between HAM-A scores and mesor calculated from double cosinor analysis of locomotor activity (r = 0.62). Conclusion Panic disorder patients with more panic attacks and more anxiety have greater objectively assessed locomotor activity, which may reflect the "restlessness" of anxiety disorders. PMID:19017383

23 CFR 1200.22 - Changes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Changes. 1200.22 Section 1200.22 Highways NATIONAL... Implementation and Management of the Highway Safety Program § 1200.22 Changes. States shall provide documentary... amended HS form 217 (or its electronic equivalent), reflecting the changed allocation of funds, within 30...

Efficacy and safety of betahistine treatment in patients with Meniere’s disease: primary results of a long term, multicentre, double blind, randomised, placebo controlled, dose defining trial (BEMED trial)

PubMed Central

Adrion, Christine; Fischer, Carolin Simone; Wagner, Judith; Gürkov, Robert; Mansmann, Ulrich

2016-01-01

Study question What is the long term efficacy of betahistine dihydrochloride on the incidence of vertigo attacks in patients with Meniere’s disease, compared with placebo? Methods The BEMED trial is a multicentre, double blind, randomised, placebo controlled, three arm, parallel group, phase III, dose defining superiority trial conducted in 14 German tertiary referral centres (for neurology or ear, nose, and throat). Adults aged 21-80 years (mean age 56 years) with definite unilateral or bilateral Meniere’s disease were recruited from March 2008 to November 2012. Participants received placebo (n=74), low dose betahistine (2×24 mg daily, (n=73)), or high dose betahistine (3×48 mg daily, (n=74)) over nine months. The primary outcome was the number of attacks per 30 days, based on patients’ diaries during a three month assessment period at months seven to nine. An internet based randomisation schedule performed a concealed 1:1:1 allocation, stratified by study site. Secondary outcomes included the duration and severity of attacks, change in quality of life scores, and several observer-reported parameters to assess changes in audiological and vestibular function. Study answer and limitations Incidence of attacks related to Meniere’s disease did not differ between the three treatment groups (P=0.759). Compared with placebo, attack rate ratios were 1.036 (95% confidence interval 0.942 to 1.140) and 1.012 (0.919 to 1.114) for low dose and high dose betahistine, respectively. The overall monthly attack rate fell significantly by the factor 0.758 (0.705 to 0.816; P<0.001). The population based, mean monthly incidence averaged over the assessment period was 2.722 (1.304 to 6.309), 3.204 (1.345 to 7.929), and 3.258 (1.685 to 7.266) for the placebo, low dose betahistine, and high dose betahistine groups, respectively. Results were consistent for all secondary outcomes. Treatment was well tolerated with no unexpected safety findings. Without a control group of patients who did not receive any intervention to follow the natural course of the disease, the placebo effect could not be accurately assessed and differentiated from spontaneous remission and fluctuation of symptoms. What this study adds Current evidence is limited as to whether betahistine prevents vertigo attacks caused by Meniere’s disease, compared with placebo. The trial provides information on symptom relief on placebo intervention which is relevant for the design of future studies on potential disease modifying treatments in patients with Meniere’s disease. Funding, competing interests, data sharing Support from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF support code 01KG0708). Potential competing interests have been reported in full at the end of the paper on thebmj.com. Data are available from the corresponding author (Michael.Strupp@med.uni-muenchen.de) or biostatistician (mansmann@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de). Study registration EudraCT no 2005-000752-32; ISRCTN no ISRCTN44359668. PMID:26797774

Electronic Structure Analysis of the Oxygen-Activation Mechanism by FeII- and α-Ketoglutarate (αKG)-Dependent Dioxygenases

PubMed Central

Ye, Shengfa; Riplinger, Christoph; Hansen, Andreas; Krebs, Carsten; Bollinger, J. Martin; Neese, Frank

2014-01-01

α-Ketoglutarate (αKG)-dependent nonheme iron enzymes utilize a high-spin (HS) ferrous center to couple the activation of oxygen to the decarboxylation of the cosubstrate αKG to yield succinate and CO2, and to generate a high-valent ferryl species that then acts as an oxidant to functionalize the target C–H bond. Herein a detailed analysis of the electronic-structure changes that occur in the oxygen activation by this enzyme was performed. The rate-limiting step, which is identical on the septet and quintet surfaces, is the nucleophilic attack of the distal O atom of the O2 adduct on the carbonyl group in αKG through a bicyclic transition state (5,7TS1). Due to the different electronic structures in 5,7TS1, the decay of 7TS1 leads to a ferric oxyl species, which undergoes a rapid intersystem crossing to form the ferryl intermediate. By contrast, a HS ferrous center ligated by a peroxosuccinate is obtained on the quintet surface following 5TS1. Thus, additional two single-electron transfer steps are required to afford the same FeIV–oxo species. However, the triplet reaction channel is catalytically irrelevant. The biological role of αKG played in the oxygen-activation reaction is dual. The αKG LUMO (C=O π*) serves as an electron acceptor for the nucleophilic attack of the superoxide monoanion. On the other hand, the αKG HOMO (C1–C2 σ) provides the second and third electrons for the further reduction of the superoxide. In addition to density functional theory, high-level ab initio calculations have been used to calculate the accurate energies of the critical points on the alternative potential-energy surfaces. Overall, the results delivered by the ab initio calculations are largely parallel to those obtained with the B3LYP density functional, thus lending credence to our conclusions. PMID:22511515

Evaluation of Structural Isomers, Molecular Interactions, Reactivity Descriptors, and Vibrational Analysis of Tretinoin.

PubMed

Karthick, T; Tandon, Poonam; Singh, Swapnil

2017-01-01

Tretinoin is known to be a pharmaceutical drug for treating acne vulgaris, keratosis pilaris, and acute promyelocytic leukemia. In order to reveal the possible conformers of tretinoin, the energies of all the conformers through rotational bonds have been evaluated by systematic rotor search analysis. The intramolecular interactions ranging from strong hydrogen bonds to weak van der Waals forces present in tretinoin have been distinguished with the help of electron density mapping and wavefunction analysis. The global reactivity descriptors and Fukui functions of tretinoin have been calculated and discussed. The sites suitable for electrophilic attack and nucleophilic attack have been identified with the help of Hirshfeld partitioning. The vibrational spectroscopic signature of tretinoin and mixed mode band assignments have been elucidated with the help of experimental and simulated spectra.

Thermal treatment, grain boundary composition and intergranular attack resistance of Alloy 690

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Smith, A.J.; Stratton, R.P.

1992-12-31

Commercial Alloy 690 PWR steam generator tubes and experimentally produced alloys with varying amounts of carbon, aluminium and titanium have been examined. After simulated mill annealing and thermal treatment, the microstructure and corrosion behaviour in corrosion tests have been investigated. Stress corrosion resistance of selected alloy 690 tubes and experimental alloys has been examined with environments based on pure water, sodium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide + sodium sulphate solutions. Effects of aluminium content and the thermal treatments on the susceptibility to intergranular attack have been examined, although they appear not to be very significant to the amounts of IGA. Samplesmore » used in thermal treatments have been further examined with a dedicated scanning transmission electron microscope to show compositional changes at grain boundaries.« less

High angle of attack position sensing for the Southampton University magnetic suspension and balance system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parker, David H.

1987-01-01

An all digital five channel position detection system is to be installed in the Southampton University Magnetic Suspension and Balance System (SUMSBS). The system is intended to monitor a much larger range of model pitch attitudes than has been possible hitherto, up to a maximum of a 90 degree angle of attack. It is based on the use of self-scanning photodiode arrays and illuminating laser light beams, together with purpose built processing electronics. The principles behind the design of the system are discussed, together with the results of testing one channel of the system which was used to control the axial position of a magnetically suspended model in SUMSBS. The removal of optically coupled heave position information from the axial position sensing channel is described.

Efficient secure-channel free public key encryption with keyword search for EMRs in cloud storage.

PubMed

Guo, Lifeng; Yau, Wei-Chuen

2015-02-01

Searchable encryption is an important cryptographic primitive that enables privacy-preserving keyword search on encrypted electronic medical records (EMRs) in cloud storage. Efficiency of such searchable encryption in a medical cloud storage system is very crucial as it involves client platforms such as smartphones or tablets that only have constrained computing power and resources. In this paper, we propose an efficient secure-channel free public key encryption with keyword search (SCF-PEKS) scheme that is proven secure in the standard model. We show that our SCF-PEKS scheme is not only secure against chosen keyword and ciphertext attacks (IND-SCF-CKCA), but also secure against keyword guessing attacks (IND-KGA). Furthermore, our proposed scheme is more efficient than other recent SCF-PEKS schemes in the literature.

Atomic selectivity in dissociative electron attachment to dihalobenzenes.

PubMed

Kim, Namdoo; Sohn, Taeil; Lee, Sang Hak; Nandi, Dhananjay; Kim, Seong Keun

2013-10-21

We investigated electron attachment to three dihalobenzene molecules, bromochlorobenzene (BCB), bromoiodobenzene (BIB) and chloroiodobenzene (CIB), by molecular beam photoelectron spectroscopy. The most prominent product of electron attachment in the anion mass spectra was the atomic fragment of the less electronegative halogen of the two, i.e., Br(-) for BCB and I(-) for BIB and CIB. Photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio calculations suggested that the approaching electron prefers to attack the less electronegative atom, a seemingly counterintuitive finding but consistent with the mass spectrometric result. For the iodine-containing species BIB and CIB, the photoelectron spectrum consists of bands from both the molecular anion and atomic I(-), the latter of which is produced by photodissociation of the former. Molecular orbital analysis revealed that a large degree of orbital energy reordering takes place upon electron attachment. These phenomena were shown to be readily explained by simple molecular orbital theory and the electronegativity of the halogen atoms.

Problems related to the integration of fault tolerant aircraft electronic systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bannister, J. A.; Adlakha, V.; Triyedi, K.; Alspaugh, T. A., Jr.

1982-01-01

Problems related to the design of the hardware for an integrated aircraft electronic system are considered. Taxonomies of concurrent systems are reviewed and a new taxonomy is proposed. An informal methodology intended to identify feasible regions of the taxonomic design space is described. Specific tools are recommended for use in the methodology. Based on the methodology, a preliminary strawman integrated fault tolerant aircraft electronic system is proposed. Next, problems related to the programming and control of inegrated aircraft electronic systems are discussed. Issues of system resource management, including the scheduling and allocation of real time periodic tasks in a multiprocessor environment, are treated in detail. The role of software design in integrated fault tolerant aircraft electronic systems is discussed. Conclusions and recommendations for further work are included.

Proof-of-Principle High Speed Electronic Imaging System. Phase 2.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-03-01

Winchenbach George Streckmann I Martha Martinez John Krieger Joe Parker John Morris Ann Coverston ." Karen Hollis Gregg Abate I... , .. ", .t ii i...R. J. Kelley, manager of the research facility, allocated space and locations for the equipment, and assigned John Krieger , technician, to us to

76 FR 15887 - Sales-Based Royalties and Vendor Allowances; Hearing

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-22

... production method and the simplified resale method of allocating capitalized costs between ending inventory...., Washington, DC. Alternatively, taxpayers may submit electronic outlines of oral comments via the Federal e... Register on Friday, December 17, 2010 (75 FR 78940). Persons, who wish to present oral comments at the...

75 FR 36147 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated; Order Approving...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-24

..., as Modified by Amendment No. 1 Thereto, Related to the Hybrid Matching Algorithms June 17, 2010. On... Hybrid System. Each rule currently provides allocation algorithms the Exchange can utilize when executing incoming electronic orders, including the Ultimate Matching Algorithm (``UMA''), and price-time and pro...

Department of Navy FY17 Budget: Delivering Options, Assuring Allies,

Science.gov Websites

Services program and Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program. Hard Choices This fiscal environment requires each Service to make hard choices in prioritizing their budget, examining every account to sustain advantage, accelerate learning and strengthen our team. In making hard choices and allocating risk

Trichinella spiralis Paramyosin Binds to C8 and C9 and Protects the Tissue-Dwelling Nematode from Being Attacked by Host Complement

PubMed Central

Zhang, Zhifei; Yang, Jing; Wei, Junfei; Yang, Yaping; Chen, Xiaoqin; Zhao, Xi; Gu, Yuan; Cui, Shijuan; Zhu, Xinping

2011-01-01

Background Paramyosin is a thick myofibrillar protein found exclusively in invertebrates. Evidence suggested that paramyosin from helminths serves not only as a structural protein but also as an immunomodulatory agent. We previously reported that recombinant Trichinella spiralis paramyosin (Ts-Pmy) elicited a partial protective immunity in mice. In this study, the ability of Ts-Pmy to bind host complement components and protect against host complement attack was investigated. Methods and Findings In this study, the transcriptional and protein expression levels of Ts-Pmy were determined in T. spiralis newborn larva (NBL), muscle larva (ML) and adult worm developmental stages by RT-PCR and western blot analysis. Expression of Ts-Pmy at the outer membrane was observed in NBL and adult worms using immunogold electron microscopy and immunofluorescence staining. Functional analysis revealed that recombinant Ts-Pmy(rTs-Pmy) strongly bound to complement components C8 and C9 and inhibited the polymerization of C9 during the formation of the membrane attack complex (MAC). rTs-Pmy also inhibited the lysis of rabbit erythrocytes (ER) elicited by an alternative pathway-activated complement from guinea pig serum. Inhibition of native Ts-Pmy on the surface of NBL with a specific antiserum reduced larvae viability when under the attack of complement in vitro. In vivo passive transfer of anti-Ts-Pmy antiserum and complement-treated larvae into mice also significantly reduced the number of larvae that developed to ML. Conclusion These studies suggest that the outer membrane form of T. spiralis paramyosin plays an important role in the evasion of the host complement attack. PMID:21750743

Double jeopardy and the use of QALYs in health care allocation.

PubMed Central

Singer, P; McKie, J; Kuhse, H; Richardson, J

1995-01-01

The use of the Quality Adjusted Life-Year (QALY) as a measure of the benefit obtained from health care expenditure has been attacked on the ground that it gives a lower value to preserving the lives of people with a permanent disability or illness than to preserving the lives of those who are healthy and not disabled. The reason for this is that the quality of life of those with illness or disability is ranked, on the QALY scale, below that of someone without a disability or illness. Hence we can, other things being equal, gain more QALYs by saving the lives of those without a permanent disability or illness than by saving the lives of those who are disadvantaged in these ways. But to do so puts these disadvantaged people under a kind of double jeopardy. Not only do they suffer from the disability or illness, but because of it, a low priority is given to forms of health care that can preserve their lives. This, so the objection runs, is unjust or unfair. This article assesses this objection to the use of QALYs as a basis for allocating health care resources. It seeks to determine what is sound in the double jeopardy objection, and then to show that the defender of QALYs has an adequate response to it. PMID:7674278

Plant community diversity influences allocation to direct chemical defence in Plantago lanceolata.

PubMed

Mraja, Anne; Unsicker, Sybille B; Reichelt, Michael; Gershenzon, Jonathan; Roscher, Christiane

2011-01-01

Forecasting the consequences of accelerating rates of changes in biodiversity for ecosystem functioning requires a mechanistic understanding of the relationships between the structure of biological communities and variation in plant functional characteristics. So far, experimental data of how plant species diversity influences the investment of individual plants in direct chemical defences against herbivores and pathogens is lacking. We used Plantago lanceolata as a model species in experimental grasslands differing in species richness and composition (Jena Experiment) to investigate foliar concentrations of the iridoid glycosides (IG), catalpol and its biosynthetic precursor aucubin. Total IG and aucubin concentrations decreased, while catalpol concentrations increased with increasing plant diversity in terms of species or functional group richness. Negative plant diversity effects on total IG and aucubin concentrations correlated with increasing specific leaf area of P. lanceolata, suggesting that greater allocation to light acquisition reduced the investment into these carbon-based defence components. In contrast, increasing leaf nitrogen concentrations best explained increasing concentrations of the biosynthetically more advanced IG, catalpol. Observed levels of leaf damage explained a significant proportion of variation in total IG and aucubin concentrations, but did not account for variance in catalpol concentrations. Our results clearly show that plants growing in communities of varying species richness and composition differ in their defensive chemistry, which may modulate plant susceptibility to enemy attack and consequently their interactions with higher trophic level organisms.

Evaluation of a portable MOS electronic nose to detect root rots in shade tree species

Treesearch

Manuela Baietto; Letizia Pozzi; Alphus Dan Wilson; Daniele Bassi

2013-01-01

The early detection of wood decays in high-value standing trees is very important in urban areas because mitigating control measures must be implemented long before tree failures result in property damage or injuries to citizens. Adverse urban environments increase physiological stresses in trees, causing greater susceptibility to attacks by pathogenic decay fungi. The...

East Europe Report

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-10-23

economic crisis, unemployment; the impact of new tech- nologies on the workers; the attack on welfare results achieved by the trade unions, and against...remaining 80 percent in the second half! Electric Construction [ Economic Combine], for example, has a target as subcontractor of 3,865,000 leva, yet...exports of electronic and electrical engineering industrial output. A large number of economic organizations are serviced by the

Increasing Privacy Threats in the Cyberspace: The Case of Italian E-Passports

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Auletta, Vincenzo; Blundo, Carlo; de Caro, Angelo; de Cristofaro, Emiliano; Persiano, Giuseppe; Visconti, Ivan

The recent introduction of electronic passports (e-Passports) motivates the need of a thorough investigation on potential security and privacy issues. In this paper, we focus on the e-Passport implementation adopted in Italy. Leveraging previous attacks to e-Passports adopted in other countries, we analyze (in)security of Italian e-Passports and we investigate additional critical issues.

Firmware Counterfeiting and Modification Attacks on Programmable Logic Controllers

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

86 5.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Appendix A: ControlLogix Firmware Operation Flowcharts ...direct analysis of firmware on the device. 87 Appendix A: ControlLogix Firmware Operation Flowcharts Figure A.1: Overview of ControlLogix L61 operation...105 [43] Oshana, Rob. “Introduction to JTAG”. Embedded, October 29, 2002. URL http://www.embedded.com/electronics-blogs/ beginner -s-corner/4024466

Information and the War against Terrorism, Part III: New Information-Related Laws and the Impact on Civil Liberties.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strickland, Lee S.

2002-01-01

Reviews provisions of information-related laws in light of the September 11th attacks and their impact on civil liberties. Highlights include the USA Patriot Act of 2001; law enforcement and the ECPA (Electronic Communications Privacy Act); intelligence and the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978); implications for information…

USMC ISR: Preparing for the A2AD Threat

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-13

millimeter waves, high - power microwaves, lasers or electromagnetic pulses (Brimley 2013, 15). Replacing modern day munitions, directed- energy ...space and cyber capabilities” (JCS, 26). The precept further states the need to protect access to the electromagnetic spectrum. Given the high cost...is the “division of electronic warfare involving the use of electromagnetic , directed energy , or antiradiation weapons to attack personnel, facilities

Information Protection Engineering: Using Technology and Experience to Protect Assets

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-07-01

SAIC’s highly experienced team has developed technology, techniques and expertise in protecting these information assets from electronic attack by...criminals, terrorists, hackers or nation states. INFORMATION PROTECTION ENGINEERING : Using Technology and Experience to Protect Assets William J. Marlow... Engineering : Using Technology and Experience to Protect Assets Contract or Grant Number Program Element Number Authors Marlow, William J. Project

Evaluating Aircrew and Maintainer Warfighter Performance in Aeronautical Systems using Mission-Oriented Measures of Effectiveness

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-02-01

ECM Electronic Countermeasures EEG Electroencephalograph EKG Electrocardiogram EPA Extended Planning Annex EPF Equipment Performance Factor...related physiological measures Changes in the brain/neural system caused by workload. Rehmann, 1995, p. 12 M 8.2.16 Electroencephalograph ( EEG ...architecture TMD Operational Objectives: Destroy Theater Missiles ( TM ) and their infrastructure as far forward as possible (Attack Operations

Applications for Navy Unmanned Aircraft Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

ABUSE TERRORISM AND HOMELAND SECURITY TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE WORKFORCE AND WORKPLACE The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that... comunication intelligence (COMINT) collection, and airborne electronic attack applications. If the UCAS-D program is successful in addressing many of the...SATCOM availability to global war on terrorism and major combat operations in regions where SATCOM is denied by noise jamming or kinetic threats. As

Nonequilibrium effects on the aerothermodynamics of transatmospheric and aerobraking vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hassan, Basil; Candler, Graham V.

1993-01-01

A 3D CFD algorithm is used to study the effect of thermal and chemical nonequilibrium on slender and blunt body aerothermodynamics. Both perfect gas and reacting gas air models are used to compute the flow over a generic transatmospheric vehicle and a proposed lunar transfer vehicle. The reacting air is characterized by a translational-rotational temperature and a vibrational-electron-electronic temperature and includes eight chemical species. The effects of chemical reaction, vibrational excitation, and ionization on lift-to-drag ratio and trim angle are investigated. Results for the NASA Ames All-body Configuration show a significant difference in center of gravity location for a reacting gas flight case when compared to a perfect gas wind tunnel case at the same Mach number, Reynolds number, and angle of attack. For the same center of gravity location, the wind tunnel model trims at lower angle of attack than the full-scale flight case. Nonionized and ionized results for a proposed lunar transfer vehicle compare well to computational results obtained from a previously validated reacting gas algorithm. Under the conditions investigated, effects of weak ionization on the heat transfer and aerodynamic coefficients were minimal.

Encryption key distribution via chaos synchronization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keuninckx, Lars; Soriano, Miguel C.; Fischer, Ingo; Mirasso, Claudio R.; Nguimdo, Romain M.; van der Sande, Guy

2017-02-01

We present a novel encryption scheme, wherein an encryption key is generated by two distant complex nonlinear units, forced into synchronization by a chaotic driver. The concept is sufficiently generic to be implemented on either photonic, optoelectronic or electronic platforms. The method for generating the key bitstream from the chaotic signals is reconfigurable. Although derived from a deterministic process, the obtained bit series fulfill the randomness conditions as defined by the National Institute of Standards test suite. We demonstrate the feasibility of our concept on an electronic delay oscillator circuit and test the robustness against attacks using a state-of-the-art system identification method.

Method of making a current collector for a sodium/sulfur battery

DOEpatents

Tischer, R.P.; Winterbottom, W.L.; Wroblowa, H.S.

1987-03-10

This specification is directed to a method of making a current collector for a sodium/sulfur battery. The current collector so-made is electronically conductive and resistant to corrosive attack by sulfur/polysulfide melts. The method includes the step of forming the current collector for the sodium/sulfur battery from a composite material formed of aluminum filled with electronically conductive fibers selected from the group of fibers consisting essentially of graphite fibers having a diameter up to 10 microns and silicon carbide fibers having a diameter in a range of 500--1,000 angstroms. 2 figs.

Method of making a current collector for a sodium/sulfur battery

DOEpatents

Tischer, Ragnar P.; Winterbottom, Walter L.; Wroblowa, Halina S.

1987-01-01

This specification is directed to a method of making a current collector (14) for a sodium/sulfur battery (10). The current collector so-made is electronically conductive and resistant to corrosive attack by sulfur/polysulfide melts. The method includes the step of forming the current collector for the sodium/sulfur battery from a composite material (16) formed of aluminum filled with electronically conductive fibers selected from the group of fibers consisting essentially of graphite fibers having a diameter up to 10 microns and silicon carbide fibers having a diameter in a range of 500-1000 angstroms.

Characterization of Localized Corrosion in an Al-Cu-Li Alloy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Chen; Zhang, Xinxin; Zhou, Xiaorong; Sun, Zhihua; Zhang, Xiaoyun; Tang, Zhihui; Lu, Feng; Thompson, George E.

2016-05-01

Corrosion behaviors of recently developed 2A97-T6 aluminum-copper-lithium alloy in sodium chloride solution are investigated using scanning electron and transmission electron microscopies in conjunction with electron backscatter diffraction. It has been found that corrosion product rings were established on the alloy surface as early as 5 min during immersion in sodium chloride solution. Meanwhile, hydrogen continuously evolved from within the rings. Pitting corrosion is evident with crystallographic dependant corrosion channel facets mainly parallel to {100} planes. Non-uniform distribution of misorientation in the 2A97 aluminum alloy results in a portion of grains of relatively high stored energy. Such grains were preferentially attacked, serving as local anodes, during the development of crystallographic pitting.

Integration of vehicle yaw stabilisation and rollover prevention through nonlinear hierarchical control allocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alberding, Matthäus B.; Tjønnås, Johannes; Johansen, Tor A.

2014-12-01

This work presents an approach to rollover prevention that takes advantage of the modular structure and optimisation properties of the control allocation paradigm. It eliminates the need for a stabilising roll controller by introducing rollover prevention as a constraint on the control allocation problem. The major advantage of this approach is the control authority margin that remains with a high-level controller even during interventions for rollover prevention. In this work, the high-level control is assigned to a yaw stabilising controller. It could be replaced by any other controller. The constraint for rollover prevention could be replaced by or extended to different control objectives. This work uses differential braking for actuation. The use of additional or different actuators is possible. The developed control algorithm is computationally efficient and suitable for low-cost automotive electronic control units. The predictive design of the rollover prevention constraint does not require any sensor equipment in addition to the yaw controller. The method is validated using an industrial multi-body vehicle simulation environment.

Gender differences in older adults with chronic migraine in Turkey.

PubMed

Özge, Aynur; Uluduz, Derya; Selekler, Macit; Öztürk, Musa; Baykan, Betül; Çınar, Nilgün; Domaç, Füsun M; Zarifoğlu, Mehmet; Inan, Levent E; Akyol, Ali; Bolay, Hayrunnisa; Uzuner, Gülnur T; Erdemoğlu, Ali K; Oksuz, Nevra; Temel, Gulhan O

2015-05-01

Chronic migraine is a growing and disabling subtype of migraine with different risk factors and clinical features, even in older adults. We sought to define and differentiate clinical features of chronic migraine in older adults. We also aimed to compare major clinical features of chronic migraine in older adults with those in younger people of both sexes. We used electronic dataset (Turkish Headache Database) from 13 tertiary headache centers in Turkey. Electronic dataset included detailed headache-defining features according to ICHD-II criteria based on face-to-face interviews and examination by a headache specialist. Using statistical methods, clinical variables of chronic migraine in older adults were compared with those of younger adults. We included 915 patients with chronic migraine (mean age 43.80 ± 13.95 years); 83.3% were females. In total, 301 patients (32.9%) with chronic migraine aged >50 years were compared with 614 patients aged <50 years. There was no significant change in men with increasing age. However, duration of headache history, severity of attacks, previous histories of motion sickness and positive family history of headaches were significantly different in women with increasing age. Further sex-related differences have been shown in parameters such as attack duration, quality and associated nausea. Chronic migraine is an infrequent type of migraine and shows age-related changes in some phenotypic characteristics, such as severity of attacks, especially in women aged older than 50 years. Furthermore, positive family history of headaches and history of motion sickness increase the likelihood of developing chronic migraine in older women, indicating involvement of some gender-related, but as-yet unknown, genetic factors. © 2014 Japan Geriatrics Society.

Rationale and design of a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group study of terutroban 30 mg/day versus aspirin 100 mg/day in stroke patients: the prevention of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular events of ischemic origin with terutroban in patients with a history of ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (PERFORM) study.

PubMed

Bousser, M G; Amarenco, P; Chamorro, A; Fisher, M; Ford, I; Fox, K; Hennerici, M G; Mattle, H P; Rothwell, P M

2009-01-01

Ischemic stroke is the leading cause of mortality worldwide and a major contributor to neurological disability and dementia. Terutroban is a specific TP receptor antagonist with antithrombotic, antivasoconstrictive, and antiatherosclerotic properties, which may be of interest for the secondary prevention of ischemic stroke. This article describes the rationale and design of the Prevention of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular Events of ischemic origin with teRutroban in patients with a history oF ischemic strOke or tRansient ischeMic Attack (PERFORM) Study, which aims to demonstrate the superiority of the efficacy of terutroban versus aspirin in secondary prevention of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular events. The PERFORM Study is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group study being carried out in 802 centers in 46 countries. The study population includes patients aged > or =55 years, having suffered an ischemic stroke (< or =3 months) or a transient ischemic attack (< or =8 days). Participants are randomly allocated to terutroban (30 mg/day) or aspirin (100 mg/day). The primary efficacy endpoint is a composite of ischemic stroke (fatal or nonfatal), myocardial infarction (fatal or nonfatal), or other vascular death (excluding hemorrhagic death of any origin). Safety is being evaluated by assessing hemorrhagic events. Follow-up is expected to last for 2-4 years. Assuming a relative risk reduction of 13%, the expected number of primary events is 2,340. To obtain statistical power of 90%, this requires inclusion of at least 18,000 patients in this event-driven trial. The first patient was randomized in February 2006. The PERFORM Study will explore the benefits and safety of terutroban in secondary cardiovascular prevention after a cerebral ischemic event. Copyright 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.

The effects of an enrichment training program for youth football attackers

PubMed Central

Santos, Sara; Gonçalves, Bruno; Travassos, Bruno; Wong, Del P.; Schöllhorn, Wolfgang; Sampaio, Jaime

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to identify the effects of a complementary training program based on differential learning approach in the physical, technical, creative and positioning performance of youth football attackers. Fifteen players were allocated into the control (U15C = 9, age: 13.9±0.5 years; U17C = 6, age: 16.1±0.7 years) and the experimental (U15E = 9, age: 14.2±0.8 years; U17E = 6, age: 15.8±0.5 years) groups. The experimental groups participated in 10-weeks of a complementary training program based on differential learning approach to improve physical literacy and players’ tactical behavior. Variables studied encompassed: motor (vertical jump, speed and repeated change-of direction), technical (pass, dribble and shot), creative (fluency, attempts, versatility) and positioning-related variables (stretch index, spatial exploration index and regularity of the lateral and longitudinal movements). Results revealed that U15E improved both the jump and repeated change-of-direction performance, while the U17E have only improved the jump performance. The U15E showed improvements in all technical variables (small to large effects), and in the fluency and versatility (moderate effects), while the U17 have only improved the successful shots (large effects). From a positional perspective, there was a moderate increase in the stretch index, and decreased longitudinal and lateral regularity (small to moderate effects) in the U15E compared to the U15C. In turn, the U17E revealed a moderate increase of the spatial exploration index and a small decrease in the stretch index. Overall, the results suggest that the complementary training program was effective for the development of the overall performance of the U15E attackers, while more time and/or variability may be needed for older age groups. Nevertheless, the overall higher values found in experimental groups, may suggest that this type of complementary training program improves performance. PMID:29897985

Host Plants Affect the Foraging Success of Two Parasitoids that Attack Light Brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae).

PubMed

Feng, Yi; Wratten, Steve; Sandhu, Harpinder; Keller, Michael

2015-01-01

The light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana is a key pest of wine grapes in Australia. Two parasitoids, Dolichogenidea tasmanica and Therophilus unimaculatus, attack the larval stage of this pest. D. tasmanica is dominant in vineyards, whereas T. unimaculatus is mainly active in native vegetation. We sought to understand why they differ in their use of habitats. Plants are a major component of habitats of parasitoids, and herbivore-infested plants influence parasitoid foraging efficiency by their architecture and emission of volatile chemicals. We investigated how different plant species infested by E. postvittana could affect the foraging success of the two parasitoid species in both laboratory and field experiments. Four common host-plant species were selected for this study. In paired-choice experiments to determine the innate foraging preferences for plants, both parasitoid species showed differences in innate search preferences among plant species. The plant preference of D. tasmanica was altered by oviposition experience with hosts that were feeding on other plant species. In a behavioral assay, the two parasitoid species allocated their times engaged in various types of behavior differently when foraging on different plant species. For both parasitoids, parasitism on Hardenbergia violacea was the highest of the four plant species. Significantly more larvae dropped from Myoporum insulare when attacked than from the other three host-plant species, which indicates that parasitism is also affected by interactions between plants and host insects. In vineyards, parasitism by D. tasmanica was significantly lower on M. insulare than on the other three host-plant species, but the parasitism rates were similar among the other three plant species. Our results indicate that plants play a role in the habitat preferences of these two parasitoid species by influencing their foraging behavior, and are likely to contribute to their distributions among habitats.

The Influence of Porosity on Corrosion Attack of Austenitic Stainless Steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdullah, Z.; Ismail, A.; Ahmad, S.

2017-10-01

Porous metals also known as metal foams is a metallic body having spaces orpores through which liquid or air may pass. Porous metals get an attention from researchers nowadays due to their unique combination of properties includes excellent mechanical and electrical, high energy absorption, good thermal and sound insulation and water and gas permeability. Porous metals have been applied in numerous applications such as in automotive, aerospace and also in biomedical applications. This research reveals the influence of corrosion attack in porous austenitic stainless steel 316L. The cyclic polarization potential analysis was performed on the porous austenitic stainless steel 316L in 3.5% NaCl solution. The morphology and the element presence on the samples before and after corrosion attack was examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) respectively to determine the corrosion mechanism structure. The cyclic polarization potential analysis showed the result of (E corr ) for porous austenitic stainless steel type 316L in the range of -0.40v to -0.60v and breakdown potential (E b ) is -0.3v to -0.4v in NaCl solution.

On the security of two remote user authentication schemes for telecare medical information systems.

PubMed

Kim, Kee-Won; Lee, Jae-Dong

2014-05-01

The telecare medical information systems (TMISs) support convenient and rapid health-care services. A secure and efficient authentication scheme for TMIS provides safeguarding patients' electronic patient records (EPRs) and helps health care workers and medical personnel to rapidly making correct clinical decisions. Recently, Kumari et al. proposed a password based user authentication scheme using smart cards for TMIS, and claimed that the proposed scheme could resist various malicious attacks. However, we point out that their scheme is still vulnerable to lost smart card and cannot provide forward secrecy. Subsequently, Das and Goswami proposed a secure and efficient uniqueness-and-anonymity-preserving remote user authentication scheme for connected health care. They simulated their scheme for the formal security verification using the widely-accepted automated validation of Internet security protocols and applications (AVISPA) tool to ensure that their scheme is secure against passive and active attacks. However, we show that their scheme is still vulnerable to smart card loss attacks and cannot provide forward secrecy property. The proposed cryptanalysis discourages any use of the two schemes under investigation in practice and reveals some subtleties and challenges in designing this type of schemes.

Systematic approach to in-depth understanding of photoelectrocatalytic bacterial inactivation mechanisms by tracking the decomposed building blocks.

PubMed

Sun, Hongwei; Li, Guiying; Nie, Xin; Shi, Huixian; Wong, Po-Keung; Zhao, Huijun; An, Taicheng

2014-08-19

A systematic approach was developed to understand, in-depth, the mechanisms involved during the inactivation of bacterial cells using photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) processes with Escherichia coli K-12 as the model microorganism. The bacterial cells were found to be inactivated and decomposed primarily due to attack from photogenerated H2O2. Extracellular reactive oxygen species (ROSs), such as H2O2, may penetrate into the bacterial cell and cause dramatically elevated intracellular ROSs levels, which would overwhelm the antioxidative capacity of bacterial protective enzymes such as superoxide dismutase and catalase. The activities of these two enzymes were found to decrease due to the ROSs attacks during PEC inactivation. Bacterial cell wall damage was then observed, including loss of cell membrane integrity and increased permeability, followed by the decomposition of cell envelope (demonstrated by scanning electronic microscope images). One of the bacterial building blocks, protein, was found to be oxidatively damaged due to the ROSs attacks, as well. Leakage of cytoplasm and biomolecules (bacterial building blocks such as proteins and nucleic acids) were evident during prolonged PEC inactivation process. The leaked cytoplasmic substances and cell debris could be further degraded and, ultimately, mineralized with prolonged PEC treatment.

Expanded Definition of the Oxidation State

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loock, Hans-Peter

2011-01-01

A proposal to define the oxidation state of an atom in a compound as the hypothetical charge of the corresponding atomic ion that is obtained by heterolytically cleaving its bonds such that the atom with the higher electronegativity in a bond is allocated all electrons in the bond. Bonds between like atoms are cleaved homolytically. This…

Comparing Latent Dirichlet Allocation and Latent Semantic Analysis as Classifiers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anaya, Leticia H.

2011-01-01

In the Information Age, a proliferation of unstructured text electronic documents exists. Processing these documents by humans is a daunting task as humans have limited cognitive abilities for processing large volumes of documents that can often be extremely lengthy. To address this problem, text data computer algorithms are being developed.…

Billions for biodefense: federal agency biodefense funding, FY2009-FY2010.

PubMed

Franco, Crystal

2009-09-01

Since 2001, the United States government has spent substantial resources on preparing the nation against a bioterrorist attack. Earlier articles in this series analyzed civilian biodefense funding by the federal government for fiscal years (FY) 2001 through 2009. This article updates those figures with budgeted amounts for FY2010, specifically analyzing the budgets and allocations for biodefense at the Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, Homeland Security, Agriculture, and State; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the National Science Foundation. This year's article also provides an assessment of the proportion of the biodefense budget that serves multiple programmatic goals and benefits, including research into infectious disease pathogenesis and immunology, public health planning and preparedness, and disaster response efforts. The FY2010 federal budget for civilian biodefense totals $6.05 billion. Of that total, $4.96 billion is budgeted for programs that serve multiple goals and provide manifold benefits.

Deaths from international terrorism compared with road crash deaths in OECD countries

PubMed Central

Wilson, N; Thomson, G

2005-01-01

Methods: Data on deaths from international terrorism (US State Department database) were collated (1994–2003) and compared to the road injury deaths (year 2000 and 2001 data) from the OECD International Road Transport Accident Database. Results: In the 29 OECD countries for which comparable data were available, the annual average death rate from road injury was approximately 390 times that from international terrorism. The ratio of annual road to international terrorism deaths (averaged over 10 years) was lowest for the United States at 142 times. In 2001, road crash deaths in the US were equal to those from a September 11 attack every 26 days. Conclusions: There is a large difference in the magnitude of these two causes of deaths from injury. Policy makers need to be aware of this when allocating resources to preventing these two avoidable causes of mortality. PMID:16326764

Forest biogeochemistry in response to drought.

PubMed

Schlesinger, William H; Dietze, Michael C; Jackson, Robert B; Phillips, Richard P; Rhoades, Charles C; Rustad, Lindsey E; Vose, James M

2016-07-01

Trees alter their use and allocation of nutrients in response to drought, and changes in soil nutrient cycling and trace gas flux (N2 O and CH4 ) are observed when experimental drought is imposed on forests. In extreme droughts, trees are increasingly susceptible to attack by pests and pathogens, which can lead to major changes in nutrient flux to the soil. Extreme droughts often lead to more common and more intense forest fires, causing dramatic changes in the nutrient storage and loss from forest ecosystems. Changes in the future manifestation of drought will affect carbon uptake and storage in forests, leading to feedbacks to the Earth's climate system. We must improve the recognition of drought in nature, our ability to manage our forests in the face of drought, and the parameterization of drought in earth system models for improved predictions of carbon uptake and storage in the world's forests. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Statistics of software vulnerability detection in certification testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barabanov, A. V.; Markov, A. S.; Tsirlov, V. L.

2018-05-01

The paper discusses practical aspects of introduction of the methods to detect software vulnerability in the day-to-day activities of the accredited testing laboratory. It presents the approval results of the vulnerability detection methods as part of the study of the open source software and the software that is a test object of the certification tests under information security requirements, including software for communication networks. Results of the study showing the allocation of identified vulnerabilities by types of attacks, country of origin, programming languages used in the development, methods for detecting vulnerability, etc. are given. The experience of foreign information security certification systems related to the detection of certified software vulnerabilities is analyzed. The main conclusion based on the study is the need to implement practices for developing secure software in the development life cycle processes. The conclusions and recommendations for the testing laboratories on the implementation of the vulnerability analysis methods are laid down.

Robust anonymous authentication scheme for telecare medical information systems.

PubMed

Xie, Qi; Zhang, Jun; Dong, Na

2013-04-01

Patient can obtain sorts of health-care delivery services via Telecare Medical Information Systems (TMIS). Authentication, security, patient's privacy protection and data confidentiality are important for patient or doctor accessing to Electronic Medical Records (EMR). In 2012, Chen et al. showed that Khan et al.'s dynamic ID-based authentication scheme has some weaknesses and proposed an improved scheme, and they claimed that their scheme is more suitable for TMIS. However, we show that Chen et al.'s scheme also has some weaknesses. In particular, Chen et al.'s scheme does not provide user's privacy protection and perfect forward secrecy, is vulnerable to off-line password guessing attack and impersonation attack once user's smart card is compromised. Further, we propose a secure anonymity authentication scheme to overcome their weaknesses even an adversary can know all information stored in smart card.

A Hash Based Remote User Authentication and Authenticated Key Agreement Scheme for the Integrated EPR Information System.

PubMed

Li, Chun-Ta; Weng, Chi-Yao; Lee, Cheng-Chi; Wang, Chun-Cheng

2015-11-01

To protect patient privacy and ensure authorized access to remote medical services, many remote user authentication schemes for the integrated electronic patient record (EPR) information system have been proposed in the literature. In a recent paper, Das proposed a hash based remote user authentication scheme using passwords and smart cards for the integrated EPR information system, and claimed that the proposed scheme could resist various passive and active attacks. However, in this paper, we found that Das's authentication scheme is still vulnerable to modification and user duplication attacks. Thereafter we propose a secure and efficient authentication scheme for the integrated EPR information system based on lightweight hash function and bitwise exclusive-or (XOR) operations. The security proof and performance analysis show our new scheme is well-suited to adoption in remote medical healthcare services.

On the security of a dynamic ID-based authentication scheme for telecare medical information systems.

PubMed

Lin, Han-Yu

2013-04-01

Telecare medical information systems (TMISs) are increasingly popular technologies for healthcare applications. Using TMISs, physicians and caregivers can monitor the vital signs of patients remotely. Since the database of TMISs stores patients' electronic medical records (EMRs), only authorized users should be granted the access to this information for the privacy concern. To keep the user anonymity, recently, Chen et al. proposed a dynamic ID-based authentication scheme for telecare medical information system. They claimed that their scheme is more secure and robust for use in a TMIS. However, we will demonstrate that their scheme fails to satisfy the user anonymity due to the dictionary attacks. It is also possible to derive a user password in case of smart card loss attacks. Additionally, an improved scheme eliminating these weaknesses is also presented.

Chemical degradation mechanisms of membranes for alkaline membrane fuel cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Choe, Yoong-Kee; Henson, Neil J.; Kim, Yu Seung

2015-12-31

Chemical degradation mechanisms of membranes for alkaline membrane fuel cells have been investigated using density functional theory (DFT). We have elucidated that the aryl-ether moiety of membranes is one of the weakest site against attack of hydroxide ions. The results of DFT calculations for hydroxide initiated aryl-ether cleavage indicated that the aryl-ether cleavage occurred prior to degradation of cationic functional group. Such a weak nature of the aryl-ether group arises from the electron deficiency of the aryl group as well as the low bond dissociation energy. The DFT results suggests that removal of the aryl-ether group in the membrane shouldmore » enhance the stability of membranes under alkaline conditions. In fact, an ether fee poly(phenylene) membrane exhibits excellent stability against the attack from hydroxide ions.« less

Fission product palladium-silicon carbide interaction in htgr fuel particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minato, Kazuo; Ogawa, Toru; Kashimura, Satoru; Fukuda, Kousaku; Shimizu, Michio; Tayama, Yoshinobu; Takahashi, Ishio

1990-07-01

Interaction of fission product palladium (Pd) with the silicon carbide (SiC) layer was observed in irradiated Triso-coated uranium dioxide particles for high temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGR) with an optical microscope and electron probe microanalyzers. The SiC layers were attacked locally or the reaction product formed nodules at the attack site. Although the main element concerned with the reaction was palladium, rhodium and ruthenium were also detected at the corroded areas in some particles. Palladium was detected on both the hot and cold sides of the particles, but the corroded areas and the palladium accumulations were distributed particularly on the cold side of the particles. The observed Pd-SiC reaction depths were analyzed on the assumption that the release of palladium from the fuel kernel controls the whole Pd-SiC reaction.

Student Support in E-Learning Courses in Higher Education--Insights from a Metasynthesis "A Pedagogy of Panic Attacks"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Minnaar, A.

2011-01-01

E-learning includes the use of the internet for accessing learning materials, interacting with learning content and with instructors and students to obtain support during the learning process in order to gain knowledge and personal meaning and to grow. It occurs when students have electronic access to resources and where they are in regular online…

Corrosion-induced microstructural developments in 316 stainless steel during exposure to molten Li 2BeF 4(FLiBe) salt

DOE PAGES

Zheng, Guiqiu; He, Lingfeng; Carpenter, David; ...

2016-10-12

The microstructural evaluation and characterization of 316 stainless steel samples that were tested in molten Li 2BeF 4 (FLiBe) salt were investigated in this study for evaluating its performance in high-temperature molten fluoride salts. Recently, 316 stainless steel and FLiBe salt are being actively considered as the main structural alloy and primary coolant of fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (FHR), a leading nuclear reactor concept for the next generation nuclear plants (NGNP). In support of the materials development for the FHR, high-temperature corrosion tests of 316 stainless steel in molten FLiBe salt at 700°C have been conducted in both bare graphitemore » crucibles and 316 stainless steel-lined crucibles in an inert atmosphere for up to 3000 hours. The microstructure of the tested samples was comprehensively characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in conjunction with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) with EDS. In addition to the noticeable intergranular corrosion attack on surface, the corrosion in terms of the Cr depletion along high angle grain boundaries (15-180º) extended to 22µm in depth after 3000-hour exposure to molten FLiBe salt in graphite crucible. The coherent Σ3 grain boundary appeared high resistance to the Cr depletion. The substantial Cr depletion from the near-to-surface layer induced phase transformation from γ-martensite to α-ferrite phase (FeNi x) during corrosion at 700ºC. Furthermore, the presence of graphite in the molten salt doubled the corrosion attack depth and led to the formation of round Mo2C, hexagonal Cr 7C 3 and needle-like Al 4C 3 phase within the alloy as deep as 50 µm after 3000-hour corrosion testing. Based on the microstructural analysis, the corrosion mechanisms of 316 stainless steel in molten FLiBe salt in different corrosion crucibles were illuminated through schematic diagrams. Additionally, a thermal diffusion controlled corrosion model was developed and validated by experimental data for predicting the long-term corrosion attack depth.« less

Corrosion-induced microstructural developments in 316 stainless steel during exposure to molten Li 2BeF 4(FLiBe) salt

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zheng, Guiqiu; He, Lingfeng; Carpenter, David

The microstructural evaluation and characterization of 316 stainless steel samples that were tested in molten Li 2BeF 4 (FLiBe) salt were investigated in this study for evaluating its performance in high-temperature molten fluoride salts. Recently, 316 stainless steel and FLiBe salt are being actively considered as the main structural alloy and primary coolant of fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (FHR), a leading nuclear reactor concept for the next generation nuclear plants (NGNP). In support of the materials development for the FHR, high-temperature corrosion tests of 316 stainless steel in molten FLiBe salt at 700°C have been conducted in both bare graphitemore » crucibles and 316 stainless steel-lined crucibles in an inert atmosphere for up to 3000 hours. The microstructure of the tested samples was comprehensively characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in conjunction with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) with EDS. In addition to the noticeable intergranular corrosion attack on surface, the corrosion in terms of the Cr depletion along high angle grain boundaries (15-180º) extended to 22µm in depth after 3000-hour exposure to molten FLiBe salt in graphite crucible. The coherent Σ3 grain boundary appeared high resistance to the Cr depletion. The substantial Cr depletion from the near-to-surface layer induced phase transformation from γ-martensite to α-ferrite phase (FeNi x) during corrosion at 700ºC. Furthermore, the presence of graphite in the molten salt doubled the corrosion attack depth and led to the formation of round Mo2C, hexagonal Cr 7C 3 and needle-like Al 4C 3 phase within the alloy as deep as 50 µm after 3000-hour corrosion testing. Based on the microstructural analysis, the corrosion mechanisms of 316 stainless steel in molten FLiBe salt in different corrosion crucibles were illuminated through schematic diagrams. Additionally, a thermal diffusion controlled corrosion model was developed and validated by experimental data for predicting the long-term corrosion attack depth.« less

Fast Plasma Instrument for MMS: Data Compression Simulation Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barrie, A.; Adrian, Mark L.; Yeh, P.-S.; Winkert, G. E.; Lobell, J. V.; Vinas, A.F.; Simpson, D. J.; Moore, T. E.

2008-01-01

Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission will study small-scale reconnection structures and their rapid motions from closely spaced platforms using instruments capable of high angular, energy, and time resolution measurements. To meet these requirements, the Fast Plasma Instrument (FPI) consists of eight (8) identical half top-hat electron sensors and eights (8) identical ion sensors and an Instrument Data Processing Unit (IDPU). The sensors (electron or ion) are grouped into pairs whose 6 deg x 180 deg fields-of-view (FOV) are set 90 deg apart. Each sensor is equipped with electrostatic aperture steering to allow the sensor to scan a 45 deg x 180 deg fan about its nominal viewing (0 deg deflection) direction. Each pair of sensors, known as the Dual Electron Spectrometer (DES) and the Dual Ion Spectrometer (DIS), occupies a quadrant on the MMS spacecraft and the combination of the eight electron/ion sensors, employing aperture steering, image the full-sky every 30-ms (electrons) and 150-ms (ions), respectively. To probe the results in the DES complement of a given spacecraft generating 6.5-Mbs(exp -1) of electron data while the DIS generates 1.1-Mbs(exp -1) of ion data yielding an FPI total data rate of 6.6-MBs(exp -1). The FPI electron/ion data is collected by the IDPU then transmitted to the Central Data Instrument Processor (CIDP) on the spacecraft for science interest ranking. Only data sequences that contain the greatest amount of temporal/spatial structure will be intelligently down-linked by the spacecraft. Currently, the FPI data rate allocation to the CIDP is 1.5-Mbs(exp -1). Consequently, the FPI-IDPU must employ data/image compression to meet this CIDP telemetry allocation. Here, we present simulations of the CCSDS 122.0-B-1 algorithm-based compression of the FPI-DES electron data. Compression analysis is based upon a seed of re-processed Cluster/PEACE electron measurements. Topics to be discussed include: review of compression algorithm; data quality; data formatting/organization; and, implications for data/matrix pruning. To conclude a presentation of the base-lined FPI data compression approach is provided.

Forecasting Individual Headache Attacks Using Perceived Stress: Development of a Multivariable Prediction Model for Persons With Episodic Migraine.

PubMed

Houle, Timothy T; Turner, Dana P; Golding, Adrienne N; Porter, John A H; Martin, Vincent T; Penzien, Donald B; Tegeler, Charles H

2017-07-01

To develop and validate a prediction model that forecasts future migraine attacks for an individual headache sufferer. Many headache patients and physicians believe that precipitants of headache can be identified and avoided or managed to reduce the frequency of headache attacks. Of the numerous candidate triggers, perceived stress has received considerable attention for its association with the onset of headache in episodic and chronic headache sufferers. However, no evidence is available to support forecasting headache attacks within individuals using any of the candidate headache triggers. This longitudinal cohort with forecasting model development study enrolled 100 participants with episodic migraine with or without aura, and N = 95 contributed 4626 days of electronic diary data and were included in the analysis. Individual headache forecasts were derived from current headache state and current levels of stress using several aspects of the Daily Stress Inventory, a measure of daily hassles that is completed at the end of each day. The primary outcome measure was the presence/absence of any headache attack (head pain > 0 on a numerical rating scale of 0-10) over the next 24 h period. After removing missing data (n = 431 days), participants in the study experienced a headache attack on 1613/4195 (38.5%) days. A generalized linear mixed-effects forecast model using either the frequency of stressful events or the perceived intensity of these events fit the data well. This simple forecasting model possessed promising predictive utility with an AUC of 0.73 (95% CI 0.71-0.75) in the training sample and an AUC of 0.65 (95% CI 0.6-0.67) in a leave-one-out validation sample. This forecasting model had a Brier score of 0.202 and possessed good calibration between forecasted probabilities and observed frequencies but had only low levels of resolution (ie, sharpness). This study demonstrates that future headache attacks can be forecasted for a diverse group of individuals over time. Future work will enhance prediction through improvements in the assessment of stress as well as the development of other candidate domains to use in the models. © 2017 American Headache Society.

Tobacco control advocates must demand high-quality media campaigns: the California experience.

PubMed

Balbach, E D; Glantz, S A

1998-01-01

To document efforts on the part of public officials in California to soften the media campaign's attack on the tobacco industry and to analyse strategies to counter those efforts on the part of tobacco control advocates. Data were gathered from interviews with programme participants, direct observation, written materials, and media stories. In addition, internal documents were released by the state's Department of Health Services in response to requests made under the California Public Records Act by Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights. Finally, a draft of the paper was circulated to 11 key players for their comments. In 1988 california voters enacted Proposition 99, an initiative that raised the tobacco tax by $0.25 and allocated 20% of the revenues to anti-tobacco education. A media campaign, which was part of the education programme, directly attacked the tobacco industry, exposing the media campaign to politically based efforts to shut it down or soften it. Through use of outsider strategies such as advertising, press conferences, and public meetings, programme advocates were able to counter the efforts to soften the campaign. Anti-tobacco media campaigns that expose industry manipulation are a key component of an effective tobacco control programme. The effectiveness of these campaigns, however, makes them a target for elimination by the tobacco industry. The experience from California demonstrates the need for continuing, aggressive intervention by nongovernmental organisations in order to maintain the quality of anti-tobacco media campaigns.

Privacy preserving index for encrypted electronic medical records.

PubMed

Chen, Yu-Chi; Horng, Gwoboa; Lin, Yi-Jheng; Chen, Kuo-Chang

2013-12-01

With the development of electronic systems, privacy has become an important security issue in real-life. In medical systems, privacy of patients' electronic medical records (EMRs) must be fully protected. However, to combine the efficiency and privacy, privacy preserving index is introduced to preserve the privacy, where the EMR can be efficiently accessed by this patient or specific doctor. In the literature, Goh first proposed a secure index scheme with keyword search over encrypted data based on a well-known primitive, Bloom filter. In this paper, we propose a new privacy preserving index scheme, called position index (P-index), with keyword search over the encrypted data. The proposed index scheme is semantically secure against the adaptive chosen keyword attack, and it also provides flexible space, lower false positive rate, and search privacy. Moreover, it does not rely on pairing, a complicate computation, and thus can search over encrypted electronic medical records from the cloud server efficiently.

A quality-based cost model for new electronic systems and products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shina, Sammy G.; Saigal, Anil

1998-04-01

This article outlines a method for developing a quality-based cost model for the design of new electronic systems and products. The model incorporates a methodology for determining a cost-effective design margin allocation for electronic products and systems and its impact on manufacturing quality and cost. A spreadsheet-based cost estimating tool was developed to help implement this methodology in order for the system design engineers to quickly estimate the effect of design decisions and tradeoffs on the quality and cost of new products. The tool was developed with automatic spreadsheet connectivity to current process capability and with provisions to consider the impact of capital equipment and tooling purchases to reduce the product cost.

Encryption key distribution via chaos synchronization

PubMed Central

Keuninckx, Lars; Soriano, Miguel C.; Fischer, Ingo; Mirasso, Claudio R.; Nguimdo, Romain M.; Van der Sande, Guy

2017-01-01

We present a novel encryption scheme, wherein an encryption key is generated by two distant complex nonlinear units, forced into synchronization by a chaotic driver. The concept is sufficiently generic to be implemented on either photonic, optoelectronic or electronic platforms. The method for generating the key bitstream from the chaotic signals is reconfigurable. Although derived from a deterministic process, the obtained bit series fulfill the randomness conditions as defined by the National Institute of Standards test suite. We demonstrate the feasibility of our concept on an electronic delay oscillator circuit and test the robustness against attacks using a state-of-the-art system identification method. PMID:28233876

Herbivory by leaf-cutter ants changes the glandular trichomes density and the volatile components in an aromatic plant model

PubMed Central

Mayo Marques, Marcia Ortiz; Maria Rodrigues, Tatiane

2017-01-01

Abstract Herbivory can induce several structural and functional alterations in the plant secretory system. Glandular trichomes are the main sites of production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with several chemical properties in Lamiaceae species. Ocimum species usually have three morphotypes of glandular trichomes (morphotype I is peltate and has a wide four-celled head; morphotype II is capitate and has a unicellular head; and morphotype III is capitate with a bicellular head) which produce a great amount of terpenes, although other chemical categories of substances are also produced. Despite the abundance of trichomes producing important anti-herbivory components in their leaves, the association between Ocimum species and leaf-cutter ants has been commonly registered in Brazil. We investigated the effect of leaf-cutter ant attack on the density of the glandular trichomes and on the chemistry of the VOCs released from leaves of O. gratissimum. Plants were subjected to Acromyrmex rugosus attack until 90 % of leaves were removed. After 40 days from the leaf-cutter attack, both treatments were sampled. The glandular trichome density was analysed by scanning electron microscopy. The VOCs were extracted utilizing headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) technique and analysed by gas chromatography. Generally, the density of glandular trichomes increased in the adaxial leaf surface of the attacked plants. However, we bring novelties on this topic since we analysed the density of each morphotype separately. The morphotype I decreased in the abaxial leaf surface, and increased in the adaxial leaf surface; the morphotype II increased in both leaf surfaces; and the morphotype III decreased in the abaxial leaf surface and remained constant in the adaxial leaf surface of attacked plants. In leaves of attacked plants, the (Z)-β-ocimene increased by 50 %, the α-selinene by 13 % and the germacrene D by 126 %, whereas the eugenol decreased by 70 %. Our data point to a differential response of each glandular morphotype in O. gratissimum and are consistent with the idea of a compartmentalization of functions among the different glandular morphotypes in the plant defence against environmental factors. PMID:29218139

Integrated environmental policy: A review of economic analysis.

PubMed

Wiesmeth, Hans; Häckl, Dennis

2017-04-01

Holistic environmental policies, which emerged from a mere combination of technical activities in waste management some 40 years ago, constitute the most advanced level of environmental policies. These approaches to environmental policy, among them the policies in integrated waste management, attempt to guide economic agents to an environment-friendly behaviour. Nevertheless, current holistic policies in waste management, including policies on one-way drinks containers and waste electrical and electronic equipment, and implementations of extended producer responsibility with further applications to waste electrical and electronic equipment, reveal more or less severe deficiencies - despite some positive examples. This article relates these policy failures, which are not necessarily the result of an insufficient compliance with the regulations, to missing constitutive elements of what is going to be called an 'integrated environmental policy'. This article therefore investigates - mostly from a practical point of view - constitutive elements, which are necessary for a holistic policy to serve as a well-functioning allocation mechanism. As these constitutive elements result from a careful 'integration' of the environmental commodities into the economic allocation problems, we refer to these policies as 'integrated environmental policies'. The article also discusses and illustrates the main steps of designing such a policy - for waste electrical and electronic equipment and a (possible) ban of Glyphosat in agriculture. As these policies are dependent on economic and political stability with environmental awareness sufficiently developed, the article addresses mostly waste management policies in highly industrialised countries.

50 CFR 679.62 - Inshore sector cooperative allocation program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... harvested by a vessel under contract to a cooperative must report the delivery to NMFS on the electronic delivery report by using the co-op code for the contracting cooperative rather than the co-op code of the... following information must be included on a contract fishing application: (i) Co-op name(s). The names of...

50 CFR 679.62 - Inshore sector cooperative allocation program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... harvested by a vessel under contract to a cooperative must report the delivery to NMFS on the electronic delivery report by using the co-op code for the contracting cooperative rather than the co-op code of the... following information must be included on a contract fishing application: (i) Co-op name(s). The names of...

Electronic processing and control system with programmable hardware

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alkalaj, Leon (Inventor); Fang, Wai-Chi (Inventor); Newell, Michael A. (Inventor)

1998-01-01

A computer system with reprogrammable hardware allowing dynamically allocating hardware resources for different functions and adaptability for different processors and different operating platforms. All hardware resources are physically partitioned into system-user hardware and application-user hardware depending on the specific operation requirements. A reprogrammable interface preferably interconnects the system-user hardware and application-user hardware.

77 FR 10466 - Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pacific Coast Groundfish...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-22

... submit comments, identified by RIN 0648-BB85 by any of the following methods: Electronic Submissions... Limit (ACL) prior to 2012) of Pacific whiting to the tribal fishery following the process established in... evaluation of the scientific information, and the need to negotiate a long-term tribal allocation following...

From a Trickle to a Flood: Active Attacks on Several Mix Types

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-01-01

out potential weaknesses in existing designs, and suggest improvements. 1 Introduction Many modern anonymity systems are based on mixes. Chaum first...Enhancing Technologies: Proceedings of the International Workshop on the Design Issues in Anonymity and Observability, pages 10–29, July 2000. 2. David ... Chaum . Untraceable electronic mail, return addresses and digital pseudonyms. Communications of the ACM, 24(2):84–88, 1981. 3. L. Cottrell. Mixmaster

Corrosion Performance of High Damping Alloys in 3.5% Sodium Chloride Environment.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-09-01

Electrochemical Technique, Sea Exposure, Scanning Electron Microscopy. 9 .,5MAZT (Continue on rvre of necessary ad 4*er.#y by boock numbver# -The... electrochemical nature of corrosion provides a means of determining an almost instantaneous corrosion rate. Corrosion rate and the nature of corrosion attack were... electrochemical nature of corrosion provides a means of determining an almost instantaneous corrosion rate. Corrosion rate and the nature of

Finding Effective Responses Against Cyber Attacks for Divided Nations

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

Coordination Center LTE Long Term Evolution MAC Media Access Control MCRC Master Control and Reporting Center MEI Ministry of Electronics...satellites that aid Internet connections. Individual users can access the Internet via not only a wired connection up to 1 Gbps, but also by 4G LTE ...operate air-gapped intranets with security measures such as cryptographic modules that correspond to security levels. The MND does maintain the public

A FORCEnet Framework for Analysis of Existing Naval C4I Architectures

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-06-01

best qualities of humans and computers. f. Information Weapons Information weapons integrate the use of military deception, psychological ...operations, to include electronic warfare, psychological operations, computer network attack, computer network defense, operations security, and military...F/A-18 ( ATARS /SHARP), S-3B (SSU), SH-60 LAMPS (HAWKLINK) and P-3C (AIP, Special Projects). CDL-N consists of two antennas (one meter diameter

Clutter in electronic medical records: examining its performance and attentional costs using eye tracking.

PubMed

Moacdieh, Nadine; Sarter, Nadine

2015-06-01

The objective was to use eye tracking to trace the underlying changes in attention allocation associated with the performance effects of clutter, stress, and task difficulty in visual search and noticing tasks. Clutter can degrade performance in complex domains, yet more needs to be known about the associated changes in attention allocation, particularly in the presence of stress and for different tasks. Frequently used and relatively simple eye tracking metrics do not effectively capture the various effects of clutter, which is critical for comprehensively analyzing clutter and developing targeted, real-time countermeasures. Electronic medical records (EMRs) were chosen as the application domain for this research. Clutter, stress, and task difficulty were manipulated, and physicians' performance on search and noticing tasks was recorded. Several eye tracking metrics were used to trace attention allocation throughout those tasks, and subjective data were gathered via a debriefing questionnaire. Clutter degraded performance in terms of response time and noticing accuracy. These decrements were largely accentuated by high stress and task difficulty. Eye tracking revealed the underlying attentional mechanisms, and several display-independent metrics were shown to be significant indicators of the effects of clutter. Eye tracking provides a promising means to understand in detail (offline) and prevent (in real time) major performance breakdowns due to clutter. Display designers need to be aware of the risks of clutter in EMRs and other complex displays and can use the identified eye tracking metrics to evaluate and/or adjust their display. © 2015, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Dissociation phenomena in electron-beam sustained carbon dioxide lasers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harris, Michael R.; Willetts, David V.

1990-01-01

A number of applications are emerging requiring efficient, long pulse, long-life sealed CO2 lasers. Examples include the proposed NASA and ESA wind lidars. Electron-beam sustained discharge devices are strong contenders. Unlike self-sustained discharges, e-beam sustenance readily provides efficient performance from large volume discharges and offers pulse lengths well in excess of the microsecond or so generally associated with self-sustained devices. In the case of the e-beam sustained laser, since the plasma is externally maintained and operated at electric field strengths less than that associated with the glow to arc transition, the discharges can be run even in the presence of strongly attacking species such as O2. Build up of large levels of attacking contaminants is nevertheless undesirable as their presence reduces the current drawn by the plasma and thus the pumping rate to the upper laser level. The impedance rise leads to a mismatch of the pulse forming network with a consequent loss of control over energy deposition, operating E/N, and gain. Clearly CO2 dissociation rates, the influence of dissociation products on the discharge and gain, and tolerance of the discharge to these products need to be determined. This information can then be used to assess co-oxidation catalyst requirements for sealed operation.

Do warning signs on electronic gaming machines influence irrational cognitions?

PubMed

Monaghan, Sally; Blaszczynski, Alex; Nower, Lia

2009-08-01

Electronic gaming machines are popular among problem gamblers; in response, governments have introduced "responsible gaming" legislation incorporating the mandatory display of warning signs on or near electronic gaming machines. These signs are designed to correct irrational and erroneous beliefs through the provision of accurate information on probabilities of winning and the concept of randomness. There is minimal empirical data evaluating the effectiveness of such signs. In this study, 93 undergraduate students were randomly allocated to standard and informative messages displayed on an electronic gaming machine during play in a laboratory setting. Results revealed that a majority of participants incorrectly estimated gambling odds and reported irrational gambling-related cognitions prior to play. In addition, there were no significant between-group differences, and few participants recalled the content of messages or modified their gambling-related cognitions. Signs placed on electronic gaming machines may not modify irrational beliefs or alter gambling behaviour.

Corrosion of 2205 Duplex Stainless Steel Weldment in Chloride Medium Containing Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antony, P. J.; Singh Raman, R. K.; Kumar, Pradeep; Raman, R.

2008-11-01

Influence of changes in microstructure caused due to welding on microbiologically influenced corrosion of a duplex stainless steel was studied by exposing the weldment and parent metal to chloride medium containing sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). Identically prepared coupons (same area and surface finish) exposed to sterile medium were used as the control. Etching-type attack was observed in the presence of SRB, which was predominant in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of the weldment. The anodic polarization studies indicated an increase in current density for coupon exposed to SRB-containing medium as compared to that obtained for coupon exposed to sterile medium. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations after anodic polarization revealed that the attack was preferentially in the ferrite phase of HAZ of the weldment, whereas it was restricted to the austenite phase of the parent metal.

Testing Silica Fume-Based Concrete Composites under Chemical and Microbiological Sulfate Attacks

PubMed Central

Estokova, Adriana; Kovalcikova, Martina; Luptakova, Alena; Prascakova, Maria

2016-01-01

Current design practices based on descriptive approaches to concrete specification may not be appropriate for the management of aggressive environments. In this study, the durability of cement-based materials with and without the addition of silica fume, subjected to conditions that leach calcium and silicon, were investigated. Chemical corrosion was simulated by employing various H2SO4 and MgSO4 solutions, and biological corrosion was simulated using Acidithiobacillus sp. bacterial inoculation, leading to disrupted and damaged surfaces; the samples’ mass changes were studied following both chemical and biological attacks. Different leaching trends were observed via X-ray fluorescence when comparing chemical with biological leaching. Lower leaching rates were found for concrete samples fortified with silica fume than those without silica fume. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy confirmed a massive sulfate precipitate formation on the concrete surface due to bacterial exposure. PMID:28773452

Modeling the Adaptive Role of Negative Signaling in Honey Bee Intraspecific Competition.

PubMed

Johnson, Brian R; Nieh, James C

2010-11-01

Collective decision making in the social insects often proceeds via feedback cycles based on positive signaling. Negative signals have, however, been found in a few contexts in which costs exist for paying attention to no longer useful information. Here we incorporate new research on the specificity and context of the negative stop signal into an agent based model of honey bee foraging to explore the adaptive basis of negative signaling in the dance language. Our work suggests that the stop signal, by acting as a counterbalance to the waggle dance, allows colonies to rapidly shut down attacks on other colonies. This could be a key adaptation, as the costs of attacking a colony strong enough to defend itself are significant. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10905-010-9229-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Cyber Friendly Fire: Research Challenges for Security Informatics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Greitzer, Frank L.; Carroll, Thomas E.; Roberts, Adam D.

This paper addresses cognitive implications and research needs surrounding the problem of cyber friendly fire (FF). We define cyber FF as intentional offensive or defensive cyber/electronic actions intended to protect cyber systems against enemy forces or to attack enemy cyber systems, which unintention-ally harms the mission effectiveness of friendly or neutral forces. Just as with combat friendly fire, maintaining situation awareness (SA) is paramount to avoiding cyber FF incidents. Cyber SA concerns knowledge of a system’s topology (connectedness and relationships of the nodes in a system), and critical knowledge elements such as the characteristics and vulnerabilities of the components thatmore » comprise the system and its nodes, the nature of the activities or work performed, and the available defensive and offensive countermeasures that may be applied to thwart network attacks. Mitigation strategies to combat cyber FF— including both training concepts and suggestions for decision aids and visualization approaches—are discussed.« less

Precipitation affects plant communication and defense.

PubMed

Pezzola, Enrico; Mancuso, Stefano; Karban, Richard

2017-06-01

Anti-herbivore defense shows high levels of both inter- and intraspecific variability. Defending against herbivores may be costly to the plant when it requires a tradeoff in allocation between defense and other missed opportunities, such as reproduction. Indeed, the plastic expression of defensive traits allows the plant to invest resources in defense only when the risk of being damaged actually increases, avoiding wasted resources. Plants may assess risk by responding to volatile cues emitted by neighbors that are under attack. Most plastic responses likely depend on environmental conditions. In this experiment, we investigated the effect of water availability on resistance induced by volatile cues in sagebrush. We found that plants receiving additional water over summer and/or volatile cues from neighbor donor plants showed reduced herbivore damage compared to control plants. Interestingly, we found no evidence of interactions between additional water and volatile cues. We performed an inferential analysis comparing historical records of the levels of herbivore damage during different years that had different temperature and precipitation accumulations. Results confirmed findings from the experiment, as the regression model indicated that sagebrush was better defended during wetter and hotter seasons. Reports from the literature indicated that sagebrush is extremely sensitive to water availability in the soil. We suggest that water availability may directly affect resistance of herbivory as well as sensitivity to cues of damage. Costs and benefits of allocating resources to defensive traits may vary with environmental conditions. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

Stumbling toward equity: the role of government in kidney transplantation.

PubMed

Dooley, L G; Gaston, R S

1998-01-01

In Mortal Peril, Professor Epstein is critical of the current, regulated system for organ donation and suggests that a market for organ tissue would better meet the needs of patients. In this response to Professor Epstein, Professor Laura Dooley and Dr. Robert Gaston pair their skills to attack Professor Epstein's analysis. As they have done on several other occasions, Professors Dooley and Gaston argue that the kidney donation and transplantation arena is fraught with racial inequity, and that Professor Epstein's proposal for a market in kidneys will exacerbate this inequity. The authors maintain that to prevent the poor from being excluded from transplants, the government plays a critical (if imperfect) role in the allocation of these scarce resources. Furthermore, government intervention is acceptable to correct past discrimination because there is scientific evidence that the disproportionate incidence of kidney failure in African Americans is related to the evolutionary pressures of slave trading and slavery. Professors Dooley and Gaston also defend their previous efforts to change the government system of allocation and characterize the government's willingness to adopt their recommendations as an appropriate response to scientific research rather than a governmental susceptibility to lobbying from special interest groups. Finally, the authors criticize Professor Epstein's argument that dialysis is a viable alternative to transplantation because there are significant differences in "quality of life, morbidity and survival." Professors Dooley and Gaston conclude that government intervention is necessary for maintaining the equity in kidney transplantation that a market system would not.

Defense with benefits? Ducking plants outperformed erect plants in the goldenrod Solidago gigantea in the absence of herbivory.

PubMed

Wise, Michael J

2018-06-24

Despite the fact that herbivores can be highly detrimental to their host plants' fitness, plant populations often maintain genetic variation for resistance to their natural enemies. Investigating the various costs (e.g., allocation tradeoffs, autotoxicity, and ecological costs) that may prevent plants from evolving to their fullest potential resistance has been a productive strategy for shedding insight into the eco-evolutionary dynamics of plant-herbivore communities. Recent studies have shown that some individuals of goldenrod (Solidago spp.) evade apex-attacking herbivores by a temporary nodding of their stem (i.e., resistance-by-ducking). Although ducking provides an obvious fitness benefit to these individuals, nonducking (erect) morphs persist in goldenrod populations. In this study, I investigated potential costs of ducking in Solidago gigantea in terms of tradeoffs involving growth and reproduction in a common garden experiment using field-collected seeds. The S. gigantea population contained substantial genetic variation for stem morph, with 28% erect and 72% ducking stems. In the absence of herbivory, ducking plants were taller, had thicker stems, and produced an average of 20% more seeds than erect plants. This study suggests that resistance-by-ducking, instead of being costly, actually comes with additional, nondefense-related benefits. These results support the conclusion that the factors that constrain the evolution of resistance in plant populations are likely to be more subtle and complex than simple tradeoffs in resource allocation. © 2018 Botanical Society of America.

Rats and seabirds: effects of egg size on predation risk and the potential of conditioned taste aversion as a mitigation method.

PubMed

Latorre, Lucía; Larrinaga, Asier R; Santamaría, Luis

2013-01-01

Seabirds nesting on islands are threatened by invasive rodents, such as mice and rats, which may attack eggs, chicks and even adults. The low feasibility of rat eradications on many islands makes the development of alternate control plans necessary. We used a combination of field experiments on a Mediterranean island invaded by black rats (Rattusrattus) to evaluate (1) the predation risk posed to different-sized seabird eggs and (2), the potential of two deterrent methods (electronic and chemical) to reduce its impact. Rats were able to consume eggs of all sizes (12 to 68 g), but survival increased 13 times from the smallest to the largest eggs (which also had more resistant eggshells). Extrapolation to seabird eggs suggests that the smallest species (Hydrobatespelagicus) suffer the most severe predation risk, but even the largest (Larusmichahellis) could suffer >60% mortality. Nest attack was not reduced by the deterrents. However, chemical deterrence (conditioned taste aversion by lithium chloride) slowed the increase in predation rate over time, which resulted in a three-fold increase in egg survival to predation as compared to both control and electronic deterrence. At the end of the experimental period, this effect was confirmed by a treatment swap, which showed that conferred protection remains at least 15 days after cessation of the treatment. Results indicate that small seabird species are likely to suffer severe rates of nest predation by rats and that conditioned taste aversion, but not electronic repellents, may represent a suitable method to protect colonies when eradication or control is not feasible or cost-effective.

Patent foramen ovale and migraine attacks: a systematic review.

PubMed

Lip, Philomena Z Y; Lip, Gregory Y H

2014-05-01

Migraine headache and the presence of a patent foramen ovale have been associated with each other, although the precise pathophysiological mechanism(s) are uncertain. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify the extent of patent foramen ovale prevalence in migraineurs and to determine whether closure of a patent foramen ovale would improve migraine headache. An electronic literature search was performed to select studies between January 1980 and February 2013 that were relevant to the prevalence of patent foramen ovale and migraine, and the effects of intervention(s) on migraine attacks. Of the initial 368 articles presented by the initial search, 20 satisfied the inclusion criteria assessing patent foramen ovale prevalence in migraineurs and 21 presented data on patent foramen ovale closure. In case series and cohort studies, patent foramen ovale prevalence in migraineurs ranged from 14.6% to 66.5%. Case-control studies reported a prevalence ranging from 16.0% to 25.7% in controls, compared with 26.8% to 96.0% for migraine with aura. The extent of improvement or resolution of migraine headache attack symptoms was variable. In case series, intervention ameliorated migraine headache attack in 13.6% to 92.3% of cases. One single randomized trial did not show any benefit from patent foramen ovale closure. The data overall do not exclude the possibility of a placebo effect for resolving migraine following patent foramen ovale closure. This systematic review demonstrates firstly that migraine headache attack is associated with a higher prevalence of patent foramen ovale than among the general population. Observational data suggest that some improvement of migraine would be observed if the patent foramen ovale were to be closed. A proper assessment of any interventions for patent foramen ovale closure would require further large randomized trials to be conducted given uncertainties from existing trial data. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessment of strontium oxide functionalized graphene nanoflakes for enhanced photocatalytic activity: A density functional theory approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Divya, A.; Mathavan, T.; Asath, R. Mohamed; Archana, J.; Hayakawa, Y.; Benial, A. Milton Franklin

2016-05-01

A series of strontium oxide functionalized graphene nanoflakes were designed and their optoelectronic properties were studied for enhanced photocatalytic activity. The efficiency of designed molecules was studied using various parameters such as HOMO-LUMO energy gap, light harvesting efficiency and exciton binding energy. The computed results show that by increasing the degree of functionalization of strontium oxide leads to lowering the band gap of hydrogen terminated graphene nanoflakes. Furthermore, the study explores the role of strontium oxide functionalization in Frontier Molecular Orbitals, ionization potential, electron affinity, exciton binding energy and light harvesting efficiency of designed molecules. The infrared and Raman spectra were simulated for pure and SrO functionalized graphene nanoflakes. The electron rich and electron deficient regions which are favorable for electrophilic and nucleophilic attacks respectively were analyzed using molecular electrostatic potential surface analysis.

Considering a Cadre Augmented Army

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-01

S ) 12. DISTRIBUTION /AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for public release; distribution unlimited 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT 15. SUBJECT...ACMaxD i ACDep t S AC D i t = = ∑ The force allocation datasheet will include the default initial conditions for the distribution of...This document and trademark( s ) contained herein are protected by law as indicated in a notice appearing later in this work. This electronic

78 FR 19649 - Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-02

...- year pilot study. This study, to be conducted in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Gulf of... effectiveness of a more timely electronic data reporting system; and evaluate the potential social and economic... conduct a pilot study to evaluate the efficacy of an allocation-based management strategy, which if proven...

Electronic Tool for Distribution and Allocation of Heart on Donation and Transplantation in Mexico.

PubMed

Maqueda Tenorio, S E; Meixueiro Daza, L A; Maqueda Estrada, S

2016-03-01

In Mexico and globally, organs and/or tissues donated from deceased people are insufficient to cover the demand for transplants. In 2014, a rate of 3.6 organ donors per million in habitants was recorded; this is reflected in the transplants performed, including heart transplantation, with a rate of 0.4 per million population. According to the legal framework of Mexico, the National Transplant Center is responsible for coordinating National Subsystem of donation and transplantation, and one of its functions is to integrate and backup information regarding donation and transplantation through the National Transplant Registry System. In July 2015, 45 people were registered in the database of patients waiting for a heart transplant, of which 34.61% were female recipients and 65.39% male. Distribution and allocation processes are a key element to provide a fair distribution for those patients waiting for that organ; thus the creation of an electronic tool is proposed, one that aims to support the decision of the donation and/or transplants coordination committee by providing the necessary elements to make this process more efficient. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Entering the Dragon’s Lair: Chinese Antiaccess Strategies and Their Implications for the United States

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

possible expansion of electronic warfare into outer space in future conflicts (Peng and Yao, 2001, p. 363): As a result of the continuous development of...information warfare units to develop viruses to attack enemy computer systems and networks .” Potential Effects of Chinese Antiaccess Measures 87...computers, enhanced user identi- fication measures, and monitoring of network activity. Given the possibility that China could nonetheless succeed in

JPRS Report West Europe

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-10-28

analysis effort can start. This analysis work will be done in the spring of 1989, and the Defense Commission is to be ready with its report at the end...production processes, electronic equipment and weapons promptly. JPRS-WER-88-061 28 October 1988 21 MILITARY The project JF 90 will eclipse all of the...by the numerical superiority of a potential enemy, his attack-oriented military doc- trine and equipment , and his continually improving all-weather

STAR Performance with SPEAR (Signal Processing Electronic Attack RFIC)

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-01

STAR operation in the presence of 1 kW EIRP power , independently of the choice of transmitter in use. The paper reports on the status of the SPEAR...prototype will be presented. To the authors’ knowledge , the measured results from the prototype already demonstrate state-of-the-art STAR performance...self-generated high power interferers. SPEAR is an innovative approach to the full duplex challenge that meets the high demands of military systems

Department of Defense Annual Report to Congress on Defense Acquisition Challenge Program for FY 2006

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-06-01

Synthetic Instrument Measurement and Stimulus System – Improves aircraft avionics and electronic attack pod testing to expedite repair of critical...integration into CIWS • Navy requirement Cancelled / Not procured Air Force (4 Projects) • Quiet Eyes • On Aircraft (B-2) Laser Additive...System • Met Requirement/Rolled into FY07 Cost Effective Light Aircraft Missile Protect DAC for Army, Navy and Air Force helicopters • Did Not

Security of a discretely signaled continuous variable quantum key distribution protocol for high rate systems.

PubMed

Zhang, Zheshen; Voss, Paul L

2009-07-06

We propose a continuous variable based quantum key distribution protocol that makes use of discretely signaled coherent light and reverse error reconciliation. We present a rigorous security proof against collective attacks with realistic lossy, noisy quantum channels, imperfect detector efficiency, and detector electronic noise. This protocol is promising for convenient, high-speed operation at link distances up to 50 km with the use of post-selection.

The Electronic Intrusion Threat to National Security and Emergency Preparedness (NS/EP) Telecommunications. An Awareness Document

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-03-01

Responsibilities, a national security emergency is “any occurrence, including natural disaster, military attack, technological emergency, or other...in information systems increase in Russia, “the growing role of information- technology warfare is rapidly lowering the barrier between war and peace...waging war. As one Russian military theorist stated, “it is necessary to place paramount importance on technological indicators of new weapons, which are

Fast Plasma Instrument for MMS: Data Compression Simulation Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barrie, A. C.; Adrian, M. L.; Yeh, P.; Winkert, G. E.; Lobell, J. V.; Viňas, A. F.; Simpson, D. G.; Moore, T. E.

2008-12-01

Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission will study small-scale reconnection structures and their rapid motions from closely spaced platforms using instruments capable of high angular, energy, and time resolution measurements. To meet these requirements, the Fast Plasma Instrument (FPI) consists of eight (8) identical half top-hat electron sensors and eight (8) identical ion sensors and an Instrument Data Processing Unit (IDPU). The sensors (electron or ion) are grouped into pairs whose 6° × 180° fields-of-view (FOV) are set 90° apart. Each sensor is equipped with electrostatic aperture steering to allow the sensor to scan a 45° × 180° fan about the its nominal viewing (0° deflection) direction. Each pair of sensors, known as the Dual Electron Spectrometer (DES) and the Dual Ion Spectrometer (DIS), occupies a quadrant on the MMS spacecraft and the combination of the eight electron/ion sensors, employing aperture steering, image the full-sky every 30-ms (electrons) and 150-ms (ions), respectively. To probe the diffusion regions of reconnection, the highest temporal/spatial resolution mode of FPI results in the DES complement of a given spacecraft generating 6.5-Mb s-1 of electron data while the DIS generates 1.1-Mb s-1 of ion data yielding an FPI total data rate of 7.6-Mb s-1. The FPI electron/ion data is collected by the IDPU then transmitted to the Central Data Instrument Processor (CIDP) on the spacecraft for science interest ranking. Only data sequences that contain the greatest amount of temporal/spatial structure will be intelligently down-linked by the spacecraft. Currently, the FPI data rate allocation to the CIDP is 1.5-Mb s-1. Consequently, the FPI-IDPU must employ data/image compression to meet this CIDP telemetry allocation. Here, we present simulations of the CCSDS 122.0-B-1 algorithm- based compression of the FPI-DES electron data. Compression analysis is based upon a seed of re- processed Cluster/PEACE electron measurements. Topics to be discussed include: (i) Review of compression algorithm; (ii) Data quality; (iii) Data formatting/organization; (iv) Compression optimization; and (v) Implications for data/matrix pruning. We conclude with a presentation of the base-lined FPI data compression approach.

Emergency Physician Task Switching Increases With the Introduction of a Commercial Electronic Health Record.

PubMed

Benda, Natalie C; Meadors, Margaret L; Hettinger, A Zachary; Ratwani, Raj M

2016-06-01

We evaluate how the transition from a homegrown electronic health record to a commercial one affects emergency physician work activities from initial introduction to long-term use. We completed a quasi-experimental study across 3 periods during the transition from a homegrown system to a commercially available electronic health record with computerized provider order entry. Observation periods consisted of pre-implementation, 1 month before the implementation of the commercial electronic health record; "go-live" 1 week after implementation; and post-implementation, 3 to 4 months after use began. Fourteen physicians were observed in each period (N=42) with a minute-by-minute observation template to record emergency physician time allocation across 5 task-based categories (computer, verbal communication, patient room, paper [chart/laboratory results], and other). The average number of tasks physicians engaged in per minute was also analyzed as an indicator of task switching. From pre- to post-implementation, there were no significant differences in the amount of time spent on the various task categories. There were changes in time allocation from pre-implementation to go-live and go-live to pre-implementation, characterized by a significant increase in time spent on computer tasks during go-live relative to the other periods. Critically, the number of tasks physicians engaged in per minute increased from 1.7 during pre-implementation to 1.9 during post-implementation (difference 0.19 tasks per minute; 95% confidence interval 0.039 to 0.35). The increase in the number of tasks physicians engaged in per minute post-implementation indicates that physicians switched tasks more frequently. Frequent task switching behavior raises patient safety concerns. Copyright © 2015 American College of Emergency Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic precision of mentally estimated home blood pressure means.

PubMed

Ouattara, Franck Olivier; Laskine, Mikhael; Cheong, Nathalie Ng; Birnbaum, Leora; Wistaff, Robert; Bertrand, Michel; van Nguyen, Paul; Kolan, Christophe; Durand, Madeleine; Rinfret, Felix; Lamarre-Cliche, Maxime

2018-05-07

Paper home blood pressure (HBP) charts are commonly brought to physicians at office visits. The precision and accuracy of mental calculations of blood pressure (BP) means are not known. A total of 109 hypertensive patients were instructed to measure and record their HBP for 1 week and to bring their paper charts to their office visit. Study section 1: HBP means were calculated electronically and compared to corresponding in-office BP estimates made by physicians. Study section 2: 100 randomly ordered HBP charts were re-examined repetitively by 11 evaluators. Each evaluator estimated BP means four times in 5, 15, 30, and 60 s (random order) allocated for the task. BP means and diagnostic performance (determination of therapeutic systolic and diastolic BP goals attained or not) were compared between physician estimates and electronically calculated results. Overall, electronically and mentally calculated BP means were not different. Individual analysis showed that 83% of in-office physician estimates were within a 5-mmHg systolic BP range. There was diagnostic disagreement in 15% of cases. Performance improved consistently when the time allocated for BP estimation was increased from 5 to 15 s and from 15 to 30 s, but not when it exceeded 30 s. Mentally calculating HBP means from paper charts can cause a number of diagnostic errors. Chart evaluation exceeding 30 s does not significantly improve accuracy. BP-measuring devices with modern analytical capacities could be useful to physicians.

Fearful Foragers: Honey Bees Tune Colony and Individual Foraging to Multi-Predator Presence and Food Quality

PubMed Central

Tan, Ken; Hu, Zongwen; Chen, Weiwen; Wang, Zhengwei; Wang, Yuchong; Nieh, James C.

2013-01-01

Fear can have strong ecosystem effects by giving predators a role disproportionate to their actual kill rates. In bees, fear is shown through foragers avoiding dangerous food sites, thereby reducing the fitness of pollinated plants. However, it remains unclear how fear affects pollinators in a complex natural scenario involving multiple predator species and different patch qualities. We studied hornets, Vespa velutina (smaller) and V. tropica (bigger) preying upon the Asian honey bee, Apis cerana in China. Hornets hunted bees on flowers and were attacked by bee colonies. Bees treated the bigger hornet species (which is 4 fold more massive) as more dangerous. It received 4.5 fold more attackers than the smaller hornet species. We tested bee responses to a three-feeder array with different hornet species and varying resource qualities. When all feeders offered 30% sucrose solution (w/w), colony foraging allocation, individual visits, and individual patch residence times were reduced according to the degree of danger. Predator presence reduced foraging visits by 55–79% and residence times by 17–33%. When feeders offered different reward levels (15%, 30%, or 45% sucrose), colony and individual foraging favored higher sugar concentrations. However, when balancing food quality against multiple threats (sweeter food corresponding to higher danger), colonies exhibited greater fear than individuals. Colonies decreased foraging at low and high danger patches. Individuals exhibited less fear and only decreased visits to the high danger patch. Contrasting individual with emergent colony-level effects of fear can thus illuminate how predators shape pollination by social bees. PMID:24098734

Essays in Energy Policy: The Interplay Between Risks and Incentives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lordan-Perret, Rebecca Jane Bishop

My dissertation considers examples of how social, economic, and political incentives associated with energy production, distribution, and consumption increase the risk of harm to society and the environment. In the first essay, "Why America should move toward dry cask consolidated interim storage of used nuclear fuel," my co-authors and I discuss how the confluence of the U.S. Government and electricity utilities' political and economic incentives created a gridlock preventing a long-term nuclear waste disposal solution. We find that our current policies undermine the safety and security of the nuclear waste, and so, suggest a temporary, consolidated storage solution. In the second essay, "Import-Adjusted Fatality Rates for Individual OECD Countries Caused by Accidents in the Oil Energy Chain," my co-authors and I adopt a technique from the greenhouse gas accounting literature and assign CO2 emissions to the final consumer (rather than the producer) by allocating the risk - measured in fatalities - associated with oil production to the final consumer. The new assignments show that normal methods of tracking oil production impacts only capture part of the actual costs. In the third essay, "Insurgent Attacks on Energy Infrastructure and Electoral Institutions in Colombia," my co-authors and I consider the economic and political incentives that an energy resource create in a conflict environment. Our research shows that insurgents in Colombia, Las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) and Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN), strategically time attacks on critical energy infrastructure during elections. These results are the first to quantify insurgent tactics to target critical energy infrastructure, which potentially undermine state capacity and democratic processes.

Tobacco control advocates must demand high-quality media campaigns: the California experience

PubMed Central

Balbach, E.; Glantz, S.

1998-01-01

OBJECTIVE—To document efforts on the part of public officials in California to soften the media campaign's attack on the tobacco industry and to analyse strategies to counter those efforts on the part of tobacco control advocates.
METHODS—Data were gathered from interviews with programme participants, direct observation, written materials, and media stories. In addition, internal documents were released by the state's Department of Health Services in response to requests made under the California Public Records Act by Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights. Finally, a draft of the paper was circulated to 11 key players for their comments.
RESULTS—In 1988 California voters enacted Proposition 99, an initiative that raised the tobacco tax by $0.25 and allocated 20% of the revenues to anti-tobacco education. A media campaign, which was part of the education programme, directly attacked the tobacco industry, exposing the media campaign to politically based efforts to shut it down or soften it. Through use of outsider strategies such as advertising, press conferences, and public meetings, programme advocates were able to counter the efforts to soften the campaign.
CONCLUSION—Anti-tobacco media campaigns that expose industry manipulation are a key component of an effective tobacco control programme. The effectiveness of these campaigns, however, makes them a target for elimination by the tobacco industry. The experience from California demonstrates the need for continuing, aggressive intervention by non-governmental organisations in order to maintain the quality of anti-tobacco media campaigns.


Keywords: media campaigns; anti-tobacco advocacy; California PMID:10093175

Robustness of non-interdependent and interdependent networks against dependent and adaptive attacks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tyra, Adam; Li, Jingtao; Shang, Yilun; Jiang, Shuo; Zhao, Yanjun; Xu, Shouhuai

2017-09-01

Robustness of complex networks has been extensively studied via the notion of site percolation, which typically models independent and non-adaptive attacks (or disruptions). However, real-life attacks are often dependent and/or adaptive. This motivates us to characterize the robustness of complex networks, including non-interdependent and interdependent ones, against dependent and adaptive attacks. For this purpose, dependent attacks are accommodated by L-hop percolation where the nodes within some L-hop (L ≥ 0) distance of a chosen node are all deleted during one attack (with L = 0 degenerating to site percolation). Whereas, adaptive attacks are launched by attackers who can make node-selection decisions based on the network state in the beginning of each attack. The resulting characterization enriches the body of knowledge with new insights, such as: (i) the Achilles' Heel phenomenon is only valid for independent attacks, but not for dependent attacks; (ii) powerful attack strategies (e.g., targeted attacks and dependent attacks, dependent attacks and adaptive attacks) are not compatible and cannot help the attacker when used collectively. Our results shed some light on the design of robust complex networks.

The effect of pH on the corrosion behavior of intermetallic compounds Ni{sub 3}(Si,Ti) and Ni{sub 3}(Si,Ti) + 2Mo in sodium chloride solutions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Priyotomo, Gadang, E-mail: gada001@lipi.go.id; Nuraini, Lutviasari, E-mail: Lutviasari@gmail.com; Kaneno, Yasuyuki, E-mail: kaneno@mtr.osakafu-u.ac.id

The corrosion behavior of the intermetallic compounds, Ni{sub 3}(Si,Ti) (L1{sub 2}: single phase) and Ni{sub 3}(Si,Ti) + 2Mo (L1{sub 2} and (L12 + Ni{sub ss}) mixture region), has been investigated using an immersion test, electrochemical method and surface analytical method (SEM; scanning electron microscope and EDAX: Energy Dispersive X-ray) in 0.5 kmol/m{sup 3} NaCl solutions at various pH. The corrosion behavior of nickel alloy C-276 was studied under the same experimental conditions as a reference. It was found that the uniform attack was observed on Ni{sub 3}(Si,Ti) for the immersion test at lower pH, while the pitting attack was observedmore » on this compound for this test at neutral solution. Furthermore, Ni{sub 3}(Si,Ti)+2Mo had the preferential dissolution of L1{sub 2} compared to (L1{sub 2} + Ni{sub ss}) mixture region at lower pH, while pitting attack occurred in (L1{sub 2} + Ni{sub ss}) mixture region at neutral solution. For both intermetallic compounds, the magnitude of pitting and uniform attack decrease with increasing pH of solutions. From the immersion test and polarization curves, the corrosion resistance of Ni{sub 3}(Si,Ti)+2Mo is lower than that of Ni{sub 3}(Si,Ti), while the nickel alloy C-276 is the highest one at various pH of solutions. On the other hand, in the lower pH of solutions, the corrosion resistance of tested materials decreased significantly compared to those in neutral and higher pH of solutions.« less

Emergency access to protected health records.

PubMed

Künzi, Julien; Koster, Paul; Petković, Milan

2009-01-01

Digital Rights Management (DRM) schemes are receiving increased attention in the healthcare domain for the protection of sensitive health records as they offer security against insider attacks and advance protection features such as usage control. However, to be accepted by health care providers, a DRM solution has to fulfill specific healthcare requirements including emergency access. In this paper, we propose such DRM solution that can be deployed in highly distributed environments of electronic or personal health record infrastructures.

Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack: Critical National Infrastructures

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-04-01

consumers and electric utilities in Arizona and Southern California. Twelve people, including five children, died as a result of the explosion. The...Modern electronics, communications, pro- tection, control and computers have allowed the physical system to be utilized fully with ever smaller... margins for error. Therefore, a relatively modest upset to the system can cause functional collapse. As the system grows in complexity and interdependence

School Bullying: Legal Protections for Vulnerable Youth Need to Be More Fully Assessed. Testimony before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, U.S. Senate. GAO-12-785T

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calbom, Linda M.

2012-01-01

In this statement, the author discusses the results of the work that the members of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions requested on school bullying. It is estimated that millions of American youths have been bullied by their peers, including physical, verbal, and electronic attacks. The author's statement is based on a report…

The Vulnerabilities of Unmanned Aircraft System Common Data Links to Electronic Attack

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-06-11

jamming, radar acquisition, and radar tracking (US Joint Forces Command 2009b, 101). Electromagnetic Interference ( EMI ). Any electromagnetic...has a range of up to 125 kilometers, and can remain airborne for up to 6 hours (see figure 6). The Shadow 200 is launched using a trailer mounted...disruption by EMI and friendly EW jamming systems. Second, FM 3-04.115 is the only publication that addresses counter-UAS threats and how enemy forces may

Direct /TEM/ observation of the catalytic oxidation of amorphous carbon by Pd particles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moorhead, R. D.; Poppa, H.; Heinemann, K.

1980-01-01

The catalytic oxidation of amorphous carbon substrates by Pd particles is observed by in situ transmission electron microscopy. Various modes of selective attack of the carbon substrate in the immediate neighborhood of Pd particles are observed, which can be correlated with different degrees of particle mobility. Using amorphous substrates we have been able to demonstrate that the particle-substrate interaction is influenced by the structure of the particle. This has not previously been noted.

Mitigating Distributed Denial of Service Attacks in an Anonymous Routing Environment: Client Puzzles and Tor

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-03-01

Technologies: Workshop on Design Issues in Anonymity and Unobservability, 30–45. Springer-Verlag, LNCS 2009, July 2000. 10. Chaum , David . “Untraceable...electronic mail, return addresses, and digital pseudonyms”. Communications of the ACM, 4(2), February 1981. 11. Chaum , David . “The Dining Cryptographers...Proceedings of Eurocrypt, 294–311. 2003. 4. Andersen, David G. “Mayday: Distributed Filtering for Internet Services”. 4th Usenix Symposium on Internet

A typical band-shaped calcific keratopathy with keratocyte changes.

PubMed Central

Dark, A J; Proctor, J

1982-01-01

The clinical features of a patient with atypical band keratopathy are described. Histochemical and electron probe analyses indicate that the granular deposits in Bowman's layer contain calcium and phosphate. An unusual feature in this patient was the presence of severe keratocyte degeneration; its possible role in the pathogenesis of this condition is discussed. Exfoliation of the calcified Bowman's layer appears to have been the basis for severe attacks of recurrent ocular pain. Images PMID:7074004

C-N bond cleavage of anilines by a (salen)ruthenium(VI) nitrido complex.

PubMed

Man, Wai-Lun; Xie, Jianhui; Pan, Yi; Lam, William W Y; Kwong, Hoi-Ki; Ip, Kwok-Wa; Yiu, Shek-Man; Lau, Kai-Chung; Lau, Tai-Chu

2013-04-17

We report experimental and computational studies of the facile oxidative C-N bond cleavage of anilines by a (salen)ruthenium(VI) nitrido complex. We provide evidence that the initial step involves nucleophilic attack of aniline at the nitrido ligand of the ruthenium complex, which is followed by proton and electron transfer to afford a (salen)ruthenium(II) diazonium intermediate. This intermediate then undergoes unimolecular decomposition to generate benzene and N2.

JPRS Report, Soviet Union, Foreign Military Review, No. 10, October 1987

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-05-09

for Air -to- Air Guided Missiles [V. Sapkov; pp 40-45] 26 Operational Use of Optical Electronics in Air Platforms [V. Sofronov; pp 45-46] 30 Naval... phase (24 hours and longer). In a role of mutual support with the air defense forces they will repulse the enemy air attack. Concentrating their...linkage or fiber optics . In the future, air -to- air missiles will be outfitted with onboard digital computers with built-in test system, Identification

Secure Distributed Time for Secure Distributed Protocols

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-09-01

minimal generating set of X = UV (A) AEY Implications Suppose (M, M’) is an acyclic Typ, -tent and independent) parallel pair. A timeslice containing...compromise the system if the attacker is willing to pay tremendous amounts of money . (For a detailed analysis of the cost, see [Wein9l 1.) What do we do...example, suppose auditor Alice is asking for a snapshot to verify that the electronic currency in circulation sums correctly. If counterfeiter Bad

DOD Supply Chain: Suspect Counterfeit Electronic Parts Can Be Found on Internet Purchasing Platforms

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-02-01

Parts Marine Corps’s V-22 Osprey aircraft, and the Navy’s SSN-688 Los Angeles Class nuclear-powered attack submarine . If authentic, these parts...authentication analyses. Visual inspection was performed on all evidence samples from both purchases. Different color epoxy seals were noted within both...including the ballistic missile early warning system, the Air Force’s Peacekeeper missile and B-1B aircraft, the Navy’s Trident submarine and Arleigh

75 FR 502 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated; Order Approving...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-05

... electronic matching algorithm from CBOE Rule 6.45B shall apply to SAL executions (e.g., pro-rata, price-time... entitlement when the pro-rata algorithm is in effect for SAL in selected Hybrid 3.0 classes as part of a pilot... what it would have been under the pre-pilot allocation algorithm. The Exchange will reduce the DPM/LMM...

50 CFR 648.53 - Target total allowable catch, DAS allocations, and individual fishing quotas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... specified in paragraph (h)(1) of this section. Two percent of total available DAS will be set aside to pay... observers. The obligation to carry and pay for an observer shall not be waived due to the absence of set... pay the fee to NMFS by January 1 of each year. Cost recovery payments shall be made electronically via...

Neural Network Solves "Traveling-Salesman" Problem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thakoor, Anilkumar P.; Moopenn, Alexander W.

1990-01-01

Experimental electronic neural network solves "traveling-salesman" problem. Plans round trip of minimum distance among N cities, visiting every city once and only once (without backtracking). This problem is paradigm of many problems of global optimization (e.g., routing or allocation of resources) occuring in industry, business, and government. Applied to large number of cities (or resources), circuits of this kind expected to solve problem faster and more cheaply.

High-level ab initio potential energy surface and dynamics of the F- + CH3I SN2 and proton-transfer reactions.

PubMed

Olasz, Balázs; Szabó, István; Czakó, Gábor

2017-04-01

Bimolecular nucleophilic substitution (S N 2) and proton transfer are fundamental processes in chemistry and F - + CH 3 I is an important prototype of these reactions. Here we develop the first full-dimensional ab initio analytical potential energy surface (PES) for the F - + CH 3 I system using a permutationally invariant fit of high-level composite energies obtained with the combination of the explicitly-correlated CCSD(T)-F12b method, the aug-cc-pVTZ basis, core electron correlation effects, and a relativistic effective core potential for iodine. The PES accurately describes the S N 2 channel producing I - + CH 3 F via Walden-inversion, front-side attack, and double-inversion pathways as well as the proton-transfer channel leading to HF + CH 2 I - . The relative energies of the stationary points on the PES agree well with the new explicitly-correlated all-electron CCSD(T)-F12b/QZ-quality benchmark values. Quasiclassical trajectory computations on the PES show that the proton transfer becomes significant at high collision energies and double-inversion as well as front-side attack trajectories can occur. The computed broad angular distributions and hot internal energy distributions indicate the dominance of indirect mechanisms at lower collision energies, which is confirmed by analyzing the integration time and leaving group velocity distributions. Comparison with available crossed-beam experiments shows usually good agreement.

Federal Agency biodefense funding, FY2011-FY2012.

PubMed

Franco, Crystal; Sell, Tara Kirk

2011-06-01

Since 2001, the United States government has spent substantial resources on preparing the nation against a bioterrorist attack. Earlier articles in this series have analyzed civilian biodefense funding by the federal government for fiscal years (FY) 2001 through proposed funding for FY2011. This article updates those figures with budgeted amounts for FY2012, specifically analyzing the budgets and allocations for biodefense at the Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, Homeland Security, Agriculture, Commerce, and State; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the National Science Foundation. This article also includes an updated assessment of the proportion of biodefense funding provided for programs that address multiple scientific, public health, healthcare, national security, and international security issues in addition to biodefense. The FY2012 federal budget for civilian biodefense totals $6.42 billion. Of that total, $5.78 billion (90%) is budgeted for programs that have both biodefense and nonbiodefense goals and applications, and $637.6 million (10%) is budgeted for programs that have objectives solely related to biodefense.

Federal agency biodefense funding, FY2013-FY2014.

PubMed

Sell, Tara Kirk; Watson, Matthew

2013-09-01

Since 2001, the United States government has spent substantial resources on preparing the nation against a bioterrorist attack. Earlier articles in this series have analyzed civilian biodefense funding by the federal government for fiscal years (FY) 2001 through proposed funding for FY2013. This article updates those figures with budgeted amounts for FY2014, specifically analyzing the budgets and allocations for biodefense at the Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, Homeland Security, Agriculture, Commerce, Veterans Affairs, and State; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the National Science Foundation. This article also includes an updated assessment of the proportion of biodefense funding provided for programs that address multiple scientific, public health, healthcare, national security, and international security issues in addition to biodefense. The FY2014 federal budget for civilian biodefense totals $6.69 billion. Of that total, $5.86 billion (88%) is budgeted for programs that have both biodefense and nonbiodefense goals and applications, and $835 million (12%) is budgeted for programs that have objectives solely related to biodefense.

Federal agency biodefense funding, FY2010-FY2011.

PubMed

Franco, Crystal; Sell, Tara Kirk

2010-06-01

Since 2001, the United States government has spent substantial resources on preparing the nation against a bioterrorist attack. Earlier articles in this series have analyzed civilian biodefense funding by the federal government for fiscal years (FY) 2001 through FY2010. This article updates those figures with budgeted amounts for FY2011, specifically analyzing the budgets and allocations for biodefense at the Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, Homeland Security, Agriculture, Commerce, and State; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the National Science Foundation. This article also includes an updated assessment of the proportion of biodefense funding provided for programs that address multiple public health, healthcare, national security, and international security issues in addition to biodefense. The FY2011 federal budget for civilian biodefense totals $6.48 billion. Of that total, $5.90 billion (91%) is budgeted for programs that have both biodefense and nonbiodefense goals and applications, and $577.9 million (9%) is budgeted for programs that deal strictly with biodefense.

Unconditionally secure commitment in position-based quantum cryptography.

PubMed

Nadeem, Muhammad

2014-10-27

A new commitment scheme based on position-verification and non-local quantum correlations is presented here for the first time in literature. The only credential for unconditional security is the position of committer and non-local correlations generated; neither receiver has any pre-shared data with the committer nor does receiver require trusted and authenticated quantum/classical channels between him and the committer. In the proposed scheme, receiver trusts the commitment only if the scheme itself verifies position of the committer and validates her commitment through non-local quantum correlations in a single round. The position-based commitment scheme bounds committer to reveal valid commitment within allocated time and guarantees that the receiver will not be able to get information about commitment unless committer reveals. The scheme works for the commitment of both bits and qubits and is equally secure against committer/receiver as well as against any third party who may have interests in destroying the commitment. Our proposed scheme is unconditionally secure in general and evades Mayers and Lo-Chau attacks in particular.

Federal Agency Biodefense Funding, FY2013-FY2014

PubMed Central

Watson, Matthew

2013-01-01

Since 2001, the United States government has spent substantial resources on preparing the nation against a bioterrorist attack. Earlier articles in this series have analyzed civilian biodefense funding by the federal government for fiscal years (FY) 2001 through proposed funding for FY2013. This article updates those figures with budgeted amounts for FY2014, specifically analyzing the budgets and allocations for biodefense at the Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, Homeland Security, Agriculture, Commerce, Veterans Affairs, and State; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the National Science Foundation. This article also includes an updated assessment of the proportion of biodefense funding provided for programs that address multiple scientific, public health, healthcare, national security, and international security issues in addition to biodefense. The FY2014 federal budget for civilian biodefense totals $6.69 billion. Of that total, $5.86 billion (88%) is budgeted for programs that have both biodefense and nonbiodefense goals and applications, and $835 million (12%) is budgeted for programs that have objectives solely related to biodefense. PMID:23906009

The impact of the topology on cascading failures in a power grid model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koç, Yakup; Warnier, Martijn; Mieghem, Piet Van; Kooij, Robert E.; Brazier, Frances M. T.

2014-05-01

Cascading failures are one of the main reasons for large scale blackouts in power transmission grids. Secure electrical power supply requires, together with careful operation, a robust design of the electrical power grid topology. Currently, the impact of the topology on grid robustness is mainly assessed by purely topological approaches, that fail to capture the essence of electric power flow. This paper proposes a metric, the effective graph resistance, to relate the topology of a power grid to its robustness against cascading failures by deliberate attacks, while also taking the fundamental characteristics of the electric power grid into account such as power flow allocation according to Kirchhoff laws. Experimental verification on synthetic power systems shows that the proposed metric reflects the grid robustness accurately. The proposed metric is used to optimize a grid topology for a higher level of robustness. To demonstrate its applicability, the metric is applied on the IEEE 118 bus power system to improve its robustness against cascading failures.

Deaths from international terrorism compared with road crash deaths in OECD countries.

PubMed

Wilson, N; Thomson, G

2005-12-01

To estimate the relative number of deaths in member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) from international terrorism and road crashes. Data on deaths from international terrorism (US State Department database) were collated (1994-2003) and compared to the road injury deaths (year 2000 and 2001 data) from the OECD International Road Transport Accident Database. In the 29 OECD countries for which comparable data were available, the annual average death rate from road injury was approximately 390 times that from international terrorism. The ratio of annual road to international terrorism deaths (averaged over 10 years) was lowest for the United States at 142 times. In 2001, road crash deaths in the US were equal to those from a September 11 attack every 26 days. There is a large difference in the magnitude of these two causes of deaths from injury. Policy makers need to be aware of this when allocating resources to preventing these two avoidable causes of mortality.

Probabilistic risk analysis and terrorism risk.

PubMed

Ezell, Barry Charles; Bennett, Steven P; von Winterfeldt, Detlof; Sokolowski, John; Collins, Andrew J

2010-04-01

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent establishment of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), considerable efforts have been made to estimate the risks of terrorism and the cost effectiveness of security policies to reduce these risks. DHS, industry, and the academic risk analysis communities have all invested heavily in the development of tools and approaches that can assist decisionmakers in effectively allocating limited resources across the vast array of potential investments that could mitigate risks from terrorism and other threats to the homeland. Decisionmakers demand models, analyses, and decision support that are useful for this task and based on the state of the art. Since terrorism risk analysis is new, no single method is likely to meet this challenge. In this article we explore a number of existing and potential approaches for terrorism risk analysis, focusing particularly on recent discussions regarding the applicability of probabilistic and decision analytic approaches to bioterrorism risks and the Bioterrorism Risk Assessment methodology used by the DHS and criticized by the National Academies and others.

The contribution of collective attack tactics in differentiating handball score efficiency.

PubMed

Rogulj, Nenad; Srhoj, Vatromir; Srhoj, Ljerka

2004-12-01

The prevalence of 19 elements of collective tactics in score efficient and score inefficient teams was analyzed in 90 First Croatian Handball League--Men games during the 1998-1999 season. Prediction variables were used to describe duration, continuity, system, organization and spatial direction of attacks. Analysis of the basic descriptive and distribution statistical parameters revealed normal distribution of all variables and possibility to use multivariate methods. Canonic discrimination analysis and analysis of variance showed the use of collective tactics elements on attacks to differ statistically significantly between the winning and losing teams. Counter-attacks and uninterrupted attacks predominate in winning teams. Other types of attacks such as long position attack, multiply interrupted attack, attack with one circle runner attack player/pivot, attack based on basic principles, attack based on group cooperation, attack based on independent action, attack based on group maneuvering, rightward directed attack and leftward directed attack predominate in losing teams. Winning teams were found to be clearly characterized by quick attacks against unorganized defense, whereas prolonged, interrupted position attacks against organized defense along with frequent and diverse tactical actions were characteristic of losing teams. The choice and frequency of using a particular tactical activity in position attack do not warrant score efficiency but usually are consequential to the limited anthropologic potential and low level of individual technical-tactical skills of the players in low-quality teams.

Dissociative Ionization of Aromatic and Heterocyclic Molecules

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huo, Winifred M.

2003-01-01

Space radiation poses a major health hazard to humans in space flight. The high-energy charged particles in space radiation ranging from protons to high atomic number, high-energy (HZE) particles, and the secondary species they produce, attack DNA, cells, and tissues. Of the potential hazards, long-term health effects such as carcinogenesis are likely linked to the DNA lesions caused by secondary electrons in the 1 - 30 eV range. Dissociative ionization (DI) is one of the electron collision processes that can damage the DNA, either directly by causing a DNA lesion, or indirectly by producing radicals and cations that attack the DNA. To understand this process, we have developed a theoretical model for DI. Our model makes use of the fact that electron motion is much faster than nuclear motion and assumes DI proceeds through a two-step process. The first step is electron-impact ionization resulting in a particular state of the molecular ion in the geometry of the neutral molecule. In the second step the ion undergoes unimolecular dissociation. Thus the DI cross section sigma(sup DI)(sub a) for channel a is given by sigma(sup DI)(sub a) = sigma(sup I)(sub a) P(sub D) with sigma(sup I)(sub a) the ionization cross section of channel a and P(sub D) the dissociation probability. This model has been applied to study the DI of H2O, NH3, and CH4, with results in good agreement with experiment. The ionization cross section sigma(sup I)(sub a) was calculated using the improved binary encounter-dipole model and the unimolecular dissociation probability P(sub D) obtained by following the minimum energy path determined by the gradients and Hessians of the electronic energy with respect to the nuclear coordinates of the ion. This model is used to study the DI from the low-lying channels of benzene and pyridine to understand the different product formation in aromatic and heterocyclic molecules. DI study of the DNA base thymine is underway. Solvent effects will also be discussed.

Modernizing engine displays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schneider, E. T.; Enevoldson, E. K.

1984-01-01

The introduction of electronic fuel control to modern turbine engines has a number of advantages, which are related to an increase in engine performance and to a reduction or elimination of the problems associated with high angle of attack engine operation from the surface to 50,000 feet. If the appropriate engine display devices are available to the pilot, the fuel control system can provide a great amount of information. Some of the wealth of information available from modern fuel controls are discussed in this paper. The considered electronic engine control systems in their most recent forms are known as the Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) and the Digital Electronic Engine Control (DEEC). Attention is given to some details regarding the control systems, typical engine problems, the solution of problems with the aid of displays, engine displays in normal operation, an example display format, a multipage format, flight strategies, and hardware considerations.

Design and implementation of intelligent electronic warfare decision making algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Hsin-Hsien; Chen, Chang-Kuo; Hsueh, Chi-Shun

2017-05-01

Electromagnetic signals and the requirements of timely response have been a rapid growth in modern electronic warfare. Although jammers are limited resources, it is possible to achieve the best electronic warfare efficiency by tactical decisions. This paper proposes the intelligent electronic warfare decision support system. In this work, we develop a novel hybrid algorithm, Digital Pheromone Particle Swarm Optimization, based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) and Shuffled Frog Leaping Algorithm (SFLA). We use PSO to solve the problem and combine the concept of pheromones in ACO to accumulate more useful information in spatial solving process and speed up finding the optimal solution. The proposed algorithm finds the optimal solution in reasonable computation time by using the method of matrix conversion in SFLA. The results indicated that jammer allocation was more effective. The system based on the hybrid algorithm provides electronic warfare commanders with critical information to assist commanders in effectively managing the complex electromagnetic battlefield.

Neutron production in the interaction of 12 and 18 MeV electrons with a scattering foil inside a simple LINAC head.

PubMed

Soto-Bernal, Tzinnia Gabriela; Baltazar-Raigosa, Antonio; Medina-Castro, Diego; Vega-Carrillo, Hector Rene

2018-04-18

The characteristics of photons and neutrons produced during the interaction between a monoenergetic (12 and 18 MeV) electron beam and a tungsten scattering foil enclosed into a 10 cm-thick tungsten shell have been determined using Monte Carlo methods. This model was used aiming to represent a linac head working in electron-mode for cancer treatment. Photon and neutron spectra were determined around the scattering foil and to 50 and 100 cm below the electron source. Induced photons are mainly produced along the direction of the incoming electron beam. On the other hand, neutrons are produced in two sites, mainly in the inner surface of the linac head and in less extent in the scattering foil. The neutron spectra are evaporation neutrons which are emitted isotropically from the site where are produced leaking out from the linac head, reaching locations were the patient is allocated. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Predicting Factors of Zone 4 Attack in Volleyball.

PubMed

Costa, Gustavo C; Castro, Henrique O; Evangelista, Breno F; Malheiros, Laura M; Greco, Pablo J; Ugrinowitsch, Herbert

2017-06-01

This study examined 142 volleyball games of the Men's Super League 2014/2015 seasons in Brazil from which we analyzed 24-26 games of each participating team, identifying 5,267 Zone 4 attacks for further analysis. Within these Zone 4 attacks, we analyzed the association between the effect of the attack carried out and the separate effects of serve reception, tempo and type of attack. We found that the reception, tempo of attack, second tempo of attack, and power of diagonal attack were predictors of the attack effect in Zone 4. Moreover, placed attacks showed a tendency to not yield a score. In conclusion, winning points in high-level men's volleyball requires excellent receptions, a fast attack tempo and powerfully executed of attacks.

Plant Pest Detection Using an Artificial Nose System: A Review.

PubMed

Cui, Shaoqing; Ling, Peter; Zhu, Heping; Keener, Harold M

2018-01-28

This paper reviews artificial intelligent noses (or electronic noses) as a fast and noninvasive approach for the diagnosis of insects and diseases that attack vegetables and fruit trees. The particular focus is on bacterial, fungal, and viral infections, and insect damage. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from plants, which provide functional information about the plant's growth, defense, and health status, allow for the possibility of using noninvasive detection to monitor plants status. Electronic noses are comprised of a sensor array, signal conditioning circuit, and pattern recognition algorithms. Compared with traditional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques, electronic noses are noninvasive and can be a rapid, cost-effective option for several applications. However, using electronic noses for plant pest diagnosis is still in its early stages, and there are challenges regarding sensor performance, sampling and detection in open areas, and scaling up measurements. This review paper introduces each element of electronic nose systems, especially commonly used sensors and pattern recognition methods, along with their advantages and limitations. It includes a comprehensive comparison and summary of applications, possible challenges, and potential improvements of electronic nose systems for different plant pest diagnoses.

Theoretical analysis of the electronic properties of the sex pheromone and its analogue derivatives in the female processionary moth Thaumetopoea pytiocampa.

PubMed

Chamorro, Ester R; Sequeira, Alfredo F; Zalazar, M Fernanda; Peruchena, Nélida M

2008-09-15

In the present work, the distribution of the electronic charge density of the natural sex pheromone, the (Z)-13-hexadecen-11-ynyl acetate, in the female processionary moth, Thaumetopoea pytiocampa, and its nine analogue derivatives was studied within the framework of the Density Functional Theory and the Atoms in Molecules (AIM) Theory at B3LYP/6-31G *//B3LYP/6-31++G * * level. Additionally, molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) maps of the previously mentioned compounds were computed and compared. Furthermore, the substitution of hydrogen atoms from the methyl group in the acetate group by electron withdrawing substituents (i.e., halogen atoms) as well as the replacement effect of hydrogen by electron donor substituents (+I effect) as methyl group, were explored. The key feature of the topological distribution of the charge density in analogue compounds, such as the variations of the topological properties encountered in the region formed by neighbouring atoms from the substitution site were presented and discussed. Using topological parameters, such as electronic charge density, Laplacian, kinetic energy density, and potential energy density evaluated at bond critical points (BCP), we provide here a detailed analysis of the nature of the chemical bonding of these molecules. In addition, the atomic properties (population, charge, energy, volume, and dipole moment) were determined on selected atoms. These properties were analyzed at the substitution site (with respect to the natural sex pheromone) and related to the biological activity and to the possible binding site with the pheromone binding protein, (PBP). Moreover, the Laplacian function of the electronic density was used to locate electrophilic regions susceptible to be attacked (by deficient electron atoms or donor hydrogen). Our results indicate that the change in the atomic properties, such as electronic population and atomic volume, are sensitive indicators of the loss of the biological activity in the analogues studied here. The crucial interaction between the acetate group of the natural sex pheromone and the PBP is most likely to be a hydrogen bonding and the substitution of hydrogen atoms by electronegative atoms in the pheromone molecule reduces the hydrogen acceptor capacity. This situation is mirrored by the diminish of the electronic population on carbon and oxygen atoms at the carbonylic group in the halo-acetate group. Additionally, the modified acetate group (with electronegative atoms) shows new charge concentration critical points or regions of concentration of charge density in which an electrophilic attack can also occur. Finally, the use of the topological analysis based in the charge density distribution and its Laplacian function, in conjunction with MEP maps provides valuable information about the steric volume and electronic requirement of the sex pheromone for binding to the PBP.

Breakthrough attacks in patients with hereditary angioedema receiving long-term prophylaxis are responsive to icatibant: findings from the Icatibant Outcome Survey.

PubMed

Aberer, Werner; Maurer, Marcus; Bouillet, Laurence; Zanichelli, Andrea; Caballero, Teresa; Longhurst, Hilary J; Perrin, Amandine; Andresen, Irmgard

2017-01-01

Patients with hereditary angioedema (HAE) due to C1-inhibitor deficiency (C1-INH-HAE) experience recurrent attacks of cutaneous or submucosal edema that may be frequent and severe; prophylactic treatments can be prescribed to prevent attacks. However, despite the use of long-term prophylaxis (LTP), breakthrough attacks are known to occur. We used data from the Icatibant Outcome Survey (IOS) to evaluate the characteristics of breakthrough attacks and the effectiveness of icatibant as a treatment option. Data on LTP use, attacks, and treatments were recorded. Attack characteristics, treatment characteristics, and outcomes (time to treatment, time to resolution, and duration of attack) were compared for attacks that occurred with versus without LTP. Data on 3228 icatibant-treated attacks from 448 patients with C1-INH-HAE were analyzed; 30.1% of attacks occurred while patients were using LTP. Attack rate, attack severity, and the distribution of attack sites were similar across all types of LTP used, and were comparable to the results found in patients who did not receive LTP. Attacks were successfully treated with icatibant; 82.5% of all breakthrough attacks were treated with a single icatibant injection without C1-INH rescue medication. Treatment outcomes were comparable for breakthrough attacks across all LTP types, and for attacks without LTP. Patients who use LTP should be aware that breakthrough attacks can occur, and such attacks can be severe. Thus, patients with C1-INH-HAE using LTP should have emergency treatment readily available. Data from IOS show that icatibant is effective for the treatment of breakthrough attacks. Trial Registration NCT01034969.

A graph-based network-vulnerability analysis system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Swiler, L.P.; Phillips, C.; Gaylor, T.

1998-05-03

This paper presents a graph based approach to network vulnerability analysis. The method is flexible, allowing analysis of attacks from both outside and inside the network. It can analyze risks to a specific network asset, or examine the universe of possible consequences following a successful attack. The analysis system requires as input a database of common attacks, broken into atomic steps, specific network configuration and topology information, and an attacker profile. The attack information is matched with the network configuration information and an attacker profile to create a superset attack graph. Nodes identify a stage of attack, for example themore » class of machines the attacker has accessed and the user privilege level he or she has compromised. The arcs in the attack graph represent attacks or stages of attacks. By assigning probabilities of success on the arcs or costs representing level of effort for the attacker, various graph algorithms such as shortest path algorithms can identify the attack paths with the highest probability of success.« less

A graph-based network-vulnerability analysis system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Swiler, L.P.; Phillips, C.; Gaylor, T.

1998-01-01

This report presents a graph-based approach to network vulnerability analysis. The method is flexible, allowing analysis of attacks from both outside and inside the network. It can analyze risks to a specific network asset, or examine the universe of possible consequences following a successful attack. The analysis system requires as input a database of common attacks, broken into atomic steps, specific network configuration and topology information, and an attacker profile. The attack information is matched with the network configuration information and an attacker profile to create a superset attack graph. Nodes identify a stage of attack, for example the classmore » of machines the attacker has accessed and the user privilege level he or she has compromised. The arcs in the attack graph represent attacks or stages of attacks. By assigning probabilities of success on the arcs or costs representing level-of-effort for the attacker, various graph algorithms such as shortest-path algorithms can identify the attack paths with the highest probability of success.« less

Method and tool for network vulnerability analysis

DOEpatents

Swiler, Laura Painton [Albuquerque, NM; Phillips, Cynthia A [Albuquerque, NM

2006-03-14

A computer system analysis tool and method that will allow for qualitative and quantitative assessment of security attributes and vulnerabilities in systems including computer networks. The invention is based on generation of attack graphs wherein each node represents a possible attack state and each edge represents a change in state caused by a single action taken by an attacker or unwitting assistant. Edges are weighted using metrics such as attacker effort, likelihood of attack success, or time to succeed. Generation of an attack graph is accomplished by matching information about attack requirements (specified in "attack templates") to information about computer system configuration (contained in a configuration file that can be updated to reflect system changes occurring during the course of an attack) and assumed attacker capabilities (reflected in "attacker profiles"). High risk attack paths, which correspond to those considered suited to application of attack countermeasures given limited resources for applying countermeasures, are identified by finding "epsilon optimal paths."

FLEET Velocimetry Measurements on a Transonic Airfoil

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burns, Ross A.; Danehy, Paul M.

2017-01-01

Femtosecond laser electronic excitation tagging (FLEET) velocimetry was used to study the flowfield around a symmetric, transonic airfoil in the NASA Langley 0.3-m TCT facility. A nominal Mach number of 0.85 was investigated with a total pressure of 125 kPa and total temperature of 280 K. Two-components of velocity were measured along vertical profiles at different locations above, below, and aft of the airfoil at angles of attack of 0 deg, 3.5 deg, and 7deg. Measurements were assessed for their accuracy, precision, dynamic range, spatial resolution, and overall measurement uncertainty in the context of the applied flowfield. Measurement precisions as low as 1 m/s were observed, while overall uncertainties ranged from 4 to 5 percent. Velocity profiles within the wake showed sufficient accuracy, precision, and sensitivity to resolve both the mean and fluctuating velocities and general flow physics such as shear layer growth. Evidence of flow separation is found at high angles of attack.

True random bit generators based on current time series of contact glow discharge electrolysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rojas, Andrea Espinel; Allagui, Anis; Elwakil, Ahmed S.; Alawadhi, Hussain

2018-05-01

Random bit generators (RBGs) in today's digital information and communication systems employ a high rate physical entropy sources such as electronic, photonic, or thermal time series signals. However, the proper functioning of such physical systems is bound by specific constrains that make them in some cases weak and susceptible to external attacks. In this study, we show that the electrical current time series of contact glow discharge electrolysis, which is a dc voltage-powered micro-plasma in liquids, can be used for generating random bit sequences in a wide range of high dc voltages. The current signal is quantized into a binary stream by first using a simple moving average function which makes the distribution centered around zero, and then applying logical operations which enables the binarized data to pass all tests in industry-standard randomness test suite by the National Institute of Standard Technology. Furthermore, the robustness of this RBG against power supply attacks has been examined and verified.

Cybersecurity in healthcare: A narrative review of trends, threats and ways forward.

PubMed

Coventry, Lynne; Branley, Dawn

2018-07-01

Electronic healthcare technology is prevalent around the world and creates huge potential to improve clinical outcomes and transform care delivery. However, there are increasing concerns relating to the security of healthcare data and devices. Increased connectivity to existing computer networks has exposed medical devices to new cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Healthcare is an attractive target for cybercrime for two fundamental reasons: it is a rich source of valuable data and its defences are weak. Cybersecurity breaches include stealing health information and ransomware attacks on hospitals, and could include attacks on implanted medical devices. Breaches can reduce patient trust, cripple health systems and threaten human life. Ultimately, cybersecurity is critical to patient safety, yet has historically been lax. New legislation and regulations are in place to facilitate change. This requires cybersecurity to become an integral part of patient safety. Changes are required to human behaviour, technology and processes as part of a holistic solution. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of White Bentonite Modified by Acid Attack

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrade, C. G. Bastos; Fermino, D. M.; Fernandes, M. G.; Valenzuela-Diaz, F. R.

For industrial use, the smectite clays must be cleared of impurities, usually obtained by acid modification, using a high concentration solution of inorganic acid at temperatures under boiling point. In the present paper, a sample of white bentonite from Paraiba, Brazil, was modified by hydrochloric acid under moderate conditions (90°C, reaction times of 1, 6, 12, 18 and 24hours in close reactor, concentration of the aqueous solution of hydrochloric acid 1.5 M, acid solution/clay ratio of 1g/10mL). The purpose of these attacks is to reduce the concentration of impurities with minimal change in the clay minerals structure. The modified samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), Stereomicroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Detector (EDS). Thus, this modified bentonite tends to be a good economic and environmental alternative in manufacturing of products with high added value such as cosmetics and polymer/clay nanocomposites.

Fast Plasma Instrument for MMS: Data Compression Simulation Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barrie, A.; Adrian, M. L.; Yeh, P.; Winkert, G.; Lobell, J.; Vinas, A. F.; Simpson, D. G.

2009-12-01

Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission will study small-scale reconnection structures and their rapid motions from closely spaced platforms using instruments capable of high angular, energy, and time resolution measurements. To meet these requirements, the Fast Plasma Instrument (FPI) consists of eight (8) identical half top-hat electron sensors and eight (8) identical ion sensors and an Instrument Data Processing Unit (IDPU). The sensors (electron or ion) are grouped into pairs whose 6° x 180° fields-of-view (FOV) are set 90° apart. Each sensor is equipped with electrostatic aperture steering to allow the sensor to scan a 45° x 180° fan about the its nominal viewing (0° deflection) direction. Each pair of sensors, known as the Dual Electron Spectrometer (DES) and the Dual Ion Spectrometer (DIS), occupies a quadrant on the MMS spacecraft and the combination of the eight electron/ion sensors, employing aperture steering, image the full-sky every 30-ms (electrons) and 150-ms (ions), respectively. To probe the diffusion regions of reconnection, the highest temporal/spatial resolution mode of FPI results in the DES complement of a given spacecraft generating 6.5-Mb s-1 of electron data while the DIS generates 1.1-Mb s-1 of ion data yielding an FPI total data rate of 6.6-Mb s-1. The FPI electron/ion data is collected by the IDPU then transmitted to the Central Data Instrument Processor (CIDP) on the spacecraft for science interest ranking. Only data sequences that contain the greatest amount of temporal/spatial structure will be intelligently down-linked by the spacecraft. Currently, the FPI data rate allocation to the CIDP is 1.5-Mb s-1. Consequently, the FPI-IDPU must employ data/image compression to meet this CIDP telemetry allocation. Here, we present updated simulations of the CCSDS 122.0-B-1 algorithm-based compression of the FPI-DES electron data as well as the FPI-DIS ion data. Compression analysis is based upon a seed of re-processed Cluster/PEACE electron measurements and Cluster/CIS ion measurements. Topics to be discussed include: (i) Review of compression algorithm; (ii) Data quality; (iii) Data formatting/organization; (iv) Compression optimization; (v) Investigation of pseudo-log precompression; and (vi) Analysis of compression effectiveness for burst mode as well as fast survey mode data packets for both electron and ion data We conclude with a presentation of the current base-lined FPI data compression approach.

About Heart Attacks

MedlinePlus

... Artery Disease Venous Thromboembolism Aortic Aneurysm More About Heart Attacks Updated:Jan 11,2018 A heart attack is ... coronary artery damage leads to a heart attack . Heart Attack Questions and Answers What is a heart attack? ...

A graph-based system for network-vulnerability analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Swiler, L.P.; Phillips, C.

1998-06-01

This paper presents a graph-based approach to network vulnerability analysis. The method is flexible, allowing analysis of attacks from both outside and inside the network. It can analyze risks to a specific network asset, or examine the universe of possible consequences following a successful attack. The graph-based tool can identify the set of attack paths that have a high probability of success (or a low effort cost) for the attacker. The system could be used to test the effectiveness of making configuration changes, implementing an intrusion detection system, etc. The analysis system requires as input a database of common attacks,more » broken into atomic steps, specific network configuration and topology information, and an attacker profile. The attack information is matched with the network configuration information and an attacker profile to create a superset attack graph. Nodes identify a stage of attack, for example the class of machines the attacker has accessed and the user privilege level he or she has compromised. The arcs in the attack graph represent attacks or stages of attacks. By assigning probabilities of success on the arcs or costs representing level-of-effort for the attacker, various graph algorithms such as shortest-path algorithms can identify the attack paths with the highest probability of success.« less

Gas Phase Ion-Molecule Chemistry of Carbon, Nitrogen and Oxygen Compounds.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-01-29

silyl anions aza allyl anion) phosphide anion sulfides) Reactivity; nitrite estersj electron affinityMechanism’, sulfur dioxidej. (cont’d) M L..J A6*rAcr...use of silane chemistry to attack a problem of fundamental importance to all organic chemistry, the relative acidity of the alkanes.20 While it is well...alkane lost are a measure of the relative acidity of RH. For example, because ethane is lost less easily than methane, we believe that the ethyl anion

Evaluation of potassium titanate as a component of alkaline fuel cell matrices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Post, R. E.

1976-01-01

Various forms of potassium titanate were found to have almost complete resistance to chemical attack in 45 wt % KOH at 150 C (423 K) for up to 9600 hours. Electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction disclosed important differences with respect to fibricity and stability. The octatitanate appeared to possess the best combination of properties. It was concluded that potassium titanate could be produced in a more asbestos-like form. Fiber dispersion is important in matrix manufacture.

Policing Toward a De-Clawed Jihad: Antiterrorism Intelligence Techniques for Law Enforcement

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-12-01

particularly young Muslim adults who prefer the Internet as their primary news source over traditional print and broadcast media.35 Al-Qa’eda boasts a...first-hand knowledge and helped me give this thesis some real-world perspective. And whenever I’d feel the crunch, I’d reflect on Chuck Daenzer’s...Qa’eda hackers might disrupt an electronic commerce system or launch a denial of service attack, temporarily disabling part of a network, but such an

The Continuing War Against IEDs. The WSTIAC 10: IED Defeat Stealthy Antennas. WSTIAC Quarterly, Volume 8, Number 2

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-01

Insect 0.001 -30 0.0001 -40 PLASMA ANTENNAS A new antenna made of plasma (a gas heated to the point that the electrons are ripped free of atoms and...criti- cal points about using our contract: • The scope must be weapon system related • The effort must involve some aspect of research and development...effects of IED detonation at the point of attack. These include route clearance, device neutralization, explosive detection, mili- tary explosive

Synthesis and Properties of N7O+ (PREPRINT)

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-11-23

isolated by pumping off the solvent and gaseous products at low temperature. With an excess of HN3, replacement of the second fluorine atom started to...was analyzed and involves the electrophilic attack of the terminal gamma-N atom of one azide ligand on the electron rich alpha-N atom of the second...Chem. Soc. 1995, 117, 6136. (8) Christe, K. O., Wilson, W. W., Schack, C. J., J. Fluorine . Chem. 1978, 11, 71. (9) Moller, C., Plesset, M. S., Phys

Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation: Department of Defense Public Key Infrastructure and Key Management Infrastructure Token Protection Profile (Medium Robustness)

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-03-22

may be derived from detailed inspection of the IC itself or from illicit appropriation of design information. Counterfeit smart cards can be mass...Infrastructure (PKI) as the Internet to securely and privately exchange data and money through the use of a public and a private cryptographic key pair...interference devices (SQDIS), electrical testing, and electron beam testing. • Other attacks, such as UV or X-rays or high temperatures, could cause erasure

Application of Cellular Automata to Detection of Malicious Network Packets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Robert L.

2014-01-01

A problem in computer security is identification of attack signatures in network packets. An attack signature is a pattern of bits that characterizes a particular attack. Because there are many kinds of attacks, there are potentially many attack signatures. Furthermore, attackers may seek to avoid detection by altering the attack mechanism so that…

Cooperating attackers in neural cryptography.

PubMed

Shacham, Lanir N; Klein, Einat; Mislovaty, Rachel; Kanter, Ido; Kinzel, Wolfgang

2004-06-01

A successful attack strategy in neural cryptography is presented. The neural cryptosystem, based on synchronization of neural networks by mutual learning, has been recently shown to be secure under different attack strategies. The success of the advanced attacker presented here, called the "majority-flipping attacker," does not decay with the parameters of the model. This attacker's outstanding success is due to its using a group of attackers which cooperate throughout the synchronization process, unlike any other attack strategy known. An analytical description of this attack is also presented, and fits the results of simulations.

Terrorist Attacks Escalate in Frequency and Fatalities Preceding Highly Lethal Attacks

PubMed Central

Martens, Andy; Sainudiin, Raazesh; Sibley, Chris G.; Schimel, Jeff; Webber, David

2014-01-01

Highly lethal terrorist attacks, which we define as those killing 21 or more people, account for 50% of the total number of people killed in all terrorist attacks combined, yet comprise only 3.5% of terrorist attacks. Given the disproportionate influence of these incidents, uncovering systematic patterns in attacks that precede and anticipate these highly lethal attacks may be of value for understanding attacks that exact a heavy toll on life. Here we examined whether the activity of terrorist groups escalates–both in the number of people killed per attack and in the frequency of attacks–leading up to highly lethal attacks. Analyses of terrorist attacks drawn from a state-of-the-art international terrorism database (The Global Terrorism Database) showed evidence for both types of escalation leading up to highly lethal attacks, though complexities to the patterns emerged as well. These patterns of escalation do not emerge among terrorist groups that never commit a highly lethal attack. PMID:24755753

One Electron-Initiated Two-Electron Oxidation of Water by Aluminum Porphyrins with Earth's Most Abundant Metal.

PubMed

Kuttassery, Fazalurahman; Mathew, Siby; Sagawa, Shogo; Remello, Sebastian Nybin; Thomas, Arun; Yamamoto, Daisuke; Onuki, Satomi; Nabetani, Yu; Tachibana, Hiroshi; Inoue, Haruo

2017-05-09

We report herein a new molecular catalyst for efficient water splitting, aluminum porphyrins (tetra-methylpyridiniumylporphyrinatealuminum: AlTMPyP), containing earth's most abundant metal as the central ion. One-electron oxidation of the aluminum porphyrin initiates the two-electron oxidation of water to form hydrogen peroxide as the primary reaction product with the lowest known overpotential (97 mV). The aluminum-peroxo complex was detected by a cold-spray ionization mass-spectrometry in high-resolution MS (HRMS) mode and the structure of the intermediate species was further confirmed using laser Raman spectroscopy, indicating the hydroperoxy complex of AlTMPyP to be the key intermediate in the reaction. The two-electron oxidation of water to form hydrogen peroxide was essentially quantitative, with a Faradaic efficiency of 99 %. The catalytic reaction was found to be highly efficient, with a turnover frequency up to ∼2×10 4  s -1 . A reaction mechanism is proposed involving oxygen-oxygen bond formation by the attack of a hydroxide ion on the oxyl-radical-like axial ligand oxygen atom in the one-electron-oxidized form of AlTMPyP(O - ) 2 , followed by a second electron transfer to the electrode. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Causal Attribution, Perceived Benefits, and Morbidity After a Heart Attack: An 8-Year Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Affleck, Glenn; And Others

1987-01-01

Interviewed heart attack victims (N=287) seven weeks and eight years after their attack. Explored interrelations among causal attributions for the attack, survivor morbidity, and heart attack recurrence. Found that patients who cited benefits from their misfortune seven weeks after the first attack were less likely to have another attack and had…

On Patarin's Attack against the lIC Scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogura, Naoki; Uchiyama, Shigenori

In 2007, Ding et al. proposed an attractive scheme, which is called the l-Invertible Cycles (lIC) scheme. lIC is one of the most efficient multivariate public-key cryptosystems (MPKC); these schemes would be suitable for using under limited computational resources. In 2008, an efficient attack against lIC using Gröbner basis algorithms was proposed by Fouque et al. However, they only estimated the complexity of their attack based on their experimental results. On the other hand, Patarin had proposed an efficient attack against some multivariate public-key cryptosystems. We call this attack Patarin's attack. The complexity of Patarin's attack can be estimated by finding relations corresponding to each scheme. In this paper, we propose an another practical attack against the lIC encryption/signature scheme. We estimate the complexity of our attack (not experimentally) by adapting Patarin's attack. The attack can be also applied to the lIC- scheme. Moreover, we show some experimental results of a practical attack against the lIC/lIC- schemes. This is the first implementation of both our proposed attack and an attack based on Gröbner basis algorithm for the even case, that is, a parameter l is even.

Electronic Repair Concepts for Long-Duration Spaceflight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Easton, John; Pettegrew, Richard D.; Struk, Peter M.

2007-01-01

Constraints on the mass and volume that can be allocated for electronics spares and repair equipment on long-duration space missions mean that NASA must look at repair strategies beyond the traditional approach, which has been to replace faulty subsystems in a modular form, termed Orbital Replacement Units or Line Replacement Units. Other possible strategies include component and board-level replacement, modular designs that allow reprogramming of less-critical systems to take the place of more critical failed systems, and a blended approach which uses elements of each of these approaches, along with a limited number of Line Replacement Units. This paper presents some of the constraints and considerations that affect the decision on how to approach electronics repair for long duration space missions, and discusses the benefits and limitations of each of the previously mentioned strategies.

Clinic Workflow Simulations using Secondary EHR Data

PubMed Central

Hribar, Michelle R.; Biermann, David; Read-Brown, Sarah; Reznick, Leah; Lombardi, Lorinna; Parikh, Mansi; Chamberlain, Winston; Yackel, Thomas R.; Chiang, Michael F.

2016-01-01

Clinicians today face increased patient loads, decreased reimbursements and potential negative productivity impacts of using electronic health records (EHR), but have little guidance on how to improve clinic efficiency. Discrete event simulation models are powerful tools for evaluating clinical workflow and improving efficiency, particularly when they are built from secondary EHR timing data. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that these simulation models can be used for resource allocation decision making as well as for evaluating novel scheduling strategies in outpatient ophthalmology clinics. Key findings from this study are that: 1) secondary use of EHR timestamp data in simulation models represents clinic workflow, 2) simulations provide insight into the best allocation of resources in a clinic, 3) simulations provide critical information for schedule creation and decision making by clinic managers, and 4) simulation models built from EHR data are potentially generalizable. PMID:28269861

Machine Learning Methods for Attack Detection in the Smart Grid.

PubMed

Ozay, Mete; Esnaola, Inaki; Yarman Vural, Fatos Tunay; Kulkarni, Sanjeev R; Poor, H Vincent

2016-08-01

Attack detection problems in the smart grid are posed as statistical learning problems for different attack scenarios in which the measurements are observed in batch or online settings. In this approach, machine learning algorithms are used to classify measurements as being either secure or attacked. An attack detection framework is provided to exploit any available prior knowledge about the system and surmount constraints arising from the sparse structure of the problem in the proposed approach. Well-known batch and online learning algorithms (supervised and semisupervised) are employed with decision- and feature-level fusion to model the attack detection problem. The relationships between statistical and geometric properties of attack vectors employed in the attack scenarios and learning algorithms are analyzed to detect unobservable attacks using statistical learning methods. The proposed algorithms are examined on various IEEE test systems. Experimental analyses show that machine learning algorithms can detect attacks with performances higher than attack detection algorithms that employ state vector estimation methods in the proposed attack detection framework.

Split-second escape decisions in blue tits (Parus caeruleus)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lind, Johan; Kaby, Ulrika; Jakobsson, Sven

2002-07-01

Bird mortality is heavily affected by birds of prey. Under attack, take-off is crucial for survival and even minor mistakes in initial escape response can have devastating consequences. Birds may respond differently depending on the character of the predator's attack and these split-second decisions were studied using a model merlin (Falco columbarius) that attacked feeding blue tits (Parus caeruleus) from two different attack angles in two different speeds. When attacked from a low attack angle they took off more steeply than when attacked from a high angle. This is the first study to show that escape behaviour also depends on predator attack speed. The blue tits responded to a high-speed attack by dodging sideways more often than when attacked at a low speed. Escape speed was not significantly affected by the different treatments. Although they have only a split-second before escaping an attack, blue tits do adjust their escape strategy to the prevailing attack conditions.

Hybrid attacks on model-based social recommender systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Junliang; Gao, Min; Rong, Wenge; Li, Wentao; Xiong, Qingyu; Wen, Junhao

2017-10-01

With the growing popularity of the online social platform, the social network based approaches to recommendation emerged. However, because of the open nature of rating systems and social networks, the social recommender systems are susceptible to malicious attacks. In this paper, we present a certain novel attack, which inherits characteristics of the rating attack and the relation attack, and term it hybrid attack. Furtherly, we explore the impact of the hybrid attack on model-based social recommender systems in multiple aspects. The experimental results show that, the hybrid attack is more destructive than the rating attack in most cases. In addition, users and items with fewer ratings will be influenced more when attacked. Last but not the least, the findings suggest that spammers do not depend on the feedback links from normal users to become more powerful, the unilateral links can make the hybrid attack effective enough. Since unilateral links are much cheaper, the hybrid attack will be a great threat to model-based social recommender systems.

Detecting Pulsing Denial-of-Service Attacks with Nondeterministic Attack Intervals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Xiapu; Chan, Edmond W. W.; Chang, Rocky K. C.

2009-12-01

This paper addresses the important problem of detecting pulsing denial of service (PDoS) attacks which send a sequence of attack pulses to reduce TCP throughput. Unlike previous works which focused on a restricted form of attacks, we consider a very broad class of attacks. In particular, our attack model admits any attack interval between two adjacent pulses, whether deterministic or not. It also includes the traditional flooding-based attacks as a limiting case (i.e., zero attack interval). Our main contribution is Vanguard, a new anomaly-based detection scheme for this class of PDoS attacks. The Vanguard detection is based on three traffic anomalies induced by the attacks, and it detects them using a CUSUM algorithm. We have prototyped Vanguard and evaluated it on a testbed. The experiment results show that Vanguard is more effective than the previous methods that are based on other traffic anomalies (after a transformation using wavelet transform, Fourier transform, and autocorrelation) and detection algorithms (e.g., dynamic time warping).

Cyber-Physical Attacks With Control Objectives

DOE PAGES

Chen, Yuan; Kar, Soummya; Moura, Jose M. F.

2017-08-18

This study studies attackers with control objectives against cyber-physical systems (CPSs). The goal of the attacker is to counteract the CPS's controller and move the system to a target state while evading detection. We formulate a cost function that reflects the attacker's goals, and, using dynamic programming, we show that the optimal attack strategy reduces to a linear feedback of the attacker's state estimate. By changing the parameters of the cost function, we show how an attacker can design optimal attacks to balance the control objective and the detection avoidance objective. In conclusion, we provide a numerical illustration based onmore » a remotely controlled helicopter under attack.« less

Cyber-Physical Attacks With Control Objectives

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Yuan; Kar, Soummya; Moura, Jose M. F.

This study studies attackers with control objectives against cyber-physical systems (CPSs). The goal of the attacker is to counteract the CPS's controller and move the system to a target state while evading detection. We formulate a cost function that reflects the attacker's goals, and, using dynamic programming, we show that the optimal attack strategy reduces to a linear feedback of the attacker's state estimate. By changing the parameters of the cost function, we show how an attacker can design optimal attacks to balance the control objective and the detection avoidance objective. In conclusion, we provide a numerical illustration based onmore » a remotely controlled helicopter under attack.« less

Movement, resting, and attack behaviors of wild pumas are revealed by tri-axial accelerometer measurements.

PubMed

Wang, Yiwei; Nickel, Barry; Rutishauser, Matthew; Bryce, Caleb M; Williams, Terrie M; Elkaim, Gabriel; Wilmers, Christopher C

2015-01-01

Accelerometers are useful tools for biologists seeking to gain a deeper understanding of the daily behavior of cryptic species. We describe how we used GPS and tri-axial accelerometer (sampling at 64 Hz) collars to monitor behaviors of free-ranging pumas (Puma concolor), which are difficult or impossible to observe in the wild. We attached collars to twelve pumas in the Santa Cruz Mountains, CA from 2010-2012. By implementing Random Forest models, we classified behaviors in wild pumas based on training data from observations and measurements of captive puma behavior. We applied these models to accelerometer data collected from wild pumas and identified mobile and non-mobile behaviors in captive animals with an accuracy rate greater than 96%. Accuracy remained above 95% even after downsampling our accelerometer data to 16 Hz. We were further able to predict low-acceleration movement behavior (e.g. walking) and high-acceleration movement behavior (e.g. running) with 93.8% and 92% accuracy, respectively. We had difficulty predicting non-movement behaviors such as feeding and grooming due to the small size of our training dataset. Lastly, we used model-predicted and field-verified predation events to quantify acceleration characteristics of puma attacks on large prey. These results demonstrate that accelerometers are useful tools for classifying the behaviors of cryptic medium and large-sized terrestrial mammals in their natural habitats and can help scientists gain deeper insight into their fine-scale behavioral patterns. We also show how accelerometer measurements can provide novel insights on the energetics and predation behavior of wild animals. Lastly we discuss the conservation implications of identifying these behavioral patterns in free-ranging species as natural and anthropogenic landscape features influence animal energy allocation and habitat use.

Pre-dispersal predation effect on seed packaging strategies and seed viability.

PubMed

DeSoto, Lucía; Tutor, David; Torices, Rubén; Rodríguez-Echeverría, Susana; Nabais, Cristina

2016-01-01

An increased understanding of intraspecific seed packaging (i.e. seed size/number strategy) variation across different environments may improve current knowledge of the ecological forces that drive seed evolution in plants. In particular, pre-dispersal seed predation may influence seed packaging strategies, triggering a reduction of the resources allocated to undamaged seeds within the preyed fruits. Assessing plant reactions to pre-dispersal seed predation is crucial to a better understanding of predation effects, but the response of plants to arthropod attacks remains unexplored. We have assessed the effect of cone predation on the size and viability of undamaged seeds in populations of Juniperus thurifera with contrasting seed packaging strategies, namely, North African populations with single-large-seeded cones and South European populations with multi-small-seeded cones. Our results show that the incidence of predation was lower on the single-large-seeded African cones than on the multi-small-seeded European ones. Seeds from non-preyed cones were also larger and had a higher germination success than uneaten seeds from preyed cones, but only in populations with multi-seeded cones and in cones attacked by Trisetacus sp., suggesting a differential plastic response to predation. It is possible that pre-dispersal seed predation has been a strong selective pressure in European populations with high cone predation rates, being a process which maintains multi-small-seeded cones and empty seeds as a strategy to save some seeds from predation. Conversely, pre-dispersal predation might not have a strong effect in the African populations with single-large-seeded cones characterized by seed germination and filling rates higher than those in the European populations. Our results indicate that differences in pre-dispersal seed predators and predation levels may affect both selection on and intraspecific variation in seed packaging.

Drought stress leads to systemic induced susceptibility to a nectrotrophic fungus associated with mountain pine beetle in Pinus banksiana seedlings.

PubMed

Klutsch, Jennifer G; Shamoun, Simon Francis; Erbilgin, Nadir

2017-01-01

Conifers have complex defense responses to initial attacks by insects and pathogens that can have cascading effects on success of subsequent colonizers. However, drought can affect a plant's ability to respond to biotic agents by potentially altering the resources needed for the energetically costly production of induced defense chemicals. We investigated the impact of reduced water on induced chemical defenses of jack pine (Pinus banksiana) seedlings from initial attack by biotic agents and resistance to subsequent challenge inoculation with a pathogenic fungal associate of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae), Grosmannia clavigera. Applications of phytohormones (methyl salicylate and methyl jasmonate) and G. clavigera were used for initial induction of defenses. Monoterpene concentrations varied with initial induction from fungal and phytohormone application while watering treatment had no effect. Seedlings treated with G. clavigera and methyl jasmonate had the greatest monoterpene concentrations compared to the control and methyl salicylate-treated seedlings. However, the monoterpene response to the challenge inoculation varied with watering treatments, not with prior induction treatments, with lower monoterpene concentrations in fungal lesions on seedlings in the low to moderate watering treatments compared to normal watering treatment. Furthermore, prior induction from phytohormones resulted in systemic cross-induction of resistance to G. clavigera under normal watering treatment but susceptibility under low watering treatment. Seedlings stressed by low water conditions, which also had lower stomatal conductance than seedlings in the normal watering treatment, likely allocated resources to initial defense response but were left unable to acquire further resources for subsequent responses. Our results demonstrate that drought can affect interactions among tree-infesting organisms through systemic cross-induction of susceptibility.

Drought stress leads to systemic induced susceptibility to a nectrotrophic fungus associated with mountain pine beetle in Pinus banksiana seedlings

PubMed Central

Shamoun, Simon Francis; Erbilgin, Nadir

2017-01-01

Conifers have complex defense responses to initial attacks by insects and pathogens that can have cascading effects on success of subsequent colonizers. However, drought can affect a plant’s ability to respond to biotic agents by potentially altering the resources needed for the energetically costly production of induced defense chemicals. We investigated the impact of reduced water on induced chemical defenses of jack pine (Pinus banksiana) seedlings from initial attack by biotic agents and resistance to subsequent challenge inoculation with a pathogenic fungal associate of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae), Grosmannia clavigera. Applications of phytohormones (methyl salicylate and methyl jasmonate) and G. clavigera were used for initial induction of defenses. Monoterpene concentrations varied with initial induction from fungal and phytohormone application while watering treatment had no effect. Seedlings treated with G. clavigera and methyl jasmonate had the greatest monoterpene concentrations compared to the control and methyl salicylate-treated seedlings. However, the monoterpene response to the challenge inoculation varied with watering treatments, not with prior induction treatments, with lower monoterpene concentrations in fungal lesions on seedlings in the low to moderate watering treatments compared to normal watering treatment. Furthermore, prior induction from phytohormones resulted in systemic cross-induction of resistance to G. clavigera under normal watering treatment but susceptibility under low watering treatment. Seedlings stressed by low water conditions, which also had lower stomatal conductance than seedlings in the normal watering treatment, likely allocated resources to initial defense response but were left unable to acquire further resources for subsequent responses. Our results demonstrate that drought can affect interactions among tree-infesting organisms through systemic cross-induction of susceptibility. PMID:29216258

Development of the automated bunker door by using a microcontroller-system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmad, M. A.; Leo, K. W.; Mohamad, G. H. P.; Ahmad, A.; Hashim, S. A.; Chulan, R. M.; Baijan, A. H.

2018-01-01

The new low energy electron beam accelerator bunker was designed and built locally to allocate a 500 keV electron beam accelerator at Block 43T in Malaysian Nuclear Agency. This bunker is equipped with a locally made radiation shielding door of 10 tons. Originally, this door is moving manually by a wheel and fitted with a gear system. However, it is still heavy and need longer time to operate it manually. To overcome those issues, a new automated control system has been designed and developed. In this paper, the complete steps and design of automated control system based on the microcontroller (PIC16F84A) is described.

Profile of Ambulance Runs at the Kennedy Space Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scarpa, Philip J.

1999-01-01

The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) has four onsite ambulances staffed with Paramedics at two fire stations that respond to 911 Emergency Medical System (EMS) medical dispatches. These ambulances serve over 22,000 NASA, military, government, and contractor employees in an area of approximately 520 square miles. Included in this coverage are several public areas such as beaches, a wildlife refuge and a popular Visitor Center. Reports are filled out on each patient encountered. However. the only element tracked has been the ambulance response time. Now that reports are filed electronically, it is possible to enter them into an electronic database for analysis. Data analyses reveal trends and assist in better allocation of resources.

Systematic review of strategies to manage and allocate scarce resources during mass casualty events.

PubMed

Timbie, Justin W; Ringel, Jeanne S; Fox, D Steven; Pillemer, Francesca; Waxman, Daniel A; Moore, Melinda; Hansen, Cynthia K; Knebel, Ann R; Ricciardi, Richard; Kellermann, Arthur L

2013-06-01

Efficient management and allocation of scarce medical resources can improve outcomes for victims of mass casualty events. However, the effectiveness of specific strategies has never been systematically reviewed. We analyze published evidence on strategies to optimize the management and allocation of scarce resources across a wide range of mass casualty event contexts and study designs. Our literature search included MEDLINE, Scopus, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Global Health, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, from 1990 through late 2011. We also searched the gray literature, using the New York Academy of Medicine's Grey Literature Report and key Web sites. We included both English- and foreign-language articles. We included studies that evaluated strategies used in actual mass casualty events or tested through drills, exercises, or computer simulations. We excluded studies that lacked a comparison group or did not report quantitative outcomes. Data extraction, quality assessment, and strength of evidence ratings were conducted by a single researcher and reviewed by a second; discrepancies were reconciled by the 2 reviewers. Because of heterogeneity in outcome measures, we qualitatively synthesized findings within categories of strategies. From 5,716 potentially relevant citations, 74 studies met inclusion criteria. Strategies included reducing demand for health care services (18 studies), optimizing use of existing resources (50), augmenting existing resources (5), implementing crisis standards of care (5), and multiple categories (4). The evidence was sufficient to form conclusions on 2 strategies, although the strength of evidence was rated as low. First, as a strategy to reduce demand for health care services, points of dispensing can be used to efficiently distribute biological countermeasures after a bioterrorism attack or influenza pandemic, and their organization influences speed of distribution. Second, as a strategy to optimize use of existing resources, commonly used field triage systems do not perform consistently during actual mass casualty events. The number of high-quality studies addressing other strategies was insufficient to support conclusions about their effectiveness because of differences in study context, comparison groups, and outcome measures. Our literature search may have missed key resource management and allocation strategies because of their extreme heterogeneity. Interrater reliability was not assessed for quality assessments or strength of evidence ratings. Publication bias is likely, given the large number of studies reporting positive findings. The current evidence base is inadequate to inform providers and policymakers about the most effective strategies for managing or allocating scarce resources during mass casualty events. Consensus on methodological standards that encompass a range of study designs is needed to guide future research and strengthen the evidence base. Evidentiary standards should be developed to promote consensus interpretations of the evidence supporting individual strategies. Copyright © 2013 American College of Emergency Physicians. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Performance Improvement of Power Analysis Attacks on AES with Encryption-Related Signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, You-Seok; Lee, Young-Jun; Han, Dong-Guk; Kim, Ho-Won; Kim, Hyoung-Nam

A power analysis attack is a well-known side-channel attack but the efficiency of the attack is frequently degraded by the existence of power components, irrelative to the encryption included in signals used for the attack. To enhance the performance of the power analysis attack, we propose a preprocessing method based on extracting encryption-related parts from the measured power signals. Experimental results show that the attacks with the preprocessed signals detect correct keys with much fewer signals, compared to the conventional power analysis attacks.

Attacks on public telephone networks: technologies and challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kosloff, T.; Moore, Tyler; Keller, J.; Manes, Gavin W.; Shenoi, Sujeet

2003-09-01

Signaling System 7 (SS7) is vital to signaling and control in America's public telephone networks. This paper describes a class of attacks on SS7 networks involving the insertion of malicious signaling messages via compromised SS7 network components. Three attacks are discussed in detail: IAM flood attacks, redirection attacks and point code spoofing attacks. Depending on their scale of execution, these attacks can produce effects ranging from network congestion to service disruption. Methods for detecting these denial-of-service attacks and mitigating their effects are also presented.

Novel mechanism of network protection against the new generation of cyber attacks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milovanov, Alexander; Bukshpun, Leonid; Pradhan, Ranjit

2012-06-01

A new intelligent mechanism is presented to protect networks against the new generation of cyber attacks. This mechanism integrates TCP/UDP/IP protocol stack protection and attacker/intruder deception to eliminate existing TCP/UDP/IP protocol stack vulnerabilities. It allows to detect currently undetectable, highly distributed, low-frequency attacks such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, coordinated attacks, botnet, and stealth network reconnaissance. The mechanism also allows insulating attacker/intruder from the network and redirecting the attack to a simulated network acting as a decoy. As a result, network security personnel gain sufficient time to defend the network and collect the attack information. The presented approach can be incorporated into wireless or wired networks that require protection against known and the new generation of cyber attacks.

Fast WEP-Key Recovery Attack Using Only Encrypted IP Packets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teramura, Ryoichi; Asakura, Yasuo; Ohigashi, Toshihiro; Kuwakado, Hidenori; Morii, Masakatu

Conventional efficient key recovery attacks against Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) require specific initialization vectors or specific packets. Since it takes much time to collect the packets sufficiently, any active attack should be performed. An Intrusion Detection System (IDS), however, will be able to prevent the attack. Since the attack logs are stored at the servers, it is possible to prevent such an attack. This paper proposes an algorithm for recovering a 104-bit WEP key from any IP packets in a realistic environment. This attack needs about 36, 500 packets with a success probability 0.5, and the complexity of our attack is equivalent to about 220 computations of the RC4 key setups. Since our attack is passive, it is difficult for both WEP users and administrators to detect our attack.

Aerobic denitration of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene in the presence of phenazine compounds and reduced pyridine nucleotides.

PubMed

Stenuit, Ben; Lamblin, Guillaume; Cornelis, Pierre; Agathos, Spiros N

2012-10-02

Phenazine-containing spent culture supernatants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa concentrated with a C18 solid-phase extraction cartridge initiate NAD(P)H-dependent denitration of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). In this study, TNT denitration was investigated under aerobic conditions using two phenazine secondary metabolites excreted by P. aeruginosa, pyocyanin (Py) and its precursor phenazine-1- carboxylic acid (PCA), and two chemically synthesized pyocyanin analogs, phenazine methosulfate (PMS+) and phenazine ethosulfate (PES+). The biomimetic Py/NAD(P)H/O2 system was characterized and found to extensively denitrate TNT in unbuffered aqueous solution with minor production of toxic amino aromatic derivatives. To a much lesser extent, TNT denitration was also observed with PMS+ and PES+ in the presence of NAD(P)H. No TNT denitration was detected with the biomimetic PCA/NAD(P)H/O2 system. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy analysis of the biomimetic Py/NAD(P)H/O2 system revealed the generation of superoxide radical anions (O2 •−). In vitro TNT degradation experiments in the presence of specific inhibitors of reactive oxygen species suggest a nucleophilic attack of superoxide radical anion followed by TNT denitration through an as yet unknown mechanism. The results of this research confirm the high functional versatility of the redox-active metabolite pyocyanin and the susceptibility of aromatic compounds bearing electron withdrawing substituents, such as nitro groups, to superoxide-driven nucleophilic attack.

Toxicity prediction of PHDDs and phenols in the light of nucleic acid bases and DNA base pair interaction.

PubMed

Mondal Roy, Sutapa; Roy, Debesh R; Sahoo, Suban K

2015-11-01

The applicability of Density Functional Theory (DFT) based descriptors for the development of quantitative structure-toxicity relationships (QSTR) is assessed for two different series of toxic aromatic compounds, viz., polyhalogenated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PHDDs) and phenols (PHs). A series of 20 compounds each for PHDDs and PHs with their experimental toxicities (IC50 and IGC50) is chosen in the present study to develop DFT based efficient quantum chemical parameters (QCPs) for explaining the toxin potential of the considered compounds. A systematic analysis to find out the electron donation/acceptance nature of these selected compounds with the considered model biosystems, viz., nucleic acid (NA) bases and DNA base pairs, is performed to identify potential QCPs. Accordingly, PHDDs is found to be electron acceptors whereas phenols as donors, during their interaction with biosystems. Two parameter regression model is carried out comprising global charge transfer (ΔN), and local Fukui Function's for nucleophilic attack (fk(+)) for PHDDs and the same for electrophilic attack (fk(-)) in case of PHs. It is heartening to note that our chosen descriptors, viz, charge transfer (ΔN) and Fukui Function (fk(±)) plays a crucial role by explaining more than 90% of the observed toxic behavior (in terms of correlation-coefficient, R) of PHDDs and PHs. The developed QCPs, viz., ΔN and fk(±) can be added as the new descriptors in the QSTR parlance. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Male poplars have a stronger ability to balance growth and carbohydrate accumulation than do females in response to a short-term potassium deficiency.

PubMed

Yang, Yanni; Jiang, Hao; Wang, Maolin; Korpelainen, Helena; Li, Chunyang

2015-12-01

Potassium (K) deficiency influences plant performance, such as ion uptake and carbohydrate transport. However, little is known about differences between males and females in response to K deficiency. In this study, dry matter accumulation, photosynthetic capacity, allocation patterns of K(+) , Na(+) and carbohydrates, and ultrastructural changes in males and females of Populus cathayana exposed to K deficiency were investigated. The results indicated that males maintained a significantly higher K(+) content and K(+) /Na(+) ratio in leaves and stems than did females under K deficiency. Moreover, K deficiency significantly increased the sucrose content of females, whereas no significant effect on males was detected. In addition, a comparative analysis showed that males allocated more resources to roots, while females allocated more to leaves, which resulted in sexually different root/shoot (R/S) ratios. Transmission electron microscopic (TEM) observations showed that males suffered fewer injuries than did females. These results suggested that males have a better ability to cope with K deficiency. In addition, the combined effects of salinity and K deficiency on poplars were studied. The results indicated that salt stress aggravates the negative effects caused by K deficiency. Taken together, our study provided evidence for gender-specific strategies in ion and carbohydrate allocation in poplars exposed to a short-term K deficiency. In leaves and stems, the lower K(+) accumulation inhibited sucrose translocation and resulted in a decreased R/S ratio, which may contribute to males having a stronger ability to balance growth and carbohydrate accumulation when compared with females. © 2015 Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society.

Robustness of coevolution in resolving prisoner's dilemma games on interdependent networks subject to attack

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Penghui; Liu, Jing

2017-08-01

Recently, coevolution between strategy and network structure has been established as a rule to resolve social dilemmas and reach optimal situations for cooperation. Many follow-up researches have focused on studying how coevolution helps networks reorganize to deter the defectors and many coevolution methods have been proposed. However, the robustness of the coevolution rules against attacks have not been studied much. Since attacks may directly influence the original evolutionary process of cooperation, the robustness should be an important index while evaluating the quality of a coevolution method. In this paper, we focus on investigating the robustness of an elementary coevolution method in resolving the prisoner's dilemma game upon the interdependent networks. Three different types of time-independent attacks, named as edge attacks, instigation attacks and node attacks have been employed to test its robustness. Through analyzing the simulation results obtained, we find this coevolution method is relatively robust against the edge attack and the node attack as it successfully maintains cooperation in the population over the entire attack range. However, when the instigation probability of the attacked individuals is large or the attack range of instigation attack is wide enough, coevolutionary rule finally fails in maintaining cooperation in the population.

Investigation of accelerating ion triode with magnetic insulation for neutron generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shikanov, A. E.; Kozlovskij, K. I.; Vovchenko, E. D.; Rashchikov, V. I.; Shatokhin, V. L.; Isaev, A. A.

2017-12-01

Vacuum accelerating tube (AT) for neutron generation with the secondary electron emission suppressed by helical line pulse magnetic field which allocated inside accelerating gap in front of hollow conical cathodeis discussed. The central anode was covered by the hollow cathode. This technical solution of AT is an ion triode in which helical line serve as a grid. Computer simulation results of longitudinal magnetic field distributional along the axis are presented.

Privacy: An Overview of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-09-02

the parties to the conversation. Late in the game, the FCC supplied a partial solution when it banned the use of licensed radio equipment to overhear... electromagnetic , photoelectronic or photooptical system that affects interstate or foreign commerce, but does not include – (A) the radio portion of...authorized frequency within the bands allocated to the amateur, citizens band, or general mobile radio services; or (IV) by any marine or aeronautical

Design Considerations for High Energy Electron -- Positron Storage Rings

DOE R&D Accomplishments Database

Richter, B.

1966-11-01

High energy electron-positron storage rings give a way of making a new attack on the most important problems of elementary particle physics. All of us who have worked in the storage ring field designing, building, or using storage rings know this. The importance of that part of storage ring work concerning tests of quantum electrodynamics and mu meson physics is also generally appreciated by the larger physics community. However, I do not think that most of the physicists working tin the elementary particle physics field realize the importance of the contribution that storage ring experiments can make to our understanding of the strongly interacting particles. I would therefore like to spend the next few minutes discussing the sort of things that one can do with storage rings in the strongly interacting particle field.

Hydroxylation of p-substituted phenols by tyrosinase: Further insight into the mechanism of tyrosinase activity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Munoz-Munoz, Jose Luis; Berna, Jose; Garcia-Molina, Maria del Mar

2012-07-27

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The action the copper complexes and tyrosinase on phenols is equivalent. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Isotope effect showed that nucleophilic attack to copper atom may be the slower step. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The value of {rho} (Hammett constant) supports an electrophilic aromatic substitution. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Data obtained in steady state pH 7 conditions support the mechanism of Scheme 1SM. -- Abstract: A study of the monophenolase activity of tyrosinase by measuring the steady state rate with a group of p-substituted monophenols provides the following kinetic information: k{sub cat}{sup m} and the Michaelis constant, K{sub M}{sup m}. Analysis of these data taking into account chemicalmore » shifts of the carbon atom supporting the hydroxyl group ({delta}) and {sigma}{sub p}{sup +}, enables a mechanism to be proposed for the transformation of monophenols into o-diphenols, in which the first step is a nucleophilic attack on the copper atom on the form E{sub ox} (attack of the oxygen of the hydroxyl group of C-1 on the copper atom) followed by an electrophilic attack (attack of the hydroperoxide group on the ortho position with respect to the hydroxyl group of the benzene ring, electrophilic aromatic substitution with a reaction constant {rho} of -1.75). These steps show the same dependency on the electronic effect of the substituent groups in C-4. Furthermore, a study of a solvent deuterium isotope effect on the oxidation of monophenols by tyrosinase points to an appreciable isotopic effect. In a proton inventory study with a series of p-substituted phenols, the representation of k{sub cat}{sup f{sub n}}/k{sub cat}{sup f{sub 0}} against n (atom fractions of deuterium), where k{sub cat}{sup f{sub n}} is the catalytic constant for a molar fraction of deuterium (n) and k{sub cat}{sup f{sub 0}} is the corresponding kinetic parameter in a water solution, was linear for all substrates. These results indicate that only one of the proton transfer processes from the hydroxyl groups involved the catalytic cycle is responsible for the isotope effects. We suggest that this step is the proton transfer from the hydroxyl group of C-1 to the peroxide of the oxytyrosinase form (E{sub ox}). After the nucleophilic attack, the incorporation of the oxygen in the benzene ring occurs by means of an electrophilic aromatic substitution mechanism in which there is no isotopic effect.« less

An exploration of Bureau of Reclamation approaches for managing conflict over diverging science

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burkardt, Nina; Ruell, Emily; Clark, Douglas

2008-01-01

As a major institutional agent supplying Western water resources, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) provides important leadership, technical, and financial resources in water management, serving as the West's "water broker" (Bowersox 2000; Pisani 2003). In recent years, growing numbers of constituencies using water and the over-allocation of water resources have contributed to conflict over the resource in the American West (National Research Council 2004). Although the conflicts arise from many sources, one common theme is that Reclamation managers often must make decisions about water use and allocation when scientific studies provide uncertain or competing recommendations. We conducted a preliminary study of Reclamation water managers and water scientists to try to understand the approaches or techniques they use or consider useful for dealing with scientific conflicts over water allocation and how these compare to techniques found in the relevant literature. We report the results of (1) an electronic survey of Reclamation senior managers and (2) a panel discussion amongst Reclamation senior managers as to the current institutional capabilities for managing diverging scientific findings in water dispute resolution processes. We conclude with a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the different tools and techniques managers reported in the survey and in the panel discussion.

Website creation and resource management: developing collaborative strategies for asynchronous interaction with library users.

PubMed

Hopkins, Mark E; Summers-Ables, Joy E; Clifton, Shari C; Coffman, Michael A

2011-06-01

To make electronic resources available to library users while effectively harnessing intellectual capital within the library, ultimately fostering the library's use of technology to interact asynchronously with its patrons (users). The methods used in the project included: (1) developing a new library website to facilitate the creation, management, accessibility, maintenance and dissemination of library resources; and (2) establishing ownership by those who participated in the project, while creating effective work allocation strategies through the implementation of a content management system that allowed the library to manage cost, complexity and interoperability. Preliminary results indicate that contributors to the system benefit from an increased understanding of the library's resources and add content valuable to library patrons. These strategies have helped promote the manageable creation and maintenance of electronic content in accomplishing the library's goal of interacting with its patrons. Establishment of a contributive system for adding to the library's electronic resources and electronic content has been successful. Further work will look at improving asynchronous interaction, particularly highlighting accessibility of electronic content and resources. © 2010 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2010 Health Libraries Group.

First-principles calculations of electronic transport through graphene with realistic metallic leads

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barraza-Lopez, Salvador; Chou, M. Y.

2009-03-01

We present transmission characteristics for electrons through graphene with realistic metallic contacts. The methodology relies on an in-house version of the electronic transport SMEAGOL code [1], in which the memory required to allocate for the matrices of contact leads and the graphene sheet in the Green's function solver is distributed into more than one processor, for a given electron energy. We are able to accommodate for commensurate graphene-metal supercells which have the correct atomic structure (namely, stress caused by contracting/extending the metal contacts to match the periodicity of graphene is avoided). In addition, and despite of the large size of the leads, the electronic properties and transport are computed at the density-functional theory level [2] within a double-zeta plus polarization basis[3], ensuring the accuracy of the atomic forces in the system, as well as on the final transmission characteristics. [1] A. R. Rocha et al, PRB. 73, 085414 (2006); [2] J. M. Soler et al, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 14, 2745-2779 (2002); [3] J. Junquera et al, PRB 64, 235111 (2001).

Numerical simulation of the optimal two-mode attacks for two-way continuous-variable quantum cryptography in reverse reconciliation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yichen; Li, Zhengyu; Zhao, Yijia; Yu, Song; Guo, Hong

2017-02-01

We analyze the security of the two-way continuous-variable quantum key distribution protocol in reverse reconciliation against general two-mode attacks, which represent all accessible attacks at fixed channel parameters. Rather than against one specific attack model, the expression of secret key rates of the two-way protocol are derived against all accessible attack models. It is found that there is an optimal two-mode attack to minimize the performance of the protocol in terms of both secret key rates and maximal transmission distances. We identify the optimal two-mode attack, give the specific attack model of the optimal two-mode attack and show the performance of the two-way protocol against the optimal two-mode attack. Even under the optimal two-mode attack, the performances of two-way protocol are still better than the corresponding one-way protocol, which shows the advantage of making double use of the quantum channel and the potential of long-distance secure communication using a two-way protocol.

Blind Data Attack on BGP Routers

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-01

implement blind attack protection, leaving long -standing connections, such as Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) sessions, vulnerable to exploitation. This...protection measures should a discovered vulnerability reduce attack complexity. 14. SUBJECT TERMS BGP, TCP, blind attack, blind data attack 15. NUMBER OF...implementations may not properly implement blind attack protection, leaving long -standing connections, such as BorderGateway Protocol (BGP) sessions

Design and construction of an airfoil with controlled flap

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amin, Md. Ruhul; Rahman, S. M. Mahbobur; Mashud, Mohammad; Rabbi, Md. Fazle

2017-06-01

For modern aircrafts maneuvering control and reduction of power loss is a matter of great concern in Aerodynamics. Separation of airflow over the wings of aircraft at high angle of attack or at other situations is a hindrance to proper maneuvering control. As flow separation increases drag force on the aircraft, it consumes excess power. For these reasons much effort and research has gone into the design of aerodynamic surfaces which delay flow separation and keep the local flow attached for as long as possible. One of the simple and cost-effective way is to use a hinged flap on the wing of the aircraft, which lifts and self-adjusts to a position dependent on the aerodynamic forces and flap weight due to reversed flow at increasing angle of attack. There is a limitation of this kind of process. At very high angles of attack, the reversed flow would cause the flap to tip forwards entirely and the effect of the flap would vanish. For recovering this limitation an idea of controlling the movement or rotation of the flap has been proposed in this paper. A light surface was selected as a flap and was coupled to the shaft of a servo motor, which was placed on a model airfoil. For controlling the angle of rotation of the motor as well as the flap arbitrarily, an electronic circuit comprising necessary components was designed and applied to the servo motor successfully.

Outbreaks of influenza-like illness in long-term care facilities in Winnipeg, Canada.

PubMed

Mahmud, Salaheddin M; Thompson, Laura H; Nowicki, Deborah L; Plourde, Pierre J

2013-11-01

Outbreaks of influenza-like illness (ILI) are common in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) and result in significant morbidity and mortality among residents. We describe patterns of reported ILI outbreaks in LTCFs in Winnipeg, Canada, and examine LTCF and outbreak characteristics that influence the clinical outcomes of these outbreaks. We analyzed the electronic records of all ILI outbreaks reported by LTCFs in Winnipeg from 2003 to 2011. Outbreak duration, ILI attack rates among staff and residents, and residents' death rates were calculated by presumed viral etiology, staff vaccination rates, type of influenza chemoprophylaxis used, and time to notification to public health. Of a total of 154 reported outbreaks, most (N=80) were attributed to influenza, and these outbreaks tended to have higher attack and death rates among LTCF residents compared with outbreaks caused by other respiratory viruses (12) or those of unknown etiology (62). About 92% of residents and 38% of staff of the average LTCFs were vaccinated. Chemoprophylaxis was used in 57·5% of influenza outbreaks. Regardless of presumed viral etiology, outbreaks reported within 3 days of onset ended sooner and had lower attack and mortality rates among residents. Influenza-like illness outbreaks still occur among highly immunized LTCF residents, so in addition to vaccination of staff and residents, it is important to maintain competent infection control practices. Early identification and notification to public health authorities and possibly early initiation of control measures could improve clinical outcomes of ILI outbreaks. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Detection of atrial fibrillation after ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Kishore, Amit; Vail, Andy; Majid, Arshad; Dawson, Jesse; Lees, Kennedy R; Tyrrell, Pippa J; Smith, Craig J

2014-02-01

Atrial fibrillation (AF) confers a high risk of recurrent stroke, although detection methods and definitions of paroxysmal AF during screening vary. We therefore undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the frequency of newly detected AF using noninvasive or invasive cardiac monitoring after ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack. Prospective observational studies or randomized controlled trials of patients with ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, or both, who underwent any cardiac monitoring for a minimum of 12 hours, were included after electronic searches of multiple databases. The primary outcome was detection of any new AF during the monitoring period. We prespecified subgroup analysis of selected (prescreened or cryptogenic) versus unselected patients and according to duration of monitoring. A total of 32 studies were analyzed. The overall detection rate of any AF was 11.5% (95% confidence interval, 8.9%-14.3%), although the timing, duration, method of monitoring, and reporting of diagnostic criteria used for paroxysmal AF varied. Detection rates were higher in selected (13.4%; 95% confidence interval, 9.0%-18.4%) than in unselected patients (6.2%; 95% confidence interval, 4.4%-8.3%). There was substantial heterogeneity even within specified subgroups. Detection of AF was highly variable, and the review was limited by small sample sizes and marked heterogeneity. Further studies are required to inform patient selection, optimal timing, methods, and duration of monitoring for detection of AF/paroxysmal AF.

Research on high power intra-channel crosstalk attack in optical networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Shuai; Zhang, Yinfa; Wang, Jingyu; Zhang, Jumei; Rao, Xuejun; Fang, Yuanyuan

2017-02-01

The mechanism of high power intra-channel crosstalk attack is analyzed theoretically and the conclusion that power of attack signal and crosstalk coefficient of optical switch are the main factors for which high power intra-channel have destructive effect on quality of legitimate signals is drawn. Effects of high power intra-channel crosstalk attack on quality of legitimate signals and its capability of attack propagation are investigated quantitatively by building the simulation system in VPI software. The results show that legitimate signals through the first and the second stage optical switch are affected by attack and legitimate signal through the third stage optical switch is almost unaffected by attack when power of original attack signal (OAS) is above 20dB more than that of legitimate signals and crosstalk coefficient of optical switch is -20dB at optical cross connect 1 (OXC1). High power intra-channel crosstalk attack has a certain capability of attack propagation. Attack capability of OAS can be propagated to OXC3 when power of OAS is 27dB more than that of legitimate signals and crosstalk coefficient of optical switch is -20dB. We also find that the secondary attack signal (SAS) does not have capability of attack propagation.

Warning Signs of Heart Attack, Stroke and Cardiac Arrest

MedlinePlus

... a Heart Attack WARNING SIGNS OF HEART ATTACK, STROKE & CARDIAC ARREST HEART ATTACK WARNING SIGNS CHEST DISCOMFORT ... nausea or lightheadedness. Learn more about heart attack STROKE WARNING SIGNS Spot a stroke F.A.S.T.: - ...

The role of mental disorder in attacks on European politicians 1990-2004.

PubMed

James, D V; Mullen, P E; Meloy, J R; Pathé, M T; Farnham, F R; Preston, L; Darnley, B

2007-11-01

The only systematic studies of attacks on public figures come from the USA. These studies de-emphasize the role of mental illness and suggest threats are of no predictive value. This study re-examines these questions through a study of attacks on European politicians. All non-terrorist attacks on elected politicians in Western Europe between 1990 and 2004 were analysed. Twenty-four attacks were identified, including five involving fatalities, and eight serious injuries. Ten attackers were psychotic, four drunk, nine politically motivated and one unclassifiable. Eleven attackers evidenced warning behaviours. The mentally disordered, most of whom gave warnings, were responsible for most of the fatal and seriously injurious attacks. A greater awareness of the link between delusional fixations on public figures and subsequent attacks could aid prevention. Equally importantly, recognition would encourage earlier intervention in people who, irrespective of whether they eventually attack, have delusional preoccupations which ruin their lives.

An Exploration of Hypotheses that Explain Herbivore and Pathogen Attack in Restored Plant Communities

PubMed Central

Blaisdell, G. Kai; Roy, Bitty A.; Pfeifer-Meister, Laurel; Bridgham, Scott D.

2015-01-01

Many hypotheses address the associations of plant community composition with natural enemies, including: (i) plant species diversity may reduce enemy attack, (ii) attack may increase as host abundance increases, (iii) enemy spillover may lead to increased attack on one host species due to transmission from another host species, or enemy dilution may lead to reduced attack on a host that would otherwise have more attack, (iv) physical characteristics of the plant community may influence attack, and (v) plant vigor may affect attack. Restoration experiments with replicated plant communities provide an exceptional opportunity to explore these hypotheses. To explore the relative predictive strengths of these related hypotheses and to investigate the potential effect of several restoration site preparation techniques, we surveyed arthropod herbivore and fungal pathogen attack on the six most common native plant species in a restoration experiment. Multi-model inference revealed a weak but consistent negative correlation with pathogen attack and host diversity across the plant community, and no correlation between herbivory and host diversity. Our analyses also revealed host species-specific relationships between attack and abundance of the target host species, other native plant species, introduced plant species, and physical community characteristics. We found no relationship between enemy attack and plant vigor. We found minimal differences in plant community composition among several diverse site preparation techniques, and limited effects of site preparation techniques on attack. The strongest associations of community characteristics with attack varied among plant species with no community-wide patterns, suggesting that no single hypothesis successfully predicts the dominant community-wide trends in enemy attack. PMID:25699672

Cyber attack analysis on cyber-physical systems: Detectability, severity, and attenuation strategy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwon, Cheolhyeon

Security of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) against malicious cyber attacks is an important yet challenging problem. Since most cyber attacks happen in erratic ways, it is usually intractable to describe and diagnose them systematically. Motivated by such difficulties, this thesis presents a set of theories and algorithms for a cyber-secure architecture of the CPS within the control theoretic perspective. Here, instead of identifying a specific cyber attack model, we are focused on analyzing the system's response during cyber attacks. Firstly, we investigate the detectability of the cyber attacks from the system's behavior under cyber attacks. Specifically, we conduct a study on the vulnerabilities in the CPS's monitoring system against the stealthy cyber attack that is carefully designed to avoid being detected by its detection scheme. After classifying three kinds of cyber attacks according to the attacker's ability to compromise the system, we derive the necessary and sufficient conditions under which such stealthy cyber attacks can be designed to cause the unbounded estimation error while not being detected. Then, the analytical design method of the optimal stealthy cyber attack that maximizes the estimation error is developed. The proposed stealthy cyber attack analysis is demonstrated with illustrative examples on Air Traffic Control (ATC) system and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) navigation system applications. Secondly, in an attempt to study the CPSs' vulnerabilities in more detail, we further discuss a methodology to identify potential cyber threats inherent in the given CPSs and quantify the attack severity accordingly. We then develop an analytical algorithm to test the behavior of the CPS under various cyber attack combinations. Compared to a numerical approach, the analytical algorithm enables the prediction of the most effective cyber attack combinations without computing the severity of all possible attack combinations, thereby greatly reducing the computational cost. The proposed algorithm is validated through a linearized longitudinal motion of a UAV example. Finally, we propose an attack attenuation strategy via the controller design for CPSs that are robust to various types of cyber attacks. While the previous studies have investigated a secure control by assuming a specific attack strategy, in this research we propose a hybrid robust control scheme that contains multiple sub-controllers, each matched to a specific type of cyber attacks. Then the system can be adapted to various cyber attacks (including those that are not assumed for sub-controller design) by switching its sub-controllers to achieve the best performance. Then, a method for designing a secure switching logic to counter all possible cyber attacks is proposed and it verifies mathematically the system's performance and stability as well. The performance of the proposed control scheme is demonstrated by an example with the hybrid H2 - H-infinity controller applied to a UAV example.

How to induce defense responses in wild plant populations? Using bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) as example.

PubMed

Seldal, Tarald; Hegland, Stein Joar; Rydgren, Knut; Rodriguez-Saona, Cesar; Töpper, Joachim Paul

2017-03-01

Inducible plant defense is a beneficial strategy for plants, which imply that plants should allocate resources from growth and reproduction to defense when herbivores attack. Plant ecologist has often studied defense responses in wild populations by biomass clipping experiments, whereas laboratory and greenhouse experiments in addition apply chemical elicitors to induce defense responses. To investigate whether field ecologists could benefit from methods used in laboratory and greenhouse studies, we established a randomized block-design in a pine-bilberry forest in Western Norway. We tested whether we could activate defense responses in bilberry ( Vaccinium myrtillus ) by nine different treatments using clipping (leaf tissue or branch removal) with or without chemical treatment by methyljasmonate (MeJA). We subsequently measured consequences of induced defenses through vegetative growth and insect herbivory during one growing season. Our results showed that only MeJA-treated plants showed consistent defense responses through suppressed vegetative growth and reduced herbivory by leaf-chewing insects, suggesting an allocation of resources from growth to defense. Leaf tissue removal reduced insect herbivory equal to the effect of the MeJa treatments, but had no negative impact on growth. Branch removal did not reduce insect herbivory or vegetative growth. MeJa treatment and clipping combined did not give an additional defense response. In this study, we investigated how to induce defense responses in wild plant populations under natural field conditions. Our results show that using the chemical elicitor MeJA, with or without biomass clipping, may be a better method to induce defense response in field experiments than clipping of leaves or branches that often has been used in ecological field studies.

Finite Energy and Bounded Actuator Attacks on Cyber-Physical Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Djouadi, Seddik M; Melin, Alexander M; Ferragut, Erik M

As control system networks are being connected to enterprise level networks for remote monitoring, operation, and system-wide performance optimization, these same connections are providing vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious actors for attack, financial gain, and theft of intellectual property. Much effort in cyber-physical system (CPS) protection has focused on protecting the borders of the system through traditional information security techniques. Less effort has been applied to the protection of cyber-physical systems from intelligent attacks launched after an attacker has defeated the information security protections to gain access to the control system. In this paper, attacks on actuator signalsmore » are analyzed from a system theoretic context. The threat surface is classified into finite energy and bounded attacks. These two broad classes encompass a large range of potential attacks. The effect of theses attacks on a linear quadratic (LQ) control are analyzed, and the optimal actuator attacks for both finite and infinite horizon LQ control are derived, therefore the worst case attack signals are obtained. The closed-loop system under the optimal attack signals is given and a numerical example illustrating the effect of an optimal bounded attack is provided.« less

Electronic patient registration and tracking at mass vaccination clinics: a clinical study.

PubMed

Billittier, Anthony J; Lupiani, Patrick; Masterson, Gary; Masterson, Tim; Zak, Christopher

2003-01-01

To protect the citizens of the United States from the use of dangerous biological agents, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been actively preparing to deal with the consequences of such an attack. Their plans include the deployment of mass immunization clinics to handle postevent vaccinations. As part of the planning efforts by the Western New York Public Health Alliance, a Web-based electronic patient registration and tracking system was developed and tested at a recent trial smallpox vaccination clinic. Initial goals were to determine what the pitfalls and benefits of using such a system might be in comparison to other methods of data collection. This exercise proved that use of an electronic system capable of scanning two-dimensional bar codes was superior to both paper-based and optical character recognition (OCR) methods of data collection and management. Major improvements in speed and/or accuracy were evident in all areas of the clinic, especially in patient registration, vaccine tracking and postclinic data analysis.

A comparative study on the experimentally derived electron densities of three protease inhibitor model compounds.

PubMed

Grabowsky, Simon; Pfeuffer, Thomas; Morgenroth, Wolfgang; Paulmann, Carsten; Schirmeister, Tanja; Luger, Peter

2008-07-07

In order to contribute to a rational design of optimised protease inhibitors which can covalently block the nucleophilic amino acids of the proteases' active sites, we have chosen three model compounds (aziridine , oxirane and acceptor-substituted olefin ) for the examination of their electron-density distribution. Therefore, high-resolution low temperature (9, 27 and 100 K) X-ray diffraction experiments on single-crystals were carried out with synchrotron and conventional X-radiation. It could be shown by the analysis of the electron density using mainly Bader's Theory of Atoms in Molecules, Volkov's EPMM method for interaction energies, electrostatic potentials and Gatti's Source Function that aziridine is most suitable for drug design in this field. A regioselective nucleophilic attack at carbon atom C1 could be predicted and even hints about the reaction's stereoselectivity could be obtained. Moreover, the comparison between two data sets of aziridine (conventional X-ray source vs. synchrotron radiation) gave an estimate concerning the reproducibility of the quantitative results.

Using Instant Messaging Systems as a Platform for Electronic Voting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meletiadou, Anastasia; Grimm, Rüdiger

Many Instant Messaging (IM) systems like Skype or Spark offer ex tended services such as file sharing, VoIP, or a shared whiteboard. As the name suggests, IM applications are predominantly used for spontaneous text-based communication for private or business purposes. In this paper we explore their potential to serve as platforms for secure collaborative applications like electronic contract negotiation, e-payment or electronic voting. Such applications have to deal with challenges like time constraints (“instant” com munication is desired), integration of media channels and the absence of one uni fying “sphere of control” covering all participants. In this paper, we address these challenges by discussing one particular secure collaborative application: secure decision processes for small groups. We provide the following contribu tions: (1) we define three varying scenarios and corresponding security require ments (2) we present an IM-based architecture implementing these scenarios, in cluding a Video-based authentication mechanism, and (3) we discuss poten tial attack patterns.

Comparative structural and electronic studies of hydrogen interaction with isolated versus ordered silicon nanoribbons grown on Ag(110)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dávila, M. E.; Marele, A.; De Padova, P.; Montero, I.; Hennies, F.; Pietzsch, A.; Shariati, M. N.; Gómez-Rodríguez, J. M.; Le Lay, G.

2012-09-01

We have investigated the geometry and electronic structure of two different types of self-aligned silicon nanoribbons (SiNRs), forming either isolated SiNRs or a self-assembled 5 × 2/5 × 4 grating on an Ag(110) substrate, by scanning tunnelling microscopy and high resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. At room temperature we further adsorb on these SiNRs either atomic or molecular hydrogen. The hydrogen absorption process and hydrogenation mechanism are similar for isolated or 5 × 2/5 × 4 ordered SiNRs and are not site selective; the main difference arises from the fact that the isolated SiNRs are more easily attacked and destroyed faster. In fact, atomic hydrogen strongly interacts with any Si atoms, modifying their structural and electronic properties, while molecular hydrogen has first to dissociate. Hydrogen finally etches the Si nanoribbons and their complete removal from the Ag(110) surface could eventually be expected.

A quantitative and qualitative evaluation of reports of clinical trials published in six Brazilian dental journals indexed in the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO)

PubMed Central

de SOUZA, Raphael Freitas; CHAVES, Carolina de Andrade Lima; CHAVES, Carolina de Andrade Lima; CHAVES, Carolina de Andrade Lima; NASSER, Mona; FEDOROWICZ, Zbys

2010-01-01

Open access publishing is becoming increasingly popular within the biomedical sciences. SciELO, the Scientific Electronic Library Online, is a digital library covering a selected collection of Brazilian scientific journals many of which provide open access to full-text articles. This library includes a number of dental journals some of which may include reports of clinical trials in English, Portuguese and/or Spanish. Thus, SciELO could play an important role as a source of evidence for dental healthcare interventions especially if it yields a sizeable number of high quality reports. Objective The aim of this study was to identify reports of clinical trials by handsearching of dental journals that are accessible through SciELO, and to assess the overall quality of these reports. Material and methods Electronic versions of six Brazilian dental Journals indexed in SciELO were handsearched at www.scielo.br in September 2008. Reports of clinical trials were identified and classified as controlled clinical trials (CCTs - prospective, experimental studies comparing 2 or more healthcare interventions in human beings) or randomized controlled trials (RCTs - a random allocation method is clearly reported), according to Cochrane eligibility criteria. Criteria to assess methodological quality included: method of randomization, concealment of treatment allocation, blinded outcome assessment, handling of withdrawals and losses and whether an intention-totreat analysis had been carried out. Results The search retrieved 33 CCTs and 43 RCTs. A majority of the reports provided no description of either the method of randomization (75.3%) or concealment of the allocation sequence (84.2%). Participants and outcome assessors were reported as blinded in only 31.2% of the reports. Withdrawals and losses were only clearly described in 6.5% of the reports and none mentioned an intention-totreat analysis or any similar procedure. Conclusions The results of this study indicate that a substantial number of reports of trials and systematic reviews are available in the dental journals listed in SciELO, and that these could provide valuable evidence for clinical decision making. However, it is clear that the quality of a number of these reports is of some concern and that improvement in the conduct and reporting of these trials could be achieved if authors adhered to internationally accepted guidelines, e.g. the CONSORT statement. PMID:20485919

A quantitative and qualitative evaluation of reports of clinical trials published in six Brazilian dental journals indexed in the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO).

PubMed

de Souza, Raphael Freitas; Chaves, Carolina de Andrade Lima; Nasser, Mona; Fedorowicz, Zbys

2010-01-01

Open access publishing is becoming increasingly popular within the biomedical sciences. SciELO, the Scientific Electronic Library Online, is a digital library covering a selected collection of Brazilian scientific journals many of which provide open access to full-text articles.This library includes a number of dental journals some of which may include reports of clinical trials in English, Portuguese and/or Spanish. Thus, SciELO could play an important role as a source of evidence for dental healthcare interventions especially if it yields a sizeable number of high quality reports. The aim of this study was to identify reports of clinical trials by handsearching of dental journals that are accessible through SciELO, and to assess the overall quality of these reports. Electronic versions of six Brazilian dental Journals indexed in SciELO were handsearched at www.scielo.br in September 2008. Reports of clinical trials were identified and classified as controlled clinical trials (CCTs - prospective, experimental studies comparing 2 or more healthcare interventions in human beings) or randomized controlled trials (RCTs - a random allocation method is clearly reported), according to Cochrane eligibility criteria. CRITERIA TO ASSESS METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY INCLUDED: method of randomization, concealment of treatment allocation, blinded outcome assessment, handling of withdrawals and losses and whether an intention-to-treat analysis had been carried out. The search retrieved 33 CCTs and 43 RCTs. A majority of the reports provided no description of either the method of randomization (75.3%) or concealment of the allocation sequence (84.2%). Participants and outcome assessors were reported as blinded in only 31.2% of the reports. Withdrawals and losses were only clearly described in 6.5% of the reports and none mentioned an intention-to-treat analysis or any similar procedure. The results of this study indicate that a substantial number of reports of trials and systematic reviews are available in the dental journals listed in SciELO, and that these could provide valuable evidence for clinical decision making. However, it is clear that the quality of a number of these reports is of some concern and that improvement in the conduct and reporting of these trials could be achieved if authors adhered to internationally accepted guidelines, e.g. the CONSORT statement.

Replacement Attack: A New Zero Text Watermarking Attack

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bashardoost, Morteza; Mohd Rahim, Mohd Shafry; Saba, Tanzila; Rehman, Amjad

2017-03-01

The main objective of zero watermarking methods that are suggested for the authentication of textual properties is to increase the fragility of produced watermarks against tampering attacks. On the other hand, zero watermarking attacks intend to alter the contents of document without changing the watermark. In this paper, the Replacement attack is proposed, which focuses on maintaining the location of the words in the document. The proposed text watermarking attack is specifically effective on watermarking approaches that exploit words' transition in the document. The evaluation outcomes prove that tested word-based method are unable to detect the existence of replacement attack in the document. Moreover, the comparison results show that the size of Replacement attack is estimated less accurate than other common types of zero text watermarking attacks.

Design and Analysis of an Enhanced Patient-Server Mutual Authentication Protocol for Telecare Medical Information System.

PubMed

Amin, Ruhul; Islam, S K Hafizul; Biswas, G P; Khan, Muhammad Khurram; Obaidat, Mohammad S

2015-11-01

In order to access remote medical server, generally the patients utilize smart card to login to the server. It has been observed that most of the user (patient) authentication protocols suffer from smart card stolen attack that means the attacker can mount several common attacks after extracting smart card information. Recently, Lu et al.'s proposes a session key agreement protocol between the patient and remote medical server and claims that the same protocol is secure against relevant security attacks. However, this paper presents several security attacks on Lu et al.'s protocol such as identity trace attack, new smart card issue attack, patient impersonation attack and medical server impersonation attack. In order to fix the mentioned security pitfalls including smart card stolen attack, this paper proposes an efficient remote mutual authentication protocol using smart card. We have then simulated the proposed protocol using widely-accepted AVISPA simulation tool whose results make certain that the same protocol is secure against active and passive attacks including replay and man-in-the-middle attacks. Moreover, the rigorous security analysis proves that the proposed protocol provides strong security protection on the relevant security attacks including smart card stolen attack. We compare the proposed scheme with several related schemes in terms of computation cost and communication cost as well as security functionalities. It has been observed that the proposed scheme is comparatively better than related existing schemes.

Simulation of Attacks for Security in Wireless Sensor Network.

PubMed

Diaz, Alvaro; Sanchez, Pablo

2016-11-18

The increasing complexity and low-power constraints of current Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) require efficient methodologies for network simulation and embedded software performance analysis of nodes. In addition, security is also a very important feature that has to be addressed in most WSNs, since they may work with sensitive data and operate in hostile unattended environments. In this paper, a methodology for security analysis of Wireless Sensor Networks is presented. The methodology allows designing attack-aware embedded software/firmware or attack countermeasures to provide security in WSNs. The proposed methodology includes attacker modeling and attack simulation with performance analysis (node's software execution time and power consumption estimation). After an analysis of different WSN attack types, an attacker model is proposed. This model defines three different types of attackers that can emulate most WSN attacks. In addition, this paper presents a virtual platform that is able to model the node hardware, embedded software and basic wireless channel features. This virtual simulation analyzes the embedded software behavior and node power consumption while it takes into account the network deployment and topology. Additionally, this simulator integrates the previously mentioned attacker model. Thus, the impact of attacks on power consumption and software behavior/execution-time can be analyzed. This provides developers with essential information about the effects that one or multiple attacks could have on the network, helping them to develop more secure WSN systems. This WSN attack simulator is an essential element of the attack-aware embedded software development methodology that is also introduced in this work.

Heartburn or Chest Pain: When Is It Heart Attack?

MedlinePlus

Heartburn or heart attack: When to worry Severe heartburn and heart attack can be hard to tell apart. Understand how they typically ... flow to your heart (angina) or an actual heart attack. Heartburn, angina and heart attack may feel very ...

Know the Warning Signs of a Heart Attack

MedlinePlus

... No. 22 Know the Warning Signs of a Heart Attack What is a heart attack? Aheart attack happens when the blood vessels that ... hurting your heart muscle. Another name for a heart attack is myocardial infarction, or MI. If you have ...

Long-term prophylaxis in hereditary angio-oedema: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Casazza, Giovanni; Bossi, Ilaria; Duca, Piergiorgio; Cicardi, Marco

2012-01-01

Objective To systematically review the evidence regarding long-term prophylaxis in the prevention or reduction of attacks in hereditary angio-oedema (HAE). Design Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources Electronic databases were searched up to April 2011. Two reviewers selected the studies and extracted the study data, patient characteristics and outcomes of interest. Eligibility criteria for selected studies Controlled trials for HAE prophylaxis. Results 7 studies were included, for a total of 73 patients and 587 HAE attacks. Due to the paucity of studies, a meta-analysis was not possible. Since two studies did not report the number of HAE attacks, five studies (52 patients) were finally included in the summary analysis. Four classes of drugs with at least one controlled trial have been proposed for HAE prophylaxis. All those drugs, except heparin, were found to be more effective than placebo. In the absence of direct comparisons, the relative efficacies of these drugs were determined by calculating a RR of attacks (drug vs placebo). The results were as follows: danazol (RR=0.023, 95% CI 0.003 to 0.162), methyltestosterone (RR=0.054, 95% CI 0.013 to 0.163), ɛ-aminocaproic acid (RR=0.095, 95% CI 0.025 to 0.356), tranexamic acid (RR=0.308, 95% CI 0.195 to 0.479) and C1-INH 0.491 (95% CI 0.395 to 0.607). Conclusions Few trials have evaluated the benefits of HAE prophylaxis, and all drugs but heparin seem to be effective in this setting. Since there are no direct comparisons of HAE drugs, it was not possible to draw definitive conclusions on the most effective one. Thus, to accumulate evidence for HAE prophylaxis, further studies are needed that consider the dose–efficacy relationship and include a head-to-head comparison between drugs, with the active group, rather than placebo, as the control. PMID:22786946

Percolation of localized attack on isolated and interdependent random networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, Shuai; Huang, Xuqing; Stanley, H. Eugene; Havlin, Shlomo

2014-03-01

Percolation properties of isolated and interdependent random networks have been investigated extensively. The focus of these studies has been on random attacks where each node in network is attacked with the same probability or targeted attack where each node is attacked with a probability being a function of its centrality, such as degree. Here we discuss a new type of realistic attacks which we call a localized attack where a group of neighboring nodes in the networks are attacked. We attack a randomly chosen node, its neighbors, and its neighbor of neighbors and so on, until removing a fraction (1 - p) of the network. This type of attack reflects damages due to localized disasters, such as earthquakes, floods and war zones in real-world networks. We study, both analytically and by simulations the impact of localized attack on percolation properties of random networks with arbitrary degree distributions and discuss in detail random regular (RR) networks, Erdős-Rényi (ER) networks and scale-free (SF) networks. We extend and generalize our theoretical and simulation results of single isolated networks to networks formed of interdependent networks.

Stealthy false data injection attacks using matrix recovery and independent component analysis in smart grid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

JiWei, Tian; BuHong, Wang; FuTe, Shang; Shuaiqi, Liu

2017-05-01

Exact state estimation is vital important to maintain common operations of smart grids. Existing researches demonstrate that state estimation output could be compromised by malicious attacks. However, to construct the attack vectors, a usual presumption in most works is that the attacker has perfect information regarding the topology and so on even such information is difficult to acquire in practice. Recent research shows that Independent Component Analysis (ICA) can be used for inferring topology information which can be used to originate undetectable attacks and even to alter the price of electricity for the profits of attackers. However, we found that the above ICA-based blind attack tactics is merely feasible in the environment with Gaussian noises. If there are outliers (device malfunction and communication errors), the Bad Data Detector will easily detect the attack. Hence, we propose a robust ICA based blind attack strategy that one can use matrix recovery to circumvent the outlier problem and construct stealthy attack vectors. The proposed attack strategies are tested with IEEE representative 14-bus system. Simulations verify the feasibility of the proposed method.

Shilling Attacks Detection in Recommender Systems Based on Target Item Analysis

PubMed Central

Zhou, Wei; Wen, Junhao; Koh, Yun Sing; Xiong, Qingyu; Gao, Min; Dobbie, Gillian; Alam, Shafiq

2015-01-01

Recommender systems are highly vulnerable to shilling attacks, both by individuals and groups. Attackers who introduce biased ratings in order to affect recommendations, have been shown to negatively affect collaborative filtering (CF) algorithms. Previous research focuses only on the differences between genuine profiles and attack profiles, ignoring the group characteristics in attack profiles. In this paper, we study the use of statistical metrics to detect rating patterns of attackers and group characteristics in attack profiles. Another question is that most existing detecting methods are model specific. Two metrics, Rating Deviation from Mean Agreement (RDMA) and Degree of Similarity with Top Neighbors (DegSim), are used for analyzing rating patterns between malicious profiles and genuine profiles in attack models. Building upon this, we also propose and evaluate a detection structure called RD-TIA for detecting shilling attacks in recommender systems using a statistical approach. In order to detect more complicated attack models, we propose a novel metric called DegSim’ based on DegSim. The experimental results show that our detection model based on target item analysis is an effective approach for detecting shilling attacks. PMID:26222882

TANDI: threat assessment of network data and information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holsopple, Jared; Yang, Shanchieh Jay; Sudit, Moises

2006-04-01

Current practice for combating cyber attacks typically use Intrusion Detection Sensors (IDSs) to passively detect and block multi-stage attacks. This work leverages Level-2 fusion that correlates IDS alerts belonging to the same attacker, and proposes a threat assessment algorithm to predict potential future attacker actions. The algorithm, TANDI, reduces the problem complexity by separating the models of the attacker's capability and opportunity, and fuse the two to determine the attacker's intent. Unlike traditional Bayesian-based approaches, which require assigning a large number of edge probabilities, the proposed Level-3 fusion procedure uses only 4 parameters. TANDI has been implemented and tested with randomly created attack sequences. The results demonstrate that TANDI predicts future attack actions accurately as long as the attack is not part of a coordinated attack and contains no insider threats. In the presence of abnormal attack events, TANDI will alarm the network analyst for further analysis. The attempt to evaluate a threat assessment algorithm via simulation is the first in the literature, and shall open up a new avenue in the area of high level fusion.

Subcontract Competition.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-11-01

McAreavy Advanced Attack Helicopter, ATTN;. DRCPM-AAH Target Acquisition Designation System/Pilot Night Vision System, ATTN; nRCPM-AAH-TP USA Aviation...Arabian National Guard Modernization Program, ATTN: DRCPM-NG USA Communications-Electronics Command, ATTN: DRCPM-GARS SMOKE/OBSCURANTS, ATTN; DRCPM...LI~ C.’ t4 oo C) ON )~ al C a;- n en𔃾D 9- C% L In C) c! o c5 4o Lo’ w - 0) ’. co L t~0 0l C)O~L 1,.- ool *.- # 0 t; -, j CC -J tmj Li -00 0 0 C 0*J

A Secure Mobile-Based Authentication System for e-Banking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rifà-Pous, Helena

Financial information is extremely sensitive. Hence, electronic banking must provide a robust system to authenticate its customers and let them access their data remotely. On the other hand, such system must be usable, affordable, and portable. We propose a challenge-response based one-time password (OTP) scheme that uses symmetric cryptography in combination with a hardware security module. The proposed protocol safeguards passwords from keyloggers and phishing attacks. Besides, this solution provides convenient mobility for users who want to bank online anytime and anywhere, not just from their own trusted computers.

Integrated controls pay-off. [for flight/propulsion aircraft systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Putnam, Terrill W.; Christiansen, Richard S.

1989-01-01

It is shown that the integration of the propulsion and flight control systems for high performance aircraft can help reduce pilot workload while simultaneously increasing overall aircraft performance. Results of the Highly Integrated Digital Electronic Control (HiDEC) flight research program are presented to demonstrate the emerging payoffs of controls integration. Ways in which the performance of fighter aircraft can be improved through the use of propulsion for primary aircraft control are discussed. Research being conducted by NASA with the F-18 High Angle-of Attack Research Vehicle is described.

Identifying and tracking attacks on networks: C3I displays and related technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manes, Gavin W.; Dawkins, J.; Shenoi, Sujeet; Hale, John C.

2003-09-01

Converged network security is extremely challenging for several reasons; expanded system and technology perimeters, unexpected feature interaction, and complex interfaces all conspire to provide hackers with greater opportunities for compromising large networks. Preventive security services and architectures are essential, but in and of themselves do not eliminate all threat of compromise. Attack management systems mitigate this residual risk by facilitating incident detection, analysis and response. There are a wealth of attack detection and response tools for IP networks, but a dearth of such tools for wireless and public telephone networks. Moreover, methodologies and formalisms have yet to be identified that can yield a common model for vulnerabilities and attacks in converged networks. A comprehensive attack management system must coordinate detection tools for converged networks, derive fully-integrated attack and network models, perform vulnerability and multi-stage attack analysis, support large-scale attack visualization, and orchestrate strategic responses to cyber attacks that cross network boundaries. We present an architecture that embodies these principles for attack management. The attack management system described engages a suite of detection tools for various networking domains, feeding real-time attack data to a comprehensive modeling, analysis and visualization subsystem. The resulting early warning system not only provides network administrators with a heads-up cockpit display of their entire network, it also supports guided response and predictive capabilities for multi-stage attacks in converged networks.

Pre-attack signs and symptoms in cluster headache: Characteristics and time profile.

PubMed

Snoer, Agneta; Lund, Nunu; Beske, Rasmus; Jensen, Rigmor; Barloese, Mads

2018-05-01

Introduction In contrast to the premonitory phase of migraine, little is known about the pre-attack (prodromal) phase of a cluster headache. We aimed to describe the nature, prevalence, and duration of pre-attack symptoms in cluster headache. Methods Eighty patients with episodic cluster headache or chronic cluster headache, according to ICHD-3 beta criteria, were invited to participate. In this observational study, patients underwent a semi-structured interview where they were asked about the presence of 31 symptoms/signs in relation to a typical cluster headache attack. Symptoms included previously reported cluster headache pre-attack symptoms, premonitory migraine symptoms and accompanying symptoms of migraine and cluster headache. Results Pre-attack symptoms were reported by 83.3% of patients, with an average of 4.25 (SD 3.9) per patient. Local and painful symptoms, occurring with a median of 10 minutes before attack, were reported by 70%. Local and painless symptoms and signs, occurring with a median of 10 minutes before attack, were reported by 43.8% and general symptoms, occurring with a median of 20 minutes before attack, were reported by 62.5% of patients. Apart from a dull/aching sensation in the attack area being significantly ( p < 0.05) more frequent among men and episodic patients, compared with women and chronic patients respectively, no other differences in the prevalence of pre-attack symptoms were identified between groups. Conclusion Pre-attack symptoms are frequent in cluster headache. Since the origin of cluster headache attacks is still unresolved, studies of pre-attack symptoms could contribute to the understanding of cluster headache pathophysiology. Furthermore, identification and recognition of pre-attack symptoms could potentially allow earlier abortive treatment.

Shark attack-related injuries: Epidemiology and implications for plastic surgeons.

PubMed

Ricci, Joseph A; Vargas, Christina R; Singhal, Dhruv; Lee, Bernard T

2016-01-01

The increased media attention to shark attacks has led to a heightened fear and public awareness. Although few sharks are considered dangerous, attacks on humans can result in large soft tissue defects necessitating the intervention of reconstructive surgeons. This study aims to evaluate and describe the characteristics of shark-related injuries in order to improve treatment. The Global Shark Accident File, maintained by the Shark Research Institute (Princeton, NJ, USA), is a compilation of all known worldwide shark attacks. Database records since the 1900s were reviewed to identify differences between fatal and nonfatal attacks, including: geography, injury pattern, shark species, and victim activity. Since the 1900s, there have been 5034 reported shark attacks, of which 1205 (22.7%) were fatal. Although the incidence of attacks per decade has increased, the percentage of fatalities has decreased. Characteristics of fatal attacks included swimming (p = 0.001), boating (p = 0.001), three or more bite sites (p = 0.03), limb loss (p = 0.001), or tiger shark attack (p = 0.002). The most common attacks were bites to the legs (41.8%) or arms (18.4%), with limb loss occurring in 7% of attacks. Geographically, the majority of attacks occurred in North America (36.7%) and Australia (26.5%). Most attacks in the USA occurred in Florida (49.1%) and California (13.6%). Although rare, shark attacks result in devastating injuries to patients. As these injuries often involve multiple sites and limb loss, this creates a significant challenge for reconstructive surgeons. Proper identification of the characteristics of the attack can aid in providing optimal care for those affected. Copyright © 2015 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hereditary Angioedema Attacks Resolve Faster and Are Shorter after Early Icatibant Treatment

PubMed Central

Maurer, Marcus; Kaplan, Allen; Investigators, on behalf of I. O. S.

2013-01-01

Background Attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE) are unpredictable and, if affecting the upper airway, can be lethal. Icatibant is used for physician- or patient self-administered symptomatic treatment of HAE attacks in adults. Its mode of action includes disruption of the bradykinin pathway via blockade of the bradykinin B2 receptor. Early treatment is believed to shorten attack duration and prevent severe outcomes; however, evidence to support these benefits is lacking. Objective To examine the impact of timing of icatibant administration on the duration and resolution of HAE type I and II attacks. Methods The Icatibant Outcome Survey is an international, prospective, observational study for patients treated with icatibant. Data on timings and outcomes of icatibant treatment for HAE attacks were collected between July 2009–February 2012. A mixed-model of repeated measures was performed for 426 attacks in 136 HAE type I and II patients. Results Attack duration was significantly shorter in patients treated <1 hour of attack onset compared with those treated ≥1 hour (6.1 hours versus 16.8 hours [p<0.001]). Similar significant effects were observed for <2 hours versus ≥2 hours (7.2 hours versus 20.2 hours [p<0.001]) and <5 hours versus ≥5 hours (8.0 hours versus 23.5 hours [p<0.001]). Treatment within 1 hour of attack onset also significantly reduced time to attack resolution (5.8 hours versus 8.8 hours [p<0.05]). Self-administrators were more likely to treat early and experience shorter attacks than those treated by a healthcare professional. Conclusion Early blockade of the bradykinin B2 receptor with icatibant, particularly within the first hour of attack onset, significantly reduced attack duration and time to attack resolution. PMID:23390491

Determining the Optimal Inventory Management Policy for Naval Medical Center San Diego’s Pharmacy

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-01

electronic or other system that the pharmacy’s staff can use to determine the actual on hand inventory of any items. If a pharmacist , technician or...pharmacy’s inventory: price, utilization, mix, and innovation (American Society for Health-System Pharmacists [ASHP], 2008). (1) Price Price is the cost...or the Pareto Principle can determine the best way to allocate resources and help plan inventory (American Society for Health-System Pharmacists

A Tetrazine-Labile Vinyl Ether Benzyloxycarbonyl Protecting Group (VeZ): An Orthogonal Tool for Solid-Phase Peptide Chemistry.

PubMed

Staderini, Matteo; Gambardella, Alessia; Lilienkampf, Annamaria; Bradley, Mark

2018-06-01

The vinyl ether benzyloxycarbonyl (VeZ) protecting group is selectively cleaved by treatment with tetrazines via an inverse electron-demand Diels-Alder reaction. This represents a new orthogonal protecting group for solid-phase peptide synthesis, with Fmoc-Lys(VeZ)-OH as a versatile alternative to Fmoc-Lys(Alloc)-OH and Fmoc-Lys(Dde)-OH, as demonstrated by the synthesis of two biologically relevant cyclic peptides.

Adaptive optimisation-offline cyber attack on remote state estimator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Xin; Dong, Jiuxiang

2017-10-01

Security issues of cyber-physical systems have received increasing attentions in recent years. In this paper, deception attacks on the remote state estimator equipped with the chi-squared failure detector are considered, and it is assumed that the attacker can monitor and modify all the sensor data. A novel adaptive optimisation-offline cyber attack strategy is proposed, where using the current and previous sensor data, the attack can yield the largest estimation error covariance while ensuring to be undetected by the chi-squared monitor. From the attacker's perspective, the attack is better than the existing linear deception attacks to degrade the system performance. Finally, some numerical examples are provided to demonstrate theoretical results.

Spatiotemporal Analysis of Copper Homeostasis in Populus trichocarpa Reveals an Integrated Molecular Remodeling for a Preferential Allocation of Copper to Plastocyanin in the Chloroplasts of Developing Leaves1[C][W][OA

PubMed Central

Ravet, Karl; Danford, Forest L.; Dihle, Alysha; Pittarello, Marco; Pilon, Marinus

2011-01-01

Plastocyanin, which requires copper (Cu) as a cofactor, is an electron carrier in the thylakoid lumen and essential for photoautotrophic growth of plants. The Cu microRNAs, which are expressed during Cu deprivation, down-regulate several transcripts that encode for Cu proteins. Since plastocyanin is not targeted by the Cu microRNAs, a cofactor economy model has been proposed in which plants prioritize Cu for use in photosynthetic electron transport. However, defects in photosynthesis are classic symptoms of Cu deprivation, and priorities in Cu cofactor delivery have not been determined experimentally. Using hydroponically grown Populus trichocarpa (clone Nisqually-1), we have established a physiological and molecular baseline for the response to Cu deficiency. An integrated analysis showed that Cu depletion strongly reduces the activity of several Cu proteins including plastocyanin, and consequently, photosynthesis and growth are decreased. Whereas plastocyanin mRNA levels were only mildly affected by Cu depletion, this treatment strongly affected the expression of other Cu proteins via Cu microRNA-mediated transcript down-regulation. Polyphenol oxidase was newly identified as Cu regulated and targeted by a novel Cu microRNA, miR1444. Importantly, a spatiotemporal analysis after Cu resupply to previously depleted plants revealed that this micronutrient is preferentially allocated to developing photosynthetic tissues. Plastocyanin and photosynthetic electron transport efficiency were the first to recover after Cu addition, whereas recovery of the other Cu-dependent activities was delayed. Our findings lend new support to the hypothesis that the Cu microRNAs serve to mediate a prioritization of Cu cofactor use. These studies also highlight poplar as an alternative sequenced model for spatiotemporal analyses of nutritional homeostasis. PMID:21941002

Toward real-time Monte Carlo simulation using a commercial cloud computing infrastructure.

PubMed

Wang, Henry; Ma, Yunzhi; Pratx, Guillem; Xing, Lei

2011-09-07

Monte Carlo (MC) methods are the gold standard for modeling photon and electron transport in a heterogeneous medium; however, their computational cost prohibits their routine use in the clinic. Cloud computing, wherein computing resources are allocated on-demand from a third party, is a new approach for high performance computing and is implemented to perform ultra-fast MC calculation in radiation therapy. We deployed the EGS5 MC package in a commercial cloud environment. Launched from a single local computer with Internet access, a Python script allocates a remote virtual cluster. A handshaking protocol designates master and worker nodes. The EGS5 binaries and the simulation data are initially loaded onto the master node. The simulation is then distributed among independent worker nodes via the message passing interface, and the results aggregated on the local computer for display and data analysis. The described approach is evaluated for pencil beams and broad beams of high-energy electrons and photons. The output of cloud-based MC simulation is identical to that produced by single-threaded implementation. For 1 million electrons, a simulation that takes 2.58 h on a local computer can be executed in 3.3 min on the cloud with 100 nodes, a 47× speed-up. Simulation time scales inversely with the number of parallel nodes. The parallelization overhead is also negligible for large simulations. Cloud computing represents one of the most important recent advances in supercomputing technology and provides a promising platform for substantially improved MC simulation. In addition to the significant speed up, cloud computing builds a layer of abstraction for high performance parallel computing, which may change the way dose calculations are performed and radiation treatment plans are completed.

Public knowledge of heart attack symptoms in Beijing residents.

PubMed

Zhang, Qing-Tan; Hu, Da-Yi; Yang, Jin-Gang; Zhang, Shou-Yan; Zhang, Xin-Quan; Liu, Shu-Shan

2007-09-20

Definitive treatment for heart attack is early reperfusion with either angioplasty or thrombolytic therapy, and the benefit is strictly time-dependent. Patient outcomes are improved with either therapy when initiated as soon as possible. Recognition of heart attack symptoms is logically tied to taking action to receive prompt emergency care. Inadequate knowledge of heart attack symptoms may prolong delay. The purpose of this study was to document knowledge about heart attack symptoms in Beijing residents and to identify the characteristics associated with increased knowledge of heart attack. A structured survey was conducted in 18 communities in Beijing from March 1 through June 10 in 2006. Addresses and participants were selected randomly following a stratification. The survey was designed to collect knowledge of heart attack symptoms from sampled adults in each community. A total of 4627 respondents completed the questionnaires correctly, and 50.29% of them were female. Totally 64.15% of the respondents reported chest pain or discomfort (common symptoms) as a symptom of heart attack; 75.38% reported at least one of the following eight symptoms as a symptom of heart attack: back pain, shortness of breath, arm pain or numbness, nausea or vomiting, neck, jaw or shoulder pain, epigastric pain, sweating, weakness (less common symptoms); 20.36% correctly reported four or more heart attack symptoms, only 7.4% knew all the correct heart attack symptoms, and 28.94% knew about reperfusion therapy for heart attack; 31.7% reported to call 120 or 999 while having a heart attack themselves; however 89.6% reported to call 120 or 999 when someone else is suffering from a heart attack. Very old persons and those with health insurance coverage, high education level, high household income, longer living in Beijing and previous experience with heart disease had greater knowledge of heart attack symptoms. Public knowledge of common heart attack symptoms as well as less common heart attack symptoms is deficient in Beijing residents. But their knowledge of calling emergency medical services when someone is having a heart attack is relatively adequate. Public health efforts are needed to increase the recognition of the major heart attack symptoms in both the general public and groups at high risk for an acute cardiac event, especially in socioeconomically disadvantaged subgroups, including persons with low education level, low household income, and no health insurance coverage.

Application distribution model and related security attacks in VANET

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikaein, Navid; Kanti Datta, Soumya; Marecar, Irshad; Bonnet, Christian

2013-03-01

In this paper, we present a model for application distribution and related security attacks in dense vehicular ad hoc networks (VANET) and sparse VANET which forms a delay tolerant network (DTN). We study the vulnerabilities of VANET to evaluate the attack scenarios and introduce a new attacker`s model as an extension to the work done in [6]. Then a VANET model has been proposed that supports the application distribution through proxy app stores on top of mobile platforms installed in vehicles. The steps of application distribution have been studied in detail. We have identified key attacks (e.g. malware, spamming and phishing, software attack and threat to location privacy) for dense VANET and two attack scenarios for sparse VANET. It has been shown that attacks can be launched by distributing malicious applications and injecting malicious codes to On Board Unit (OBU) by exploiting OBU software security holes. Consequences of such security attacks have been described. Finally, countermeasures including the concepts of sandbox have also been presented in depth.

An Approach for Assessing Consequences of Potential Supply Chain and Insider Contributed Cyber Attacks on Nuclear Power Plants

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chu, Tsong L.

The Stuxnet attack at the Natanz facility is an example of a targeted and successful cyber attack on a nuclear facility. Snowden's release of National Security Agency documents demonstrated the consequences of the insider threat. More recently, the United States tried to attack North Korea but failed, South Korea was attempting to attack North Korea, and both applied Stuxnet-like approaches. These sophisticated targeted attacks differ from web-site hacking events that are reported almost daily in the news mainly because targeted attacks require detailed design and operation information of the systems attacked and/or are often carried out by insiders. For instance,more » in order to minimize disruption of facilities around the world, Stuxnet remained idle until it recognized the specific configuration of the Natanz facility, demonstrating that the attackers possessed extremely detailed information about the facility. Such targeted cyber attacks could become a national-level military weapon and be used in coercion of hostile countries.« less

Improving the Rainbow Attack by Reusing Colours

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ågren, Martin; Johansson, Thomas; Hell, Martin

Hashing or encrypting a key or a password is a vital part in most network security protocols. The most practical generic attack on such schemes is a time memory trade-off attack. Such an attack inverts any one-way function using a trade-off between memory and execution time. Existing techniques include the Hellman attack and the rainbow attack, where the latter uses different reduction functions ("colours") within a table.

Aspirin Versus Aspirin Plus Clopidogrel as Antithrombotic Treatment Following Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement With a Balloon-Expandable Valve: The ARTE (Aspirin Versus Aspirin + Clopidogrel Following Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation) Randomized Clinical Trial.

PubMed

Rodés-Cabau, Josep; Masson, Jean-Bernard; Welsh, Robert C; Garcia Del Blanco, Bruno; Pelletier, Marc; Webb, John G; Al-Qoofi, Faisal; Généreux, Philippe; Maluenda, Gabriel; Thoenes, Martin; Paradis, Jean-Michel; Chamandi, Chekrallah; Serra, Vicenç; Dumont, Eric; Côté, Mélanie

2017-07-10

The aim of this study was to compare aspirin plus clopidogrel with aspirin alone as antithrombotic treatment following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) for the prevention of ischemic events, bleeding events, and death. Few data exist on the optimal antithrombotic therapy following TAVR. This was a randomized controlled trial comparing aspirin (80 to 100 mg/day) plus clopidogrel (75 mg/day) (dual antiplatelet therapy [DAPT]) versus aspirin alone (single-antiplatelet therapy [SAPT]) in patients undergoing TAVR with a balloon-expandable valve. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of death, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke or transient ischemic attack, or major or life-threatening bleeding (according to Valve Academic Research Consortium 2 definitions) within the 3 months following the procedure. The trial was prematurely stopped after the inclusion of 74% of the planned study population. A total of 222 patients were included, 111 allocated to DAPT and 111 to SAPT. The composite of death, MI, stroke or transient ischemic attack, or major or life-threatening bleeding tended to occur more frequently in the DAPT group (15.3% vs. 7.2%, p = 0.065). There were no differences between groups in the occurrence of death (DAPT, 6.3%; SAPT, 3.6%; p = 0.37), MI (DAPT, 3.6%; SAT, 0.9%; p = 0.18), or stroke or transient ischemic attack (DAPT, 2.7%; SAPT, 0.9%; p = 0.31) at 3 months. DAPT was associated with a higher rate of major or life-threatening bleeding events (10.8% vs. 3.6% in the SAPT group, p = 0.038). There were no differences between groups in valve hemodynamic status post-TAVR. This small trial showed that SAPT (vs. DAPT) tended to reduce the occurrence of major adverse events following TAVR. SAPT reduced the risk for major or life-threatening events while not increasing the risk for MI or stroke. Larger studies are needed to confirm these results. (Aspirin Versus Aspirin + Clopidogrel Following Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation: The ARTE Trial [ARTE], NCT01559298; Aspirin Versus Aspirin+Clopidogrel as Antithrombotic Treatment Following TAVI [ARTE], NCT02640794). Copyright © 2017 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Inactivation of Laccase by the Attack of As (III) Reaction in Water.

PubMed

Hu, Jinyuan; Lu, Kun; Dong, Shipeng; Huang, Qingguo; Mao, Liang

2018-03-06

Laccase is a multicopper oxidase containing four coppers as reaction sites, including one type 1, one type 2, and two type 3. We here provide the first experimental data showing that As (III) can be effectively removed from water and transformed to As (V) through reactions mediated by laccase with the presence of oxygen. To this end, the As (III) removal, As (V) yields, total protein, active laccase, and copper concentrations in the aqueous phase were determined, respectively. Additionally, electron paramagnetic resonance spectra and UV-vis spectra were applied to probe possible structural changes of the laccase during the reaction. The data offer the first evidence that laccase can be inactivated by As (III) attack thus leading to the release of type 2 copper. The released copper has no reactivity with the As (III). These findings provide new ideas into a significant pathway likely to master the environmental transformation of arsenite, and advance the understanding of laccase inactivation mechanisms, thus providing a foundation for optimization of enzyme-based processes and potential development for removal and remediation of arsenite contamination in the environment.

Exploring the origins of selectivity in soluble epoxide hydrolase from Bacillus megaterium† †Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c7ob01847a

PubMed Central

Serrano-Hervás, Eila

2017-01-01

Epoxide hydrolase (EH) enzymes catalyze the hydration of racemic epoxides to yield their corresponding vicinal diols. These enzymes present different enantio- and regioselectivity depending upon either the substrate structure or the substitution pattern of the epoxide ring. In this study, we computationally investigate the Bacillus megaterium epoxide hydrolase (BmEH)-mediated hydrolysis of racemic styrene oxide (rac-SO) and its para-nitro styrene oxide (rac-p-NSO) derivative using density functional theory (DFT) and an active site cluster model consisting of 195 and 197 atoms, respectively. Full reaction mechanisms for epoxide ring opening were evaluated considering the attack at both oxirane carbons and considering two possible orientations of the substrate at the BmEH active site. Our results indicate that for both SO and p-NSO substrates the BmEH enantio- and regioselectivity is opposite to the inherent (R)-BmEH selectivity, the attack at the benzylic position (C1) of the (S)-enantiomer being the most favoured chemical outcome. PMID:29026902

Airline Passenger Profiling Based on Fuzzy Deep Machine Learning.

PubMed

Zheng, Yu-Jun; Sheng, Wei-Guo; Sun, Xing-Ming; Chen, Sheng-Yong

2017-12-01

Passenger profiling plays a vital part of commercial aviation security, but classical methods become very inefficient in handling the rapidly increasing amounts of electronic records. This paper proposes a deep learning approach to passenger profiling. The center of our approach is a Pythagorean fuzzy deep Boltzmann machine (PFDBM), whose parameters are expressed by Pythagorean fuzzy numbers such that each neuron can learn how a feature affects the production of the correct output from both the positive and negative sides. We propose a hybrid algorithm combining a gradient-based method and an evolutionary algorithm for training the PFDBM. Based on the novel learning model, we develop a deep neural network (DNN) for classifying normal passengers and potential attackers, and further develop an integrated DNN for identifying group attackers whose individual features are insufficient to reveal the abnormality. Experiments on data sets from Air China show that our approach provides much higher learning ability and classification accuracy than existing profilers. It is expected that the fuzzy deep learning approach can be adapted for a variety of complex pattern analysis tasks.

Durability of traditional plasters with respect to blast furnace slag-based plaster

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cerulli, T.; Pistolesi, C.; Maltese, C.

2003-09-01

Blast furnace slag is a residue of steel production. It is a latent hydraulic binder and is normally used to improve the durability of concrete and mortars. Slag could be also used as rendering mortar for masonry and old buildings. Today, cement and hydraulic lime are the most popular hydraulic binders used to make plasters. They are characterised by a low durability when exposed to the action of chemical and physical agents. The aim of this study was to provide a comparison between the physical-mechanical properties of some renders made with ordinary Portland cement, hydraulic lime, or slag. Furthermore, anmore » investigation was carried out to analyse mortar resistance to several aggressive conditions like acid attack, freezing and thawing cycles, abrasion, sulphate aggression, cycles in ultraviolet screening device, and salt diffusion. The specimens, after chemical attack, have been characterised from the chemical-physical [specific surface according to the BET (Brunauer-Emmet-Teller) method], crystal-chemical (X-ray diffraction, XRD), and morphological (scanning electron microscopy, SEM) points of view.« less

Analysis of the plugging of the systems autonomy demonstration project brassboard filters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clay, John C.

1989-01-01

A fine gray powder was clogging the brassboard filters. The powder appeared to be residue from a galvanic corrosive attack by ammonia of the aluminum and stainless steel components in the system. The corrosion was caused by water and chlorine that had entered into the system and combined with the ammonia. This combination made an electrolyte and a corrosive agent of the ammonia that attacked the metals in the system. The corroded material traveled through the system with the ammonia and clogged the filters. Key conclusions are: the debris collecting in the filters is a by-product of galvanic corrosion; the debris is principally corroded aluminum and stainless from the system; and galvanic corrosion occurred from water and chlorine that entered the system during normal and/or extreme operating and servicing conditions. Key recommendations are: use only one metal in the ammonia system-titanium, aluminum, or stainless steel; make the system as air-tight as possible (replace fittings with welded joints); and replace electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) O-rings with neoprene O-rings, and do not use freon to clean system components.

Security Analysis and Improvement of 'a More Secure Anonymous User Authentication Scheme for the Integrated EPR Information System'.

PubMed

Islam, S K Hafizul; Khan, Muhammad Khurram; Li, Xiong

2015-01-01

Over the past few years, secure and privacy-preserving user authentication scheme has become an integral part of the applications of the healthcare systems. Recently, Wen has designed an improved user authentication system over the Lee et al.'s scheme for integrated electronic patient record (EPR) information system, which has been analyzed in this study. We have found that Wen's scheme still has the following inefficiencies: (1) the correctness of identity and password are not verified during the login and password change phases; (2) it is vulnerable to impersonation attack and privileged-insider attack; (3) it is designed without the revocation of lost/stolen smart card; (4) the explicit key confirmation and the no key control properties are absent, and (5) user cannot update his/her password without the help of server and secure channel. Then we aimed to propose an enhanced two-factor user authentication system based on the intractable assumption of the quadratic residue problem (QRP) in the multiplicative group. Our scheme bears more securities and functionalities than other schemes found in the literature.

Security Analysis and Improvement of ‘a More Secure Anonymous User Authentication Scheme for the Integrated EPR Information System’

PubMed Central

Islam, SK Hafizul; Khan, Muhammad Khurram; Li, Xiong

2015-01-01

Over the past few years, secure and privacy-preserving user authentication scheme has become an integral part of the applications of the healthcare systems. Recently, Wen has designed an improved user authentication system over the Lee et al.’s scheme for integrated electronic patient record (EPR) information system, which has been analyzed in this study. We have found that Wen’s scheme still has the following inefficiencies: (1) the correctness of identity and password are not verified during the login and password change phases; (2) it is vulnerable to impersonation attack and privileged-insider attack; (3) it is designed without the revocation of lost/stolen smart card; (4) the explicit key confirmation and the no key control properties are absent, and (5) user cannot update his/her password without the help of server and secure channel. Then we aimed to propose an enhanced two-factor user authentication system based on the intractable assumption of the quadratic residue problem (QRP) in the multiplicative group. Our scheme bears more securities and functionalities than other schemes found in the literature. PMID:26263401

Agents Based e-Commerce and Securing Exchanged Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Jaljouli, Raja; Abawajy, Jemal

Mobile agents have been implemented in e-Commerce to search and filter information of interest from electronic markets. When the information is very sensitive and critical, it is important to develop a novel security protocol that can efficiently protect the information from malicious tampering as well as unauthorized disclosure or at least detect any malicious act of intruders. In this chapter, we describe robust security techniques that ensure a sound security of information gathered throughout agent’s itinerary against various security attacks, as well as truncation attacks. A sound security protocol is described, which implements the various security techniques that would jointly prevent or at least detect any malicious act of intruders. We reason about the soundness of the protocol usingSymbolic Trace Analyzer (STA), a formal verification tool that is based on symbolic techniques. We analyze the protocol in key configurations and show that it is free of flaws. We also show that the protocol fulfils the various security requirements of exchanged information in MAS, including data-integrity, data-confidentiality, data-authenticity, origin confidentiality and data non-repudiability.

Resistance of class C fly ash belite cement to simulated sodium sulphate radioactive liquid waste attack.

PubMed

Guerrero, A; Goñi, S; Allegro, V R

2009-01-30

The resistance of class C fly ash belite cement (FABC-2-W) to concentrated sodium sulphate salts associated with low level wastes (LLW) and medium level wastes (MLW) is discussed. This study was carried out according to the Koch and Steinegger methodology by testing the flexural strength of mortars immersed in simulated radioactive liquid waste rich in sulphate (48,000 ppm) and demineralised water (used as a reference), at 20 degrees C and 40 degrees C over a period of 180 days. The reaction mechanisms of sulphate ion with the mortar was carried out through a microstructure study, which included the use of Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), porosity and pore-size distribution and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results showed that the FABC mortar was stable against simulated sulphate radioactive liquid waste (SSRLW) attack at the two chosen temperatures. The enhancement of mechanical properties was a result of the formation of non-expansive ettringite inside the pores and an alkaline activation of the hydraulic activity of cement promoted by the ingress of sulphate. Accordingly, the microstructure was strongly refined.

Simulation of Attacks for Security in Wireless Sensor Network

PubMed Central

Diaz, Alvaro; Sanchez, Pablo

2016-01-01

The increasing complexity and low-power constraints of current Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) require efficient methodologies for network simulation and embedded software performance analysis of nodes. In addition, security is also a very important feature that has to be addressed in most WSNs, since they may work with sensitive data and operate in hostile unattended environments. In this paper, a methodology for security analysis of Wireless Sensor Networks is presented. The methodology allows designing attack-aware embedded software/firmware or attack countermeasures to provide security in WSNs. The proposed methodology includes attacker modeling and attack simulation with performance analysis (node’s software execution time and power consumption estimation). After an analysis of different WSN attack types, an attacker model is proposed. This model defines three different types of attackers that can emulate most WSN attacks. In addition, this paper presents a virtual platform that is able to model the node hardware, embedded software and basic wireless channel features. This virtual simulation analyzes the embedded software behavior and node power consumption while it takes into account the network deployment and topology. Additionally, this simulator integrates the previously mentioned attacker model. Thus, the impact of attacks on power consumption and software behavior/execution-time can be analyzed. This provides developers with essential information about the effects that one or multiple attacks could have on the network, helping them to develop more secure WSN systems. This WSN attack simulator is an essential element of the attack-aware embedded software development methodology that is also introduced in this work. PMID:27869710

Analytical Characterization of Internet Security Attacks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sellke, Sarah H.

2010-01-01

Internet security attacks have drawn significant attention due to their enormously adverse impact. These attacks includes Malware (Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horse), Denial of Service, Packet Sniffer, and Password Attacks. There is an increasing need to provide adequate defense mechanisms against these attacks. My thesis proposal deals with analytical…

Family patterns and primary prevention of family violence.

PubMed

Straus, M A; Smith, C

1993-01-01

Although services for victims and treatment programs for batterers have priority in efforts to ameliorate family violence, primary prevention programs are also essential. The importance of primary prevention lies not only in the suffering which can avoided, but also because it is unlikely that sufficient treatment resources can be allocated to match the magnitude of the problem. The latter point is illustrated by the results of a study of nationally representative samples of 2,143 families (studied in 1975) and 6,002 families (studied in 1985). These studies show that a minimum of 16% of American couples experienced an assault during the year of the study, and that about 40% of these involved severely violent acts, such as kicking, biting, punching, choking, and attacks with weapons. These studies also identified risk factors that can serve as the focus for primary prevention, for example, early marriage, male dominance in the family and use of physical punishment. Educational and therapeutic efforts, and economic changes, which encourage equality and which teach the skills necessary for an equal relationship, can help prevent family violence.

Scheduling multimedia services in cloud computing environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yunchang; Li, Chunlin; Luo, Youlong; Shao, Yanling; Zhang, Jing

2018-02-01

Currently, security is a critical factor for multimedia services running in the cloud computing environment. As an effective mechanism, trust can improve security level and mitigate attacks within cloud computing environments. Unfortunately, existing scheduling strategy for multimedia service in the cloud computing environment do not integrate trust mechanism when making scheduling decisions. In this paper, we propose a scheduling scheme for multimedia services in multi clouds. At first, a novel scheduling architecture is presented. Then, We build a trust model including both subjective trust and objective trust to evaluate the trust degree of multimedia service providers. By employing Bayesian theory, the subjective trust degree between multimedia service providers and users is obtained. According to the attributes of QoS, the objective trust degree of multimedia service providers is calculated. Finally, a scheduling algorithm integrating trust of entities is proposed by considering the deadline, cost and trust requirements of multimedia services. The scheduling algorithm heuristically hunts for reasonable resource allocations and satisfies the requirement of trust and meets deadlines for the multimedia services. Detailed simulated experiments demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed trust scheduling scheme.

Gender differences in loss of psychological resources following experimentally-induced vicarious stress.

PubMed

Ben-Zur, Hasida; Zeidner, Moshe

2012-07-01

The present research focuses on gender differences in resource loss, perceived threat, and negative affective reactions induced by experimental manipulation of vicarious stress. Israeli students (54.7% women) were randomly allocated to one of two conditions: (1) Threat Condition (n=98), in which participants were exposed to a video film depicting terror attacks and (2) Control Condition (n=30), in which participants viewed a video film depicting a series of non-emotive news broadcasts. Participants also completed measures of mastery, optimism, and self-esteem. The data indicated that whereas under the Threat Condition women scored lower on psychological resources and higher on perceived threat than men, no significant gender differences were observed under the Control Condition. A path analysis revealed that gender was directly related to perceived threat and resource loss, which, in turn, were related to negative affect. In addition, a greater sense of mastery was related to lower resource loss. Overall, these experimental findings suggest that gender and mastery bear prominent effects on cognitive and emotional reactions to vicarious life threat.

Changes in the glucosinolate-myrosinase defense system in Brassica juncea cotyledons during seedling development.

PubMed

Wallace, S K; Eigenbrode, Sanford D

2002-02-01

Optimal defense theory (ODT) predicts that plant defenses will be allocated to plant organs and tissues in proportion to their relative fitness values and susceptibilities to attack. This study was designed to test ODT predictions on the myrosinase-glucosinolate defense system in Brassica juncea by examining the relationships between the fitness value of B. juncea cotyledons and the levels and effectiveness of cotyledon defenses. Specifically, we estimated fitness value of cotyledons during plant development by measuring plant growth and seed production after cotyledon damage or removal at successive seedling ages. Cotyledon removal within five days of emergence had a significant impact on growth and seed production, but cotyledon removal at later stages did not. Consistent with ODT, glucosinolate and myrosinase levels in cotyledons also declined with seedling age, as did relative defenses against a generalist herbivore, Spodoptera eridania, as estimated by bioassay. Declines in glucosinolates were as predicted by a passive, allometric dilution model based on cotyledon expansion. Declines in myrosinase activity were significantly more gradual than predicted by allometric dilution, suggesting active retention of myrosinase activity as young cotyledons expand.

A scoring mechanism for the rank aggregation of network robustness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yazdani, Alireza; Dueñas-Osorio, Leonardo; Li, Qilin

2013-10-01

To date, a number of metrics have been proposed to quantify inherent robustness of network topology against failures. However, each single metric usually only offers a limited view of network vulnerability to different types of random failures and targeted attacks. When applied to certain network configurations, different metrics rank network topology robustness in different orders which is rather inconsistent, and no single metric fully characterizes network robustness against different modes of failure. To overcome such inconsistency, this work proposes a multi-metric approach as the basis of evaluating aggregate ranking of network topology robustness. This is based on simultaneous utilization of a minimal set of distinct robustness metrics that are standardized so to give way to a direct comparison of vulnerability across networks with different sizes and configurations, hence leading to an initial scoring of inherent topology robustness. Subsequently, based on the inputs of initial scoring a rank aggregation method is employed to allocate an overall ranking of robustness to each network topology. A discussion is presented in support of the presented multi-metric approach and its applications to more realistically assess and rank network topology robustness.

The anatomy of a shark attack: a case report and review of the literature.

PubMed

Caldicott, D G; Mahajani, R; Kuhn, M

2001-07-01

Shark attacks are rare but are associated with a high morbidity and significant mortality. We report the case of a patient's survival from a shark attack and their subsequent emergency medical and surgical management. Using data from the International Shark Attack File, we review the worldwide distribution and incidence of shark attack. A review of the world literature examines the features which make shark attacks unique pathological processes. We offer suggestions for strategies of management of shark attack, and techniques for avoiding adverse outcomes in human encounters with these endangered creatures.

Distinguishing attack and second-preimage attack on encrypted message authentication codes (EMAC)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ariwibowo, Sigit; Windarta, Susila

2016-02-01

In this paper we show that distinguisher on CBC-MAC can be applied to Encrypted Message Authentication Code (EMAC) scheme. EMAC scheme in general is vulnerable to distinguishing attack and second preimage attack. Distinguishing attack simulation on AES-EMAC using 225 message modifications, no collision have been found. According to second preimage attack simulation on AES-EMAC no collision found between EMAC value of S1 and S2, i.e. no second preimage found for messages that have been tested. Based on distinguishing attack simulation on truncated AES-EMAC we found collision in every message therefore we cannot distinguish truncated AES-EMAC with random function. Second-preimage attack is successfully performed on truncated AES-EMAC.

Novel Method For Low-Rate Ddos Attack Detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chistokhodova, A. A.; Sidorov, I. D.

2018-05-01

The relevance of the work is associated with an increasing number of advanced types of DDoS attacks, in particular, low-rate HTTP-flood. Last year, the power and complexity of such attacks increased significantly. The article is devoted to the analysis of DDoS attacks detecting methods and their modifications with the purpose of increasing the accuracy of DDoS attack detection. The article details low-rate attacks features in comparison with conventional DDoS attacks. During the analysis, significant shortcomings of the available method for detecting low-rate DDoS attacks were found. Thus, the result of the study is an informal description of a new method for detecting low-rate denial-of-service attacks. The architecture of the stand for approbation of the method is developed. At the current stage of the study, it is possible to improve the efficiency of an already existing method by using a classifier with memory, as well as additional information.

Heavy-tailed distribution of the SSH Brute-force attack duration in a multi-user environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Jae-Kook; Kim, Sung-Jun; Park, Chan Yeol; Hong, Taeyoung; Chae, Huiseung

2016-07-01

Quite a number of cyber-attacks to be place against supercomputers that provide highperformance computing (HPC) services to public researcher. Particularly, although the secure shell protocol (SSH) brute-force attack is one of the traditional attack methods, it is still being used. Because stealth attacks that feign regular access may occur, they are even harder to detect. In this paper, we introduce methods to detect SSH brute-force attacks by analyzing the server's unsuccessful access logs and the firewall's drop events in a multi-user environment. Then, we analyze the durations of the SSH brute-force attacks that are detected by applying these methods. The results of an analysis of about 10 thousands attack source IP addresses show that the behaviors of abnormal users using SSH brute-force attacks are based on human dynamic characteristics of a typical heavy-tailed distribution.

An entangling-probe attack on Shor's algorithm for factorization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azuma, Hiroo

2018-02-01

We investigate how to attack Shor's quantum algorithm for factorization with an entangling probe. We show that an attacker can steal an exact solution of Shor's algorithm outside an institute where the quantum computer is installed if he replaces its initialized quantum register with entangled qubits, namely the entangling probe. He can apply arbitrary local operations to his own probe. Moreover, we assume that there is an unauthorized person who helps the attacker to commit a crime inside the institute. He tells garbage data obtained from measurements of the quantum register to the attacker secretly behind a legitimate user's back. If the attacker succeeds in cracking Shor's algorithm, the legitimate user obtains a random answer and does not notice the attacker's illegal acts. We discuss how to detect the attacker. Finally, we estimate a probability that the quantum algorithm inevitably makes an error, of which the attacker can take advantage.

Use of the Panic Attack Questionnaire-IV to assess non-clinical panic attacks and limited symptom panic attacks in student and community samples.

PubMed

Norton, Peter J; Zvolensky, Michael J; Bonn-Miller, Marcel O; Cox, Brian J; Norton, G Ron

2008-10-01

Since its development in the mid-1980s, the Panic Attack Questionnaire (PAQ) has been one of the more, if not the most, commonly used self-report tools for assessing panic attacks. The usage of the instrument, however, has come amid potential concerns that instructions and descriptions may lead to an over-estimate of the prevalence of panic attacks. Furthermore, the instrument has not been revised since 1992, despite changes in DSM-IV criteria and more recent developments in the understanding of panic attacks. As a result, this paper describes a revision of the PAQ to improve the instruction and descriptive set, and to fully assess features of panic derived from recent conceptualizations. Students meeting DSM-IV panic attack criteria and those endorsing panic attacks, but not meeting criteria, showed few differences with the exception that those not meeting DSM-IV criteria typically reported a longer onset-to-peak intensity time than did Panickers. Results were cross-validated and extended using an independent Community Sample. A full descriptive phenomenology of panic attacks is described, and future directions for studying panic attacks using the PAQ are presented.

Lethality of sea lamprey attacks on lake trout in relation to location on the body surface

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bergstedt, Roger A.; Schneider, Clifford P.; O'Gorman, Robert

2001-01-01

We compared the locations of healed attack marks of the sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus on live lake trout Salvelinus namaycush with those of unhealed attack marks on dead lake trout to determine if the lethality of a sea lamprey attack was related to attack location. Lake trout were collected from Lake Ontario, live fish with gill nets in September 1985 and dead fish with trawls in October 1983−1986. Attack location was characterized by the percent distances from snout to tail and from the ventral to the dorsal midline. Kolmogorov−Smirnov two-sample tests did not detect significant differences in the distribution of attack location along either the anteroposterior axis or the dorsoventral axis. When attack locations were grouped into six anatomical regions historically used to record sea lamprey attacks, dead fish did not exhibit a significantly higher proportion of attacks in the more anterior regions. Even if the differences in attack location on live and dead fish were significant, they were too small to imply substantial spatial differences in attack lethality that should be accounted for when modeling the effects of sea lampreys feeding on lake trout. We suggest that the tendency for sea lamprey attacks to occur on the anterior half of the fish is related to the lower amplitude of lateral body movement there during swimming and thus the lower likelihood of being dislodged.

Serial agonistic attacks by greylag goose families, Anser anser, against the same opponent

PubMed Central

Scheiber, Isabella B.R.; Kotrschal, Kurt; Weiß, Brigitte M.

2011-01-01

It is known from primates that alliance partners may support each other’s interests in competition with others, for example, through repeated agonistic attacks against a particular individual. We examined serial aggressive interactions between greylag goose families and other flock members. We found that repeated attacks towards the same individual were common and that up to five serial attacks by family members followed an initial attack. Family size did not affect the frequency of such serial attacks. Juvenile geese evidently benefited most from active social support through serial attacks. About 60% of the juveniles’ lost primary interactions were subsequently reversed by another family member. This may be one of the reasons why juveniles rank higher in the social hierarchy than would be expected from their age and size alone. Losses in serial attacks predominantly occurred against other, presumably higher-ranking, family geese and ganders. We propose three major functions/consequences of serial attacks. Analogous to primates, serial attacks in greylag geese may serve to reinforce a losing experience of an opponent defeated in a preceding attack. On the side of the winning family, serial attacks may reinforce the experience of winning. Both winning and losing experiences are linked with physiological consequences in higher vertebrates, affecting the future social performance of winners or losers. Finally, serial attacks may signal the agonistic potential of a family to other flock members. This is supported by heart rate data, which indicate that greylags are competent to interpret third-party relationships. PMID:21984838

Khyâl attacks: a key idiom of distress among traumatized cambodia refugees.

PubMed

Hinton, Devon E; Pich, Vuth; Marques, Luana; Nickerson, Angela; Pollack, Mark H

2010-06-01

Traumatized Cambodian refugees with PTSD often complain of khyâl attacks. The current study investigates khyâl attacks from multiple perspectives and examines the validity of a model of how khyâl attacks are generated. The study found that khyâl attacks had commonly been experienced in the previous 4 weeks and that their severity was strongly correlated with the severity of PTSD (PTSD Checklist). It was found that khyâl attacks were triggered by various processes--such as worry, trauma recall, standing up, going to a mall--and that khyâl attacks almost always met panic attack criteria. It was also found that during a khyâl attack there was great fear that death might occur from bodily dysfunction. It was likewise found that a complex nosology of khyâl attacks exists that rates the attacks on a scale of severity, that the severity determines how the khyâl attacks should be treated and that those treatments are often complex. As illustrated by the article, khyâl attacks constitute a key aspect of trauma ontology in this group, a culturally specific experiencing of anxiety and trauma-related disorder. The article also contributes to the study of trauma somatics, that is, to the study of how trauma results in specific symptoms in a specific cultural context, showing that a key part of the trauma-somatic reticulum is often a cultural syndrome.

Cyber attacks against state estimation in power systems: Vulnerability analysis and protection strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Xuan

Power grid is one of the most critical infrastructures in a nation and could suffer a variety of cyber attacks. With the development of Smart Grid, false data injection attack has recently attracted wide research interest. This thesis proposes a false data attack model with incomplete network information and develops optimal attack strategies for attacking load measurements and the real-time topology of a power grid. The impacts of false data on the economic and reliable operations of power systems are quantitatively analyzed in this thesis. To mitigate the risk of cyber attacks, a distributed protection strategies are also developed. It has been shown that an attacker can design false data to avoid being detected by the control center if the network information of a power grid is known to the attacker. In practice, however, it is very hard or even impossible for an attacker to obtain all network information of a power grid. In this thesis, we propose a local load redistribution attacking model based on incomplete network information and show that an attacker only needs to obtain the network information of the local attacking region to inject false data into smart meters in the local region without being detected by the state estimator. A heuristic algorithm is developed to determine a feasible attacking region by obtaining reduced network information. This thesis investigates the impacts of false data on the operations of power systems. It has been shown that false data can be designed by an attacker to: 1) mask the real-time topology of a power grid; 2) overload a transmission line; 3) disturb the line outage detection based on PMU data. To mitigate the risk of cyber attacks, this thesis proposes a new protection strategy, which intends to mitigate the damage effects of false data injection attacks by protecting a small set of critical measurements. To further reduce the computation complexity, a mixed integer linear programming approach is also proposed to separate the power grid into several subnetworks, then distributed protection strategy is applied to each subnetwork.

Public knowledge of heart attack in a Nepalese population survey.

PubMed

Limbu, Yuba R; Malla, Rabi; Regmi, Shyam R; Dahal, Ramesh; Nakarmi, Hari L; Yonzan, Ganesh; Gartaula, Ritu P

2006-01-01

Limited knowledge of heart attack symptoms may prevent patients from seeking time-dependent thrombolytic therapy, an intervention that offers impressive survival benefit. Previous studies carried out in developed countries demonstrated a deficit of knowledge about a wide range of heart attack symptoms. The aim of this study was to describe knowledge of heart attack, knowledge of heart attack symptoms, and anticipated first response to symptoms among the lay public in Nepal. A total of 1192 participants (657 men and 535 women age 16 to 88 years old) were interviewed in a cross-sectional manner. Those <16 years of age, all health professionals, and individuals with a history of heart attack were excluded. A total of 862 (72.3%) participants had heard of heart attack. Significantly more male than female participants had heard of heart attack (P <.001). Of the respondents, 91.7% with >or=10 years of education (ED-2) had heard of heart of attack, whereas only 54% respondents with <10 years of education or who were illiterate (unable to read and write) (ED-1) had heard of heart attack, and in both the male and female populations, a higher percentage of the ED-2 group had heard of heart attack than the ED-1 group (92.6% vs. 60% and 85.6% vs. 49.6%, respectively). A significantly higher number of respondents from 31 to 50 years of age (AGE-2) had heard of heart attack than those 16 to 30 years of age (AGE-1) and those >50 years of age (AGE-3) (P <.001). Among 862 respondents who had heard of heart attack, 21.3% could not name any heart attack symptoms. A total of 16 different heart attack symptoms were named. Fainting or collapsing (48%), chest pain (22.4%), shortness of breath (9%), dizziness (8.4%), palpitations (7.4%), and sweating (7.4%) were the leading symptoms named by respondents. Fainting or collapsing and chest pain and shortness of breath were named more frequently among the ED-2 group respondents and the AGE-3 group men. Only 3.7% could name >or=2 typical heart attack symptoms. A significantly larger number of the ED-2 group named >or=2 typical symptoms than their counterparts (P <0.001). A large number (77.6%) of respondents preferred immediate hospital referral and/or doctor consultation after a heart attack. In Nepal, better-educated men are more aware of heart attack. Fainting or collapsing and chest pain and shortness of breath were leading heart attack symptoms named by the general population. Public heart attack awareness is not adequate and knowledge of wide range of heart attack symptoms is deficient in the Nepalese general population.

Anaerobic Dehalogenation of Chloroanilines by Dehalococcoides mccartyi Strain CBDB1 and Dehalobacter Strain 14DCB1 via Different Pathways as Related to Molecular Electronic Structure.

PubMed

Zhang, Shangwei; Wondrousch, Dominik; Cooper, Myriel; Zinder, Stephen H; Schüürmann, Gerrit; Adrian, Lorenz

2017-04-04

Dehalococcoides mccartyi strain CBDB1 and Dehalobacter strain 14DCB1 are organohalide-respiring microbes of the phyla Chloroflexi and Firmicutes, respectively. Here, we report the transformation of chloroanilines by these two bacterial strains via dissimilar dehalogenation pathways and discuss the underlying mechanism with quantum chemically calculated net atomic charges of the substrate Cl, H, and C atoms. Strain CBDB1 preferentially removed Cl doubly flanked by two Cl or by one Cl and NH 2 , whereas strain 14DCB1 preferentially dechlorinated Cl that has an ortho H. For the CBDB1-mediated dechlorination, comparative analysis with Hirshfeld charges shows that the least-negative Cl discriminates active from nonactive substrates in 14 out of 15 cases and may represent the preferred site of primary attack through cob(I)alamin. For the latter trend, three of seven active substrates provide strong evidence, with partial support from three of the remaining four substrates. Regarding strain 14DCB1, the most positive carbon-attached H atom discriminates active from nonactive chloroanilines in again 14 out of 15 cases. Here, regioselectivity is governed for 10 of the 11 active substrates by the most positive H attached to the highest-charge (most positive or least negative) aromatic C carrying the Cl to be removed. These findings suggest the aromatic ring H as primary site of attack through the supernucleophile Co(I), converting an initial H bond to a full electron transfer as start of the reductive dehalogenation. For both mechanisms, one- and two-electron transfer to Cl (strain CBDB1) or H (strain 14DCB1) are compatible with the presently available data. Computational chemistry research into reaction intermediates and pathways may further aid in understanding the bacterial reductive dehalogenation at the molecular level.