WorldWideScience

Sample records for attack risk reduction

  1. Quantitative Risk reduction estimation Tool For Control Systems, Suggested Approach and Research Needs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Miles McQueen; Wayne Boyer; Mark Flynn; Sam Alessi

    2006-03-01

    For the past year we have applied a variety of risk assessment technologies to evaluate the risk to critical infrastructure from cyber attacks on control systems. More recently, we identified the need for a stand alone control system risk reduction estimation tool to provide owners and operators of control systems with a more useable, reliable, and credible method for managing the risks from cyber attack. Risk is defined as the probability of a successful attack times the value of the resulting loss, typically measured in lives and dollars. Qualitative and ad hoc techniques for measuring risk do not provide sufficient support for cost benefit analyses associated with cyber security mitigation actions. To address the need for better quantitative risk reduction models we surveyed previous quantitative risk assessment research; evaluated currently available tools; developed new quantitative techniques [17] [18]; implemented a prototype analysis tool to demonstrate how such a tool might be used; used the prototype to test a variety of underlying risk calculational engines (e.g. attack tree, attack graph); and identified technical and research needs. We concluded that significant gaps still exist and difficult research problems remain for quantitatively assessing the risk to control system components and networks, but that a useable quantitative risk reduction estimation tool is not beyond reach.

  2. Coronary heart disease risk in patients with stroke or transient ischemic attack and no known coronary heart disease: findings from the Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL) trial

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Amarenco, Pierre; Goldstein, Larry B; Sillesen, Henrik

    2010-01-01

    Noncoronary forms of atherosclerosis (including transient ischemic attacks or stroke of carotid origin or >50% stenosis of the carotid artery) are associated with a 10-year vascular risk of >20% and are considered as a coronary heart disease (CHD) -risk equivalent from the standpoint of lipid...... management. The Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL) trial included patients with stroke or transient ischemic attack and no known CHD regardless of the presence of carotid atherosclerosis. We evaluated the risk of developing clinically recognized CHD in SPARCL patients....

  3. Calcium Supplements: A Risk Factor for Heart Attack?

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... factor for heart attack? I've read that calcium supplements may increase the risk of heart attack. ... D. Some doctors think it's possible that taking calcium supplements may increase your risk of a heart ...

  4. Development of Cyber-attack Risk Assessment Model for Nuclear Power Plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Jong Woo; Lee, Seung Jun

    2017-01-01

    In this work, a risk evaluation method to identify significant cyber-attack scenarios and important components which should be defensed was proposed based on the probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) method which is widely used for evaluating risk of NPPs. NPPs adopting digital systems have been facing the risk of cyber-attacks. To develop efficient and reasonable defense strategy, it is required to identify significant cyber-attack scenarios and important components because there are huge number of critical digital assets in an NPP. By evaluating the risk of cyber-attack, the risk-informed defense strategies against cyber-attack could be suggested. In this work, the method to identify important cyber-attack scenarios and to evaluate the quantitative risk caused by cyber-attacks was proposed. For a future study, more feasible scenarios will be analyzed and additional modifications will be made in the model if necessary.

  5. Assessing risk from intelligent attacks: A perspective on approaches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guikema, Seth D.; Aven, Terje

    2010-01-01

    Assessing the uncertainties in and severity of the consequences of intelligent attacks are fundamentally different from risk assessment for accidental events and other phenomena with inherently random failures. Intelligent attacks against a system involve adaptation on the part of the adversary. The probabilities of the initiating events depend on the risk management actions taken, and they may be more difficult to assess due to high degrees of epistemic uncertainty about the motivations and future actions of adversaries. Several fundamentally different frameworks have been proposed for assessing risk from intelligent attacks. These include basing risk assessment and management on game theoretic modelling of attacker actions, using a probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) approach based on eliciting probabilities of different initiating events from appropriate experts, assessing uncertainties beyond probabilities and expected values, and ignoring the probabilities of the attacks and choosing to protect highest valued targets. In this paper we discuss and compare the fundamental assumptions that underlie each of these approaches. We then suggest a new framework that makes the fundamental assumptions underlying the approaches clear to decision makers and presents them with a suite of results from conditional risk analysis methods. Each of the conditional methods presents the risk from a specified set of fundamental assumptions, allowing the decision maker to see the impacts of these assumptions on the risk management strategies considered and to weight the different conditional results with their assessments of the relative likelihood of the different sets of assumptions.

  6. Visualizing Risks: Icons for Information Attack Scenarios

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Hosmer, Hilary

    2000-01-01

    .... Visual attack scenarios help defenders see system ambiguities, imprecision, vulnerabilities and omissions, thus speeding up risk analysis, requirements gathering, safeguard selection, cryptographic...

  7. Risk-based decision making for staggered bioterrorist attacks : resource allocation and risk reduction in "reload" scenarios.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lemaster, Michelle Nicole; Gay, David M. (Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM); Ehlen, Mark Andrew (Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM); Boggs, Paul T.; Ray, Jaideep

    2009-10-01

    Staggered bioterrorist attacks with aerosolized pathogens on population centers present a formidable challenge to resource allocation and response planning. The response and planning will commence immediately after the detection of the first attack and with no or little information of the second attack. In this report, we outline a method by which resource allocation may be performed. It involves probabilistic reconstruction of the bioterrorist attack from partial observations of the outbreak, followed by an optimization-under-uncertainty approach to perform resource allocations. We consider both single-site and time-staggered multi-site attacks (i.e., a reload scenario) under conditions when resources (personnel and equipment which are difficult to gather and transport) are insufficient. Both communicable (plague) and non-communicable diseases (anthrax) are addressed, and we also consider cases when the data, the time-series of people reporting with symptoms, are confounded with a reporting delay. We demonstrate how our approach develops allocations profiles that have the potential to reduce the probability of an extremely adverse outcome in exchange for a more certain, but less adverse outcome. We explore the effect of placing limits on daily allocations. Further, since our method is data-driven, the resource allocation progressively improves as more data becomes available.

  8. Relation of temperature and humidity to the risk of recurrent gout attacks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neogi, Tuhina; Chen, Clara; Niu, Jingbo; Chaisson, Christine; Hunter, David J; Choi, Hyon; Zhang, Yuqing

    2014-08-15

    Gout attack risk may be affected by weather (e.g., because of volume depletion). We therefore examined the association of temperature and humidity with the risk of recurrent gout attacks by conducting an internet-based case-crossover study in the United States (in 2003-2010) among subjects with a diagnosis of gout who had 1 or more attacks during 1 year of follow-up. We examined the association of temperature and humidity over the prior 48 hours with the risk of gout attacks using a time-stratified approach and conditional logistic regression. Among 632 subjects with gout, there was a significant dose-response relationship between mean temperature in the prior 48 hours and the risk of subsequent gout attack (P = 0.01 for linear trend). Higher temperatures were associated with approximately 40% higher risk of gout attack compared with moderate temperatures. There was a reverse J-shaped relationship between mean relative humidity and the risk of gout attacks (P = 0.03 for quadratic trend). The combination of high temperature and low humidity had the greatest association (odds ratio = 2.04, 95% confidence interval: 1.26, 3.30) compared with moderate temperature and relative humidity. Thus, high ambient temperature and possibly extremes of humidity were associated with an increased risk of gout attack, despite the likelihood that individuals are often in climate-controlled indoor environments. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  9. Network Security Risk Assessment System Based on Attack Graph and Markov Chain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Fuxiong; Pi, Juntao; Lv, Jin; Cao, Tian

    2017-10-01

    Network security risk assessment technology can be found in advance of the network problems and related vulnerabilities, it has become an important means to solve the problem of network security. Based on attack graph and Markov chain, this paper provides a Network Security Risk Assessment Model (NSRAM). Based on the network infiltration tests, NSRAM generates the attack graph by the breadth traversal algorithm. Combines with the international standard CVSS, the attack probability of atomic nodes are counted, and then the attack transition probabilities of ones are calculated by Markov chain. NSRAM selects the optimal attack path after comprehensive measurement to assessment network security risk. The simulation results show that NSRAM can reflect the actual situation of network security objectively.

  10. Intrusion detection in cloud computing based attack patterns and risk assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ben Charhi Youssef

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper is an extension of work originally presented in SYSCO CONF.We extend our previous work by presenting the initial results of the implementation of intrusion detection based on risk assessment on cloud computing. The idea focuses on a novel approach for detecting cyber-attacks on the cloud environment by analyzing attacks pattern using risk assessment methodologies. The aim of our solution is to combine evidences obtained from Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS deployed in a cloud with risk assessment related to each attack pattern. Our approach presents a new qualitative solution for analyzing each symptom, indicator and vulnerability analyzing impact and likelihood of distributed and multi-steps attacks directed to cloud environments. The implementation of this approach will reduce the number of false alerts and will improve the performance of the IDS.

  11. Do obese adults have a higher risk of asthma attack when exposed to indoor mold? A study based on the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wen, Xiao-Jun; Balluz, Lina; Mokdad, Ali

    2009-01-01

    Some studies show an association between asthma and obesity, but it is unknown whether exposure to mold will increase the risk of asthma attacks among obese people. This study examined whether obese adults have a higher risk of asthma attacks than non-obese adults when exposed to indoor mold. We used data from the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to conduct a cross-sectional analysis among 9,668 respondents who reported exposure to indoor mold. With exposure to indoor mold, weighted prevalence of asthma attacks among obese respondents was 11.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] 6.0, 20.6], which was 2.3 times as high as among the exposed non-obese respondents (5.0%, 95% CI 2.8, 8.8). This ratio was almost the same as the ratio of 2.0:1 between the obese respondents (5.7%, 95% CI 4.6, 7.2) and the non-obese respondents (2.8%, 95% CI 2.3, 3.9) when neither group had exposure to mold. The odds ratio of asthma attack among obese people was 3.10 (95% CI 1.10, 8.67) for those with exposure to mold and 2.21 (95% CI 1.54, 3.17) for those without exposure to mold after adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and smoking status. Our study suggests that obese adults who have been exposed to indoor mold may not necessarily have a higher risk of asthma attack than obese adults who have not been exposed, even though obesity and exposure to indoor mold are both major risk factors for asthma attack. Medical professionals should not only incorporate weight-control or weight-reduction measures as the components of asthma treatment plans, but also advise asthma patients to avoid exposure to indoor mold.

  12. A Game Theoretical Approach to Hacktivism: Is Attack Likelihood a Product of Risks and Payoffs?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bodford, Jessica E; Kwan, Virginia S Y

    2018-02-01

    The current study examines hacktivism (i.e., hacking to convey a moral, ethical, or social justice message) through a general game theoretic framework-that is, as a product of costs and benefits. Given the inherent risk of carrying out a hacktivist attack (e.g., legal action, imprisonment), it would be rational for the user to weigh these risks against perceived benefits of carrying out the attack. As such, we examined computer science students' estimations of risks, payoffs, and attack likelihood through a game theoretic design. Furthermore, this study aims at constructing a descriptive profile of potential hacktivists, exploring two predicted covariates of attack decision making, namely, peer prevalence of hacking and sex differences. Contrary to expectations, results suggest that participants' estimations of attack likelihood stemmed solely from expected payoffs, rather than subjective risks. Peer prevalence significantly predicted increased payoffs and attack likelihood, suggesting an underlying descriptive norm in social networks. Notably, we observed no sex differences in the decision to attack, nor in the factors predicting attack likelihood. Implications for policymakers and the understanding and prevention of hacktivism are discussed, as are the possible ramifications of widely communicated payoffs over potential risks in hacking communities.

  13. RESILIENT SCHEME AGAINST REDUCTION OF QUALITY (ROQ DISTRIBUTED DENIAL OF SERVICE ATTACK IN MANET

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S.A. Arunmozhi

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Defending against denial-of-service attacks (DoS in a mobile ad hoc network (MANET is challenging because of the dynamic network topology. Security primitives must be dynamically adjusted to cope with the network. The Reduction-of-Quality (RoQ Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS attack is one which throttles the tcp throughput heavily and reduces the quality-of-service (QoS to end systems gradually rather than refusing the clients from the services completely. Supporting QoS in MANET is a challenging task, particularly in the presence of malicious users. In this paper, we propose a DoS resilient technique that uses a flow table to detect the attackers. The proposed defense mechanism identifies the attackers based on the congestion bit notification and asks the sending node to reduce the sending rate. Once the attackers are identified, all the packets from those nodes will be blocked. The throughput and delay performance of TCP or UDP flows are very sensitive to such RoQ attacks. Through extensive ns2 network simulations, we demonstrate the achievement of high throughput and low delay for a network under the RoQ attack.

  14. Cyber-Attacks and the Risks for CERN

    CERN Multimedia

    Computer Security Team

    2013-01-01

    In the previous Bulletin, we discussed the cyber-risks for the accelerator complex. However, looking at the broader picture, the cyber-risks for CERN are much more diverse.   Attacks can not only harm the operation of accelerators or experiments, but also impact negatively on the operation of the Organization as a whole and/or its reputation. This would not only hamper and impede our work while making us looking plain stupid, but might also make funding agencies reconsider whether their money is well invested in CERN… Examples? Sure, let’s be imaginative! What would be the consequences, if: a laptop holding sensitive CERN documents is lost or stolen, and ends up on eBay? your password is compromised and your mail account misused to send nasty messages to thousands of external mail addresses? an attacker manages to add photos of naked women/men onto a prominent CERN website, and boasts about this on Twitter? confidential documents like job application forms or passwo...

  15. Exposure‐Response Model of Subcutaneous C1‐Inhibitor Concentrate to Estimate the Risk of Attacks in Patients With Hereditary Angioedema

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tortorici, Michael A.; Pawaskar, Dipti; Pragst, Ingo; Machnig, Thomas; Hutmacher, Matthew; Zuraw, Bruce; Cicardi, Marco; Craig, Timothy; Longhurst, Hilary; Sidhu, Jagdev

    2018-01-01

    Subcutaneous C1‐inhibitor (HAEGARDA, CSL Behring), is a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)‐approved, highly concentrated formulation of a plasma‐derived C1‐esterase inhibitor (C1‐INH), which, in the phase III Clinical Studies for Optimal Management in Preventing Angioedema with Low‐Volume Subcutaneous C1‐inhibitor Replacement Therapy (COMPACT) trial, reduced the incidence of hereditary angioedema (HAE) attacks when given prophylactically. Data from the COMPACT trial were used to develop a repeated time‐to‐event model to characterize the timing and frequency of HAE attacks as a function of C1‐INH activity, and then develop an exposure–response model to assess the relationship between C1‐INH functional activity levels (C1‐INH(f)) and the risk of an attack. The C1‐INH(f) values of 33.1%, 40.3%, and 63.1% were predicted to correspond with 50%, 70%, and 90% reductions in the HAE attack risk, respectively, relative to no therapy. Based on trough C1‐INH(f) values for the 40 IU/kg (40.2%) and 60 IU/kg (48.0%) C1‐INH (SC) doses, the model predicted that 50% and 67% of the population, respectively, would see at least a 70% decrease in the risk of an attack. PMID:29316335

  16. Effects of aspirin on risk and severity of early recurrent stroke after transient ischaemic attack and ischaemic stroke : time-course analysis of randomised trials

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rothwell, Peter M; Algra, Ale; Chen, Zhengming; Diener, Hans-Christoph; Norrving, Bo; Mehta, Ziyah

    2016-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Aspirin is recommended for secondary prevention after transient ischaemic attack (TIA) or ischaemic stroke on the basis of trials showing a 13% reduction in long-term risk of recurrent stroke. However, the risk of major stroke is very high for only the first few days after TIA and minor

  17. Calculating Adversarial Risk from Attack Trees: Control Strength and Probabilistic Attackers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pieters, Wolter; Davarynejad, Mohsen

    2015-01-01

    Attack trees are a well-known formalism for quantitative analysis of cyber attacks consisting of multiple steps and alternative paths. It is possible to derive properties of the overall attacks from properties of individual steps, such as cost for the attacker and probability of success. However, in

  18. Risks of cyber attacks on financial audit activity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gheorghe N. Popescu

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Simultaneously with increasing the speed and precision of data processing, multiple connectivity, fast transmission over long distances, and their results, the development and generalization of automatic processing, brought many new vulnerabilities and deficiencies, otherwise inevitable, the basis of new risk categories. The risks of cyber attacks on financial auditing involve the risk management of information systems security. Identifying, mitigating or eliminating the effects are mandatory requirements without which a high-quality financial audit can not be achieved in a highly computerized environment. To substantiate specific risk management actions on information systems security, in this study we analyzed the main types and techniques used in cyber attacks by making their radiography, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of new technologies and systems that are or not favoring security systems. At the same time, we analyzed the security system of an information system, organized it in layers, and revealed the specific areas for the security evaluation of the Mehari method. Finally, some of the results of a survey based on a questionnaire made with the support of master students of the "Information Systems Audit and Control" course were revealed, with three of the most common weaknesses identified for each security domain.

  19. Gender differences in the link between childhood socioeconomic conditions and heart attack risk in adulthood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamil-Luker, Jenifer; O'Rand, Angela M

    2007-02-01

    A growing body of evidence shows that childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is predictive of disease risk in later life, with those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds more likely to experience poor adult-health outcomes. Most of these studies, however are based on middle-aged male populations and pay insufficient attention to the pathways between childhood risks and specific adult disorders. This article examines gender differences in the link between childhood SES and heart attack risk trajectories and the mechanisms by which early environments affect future disease risk. By using methods that model both latent and path-specific influences, we identify heterogeneity in early life conditions and human, social, and health capital in adulthood that contribute to diverse heart attack risk trajectories between and among men and women as they age into their 60s and 70s. We find that key risk factors for heart attack operate differently for men and women. For men, childhood SES does not differentiate those at low, increasing, and high risk for heart attack. In contrast, women who grew up without a father and/or under adverse economic conditions are the most likely to experience elevated risk for heart attack, even after we adjust for the unequal distribution of working and living conditions, social relationships, access to health care, and adult lifestyle behaviors that influence health outcomes.

  20. Risk Due to Radiological Terror Attacks With Natural Radionuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Friedrich, Steinhaeusler; Lyudmila, Zaitseva; Stan, Rydell

    2008-01-01

    The naturally occurring radionuclides radium (Ra-226) and polonium (Po-210) have the potential to be used for criminal acts. Analysis of international incident data contained in the Database on Nuclear Smuggling, Theft and Orphan Radiation Sources (CSTO), operated at the University of Salzburg, shows that several acts of murder and terrorism with natural radionuclides have already been carried out in Europe and Russia. Five different modes of attack (T) are possible: (1) Covert irradiation of an individual in order to deliver a high individual dose; (2) Covert irradiation of a group of persons delivering a large collective dose; (3) Contamination of food or drink; (4) Generation of radioactive aerosols or solutions; (5) Combination of Ra-226 with conventional explosives (Dirty Bomb).This paper assesses the risk (R) of such criminal acts in terms of: (a) Probability of terrorist motivation deploying a certain attack mode T; (b) Probability of success by the terrorists for the selected attack mode T; (c) Primary damage consequence (C) to the attacked target (activity, dose); (d) Secondary damage consequence (C') to the attacked target (psychological and socio-economic effects); (e) Probability that the consequences (C, C') cannot be brought under control, resulting in a failure to manage successfully the emergency situation due to logistical and/or technical deficits in implementing adequate countermeasures. Extensive computer modelling is used to determine the potential impact of such a criminal attack on directly affected victims and on the environment

  1. Risk Due to Radiological Terror Attacks With Natural Radionuclides

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friedrich, Steinhäusler; Stan, Rydell; Lyudmila, Zaitseva

    2008-08-01

    The naturally occurring radionuclides radium (Ra-226) and polonium (Po-210) have the potential to be used for criminal acts. Analysis of international incident data contained in the Database on Nuclear Smuggling, Theft and Orphan Radiation Sources (CSTO), operated at the University of Salzburg, shows that several acts of murder and terrorism with natural radionuclides have already been carried out in Europe and Russia. Five different modes of attack (T) are possible: (1) Covert irradiation of an individual in order to deliver a high individual dose; (2) Covert irradiation of a group of persons delivering a large collective dose; (3) Contamination of food or drink; (4) Generation of radioactive aerosols or solutions; (5) Combination of Ra-226 with conventional explosives (Dirty Bomb). This paper assesses the risk (R) of such criminal acts in terms of: (a) Probability of terrorist motivation deploying a certain attack mode T; (b) Probability of success by the terrorists for the selected attack mode T; (c) Primary damage consequence (C) to the attacked target (activity, dose); (d) Secondary damage consequence (C') to the attacked target (psychological and socio-economic effects); (e) Probability that the consequences (C, C') cannot be brought under control, resulting in a failure to manage successfully the emergency situation due to logistical and/or technical deficits in implementing adequate countermeasures. Extensive computer modelling is used to determine the potential impact of such a criminal attack on directly affected victims and on the environment.

  2. Laypersons' understanding of relative risk reductions: Randomised cross-sectional study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kristiansen Ivar S

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Despite increasing recognition of the importance of involving patients in decisions on preventive healthcare interventions, little is known about how well patients understand and utilise information provided on the relative benefits from these interventions. The aim of this study was to explore whether lay people can discriminate between preventive interventions when effectiveness is presented in terms of relative risk reduction (RRR, and whether such discrimination is influenced by presentation of baseline risk. Methods The study was a randomised cross-sectional interview survey of a representative sample (n = 1,519 of lay people with mean age 59 (range 40–98 years in Denmark. In addition to demographic information, respondents were asked to consider a hypothetical drug treatment to prevent heart attack. Its effectiveness was randomly presented as RRR of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 or 60 percent, and half of the respondents were presented with quantitative information on the baseline risk of heart attack. The respondents had also been asked whether they were diagnosed with hypercholesterolemia or had experienced a heart attack. Results In total, 873 (58% of the respondents consented to the hypothetical treatment. While 49% accepted the treatment when RRR = 10%, the acceptance rate was 58–60% for RRR>10. There was no significant difference in acceptance rates across respondents irrespective of whether they had been presented with quantitative information on baseline risk or not. Conclusion In this study, lay people's decisions about therapy were only slightly influenced by the magnitude of the effect when it was presented in terms of RRR. The results may indicate that lay people have difficulties in discriminating between levels of effectiveness when they are presented in terms of RRR.

  3. Identifying Risk of Future Asthma Attacks Using UK Medical Record Data: A Respiratory Effectiveness Group Initiative.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blakey, John D; Price, David B; Pizzichini, Emilio; Popov, Todor A; Dimitrov, Borislav D; Postma, Dirkje S; Josephs, Lynn K; Kaplan, Alan; Papi, Alberto; Kerkhof, Marjan; Hillyer, Elizabeth V; Chisholm, Alison; Thomas, Mike

    Asthma attacks are common, serious, and costly. Individual factors associated with attacks, such as poor symptom control, are not robust predictors. We investigated whether the rich data available in UK electronic medical records could identify patients at risk of recurrent attacks. We analyzed anonymized, longitudinal medical records of 118,981 patients with actively treated asthma (ages 12-80 years) and 3 or more years of data. Potential risk factors during 1 baseline year were evaluated using univariable (simple) logistic regression for outcomes of 2 or more and 4 or more attacks during the following 2-year period. Predictors with significant univariable association (P attacks included baseline-year markers of attacks (acute oral corticosteroid courses, emergency visits), more frequent reliever use and health care utilization, worse lung function, current smoking, blood eosinophilia, rhinitis, nasal polyps, eczema, gastroesophageal reflux disease, obesity, older age, and being female. The number of oral corticosteroid courses had the strongest association. The final cross-validated models incorporated 19 and 16 risk factors for 2 or more and 4 or more attacks over 2 years, respectively, with areas under the curve of 0.785 (95% CI, 0.780-0.789) and 0.867 (95% CI, 0.860-0.873), respectively. Routinely collected data could be used proactively via automated searches to identify individuals at risk of recurrent asthma attacks. Further research is needed to assess the impact of such knowledge on clinical prognosis. Copyright © 2016 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Security and Risk Analysis of Nuclear Safeguards Instruments Using Attack Trees

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Naumann, I.; Wishard, B.

    2015-01-01

    The IAEA's nuclear safeguards instruments must be frequently evaluated against attack vectors, which are extremely varied and, at first approximation, may seem inconsequential, but are not. To accurately analyze the impact of attacks on a multi-component system requires a highly structured and well-documented assessment. Tree structures, such as fault trees, have long been used to assess the consequences of selecting potential solutions and their impact on risk. When applied to security threats by introducing threat agents (adversaries) and vulnerabilities, this approach can be extremely valuable in uncovering previously unidentified risks and identifying mitigation steps. This paper discusses how attack trees can be used for the security analysis of nuclear safeguards instruments. The root node of such a tree represents an objective that negatively impacts security such as disclosing and/or falsifying instrument data or circumventing safeguards methods. Usually, this objective is rather complex and attaining it requires a combination of several security breaches which may vary on how much funding or what capabilities are required in order to execute them. Thus, it is necessary to break the root objective into smaller, less complex units. Once a leaf node describes a reasonably comprehensible action, it is the security experts' task to allocate levels of difficulty and funding to this node. Eventually, the paths from the leaf nodes to the root node describe all possible combinations of actions necessary to carry out a successful attack. The use of a well-structured attack tree facilitates the developer in thinking like the adversary providing more effective security solutions. (author)

  5. Attack surfaces

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gruschka, Nils; Jensen, Meiko

    2010-01-01

    The new paradigm of cloud computing poses severe security risks to its adopters. In order to cope with these risks, appropriate taxonomies and classification criteria for attacks on cloud computing are required. In this work-in-progress paper we present one such taxonomy based on the notion...... of attack surfaces of the cloud computing scenario participants....

  6. Cyber-security: industrials must stop denying the risk of cyber-attacks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hausermann, L.

    2015-01-01

    The risk of cyber-attacks of industrial sites is real. Recently the Anvers port and the Bakou-Tbilissi-Ceyhan pipeline have been attacked. In both cases hackers succeeded: they were able to track sea containers in which drug was concealed and recover it in the Anvers port and in the case of the pipeline the hackers took control of the control system and were able to trigger a huge explosion by shunning security systems and allowing damaging pressure surges. The massive use of digital systems and of automated systems in various industrial sectors has led to huge network of inter-connected smart devices whose purpose is not to process data but to monitor and control. All these devices and equipment are controlled by software whose weaknesses and fault lines multiply the risk of cyber-attacks even for 'closed' networks. While the total hacking of a nuclear power plant is highly unlikely, real threats exist and must be taken into account. Innovative solutions based on the mapping of the fluxes of the system and combined with an inventory of all its weaknesses may pave the way towards cyber-security. (A.C.)

  7. The risk factors of acute attack of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rabiei Sohrab

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available ntroduction: Many people suffer from vertigo. Its origin in 85% of cases is otological while in 15% is central etiology. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV is the most common cause of the true vertigo. In this research we evaluated the risk factors of acute attack of BPPV. Materials and Methods: This study was performed on 322 patients, presenting with BPPV. Diagnosis was confirmed by history and Dix-Hallpike manoeuvre. The underling risk factors documented carefully. Data analyzed by SPSS and K.square test. Results: Number of 321 patients (including 201 females and 120 males with BPPV included in our study. Their average age was 41. They showed symptoms for 1 month to 15 years (mean 8 months. Emotional stress was positive in 34% and trauma was the only risk factor in 8.12% patients. Ear surgery and prolonged journey were respectively the main risk factors in 7.2 and 12.8% of patients. Conclusion: The confirmed risk factors of acute attack of BPPV were as trauma, major surgery and ear surgery especially stapedotomy, vestibular  neuronitis and prolonged bedrestriction. Meniere was not considered as risk factor. In our study the psychological conflict was the major risk factor for BPPV. Other new risk factors which introduced for first time included; sleep disorder, fatigue, professional sport, starving and prolonged journey.

  8. US State-level income inequality and risks of heart attack and coronary risk behaviors: longitudinal findings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pabayo, Roman; Kawachi, Ichiro; Gilman, Stephen E

    2015-07-01

    To examine prospectively the association between US state income inequality and incidence of heart attack. We used data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (n = 34,445). Respondents completed interviews at baseline (2001-2002) and follow-up (2004-2005). Weighted multilevel modeling was used to determine if US state-level income inequality (measured by the Gini coefficient) at baseline was a predictor of heart attack during follow-up, controlling for individual-level and state-level covariates. In comparison to residents of US states in the lowest quartile of income inequality, those living in the second [Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 1.71, 95 % CI 1.16-2.53)], third (AOR = 1.81, 95 % CI 1.28-2.57), and fourth (AOR = 2.04, 95 % CI 1.26-3.29) quartiles were more likely to have a heart attack. Similar findings were obtained when we excluded those who had a heart attack prior to baseline. This study is one of the first to empirically show the longitudinal relationship between income inequality and coronary heart disease. Living in a state with higher income inequality increases the risk for heart attack among US adults.

  9. An approach to Identify the Risk Induced by Cyber-Attack on the Non-safety NPP I and C System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Hee Eun; Kang, Hyun Gook [KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Jong Hyun [Chosun University, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of); Son, Han Sung [Joonbu University, Geumsan (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-05-15

    In this study, influence of the attack on the non-safety system will be investigated, because the cyber-attack on the safety system cannot be accomplished easily. To identify the risk from cyber-attack, the result of PSA will be applied. Cyber-attack may cause other risks except for the core damage. Those risks also can be identified by applying this method. This study could be reinforced in a more realistic way if the information on the maintenance is considered, because certain type of cyber-attack could be detected during the maintenance. Also, possible set of wrong actions need to be selected, based on the knowledge of I and C system and its vulnerabilities because the hacker might not attack every information. To obtain the realistic result information that can be manipulated need to be listed, because the hacker may not attack certain information, not to be detected during the maintenance. In addition, by using the result of this study, the test plan for the cyber-attack can be suggested. If the scenario is given, the criteria for the test target selection can be obtained. It includes the target component and information.

  10. An approach to Identify the Risk Induced by Cyber-Attack on the Non-safety NPP I and C System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Hee Eun; Kang, Hyun Gook; Kim, Jong Hyun; Son, Han Sung

    2016-01-01

    In this study, influence of the attack on the non-safety system will be investigated, because the cyber-attack on the safety system cannot be accomplished easily. To identify the risk from cyber-attack, the result of PSA will be applied. Cyber-attack may cause other risks except for the core damage. Those risks also can be identified by applying this method. This study could be reinforced in a more realistic way if the information on the maintenance is considered, because certain type of cyber-attack could be detected during the maintenance. Also, possible set of wrong actions need to be selected, based on the knowledge of I and C system and its vulnerabilities because the hacker might not attack every information. To obtain the realistic result information that can be manipulated need to be listed, because the hacker may not attack certain information, not to be detected during the maintenance. In addition, by using the result of this study, the test plan for the cyber-attack can be suggested. If the scenario is given, the criteria for the test target selection can be obtained. It includes the target component and information

  11. CD26 + CD4 + T cell counts and attack risk in interferon-treated multiple sclerosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sellebjerg, F; Ross, C; Koch-Henriksen, Nils

    2005-01-01

    in patients with CD26 + CD4 + T cell counts above median, and this risk was independent of the risk conferred by neutralizing anti-IFN-beta antibodies. CD26 + CD4 + T cell counts may identify patients with MS at increased risk of attack during treatment with IFN-beta....... and CCR5 on T cells is altered in patients with active MS. We studied the expression of these molecules by flow cytometry in patients followed for six months during immunomodulatory treatment. In interferon (IFN)-beta-treated patients, we found that the hazard ratio for developing an attack was 28...

  12. Identifying Risk of Future Asthma Attacks Using UK Medical Record Data : A Respiratory Effectiveness Group Initiative

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Blakey, John D.; Price, David B.; Pizzichini, Emilio; Popov, Todor A.; Dimitrov, Borislav D.; Postma, Dirkje S.; Josephs, Lynn K.; Kaplan, Alan; Papi, Alberto; Kerkhof, Marjan; Hillyer, Elizabeth V.; Chisholm, Alison; Thomas, Mike

    BACKGROUND: Asthma attacks are common, serious, and costly. Individual factors associated with attacks, such as poor symptom control, are not robust predictors. OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether the rich data available in UK electronic medical records could identify patients at risk of recurrent

  13. Cyber Attacks and Energy Infrastructures: Anticipating Risks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Desarnaud, Gabrielle

    2017-01-01

    This study analyses the likelihood of cyber-attacks against European energy infrastructures and their potential consequences, particularly on the electricity grid. It also delivers a comparative analysis of measures taken by different European countries to protect their industries and collaborate within the European Union. The energy sector experiences an unprecedented digital transformation upsetting its activities and business models. Our energy infrastructures, sometimes more than a decade old and designed to remain functional for many years to come, now constantly interact with light digital components. The convergence of the global industrial system with the power of advanced computing and analytics reveals untapped opportunities at every step of the energy value chain. However, the introduction of digital elements in old and unprotected industrial equipment also exposes the energy industry to the cyber risk. One of the most compelling example of the type of threat the industry is facing, is the 2015 cyber-attack on the Ukraine power grid, which deprived about 200 000 people of electricity in the middle of the winter. The number and the level of technical expertise of cyber-attacks rose significantly after the discovery of the Stuxnet worm in the network of Natanz uranium enrichment site in 2010. Energy transition policies and the growing integration of renewable sources of energy will intensify this tendency, if cyber security measures are not part of the design of our future energy infrastructures. Regulators try to catch up and adapt, like in France where the authorities collaborate closely with the energy industry to set up a strict and efficient regulatory framework, and protect critical operators. This approach is adopted elsewhere in Europe, but common measures applicable to the whole European Union are essential to protect strongly interconnected energy infrastructures against a multiform threat that defies frontiers

  14. Relative Risk Appraisal, the September 11 Attacks, and Terrorism-Related Fears

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marshall, Randall D.; Bryant, Richard A.; Amsel, Lawrence; Suh, Eun Jung; Cook, Joan M.; Neria, Yuval

    2013-01-01

    There are now replicated findings that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms related to the September 11, 2001, attacks occurred in large numbers of persons who did not fit the traditional definition of exposure to a traumatic event. These data are not explained by traditional epidemiologic “bull’s eye” disaster models, which assume the psychological effects are narrowly, geographically circumscribed, or by existing models of PTSD onset. In this article, the authors develop a researchable model to explain these and other terrorism-related phenomena by synthesizing research and concepts from the cognitive science, risk appraisal, traumatic stress, and anxiety disorders literatures. They propose the new term relative risk appraisal to capture the psychological function that is the missing link between the event and subjective response in these and other terrorism-related studies to date. Relative risk appraisal highlights the core notion from cognitive science that human perception is an active, multidimensional process, such that for unpredictable societal threats, proximity to the event is only one of several factors that influence behavioral responses. Addressing distortions in relative risk appraisal effectively could reduce individual and societal vulnerability to a wide range of adverse economic and ethnopolitical consequences to terrorist attacks. The authors present ways in which these concepts and related techniques can be helpful in treating persons with September 11– or terrorism-related distress or psychopathology. PMID:17516775

  15. Aspirin for Reducing Your Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke: Know the Facts

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... the-Counter Medicines Safe Daily Use of Aspirin Aspirin for Reducing Your Risk of Heart Attack and ... any pharmacy, grocery or convenience store and buy aspirin without a prescription. The Drug Facts label on ...

  16. Absolute risk, absolute risk reduction and relative risk

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jose Andres Calvache

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available This article illustrates the epidemiological concepts of absolute risk, absolute risk reduction and relative risk through a clinical example. In addition, it emphasizes the usefulness of these concepts in clinical practice, clinical research and health decision-making process.

  17. RFID Privacy Risk Evaluation Based on Synthetic Method of Extended Attack Tree and Information Feature Entropy

    OpenAIRE

    Li, Peng; Xu, Chao; Chen, Long; Wang, Ruchuan

    2015-01-01

    Evaluation of security risks in radio frequency identification (RFID) systems is a challenging problem in Internet of Things (IoT). This paper proposes an extended attack tree (EAT) model to identify RFID system’s flaws and vulnerabilities. A corresponding formal description of the model is described which adds a probability SAND node together with the probability attribute of the node attack. In addition, we model the process of an RFID data privacy attack based on EAT, taking a sensitive in...

  18. Before Using Aspirin to Lower Your Risk of Heart Attack or Stroke, Here Is What You Should Know

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Medicines Safe Daily Use of Aspirin Before Using Aspirin to Lower Your Risk of Heart Attack or ... care provider can determine whether regular use of aspirin will help to prevent a heart attack or ...

  19. Laypersons' understanding of relative risk reductions: randomised cross-sectional study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sorensen, Lene; Gyrd-Hansen, Dorte; Kristiansen, Ivar S

    2008-01-01

    of a representative sample (n = 1,519) of lay people with mean age 59 (range 40-98) years in Denmark. In addition to demographic information, respondents were asked to consider a hypothetical drug treatment to prevent heart attack. Its effectiveness was randomly presented as RRR of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 or 60 percent......, and half of the respondents were presented with quantitative information on the baseline risk of heart attack. The respondents had also been asked whether they were diagnosed with hypercholesterolemia or had experienced a heart attack. RESULTS: In total, 873 (58%) of the respondents consented...

  20. Reduction redux.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shapiro, Lawrence

    2018-04-01

    Putnam's criticisms of the identity theory attack a straw man. Fodor's criticisms of reduction attack a straw man. Properly interpreted, Nagel offered a conception of reduction that captures everything a physicalist could want. I update Nagel, introducing the idea of overlap, and show why multiple realization poses no challenge to reduction so construed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Root deformation reduces tolerance of lodgepole pine to attack by Warren root collar weevil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robert, Jeanne A; Lindgren, B Staffan

    2010-04-01

    Surveys were conducted on regenerating stands of lodgepole pine to determine the relationship between root deformation and susceptibility to attack by the Warren root collar weevil, Hylobius warreni Wood. The total number of trees attacked by H. warreni did not differ between planted and natural trees. A matched case-control logistic regression suggested that root cross-sectional area was more important in predicting weevil attack for naturally regenerated trees than for planted trees, but weevils were associated with a larger reduction in height-to-diameter ratios for trees with planted root characteristics than for trees with natural root form. Neither the stability of attacked versus unattacked trees differed significantly and there was no significant interaction of weevil attack and tree type, but weevil-killed trees had different root characteristics than alive, attacked trees. Lateral distribution and root cross-sectional area were significant predictors of alive attacked trees versus weevil-killed trees, suggesting that trees with poor lateral spread or poor root cross-sectional area are more likely to die from weevil attack. We conclude that root deformation does not necessarily increase susceptibility to attack but may increase the likelihood of mortality. Thus, measures to facilitate good root form are needed when planting pine in areas with high risk of Warren root collar weevil attack.

  2. Evaluation of severe accident risks and the potential for risk reduction: Grand Gulf, Unit 1. Draft for comment, February 1987

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Amos, C N [Technadyne Engineering Consultants, Inc., Albuquerque, NM (United States); Benjamin, A S; Kunsman, D M; Williams, D C [Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Boyd, G J; Lewis, S R [Safety and Reliability Optimization Services, Inc., Knoxville, TN (United States); Smith, L N [Science Applications International Corporation, Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    1987-04-01

    The Severe Accident Risk Reduction Program (SARRP) has completed a rebaselining of the risks to the public from a boiling water reactor with a Mark III containment (Grand Gulf, Unit 1). Emphasis was placed on determining the magnitude and character of the uncertainties, rather than focusing on a point estimate. The risk-reduction potential of a set of proposed safety option backfits was also studied, and their costs and benefits were also evaluated. It was found that the risks from internal events are generally low relative to previous studies; for example, most of the uncertainty range is lower than the point estimate of risk for the Peach Bottom plant in the Reactor Safety Study (RSS). However, certain unresolved issues cause the top of the uncertainty band to appear at a level that is comparable with the RSS point estimate. These issues include the diesel generator failure rate, iodine and cesium revolatilization after vessel breach and the possibility of reactor vessel pedestal failure caused by core debris attack. Some of the postulated safety options appear to be potentially cost effective for the Grand Gulf power plant, particularly when onsite accidents costs are included in the evaluation of benefits. Principally these include procedural modifications and relatively inexpensive hardware additions to insure core cooling in the event of a station blackout. This work supports the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's assessment of severe accidents in NUREG-1150. (author)

  3. Heart Attack

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... properly causes your body's blood sugar levels to rise, increasing your risk of heart attack. Metabolic syndrome. This occurs when you have obesity, high blood pressure and high blood sugar. Having metabolic ...

  4. Use of ABCD2 risk scoring system to determine the short-term stroke risk in patients presenting to emergency department with transient ischaemic attack

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ozpolat, C.; Denizbasi, A.; Onur, O.; Eroglu, S.E.

    2013-01-01

    Objective: To determine the 3-day stroke risk of patients presenting to emergency department with transient ischaemic attack, and to evaluate the predictive value of ABCD2 (Age, Blood pressure, Clinical features, Duration of symptoms and Diabetes) score for these patients. Methods: The prospective study was conducted on patients with diagnosis of transient ischaemic attack who were divided into low (0-3 points), medium (4-5 points) and high (6-7 points) risk groups according to their ABCD2 scores. The sensitivity of the scoring system on estimation of the risk of stroke in 3 days was evaluated through receiver operating characteristic curve. SPSS 15 was used for data analysis. Results: Of the 64 patients in the study, none of the low-risk group had stroke. Stroke was present in 4 of 33 (12.12%) medium-risk patients, while there were 4 in 18 (22.22%) in the high-risk group. Sensitivity and specificity of each ABCD2 score for 3rd day stroke risk was calculated. In the receiver operating curve generated by these calculations, the c statistics was determined as 0.76 (95% CI: 0.64, 0.86; p<0.01) and the most appropriate cut-off score to dichotomise the study group was determined as 4. Conclusions: In transient ischaemic attack patients with an ABCD2 score of four or higher had a markedly increased short-term stroke risk, while those with a lower score were quite safe. It is appropriate to hospitalise patients with a score of four or more and investigate for underlying cause and initiate treatment. (author)

  5. Spatial proximity and the risk of psychopathology after a terrorist attack

    OpenAIRE

    DiMaggio, Charles; Galea, Sandro; Emch, Michael

    2010-01-01

    Previous studies concerned with the relation of proximity to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and subsequent psychopathology have produced conflicting results. The goals of this analysis are to assess the appropriateness of using Bayesian hierarchical spatial techniques to answer the question of the role of proximity to a mass trauma as a risk factor for psychopathology. Using a set of individual-level Medicaid data for New York State, and controlling for age, gender, median household...

  6. Comparing Asian American Women's Knowledge, Self-Efficacy, and Perceived Risk of Heart Attack to Other Racial and Ethnic Groups: The mPED Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fukuoka, Yoshimi; Lisha, Nadra E; Vittinghoff, Eric

    2017-09-01

    The aim of the study was to compare knowledge and awareness of heart attacks/heart disease and perceived risk for future heart attack in Asian/Pacific Islander women, compared to other racial and ethnic groups. In this cross-sectional study, 318 women enrolled in a mobile phone-based physical activity education trial were analyzed. Heart attack knowledge, self-efficacy for recognizing and responding to heart attack symptoms, and perceived risk for a future heart attack were measured. Analyses were conducted using logistic, proportional odds, and linear regression models, depending on the outcome and adjusting for age. Pairwise differences between Asian/Pacific Islanders and the other four groups were assessed using a Bonferroni correction (p Asian/Pacific Islander women had significantly lower total scores for knowledge of heart attack and self-efficacy for heart attack recognition and care seeking behavior compared to the Caucasian women (p = 0.001 and p = 0.002, respectively). However, perceived risk did not differ among the groups. Forty-six percent of the Asian American women, compared to 25% of Caucasian women, falsely believed "breast cancer is the number one cause of death for women (p = 0.002)." In addition, Asian/Pacific Islander women were less likely to report "arm pain, numbness, tingling, or radiating" as one of the heart attack symptoms compared to the Caucasian and the multiracial group (34%, 63% [p Asian/Pacific Islander women and Caucasian women.

  7. Assessing the risk of attack in the management of asthma: a review and proposal for revision of the current control-centred paradigm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blakey, John D; Woolnough, Kerry; Fellows, Jodie; Walker, Samantha; Thomas, Mike; Pavord, Ian D

    2013-09-01

    Asthma guidelines focus on day-to-day control of symptoms. However, asthma attacks remain common. They continue to cause mortality and considerable morbidity, and are a major financial burden to the UK National Health Service (NHS) and the wider community. Asthma attacks have chronic consequences, being associated with loss of lung function and significant psychological morbidity. In this article we argue that addressing daily symptom control is only one aspect of asthma treatment, and that there should be a more explicit focus on reducing the risk of asthma attacks. Management of future risk by general practitioners is already central to other conditions such as ischaemic heart disease and chronic renal impairment. We therefore propose a revised approach that separately considers the related domains of daily control and future risk of asthma attack. We believe this approach will have advantages over the current 'stepwise' approach to asthma management. It should encourage individualised treatment, including non-pharmacological measures, and thus may lead to more efficacious and less harmful management strategies. We speculate that this type of approach has the potential to reduce morbidity and healthcare costs related to asthma attacks.

  8. Family history and body mass index predict perceived risks of diabetes and heart attack among community-dwelling Caucasian, Filipino, Korean, and Latino Americans--DiLH Survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fukuoka, Yoshimi; Choi, JiWon; S Bender, Melinda; Gonzalez, Prisila; Arai, Shoshana

    2015-07-01

    The purpose of the study was to explore the perceived risk for diabetes and heart attack and associated health status of Caucasian, Filipino, Korean, and Latino Americans without diabetes. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 904 urban adults (mean age 44.3±16.1 years; 64.3% female) in English, Spanish or Korean between August and December 2013. Perceived risk for developing diabetes was indicated by 46.5% (n=421), and 14.3% (n=129) perceived themselves to be at risk for having a heart attack in their lifetime. Significant predictors of pessimistic diabetes risk perceptions: Filipino (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=1.7; 95% CI: 1.04-2.86) and Korean (AOR=2.4; 1.33-4.48) ethnicity, family history of diabetes (AOR=1.4; 1.00-1.84), female gender (AOR=1.4; 1.04-1.96), high cholesterol (AOR= 1.6; 1.09-2.37) and higher body mass index (BMI) (AOR=1.1; 1.08-1.15). Predictors of pessimistic heart attack risk perceptions were family history of an early heart attack (AOR=2.9; 1.69-5.02), high blood pressure (AOR=2.4; 1.45-3.84), and higher BMI (AOR=1.1; 1.04-1.12) after controlling for socio-demographic factors. Older age, physical inactivity, smoking, and low HDL levels were not associated with risk perceptions. Multiple risk factors were predictive of greater perceived diabetes risk, whereas, only family history of heart attack, high blood pressure and increases in BMI significantly contributed to perceived risk of heart attack among ethnically diverse at risk middle-aged adults. It is important that healthcare providers address the discordance between an individual's risk perceptions and the presence of actual risk factors. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Risk of stroke and cardiovascular events after ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack in patients with type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome: secondary analysis of the Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL) trial

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Callahan, Alfred; Amarenco, Pierre; Goldstein, Larry B

    2011-01-01

    To perform a secondary analysis of the Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL) trial, which tested the effect of treatment with atorvastatin in reducing stroke in subjects with a recent stroke or transient ischemic attack, to explore the effects of treatment...

  10. Optimising risk reduction: An expected utility approach for marginal risk reduction during regulatory decision making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Jiawei; Pollard, Simon; Kendall, Graham; Soane, Emma; Davies, Gareth

    2009-01-01

    In practice, risk and uncertainty are essentially unavoidable in many regulation processes. Regulators frequently face a risk-benefit trade-off since zero risk is neither practicable nor affordable. Although it is accepted that cost-benefit analysis is important in many scenarios of risk management, what role it should play in a decision process is still controversial. One criticism of cost-benefit analysis is that decision makers should consider marginal benefits and costs, not present ones, in their decision making. In this paper, we investigate the problem of regulatory decision making under risk by applying expected utility theory and present a new approach of cost-benefit analysis. Directly taking into consideration the reduction of the risks, this approach achieves marginal cost-benefit analysis. By applying this approach, the optimal regulatory decision that maximizes the marginal benefit of risk reduction can be considered. This provides a transparent and reasonable criterion for stakeholders involved in the regulatory activity. An example of evaluating seismic retrofitting alternatives is provided to demonstrate the potential of the proposed approach.

  11. Stochastic Model of TCP SYN Attacks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simona Ramanauskaitė

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available A great proportion of essential services are moving into internet space making the threat of DoS attacks even more actual. To estimate the real risk of some kind of denial of service (DoS attack in real world is difficult, but mathematical and software models make this task easier. In this paper we overview the ways of implementing DoS attack models and offer a stochastic model of SYN flooding attack. It allows evaluating the potential threat of SYN flooding attacks, taking into account both the legitimate system flow as well as the possible attack power. At the same time we can assess the effect of such parameters as buffer capacity, open connection storage in the buffer or filte­ring efficiency on the success of different SYN flooding attacks. This model can be used for other type of memory depletion denial of service attacks.Article in Lithuanian

  12. Nonvitamin-K-antagonist oral anticoagulants versus warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation and previous stroke or transient ischemic attack: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ntaios, George; Papavasileiou, Vasileios; Diener, Hans-Chris; Makaritsis, Konstantinos; Michel, Patrik

    2017-08-01

    Background In a previous systematic review and meta-analysis, we assessed the efficacy and safety of nonvitamin-K antagonist oral anticoagulants versus warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation and stroke or transient ischemic attack. Since then, new information became available. Aim The aim of the present work was to update the results of the previous systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods We searched PubMed until 24 August 2016 for randomized controlled trials using the following search items: "atrial fibrillation" and "anticoagulation" and "warfarin" and "previous stroke or transient ischemic attack." Eligible studies had to be phase III trials in patients with atrial fibrillation comparing warfarin with nonvitamin-K antagonist oral anticoagulants currently on the market or with the intention to be brought to the market in North America or Europe. The outcomes assessed in the efficacy analysis included stroke or systemic embolism, stroke, ischemic or unknown stroke, disabling or fatal stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, cardiovascular death, death from any cause, and myocardial infarction. The outcomes assessed in the safety analysis included major bleeding, intracranial bleeding, and major gastrointestinal bleeding. We performed fixed effects analyses on intention-to-treat basis. Results Among 183 potentially eligible articles, four were included in the meta-analysis. In 20,500 patients, compared to warfarin, nonvitamin-K antagonist oral anticoagulants were associated with a significant reduction of stroke/systemic embolism (relative risk reduction: 13.7%, absolute risk reduction: 0.78%, number needed to treat to prevent one event: 127), hemorrhagic stroke (relative risk reduction: 50.0%, absolute risk reduction: 0.63%, number needed to treat: 157), any stroke (relative risk reduction: 13.1%, absolute risk reduction: 0.7%, number needed to treat: 142), and intracranial hemorrhage (relative risk reduction: 46.1%, absolute risk reduction: 0.88%, number needed

  13. Quantitative Attack Tree Analysis via Priced Timed Automata

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kumar, Rajesh; Ruijters, Enno Jozef Johannes; Stoelinga, Mariëlle Ida Antoinette; Sankaranarayanan, Sriram; Vicario, Enrico

    The success of a security attack crucially depends on the resources available to an attacker: time, budget, skill level, and risk appetite. Insight in these dependencies and the most vulnerable system parts is key to providing effective counter measures. This paper considers attack trees, one of the

  14. Outage risk reduction at Diablo Canyon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burnett, Tobias W.T.; Eugene Newman, C.

    2004-01-01

    A formal risk reduction program was conducted at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Generating plant as part of EPRI's Outage Risk Assessment and Management Program. The program began with a probabilistic and deterministic assessment of the frequency of core coolant boiling and core uncovery during shutdown operations. This step identified important contributors to risk, periods of high vulnerability, and potential mechanisms for reducing risk. Next, recovery strategies were evaluated and procedures, training, and outage schedules modified. Twelve risk reduction enhancements were developed and implemented. These enhancements and their impact are described in this paper. These enhancements reduced the calculated risk of core uncovery by about a factor of four for a refueling outage without lengthening the outage schedule; increased the outage efficiency, contributing to completing 11 days ahead of schedule; and helped to earn the highest achievable SALP rating from the NRC. (author)

  15. Short- and Long-Term Stroke Risk after Urgent Management of Transient Ischaemic Attack: The Bologna TIA Clinical Pathway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guarino, Maria; Rondelli, Francesca; Favaretto, Elisabetta; Stracciari, Andrea; Filippini, Massimo; Rinaldi, Rita; Zele, Ivana; Sartori, Michelangelo; Faggioli, Gianluca; Mondini, Susanna; Donti, Andrea; Strocchi, Enrico; Degli Esposti, Daniela; Muscari, Antonio; Veronesi, Maddalena; D'Addato, Sergio; Spinardi, Luca; Faccioli, Luca; Pastore Trossello, Marco; Cirignotta, Fabio

    2015-01-01

    Rapid management can reduce the short stroke risk after transient ischaemic attack (TIA), but the long-term effect is still little known. We evaluated 3-year vascular outcomes in patients with TIA after urgent care. We prospectively enrolled all consecutive patients with TIA diagnosed by a vascular neurologist and referred to our emergency department (ED). Expedited assessment and best secondary prevention was within 24 h. Endpoints were stroke within 90 days, and stroke, myocardial infarction, and vascular death at 12, 24 and 36 months. Between August 2010 and July 2013, we evaluated 686 patients with suspected TIA; 433 (63%) patients had confirmed TIA. Stroke at 90 days was 2.07% (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.1-3.9) compared with the ABCD2-predicted risk of 9.1%. The long-term stroke risk was 2.6% (95% CI, 1.1-4.2), 3.7% (95% CI, 1.6-5.9) and 4.4% (95% CI, 1.9-6.8) at 12, 24 and 36 months, respectively. The composite outcome of stroke, myocardial infarction, and vascular death was 3.5% (95% CI, 1.7-5.1), 4.9% (95% CI, 2.5-7.4), and 5.6% (95% CI, 2.8-8.3) at 12, 24, and 36 months, respectively. TIA expedited management driven by vascular neurologists was associated with a marked reduction in the expected early stroke risk and low long-term risk of stroke and other vascular events. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  16. Adaptation of an HIV behavioural disinhibition risk reduction ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Adaptation of an HIV behavioural disinhibition risk reduction intervention for ... disinhibition risk reduction interventions for recently circumcised men for use in clinic ... medicine HIV prevention technologies into the male circumcision contexts.

  17. Exploiting Hardware Vulnerabilities to Attack Embedded System Devices: a Survey of Potent Microarchitectural Attacks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Apostolos P. Fournaris

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Cyber-Physical system devices nowadays constitute a mixture of Information Technology (IT and Operational Technology (OT systems that are meant to operate harmonically under a security critical framework. As security IT countermeasures are gradually been installed in many embedded system nodes, thus securing them from many well-know cyber attacks there is a lurking danger that is still overlooked. Apart from the software vulnerabilities that typical malicious programs use, there are some very interesting hardware vulnerabilities that can be exploited in order to mount devastating software or hardware attacks (typically undetected by software countermeasures capable of fully compromising any embedded system device. Real-time microarchitecture attacks such as the cache side-channel attacks are such case but also the newly discovered Rowhammer fault injection attack that can be mounted even remotely to gain full access to a device DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory. Under the light of the above dangers that are focused on the device hardware structure, in this paper, an overview of this attack field is provided including attacks, threat directives and countermeasures. The goal of this paper is not to exhaustively overview attacks and countermeasures but rather to survey the various, possible, existing attack directions and highlight the security risks that they can pose to security critical embedded systems as well as indicate their strength on compromising the Quality of Service (QoS such systems are designed to provide.

  18. The attack navigator

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Probst, Christian W.; Willemson, Jan; Pieters, Wolter

    2016-01-01

    The need to assess security and take protection decisions is at least as old as our civilisation. However, the complexity and development speed of our interconnected technical systems have surpassed our capacity to imagine and evaluate risk scenarios. This holds in particular for risks...... that are caused by the strategic behaviour of adversaries. Therefore, technology-supported methods are needed to help us identify and manage these risks. In this paper, we describe the attack navigator: a graph-based approach to security risk assessment inspired by navigation systems. Based on maps of a socio...

  19. Integrating cyber attacks within fault trees

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nai Fovino, Igor; Masera, Marcelo; De Cian, Alessio

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, a new method for quantitative security risk assessment of complex systems is presented, combining fault-tree analysis, traditionally used in reliability analysis, with the recently introduced Attack-tree analysis, proposed for the study of malicious attack patterns. The combined use of fault trees and attack trees helps the analyst to effectively face the security challenges posed by the introduction of modern ICT technologies in the control systems of critical infrastructures. The proposed approach allows considering the interaction of malicious deliberate acts with random failures. Formal definitions of fault tree and attack tree are provided and a mathematical model for the calculation of system fault probabilities is presented.

  20. Integrating cyber attacks within fault trees

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nai Fovino, Igor [Joint Research Centre - EC, Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen, Ispra, VA (Italy)], E-mail: igor.nai@jrc.it; Masera, Marcelo [Joint Research Centre - EC, Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen, Ispra, VA (Italy); De Cian, Alessio [Department of Electrical Engineering, University di Genova, Genoa (Italy)

    2009-09-15

    In this paper, a new method for quantitative security risk assessment of complex systems is presented, combining fault-tree analysis, traditionally used in reliability analysis, with the recently introduced Attack-tree analysis, proposed for the study of malicious attack patterns. The combined use of fault trees and attack trees helps the analyst to effectively face the security challenges posed by the introduction of modern ICT technologies in the control systems of critical infrastructures. The proposed approach allows considering the interaction of malicious deliberate acts with random failures. Formal definitions of fault tree and attack tree are provided and a mathematical model for the calculation of system fault probabilities is presented.

  1. Disaster risk reduction and sustainable development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khurshedi, N.

    2005-01-01

    During the past four decades, natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanic activity, and slides, tsunami tropical cyclones and other severe storms, tornadoes and high winds, river floods and coastal flooding, wildfire and associated haze drought, sand/dust storms, and insect infestations have caused major loss of human lives and livelihoods, the destruction of economic and social infrastructure, as well as environmental damages. Economic losses have increased almost ten times during this period. As it happen in recent Asia Tsunami, in which over 2, 00,000 people reportedly killed, estimated five million homeless, and resulted in massive displacement of population and extensive damage to infrastructure. The escalation of severe disaster events triggered by natural hazards and related technological and environment disasters is increasingly threatening both sustainable development and poverty-reduction initiatives. The loss of human lives and the rise in the cost of reconstruction efforts and loss of development assets has forced the issue of disaster reduction and risk management higher on the policy agenda of affected governments as well a multilateral and bilateral agencies and NGOs. For this Disaster risk reduction-.strategies are aimed at enabling societies at risk to become engaged in the conscious management of risk and the reduction of vulnerability. The adoption of appropriate development policies can reduce disaster risk. These policies should be gender sensitive and need the necessary political commitment. They involve the adoption of suitable regulatory and other legal measures, institutional reform, improved analytical and methodological capabilities, financial planning, education and awareness. (author)

  2. Atorvastatin reduces the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with carotid atherosclerosis: a secondary analysis of the Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL) trial

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sillesen, H.; Amarenco, P.; Hennerici, M.G.

    2008-01-01

    BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL) trial found that treatment with atorvastatin 80 mg per day reduced the risk of stroke and cardiovascular events in patients with a recent transient ischemic attack (TIA) or stroke. We hypothesized...... this benefit would be greatest in the subgroup of patients with carotid stenosis. METHODS: The SPARCL trial randomized patients with TIA or stroke within 1 to 6 months without known coronary heart disease (CHD) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol 100 to 190 mg/dL to treatment with atorvastatin 80 mg per...... artery stenosis, treatment with atorvastatin was associated with a 33% reduction in the risk of any stroke (hazard ratio [HR] 0.67, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.47, 0.94; P=0.02), and a 43% reduction in risk of major coronary events (HR 0.57, 95% CI 0.32, 1.00; P=0.05). Later carotid revascularization...

  3. RISK FACTORS AND ETIOLOGY OF TRANSIENT ISCHEMIC ATTACKS IN PATIENTS WITH BRAIN INFARCTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kavian Ghandehari

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available   Abstract INTRODUCTION: Transient ischemic attacks (TIA are warnings of future stroke. There is no difference in risk factors, pathophysiology and prevention between TIA and brain infarction. methods: Consecutive patients with brain infarction admitted to Ghaem Hospital, Mashhad, Northeastern Iran, were enrolled in a prospective study during 2006. Diagnosis of ischemic stroke was established by a neurologist who also obtained history of TIA and vascular risk factors. All of the stroke patients underwent a standard battery of diagnostic investigations and etiology of ischemic stroke was determined by the Practical Iranian Criteria classification. Fisher’s exact test was used for statistical analysis. results: 348 stroke patients (186 women, 162 men were studied. History of TIA was present in 42 patients (29 women, 13 men, i.e. 12% of the stroke patients. TIA was more common in women (df=1, P=0.02. The frequency of hypertension, diabetes and ipsilateral carotid stenosis was not significantly different between patients with history of TIA and other stroke patients (P=0.87, P=0.64 and P=0.61, respectively. Hyper-cholesterolemia and smoking were significantly more frequent in stroke patients with history of TIA (P=0.011 and P=0.014, respectively. The frequency of TIA was not significantly different among patients with lacunar, versus large vessel territory infarcts (df=1, P=0.84. There was no significant difference in the frequency of various stroke etiologies in patients with and without history of TIA (df=4, P=0.61. CONCLUSIONS: Stroke patients with history of TIA have vascular risk factors similar to other stroke patients. A positive history of TIA does not affirm any specific etiology of ischemic stroke.     Keywords: Risk factors, etiology, transient ischemic attacks.

  4. Facilitation of risk communication during the anthrax attacks of 2001: the organizational backstory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chess, Caron; Clarke, Lee

    2007-09-01

    The anthrax attacks of 2001 created risk communication problems that cannot be fully understood without appreciating the dynamics among organizations. Case studies of communication in New Jersey, consisting of interviews with a range of participants, found that existing organizational and professional networks facilitated trust among decisionmakers. This interpersonal trust improved communication among agencies and thereby risk communication with the public. For example, "white powder scares" were a problem even in places without contamination. Professionals' trust in each other was vital for responding productively. Conversely, organizational challenges, including conflict among agencies, hindered communication with key audiences. Although centralization and increased control are often seen as the remedy for communicative confusion, they also can quash the improvisational responses needed during crises.

  5. Optimal Risk Reduction in the Railway Industry by Using Dynamic Programming

    OpenAIRE

    Michael Todinov; Eberechi Weli

    2013-01-01

    The paper suggests for the first time the use of dynamic programming techniques for optimal risk reduction in the railway industry. It is shown that by using the concept ‘amount of removed risk by a risk reduction option’, the problem related to optimal allocation of a fixed budget to achieve a maximum risk reduction in the railway industry can be reduced to an optimisation problem from dynamic programming. For n risk reduction options and size of the available risk reduction budget B (expres...

  6. Cyber-physical attacks a growing invisible threat

    CERN Document Server

    Loukas, George

    2015-01-01

    Cyber-Physical Attacks: A Growing Invisible Threat presents the growing list of harmful uses of computers and their ability to disable cameras, turn off a building's lights, make a car veer off the road,  or a drone land in enemy hands. In essence, it details the ways cyber-physical attacks are replacing physical attacks in crime, warfare, and terrorism. The book explores how attacks using computers affect the physical world in ways that were previously only possible through physical means. Perpetrators can now cause damage without the same risk, and without the political, social, or moral

  7. Baseline risk and marginal willingness to pay for health risk reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerking, Shelby; Adamowicz, Wiktor; Dickie, Mark; Veronesi, Marcella

    2017-01-01

    Empirical results presented in this paper suggest that parents' marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for a reduction in morbidity risk from heart disease is inversely related to baseline risk (i.e., the amount of risk initially faced) both for themselves and for their children. For instance, a 40% reduction from the mean of baseline risk results in an increase in MWTP by 70% or more. Thus, estimates of monetary benefits of public programs to reduce heart disease risk would be understated if the standard practice is followed of evaluating MWTP at initial risk levels and then multiplying this value by the number of cases avoided. Estimates are supported by: (1) unique quantitative information on perceptions of the risk of getting heart disease that allow baseline risk to be defined at an individual level and (2) improved econometric procedures to control for well-known difficulties associated with stated preference data.

  8. RISK DISCLOSURE AGAINST ATTACK ON CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURES

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshida, Mamoru; Kobayashi, Kiyoshi

    This paper analyzes the government's defensive and disclosure strategies to reduce the damage caused by terrorists that attack critical infrastructures using subjective game theory. The government recognizes a terrorist as a hidden opponent and the government's decision making about the policies against terror attacks depends on the belief about the existence of terrorist. In addition, it is not necessarily true that the government and the terrorist play the common game and make their decisions. Considering these points, the paper formulates the model in which the government and the terrorist formulate the subjective games respectively, and they induce the strategies using the equilibriums of their subjective games. The paper concluded that the government's disclosure about the implementation of the countermeasure, rather than the disclosure of warning level related with the belief about the existence of terrorist, brings about the higher increment of the subjective payoffs of the government.

  9. The Global Earthquake Model and Disaster Risk Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smolka, A. J.

    2015-12-01

    Advanced, reliable and transparent tools and data to assess earthquake risk are inaccessible to most, especially in less developed regions of the world while few, if any, globally accepted standards currently allow a meaningful comparison of risk between places. The Global Earthquake Model (GEM) is a collaborative effort that aims to provide models, datasets and state-of-the-art tools for transparent assessment of earthquake hazard and risk. As part of this goal, GEM and its global network of collaborators have developed the OpenQuake engine (an open-source software for hazard and risk calculations), the OpenQuake platform (a web-based portal making GEM's resources and datasets freely available to all potential users), and a suite of tools to support modelers and other experts in the development of hazard, exposure and vulnerability models. These resources are being used extensively across the world in hazard and risk assessment, from individual practitioners to local and national institutions, and in regional projects to inform disaster risk reduction. Practical examples for how GEM is bridging the gap between science and disaster risk reduction are: - Several countries including Switzerland, Turkey, Italy, Ecuador, Papua-New Guinea and Taiwan (with more to follow) are computing national seismic hazard using the OpenQuake-engine. In some cases these results are used for the definition of actions in building codes. - Technical support, tools and data for the development of hazard, exposure, vulnerability and risk models for regional projects in South America and Sub-Saharan Africa. - Going beyond physical risk, GEM's scorecard approach evaluates local resilience by bringing together neighborhood/community leaders and the risk reduction community as a basis for designing risk reduction programs at various levels of geography. Actual case studies are Lalitpur in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal and Quito/Ecuador. In agreement with GEM's collaborative approach, all

  10. Impact modeling and prediction of attacks on cyber targets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khalili, Aram; Michalk, Brian; Alford, Lee; Henney, Chris; Gilbert, Logan

    2010-04-01

    In most organizations, IT (information technology) infrastructure exists to support the organization's mission. The threat of cyber attacks poses risks to this mission. Current network security research focuses on the threat of cyber attacks to the organization's IT infrastructure; however, the risks to the overall mission are rarely analyzed or formalized. This connection of IT infrastructure to the organization's mission is often neglected or carried out ad-hoc. Our work bridges this gap and introduces analyses and formalisms to help organizations understand the mission risks they face from cyber attacks. Modeling an organization's mission vulnerability to cyber attacks requires a description of the IT infrastructure (network model), the organization mission (business model), and how the mission relies on IT resources (correlation model). With this information, proper analysis can show which cyber resources are of tactical importance in a cyber attack, i.e., controlling them enables a large range of cyber attacks. Such analysis also reveals which IT resources contribute most to the organization's mission, i.e., lack of control over them gravely affects the mission. These results can then be used to formulate IT security strategies and explore their trade-offs, which leads to better incident response. This paper presents our methodology for encoding IT infrastructure, organization mission and correlations, our analysis framework, as well as initial experimental results and conclusions.

  11. Risk reduction by filtered venting in PWR large dry-containments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gazzillo, F.; Kastenberg, W.E.

    1984-01-01

    The potential risk reduction associated with a Filtered-Vented Containment System is evaluated. A low-volume venting strategy has been considered and data referring to the Zion power plant, along with the results of the Zion Probabilistic Safety Study, have been used. An estimate of the reduction factor is first made for a single core melt accident sequence whose containment failure mode is late overpressure. The result, interpreted as a reduction factor applicable to the release category associated with containment late overpressure is then used for the estimation of the overall risk reduction factor. In particular, the case of internal and external risk for the Zion power plant are considered. Because the contribution from seismic events dominates the overall risk, the importance of different assumptions for seismic fragility is also assessed. Finally an uncertainty analysis of the risk reduction factor for a single accident sequence is performed. An estimate is also obtained on the level of confidence with which certain required values of risk reduction can be achieved. (orig.)

  12. Targeting Pioglitazone Hydrochloride Therapy After Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack According to Pretreatment Risk for Stroke or Myocardial Infarction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kernan, Walter N; Viscoli, Catherine M; Dearborn, Jennifer L; Kent, David M; Conwit, Robin; Fayad, Pierre; Furie, Karen L; Gorman, Mark; Guarino, Peter D; Inzucchi, Silvio E; Stuart, Amber; Young, Lawrence H

    2017-11-01

    There is growing recognition that patients may respond differently to therapy and that the average treatment effect from a clinical trial may not apply equally to all candidates for a therapy. To determine whether, among patients with an ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack and insulin resistance, those at higher risk for future stroke or myocardial infarction (MI) derive more benefit from the insulin-sensitizing drug pioglitazone hydrochloride compared with patients at lower risk. A secondary analysis was conducted of the Insulin Resistance Intervention After Stroke trial, a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of pioglitazone for secondary prevention. Patients were enrolled from 179 research sites in 7 countries from February 7, 2005, to January 15, 2013, and were followed up for a mean of 4.1 years through the study's end on July 28, 2015. Eligible participants had a qualifying ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack within 180 days of entry and insulin resistance without type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Pioglitazone or matching placebo. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was created using baseline features to stratify patients above or below the median risk for stroke or MI within 5 years. Within each stratum, the efficacy of pioglitazone for preventing stroke or MI was calculated. Safety outcomes were death, heart failure, weight gain, and bone fracture. Among 3876 participants (1338 women and 2538 men; mean [SD] age, 63 [11] years), the 5-year risk for stroke or MI was 6.0% in the pioglitazone group among patients at lower baseline risk compared with 7.9% in the placebo group (absolute risk difference, -1.9% [95% CI, -4.4% to 0.6%]). Among patients at higher risk, the risk was 14.7% in the pioglitazone group vs 19.6% for placebo (absolute risk difference, -4.9% [95% CI, -8.6% to 1.2%]). Hazard ratios were similar for patients below or above the median risk (0.77 vs 0.75; P = .92). Pioglitazone increased weight less among patients at

  13. Securing public transportation systems an integrated decision analysis framework for the prevention of terrorist attacks as example

    CERN Document Server

    Brauner, Florian

    2017-01-01

    Florian Brauner addresses the risk reduction effects of security measures (SecMe) as well as economic and social effects using terrorist threats in public transportation as use case. SecMe increase the level of security but cause interferences and restrictions for customers (e.g. privacy). This study identifies the interferences and analyzes the acceptance with an empirical survey of customers. A composite indicator for the acceptance of different SecMe is developed and integrated into a risk management framework for multi-criteria decision analysis achieving the right balance of risk reduction, costs, and social acceptance. Contents Assessment of Security Measures for Risk Management Measurement of Objective Effectiveness of Security Measures Against Terrorist Attacks Determination of Subjective Effects of Security Measures (Customer Acceptance Analysis) Cost Analysis of Security Measures Multi-Criteria Decision Support Systems Target Groups Scientists with Interest in Civil Security Research Providers and S...

  14. POLLUTION PREVENTION RESEARCH ONGOING - EPA'S RISK REDUCTION ENGINEERING LABORATORY

    Science.gov (United States)

    The mission of the Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory is to advance the understanding, development and application of engineering solutions for the prevention or reduction of risks from environmental contamination. This mission is accomplished through basic and applied researc...

  15. Communication about melanoma and risk reduction after melanoma diagnosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodríguez, Vivian M; Berwick, Marianne; Hay, Jennifer L

    2017-12-01

    Melanoma patients are advised to perform regular risk-reduction practices, including sun protection as well as skin self-examinations (SSEs) and physician-led examinations. Melanoma-specific communication regarding family risk and screening may promote such behaviors. To this end, associations between patients' melanoma-specific communication and risk reduction were examined. Melanoma patients (N = 169) drawn from a population-based cancer registry reported their current risk-reduction practices, perceived risk of future melanoma, and communication with physicians and relatives about melanoma risk and screening. Patients were, on average, 56 years old and 6.7 years' post diagnosis; 51% were male, 93% reported "fair/very fair" skin color, 75% completed at least some college, and 22% reported a family history of melanoma. Patients reported varying levels of regular (always/nearly always) sun protection: sunscreen use (79%), shade seeking (60%), hat use (54%), and long-sleeve shirt use (30%). Only 28% performed thorough SSE regularly, whereas 92% reported undergoing physician-led skin examinations within the past year. Participants who were female, younger, and had a higher perceived risk of future melanoma were more likely to report past communication. In adjusted analyses, communication remained uniquely associated with increased sunscreen use and SSE. Encouraging melanoma patients to have a more active role in discussions concerning melanoma risk and screening with relatives and physicians alike may be a useful strategy to promote 2 key risk-reduction practices post melanoma diagnosis and treatment. Future research is needed to identify additional strategies to improve comprehensive risk reduction in long-term melanoma patients. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  16. Fuzzy Expert System for Heart Attack Diagnosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hassan, Norlida; Arbaiy, Nureize; Shah, Noor Aziyan Ahmad; Afizah Afif@Afip, Zehan

    2017-08-01

    Heart attack is one of the serious illnesses and reported as the main killer disease. Early prevention is significant to reduce the risk of having the disease. The prevention efforts can be strengthen through awareness and education about risk factor and healthy lifestyle. Therefore the knowledge dissemination is needed to play role in order to distribute and educate public in health care management and disease prevention. Since the knowledge dissemination in medical is important, there is a need to develop a knowledge based system that can emulate human intelligence to assist decision making process. Thereby, this study utilized hybrid artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to develop a Fuzzy Expert System for Diagnosing Heart Attack Disease (HAD). This system integrates fuzzy logic with expert system, which helps the medical practitioner and people to predict the risk and as well as diagnosing heart attack based on given symptom. The development of HAD is expected not only providing expert knowledge but potentially become one of learning resources to help citizens to develop awareness about heart-healthy lifestyle.

  17. Security Measurement for Unknown Threats Based on Attack Preferences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lihua Yin

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Security measurement matters to every stakeholder in network security. It provides security practitioners the exact security awareness. However, most of the works are not applicable to the unknown threat. What is more, existing efforts on security metric mainly focus on the ease of certain attack from a theoretical point of view, ignoring the “likelihood of exploitation.” To help administrator have a better understanding, we analyze the behavior of attackers who exploit the zero-day vulnerabilities and predict their attack timing. Based on the prediction, we propose a method of security measurement. In detail, we compute the optimal attack timing from the perspective of attacker, using a long-term game to estimate the risk of being found and then choose the optimal timing based on the risk and profit. We design a learning strategy to model the information sharing mechanism among multiattackers and use spatial structure to model the long-term process. After calculating the Nash equilibrium for each subgame, we consider the likelihood of being attacked for each node as the security metric result. The experiment results show the efficiency of our approach.

  18. Integrated risk reduction framework to improve railway hazardous materials transportation safety

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Xiang, E-mail: liu94@illinois.edu; Saat, M. Rapik, E-mail: mohdsaat@illinois.edu; Barkan, Christopher P.L., E-mail: cbarkan@illinois.edu

    2013-09-15

    Highlights: • An integrated framework is developed to optimize risk reduction. • A negative binomial regression model is developed to analyze accident-cause-specific railcar derailment probability. • A Pareto-optimality technique is applied to determine the lowest risk given any level of resource. • A multi-attribute decision model is developed to determine the optimal amount of investment for risk reduction. • The models could aid the government and rail industry in developing cost-efficient risk reduction policy and practice. -- Abstract: Rail transportation plays a critical role to safely and efficiently transport hazardous materials. A number of strategies have been implemented or are being developed to reduce the risk of hazardous materials release from train accidents. Each of these risk reduction strategies has its safety benefit and corresponding implementation cost. However, the cost effectiveness of the integration of different risk reduction strategies is not well understood. Meanwhile, there has been growing interest in the U.S. rail industry and government to best allocate resources for improving hazardous materials transportation safety. This paper presents an optimization model that considers the combination of two types of risk reduction strategies, broken rail prevention and tank car safety design enhancement. A Pareto-optimality technique is used to maximize risk reduction at a given level of investment. The framework presented in this paper can be adapted to address a broader set of risk reduction strategies and is intended to assist decision makers for local, regional and system-wide risk management of rail hazardous materials transportation.

  19. Correlation of light transmittance with asthma attack: fine water particles as a possible inducing factor of asthma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kanaya, Kazuo; Okamoto, Koji; Shimbo, Shinichiro; Ikeda, Masayuki

    2011-01-01

    It has been postulated that air-borne fine water particles (or mist) can induce asthma attacks in asthmatic children. To date, no attempt has been made to quantify the density of air-borne fine water particles with the aim of relating particle density to the etiology of asthma among children. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation of asthma attack frequency and the particle density evaluated in terms of light transmittance. The density of fine water particles was quantified by measuring reductions in light transmittance at 250, 365 and 580 nm at an outdoor location when the surroundings were in darkness. The measurements were made at distances varying from 1 to 3 m from the light sources and performed every morning and evening for 1 year. Each day was separated into two half-day units [i.e., morning (from midnight to noon) and afternoon (from noon to midnight)]. The number of asthma attacks among 121 enrolled asthmatic children was counted for each unit. A possible correlation between the transmittance reduction and frequency of asthma attacks was assessed. A significant difference was observed in the extent of reduction in light transmittance at 365 nm between the units with asthma attacks and those without attacks. Furthermore, the reduction in the transmittance was more evident when more asthma attacks were recorded among the patients. No difference was detected in the reduction in light transmittance at 250 or 580 nm. These results support the hypothesis that air-borne fine water particles are among the etiological factors that induce asthma attacks in asthmatic children.

  20. Relationships among Trust in Messages, Risk Perception, and Risk Reduction Preferences Based upon Avian Influenza in Taiwan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fang, David; Fang, Chen-Ling; Tsai, Bi-Kun; Lan, Li-Chi; Hsu, Wen-Shan

    2012-01-01

    Improvements in communications technology enable consumers to receive information through diverse channels. In the case of avian influenza, information repeated by the mass media socially amplifies the consumer awareness of risks. Facing indeterminate risks, consumers may feel anxious and increase their risk perception. When consumers trust the information published by the media, their uncertainty toward avian influenza may decrease. Consumers might take some actions to reduce risk. Therefore, this study focuses on relationships among trust in messages, risk perception and risk reduction preferences. This study administered 525 random samples and consumer survey questionnaires in different city of Taiwan in 2007. Through statistical analysis, the results demonstrate: (1) the higher the trust consumers have in messages about avian influenza, the lower their risk perceptions are; (2) the higher the consumers’ risk perceptions are and, therefore, the higher their desired level of risk reductive, the more likely they are to accept risk reduction strategies; (3) consumer attributes such as age, education level, and marital status correlate with significant differences in risk perception and risk reduction preferences acceptance. Gender has significant differences only in risk reduction preferences and not in risk perception. PMID:23066394

  1. Relationships among Trust in Messages, Risk Perception, and Risk Reduction Preferences Based upon Avian Influenza in Taiwan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wen-Shan Hsu

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Improvements in communications technology enable consumers to receive information through diverse channels. In the case of avian influenza, information repeated by the mass media socially amplifies the consumer awareness of risks. Facing indeterminate risks, consumers may feel anxious and increase their risk perception. When consumers trust the information published by the media, their uncertainty toward avian influenza may decrease. Consumers might take some actions to reduce risk. Therefore, this study focuses on relationships among trust in messages, risk perception and risk reduction preferences. This study administered 525 random samples and consumer survey questionnaires in different city of Taiwan in 2007. Through statistical analysis, the results demonstrate: (1 the higher the trust consumers have in messages about avian influenza, the lower their risk perceptions are; (2 the higher the consumers’ risk perceptions are and, therefore, the higher their desired level of risk reductive, the more likely they are to accept risk reduction strategies; (3 consumer attributes such as age, education level, and marital status correlate with significant differences in risk perception and risk reduction preferences acceptance. Gender has significant differences only in risk reduction preferences and not in risk perception.

  2. Noninvasive positive pressure ventilation in acute asthmatic attack

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Soroksky

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Asthma is characterised by reversible airway obstruction. In most patients, control of disease activity is easily achieved. However, in a small minority, asthma may be fatal. Between the two extremes lie patients with severe asthmatic attacks, refractory to standard treatment. These patients are at an increased risk of recurrent severe attacks, with respiratory failure, and mechanical ventilation. Invasive mechanical ventilation of the asthmatic patient is associated with a higher risk of complications and, therefore, is a measure of last resort. Noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV is another treatment modality that may be beneficial in patients with severe asthmatic attack who are at an increased risk of developing respiratory failure. These patients have the potential to benefit from early respiratory support in the form of NPPV. However, reports of NPPV in asthmatic patients are scarce, and its usage in asthmatic attacks is, therefore, still controversial. Only a few reports of NPPV in asthma have been published over the last decade. These studies mostly involve small numbers of patients and those who have problematic methodology. In this article we review the available evidence for NPPV in asthma and try to formulate our recommendations for NPPV application in asthma based on the available evidence and reports.

  3. A hybrid lattice basis reduction and quantum search attack on LWE

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Göpfert, F.; Van Vredendaal, C.; Wunderer, T.

    2017-01-01

    Recently, an increasing amount of papers proposing post-quantum schemes also provide concrete parameter sets aiming for concrete post-quantum security levels. Security evaluations of such schemes need to include all possible attacks, in particular those by quantum adversaries. In the case of

  4. What Is a Heart Attack?

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... medical center. Support from family and friends also can help relieve stress and anxiety. Let your loved ones know how you feel and what they can do to help you. Risk of a Repeat Heart Attack Once ...

  5. Reducing the attractiveness of chemical plants to terrorist attacks: dehorning rhinos

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Khakzad Rostami, N.

    2017-01-01

    The terrorist attacks to two French chemical facilities in June and July 2015 raised the flag about the attractiveness of chemical plants to terrorist groups and the imminent risk of similar attacks in western countries. Although the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US put the security of chemical

  6. Disaster management and risk reduction in South Africa

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Bruwer, A

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The 2015 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction concludes that the mortality and economic loss associated with extensive risks (minor but recurrent disaster risks) in low- and middle-income countries are trending up. In the last decade...

  7. Human behaviour can trigger large carnivore attacks in developed countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Penteriani, Vincenzo; Delgado, María del Mar; Pinchera, Francesco; Naves, Javier; Fernández-Gil, Alberto; Kojola, Ilpo; Härkönen, Sauli; Norberg, Harri; Frank, Jens; Fedriani, José María; Sahlén, Veronica; Støen, Ole-Gunnar; Swenson, Jon E; Wabakken, Petter; Pellegrini, Mario; Herrero, Stephen; López-Bao, José Vicente

    2016-02-03

    The media and scientific literature are increasingly reporting an escalation of large carnivore attacks on humans in North America and Europe. Although rare compared to human fatalities by other wildlife, the media often overplay large carnivore attacks on humans, causing increased fear and negative attitudes towards coexisting with and conserving these species. Although large carnivore populations are generally increasing in developed countries, increased numbers are not solely responsible for the observed rise in the number of attacks by large carnivores. Here we show that an increasing number of people are involved in outdoor activities and, when doing so, some people engage in risk-enhancing behaviour that can increase the probability of a risky encounter and a potential attack. About half of the well-documented reported attacks have involved risk-enhancing human behaviours, the most common of which is leaving children unattended. Our study provides unique insight into the causes, and as a result the prevention, of large carnivore attacks on people. Prevention and information that can encourage appropriate human behaviour when sharing the landscape with large carnivores are of paramount importance to reduce both potentially fatal human-carnivore encounters and their consequences to large carnivores.

  8. Integrated risk reduction framework to improve railway hazardous materials transportation safety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xiang; Saat, M Rapik; Barkan, Christopher P L

    2013-09-15

    Rail transportation plays a critical role to safely and efficiently transport hazardous materials. A number of strategies have been implemented or are being developed to reduce the risk of hazardous materials release from train accidents. Each of these risk reduction strategies has its safety benefit and corresponding implementation cost. However, the cost effectiveness of the integration of different risk reduction strategies is not well understood. Meanwhile, there has been growing interest in the U.S. rail industry and government to best allocate resources for improving hazardous materials transportation safety. This paper presents an optimization model that considers the combination of two types of risk reduction strategies, broken rail prevention and tank car safety design enhancement. A Pareto-optimality technique is used to maximize risk reduction at a given level of investment. The framework presented in this paper can be adapted to address a broader set of risk reduction strategies and is intended to assist decision makers for local, regional and system-wide risk management of rail hazardous materials transportation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Escalation of terrorism? On the risk of attacks with chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons or materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nass, Jens

    2010-01-01

    The report on the risk of attacks with chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons or materials covers the following topics: the variety of terrorism: ethnic-nationalistic, politically motivated, social revolutionary, political extremism, religious fanaticism, governmental terrorism; CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear) weapons and materials: their availability and effectiveness in case of use; potential actor groups; prevention and counter measures, emergency and mitigating measures.

  10. The efficacy of serostatus disclosure for HIV Transmission risk reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Connell, Ann A; Reed, Sandra J; Serovich, Julianne A

    2015-02-01

    Interventions to assist HIV+ persons in disclosing their serostatus to sexual partners can play an important role in curbing rates of HIV transmission among men who have sex with men (MSM). Based on the methods of Pinkerton and Galletly (AIDS Behav 11:698-705, 2007), we develop a mathematical probability model for evaluating effectiveness of serostatus disclosure in reducing the risk of HIV transmission and extend the model to examine the impact of serosorting. In baseline data from 164 HIV+ MSM participating in a randomized controlled trial of a disclosure intervention, disclosure is associated with a 45.0 % reduction in the risk of HIV transmission. Accounting for serosorting, a 61.2 % reduction in risk due to disclosure was observed in serodisconcordant couples. The reduction in risk for seroconcordant couples was 38.4 %. Evidence provided supports the value of serostatus disclosure as a risk reduction strategy in HIV+ MSM. Interventions to increase serostatus disclosure and that address serosorting behaviors are needed.

  11. Waiting for Disasters: A Risk Reduction Assessment of Technological Disasters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rovins, Jane; Winningham, Sam

    2010-05-01

    This session provides a risk reduction/mitigation assessment of natural hazards causation of technological disasters and possible solution. People use technology in an attempt to not only control their environment but nature itself in order to make them feel safe and productive. Most strategies for managing hazards followed a traditional planning model i.e. study the problem, identify and implement a solution, and move on to the next problem. This approach is often viewed as static model and risk reduction is more of an upward, positive, linear trend. However, technological disasters do not allow risk reduction action to neatly fit this upward, positive, linear trend with actual or potential threats to the environment and society. There are different types of technological disasters, including industrial accidents; pipeline ruptures; accidents at power, water and heat supply systems and other lines of communication; sudden collapse of buildings and mines; air crashes; shipwrecks; automobile and railway accidents to name a few. Natural factors can play an essential role in triggering or magnifying technological disasters. They can result from the direct destruction of given technical objects by a hazardous natural process such as the destruction of an atomic power plant or chemical plant due to an earthquake. Other examples would include the destruction of communications or infrastructure systems by heavy snowfalls, strong winds, avalanches. Events in the past ten years clearly demonstrate that natural disasters and the technological disasters that accompany them are not problems that can be solved in isolation and risk reduction can play an important part. Risk reduction was designed to head off the continuing rising financial and structural tolls from disasters. All Hazard Risk Reduction planning was supposed to include not only natural, but technological, and human-made disasters as well. The subsequent disaster risk reduction (DRR) indicators were to provide the

  12. Increased risk of stroke and transient ischemic attack in 5-year survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    De Bruin, Marie L; Dorresteijn, Lucille D A; van't Veer, Mars B

    2009-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Information on clinically verified stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) following Hodgkin lymphoma is scarce. We quantified the long-term risk of cerebrovascular disease associated with the use of radiotherapy and chemotherapy in survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma and explored...... Cox regression techniques to study treatment-related factors and other risk factors. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 17.5 years, 96 patients developed cerebrovascular disease (55 strokes, 31 TIAs, and 10 with both TIA and stroke; median age = 52 years). Most...... ischemic events were from large-artery atherosclerosis (36%) or cardioembolisms (24%). The standardized incidence ratio for stroke was 2.2 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.7 to 2.8), and for TIA, it was 3.1 (95% CI = 2.2 to 4.2). The risks remained elevated, compared with those in the general population...

  13. Subclinical endophthalmitis following a rooster attack.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lekse Kovach, Jaclyn; Maguluri, Srilakshmi; Recchia, Franco M

    2006-12-01

    Ocular injury resulting from rooster attacks is rarely reported in the literature. Sadly, the target of these attacks is most often children younger than 3 years old, whose naiveté of the aggressive, territorial behavior of birds can place them at risk. Acute sequelae of these attacks can result in a lifetime of visual impairment. The possibility of a subacute or occult infection is an unusual occurrence that must always be considered. In an effort to prevent future attacks and ocular casualties, we present a case of a 12-month-old boy who suffered an open globe following a rooster attack. The open globe was emergently repaired. One week later, a white cataract was noticed on examination in the absence of systemic or ocular signs of inflammation. Traumatic endophthalmitis and lenticular abscess were suspected during examination under anesthesia. Vitrectomy, lensectomy, and injection of intravitreal antibiotics were performed. Culture of lenticular and vitreous aspirates grew alpha-streptococcus. Alpha-streptococcal endophthalmitis can result from ocular injuries caused by rooster pecking. The infection may present insidiously and without typical ocular or systemic symptoms or signs. Management is challenging and may require surgery.

  14. Sound transit climate risk reduction project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-09-01

    The Climate Risk Reduction Project assessed how climate change may affect Sound Transit commuter rail, light rail, and express bus : services. The project identified potential climate change impacts on agency operations, assets, and long-term plannin...

  15. Ecosystem Approach To Flood Disaster Risk Reduction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    RK Kamble

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available India is one of the ten worst disaster prone countries of the world. The country is prone to disasters due to number of factors; both natural and anthropogenic, including adverse geo-climatic conditions, topographical features, environmental degradation, population growth, urbanisation, industrlisation, non-scientific development practices etc. The factors either in original or by accelerating the intensity and frequency of disasters are responsible for heavy toll of human lives and disrupting the life support systems in the country. India has 40 million hectares of the flood-prone area, on an average, flood affect an area of around 7.5 million hectares per year. Knowledge of environmental systems and processes are key factors in the management of disasters, particularly the hydro-metrological ones. Management of flood risk and disaster is a multi-dimensional affair that calls for interdisciplinary approach. Ecosystem based disaster risk reduction builds on ecosystem management principles, strategies and tools in order to maximise ecosystem services for risk reduction. This perspective takes into account the integration of social and ecological systems, placing people at the centre of decision making. The present paper has been attempted to demonstrate how ecosystem-based approach can help in flood disaster risk reduction. International Journal of Environment, Volume-2, Issue-1, Sep-Nov 2013, Pages 70-82 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v2i1.9209

  16. Comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation for secondary prevention after transient ischemic attack or mild stroke: I: feasibility and risk factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prior, Peter L; Hachinski, Vladimir; Unsworth, Karen; Chan, Richard; Mytka, Sharon; O'Callaghan, Christina; Suskin, Neville

    2011-11-01

    Comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation (CCR), which integrates structured lifestyle interventions and medications, reduces morbidity and mortality among cardiac patients. CCR has not typically been used with cerebrovascular populations, despite important commonalities with heart patients. We tested feasibility and effectiveness of 6-month outpatient CCR for secondary prevention after transient ischemic attack or mild, nondisabling stroke. This article presents risk factors. A future article will discuss psychological outcomes. Consecutive consenting subjects having sustained a transient ischemic attack or mild, nondisabling stroke within the previous 12 months (mean, 11.5 weeks; event-to-CCR entry) with ≥1 vascular risk factor, were recruited from a stroke prevention clinic providing usual care. We measured 6-month CCR outcomes following a prospective cohort design. Of 110 subjects recruited from January 2005 to April 2006, 100 subjects (mean age, 64.9 years; 46 women) entered and 80 subjects completed CCR. We obtained favorable, significant intake-to-exit changes in: aerobic capacity (+31.4%; Pstroke, offering a promising model for vascular protection across chronic disease entities. We know of no similar previous investigation, and are now conducting a randomized trial.

  17. Cybersecurity protecting critical infrastructures from cyber attack and cyber warfare

    CERN Document Server

    Johnson, Thomas A

    2015-01-01

    The World Economic Forum regards the threat of cyber attack as one of the top five global risks confronting nations of the world today. Cyber attacks are increasingly targeting the core functions of the economies in nations throughout the world. The threat to attack critical infrastructures, disrupt critical services, and induce a wide range of damage is becoming more difficult to defend against. Cybersecurity: Protecting Critical Infrastructures from Cyber Attack and Cyber Warfare examines the current cyber threat landscape and discusses the strategies being used by governments and corporatio

  18. Effect of smoking reduction on lung cancer risk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Godtfredsen, Nina S; Prescott, Eva; Osler, Merete

    2005-01-01

    Many smokers are unable or unwilling to completely quit smoking. A proposed means of harm reduction is to reduce the number of cigarettes smoked per day. However, it is not clear whether this strategy decreases the risk for tobacco-related diseases.......Many smokers are unable or unwilling to completely quit smoking. A proposed means of harm reduction is to reduce the number of cigarettes smoked per day. However, it is not clear whether this strategy decreases the risk for tobacco-related diseases....

  19. Recurrent spontaneous attacks of dizziness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lempert, Thomas

    2012-10-01

    This article describes the common causes of recurrent vertigo and dizziness that can be diagnosed largely on the basis of history. Ninety percent of spontaneous recurrent vertigo and dizziness can be explained by six disorders: (1) Ménière disease is characterized by vertigo attacks, lasting 20 minutes to several hours, with concomitant hearing loss, tinnitus, and aural fullness. Aural symptoms become permanent during the course of the disease. (2) Attacks of vestibular migraine may last anywhere from minutes to days. Most patients have a previous history of migraine headaches, and many experience migraine symptoms during the attack. (3) Vertebrobasilar TIAs affect older adults with vascular risk factors. Most attacks last less than 1 hour and are accompanied by other symptoms from the posterior circulation territory. (4) Vestibular paroxysmia is caused by vascular compression of the eighth cranial nerve. It manifests itself with brief attacks of vertigo that recur many times per day, sometimes with concomitant cochlear symptoms. (5) Orthostatic hypotension causes brief episodes of dizziness lasting seconds to a few minutes after standing up and is relieved by sitting or lying down. In older adults, it may be accompanied by supine hypertension. (6) Panic attacks usually last minutes, occur in specific situations, and are accompanied by choking, palpitations, tremor, heat, and anxiety. Less common causes of spontaneous recurrent vertigo and dizziness include perilymph fistula, superior canal dehiscence, autoimmune inner ear disease, otosclerosis, cardiac arrhythmia, and medication side effects. Neurologists need to venture into otolaryngology, internal medicine, and psychiatry to master the differential diagnosis of recurrent dizziness.

  20. Risk management study for the Hanford Site facilities: Risk reduction cost comparison for the retired Hanford Site facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coles, G.A.; Egge, R.G.; Senger, E.; Shultz, M.W.; Taylor, W.E.

    1994-02-01

    This document provides a cost-comparison evaluation for implementing certain risk-reduction measures and their effect on the overall risk of the 100 and 200 Area retired, surplus facilities. The evaluation is based on conditions that existed at the time the risk evaluation team performed facility investigations, and does not acknowledge risk-reduction measures that occurred soon after risk identification. This evaluation is one part of an overall risk management study for these facilities. The retired facilities investigated for this evaluation are located in the 100 and 200 Areas of the 1450-km 2 Hanford Site. The Hanford Site is a semiarid tract of land in southeastern Washington State. The nearest population center is Richland, Washington, (population 32,000) 30 km southeast of the 200 Area. This cost-comparison evaluation (1) determines relative costs for reducing risk to acceptable levels; (2) compares the cost of reducing risk using different risk-reduction options; and (3) compares the cost of reducing risks at different facilities. The result is an identification of the cost effective risk-reduction measures. Supporting information required to develop costs of the various risk-reduction options also is included

  1. Children capacity in disaster risk reduction: A call for action

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leila Mohammadinia

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Disasters have various physical, psychological, social and economical effects on all age group, particularly children who are more vulnerable than adults. In the aftermath of disasters, children like pregnant women, elderly and handicaps are special group with special needs. This is because they are at greater risk based on their specific physiological and psychological characteristics. Moreover,, according to the Sendai document, children need more attention in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRRprograms design, policies implementation with a proactive approach in Disaster Risk Reduction (1. In the Sendai document it is emphasized that policies regarding disaster risk reduction, cognition and risk perception about the risk property should be considered based upon the hazards and the environment in terms of vulnerability, capacity and exposure (2.Hyogo framework for action was also already have been focused on child priority on the legislation program (3. Accordingly, it is necessary to involve children in disaster risk reduction programs actively in order to overcome their needs and their problems (4. As children are more affected groups in various aspects of disasters in most countries, their potential utilization, the conditions and space should be provided based on laws, national policies, training and capacity. Although after disaster children required particular needs and attention(5-6, they should be considered as an active group who could participate in DRR program and help their family and also the community.(4, 7 Some evidences suggest on value of children team working for community preparedness. Iran had a successful experience for using adolescence capacity as a pillar in activation of early warning; including notification announced while observing the rising sea levels for local community in order to reduce the risk of flood disaster at a local area in the North of Iran. According to the Hyogo and the Sendai documents, it seems that using

  2. Incentivising flood risk adaptation through risk based insurance premiums : Trade-offs between affordability and risk reduction

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hudson, Paul F.; Botzen, W.J.W.; Feyen, L.; Aerts, Jeroen C.J.H.

    2016-01-01

    The financial incentives offered by the risk-based pricing of insurance can stimulate policyholder adaptation to flood risk while potentially conflicting with affordability. We examine the trade-off between risk reduction and affordability in a model of public-private flood insurance in France and

  3. [A survey of perioperative asthmatic attack among patients with bronchial asthma underwent general anesthesia].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ie, Kenya; Yoshizawa, Atsuto; Hirano, Satoru; Izumi, Sinyuu; Hojo, Masaaki; Sugiyama, Haruhito; Kobayasi, Nobuyuki; Kudou, Kouichirou; Maehara, Yasuhiro; Kawachi, Masaharu; Miyakoshi, Kouichi

    2010-07-01

    We investigated the risk factor of perioperative asthmatic attack and effectiveness of preventing treatment for asthmatic attack before operation. We performed retrospective chart review of one hundred eleven patients with asthma underwent general anesthesia and surgical intervention from January 2006 to October 2007 in our hospital. The rate of perioperative asthmatic attack were as follows; 10.2% (5 in 49 cases) in no pretreatment group, 7.5% (3 in 40 cases) in any pretreatments except for systemic steroid, and 4.5% (1 in 22 cases) in systemic steroid pretreatment group. Neither preoperative asthma severity nor duration from the last attack had significant relevancy to perioperative attack rate. The otolaryngological surgery, especially those have nasal polyp and oral surgery had high perioperative asthma attack rate, although there was no significant difference. We recommend the systemic steroid pretreatment for asthmatic patients, especially when they have known risk factor such as administration of the systemic steroid within 6 months, or possibly new risk factor such as nasal polyp, otolaryngological and oral surgery.

  4. Binomial Distribution Sample Confidence Intervals Estimation 7. Absolute Risk Reduction and ARR-like Expressions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrei ACHIMAŞ CADARIU

    2004-08-01

    Full Text Available Assessments of a controlled clinical trial suppose to interpret some key parameters as the controlled event rate, experimental event date, relative risk, absolute risk reduction, relative risk reduction, number needed to treat when the effect of the treatment are dichotomous variables. Defined as the difference in the event rate between treatment and control groups, the absolute risk reduction is the parameter that allowed computing the number needed to treat. The absolute risk reduction is compute when the experimental treatment reduces the risk for an undesirable outcome/event. In medical literature when the absolute risk reduction is report with its confidence intervals, the method used is the asymptotic one, even if it is well know that may be inadequate. The aim of this paper is to introduce and assess nine methods of computing confidence intervals for absolute risk reduction and absolute risk reduction – like function.Computer implementations of the methods use the PHP language. Methods comparison uses the experimental errors, the standard deviations, and the deviation relative to the imposed significance level for specified sample sizes. Six methods of computing confidence intervals for absolute risk reduction and absolute risk reduction-like functions were assessed using random binomial variables and random sample sizes.The experiments shows that the ADAC, and ADAC1 methods obtains the best overall performance of computing confidence intervals for absolute risk reduction.

  5. False Positive and False Negative Effects on Network Attacks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shang, Yilun

    2018-01-01

    Robustness against attacks serves as evidence for complex network structures and failure mechanisms that lie behind them. Most often, due to detection capability limitation or good disguises, attacks on networks are subject to false positives and false negatives, meaning that functional nodes may be falsely regarded as compromised by the attacker and vice versa. In this work, we initiate a study of false positive/negative effects on network robustness against three fundamental types of attack strategies, namely, random attacks (RA), localized attacks (LA), and targeted attack (TA). By developing a general mathematical framework based upon the percolation model, we investigate analytically and by numerical simulations of attack robustness with false positive/negative rate (FPR/FNR) on three benchmark models including Erdős-Rényi (ER) networks, random regular (RR) networks, and scale-free (SF) networks. We show that ER networks are equivalently robust against RA and LA only when FPR equals zero or the initial network is intact. We find several interesting crossovers in RR and SF networks when FPR is taken into consideration. By defining the cost of attack, we observe diminishing marginal attack efficiency for RA, LA, and TA. Our finding highlights the potential risk of underestimating or ignoring FPR in understanding attack robustness. The results may provide insights into ways of enhancing robustness of network architecture and improve the level of protection of critical infrastructures.

  6. Attacks to Cryptography Protocols of Wireless Industrial Communication Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomas Ondrasina

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper deals with problems of safety and security principles within wireless industrial communication systems. First safety requirements to wireless industrial communication system, summarisation of attack methods and the available measures for risks elimination are described with orientation to safety critical applications. The mainly part is oriented to identification of risks and summarisation of defensive methods of wireless communication based on cryptographic techniques. Practical part the cryptoanalytic’s attacks to COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf wireless communications are mentioned based on the IEEE 802.11 standards.

  7. An efficient attack identification and risk prediction algorithm for ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The social media is highly utilized cloud for storing huge amount of data. ... However, the adversarial scenario did not design properly to maintain the privacy of the ... Information Retrieval, Security Evaluation, Efficient Attack Identification and ...

  8. Risk avoidance versus risk reduction: a framework and segmentation profile for understanding adolescent sexual activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hopkins, Christopher D; Tanner, John F; Raymond, Mary Anne

    2004-01-01

    The teen birthrate in the United States is twice that of other industrialized nations. Adolescents in the U.S. are among high-risk groups for HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. As a result, the Department of Health and Human Services changed its policy on the promotion of abstinence to teenagers from a focus on a risk reduction strategy to a focus on a risk avoidance strategy. In order to create more effective risk avoidance as well as risk reduction campaigns, this study proposes a framework to illustrate the distinction that teens make between spontaneous sexual activity and planned sexual activity, as well as those teens that make a commitment to abstinence versus abstinence by default. Furthermore, this study classifies teens into three behavior segments (abstemious, promiscuous and monogamous) and then assesses specific differences that exist within these groups relative to their attitudes and perceptions concerning abstinence, sexual activity, contraception, fear and norms. This change in focus from a risk reduction to a risk avoidance strategy has important implications for social marketing, public policy and marketing theory.

  9. Modeling attacker-defender interactions in information networks.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Collins, Michael Joseph

    2010-09-01

    The simplest conceptual model of cybersecurity implicitly views attackers and defenders as acting in isolation from one another: an attacker seeks to penetrate or disrupt a system that has been protected to a given level, while a defender attempts to thwart particular attacks. Such a model also views all non-malicious parties as having the same goal of preventing all attacks. But in fact, attackers and defenders are interacting parts of the same system, and different defenders have their own individual interests: defenders may be willing to accept some risk of successful attack if the cost of defense is too high. We have used game theory to develop models of how non-cooperative but non-malicious players in a network interact when there is a substantial cost associated with effective defensive measures. Although game theory has been applied in this area before, we have introduced some novel aspects of player behavior in our work, including: (1) A model of how players attempt to avoid the costs of defense and force others to assume these costs; (2) A model of how players interact when the cost of defending one node can be shared by other nodes; and (3) A model of the incentives for a defender to choose less expensive, but less effective, defensive actions.

  10. Transient Ischemic Attack Caused by Iron Deficiency Anemia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ufuk Emre

    2006-02-01

    Full Text Available Transient Ischemic Attack Caused by Iron Deficiency Anemia Transient ischemic attacks are episodes of transient focal ischemia involving the brain or brainstem. They are commonly two to thirty minutes in duration and lasting less than 24 hours. Anemia of iron deficiency isn’t frequently cause for transient ischemic attack. It has been reported as a risk factor for childhood ischemic strokes. In the iron deficiency anemia, T‹A may develop as result of hypercoagulable state and increased viscosity that is caused by anemic hypoxia that is result of reduce hemoglobine level, seconder thrombosis and microcytose As iron deficiency anemia has been reported so rarely in adult patients with transient ischemic attacks as a cause, we aimed to discuss the clinical and outcome features of two cases with iron deficiency anemia and transient ischemic attacks in this study. Materials and methods: Routine neurologic examination, biochemical screen, serological tests, vasculitic markers, thyroid function tests, vitamin B 12 level, cranial imaging, vertebral carotid doppler USG examination was conducted in the two patients. Anemia of iron deficiency was found as the only risk factor for TIA and the two patients were treated with replacement of iron and antiagregan therapy. Neurological examination revealed no abnormality through the two years of follow-up. The iron deficiency anemia may be cause of many neurologic problems such a irritability, lethargy, headache, development retardation except from T‹A. In the iron deficiency anemia, early diagnosis and treatment is important

  11. Can a Copycat Effect be Observed in Terrorist Suicide Attacks?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicholas Farnham

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to explore how a copycat effect – established within the field of suicide studies – may manifest itself in terrorist suicide attacks, and takes an exploratory approach in evaluating the prospect of incorporating open-data resources in future counter-terrorism research. This paper explores a possible ‘copycat effect’ in cases of suicide terrorism, which entails a perpetrator being inspired by a preceding attack to carry out a similar attack not long after the original. In the wake of mounting risks of lone wolf terrorist attacks today and due to the general difficulties faced in preventing such attacks, in this paper we explore a potential area of future prevention in media reporting, security and anti-terrorism policies today. Using the START Global Terrorism Database (GTD, this paper investigates terrorist suicide-attack clusters and analyses the relationship between attacks found within the same cluster. Using a mixed-method approach, our analyses did not uncover clear evidence supporting a copycat effect among the studied attacks. These and other findings have numerous policy and future research implications.

  12. Climate change, uncertainty and investment in flood risk reduction

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pol, van der T.D.

    2015-01-01

    Economic analysis of flood risk management strategies has become more complex due to climate change. This thesis investigates the impact of climate change on investment in flood risk reduction, and applies optimisation methods to support identification of optimal flood risk management strategies.

  13. Reflections from the interface between seismological research and earthquake risk reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sargeant, S.

    2012-04-01

    Scientific understanding of earthquakes and their attendant hazards is vital for the development of effective earthquake risk reduction strategies. Within the global disaster reduction policy framework (the Hyogo Framework for Action, overseen by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction), the anticipated role of science and scientists is clear, with respect to risk assessment, loss estimation, space-based observation, early warning and forecasting. The importance of information sharing and cooperation, cross-disciplinary networks and developing technical and institutional capacity for effective disaster management is also highlighted. In practice, the degree to which seismological information is successfully delivered to and applied by individuals, groups or organisations working to manage or reduce the risk from earthquakes is variable. The challenge for scientists is to provide fit-for-purpose information that can be integrated simply into decision-making and risk reduction activities at all levels of governance and at different geographic scales, often by a non-technical audience (i.e. people without any seismological/earthquake engineering training). The interface between seismological research and earthquake risk reduction (defined here in terms of both the relationship between the science and its application, and the scientist and other risk stakeholders) is complex. This complexity is a function of a range issues that arise relating to communication, multidisciplinary working, politics, organisational practices, inter-organisational collaboration, working practices, sectoral cultures, individual and organisational values, worldviews and expectations. These factors can present significant obstacles to scientific information being incorporated into the decision-making process. The purpose of this paper is to present some personal reflections on the nature of the interface between the worlds of seismological research and risk reduction, and the

  14. Transient ischemic attack: reviewing the evolution of the definition, diagnosis, risk stratification, and management for the emergency physician.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siket, Matthew S; Edlow, Jonathan A

    2012-08-01

    A transient ischemic attack (TIA) is an episode of reversible neurologic deficit caused by temporary focal central nervous system hypoperfusion. TIA is a medical emergency. Because patients with TIA in the emergency department (ED) have a high risk for stroke within the next 48 hours, it is imperative for the clinician to recognize this golden opportunity to prevent a disabling stroke. This article reviews our conceptual understanding of TIA, its definition, diagnosis, ways to stratify stroke risk, the acute management and disposition in the ED, and the potential future role of diagnostic biomarkers. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. The Obesity Paradox in Recurrent Attacks of Gout in Observational Studies: Clarification and Remedy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Uyen-Sa D. T.; Zhang, Yuqing; Louie-Gao, Qiong; Niu, Jingbo; Felson, David T.; LaValley, Michael P.; Choi, Hyon K.

    2016-01-01

    Objective Obesity is strongly associated with incident gout risk; its association with risk of recurrent gout attacks has been null or weak, constituting an obesity paradox. We sought to demonstrate and overcome the methodologic issues associated with the obesity paradox for risk of recurrent gout attacks. Methods Using the MRFIT database, we decomposed the total effect of obesity into its direct and indirect (i.e., mediated) effects using marginal structural models. We also estimated the total effect of BMI change from baseline among incident gout patients. Results Of 11,816 gout-free subjects at baseline, we documented 408 incident gout cases, with 132 developing recurrent gout attacks over a 7-year follow-up. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for incident gout among obese individuals was 2.6, while that for recurrent gout attacks among gout patients was 0.98 (i.e., the obesity paradox). These ORs correlated well with the ORs for the indirect and direct effects of obesity on risk of recurrent gout attacks (i.e., 2.83 and 0.98, respectively). Compared with no BMI change, the OR of losing vs. gaining >5% of baseline BMI was 0.61 and 1.60 for recurrent gout attacks, respectively (P for trend gout attacks is explained by the absence of the direct effect, which is often measured in conventional analyses and misinterpreted as the intended total effect of interest. In contrast, the BMI change analysis correctly estimated the intended total effect of BMI, and revealed a dose-response relationship. PMID:27331767

  16. Software for Probabilistic Risk Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hensley, Scott; Michel, Thierry; Madsen, Soren; Chapin, Elaine; Rodriguez, Ernesto

    2004-01-01

    A computer program implements a methodology, denoted probabilistic risk reduction, that is intended to aid in planning the development of complex software and/or hardware systems. This methodology integrates two complementary prior methodologies: (1) that of probabilistic risk assessment and (2) a risk-based planning methodology, implemented in a prior computer program known as Defect Detection and Prevention (DDP), in which multiple requirements and the beneficial effects of risk-mitigation actions are taken into account. The present methodology and the software are able to accommodate both process knowledge (notably of the efficacy of development practices) and product knowledge (notably of the logical structure of a system, the development of which one seeks to plan). Estimates of the costs and benefits of a planned development can be derived. Functional and non-functional aspects of software can be taken into account, and trades made among them. It becomes possible to optimize the planning process in the sense that it becomes possible to select the best suite of process steps and design choices to maximize the expectation of success while remaining within budget.

  17. Workplace injuries and risk reduction practices in Malaysia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Roslinah; Shaharudin, Rafiza; Omar, Azahadi; Yusoff, Fadhli

    2012-01-01

    This study on workplace injuries and risk reduction practices was part of the Malaysia National Health Morbidity Survey III (NHMS III) conducted in 2006. This cross-sectional population-based survey was conducted to determine the incidence of workplaces injuries and assess the magnitude of some important risk reduction practices among workers. Data were gathered through face-to-face household interviews using a pre-coded questionnaire. Of the 22 880 eligible respondents, 88·2% (20 180) responded. The incidence rate for injuries at the workplace was 4·9 per 100 (95% CI: 4·6-5·2). The overall proportion of workers who had received occupational safety and health (OSH) training before or within 1 month of starting work was 33·6%. Among respondents who perceived that personal protective equipment (PPE) was required at their workplace, only 38·9% (95% CI: 37·8-39·4) were provided with it by their employers. Further studies are urgently needed to identify reasons for and management of the low uptake of risk reduction practices. This issue needs to be addressed to ensure the safety and health of our working population.

  18. National survey of emergency physicians for transient ischemic attack (TIA) risk stratification consensus and appropriate treatment for a given level of risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perry, Jeffrey J; Losier, Justin H; Stiell, Ian G; Sharma, Mukul; Abdulaziz, Kasim

    2016-01-01

    Five percent of transient ischemic attack (TIA) patients have a subsequent stroke within 7 days. The Canadian TIA Score uses clinical findings to calculate the subsequent stroke risk within 7 days. Our objectives were to assess 1) anticipated use; 2) component face validity; 3) risk strata for stroke within 7 days; and 4) actions required, for a given risk for subsequent stroke. After a rigorous development process, a survey questionnaire was administered to a random sample of 300 emergency physicians selected from those registered in a national medical directory. The surveys were distributed using a modified Dillman technique. From a total of 271 eligible surveys, we received 131 (48.3%) completed surveys; 96.2% of emergency physicians would use a validated Canadian TIA Score; 8 of 13 components comprising the Canadian TIA Score were rated as Very Important or Important by survey respondents. Risk categories for subsequent stroke were defined as minimal-risk: 10% risk of subsequent stroke within 7 days. A validated Canadian TIA Score will likely be used by emergency physicians. Most components of the TIA Score have high face validity. Risk strata are definable, which may allow physicians to determine immediate actions, based on subsequent stroke risk, in the emergency department.

  19. Conservation biology: lion attacks on humans in Tanzania.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Packer, Craig; Ikanda, Dennis; Kissui, Bernard; Kushnir, Hadas

    2005-08-18

    Large carnivores inspire opposition to conservation efforts owing to their impact on livestock and human safety. Here we analyse the pattern of lion attacks over the past 15 years on humans in Tanzania, which has the largest population of lions in Africa, and find that they have killed more than 563 Tanzanians since 1990 and injured at least 308. Attacks have increased dramatically during this time: they peak at harvest time each year and are most frequent in areas with few prey apart from bush pigs (Potamochoerus larvatus), the most common nocturnal crop pest. Our findings provide an important starting point for devising strategies to reduce the risk to rural Tanzanians of lion attacks.

  20. Attack tree based cyber security analysis of nuclear digital instrumentation and control systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khand, P.A.

    2009-01-01

    To maintain the cyber security, nuclear digital Instrumentation and Control (I and C) systems must be analyzed for security risks because a single security breach due to a cyber attack can cause system failure, which can have catastrophic consequences on the environment and staff of a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). Attack trees have been widely used to analyze the cyber security of digital systems due to their ability to capture system specific as well as attacker specific details. Therefore, a methodology based on attack trees has been proposed to analyze the cyber security of the systems. The methodology has been applied for the Cyber Security Analysis (CSA) of a Bistable Processor (BP) of a Reactor Protection System (RPS). Threats have been described according to their source. Attack scenarios have been generated using the attack tree and possible counter measures according to the Security Risk Level (SRL) of each scenario have been suggested. Moreover, cyber Security Requirements (SRs) have been elicited, and suitability of the requirements has been checked. (author)

  1. Evaluating a Health Risk Reduction Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagelberg, Daniel B.

    1981-01-01

    A health risk reduction program at Bowling Green State University (Ohio) tested the efficacy of peer education against the efficacy of returning (by mail) health questionnaire results. A peer health education program did not appear to be effective in changing student attitudes or lifestyles; however, the research methodology may not have been…

  2. Improving performance of HVAC systems to reduce exposure to aerosolized infectious agents in buildings; recommendations to reduce risks posed by biological attacks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hitchcock, Penny J; Mair, Michael; Inglesby, Thomas V; Gross, Jonathan; Henderson, D A; O'Toole, Tara; Ahern-Seronde, Joa; Bahnfleth, William P; Brennan, Terry; Burroughs, H E Barney; Davidson, Cliff; Delp, William; Ensor, David S; Gomory, Ralph; Olsiewski, Paula; Samet, Jonathan M; Smith, William M; Streifel, Andrew J; White, Ronald H; Woods, James E

    2006-01-01

    The prospect of biological attacks is a growing strategic threat. Covert aerosol attacks inside a building are of particular concern. In the summer of 2005, the Center for Biosecurity of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center convened a Working Group to determine what steps could be taken to reduce the risk of exposure of building occupants after an aerosol release of a biological weapon. The Working Group was composed of subject matter experts in air filtration, building ventilation and pressurization, air conditioning and air distribution, biosecurity, building design and operation, building decontamination and restoration, economics, medicine, public health, and public policy. The group focused on functions of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems in commercial or public buildings that could reduce the risk of exposure to deleterious aerosols following biological attacks. The Working Group's recommendations for building owners are based on the use of currently available, off-the-shelf technologies. These recommendations are modest in expense and could be implemented immediately. It is also the Working Group's judgment that the commitment and stewardship of a lead government agency is essential to secure the necessary financial and human resources and to plan and build a comprehensive, effective program to reduce exposure to aerosolized infectious agents in buildings.

  3. Risk management study for the Hanford Site facilities: Risk reduction cost comparison for the retired Hanford Site facilities. Volume 4

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Coles, G.A.; Egge, R.G.; Senger, E.; Shultz, M.W.; Taylor, W.E.

    1994-02-01

    This document provides a cost-comparison evaluation for implementing certain risk-reduction measures and their effect on the overall risk of the 100 and 200 Area retired, surplus facilities. The evaluation is based on conditions that existed at the time the risk evaluation team performed facility investigations, and does not acknowledge risk-reduction measures that occurred soon after risk identification. This evaluation is one part of an overall risk management study for these facilities. The retired facilities investigated for this evaluation are located in the 100 and 200 Areas of the 1450-km{sup 2} Hanford Site. The Hanford Site is a semiarid tract of land in southeastern Washington State. The nearest population center is Richland, Washington, (population 32,000) 30 km southeast of the 200 Area. This cost-comparison evaluation (1) determines relative costs for reducing risk to acceptable levels; (2) compares the cost of reducing risk using different risk-reduction options; and (3) compares the cost of reducing risks at different facilities. The result is an identification of the cost effective risk-reduction measures. Supporting information required to develop costs of the various risk-reduction options also is included.

  4. Single nucleotide polymorphisms of cathepsin S and the risks of asthma attack induced by acaroid mites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Chaopin; Chen, Qi; Jiang, Yuxin; Liu, Zhiming

    2015-01-01

    To investigate association between the three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs, rs146456111, rs143154304 and rs147260142) in cathepsin S (Cat S) and the risks of allergic asthma attack induced by the acaroid mites in the Chinese population. A case-control study was performed in 412 cases and 454 volunteers/controls to evaluate the effects of three SNPs in Cat S on the risks of asthma attack. The genotypes were determined using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and cleaved amplification polymorphism sequence-tagged sites (PCR-RFLP). The frequencies of genotypes and alleles in these SNPs in the asthmatic group were also analyzed between the two groups. The locus of rs146456111 in Cat S gene, the allele frequency of A and C in asthmatic group were significantly different from the control group (χ(2) = 184.425, P = 0.000), and the difference was significant regarding the distribution of the genotypes (AA, AC, and CC) between asthmatic subjects and normal controls (χ(2) = 177.915, P = 0.000). Logistic regression analysis revealed that the AC, CC, and AC + CC genotypes were significantly increased with the risk of asthma (AC vs. AA, OR = 4.013, 95% CI = 2.989-4.751, P = 0.000; CC vs. AA, OR = 3.167, 95% CI = 2.483-3.785, P = 0.000; AC + CC vs. AA, OR = 3.418, 95% CI = 2.381-4.214, P = 0.000, respectively), compared with AA genotype. Moreover, by comparison with allele A, allele C (OR = 2.187, 95% CI = 1.743-2.281, P asthma; For the locus of rs143154304, compared with the allele frequency G with A in control group, there was no difference (χ(2) = 1.434, P = 0.231) in that of asthmatic group, as well as the distributions of the genotypes (AA, AG, and GG) between asthmatic subjects and normal controls (χ(2) = 1.997, P = 0.369); Logistic regression analysis showed that the AG, GG, and AG + GG genotypes were no risk to asthma (AG vs. AA, OR = 0.991, 95% CI = 0.625-1.507, P = 0.968; GG vs. AA, OR = 0.812, 95% CI = 0.525-1.258, P = 0.352; AG + GG vs. AA, OR = 0.914, 95

  5. Disaster risk reduction capacity assessment for precarious settlements in Guatemala City.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miles, Scott B; Green, Rebekah A; Svekla, Walter

    2012-07-01

    This study presents findings of an institutional capacity analysis of urban disaster risk reduction for informal settlements in the Guatemala Metropolitan Region. It uses a resource access perspective of vulnerability, actor-network theory, and qualitative data collection. The analysis reveals that there is interest in disaster risk reduction for the informal settlements; however, there is little in the way of direct financial or oversight relationships between informal settlement residents and all other actors. Respondents observed that informal settlements would probably remain inhabited; thus, there is a need for disaster risk reduction within these settlements. Disaster risk reduction capacity for informal settlements exists and can be further leveraged, as long as steps are taken to ensure appropriate access to and control of resources and oversight. Further, the nascent institutional arrangements should be strengthened through increased communication and coordination between actors, a decentralization of oversight and financial relationships, and mediation of identified resource conflicts. © 2012 The Author(s). Journal compilation © Overseas Development Institute, 2012.

  6. Short-term effects of airborne pollens on asthma attacks as seen by general practitioners in the Greater Paris area, 2003-2007.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huynh, Bich Tram; Tual, Séverine; Turbelin, Clément; Pelat, Camille; Cecchi, Lorenzo; D'Amato, Gennaro; Blanchon, Thierry; Annesi-Maesano, Isabella

    2010-09-01

    To investigate for the first time the short-term effects of airborne pollen counts on general practitioner (GP) consultations for asthma attacks in the Greater Paris area between 2003-2007. Counts were available for common pollens (Betula, Cupressa, Fraxinus and Poaceae). Weekly data on GP visits for asthma attacks were obtained from the French GP Sentinel Network. A quasi-Poisson regression with generalised additive models was implemented. Short-term effects of pollen counts were assessed using single and multi-pollen models after adjustment for air pollution and influenza. A mean weekly incidence rate of 25.4 cases of asthma attacks per 100,000 inhabitants was estimated during the study period. The strongest significant association between asthma attacks and pollen counts was registered for grass (Poaceae) in the same week of asthma attacks, with a slight reduction of the effect observed in the multi-pollen model. Adjusted relative risk for Poaceae was 1.54 (95% CI: 1.33-1.79) with an inter-quartile range increase of 17.6 grains/m3 during the pollen season. For the first time, a significant short-term association was observed between Poaceae pollen counts and consultations for asthma attacks as seen by GPs. These findings need to be confirmed by more consistent time-series and investigations on a daily basis.

  7. Cyber attacks against state estimation in power systems: Vulnerability analysis and protection strategies

    Science.gov (United States)

    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

  8. Total Dietary Fiber, and Selected Vegetable, Fruit, Legume and Cereal Fiber Intake and Risk of Heart Attack in Periodontitis Subjects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nelson Wood

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Background: Epidemiological studies have found an association between periodontal disease and coronary artery disease(Arbes, Slade et al. 1999; Beck, Elter et al. 2001; Genco, Offenbacher et al. 2002, and have even implicated periodontal disease as a risk factor(Arbes, Slade et al. 1999; Beck, Elter et al. 2001, however have not proven causality(Hujoel, Drangholt et al. 2000. Although dietary amounts, sources, and types (soluble versus insoluble of fiber have been shown to reduce the risk of heart attack (Liu, Buring et al. 2002; Negri, Vecchia et al. 2003, this author is unaware of studies that have examined the association between food sources of dietary fiber and heart attack risk in subjects with periodontitis.This study was designed to determine whether total dietary fiber and fiber from different plant sources (vegetables, fruits, legumes, or cereals modified self-reported HA risk, as well as acute-phase inflammatory responses in subjects with periodontitis using NHANES III data.Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the association between total dietary fiber intake levels, and selected vegetables, fruits, legumes, and cereal fiber intake and the risk of self-reported history of heart attack (HA in periodontitis subjects using data available in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III.Materials and Methods: Adult participants in NHANES III were used in this study. Zero to thirty three (0-33 percent of sites with periodontal attachment loss > 3 mm was considered a healthy periodontium, while greater than thirty three percent (>33 of sites with periodontal attachment loss of > 3 mm as periodontitis. The outcome variable was the self-reported history of HA. Total dietary fiber, and monthly selected vegetable, fruit, legume and cereal consumption were divided into low and adequate levels. Data was analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis, ANOVA and multivariate analyses using SPSS ®. P<0.05 was used to

  9. Measuring the Value of Mortality Risk Reductions in Turkey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tekeşin, Cem; Ara, Shihomi

    2014-01-01

    The willingness to pay (WTP) for mortality risk reduction from four causes (lung cancer, other type of cancer, respiratory disease, traffic accident) are estimated using random parameter logit model with data from choice experiment for three regions in Turkey. The value of statistical life (VSL) estimated for Afsin-Elbistan, Kutahya-Tavsanli, Ankara and the pooled case are found as 0.56, 0.35, 0.46 and 0.49 million Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) adjusted 2012 US dollars (USD). Different types of risk cause different VSL estimates and we found the lung cancer premium of 213% against traffic accident. The effects of one-year-delayed provision of risk-reduction service are the reduction of WTP by 482 TL ($318 in PPP adjusted USD) per person on average, and the disutility from status-quo (zero risk reduction) against alternative is found to be 891 TL ($589 in PPP adjusted USD) per person on average. Senior discounts of VSL are partially determined by status-quo preference and the amount of discount decreases once the status-quo bias is removed. The peak VSL is found to be for the age group 30–39 and the average VSL for the age group is 0.8 million PPP adjusted USD). Turkey’s compliance to European Union (EU) air quality standard will cause welfare gains of total 373 million PPP adjusted USD for our study areas in terms of reduced number of premature mortality. PMID:25000150

  10. Measuring the Value of Mortality Risk Reductions in Turkey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cem Tekeşin

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The willingness to pay (WTP for mortality risk reduction from four causes (lung cancer, other type of cancer, respiratory disease, traffic accident are estimated using random parameter logit model with data from choice experiment for three regions in Turkey. The value of statistical life (VSL estimated for Afsin-Elbistan, Kutahya-Tavsanli, Ankara and the pooled case are found as 0.56, 0.35, 0.46 and 0.49 million Purchasing Power Parity (PPP adjusted 2012 US dollars (USD. Different types of risk cause different VSL estimates and we found the lung cancer premium of 213% against traffic accident. The effects of one-year-delayed provision of risk-reduction service are the reduction of WTP by 482 TL ($318 in PPP adjusted USD per person on average, and the disutility from status-quo (zero risk reduction against alternative is found to be 891 TL ($589 in PPP adjusted USD per person on average. Senior discounts of VSL are partially determined by status-quo preference and the amount of discount decreases once the status-quo bias is removed. The peak VSL is found to be for the age group 30–39 and the average VSL for the age group is 0.8 million PPP adjusted USD. Turkey’s compliance to European Union (EU air quality standard will cause welfare gains of total 373 million PPP adjusted USD for our study areas in terms of reduced number of premature mortality.

  11. Evaluating the risk-reduction benefits of wind energy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brower, M.C. [Brower & Company, Andover, MA (United States); Bell, K. [Convergence Research, Seattle, WA (United States); Bernow, S.; Duckworth, M. [Tellus Inst., Boston, MA (United States); Spinney P. [Charles River Associates, Boston, MA (United States)

    1996-12-31

    This paper presents preliminary results of a study to evaluate the risk-reduction benefits of wind power for a case study utility system using decision analysis techniques. The costs and risks of two alternative decisions-whether to build a 400 MW gas-fired combined cycle plant or a 1600 MW wind plant in 2003-were compared through computer simulations as fuel prices, environmental regulatory costs, wind and conventional power plant availability, and load growth were allowed to vary. Three different market scenarios were examined: traditional regulation, a short-term power pool, and fixed-price contracts of varying duration. The study concludes that, from the perspective of ratepayers, wind energy provides a net levelized risk-reduction benefit of $3.4 to $7.8/MWh under traditional regulation, and less in the other scenarios. From the perspective of the utility plant owners, wind provides a significant risk benefit in the unregulated market scenarios but none in a regulated market. The methodology and findings should help inform utility resource planning and industry restructuring efforts. 2 figs., 3 tabs.

  12. British media attacks on homeopathy: are they justified?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vithoulkas, George

    2008-04-01

    Homeopathy is being attacked by the British media. These attacks draw support from irresponsible and unjustified claims by certain teachers of homeopathy. Such claims include the use of 'dream' and 'imaginative' methods for provings. For prescribing some such teachers attempt to replace the laborious process of matching symptom picture and remedy with spurious theories based on 'signatures', sensations and other methods. Other irresponsible claims have also been made. These "new ideas" risk destroying the principles, theory, and practice of homeopathy.

  13. Hydrogen attack evaluation of boiler tube using ultrasonic wave

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Won, Soon Ho; Hyun, Yang Ki; Lee, Jong O; Cho, Kyung Shik; Lee, Jae Do

    2001-01-01

    The presence of hydrogen in industrial plants is a source of damage. Hydrogen attack is one such form of degradation and often causing large tube ruptures that necessitate an immediate shutdown. Hydrogen attack may reduce the fracture toughness as well as the strength of steels. This reduction is caused partially by the presence of cavities and microcracks at the grain boundaries. In the past several techniques have been used with limited results. This paper describes the application of an ultrasonic velocity, attenuation and backscatter techniques for detecting the presence of hydrogen damage in utility boiler tubes. Ultrasonic tests showed a decrease in wave velocity and an increase in attenuation. Such results demonstrate the potential for ultrasonic nondestructive testing to quantify damage. Based on this study, recommendations are that both velocity and attenuation be used to detect hydrogen attack in steels.

  14. Comparative Effectiveness of Personalized Lifestyle Management Strategies for Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Paula; Pandya, Ankur; Salomon, Joshua A; Goldie, Sue J; Hunink, M G Myriam

    2016-03-29

    Evidence shows that healthy diet, exercise, smoking interventions, and stress reduction reduce cardiovascular disease risk. We aimed to compare the effectiveness of these lifestyle interventions for individual risk profiles and determine their rank order in reducing 10-year cardiovascular disease risk. We computed risks using the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Pooled Cohort Equations for a variety of individual profiles. Using published literature on risk factor reductions through diverse lifestyle interventions-group therapy for stopping smoking, Mediterranean diet, aerobic exercise (walking), and yoga-we calculated the risk reduction through each of these interventions to determine the strategy associated with the maximum benefit for each profile. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to test the robustness of the results. In the base-case analysis, yoga was associated with the largest 10-year cardiovascular disease risk reductions (maximum absolute reduction 16.7% for the highest-risk individuals). Walking generally ranked second (max 11.4%), followed by Mediterranean diet (max 9.2%), and group therapy for smoking (max 1.6%). If the individual was a current smoker and successfully quit smoking (ie, achieved complete smoking cessation), then stopping smoking yielded the largest reduction. Probabilistic and 1-way sensitivity analysis confirmed the demonstrated trend. This study reports the comparative effectiveness of several forms of lifestyle modifications and found smoking cessation and yoga to be the most effective forms of cardiovascular disease prevention. Future research should focus on patient adherence to personalized therapies, cost-effectiveness of these strategies, and the potential for enhanced benefit when interventions are performed simultaneously rather than as single measures. © 2016 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley Blackwell.

  15. Nonstructural carbohydrate dynamics of lodgepole pine dying from mountain pine beetle attack.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiley, Erin; Rogers, Bruce J; Hodgkinson, Robert; Landhäusser, Simon M

    2016-01-01

    Bark beetle outbreaks are an important cause of tree death, but the process by which trees die remains poorly understood. The effect of beetle attack on whole-tree nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) dynamics is particularly unclear, despite the potential role of carbohydrates in plant defense and survival. We monitored NSC dynamics of all organs in attacked and protected lodgepole pines (Pinus contorta) during a mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) outbreak in British Columbia, starting before beetle flight in June 2011 through October 2012, when most attacked trees had died. Following attack, NSC concentrations were first reduced in the attacked region of the bole. The first NSC reduction in a distant organ appeared in the needles at the end of 2011, while branch and root NSC did not decline until much later in 2012. Attacked trees that were still alive in October 2012 had less beetle damage, which was negatively correlated with initial bark sugar concentrations in the attack region. The NSC dynamics of dying trees indicate that trees were killed by a loss of water conduction and not girdling. Further, our results identify locally reduced carbohydrate availability as an important mechanism by which stressors like drought may increase tree susceptibility to biotic attack. © 2015 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2015 New Phytologist Trust.

  16. Studies on sulfate attack: Mechanisms, test methods, and modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santhanam, Manu

    The objective of this research study was to investigate various issues pertaining to the mechanism, testing methods, and modeling of sulfate attack in concrete. The study was divided into the following segments: (1) effect of gypsum formation on the expansion of mortars, (2) attack by the magnesium ion, (3) sulfate attack in the presence of chloride ions---differentiating seawater and groundwater attack, (4) use of admixtures to mitigate sulfate attack---entrained air, sodium citrate, silica fume, and metakaolin, (5) effects of temperature and concentration of the attack solution, (6) development of new test methods using concrete specimens, and (7) modeling of the sulfate attack phenomenon. Mortar specimens using portland cement (PC) and tricalcium silicate (C 3S), with or without mineral admixtures, were prepared and immersed in different sulfate solutions. In addition to this, portland cement concrete specimens were also prepared and subjected to complete and partial immersion in sulfate solutions. Physical measurements, chemical analyses and microstructural studies were performed periodically on the specimens. Gypsum formation was seen to cause expansion of the C3S mortar specimens. Statistical analyses of the data also indicated that the quantity of gypsum was the most significant factor controlling the expansion of mortar bars. The attack by magnesium ion was found to drive the reaction towards the formation of brucite. Decalcification of the C-S-H and its subsequent conversion to the non-cementitious M-S-H was identified as the mechanism of destruction in magnesium sulfate attack. Mineral admixtures were beneficial in combating sodium sulfate attack, while reducing the resistance to magnesium sulfate attack. Air entrainment did not change the measured physical properties, but reduced the visible distress of the mortars. Sodium citrate caused a substantial reduction in the rate of damage of the mortars due to its retarding effect. Temperature and

  17. Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk and Risk Reduction in Jewish BRCA1/2 Mutation Carriers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finkelman, Brian S.; Rubinstein, Wendy S.; Friedman, Sue; Friebel, Tara M.; Dubitsky, Shera; Schonberger, Niecee Singer; Shoretz, Rochelle; Singer, Christian F.; Blum, Joanne L.; Tung, Nadine; Olopade, Olufunmilayo I.; Weitzel, Jeffrey N.; Lynch, Henry T.; Snyder, Carrie; Garber, Judy E.; Schildkraut, Joellen; Daly, Mary B.; Isaacs, Claudine; Pichert, Gabrielle; Neuhausen, Susan L.; Couch, Fergus J.; van't Veer, Laura; Eeles, Rosalind; Bancroft, Elizabeth; Evans, D. Gareth; Ganz, Patricia A.; Tomlinson, Gail E.; Narod, Steven A.; Matloff, Ellen; Domchek, Susan; Rebbeck, Timothy R.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose Mutations in BRCA1/2 dramatically increase the risk of both breast and ovarian cancers. Three mutations in these genes (185delAG, 5382insC, and 6174delT) occur at high frequency in Ashkenazi Jews. We evaluated how these common Jewish mutations (CJMs) affect cancer risks and risk reduction. Methods Our cohort comprised 4,649 women with disease-associated BRCA1/2 mutations from 22 centers in the Prevention and Observation of Surgical End Points Consortium. Of these women, 969 were self-identified Jewish women. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate breast and ovarian cancer risks, as well as risk reduction from risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO), by CJM and self-identified Jewish status. Results Ninety-one percent of Jewish BRCA1/2-positive women carried a CJM. Jewish women were significantly more likely to undergo RRSO than non-Jewish women (54% v 41%, respectively; odds ratio, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.44 to 2.42). Relative risks of cancer varied by CJM, with the relative risk of breast cancer being significantly lower in 6174delT mutation carriers than in non-CJM BRCA2 carriers (hazard ratio, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.18 to 0.69). No significant difference was seen in cancer risk reduction after RRSO among subgroups. Conclusion Consistent with previous results, risks for breast and ovarian cancer varied by CJM in BRCA1/2 carriers. In particular, 6174delT carriers had a lower risk of breast cancer. This finding requires additional confirmation in larger prospective and population-based cohort studies before being integrated into clinical care. PMID:22430266

  18. [Smoking fewer cigarettes per day may determine a significant risk reduction in developing smoking attributable diseases? Is there a risk reduction for e-cigarette users?].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pieri, Luca; Chellini, Elisabetta; Gorini, Giuseppe

    2014-01-01

    Among Italian smokers--about 10 millions in 2013--about 600,000 began using electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) in last years. About 10% of e-cig users quitted smoking tobacco, whereas the 90% was dual users. Among them, about three out of four decreased the number of cigarettes smoked per day (cig/day), but did not quit. How many fewer cigarettes a smoker has to smoke to obtain significant health benefits? Is there a threshold? In order to observe a significant 27% reduction in the risk of developing lung cancer, a smoker must reduce the number of cig/day by at least 50%, while for the other smoking-related diseases (acute myocardial infarction - AMI, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases), halving the number of cig/day did not drive to a significant risk reduction. Even smoking 5 cig/day increases the risk of AMI, whereas it significantly lowers the risk of lung cancer. Obviously, quitting smoking is the best choice to highly reduce risks for all smoking-related diseases. Therefore, in order to achieve significant risk reductions, e-cig users should quit smoking as first choice, or, if they feel it is impossible to them, reduce the consumption of traditional cigarettes to less than 5 cig/day.

  19. Bluetooth security attacks comparative analysis, attacks, and countermeasures

    CERN Document Server

    Haataja, Keijo; Pasanen, Sanna; Toivanen, Pekka

    2013-01-01

    This overview of Bluetooth security examines network vulnerabilities and offers a comparative analysis of recent security attacks. It also examines related countermeasures and proposes a novel attack that works against all existing Bluetooth versions.

  20. Multilevel Modeling of Distributed Denial of Service Attacks in Wireless Sensor Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katarzyna Mazur

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The growing popularity of wireless sensor networks increases the risk of security attacks. One of the most common and dangerous types of attack that takes place these days in any electronic society is a distributed denial of service attack. Due to the resource constraint nature of mobile sensors, DDoS attacks have become a major threat to its stability. In this paper, we established a model of a structural health monitoring network, being disturbed by one of the most common types of DDoS attacks, the flooding attack. Through a set of simulations, we explore the scope of flood-based DDoS attack problem, assessing the performance and the lifetime of the network under the attack condition. To conduct our research, we utilized the Quality of Protection Modeling Language. With the proposed approach, it was possible to examine numerous network configurations, parameters, attack options, and scenarios. The results of the carefully performed multilevel analysis allowed us to identify a new kind of DDoS attack, the delayed distributed denial of service, by the authors, referred to as DDDoS attack. Multilevel approach to DDoS attack analysis confirmed that, examining endangered environments, it is significant to take into account many characteristics at once, just to not overlook any important aspect.

  1. Metrics for Assessment of Smart Grid Data Integrity Attacks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Annarita Giani; Miles McQueen; Russell Bent; Kameshwar Poolla; Mark Hinrichs

    2012-07-01

    There is an emerging consensus that the nation’s electricity grid is vulnerable to cyber attacks. This vulnerability arises from the increasing reliance on using remote measurements, transmitting them over legacy data networks to system operators who make critical decisions based on available data. Data integrity attacks are a class of cyber attacks that involve a compromise of information that is processed by the grid operator. This information can include meter readings of injected power at remote generators, power flows on transmission lines, and relay states. These data integrity attacks have consequences only when the system operator responds to compromised data by redispatching generation under normal or contingency protocols. These consequences include (a) financial losses from sub-optimal economic dispatch to service loads, (b) robustness/resiliency losses from placing the grid at operating points that are at greater risk from contingencies, and (c) systemic losses resulting from cascading failures induced by poor operational choices. This paper is focused on understanding the connections between grid operational procedures and cyber attacks. We first offer two examples to illustrate how data integrity attacks can cause economic and physical damage by misleading operators into taking inappropriate decisions. We then focus on unobservable data integrity attacks involving power meter data. These are coordinated attacks where the compromised data are consistent with the physics of power flow, and are therefore passed by any bad data detection algorithm. We develop metrics to assess the economic impact of these attacks under re-dispatch decisions using optimal power flow methods. These metrics can be use to prioritize the adoption of appropriate countermeasures including PMU placement, encryption, hardware upgrades, and advance attack detection algorithms.

  2. Vulnerabilities of the security of nuclear material due to cyber attacks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Daschil, F.

    2002-01-01

    Full text: The spread of new communication and computer technologies is now the potential for a dedicated, sophisticated adversary to conduct coordinated strikes against the computers, communications systems, and databases of nuclear material security systems. All weapons of cyber war, like viruses, Trojans, access to computer systems are potential risks for the security of nuclear material. New forms of destruction of electronic devices, e.g. Transient Electromagnetic Devices (TED), that could, in the hands of enemies, criminals, or terrorist pose a significant threat to nuclear safety infrastructure components that are based on micro-circuits and computer or micro-processor control. These examples shows the necessity to clearly identify possible risks as: information and communication based disorders and other disruptions and attacks; partial or complete failure of systems causing the risk of unexpected reaction or unmanageable situations; cracking of access codes and elimination of alarm equipment could give easy access to nuclear material; computer manipulation or complete computer and system takeover due to brute force attacks, viruses, Trojans and worms could lead to malfunctions, disruptions and nuclear disasters; computer spying and brute force attacks could give detailed information about technical, organizational and organizational data; combined actions of physical, electronic and computer attacks. The paper gives an overview of potential computer and communication safety gaps and points out strategic implications as the identification of the critical infrastructure, surveillance of computer systems, data access and communication paths. The basic necessity of the development of computer and communication breakdown backup systems as well as measures of precaution against cyber attacks is shown in the paper. (author)

  3. Climate change, uncertainty and investment in flood risk reduction

    OpenAIRE

    Pol, van der, T.D.

    2015-01-01

    Economic analysis of flood risk management strategies has become more complex due to climate change. This thesis investigates the impact of climate change on investment in flood risk reduction, and applies optimisation methods to support identification of optimal flood risk management strategies. Chapter 2 provides an overview of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of flood risk management strategies under climate change uncertainty and new information. CBA is applied to determine optimal dike height...

  4. Using exterior building surface films to assess human exposure and health risks from PCDD/Fs in New York City, USA, after the World Trade Center attacks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rayne, Sierra

    2005-12-09

    Concentrations of tetra- through octa-chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) were determined in exterior window films from Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City (NYC), USA, 6 weeks after the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks of 11 September 2001. High concentrations of the 2,3,7,8-substituted congeners (P(2378)CDD/Fs) were observed, at levels up to 6600 pg-TEQ g(-1) nearest the WTC site. An equilibrium partitioning model was developed to reconstruct total gas + particle-phase atmospheric concentrations of P(2378)CDD/Fs at each site. The reconstructed atmospheric and window film concentrations were subsequently used in a preliminary human health risk assessment to estimate the potential cancer and non-cancer risks posed to residents of lower Manhattan from these contaminants over the 6 week exposure period between the WTC attacks and sampling dates. Residents of lower Manhattan appear to have a slightly elevated cancer risk (up to 1.6% increase over background) and increased P(2378)CDD/F body burden (up to 8.0% increase over background) because of above-background exposure to high concentrations of P(2378)CDD/Fs produced from the WTC attacks during the short period between 11 September 2001, and window film sampling 6 weeks later.

  5. Applying Magneto-rheology to Reduce Blood Viscosity and Suppress Turbulence to Prevent Heart Attacks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tao, R.

    Heart attacks are the leading causes of death in USA. Research indicates one common thread, high blood viscosity, linking all cardiovascular diseases. Turbulence in blood circulation makes different regions of the vasculature vulnerable to development of atherosclerotic plaque. Turbulence is also responsible for systolic ejection murmurs and places heavier workload on heart, a possible trigger of heart attacks. Presently, neither medicine nor method is available to suppress turbulence. The only method to reduce the blood viscosity is to take medicine, such as aspirin. However, using medicine to reduce the blood viscosity does not help suppressing turbulence. In fact, the turbulence gets worse as the Reynolds number goes up with the viscosity reduction by the medicine. Here we report our new discovery: application of a strong magnetic field to blood along its flow direction, red blood cells are polarized in the magnetic field and aggregated into short chains along the flow direction. The blood viscosity becomes anisotropic: Along the flow direction the viscosity is significantly reduced, but in the directions perpendicular to the flow the viscosity is considerably increased. In this way, the blood flow becomes laminar, turbulence is suppressed, the blood circulation is greatly improved, and the risk for heart attacks is reduced. While these effects are not permanent, they last for about 24 hours after one magnetic therapy treatment.

  6. The correlation between subordinate fish eye colour and received attacks: a negative social feedback mechanism for the reduction of aggression during the formation of dominance hierarchies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyai, Caio A; Carretero Sanches, Fábio H; Costa, Tânia M; Colpo, Karine Delevati; Volpato, Gilson L; Barreto, Rodrigo E

    2011-12-01

    Eye darkening has been linked to social status in fish. The subordinate's eyes darken, while the eyes of the dominant fish become pale. Although this phenomenon has been described in salmonid fishes and in the African cichlid Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus, it is unclear whether eye darkening correlates with a reduction in aggressive behaviour. Thus, we evaluated the link between social status and eye darkening. We evaluated whether the eye colours of subordinate fish correlate with the frequency of received attacks in a neotropical fish, the pearl cichlid Geophagus brasiliensis. We paired pearl cichlids and quantified both the aggressive behaviour and the eye darkening of each fish. As has been described for Nile tilapia and Atlantic salmon, a clear-cut hierarchical relationship formed, where dominance and subordination were associated with pale and dark eye colours, respectively. Initially, eye colour darkening was positively correlated with the frequency of received attacks; however, a negative association occurred following eye darkening, in which the intensity of aggressive interactions decreased. Thus, fish that initially received a high number of attacks signalled subordination more rapidly and intensely (rapid and dramatic eye darkening), thereby inducing a negative social feedback mechanism that led to reduced aggression. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  7. Long-Term International Space Station (ISS) Risk Reduction Activities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fodroci, M. P.; Gafka, G. K.; Lutomski, M. G.; Maher, J. S.

    2012-01-01

    As the assembly of the ISS nears completion, it is worthwhile to step back and review some of the actions pursued by the Program in recent years to reduce risk and enhance the safety and health of ISS crewmembers, visitors, and space flight participants. While the initial ISS requirements and design were intended to provide the best practicable levels of safety, it is always possible to further reduce risk - given the determination, commitment, and resources to do so. The following is a summary of some of the steps taken by the ISS Program Manager, by our International Partners, by hardware and software designers, by operational specialists, and by safety personnel to continuously enhance the safety of the ISS, and to reduce risk to all crewmembers. While years of work went into the development of ISS requirements, there are many things associated with risk reduction in a Program like the ISS that can only be learned through actual operational experience. These risk reduction activities can be divided into roughly three categories: Areas that were initially noncompliant which have subsequently been brought into compliance or near compliance (i.e., Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris [MMOD] protection, acoustics) Areas where initial design requirements were eventually considered inadequate and were subsequently augmented (i.e., Toxicity Hazard Level- 4 [THL] materials, emergency procedures, emergency equipment, control of drag-throughs) Areas where risks were initially underestimated, and have subsequently been addressed through additional mitigation (i.e., Extravehicular Activity [EVA] sharp edges, plasma shock hazards) Due to the hard work and cooperation of many parties working together across the span of more than a decade, the ISS is now a safer and healthier environment for our crew, in many cases exceeding the risk reduction targets inherent in the intent of the original design. It will provide a safe and stable platform for utilization and discovery for years

  8. Household flood risk reduction in the Czech Republic

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Duží, B.; Vikhrov, Dmytro; Kelman, I.; Stojanov, R.; Jakubínský, J.

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 20, č. 4 (2015), s. 499-504 ISSN 1381-2386 Institutional support: RVO:67985998 Keywords : flood risk reduction * household adaptation * Czech Republic Subject RIV: AH - Economics Impact factor: 3.085, year: 2015

  9. Cyber situation awareness: modeling detection of cyber attacks with instance-based learning theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dutt, Varun; Ahn, Young-Suk; Gonzalez, Cleotilde

    2013-06-01

    To determine the effects of an adversary's behavior on the defender's accurate and timely detection of network threats. Cyber attacks cause major work disruption. It is important to understand how a defender's behavior (experience and tolerance to threats), as well as adversarial behavior (attack strategy), might impact the detection of threats. In this article, we use cognitive modeling to make predictions regarding these factors. Different model types representing a defender, based on Instance-Based Learning Theory (IBLT), faced different adversarial behaviors. A defender's model was defined by experience of threats: threat-prone (90% threats and 10% nonthreats) and nonthreat-prone (10% threats and 90% nonthreats); and different tolerance levels to threats: risk-averse (model declares a cyber attack after perceiving one threat out of eight total) and risk-seeking (model declares a cyber attack after perceiving seven threats out of eight total). Adversarial behavior is simulated by considering different attack strategies: patient (threats occur late) and impatient (threats occur early). For an impatient strategy, risk-averse models with threat-prone experiences show improved detection compared with risk-seeking models with nonthreat-prone experiences; however, the same is not true for a patient strategy. Based upon model predictions, a defender's prior threat experiences and his or her tolerance to threats are likely to predict detection accuracy; but considering the nature of adversarial behavior is also important. Decision-support tools that consider the role of a defender's experience and tolerance to threats along with the nature of adversarial behavior are likely to improve a defender's overall threat detection.

  10. Eighteenth annual risk reduction engineering laboratory research symposium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1992-01-01

    The Eighteenth Annual Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory Research Symposium was held in Cincinnati, Ohio, April 14-16, 1992. The purpose of this Symposium was to present the latest significant research findings from ongoing and recently completed projects funded by the Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory (RREL). These Proceedings are organized into two sections. Sessions A and B, which contain extended abstracts of the paper presentations. A list of poster displays is also included. Subjects include remedial action, treatment, and control technologies for waste disposal, landfill liner and cover systems, underground storage tanks, and demonstration and development of innovative/alternative treatment technologies for hazardous waste. Alternative technology subjects include thermal destruction of hazardous wastes, field evaluations, existing treatment options, emerging treatment processes, waste minimization, and biosystems for hazardous waste destruction

  11. Household flood risk reduction in the Czech Republic

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Duží, B.; Vikhrov, Dmytro; Kelman, I.; Stojanov, R.; Jakubínský, J.

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 20, č. 4 (2015), s. 499-504 ISSN 1381-2386 Institutional support: PRVOUK-P23 Keywords : flood risk reduction * household adaptation * Czech Republic Subject RIV: AH - Economics Impact factor: 3.085, year: 2015

  12. The effect of medical treatments on stroke risk in asymptomatic carotid stenosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Alice; Shipley, Martin; Markus, Hugh

    2013-02-01

    Recent evidence suggests current best medical treatment may be sufficient to prevent stroke in patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis. If this is the case, then it is important to determine risk reduction provided by treatments. Using Asymptomatic Carotid Emboli Study (ACES) prospective data, the effect of current treatment and risk factors on future stroke and transient ischemic attack risk were determined. Four-hundred seventy-seven patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis were followed-up every 6 months for 2 years. Changes in risk factors and stroke prevention therapies were reviewed at each visit. Using time-dependent Cox regression, the relationship between current treatment over time was determined and presented as hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for risk of stroke, transient ischemic attack, and cardiovascular death end points. On multivariate analysis, antiplatelets (P=0.001) and lower mean blood pressure (P=0.002) were independent predictors of reduced risk of ipsilateral stroke and transient ischemic attack. Antiplatelets (Pstroke or cardiovascular death. Antiplatelet therapy and blood pressure control are the most important factors in reducing short-term stroke and cardiovascular risk in patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis. More prospective data are required for medical treatments in asymptomatic carotid stenosis in particular for current statin usage.

  13. Failure detection system risk reduction assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguilar, Robert B. (Inventor); Huang, Zhaofeng (Inventor)

    2012-01-01

    A process includes determining a probability of a failure mode of a system being analyzed reaching a failure limit as a function of time to failure limit, determining a probability of a mitigation of the failure mode as a function of a time to failure limit, and quantifying a risk reduction based on the probability of the failure mode reaching the failure limit and the probability of the mitigation.

  14. Transient ischaemic attacks clinics provide equivalent and more efficient care than early in-hospital assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez-Martínez, M M; Martínez-Sánchez, P; Fuentes, B; Cazorla-García, R; Ruiz-Ares, G; Correas-Callero, E; Lara-Lara, M; Díez-Tejedor, E

    2013-02-01

    Clinics for early management of transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs) have been developed in some stroke centres, resulting in reduced recurrence rates compared to appointment-based outpatient management, thus saving on hospitalization. We analysed the care process, recurrence rates and economic impact of the first year of work in our early-management TIA clinic and compared these with our previous in-hospital study protocols for low- and moderate-risk TIA patients. This was a prospective evaluation of the management of low- to moderate-risk TIA patients, comparing a new TIA clinic model (2010) with a previous hospitalization model (2009). Demographic data, vascular risk factor profiles, diagnostic test performance, secondary prevention measures, final aetiological diagnoses and cerebrovascular recurrences at 7 and 90 days were compared between in-hospital and TIA clinic assessed patients. We also carried out an economic comparison of the costs of each model's process. Two hundred and eleven low- to moderate-risk TIA patients were included, of whom 40.8% were hospitalized. There were no differences between the TIA clinic assessed and in-hospital assessed patients in terms of risk factor diagnosis and secondary prevention measures. The stroke recurrence rate (2.4% vs. 1.2%; P = 0.65) was low and similar for both groups (CI 95%, 0.214-20.436; P = 0.52). Cost per patient was €393.28 for clinic versus €1931.18 for in-hospital management. Outpatient management resulted in a 77.8% reduction in hospitalizations. Transient ischaemic attacks clinics are efficient for the early management of low- to moderate-risk TIA patients compared to in-hospital assessment, with no higher recurrence rates and at almost one-fifth the cost. © 2012 The Author(s) European Journal of Neurology © 2012 EFNS.

  15. A Study on the VHCF Fatigue Behaviors of Hydrogen Attacked Inconel 718 Alloy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Suh, Chang-Min [Kyungpook National Univ., DMI Senior Fellow, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Nahm, Seung-Hoon [Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Jun-Hyong; Pyun, Young-Sik [Sun Moon Univ., Chunan (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-07-15

    This study is to investigate the influence of hydrogen attack and UNSM on fatigue behaviors of the Inconel 718 alloy. The decrease of the fatigue life between the untreated and the hydrogen attacked material is 10-20%. The fatigue lives of hydrogen attacked specimen decreased without a fatigue limit, similar to those of nonferrous materials. Due to hydrogen embrittlement, about 80% of the surface cracks were smaller than the average grain size of 13 μm. Many small surface cracks caused by the embrittling effect of hydrogen attack were initiated at the grain boundaries and surface scratches. Cracks were irregularly distributed, grew, and then coalesced through tearing, leading to a reduction of fatigue life. Results revealed that the fatigue lives of UNSM-treated specimens were longer than those of the untreated specimens.

  16. Distinguishing attack and second-preimage attack on encrypted message authentication codes (EMAC)

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  17. A Classification Detection Algorithm Based on Joint Entropy Vector against Application-Layer DDoS Attack

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuntao Zhao

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The application-layer distributed denial of service (AL-DDoS attack makes a great threat against cyberspace security. The attack detection is an important part of the security protection, which provides effective support for defense system through the rapid and accurate identification of attacks. According to the attacker’s different URL of the Web service, the AL-DDoS attack is divided into three categories, including a random URL attack and a fixed and a traverse one. In order to realize identification of attacks, a mapping matrix of the joint entropy vector is constructed. By defining and computing the value of EUPI and jEIPU, a visual coordinate discrimination diagram of entropy vector is proposed, which also realizes data dimension reduction from N to two. In terms of boundary discrimination and the region where the entropy vectors fall in, the class of AL-DDoS attack can be distinguished. Through the study of training data set and classification, the results show that the novel algorithm can effectively distinguish the web server DDoS attack from normal burst traffic.

  18. Recurrent transient ischaemic attack and early risk of stroke: data from the PROMAPA study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purroy, Francisco; Jiménez Caballero, Pedro Enrique; Gorospe, Arantza; Torres, María José; Alvarez-Sabin, José; Santamarina, Estevo; Martínez-Sánchez, Patricia; Cánovas, David; Freijo, María José; Egido, Jose Antonio; Ramírez-Moreno, Jose M; Alonso-Arias, Arantza; Rodríguez-Campello, Ana; Casado, Ignacio; Delgado-Mederos, Raquel; Martí-Fàbregas, Joan; Fuentes, Blanca; Silva, Yolanda; Quesada, Helena; Cardona, Pere; Morales, Ana; de la Ossa, Natalia Pérez; García-Pastor, Antonio; Arenillas, Juan F; Segura, Tomas; Jiménez, Carmen; Masjuán, Jaime

    2013-06-01

    Many guidelines recommend urgent intervention for patients with two or more transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs) within 7 days (multiple TIAs) to reduce the early risk of stroke. To determine whether all patients with multiple TIAs have the same high early risk of stroke. Between April 2008 and December 2009, we included 1255 consecutive patients with a TIA from 30 Spanish stroke centres (PROMAPA study). We prospectively recorded clinical characteristics. We also determined the short-term risk of stroke (at 7 and 90 days). Aetiology was categorised using the TOAST (Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment) classification. Clinical variables and extracranial vascular imaging were available and assessed in 1137/1255 (90.6%) patients. 7-Day and 90-day stroke risk were 2.6% and 3.8%, respectively. Large-artery atherosclerosis (LAA) was confirmed in 190 (16.7%) patients. Multiple TIAs were seen in 274 (24.1%) patients. Duration <1 h (OR=2.97, 95% CI 2.20 to 4.01, p<0.001), LAA (OR=1.92, 95% CI 1.35 to 2.72, p<0.001) and motor weakness (OR=1.37, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.81, p=0.031) were independent predictors of multiple TIAs. The subsequent risk of stroke in these patients at 7 and 90 days was significantly higher than the risk after a single TIA (5.9% vs 1.5%, p<0.001 and 6.8% vs 3.0%, respectively). In the logistic regression model, among patients with multiple TIAs, no variables remained as independent predictors of stroke recurrence. According to our results, multiple TIAs within 7 days are associated with a greater subsequent risk of stroke than after a single TIA. Nevertheless, we found no independent predictor of stroke recurrence among these patients.

  19. Microenterprise development interventions for sexual risk reduction: a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Rosa R; Lee, Ramon; Thirumurthy, Harsha; Muessig, Kathryn E; Tucker, Joseph D

    2013-11-01

    Comprehensive interventions that address both individual and structural determinants associated with HIV/STI risk are gaining increasing attention over the past decade. Microenterprise development offers an appealing model for HIV prevention by addressing poverty and gender equality. This study systematically reviewed the effects of microenterprise development interventions on HIV/STI incidence and sexual risk behaviors. Microenterprise development was defined as developing small business capacity among individuals to alleviate poverty. Seven eligible research studies representing five interventions were identified and included in this review. All of the studies targeted women, and three focused on sex workers. None measured biomarker outcomes. All three sex worker studies showed significant reduction in sexual risk behaviors when compared to the control group. Non-sex worker studies showed limited changes in sexual risk behavior. This review indicates the potential utility of microenterprise development in HIV risk reduction programs. More research is needed to determine how microenterprise development can be effectively incorporated in comprehensive HIV control strategies.

  20. Transient ischemic attack: diagnostic evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Messé, Steven R; Jauch, Edward C

    2008-08-01

    A transient ischemic attack portends significant risk of a stroke. Consequently, the diagnostic evaluation in the emergency department is focused on identifying high-risk causes so that preventive strategies can be implemented. The evaluation consists of a facilitated evaluation of the patient's metabolic, cardiac, and neurovascular systems. At a minimum, the following tests are recommended: fingerstick glucose level, electrolyte levels, CBC count, urinalysis, and coagulation studies; noncontrast computed tomography (CT) of the head; electrocardiography; and continuous telemetry monitoring. Vascular imaging studies, such as carotid ultrasonography, CT angiography, or magnetic resonance angiography, should be performed on an urgent basis and prioritized according to the patient's risk stratification for disease. Consideration should be given for echocardiography if no large vessel abnormality is identified.

  1. Incentivising flood risk adaptation through ris based insurance premiums: trade-offs between affordability and risk reduction

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hudson, P.G.M.B.; Botzen, W.J.W.; Feyen, L.; Aerts, J.C.J.H.

    2016-01-01

    The financial incentives offered by the risk-based pricing of insurance can stimulate policyholder adaptation to flood risk while potentially conflicting with affordability. We examine the trade-off between risk reduction and affordability in a model of public-private flood insurance in France and

  2. Estimating the Value of Price Risk Reduction in Energy Efficiency Investments in Buildings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pekka Tuominen

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a method for calculating the value of price risk reduction to a consumer that can be achieved with investments in energy efficiency. The value of price risk reduction is discussed to some length in general terms in the literature reviewed but, so far, no methodology for calculating the value has been presented. Here we suggest such a method. The problem of valuating price risk reduction is approached using a variation of the Black–Scholes model by considering a hypothetical financial instrument that a consumer would purchase to insure herself against unexpected price hikes. This hypothetical instrument is then compared with an actual energy efficiency investment that reaches the same level of price risk reduction. To demonstrate the usability of the method, case examples are calculated for typical single-family houses in Finland. The results show that the price risk entailed in household energy consumption can be reduced by a meaningful amount with energy efficiency investments, and that the monetary value of this reduction can be calculated. It is argued that this often-overlooked benefit of energy efficiency investments merits more consideration in future studies.

  3. Farmers Prone to Drought Risk: Why Some Farmers Undertake Farm-Level Risk-Reduction Measures While Others Not?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gebrehiwot, Tagel; van der Veen, Anne

    2015-03-01

    This research investigates farmers' cognitive perceptions of risk and the behavioral intentions to undertake farm-level risk-reduction measures. It has been observed that people who are susceptible to natural hazards often fail to act, or do very little, to protect their assets or lives. To answer the question of why some people show adaptive behavior while others do not, a socio-psychological model of precautionary adaptation based on protection motivation theory and trans-theoretical stage model has been applied for the first time to areas of drought risk in the developing countries cultural context. The applicability of the integrated model is explored by means of a representative sample survey of smallholder farmers in northern Ethiopia. The result of the study showed that there is a statistically significant association between farmer's behavioral intention to undertake farm-level risk-reduction measures and the main important protection motivation model variables. High perceived vulnerability, severity of consequences, self-efficacy, and response efficacy lead to higher levels of behavioral intentions to undertake farm-level risk-reduction measures. For farmers in the action stage, self-efficacy and response efficacy were the main motivators of behavioral intention. For farmers in the contemplative stage, self-efficacy and cost appear to be the main motivators for them to act upon risk reduction, while perceived severity of consequences and cost of response actions were found to be important for farmers in the pre-contemplative stage.

  4. Investigating obesity risk-reduction behaviours and psychosocial factors in Chinese Americans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liou, Doreen; Bauer, Kathleen; Bai, Yeon

    2014-11-01

    The purpose of this research was to examine the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours related to obesity risk reduction in Chinese Americans. A questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample of 300 US-born and foreign-born Chinese Americans residing in the New York metropolitan area, ranging from 18 to 40 years of age. Obesity risk reduction behaviours and psychosocial variables derived from the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Health Belief Model were measured. Acculturation was assessed using a modified Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale. Frequency distributions were delineated and stepwise regression analyses were analysed for different acculturation groups. 65% of the respondents were female and the mean age of the sample was 26 years. Respondents indicated the most commonly practised behaviour to be eating home-cooked meals instead of restaurant-prepared foods. Perceived barriers to adopting obesity risk-reduction behaviours included convenience of consuming fast foods, cost, lack of time to prepare home-cooked meals, and the physical environment of unhealthy foods. In predicting intention to perform obesity risk-reduction behaviours, attitude was significant for 'western-identified' individuals. In 'Asian-identified' individuals, perceived behavioural control, self-efficacy and perceived benefits were salient. Nutrition educators working with Chinese Americans need to address self-efficacy in preparing plant-based, home-cooked meals and making healthy choices at fast-food restaurants with portion control. Concrete and perceived barriers such as lack of time and convenience need to be addressed in nutrition education interventions. Educators need to identify new channels and media outlets to disseminate practical, easy-to-implement behaviours for obesity risk reduction that are socially acceptable. © Royal Society for Public Health 2013.

  5. Cooperating attackers in neural cryptography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  6. Pengaruh Brand Credibility Terhadap Information Efficiency Dan Risk Reduction, Serta Dampaknya Atas Repurchase Intention

    OpenAIRE

    Faisal, Aekram

    2015-01-01

    This research conducted to know the influence of Brand Credibility to Information efficiency and Risk reduction, also the influence of Information efficiency and Risk reduction to Repurchase intention. This research aimed to know the influence of Brand Credibility to Repurchase intention that mediated by Information efficiency and Risk reduction. The methodology of this research is testing hypothesis research. The sample collecting by questionnaire of 150 respondents from Starb...

  7. Insurance, Public Assistance, and Household Flood Risk Reduction: A Comparative Study of Austria, England, and Romania.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanger, Susanne; Linnerooth-Bayer, Joanne; Surminski, Swenja; Nenciu-Posner, Cristina; Lorant, Anna; Ionescu, Radu; Patt, Anthony

    2018-04-01

    In light of increasing losses from floods, many researchers and policymakers are looking for ways to encourage flood risk reduction among communities, business, and households. In this study, we investigate risk-reduction behavior at the household level in three European Union Member States with fundamentally different insurance and compensation schemes. We try to understand if and how insurance and public assistance influence private risk-reduction behavior. Data were collected using a telephone survey (n = 1,849) of household decisionmakers in flood-prone areas. We show that insurance overall is positively associated with private risk-reduction behavior. Warranties, premium discounts, and information provision with respect to risk reduction may be an explanation for this positive relationship in the case of structural measures. Public incentives for risk-reduction measures by means of financial and in-kind support, and particularly through the provision of information, are also associated with enhancing risk reduction. In this study, public compensation is not negatively associated with private risk-reduction behavior. This does not disprove such a relationship, but the negative effect may be mitigated by factors related to respondents' capacity to implement measures or social norms that were not included in the analysis. The data suggest that large-scale flood protection infrastructure creates a sense of security that is associated with a lower level of preparedness. Across the board there is ample room to improve both public and private policies to provide effective incentives for household-level risk reduction. © 2017 The Authors Risk Analysis published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Risk Analysis.

  8. Low-cost risk reduction strategy for small workplaces: how can we spread good practices?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kogi, K

    2006-01-01

    Recent advances in health risk reduction approaches are examined based on inter-country networking experiences. A noteworthy progress is the wider application of low-cost improvements to risk reduction particularly in small enterprises and agriculture in both industrially developing and developed countries. This is helped by the readiness of managers and workers to implement these improvements despite many constraints. Typical improvements include mobile racks, simple workstation changes, screening hazards, better welfare facilities and teamwork arrangements. In view of the complex circumstances of work-related health risks, it is important to know whether a low-cost strategy can advance risk reduction practices effectively and what support measures are necessary. It is confirmed that the strategy can overcome related constraints through its advantages. Main advantages lie in (a) the facilitation of improved practices in multiple technical areas, (b) the strengthening of realistic stepwise risk reduction, and (c) the enhanced multiplier effects through training of local trainers. Action-oriented risk assessment tools, such as action checklists and low-cost improvement guides, can encourage risk-reducing measures adjusted to each local situation. It is suggested to spread the low-cost risk reduction strategy for improving small workplaces in diversified settings with the support of these locally tailored tools.

  9. Crony Attack: Strategic Attack’s Silver Bullet

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-11-01

    physical assets or financial assets. The form of crony attack that most closely resembles classic strategic attack is to deny, degrade, or destroy a money...February 1951. Reprinted in Airpower Studies Coursebook , Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, AL, 2002, 152–58. Hirsch, Michael. “NATO’s Game of

  10. Effect of smoking reduction on lung cancer risk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Godtfredsen, Nina S; Prescott, Eva; Osler, Merete

    2005-01-01

    Many smokers are unable or unwilling to completely quit smoking. A proposed means of harm reduction is to reduce the number of cigarettes smoked per day. However, it is not clear whether this strategy decreases the risk for tobacco-related diseases....

  11. Neutralizing SQL Injection Attack Using Server Side Code Modification in Web Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Asish Kumar Dalai

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Reports on web application security risks show that SQL injection is the top most vulnerability. The journey of static to dynamic web pages leads to the use of database in web applications. Due to the lack of secure coding techniques, SQL injection vulnerability prevails in a large set of web applications. A successful SQL injection attack imposes a serious threat to the database, web application, and the entire web server. In this article, the authors have proposed a novel method for prevention of SQL injection attack. The classification of SQL injection attacks has been done based on the methods used to exploit this vulnerability. The proposed method proves to be efficient in the context of its ability to prevent all types of SQL injection attacks. Some popular SQL injection attack tools and web application security datasets have been used to validate the model. The results obtained are promising with a high accuracy rate for detection of SQL injection attack.

  12. Introduction to cost-effectiveness analysis of risk reduction measures in energy systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1986-07-01

    The aim of this report is to introduce readers to methods of cost-effectiveness analysis and their application in risk reduction, especially in connection with the energy-producing industries. The background to the assessment of risk and the problems in estimating it quantitatively are outlined. The methodology of cost-effectiveness analysis is then described, particular attention being given to the way in which results are derived and the overall use that can be made of them. This is followed by a discussion of quantitative applications and an outline of the methods that may be used to derive estimates both of risk and the cost of reducing it. The use of cost-effectiveness analysis is illustrated in an appendix, which gives as a worked example a case study on the reduction of public risk associated with radioactive releases during normal operation of a PWR. After drawing some general conclusions the report recommends that such analyses should normally be used as an aid to risk management whenever several alternative risk reduction measures are under consideration

  13. Assessment of aircraft risk reduction at Pantex Plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, Y.T.; Hedtke, R.; Fike, D.; Diniz, J.

    1996-01-01

    The possibility of an aircraft crashing into the Department of Energy's (DOE) Pantex plant facility has been of concern in risk assessments. In response to public concerns, and in an effort to reduce risks associated with overflights of Pantex, several changes to navigational aids at Amarillo International Airport have been implemented. For over one year, a radar airspace monitor and recording system has been connected to the airport surveillance radar at Amarillo to record the flight paths, aircraft types, and traffic density of aircraft in the vicinity of the Pantex plant. The data has provided a better understanding of the overflight risk at Pantex as well as a means to measure the effectiveness of risk reduction efforts

  14. A Latex Metabolite Benefits Plant Fitness under Root Herbivore Attack.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meret Huber

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Plants produce large amounts of secondary metabolites in their shoots and roots and store them in specialized secretory structures. Although secondary metabolites and their secretory structures are commonly assumed to have a defensive function, evidence that they benefit plant fitness under herbivore attack is scarce, especially below ground. Here, we tested whether latex secondary metabolites produced by the common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale agg. decrease the performance of its major native insect root herbivore, the larvae of the common cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha, and benefit plant vegetative and reproductive fitness under M. melolontha attack. Across 17 T. officinale genotypes screened by gas and liquid chromatography, latex concentrations of the sesquiterpene lactone taraxinic acid β-D-glucopyranosyl ester (TA-G were negatively associated with M. melolontha larval growth. Adding purified TA-G to artificial diet at ecologically relevant concentrations reduced larval feeding. Silencing the germacrene A synthase ToGAS1, an enzyme that was identified to catalyze the first committed step of TA-G biosynthesis, resulted in a 90% reduction of TA-G levels and a pronounced increase in M. melolontha feeding. Transgenic, TA-G-deficient lines were preferred by M. melolontha and suffered three times more root biomass reduction than control lines. In a common garden experiment involving over 2,000 T. officinale individuals belonging to 17 different genotypes, high TA-G concentrations were associated with the maintenance of high vegetative and reproductive fitness under M. melolontha attack. Taken together, our study demonstrates that a latex secondary metabolite benefits plants under herbivore attack, a result that provides a mechanistic framework for root herbivore driven natural selection and evolution of plant defenses below ground.

  15. A Latex Metabolite Benefits Plant Fitness under Root Herbivore Attack.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huber, Meret; Epping, Janina; Schulze Gronover, Christian; Fricke, Julia; Aziz, Zohra; Brillatz, Théo; Swyers, Michael; Köllner, Tobias G; Vogel, Heiko; Hammerbacher, Almuth; Triebwasser-Freese, Daniella; Robert, Christelle A M; Verhoeven, Koen; Preite, Veronica; Gershenzon, Jonathan; Erb, Matthias

    2016-01-01

    Plants produce large amounts of secondary metabolites in their shoots and roots and store them in specialized secretory structures. Although secondary metabolites and their secretory structures are commonly assumed to have a defensive function, evidence that they benefit plant fitness under herbivore attack is scarce, especially below ground. Here, we tested whether latex secondary metabolites produced by the common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale agg.) decrease the performance of its major native insect root herbivore, the larvae of the common cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha), and benefit plant vegetative and reproductive fitness under M. melolontha attack. Across 17 T. officinale genotypes screened by gas and liquid chromatography, latex concentrations of the sesquiterpene lactone taraxinic acid β-D-glucopyranosyl ester (TA-G) were negatively associated with M. melolontha larval growth. Adding purified TA-G to artificial diet at ecologically relevant concentrations reduced larval feeding. Silencing the germacrene A synthase ToGAS1, an enzyme that was identified to catalyze the first committed step of TA-G biosynthesis, resulted in a 90% reduction of TA-G levels and a pronounced increase in M. melolontha feeding. Transgenic, TA-G-deficient lines were preferred by M. melolontha and suffered three times more root biomass reduction than control lines. In a common garden experiment involving over 2,000 T. officinale individuals belonging to 17 different genotypes, high TA-G concentrations were associated with the maintenance of high vegetative and reproductive fitness under M. melolontha attack. Taken together, our study demonstrates that a latex secondary metabolite benefits plants under herbivore attack, a result that provides a mechanistic framework for root herbivore driven natural selection and evolution of plant defenses below ground.

  16. Personality and Fear of Terrorist attacks in Ghana: The mediating ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study aimed at determining whether or not neuroticism would account for more variance in predicting risk perception and fear of terrorist attack in Ghana compared to conscientiousness. Moreover, it sought to examine the mediating effect of risk perception on the relationship between neuroticism and fear of terrorist ...

  17. Predatory mites avoid ovipositing near counter-attacking prey

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Faraji, F.; Janssen, A.; Sabelis, M.W.

    2001-01-01

    Attacking prey is not without risk; predators may endure counterattackby the prey. Here, we study the oviposition behaviour of a predatory mite(Iphiseius degenerans) in relation to its prey, thewesternflower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis). This thrips iscapable of killing the eggs of the

  18. Composite Dos Attack Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simona Ramanauskaitė

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Preparation for potential threats is one of the most important phases ensuring system security. It allows evaluating possible losses, changes in the attack process, the effectiveness of used countermeasures, optimal system settings, etc. In cyber-attack cases, executing real experiments can be difficult for many reasons. However, mathematical or programming models can be used instead of conducting experiments in a real environment. This work proposes a composite denial of service attack model that combines bandwidth exhaustion, filtering and memory depletion models for a more real representation of similar cyber-attacks. On the basis of the introduced model, different experiments were done. They showed the main dependencies of the influence of attacker and victim’s properties on the success probability of denial of service attack. In the future, this model can be used for the denial of service attack or countermeasure optimization.

  19. Valuing Drinking Water Risk Reductions Using the Contingent Valuation Method: A Methodological Study of Risks from THM and Giardia (1986)

    Science.gov (United States)

    This study develops contingent valuation methods for measuring the benefits of mortality and morbidity drinking water risk reductions. The major effort was devoted to developing and testing a survey instrument to value low-level risk reductions.

  20. Attack or Defend? Leveraging Information and Balancing Risk in Cyberspace

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-06-01

    anonymity of speakers. 23. Tony Capaccio, “Cyber Attacks from China Show Computers Insecure, Pen- tagon Says,” 6 August 2008, <www.bloomberg.com/apps/news...smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2008/01/changing-the-organizational-cu-1/> (18 August 2008). 27. Elizabeth Robbins , “Muddy Boots IO: The Rise of Soldier Blogs,” Military

  1. Ischaemia-induced (symptomatic) migraine attacks may be more frequent than migraine-induced ischaemic insults

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olesen, Jes; Friberg, L; Olsen, T S

    1993-01-01

    deficits after the very first migraine attack, severe atherosclerosis, risk factors for stroke, high age and no family history of migraine. In these cases the evidence indicates that thromboembolic ischaemia had triggered an attack of migraine with aura (likely symptomatic migraine). Three young females...

  2. Identifying and tracking attacks on networks: C3I displays and related technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  3. Cancer risk in aluminum reduction plant workers (Canada)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Spinelli, J.J.; Demers, P.A.; Le, N.D.; Friesen, M.D.; Lorenzi, M.F.; Fang, R.; Gallagher, R.P. [British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, BC (Canada)

    2006-09-15

    A 14-year update to a previously published historical cohort study of aluminum reduction plant workers was conducted. All men with three or more years at an aluminum reduction plant in British Columbia (BC), Canada between the years 1954 and 1997 were included; a total of 6,423 workers. A total of 662 men were diagnosed with cancer, representing a 400% increase from the original study. Standardized mortality and incidence ratios were used to compare the cancer mortality and incidence of the cohort to that of the BC population. Poisson regression was used to examine risk by cumulative exposure to coal tar pitch volatiles (CTPV) measured as benzene soluble materials (BSM) and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP). The risk for bladder cancer was related to cumulative exposure to CTPV measured as BSM and BaP (p trends < 0.001), and the risk for stomach cancer was related to exposure measured by BaP (p trend BaP < 0.05). The risks for lung cancer (p trend < 0.001), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (p trend < 0.001), and kidney cancer (p trend < 0.01) also increased with increasing exposure, although the overall rates were similar to that of the general population. Analysis of the joint effect of smoking and CTPV exposure on cancer showed the observed dose-response relationships to be independent of smoking.

  4. Evaluation of an HIV-risk reduction programme for first-year ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Results indicated that HIV-related knowledge; condom knowledge and risk perception were enhanced by the HIV- related risk reduction programme. However, there is a need for improvement, especially with regard to attitudes towards condoms since some students still had negative attitudes even after the intervention ...

  5. Security Policies for Mitigating the Risk of Load Altering Attacks on Smart Grid Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ryutov, Tatyana; AlMajali, Anas; Neuman, Clifford

    2015-04-01

    While demand response programs implement energy efficiency and power quality objectives, they bring potential security threats to the Smart Grid. The ability to influence load in a system enables attackers to cause system failures and impacts the quality and integrity of power delivered to customers. This paper presents a security mechanism to monitor and control load according to a set of security policies during normal system operation. The mechanism monitors, detects, and responds to load altering attacks. We examined the security requirements of Smart Grid stakeholders and constructed a set of load control policies enforced by the mechanism. We implemented a proof of concept prototype and tested it using the simulation environment. By enforcing the proposed policies in this prototype, the system is maintained in a safe state in the presence of load drop attacks.

  6. POTENTIAL HEALTH RISK REDUCTION ARISING FROM REDUCED MERCURY EMISSIONS FROM COAL FIRED POWER PLANTS.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sullivan, T. M.; Lipfert, F. W.; Morris, S. C.; Moskowitz, P. D.

    2001-09-01

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced plans to regulate mercury (Hg) emissions from coal-fired power plants. EPA has not prepared a quantitative assessment of the reduction in risk that could be achieved through reduction in coal plant emissions of Hg. To address this issue, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) with support from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Fossil Energy (DOE FE) prepared a quantitative assessment of the reduction in human health risk that could be achieved through reduction in coal plant emissions of Hg. The primary pathway for Hg exposure is through consumption of fish. The most susceptible population to Hg exposure is the fetus. Therefore the risk assessment focused on consumption of fish by women of child-bearing age. Dose response factors were generated from studies on loss of cognitive abilities (language skills, motor skills, etc.) by young children whose mothers consumed large amounts of fish with high Hg levels. Population risks were estimated for the general population in three regions of the country, (the Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast) that were identified by EPA as being heavily impacted by coal emissions. Three scenarios for reducing Hg emissions from coal plants were considered: (1) A base case using current conditions; (2) A 50% reduction; and, (3) A 90% reduction. These reductions in emissions were assumed to translate linearly into a reduction in fish Hg levels of 8.6% and 15.5%, respectively. Population risk estimates were also calculated for two subsistence fisher populations. These groups of people consume substantially more fish than the general public and, depending on location, the fish may contain higher Hg levels than average. Risk estimates for these groups were calculated for the three Hg levels used for the general population analyses. Analysis shows that the general population risks for exposure of the fetus to Hg are small. Estimated risks under current conditions (i.e., no

  7. Guideline on management of the acute asthma attack in children by Italian Society of Pediatrics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Indinnimeo, Luciana; Chiappini, Elena; Miraglia Del Giudice, Michele

    2018-04-06

    Acute asthma attack is a frequent condition in children. It is one of the most common reasons for emergency department (ED) visit and hospitalization. Appropriate care is fundamental, considering both the high prevalence of asthma in children, and its life-threatening risks. Italian Society of Pediatrics recently issued a guideline on the management of acute asthma attack in children over age 2, in ambulatory and emergency department settings. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology was adopted. A literature search was performed using the Cochrane Library and Medline/PubMed databases, retrieving studies in English or Italian and including children over age 2 year. Inhaled ß 2 agonists are the first line drugs for acute asthma attack in children. Ipratropium bromide should be added in moderate/severe attacks. Early use of systemic steroids is associated with reduced risk of ED visits and hospitalization. High doses of inhaled steroids should not replace systemic steroids. Aminophylline use should be avoided in mild/moderate attacks. Weak evidence supports its use in life-threatening attacks. Epinephrine should not be used in the treatment of acute asthma for its lower cost / benefit ratio, compared to β 2 agonists. Intravenous magnesium solphate could be used in children with severe attacks and/or forced expiratory volume1 (FEV1) lower than 60% predicted, unresponsive to initial inhaled therapy. Heliox could be administered in life-threatening attacks. Leukotriene receptor antagonists are not recommended. This Guideline is expected to be a useful resource in managing acute asthma attacks in children over age 2.

  8. Heart Attack Recovery FAQs

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... recommendations to make a full recovery. View an animation of a heart attack . Heart Attack Recovery Questions ... Support Network Popular Articles 1 Understanding Blood Pressure Readings 2 Sodium and Salt 3 Heart Attack Symptoms ...

  9. Vulnerabilities in GSM technology and feasibility of selected attacks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voznak, M.; Prokes, M.; Sevcik, L.; Frnda, J.; Toral-Cruz, Homer; Jakovlev, Sergej; Fazio, Peppino; Mehic, M.; Mikulec, M.

    2015-05-01

    Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) is the most widespread technology for mobile communications in the world and serving over 7 billion users. Since first publication of system documentation there has been notified a potential safety problem's occurrence. Selected types of attacks, based on the analysis of the technical feasibility and the degree of risk of these weaknesses, were implemented and demonstrated in laboratory of the VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic. These vulnerabilities were analyzed and afterwards possible attacks were described. These attacks were implemented using open-source tools, software programmable radio USRP (Universal Software RadioPeripheral) and DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial) receiver. GSM security architecture is being scrutinized since first public releases of its specification mainly pointing out weaknesses in authentication and ciphering mechanisms. This contribution also summarizes practically proofed and used scenarios that are performed using opensource software tools and variety of scripts mostly written in Python. Main goal of this paper is in analyzing security issues in GSM network and practical demonstration of selected attacks.

  10. Earth observation for disaster risk reduction in Pakistan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rafiq, L.

    2012-01-01

    This thesis investigates the role of Earth Observation (EO) for disaster risk reduction for Pakistan. It demonstrates that significant improvements are possible through the utilization of EO data for natural disaster risk reduction activities in Pakistan. In this thesis, a multi hazard approach is proposed in order to identify vulnerability and risk at district level in Pakistan. In particular, a methodology for ranking hazards, vulnerabilities and risks based on Delphi methods is developed. This method is implemented and the results are mapped for four selected hazards i.e., earthquakes, floods, cyclones and droughts. Based on the final risk rankings, the potential of EO is explored with a focus on vulnerability assessment through detailed analysis of two case studies i.e.; Flood and Cyclone/Tsunami. The study also reviews and evaluates the institutional framework of the National Disaster Management Authority of Pakistan in order to identify existing gaps and address them in view of modern technology being used globally. Results reveal that these gaps are mainly related to policies, coordination and communication of different stakeholders at the national level. The work also reviews the available Early Warning System (EWS) in Pakistan and particularly its usage during disasters. Within the context of EWS, multi-sensor satellite data have been utilized for the analysis of structure of an Arabian Sea tropical Cyclone. Results of this focal study provide useful information for operational analysis and forecasting as well as for designing disaster mitigation measures. This information may also play a major role in the development of cyclone warning strategies in the future. (author)

  11. Assessment of reduction in perception of nuclear risk related to perception of environmental risk

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boemer, Veronica Araujo; Aquino, Afonso Rodrigues de

    2009-01-01

    This work presents a bibliographic research accomplished to evaluate the matter of reduction in risk perception, on people in general, that nuclear energy can show, for generation of electric power, face to perception of risk associated to environmental questions, as the global warming, from greenhouse effect, addressing the matter to the relevance of public acceptance for the development of new technologies. (author)

  12. Indigenous knowledge for disaster risk reduction: An African perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nnamdi G. Iloka

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Indigenous knowledge is valuable knowledge that has helped local communities all over the world survive for generations. This knowledge originates from the interaction between members of the community and the environment in which they live. Although much has been written about indigenous knowledge, its documentation in the area of disaster risk reduction and climate change in Africa has been very limited. The wealth of this knowledge has not been well-recognised in the disaster risk reduction field, as policy-makers still rely on mitigation strategies based on scientific knowledge. Colonialism and lack of proper documentation of indigenous knowledge are some of the contributing factors to this. Ignoring the importance of understanding adaptive strategies of the local people has led to failed projects. Understanding how local people in Africa have managed to survive and adapt for generations, before the arrival of Western education, may be the key to developing sustainable policies to mitigate future challenges. Literature used in this article, obtained from the books, papers and publications of various experts in the fields of disaster risk reduction, climate change, indigenous knowledge and adaptation, highlight the need for more interest to be shown in indigenous knowledge, especially in the developing country context. This would lead to better strategies which originate from the community level but would aim for overall sustainable development in Africa.

  13. Novel Psychological Formulation and Treatment of "Tic Attacks" in Tourette Syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Sally; Hedderly, Tammy

    2016-01-01

    One important, but underreported, phenomenon in Tourette syndrome (TS) is the occurrence of "tic attacks." These episodes have been described at conferences as sudden bouts of tics and/or functional tic-like movements, lasting from 15 min to several hours. They have also been described by patients in online TS communities. To date, there are no reports of tic attacks in the literature. The aim of this article is to stimulate discussion and inform clinical practices by describing the clinical presentation of 12 children (mean age 11 years and 3 months; SD = 2 years and 4 months) with TS and tic attacks, with a detailed case report for one case (13-year-old male). These children commonly present acutely to casualty departments and undergo unnecessary medical investigations. Interestingly, all children reported comorbid anxiety, with worries about the tics themselves and an increased internal focus of attention on tics once the attacks had started. In keeping with other children, the index case reported a strong internal focus of attention, with a relationship between physiological sensations/tic urges, worries about having tic attacks, and behavioral responses (e.g., body scanning, situational avoidance, and other responses). In our experience, the attacks reduce with psychological therapy, for example, the index case attended 13 sessions of therapy that included metacognitive and attention training techniques, as well as cognitive-behavioral strategies. Following treatment, an improvement was seen across a range of measures assessing tics, mood, anxiety, and quality of life. Thus, psychological techniques used to treat anxiety disorders are effective at supporting a reduction in tic attacks through modifying attention, worry processes, and negative beliefs. It is hypothesized that an attentional style of threat monitoring, difficulties tolerating internal sensory urges, cognitive misattributions, and maladaptive coping strategies contribute to the

  14. Identification and Ranking of Critical Assets within an Electrical Grid under Threat of Cyber Attack

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boyer, Blake R.

    This paper examines the ranking of critical assets within an electrical grid under threat of cyber attack.1 Critical to this analysis is the assumption of zero hour exploits namely, the threat of an immediate attack as soon as a vulnerability is discovered. Modeling shows that over time load fluctuations as well as other system variations will change the importance of each asset in the delivery of bulk power. As opposed to classic stability studies where risk can be shown to be greatest during high load periods, the zero hour exploit-cyber-risk assumes that vulnerabilities will be attacked as soon as they are discovered. The probability of attacks is made uniform over time to include any and all possible attacks. Examining the impact of an attack and how the grid reacts immediately following an attack will identify and determine the criticality of each asset. This work endeavors to fulfill the NERC Critical Infrastructure Protection Requirements CIP-001-1 through CIP-009-2, cyber security requirements for the reliable supply of bulk power to customers throughout North America. 1Critical assets will here refer to facilities, systems, and equipment, which, if destroyed, degraded, or otherwise rendered unavailable, would affect the reliability or operability of the Bulk Electric System, NERC Glossary of Terms Used in Reliability Standards, 2009

  15. Seven Deadliest Wireless Technologies Attacks

    CERN Document Server

    Haines, Brad

    2010-01-01

    How can an information security professional keep up with all of the hacks, attacks, and exploits? One way to find out what the worst of the worst are is to read the seven books in our Seven Deadliest Attacks Series. Not only do we let you in on the anatomy of these attacks but we also tell you how to get rid of them and how to defend against them in the future. Countermeasures are detailed so that you can fight against similar attacks as they evolve. Attacks featured in this book include:Bluetooth AttacksCredit Card, Access Card, and Passport AttacksBad Encryption

  16. The role of service learning in teaching and research for disaster-risk reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suckale, J.; Saiyed, Z.; Alvisyahrin, T.; Hilley, G. E.; Muhari, A.; Zoback, M. L. C.; Truebe, S.

    2016-12-01

    An important motivation for natural-hazards research is to reduce threats posed by natural disasters to at-risk communities. Yet, we rarely teach students how research may be used to construct implementable solutions that reduce disaster risk. The goal of this contribution is to evaluate the potential of service learning to impart students with both the scientific background and the skills necessary to navigate real-world constraints of disaster risk reduction. We present results from a service-learning class taught at Stanford in the Winter quarter of 2016 in collaboration with the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries and Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh. The main deliverable of the class was a final project in which students developed a specific idea of how to contribute to tsunami-risk reduction in Indonesia. A common critique of the service-learning approach posits that it may implicitly embed social and political perspectives within risk-reduction strategies that may be inappropriate within a particular culture. We attempted to avoid this problem using three strategies: First, we paired students from Stanford with students at Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, to facilitate a close dialogue. Second, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries provided a list of current risk-reduction strategies without requiring students to contribute to one specific project to minimally precondition project suggestions. Third, our community partners provided ongoing feedback on the scope and feasibility of the proposed projects and students were assessed based on their ability to integrate the feedback. Preliminary results from our class suggest significant promise for a service-learning approach to teaching disaster-risk reduction. There was substantial student interest in service learning, particularly among undergraduates. Pre-and post-assessment surveys showed that over 75% of students adjusted previous notions about disaster-risk reduction during the

  17. Blocking of Brute Force Attack

    OpenAIRE

    M.Venkata Krishna Reddy

    2012-01-01

    A common threat Web developers face is a password-guessing attack known as a brute-force attack. A brute-force attack is an attempt to discover a password by systematically trying every possible combination of letters, numbers, and symbols until you discover the one correct combination that works. If your Web site requires user authentication, you are a good target for a brute-force attack. An attacker can always discover a password through a brute-force attack, but the downside is that it co...

  18. Governance of disaster risk reduction in Cameroon: The need to empower local government

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henry N. Bang

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available The impact of natural hazards and/or disasters in Cameroon continues to hit local communities hardest, but local government lacks the ability to manage disaster risks adequately. This is partly due to the fact that the necessity to mainstream disaster risk reduction into local governance and development practices is not yet an underlying principle of Cameroon’s disaster management framework. Using empirical and secondary data, this paper analyses the governance of disaster risks in Cameroon with particular focus on the challenges local government faces in implementing disaster risk reduction strategies. The hypothesis is that the governance of disaster risks is too centralised at the national level, with huge implications for the effective governance of disaster risks at the local level. Although Cameroon has reinvigorated efforts to address growing disaster risks in a proactive way, it is argued that the practical actions are more reactive than proactive in nature. The overall aim is to explore the challenges and opportunities that local government has in the governance of disaster risks. Based on the findings from this research, policy recommendations are suggested on ways to mainstream disaster risk reduction strategies into local governance, and advance understanding and practice in the local governance of disaster risks in the country.

  19. Lifestyle interventions to prevent cardiovascular events after stroke and transient ischemic attack

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Deijle, Inger A.; Van Schaik, Sander M.; Van Wegen, Erwin E.H.; Weinstein, Henry C.; Kwakkel, Gert; Van Den Berg-Vos, Renske M.

    2017-01-01

    Background and Purpose - Patients with a transient ischemic attack or ischemic stroke have an increased risk of subsequent cardiovascular events. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine whether lifestyle interventions focusing on behaviorally modifiable risk factors

  20. Perception of Recurrent Stroke Risk among Black, White and Hispanic Ischemic Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack Survivors: The SWIFT Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boden-Albala, Bernadette; Carman, Heather; Moran, Megan; Doyle, Margaret; Paik, Myunghee C.

    2011-01-01

    Objectives Risk modification through behavior change is critical for primary and secondary stroke prevention. Theories of health behavior identify perceived risk as an important component to facilitate behavior change; however, little is known about perceived risk of vascular events among stroke survivors. Methods The SWIFT (Stroke Warning Information and Faster Treatment) study includes a prospective population-based ethnically diverse cohort of ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack survivors. We investigate the baseline relationship between demographics, health beliefs, and knowledge on risk perception. Regression models examined predictors of inaccurate perception. Results Only 20% accurately estimated risk, 10% of the participants underestimated risk, and 70% of the 817 study participants significantly overestimated their risk for a recurrent stroke. The mean perceived likelihood of recurrent ischemic stroke in the next 10 years was 51 ± 7%. We found no significant differences by race-ethnicity with regard to accurate estimation of risk. Inaccurate estimation of risk was associated with attitudes and beliefs [worry (p risk factors. Conclusion This paper provides a unique perspective on how factors such as belief systems influence risk perception in a diverse population at high stroke risk. There is a need for future research on how risk perception can inform primary and secondary stroke prevention. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel PMID:21894045

  1. The social value of mortality risk reduction: VSL versus the social welfare function approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adler, Matthew D; Hammitt, James K; Treich, Nicolas

    2014-05-01

    We examine how different welfarist frameworks evaluate the social value of mortality risk reduction. These frameworks include classical, distributively unweighted cost-benefit analysis--i.e., the "value per statistical life" (VSL) approach-and various social welfare functions (SWFs). The SWFs are either utilitarian or prioritarian, applied to policy choice under risk in either an "ex post" or "ex ante" manner. We examine the conditions on individual utility and on the SWF under which these frameworks display sensitivity to wealth and to baseline risk. Moreover, we discuss whether these frameworks satisfy related properties that have received some attention in the literature, namely equal value of risk reduction, preference for risk equity, and catastrophe aversion. We show that the particular manner in which VSL ranks risk-reduction measures is not necessarily shared by other welfarist frameworks. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Solidarity under Attack

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Meret, Susi; Goffredo, Sergio

    2017-01-01

    https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/susi-meret-sergio-goffredo/solidarity-under-attack......https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/susi-meret-sergio-goffredo/solidarity-under-attack...

  3. Digital transformation. With the increasing digitalisation of reactors, the nuclear sector must take the risk of cyber attacks into account. Atom in front of cyber crime

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dupin, Ludovic

    2017-01-01

    After having evoked a science-fictional scenario of a cyber attack of a nuclear reactor, but also recent and actual, and sometimes successful cyber attacks against reactor control systems or uranium enrichment centrifuges, this article notices that authorities and bodies in charge of nuclear activities have become aware of this threat only for a short time, and that the threat is increased because of the increasing role of digital compounds in recent reactors. Therefore, a definition of good practices is emerging. In a brief interview, a manager of Assystem outlines that data theft is the main risk

  4. The Differential Effects of Social Media Sites for Promoting Cancer Risk Reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lauckner, Carolyn; Whitten, Pamela

    2016-09-01

    Social media are potentially valuable tools for disseminating cancer education messages, but the differential effects of various sites on persuasive outcomes are unknown. In an effort to inform future health promotion, this research tested the effects of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and blogs for delivering a cancer risk reduction message. Using an experimental design, participants were randomly placed in several conditions that delivered the same message but with different forms of social media. Effects on comprehension and attitudes were examined, as they are important variables in the behavior change process. YouTube led to higher comprehension and stronger attitudes toward cancer risk reduction than Twitter, but there were no differences between other sites. Additionally, YouTube led to stronger attitudes toward cancer risk reduction as compared to Facebook, but not any other sites. These results demonstrate that, even if the message is kept constant, the form of social media used to deliver content can have an effect on persuasive outcomes. More research is needed to determine the mechanisms behind the differences found, however. Altogether, this line of research is valuable for any individuals seeking to use social media for health promotion purposes and could have direct implications for the development of cancer risk reduction campaigns.

  5. Protecting ICS Systems Within the Energy Sector from Cyber Attacks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barnes, Shaquille

    Advance persistent threat (APT) groups are continuing to attack the energy sector through cyberspace, which poses a risk to our society, national security, and economy. Industrial control systems (ICSs) are not designed to handle cyber-attacks, which is why asset owners need to implement the correct proactive and reactive measures to mitigate the risk to their ICS environments. The Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) responded to 290 incidents for fiscal year 2016, where 59 of those incidents came from the Energy Sector. APT groups know how vulnerable energy sector ICS systems are and the destruction they can cause when they go offline such as loss of production, loss of life, and economic impact. Defending against APT groups requires more than just passive controls such as firewalls and antivirus solutions. Asset owners should implement a combination of best practices and active defense in their environment to defend against APT groups. Cyber-attacks against critical infrastructure will become more complex and harder to detect and respond to with traditional security controls. The purpose of this paper was to provide asset owners with the correct security controls and methodologies to help defend against APT groups.

  6. Negative affect and smoking motives sequentially mediate the effect of panic attacks on tobacco-relevant processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farris, Samantha G; Zvolensky, Michael J; Blalock, Janice A; Schmidt, Norman B

    2014-05-01

    Empirical work has documented a robust and consistent relation between panic attacks and smoking behavior. Theoretical models posit smokers with panic attacks may rely on smoking to help them manage chronically elevated negative affect due to uncomfortable bodily states, which may explain higher levels of nicotine dependence and quit problems. The current study examined the effects of panic attack history on nicotine dependence, perceived barriers for quitting, smoking inflexibility when emotionally distressed, and expired carbon monoxide among 461 treatment-seeking smokers. A multiple mediator path model was evaluated to examine the indirect effects of negative affect and negative affect reduction motives as mediators of the panic attack-smoking relations. Panic attack history was indirectly related to greater levels of nicotine dependence (b = 0.039, CI95% = 0.008, 0.097), perceived barriers to smoking cessation (b = 0.195, CI95% = 0.043, 0.479), smoking inflexibility/avoidance when emotionally distressed (b = 0.188, CI95% = 0.041, 0.445), and higher levels of expired carbon monoxide (b = 0.071, CI95% = 0.010, 0.230) through the sequential effects of negative affect and negative affect smoking motives. The present results provide empirical support for the sequential mediating role of negative affect and smoking motives for negative affect reduction in the relation between panic attacks and a variety of smoking variables in treatment-seeking smokers. These mediating variables are likely important processes to address in smoking cessation treatment, especially in panic-vulnerable smokers.

  7. Cost-effectiveness analysis of risk reduction at nuclear power plants: What have we learned from experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lochard, J.; Pages, P.

    1984-01-01

    Within the field of risk management techniques, cost-effectiveness analysis of risk reduction is now recognized as an adequate method for evaluating and defining the optimal allocation of protection and safety resources within large industrial systems. The paper considers some of the issues that arise in connection with cost-effectiveness analysis of risk reduction at nuclear power stations. Particular attention is called to both the interdependence between criteria that characterize risk reduction problems and the resulting aggregation and weighting procedures needed when the multidimensionality of criteria is explicitly taken into account. The discussion of these problems is illustrated with results of case studies on both public and occupational risk reduction at French PWRs during normal operation. (author)

  8. Parallel structures for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in Southern Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Per Becker

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available During the last decade, the interest of the international community in the concepts of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation has been growing immensely. Even though an increasing number of scholars seem to view these concepts as two sides of the same coin (at least when not considering the potentially positive effects of climate change, in practice the two concepts have developed in parallel rather than in an integrated manner when it comes to policy, rhetoric and funding opportunities amongst international organisations and donors. This study investigates the extent of the creation of parallel structures for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in the Southern African Development Community (SADC region. The chosen methodology for the study is a comparative case study and the data are collected through focus groups and content analysis of documentary sources, as well as interviews with key informants. The results indicate that parallel structures for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation have been established in all but one of the studied countries. The qualitative interviews performed in some of the countries indicate that stakeholders in disaster risk reduction view this duplication of structures as unfortunate, inefficient and a fertile setup for conflict over resources for the implementation of similar activities. Additional research is called for in order to study the concrete effects of having these parallel structures as a foundation for advocacy for more efficient future disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

  9. Seven Deadliest Microsoft Attacks

    CERN Document Server

    Kraus, Rob; Borkin, Mike; Alpern, Naomi

    2010-01-01

    Do you need to keep up with the latest hacks, attacks, and exploits effecting Microsoft products? Then you need Seven Deadliest Microsoft Attacks. This book pinpoints the most dangerous hacks and exploits specific to Microsoft applications, laying out the anatomy of these attacks including how to make your system more secure. You will discover the best ways to defend against these vicious hacks with step-by-step instruction and learn techniques to make your computer and network impenetrable. Windows Operating System-Password AttacksActive Directory-Escalat

  10. Defense of Cyber Infrastructures Against Cyber-Physical Attacks Using Game-Theoretic Models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rao, Nageswara S V; Poole, Stephen W; Ma, Chris Y T; He, Fei; Zhuang, Jun; Yau, David K Y

    2016-04-01

    The operation of cyber infrastructures relies on both cyber and physical components, which are subject to incidental and intentional degradations of different kinds. Within the context of network and computing infrastructures, we study the strategic interactions between an attacker and a defender using game-theoretic models that take into account both cyber and physical components. The attacker and defender optimize their individual utilities, expressed as sums of cost and system terms. First, we consider a Boolean attack-defense model, wherein the cyber and physical subinfrastructures may be attacked and reinforced as individual units. Second, we consider a component attack-defense model wherein their components may be attacked and defended, and the infrastructure requires minimum numbers of both to function. We show that the Nash equilibrium under uniform costs in both cases is computable in polynomial time, and it provides high-level deterministic conditions for the infrastructure survival. When probabilities of successful attack and defense, and of incidental failures, are incorporated into the models, the results favor the attacker but otherwise remain qualitatively similar. This approach has been motivated and validated by our experiences with UltraScience Net infrastructure, which was built to support high-performance network experiments. The analytical results, however, are more general, and we apply them to simplified models of cloud and high-performance computing infrastructures. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

  11. Association of Osteopontin, Neopterin, and Myeloperoxidase With Stroke Risk in Patients With Prior Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attacks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ganz, Peter; Amarenco, Pierre; Goldstein, Larry B

    2017-01-01

    BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Established risk factors do not fully identify patients at risk for recurrent stroke. The SPARCL trial (Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels) evaluated the effect of atorvastatin on stroke risk in patients with a recent stroke or transient ischemic...

  12. Cost-effectiveness analysis of risk reduction at nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lochard, J.; Maccia, C.; Pages, P.

    1985-01-01

    Cost-effectiveness analysis of risk reduction is now widely accepted as a rational analytical framework to consistently address the resource allocation problem underlying any risk management process. This paper presents how this technique can be usefully applied to complex systems such as the management of radioactive releases from nuclear power plants into the environment. (orig.) [de

  13. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Versus Disaster Risk Creation (DRC)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, James

    2012-01-01

    In understanding and trying to reduce the risk from disasters, connections are often articulated amongst poverty, vulnerability, risk, and disasters. These are welcome steps, but the approach taken in top-down international documents is rarely to articulate explicitly that vulnerability accrues from a wide variety of dynamic and long-term processes. Neglecting these processes—and failing to explore their links with poverty, risk, and disasters—tends to encourage disaster risk creation. This paper identifies seven examples of on-the-ground realities of long-term vulnerability within two clusters: Endangerment: 1 Environmental degradation. 2 Discrimination. 3 Displacement. Impoverishment: 4 Self-seeking public expenditure. 5 Denial of access to resources. 6 Corruption. 7 Siphoning of public money. Examples are presented as vignettes, many contemporary and many rooted in historical contexts, to demonstrate the extent to which “vulnerability drivers” emanate from greed, the misuse of political and commercial power, mismanagement and incompetence amongst other behaviours. Moving forward to the tackling of disaster risk creation, instead of simply seeking disaster risk reduction, requires detailed investigation into these contemporary and historical realities of the causes of vulnerability. That would support the integration of disaster risk reduction within the many wider contexts that foment and perpetuate vulnerability. PMID:22919564

  14. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Versus Disaster Risk Creation (DRC).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, James

    2012-06-21

    In understanding and trying to reduce the risk from disasters, connections are often articulated amongst poverty, vulnerability, risk, and disasters. These are welcome steps, but the approach taken in top-down international documents is rarely to articulate explicitly that vulnerability accrues from a wide variety of dynamic and long-term processes. Neglecting these processes-and failing to explore their links with poverty, risk, and disasters-tends to encourage disaster risk creation. This paper identifies seven examples of on-the-ground realities of long-term vulnerability within two clusters: Endangerment: 1 Environmental degradation. 2 Discrimination. 3 Displacement. Impoverishment: 4 Self-seeking public expenditure. 5 Denial of access to resources. 6 Corruption. 7 Siphoning of public money. Examples are presented as vignettes, many contemporary and many rooted in historical contexts, to demonstrate the extent to which "vulnerability drivers" emanate from greed, the misuse of political and commercial power, mismanagement and incompetence amongst other behaviours. Moving forward to the tackling of disaster risk creation, instead of simply seeking disaster risk reduction, requires detailed investigation into these contemporary and historical realities of the causes of vulnerability. That would support the integration of disaster risk reduction within the many wider contexts that foment and perpetuate vulnerability.

  15. Ethical Responsibility of Governance for Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction with Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parkash Gupta, Surya

    2015-04-01

    The development in the public as well as the private sectors is controlled and regulated, directly or indirectly by the governments at federal, provincial and local levels. If this development goes haphazard and unplanned, without due considerations to environmental constraints and potential hazards; it is likely to cause disasters or may get affected by disasters. Therefore, it becomes an ethical responsibility of the people involved in governance sector to integrate disaster risk reduction with development in their administrative territories through enforcement of appropriate policies, guidelines and regulatory mechanisms. Such mechanisms should address the social, scientific, economic, environmental, and legal requirements that play significant role in planning, implementation of developmental activities as well as disaster management. The paper focuses on defining the ethical responsibilities for the governance sector for integrating disaster risk reduction with development. It highlights the ethical issues with examples from two case studies, one from the Uttarakhand state and the other Odhisa state in India. The case studies illustrates how does it make a difference in disaster risk reduction if the governments own or do not own ethical responsibilities. The paper considers two major disaster events, flash floods in Uttarakhand state and Cyclone Phailin in Odhisa state, that happened during the year 2013. The study points out that it makes a great difference in terms of consequences and response to disasters when ethical responsibilities are owned by the governance sector. The papers attempts to define these ethical responsibilities for integrating disaster risk reduction with development so that the governments can be held accountable for their acts or non-actions.

  16. Smartphone Delivery of Mobile HIV Risk Reduction Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, Karran A; Epstein, David H; Mezghanni, Mustapha; Vahabzadeh, Massoud; Reamer, David; Agage, Daniel; Preston, Kenzie L

    2013-01-01

    We sought to develop and deploy a video-based smartphone-delivered mobile HIV Risk Reduction (mHIVRR) intervention to individuals in an addiction treatment clinic. We developed 3 video modules that consisted of a 10-minute HIVRR video, 11 acceptability questions, and 3 knowledge questions and deployed them as a secondary study within a larger study of ecological momentary and geographical momentary assessments. All 24 individuals who remained in the main study long enough completed the mHIVRR secondary study. All 3 videos met our a priori criteria for acceptability "as is" in the population: they achieved median scores of ≤2.5 on a 5-point Likert scale; ≤20% of the individuals gave them the most negative rating on the scale; a majority of the individuals stated that they would not prefer other formats over video-based smartphone-delivered one (all P smartphone is acceptable, feasible and may increase HIV/STD risk reduction knowledge. Future studies, with pre-intervention assessments of knowledge and random assignment, are needed to confirm these findings.

  17. Whispering through DDoS attack

    OpenAIRE

    Miralem Mehic; Jiri Slachta; Miroslav Voznak

    2016-01-01

    Denial of service (DoS) attack is an attempt of the attacker to disable victim's machine by depleting network or computing resources. If this attack is performed with more than one machine, it is called distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. Covert channels are those channels which are used for information transmission even though they are neither designed nor intended to transfer information at all. In this article, we investigated the possibility of using of DDoS attack for purposes o...

  18. Protecting Mobile Crowd Sensing against Sybil Attacks Using Cloud Based Trust Management System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shih-Hao Chang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Mobile crowd sensing (MCS arises as a new sensing paradigm, which leverages citizens for large-scale sensing by various mobile devices to efficiently collect and share local information. Unlike other MCS application challenges that consider user privacy and data trustworthiness, this study focuses on the network trustworthiness problem, namely, Sybil attacks in MCS network. The Sybil attack in computer security is a type of security attack, which illegally forges multiple identities in peer-to-peer networks, namely, Sybil identities. These Sybil identities will falsify multiple identities that negatively influence the effectiveness of sensing data in this MCS network or degrading entire network performance. To cope with this problem, a cloud based trust management scheme (CbTMS was proposed to detect Sybil attacks in the MCS network. The CbTMS was proffered for performing active and passive checking scheme, in addition to the mobile PCS trustworthiness management, and includes a decision tree algorithm, to verify the covered nodes in the MCS network. Simulation studies show that our CbTMS can efficiently detect the malicious Sybil nodes in the network and cause 6.87 Wh power reduction compared with other malicious Sybil node attack mode.

  19. Review of On-Scene Management of Mass-Casualty Attacks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Annelie Holgersson

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Background: The scene of a mass-casualty attack (MCA entails a crime scene, a hazardous space, and a great number of people needing medical assistance. Public transportation has been the target of such attacks and involves a high probability of generating mass casualties. The review aimed to investigate challenges for on-scene responses to MCAs and suggestions made to counter these challenges, with special attention given to attacks on public transportation and associated terminals. Methods: Articles were found through PubMed and Scopus, “relevant articles” as defined by the databases, and a manual search of references. Inclusion criteria were that the article referred to attack(s and/or a public transportation-related incident and issues concerning formal on-scene response. An appraisal of the articles’ scientific quality was conducted based on an evidence hierarchy model developed for the study. Results: One hundred and five articles were reviewed. Challenges for command and coordination on scene included establishing leadership, inter-agency collaboration, multiple incident sites, and logistics. Safety issues entailed knowledge and use of personal protective equipment, risk awareness and expectations, cordons, dynamic risk assessment, defensive versus offensive approaches, and joining forces. Communication concerns were equipment shortfalls, dialoguing, and providing information. Assessment problems were scene layout and interpreting environmental indicators as well as understanding setting-driven needs for specialist skills and resources. Triage and treatment difficulties included differing triage systems, directing casualties, uncommon injuries, field hospitals, level of care, providing psychological and pediatric care. Transportation hardships included scene access, distance to hospitals, and distribution of casualties. Conclusion: Commonly encountered challenges during unintentional incidents were added to during MCAs

  20. Constructing a holistic approach to disaster risk reduction: the significance of focusing on vulnerability reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palliyaguru, Roshani; Amaratunga, Dilanthi; Baldry, David

    2014-01-01

    As a result of the increase in natural disaster losses, policy-makers, practitioners, and members of the research community around the world are seeking effective and efficient means of overcoming or minimising them. Although various theoretical constructs are beneficial to understanding the disaster phenomenon and the means of minimising losses, the disaster risk management process becomes less effective if theory and practice are set apart from one another. Consequently, this paper seeks to establish a relationship between two theoretical constructs, 'disaster risk reduction (DRR)' and 'vulnerability reduction', and to develop a holistic approach to DRR with particular reference to improving its applicability in practical settings. It is based on a literature review and on an overall understanding gained through two case studies of post-disaster infrastructure reconstruction projects in Sri Lanka and three expert interviews in Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom. © 2014 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2014.

  1. Protecting Cryptographic Memory against Tampering Attack

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mukherjee, Pratyay

    In this dissertation we investigate the question of protecting cryptographic devices from tampering attacks. Traditional theoretical analysis of cryptographic devices is based on black-box models which do not take into account the attacks on the implementations, known as physical attacks. In prac......In this dissertation we investigate the question of protecting cryptographic devices from tampering attacks. Traditional theoretical analysis of cryptographic devices is based on black-box models which do not take into account the attacks on the implementations, known as physical attacks....... In practice such attacks can be executed easily, e.g. by heating the device, as substantiated by numerous works in the past decade. Tampering attacks are a class of such physical attacks where the attacker can change the memory/computation, gains additional (non-black-box) knowledge by interacting...... with the faulty device and then tries to break the security. Prior works show that generically approaching such problem is notoriously difficult. So, in this dissertation we attempt to solve an easier question, known as memory-tampering, where the attacker is allowed tamper only with the memory of the device...

  2. Seven deadliest USB attacks

    CERN Document Server

    Anderson, Brian

    2010-01-01

    Do you need to keep up with the latest hacks, attacks, and exploits effecting USB technology? Then you need Seven Deadliest USB Attacks. This book pinpoints the most dangerous hacks and exploits specific to USB, laying out the anatomy of these attacks including how to make your system more secure. You will discover the best ways to defend against these vicious hacks with step-by-step instruction and learn techniques to make your computer and network impenetrable. Attacks detailed in this book include: USB Hacksaw USB Switchblade USB Based Virus/Malicous Code Launch USB Device Overflow RAMdum

  3. Licensing issues in the context of terrorist attacks on nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Danwitz, T. von

    2002-01-01

    The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in September 2001 has prompted enhanced nuclear risk awareness among the German population. But in the current public debate about the safety of nuclear power plants in Germany in times of new dimensions of danger, aspects such as the role of the constitutional law, the German Atomic Energy Act, and the regulatory system governing nuclear power plant licensing in the context of protection and safety have not been addressed. The author therefore discusses the German nuclear power plant licensing law and administrative regime, elaborating on the significance attributed in those bodies of law to risks like terrorist attacks on nuclear power plants. (orig./CB) [de

  4. Seven Deadliest Unified Communications Attacks

    CERN Document Server

    York, Dan

    2010-01-01

    Do you need to keep up with the latest hacks, attacks, and exploits effecting Unified Communications technology? Then you need Seven Deadliest Unified Communication Attacks. This book pinpoints the most dangerous hacks and exploits specific to Unified Communications, laying out the anatomy of these attacks including how to make your system more secure. You will discover the best ways to defend against these vicious hacks with step-by-step instruction and learn techniques to make your computer and network impenetrable. Attacks featured in this book include: UC Ecosystem Attacks Insecure Endpo

  5. A Group Intervention for HIV/STI Risk Reduction among Indian Couples

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ritu Nehra

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: HIV in India is transmitted primarily by heterosexual contact. The present study sought to test the feasibility of a group HIV/STI risk reduction intervention among heterosexual couples in India. Methods: Focus groups and key informant interviews were used in 2008 to culturally tailor the intervention. Thirty sexually active and HIV/STI negative couples were enrolled and assessed regarding risk behavior and sexual barrier acceptability. Gender-concordant group sessions used cognitive behavioral strategies for HIV/STI prevention. Results: At baseline, male condom use was low (36%; no participants reported use of female condoms or vaginal gels. HIV knowledge was low; women had more HIV knowledge and more positive attitudes towards condom use than men. Post-intervention, willingness to use all barrier products (t = 10.0, P< .001 and intentions to avoid risk behavior increased (t = 5.62, P< .001. Conclusion: This study illustrates the feasibility of utilizing a group intervention to enhance HIV/STI risk reduction among Indian couples.

  6. Invisible Trojan-horse attack.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sajeed, Shihan; Minshull, Carter; Jain, Nitin; Makarov, Vadim

    2017-08-21

    We demonstrate the experimental feasibility of a Trojan-horse attack that remains nearly invisible to the single-photon detectors employed in practical quantum key distribution (QKD) systems, such as Clavis2 from ID Quantique. We perform a detailed numerical comparison of the attack performance against Scarani-Ac´ın-Ribordy-Gisin (SARG04) QKD protocol at 1924 nm versus that at 1536 nm. The attack strategy was proposed earlier but found to be unsuccessful at the latter wavelength, as reported in N. Jain et al., New J. Phys. 16, 123030 (2014). However at 1924 nm, we show experimentally that the noise response of the detectors to bright pulses is greatly reduced, and show by modeling that the same attack will succeed. The invisible nature of the attack poses a threat to the security of practical QKD if proper countermeasures are not adopted.

  7. Sexual health risk reduction interventions for people with severe mental illness: a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pandor, Abdullah; Kaltenthaler, Eva; Higgins, Agnes; Lorimer, Karen; Smith, Shubulade; Wylie, Kevan; Wong, Ruth

    2015-02-12

    Despite variability in sexual activity among people with severe mental illness, high-risk sexual behavior (e.g. unprotected intercourse, multiple partners, sex trade and illicit drug use) is common. Sexual health risk reduction interventions (such as educational and behavioral interventions, motivational exercises, counselling and service delivery), developed and implemented for people with severe mental illness, may improve participants' knowledge, attitudes, beliefs behaviors or practices (including assertiveness skills) and could lead to a reduction in risky sexual behavior. This systematic review evaluates the effectiveness of sexual health risk reduction interventions for people with severe mental illness. Thirteen electronic databases (including MEDLINE, EMBASE and PsycINFO) were searched to August 2014, and supplemented by hand-searching relevant articles and contacting experts. All controlled trials (randomized or non-randomized) comparing the effectiveness of sexual health risk reduction interventions with usual care for individuals living in the community with severe mental illness were included. Outcomes included a range of biological, behavioral and proxy endpoints. Narrative synthesis was used to combine the evidence. Thirteen controlled trials (all from the USA) were included. Although there was no clear and consistent evidence that interventions reduce the total number of sex partners or improved behavioral intentions in sexual risk behavior, positive effects were generally observed in condom use, condom protected intercourse and on measures of HIV knowledge, attitudes to condom use and sexual behaviors and practices. However, the robustness of these findings is low due to the large between study variability, small sample sizes and low-to-moderate quality of included studies. There is insufficient evidence at present to fully support or reject the identified sexual health risk reduction interventions for people with severe mental illness. Given the

  8. US-Soviet cooperation in countering nuclear terrorism: the role of risk reduction centers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nunn, S.; Warner, J.W.

    1987-01-01

    Preventing nuclear terrorism should be high on the agenda of US-Soviet relations. Indeed, the specter of nuclear terrorism, more than any other factor originally prompted and has subsequently sustained the author's deep interest in US-Soviet agreements on establishment of US-Soviet Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers and other important risk-reduction measures. Such centers can play an invaluable role in facilitating discussions aimed at forestalling possible contingencies and in providing a mechanism for dampening escalatory dangers that might otherwise result from any future nuclear terrorism incident. In addition to these crucial substantive functions, the centers could serve to reassure anxious publics that the governments they have entrusted with command authority over tens of thousands of nuclear devices are giving the highest priority to reducing the risk that any of them will ever be used, whether by design or by accident. Nuclear risk Reduction Centers are an idea whose time has come

  9. Cyber Attacks and Terrorism: A Twenty-First Century Conundrum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albahar, Marwan

    2017-01-05

    In the recent years, an alarming rise in the incidence of cyber attacks has made cyber security a major concern for nations across the globe. Given the current volatile socio-political environment and the massive increase in the incidence of terrorism, it is imperative that government agencies rapidly realize the possibility of cyber space exploitation by terrorist organizations and state players to disrupt the normal way of life. The threat level of cyber terrorism has never been as high as it is today, and this has created a lot of insecurity and fear. This study has focused on different aspects of cyber attacks and explored the reasons behind their increasing popularity among the terrorist organizations and state players. This study proposes an empirical model that can be used to estimate the risk levels associated with different types of cyber attacks and thereby provide a road map to conceptualize and formulate highly effective counter measures and cyber security policies.

  10. Whispering through DDoS attack

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miralem Mehic

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Denial of service (DoS attack is an attempt of the attacker to disable victim's machine by depleting network or computing resources. If this attack is performed with more than one machine, it is called distributed denial of service (DDoS attack. Covert channels are those channels which are used for information transmission even though they are neither designed nor intended to transfer information at all. In this article, we investigated the possibility of using of DDoS attack for purposes of hiding data or concealing the existing covert channel. In addition, in this paper we analyzed the possibility of detection of such covert communication with the well-known statistical method. Also, we proposed the coordination mechanisms of the attack which may be used. A lot of research has been done in order to describe and prevent DDoS attacks, yet research on steganography on this field is still scarce.

  11. Brain imaging with 123I-IMP-SPECT in migraine between attacks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schlake, H.P.; Boettger, I.G.G.; Grotemeyer, K.H.; Husstedt, I.W.

    1989-01-01

    123 I-IMP-SPECT brain imaging was performed in patients with classic migraine (n = 5) and migraine accompagnee (n = 18) during the headache-free interval. A regional reduction of tracer uptake into brain was observed in all patients with migraine accompagnee, while in patients with classic migraine only one case showed an area of decreased activity. The most marked alteration was found in a patient with persisting neurological symptoms (complicated migraine). In most cases the areas of decreased tracer uptake corresponded to headache localization as well as to topography of neurologic symptoms during migraine attacks. It may be concluded that migraine attacks occur in connection with exacerbations of preexisting changes of cerebral autoregulation due to endogenous or exogenous factors

  12. Taxonomies of Cyber Adversaries and Attacks: A Survey of Incidents and Approaches

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Meyers, C A; Powers, S S; Faissol, D M

    2009-10-08

    In this paper we construct taxonomies of cyber adversaries and methods of attack, drawing from a survey of the literature in the area of cyber crime. We begin by addressing the scope of cyber crime, noting its prevalence and effects on the US economy. We then survey the literature on cyber adversaries, presenting a taxonomy of the different types of adversaries and their corresponding methods, motivations, maliciousness, and skill levels. Subsequently we survey the literature on cyber attacks, giving a taxonomy of the different classes of attacks, subtypes, and threat descriptions. The goal of this paper is to inform future studies of cyber security on the shape and characteristics of the risk space and its associated adversaries.

  13. Multi-factor evaluation indicator method for the risk assessment of atmospheric and oceanic hazard group due to the attack of tropical cyclones

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qi, Peng; Du, Mei

    2018-06-01

    China's southeast coastal areas frequently suffer from storm surge due to the attack of tropical cyclones (TCs) every year. Hazards induced by TCs are complex, such as strong wind, huge waves, storm surge, heavy rain, floods, and so on. The atmospheric and oceanic hazards cause serious disasters and substantial economic losses. This paper, from the perspective of hazard group, sets up a multi-factor evaluation method for the risk assessment of TC hazards using historical extreme data of concerned atmospheric and oceanic elements. Based on the natural hazard dynamic process, the multi-factor indicator system is composed of nine natural hazard factors representing intensity and frequency, respectively. Contributing to the indicator system, in order of importance, are maximum wind speed by TCs, attack frequency of TCs, maximum surge height, maximum wave height, frequency of gusts ≥ Scale 8, rainstorm intensity, maximum tidal range, rainstorm frequency, then sea-level rising rate. The first four factors are the most important, whose weights exceed 10% in the indicator system. With normalization processing, all the single-hazard factors are superposed by multiplying their weights to generate a superposed TC hazard. The multi-factor evaluation indicator method was applied to the risk assessment of typhoon-induced atmospheric and oceanic hazard group in typhoon-prone southeast coastal cities of China.

  14. Heart attack - discharge

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... and lifestyle Cholesterol - drug treatment Controlling your high blood pressure Deep vein thrombosis - discharge Dietary fats explained Fast food tips Heart attack - discharge Heart attack - what to ask your doctor Heart bypass ... pacemaker - discharge High blood pressure - what to ask your doctor How to read ...

  15. Protecting water and wastewater infrastructure from cyber attacks

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  16. Protecting water and wastewater infrastructure from cyber attacks

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Srinivas Panguluri; William Phillips; John Cusimano

    2011-01-01

    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.

  17. Security Events and Vulnerability Data for Cybersecurity Risk Estimation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allodi, Luca; Massacci, Fabio

    2017-08-01

    Current industry standards for estimating cybersecurity risk are based on qualitative risk matrices as opposed to quantitative risk estimates. In contrast, risk assessment in most other industry sectors aims at deriving quantitative risk estimations (e.g., Basel II in Finance). This article presents a model and methodology to leverage on the large amount of data available from the IT infrastructure of an organization's security operation center to quantitatively estimate the probability of attack. Our methodology specifically addresses untargeted attacks delivered by automatic tools that make up the vast majority of attacks in the wild against users and organizations. We consider two-stage attacks whereby the attacker first breaches an Internet-facing system, and then escalates the attack to internal systems by exploiting local vulnerabilities in the target. Our methodology factors in the power of the attacker as the number of "weaponized" vulnerabilities he/she can exploit, and can be adjusted to match the risk appetite of the organization. We illustrate our methodology by using data from a large financial institution, and discuss the significant mismatch between traditional qualitative risk assessments and our quantitative approach. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

  18. Farmers prone to drought risk : why some farmers undertake farm-level risk-reduction measures while others not?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gidey, T.G.; van der Veen, A.

    2015-01-01

    This research investigates farmers’ cognitive perceptions of risk and the behavioral intentions to undertake farm-level risk-reduction measures. It has been observed that people who are susceptible to natural hazards often fail to act, or do very little, to protect their assets or lives. To answer

  19. Attack Trees for Practical Security Assessment: Ranking of Attack Scenarios with ADTool 2.0

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gadyatskaya, Olga; Jhawar, Ravi; Kordy, P.T.; Lounis, Karim; Mauw, Sjouke; Trujillo-Rasua, Rolando

    2016-01-01

    In this tool demonstration paper we present the ADTool2.0: an open-source software tool for design, manipulation and analysis of attack trees. The tool supports ranking of attack scenarios based on quantitative attributes entered by the user; it is scriptable; and it incorporates attack trees with

  20. Tracking and Analyzing Individual Distress Following Terrorist Attacks Using Social Media Streams.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Yu-Ru; Margolin, Drew; Wen, Xidao

    2017-08-01

    Risk research has theorized a number of mechanisms that might trigger, prolong, or potentially alleviate individuals' distress following terrorist attacks. These mechanisms are difficult to examine in a single study, however, because the social conditions of terrorist attacks are difficult to simulate in laboratory experiments and appropriate preattack baselines are difficult to establish with surveys. To address this challenge, we propose the use of computational focus groups and a novel analysis framework to analyze a social media stream that archives user history and location. The approach uses time-stamped behavior to quantify an individual's preattack behavior after an attack has occurred, enabling the assessment of time-specific changes in the intensity and duration of an individual's distress, as well as the assessment of individual and social-level covariates. To exemplify the methodology, we collected over 18 million tweets from 15,509 users located in Paris on November 13, 2015, and measured the degree to which they expressed anxiety, anger, and sadness after the attacks. The analysis resulted in findings that would be difficult to observe through other methods, such as that news media exposure had competing, time-dependent effects on anxiety, and that gender dynamics are complicated by baseline behavior. Opportunities for integrating computational focus group analysis with traditional methods are discussed. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

  1. First Evaluation of a Contingency Management Intervention Addressing Adolescent Substance Use and Sexual Risk Behaviors: Risk Reduction Therapy for Adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Letourneau, Elizabeth J; McCart, Michael R; Sheidow, Ashli J; Mauro, Pia M

    2017-01-01

    There is a need for interventions that comprehensively address youth substance use disorders (SUD) and sexual risk behaviors. Risk Reduction Therapy for Adolescents (RRTA) adapts a validated family-focused intervention for youth SUD to include sexual risk reduction components in a single intervention. In this first evaluation of RRTA, drug court involved youth were randomly assigned to RRTA (N=45) or usual services (US; N=60) and followed through 12-months post-baseline. RRTA included weekly cognitive behavior therapy and behavior management training and contingency-contracting with a point earning system managed by caregivers targeting drug use and sexual risk antecedents. Longitudinal models estimated within-group change and between-group differences through 6- and 12-month follow-up on outcomes for substance use, sexual risk behaviors, and protective HIV behaviors. Robust effects of the intervention were not detected under conditions of the study that included potent background interventions by the juvenile drug court. Considerations about future development and testing of sexual risk reduction therapy for youth are discussed, including the potential role of contingency management in future interventions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. The Diabetic Foot Attack: "'Tis Too Late to Retreat!"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vas, Prashanth R J; Edmonds, Michael; Kavarthapu, Venu; Rashid, Hisham; Ahluwalia, Raju; Pankhurst, Christian; Papanas, Nikolaos

    2018-03-01

    The "diabetic foot attack" is one of the most devastating presentations of diabetic foot disease, typically presenting as an acutely inflamed foot with rapidly progressive skin and tissue necrosis, at times associated with significant systemic symptoms. Without intervention, it may escalate over hours to limb-threatening proportions and poses a high amputation risk. There are only best practice approaches but no international protocols to guide management. Immediate recognition of a typical infected diabetic foot attack, predominated by severe infection, with prompt surgical intervention to debride all infected tissue alongside broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy is vital to ensure both limb and patient survival. Postoperative access to multidisciplinary and advanced wound care therapies is also necessary. More subtle forms exist: these include the ischemic diabetic foot attack and, possibly, in a contemporary categorization, acute Charcot neuroarthropathy. To emphasize the importance of timely action especially in the infected and ischemic diabetic foot attack, we revisit the concept of "time is tissue" and draw parallels with advances in acute myocardial infarction and stroke care. At the moment, international protocols to guide management of severe diabetic foot presentations do not specifically use the term. However, we believe that it may help increase awareness of the urgent actions required in some situations.

  3. Sexual risk reduction among Zambian couples | Jones | SAHARA-J ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Zambia has over 1 million HIV infections nationwide and an urban prevalence rate of 23%. This study compared the impact of male involvement in multiple and single session risk reduction interventions among inconsistent condom users in Zambia and the role of serostatus among HIV-seropositive and serodiscordant ...

  4. Risk of Stroke/Transient Ischemic Attack or Myocardial Infarction with Herpes Zoster: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yanting; Luo, Ganfeng; Huang, Yuanwei; Yu, Qiuyan; Wang, Li; Li, Ke

    2017-08-01

    Accumulating evidence indicates that herpes zoster (HZ) may increase the risk of stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA) or myocardial infarction (MI), but the results are inconsistent. We aim to explore the relationship between HZ and risk of stroke/TIA or MI and between herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO) and stroke. We estimated the relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) with the meta-analysis. Cochran's Q test and Higgins I 2 statistic were used to check for heterogeneity. HZ infection was significantly associated with increased risk of stroke/TIA (RR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.17-1.46) or MI (RR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.07-1.30). The risk of stroke after HZO was 1.91 (95% CI 1.32-2.76), higher than that after HZ. Subgroup analyses revealed increased risk of ischemic stroke after HZ infection but not hemorrhagic stroke. The risk of stroke was increased more at 1 month after HZ infection than at 1-3 months, with a gradual reduced risk with time. The risk of stroke after HZ infection was greater with age less than 40 years than 40-59 years and more than 60 years. Risk of stroke with HZ infection was greater without treatment than with treatment and was greater in Asia than Europe and America but did not differ by sex. Our study indicated that HZ infection was associated with increased risk of stroke/TIA or MI, and HZO infection was the most marked risk factor for stroke. Further studies are needed to explore whether zoster vaccination could reduce the risk of stoke/TIA or MI. Copyright © 2017 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. The work-averse cyber attacker model : theory and evidence from two million attack signatures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Allodi, L.; Massacci, F.; Williams, J.

    The typical cyber attacker is assumed to be all powerful and to exploit all possible vulnerabilities. In this paper we present, and empirically validate, a novel and more realistic attacker model. The intuition of our model is that an attacker will optimally choose whether to act and weaponize a new

  6. Living with risk. A global review of disaster reduction initiatives. Preliminary version

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-01-01

    In recent years the world has witnessed an interminable succession of disasters - floods, storms, earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions and wildfires that have claimed many thousands of lives, caused material losses in the tens of billions of dollars, and inflicted a terrible toll on developing countries in particular, where disasters divert attention and resources needed desperately to escape poverty. Communities will always face natural hazards, but today's disasters are often generated by, or at least exacerbated by, human activities. At the most dramatic level, human activities are changing the natural balance of the earth, interfering as never before with the atmosphere, the oceans, the polar ice caps, the forest cover and the natural pillars that make our world a livable home. But we are also putting ourselves in harm's way in less visible ways. At no time in human history have so many people lived in cities clustered around seismically active areas. Destitution and demographic pressure have led more people than ever before to live in flood plains or in areas prone to landslides. Poor land-use planning; environmental mismanagement; and a lack of regulatory mechanisms both increase the risk and exacerbate the effects of disasters. Living with risk: a global review of disaster reduction is the first comprehensive effort by the United Nations system to take stock of disaster reduction initiatives throughout the world. Coordinated by the secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), the report discusses current disaster trends, assesses policies aimed at mitigating the impact of disasters, and offers examples of successful initiatives. It also recommends that risk reduction be integrated into sustainable development at all levels - global, national and local. Most of all, Living with risk shows that we are far from helpless in the face of natural hazards. Early warning and risk reduction measures have been important factors in

  7. Comparative effectiveness of personalized lifestyle management strategies for cardiovascular disease risk reduction

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    P. Chu (Paula); A. Pandya; J.A. Salomon (Joshua A); S.J. Goldie (Sue J); Hunink, M.G.M. (M.G. Myriam)

    2015-01-01

    textabstractBackground-Evidence shows that healthy diet, exercise, smoking interventions, and stress reduction reduce cardiovascular disease risk. We aimed to compare the effectiveness of these lifestyle interventions for individual risk profiles and determine their rank order in reducing 10-year

  8. Household flood risk reduction in the Czech Republic

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Duží, Barbora; Vikhrov, Dmytro; Kelman, I.; Stojanov, Robert; Jakubínský, Jiří

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 18, č. 8 (2015), s. 1-6 ISSN 1381-2386 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) EE2.4.31.0056; GA MŠk(CZ) LD13032; GA MŠk(CZ) LD13033 Institutional support: RVO:67179843 Keywords : Bečva River Basin * Czech Republic * flood risk reduction * floods * household adaptation * household coping Subject RIV: AO - Sociology, Demography Impact factor: 3.085, year: 2015

  9. The association of vitamin D, cathelicidin, and vitamin D binding protein with acute asthma attacks in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arikoglu, Tugba; Kuyucu, Semanur; Karaismailoglu, Eda; Batmaz, Sehra Birgul; Balci, Senay

    2015-01-01

    Recent evidence about the various effects of vitamin D (vit D) on innate and adaptive immunity has led to a search for the role of vit D in asthma. It is postulated that a decrease in cathelicidin, a multifunctional host defense molecule, production due to low vit D status may predispose to infectious complications in children with asthma. The aim of this study was to determine the association of vit D, vit D-binding protein (VDBP) and cathelicidin with acute asthma attacks among children with allergic asthma. This prospective study included 35 patients with acute asthma attack and 32 children with controlled asthma, and all were matched by sampling season, sensitization to mites, and previous severity of asthma. A comprehensive questionnaire about risk factors, blood sampling for 25-hydroxyvitamin D vit D, VDBP, and cathelicidin levels; spirometric indices were used. Factors that influence serum vit D and cathelicidin levels and the development of asthma attacks were evaluated with multivariate analysis. The mean serum vit D levels of the attack group was significantly lower than that of the controlled asthma group (p asthma group than with the controlled subjects with asthma (p = 0.002). There was no difference between the acute and controlled asthma groups in terms of markers of allergy and serum VDBP levels. Risk factors that may influence vit D levels revealed that body mass index (BMI) (p = 0.038), duration of sun exposure (p asthma showed that low serum levels of vit D were significantly related to the risk of asthma attacks (p asthma attacks and BMI. Vit D deficiency showed a significant relationship to the development of asthma attacks independent of cathelicidin deficiency and other factors associated with the severity of chronic asthma.

  10. Harnessing farmers' knowledge and perceptions for health-risk reduction in wastewater-irrigated agriculture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Keraita, Bernard; Drechsel, Pay; Seidu, Razak

    2009-01-01

    This chapter addresses the importance of understanding farmers' knowledge and perceptions on health-risk and risk-reduction measures for the development of mutually acceptable risk-management strategies. Drawing on studies from different countries, the chapter shows that it is not realistic to ex...

  11. Harnessing Farmers' knowledge and perceptions for health-risk reduction in wastewater-irrigated agriculture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Keraita, Bernhard; Drechsel, Pay; Seidu, Razak

    2010-01-01

    This chapter addresses the importance of understanding farmers’ knowledge and perceptions on health-risk and risk-reduction measures for the development of mutually acceptable risk-management strategies. Drawing on studies from different countries, the chapter shows that it is not realistic to ex...

  12. Web server attack analyzer

    OpenAIRE

    Mižišin, Michal

    2013-01-01

    Web server attack analyzer - Abstract The goal of this work was to create prototype of analyzer of injection flaws attacks on web server. Proposed solution combines capabilities of web application firewall and web server log analyzer. Analysis is based on configurable signatures defined by regular expressions. This paper begins with summary of web attacks, followed by detection techniques analysis on web servers, description and justification of selected implementation. In the end are charact...

  13. Survival of the relocated population of the U. S. after a nuclear attack. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haaland, C.M.; Chester, C.V.; Wigner, E.P.

    1976-06-01

    The feasibility of continued survival after a hypothetical nuclear attack is evaluated for people relocated from high-risk areas during the crisis period before the attack. The attack consists of 6559 MT, of which 5951 MT are ground bursts on military, industrial, and urban targets. Relocated people are assumed to be adequately protected from fallout radiation by shelters of various kinds. The major problems in the postattack situation will be the control of exposure to fallout radiation, and prevention of severe food shortages to several tens of millions of people.

  14. Improvement in spine bone density and reduction in risk of vertebral fractures during treatment with antiresorptive drugs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cummings, Steven R; Karpf, David B; Harris, Fran; Genant, Harry K; Ensrud, Kristine; LaCroix, Andrea Z; Black, Dennis M

    2002-03-01

    To estimate how much the improvement in bone mass accounts for the reduction in risk of vertebral fracture that has been observed in randomized trials of antiresorptive treatments for osteoporosis. After a systematic search, we conducted a meta-analysis of 12 trials to describe the relation between improvement in spine bone mineral density and reduction in risk of vertebral fracture in postmenopausal women. We also used logistic models to estimate the proportion of the reduction in risk of vertebral fracture observed with alendronate in the Fracture Intervention Trial that was due to improvement in bone mineral density. Across the 12 trials, a 1% improvement in spine bone mineral density was associated with a 0.03 decrease (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.02 to 0.05) in the relative risk (RR) of vertebral fracture. The reductions in risk were greater than predicted from improvement in bone mineral density; for example, the model estimated that treatments predicted to reduce fracture risk by 20% (RR = 0.80), based on improvement in bone mineral density, actually reduce the risk of fracture by about 45% (RR = 0.55). In the Fracture Intervention Trial, improvement in spine bone mineral density explained 16% (95% CI: 11% to 27%) of the reduction in the risk of vertebral fracture with alendronate. Improvement in spine bone mineral density during treatment with antiresorptive drugs accounts for a predictable but small part of the observed reduction in the risk of vertebral fracture.

  15. Network Protection Against DDoS Attacks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petr Dzurenda

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The paper deals with possibilities of the network protection against Distributed Denial of Service attacks (DDoS. The basic types of DDoS attacks and their impact on the protected network are presented here. Furthermore, we present basic detection and defense techniques thanks to which it is possible to increase resistance of the protected network or device against DDoS attacks. Moreover, we tested the ability of current commercial Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS, especially Radware DefensePro 6.10.00 product against the most common types of DDoS attacks. We create five scenarios that are varied in type and strength of the DDoS attacks. The attacks intensity was much greater than the normal intensity of the current DDoS attacks.

  16. Attack Tree Generation by Policy Invalidation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ivanova, Marieta Georgieva; Probst, Christian W.; Hansen, Rene Rydhof

    2015-01-01

    through brainstorming of experts. In this work we formalize attack tree generation including human factors; based on recent advances in system models we develop a technique to identify possible attacks analytically, including technical and human factors. Our systematic attack generation is based......Attacks on systems and organisations increasingly exploit human actors, for example through social engineering, complicating their formal treatment and automatic identification. Formalisation of human behaviour is difficult at best, and attacks on socio-technical systems are still mostly identified...... on invalidating policies in the system model by identifying possible sequences of actions that lead to an attack. The generated attacks are precise enough to illustrate the threat, and they are general enough to hide the details of individual steps....

  17. Risk of hospital admission for COPD following smoking cessation and reduction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Godtfredsen, N S; Vestbo, J; Osler, M

    2002-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Little is known about the effects of changes in smoking habits on the subsequent risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between smoking cessation and reduction and admission to hospital for COPD in a general...... by at least 50% between the two initial examinations without quitting and smokers who stopped smoking during this time were compared with continuous heavy smokers using a Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: During the follow up period 1,260 subjects (741 men and 519 women) were admitted to hospital...... for COPD. After multivariate adjustment, quitting smoking was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of hospital admission. The relative hazard (HR) was 0.57 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.33 to 0.99). Those who reduced smoking did not show a significantly lower risk of hospitalisation than...

  18. Terrorists and Suicide Attacks

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Cronin, Audrey K

    2003-01-01

    Suicide attacks by terrorist organizations have become more prevalent globally, and assessing the threat of suicide attacks against the United States and its interests at home and abroad has therefore...

  19. A retrospective analysis of practice patterns in the management of acute asthma attack across Turkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Türktaş, Haluk; Bavbek, Sevim; Misirligil, Zeynep; Gemicioğlu, Bilun; Mungan, Dilşad

    2010-12-01

    To evaluate patient characteristics and practice patterns in the management of acute asthma attack at tertiary care centers across Turkey. A total of 294 patients (mean age: 50.4 ± 15.1 years; females: 80.3%) diagnosed with persistent asthma were included in this retrospective study upon their admission to the hospital with an acute asthma attack. Patient demographics, asthma control level, asthma attack severity and the management of the attack were evaluated. There was no influence of gender on asthma control and attack severity. In 57.5% of the patients, asthma attack was moderate. Most patients (78.9%) were hospitalized with longer duration evident in the severe attack. Spirometry and chest X-Ray were the most frequent tests (85.4%), while steroids (72.0% parenteral; 29.0% oral) and short-acting beta-agonists (SABA) + anticholinergics (45.5%) were the main drugs of choice in the attack management. Attack severity and pre-attack asthma control level was significantly correlated (p attack asthma was uncontrolled in 42.6% of the patients with severe attack. Most of the patients were on combination of more than one (two in 38.7% and 3-4 in 31.2%) controller drugs before the attack. Providing country specific data on practice patterns in the management of acute asthma attack in a representative cohort in Turkey, prescription of steroids and SABA + anticholinergics as the main drugs of choice was in line with guidelines while the significant relation of pre-attack asthma control to risk/severity of asthma attack and rate/duration of hospitalization seem to be the leading results of the present study. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Modeling Resources Allocation in Attacker-Defender Games with "Warm Up" CSF.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guan, Peiqiu; Zhuang, Jun

    2016-04-01

    Like many other engineering investments, the attacker's and defender's investments may have limited impact without initial capital to "warm up" the systems. This article studies such "warm up" effects on both the attack and defense equilibrium strategies in a sequential-move game model by developing a class of novel and more realistic contest success functions. We first solve a single-target attacker-defender game analytically and provide numerical solutions to a multiple-target case. We compare the results of the models with and without consideration of the investment "warm up" effects, and find that the defender would suffer higher expected damage, and either underestimate the attacker effort or waste defense investment if the defender falsely believes that no investment "warm up" effects exist. We illustrate the model results with real data, and compare the results of the models with and without consideration of the correlation between the "warm up" threshold and the investment effectiveness. Interestingly, we find that the defender is suggested to give up defending all the targets when the attack or the defense "warm up" thresholds are sufficiently high. This article provides new insights and suggestions on policy implications for homeland security resource allocation. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

  1. Social Participation and Disaster Risk Reduction Behaviors in Tsunami Prone Areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Witvorapong, Nopphol; Muttarak, Raya; Pothisiri, Wiraporn

    2015-01-01

    This paper examines the relationships between social participation and disaster risk reduction actions. A survey of 557 households in tsunami prone areas in Phang Nga, Thailand was conducted following the 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes. We use a multivariate probit model to jointly estimate the likelihood of undertaking three responses to earthquake and tsunami hazards (namely, (1) following disaster-related news closely, (2) preparing emergency kits and/or having a family emergency plan, and (3) having an intention to migrate) and community participation. We find that those who experienced losses from the 2004 tsunami are more likely to participate in community activities and respond to earthquake hazards. Compared to men, women are more likely to prepare emergency kits and/or have an emergency plan and have a greater intention to migrate. Living in a community with a higher proportion of women with tertiary education increases the probability of engaging in community activities and carrying out disaster risk reduction measures. Individuals who participate in village-based activities are 5.2% more likely to undertake all three risk reduction actions compared to those not engaging in community activities. This implies that encouraging participation in community activities can have positive externalities in disaster mitigation. PMID:26153891

  2. Attack Trees with Sequential Conjunction

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jhawar, Ravi; Kordy, Barbara; Mauw, Sjouke; Radomirović, Sasa; Trujillo-Rasua, Rolando

    2015-01-01

    We provide the first formal foundation of SAND attack trees which are a popular extension of the well-known attack trees. The SAND at- tack tree formalism increases the expressivity of attack trees by intro- ducing the sequential conjunctive operator SAND. This operator enables the modeling of

  3. Heart attack first aid

    Science.gov (United States)

    First aid - heart attack; First aid - cardiopulmonary arrest; First aid - cardiac arrest ... A heart attack occurs when the blood flow that carries oxygen to the heart is blocked. The heart muscle ...

  4. Investigating the Possibility to Individualize Asthma Attack Therapy Based on Attack Severity and Patient Characteristics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sárkány Zoltán

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: The objective of this study was to investigate with the help of a computerized simulation model whether the treatment of an acute asthma attack can be individualized based on the severity of the attack and the characteristics of the patient. Material and Method: A stochastic lung model was used to simulate the deposition of 1 nm - 10 μm particles during a mild and a moderate asthma attack. Breathing parameters were varied to maximize deposition, and simulation results were compared with those obtained in the case of a severe asthma attack. In order to investigate the effect of height on the deposition of inhaled particles, another series of simulations was carried out with identical breathing parameters, comparing patient heights of 155 cm, 175 cm and 195 cm. Results: The optimization process yielded an increase in the maximum deposition values of around 6-7% for each type of investigated asthma attack, and the difference between attacks of different degree of severity was around 5% for both the initial and the optimized values, a higher degree of obstruction increasing the amount of deposited particles. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the individualization of asthma attack treatment cannot be based on particles of different size, as the highest deposited fraction in all three types of attacks can be obtained using 0.01 μm particles. The use of a specific set of breathing parameters yields a difference between a mild and a moderate, as well as a moderate and a severe asthma attack of around 5%.

  5. Alexithymia and posttraumatic stress disorder following asthma attack.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chung, Man Cheung; Wall, Natalie

    2013-09-01

    This study examined the levels of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following asthma attack (post-asthma attack PTSD) and psychiatric co-morbidity among college students. It also investigated the association between these variables and alexithymia. One hundred and six college students participated in the study and completed an on-line survey comprising the Asthma Symptom Checklist, PTSD Checklist, General Health Questionnaire-28 and Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Ninety-one students without asthma and major illness formed the control group. 2 % met the diagnostic criteria for full-PTSD, while 42 and 56 % met the partial and no-PTSD criteria respectively. Compared with the control, the asthma group reported significantly more somatic problems, social dysfunction and depression and was five times more likely to have an elevated risk of developing a general psychiatric disorder. After adjusting age, marital status, asthma experience and symptoms, alexithymia did not predict PTSD, while difficulty identifying feelings predicted psychiatric co-morbidity. Mediational analyses showed that asthma symptoms partially mediated the link between difficulty identifying feelings and psychiatric co-morbidity. People can develop PTSD symptoms and other psychological difficulties following asthma attack. Alexithymia influenced general psychological difficulties independently of PTSD symptoms.

  6. Analytical Characterization of Internet Security Attacks

    Science.gov (United States)

    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…

  7. LONG-TERM CLINICAL OUTCOME IN NORMAL VOLUNTEERS AND PATIENTS WITH CEREBRAL TRANSIENT ISCHEMIC ATTACKS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J.Lotfi

    1999-06-01

    Full Text Available Detection and modification of the risk factors of stroke may be the most effective strategy for preventing its often irreversible consequences. A longitudinal prospective study was implemented to evaluate the effect of several risk factors on the course of cerebrovascular disease. The study groups were composed of 3S8 normal volunteers, and 308 patients with transient ischemic attacks. The two groups were followed for 4.2 (. 3.3 and 2.S years, respectively. Endpoints were defined as the occurrence of the following: transient ischemic attacks, stroke, multii-infarct dementia, dementia of the Alzheimer's type, or death. .Stroke and death were 2.5 times more frequent in the second group. Hypertension was the single predictor of reaching the endpoints (P<0.014. By excluding the cases with dementia of Ahheimers type, no single predictor could be identified. This study suggests that ischemic events arc significantly more frequent inpatients with transient ischemic attacks. A dichowmous split was observed between neurogenic and cardiogenic endpoints.

  8. Protecting Accelerator Control Systems in the Face of Sophisticated Cyber Attacks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hartman, Steven M.

    2012-01-01

    Cyber security for industrial control systems has received significant attention in the past two years. The news coverage of the Stuxnet attack, believed to be targeted at the control system for a uranium enrichment plant, brought the issue to the attention of news media and policy makers. This has led to increased scrutiny of control systems for critical infrastructure such as power generation and distribution, and industrial systems such as chemical plants and petroleum refineries. The past two years have also seen targeted network attacks aimed at corporate and government entities including US Department of Energy National Laboratories. Both of these developments have potential repercussions for the control systems of particle accelerators. The need to balance risks from potential attacks with the operational needs of an accelerator present a unique challenge for the system architecture and access model.

  9. Cyber security risk assessment for SCADA and DCS networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ralston, P A S; Graham, J H; Hieb, J L

    2007-10-01

    The growing dependence of critical infrastructures and industrial automation on interconnected physical and cyber-based control systems has resulted in a growing and previously unforeseen cyber security threat to supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and distributed control systems (DCSs). It is critical that engineers and managers understand these issues and know how to locate the information they need. This paper provides a broad overview of cyber security and risk assessment for SCADA and DCS, introduces the main industry organizations and government groups working in this area, and gives a comprehensive review of the literature to date. Major concepts related to the risk assessment methods are introduced with references cited for more detail. Included are risk assessment methods such as HHM, IIM, and RFRM which have been applied successfully to SCADA systems with many interdependencies and have highlighted the need for quantifiable metrics. Presented in broad terms is probability risk analysis (PRA) which includes methods such as FTA, ETA, and FEMA. The paper concludes with a general discussion of two recent methods (one based on compromise graphs and one on augmented vulnerability trees) that quantitatively determine the probability of an attack, the impact of the attack, and the reduction in risk associated with a particular countermeasure.

  10. Reduction of Systemic Risk by Means of Pigouvian Taxation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zlatić, Vinko; Gabbi, Giampaolo; Abraham, Hrvoje

    2015-01-01

    We analyze the possibility of reduction of systemic risk in financial markets through Pigouvian taxation of financial institutions, which is used to support the rescue fund. We introduce the concept of the cascade risk with a clear operational definition as a subclass and a network related measure of the systemic risk. Using financial networks constructed from real Italian money market data and using realistic parameters, we show that the cascade risk can be substantially reduced by a small rate of taxation and by means of a simple strategy of the money transfer from the rescue fund to interbanking market subjects. Furthermore, we show that while negative effects on the return on investment (ROI) are direct and certain, an overall positive effect on risk adjusted return on investments (ROIRA) is visible. Please note that the taxation is introduced as a monetary/regulatory, not as a _scal measure, as the term could suggest. The rescue fund is implemented in a form of a common reserve fund.

  11. Reduction of Systemic Risk by Means of Pigouvian Taxation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vinko Zlatić

    Full Text Available We analyze the possibility of reduction of systemic risk in financial markets through Pigouvian taxation of financial institutions, which is used to support the rescue fund. We introduce the concept of the cascade risk with a clear operational definition as a subclass and a network related measure of the systemic risk. Using financial networks constructed from real Italian money market data and using realistic parameters, we show that the cascade risk can be substantially reduced by a small rate of taxation and by means of a simple strategy of the money transfer from the rescue fund to interbanking market subjects. Furthermore, we show that while negative effects on the return on investment (ROI are direct and certain, an overall positive effect on risk adjusted return on investments (ROIRA is visible. Please note that the taxation is introduced as a monetary/regulatory, not as a _scal measure, as the term could suggest. The rescue fund is implemented in a form of a common reserve fund.

  12. Anger attacks in obsessive compulsive disorder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nitesh Prakash Painuly

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Research on anger attacks has been mostly limited to depression, and only a few studies have focused on anger attacks in obsessive compulsive disorder. Materials and Methods: In a cross-sectional study all new obsessive compulsive disorder patients aged 20-60 years attending an outpatient clinic were assessed using the anger attack questionnaire, irritability, depression and anxiety scale (for the direction of the aggressive behavior and quality of life (QOL. Results: The sample consisted of 42 consecutive subjects with obsessive compulsive disorder, out of which 21 (50% had anger attacks. The obsessive compulsive disorder subjects with and without anger attacks did not show significant differences in terms of sociodemographic variables, duration of illness, treatment, and family history. However, subjects with anger attacks had significantly higher prevalence of panic attacks and comorbid depression. Significantly more subjects with anger attacks exhibited aggressive acts toward spouse, parents, children, and other relatives in the form of yelling and threatening to hurt, trying to hurt, and threatening to leave. However, the two groups did not differ significantly in terms of QOL, except for the psychological domain being worse in the subjects with anger attacks. Conclusion: Anger attacks are present in half of the patients with obsessive compulsive disorder, and they correlate with the presence of comorbid depression.

  13. [Chronic pancreatitis diagnosed after the first attack of acute pancreatitis].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bojková, Martina; Dítě, Petr; Uvírová, Magdalena; Dvořáčková, Nina; Kianička, Bohuslav; Kupka, Tomáš; Svoboda, Pavel; Klvaňa, Pavel; Martínek, Arnošt

    2016-02-01

    One of the diseases involving a potential risk of developing chronic pancreatitis is acute pancreatitis. Of the overall number of 231 individuals followed with a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis, 56 patients were initially treated for acute pancreatitis (24.2 %). Within an interval of 12- 24 months from the first attack of acute pancreatitis, their condition gradually progressed to reached the picture of chronic pancreatitis. The individuals included in the study abstained (from alcohol) following the first attack of acute pancreatitis and no relapse of acute pancreatitis was proven during the period of their monitoring. The etiology of acute pancreatitis identified alcohol as the predominant cause (55.3 %), biliary etiology was proven in 35.7 %. According to the revised Atlanta classification, severe pancreatitis was established in 69.6 % of the patients, the others met the criterion for intermediate form, those with the light form were not included. Significant risk factors present among the patients were smoking, obesity and 18 %, resp. 25.8 % had pancreatogenous diabetes mellitus identified. 88.1 % of the patients with acute pancreatitis were smokers. The majority of individuals with chronic pancreatitis following an attack of acute pancreatitis were of a productive age from 25 to 50 years. It is not only acute alcoholic pancreatitis which evolves into chronic pancreatitis, we have also identified this transition for pancreatitis of biliary etiology.

  14. Increased Risk of Pregnancy Complications After Stroke : The FUTURE Study (Follow-Up of Transient Ischemic Attack and Stroke Patients and Unelucidated Risk Factor Evaluation)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Alebeek, Mayte E; de Vrijer, Myrthe; Arntz, Renate M; Maaijwee, Noortje A M M; Synhaeve, Nathalie E; Schoonderwaldt, Hennie; van der Vlugt, Maureen J; van Dijk, Ewoud J; de Heus, Roel; Rutten-Jacobs, Loes C A; de Leeuw, Frank-Erik

    BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The study goal was to investigate the prevalence of pregnancy complications and pregnancy loss in women before, during, and after young ischemic stroke/transient ischemic attack. METHODS: In the FUTURE study (Follow-Up of Transient Ischemic Attack and Stroke Patients and

  15. Seven Deadliest Social Network Attacks

    CERN Document Server

    Timm, Carl

    2010-01-01

    Do you need to keep up with the latest hacks, attacks, and exploits effecting social networks? Then you need Seven Deadliest Social Network Attacks. This book pinpoints the most dangerous hacks and exploits specific to social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, laying out the anatomy of these attacks including how to make your system more secure. You will discover the best ways to defend against these vicious hacks with step-by-step instruction and learn techniques to make your computer and network impenetrable. Attacks detailed in this book include: Social Networking Infrastruct

  16. Aftermath of bustamante attack on genomic beacon service.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aziz, Md Momin Al; Ghasemi, Reza; Waliullah, Md; Mohammed, Noman

    2017-07-26

    With the enormous need for federated eco-system for holding global genomic and clinical data, Global Alliance for Genomic and Health (GA4GH) has created an international website called beacon service which allows a researcher to find out whether a specific dataset can be utilized to his or her research beforehand. This simple webservice is quite useful as it allows queries like whether a certain position of a target chromosome has a specific nucleotide. However, the increased integration of individuals genomic data into clinical practice and research raised serious privacy concern. Though the answer of such queries are yes or no in Bacon network, it results in serious privacy implication as demonstrated in a recent work from Shringarpure and Bustamante. In their attack model, the authors demonstrated that with a limited number of queries, presence of an individual in any dataset can be determined. We propose two lightweight algorithms (based on randomized response) which captures the efficacy while preserving the privacy of the participants in a genomic beacon service. We also elaborate the strength and weakness of the attack by explaining some of their statistical and mathematical models using real world genomic database. We extend their experimental simulations for different adversarial assumptions and parameters. We experimentally evaluated the solutions on the original attack model with different parameters for better understanding of the privacy and utility tradeoffs provided by these two methods. Also, the statistical analysis further elaborates the different aspects of the prior attack which leads to a better risk management for the participants in a beacon service. The differentially private and lightweight solutions discussed here will make the attack much difficult to succeed while maintaining the fundamental motivation of beacon database network.

  17. Pericarditis - after heart attack

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... include: A previous heart attack Open heart surgery Chest trauma A heart attack that has affected the thickness of your heart muscle Symptoms Symptoms include: Anxiety Chest pain from the swollen pericardium rubbing on the ...

  18. Helicobacter pylori infection as a triggering factor of attacks in patients with hereditary angioedema

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Visy, Beáta; Füst, George; Bygum, Anette

    2007-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori infection is considered among the causative factors of urticaria and angioedema. Having conducted a study on 65 patients, Hungarian authors reported in 2001 that successful eradication of H. pylori is followed by a significant reduction in the number of attacks in ...

  19. Dead or Alive? Factors Affecting the Survival of Victims during Attacks by Saltwater Crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) in Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fukuda, Yusuke; Manolis, Charlie; Saalfeld, Keith; Zuur, Alain

    2015-01-01

    Conflicts between humans and crocodilians are a widespread conservation challenge and the number of crocodile attacks is increasing worldwide. We identified the factors that most effectively decide whether a victim is injured or killed in a crocodile attack by fitting generalized linear models to a 42-year dataset of 87 attacks (27 fatal and 60 non-fatal) by saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) in Australia. The models showed that the most influential factors were the difference in body mass between crocodile and victim, and the position of victim in relation to the water at the time of an attack. In-water position (for diving, swimming, and wading) had a higher risk than on-water (boating) or on-land (fishing, and hunting near the water's edge) positions. In the in-water position a 75 kg person would have a relatively high probability of survival (0.81) if attacked by a 300 cm crocodile, but the probability becomes much lower (0.17) with a 400 cm crocodile. If attacked by a crocodile larger than 450 cm, the survival probability would be extremely low (drag a victim more easily into deeper water. A higher risk associated with a larger crocodile in relation to victim's size is highlighted by children's vulnerability to fatal attacks. Since the first recently recorded fatal attack involving a child in 2006, six out of nine fatal attacks (66.7%) involved children, and the average body size of crocodiles responsible for these fatal attacks was considerably smaller (384 cm, 223 kg) than that of crocodiles that killed adults (450 cm, 324 kg) during the same period (2006-2014). These results suggest that culling programs targeting larger crocodiles may not be an effective management option to improve safety for children.

  20. WILD PIG ATTACKS ON HUMANS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mayer, J.

    2013-04-12

    Attacks on humans by wild pigs (Sus scrofa) have been documented since ancient times. However, studies characterizing these incidents are lacking. In an effort to better understand this phenomenon, information was collected from 412 wild pig attacks on humans. Similar to studies of large predator attacks on humans, data came from a variety of sources. The various attacks compiled occurred in seven zoogeographic realms. Most attacks occurred within the species native range, and specifically in rural areas. The occurrence was highest during the winter months and daylight hours. Most happened under non-hunting circumstances and appeared to be unprovoked. Wounded animals were the chief cause of these attacks in hunting situations. The animals involved were typically solitary, male and large in size. The fate of the wild pigs involved in these attacks varied depending upon the circumstances, however, most escaped uninjured. Most human victims were adult males traveling on foot and alone. The most frequent outcome for these victims was physical contact/mauling. The severity of resulting injuries ranged from minor to fatal. Most of the mauled victims had injuries to only one part of their bodies, with legs/feet being the most frequent body part injured. Injuries were primarily in the form of lacerations and punctures. Fatalities were typically due to blood loss. In some cases, serious infections or toxemia resulted from the injuries. Other species (i.e., pets and livestock) were also accompanying some of the humans during these attacks. The fates of these animals varied from escaping uninjured to being killed. Frequency data on both non-hunting and hunting incidents of wild pig attacks on humans at the Savannah River Site, South Carolina, showed quantitatively that such incidents are rare.

  1. μShield : Configurable Code-Reuse Attacks Mitigation For Embedded Systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Abbasi, Ali; Wetzels, Jos; Bokslag, Wouter; Zambon, Emmanuele; Etalle, Sandro; Yan, Zheng; Molva, Refik; Mazurczyk, Wojciech; Kantola, Raimo

    2017-01-01

    Embedded devices are playing a major role in our way of life. Similar to other computer systems embedded devices are vulnerable to code-reuse attacks. Compromising these devices in a critical environment constitute a significant security and safety risk. In this paper, we present μShield, a memory

  2. Social Geology and Landslide Disaster Risk Reduction in Sri Lanka

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jayasingha P

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available AbstractLandslide disaster risk reduction is presently a challenging task facing by Sri Lankangeologists. Increasing trend of population growth in Sri Lanka has adversely affected thestability of central highland due to various human activities. Among them establishment ofhuman settlements and change in land use pattern have become a serious issue in triggeringland instabilities in central highland of the country. National Building Research Oragnisationwhich is the main focal point in land slide disaster risk reduction in Sri Lanka has takenvaluable and timely needed actions including preparation of landslide hazard zonation maps,early warnings and mitigations. Though the landslide is a geological phenomenon, it is highlyinteracted with human societies. Hence managing the issues arising with the landslideoccurrence should be addressed with a sociological approach. This new approach is known asSocio Geological approach which is discussed here.Key words: Landslide, Geology, Socio Geology, Social Geologist

  3. Cache timing attacks on recent microarchitectures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andreou, Alexandres; Bogdanov, Andrey; Tischhauser, Elmar Wolfgang

    2017-01-01

    Cache timing attacks have been known for a long time, however since the rise of cloud computing and shared hardware resources, such attacks found new potentially devastating applications. One prominent example is S$A (presented by Irazoqui et al at S&P 2015) which is a cache timing attack against...... AES or similar algorithms in virtualized environments. This paper applies variants of this cache timing attack to Intel's latest generation of microprocessors. It enables a spy-process to recover cryptographic keys, interacting with the victim processes only over TCP. The threat model is a logically...... separated but CPU co-located attacker with root privileges. We report successful and practically verified applications of this attack against a wide range of microarchitectures, from a two-core Nehalem processor (i5-650) to two-core Haswell (i7-4600M) and four-core Skylake processors (i7-6700). The attack...

  4. Prominent deep medullary veins: a predictive biomarker for stroke risk from transient ischemic attack?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duan, Yang; Xu, Zhihua; Li, Hongyi; Cai, Xiaonan; Chang, Cancan; Yang, Benqiang

    2018-05-01

    Background Deep medullary veins (DMVs) are a biomarker of severity and prognosis in patients with acute cerebral infarction. However, their clinical significance remains unclear in patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA). Purpose To determine whether prominent deep medullary veins (PDMVs) are a predictive biomarker for stroke risk after TIA. Material and Methods Clinical and imaging data of 49 patients with TIA and 49 sex- and age-matched controls were studied. PDMVs were defined as DMVs with a score of 3 (TDMVs) or asymmetric DMVs (ADMVs), and the relationship between PDMVs and clinical features was analyzed. The DMV score based on susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) ranged from 0 (not visible) to 3 (very prominent) and was calculated for both hemispheres separately. A different score in each hemisphere was defined as ADMVs and an equal score was defined as symmetric DMVs. The asymmetry and score of DMVs were compared between the two groups and with respect to the time from TIA onset to imaging analysis. Results Agreement between neuroradiologists for the DMV asymmetry/score on SWI was excellent. The frequency of ADMVs and TDMVs was significantly higher in patients with TIA than controls ( P  0.05); PDMVs were not correlated with age, blood pressure, or diabetes. However, PDMVs were associated with the ABCD2 score (≥4), clinical symptoms, and duration of TIA (≥10 min). Conclusion Prominent deep medullary veins is a predictive biomarker for the risk of stroke in many patients having suffered from TIA.

  5. Lifestyle risk factors for ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack in young adults in the Stroke in Young Fabry Patients study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    von Sarnowski, Bettina; Putaala, Jukka; Grittner, Ulrike; Gaertner, Beate; Schminke, Ulf; Curtze, Sami; Huber, Roman; Tanislav, Christian; Lichy, Christoph; Demarin, Vida; Basic-Kes, Vanja; Ringelstein, E Bernd; Neumann-Haefelin, Tobias; Enzinger, Christian; Fazekas, Franz; Rothwell, Peter M; Dichgans, Martin; Jungehulsing, Gerhard J; Heuschmann, Peter U; Kaps, Manfred; Norrving, Bo; Rolfs, Arndt; Kessler, Christof; Tatlisumak, Turgut

    2013-01-01

    Although many stroke patients are young or middle-aged, risk factor profiles in these age groups are poorly understood. The Stroke in Young Fabry Patients (sifap1) study prospectively recruited a large multinational European cohort of patients with cerebrovascular events aged 18 to 55 years to establish their prevalence of Fabry disease. In a secondary analysis of patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack, we studied age- and sex-specific prevalences of various risk factors. Among 4467 patients (median age, 47 years; interquartile range, 40-51), the most frequent well-documented and modifiable risk factors were smoking (55.5%), physical inactivity (48.2%), arterial hypertension (46.6%), dyslipidemia (34.9%), and obesity (22.3%). Modifiable less well-documented or potentially modifiable risk factors like high-risk alcohol consumption (33.0%) and short sleep duration (20.6%) were more frequent in men, and migraine (26.5%) was more frequent in women. Women were more often physically inactive, most pronouncedly at ages young patients with acute ischemic cerebrovascular events, modifiable risk factors were highly prevalent, particularly in men and older patients. These data emphasize the need for vigorous primary and secondary prevention measures already in young populations targeting modifiable lifestyle vascular risk factors.

  6. The Cyber-Physical Attacker

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vigo, Roberto

    2012-01-01

    The world of Cyber-Physical Systems ranges from industrial to national interest applications. Even though these systems are pervading our everyday life, we are still far from fully understanding their security properties. Devising a suitable attacker model is a crucial element when studying...... the security properties of CPSs, as a system cannot be secured without defining the threats it is subject to. In this work an attacker scenario is presented which addresses the peculiarities of a cyber-physical adversary, and we discuss how this scenario relates to other attacker models popular in the security...

  7. Forensics Investigation of Web Application Security Attacks

    OpenAIRE

    Amor Lazzez; Thabet Slimani

    2015-01-01

    Nowadays, web applications are popular targets for security attackers. Using specific security mechanisms, we can prevent or detect a security attack on a web application, but we cannot find out the criminal who has carried out the security attack. Being unable to trace back an attack, encourages hackers to launch new attacks on the same system. Web application forensics aims to trace back and attribute a web application security attack to its originator. This may significantly reduce the sec...

  8. Adaptive cyber-attack modeling system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonsalves, Paul G.; Dougherty, Edward T.

    2006-05-01

    The pervasiveness of software and networked information systems is evident across a broad spectrum of business and government sectors. Such reliance provides an ample opportunity not only for the nefarious exploits of lone wolf computer hackers, but for more systematic software attacks from organized entities. Much effort and focus has been placed on preventing and ameliorating network and OS attacks, a concomitant emphasis is required to address protection of mission critical software. Typical software protection technique and methodology evaluation and verification and validation (V&V) involves the use of a team of subject matter experts (SMEs) to mimic potential attackers or hackers. This manpower intensive, time-consuming, and potentially cost-prohibitive approach is not amenable to performing the necessary multiple non-subjective analyses required to support quantifying software protection levels. To facilitate the evaluation and V&V of software protection solutions, we have designed and developed a prototype adaptive cyber attack modeling system. Our approach integrates an off-line mechanism for rapid construction of Bayesian belief network (BN) attack models with an on-line model instantiation, adaptation and knowledge acquisition scheme. Off-line model construction is supported via a knowledge elicitation approach for identifying key domain requirements and a process for translating these requirements into a library of BN-based cyber-attack models. On-line attack modeling and knowledge acquisition is supported via BN evidence propagation and model parameter learning.

  9. Predicting Factors of Zone 4 Attack in Volleyball.

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  10. 41 CFR 102-80.55 - Are Federal agencies responsible for managing the execution of risk reduction projects?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Management Risks and Risk Reduction Strategies § 102-80.55 Are Federal agencies responsible for managing the... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Are Federal agencies responsible for managing the execution of risk reduction projects? 102-80.55 Section 102-80.55 Public...

  11. Development of mental health first aid guidelines for panic attacks: a Delphi study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorm Anthony F

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Panic attacks are common, and while they are not life-threatening events, they can lead to the development of panic disorder and agoraphobia. Appropriate help at the time that a panic attack occurs may decrease the fear associated with the attack and reduce the risk of developing an anxiety disorder. However, few people have the knowledge and skills required to assist. Simple first aid guidelines may help members of the public to offer help to people who experience panic attacks. Methods The Delphi method was used to reach consensus in a panel of experts. Experts included 50 professionals and 6 people who had experience of panic attacks and were active in mental health advocacy. Statements about how to assist someone who is having a panic attack were sourced through a systematic search of both professional and lay literature. These statements were rated for importance as first aid guidelines by the expert and consumer panels and guidelines were written using the items most consistently endorsed. Results Of 144 statements presented to the panels, 27 were accepted. These statements were used to develop the guidelines appended to this paper. Conclusion There are a number of actions which are considered to be useful for members of the public to do if they encounter someone who is having a panic attack. These guidelines will be useful in revision of curricula of mental health first aid programs. They can also be used by members of the public who want immediate information about how to assist someone who is experiencing panic attacks.

  12. Attack Potential Evaluation in Desktop and Smartphone Fingerprint Sensors: Can They Be Attacked by Anyone?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ines Goicoechea-Telleria

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The use of biometrics keeps growing. Every day, we use biometric recognition to unlock our phones or to have access to places such as the gym or the office, so we rely on the security manufacturers offer when protecting our privileges and private life. It is well known that it is possible to hack into a fingerprint sensor using fake fingers made of Play-Doh and other easy-to-obtain materials but to what extent? Is this true for all users or only for specialists with a deep knowledge on biometrics? Are smartphone fingerprint sensors as reliable as desktop sensors? To answer these questions, we performed 3 separate evaluations. First, we evaluated 4 desktop fingerprint sensors of different technologies by attacking them with 7 different fake finger materials. All of them were successfully attacked by an experienced attacker. Secondly, we carried out a similar test on 5 smartphones with embedded sensors using the most successful materials, which also hacked the 5 sensors. Lastly, we gathered 15 simulated attackers with no background in biometrics to create fake fingers of several materials, and they had one week to attack the fingerprint sensors of the same 5 smartphones, with the starting point of a short video with the techniques to create them. All 5 smartphones were successfully attacked by an inexperienced attacker. This paper will provide the results achieved, as well as an analysis on the attack potential of every case. All results are given following the metrics of the standard ISO/IEC 30107-3.

  13. Managing burn victims of suicide bombing attacks: outcomes, lessons learnt, and changes made from three attacks in Indonesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chim, Harvey; Yew, Woon Si; Song, Colin

    2007-01-01

    Terror attacks in Southeast Asia were almost nonexistent until the 2002 Bali bomb blast, considered the deadliest attack in Indonesian history. Further attacks in 2003 (Jakarta), 2004 (Jakarta), and 2005 (Bali) have turned terrorist attacks into an ever-present reality. The authors reviewed medical charts of victims evacuated to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) Burns Centre during three suicide attacks involving Bali (2002 and 2005) and the Jakarta Marriott hotel (2003). Problems faced, lessons learnt, and costs incurred are discussed. A burns disaster plan drawing on lessons learnt from these attacks is presented. Thirty-one patients were treated at the SGH Burns Centre in three attacks (2002 Bali attack [n = 15], 2003 Jakarta attack [n = 14], and 2005 Bali attack [n = 2]). For the 2002 Bali attack, median age was 29 years (range 20 to 50 years), median percentage of total burn surface area (TBSA) was 29% (range 5% to 55%), and median abbreviated burn severity index (ABSI) was 6 (range 3 to 10). Eight of 15 patients were admitted to the intensive care unit. For the 2003 Jakarta attack, median age was 35 years (range 24 to 56 years), median percentage of TBSA was 10% (range 2% to 46%), and median ABSI was 4 (range 3 to 9). A large number of patients had other injuries. Problems faced included manpower issues, lack of bed space, shortage of blood products, and lack of cadaver skin. The changing nature of terror attacks mandates continued vigilance and disaster preparedness. The multidimensional burns patient, complicated by other injuries, is likely to become increasingly common. A burns disaster plan with emphasis on effective command, control, and communication as well as organisation of health care personnel following a 'team concept' will do much to ensure that the sudden onset of a crisis situation at an unexpected time does not overwhelm hospital manpower and resources.

  14. Overview of DOS attacks on wireless sensor networks and experimental results for simulation of interference attacks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Željko Gavrić

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Wireless sensor networks are now used in various fields. The information transmitted in the wireless sensor networks is very sensitive, so the security issue is very important. DOS (denial of service attacks are a fundamental threat to the functioning of wireless sensor networks. This paper describes some of the most common DOS attacks and potential methods of protection against them. The case study shows one of the most frequent attacks on wireless sensor networks – the interference attack. In the introduction of this paper authors assume that the attack interference can cause significant obstruction of wireless sensor networks. This assumption has been proved in the case study through simulation scenario and simulation results.

  15. Securing internet by eliminating DDOS attacks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niranchana, R.; Gayathri Devi, N.; Santhi, H.; Gayathri, P.

    2017-11-01

    The major threat caused to the authorised usage of Internet is Distributed Denial of Service attack. The mechanisms used to prevent the DDoS attacks are said to overcome the attack’s ability in spoofing the IP packets source addresses. By utilising Internet Protocol spoofing, the attackers cause a consequential load over the networks destination for policing attack packets. To overcome the IP Spoofing level on the Internet, We propose an Inter domain Packet Filter (IPF) architecture. The proposed scheme is not based on global routing information. The packets with reliable source addresses are not rejected, the IPF frame work works in such a manner. The spoofing capability of attackers is confined by IPF, and also the filter identifies the source of an attack packet by minimal number of candidate network.

  16. Plants under dual attack

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ponzio, C.A.M.

    2016-01-01

    Though immobile, plants are members of complex environments, and are under constant threat from a wide range of attackers, which includes organisms such as insect herbivores or plant pathogens. Plants have developed sophisticated defenses against these attackers, and include chemical responses

  17. Reduction in perceived stress as a migraine trigger

    Science.gov (United States)

    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

  18. New attacks on Wi-Fi Protected Setup

    OpenAIRE

    Hamed Mohtadi; Alireza Rahimi

    2015-01-01

    Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) is a network security standard that is used to secure networks in home and office, introduced in 2006 by the Wi-Fi Alliance. It provides easier configuration setup and is used in almost all recent Wi-Fi devices. In this paper we propose two attacks on this standard. The first attack is an offline brute force attack that uses imbalance on registration protocol. This attack needs user action, but it is more efficient than previous attacks. The second attack uses weak...

  19. A Game Theoretic Approach to Cyber Attack Prediction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peng Liu

    2005-11-28

    The area investigated by this project is cyber attack prediction. With a focus on correlation-based prediction, current attack prediction methodologies overlook the strategic nature of cyber attack-defense scenarios. As a result, current cyber attack prediction methodologies are very limited in predicting strategic behaviors of attackers in enforcing nontrivial cyber attacks such as DDoS attacks, and may result in low accuracy in correlation-based predictions. This project develops a game theoretic framework for cyber attack prediction, where an automatic game-theory-based attack prediction method is proposed. Being able to quantitatively predict the likelihood of (sequences of) attack actions, our attack prediction methodology can predict fine-grained strategic behaviors of attackers and may greatly improve the accuracy of correlation-based prediction. To our best knowledge, this project develops the first comprehensive framework for incentive-based modeling and inference of attack intent, objectives, and strategies; and this project develops the first method that can predict fine-grained strategic behaviors of attackers. The significance of this research and the benefit to the public can be demonstrated to certain extent by (a) the severe threat of cyber attacks to the critical infrastructures of the nation, including many infrastructures overseen by the Department of Energy, (b) the importance of cyber security to critical infrastructure protection, and (c) the importance of cyber attack prediction to achieving cyber security.

  20. Dead or Alive? Factors Affecting the Survival of Victims during Attacks by Saltwater Crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus in Australia.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yusuke Fukuda

    Full Text Available Conflicts between humans and crocodilians are a widespread conservation challenge and the number of crocodile attacks is increasing worldwide. We identified the factors that most effectively decide whether a victim is injured or killed in a crocodile attack by fitting generalized linear models to a 42-year dataset of 87 attacks (27 fatal and 60 non-fatal by saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus in Australia. The models showed that the most influential factors were the difference in body mass between crocodile and victim, and the position of victim in relation to the water at the time of an attack. In-water position (for diving, swimming, and wading had a higher risk than on-water (boating or on-land (fishing, and hunting near the water's edge positions. In the in-water position a 75 kg person would have a relatively high probability of survival (0.81 if attacked by a 300 cm crocodile, but the probability becomes much lower (0.17 with a 400 cm crocodile. If attacked by a crocodile larger than 450 cm, the survival probability would be extremely low (<0.05 regardless of the victim's size. These results indicate that the main cause of death during a crocodile attack is drowning and larger crocodiles can drag a victim more easily into deeper water. A higher risk associated with a larger crocodile in relation to victim's size is highlighted by children's vulnerability to fatal attacks. Since the first recently recorded fatal attack involving a child in 2006, six out of nine fatal attacks (66.7% involved children, and the average body size of crocodiles responsible for these fatal attacks was considerably smaller (384 cm, 223 kg than that of crocodiles that killed adults (450 cm, 324 kg during the same period (2006-2014. These results suggest that culling programs targeting larger crocodiles may not be an effective management option to improve safety for children.

  1. Invisible Trojan-horse attack

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sajeed, Shihan; Minshull, Carter; Jain, Nitin

    2017-01-01

    We demonstrate the experimental feasibility of a Trojan-horse attack that remains nearly invisible to the single-photon detectors employed in practical quantum key distribution (QKD) systems, such as Clavis2 from ID Quantique. We perform a detailed numerical comparison of the attack performance...

  2. Risk factors for avascular necrosis after closed reduction for developmental dysplasia of the hip.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schur, Mathew D; Lee, Christopher; Arkader, Alexandre; Catalano, Anthony; Choi, Paul D

    2016-06-01

    The purpose of this study was to identify and evaluate risk factors of avascular necrosis (AVN) after closed treatment for developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). A retrospective review of children diagnosed with DDH at a tertiary-care children's hospital between 1986 and 2009 was performed. The presence of AVN was assessed according to Salter's classification system. Eighty-two affected hips in 70 children with an average age of 10 months at closed reduction (range 1-31 months) and 5 years (range 2-19 years) of follow-up met the inclusion criteria. Twenty-nine (of 82, 35 %) affected hips developed AVN. The use of pre-reduction traction (p = 0.019) increased the risk of AVN, while preoperative Pavlik harness or brace trial (p = 0.28), presence of ossific nucleus at the time of closed reduction (p = 0.16), and adductor tenotomy (p = 0.37) were not significant factors. Laterality (right vs. left) was also not a significant risk factor (p = 0.75), but patients who underwent closed reduction for bilateral DDH were less likely to develop AVN (p = 0.027). Overall, the degree of abduction did not affect the rate of AVN (p = 0.87). However, in patients treated with closed reduction younger than 6 months of age, the rate of AVN was increased with abduction ≥50° (9/15, 60 %) compared to abduction AVN were more likely to require subsequent surgery (p = 0.034) and more likely to report a fair/poor clinical outcome (p = 0.049). The risk of AVN (35 %) following closed reduction and spica casting for DDH is high. The degree of abduction in spica casts appears to be a risk factor in patients ≤6 months old. The authors recommend that abduction in spica casts should be limited to <50° in children younger than 6 months of age. IV.

  3. Symptomatic carotid stenosis and stroke risk in patients with transient ischemic attack according to the tissue-based definition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Khaled, Mohamed; Scheef, Björn

    2016-10-01

    Symptomatic carotid stenosis (sCS), a common cause of transient ischemic attack (TIA), is correlated with higher stroke risk. We investigated the frequency and associated factors of sCS in patients with TIA and the association between sCS and stroke risk following TIA. Over a three-year period (2011-2013), 861 consecutive patients with TIA, who were admitted to the Department of Neurology at the University of Lübeck, Germany, were included in a monocenter study and prospectively evaluated. Diagnosis of TIA was in accordance with the tissue-based definition (transient neurological symptoms without evidence of infarction by brain imaging). Of 827 patients (mean age, 70 ± 13.2 years; 49.7% women), 64 patients (7.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.9%-9.7%) exhibited sCS and 3 patients (0.3%) showed an occlusion of the corresponding internal carotid artery. Logistic regression revealed that sCS was associated with male sex (odds ratio [OR], 2.7; 95% CI, 1.2-3.6; p = 0.012), amaurosis fugax (OR, 8.1; 95% CI, 3.4-19-4; p definition.

  4. Radiological attacks and accidents. Medical consequences

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sakuta, Hidenari

    2007-01-01

    Probability of the occurrence of radiological attacks appears to be elevated after the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11 in 2001. There are a lot of scenarios of radiological attack: simple radiological device, radiological disperse device (RDD or dirty bomb), attacks against nuclear reactor, improvised nuclear device, and nuclear weapons. Of these, RDD attack is the most probable scenario, because it can be easily made and can generate enormous psychological and economic damages. Radiological incidents are occurring to and fro in the world, including several cases of theft to nuclear facilities and unsuccessful terrorist attacks against them. Recently, a former Russian spy has allegedly been killed using polonium-210. In addition, serious radiological accidents have occurred in Chernobyl, Goiania, and Tokai-mura. Planning, preparation, education, and training exercise appear to be essential factors to cope with radiological attacks and accidents effectively without feeling much anxiety. Triage and psychological first aid are prerequisite to manage and provide effective medial care for mass casualties without inducing panic. (author)

  5. Estimating mortality risk reduction and economic benefits from controlling ozone air pollution

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Committee on Estimating Mortality Risk Reduction Benefits from Decreasing Tropospheric Ozone Exposure

    2008-01-01

    ... in life expectancy, and to assess methods for estimating the monetary value of the reduced risk of premature death and increased life expectancy in the context of health-benefits analysis. Estimating Mortality Risk Reduction and Economic Benefits from Controlling Ozone Air Pollution details the committee's findings and posits several recommendations to address these issues.

  6. Knowledge of Stroke Risk Factors and Warning Signs in Patients with Recurrent Stroke or Recurrent Transient Ischaemic Attack in Thailand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jittima Saengsuwan

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Stroke is a global burden. It is not known whether patients who are most at risk of stroke (recurrent stroke or recurrent transient ischaemic attack have enough knowledge of stroke risk factors and warning signs. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge of stroke risk factors and warning signs in this high-risk population. We performed a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study of patients with recurrent stroke or recurrent TIA admitted to Srinagarind Hospital and Khon Kaen Hospital, Thailand. A total of 140 patients were included in the study (age 65.6±11.3 years [mean ± SD], 62 females. Using an open-ended questionnaire, nearly one-third of patients (31.4% could not name any risk factors for stroke. The most commonly recognized risk factors were hypertension (35%, dyslipidemia (28.6%, and diabetes (22.9%. Regarding stroke warning signs, the most commonly recognized warning signs were sudden unilateral weakness (61.4%, sudden trouble with speaking (25.7%, and sudden trouble with walking, loss of balance, or dizziness (21.4%. Nineteen patients (13.6% could not identify any warning signs. The results showed that knowledge of stroke obtained from open-ended questionnaires is still unsatisfactory. The healthcare provider should provide structured interventions to increase knowledge and awareness of stroke in these patients.

  7. Investigating the risk reduction potential of disaster insurance across Europe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Surminski, Swenja; Hudson, Paul

    2017-01-01

    The notion that insurance can play a significant role in risk reduction has recently gained increasing attention in the wake of rising losses from natural disasters. While this notion is accepted in theory, we notice that, in practice, little is known about if and how insurance promotes efforts to

  8. Script-viruses Attacks on UNIX OS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. M. Mikhaylov

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available In this article attacks on UNIX OS are considered. Currently antivirus developers are concentrated on protecting systems from viruses that are most common and attack popular operating systems. If the system or its components are not often attacked then the antivirus products are not protecting these components as it is not profitable. The same situation is with script-viruses for UNIX OS as most experts consider that it is impossible for such viruses to get enough rights to attack. Nevertheless the main conclusion of this article is the fact that such viruses can be very powerful and can attack systems and get enough rights.

  9. Smartphone Delivery of Mobile HIV Risk Reduction Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karran A. Phillips

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available We sought to develop and deploy a video-based smartphone-delivered mobile HIV Risk Reduction (mHIVRR intervention to individuals in an addiction treatment clinic. We developed 3 video modules that consisted of a 10-minute HIVRR video, 11 acceptability questions, and 3 knowledge questions and deployed them as a secondary study within a larger study of ecological momentary and geographical momentary assessments. All 24 individuals who remained in the main study long enough completed the mHIVRR secondary study. All 3 videos met our a priori criteria for acceptability “as is” in the population: they achieved median scores of ≤2.5 on a 5-point Likert scale; ≤20% of the individuals gave them the most negative rating on the scale; a majority of the individuals stated that they would not prefer other formats over video-based smartphone-delivered one (all P<0.05. Additionally, all of our video modules met our a priori criteria for feasibility: ≤20% of data were missing due to participant noncompliance and ≤20% were missing due to technical failure. We concluded that video-based mHIVRR education delivered via smartphone is acceptable, feasible and may increase HIV/STD risk reduction knowledge. Future studies, with pre-intervention assessments of knowledge and random assignment, are needed to confirm these findings.

  10. Resilience and disaster risk reduction: an etymological journey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexander, D. E.

    2013-11-01

    This paper examines the development over historical time of the meaning and uses of the term resilience. The objective is to deepen our understanding of how the term came to be adopted in disaster risk reduction and resolve some of the conflicts and controversies that have arisen when it has been used. The paper traces the development of resilience through the sciences, humanities, and legal and political spheres. It considers how mechanics passed the word to ecology and psychology, and how from there it was adopted by social research and sustainability science. As other authors have noted, as a concept, resilience involves some potentially serious conflicts or contradictions, for example between stability and dynamism, or between dynamic equilibrium (homeostasis) and evolution. Moreover, although the resilience concept works quite well within the confines of general systems theory, in situations in which a systems formulation inhibits rather than fosters explanation, a different interpretation of the term is warranted. This may be the case for disaster risk reduction, which involves transformation rather than preservation of the "state of the system". The article concludes that the modern conception of resilience derives benefit from a rich history of meanings and applications, but that it is dangerous - or at least potentially disappointing - to read to much into the term as a model and a paradigm.

  11. The contribution of indigenous knowledge to disaster risk reduction activities in Zimbabwe: A big call to practitioners

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ernest Dube

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available This article examined the contribution of indigenous knowledge to disaster risk reduction activities in Zimbabwe. The current discourse underrates the use of indigenous knowledge of communities by practitioners when dealing with disasters’, as the knowledge is often viewed as outdated and primitive. This study, which was conducted in 2016, sought to examine this problem through analysing the potential contribution of indigenous knowledge as a useful disaster risk reduction intervention. Tsholotsho district in Matabeleland, North province of Zimbabwe, which frequently experiences perennial devastating floods, was used as a case study. Interviews and researcher observations were used to gather data from 40 research participants. The findings were that communities understand weather patterns and could predict imminent flooding after studying trees and clouds, and the behaviours of certain animal species. Local communities also use available local resources to put structural measures in place as part of disaster risk reduction interventions. Despite this important potential, the study found that the indigenous knowledge of disaster risk reduction of the communities is often shunned by practitioners. The practitioners claim that indigenous knowledge lacks documentation, it is not found in all generational classes, it is contextualised to particular communities and the knowledge cannot be scientifically validated. The study concluded that both local communities and disaster risk reduction practitioners can benefit from the indigenous knowledge of communities. This research has the potential to benefit communities, policymakers and disaster risk reduction practitioners.

  12. Blood Glucose Reduction by Diabetic Drugs with Minimal Hypoglycemia Risk for Cardiovascular Outcomes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Huang, Chi-Jung; Wang, Wei-Ting; Sung, Shih-Hsien

    2018-01-01

    of antidiabetic drugs with less hypoglycemia risk were comprehensively searched in MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library up to January 27, 2018. Mixed-effects meta-regression analysis was conducted to explore the relationship between haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) reduction and the risk of major adverse...... concentration was 0.42% lower (median, 0.27-0.86%) for participants given antihyperglycemic agents than those given placebo. The meta-regression analysis demonstrated that HbA1c reduction was significantly associated with a decreased risk of MACE (β value, -0.39 to -0.55; P...-40%) for MACE. By contrast, the meta-regression analysis for trials using conventional agents failed to demonstrate a significant relationship between achieved HbA1c difference and MACE risk (P>0.74). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with placebo, newer T2D agents with less hypoglycemic hazard significantly reduced...

  13. Intentional risk management through complex networks analysis

    CERN Document Server

    Chapela, Victor; Moral, Santiago; Romance, Miguel

    2015-01-01

    This book combines game theory and complex networks to examine intentional technological risk through modeling. As information security risks are in constant evolution,  the methodologies and tools to manage them must evolve to an ever-changing environment. A formal global methodology is explained  in this book, which is able to analyze risks in cyber security based on complex network models and ideas extracted from the Nash equilibrium. A risk management methodology for IT critical infrastructures is introduced which provides guidance and analysis on decision making models and real situations. This model manages the risk of succumbing to a digital attack and assesses an attack from the following three variables: income obtained, expense needed to carry out an attack, and the potential consequences for an attack. Graduate students and researchers interested in cyber security, complex network applications and intentional risk will find this book useful as it is filled with a number of models, methodologies a...

  14. Can I Count on Getting Better? Association between Math Anxiety and Poorer Understanding of Medical Risk Reductions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rolison, Jonathan J; Morsanyi, Kinga; O'Connor, Patrick A

    2016-10-01

    Lower numerical ability is associated with poorer understanding of health statistics, such as risk reductions of medical treatment. For many people, despite good numeracy skills, math provokes anxiety that impedes an ability to evaluate numerical information. Math-anxious individuals also report less confidence in their ability to perform math tasks. We hypothesized that, independent of objective numeracy, math anxiety would be associated with poorer responding and lower confidence when calculating risk reductions of medical treatments. Objective numeracy was assessed using an 11-item objective numeracy scale. A 13-item self-report scale was used to assess math anxiety. In experiment 1, participants were asked to interpret the baseline risk of disease and risk reductions associated with treatment options. Participants in experiment 2 were additionally provided a graphical display designed to facilitate the processing of math information and alleviate effects of math anxiety. Confidence ratings were provided on a 7-point scale. Individuals of higher objective numeracy were more likely to respond correctly to baseline risks and risk reductions associated with treatment options and were more confident in their interpretations. Individuals who scored high in math anxiety were instead less likely to correctly interpret the baseline risks and risk reductions and were less confident in their risk calculations as well as in their assessments of the effectiveness of treatment options. Math anxiety predicted confidence levels but not correct responding when controlling for objective numeracy. The graphical display was most effective in increasing confidence among math-anxious individuals. The findings suggest that math anxiety is associated with poorer medical risk interpretation but is more strongly related to confidence in interpretations. © The Author(s) 2015.

  15. Breast Cancer Incidence and Risk Reduction in the Hispanic Population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Power, Eric J; Chin, Megan L; Haq, Mohamed M

    2018-02-26

    Breast cancer is the most common non-skin cancer amongst women worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality overall. It is also the foremost reason for cancer-related mortality in Hispanic females in the United States (US). Although the current incidence of breast cancer is significantly lower in Hispanics compared to that of non-Hispanic Whites (NHW) and Blacks, (91.9, 128.1, and 124.3 per 100,000, respectively, annually), this may increase if Hispanics develop similar lifestyle behaviors to other American women, in categories such as weight management, age at first birth, number of children, and breastfeeding habits. Stage-for-stage mortality for Hispanics is similar to NHWs, but the mortality rate is not declining as rapidly in this ethnic group. Hispanic women share many of the same risk factors for developing breast cancer as NHWs and Blacks. This suggests that many of the risk reduction strategies used in other racial populations may also benefit this group. Providing education about breast cancer and implementing risk reduction strategies in culturally-aware environments could help keep incidence low and reduce cancer-related mortality. Since Hispanics are the largest minority group in the US, this could have a significant impact on the incidence and mortality nationally.

  16. Health risk reduction programs in employer-sponsored health plans: Part II-law and ethics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rothstein, Mark A; Harrell, Heather L

    2009-08-01

    We sought to examine the legal and ethical implications of workplace health risk reduction programs (HRRPs) using health risk assessments, individually focused risk reduction, and financial incentives to promote compliance. We conducted a literature review, analyzed relevant statutes and regulations, and considered the effects of these programs on employee health privacy. A variety of laws regulate HRRPs, and there is little evidence that employer-sponsored HRRPs violate these provisions; infringement on individual health privacy is more difficult to assess. Although current laws permit a wide range of employer health promotion activities, HRRPs also may entail largely unquantifiable costs to employee privacy and related interests.

  17. Health Risk Reduction Programs in Employer-Sponsored Health Plans: Part II—Law and Ethics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rothstein, Mark A.; Harrell, Heather L.

    2011-01-01

    Objective We sought to examine the legal and ethical implications of workplace health risk reduction programs (HRRPs) using health risk assessments, individually focused risk reduction, and financial incentives to promote compliance. Methods We conducted a literature review, analyzed relevant statutes and regulations, and considered the effects of these programs on employee health privacy. Results A variety of laws regulate HRRPs, and there is little evidence that employer-sponsored HRRPs violate these provisions; infringement on individual health privacy is more difficult to assess. Conclusion Although current laws permit a wide range of employer health promotion activities, HRRPs also may entail largely unquantifiable costs to employee privacy and related interests. PMID:19625971

  18. Walking versus running for hypertension, cholesterol, and diabetes mellitus risk reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Paul T; Thompson, Paul D

    2013-05-01

    To test whether equivalent energy expenditure by moderate-intensity (eg, walking) and vigorous-intensity exercise (eg, running) provides equivalent health benefits. We used the National Runners' (n=33 060) and Walkers' (n=15 945) Health Study cohorts to examine the effect of differences in exercise mode and thereby exercise intensity on coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors. Baseline expenditure (metabolic equivant hours per day [METh/d]) was compared with self-reported, physician-diagnosed incident hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes mellitus, and CHD during 6.2 years follow-up. Running significantly decreased the risks for incident hypertension by 4.2% (Pdiabetes mellitus by 12.1% (Phypertension; and (3) 43.5%, 44.1%, 47.7%, and 68.2% from running, and 34.1%, 44.2% and 23.6% from walking for diabetes mellitus (walking >5.4 METh/d excluded for too few cases). The risk reductions were not significantly different for running than walking for diabetes mellitus (P=0.94), hypertension (P=0.06), or CHD (P=0.26), and only marginally greater for walking than running for hypercholesterolemia (P=0.04). Equivalent energy expenditures by moderate (walking) and vigorous (running) exercise produced similar risk reductions for hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes mellitus, and possibly CHD.

  19. Hybrid attacks on model-based social recommender systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  20. Risk for Major Bleeding in Patients Receiving Ticagrelor Compared With Aspirin After Transient Ischemic Attack or Acute Ischemic Stroke in the SOCRATES Study (Acute Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack Treated With Aspirin or Ticagrelor and Patient Outcomes).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Easton, J Donald; Aunes, Maria; Albers, Gregory W; Amarenco, Pierre; Bokelund-Singh, Sara; Denison, Hans; Evans, Scott R; Held, Peter; Jahreskog, Marianne; Jonasson, Jenny; Minematsu, Kazuo; Molina, Carlos A; Wang, Yongjun; Wong, K S Lawrence; Johnston, S Claiborne

    2017-09-05

    Patients with minor acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack are at high risk for subsequent stroke, and more potent antiplatelet therapy in the acute setting is needed. However, the potential benefit of more intense antiplatelet therapy must be assessed in relation to the risk for major bleeding. The SOCRATES trial (Acute Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack Treated With Aspirin or Ticagrelor and Patient Outcomes) was the first trial with ticagrelor in patients with acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack in which the efficacy and safety of ticagrelor were compared with those of aspirin. The main safety objective was assessment of PLATO (Platelet Inhibition and Patient Outcomes)-defined major bleeds on treatment, with special focus on intracranial hemorrhage (ICrH). An independent adjudication committee blinded to study treatment classified bleeds according to the PLATO, TIMI (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction), and GUSTO (Global Use of Strategies to Open Occluded Coronary Arteries) definitions. The definitions of ICrH and major bleeding excluded cerebral microbleeds and asymptomatic hemorrhagic transformations of cerebral infarctions so that the definitions better discriminated important events in the acute stroke population. A total of 13 130 of 13 199 randomized patients received at least 1 dose of study drug and were included in the safety analysis set. PLATO major bleeds occurred in 31 patients (0.5%) on ticagrelor and 38 patients (0.6%) on aspirin (hazard ratio, 0.83; 95% confidence interval, 0.52-1.34). The most common locations of major bleeds were intracranial and gastrointestinal. ICrH was reported in 12 patients (0.2%) on ticagrelor and 18 patients (0.3%) on aspirin. Thirteen of all 30 ICrHs (4 on ticagrelor and 9 on aspirin) were hemorrhagic strokes, and 4 (2 in each group) were symptomatic hemorrhagic transformations of brain infarctions. The ICrHs were spontaneous in 6 and 13, traumatic in 3 and 3, and procedural in 3 and 2

  1. Smoke and mirrors: Limited value of relative risk reductions for assessing the benefits of disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zakaria, Magd

    2015-05-01

    A reduction in relapse rate is the main primary outcome in most clinical trials in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), with the effect of a treatment commonly expressed as relative risk reduction for this outcome. Physicians often assume that a drug with a higher relative risk reduction demonstrated in one trial is more effective than a drug with a lower relative risk reduction in another, and may pass this idea on to younger physicians and to patients. The use of the relative risk reduction as a measure of drug efficacy can be misleading, as it depends on the nature of the population studied: a treatment effect characterized by a lower relative risk reduction may be more clinically meaningful than one with a higher relative risk reduction. This concept is especially important with regard to clinical trials in patients with MS, where relapse rates in placebo groups have been declining in recent decades. Direct, head-to-head comparisons are the only way to compare the efficacy of the different treatments for MS. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Improvements in the susceptibility to hydrogen attack and stress-relief cracking of 2 1/4Cr-1Mo steels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Imanaka, T.; Sato, S.; Shimomura, J.; Aso, K.

    1985-01-01

    The influence of sulphur content at extremely low level on the susceptibility to hydrogen attack and stress-relief cracking in 2 1/4Cr-1Mo steels was studied. The reduction of sulphur content and/or the addition of REM (rare earth metal) or Ca in accordance with sulphur content remarkably improve the resistivity against hydrogen attack and stress-relief cracking. Micro-structural examination has showed that there exist Mn-REM-S-Al-O complex particles in the REM-added steels. It is concluded that the effect of REM on hydrogen attack and stress-relief cracking is to reduce ''the free sulphur'' in 2 1/4Cr-1Mo steels

  3. Perceptions of farmers on health risks and risk reduction measures in wastewater-irrigated urban vegetable farming in Ghana

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Keraita, Bernard; Drechsel, Pay; Konradsen, Flemming

    2008-01-01

    , authorities and the general public, especially if they had some incentives. These findings demonstrate the need to involve farmers as early as possible in intervention projects especially in informal farming practices, like urban agriculture, where restrictions are difficult to implement. This will ensure......Most irrigation water used in urban vegetable farming in Ghana is contaminated with untreated wastewater. This poses health risks to farmers and consumers. As part of a study to explore options for health risk reduction, this paper summarizes farmers' perceptions on health risks and possible risk...

  4. Development and Validation of a Model to Predict Absolute Vascular Risk Reduction by Moderate-Intensity Statin Therapy in Individual Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Anglo Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial, Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial, and Collaborative Atorvastatin Diabetes Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaasenbrood, Lotte; Poulter, Neil R; Sever, Peter S; Colhoun, Helen M; Livingstone, Shona J; Boekholdt, S Matthijs; Pressel, Sara L; Davis, Barry R; van der Graaf, Yolanda; Visseren, Frank L J

    2016-05-01

    In this study, we aimed to translate the average relative effect of statin therapy from trial data to the individual patient with type 2 diabetes mellitus by developing and validating a model to predict individualized absolute risk reductions (ARR) of cardiovascular events. Data of 2725 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus from the Lipid Lowering Arm of the Anglo Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial (ASCOT-LLA) study (atorvastatin 10 mg versus placebo) were used for model derivation. The model was based on 8 clinical predictors including treatment allocation (statin/placebo). Ten-year individualized ARR on major cardiovascular events by statin therapy were calculated for each patient by subtracting the estimated on-treatment risk from the estimated off-treatment risk. Predicted 10-year ARR by statin therapy was 4% (median ARR, 3.2%; interquartile range, 2.5%-4.3%; 95% confidence interval for 3.2% ARR, -1.4% to 6.8%). Addition of treatment interactions did not improve model performance. Therefore, the wide distribution in ARR was a consequence of the underlying distribution in cardiovascular risk enrolled in these trials. External validation of the model was performed in data from the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT-LLT; pravastatin 40 mg versus usual care) and Collaborative Atorvastatin Diabetes Study (CARDS; atorvastatin 10 mg versus placebo) of 3878 and 2838 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, respectively. Model calibration was adequate in both external data sets, discrimination was moderate (ALLHAT-LLT: c-statistics, 0.64 [95% confidence interval, 0.61-0.67] and CARDS: 0.68 [95% confidence interval, 0.64-0.72]). ARRs of major cardiovascular events by statin therapy can be accurately estimated for individual patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus using a model based on routinely available patient characteristics. There is a wide distribution in ARR that may complement informed decision making. URL: http

  5. Valuing Mortality Risk Reductions for Environmental Policy: A White Paper (1999)

    Science.gov (United States)

    This white paper addresses current and recent U.S. EPA practices regarding the valuation of mortality risk reductions, focusing especially on empirical estimates of the “value of a statistical life” (VSL) from stated preference and hedonic wage studies.

  6. Aerobic exercise interventions reduce blood pressure in patients after stroke or transient ischaemic attack: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Cheng; Redgrave, Jessica; Shafizadeh, Mohsen; Majid, Arshad; Kilner, Karen; Ali, Ali N

    2018-05-09

    Secondary vascular risk reduction is critical to preventing recurrent stroke. We aimed to evaluate the effect of exercise interventions on vascular risk factors and recurrent ischaemic events after stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA). Intervention systematic review and meta-analysis. OVID MEDLINE, PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, TRIP Database, CINAHL, PsycINFO, SCOPUS, UK Clinical Trials Gateway and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure were searched from 1966 to October 2017. Randomised controlled trials evaluating aerobic or resistance exercise interventions on vascular risk factors and recurrent ischaemic events among patients with stroke or TIA, compared with control. Twenty studies (n=1031) were included. Exercise interventions resulted in significant reductions in systolic blood pressure (SBP) -4.30 mm Hg (95% CI -6.77 to -1.83) and diastolic blood pressure -2.58 mm Hg (95% CI -4.7 to -0.46) compared with control. Reduction in SBP was most pronounced among studies initiating exercise within 6 months of stroke or TIA (-8.46 mm Hg, 95% CI -12.18 to -4.75 vs -2.33 mm Hg, 95% CI -3.94 to -0.72), and in those incorporating an educational component (-7.81 mm Hg, 95% CI -14.34 to -1.28 vs -2.78 mm Hg, 95% CI -4.33 to -1.23). Exercise was also associated with reductions in total cholesterol (-0.27 mmol/L, 95% CI -0.54 to 0.00), but not fasting glucose or body mass index. One trial reported reductions in secondary vascular events with exercise, but was insufficiently powered. Exercise interventions can result in clinically meaningful blood pressure reductions, particularly if initiated early and alongside education. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  7. Security of Continuous-Variable Quantum Key Distribution via a Gaussian de Finetti Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leverrier, Anthony

    2017-05-01

    Establishing the security of continuous-variable quantum key distribution against general attacks in a realistic finite-size regime is an outstanding open problem in the field of theoretical quantum cryptography if we restrict our attention to protocols that rely on the exchange of coherent states. Indeed, techniques based on the uncertainty principle are not known to work for such protocols, and the usual tools based on de Finetti reductions only provide security for unrealistically large block lengths. We address this problem here by considering a new type of Gaussian de Finetti reduction, that exploits the invariance of some continuous-variable protocols under the action of the unitary group U (n ) (instead of the symmetric group Sn as in usual de Finetti theorems), and by introducing generalized S U (2 ,2 ) coherent states. Crucially, combined with an energy test, this allows us to truncate the Hilbert space globally instead as at the single-mode level as in previous approaches that failed to provide security in realistic conditions. Our reduction shows that it is sufficient to prove the security of these protocols against Gaussian collective attacks in order to obtain security against general attacks, thereby confirming rigorously the widely held belief that Gaussian attacks are indeed optimal against such protocols.

  8. An Analysis of Attacks on Blockchain Consensus

    OpenAIRE

    Bissias, George; Levine, Brian Neil; Ozisik, A. Pinar; Andresen, Gavin

    2016-01-01

    We present and validate a novel mathematical model of the blockchain mining process and use it to conduct an economic evaluation of the double-spend attack, which is fundamental to all blockchain systems. Our analysis focuses on the value of transactions that can be secured under a conventional double-spend attack, both with and without a concurrent eclipse attack. Our model quantifies the importance of several factors that determine the attack's success, including confirmation depth, attacke...

  9. Automated classification of computer network attacks

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Van Heerden, R

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available according to the relevant types of attack scenarios depicted in the ontology. The two network attack instances are the Distributed Denial of Service attack on SpamHaus in 2013 and the theft of 42 million Rand ($6.7 million) from South African Postbank...

  10. Prolonged disturbances of regional cerebral blood flow in transient ischemic attacks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hartmann, A.

    1985-01-01

    Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured over both hemispheres in 20 patients with unilateral transient ischemic attacks (TIA) of the territory of the internal carotid artery on the day of the TIA. rCBF was estimated with the nontraumatic Xenon 133-inhalation technique using the initial slope index. 13 patients experienced their first TIA, 7 had several attacks. In 14 patients the first rCBF-measurement was performed during the presentation of clinical symptoms. The 2nd rCBF-measurement was done on day 2, the last one on day 7. Scans of the 15 patients studied with CT were normal. On day 1 mean rCBF of the TIA-side was significantly lower than that of the contralateral hemispheres. 22% of all areas showed a significant reduction of flow compared to mean rCBF. Mean rCBF of both the TIA- and the contralateral side was significantly reduced compared to the bi-hemispheric mean rCBF of a control group with no history of TIA or completed strokes but at least 2 risk factors for cerebrovascular disease. Whereas mean rCBF did not change in the contralateral side it increased significantly (+6.9%) in the TIA-side from day 1 to day 2 but not from there to day 7. This is reflected by the increase of the total number of ROI with normal flow from day 1 to day 2. Considering the actual flow and the flow course of that tissue which was believed to be responsible for the clinical symptoms the following regional patterns were observed: normal rCBF in 6 patients; early return to normal concomitant to the clinical course (n = 4)

  11. The effectiveness of coral reefs for coastal hazard risk reduction and adaptation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrario, Filippo; Beck, Michael W.; Storlazzi, Curt D.; Micheli, Fiorenza; Shepard, Christine C.; Airoldi, Laura

    2014-01-01

    The world’s coastal zones are experiencing rapid development and an increase in storms and flooding. These hazards put coastal communities at heightened risk, which may increase with habitat loss. Here we analyse globally the role and cost effectiveness of coral reefs in risk reduction. Meta-analyses reveal that coral reefs provide substantial protection against natural hazards by reducing wave energy by an average of 97%. Reef crests alone dissipate most of this energy (86%). There are 100 million or more people who may receive risk reduction benefits from reefs or bear hazard mitigation and adaptation costs if reefs are degraded. We show that coral reefs can provide comparable wave attenuation benefits to artificial defences such as breakwaters, and reef defences can be enhanced cost effectively. Reefs face growing threats yet there is opportunity to guide adaptation and hazard mitigation investments towards reef restoration to strengthen this first line of coastal defence.

  12. Effectiveness of a fall-risk reduction programme for inpatient rehabilitation after stroke.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goljar, Nika; Globokar, Daniel; Puzić, Nataša; Kopitar, Natalija; Vrabič, Maja; Ivanovski, Matic; Vidmar, Gaj

    2016-09-01

    To evaluate effectiveness of fall-risk-assessment-based fall prevention for stroke rehabilitation inpatients. A consecutive series of 232 patients admitted for the first time to a subacute stroke-rehabilitation ward during 2010-2011 was studied in detail. The Assessment Sheet for Fall Prediction in Stroke Inpatients (ASFPSI by Nakagawa et al.) was used to assess fall-risk upon admission. Association of ASFPSI score and patient characteristics with actual falls was statistically tested. Yearly incidence of falls per 1000 hospital days (HD) was retrospectively audited for the 2006-2014 period to evaluate effectiveness of fall-risk reduction measures. The observed incidence of falls over the detailed-study-period was 3.0/1000 HD; 39% of the fallers fell during the first week after admission. ASFPSI score was not significantly associated with falls. Longer hospital stay, left body-side affected and non-extreme FIM score (55-101) were associated with higher odds of fall. Introduction of fall-risk reduction measures followed by compulsory fall-risk assessment lead to incidence of falls dropping from 7.1/1000 HD in 2006 to 2.8/1000 HD in 2011 and remaining at that level until 2014. The fall-risk-assessment-based measures appear to have led to decreasing falls risk among post-stroke rehabilitation inpatients classified as being at high risk of falls. The fall prevention programme as a whole was successful. Patients with non-extreme level of functional independence should receive enhanced fall prevention. Implications for Rehabilitation Recognising the fall risk upon the patient's admission is essential for preventing falls in rehabilitation wards. Assessing the fall risk is a team tasks and combines information from various sources. Assessing fall risk in stroke patients using the assessment sheet by Nakagawa et al. immediately upon admission systematically draws attention to the risk of falls in each individual patient.

  13. Towards improved public awareness for climate related disaster risk reduction in South Africa: A Participatory Development Communication perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tigere Chagutah

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Southern Africa has frequently been struck by damaging climate hazards which increasingly continue to threaten sustainable development efforts. Ominously, climate models predict that the incidence of major ‘wet’ events, such as floods and cyclones will increase in frequency against the background of a changing climate. Unfortunately, local mechanisms for communicating and raising public awareness of the consequent risks and appropriate risk reduction options remain weak. At the core of policy responses to the threat posed by climate related hazards, the South African government has adopted a disaster risk reduction approach to disaster management. This article details how, among many other measures to limit the adverse impacts of natural hazards, South Africa’s National Disaster Management Framework calls for the implementation of effective public awareness activities to increase the knowledge among communities of the risks they face and what risk-minimising actions they can take. Emphasis is laid on the importance of information provision and knowledge building among at-risk communities. Citing established theories and strategies, the author proposes a participatory development communication approach through Development Support Communication strategies for the provision of disaster risk reduction public awareness activities by government and other disaster risk reduction role-players in South Africa. By way of a review of completed studies and literature, the article provides guidance on the planning and execution of successful public communication campaigns and also discusses the constraints of communication campaigns as an intervention for comprehensive disaster risk reduction.

  14. Cyber Attacks and Combat Behavior

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carataș Maria Alina

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Cyber terrorism is an intangible danger, a real over the corner threat in the life of individuals,organizations, and governments and is getting harder to deal with its damages. The motivations forthe cyber-attacks are different, depending on the terrorist group, from cybercrime to hacktivism,attacks over the authorities’ servers. Organizations constantly need to find new ways ofstrengthening protection against cyber-attacks, assess their cyber readiness, expand the resiliencecapacity and adopts international security regulations.

  15. Attacks on public telephone networks: technologies and challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  16. Defense and attack of complex and dependent systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hausken, Kjell

    2010-01-01

    A framework is constructed for how to analyze the strategic defense of an infrastructure subject to attack by a strategic attacker. Merging operations research, reliability theory, and game theory for optimal analytical impact, the optimization program for the defender and attacker is specified. Targets can be in parallel, series, combined series-parallel, complex, k-out-of-n redundancy, independent, interdependent, and dependent. The defender and attacker determine how much to invest in defending versus attacking each of multiple targets. A target can have economic, human, and symbolic values, subjectively assessed by the defender and attacker. A contest success function determines the probability of a successful attack on each target, dependent on the investments by the defender and attacker into each target, and on characteristics of the contest. The defender minimizes the expected damage plus the defense costs. The attacker maximizes the expected damage minus the attack costs. Each agent is concerned about how his investments vary across the targets, and the impact on his utilities. Interdependent systems are analyzed where the defense and attack on one target impacts all targets. Dependent systems are analyzed applying Markov analysis and repeated games where a successful attack on one target in the first period impacts the unit costs of defense and attack, and the contest intensity, for the other target in the second period.

  17. Defense and attack of complex and dependent systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hausken, Kjell, E-mail: kjell.hausken@uis.n [Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Stavanger, N-4036 Stavanger (Norway)

    2010-01-15

    A framework is constructed for how to analyze the strategic defense of an infrastructure subject to attack by a strategic attacker. Merging operations research, reliability theory, and game theory for optimal analytical impact, the optimization program for the defender and attacker is specified. Targets can be in parallel, series, combined series-parallel, complex, k-out-of-n redundancy, independent, interdependent, and dependent. The defender and attacker determine how much to invest in defending versus attacking each of multiple targets. A target can have economic, human, and symbolic values, subjectively assessed by the defender and attacker. A contest success function determines the probability of a successful attack on each target, dependent on the investments by the defender and attacker into each target, and on characteristics of the contest. The defender minimizes the expected damage plus the defense costs. The attacker maximizes the expected damage minus the attack costs. Each agent is concerned about how his investments vary across the targets, and the impact on his utilities. Interdependent systems are analyzed where the defense and attack on one target impacts all targets. Dependent systems are analyzed applying Markov analysis and repeated games where a successful attack on one target in the first period impacts the unit costs of defense and attack, and the contest intensity, for the other target in the second period.

  18. Automated Generation of Attack Trees

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vigo, Roberto; Nielson, Flemming; Nielson, Hanne Riis

    2014-01-01

    Attack trees are widely used to represent threat scenarios in a succinct and intuitive manner, suitable for conveying security information to non-experts. The manual construction of such objects relies on the creativity and experience of specialists, and therefore it is error-prone and impractica......Attack trees are widely used to represent threat scenarios in a succinct and intuitive manner, suitable for conveying security information to non-experts. The manual construction of such objects relies on the creativity and experience of specialists, and therefore it is error......-prone and impracticable for large systems. Nonetheless, the automated generation of attack trees has only been explored in connection to computer networks and levering rich models, whose analysis typically leads to an exponential blow-up of the state space. We propose a static analysis approach where attack trees...... are automatically inferred from a process algebraic specification in a syntax-directed fashion, encompassing a great many application domains and avoiding incurring systematically an exponential explosion. Moreover, we show how the standard propositional denotation of an attack tree can be used to phrase...

  19. Pareto Efficient Solutions of Attack-Defence Trees

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Aslanyan, Zaruhi; Nielson, Flemming

    2015-01-01

    Attack-defence trees are a promising approach for representing threat scenarios and possible countermeasures in a concise and intuitive manner. An attack-defence tree describes the interaction between an attacker and a defender, and is evaluated by assigning parameters to the nodes, such as proba......Attack-defence trees are a promising approach for representing threat scenarios and possible countermeasures in a concise and intuitive manner. An attack-defence tree describes the interaction between an attacker and a defender, and is evaluated by assigning parameters to the nodes......, such as probability or cost of attacks and defences. In case of multiple parameters most analytical methods optimise one parameter at a time, e.g., minimise cost or maximise probability of an attack. Such methods may lead to sub-optimal solutions when optimising conflicting parameters, e.g., minimising cost while...... maximising probability. In order to tackle this challenge, we devise automated techniques that optimise all parameters at once. Moreover, in the case of conflicting parameters our techniques compute the set of all optimal solutions, defined in terms of Pareto efficiency. The developments are carried out...

  20. Risk reduction and TQM: A corporate culture of continuous improvement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nau, D.C.

    1992-01-01

    A company supplying products and services to the nuclear industry that implements a cultural commitment to continuous improvement, in addition to providing higher quality products and services, also represents a significant reduction in operational risk to that industry. The implementation of a culture of total quality management (TQM), initiated by Sorrento Electronics (SE) in 1989, involves total commitment to the basic TQM principles: continuous improvement, people performing the work are the best sources of how to do it better, and employees must be empowered to make the improvements. What this means to the nuclear industry is a significant reduction in operational risk through: (1) products based on simpler, standardized, proven designs with established operational track records, enhancing confidence that they will perform as expected; (2) the highest confidence that products and supporting documentation are delivered with zero defects; (3) critical power plant schedules can be supported through the shortest possible equipment delivery times; (4) highly motivated employees with extremely positive attitudes, working together in cross-functional teams, virtually eliminate the possibility of deliberate product tampering or sabotage

  1. Knowledge of heart attack and stroke symptomology: a cross-sectional comparison of rural and non-rural US adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Swanoski Michael T

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Understanding the signs and symptoms of heart attacks and strokes are important not only in saving lives, but also in preserving quality of life. Findings from recent research have yielded that the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors are higher in rural populations, suggesting that adults living in rural locales may be at higher risk for heart attack and/or stroke. Knowledge of heart attack and stroke symptomology as well as calling 911 for a suspected heart attack or stroke are essential first steps in seeking care. This study sought to examine the knowledge of heart attack and stroke symptoms among rural adults in comparison to non-rural adults living in the U.S. Methods Using multivariate techniques, a cross-sectional analysis of an amalgamated multi-year Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS database was performed. The dependent variable for this analysis was low heart attack and stroke knowledge score. The covariates for the analysis were: age, sex, race/ethnicity, annual household income, attained education, health insurance status, having a health care provider (HCP, timing of last routine medical check-up, medical care deferment because of cost, self-defined health status and geographic locale. Results The weighted n for this study overall was 103,262,115 U.S. adults > =18 years of age. Approximately 22.0% of these respondents were U.S. adults living in rural locales. Logistic regression analysis revealed that those U.S. adults who had low composite heart attack and stroke knowledge scores were more likely to be rural (OR = 1.218 95%CI 1.216-1.219 rather than non-rural residents. Furthermore, those with low scores were more likely to be: male (OR = 1.353 95%CI 1.352-1.354, >65 years of age (OR = 1.369 95%CI 1.368-1.371, African American (OR = 1.892 95%CI 1.889-1.894, not educated beyond high school (OR = 1.400 955CI 1.399-1.402, uninsured (OR = 1.308 95%CI 1

  2. The effect of risk perception on public preferences and willingness to pay for reductions in the health risks posed by toxic cyanobacterial blooms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunter, Peter D; Hanley, Nick; Czajkowski, Mikołaj; Mearns, Kathryn; Tyler, Andrew N; Carvalho, Laurence; Codd, Geoffrey A

    2012-06-01

    Mass populations of toxin-producing cyanobacteria are an increasingly common occurrence in inland and coastal waters used for recreational purposes. These mass populations pose serious risks to human and animal health and impose potentially significant economic costs on society. In this study, we used contingent valuation (CV) methods to elicit public willingness to pay (WTP) for reductions in the morbidity risks posed by blooms of toxin-producing cyanobacteria in Loch Leven, Scotland. We found that 55% of respondents (68% excluding protest voters) were willing to pay for a reduction in the number of days per year (from 90, to either 45 or 0 days) that cyanobacteria pose a risk to human health at Loch Leven. The mean WTP for a risk reduction was UK£9.99-12.23/household/year estimated using a logistic spike model. In addition, using the spike model and a simultaneous equations model to control for endogeneity bias, we found the respondents' WTP was strongly dependent on socio-demographic characteristics, economic status and usage of the waterbody, but also individual-specific attitudes and perceptions towards health risks. This study demonstrates that anticipated health risk reductions are an important nonmarket benefit of improving water quality in recreational waters and should be accounted for in future cost-benefit analyses such as those being undertaken under the auspices of the European Union's Water Framework Directive, but also that such values depend on subjective perceptions of water-related health risks and general attitudes towards the environment. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Cross-site scripting attacks procedure and Prevention Strategies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wang Xijun

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Cross-site scripting attacks and defense has been the site of attack and defense is an important issue, this paper, the definition of cross-site scripting attacks, according to the current understanding of the chaos on the cross-site scripting, analyzes the causes and harm cross-site scripting attacks formation of attacks XXS complete process XSS attacks made a comprehensive analysis, and then for the web program includes Mobility there are cross-site scripting filter laxity given from ordinary users browse the web and web application developers two the defense cross-site scripting attacks effective strategy.

  4. Heart Attack Symptoms in Women

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... fat, cholesterol and other substances (plaque). Watch an animation of a heart attack . Many women think the ... Support Network Popular Articles 1 Understanding Blood Pressure Readings 2 Sodium and Salt 3 Heart Attack Symptoms ...

  5. On the anatomy of social engineering attacks : A literature-based dissection of successful attacks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bullee, Jan-Willem; Montoya, L.; Pieters, Wolter; Junger, Marianne; Hartel, Pieter H.

    The aim of this studywas to explore the extent towhich persuasion principles are used in successful social engineering attacks. Seventy-four scenarioswere extracted from 4 books on social engineering (written by social engineers) and analysed. Each scenariowas split into attack steps, containing

  6. Disaster Risk Reduction through school learners’ awareness and preparedness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takalani S. Rambau

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available In 2006, the ISDR (International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (2007 initiated a campaign called Disaster Risk Reduction Begins at School to encourage the integration of disaster risk education into school curricula in countries vulnerable to disasters. A study was initiated to determine how education, in particular curriculum development and teaching, contributes to South African learners’ hazard awareness and disaster preparedness. Mixed method research (consisting of questionnaires, interviews and document reviews was done to collect data. 150 educators from Gauteng, the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, North West and the Eastern Cape completed questionnaires. Five curriculum coordinators, three disaster specialists and two disaster lecturers were interviewed to record their perspectives. The first finding of the study was that the majority of educators, disaster specialists and curriculum coordinators identified floods, fire, droughts, epidemics, road accidents and storms as the most prevalent disasters in the country. The second finding from the literature and empirical data collection revealed that South African communities, particularly people residing in informal settlements and other poor areas, are more vulnerable to disasters than their counterparts in more affluent areas. The third finding of the study was that teaching learners about hazards and disasters is vital and must be expanded.

  7. Preferences for breast cancer risk reduction among BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation carriers: a discrete-choice experiment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liede, Alexander; Mansfield, Carol A; Metcalfe, Kelly A; Price, Melanie A; Snyder, Carrie; Lynch, Henry T; Friedman, Sue; Amelio, Justyna; Posner, Joshua; Narod, Steven A; Lindeman, Geoffrey J; Evans, D Gareth

    2017-09-01

    Unaffected women who carry BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations face difficult choices about reducing their breast cancer risk. Understanding their treatment preferences could help us improve patient counseling and inform drug trials. The objective was to explore preferences for various risk-reducing options among women with germline BRCA1/2 mutations using a discrete-choice experiment survey and to compare expressed preferences with actual behaviors. A discrete-choice experiment survey was designed wherein women choose between hypothetical treatments to reduce breast cancer risk. The hypothetical treatments were characterized by the extent of breast cancer risk reduction, treatment duration, impact on fertility, hormone levels, risk of uterine cancer, and ease and mode of administration. Data were analyzed using a random-parameters logit model. Women were also asked to express their preference between surgical and chemoprevention options and to report on their actual risk-reduction actions. Women aged 25-55 years with germline BRCA1/2 mutations who were unaffected with breast or ovarian cancer were recruited through research registries at five clinics and a patient advocacy group. Between January 2015 and March 2016, 622 women completed the survey. Breast cancer risk reduction was the most important consideration expressed, followed by maintaining fertility. Among the subset of women who wished to have children in future, the ability to maintain fertility was the most important factor, followed by the extent of risk reduction. Many more women said they would take a chemoprevention drug than had actually taken chemoprevention. Women with BRCA1/2 mutations indicated strong preferences for breast cancer risk reduction and maintaining fertility. The expressed desire to have a safe chemoprevention drug available to them was not met by current chemoprevention options.

  8. Levelized cost-risk reduction prioritization of waste disposal options

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilkinson, V.K.; Young, J.M.

    1992-01-01

    The prioritization of solid waste disposal options in terms of reduced risk to workers, the public, and the environment has recently generated considerable governmental and public interest. In this paper we address the development of a methodology to establish priorities for waste disposal options, such as incineration, landfills, long-term storage, waste minimization, etc. The study is one result of an overall project to develop methodologies for Probabilistic Risk Assessments (PRAs) of non-reactor nuclear facilities for the US Department of Energy. Option preferences are based on a levelized cost-risk reduction analysis. Option rankings are developed as functions of disposal option cost and timing, relative long- and short-term risks, and possible accident scenarios. We examine the annual costs and risks for each option over a large number of years. Risk, in this paper, is defined in terms of annual fatalities (both prompt and long-term) and environmental restoration costs that might result from either an accidental release or long-term exposure to both plant workers and the public near the site or facility. We use event timing to weigh both costs and risks; near-term costs and risks are discounted less than future expenditures and fatalities. This technique levels the timing of cash flows and benefits by converting future costs and benefits to present value costs and benefits. We give an example Levelized Cost-Benefit Analysis of incinerator location options to demonstrate the methodology and required data

  9. A practical approach to assess depression risk and to guide risk reduction strategies in later life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Almeida, Osvaldo P; Alfonso, Helman; Pirkis, Jane; Kerse, Ngaire; Sim, Moira; Flicker, Leon; Snowdon, John; Draper, Brian; Byrne, Gerard; Goldney, Robert; Lautenschlager, Nicola T; Stocks, Nigel; Scazufca, Marcia; Huisman, Martijn; Araya, Ricardo; Pfaff, Jon

    2011-03-01

    Many factors have been associated with the onset and maintenance of depressive symptoms in later life, although this knowledge is yet to be translated into significant health gains for the population. This study gathered information about common modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors for depression with the aim of developing a practical probabilistic model of depression that can be used to guide risk reduction strategies. A cross-sectional study was undertaken of 20,677 community-dwelling Australians aged 60 years or over in contact with their general practitioner during the preceding 12 months. Prevalent depression (minor or major) according to the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) assessment was the main outcome of interest. Other measured exposures included self-reported age, gender, education, loss of mother or father before age 15 years, physical or sexual abuse before age 15 years, marital status, financial stress, social support, smoking and alcohol use, physical activity, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and prevalent cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases and cancer. The mean age of participants was 71.7 ± 7.6 years and 57.9% were women. Depression was present in 1665 (8.0%) of our subjects. Multivariate logistic regression showed depression was independently associated with age older than 75 years, childhood adverse experiences, adverse lifestyle practices (smoking, risk alcohol use, physical inactivity), intermediate health hazards (obesity, diabetes and hypertension), comorbid medical conditions (clinical history of coronary heart disease, stroke, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema or cancers), and social or financial strain. We stratified the exposures to build a matrix that showed that the probability of depression increased progressively with the accumulation of risk factors, from less than 3% for those with no adverse factors to more than 80% for people reporting the maximum number of risk factors. Our

  10. DDOS ATTACK DETECTION SIMULATION AND HANDLING MECHANISM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmad Sanmorino

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available In this study we discuss how to handle DDoS attack that coming from the attacker by using detection method and handling mechanism. Detection perform by comparing number of packets and number of flow. Whereas handling mechanism perform by limiting or drop the packets that detected as a DDoS attack. The study begins with simulation on real network, which aims to get the real traffic data. Then, dump traffic data obtained from the simulation used for detection method on our prototype system called DASHM (DDoS Attack Simulation and Handling Mechanism. From the result of experiment that has been conducted, the proposed method successfully detect DDoS attack and handle the incoming packet sent by attacker.

  11. Model checking exact cost for attack scenarios

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Aslanyan, Zaruhi; Nielson, Flemming

    2017-01-01

    Attack trees constitute a powerful tool for modelling security threats. Many security analyses of attack trees can be seamlessly expressed as model checking of Markov Decision Processes obtained from the attack trees, thus reaping the benefits of a coherent framework and a mature tool support....... However, current model checking does not encompass the exact cost analysis of an attack, which is standard for attack trees. Our first contribution is the logic erPCTL with cost-related operators. The extended logic allows to analyse the probability of an event satisfying given cost bounds and to compute...... the exact cost of an event. Our second contribution is the model checking algorithm for erPCTL. Finally, we apply our framework to the analysis of attack trees....

  12. A text message intervention for alcohol risk reduction among community college students: TMAP.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bock, Beth C; Barnett, Nancy P; Thind, Herpreet; Rosen, Rochelle; Walaska, Kristen; Traficante, Regina; Foster, Robert; Deutsch, Chris; Fava, Joseph L; Scott-Sheldon, Lori A J

    2016-12-01

    Students at community colleges comprise nearly half of all U.S. college students and show higher risk of heavy drinking and related consequences compared to students at 4-year colleges, but no alcohol safety programs currently target this population. To examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of an alcohol risk-reduction program delivered through text messaging designed for community college (CC) students. Heavy drinking adult CC students (N=60) were enrolled and randomly assigned to the six-week active intervention (Text Message Alcohol Program: TMAP) or a control condition of general motivational (not alcohol related) text messages. TMAP text messages consisted of alcohol facts, strategies to limit alcohol use and related risks, and motivational messages. Assessments were conducted at baseline, week 6 (end of treatment) and week 12 (follow up). Most participants (87%) completed all follow up assessments. Intervention messages received an average rating of 6.8 (SD=1.5) on a 10-point scale. At week six, TMAP participants were less likely than controls to report heavy drinking and negative alcohol consequences. The TMAP group also showed significant increases in self-efficacy to resist drinking in high risk situations between baseline and week six, with no such increase among controls. Results were maintained through the week 12 follow up. The TMAP alcohol risk reduction program was feasible and highly acceptable indicated by high retention rates through the final follow up assessment and good ratings for the text message content. Reductions in multiple outcomes provide positive indications of intervention efficacy. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  13. A Dutch Perspective on Coastal Louisiana Flood Risk Reduction and Landscape Stabilization

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Dijkman, Jos

    2007-01-01

    .... The project was aimed at identifying options for the long-term reduction of flood risks and landscape stabilization in Planning Areas I and 2 in Louisiana, in the framework of the Louisiana Coastal...

  14. NETWORK SECURITY ATTACKS. ARP POISONING CASE STUDY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luminiţa DEFTA

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Arp poisoning is one of the most common attacks in a switched network. A switch is a network device that limits the ability of attackers that use a packet sniffer to gain access to information from internal network traffic. However, using ARP poisoning the traffic between two computers can be intercepted even in a network that uses switches. This method is known as man in the middle attack. With this type of attack the affected stations from a network will have invalid entries in the ARP table. Thus, it will contain only the correspondence between the IP addresses of the stations from the same network and a single MAC address (the station that initiated the attack. In this paper we present step by step the initiation of such an attack in a network with three computers. We will intercept the traffic between two stations using the third one (the attacker.

  15. Theoretical framework to study exercise motivation for breast cancer risk reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, Maureen E

    2008-01-01

    To identify an appropriate theoretical framework to study exercise motivation for breast cancer risk reduction among high-risk women. An extensive review of the literature was conducted to gather relevant information pertaining to the Health Promotion Model, self-determination theory, social cognitive theory, Health Belief Model, Transtheoretical Model, theory of planned behavior, and protection motivation theory. An iterative approach was used to summarize the literature related to exercise motivation within each theoretical framework. Protection motivation theory could be used to examine the effects of perceived risk and self-efficacy in motivating women to exercise to facilitate health-related behavioral change. Evidence-based research within a chosen theoretical model can aid practitioners when making practical recommendations to reduce breast cancer risk.

  16. Polymorphic Attacks and Network Topology: Application of Concepts from Natural Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rangan, Prahalad

    2010-01-01

    The growing complexity of interactions between computers and networks makes the subject of network security a very interesting one. As our dependence on the services provided by computing networks grows, so does our investment in such technology. In this situation, there is a greater risk of occurrence of targeted malicious attacks on computers…

  17. Beyond the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction: Vulnerability Reduction as a Challenge Involving Historical and Traditional Buildings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valentina Pica

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available In observance of the international procedures on disaster risk management, and in particular the Sendai Framework (2015, this research focuses on how more specific procedures related to it can be made effective in the treatment of historic areas worldwide. Disaster risk management is now viewed as being important in the context of historic buildings, as they are strongly related to cultural identity as well as to resilient communities, and can have a large impact on local economies. The study points out that cultural heritage might be the core field of action for capacity building in less vulnerable places, and that its protection is one of the main tasks to attend to in order to achieve the goal of vulnerability reduction. The paper also aims to answer questions such as: which actions could allow better protection of cultural heritage? Is it correct to involve local communities in reconstruction plans by capacity building and self-managed projects? How have reconstruction plans been managed recently worldwide? By further developing the applicability of the priority areas of action of the Sendai Framework, the research illustrates critical points and best practices that will hopefully support disaster risk reduction based on strategic management and remote monitoring, involving technologies and social participation.

  18. Understanding How Components of Organisations Contribute to Attacks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gu, Min; Aslanyan, Zaruhi; Probst, Christian W.

    2016-01-01

    Attacks on organisations today explore many different layers, including buildings infrastructure, IT infrastructure, and human factor – the physical, virtual, and social layer. Identifying possible attacks, understanding their impact, and attributing their origin and contributing factors is diffi......Attacks on organisations today explore many different layers, including buildings infrastructure, IT infrastructure, and human factor – the physical, virtual, and social layer. Identifying possible attacks, understanding their impact, and attributing their origin and contributing factors...... is difficult. Recently, system models have been used for automatically identifying possible attacks on the modelled organisation. The generated attacks consider all three layers, making the contribution of building infrastructure, computer infrastructure, and humans (insiders and outsiders) explicit. However......, this contribution is only visible in the attack trees as part of the performed steps; it cannot be mapped back to the model directly since the actions usually involve several elements (attacker and targeted actor or asset). Especially for large attack trees, understanding the relations between several model...

  19. A Novel Friendly Jamming Scheme in Industrial Crowdsensing Networks against Eavesdropping Attack.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xuran; Wang, Qiu; Dai, Hong-Ning; Wang, Hao

    2018-06-14

    Eavesdropping attack is one of the most serious threats in industrial crowdsensing networks. In this paper, we propose a novel anti-eavesdropping scheme by introducing friendly jammers to an industrial crowdsensing network. In particular, we establish a theoretical framework considering both the probability of eavesdropping attacks and the probability of successful transmission to evaluate the effectiveness of our scheme. Our framework takes into account various channel conditions such as path loss, Rayleigh fading, and the antenna type of friendly jammers. Our results show that using jammers in industrial crowdsensing networks can effectively reduce the eavesdropping risk while having no significant influence on legitimate communications.

  20. Scenario-based approach to risk analysis in support of cyber security

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gertman, D. I.; Folkers, R.; Roberts, J. [Idaho National Laboratory, Roberts and Folkers Associates, LLC, Idaho Falls, ID 83404 (United States)

    2006-07-01

    control systems, perpetrators will attempt to control and defeat automation systems, engineering access, control systems and protective systems implemented in today's critical infrastructures. Major systems such as supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are likely targets for attack. Not all attack scenarios have the same expected frequency or consequence. The attacks will be directed and structured and thus, are not be characterized as random events when one considers failure probabilities. Attack types differ in their consequence as a function of the probability associated with various sub events in the presence of specific system configurations. Ideally, a series of generic scenarios can be identified for each of the major critical infrastructure (CI) sectors. A scenario-based approach to risk assessment allows decision makers to place financial and personnel resources in-place for attacks that truly matter: e.g. attacks that generate physical and economic damage. The use of scenario-based analysis allows risk reduction goals to be informed by more than consequence analysis alone. The key CI targets used in the present study were identified previously as part of a mid-level consequence analysis performed at INL by the Control System Security Program (CSSP) for the National Cyber Security Div. (NCSD) of the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS). This paper discusses the process for and results associated with the development of scenario-based cyber attacks upon control systems including the information and personnel requirements for scenario development. Challenges to scenario development including completeness and uncertainty characterization are discussed as well. Further, the scenario discussed herein, is one of a number of scenarios for infrastructures currently under review. (authors)

  1. Scenario-based approach to risk analysis in support of cyber security

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gertman, D. I.; Folkers, R.; Roberts, J.

    2006-01-01

    control systems, perpetrators will attempt to control and defeat automation systems, engineering access, control systems and protective systems implemented in today's critical infrastructures. Major systems such as supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are likely targets for attack. Not all attack scenarios have the same expected frequency or consequence. The attacks will be directed and structured and thus, are not be characterized as random events when one considers failure probabilities. Attack types differ in their consequence as a function of the probability associated with various sub events in the presence of specific system configurations. Ideally, a series of generic scenarios can be identified for each of the major critical infrastructure (CI) sectors. A scenario-based approach to risk assessment allows decision makers to place financial and personnel resources in-place for attacks that truly matter: e.g. attacks that generate physical and economic damage. The use of scenario-based analysis allows risk reduction goals to be informed by more than consequence analysis alone. The key CI targets used in the present study were identified previously as part of a mid-level consequence analysis performed at INL by the Control System Security Program (CSSP) for the National Cyber Security Div. (NCSD) of the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS). This paper discusses the process for and results associated with the development of scenario-based cyber attacks upon control systems including the information and personnel requirements for scenario development. Challenges to scenario development including completeness and uncertainty characterization are discussed as well. Further, the scenario discussed herein, is one of a number of scenarios for infrastructures currently under review. (authors)

  2. Attack Graph Construction for Security Events Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrey Alexeevich Chechulin

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The paper is devoted to investigation of the attack graphs construction and analysis task for a network security evaluation and real-time security event processing. Main object of this research is the attack modeling process. The paper contains the description of attack graphs building, modifying and analysis technique as well as overview of implemented prototype for network security analysis based on attack graph approach.

  3. Automated Discovery of Mimicry Attacks

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Giffin, Jonathon T; Jha, Somesh; Miller, Barton P

    2006-01-01

    .... These systems are useful only if they detect actual attacks. Previous research developed manually-constructed mimicry and evasion attacks that avoided detection by hiding a malicious series of system calls within a valid sequence allowed by the model...

  4. Evaluation of severe accident risks and the potential for risk reduction: Surry Power Station, Unit 1: Draft report for comment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benjamin, A.S.; Boyd, G.J.; Kunsman, D.M.; Murfin, W.B.; Williams, D.C.

    1987-02-01

    The Severe Accident Risk Reduction Program (SARRP) has completed a rebaselining of the risks to the public from a particular pressurized water reactor with a subatmospheric containment (Surry, Unit 1). Emphasis was placed on determining the magnitude and character of the uncertainties, rather than focusing on a point estimate. The risk-reduction potential of a set of proposed safety option backfits was also studied, and their costs and benefits were also evaluated. It was found that the risks from internal events are generally lower than previously evaluated in the Reactor Safety Study (RSS). However, certain unresolved issues (such as direct containment heating) caused the top of the uncertainty band to appear at a level that is comparable with the RSS point estimate. None of the postulated safety options appears to be cost effective for the Surry power plant. This work supports the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's assessment of severe accidents in NUREG-1150

  5. Evaluation of severe accident risks and the potential for risk reduction: Surry Power Station, Unit 1: Draft report for comment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Benjamin, A.S.; Boyd, G.J.; Kunsman, D.M.; Murfin, W.B.; Williams, D.C.

    1987-02-01

    The Severe Accident Risk Reduction Program (SARRP) has completed a rebaselining of the risks to the public from a particular pressurized water reactor with a subatmospheric containment (Surry, Unit 1). Emphasis was placed on determining the magnitude and character of the uncertainties, rather than focusing on a point estimate. The risk-reduction potential of a set of proposed safety option backfits was also studied, and their costs and benefits were also evaluated. It was found that the risks from internal events are generally lower than previously evaluated in the Reactor Safety Study (RSS). However, certain unresolved issues (such as direct containment heating) caused the top of the uncertainty band to appear at a level that is comparable with the RSS point estimate. None of the postulated safety options appears to be cost effective for the Surry power plant. This work supports the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's assessment of severe accidents in NUREG-1150.

  6. Periodic Limb Movements and White Matter Hyperintensities in First-Ever Minor Stroke or High-Risk Transient Ischemic Attack.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boulos, Mark I; Murray, Brian J; Muir, Ryan T; Gao, Fuqiang; Szilagyi, Gregory M; Huroy, Menal; Kiss, Alexander; Walters, Arthur S; Black, Sandra E; Lim, Andrew S; Swartz, Richard H

    2017-03-01

    Emerging evidence suggests that periodic limb movements (PLMs) may contribute to the development of cerebrovascular disease. White matter hyperintensities (WMHs), a widely accepted biomarker for cerebral small vessel disease, are associated with incident stroke and death. We evaluated the association between increased PLM indices and WMH burden in patients presenting with stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), while controlling for vascular risk factors and stroke severity. Thirty patients presenting within 2 weeks of a first-ever minor stroke or high-risk TIA were prospectively recruited. PLM severity was measured with polysomnography. WMH burden was quantified using the Age Related White Matter Changes (ARWMC) scale based on neuroimaging. Partial Spearman's rank-order correlations and multiple linear regression models tested the association between WMH burden and PLM severity. Greater WMH burden was correlated with elevated PLM index and stroke volume. Partial Spearman's rank-order correlations demonstrated that the relationship between WMH burden and PLM index persisted despite controlling for vascular risk factors. Multivariate linear regression models revealed that PLM index was a significant predictor of an elevated ARWMC score while controlling for age, stroke volume, stroke severity, hypertension, and apnea-hypopnea index. The quantity of PLMs was associated with WMH burden in patients with first-ever minor stroke or TIA. PLMs may be a risk factor for or marker of WMH burden, even after considering vascular risk factors and stroke severity. These results invite further investigation of PLMs as a potentially useful target to reduce WMH and stroke burden. © Sleep Research Society (SRS) 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

  7. Reduction of risk level as one of the main challenges of development in covered karst regions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Makhnatov Stanislav A.

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper describes the experience of application of the residual karst risk concept, and presents coefficients of karst risk level reduction for planning constructional karst-protection. Practical experience of design for karstified territories of Nizhny Novgorod region demonstrates that special research of the interaction between constructions and foundations is required. Numerous accidents can serve vivid examples proving the need. I2n this situation it is important to approach the issue of safety in a proper way, taking into account probable economic, environmental and social damage. The problem can be solved by introduction of the karst risk level parameter, which permits to take into consideration constructional characteristics of objects (design philosophy, service life, as well as conditions and mechanisms of interaction between the foundation and the construction (sinkholes, local subsidence, karst-suffosion deformations, etc.. The importance of risk reduction is highlighted by current Russian Federal laws. Depending on karst risk level adequate karst-protection should be performed. For building projects, reduction of karst risk to a permissible level (conventionally equal to 1 is one of the most important research challenges of the karstified territories development, and its solution permits to plan appropriate karst protection measures.

  8. Transforming Graphical System Models to Graphical Attack Models

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ivanova, Marieta Georgieva; Probst, Christian W.; Hansen, Rene Rydhof

    2016-01-01

    Manually identifying possible attacks on an organisation is a complex undertaking; many different factors must be considered, and the resulting attack scenarios can be complex and hard to maintain as the organisation changes. System models provide a systematic representation of organisations...... approach to transforming graphical system models to graphical attack models in the form of attack trees. Based on an asset in the model, our transformations result in an attack tree that represents attacks by all possible actors in the model, after which the actor in question has obtained the asset....

  9. Merging Cultural Heritage Assessments with Risk Reduction and Disaster Recovery

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bojsen, Ann Kristina Mikkelsen

    heritage. These limitations serve as motivation for the introduction of the ACTOR framework (Assessing Cultural Threats, Obstacles and Resilience) ACTOR aims at merging cultural heritage assessments with risk reduction and disaster recovery, and provide disaster management students with a learning......Abstract There is a general professional consensus that vulnerability and risk assessments are crucial tasks in any serious attempt to substantially reduce disaster losses and enhance the reconciliation or recovery in the post event phase. However, cultural heritage is often considered...... as an overarching element that should be assessed, rather than a permanent key component of the assessments. Research in disaster management noticeably illustrates how cultural heritage is increasingly at risk from disasters caused by natural and human-made hazards, as well as the effects of climate change. Still...

  10. Historic Landslide Data Combined with Sentinel Satellite Data to Improve Modelling for Disaster Risk Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bye, B. L.; Kontoes, C.; Catarino, N.; De Lathouwer, B.; Concalves, P.; Meyer-Arnek, J.; Mueller, A.; Kraft, C.; Grosso, N.; Goor, E.; Voidrot, M. F.; Trypitsidis, A.

    2017-12-01

    Landslides are geohazards potentially resulting in disasters. Landslides both vary enormously in their distribution in space and time. The surface deformation varies considerably from one type of instability to another. Individual ground instabilities may have a common trigger (extreme rainfall, earthquake), and therefore occur alongside many equivalent occurrences over a large area. This means that they can have a significant regional impact demanding national and international disaster risk reduction strategies. Regional impacts require collaboration across boarders as reflected in The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030). The data demands related to the SDGs are unprecedented, another factor that will require coordinated efforts at the global, regional and national levels. Data of good quality are vital for governments, international organizations, civil society, the private sector and the general public in order to make informed decisions, included for disaster risk reduction. The NextGEOSS project evolves the European vision of a user driven GEOSS data exploitation for innovation and business, relying on 3 main pillars; engaging communities of practice, delivering technological advancements, and advocating the use of GEOSS. These 3 pillars support the creation and deployment of Earth observation based innovative research activities and commercial services. In this presentation we will explain how one of the 10 NextGEOSS pilots, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), plan to provide an enhanced multi-hazard risk assessment framework based on statistical analysis of long time series of data. Landslide events monitoring and landslides susceptibility estimation will be emphazised. Workflows will be based on models developed in the context of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service. Data envisaged to be used are: Radar SAR data; Yearly ground deformation/velocities; Historic landslide inventory; data related to topographic, geological, hydrological

  11. When Sinuses Attack! (For Kids)

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... First Aid & Safety Doctors & Hospitals Videos Recipes for Kids Kids site Sitio para niños How the Body Works ... Search English Español When Sinuses Attack! KidsHealth / For Kids / When Sinuses Attack! What's in this article? What ...

  12. Intelligent Intrusion Detection of Grey Hole and Rushing Attacks in Self-Driving Vehicular Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khattab M. Ali Alheeti

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs play a vital role in the success of self-driving and semi self-driving vehicles, where they improve safety and comfort. Such vehicles depend heavily on external communication with the surrounding environment via data control and Cooperative Awareness Messages (CAMs exchanges. VANETs are potentially exposed to a number of attacks, such as grey hole, black hole, wormhole and rushing attacks. This work presents an intelligent Intrusion Detection System (IDS that relies on anomaly detection to protect the external communication system from grey hole and rushing attacks. These attacks aim to disrupt the transmission between vehicles and roadside units. The IDS uses features obtained from a trace file generated in a network simulator and consists of a feed-forward neural network and a support vector machine. Additionally, the paper studies the use of a novel systematic response, employed to protect the vehicle when it encounters malicious behaviour. Our simulations of the proposed detection system show that the proposed schemes possess outstanding detection rates with a reduction in false alarms. This safe mode response system has been evaluated using four performance metrics, namely, received packets, packet delivery ratio, dropped packets and the average end to end delay, under both normal and abnormal conditions.

  13. NASA Propulsion Concept Studies and Risk Reduction Activities for Resource Prospector Lander

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trinh, Huu P.; Williams, Hunter; Burnside, Chris

    2015-01-01

    The trade study has led to the selection of propulsion concept with the lowest cost and net lowest risk -Government-owned, flight qualified components -Meet mission requirements although the configuration is not optimized. Risk reduction activities have provided an opportunity -Implement design improvements while development with the early-test approach. -Gain knowledge on the operation and identify operation limit -Data to anchor analytical models for future flight designs; The propulsion system cold flow tests series have provided valuable data for future design. -The pressure surge from the system priming and waterhammer within component operation limits. -Enable to optimize the ullage volume to reduce the propellant tank mass; RS-34 hot fire tests have successfully demonstrated of using the engines for the RP mission -No degradation of performance due to extended storage life of the hardware. -Enable to operate the engine for RP flight mission scenarios, outside of the qualification regime. -Provide extended data for the thermal and GNC designs. Significant progress has been made on NASA propulsion concept design and risk reductions for Resource Prospector lander.

  14. Reduction of cancer risk by optimization of Computed Tomography head protocols: far eastern Cuban experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller Clemente, R.; Adame Brooks, D.; Lores Guevara, M.; Perez Diaz, M.; Arias Garlobo, M. L.; Ortega Rodriguez, O.; Nepite Haber, R.; Grinnan Hernandez, O.; Guillama Llosas, A.

    2015-01-01

    The cancer risk estimation constitutes one way for the evaluation of the public health, regarding computed tomography (CT) exposures. Starting from the hypothesis that the optimization of CT protocols would reduce significantly the added cancer risk, the purpose of this research was the application of optimization strategies regarding head CT protocols, in order to reduce the factors affecting the risk of induced cancer. The applied systemic approach included technological and human components, represented by quantitative physical factors. the volumetric kerma indexes, compared with respect to standard, optimized and reference values, were evaluated with multiple means comparison method. The added cancer risk resulted from the application of the methodology for biological effects evaluation, at low doses with low Linear Energy Transfer. Human observers in all scenarios evaluated the image quality. the reduced dose was significantly lower than for standard head protocols and reference levels, where: (1) for pediatric patients, by using an Automatic Exposure Control system, a reduction of 31% compared with standard protocol and ages range of 10-14, and (2) adults, using a Bilateral Filter for images obtained at low doses of 62% from those of standard head protocol. The risk reduction was higher than 25%. The systemic approach used allows the effective identification of factors involved on cancer risk related with exposures to CT. The combination of dose modulation and image restoration with Bilateral Filter, provide a significantly reduction of cancer risk, with acceptable diagnostic image quality. (Author)

  15. Software-based Microarchitectural Attacks

    OpenAIRE

    Gruss, Daniel

    2017-01-01

    Modern processors are highly optimized systems where every single cycle of computation time matters. Many optimizations depend on the data that is being processed. Software-based microarchitectural attacks exploit effects of these optimizations. Microarchitectural side-channel attacks leak secrets from cryptographic computations, from general purpose computations, or from the kernel. This leakage even persists across all common isolation boundaries, such as processes, containers, and virtual ...

  16. Attack and Vulnerability Penetration Testing: FreeBSD

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdul Hanan Abdullah

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Computer system security has become a major concern over the past few years. Attacks, threasts or intrusions, against computer system and network have become commonplace events. However, there are some system devices and other tools that are available to overcome the threat of these attacks. Currently, cyber attack is a major research and inevitable. This paper presents some steps of penetration in FreeBSD operating system, some tools and new steps to attack used in this experiment, probes for reconnaissance, guessing password via brute force, gaining privilege access and flooding victim machine to decrease availability. All these attacks were executed and infiltrate within the environment of Intrusion Threat Detection Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (ITD UTM data set. This work is expected to be a reference for practitioners to prepare their systems from Internet attacks.

  17. Triggers of acute attacks of gout, does age of gout onset matter? A primary care based cross-sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abhishek, Abhishek; Valdes, Ana M; Jenkins, Wendy; Zhang, Weiya; Doherty, Michael

    2017-01-01

    To determine the proportion of people with gout who self-report triggers of acute attacks; identify the commonly reported triggers, and examine the disease and demographic features associated with self-reporting any trigger(s) of acute attacks of gout. Individuals with gout were asked to fill a questionnaire enquiring about triggers that precipitated their acute gout attacks. Binary logistic regression was used to compute odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) to examine the association between having ≥1 self-reported trigger of acute gout and disease and demographic risk factors and to adjust for covariates. All statistical analyses were performed using STATA. 550 participants returned completed questionnaires. 206 (37.5%) reported at least one trigger of acute attacks, and less than 5% reported >2 triggers. Only 28.73% participants reported that their most recent gout attack was triggered by dietary or lifestyle risk factors. The most frequently self-reported triggers were alcohol intake (14.18%), red-meat or sea-food consumption (6%), dehydration (4.91%), injury or excess activity (4.91%), and excessively warm or cold weather (4.36% and 5.45%). Patients who had onset of gout before the age of 50 years were significantly more likely to identify a trigger for precipitating their acute gout attacks (aOR (95%CI) 1.73 (1.12-2.68) after adjusting for covariates. Most people with gout do not identify any triggers for acute attacks, and identifiable triggers are more common in those with young onset gout. Less than 20% people self-reported acute gout attacks from conventionally accepted triggers of gout e.g. alcohol, red-meat intake, while c.5% reported novel triggers such as dehydration, injury or physical activity, and weather extremes.

  18. Superposition Attacks on Cryptographic Protocols

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Damgård, Ivan Bjerre; Funder, Jakob Løvstad; Nielsen, Jesper Buus

    2011-01-01

    of information. In this paper, we introduce a fundamentally new model of quantum attacks on classical cryptographic protocols, where the adversary is allowed to ask several classical queries in quantum superposition. This is a strictly stronger attack than the standard one, and we consider the security......Attacks on classical cryptographic protocols are usually modeled by allowing an adversary to ask queries from an oracle. Security is then defined by requiring that as long as the queries satisfy some constraint, there is some problem the adversary cannot solve, such as compute a certain piece...... of several primitives in this model. We show that a secret-sharing scheme that is secure with threshold $t$ in the standard model is secure against superposition attacks if and only if the threshold is lowered to $t/2$. We use this result to give zero-knowledge proofs for all of NP in the common reference...

  19. Resilience and disaster risk reduction: an etymological journey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexander, D. E.

    2013-04-01

    This paper examines the development over historical time of the meaning and uses of the term resilience. The objective is to deepen our understanding of how the term came to be adopted in disaster risk reduction and resolve some of the conflicts and controversies that have arisen when it has been used. The paper traces the development of resilience through the sciences, humanities, and legal and political spheres. It considers how mechanics passed the word to ecology and psychology, and how from there it was adopted by social research and sustainability science. As other authors have noted, as a concept, resilience involves some potentially serious conflicts or contradictions, for example between stability and dynamism, or between dynamic equilibrium (homeostasis) and evolution. Moreover, although the resilience concept works quite well within the confines of General Systems Theory, in situations in which a systems formulation inhibits rather than fosters explanation, a different interpretation of the term is warranted. This may be the case for disaster risk reduction, which involves transformation rather than preservation of the ''state of the system''. The article concludes that the modern conception of resilience derives benefit from a rich history of meanings and applications, but that it is dangerous - or at least potentially disappointing - to read to much into the term as a model and a paradigm. Sagitta in lapidem numquam figitur, interdum resiliens percutit dirigentem. ("An arrow never lodges in a stone: often it recoils upon its sender.") St. John Chrysostom (c. 347-407), Archbishop of Constantinople.

  20. Risk reduction and the privatization option: First principles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bjornstad, D.J.; Jones, D.W.; Russell, M.; Cummings, R.C.; Valdez, G.; Duemmer, C.L.

    1997-01-01

    The Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (EM) faces a challenging mission. To increase efficiency, EM is undertaking a number of highly innovative initiatives--two of which are of particular importance to the present study. One is the 2006 Plan, a planning and budgeting process that seeks to convert the clean-up program from a temporally and fiscally open-ended endeavor to a strictly bounded one, with firm commitments over a decade-long horizon. The second is a major overhauling of the management and contracting practices that define the relationship between the Department and the private sector, aimed at cost reduction by increasing firms' responsibilities and profit opportunities and reducing DOE's direct participation in management practices and decisions. The goal of this paper is to provide an independent perspective on how EM should create new management practices to deal with private sector partners that are motivated by financial incentives. It seeks to ground this perspective in real world concerns--the background of the clean-up effort, the very difficult technical challenges it faces, the very real threats to environment, health and safety that have now been juxtaposed with financial drivers, and the constraints imposed by government's unique business practices and public responsibilities. The approach is to raise issues through application of first principles. The paper is targeted at the EM policy officer who must implement the joint visions of the 2006 plan and privatization within the context of the tradeoff between terminal risk reduction and interim risk management

  1. Risk reduction and the privatization option: First principles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bjornstad, D.J.; Jones, D.W.; Russell, M. [Joint Inst. for Energy and Environment, Knoxville, TN (United States); Cummings, R.C.; Valdez, G. [Georgia State Univ., Atlanta, GA (United States); Duemmer, C.L. [Hull, Duemmer and Garland (United States)

    1997-06-25

    The Department of Energy`s Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (EM) faces a challenging mission. To increase efficiency, EM is undertaking a number of highly innovative initiatives--two of which are of particular importance to the present study. One is the 2006 Plan, a planning and budgeting process that seeks to convert the clean-up program from a temporally and fiscally open-ended endeavor to a strictly bounded one, with firm commitments over a decade-long horizon. The second is a major overhauling of the management and contracting practices that define the relationship between the Department and the private sector, aimed at cost reduction by increasing firms` responsibilities and profit opportunities and reducing DOE`s direct participation in management practices and decisions. The goal of this paper is to provide an independent perspective on how EM should create new management practices to deal with private sector partners that are motivated by financial incentives. It seeks to ground this perspective in real world concerns--the background of the clean-up effort, the very difficult technical challenges it faces, the very real threats to environment, health and safety that have now been juxtaposed with financial drivers, and the constraints imposed by government`s unique business practices and public responsibilities. The approach is to raise issues through application of first principles. The paper is targeted at the EM policy officer who must implement the joint visions of the 2006 plan and privatization within the context of the tradeoff between terminal risk reduction and interim risk management.

  2. Attacks and Intrusion Detection in Cloud Computing Using Neural Networks and Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmad Shokuh Saljoughi

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Today, cloud computing has become popular among users in organizations and companies. Security and efficiency are the two major issues facing cloud service providers and their customers. Since cloud computing is a virtual pool of resources provided in an open environment (Internet, cloud-based services entail security risks. Detection of intrusions and attacks through unauthorized users is one of the biggest challenges for both cloud service providers and cloud users. In the present study, artificial intelligence techniques, e.g. MLP Neural Network sand particle swarm optimization algorithm, were used to detect intrusion and attacks. The methods were tested for NSL-KDD, KDD-CUP datasets. The results showed improved accuracy in detecting attacks and intrusions by unauthorized users.

  3. Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy: A Long Term Follow-up Shows Benefit with Risk Factor Reduction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Koroush Khalighi

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Only sparse data was available on long-term of Takotusbo Cardiomyopathy (TC. Previous studies suggested prognosis is not necessarily benign. We report the long-term follow-up of 12 TC patients actively managed with risk factor reduction. Retrospective analysis of all patients diagnosed with TC at our hospital between 1998 and 2010. We identified 12 patients with TC among 1651 cases of emergent left heart catheterization over 12 years. Mean follow-up time was 8.3 ± 3.6 years. All were female, 87% had hypertension, 25% had history of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD, 67% had hyperlipidemia, 44% had some preceding emotional trauma, and 44% had some physical/physiological stress. Previous studies have shown that over 50% of TC patients experience future cardiac events, and 10% have a recurrence of TC. Patients were prescribed therapeutic lifestyle changes (TLC and guideline directed medical therapy (GDMT for aggressive risk factor reduction. TLC included diet, exercise, and cardiac rehabilitation. GDMT often included aspirin, beta-blockers, ACE-inhibitors, and statins. Follow-up echocardiograms showed recovery and maintenance of the ejection fraction. There was no cardiac mortality and no recurrences of TC. Aggressive risk factor reduction with TLC and GDMT may be effective in improving the long term outcomes of patients with TC.

  4. Estimation of Radiological Terrorism Risk by Administrative Districts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Suk Hoon; Kim, Ju Youl [Seoul National Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Yoo, Ho Sik [Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2008-10-15

    Since the 9/11 attack in USA, the threat of terrorism across the world has dramatically increased. Accordingly, estimating terrorism risk has become an essential part of catastrophe risk strategies throughout the world. There are many forms of terrorism. Recently, the prospect of the radiological terrorist attack using the radioactive material is considered as one of the most serious threats. The aim of this paper is to assess the radiological terrorism risk by administrative districts based on the parameters that imply threat, vulnerability, and consequences of terrorist attacks.

  5. Estimation of Radiological Terrorism Risk by Administrative Districts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Suk Hoon; Kim, Ju Youl; Yoo, Ho Sik

    2008-01-01

    Since the 9/11 attack in USA, the threat of terrorism across the world has dramatically increased. Accordingly, estimating terrorism risk has become an essential part of catastrophe risk strategies throughout the world. There are many forms of terrorism. Recently, the prospect of the radiological terrorist attack using the radioactive material is considered as one of the most serious threats. The aim of this paper is to assess the radiological terrorism risk by administrative districts based on the parameters that imply threat, vulnerability, and consequences of terrorist attacks

  6. Ibrutinib-associated bleeding: pathogenesis, management and risk reduction strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shatzel, J J; Olson, S R; Tao, D L; McCarty, O J T; Danilov, A V; DeLoughery, T G

    2017-05-01

    Ibrutinib is an irreversible inhibitor of Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) that has proven to be an effective therapeutic agent for multiple B-cell-mediated lymphoproliferative disorders. Ibrutinib, however, carries an increased bleeding risk compared with standard chemotherapy. Bleeding events range from minor mucocutaneous bleeding to life-threatening hemorrhage, due in large part to the effects of ibrutinib on several distinct platelet signaling pathways. There is currently a minimal amount of data to guide clinicians regarding the use of ibrutinib in patients at high risk of bleeding or on anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy. In addition, the potential cardiovascular protective effects of ibrutinib monotherapy in patients at risk of vascular disease are unknown. Patients should be cautioned against using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, fish oils, vitamin E and aspirin-containing products, and consider replacing ibrutinib with a different agent if dual antiplatelet therapy is indicated. Patients should not take vitamin K antagonists concurrently with ibrutinib; direct oral anticoagulants should be used if extended anticoagulation is strongly indicated. In this review, we describe the pathophysiology of ibrutinib-mediated bleeding and suggest risk reduction strategies for common clinical scenarios associated with ibrutinib. © 2017 International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis.

  7. Device independent quantum key distribution secure against coherent attacks with memoryless measurement devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McKague, Matthew

    2009-01-01

    Device independent quantum key distribution (QKD) aims to provide a higher degree of security than traditional QKD schemes by reducing the number of assumptions that need to be made about the physical devices used. The previous proof of security by Pironio et al (2009 New J. Phys. 11 045021) applies only to collective attacks where the state is identical and independent and the measurement devices operate identically for each trial in the protocol. We extend this result to a more general class of attacks where the state is arbitrary and the measurement devices have no memory. We accomplish this by a reduction of arbitrary adversary strategies to qubit strategies and a proof of security for qubit strategies based on the previous proof by Pironio et al and techniques adapted from Renner.

  8. Shark Attack Project - Marine Attack at Towed Hydrophone Arrays

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Kalmijn, Adrianus J

    2005-01-01

    The original objective of the SIO Marine Attack project was to identify the electric and magnetic fields causing sharks to inflict serious damage upon the towed hydrophone arrays of US Navy submarines...

  9. A randomized comparison of patients' understanding of number needed to treat and other common risk reduction formats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheridan, Stacey L; Pignone, Michael P; Lewis, Carmen L

    2003-11-01

    Commentators have suggested that patients may understand quantitative information about treatment benefits better when they are presented as numbers needed to treat (NNT) rather than as absolute or relative risk reductions. To determine whether NNT helps patients interpret treatment benefits better than absolute risk reduction (ARR), relative risk reduction (RRR), or a combination of all three of these risk reduction presentations (COMBO). Randomized cross-sectional survey. University internal medicine clinic. Three hundred fifty-seven men and women, ages 50 to 80, who presented for health care. Subjects were given written information about the baseline risk of a hypothetical "disease Y" and were asked (1) to compare the benefits of two drug treatments for disease Y, stating which provided more benefit; and (2) to calculate the effect of one of those drug treatments on a given baseline risk of disease. Risk information was presented to each subject in one of four randomly allocated risk formats: NNT, ARR, RRR, or COMBO. When asked to state which of two treatments provided more benefit, subjects who received the RRR format responded correctly most often (60% correct vs 43% for COMBO, 42% for ARR, and 30% for NNT, P =.001). Most subjects were unable to calculate the effect of drug treatment on the given baseline risk of disease, although subjects receiving the RRR and ARR formats responded correctly more often (21% and 17% compared to 7% for COMBO and 6% for NNT, P =.004). Patients are best able to interpret the benefits of treatment when they are presented in an RRR format with a given baseline risk of disease. ARR also is easily interpreted. NNT is often misinterpreted by patients and should not be used alone to communicate risk to patients.

  10. Novel Method For Low-Rate Ddos Attack Detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  11. Heart Attack

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... family history of heart attack race – African Americans, Mexican Americans, Native Americans, and native Hawaiians are at ... Your doctor will prescribe the medicines that are right for you. If you have had a heart ...

  12. Automatic Classification of Attacks on IP Telephony

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jakub Safarik

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This article proposes an algorithm for automatic analysis of attack data in IP telephony network with a neural network. Data for the analysis is gathered from variable monitoring application running in the network. These monitoring systems are a typical part of nowadays network. Information from them is usually used after attack. It is possible to use an automatic classification of IP telephony attacks for nearly real-time classification and counter attack or mitigation of potential attacks. The classification use proposed neural network, and the article covers design of a neural network and its practical implementation. It contains also methods for neural network learning and data gathering functions from honeypot application.

  13. Further attacks on Yeung-Mintzer fragile watermarking scheme

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fridrich, Jessica; Goljan, Miroslav; Memon, Nasir D.

    2000-05-01

    In this paper, we describe new and improved attacks on the authentication scheme previously proposed by Yeung and Mintzer. Previous attacks assumed that the binary watermark logo inserted in an image for the purposes of authentication was known. Here we remove that assumption and show how the scheme is still vulnerable, even if the binary logo is not known but the attacker has access to multiple images that have been watermarked with the same secret key and contain the same (but unknown) logo. We present two attacks. The first attack infers the secret watermark insertion function and the binary logo, given multiple images authenticated with the same key and containing the same logo. We show that a very good approximation to the logo and watermark insertion function can be constructed using as few as two images. With color images, one needs many more images, nevertheless the attack is still feasible. The second attack we present, which we call the 'collage-attack' is a variation of the Holliman-Memon counterfeiting attack. The proposed variation does not require knowledge of the watermark logo and produces counterfeits of superior quality by means of a suitable dithering process that we develop.

  14. Pareto Efficient Solution of Attack-Defence Trees

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aslanyan, Zaruhi; Nielson, Flemming

    Attack-defence trees are a promising approach for representing threat scenarios and possible countermeasures in a concise and intuitive manner. An attack-defence tree describes the interaction between an attacker and a defender, and is evaluated by assigning parameters to the nodes, such as

  15. Promoting flood risk reduction: The role of insurance in Germany and England

    Science.gov (United States)

    Surminski, Swenja; Thieken, Annegret H.

    2017-10-01

    Improving society's ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from flooding requires integrated, anticipatory flood risk management (FRM). However, most countries still focus their efforts on responding to flooding events if and when they occur rather than addressing their current and future vulnerability to flooding. Flood insurance is one mechanism that could promote a more ex ante approach to risk by supporting risk reduction activities. This paper uses an adapted version of Easton's System Theory to investigate the role of insurance for FRM in Germany and England. We introduce an anticipatory FRM framework, which allows flood insurance to be considered as part of a broader policy field. We analyze if and how flood insurance can catalyze a change toward a more anticipatory approach to FRM. In particular we consider insurance's role in influencing five key components of anticipatory FRM: risk knowledge, prevention through better planning, property-level protection measures, structural protection and preparedness (for response). We find that in both countries FRM is still a reactive, event-driven process, while anticipatory FRM remains underdeveloped. Collaboration between insurers and FRM decision-makers has already been successful, for example in improving risk knowledge and awareness, while in other areas insurance acts as a disincentive for more risk reduction action. In both countries there is evidence that insurance can play a significant role in encouraging anticipatory FRM, but this remains underutilized. Effective collaboration between insurers and government should not be seen as a cost, but as an investment to secure future insurability through flood resilience.

  16. Effectiveness of Trigger Point Manual Treatment on the Frequency, Intensity, and Duration of Attacks in Primary Headaches: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luca Falsiroli Maistrello

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available BackgroundA variety of interventions has been proposed for symptomatology relief in primary headaches. Among these, manual trigger points (TrPs treatment gains popularity, but its effects have not been investigated yet.ObjectiveThe aim was to establish the effectiveness of manual TrP compared to minimal active or no active interventions in terms of frequency, intensity, and duration of attacks in adult people with primary headaches.MethodsWe searched MEDLINE, COCHRANE, Web Of Science, and PEDro databases up to November 2017 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs. Two independent reviewers appraised the risk-of-bias (RoB and the grading of recommendations, assessment, development, and evaluation (GRADE to evaluate the overall quality of evidence.ResultsSeven RCTs that compared manual treatment vs minimal active intervention were included: 5 focused on tension-type headache (TTH and 2 on Migraine (MH; 3 out of 7 RCTs had high RoB. Combined TTH and MH results show statistically significant reduction for all outcomes after treatment compared to controls, but the level of evidence was very low. Subgroup analysis showed a statistically significant reduction in attack frequency (no. of attacks per month after treatment in TTH (MD −3.50; 95% CI from −4.91 to −2.09; 4 RCTs and in MH (MD −1.92; 95% CI from −3.03 to −0.80; 2 RCTs. Pain intensity (0–100 scale was reduced in TTH (MD −12.83; 95% CI from −19.49 to −6.17; 4 RCTs and in MH (MD −13.60; 95% CI from −19.54 to −7.66; 2RCTs. Duration of attacks (hours was reduced in TTH (MD −0.51; 95% CI from −0.97 to −0.04; 2 RCTs and in MH (MD −10.68; 95% CI from −14.41 to −6.95; 1 RCT.ConclusionManual TrPs treatment of head and neck muscles may reduce frequency, intensity, and duration of attacks in TTH and MH, but the quality of evidence according to GRADE approach was very low for the presence of few studies, high RoB, and imprecision of results.

  17. Genetic attack on neural cryptography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruttor, Andreas; Kinzel, Wolfgang; Naeh, Rivka; Kanter, Ido

    2006-03-01

    Different scaling properties for the complexity of bidirectional synchronization and unidirectional learning are essential for the security of neural cryptography. Incrementing the synaptic depth of the networks increases the synchronization time only polynomially, but the success of the geometric attack is reduced exponentially and it clearly fails in the limit of infinite synaptic depth. This method is improved by adding a genetic algorithm, which selects the fittest neural networks. The probability of a successful genetic attack is calculated for different model parameters using numerical simulations. The results show that scaling laws observed in the case of other attacks hold for the improved algorithm, too. The number of networks needed for an effective attack grows exponentially with increasing synaptic depth. In addition, finite-size effects caused by Hebbian and anti-Hebbian learning are analyzed. These learning rules converge to the random walk rule if the synaptic depth is small compared to the square root of the system size.

  18. Genetic attack on neural cryptography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruttor, Andreas; Kinzel, Wolfgang; Naeh, Rivka; Kanter, Ido

    2006-01-01

    Different scaling properties for the complexity of bidirectional synchronization and unidirectional learning are essential for the security of neural cryptography. Incrementing the synaptic depth of the networks increases the synchronization time only polynomially, but the success of the geometric attack is reduced exponentially and it clearly fails in the limit of infinite synaptic depth. This method is improved by adding a genetic algorithm, which selects the fittest neural networks. The probability of a successful genetic attack is calculated for different model parameters using numerical simulations. The results show that scaling laws observed in the case of other attacks hold for the improved algorithm, too. The number of networks needed for an effective attack grows exponentially with increasing synaptic depth. In addition, finite-size effects caused by Hebbian and anti-Hebbian learning are analyzed. These learning rules converge to the random walk rule if the synaptic depth is small compared to the square root of the system size

  19. Genetic attack on neural cryptography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruttor, Andreas; Kinzel, Wolfgang; Naeh, Rivka; Kanter, Ido

    2006-03-01

    Different scaling properties for the complexity of bidirectional synchronization and unidirectional learning are essential for the security of neural cryptography. Incrementing the synaptic depth of the networks increases the synchronization time only polynomially, but the success of the geometric attack is reduced exponentially and it clearly fails in the limit of infinite synaptic depth. This method is improved by adding a genetic algorithm, which selects the fittest neural networks. The probability of a successful genetic attack is calculated for different model parameters using numerical simulations. The results show that scaling laws observed in the case of other attacks hold for the improved algorithm, too. The number of networks needed for an effective attack grows exponentially with increasing synaptic depth. In addition, finite-size effects caused by Hebbian and anti-Hebbian learning are analyzed. These learning rules converge to the random walk rule if the synaptic depth is small compared to the square root of the system size.

  20. Attacks on the AJPS Mersenne-based cryptosystem

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    K. de Boer (Koen); L. Ducas (Léo); S. Jeffery (Stacey); R. M. de Wolf (Ronald)

    2018-01-01

    textabstractAggarwal, Joux, Prakash and Santha recently introduced a new potentially quantum-safe public-key cryptosystem, and suggested that a brute-force attack is essentially optimal against it. They consider but then dismiss both Meet-in-the-Middle attacks and LLL-based attacks. Very soon after

  1. The political attack ad

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Palma Peña-Jiménez, Ph.D.

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available During election campaigns the political spot has a clear objective: to win votes. This message is communicated to the electorate through television and Internet, and usually presents a negative approach, which includes a direct critical message against the opponent, rather than an exposition of proposals. This article is focused on the analysis of the campaign attack video ad purposely created to encourage the disapproval of the political opponent among voters. These ads focus on discrediting the opponent, many times, through the transmission of ad hominem messages, instead of disseminating the potential of the political party and the virtues and manifesto of its candidate. The article reviews the development of the attack ad since its first appearance, which in Spain dates back to 1996, when the famous Doberman ad was broadcast, and examines the most memorable campaign attack ads.

  2. Robust Detection of Stepping-Stone Attacks

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    He, Ting; Tong, Lang

    2006-01-01

    The detection of encrypted stepping-stone attack is considered. Besides encryption and padding, the attacker is capable of inserting chaff packets and perturbing packet timing and transmission order...

  3. Microbial reductive dehalogenation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohn, W W; Tiedje, J M

    1992-01-01

    A wide variety of compounds can be biodegraded via reductive removal of halogen substituents. This process can degrade toxic pollutants, some of which are not known to be biodegraded by any other means. Reductive dehalogenation of aromatic compounds has been found primarily in undefined, syntrophic anaerobic communities. We discuss ecological and physiological principles which appear to be important in these communities and evaluate how widely applicable these principles are. Anaerobic communities that catalyze reductive dehalogenation appear to differ in many respects. A large number of pure cultures which catalyze reductive dehalogenation of aliphatic compounds are known, in contrast to only a few organisms which catalyze reductive dehalogenation of aromatic compounds. Desulfomonile tiedjei DCB-1 is an anaerobe which dehalogenates aromatic compounds and is physiologically and morphologically unusual in a number of respects, including the ability to exploit reductive dehalogenation for energy metabolism. When possible, we use D. tiedjei as a model to understand dehalogenating organisms in the above-mentioned undefined systems. Aerobes use reductive dehalogenation for substrates which are resistant to known mechanisms of oxidative attack. Reductive dehalogenation, especially of aliphatic compounds, has recently been found in cell-free systems. These systems give us an insight into how and why microorganisms catalyze this activity. In some cases transition metal complexes serve as catalysts, whereas in other cases, particularly with aromatic substrates, the catalysts appear to be enzymes. Images PMID:1406492

  4. A Framework for Attack-Resilient Industrial Control Systems : Attack Detection and Controller Reconfiguration

    OpenAIRE

    Paridari, Kaveh; O'Mahony, Niamh; Mady, Alie El-Din; Chabukswar, Rohan; Boubekeur, Menouer; Sandberg, Henrik

    2017-01-01

    Most existing industrial control systems (ICSs), such as building energy management systems (EMSs), were installed when potential security threats were only physical. With advances in connectivity, ICSs are now, typically, connected to communications networks and, as a result, can be accessed remotely. This extends the attack surface to include the potential for sophisticated cyber attacks, which can adversely impact ICS operation, resulting in service interruption, equipment damage, safety c...

  5. An Adaptive Approach for Defending against DDoS Attacks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhai Li

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available In various network attacks, the Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS attack is a severe threat. In order to deal with this kind of attack in time, it is necessary to establish a special type of defense system to change strategy dynamically against attacks. In this paper, we introduce an adaptive approach, which is used for defending against DDoS attacks, based on normal traffic analysis. The approach can check DDoS attacks and adaptively adjust its configurations according to the network condition and attack severity. In order to insure the common users to visit the victim server that is being attacked, we provide a nonlinear traffic control formula for the system. Our simulation test indicates that the nonlinear control approach can prevent the malicious attack packets effectively while making legitimate traffic flows arrive at the victim.

  6. Post-traumatic stress reactions following the March 11, 2004 terrorist attacks in a Madrid community sample: a cautionary note about the measurement of psychological trauma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vázquez, Carmelo; Pérez-Sales, Pau; Matt, Georg

    2006-05-01

    Posttraumatic stress reactions related to the Madrid March 11, 2004, terrorist attacks were examined in a sample of Madrid residents (N = 503) 18-25 days after the attacks, using multiple diagnostic criteria and different cut-off scores. Based on the symptoms covered by the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian (PCL-C; Weathers, Litz, Herman, Huska, and Keane, 1993), rates of probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ranged from 3.4% to 13.3%. Taking into account additional criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 200; i.e., the impact of initial reaction and problems in daily functioning as a consequence of the traumatic event), only 1.9% of respondents reported probable PTSD. These results suggest that inferences about the impact of traumatic events on the general population are strongly influenced by the definition of traumatic response. Our findings also revealed that the magnitude of posttraumatic reactions is associated with several risk factors, including living close to the attacked locations, physical proximity to the attacks when they occurred, perception of one's life being at risk, intensity of initial emotional reactions, and being a daily user of the attacked train lines. The use of different cut-off scores did not affect the pattern of risk to develop traumatic stress. The implications of these results for public health policies related to terrorist attacks are discussed.

  7. Understand Your Risk of Heart Attack

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... not as great as men's. Heredity (Including Race) Children of parents with heart disease are more likely to develop it themselves. African Americans have more severe high blood pressure than Caucasians and a higher risk of heart ...

  8. Countermeasures for unintentional and intentional video watermarking attacks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deguillaume, Frederic; Csurka, Gabriela; Pun, Thierry

    2000-05-01

    These last years, the rapidly growing digital multimedia market has revealed an urgent need for effective copyright protection mechanisms. Therefore, digital audio, image and video watermarking has recently become a very active area of research, as a solution to this problem. Many important issues have been pointed out, one of them being the robustness to non-intentional and intentional attacks. This paper studies some attacks and proposes countermeasures applied to videos. General attacks are lossy copying/transcoding such as MPEG compression and digital/analog (D/A) conversion, changes of frame-rate, changes of display format, and geometrical distortions. More specific attacks are sequence edition, and statistical attacks such as averaging or collusion. Averaging attack consists of averaging locally consecutive frames to cancel the watermark. This attack works well for schemes which embed random independent marks into frames. In the collusion attack the watermark is estimated from single frames (based on image denoising), and averaged over different scenes for better accuracy. The estimated watermark is then subtracted from each frame. Collusion requires that the same mark is embedded into all frames. The proposed countermeasures first ensures robustness to general attacks by spread spectrum encoding in the frequency domain and by the use of an additional template. Secondly, a Bayesian criterion, evaluating the probability of a correctly decoded watermark, is used for rejection of outliers, and to implement an algorithm against statistical attacks. The idea is to embed randomly chosen marks among a finite set of marks, into subsequences of videos which are long enough to resist averaging attacks, but short enough to avoid collusion attacks. The Bayesian criterion is needed to select the correct mark at the decoding step. Finally, the paper presents experimental results showing the robustness of the proposed method.

  9. Link-layer Jamming Attacks on S-MAC

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Law, Y.W.; Hartel, Pieter H.; den Hartog, Jeremy; Havinga, Paul J.M.

    2004-01-01

    We argue that among denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, link-layer jamming is a more attractive option to attackers than radio jamming is. By exploiting the semantics of the link-layer protocol (aka MAC protocol), an attacker can achieve better efficiency than blindly jamming the radio signals alone.

  10. Link-layer jamming attacks on S-MAC

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Law, Y.W.; Hartel, Pieter H.; den Hartog, Jeremy; Havinga, Paul J.M.

    We argue that among denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, link-layer jamming is a more attractive option to attackers than radio jamming is. By exploiting the semantics of the link-layer protocol (aka MAC protocol), an attacker can achieve better efficiency than blindly jamming the radio signals alone.

  11. A computer network attack taxonomy and ontology

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Van Heerden, RP

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available of the attack that occur after the attack goal has been achieved, and occurs because the attacker loses control of some systems. For example, after the launch of a DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack, zombie computers may still connect to the target...-scrap- value-of-a-hacked-pc-revisited/ . Lancor, L., & Workman, R. (2007). Using Google Hacking to Enhance Defense Strategies. ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 39 (1), 491-495. Lau, F., Rubin, S. H., Smith, M. H., & Trajkovic, L. (2000). Distributed Denial of Service...

  12. A Novel Real-Time DDoS Attack Detection Mechanism Based on MDRA Algorithm in Big Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bin Jia

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In the wake of the rapid development and wide application of information technology and Internet, our society has come into the information explosion era. Meanwhile, it brings in new and severe challenges to the field of network attack behavior detection due to the explosive growth and high complexity of network traffic. Therefore, an effective and efficient detection mechanism that can detect attack behavior from large scale of network traffic plays an important role. In this paper, we focus on how to distinguish the attack traffic from normal data flows in Big Data and propose a novel real-time DDoS attack detection mechanism based on Multivariate Dimensionality Reduction Analysis (MDRA. In this mechanism, we first reduce the dimensionality of multiple characteristic variables in a network traffic record by Principal Component Analysis (PCA. Then, we analyze the correlation of the lower dimensional variables. Finally, the attack traffic can be differentiated from the normal traffic by MDRA and Mahalanobis distance (MD. Compared with previous research methods, our experimental results show that higher precision rate is achieved and it approximates to 100% in True Negative Rate (TNR for detection; CPU computing time is one-eightieth and memory resource consumption is one-third of the previous detection method based on Multivariate Correlation Analysis (MCA; computing complexity is constant.

  13. Unified communications forensics anatomy of common UC attacks

    CERN Document Server

    Grant, Nicholas Mr

    2013-01-01

    Unified Communications Forensics: Anatomy of Common UC Attacks is the first book to explain the issues and vulnerabilities and demonstrate the attacks, forensic artifacts, and countermeasures required to establish a secure (UC) environment. This book is written by leading UC experts Nicholas Grant and Joseph W. Shaw II and provides material never before found on the market, including: analysis of forensic artifacts in common UC attacks an in-depth look at established UC technologies and attack exploits hands-on understanding of UC attack vectors and associated countermeasures

  14. Examining the Panic Attack Specifier in Social Anxiety Disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allan, Nicholas P; Oglesby, Mary E; Short, Nicole A; Schmidt, Norman B

    2016-04-01

    Panic attacks (PAs) are characterized by overwhelming surges of fear and discomfort and are one of the most frequently occurring symptoms in psychiatric populations. The most recent version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (i.e. DSM-5) allows for a panic attack (PA) specifier for all disorders, including social anxiety disorder (SAD). However, there is little research examining differences between individuals diagnosed with SAD with the PA specifier versus individuals diagnosed with SAD without the PA specifier. The current study examined social anxiety, mood, anxiety, and anxiety sensitivity social concerns, a risk factor for social anxiety in SAD-diagnosed individuals without (N = 52) and with (N = 14) the PA specifier. The groups differed only in somatic symptoms of anxiety. Result of the current study provides preliminary evidence that the presence of the PA specifier in social anxiety does not result in elevated levels of comorbidity or a more severe presentation of social anxiety.

  15. Landslide risk reduction strategies: an inventory for the Global South

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maes, Jan; Kervyn, Matthieu; Vranken, Liesbet; Dewitte, Olivier; Vanmaercke, Matthias; Mertens, Kewan; Jacobs, Liesbet; Poesen, Jean

    2015-04-01

    Landslides constitute a serious problem globally. Moreover, landslide impact remains underestimated especially in the Global South. It is precisely there where the largest impact is experienced. An overview of measures taken to reduce risk of landslides in the Global South is however still lacking. Because in many countries of the Global South disaster risk reduction (DRR) is at an emerging stage, it is crucial to monitor the ongoing efforts (e.g. discussions on the Post-2015 Framework for DRR). The first objective of this study is to make an inventory of techniques and strategies that are applied to reduce risk from landslides in tropical countries. The second objective is to investigate what are the main bottlenecks for implementation of DRR strategies. In order to achieve these objectives, a review of both scientific and grey literature was conducted, supplemented with expert knowledge. The compilation of recommended and implemented DRR measures from landslide-prone tropical countries is based on an adapted classification proposed by the SafeLand project. According to Vaciago (2013), landslide risk can be reduced by either reducing the hazard, the vulnerability, the number or value of elements at risk or by sharing the residual risk. In addition, these measures can be combined with education and/or awareness raising and are influenced by governance structures and cultural beliefs. Global landslide datasets have been used to identify landslide-prone countries, augmented with region-specific datasets. Countries located in the tropics were selected in order to include landslide-prone countries with a different Human Development Index (HDI) but with a similar climate. Preliminary results support the statement made by Anderson (2013) that although the importance of shifting from post-disaster emergency actions to pre-disaster mitigation is acknowledged, in practice this paradigm shift seems rather limited. It is expected that this is especially the case in countries

  16. Attacks and countermeasures on AES and ECC

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tange, Henrik; Andersen, Birger

    2013-01-01

    AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) is widely used in LTE and Wi-Fi communication systems. AES has recently been exposed to new attacks which have questioned the overall security of AES. The newest attack is a so called biclique attack, which is using the fact that the content of the state array...

  17. NHS health checks through general practice: randomised trial of population cardiovascular risk reduction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cochrane Thomas

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The global burden of the major vascular diseases is projected to rise and to remain the dominant non-communicable disease cluster well into the twenty first century. The Department of Health in England has developed the NHS Health Check service as a policy initiative to reduce population vascular disease risk. The aims of this study were to monitor population changes in cardiovascular disease (CVD risk factors over the first year of the new service and to assess the value of tailored lifestyle support, including motivational interview with ongoing support and referral to other services. Methods Randomised trial comparing NHS Health Check service only with NHS Health Check service plus additional lifestyle support in Stoke on Trent, England. Thirty eight general practices and 601 (365 usual care, 236 additional lifestyle support patients were recruited and randomised independently between September 2009 and February 2010. Changes in population CVD risk between baseline and one year follow-up were compared, using intention-to-treat analysis. The primary outcome was the Framingham 10 year CVD risk score. Secondary outcomes included individual modifiable risk measures and prevalence of individual risk categories. Additional lifestyle support included referral to a lifestyle coach and free sessions as needed for: weight management, physical activity, cook and eat and positive thinking. Results Average population CVD risk decreased from 32.9% to 29.4% (p Conclusions The NHS Health Check service in Stoke on Trent resulted in significant reduction in estimated population CVD risk. There was no evidence of further benefit of the additional lifestyle support services in terms of absolute CVD risk reduction.

  18. Classifying network attack scenarios using an ontology

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Van Heerden, RP

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available ) or to the target?s reputation. The Residue sub-phase refers to damage or artefacts of the attack that occur after the attack goal has been achieved, and occurs because the attacker loses control of some systems. For example after the launch of a DDOS..., A. (1995). Hacking theft of $10 million from citibank revealed. Retrieved 10/10, 2011, from http://articles.latimes.com/1995-08-19/business/fi-36656_1_citibank-system Hurley, E. (2004). SCO site succumbs to DDoS attack. Retrieved 10/10, 2011, from...

  19. Modelling Social-Technical Attacks with Timed Automata

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    David, Nicolas; David, Alexandre; Hansen, Rene Rydhof

    2015-01-01

    . In this paper we develop an approach towards modelling socio-technical systems in general and socio-technical attacks in particular, using timed automata and illustrate its application by a complex case study. Thanks to automated model checking and automata theory, we can automatically generate possible attacks...... in our model and perform analysis and simulation of both model and attack, revealing details about the specific interaction between attacker and victim. Using timed automata also allows for intuitive modelling of systems, in which quantities like time and cost can be easily added and analysed....

  20. Participatory three dimensional mapping for the preparation of landslide disaster risk reduction program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kusratmoko, Eko; Wibowo, Adi; Cholid, Sofyan; Pin, Tjiong Giok

    2017-07-01

    This paper presents the results of applications of participatory three dimensional mapping (P3DM) method for fqcilitating the people of Cibanteng' village to compile a landslide disaster risk reduction program. Physical factors, as high rainfall, topography, geology and land use, and coupled with the condition of demographic and social-economic factors, make up the Cibanteng region highly susceptible to landslides. During the years 2013-2014 has happened 2 times landslides which caused economic losses, as a result of damage to homes and farmland. Participatory mapping is one part of the activities of community-based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR)), because of the involvement of local communities is a prerequisite for sustainable disaster risk reduction. In this activity, participatory mapping method are done in two ways, namely participatory two-dimensional mapping (P2DM) with a focus on mapping of disaster areas and participatory three-dimensional mapping (P3DM) with a focus on the entire territory of the village. Based on the results P3DM, the ability of the communities in understanding the village environment spatially well-tested and honed, so as to facilitate the preparation of the CBDRR programs. Furthermore, the P3DM method can be applied to another disaster areas, due to it becomes a medium of effective dialogue between all levels of involved communities.

  1. HIV Risk Reduction Among Young Adult Chronic Psychiatric Patients

    Science.gov (United States)

    1990-08-28

    emotional language to convey information on risk reduction. Common myths concerning transmission are presented and the audience is specifically told that...current study include: ’Can contact with semen (cum) from the penis result In AIDS?’,’ Can a person get AIDS from vaginal fluids in a woman’s vagina ? Can...hands. It doesn’t like being exposed to sunlight or air. Female: The AIDS virus lives inside the human body, in the blood, in a woman’s vagina and

  2. Quantitative Verification and Synthesis of Attack-Defence Scenarios

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Aslanyan, Zaruhi; Nielson, Flemming; Parker, David

    2016-01-01

    analysis of quantitative properties of complex attack-defence scenarios, using an extension of attack-defence trees which models temporal ordering of actions and allows explicit dependencies in the strategies adopted by attackers and defenders. We adopt a game-theoretic approach, translating attack...... which guarantee or optimise some quantitative property, such as the probability of a successful attack, the expected cost incurred, or some multi-objective trade-off between the two. We implement our approach, building upon the PRISM-games model checker, and apply it to a case study of an RFID goods...

  3. A Framework For Analyzing And Mitigating The Vulnerabilities Of Complex Systems Via Attack And Protection Trees

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Edge, Kenneth S

    2007-01-01

    .... Attack trees by themselves do not provide enough decision support to system defenders. This research develops the concept of using protection trees to offer a detailed risk analysis of a system...

  4. Situational awareness of a coordinated cyber attack

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  5. Anti-discrimination Analysis Using Privacy Attack Strategies

    KAUST Repository

    Ruggieri, Salvatore

    2014-09-15

    Social discrimination discovery from data is an important task to identify illegal and unethical discriminatory patterns towards protected-by-law groups, e.g., ethnic minorities. We deploy privacy attack strategies as tools for discrimination discovery under hard assumptions which have rarely tackled in the literature: indirect discrimination discovery, privacy-aware discrimination discovery, and discrimination data recovery. The intuition comes from the intriguing parallel between the role of the anti-discrimination authority in the three scenarios above and the role of an attacker in private data publishing. We design strategies and algorithms inspired/based on Frèchet bounds attacks, attribute inference attacks, and minimality attacks to the purpose of unveiling hidden discriminatory practices. Experimental results show that they can be effective tools in the hands of anti-discrimination authorities.

  6. Disaster risk reduction in developing countries: costs, benefits and institutions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kenny, Charles

    2012-10-01

    Some 60,000 people worldwide die annually in natural disasters, mostly due to the collapse of buildings in earthquakes, and primarily in the developing world. This is despite the fact that engineering solutions exist that can eliminate almost completely the risk of such deaths. Why is this? The solutions are expensive and technically demanding, so their cost-benefit ratio often is unfavourable as compared to other interventions. Nonetheless, there are various public disaster risk reduction interventions that are highly cost-effective. That such interventions frequently remain unimplemented or ineffectively executed points to a role for issues of political economy. Building regulations in developing countries appear to have limited impact in many cases, perhaps because of inadequate capacity and corruption. Public construction often is of low quality, perhaps for similar reasons. This suggests the need for approaches that emphasise simple and limited disaster risk regulation covering only the most at-risk structures-and that, preferably, non-experts can monitor-as well as numerous transparency and oversight mechanisms for public construction projects. © 2012 The Author(s). Journal compilation © Overseas Development Institute, 2012.

  7. Holistic Physical Risk and Crises Prioritization Approaches to Solve Cyber Defense Conundrums

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Franco Oboni

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available During the last decade the techniques and tools of cyber attacks have become more sophisticated, the distinctions between actors and threats have become blurred and attack prospects more worrying. The informational threat can hit any type of civilian or military controls, fixed or mobile infrastructures, putting them down or greatly reducing their service capabilities with direct and indirect physical / economic impacts from tactical or local scale to strategic / national and international level. It has been shown that broad spectrum protection investments and particularly poorly prioritized ones are not efficient as oftentimes they are limited in scope by other operational requirements. So it is simply not possible to protect each property from each threat. The cyberdefense must be rooted on intelligence based on prioritized Risk Management and not on standardized audits and practice of indolent regulations, written a priori, or the biased advice of fear monger solutions sellers. RM offers ultimately support for operational decisions and protection (mitigation, provided that we want to define the level of acceptable risk reduction /mitigation and that we formulate measurable performance targets to achieve .

  8. Cyberprints: Identifying Cyber Attackers by Feature Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blakely, Benjamin A.

    2012-01-01

    The problem of attributing cyber attacks is one of increasing importance. Without a solid method of demonstrating the origin of a cyber attack, any attempts to deter would-be cyber attackers are wasted. Existing methods of attribution make unfounded assumptions about the environment in which they will operate: omniscience (the ability to gather,…

  9. Simulation of Attacks for Security in Wireless Sensor Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  10. Simulation of Attacks for Security in Wireless Sensor Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    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

  11. Reductions in Transmission Risk Behaviors in HIV-Positive Clients Receiving Prevention Case Management Services: Findings from a Community Demonstration Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gasiorowicz, Mari; Llanas, Michelle R.; DiFranceisco, Wayne; Benotsch, Eric G.; Brondino, Michael J.; Catz, Sheryl L.; Hoxie, Neil J.; Reiser, William J.; Vergeront, James M.

    2005-01-01

    Prevention case management (PCM) for HIV-infected persons is an HIV risk reduction intervention designed to assist clients who are aware of their HIV infection and who continue to engage in risk transmission behaviors. PCM combines individual risk reduction counseling with case management to address the psychosocial factors affecting HIV…

  12. Using agility to combat cyber attacks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Kerry

    2017-06-01

    Some incident response practitioners feel that they have been locked in a battle with cyber criminals since the popular adoption of the internet. Initially, organisations made great inroads in preventing and containing cyber attacks. In the last few years, however, cyber criminals have become adept at eluding defence security technologies and rapidly modifying their exploit strategies for financial or political gains. Similar to changes in military combat tactics, cyber criminals utilise distributed attack cells, real-time communications, and rapidly mutating exploits to minimise the potential for detection. Cyber criminals have changed their attack paradigm. This paper describes a new incident response paradigm aimed at combating the new model of cyber attacks with an emphasis on agility to increase the organisation's ability to respond rapidly to these new challenges.

  13. Development of the Motivation to Change Lifestyle and Health Behaviours for Dementia Risk Reduction Scale

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarang Kim

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Background and Aims: It is not yet understood how attitudes concerning dementia risk may affect motivation to change health behaviours and lifestyle. This study was designed to develop a reliable and valid theory-based measure to understand beliefs underpinning the lifestyle and health behavioural changes needed for dementia risk reduction. Methods: 617 participants aged ≥50 years completed a theory-based questionnaire, namely, the Motivation to Change Lifestyle and Health Behaviours for Dementia Risk Reduction (MCLHB-DRR scale. The MCLHB-DRR consists of 53 items, reflecting seven subscales of the Health Belief Model. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis was performed and revealed that a seven-factor solution with 27 items fitted the data (comparative fit index = 0.920, root-mean-square error of approximation = 0.047 better than the original 53 items. Internal reliability (α = 0.608-0.864 and test-retest reliability (α = 0.552-0.776 were moderate to high. Measurement of invariance across gender and age was also demonstrated. Conclusions: These results propose that the MCLHB-DRR is a useful tool in assessing the beliefs and attitudes of males and females aged ≥50 years towards dementia risk reduction. This measure can be used in the development and evaluation of interventions aimed at dementia prevention.

  14. Limb Shaking as a Manifestation of Low-flow Transient Ischemic Attacks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohana P. Maddula

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Limb shaking presenting as rhythmic involuntary hyperkinetic movements may represent as severe bilateral occlusive carotid disease. This unusual form of transient ischemic attack is often misdiagnosed as focal motor seizures. However, careful assessment reveals a lack of usual seizure characteristics such as a jacksonian march or facial involvement. The movements also appear to be precipitated by activities that lower blood pressure. We present two cases of patients with severe bilateral carotid stenosis leading to limb-shaking transient ischemic attacks. There was complete stenosis in the internal carotid artery (ICA contralateral to the jerking limb, combined with significant stenosis in the ipsilateral ICA. Cerebral perfusion on the occluded ICA side was maintained through collateral circulation from the opposite ICA and posterior circulation. When blood pressure was lowered orthostatically or by medication, the resulting cerebral hypoperfusion manifested as limb jerking. Recognition of limb shaking as a rare form of transient ischemic attack and differentiating it from focal motor epilepsy can facilitate early identification of critical carotid stenosis, allowing for appropriate interventions and thus reducing the risk of a disabling stroke. We recommend that clinicians should consider carotid disease in elderly patients presenting with orthostatic or episodic movement disorders.

  15. Women's Heart Disease: Heart Attack Symptoms

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... of this page please turn JavaScript on. Feature: Women's Heart Disease Heart Attack Symptoms Past Issues / Winter ... most common heart attack symptom in men and women is chest pain or discomfort. However, women also ...

  16. A novel proposed network security management approach for cyber attacks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmed, Z.; Nazir, B.; Zafar, M.F.; Anwar, M.M.; Azam, K.; Asar, A.U.

    2007-01-01

    Network security is a discipline that focuses on securing networks from unauthorized access. Given the Escalating threats of malicious cyber attacks, modern enterprises employ multiple lines of defense. A comprehensive defense strategy against such attacks should include (I) an attack detection component that deter- mines the fact that a program is compromised, (2) an attack identification and prevention component that identifies attack packets so that one can block such packets in the future and prevents the attack from further propagation. Over the last decade, a significant amount of research has been vested in the systems that can detect cyber attacks either statically at compile time or dynamically at run time, However, not much effort is spent on automated attack packet identification or attack prevention. In this paper we present a unified solution to the problems mentioned above. We implemented this solution after the forward engineering of Open Source Security Information Management (OSSIM) system called Preventive Information Security management (PrISM) system that correlates input from different sensors so that the resulting product can automatically detect any cyber attack against it and prevents by identifying the actual attack packet(s). The PrISM was always able to detect the attacks, identify the attack packets and most often prevent by blocking the attacker's IP address to continue normal execution. There is no additional run-time performance overhead for attack prevention. (author)

  17. Retrospective: animal attacks and rabies exposures in Thai children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sriaroon, Chakrapol; Sriaroon, Panida; Daviratanasilpa, Svastijaya; Khawplod, Pakamatz; Wilde, Henry

    2006-09-01

    Over 50% of animal bites and potential rabies exposures in Thailand are in children and they also have the more severe injuries due to inexperience, smaller size and less ability to fend off attacks. Potential rabies exposures and animal bites are common in Thailand. Majority of these are in children where the extent of the injuries is also much more severe. The bitten areas correlate to the age of the children and level of the bitten animal head. These are areas noted for a higher risk of infection with rabies virus and shorter incubation periods. The vast majority of bites are due to dogs (86%) of which 74.6% are stray or community-owned animals. The prevalence of dog bites shows no seasonal variation in adults but there are two peaks during school vacation period for children. Extensive educational efforts directed at the Thai public are responsible for the rapid presentation of victims for post-exposure treatment. The dramatic reduction of human rabies deaths in Thailand during the last decades was achieved largely by the provision of expensive WHO standard post-exposure treatment, utilizing modern tissue culture vaccines and immunoglobulins. Canine and feline rabies is nevertheless still endemic and not likely to be controlled or eliminated till sustainable humane methods of dog population control and comprehensive countrywide canine rabies vaccination become possible through government policy.

  18. Social Media Use and Sexual Risk Reduction Behavior Among Minority Youth: Seeking Safe Sex Information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevens, Robin; Gilliard-Matthews, Stacia; Dunaev, Jamie; Todhunter-Reid, Abigail; Brawner, Bridgette; Stewart, Jennifer

    Sexual health is an important area of study-particularly for minority youth and youth living in disadvantaged neighborhoods. The purpose of the research was to examine the sources of sexual health information associated with youth adopting sexual risk reduction behaviors. Data collection took place in a small city in the Northeastern United States using cross-sectional behavioral surveys and modified venue-based sampling. Participants included 249 African American and Latino youth aged 13-24. Participants reported their sources of information about contraception and human immunodeficiency virus/sexually transmitted disease, such as TV/movies, parents, social media; their intentions to have sex; and condom and contraception use during their last sexual activity. Social media use, past pregnancy experience, past sexual history, age, and gender were also measured. Standard tests of bivariate association (chi-square and F tests) were used to examine initial associations between sexual risk reduction behavior and exposure to sexual risk reduction information on social media. Logistic regression models were used to test multivariate relationships between information sources and sexual risk reduction behavior. Youth who were exposed to sexual health messages on social media were 2.69 times (p < .05) and 2.49 times (p < .08) more likely to have used contraception or a condom at last intercourse, respectively. Parents, schools, or traditional media as information sources were not significantly associated with contractive use or condom use at last intercourse. Youth sexual behavior is increasingly informed by social media messages. Health practitioners should utilize social media as an important health promotion tool.

  19. Adaptive optimisation-offline cyber attack on remote state estimator

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  20. Dynamic Forecasting Conditional Probability of Bombing Attacks Based on Time-Series and Intervention Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Shuying; Zhuang, Jun; Shen, Shifei

    2017-07-01

    In recent years, various types of terrorist attacks occurred, causing worldwide catastrophes. According to the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), among all attack tactics, bombing attacks happened most frequently, followed by armed assaults. In this article, a model for analyzing and forecasting the conditional probability of bombing attacks (CPBAs) based on time-series methods is developed. In addition, intervention analysis is used to analyze the sudden increase in the time-series process. The results show that the CPBA increased dramatically at the end of 2011. During that time, the CPBA increased by 16.0% in a two-month period to reach the peak value, but still stays 9.0% greater than the predicted level after the temporary effect gradually decays. By contrast, no significant fluctuation can be found in the conditional probability process of armed assault. It can be inferred that some social unrest, such as America's troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq, could have led to the increase of the CPBA in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan. The integrated time-series and intervention model is used to forecast the monthly CPBA in 2014 and through 2064. The average relative error compared with the real data in 2014 is 3.5%. The model is also applied to the total number of attacks recorded by the GTD between 2004 and 2014. © 2016 Society for Risk Analysis.

  1. Use of Attack Graphs in Security Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vivek Shandilya

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Attack graphs have been used to model the vulnerabilities of the systems and their potential exploits. The successful exploits leading to the partial/total failure of the systems are subject of keen security interest. Considerable effort has been expended in exhaustive modeling, analyses, detection, and mitigation of attacks. One prominent methodology involves constructing attack graphs of the pertinent system for analysis and response strategies. This not only gives the simplified representation of the system, but also allows prioritizing the security properties whose violations are of greater concern, for both detection and repair. We present a survey and critical study of state-of-the-art technologies in attack graph generation and use in security system. Based on our research, we identify the potential, challenges, and direction of the current research in using attack graphs.

  2. External Threat Risk Assessment Algorithm (ExTRAA)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Powell, Troy C. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    2017-08-01

    Two risk assessment algorithms and philosophies have been augmented and combined to form a new algorit hm, the External Threat Risk Assessment Algorithm (ExTRAA), that allows for effective and statistically sound analysis of external threat sources in relation to individual attack methods . In addition to the attack method use probability and the attack method employment consequence, t he concept of defining threat sources is added to the risk assessment process. Sample data is tabulated and depicted in radar plots and bar graphs for algorithm demonstration purposes. The largest success of ExTRAA is its ability to visualize the kind of r isk posed in a given situation using the radar plot method.

  3. Risk reduction in road and rail LPG transportation bij passive fire protection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Molag e.a., M. (Menso)

    2009-01-01

    The potential reduction of risk in LPG (Liquified Petroleum Gas) road transport due to the adoption of passive fire protectionswas investigated. Experimental data available for small scale vessels fully engulfed by a fire were extended to real scale road and rail tankers through a finite elements

  4. Risk reduction in road and rail LPG transportation by passive fire protection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Paltrinieri, N.; Landucci, G.; Molag, M.; Bonvicini, S.; Spadoni, G.; Cozzani, V.

    2009-01-01

    The potential reduction of risk in LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) road transport due to the adoption of passive fire protections was investigated. Experimental data available for small scale vessels fully engulfed by a fire were extended to real scale road and rail tankers through a finite elements

  5. Pure meat – public perceptions of risk reduction strategies in meat production

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Korzen, Sara Marie; Sandøe, Peter; Lassen, Jesper

    2011-01-01

    generally have an aversion to risk reduction strategies. Some variation was found, however, in the rejection of the strategies. Thus, more acceptable strategies are characterised by a low degree of technological interference, and by being close to the consumer’s experience in everyday life and/or familiar...

  6. The impact of parent involvement in an effective adolescent risk reduction intervention on sexual risk communication and adolescent outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Bo; Stanton, Bonita; Deveaux, Lynette; Li, Xiaoming; Koci, Veronica; Lunn, Sonja

    2014-12-01

    Parent involvement in prevention efforts targeting adolescents increases the impact of such programs. However, the majority of risk-reduction intervention programs that are implemented through schools do not include parents, in part because most existing parental interventions require significant time commitment by parents. We designed a brief parent-adolescent sexual risk communication intervention to be delivered with an effective HIV prevention intervention as part of a randomized, controlled trial among 2,564 grade 10 students and their parents in the Bahamas. Mixed effects modeling analysis was conducted to evaluate the effect of the brief parent-adolescent communication intervention using four waves of longitudinal data. Results indicate that a brief parent-adolescent communication intervention is effective in improving parent-adolescent communication on sex-related issues and perceived parental monitoring as well as the youth's condom use skills and self-efficacy. There is a marginal effect on consistent condom use. In addition, there is an apparent dose effect of the brief parent intervention on perceived parent-adolescent sexual risk communication and adolescent outcomes. These findings suggest that adolescent risk reduction interventions should include a brief parent-adolescent communication intervention that should be reinforced by periodic boosters in order to enhance the impact of adolescent HIV prevention programs.

  7. A fatal elephant attack.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hejna, Petr; Zátopková, Lenka; Safr, Miroslav

    2012-01-01

    A rare case of an elephant attack is presented. A 44-year-old man working as an elephant keeper was attacked by a cow elephant when he tripped over a foot chain while the animal was being medically treated. The man fell down and was consequently repeatedly attacked with elephant tusks. The man sustained multiple stab injuries to both groin regions, a penetrating injury to the abdominal wall with traumatic prolapse of the loops of the small bowel, multiple defects of the mesentery, and incomplete laceration of the abdominal aorta with massive bleeding into the abdominal cavity. In addition to the penetrating injuries, the man sustained multiple rib fractures with contusion of both lungs and laceration of the right lobe of the liver, and comminuted fractures of the pelvic arch and left femoral body. The man died shortly after he had been received at the hospital. The cause of death was attributed to traumatic shock. © 2011 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

  8. Cyber Attacks, Information Attacks, and Postmodern Warfare

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valuch Jozef

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to evaluate and differentiate between the phenomena of cyberwarfare and information warfare, as manifestations of what we perceive as postmodern warfare. We describe and analyse the current examples of the use the postmodern warfare and the reactions of states and international bodies to these phenomena. The subject matter of this paper is the relationship between new types of postmodern conflicts and the law of armed conflicts (law of war. Based on ICJ case law, it is clear that under current legal rules of international law of war, cyber attacks as well as information attacks (often performed in the cyberspace as well can only be perceived as “war” if executed in addition to classical kinetic warfare, which is often not the case. In most cases perceived “only” as a non-linear warfare (postmodern conflict, this practice nevertheless must be condemned as conduct contrary to the principles of international law and (possibly a crime under national laws, unless this type of conduct will be recognized by the international community as a “war” proper, in its new, postmodern sense.

  9. Machine Learning Methods for Attack Detection in the Smart Grid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  10. Transient Ischemic Attack

    Medline Plus

    Full Text Available ... stroke symptoms. Popular Topics TIA Cardiac Catheter Cholesterol Heart Attack Stent © 2018, American Heart Association, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use prohibited. ...

  11. Application distribution model and related security attacks in VANET

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  12. Nonepileptic attack disorder among married women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dhanaraj, M; Rangaraj, R; Arulmozhi, T; Vengatesan, A

    2005-06-01

    To study the clinical features, precipitating stressful life events and prognosis of nonepileptic attack disorder (NEAD) among married women. Prospective cohort study with 1-year follow-up. A tertiary care teaching hospital. Of the 1020 patients with epilepsy referred to the epilepsy clinic during 2002-2003, 30 were married women with NEAD. The diagnostic criteria for NEAD included normal EEG during ictal and post-ictal phase of the generalized 'attack.' The data collected included clinical characteristics, semiology of the attacks, precipitating stressful events, and co-morbid psychiatric disorders. The control group included 30 age-matched married women with generalized tonic-clonic seizures. The long-term outcome and factors influencing the outcomes were analyzed. The mean duration of illness was 18 months, and the pattern of the attack was 'fall and lying still' in 53% and 'fall with generalized motor movements' in 47%. The frequency was one or more per week in 57% and occasionally in 43%. The important stressful events were matrimonial discord following illegal relationship of the husband with another woman (chi2 = 9.02, P = 0.003) and constant quarrel with other family members (chi2 = 5.19, P = 0.02). The prevalence of sexual abuse was low (7%). Co-morbid psychiatric disorder was observed in 70%. At the end of 1 year, 39% were free from the attack. Resolution of the stressful life events (chi2 = 4.52, P = 0.03) and lower frequency of attack at the time of reporting (chi2 = 3.88, P = 0.05) correlated with good outcomes. Among patients with NEAD in India, the major precipitating factors were matrimonial discord following illegal relationship of the husband with another woman and constant quarrel with other family members and not sexual abuse. Women with low frequency of attack at the time of reporting and the remission of the stressful events had better outcomes.

  13. Efficacy of a Community-Based Physical Activity Program KM2H2 for Stroke and Heart Attack Prevention among Senior Hypertensive Patients: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Phase-II Trial.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jie Gong

    Full Text Available To evaluate the efficacy of the program Keep Moving toward Healthy Heart and Healthy Brain (KM2H2 in encouraging physical activities for the prevention of heart attack and stroke among hypertensive patients enrolled in the Community-Based Hypertension Control Program (CBHCP.Cluster randomized controlled trial with three waves of longitudinal assessments at baseline, 3 and 6 months post intervention.Community-based and patient-centered self-care for behavioral intervention in urban settings of China.A total of 450 participants diagnosed with hypertension from 12 community health centers in Wuhan, China were recruited, and were randomly assigned by center to receive either KM2H2 plus standard CBHCP care (6 centers and 232 patients or the standard care only (6 centers and 218 patients.KM2H2 is a behavioral intervention guided by the Transtheoretical Model, the Model of Personalized Medicine and Social Capital Theory. It consists of six intervention sessions and two booster sessions engineered in a progressive manner. The purpose is to motivate and maintain physical activities for the prevention of heart attack and stroke.Heart attack and stroke (clinically diagnosed, primary outcome, blood pressure (measured, secondary outcome, and physical activity (self-report, tertiary outcome were assessed at the individual level during the baseline, 3- and 6-month post-intervention.Relative to the standard care, receiving KM2H2 was associated with significant reductions in the incidence of heart attack (3.60% vs. 7.03%, p < .05 and stroke (5.11% vs. 9.90%, p<0.05, and moderate reduction in blood pressure (-3.72 mmHg in DBP and -2.92 mmHg in DBP at 6-month post-intervention; and significant increases in physical activity at 3- (d = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.21, 0.85 and 6-month (d = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.04, 0.85 post-intervention, respectively.The program KM2H2 is efficacious to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke among senior patients who are on anti

  14. Risk reduction for nonmelanoma skin cancer with childhood sunscreen use

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stern, R.S.; Weinstein, M.C.; Baker, S.G.

    1986-01-01

    Exposure to ultraviolet radiation is the principle cause of basal and squamous cell carcinomas of the skin, which are the most frequent tumors occurring in white residents of the United States. Using a mathematical model based on epidemiologic data, we quantified the potential benefits of using a sunscreen with a sun protective factor of 15 and estimate that regular use of such a sunscreen during the first 18 years of life would reduce the lifetime incidence of these tumors by 78%. Additional benefits of sunscreen use during childhood include reduced risk of sunburn, retarding the pace of skin aging, and possible reduction in melanoma risk. We recommend that pediatricians encourage sunscreen use and sun avoidance as a regular part of pediatric preventive health care

  15. Robustness analysis of interdependent networks under multiple-attacking strategies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Yan-Li; Chen, Shi-Ming; Nie, Sen; Ma, Fei; Guan, Jun-Jie

    2018-04-01

    The robustness of complex networks under attacks largely depends on the structure of a network and the nature of the attacks. Previous research on interdependent networks has focused on two types of initial attack: random attack and degree-based targeted attack. In this paper, a deliberate attack function is proposed, where six kinds of deliberate attacking strategies can be derived by adjusting the tunable parameters. Moreover, the robustness of four types of interdependent networks (BA-BA, ER-ER, BA-ER and ER-BA) with different coupling modes (random, positive and negative correlation) is evaluated under different attacking strategies. Interesting conclusions could be obtained. It can be found that the positive coupling mode can make the vulnerability of the interdependent network to be absolutely dependent on the most vulnerable sub-network under deliberate attacks, whereas random and negative coupling modes make the vulnerability of interdependent network to be mainly dependent on the being attacked sub-network. The robustness of interdependent network will be enhanced with the degree-degree correlation coefficient varying from positive to negative. Therefore, The negative coupling mode is relatively more optimal than others, which can substantially improve the robustness of the ER-ER network and ER-BA network. In terms of the attacking strategies on interdependent networks, the degree information of node is more valuable than the betweenness. In addition, we found a more efficient attacking strategy for each coupled interdependent network and proposed the corresponding protection strategy for suppressing cascading failure. Our results can be very useful for safety design and protection of interdependent networks.

  16. Optimizing power system investments and resilience against attacks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fang, Yiping; Sansavini, Giovanni

    2017-01-01

    This paper studies the combination of capacity expansion and switch installation in electric systems that ensures optimum performance under nominal operations and attacks. The planner–attacker–defender model is adopted to develop decisions that minimize investment and operating costs, and functionality loss after attacks. The model bridges long-term system planning for transmission expansion and short-term switching operations in reaction to attacks. The mixed-integer optimization is solved by decomposition via two-layer cutting plane algorithm. Numerical results on an IEEE system shows that small investments in transmission line switching enhance resilience by responding to disruptions via system reconfiguration. Sensitivity analyses show that transmission planning under the assumption of small-scale attacks provides the most robust strategy, i.e. the minimum-regret planning, if many constraints and limited investment budget affect the planning. On the other hand, the assumption of large-scale attacks provides the most robust strategy if the planning process involves large flexibility and budget. - Highlights: • Investment optimization in power systems under attacks is presented. • Capacity expansion and switch installation for system reconfiguration are combined. • The problem is solved by decomposition via two-layer cutting plane algorithm. • Small investments in switch installation enhance resilience by response to attacks. • Sensitivity analyses identify robust planning against different attack scenarios.

  17. Attacker Modelling in Ubiquitous Computing Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Papini, Davide

    in with our everyday life. This future is visible to everyone nowadays: terms like smartphone, cloud, sensor, network etc. are widely known and used in our everyday life. But what about the security of such systems. Ubiquitous computing devices can be limited in terms of energy, computing power and memory...... attacker remain somehow undened and still under extensive investigation. This Thesis explores the nature of the ubiquitous attacker with a focus on how she interacts with the physical world and it denes a model that captures the abilities of the attacker. Furthermore a quantitative implementation...

  18. Peacetime Use of Computer Network Attack

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Busby, Daniel

    2000-01-01

    .... PDD-63 alerts the nation to prepare for impending cyber attacks. This paper examines the nature, scale, and likelihood of cyber attacks posited in PDD-63 and finds that the country does not face an imminent "electronic Pearl Harbor...

  19. Programmable Logic Controller Modification Attacks for use in Detection Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-03-27

    and J. Lowe, “The Myths and Facts Behind Cyber Security Risks for Industrial Control Systems ,” in Proceedings of the VDE Kongress, vol. 116, 2004. [13...Feb 2014 Date 20 Feb 2014 Date 20 Feb 2014 Date AFIT-ENG-14-M-66 Abstract Unprotected Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems offer...control and monitor physical industrial processes. Although attacks targeting SCADA systems have increased, there has been little work exploring the

  20. A Case Analysis of Disaster Risk Reduction Preparedness of Iloilo Province: Basis for A Comprehensive Intervention Program

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Victoria D. Jurilla

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available - This study determined the effectiveness of Disaster Risk Reduction Preparedness of Iloilo Province, Philippines in the areas of Dissemination, Implementation, and Resource Utilization and Operation as evaluated by the 390 citizens of the ten (10 selected municipalities from the five (5 Congressional Districts in the Province of Iloilo, Philippines. This descriptive method of research employed researcher-made instruments and random interviews. Descriptive statistics used were the mean and standard deviation while inferential statistics employed Ttest for independent samples and one-way analysis for variance set at .05 level of significances. Findings revealed that Disaster Risk Reduction Preparedness of Iloilo Province, Philippines is “more effective” in terms of dissemination, implementation, and resource utilization and operation according to the assessment of the 390 respondents of the ten (10 selected municipalities from the five (5 Congressional Districts when they were grouped as to personal variables. Finally, the findings revealed that three (3 out of ten (10 municipalities were very effective and among the five (5 districts, first district was very effective as to dissemination and resource utilization and operation of their respective Disaster Risk Reduction Preparedness Program but as a whole, Iloilo Province was more effective in its Disaster Risk Reduction Preparedness.

  1. Vulnerability to terrorist attacks in European electricity decarbonisation scenarios: Comparing renewable electricity imports to gas imports

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lilliestam, Johan

    2014-01-01

    The decarbonised future European electricity system must remain secure: reliable electricity supply is a prerequisite for the functioning of modern society. Scenarios like Desertec, which partially rely on solar power imports from the Middle East and North Africa, may be attractive for decarbonisation, but raise concerns about terrorists interrupting supply by attacking the long, unprotected transmission lines in the Sahara. In this paper, I develop new methods and assess the European vulnerability to terrorist attacks in the Desertec scenario. I compare this to the vulnerability of today's system and a decarbonisation scenario in which Europe relies on gas imports for electricity generation. I show that the vulnerability of both gas and electricity imports is low, but electricity imports are more vulnerable than gas imports, due to their technical characteristics. Gas outages (and, potentially, resulting blackouts) are the very unlikely consequence even of very high-number attacks against the gas import system, whereas short blackouts are the potential consequence of a few attacks against the import electricity lines. As the impacts of all except extreme attacks are limited, terrorists cannot attack energy infrastructure and cause spectacular, fear-creating outages. Both gas and electricity import infrastructure are thus unattractive and unlikely terrorist targets. - Highlights: • A comparison of terrorism risks of importing solar power and gas for power generation. • Both scenarios show low vulnerability to terrorist attacks. • Within low vulnerabilities, gas imports are less vulnerable than electricity imports. • Causing spectacular, large and long outages is very difficult for attacker. • The attractiveness of gas and power import infrastructure as terrorist target is low

  2. Denial of Service Attack Techniques: Analysis, Implementation and Comparison

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khaled Elleithy

    2005-02-01

    Full Text Available A denial of service attack (DOS is any type of attack on a networking structure to disable a server from servicing its clients. Attacks range from sending millions of requests to a server in an attempt to slow it down, flooding a server with large packets of invalid data, to sending requests with an invalid or spoofed IP address. In this paper we show the implementation and analysis of three main types of attack: Ping of Death, TCP SYN Flood, and Distributed DOS. The Ping of Death attack will be simulated against a Microsoft Windows 95 computer. The TCP SYN Flood attack will be simulated against a Microsoft Windows 2000 IIS FTP Server. Distributed DOS will be demonstrated by simulating a distribution zombie program that will carry the Ping of Death attack. This paper will demonstrate the potential damage from DOS attacks and analyze the ramifications of the damage.

  3. Attacks on IEEE 802.11 wireless networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dejan Milan Tepšić

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Security of wireless computer networks was initially secured with the WEP security protocol, which relies on the RC4 encryption algorithm and the CRC algorithm to check the integrity. The basic problems of the WEP are a short initialization vector, unsafe data integrity checking, using a common key, the lack of mechanisms for management and exchange of keys, the lack of protection from the endless insertion of the same package into the network, the lack of authentication of access points and the like. The consequences of these failures are easy attacks against the WEP network, namely their complete insecurity. Therefore, the work began on the IEEE 802.11i protocol, which should radically improve the security of wireless networks. Since the development of a protocol lasted, the WPA standard was released to offset the security gap caused by the WEP. The WPA also relies on RC4 and CRC algorithms, but brings temporary keys and the MIC algorithm for data integrity. The 802.1X authentication was introduced and common keys are no longer needed, since it is possible to use an authentication server. The length of the initialization vector was increased and the vector is obtained based on the packet serial number, in order to prevent the insertion of the same packet into the network. The weakness of the WPA security mechanism is the use of a common key. WPA2 (802.11i later appeared. Unlike the WPA mechanism that worked on old devices with the replacement of software, WPA2 requires new network devices that can perform AES encryption. AES replaces the RC4 algorithm and delivers much greater security. Data integrity is protected by encryption. Despite progress, there are still weaknesses in wireless networks. Attacks for denial of service are possible as well as spoofing package headers attacks. For now, it is not advisable to use wireless networks in environments where unreliability and unavailability are not tolerated. Introduction In the entire history of

  4. Temporal Cyber Attack Detection.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ingram, Joey Burton [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Draelos, Timothy J. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Galiardi, Meghan [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Doak, Justin E. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    2017-11-01

    Rigorous characterization of the performance and generalization ability of cyber defense systems is extremely difficult, making it hard to gauge uncertainty, and thus, confidence. This difficulty largely stems from a lack of labeled attack data that fully explores the potential adversarial space. Currently, performance of cyber defense systems is typically evaluated in a qualitative manner by manually inspecting the results of the system on live data and adjusting as needed. Additionally, machine learning has shown promise in deriving models that automatically learn indicators of compromise that are more robust than analyst-derived detectors. However, to generate these models, most algorithms require large amounts of labeled data (i.e., examples of attacks). Algorithms that do not require annotated data to derive models are similarly at a disadvantage, because labeled data is still necessary when evaluating performance. In this work, we explore the use of temporal generative models to learn cyber attack graph representations and automatically generate data for experimentation and evaluation. Training and evaluating cyber systems and machine learning models requires significant, annotated data, which is typically collected and labeled by hand for one-off experiments. Automatically generating such data helps derive/evaluate detection models and ensures reproducibility of results. Experimentally, we demonstrate the efficacy of generative sequence analysis techniques on learning the structure of attack graphs, based on a realistic example. These derived models can then be used to generate more data. Additionally, we provide a roadmap for future research efforts in this area.

  5. Teaching medical students cancer risk reduction nutrition counseling using a multimedia program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolasa, K M; Jobe, A C; Miller, M G; Clay, M C

    1999-03-01

    There are many barriers to medical students receiving education about the linkage between nutrition and cancer, including the lack of role models and teachers and insufficient curricular time. We tested the use of a multimedia program as a possible solution to teaching diet-risk assessment and counseling skills. Images of Cancer Prevention, The Nutrition Link is a CD-ROM multimedia program that was developed and evaluated by 147 medical students. Pre-use and post-use surveys, computer log files, and recorded response sessions were used to determine the learner's 1) ease in using the program, 2) attitudes about the treatment of the content, 3) knowledge gain, and 4) attitudes about the role of physicians in nutrition assessment and counseling for cancer risk reduction. Students improved their knowledge of dietary guidelines for cancer risk reduction and made positive changes in their attitudes toward the role of physicians in dietary counseling. However, most students reported that they would not use the program unless it was required that they do so. The multimedia program was successful; it affected students' knowledge and attitudes concerning nutrition as a modifiable risk factor for some cancers. In addition, the design and delivery of the multimedia product was positively reviewed by the students for ease of access, message design, individualized instruction, and flexibility. Despite these favorable ratings, it was not clear that students would use the program unless required to do so.

  6. 12 CFR 263.17 - Collateral attacks on adjudicatory proceeding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Collateral attacks on adjudicatory proceeding... Collateral attacks on adjudicatory proceeding. If an interlocutory appeal or collateral attack is brought in... shall be excused based on the pendency before any court of any interlocutory appeal or collateral attack. ...

  7. 12 CFR 509.17 - Collateral attacks on adjudicatory proceeding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Collateral attacks on adjudicatory proceeding....17 Collateral attacks on adjudicatory proceeding. If an interlocutory appeal or collateral attack is... shall be excused based on the pendency before any court of any interlocutory appeal or collateral attack. ...

  8. Detection of complex cyber attacks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gregorio-de Souza, Ian; Berk, Vincent H.; Giani, Annarita; Bakos, George; Bates, Marion; Cybenko, George; Madory, Doug

    2006-05-01

    One significant drawback to currently available security products is their inabilty to correlate diverse sensor input. For instance, by only using network intrusion detection data, a root kit installed through a weak username-password combination may go unnoticed. Similarly, an administrator may never make the link between deteriorating response times from the database server and an attacker exfiltrating trusted data, if these facts aren't presented together. Current Security Information Management Systems (SIMS) can collect and represent diverse data but lack sufficient correlation algorithms. By using a Process Query System, we were able to quickly bring together data flowing from many sources, including NIDS, HIDS, server logs, CPU load and memory usage, etc. We constructed PQS models that describe dynamic behavior of complicated attacks and failures, allowing us to detect and differentiate simultaneous sophisticated attacks on a target network. In this paper, we discuss the benefits of implementing such a multistage cyber attack detection system using PQS. We focus on how data from multiple sources can be combined and used to detect and track comprehensive network security events that go unnoticed using conventional tools.

  9. New oral anticoagulants are not superior to warfarin in secondary prevention of stroke or transient ischemic attacks, but lower the risk of intracranial bleeding: insights from a meta-analysis and indirect treatment comparisons.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Partha Sardar

    Full Text Available PURPOSE: Patients with Atrial Fibrillation (AF and prior stroke are classified as high risk in all risk stratification schemes. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to compare the efficacy and safety of New Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs to warfarin in patients with AF and previous stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA. METHODS: Three randomized controlled trials (RCTs, including total 14527 patients, comparing NOACs (apixaban, dabigatran and rivaroxaban with warfarin were included in the analysis. Primary efficacy endpoint was ischemic stroke, and primary safety endpoint was intracranial bleeding. Random-effects models were used to pool efficacy and safety data across RCTs. RevMan and Stata software were used for direct and indirect comparisons, respectively. RESULTS: In patients with AF and previous stroke or TIA, effects of NOACs were not statistically different from that of warfarin, in reduction of stroke (Odds Ratio [OR] 0.86, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.73- 1.01, disabling and fatal stroke (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.71-1.04, and all-cause mortality (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.79 -1.02. Randomization to NOACs was associated with a significantly lower risk of intracranial bleeding (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.25-0.70. There were no major differences in efficacy between apixaban, dabigatran (110 mg BID and 150 mg BID and rivaroxaban. Major bleeding was significantly lower with apixaban and dabigatran (110 mg BID compared with dabigatran (150 mg BID and rivaroxaban. CONCLUSION: NOACs may not be more effective than warfarin in the secondary prevention of ischemic stroke in patients with a prior history of cerebrovascular ischemia, but have a lower risk of intracranial bleeding.

  10. Synergising Public Health Concepts with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction: A Conceptual Glossary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phibbs, Suzanne; Kenney, Christine; Severinsen, Christina; Mitchell, Jon; Hughes, Roger

    2016-12-14

    The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015) is a global strategy for addressing disaster risk and resilience that has been ratified by member countries of the United Nations. Its guiding principles emphasise building resilience through inter-sectoral collaboration, as well as partnerships that facilitate community empowerment and address underlying risk factors. Both public health and the emergency management sector face similar challenges related to developing and implementing strategies that involve structural change, facilitating community resilience and addressing individual risk factors. Familiarity with public health principles enables an understanding of the holistic approach to risk reduction that is outlined within the Sendai Framework. We present seven concepts that resonate with contemporary public health practice, namely: the social determinants of health; inequality and inequity; the inverse care law; community-based and community development approaches; hard to reach communities and services; the prevention paradox; and the inverse prevention law. These ideas from public health provide a useful conceptual base for the "new" agenda in disaster risk management that underpins the 2015 Sendai Framework. The relevance of these ideas to disaster risk management and research is illustrated through drawing on the Sendai Framework, disaster literature and exemplars from the 2010-2011 earthquakes in Canterbury, New Zealand.

  11. Synergising Public Health Concepts with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction: A Conceptual Glossary

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suzanne Phibbs

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015 is a global strategy for addressing disaster risk and resilience that has been ratified by member countries of the United Nations. Its guiding principles emphasise building resilience through inter-sectoral collaboration, as well as partnerships that facilitate community empowerment and address underlying risk factors. Both public health and the emergency management sector face similar challenges related to developing and implementing strategies that involve structural change, facilitating community resilience and addressing individual risk factors. Familiarity with public health principles enables an understanding of the holistic approach to risk reduction that is outlined within the Sendai Framework. We present seven concepts that resonate with contemporary public health practice, namely: the social determinants of health; inequality and inequity; the inverse care law; community-based and community development approaches; hard to reach communities and services; the prevention paradox; and the inverse prevention law. These ideas from public health provide a useful conceptual base for the ”new” agenda in disaster risk management that underpins the 2015 Sendai Framework. The relevance of these ideas to disaster risk management and research is illustrated through drawing on the Sendai Framework, disaster literature and exemplars from the 2010–2011 earthquakes in Canterbury, New Zealand.

  12. Vulnerability Assessment by Learning Attack Specifications in Graphs

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nunes Leal Franqueira, V.; Lopes, Raul H.C.

    This paper presents an evolutionary approach for learning attack specifications that describe attack scenarios. The objective is to find vulnerabilities in computer networks which minimise the cost of an attack with maximum impact. Although we focus on Insider Threat, the proposed approach applies

  13. Attack Tree Generation by Policy Invalidation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ivanova, Marieta Georgieva; Probst, Christian W.; Hansen, René Rydhof; Kammüller, Florian; Naeem Akram, R.; Jajodia, S.

    2015-01-01

    Attacks on systems and organisations increasingly exploit human actors, for example through social engineering, complicating their formal treatment and automatic identi﬿cation. Formalisation of human behaviour is difficult at best, and attacks on socio-technical systems are still mostly identi﬿ed

  14. Copper increases reductive dehalogenation of haloacetamides by zero-valent iron in drinking water: Reduction efficiency and integrated toxicity risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Wenhai; Li, Xin; Bond, Tom; Gao, Naiyun; Bin, Xu; Wang, Qiongfang; Ding, Shunke

    2016-12-15

    The haloacetamides (HAcAms), an emerging class of nitrogen-containing disinfection byproducts (N-DBPs), are highly cytotoxic and genotoxic, and typically occur in treated drinking waters at low μg/L concentrations. Since many drinking distribution and storage systems contain unlined cast iron and copper pipes, reactions of HAcAms with zero-valent iron (ZVI) and metallic copper (Cu) may play a role in determining their fate. Moreover, ZVI and/or Cu are potentially effective HAcAm treatment technologies in drinking water supply and storage systems. This study reports that ZVI alone reduces trichloroacetamide (TCAcAm) to sequentially form dichloroacetamide (DCAcAm) and then monochloroacetamide (MCAcAm), whereas Cu alone does not impact HAcAm concentrations. The addition of Cu to ZVI significantly improved the removal of HAcAms, relative to ZVI alone. TCAcAm and their reduction products (DCAcAm and MCAcAm) were all decreased to below detection limits at a molar ratio of ZVI/Cu of 1:1 after 24 h reaction (ZVI/TCAcAm = 0.18 M/5.30 μM). TCAcAm reduction increased with the decreasing pH from 8.0 to 5.0, but values from an integrated toxic risk assessment were minimised at pH 7.0, due to limited removal MCAcAm under weak acid conditions (pH = 5.0 and 6.0). Higher temperatures (40 °C) promoted the reductive dehalogenation of HAcAms. Bromine was preferentially removed over chlorine, thus brominated HAcAms were more easily reduced than chlorinated HAcAms by ZVI/Cu. Although tribromoacetamide was more easily reduced than TCAcAm during ZVI/Cu reduction, treatment of tribromoacetamide resulted in a higher integrated toxicity risk than TCAcAm, due to the formation of monobromoacetamide (MBAcAm). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Environmental Assessment: Bird Strike Risk Reduction at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas

    Science.gov (United States)

    2008-01-01

    mglkg in rats, 291 - 609 mglkg in mice, > 1000 mglkg in sheep , > 100 mglkg in dogs and > 1000 mglkg in rabbits (Pesticide Residues in Food-1987... vineyards . Wildl. Soc. Bull. 21:47-51. LAFB Strike Risk Reduction EA - 39 Gaines, T.B. 1969. Acute toxicity of pesticides. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol

  16. Development of risk reduction behavioral counseling for Ebola virus disease survivors enrolled in the Sierra Leone Ebola Virus Persistence Study, 2015-2016.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abad, Neetu; Malik, Tasneem; Ariyarajah, Archchun; Ongpin, Patricia; Hogben, Matthew; McDonald, Suzanna L R; Marrinan, Jaclyn; Massaquoi, Thomas; Thorson, Anna; Ervin, Elizabeth; Bernstein, Kyle; Ross, Christine; Liu, William J; Kroeger, Karen; Durski, Kara N; Broutet, Nathalie; Knust, Barbara; Deen, Gibrilla F

    2017-09-01

    During the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) epidemic, the public health community had concerns that sexual transmission of the Ebola virus (EBOV) from EVD survivors was a risk, due to EBOV persistence in body fluids of EVD survivors, particularly semen. The Sierra Leone Ebola Virus Persistence Study was initiated to investigate this risk by assessing EBOV persistence in numerous body fluids of EVD survivors and providing risk reduction counseling based on test results for semen, vaginal fluid, menstrual blood, urine, rectal fluid, sweat, tears, saliva, and breast milk. This publication describes implementation of the counseling protocol and the key lessons learned. The Ebola Virus Persistence Risk Reduction Behavioral Counseling Protocol was developed from a framework used to prevent transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. The framework helped to identify barriers to risk reduction and facilitated the development of a personalized risk-reduction plan, particularly around condom use and abstinence. Pre-test and post-test counseling sessions included risk reduction guidance, and post-test counseling was based on the participants' individual test results. The behavioral counseling protocol enabled study staff to translate the study's body fluid test results into individualized information for study participants. The Ebola Virus Persistence Risk Reduction Behavioral Counseling Protocol provided guidance to mitigate the risk of EBOV transmission from EVD survivors. It has since been shared with and adapted by other EVD survivor body fluid testing programs and studies in Ebola-affected countries.

  17. Neural network classifier of attacks in IP telephony

    Science.gov (United States)

    Safarik, Jakub; Voznak, Miroslav; Mehic, Miralem; Partila, Pavol; Mikulec, Martin

    2014-05-01

    Various types of monitoring mechanism allow us to detect and monitor behavior of attackers in VoIP networks. Analysis of detected malicious traffic is crucial for further investigation and hardening the network. This analysis is typically based on statistical methods and the article brings a solution based on neural network. The proposed algorithm is used as a classifier of attacks in a distributed monitoring network of independent honeypot probes. Information about attacks on these honeypots is collected on a centralized server and then classified. This classification is based on different mechanisms. One of them is based on the multilayer perceptron neural network. The article describes inner structure of used neural network and also information about implementation of this network. The learning set for this neural network is based on real attack data collected from IP telephony honeypot called Dionaea. We prepare the learning set from real attack data after collecting, cleaning and aggregation of this information. After proper learning is the neural network capable to classify 6 types of most commonly used VoIP attacks. Using neural network classifier brings more accurate attack classification in a distributed system of honeypots. With this approach is possible to detect malicious behavior in a different part of networks, which are logically or geographically divided and use the information from one network to harden security in other networks. Centralized server for distributed set of nodes serves not only as a collector and classifier of attack data, but also as a mechanism for generating a precaution steps against attacks.

  18. SCADA system vulnerabilities to cyber attack

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shaw, W. T. [Cyber Security Consulting (Canada)

    2004-10-01

    The susceptibility to terrorist attacks of computer-based supervisory control (SCADA) systems that are used to monitor and control water distribution systems, oil and gas pipelines and the electrical grid, is discussed. The discussion includes ways in which SCADA systems may be attacked and remedial actions that may be taken to reduce or eliminate the possibility of such attacks. Attacks may take the form of causing the system to generate false data to divert attention from impending system disasters, or commandeer the system to seriously disable it, or cause damage to the process or equipment being controlled by sending improper control commands. SCADA systems are also vulnerable to internal threats, either from an accidental action that results in damage, or an intentional action, as for example by a disgruntled employee, or ex-employee, usually by way of reprogramming an RTU or PLC by accessing the polling/communications circuit. Recent SCADA systems are much more susceptible to concerted cyber attacks because of the adoption of IT technologies and standards into the design of such systems. (Older systems are more likely to be unique designs, hence less susceptible to attack). As far as protection of SCADA systems is concerned, there are no technologies that would prevent a technologically sophisticated terrorist or disgruntled employee from doing major damage to the system, however, the IT world has developed a range of technologies for the protection of IT assets, and many of these same technologies can also be used to safeguard modern SCADA systems.

  19. Combating Memory Corruption Attacks On Scada Devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bellettini, Carlo; Rrushi, Julian

    Memory corruption attacks on SCADA devices can cause significant disruptions to control systems and the industrial processes they operate. However, despite the presence of numerous memory corruption vulnerabilities, few, if any, techniques have been proposed for addressing the vulnerabilities or for combating memory corruption attacks. This paper describes a technique for defending against memory corruption attacks by enforcing logical boundaries between potentially hostile data and safe data in protected processes. The technique encrypts all input data using random keys; the encrypted data is stored in main memory and is decrypted according to the principle of least privilege just before it is processed by the CPU. The defensive technique affects the precision with which attackers can corrupt control data and pure data, protecting against code injection and arc injection attacks, and alleviating problems posed by the incomparability of mitigation techniques. An experimental evaluation involving the popular Modbus protocol demonstrates the feasibility and efficiency of the defensive technique.

  20. Shilling Attack Prevention for Recommender Systems Using Social-based Clustering

    KAUST Repository

    Lee, Tak

    2011-06-06

    A Recommender System (RS) is a system that utilizes user and item information to predict the feeling of users towards unfamiliar items. Recommender Systems have become popular tools for online stores due to their usefulness in confidently recommending items to users. A popular algorithm for recommender system is Collaborative Filtering (CF). CF uses other users\\' profiles to predict whether a user is interested in a particular object. This system, however, is vulnerable to malicious users seeking to promote items by manipulating rating predictions with fake user profiles. Profiles with behaviors similar to "victim" users alter the prediction of a Recommender System. Manipulating rating predictions through injected profiles is referred to as a shilling attack. It is important to develop shilling attack prevention frameworks for to protect the trustworthiness of Recommender Systems. In this thesis, we will demonstrate a new methodology that utilizes social information to prevent malicious users from manipulating the prediction system. The key element in our new methodology rests upon the concept of trust among real users, an element we claim absent among malicious profiles. In order to use trust information for shilling attack prevention, we first develop a weighting system which makes the system rely more on trustworthy users when making predictions. We then use this trust information to cluster out untrustworthy users to improve rating robustness. The robustness of the new and classic systems is then evaluated with data from a public commercial consumer RS, Epinions.com. Several complexity reduction procedures are also introduced to make implementing the algorithms mentioned possible for a huge commercial database.

  1. Evolution of DWI signal abnormalities after transient ischemic attack and minor ischaemic stroke

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Merwick, A

    2011-05-01

    Background: Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) signal abnormality after transient ischaemic attack (TIA) predicts early stroke, independently of other risk markers included in the ABCD3-I score. Early stroke recurrence detected on follow-up DWI after the acute-phase DWI may identify patients at high risk for subsequent clinicalstrokesstroke, cognitive impairment, and seizures. We aimed to determine the evolution of acute DWI lesions and rate of new ischaemic lesion (NIL) occurrence on follow-up DWI after TIA and minor stroke.\\r\

  2. Factors affecting ambulance utilization for asthma attack treatment: understanding where to target interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raun, L H; Ensor, K B; Campos, L A; Persse, D

    2015-05-01

    Asthma is a serious, sometimes fatal condition, in which attacks vary in severity, potentially requiring emergency medical services (EMS) ambulance treatment. A portion of asthma attacks requiring EMS ambulance treatment may be prevented with improved education and access to care. The aim of this study was to identify areas of the city with high rates of utilization of EMS ambulance for treatment, and the demographics, socio-economic status, and time of day associated with these rates, to better target future interventions to prevent emergencies and reduce cost. A cross-sectional study was conducted on individuals in Houston, TX (USA) requiring ambulance treatment for asthma attacks from 2004 to 2011. 12,155 EMS ambulance-treated asthma attack cases were linked to census tracts. High rate treatment areas were identified with geospatial mapping. Census tract demographic characteristics of these high rate areas were compared with the remainder of the city using logistic regression. The association between case level demographics and the time of day of asthma attack within the high rate area was also assessed with logistic regression. EMS ambulance-treated high rate areas were identified and found to have a utilization incidence rate over six times higher per 100,000 people than the remainder of the city. There is an increased risk of location in this high rate area with a census tract level increase of percent of population: earning less than $10,000 yearly income (RR 1.21, 1.16-1.26), which is black (RR 1.08, 1.07-1.10), which is female (RR 1.34, 1.20-1.49) and have obtained less than a high school degree (RR 1.02, 1.01-1.03). Within the high rate area, case level data indicates an increased risk of requiring an ambulance after normal doctor office hours for men compared with women (RR 1.13, 1.03-1.22), for black compared with Hispanic ethnicity (RR 1.31, 1.08-1.59), or for adults (less than 41 and greater than 60) compared with children. Interventions to prevent

  3. Reduction of Perceived Social Distance as an Explanation for Media's Influence on Personal Risk Perceptions: A Test of the Risk Convergence Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    So, Jiyeon; Nabi, Robin

    2013-01-01

    The risk convergence model proposes reduction of perceived social distance to a mediated personality as a mechanism through which the mass media can influence audiences' personal risk perceptions. As an initial test of the model, this study examined whether 5 audience variables known to facilitate media effects on personal risk…

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

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    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, 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

  5. A comparison of mantle versus involved-field radiotherapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma: reduction in normal tissue dose and second cancer risk

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koh, Eng-Siew; Paul, Narinder; Hodgson, David C; Tran, Tu Huan; Heydarian, Mostafa; Sachs, Rainer K; Tsang, Richard W; Brenner, David J; Pintilie, Melania; Xu, Tony; Chung, June

    2007-01-01

    Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) survivors who undergo radiotherapy experience increased risks of second cancers (SC) and cardiac sequelae. To reduce such risks, extended-field radiotherapy (RT) for HL has largely been replaced by involved field radiotherapy (IFRT). While it has generally been assumed that IFRT will reduce SC risks, there are few data that quantify the reduction in dose to normal tissues associated with modern RT practice for patients with mediastinal HL, and no estimates of the expected reduction in SC risk. Organ-specific dose-volume histograms (DVH) were generated for 41 patients receiving 35 Gy mantle RT, 35 Gy IFRT, or 20 Gy IFRT, and integrated organ mean doses were compared for the three protocols. Organ-specific SC risk estimates were estimated using a dosimetric risk-modeling approach, analyzing DVH data with quantitative, mechanistic models of radiation-induced cancer. Dose reductions resulted in corresponding reductions in predicted excess relative risks (ERR) for SC induction. Moving from 35 Gy mantle RT to 35 Gy IFRT reduces predicted ERR for female breast and lung cancer by approximately 65%, and for male lung cancer by approximately 35%; moving from 35 Gy IFRT to 20 Gy IFRT reduces predicted ERRs approximately 40% more. The median reduction in integral dose to the whole heart with the transition to 35 Gy IFRT was 35%, with a smaller (2%) reduction in dose to proximal coronary arteries. There was no significant reduction in thyroid dose. The significant decreases estimated for radiation-induced SC risks associated with modern IFRT provide strong support for the use of IFRT to reduce the late effects of treatment. The approach employed here can provide new insight into the risks associated with contemporary IFRT for HL, and may facilitate the counseling of patients regarding the risks associated with this treatment

  6. Trace Attack against Biometric Mobile Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanaa Ghouzali

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available With the exponential increase in the dependence on mobile devices in everyday life, there is a growing concern related to privacy and security issues in the Gulf countries; therefore, it is imperative that security threats should be analyzed in detail. Mobile devices store enormous amounts of personal and financial information, unfortunately without any security. In order to secure mobile devices against different threats, biometrics has been applied and shown to be effective. However, biometric mobile applications are also vulnerable to several types of attacks that can decrease their security. Biometric information itself is considered sensitive data; for example, fingerprints can leave traces in touched objects and facial images can be captured everywhere or accessed by the attacker if the facial image is stored in the mobile device (lost or stolen. Hence, an attacker can easily forge the identity of a legitimate user and access data on a device. In this paper, the effects of a trace attack on the sensitivity of biometric mobile applications are investigated in terms of security and user privacy. Experimental results carried out on facial and fingerprint mobile authentication applications using different databases have shown that these mobile applications are vulnerable to the proposed attack, which poses a serious threat to the overall system security and user privacy.

  7. Limit Asthma Attacks Caused by Colds or Flu

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asthma: Limit asthma attacks caused by colds or flu A cold or the flu can trigger an asthma attack. Here's why — and how to keep your sneeze ... plan. If you notice warning signs of an asthma attack — such as coughing, wheezing, chest tightness or shortness ...

  8. Finite Energy and Bounded Actuator Attacks on Cyber-Physical Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Djouadi, Seddik M [ORNL; Melin, Alexander M [ORNL; Ferragut, Erik M [ORNL; Laska, Jason A [ORNL; Dong, Jin [ORNL; Drira, Anis [ORNL

    2015-01-01

    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 signals 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.

  9. Suicide risk reduction in youths with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder prescribed methylphenidate: A Taiwan nationwide population-based cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Sophie Hsin-Yi; Yang, Yao-Hsu; Kuo, Ting-Yu; Liao, Yin-To; Lin, Tzu-Chin; Lee, Yena; McIntyre, Roger S; Kelsen, Brent A; Wang, Tsu-Nai; Chen, Vincent Chin-Hung

    2018-01-01

    Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) youths have increased suicide risk. Nevertheless, the beneficial effects of methylphenidate (MPH) on suicide attempt have received relatively little attention. To investigate the MPH usage and the risk of suicide attempt among ADHD youths. We identified 84,898 youths less than 18 years old with ADHD diagnosis between 1997 and 2013 from National Health Insurance, and examined whether MPH use affected suicide attempt risk using Cox proportional-hazards models. Among ADHD youths, reduction of suicide risk was found in patients prescribed 90-180days of MPH after adjusting for confounding factors (hazard ratio (HR): 0.41, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.19-0.90) and a greater reduction in those prescribed more than 180days of MPH (HR: 0.28, 95% CI: 0.17-0.48). We observed a 59% suicide attempt risk reduction among ADHD youths prescribed between 90 and 180days and a 72% risk reduction in those prescribed more than 180days of MPH. The protective benefit observed by the group prescribed MPH for longer duration underscores the importance of psychoeducation and compliance enhancement as part of ADHD management. Indication bias is identified as a limitation of this study, and future self-case control study to investigate the association between suicide attempt and ADHD medication is suggested. This nationwide population-based cohort study showed that among ADHD youths, reduction of suicide risk was observed in patients prescribed MPH for duration 90days and longer, underscoring the importance of appropriate ADHD pharmacotherapy and enhancing drug compliance. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  10. Combining Primary Prevention and Risk Reduction Approaches in Sexual Assault Protection Programming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menning, Chadwick; Holtzman, Mellisa

    2015-01-01

    Objective: The object of this study is to extend prior evaluations of Elemental, a sexual assault protection program that combines primary prevention and risk reduction strategies within a single program. Participants and Methods: During 2012 and 2013, program group and control group students completed pretest, posttest, and 6-week and 6-month…

  11. Activity Modelling and Comparative Evaluation of WSN MAC Security Attacks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pawar, Pranav M.; Nielsen, Rasmus Hjorth; Prasad, Neeli R.

    2012-01-01

    and initiate security attacks that disturb the normal functioning of the network in a severe manner. Such attacks affect the performance of the network by increasing the energy consumption, by reducing throughput and by inducing long delays. Of all existing WSN attacks, MAC layer attacks are considered...... the most harmful as they directly affect the available resources and thus the nodes’ energy consumption. The first endeavour of this paper is to model the activities of MAC layer security attacks to understand the flow of activities taking place when mounting the attack and when actually executing it....... The second aim of the paper is to simulate these attacks on hybrid MAC mechanisms, which shows the performance degradation of aWSN under the considered attacks. The modelling and implementation of the security attacks give an actual view of the network which can be useful in further investigating secure...

  12. The Effect of Risk Reduction Intervention on Earthquake Disaster Preparedness of the Elderly People

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kian Nourozi

    2016-01-01

    Conclusion: Preparedness programs for disaster risk reduction has a positive effect on the elders’ preparedness. Thus, similar multimodal preparedness programs should be used more frequently for this vulnerable community citizens.

  13. Algebraic Side-Channel Attack on Twofish

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chujiao Ma

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available While algebraic side-channel attack (ASCA has been successful in breaking simple cryptographic algorithms, it has never been done on larger or more complex algorithms such as Twofish. Compared to other algorithms that ASCA has been used on, Twofish is more difficult to attack due to the key-dependent S-boxes as well as the complex key scheduling. In this paper, we propose the first algebraic side-channel attack on Twofish, and examine the importance of side-channel information in getting past the key-dependent S-boxes and the complex key scheduling. The cryptographic algorithm and side-channel information are both expressed as boolean equations and a SAT solver is used to recover the key. While algebraic attack by itself is not sufficient to break the algorithm, with the help of side-channel information such as Hamming weights, we are able to correctly solve for 96 bits of the 128 bits key in under 2 hours with known plaintext/ciphertext.

  14. On localization attacks against cloud infrastructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ge, Linqiang; Yu, Wei; Sistani, Mohammad Ali

    2013-05-01

    One of the key characteristics of cloud computing is the device and location independence that enables the user to access systems regardless of their location. Because cloud computing is heavily based on sharing resource, it is vulnerable to cyber attacks. In this paper, we investigate a localization attack that enables the adversary to leverage central processing unit (CPU) resources to localize the physical location of server used by victims. By increasing and reducing CPU usage through the malicious virtual machine (VM), the response time from the victim VM will increase and decrease correspondingly. In this way, by embedding the probing signal into the CPU usage and correlating the same pattern in the response time from the victim VM, the adversary can find the location of victim VM. To determine attack accuracy, we investigate features in both the time and frequency domains. We conduct both theoretical and experimental study to demonstrate the effectiveness of such an attack.

  15. Network attacks and defenses a hands-on approach

    CERN Document Server

    Trabelsi, Zouheir; Al Braiki, Arwa; Mathew, Sujith Samuel

    2012-01-01

    The attacks on computers and business networks are growing daily, and the need for security professionals who understand how malfeasants perform attacks and compromise networks is a growing requirement to counter the threat. Network security education generally lacks appropriate textbooks with detailed, hands-on exercises that include both offensive and defensive techniques. Using step-by-step processes to build and generate attacks using offensive techniques, Network Attacks and Defenses: A Hands-on Approach enables students to implement appropriate network security solutions within a laborat

  16. SDN-Based Double Hopping Communication against Sniffer Attack

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zheng Zhao

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Sniffer attack has been a severe threat to network communication security. Traditional network usually uses static network configuration, which provides convenience to sniffer attack. In this paper, an SDN-based double hopping communication (DHC approach is proposed to solve this problem. In DHC, ends in communication packets as well as the routing paths are changed dynamically. Therefore, the traffic will be distributed to multiple flows and transmitted along different paths. Moreover, the data from multiple users will be mixed, bringing difficulty for attackers in obtaining and recovering the communication data, so that sniffer attack will be prevented effectively. It is concluded that DHC is able to increase the overhead of sniffer attack, as well as the difficulty of communication data recovery.

  17. Attacks on Bluetooth Security Architecture and Its Countermeasures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iqbal, Mian Muhammad Waseem; Kausar, Firdous; Wahla, Muhammad Arif

    WPANs compliment the traditional IEEE 802.11 wireless networks by facilitating the clients with flexibility in network topologies, higher mobility and relaxed configuration/hardware requirements. Bluetooth, a WPAN technology, is an open standard for short-range radio frequency (RF) communication. However, it is also susceptible to typical security threats found in wireless LANs. This paper discuses some of the attack scenarios against the bluetooth network such as hostile intrusion, active Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attack using unit key and various forms of denial of service (DoS) attacks. These threats and attacks compromise the confidentiality and availability of bluetooth data and services. This paper proposes an improved security architecture for bluetooth device which provides protection against the above mentioned attacks.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  19. Mediation Analysis of the Efficacy of the Eban HIV/STD Risk-Reduction Intervention for African American HIV Serodiscordant Couples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    El-Bassel, Nabila; Jemmott, John B; Bellamy, Scarlett L; Pequegnat, Willo; Wingood, Gina M; Wyatt, Gail E; Landis, J Richard; Remien, Robert H

    2016-06-01

    Targeting couples is a promising behavioral HIV risk-reduction strategy, but the mechanisms underlying the effects of such interventions are unknown. We report secondary analyses testing whether Social-Cognitive-Theory variables mediated the Eban HIV-risk-reduction intervention's effects on condom-use outcomes. In a multisite randomized controlled trial conducted in four US cities, 535 African American HIV-serodiscordant couples were randomized to the Eban HIV risk-reduction intervention or attention-matched control intervention. Outcomes were proportion condom-protected sex, consistent condom use, and frequency of unprotected sex measured pre-, immediately post-, and 6 and 12 months post-intervention. Potential mediators included Social-Cognitive-Theory variables: outcome expectancies and self-efficacy. Mediation analyses using the product-of-coefficients approach in a generalized-estimating-equations framework revealed that condom-use outcome expectancy, partner-reaction outcome expectancy, intention, self-efficacy, and safer-sex communication improved post-intervention and mediated intervention-induced improvements in condom-use outcomes. These findings underscore the importance of targeting outcome expectancies, self-efficacy, and safer-sex communication in couples-level HIV risk-reduction interventions.

  20. Higher coronary heart disease and heart attack morbidity in Appalachian coal mining regions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hendryx, Michael; Zullig, Keith J

    2009-11-01

    This study analyzes the U.S. 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey data (N=235,783) to test whether self-reported cardiovascular disease rates are higher in Appalachian coal mining counties compared to other counties after control for other risks. Dependent variables include self-reported measures of ever (1) being diagnosed with cardiovascular disease (CVD) or with a specific form of CVD including (2) stroke, (3) heart attack, or (4) angina or coronary heart disease (CHD). Independent variables included coal mining, smoking, BMI, drinking, physician supply, diabetes co-morbidity, age, race/ethnicity, education, income, and others. SUDAAN Multilog models were estimated, and odds ratios tested for coal mining effects. After control for covariates, people in Appalachian coal mining areas reported significantly higher risk of CVD (OR=1.22, 95% CI=1.14-1.30), angina or CHD (OR=1.29, 95% CI=1.19-1.39) and heart attack (OR=1.19, 95% CI=1.10-1.30). Effects were present for both men and women. Cardiovascular diseases have been linked to both air and water contamination in ways consistent with toxicants found in coal and coal processing. Future research is indicated to assess air and water quality in coal mining communities in Appalachia, with corresponding environmental programs and standards established as indicated.