Lower intrafamilial transmission rate of hepatitis B in patients with hepatitis D coinfection: A data-mining approach

demographic and viral characteristics of family members affect the transmission rate. Objectives: In this study, we have used data mining techniques to investigate the impact of different variables in intrafamilial transmission of HBV infection. Patients and Methods: demographic information, viral markers, and medical history of 330 patients with chronic hepatitis B and their offspring attending a referral center in Tehran were collected. Data-mining techniques were administered to detect patterns. Results: The overall transmission rate was 15.7 (5.4 and 27.3 for male and female index cases respectively). In female patients, HBe Ag positively affected the transmission rate (49 vs. 23.4). There was a dominant change in transmission rate of female patients with negative results for Hbe Ag with HDV coinfection, where the transmission rate changed from 25 in patients with negative results for HDV Ab to 5 in those with positive results. In Hbe Ag negative male index cases, the transmission rate was 1.3 in cases with positive results for HDV Ab compared to 7 in those with negative findings. The overall transmission rate was statistically different between patients with positive and negative results for HDV Ab (P = 0.016). Conclusions: There is a minor but consistent pattern change in the presence of HDV infection which reduces familial transmission of HBV, especially in female patients with negative results for HBe Ag. © 2013, Kowsar Corp

From security-by-design to the identification of security-critical deviations in process executions

\u3cp\u3eSecurity-by-design is an emerging paradigm that aims to deal with security concerns from the early phases of the system development. Although this paradigm can provide theoretical guarantees that the designed system complies with the defined processes and security policies, in many application domains users are allowed to deviate from them to face unpredictable situations and emergencies. Some deviations can be harmless and, in some cases, necessary to ensure business continuity, whereas other deviations might threat central aspects of the system, such as its security. In this paper, we propose a tool supported method for the identification of security-critical deviations in process executions using compliance checking analysis. We implemented the approach as part of the STS-Tool and evaluated it using a real loan management process of a Dutch financial institute.\u3c/p\u3