EM-Side-Channel Resistant Symmetric-Key Authentication Mechanism for Small Devices

We provide a novel electro-magnetic (EM) side-channel resistant symmetric-key authentication mechanism for small devices that uses a Benes network to permute the on-board authentication-key before computing a MAC of a challenge with the key. The permutation itself is derived from the challenge using a hash function acting as a random oracle. The solution has interesting applications such as forgery detection of currency bills

The role of the user within the medical device design and development process: medical device manufacturers' perspectives

Copyright @ 2011 Money et al.Background: Academic literature and international standards bodies suggest that user involvement, via the incorporation of human factors engineering methods within the medical device design and development (MDDD) process, offer many benefits that enable the development of safer and more usable medical devices that are better suited to users' needs. However, little research has been carried out to explore medical device manufacturers' beliefs and attitudes towards user involvement within this process, or indeed what value they believe can be added by doing so.Methods: In-depth interviews with representatives from 11 medical device manufacturers are carried out. We ask them to specify who they believe the intended users of the device to be, who they consult to inform the MDDD process, what role they believe the user plays within this process, and what value (if any) they believe users add. Thematic analysis is used to analyse the fully transcribed interview data, to gain insight into medical device manufacturers' beliefs and attitudes towards user involvement within the MDDD process.Results: A number of high-level themes emerged, relating who the user is perceived to be, the methods used, the perceived value and barriers to user involvement, and the nature of user contributions. The findings reveal that despite standards agencies and academic literature offering strong support for the employment formal methods, manufacturers are still hesitant due to a range of factors including: perceived barriers to obtaining ethical approval; the speed at which such activity may be carried out; the belief that there is no need given the 'all-knowing' nature of senior health care staff and clinical champions; a belief that effective results are achievable by consulting a minimal number of champions. Furthermore, less senior health care practitioners and patients were rarely seen as being able to provide valuable input into the process.Conclusions: Medical device manufacturers often do not see the benefit of employing formal human factors engineering methods within the MDDD process. Research is required to better understand the day-to-day requirements of manufacturers within this sector. The development of new or adapted methods may be required if user involvement is to be fully realised.This study was in part funded by grant number Ref: GR/S29874/01 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. This article is made available through the Brunel University Open Access Publishing Fund

Gabapentin in traumatic nerve injury pain: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over, mufti-center study

A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled cross-over multi-center study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of gabapentin in the treatment of neuropathic pain caused by traumatic or postsurgical peripheral nerve injury, using doses tip to 2400 mg/day. The study comprised a run-in period of two weeks, two treatment periods of five weeks separated by a three weeks' washout period. The primary efficacy variable was the change in the mean pain intensity score from baseline to the last week of treatment. Other variables included pain relief, health related quality of life (SF-36), interference of sleep by pain, Clinician and Patient Global Impression of Change, and adverse effects. Nine centers randomized a total of 120 patients, 22 of whom withdrew. There was no statistically significant difference between the treatments for the primary outcome efficacy variable. However, gabapentin provided significantly better pain relief (p = 0.015) compared with placebo. More patients had at least a 30% pain reduction with gabapentin compared with placebo (p = 0.040) and pain interfered significantly less with sleep during gabapentin treatment compared with placebo (p = 0.0016). Both the Patient (p = 0.023) and Clinician (p = 0.037) Global Impression of Change indicated a better response with gabapentin compared with placebo. Gabapentin was well tolerated. The most common adverse effects were dizziness and tiredness. (C) 2007 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Behavioral agency theory: new foundations for theorizing about executive compensation

This article describes new micro-foundations for theorizing about executive compensation, drawing on the behavioral economics literature and based on a more realistic set of behavioral assumptions than those that have typically been made by agency theorists. We call these micro-foundations “behavioral agency theory.” In contrast to the standard agency framework, which focuses on monitoring costs and incentive alignment, behavioral agency theory places agent performance at the center of the agency model, arguing that the interests of shareholders and their agents are most likely to be aligned if executives are motivated to perform to the best of their abilities. We develop a line of argument first advanced by Wiseman and Gomez-Mejia and put the case for a more general reassessment of the behavioral assumptions underpinning agency theory. A model of economic man predicated on bounded rationality is proposed, adopting Wiseman and Gomez-Mejia’s assumptions about risk preferences, but incorporating new assumptions about time discounting, inequity aversion, and the trade-off between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. We argue that behavioral agency theory provides a better framework for theorizing about executive compensation, an enhanced theory of agent behavior, and an improved platform for making recommendations about the design of executive compensation plans

The Continuing Retirement Savings Crisis

The study analyzes workplace retirement plan coverage, retirement account ownership, and household retirement savings as a percentage of income, and estimates the share of working families that meet financial industry recommended benchmarks for retirement savings