The Rise of Certificate Transparency and Its Implications on the Internet Ecosystem

In this paper, we analyze the evolution of Certificate Transparency (CT) over time and explore the implications of exposing certificate DNS names from the perspective of security and privacy. We find that certificates in CT logs have seen exponential growth. Website support for CT has also constantly increased, with now 33% of established connections supporting CT. With the increasing deployment of CT, there are also concerns of information leakage due to all certificates being visible in CT logs. To understand this threat, we introduce a CT honeypot and show that data from CT logs is being used to identify targets for scanning campaigns only minutes after certificate issuance. We present and evaluate a methodology to learn and validate new subdomains from the vast number of domains extracted from CT logged certificates.Comment: To be published at ACM IMC 201

Tuning magnetic frustration on the diamond lattice of the A-site magnetic spinels CoAl2−x_{2-x}Gax_xO4_4: Lattice expansion and site disorder

The spinels CoB$_2$O$_4$ with magnetic Co$^{2+}$ ions on the diamond lattice A site can be frustrated because of competing near-neighbor ($J_1$) and next-near neighbor ($J_2$) interactions. Here we describe attempts to tune the relative strengths of these interactions by substitution on the non-magnetic B-site. The system we employ is CoAl$_{2-x}$Ga$_x$O$_4$, where Al is systematically replaced by the larger Ga, ostensibly on the B site. As expected, Ga substitution expands the lattice, resulting in Co atoms on the A-site being pushed further from one other and thereby weakening magnetic interactions. In addition, Ga distributes between the B and the A site in a concentration dependent manner displacing an increasing amount of Co from the A site with increasing $x$. This increased inversion, which is confirmed by neutron diffraction studies carried out at room temperature, affects magnetic ordering very significantly, and changes the nature of the ground state. Modeling of the magnetic coupling illustrates the complexity that arises from the cation site disorder.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure

Geriatrics Attitudes and Knowledge Among Surgical and Medical Subspecialty House Officers

To examine geriatrics knowledge and attitudes of non-primary care house officers (HOs) before and after a multidisciplinary faculty development program. DESIGN : Serial cross-sectional surveys. PARTICIPANTS : HOs. SETTING : A large midwestern academic medical center. INTERVENTION : Faculty from seven surgical and six medical subspecialties participated in weekly seminars for 9 months and implemented geriatrics curricula in their HO programs. MEASUREMENTS : HO geriatrics attitudes and knowledge were measured using the University of California at Los Angeles Geriatrics Attitudes Scale (GAS; 14 items), two scales of the Maxwell Sullivan test (Therapeutic Potential and Time/Energy; six items each; lower scores denote more-favorable attitudes), and the Geriatrics Clinical Knowledge Assessment (20 multiple choice items; range 0–100%). Repeat surveys were administered in seven disciplines after geriatrics curriculum implementation. RESULTS : Baseline (n=175) geriatrics attitudes were favorable (e.g., 3.7 for GAS; 2.1 for Time/Energy), with more-favorable attitudes among medical subspecialty than surgical HOs (e.g., mean GAS 3.8 and 3.6, respectively; P =.001), and with advanced training. Mean baseline knowledge scores were 65.1% among all HOs. No differences in attitudes or knowledge were observed between the first (n=100) and second (n=90) cohorts in the seven disciplines that administered subsequent tests. CONCLUSION : Geriatrics attitudes of non-primary care HOs are positive, and knowledge is moderate, suggesting need for and potential effect of geriatrics curricula. Demonstrating effects on learner outcomes of faculty development programs may require more than one faculty member per discipline and measures that are curriculum-specific and detailed rather than general and brief.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66180/1/j.1532-5415.2007.01475.x.pd

Substantial improvements not seen in health behaviors following corner store conversions in two Latino food swamps.

BackgroundThe effectiveness of food retail interventions is largely undetermined, yet substantial investments have been made to improve access to healthy foods in food deserts and swamps via grocery and corner store interventions. This study evaluated the effects of corner store conversions in East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights, California on perceived accessibility of healthy foods, perceptions of corner stores, store patronage, food purchasing, and eating behaviors.MethodsHousehold data (n = 1686) were collected at baseline and 12- to 24-months post-intervention among residents surrounding eight stores, three of which implemented a multi-faceted intervention and five of which were comparisons. Bivariate analyses and logistic and linear regressions were employed to assess differences in time, treatment, and the interaction between time and treatment to determine the effectiveness of this intervention.ResultsImprovements were found in perceived healthy food accessibility and perceptions of corner stores. No changes were found, however, in store patronage, purchasing, or consumption of fruits and vegetables.ConclusionsResults suggest limited effectiveness of food retail interventions on improving health behaviors. Future research should focus on other strategies to reduce community-level obesity

Impact of real-time antimicrobial stewardship team intervention versus conventional microbiology reporting on time to appropriate antimicrobial therapy in patients with Enterobacterales bacteremia

Scott C. King Alyssa B. Christensen, Brent W. Footer, Timothy G. Shan, Kim Health, Ivor Thomas, and Margret Oethinger Impact of real-time antimicrobial stewardship team intervention versus conventional microbiology reporting on time to appropriate antimicrobial therapy in patients with Enterobacterales bacteremia. Introduction: The benefit of rapid laboratory speciation combined with real time antimicrobial stewardship team (AMT) interventions has been shown to improve patient outcomes and decrease hospital costs. The Providence Oregon region conducts direct from blood culture matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF) identification, which results in decreased time to organism identification. The MALDI-TOF identification has allowed the AMT to intervene earlier than a health system using standard MALDI identification or comparable methods. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of real time notification plus AMT intervention on clinical outcomes in patients with Enterobacterales blood stream infections (BSI). Methods: This was an IRB approved, retrospective, multi-center, pre- and post- quasi-experimental study conducted at eight acute care hospitals in the Providence Health & Services Oregon region. Adult patients (\u3e18 years old) with a diagnosed BSI caused by an Enterobacterales species were included. The control group was from August 2018 to January 2019 and the intervention group was from February 2019 to June 2019. Patients were matched based on age, gender, and admission to the ICU. Exclusion criteria included polymicrobial infection, Pitt bacteremia score \u3e1, unable to take PO therapy, and patients discharged to hospice care. During the intervention period the AMT members received real-time alerts for all blood culture speciation via a paging system. These cases where then reviewed and recommendations were made to the primary care team based off an approved protocol. The primary outcome for the study was time to de-escalation of therapy. Secondary outcomes include hospital length of stay and total duration of therapy. Results: A total of 60 patients were include in this study: 30 patients in the pre-intervention group and 30 patients in the post-intervention group. The most common age group was patients 60-69 years of age (43% vs 43%). The most common causative organism for the BSI was found to be Escherichia coli (76.7% vs 50%). During the intervention period a decrease was noted in median time to de-escalation of therapy (2.7 days vs 1.8 days, p=0.0061) and length of stay (5.3 days vs 4.3 days, p=0.0475). There was no statistical difference in the total length of therapy (combined inpatient and outpatient duration) noted between the two groups (9 days vs 9.5 days, p=1). Conclusion: The results show a statistically significant decrease in both time to de-escalation and length of stay within the intervention group due to AMT recommendations. This is in line with previous studies and also highlights the benefit de-escalation could have on length of stay in the hospital. Studies with larger samples sizes should be considered to further explore these results. IRB Status: Approvedhttps://digitalcommons.psjhealth.org/pharmacy_PGY1/1009/thumbnail.jp

Heartland Virus in Lone Star Ticks, Alabama, USA

We detected Heartland virus (HRTV) in lone star nymphs collected in 2018 in northern Alabama, USA. Real-time reverse transcription PCR selective for the small segment of the HRTV genome and confirmatory sequencing of positive samples showed high identity with HRTV strains sequenced from Tennessee and Missouri

Refractive-index profiling of azimuthally asymmetric optical fibers by microinterferometric optical phase tomography

© 2005 Optical Society of AmericaThe definitive version of this paper is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OL.30.001126DOI: 10.1364/OL.30.001126Accurate nondestructive refractive-index profiling is needed in the modeling, design, and manufacturing of optical fibers and fiber devices. Most profile measurement techniques cannot correctly characterize fibers with small or irregular refractive-index variations over their cross sections. Microinterferometric optical phase tomography (MIOPT) is a technique that allows measurement of fiber refractive-index profiles exhibiting such variations. We present the first demonstration, to our knowledge, of MIOPT. The profile of a polarization-maintaining fiber is measured by MIOPT and shown to be in agreement with (destructive) fiber end-face measurements. MIOPT is also applied to the limiting case of a symmetric single-mode fiber

The “New” Student-Athlete: An Exploratory Examination of Scholarship eSports Players

The growth and popularity of eSports cannot be understated. The domain has become so mainstream that colleges and universities are rapidly beginning to launch eSports programs within their athletics departments. In this study, the authors interviewed 33 student-athletes receiving scholarships for participating in eSports at one institution. In all, the identity and social capital of athletes in this “new” athletic arena were explored and compared with previous studies examining “traditional” athletes. The implications of the similarities and differences are discussed and ideas for future research into this emerging field are presented

Prospectus, September 16, 1987

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1987/1018/thumbnail.jp