Managing Access to Service Providers in Federated Identity Environments: A Case Study in a Cloud Storage Service

© 2015 IEEE. Currently the diversity of services, which are adhering to Identity Federation, has raised new challenges in the area. Increasingly, service providers need to control the access to their resources by users from the federation as, even though the user is authenticated by the federation, its access to resources cannot be taken for granted. Each Service Provider (SP) of a federation implements their own access control mechanism. Moreover, SPs might need to allow different access control granularity. For instance, all users from a particular Identity Provider (IdP) may access the resources due to some financial agreement. On the other hand, it might be the case that only specific users, or groups of users, have access to the resources. This paper proposes a solution to this problem through a hierarchical authorization system. Our approach, which can be customized to different SPs, allows the SP administrator to manage which IdPs, or users, have access to the provided resources. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of our approach, we present a case study in the context of a cloud storage solution

The Likelihood Ratio Test and Full Bayesian Significance Test under small sample sizes for contingency tables

Hypothesis testing in contingency tables is usually based on asymptotic results, thereby restricting its proper use to large samples. To study these tests in small samples, we consider the likelihood ratio test and define an accurate index, the P-value, for the celebrated hypotheses of homogeneity, independence, and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The aim is to understand the use of the asymptotic results of the frequentist Likelihood Ratio Test and the Bayesian FBST -- Full Bayesian Significance Test -- under small-sample scenarios. The proposed exact P-value is used as a benchmark to understand the other indices. We perform analysis in different scenarios, considering different sample sizes and different table dimensions. The exact Fisher test for $2 \times 2$ tables that drastically reduces the sample space is also discussed. The main message of this paper is that all indices have very similar behavior, so the tests based on asymptotic results are very good to be used in any circumstance, even with small sample sizes

Report of an extra-pair copulation in the Rufous Hornero, Furnarius rufus (Aves: Furnariidae)

In the last decade, studies in bird breeding biology have shown that infidelity is prevalent in socially monogamous species. Here, we describe an extra-pair copulation (EPC) event in the Rufous Hornero (Furnarius rufus), a socially monogamous bird with year-round territoriality and low levels of extra-pair paternity. Before the EPC, a within-pair copulation (WPC) occurred inside the pair’s territory. The WPC occurred on the ground and between a banded male (ca. 6 years-old) and an unbanded female. Ten minutes later this breeding pair invaded a neighboring territory, presumably to forage. The territorial male was chased back to its territory by an unbanded male neighbor after being detected. The male neighbor was paired with an unbanded female that did not participate in the aggressive interaction. When flying back to its territory the male neighbor copulated with the territorial female on the ground (ie. EPC). The territorial male flew, vocalized, and perched above the male neighbor, interrupting the EPC. The aggressive interaction then ceased as each pair resumed foraging in their respective territories. These observations suggest that Rufous Horneros can use EPC to obtain immediate benefits (food access in a neighbor’s territory). Moreover, WPC may be detected by neighbors and physical mate guarding and/or frequent WPC may be necessary to prevent EPC in the Rufous Hornero

Sequential Allocation and Balancing Prognostic Factors in a Psychiatric Clinical Trial

In controlled clinical trials, each of several prognostic factors should be balanced across the trial arms. Traditional restricted randomization may be proved inadequate especially with small sample sizes. In psychiatric disorders such as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), small trials prevail. Therefore, procedures to minimize the chance of imbalance between treatment arms are advisable. This paper describes a minimization procedure specifically designed for a clinical trial that evaluates treatment efficacy for OCD patients. Aitchison's compositional distance was used to calculate vectors for each possibility of allocation in a covariate adaptive method. Two different procedures were designed to allocate patients in small blocks or sequentially one-by-one. Partial results of this allocation procedure as well as simulated ones are shown. In the clinical trial for which this procedure was developed, the balancing between treatment arms was achieved successfully. Simulations of results considering different arrival order of patients showed that most of the patients are allocated in a different treatment arm if arrival order is modified. Results show that a random factor is maintained with the random arrival order of patients. This specific procedure allows the use of a large number of prognostic factors for the allocation decision and was proved adequate for a psychiatric trial design

Estimating Regional Poverty Lines With Scarce Data: An Application to Brazilian Regions

The recent emphasis on fighting poverty in Brazil makes the determination of the size of the targeted population an important issue (What is the right poverty line? What is the real size of the poor population? How much money should be given to each poor family?). The application of poverty lines based on national income levels tends to produce important distortions at the regional level. Using data from a Household Expenditure Survey (HES) that covered some regions in Brazil, the paper develops and applies a methodology to define poverty lines for all regions and urban areas. These lines are based on nutritional requirements, thus avoiding the purchasing power parity problem, and take into account non-monetary income and in-kind consumption, aspects that are very important at the rural level. The HES results are matched with Census data, allowing for the estimation of rural and urban poverty lines for Brazilian regions.

Total quality management and public administration: the case of Vila Real town hall

The quality movement is based on a main idea: every good and service must have the maximum quality. To get to the bottom of this movement one has to understand in the first place the implications of its assumptions and how they reflect themselves upon the institutions (Connor, 1997). In most countries, public administration is the economic sector which weights more heavily on employment and also the one which produces more goods and creates more services. Naturally one cannot remain indifferent to this Total Quality Management (TQM) movement in public administration. The Government is aware that "quality is now recognized and accepted worldwide as the client’s satisfaction at an adequate cost and an imperative for all public organizations (…) in view of the public’s and consumers’ growing awareness of their rights.” (DL n.º 166-A/99 de 13 de Maio). In Portugal, public administration faces new and more complex challenges everyday as a result of economic, social and technologic changes the country is going through. Thus it is the aim of the present paper to try and answer some questions, namely: how can the town hall of Vila Real cope with the TQM implementation in a context of change? Are there any obstacles or else favourable conditions to that implementation

Formação em alternância e desenvolvimento local: o PFITMAD na Região de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro

A importância que se atribui à relação entre o binómio formação/trabalho é de tal forma importante que atinge uma dimensão significativa na qual se tendem a polarizar as grandes opções das políticas educativas e a produzir-se a renovação epistemológica teórica e metodológica, quer das chamadas ciências do trabalho quer das chamadas ciências da formação (PNE, 1999). Este binómio, atrás referenciado, leva-nos a equacionar que para compreendermos a problemática das práticas educativas não nos podemos alhear das transformações presentes no mundo laboral, onde as transformações tecnológicas presentes sofrem uma evolução constante e assistimos cada vez mais a uma premissa extremamente importante que é “existirem postos de trabalho para os quais não existe mão de obra qualificada”(Cabrito, 1994:13)

From the movements to the movement: The importance of the social, popular and syndical movements in the constitution of the teacher's political identity

Este artigo resulta de pesquisa que investigou a importância dos movimentos social, político e sindical na constituição da identidade política docente. Respaldada na abordagem qualitativa, o trabalho apoiou-se no levantamento bibliográfico e documental, em entrevistas narrativas e observações-participantes. A questão que fomentou o estudo foi: Como a formação, dentro dos movimentos social, popular e sindical, associada à formação sindical, às greves e às paralisações, contribuiu para a constituição da identidade política docente? Constatou-se que a constituição política dos professores entrevistados se iniciou nos movimentos social e popular e amadureceu no movimento sindical. Tal fato, aliado à práxis, possibilitou-lhes a luta e a defesa por uma educação pública com qualidade socialThe article results from a research that investigated the importance of social, political and syndical movements in the constitution of teacher’s political identity. Based on qualitative approach, this paper is supported by a bibliographic research, interviews and participant-observations. The question here is how education background inside social, popular and syndical movements, associated to syndical education, to strikes and to stoppages contributed to the constitution of the teacher’s political identity? It can be concluded that the interviewers’ political background began in the social and popular movement and matured in the syndical movement. That fact associated to praxis resulted in the fight and defense of a public education with social qualit