Electromagnetic Attack: Is Your Infrastructure and Data at Risk?

You have worked hard to secure your network and data. You've got intrusion detection systems (IDS), backups, corporate firewalls, personal firewalls, honey pots, bullet-proof armoring and centralized logging. You've eliminated or minimized single point failures, installed redundant systems and are a believer of defense in depth. Your security policies and procedures are in order, and you have corporate or institutional buy-in as a reward. You are aware that the most important aspect of data and network securi..

The College of Engineering and Applied Sciences & the BTR-A Partnership with Purpose

Published by the Center of the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University

Digital Imaging in the Introductory Astronomy Course

The availability of small, inexpensive CCD cameras is making it possible to offer non-science students in introductory astronomy courses hands-on experience in astronomical imaging. For the past three years at Gettysburg College we have been developing laboratory exercises using ST-4, ST-6, and Lynxx CCD cameras attached to 8-inch telescopes. We discuss the hardware and the procedures involved in these exercises, pointing out the benefits and limitations of digital observations with introductory students. We also offer tips for making successful observations with students, and describe plans for further development

Effects of 8-Week Ketogenic Diet on Anthropometrics, Body Composition, Metabolic Parameters, and Psychological Factors in Young Obese Population

Obese have a significantly higher Body Mass Index (BMI), which can be associated with poor nutritional intake and sedentary lifestyles. The ketogenic diet is a form of a dietary intervention which is often implemented for metabolic syndrome individuals such as obese populations. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of a ketogenic diet on anthropometrics, body composition, metabolic parameters, and psychological factors in young obese population. METHODS: Seven young obese participants (n=7, height (cm); 174.8 ± 10.9, weight (kg); 105 ± 20.7, BMI (kg∙m-2); 34.6 ± 4.8) completed an 8-week intervention with a 70:20:10 ratio of fats to proteins to carbohydrates. Participants within the study were provided three meals per day, for a total of 8 weeks. Statistical analyses were performed with IBM Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 27.0, SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA). All data was reported as mean and standard deviation (SD). Dependent paired t-Test was used to determine ketogenic diet intervention effects. Frequencies were used to measure results from psychological factors. Statistical significance was set a priori p ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: Participants within the study noted significant reductions in anthropometric variables during 8 weeks: body mass (Pre: 105.8 ± 20.5 kg Post: 98.9 ± 18.8 kg, p= 0.000), BMI (Pre: 34.6 ± 4.8 kg·m-2, Post: 32.2 ± 4.2 kg·m-2, p= 0.001), waist circumference (Pre: 101.5 ± 13.9 cm, Post: 96.3 ± 13.3 cm, p= 0.000), and hip circumference (Pre: 112.6 ± 11.5 cm, Post: 107.3 ± 10.8 cm, p= 0.000). Significant reductions were shown in body composition variables: body fat (Pre: 25.6 ± 0.8%, Post: 21.1 ± 1.4%, p=0.000), and lean body mass (Post: 78.9 ± 14.9 kg, Post: 78.2 ± 14.5 kg, p=.0035). Significant reductions were shown in metabolic parameters: systolic blood pressure (Post: 126.6 ± 10.0 mmHg, Post: 120 ± 6.6 mmHg, p=0.029), diastolic blood pressure (Pre: 81.7 ± 4.9 mmHg, Post: 76.3 ± 1.8 mmHg, p= 0.020), and VO2max (Pre: 47.6 ± 8.9 mL·kg-1·min-1, Post: 51.8 ± 9.2 mL·kg-1·min-1, p=0.001. Question 1 within the psychological questionnaire results shown a reduction in the negative aspect in poor health score, with a significant increase shown towards good health. Question 3g results shown that here was a significant increase in frequencies of improvement towards having no limitations regarding walking a one-mile distance. Question 9g had significant increase in individuals selecting improved overall energy levels in comparison to baseline. CONCLUSION: The 8 weeks of ketogenic diet intervention may contribute or change bioenergetics pathways and results in significant adaptations on anthropometrics, body composition, metabolic parameters, and psychological factors in young obese population

The Past, Present and Future of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act as a Tool of Environmental Justice

Mr. Michael Gerrard: I am going to try to do something a little unconventional. After hearing some remarks from Professor Johnson, I will try to start a dialogue. I have been requested to ask very tough questions of our panelists, so I will do that in the hope of drawing all of you in the audience into the dialogue. First, we will hear some remarks from Professor Nicholas Johnson of Fordham University School of Law

Defining Success in Perioperative Care Pathways for Hip Fracture Patients

PURPOSE: Hip fracture is an increasingly common cause of morbidity and mortality in the aging U.S. population. Multiple studies have shown that patients who undergo surgical repair within 48 hours of the initial injury have better outcomes. The use of a perioperative care pathway (PCP) for hip fracture patients combines prompt surgical repair with dedicated medical services tailored to patients’ specific comorbidities. METHODS: Our level 1 trauma center implemented a PCP in October 2015, requiring only anesthesia (not hospital medicine) clearance prior to surgery. We identified all hip fracture patients who presented to our level 1 hospital for one year prior to, and one year following, implementation of the pathway. We then performed a comprehensive clinical chart review to collect demographic data, past medical history, and perioperative factors. We performed statistical analyses to evaluate whether using the pathway improved patient outcomes. RESULTS: Preliminary analyses were performed on a series of patients pre- (n=96) and post-pathway (n=100). We summarized patient characteristics and reported these according to participation in the pathway. Distributions were evaluated for normality and to evaluate for outliers. Proportions were reported for categorical variables and assessed for differences using the chi-square test, and continuous data were summarized by means and standard deviations and assessed for differences using the t-test. We found that patients in the pathway worked with physical therapy (PT) an average of 16.8 hours earlier (p=0.013). CONCLUSION: The use of PCPs represents an emerging approach to hip fracture management, but a widely generalizable PCP has yet to be definitively described. Our patients’ decrease in time to PT may be attributable to better postoperative optimization by hospitalist medicine. We anticipate that multivariate analyses will reveal additional gains. Ultimately, our experience may yield implications for the safe, cost- and time-effective surgical care of hip fracture patients nationally

Defining Success in Perioperative Care Pathways for Hip Fracture Patients

PURPOSE: Hip fracture is an increasingly common cause of morbidity and mortality in the aging U.S. population. Multiple studies have shown that patients who undergo surgical repair within 48 hours of the initial injury have better outcomes. The use of a perioperative care pathway (PCP) for hip fracture patients combines prompt surgical repair with dedicated medical services tailored to patients’ specific comorbidities. METHODS: Our level 1 trauma center implemented a PCP in October 2015, requiring only anesthesia (not hospital medicine) clearance prior to surgery. We identified all hip fracture patients who presented to our level 1 hospital for one year prior to, and one year following, implementation of the pathway. We then performed a comprehensive clinical chart review to collect demographic data, past medical history, and perioperative factors. We performed statistical analyses to evaluate whether using the pathway improved patient outcomes. RESULTS: Preliminary analyses were performed on a series of patients pre- (n=96) and post-pathway (n=100). We summarized patient characteristics and reported these according to participation in the pathway. Distributions were evaluated for normality and to evaluate for outliers. Proportions were reported for categorical variables and assessed for differences using the chi-square test, and continuous data were summarized by means and standard deviations and assessed for differences using the t-test. We found that patients in the pathway worked with physical therapy (PT) an average of 16.8 hours earlier (p=0.013). CONCLUSION: The use of PCPs represents an emerging approach to hip fracture management, but a widely generalizable PCP has yet to be definitively described. Our patients’ decrease in time to PT may be attributable to better postoperative optimization by hospitalist medicine. We anticipate that multivariate analyses will reveal additional gains. Ultimately, our experience may yield implications for the safe, cost- and time-effective surgical care of hip fracture patients nationally

Excitations in antiferromagnetic cores of superconducting vortices

We study excitations of the predicted antiferromagnetically ordered vortex cores in the superconducting phase of the newly proposed SO(5) model of strongly correlated electrons. Using experimental data from the literature we show that the susceptibilities in the spin sector and the charge sector are nearly equal, and likewise for the stiffnesses. In the case of strict equality SO(5) symmetry is possible, and we find that if present the vortices give rise to an enhanced neutron scattering cross section near the so called pi resonance at 41 meV. In the case of broken SO(5) symmetry two effects are predicted. Bound excitations can exist in the vortex cores with ``high'' excitation energies slightly below 41 meV, and the massless Goldstone modes corresponding to the antiferromagnetic ordering of the core can acquire a mass and show up as core excitation with ``low'' excitation energies around 2 meV.Comment: 9 pages, RevTeX, including 3 postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B, July 10, 199

Impairment and Restoration of Homeostatic Plasticity in Cultured Cortical Neurons From a Mouse Model of Huntington Disease

Huntington disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by a mutation in the huntingtin gene. The onset of symptoms is preceded by synaptic dysfunction. Homeostatic synaptic plasticity (HSP) refers to processes that maintain the stability of networks of neurons, thought to be required to enable new learning and cognitive flexibility. One type of HSP is synaptic scaling, in which the strength of all of the synapses onto a cell increases or decreases following changes in the cell’s level of activity. Several pathways implicated in synaptic scaling are dysregulated in HD, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and calcium signaling. Here, we investigated whether HSP is disrupted in cortical neurons from an HD mouse model. We treated cultured cortical neurons from wild-type (WT) FVB/N or YAC128 HD mice with tetrodotoxin (TTX) for 48 h to silence action potentials and then recorded miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents. In WT cultures, these increased in both amplitude and frequency after TTX treatment, and further experiments showed that this was a result of insertion of AMPA receptors and formation of new synapses, respectively. Manipulation of BDNF concentration in the culture medium revealed that BDNF signaling contributed to these changes. In contrast to WT cortical neurons, YAC128 cultures showed no response to action potential silencing. Strikingly, we were able to restore the TTX-induced changes in YAC128 cultures by treating them with pridopidine, a drug which enhances BDNF signaling through stimulation of the sigma-1 receptor (S1R), and with the S1R agonist 3-PPP. These data provide evidence for disruption of HSP in cortical neurons from an HD mouse model that is restored by stimulation of S1R. Our results suggest a potential new direction for developing therapy to mitigate cognitive deficits in HD