X.509 certificate error testing

X.509 Certificates are used by a wide range of technologies to verify identities, while the SSL protocol is used to provide a secure encrypted tunnel through which data can be sent over a public network. Combined both of these technologies provides the basis of the public key infrastructure (PKI). While the concept of PKI is a good idea, the different implementation of the technologies in different operating system and clients often lead to weaknesses. This paper proposes a methodology to automate the testing of SSL clients by generating both bogus and malformed certificates in order to evaluate the client’s response and identify potential threats to network infrastructures

Influence of deformation axis onto the length free path of screw dislocations in pure fcc materials

In this paper the influence of crystal's deformation axis orientation on formation of long, strong dislocation junctions which can be barriers that limit the shear zone has been studied. The probability of strong junctions formation has been obtained on the basis of interdislocation contact interactions model. The length of free path of screw dislocations has been defined for different orientations of crystal's deformation axis

Fractional Derivative as Fractional Power of Derivative

Definitions of fractional derivatives as fractional powers of derivative operators are suggested. The Taylor series and Fourier series are used to define fractional power of self-adjoint derivative operator. The Fourier integrals and Weyl quantization procedure are applied to derive the definition of fractional derivative operator. Fractional generalization of concept of stability is considered.Comment: 20 pages, LaTe

Identifying a causal link between prolactin signaling pathways and COVID-19 vaccine-induced menstrual changes

COVID-19 vaccines have been instrumental tools in the fight against SARS-CoV-2 helping to reduce disease severity and mortality. At the same time, just like any other therapeutic, COVID-19 vaccines were associated with adverse events. Women have reported menstrual cycle irregularity after receiving COVID-19 vaccines, and this led to renewed fears concerning COVID-19 vaccines and their effects on fertility. Herein we devised an informatics workflow to explore the causal drivers of menstrual cycle irregularity in response to vaccination with mRNA COVID-19 vaccine BNT162b2. Our methods relied on gene expression analysis in response to vaccination, followed by network biology analysis to derive testable hypotheses regarding the causal links between BNT162b2 and menstrual cycle irregularity. Five high-confidence transcription factors were identified as causal drivers of BNT162b2-induced menstrual irregularity, namely: IRF1, STAT1, RelA (p65 NF-kB subunit), STAT2 and IRF3. Furthermore, some biomarkers of menstrual irregularity, including TNF, IL6R, IL6ST, LIF, BIRC3, FGF2, ARHGDIB, RPS3, RHOU, MIF, were identified as topological genes and predicted as causal drivers of menstrual irregularity. Our network-based mechanism reconstruction results indicated that BNT162b2 exerted biological effects similar to those resulting from prolactin signaling. However, these effects were short-lived and didn’t raise concerns about long-term infertility issues. This approach can be applied to interrogate the functional links between drugs/vaccines and other side effects

Adherence to 6-Mercaptopurine in children and adolescents with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

OBJECTIVE: Studies on children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) reported non-adherence in 2–54% of cases. The primary objective of this study was to assess rates of adherence to 6-MP using two different methods in children and adolescents with ALL. Secondary aim was to identify factors that influence adherence to 6-MP in children with ALL. METHODS: All eligible children with ALL who are (≤ 19) years old and receive 6-MP therapy for at least 1 month were approached to participate in the study. A total of 52 children with ALL and their primary caregivers were recruited. Adherence measures included an objective method (measuring 6-MP metabolites in packed Red Blood Cells (RBCs)) and a subjective method (using parent and child self-report via the Medication Adherence Report Scale; MARS; Adherence was defined as 90% or greater). RESULTS: Rates of adherence varied across the measurement methods. Packed RBCs sample analysis indicated forty-four patients (84.6%) to be adherent. Using the MARS questionnaires, a total of 49 children (94.2%) were classified as being adherent according to the parental MARS questionnaire scores, while all the 15 children (100%) who answered the MARS (child) questionnaire were classified as adherent. Overall adherence rate was 80.8% within the studied population. CONCLUSION: MARS scale was shown to overestimate adherence compared to measurement of 6-MP metabolites in the blood. A combination of both methods led to increased detection of non-adherence to thiopurine in children with ALL

The Degree of Achieving Organizational Rigidity at Umm Al-Qura and Ajloun National Universities: Faculty Members’ Perspective

The paper pinpoints the degree of achieving organizational rigidity at Umm Al-Qura University and Ajloun National University from the faculty members’ viewpoint in line with the faculty, academic rank, and number of years of experience. The nature of the research necessitates using the descriptive survey research approach. A questionnaire adopted as a research instrument is applied to a 410-member sample of (410) randomly designated from the two universities. It is found that the organizational rigidity achievement is of a medium degree with a mean of (3.48). The results also show no statistically significant differences thanks to the variables of the number of years of experience and academic rank. However, it is found that there are differences caused by the faculty variable in favor of scientific faculties. The research recommends activating the methods of evaluating job performance, activating accountability and accounting systems, dividing work at the university according to the competence and experience of workers, and defining the tasks and duties of employees

Intercultural translation. The reflection of the religious notions of qadar and rizq in Arabic paremiology and phraseology

El objetivo del presente trabajo es indagar la plasmación de las realidades cultu-rales en hechos lingüísticos mediante el estudio de los refranes y expresiones árabes que se refieren explícitamente a los conceptos religiosos de qadar y rizq, dos palabras clave tan arraigadas en la cultura arabo islámica que dan lugar a un abundante caudal paremiológico. La exposición de estas cuestiones se abordará teniendo muy en cuenta la traducción de los referentes culturales y los equivalentes funcionales. Para ello, se ha seguido la siguiente metodología: ejemplo en árabe, traducción funcional al castellano propia de los autores y un análisis-comentario. Los resultados globales logrados en este estudio han respondido a su objetivo principal, que aspiraba a reflejar la existencia de numerosos rituales sociales, a través de la paremiología y fraseología, que los árabes aplican a la hora de afrontar los dis-tintos acontecimientos, que transcurren a lo largo de su vida. Como conclusión, se puede comprobar, una vez más la interdependencia entre la cultura y el lenguaje, haciendo hinca-pié en que una asimilación correcta de los códigos lingüísticos de una determinada socie-dad deberá pasar inexorablemente por la comprensión de los componentes culturales que subyacen a ellos.The aim of this paper is to investigate the reflection of cultural realities in linguistic facts by studying Arabic proverbs and expressions that refer explicitly to the religious concepts of qadar and rizq, two key words so deeply rooted in the Islamic Arab culture that they have given rise to a great abundance of paremiology. These questions are addressed while taking into account the translation of cultural references and their functional equivalents. For this purpose, the following methodology has been used: an example in Arabic is given, then a functional translation into Spanish by the authors is provided, and this is followed by an analysis-comment. The overall results obtained in this study have fulfilled the main objective, which was to demonstrate the existence of numerous social rituals, through paremiology and phraseology, that Arabs apply when facing different situations in their lives. In conclusion, this research confirms, once again, the interdependence between culture and language, emphasizing that the correct assimilation of the linguistic codes of any given society requires a thorough understanding of the cultural components underlying them

Global Governance Behind Closed Doors : The IMF Boardroom, the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility, and the Intersection of Material Power and Norm Change in Global Politics

Up on the 12th floor of its 19th Street Headquarters, the IMF Board sits in active session for an average of 7 hours per week. Although key matters of policy are decided on in the venue, the rules governing Boardroom interactions remain opaque, resting on an uneasy combination of consensual decision-making and weighted voting. Through a detailed analysis of IMF Board discussions surrounding the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF), this article sheds light on the mechanics of power in this often overlooked venue of global economic governance. By exploring the key issues of default liability and loan conditionality, I demonstrate that whilst the Boardroom is a more active site of contestation than has hitherto been recognized, material power is a prime determinant of both Executive Directors’ preferences and outcomes reached from discussions. And as the decisions reached form the backbone of the ‘instruction sheet’ used by Fund staff to guide their everyday operational decisions, these outcomes—and the processes through which they were reached—were factors of primary importance in stabilizing the operational norms at the heart of a controversial phase in the contemporary history of IMF concessional lending

Hospital Admissions Due to Ischemic Heart Diseases and Prescriptions of Cardiovascular Diseases Medications in England and Wales in the Past Two Decades

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the trend of ischemic heart disease (IHD) admission and the prescriptions of IHD medications in England and Wales. Methods: A secular trends study was conducted during the period of 1999 to 2019. We extracted hospital admission data for patients from all age groups from the Hospital Episode Statistics database in England and the Patient Episode Database for Wales. Prescriptions of IHD medications were extracted from the Prescription Cost Analysis database from 2004 to 2019. The chi-squared test was used to assess the difference between the admission rates and the difference between IHD medication prescription rates. The trends in IHD-related hospital admission and IHD-related medication prescription were assessed using a Poisson model. The correlation between hospital admissions for IHD and its IHD medication-related prescriptions was assessed using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: Our study detected a significant increase in the rate of cardiovascular disease (CVD) medication prescriptions in England and Wales, representing a rise in the CVD medications prescription rate of 41.8% (from 539,334.95 (95% CI = 539,286.30–539,383.59) in 2004 to 764,584.55 (95% CI = 764,545.55–764,623.56) in 2019 prescriptions per 100,000 persons), with a mean increase of 2.8% per year during the past 15 years. This increase was connected with a reduction in the IHD hospital admission rate by 15.4% (from 838.50 (95% CI = 836.05–840.94) in 2004 to 709.78 (95% CI = 707.65–711.92) in 2019 per 100,000 persons, trend test, p < 0.01), with a mean decrease of 1.02% per year during the past 15 years and by 5% (from 747.43 (95% CI = 745.09–749.77) in 1999 to 709.78 (95% CI = 707.65–711.92) in 2019 per 100,000 persons, trend test, p < 0.01) with a mean decrease of 0.25% per year during the past two decades in England and Wales. Conclusion: The rate of hospitalisation due to IHD has decreased in England and Wales during the past two decades. Hospitalisation due to IHD was strongly and negatively correlated with the increase in the rates of dispensing of IHD-related medications. Other factors contributing to this decline could be the increase in controlling IHD risk factors during the past few years. Future studies exploring other risk factors that are associated with IHD hospitalisation are warranted

Time-Fractional KdV Equation: Formulation and Solution using Variational Methods

In this work, the semi-inverse method has been used to derive the Lagrangian of the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation. Then, the time operator of the Lagrangian of the KdV equation has been transformed into fractional domain in terms of the left-Riemann-Liouville fractional differential operator. The variational of the functional of this Lagrangian leads neatly to Euler-Lagrange equation. Via Agrawal's method, one can easily derive the time-fractional KdV equation from this Euler-Lagrange equation. Remarkably, the time-fractional term in the resulting KdV equation is obtained in Riesz fractional derivative in a direct manner. As a second step, the derived time-fractional KdV equation is solved using He's variational-iteration method. The calculations are carried out using initial condition depends on the nonlinear and dispersion coefficients of the KdV equation. We remark that more pronounced effects and deeper insight into the formation and properties of the resulting solitary wave by additionally considering the fractional order derivative beside the nonlinearity and dispersion terms.Comment: The paper has been rewritten, 12 pages, 3 figure