Intrusion detection mechanisms for VoIP applications

VoIP applications are emerging today as an important component in business and communication industry. In this paper, we address the intrusion detection and prevention in VoIP networks and describe how a conceptual solution based on the Bayes inference approach can be used to reinforce the existent security mechanisms. Our approach is based on network monitoring and analyzing of the VoIP-specific traffic. We give a detailed example on attack detection using the SIP signaling protocol

The agenda-setting impact of Egyptian nightly television talk shows on attitudes towards civic engagement in Egypt

The awareness function of the mass media is at the heart of civic engagement, which is fundamental for a country in transition to democracy such as Egypt. This study examined the agenda-setting impact of Egyptian nightly television talk shows on attitudes towards civic engagement among the Egyptian elite. This primary research linked agenda-setting theory to civic engagement. Through setting the salience of news and creating sociopolitical awareness, agenda-setting establishes the first step in civic engagement, creating an informed citizenry. A primary content analysis of the three most popular Egyptian nightly television talk shows before the Jan.25th revolution: Masr Ennharda (Egypt Today), Al Ashera Masa\u27an (10 PM), and 90 Deqeeqa (90 Minutes), was conducted to measure the media agenda. A total of 78 episodes of talk shows were coded from October 6 to November 10, before the 2010 parliamentary elections. A primary survey was conducted among a purposive sample of the Egyptian elite (356 participants) to examine the public agenda and the relationships between exposure to talk shows, agenda-setting, and civic engagement. The findings support an agenda-setting impact of Egyptian nightly television talk shows at the first and second levels. Participants cited talk shows as their main source of information for the news issues they listed. Respondents\u27 perceptions of the November 2010 parliamentary elections also corresponded with talk shows\u27 framing of the elections. The first outcome of the agenda-setting impact on both levels is sociopolitical awareness, which represents the first and most basic level of civic engagement. One of the primary findings of this study is the significant positive correlation between perception of talk shows as civically engaging and attitudes towards civic engagement. This study also found a positive relationship between exposure to nightly television shows and attitudes towards civic engagement. A five-point civic engagement scale was created to measure the overall level of civic engagement among participants, which found that the elite sample surveyed is civically engaged. This study proceeded with conducting qualitative interviews with experts, producing recommendations for talk shows in order to play a more active role in fostering civic engagement in Egypt

Cow’s milk protein elimination in autistic children: language, cognitive and behavioral outcome

Background: Behavioral modification and structured education are necessary in autism but rather insufficient. Various dietary restrictions have been suggested as important prerequisites to benefit from other interventions in this disorder. Objective: This study was designed to highlight the degree of benefit in various aspects of development of autistic children upon elimination of cow's milk protein (CMP) from their diet and assess the level of specific IgE for CMP in their sera. Methods: The current study was conducted on 22 autistic children who were compared to 30 age and sex matched healthy children. Enrolled autistic children were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The parents of first group were instructed to eliminate cow milk (CM) from the diet of their children throughout the study period while patients of the second group were allowed to eat without restrictions. Each enrolled child was subjected to complete dietetic history taking, clinical examination and measurement of IgE for CM antigen in their sera by enzyme immunoassay. Autistic patients underwent a Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) test. The patients were also subjected to language and intelligent quotient (IQ) testing, social and mental age assessment and child psychiatric evaluation. The autistic children received an interventional program for six months and were then re-evaluated using the previous clinical parameters. Results: The first group achieved significantly lower CARS test results (p < 0.01), significantly higher language age (p < 0.05) and significantly higher rate of change of CARS, language, social age, mental age and IQ (p < 0.001, <0.05, <0.05, <0.01 and <0.05 respectively) compared to the second group after 6 months of follow up. There was also a significantly higher mean specific IgE level to CMP in the autistic patients as compared to the controls. Additionally, 45.5% of patients who were on CM elimination diet went one CARS category down compared to only 36.4% of the second group. Conclusion: We report improvement in language, cognition and behavioral capabilities upon CM elimination in a group of autistic children. The higher CM specific IgE in these children may suggest that such adverse reaction to CM may have an allergic basis. Wider scale studies are needed to justify this adjuvant therapeutic option in autistic children hoping for better achievement from the current interventional programs. Keywords: Allergy – Autism – CARS – Cow milk – IgE – IQEgypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2006; 4(1): 15-2

An adaptive framework for real-time data reduction in AMI

In existing Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), data collection intervals for each smart meter (SM) typically vary from 15 to 60 min. If we have 1 million SMs that transmit data every 15 min, these SMs will export 4 million records per hour. This leads to dramatically increasing bandwidth usage, energy consumption, traffic cost and I/O congestion. In this work, we present an adaptive framework for minimizing the amount of data transfer from SMs. The reduction in the framework is forecasting-based; when an SM reading is close to the forecasted value, the SM does not transmit the reading. In order for the framework to be adaptive to the ever-changing pattern of SM data, it is provided with a pool of forecasting methods. A supervised-learning scheme is employed to switch in real-time to the forecasting method most suitable to the current data pattern. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed framework achieves data reduction rates up to 98% with accuracy 96%, depending on the operational parameters of the framework and consumer behavior (statistical features of SM data)

Methomyl Adsorption onto Cotton Stalks Activated Carbon (CSAC): Equilibrium and Process Design

AbstractEquilibrium studies were carried out for adsorption of an insecticide (Methomyl) form aqueous solutions onto a prepared cotton stack activated carbon (CTAC) in a batch adsorption system. Parameters affecting adsorption capacity including contact time, adsorbent size (dp =355:800μm) and temperature (T=25:60°C) were investigated. Three mathematical models, Langmuir, Freundlich and Redlich-Peterson were employed for fitting the equilibrium data. Linear regression was used to determine the best fit and was found that the equilibrium data are best represented by Langmuir model thus suggesting the monolayer sorption of methomyl. The Langmuir constants (qmax = KL/aL) decreases with the increasing of temperature as well as decreasing the particle size of adsorbent. The adsorption capacity was found 72.85 mg/g at 25°C and decreased to 47.36 mg/g when temperature increased to 60°C . The value of enthalpy change was calculated (H = -2.35 kJ/mol) indicating that the removal process was exothermic and physical in nature. A single stage batch adsorber was designed for the adsorption of methomyl onto CSAC based on the optimum isotherm

The Impact Of Organizational Objectives On The Selection Of Defensive Marketing Strategies: Empirical Evidence From A Small Open Economy

Defensive Marketing Strategies (DMSs) do not receive enough attention as offensive or attacking marketing strategies in literature. This gap in the research constitutes a serious weakness in the marketing field. This paper aims to fill this gap in literature by conducting the first study to explore the determinants of the implemented DMSs in Kuwait. Empirically, this study examines the relationship between eight DMSs, demographics, and organizational objectives to define the most prevalent and appropriate DMSs to be deployed in the small open economy of Kuwait. Factor analysis and canonical correlation are used in this study to analyse the obtained data from surveyed board members, CEOs and executive managers of listed companies in the financial sector of Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE). Results reveal a significant relationship between the eight DMSs and the two sets of identified variables in Kuwait context. Cost leadership strategy ranked the most effective defensive marketing strategy by respondents. Also, results show that organizational objectives are mostly affecting the choice of DMSs

A study on the characteristics of Algerian Hassi-Messaoud asphaltenes:Algerian Hassi-Messaoud asphaltenes: solubility and precipitation

This study focuses on detailed characterizations of asphaltene fractions extracted from the Algerian Hassi-Messaoud oil field. It was found that the extracted asphaltenes are not completely soluble in toluene, instead two fractions of asphaltenes were obtained upon solubilizing the heptane-precipitated neat asphaltenes in toluene. Extensive characterizations of the toluene-soluble and insoluble fractions were carried out using elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR). It was suggested that the high oxygen content and uneven compositional structures are the main contributors to asphaltene instability. The toluene-insoluble fractions were found to have higher polarity and aromaticity as well as more oxygen content than the neat asphaltenes and toluene-soluble fractions

An Analytical Two Resistance Mass Transfer Model for Dye Adsorption on Bagasse Pith

The adsorption of fOUr dyes, namely, Basic Blue 69, Basic Red 22, Acid Blue 25 and Acid Red 114, onto bagasse pith has been studied. A mass transfer model, based on external mass transport and p01-e diffusion, has been used to correlate experimental and theoretical concentration versus time data. The model is an analytical solution which may be applied to adsorption systems in which the operating line and tie lines all terminate on the saturation plateau of the equilibrium isothenn. A single external mass transfer coefficient and a single p01'e diffusion coefficient were sufficient to describe each sytem fOT several initial dye concentrations and several pith masses. The external coefficient were 9.0 x 1(F3, 8.0 x 1(F3, 1.0 x 1(F3 and 1.5 x 10J cm S·I, the pOTe diffusivities were 5.5 x 1(F", 2.5 x 1(F", 2.2 x 1(F7 and 4.5 x l(Fi cm2 S·l for Basic Blue 69, Basic Red 22, Acid Blue 25 and Acid Red 114, respectively

Significance of ERCC1 & HR in Ovarian Cancer

Background & Objectives : Ovarian carcinoma usually has a relatively poor prognosis. A rational approach to identify patients, who are likely to benefit from therapy, is urgently needed. Excision repair cross-complementation group 1 enzyme (ERCC1) has been proposed as a molecular predictor of clinical resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy. Steroid hormone receptors are important determinants of prognosis and predictive behavior in tumor tissues of several origins. The present study aimed to investigate the expression profile of ERCC1, ER & AR in patients with Ovarian carcinoma and their association with patient outcome. Methods : This is a prospective study which included 77 patients with ovarian carcinoma who were treated with platinum based chemotherapy at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Egypt during the period 7/2016- 7/2018. We evaluated the expression of ER, AR, and Excision repair cross-complementation group 1 enzyme (ERCC1) by immunohistochemistry. Expression profiles were compared to clinical, histologic and prognostic factors, the clinical outcome and survival. All patients received platinum containing chemotherapy regimen. Result : Of the 77 patients with ovarian cancer, 66.2 % (51/77) were ERCC1-positive, 49.4 % (38/77) were AR positive & 75.3 % (58/77) were ER positive. Platinum resistance was found in eight of the tumors with positive ERCC1 protein expression compared with two among the patients with negative tumor staining for ERCC1 (P = 0.643). There was significant association between ER & AR expression and pathological subtypes (p = 0.004, 0.007) respectively. There were no significant association between ER, AR & ERCC1 expression and PFS (P = 0.447,P = 0.162, P = 0.508 respectively) or OS (P = 0.781, P = 0.569, P = 0.381 respectively). Based on Cox proportional hazards regression analysis ERCC1, ER & AR were not independent factors affecting the prognosis of patients with ovarian carcinoma. Conclusion : These results demonstrate that positive ERCC1 expression is not associated with clinical resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy, ERCC1, AR & ER expression are not independent factors affecting the prognosis of patients with epithelial ovarian tumors and not associated with survival benefits

Clinical and Biochemical Assessment of Lycopene Gel Combined With Nanohydroxyapatite Graft in Treatment of Grade II Furcation Defects: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Study

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of lycopene gel, as a natural antioxidant, mixed with a nanohydroxyapatite graft (NHG) covered by an occlusive resorbable collagen membrane (CM) in the surgical treatment of grade II furcation defects and on the gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) levels of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), as a marker of oxidative injury. Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical study a total of 24 patients with grade II furcation defects were randomly assigned into three equal groups. Furcation defects in group I were managed with lycopene gel mixed with NHG and CM, group II with NHG and CM, and group III with open flap debridement only. Site-specific changes in clinical parameters including probing depth (PD), vertical clinical attachment level (VCAL), horizontal clinical attachment level (HCAL), radiographic maximum vertical depth (MAX V), and maximum horizontal depth (MAX H) were measured at baseline and six months postoperatively. Gingival crevicular fluid levels of 8-OHdG were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) at baseline, one week, and three months. Results: Surgical management of grade II furcation defects resulted in a significant reduction in PD and 8-OHdG levels and a gain in CAL, MAX V, and MAX H in all groups. The differences between lycopene treated sites compared to NHG and CM alone were not significant at six months but demonstrated significantly superior clinical parameters compared to open flap debridement alone. Conclusion: Lycopene does not confer a benefit when combined with NHG in the surgical treatment of grade II furcation defects