Dokspot : securely linking healthcare products with online instructions

Printed instructions for products get replaced more and more by digital versions that are made available over the internet. In safety-sensitive fields such as healthcare products, availability and integrity of these instructions is of highest importance. However, providing and managing instructions online opens the door to a wide range of potential attacks, which may negatively affect availability and integrity. In this paper, dokspot is presented, which is an internet-based service that aims at solving this problem by securely linking healthcare products with online instructions. The key to achieve this is a sophisticated security architecture and the focus of this paper is on the core components of this architecture. This includes a secure workflow to manage online instructions, which prevents, e.g., attacks by malicious insiders. Also, the traditionally monolithic web application architecture was split into role-based microservices, which provides protection even if parts of the system are compromised. Furthermore, digital signatures are utilized to continuously safeguard the lifecycle of online instructions to guarantee their genuineness and integrity. And finally, a passwordless signature scheme is introduced to hide inconvenient extra steps from the users while still maintaining security. Overall, this security architecture makes dokspot highly resistant to a wide range of attacks

Hump-shape Uncertainty, Agency Costs and Aggregate Fluctuations

Previously measured uncertainty shocks using the U.S. data show a hump-shape time path: Uncertainty rises for two years before its decline. Current literature on the effects uncertainty on macroeconomics, including housing, has not accounted for this observation. Consequently, the literature on uncertainty and macroeconomics is divided on the effcts and the propagation mechanism of uncertainty on aggregate uctuations. This paper shows that when uncertainty rises and falls over time, then the output displays hump-shape with short expansions that are followed by longer and persistent contractions. And because of these longer and persistent contractions in output, uncertainty is, on average, counter-cyclical. Our model builds on the literature combining uncertainty and financial constraints. We model the time path of uncertainty shocks to match empirical evidence in terms of shape, duration and magnitude. In our calibrated models, agents anticipate this hump-shape uncertainty time-path once a shock has occurred. Thereby, agents respond immediately by increasing investment (i.e. pre-cautionary savings), but face a substantial drop in investment, consumption and output as more uncertain times lie ahead. With persistent uncertain periods, both risk premia and bankruptcies increase which cause a further deterioration in investment opportunities. Besides, we show that accounting for hump-shape uncertainty measures can result in a large quantitative effect of uncertainty shock relative to previous literature

Comment on Risk Shocks by Christiano, Motto, and Rostagno (2014)

In a recent paper, Christiano, Motto and Rostagno (2014, henceforth CMR) report that risk shocks are the most important source of business cycle fluctuations. This result is in contrast to much of the existing literature; e.g. Bachmann and Bayer (2013) report that risk shocks account for 4% of the volatility in GDP. We resolve this apparent contradiction by first highlighting that CMR depart from the normal definition of a risk shock by including an additional \news" component. We then incorporate their definition of risk shocks into a canonical financial accelerator model that does not include the array of rigidities (both nominal and real) that are in the model economy employed by CMR. In the base model, risk shocks as normally defined play a quantitatively minor role in business cycle activity; however, when the CMR definition is employed, we replicate their result that risk shocks are the most important impulse mechanism of business cycles. It is clear from this analysis that the endogenous amplification and propagation mechanisms in the CMR model do not account for the significant role that risk shocks play in fluctuations; rather, it is the exogenous definition of risk shocks that is doing virtually all of the work. We conclude that the CMR finding should be viewed with caution

On Modeling Risk Shocks

Within the context of a financial accelerator model, we model time-varying uncertainty (i.e. risk shocks) through the use of a mixture Normal model with time variation in the weights applied to the underlying distributions characterizing entrepreneur productivity. Specifically, we model capital producers (i.e. the entrepreneurs) as either low-risk (relatively small second moment for productivity) and high-risk (relatively large second moment for productivity) and the fraction of both types is time-varying. We show that a small change in the fraction of risky types (a change from 1% to 2% of the population) can result in a large quantitative effect or a risk shock relative to standard models. The bankruptcy rate and the risk premium in the economy are very sensitive to a change in the composition of agents and is countercyclical

Fire and resprouting in Mediterranean ecosystems: Insights from an external biogeographical region, the mexical shrubland

7 páginas, 3 tablas.We investigated modes of regeneration of dominant species of the mexical vegetation after fire. The mexical shrubland shows a remarkable structural, morphological, and floristic similarity to Mediterranean-type vegetation and is considered a relict of the Madro-Tertiary Geoflora under a non- mediterranean climate. This vegetation provides an ideal scenario to test the role of fire in Mediterranean ecosystems because historical fire occurrence is absent and the species assembly is constituted mostly by Madro-Tertiary elements and Neotropical species (some of them, endemic species from Mexico). The existence of congeneric species of the California chaparral allows us to determine the regeneration ability of these communities after fire in relation to resprouting and seeding strategies, which are widespread modes reported in the Mediterranean-type vegetation. By the experimental application of fire in the two biogeographical groups of species, we tested the hypothesis that low resprouting ability of California congeneric species (Madro-Tertiary species) after fire would indicate that fire has played an important selective force in the resprouting habit. A low resprouting ability in the Neotropical group of species would suggest that fire has molded the set of species dominating fire-prone environments. Our results indicated that resprouting is a widespread trait in the mexical species characterized by the presence of lignotubers and burls. Resprouting can be considered an ancient trait, probably linked to losses of aboveground biomass, that became a pre-adaptation in Mediterranean fire-prone communities. The Neotropical group of species showed less ability to regenerate after fire, and small plants were more likely to die after disturbance in this group than in the Madro-Tertiary group. The resprouting feature and the seeder strategy of other species after a fire in the mexical shrubland are similar to Mediterranean-type ecosystems, emphasizing their common origin and the relevance of phylogenetic and biogeographical studies to explain current patterns of vegetation.Peer reviewe

Housing and Macroeconomy: The Role of Credit Channel, Risk -, Demand - and Monetary Shocks

This paper demonstrates that risk (uncertainty) along with the monetary (interest rates) shocks to the housing production sector are a quantitatively important impulse mechanism for the business and housing cycles. Our model framework is that of the housing supply/banking sector model as developed in Dorofeenko, Lee, and Salyer (2014) with the model of housing demand presented in Iacoviello and Neri (2010). We examine how the factors of production uncertainty,financial intermediation, and credit constrained households can affect housing prices and aggregate economic activity. Moreover, this analysis is cast within a monetary framework which permits a study of how monetary policy can be used to mitigate the deleterious effects of cyclical phenomenon that originates in the housing sector. We provide empirical evidence that large housing price and residential investment boom and bust cycles in Europe and the U.S. over the last few years are driven largely by economic fundamentals and financial constraints.We also find that, quantitatively, the impact of risk and monetary shocks are almost as great as that from technology shocks on some of the aggregate real variables. This comparison carries over to housing market variables such as the price of housing, the risk premium on loans, and the bankruptcy rate of housing producers

Combining Existing Monitoring Sites with a Probability Survey Design-Examples from U.S. EPA’s National Coastal Assessment

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) National Coastal Assessment was envisioned as a research effort led by EPA’s Office of Research and Development to evaluate assessment methods for ecosystem condition monitoring. The program was conducted through strategic partnerships with the coastal states. These states conducted the survey in their waters with a common set of indicators. The resources targeted for initial monitoring were estuarine waters. A flexible probability survey design was used to incorporate, to the extent possible, existing state monitoring program sites. Three criteria were developed to evaluate existing monitoring program sites in the northeastern United States for possible incorporation into the national design: (1) the sites were selected to be representative, (2) the variables sampled at the sites were similar in distribution with variables from a probability design, and (3) the correlation structure of variables was equivalent to that for a probability design. Detailed examples were presented for Long Island Sound water quality sites, New Jersey coastal water quality sites, and Casco Bay, ME, sediment sites to illustrate the approach

Definition and classification of chyle leak after pancreatic operation: A consensus statement by the International Study Group on Pancreatic Surgery

Recent literature suggests that chyle leak may complicate up to 10% of pancreatic resections. Treatment depends on its severity, which may include chylous ascites. No international consensus definition or grading system of chyle leak currently is available. The International Study Group on Pancreatic Surgery, an international panel of pancreatic surgeons working in well-known, high-volume centers, reviewed the literature and worked together to establish a consensus on the definition and classification of chyle leak after pancreatic operation. Chyle leak was defined as output of milky-colored fluid from a drain, drain site, or wound on or after postoperative day 3, with a triglyceride content ≥110 mg/dL (≥1.2 mmol/L). Three different grades of severity were defined according to the management needed: grade A, no specific intervention other than oral dietary restrictions; grade B, prolongation of hospital stay, nasoenteral nutrition with dietary restriction, total parenteral nutrition, octreotide, maintenance of surgical drains, or placement of new percutaneous drains; and grade C, need for other more invasive in-hospital treatment, intensive care unit admission, or mortality. This classification and grading system for chyle leak after pancreatic resection allows for comparison of outcomes between series. As with the other the International Study Group on Pancreatic Surgery consensus statements, this classification should facilitate communication and evaluation of different approaches to the prevention and treatment of this complicatio

Epithelial Tissues Have Varying Degrees of Susceptibility to KrasG12D-Initiated Tumorigenesis in a Mouse Model

Activating mutations in the Kras gene are commonly found in some but not all epithelial cancers. In order to understand the susceptibility of different epithelial tissues to Kras-induced tumorigenesis, we introduced one of the most common Kras mutations, KrasG12D, broadly in epithelial tissues. We used a mouse model in which the G12D mutation is placed in the endogenous Kras locus controlled by inducible, Cre-mediated recombination in tissues expressing cytokeratin 19 including the oral cavity, GI tract, lungs, and ducts of the liver, kidney, and the pancreas. Introduction of the KrasG12D mutation in adult mouse tissues led to neoplastic changes in some but not all of these tissues. Notably, many hyperplasias, metaplasias and adenomas were observed in the oral cavity, stomach, colon and lungs, suggesting that exposure to products of the outside environment promotes KrasG12D-initiated tumorigenesis. However, environmental exposure did not consistently correlate with tumor formation, such as in the small intestine, suggesting that there are also intrinsic differences in susceptibility to Kras activation. The pancreas developed small numbers of mucinous metaplasias with characteristics of early stage pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasms (PanINs), supporting the hypothesis that pancreatic ducts have the potential to give rise pancreatic cancer