Education in IT Security: A Case Study in Banking Industry

The banking industry has been changing incessantlyand facing new combination of risks. Data protection andcorporate security is now one of the major issues in bankingindustry. As the rapid changing on technologies from time totime, the industry should be aware on new technologies in orderto protect information assets and prevent fraud activities. Thispaper begins with literature study of information security issuesand followed by focused-group interviews with five participantswithin the industry and survey analysis of “The global state ofInformation Security survey 2013” which published byPriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC). Trends and questions werediscussed as well as possible solution. The study suggests that ITsecurity education should be made to different level of staffs suchas executives, professional and general staffs. Besides, thebanking industry should increase company-wide securityawareness and the importance of corporate security which keepthe information and physical assets secure and in a proper way

Microscopic theory of atom-molecule oscillations in a Bose-Einstein condensate

In a recent experiment at JILA [E.A. Donley et al., Nature (London) 417, 529 (2002)] an initially pure condensate of Rb-85 atoms was exposed to a specially designed time dependent magnetic field pulse in the vicinity of a Feshbach resonance. The production of new components of the gas as well as their oscillatory behavior have been reported. We apply a microscopic theory of the gas to identify these components and determine their physical properties. Our time dependent studies allow us to explain the observed dynamic evolution of all fractions, and to identify the physical relevance of the pulse shape. Based on ab initio predictions, our theory strongly supports the view that the experiments have produced a molecular condensate.Comment: 18 pages, 20 figure

Sufficient Covariate, Propensity Variable and Doubly Robust Estimation

Statistical causal inference from observational studies often requires adjustment for a possibly multi-dimensional variable, where dimension reduction is crucial. The propensity score, first introduced by Rosenbaum and Rubin, is a popular approach to such reduction. We address causal inference within Dawid's decision-theoretic framework, where it is essential to pay attention to sufficient covariates and their properties. We examine the role of a propensity variable in a normal linear model. We investigate both population-based and sample-based linear regressions, with adjustments for a multivariate covariate and for a propensity variable. In addition, we study the augmented inverse probability weighted estimator, involving a combination of a response model and a propensity model. In a linear regression with homoscedasticity, a propensity variable is proved to provide the same estimated causal effect as multivariate adjustment. An estimated propensity variable may, but need not, yield better precision than the true propensity variable. The augmented inverse probability weighted estimator is doubly robust and can improve precision if the propensity model is correctly specified

Processing of ultrafine-size particulate metal matrix composites by advanced shear technology

Copyright @ 2009 ASM International. This paper was published in Metallurgical & Materials Transactions A 40A(3) and is made available as an electronic reprint with the permission of ASM International. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic or multiple reproduction, distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means, duplications of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of this paper are prohibited.Lack of efficient mixing technology to achieve a uniform distribution of fine-size reinforcement within the matrix and the high cost of producing components have hindered the widespread adaptation of particulate metal matrix composites (PMMCs) for engineering applications. A new rheo-processing method, the melt-conditioning high-pressure die-cast (MC-HPDC) process, has been developed for manufacturing near-net-shape components of high integrity. The MC-HPDC process adapts the well-established high shear dispersive mixing action of a twin-screw mechanism to the task of overcoming the cohesive force of the agglomerates under a high shear rate and high intensity of turbulence. This is followed by direct shaping of the slurry into near-net-shape components using an existing cold-chamber die-casting process. The results indicate that the MC-HPDC samples have a uniform distribution of ultrafine-sized SiC particles throughout the entire sample in the as-cast condition. Compared to those produced by conventional high-pressure die casting (HPDC), MC-HPDC samples have a much improved tensile strength and ductility.EP-SR

Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of psychological treatment on health-related quality of life in people with epilepsy: an update by the ILAE Psychology Task Force, highlighting methodological changes

Clinical interest in using psychological interventions for people with epilepsy (PWE) aiming at decreasing mental health difficulties, improving health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and seizure-related outcomes, continues to grow. This article summarizes the 2020 update of the 2017 Cochrane Review and meta-analysis of psychological interventions for PWE, highlighting the reasons for major methodological modifications such as the recategorization of interventions and expanded risk of bias assessment. A 2020 literature search yielded 36 RCTs (n=3526) investigating psychological treatments for PWE with a validated HRQOL measure as an outcome. Twenty-seven trials were skills-based psychological interventions, whilst nine studies were education-only interventions. Among skills-based psychological interventions, 11 studies (n=643) used the Quality of Life in Epilepsy-31 (QOLIE-31) or other QOLIE inventories convertible to QOLIE-31 as an outcome measure and were pooled for meta-analysis. Significant mean changes were observed for the QOLIE-31 total score (mean improvement of 5.23 points; p< 0.001) and in six out of seven subscales (emotional well-being, energy and fatigue, overall QoL, seizure worry, medication and cognitive functioning). The mean changes in the QOLIE-31 total score and the overall QoL subscale exceeded the threshold of minimally important change (MIC), indicating clinically meaningful post-intervention improvement. These results provide moderate evidence that psychological treatments for adults and adolescents with epilepsy enhance HRQOL. In addition to the summary of the Cochrane review, we provide a detailed characterization of the interventions and patient populations of the meta-analyzed studies

Modulation instability induced by cross-phase modulation in a dual-wavelength dispersion-managed soliton fiber ring laser

We report on the observation of modulation instability induced by cross-phase modulation in a dual-wavelength operation dispersion-managed soliton fiber ring laser with net negative cavity dispersion. The passively mode-locked operation is achieved by using nonlinear polarization rotation technique. A new type of dual-wavelength operation, where one is femtosecond pulse and the other is picosecond pulse operation, is obtained by properly rotating the polarization controllers. When the dual-wavelength pulses are simultaneously circulating in the laser ring cavity, a series of stable modulation sidebands appears in the picosecond pulse spectrum at longer wavelength with lower peak power due to modulation instability induced by cross-phase modulation between the two lasing wavelengths. Moreover, the intensities and wavelength shifts of the modulation sidebands can be tuned by varying the power of the femtosecond pulse or the lasing central wavelengths of the dual-wavelength pulses. The theoretical analysis of the modulation instability induced by cross-phase modulation in our fiber laser is also presented.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figure

Small-scale solar magnetic fields

As we resolve ever smaller structures in the solar atmosphere, it has become clear that magnetism is an important component of those small structures. Small-scale magnetism holds the key to many poorly understood facets of solar magnetism on all scales, such as the existence of a local dynamo, chromospheric heating, and flux emergence, to name a few. Here, we review our knowledge of small-scale photospheric fields, with particular emphasis on quiet-sun field, and discuss the implications of several results obtained recently using new instruments, as well as future prospects in this field of research.Comment: 43 pages, 18 figure

Shrinking a large dataset to identify variables associated with increased risk of Plasmodium falciparum infection in Western Kenya

Large datasets are often not amenable to analysis using traditional single-step approaches. Here, our general objective was to apply imputation techniques, principal component analysis (PCA), elastic net and generalized linear models to a large dataset in a systematic approach to extract the most meaningful predictors for a health outcome. We extracted predictors for Plasmodium falciparum infection, from a large covariate dataset while facing limited numbers of observations, using data from the People, Animals, and their Zoonoses (PAZ) project to demonstrate these techniques: data collected from 415 homesteads in western Kenya, contained over 1500 variables that describe the health, environment, and social factors of the humans, livestock, and the homesteads in which they reside. The wide, sparse dataset was simplified to 42 predictors of P. falciparum malaria infection and wealth rankings were produced for all homesteads. The 42 predictors make biological sense and are supported by previous studies. This systematic data-mining approach we used would make many large datasets more manageable and informative for decision-making processes and health policy prioritization

Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012