PROTECTING AGAINST MALICIOUS LOGINS ON VIRTUAL MACHINES USING BLOCKCHAIN

Presented herein are techniques that involve utilizing a blockchain-based methodology that provides a defense against rollback attacks on a virtual machine and is scalable for other application areas. In one example, a solution is provided to avoid rollback attacks during restoration of a virtual machine under the assumption of a malicious host and hypervisor. Techniques presented herein also address problems associated with an untrusted host under certain assumptions

LAYER 4 THROUGH LAYER 7 SERVICE CHAINING FOR VIRTUAL NETWORK FUNCTIONS IN CLOUD ENVIRONMENT

Methods are described to perform service chaining on a physical switch for virtual services. First, the switch observes and classifies Local Area Network (LAN) traffic, and determines that it needs to apply a service chaining rule based on classification results. Second, the switch forwards the traffic to the first Virtual LAN (VLAN) in the input chain. When the frame is processed by the container / Virtual Machine (VM), it forwards the traffic on the egress VLAN, which is used as an input to the next element in the chain

Practice patterns and outcomes of pediatric partial nephrectomy in the United States: Comparison between pediatric urology and general pediatric surgery

BACKGROUND: In the United States, both pediatric urologists (PUROs) and general pediatric surgeons (GPSs) perform nephrectomies in children, with PUROs performing more nephrectomies overall, most commonly for benign causes. GPSs perform more nephrectomies for malignant causes. We questioned whether the same trends persisted for partial nephrectomy. OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that PUROs performed more partial nephrectomies for all causes, including malignancy. Our primary aim was to characterize the number of partial nephrectomies performed by PUROs and GPSs. We also compared short-term outcomes between subspecialties. STUDY DESIGN: We analyzed the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS), a database encompassing data from 44 children\u27s hospitals. Patients were ≤18 years old and had a partial nephrectomy (ICD-9 procedure code 554) carried out by PUROs or GPSs between 1 January, 2004 and June 30, 2013. Queried data points included surgeon subspecialty, age, gender, 3M™ All Patient Refined Diagnosis Related Groups (3M™ APR DRG) code, severity level, mortality risk, length of stay (LOS), and medical/surgical complication flags. Data points were compared in patients on whom PUROs and GPSs had operated. Statistical analysis included the Student t test, chi-square test, analysis of covariance, and logistic regression. RESULTS: Results are presented in the table. While PUROs performed the majority of partial nephrectomies, GPSs operated more commonly for malignancy. For surgeries performed for non-malignant indications, PURO patients had a shorter LOS and lower complication rate after controlling for statistically identified covariates. There was no difference in LOS or complication rate for patients with malignancy. DISCUSSION: A Pediatric Health Information System study of pediatric nephrectomy demonstrated PUROs performed more nephrectomies overall, but GPSs performed more surgeries for malignancy. The difference was less dramatic for partial nephrectomies (63% GPS, 37% PURO) than for radical nephrectomies (90% GPS, 10% PURO). PUROs performed more partial nephrectomies for benign indications (94% PURO, 6% GPS) at an even greater rate than nephrectomies (88% PURO, 12% GPS). As a national database study, there are a number of inherent limitations: applicability of results to non-participating hospitals, possibility of inaccurate data entry/coding, and lack of data points that would be relevant to the study. CONCLUSIONS: While most partial nephrectomies in the United States are performed by PUROs, GPSs perform the majority of surgeries for malignancy. There is no difference in LOS or complication rate undergoing nephron-sparing surgery for malignant disease; however, PUROs had a shorter LOS and lower complication rate when operating for benign diseases

Microarray-based genomic analysis identifies germline and somatic copy number variants and loss of heterozygosity in acute myeloid leukaemia

Introduction: Insights into molecular karyotyping using comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays enable the identification of copy number variations (CNVs) at a higher resolution and facilitate the detection of copy neutral loss of heterozygosity (CN-LOH) otherwise undetectable by conventional cytogenetics. The applicability of a customised CGH+SNP 180K DNA microarray in the diagnostic evaluation of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) in comparison with conventional karyotyping was assessed in this study. Methods: Paired tumour and germline post induction (remission sample obtained from the same patient after induction) DNA were used to delineate germline variants in 41 AML samples and compared with the karyotype findings. Results: After comparing the tumour versus germline DNA, a total of 55 imbalances (n 5-10 MB = 21, n 10-20 MB = 8 and n >20 MB = 26) were identified. Gains were most common in chromosome 4 (26.7%) whereas losses were most frequent in chromosome 7 (28.6%) and X (25.0%). CN-LOH was mostly seen in chromosome 4 (75.0%). Comparison between array CGH+SNP and karyotyping revealed 20 cases were in excellent agreement and 13 cases did not concord whereas in 15 cases finding could not be confirmed as no karyotypes available. Conclusion: The use of a combined array CGH+SNP in this study enabled the detection of somatic and germline CNVs and CN-LOHs in AML. Array CGH+SNP accurately determined chromosomal breakpoints compared to conventional cytogenetics in relation to presence of CNVs and CN-LOHs

Systematic review for non-surgical interventions for the management of late radiation proctitis

Chronic radiation proctitis produces a range of clinical symptoms for which there is currently no recommended standard management. The aim of this review was to identify the various non-surgical treatment options for the management of late chronic radiation proctitis and evaluate the evidence for their efficacy. Synonyms for radiation therapy and for the spectrum of lower gastrointestinal radiation toxicity were combined in an extensive search strategy and applied to a range of databases. The included studies were those that involved interventions for the non-surgical management of late radiation proctitis. Sixty-three studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria, including six randomised controlled trials that described the effects of anti-inflammatory agents in combination, rectal steroids alone, rectal sucralfate, short chain fatty acid enemas and different types of thermal therapy. However, these studies could not be compared. If the management of late radiation proctitis is to become evidence based, then, in view of its episodic and variable nature, placebo controlled studies need to be conducted to clarify which therapeutic options should be recommended. From the current data, although certain interventions look promising and may be effective, one small or modest sized study, even if well-conducted, is insufficient to implement changes in practice. In order to increase recruitment to trials, a national register of cases with established late radiation toxicity would facilitate multi-centre trials with specific entry criteria, formal baseline and therapeutic assessments providing standardised outcome data

Non-invasive functional monitoring of prefrontal cortex by electroencephalogaphy and near infrared spectroscopy

The human brain is one of the most complex systems that mankind has ever known. Neuronal disorders in the brain, when present, affect the quality of life of the person concerned; a variety of neuronal problems related to attention, emotion, behavior, etc. have been reported. In such disorders, the brain is normally probed with sophisticated neurotechnologies to diagnose the type of disorder and plan further treatment. Hemodynamic and electrical signals are the two types of physiological signals that can be obtained from the brain. Electroencephalography (EEG) is the established standard to record the electrical activity of the cortex. EEG alone has been successfully used in the treatment of many neuronal disorders. On the other hand, the hemodynamic parameters can be obtained by either functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) or Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS). NIRS has some advantages over fMRI - it is cheaper, has better portability thereby allowing bedside usage and is safer to be used on people of all ages and medical conditions. By extracting both the hemodynamic and electrical signals simultaneously, the medical condition of the concerned patient can be understood better. The objective behind this project was to study how the hemodynamic and electrical signals of a normal person vary, using simultaneous NIRS and EEG, when subjected to a working memory task.Master of Science (Biomedical Engineering