Topical antihistamines and mast cell stabilisers for treating seasonal and perennial allergic conjunctivitis

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Multi-dimensional key generation of ICMetrics for cloud computing

Despite the rapid expansion and uptake of cloud based services, lack of trust in the provenance of such services represents a significant inhibiting factor in the further expansion of such service. This paper explores an approach to assure trust and provenance in cloud based services via the generation of digital signatures using properties or features derived from their own construction and software behaviour. The resulting system removes the need for a server to store a private key in a typical Public/Private-Key Infrastructure for data sources. Rather, keys are generated at run-time by features obtained as service execution proceeds. In this paper we investigate several potential software features for suitability during the employment of a cloud service identification system. The generation of stable and unique digital identity from features in Cloud computing is challenging because of the unstable operation environments that implies the features employed are likely to vary under normal operating conditions. To address this, we introduce a multi-dimensional key generation technology which maps from multi-dimensional feature space directly to a key space. Subsequently, a smooth entropy algorithm is developed to evaluate the entropy of key space

Assessing the evidential value of artefacts recovered from the cloud

Cloud computing offers users low-cost access to computing resources that are scalable and flexible. However, it is not without its challenges, especially in relation to security. Cloud resources can be leveraged for criminal activities and the architecture of the ecosystem makes digital investigation difficult in terms of evidence identification, acquisition and examination. However, these same resources can be leveraged for the purposes of digital forensics, providing facilities for evidence acquisition, analysis and storage. Alternatively, existing forensic capabilities can be used in the Cloud as a step towards achieving forensic readiness. Tools can be added to the Cloud which can recover artefacts of evidential value. This research investigates whether artefacts that have been recovered from the Xen Cloud Platform (XCP) using existing tools have evidential value. To determine this, it is broken into three distinct areas: adding existing tools to a Cloud ecosystem, recovering artefacts from that system using those tools and then determining the evidential value of the recovered artefacts. From these experiments, three key steps for adding existing tools to the Cloud were determined: the identification of the specific Cloud technology being used, identification of existing tools and the building of a testbed. Stemming from this, three key components of artefact recovery are identified: the user, the audit log and the Virtual Machine (VM), along with two methodologies for artefact recovery in XCP. In terms of evidential value, this research proposes a set of criteria for the evaluation of digital evidence, stating that it should be authentic, accurate, reliable and complete. In conclusion, this research demonstrates the use of these criteria in the context of digital investigations in the Cloud and how each is met. This research shows that it is possible to recover artefacts of evidential value from XCP

Enseñanza emprendedora y profesores emprendedores

We live in a time of unprecedented social, economic, technological and environmental problems and desperately are in need of change and improvement in many different areas on a global scale. Present education systems are fundamentally based on Verbal/Linguistic and Mathematical/Logical Intelligences, defined as IQ, and as a result focus mainly on the functions of the left brain. These systems aim at acquiring similar skills and passing the courses and as a result provide advantages to those who already have an advanced level of these intelligences in their profiles of intelligences. Since these systems assess individuals via standardized and centrally performed tests, they never help individuals to question, to think, be creative, take risks and think critically. The answer to all these concerns is entrepreneurial teaching and teachers. Entrepreneurial teaching which takes individual differences into account and is based on alternative assessment systems has the power to be the ultimate solution to overcome present obstacles of education systems. Entrepreneurial teaching implemented by entrepreneurial teachers has a potential power to help the world create economic growth, jobs, innovation and raise happy citizens capable of finding solutions for many long-lasting and ever-growing global issues in all sectors. This paper focuses on explaining how individual differences and alternative assessment techniques could be used by entrepreneurial teachers to implement entrepreneurial teaching.Vivimos en una época de problemas sociales, económicos, tecnológicos y ambientales sin precedentes y en una desesperada necesidad de cambio y mejora en muchas áreas diferentes a una escala global. Los sistemas educativos actuales se basan en su mayoría en inteligencias Verbal/lingüística y matemáticas/lógica, definidas como coeficiente intelectual, y como resultado se centran principalmente en las funciones del cerebro izquierdo. Estos sistemas tienen como objetivo la adquisición de habilidades similares y pasar los cursos y como resultado proporcionan ventajas a aquellos que ya han mejorado el nivel en estas inteligencias en sus correspondientes perfiles. Dado que estos sistemas evalúan los individuos a través de pruebas estandarizadas y se realizan de forma centralizada, nunca ayudan a las personas a cuestionar, pensar, ser creativo, tomar riesgos y piensan críticamente. La respuesta a todas estas preocupaciones es la enseñanza emprendedora y los profesores emprendedores. La enseñanza emprendedora tiene en cuenta las diferencias individuales y se basa en los sistemas de evaluación alternativa y tiene el poder de ser la solución definitiva para superar los obstáculos actuales de los sistemas de educación. La enseñanza emprendedora implementada por profesores emprendedores tiene un poder potencial para ayudar al mundo a conseguir un crecimiento económico, empleo, innovación y conseguir ciudadanos felices, capaces de encontrar soluciones para muchos duraderas y crecientes problemas globales en todos los sectores. Este documento se centra en explicar cómo las diferencias individuales y las técnicas de evaluación alternativas podrían ser utilizadas por los profesores emprendedores para poner en práctica la enseñanza emprendedora

Echocardiography in the evaluation of chest pain in the emergency department

Background: A challenge for clinicians in emergency departments (EDs) is rapid identification of those patients with chest pain who require admission and urgent management and those with low clinical risk who can be discharged safely from the ED. This study was designed with an aim to evaluate the ability of two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography (2D-TTE) to determine causes of acute chest pain in patients presenting to the ED in order to decide whether hospital admission and further investigations were needed. Material/Methods: A total of 250 consecutive patients admitted with chest pain, were enrolled in this prospective study. Patients were divided into three groups: high risk, moderate risk, and low risk of cardiac events, according to cardiovascular risk factors. 2D-TTE was obtained using the HI vision Avius ultrasound unit (Hitachi). Statistical analysis was performed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 20. Results: Ischemic and/or non-ischemic heart diseases (IHD and/or NIHD) were detected in 147 (86.5%), 13 (7.6%), and 10 (5.9%) patients with high, moderate, and low risk, respectively. 2D-TTE was characterized by sensitivity of 85.86%, specificity of 100%, and positive predictive value (PPV) of 100% for detecting causes of chest pain. Conclusions: 2D-TTE increased specificity and sensitivity of detecting causes of chest pain, when compared to patient history, clinical findings, and electrocardiography (ECG). 2D-TTE can be used to help determine the need for hospital admission, to confirm or exclude diagnosis, and guide urgent therapy