Cluster-based Vulnerability Assessment Applied to Operating Systems

Organizations face the issue of how to best allocate their security resources. Thus, they need an accurate method for assessing how many new vulnerabilities will be reported for the operating systems (OSs) they use in a given time period. Our approach consists of clustering vulnerabilities by leveraging the text information within vulnerability records, and then simulating the mean value function of vulnerabilities by relaxing the monotonic intensity function assumption, which is prevalent among the studies that use software reliability models (SRMs) and nonhomogeneous Poisson process (NHPP) in modeling. We applied our approach to the vulnerabilities of four OSs: Windows, Mac, IOS, and Linux. For the OSs analyzed in terms of curve fitting and prediction capability, our results, compared to a power-law model without clustering issued from a family of SRMs, are more accurate in all cases we analyzed

A Comparative Study on Critical Thinking Skills of Bachelor and Master's Degree Students in Critical Care Nursing

Background: Promoting critical thinking skills is an essential outcome of undergraduate and postgraduate nursing education. Objectives: The current study aims at comparing critical thinking skills of bachelor students of nursing (BSc) and master’s students of critical care nursing (MSc) in the academic year 2014 - 2015. Methods: The current cross-sectional study was conducted on 79 BSc students of nursing and 44 MSc students of critical care nursing in 3 universities of medical sciences including Semnan, Tehran, and Kashan. The California critical thinking test, form B, was used for data collection. Analysis of variance Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for statistical analyses. Results: Themeanscores of BS and MSc nursing students were 11.14�3.01 and 10.05�3.33, respectively, which were not significantly different. The mean scores of students in Semnan, Tehran, and Kashan universities of medical sciences were 9.84 � 3.13, 9.66 � 3.32, and 11.79 � 2.92, respectively, and the total mean score was 10.46 � 3.24. The scores of critical thinking domains showed that students in Kashan University gained higher scores in interference, and deductive and inductive reasoning domains compared with the students in other universities. Conclusions: The level of critical thinking in BSc students was higher. The overall level of critical thinking skills was low in nursing students. It is suggested that appropriate and effective methods should be employed to create and improve critical thinking in nursing education

A Comparative Study on Critical Thinking Skills of Bachelor and Master�s Degree Students in Critical Care Nursing

Background: Promoting critical thinking skills is an essential outcome of undergraduate and postgraduate nursing education. Objectives: The current study aims at comparing critical thinking skills of bachelor students of nursing (BSc) and master’s students of critical care nursing (MSc) in the academic year 2014 - 2015. Methods: The current cross-sectional study was conducted on 79 BSc students of nursing and 44 MSc students of critical care nursing in 3 universities of medical sciences including Semnan, Tehran, and Kashan. The California critical thinking test, form B, was used for data collection. Analysis of variance Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for statistical analyses. Results: Themeanscores of BS and MSc nursing students were 11.14�3.01 and 10.05�3.33, respectively, which were not significantly different. The mean scores of students in Semnan, Tehran, and Kashan universities of medical sciences were 9.84 � 3.13, 9.66 � 3.32, and 11.79 � 2.92, respectively, and the total mean score was 10.46 � 3.24. The scores of critical thinking domains showed that students in Kashan University gained higher scores in interference, and deductive and inductive reasoning domains compared with the students in other universities. Conclusions: The level of critical thinking in BSc students was higher. The overall level of critical thinking skills was low in nursing students. It is suggested that appropriate and effective methods should be employed to create and improve critical thinking in nursing education

Cluster-based Vulnerability Assessment Applied to Operating Systems

Organizations face the issue of how to best allocate their security resources. Thus, they need an accurate method for assessing how many new vulnerabilities will be reported for the operating systems (OSs) they use in a given time period. Our approach consists of clustering vulnerabilities by leveraging the text information within vulnerability records, and then simulating the mean value function of vulnerabilities by relaxing the monotonic intensity function assumption, which is prevalent among the studies that use software reliability models (SRMs) and nonhomogeneous Poisson process (NHPP) in modeling. We applied our approach to the vulnerabilities of four OSs: Windows, Mac, IOS, and Linux. For the OSs analyzed in terms of curve fitting and prediction capability, our results, compared to a power-law model without clustering issued from a family of SRMs, are more accurate in all cases we analyzed

Cluster-based Vulnerability Assessment of Operating Systems and Web Browsers

Organizations face the issue of how to best allocate their security resources. Thus, they need an accurate method for assessing how many new vulnerabilities will be reported for the operating systems (OSs) and web browsers they use in a given time period. Our approach consists of clustering vulnerabilities by leveraging the text information within vulnerability records, and then simulating the mean value function of vulnerabilities by relaxing the monotonic intensity function assumption, which is prevalent among the studies that use software reliability models (SRMs) and nonhomogeneous Poisson process (NHPP) in modeling. We applied our approach to the vulnerabilities of four OSs (Windows, Mac, IOS, and Linux) and four web browsers (Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, and Chrome). Out of the total eight OSs and web browsers we analyzed using a power-law model issued from a family of SRMs, the model was statistically adequate for modeling in six cases. For these cases, in terms of estimation and forecasting capability, our results, compared to a power-law model without clustering, are more accurate in all cases but one

Intracellular ROS Protection Efficiency and Free Radical-Scavenging Activity of Curcumin

Curcumin has many pharmaceutical applications, many of which arise from its potent antioxidant properties. The present research examined the antioxidant activities of curcumin in polar solvents by a comparative study using ESR, reduction of ferric iron in aqueous medium and intracellular ROS/toxicity assays. ESR data indicated that the steric hindrance among adjacent big size groups within a galvinoxyl molecule limited the curcumin to scavenge galvinoxyl radicals effectively, while curcumin showed a powerful capacity for scavenging intracellular smaller oxidative molecules such as H2O2, HO•, ROO•. Cell viability and ROS assays demonstrated that curcumin was able to penetrate into the polar medium inside the cells and to protect them against the highly toxic and lethal effects of cumene hydroperoxide. Curcumin also showed good electron-transfer capability, with greater activity than trolox in aqueous solution. Curcumin can readily transfer electron or easily donate H-atom from two phenolic sites to scavenge free radicals. The excellent electron transfer capability of curcumin is because of its unique structure and different functional groups, including a β-diketone and several π electrons that have the capacity to conjugate between two phenyl rings. Therfore, since curcumin is inherently a lipophilic compound, because of its superb intracellular ROS scavenging activity, it can be used as an effective antioxidant for ROS protection within the polar cytoplasm

Effects of Paper-Mill Sludge as a Mulch versus Topsoil Incorporation on Potassium Uptake and the Grain Yield of Rain-Fed Wheat in a High Specific Surface Loess Soil with Illite Dominance in Clay Fraction

A field experiment with rain-fed winter wheat investigated the nutritional aspects of paper-mill sludge as a mulch and incorporated into the topsoil. Treatments with chemical fertilizers were also used as controls. Paper-mill sludge used as mulch with high rate (100 MG ha−1) and also the combined N and K mineral fertilizer treatments increased yield when a low potassium otherwise caused potassium deficiency in wheat with high specific surface soil. High soil Ca : K molar ratio by incorporation lowered potassium uptake and yield, with visual symptoms of potassium deficiency. A very high Gapon selectivity coefficient (KG) for K exchange against Ca + Mg (16.58 (L/mole)0.5) produced a nonlinear normalized exchange isotherm in favor of potassium with these soils containing high illite. Ca and K which are released by sludge decomposition are diverged in soil when mobilized by rain infiltration, lowering Ca : K molar ratio. Low soil Ca : K molar ratio may be expected by surface sludge application relative to incorporation, due to greater rain infiltration through upper soil layers and their effluent pore volumes per unit depth. Ca from triple superphosphate by the P, N, and K mineral fertilizers combined also reduced potassium uptake and yield relative to N and K combined