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As organizations continue to adopt more Agile development methodologies that require extensive integration and automation across operational tools, they often find that it becomes very difficult to effectively and securely manage the credentials required to support the end-to-end process.

Not so long ago, it was much easier to protect your data. Perimeter defenses were in place, and there were only so many ways to get to your data.

PAM’s primary goal is to keep your organization safe from accidental or deliberate misuse of privileged credentials, the risks of which we have clearly defined. This threat is particularly relevant if your organization is evolving and experiencing change due to growth, new markets, and other business expansion initiatives. The larger and more complex your environment’s information technology systems become, the more privileged users you have. These include employees, contractors, remote, or even automated users.

A threat actor thrives on the weakness of processes and the inability for an organization to establish best practices or even follow processes. To that end, Privileged Access Management can stymie a threat actor, even if security best practices are being followed.

While there is a movement to remove passwords and traditional credentials from the authentication process, and many emerging solutions are claiming to do so, the unfortunate fact for any of these technologies is still tied to the binary nature of all computing systems. You either have been authenticated, or you have not; the outcome is always Boolean. While you can apply context-aware scenarios to limit access based on other criteria to minimize risk, the user has still been authenticated with yes or no criteria.

This includes everything from network-based cameras, digital video recorders, to digital personal assistants. These devices can be categorized for commercial use like biometric door looks to home use like Bluetooth door lock keypads and thermostats. While these types of devices have existed for years, they have only recently been grouped and labeled IoT based on their mass adoption and, more importantly, their mass identification of security risks and privileged attack vectors. Therefore, as IoT devices become more commonplace, there is a need to ensure that they do not represent an unnecessary security risk to standard business operations. Unfortunately, it has already been proven that many of these devices are insecure by design, have unresolvable flaws, and can be leveraged to compromise an entire organization with something as simple as a default credential.

Historically ICSs relied heavily on physical separation as the primary means for security. However, modern control system architectures, management processes, and cost control measures have resulted in increased integration of corporate and ICS environments. While these interconnections increase operational visibility and flexible control, it can also increase risks that previously did not occur with isolated ICS.

Cluster–support interaction in a Au–Fe3O4(0 0 1) system was studied using scanning tunneling microscopy, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and Mossbauer spectroscopy, in situ, under ultra high vacuum conditions. Deposition of 0.02–5 monolayers of Au resulted in the growth of two- and three-dimensional gold nano-cluster. The positive shift of the Au 4f7/2 electron binding energy for the smallest clusters was correlated with modification of the electronic structure in the surface magnetite layer, as found from Mossbauer analysis, leading to conclusion that a positive charging of small Au clusters can be responsible for their outstanding catalytic activity.

Structure and catalytic activity of double copper–manganese oxide catalysts supported on MgF2 and Al2O3 have been studied. All samples were calcined at 400 °C and those supported on Al2O3 also at 550 and 950 °C. The properties of surface species have been characterized by low temperature adsorption of nitrogen, XRD and TPR-H2. The catalytic activities have been tested in low-temperature CO oxidation and in NO reduction by propene. The supported oxides react with each other during calcination to form CuMn2O4 spinel. The spinel seems to be responsible for the catalytic activity of the double copper–manganese catalysts. The temperature of calcination changes the strength of interaction between the active phase and the supports influencing the catalytic activity.

New Concepts in Ctalysis: The Impact of Surface Science

Recent labor negotiations suggest that game-theory models can be used to analyze a wide range of labor relations situations. This article presents examples of how the Prisoner’s Dilemma game can be extended to highlight the incentives present in many contract negotiations, including sports. Examples are the successful asymmetric bargaining power applied to the Major League Baseball Players Association contract talks in 2002, and the problem-filled National Hockey League Players Association negotiations of 2004, which are likened to a game of Chicken, and in which it was unclear whether one side held an advantage over the other.

Agaricus bisporus tyrosinase was isolated and purified. Its activity in oxidation of 4- t -butylcatechol to 4- t -butyl- o -quinone was investigated in aqueous phosphate buffer solutions (pH 7.0), in the presence and absence of AOT (0–1.2 mM) as well as in AOT in isooctane w/o microemulsions, of variable AOT, water and substrate concentrations. In aqueous solutions AOT activated the enzyme at low concentrations and reduced its activity at higher ones (for about 20% of the initial reaction rate in 1 mM solutions). It reduced the initial rate of tyrosinase reactions in w/o microemulsions, too. The effects are discussed in terms of the substrate partitioning between the water pool, interfacial layer and isooctane phase, taking into account the fact that 4- t -butyl catechol behaves like a co-surfactant in the studied systems, and compared with the available literature data.

Epitaxial Fe(001) films of a high crystalline and surface quality, as checked in situ with Auger electron spectroscopy, low energy electron diffraction and STM, were grown on MgO(001). Such films show an exceptional corrosion resistance remaining metallic for years at the ambient atmosphere, except of a 5 10 nm surface layer, as found using the conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy (GEMS). For more systematic corrosion studies, 50 nm iron films were prepared of the 57 Fe isotope. As-prepared Fe films, exposed to the atmosphere did not show clear morphological and compositional changes, which could be associated with the oxide formation, as checked with contact AFM in air and with CEMS. After exposure of the film to HNO 3 or HCl vapors corrosion was observed with AFM. It resulted in two different types of surface modifications. The first one was seen as a homogenous granular layer with the height amplitude of about 15 nm. Corrosion-induced changes of the second type have a localized character resulting in micrometer sized porous protrusions. The corrosion products were identified as γ-FeOOH. Controlled oxidation of a surface iron layer to epitaxial Fe 3 O 4 passivated the film.

Resent results concerning epitaxial Fe 3 O 4 (001) films grown by reactive deposition on MgO(001) substrates as well as obtained by oxidation of epitaxial Fe(001) films are reviewed. Conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) performed in and ex situ was used to check the stoichiometry and electronic properties with monolayer resolution. Size effects were reflected in reduction of the Verwey temperature for the film thickness less than 50 nm. With further decrease in thickness, the films showed strong deviation from the bulk properties due to formation of a magnesium rich phase near the MgO/Fe 3 O 4 interface. Surface oxidation to γ-Fe 2 O 3 , which can be reversed by annealing, was found using CEMS. The atomic scale surface characterization was accomplished for the first time in situ by the scanning tunneling microscopy, which revealed details of the surface reconstruction and termination.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of passive vaginal dilation and McIndoe vaginoplasty in the creation of a neovagina for patients with mullerian agenesis. Study Design: Fifty-one patients with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome were treated for vaginal agenesis at either Johns Hopkins Hospital or Emory University. These historic prospective data were obtained by a review of medical records and a current office or telephone consultation. Initial office visits dated from November 18, 1983, through June 6, 1998. Their progress towards both anatomic and functional success was followed through August 1, 2000, which was a range of 2 to 16.8 years. One-way analysis of variance, Student t test, and logistic regression analysis were performed when appropriate. Results: Four patients were lost to follow-up in various stages of the treatment. Ten patients refused vaginal dilation and proceeded to a successful modified McIndoe vaginoplasty. Of the 37 remaining patients, 91.9% anatomic and functional success was achieved from the Ingram method for vaginal dilation. Passive dilation failed in 8.1% of patients, who underwent a modified McIndoe vaginoplasty; all neovaginal creations were successful. All patients who underwent McIndoe vaginoplasty were compliant with postoperative vaginal form use. None of our patients lost vaginal space through contractions or loss of skin graft. Of those patients for whom dilation failed, only 1 patient discontinued the study because of bleeding and discomfort. In addition, only 1 patient from the 3 cases of failure had undergone a previous hymenotomy. Interestingly, 6 patients for whom dilation was successful (6/34 patients; 17.6%) had also undergone a previous hymenotomy. The mean follow-up time for all patients in this study was 111.1 ± 7.2 months, with a range of 25 to 188 months. The mean follow-up time for those patients for whom dilation failed or who refused dilation was significantly lower at 64.5 ± 9.5 and 65.3 ± 18.5 months, respectively (P

Epitaxial Fe3O4(0 0 1) thin films were grown on MgO(0 0 1) using molecular beam of 57Fe at the oxygen partial pressure of about 1×10−6 mbar. LEED patterns indicated perfect growth with a p(1×1) reconstructed surface (as labeled with respect to the bulk unit cell of magnetite) . In situ UHV conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) was applied to investigate the film stoichiometry and composition. CEMS spectra taken for films in the 10 nm range revealed a magnesium rich magnetite MgxFe3−xO4 phase formed at the MgO/Fe3O4 interface. Ex situ Mossbauer measurements proved that the magnetite surface oxidizes when exposed to the atmosphere for a couple of weeks. The oxidized phase was identified as a few nanometers thick surface layer of γ-Fe2O3 formed on Fe3O4. By virtue of the γ-Fe2O3 CEMS pattern, the oxidation can be easily misinterpreted as a surface non-stoichiometry for films studied only ex situ. The oxidation process is reversible and annealing at 600 K in UHV restores the magnetite surface structure. At elevated annealing temperature Fe also diffuses into MgO forming a wustite phase.

OBJECTIVE: Oral presentation skills are central to physician-physician communication; however, little is known about how these skills are learned. Rhetoric is a social science which studies communication in terms of context and explores the action of language on knowledge, attitudes, and values. It has not previously been applied to medical discourse. We used rhetorical principles to qualitatively study how students learn oral presentation skills and what professional values are communicated in this process. DESIGN: Descriptive study. SETTING: Inpatient general medicine service in a university-affiliated public hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Twelve third-year medical students during their internal medicine clerkship and 14 teachers. MEASUREMENTS: One-hundred sixty hours of ethnographic observation. including 73 oral presentations on rounds. Discoursed-based interviews of 8 students and 10 teachers. Data were qualitatively analyzed to uncover recurrent patterns of communication. MAIN RESULTS: Students and teachers had different perceptions of the purpose of oral presentation, and this was reflected in performance. Students described and conducted the presentation as a rule-based, data-storage activity governed by "order" and "structure." Teachers approached the presentation as a flexible means of "communication" and a method for "constructing" the details of a case into a diagnostic or therapeutic plan. Although most teachers viewed oral presentations rhetorically (sensitive to context), most feedback that students received was implicit and acontextual, with little guidance provided for determining relevant content. This led to dysfunctional generalizations by students, sometimes resulting in worse communication skills (e.g., comment "be brief" resulted in reading faster rather than editing) and unintended value acquisition (e.g., request for less social history interpreted as social history never relevant). CONCLUSIONS: Students learn oral presentation by trial and error rather than through teaching of an explicit rhetorical model. This may delay development of effective communication skills and result in acquisition of unintended professional values. Teaching and learning of oral presentation skills may be improved by emphasizing that context determines content and by making explicit the tacit rules of presentation.

Periodontal disease is an infection in which destruction occurs at sites remote from the infection, resulting in pathological pocketing. Intervening between the infection and the destruction is a dense mononuclear inflammatory infiltrate. It has been suggested that this infiltrate might have characteristics and the destructive potential of Th1-type T lymphocytes. To ascertain the nature of the infiltrates we investigated the expression of mRNA for IL-2, IL-5, and IFN-γ by gingival mononuclear cells (GMC) from healthy (n = 8) or adult periodontitis (AP) patients (n = 25) by using cytokine-specific reverse-transcription/polymerasechain-reaction (RT-PCR). GMC, as obtained from patients' tissues, expressed IL-2, IFN-y, or IL-5 mRNA. Significantly higher proportions of GMC from AP patients expressed IL-2 and IFN-γ mRNA than did those from healthy subjects. TFN-γ was the most consistent cytokine message detected. In other experiments, gingival T-lymphocytes (n = 12) and CD4+and CD8+gingival T-lymphocytes (n = 16) were isolated from gingival tissues removed surgically from AP patients. AP gingival T-lymphocytes expressed mRNA for IL-2, IFN-γ, or IL-6 prior to stimulation. After stimulation with Con A, the cells significantly up-regulated IL-5 and IL-6 message expression. Both CD4+ and CD8+gingival T-lymphocytes expressed IFN-γ, IL-5, and some IL-2. This cumulative cytokine profile observed in these experiments is consistent with the predominance of Th1-type cells in pathological tissues and with Th2-type cells, which can also be present, being up-regulated under appropriate stimulation. Importantly, CD4+ and CD8+lymphocytes were shown to express T1- and T2-type cytokine message, emphasizing the potential for CD8-T-lymphocytes to participate in periodontal disease pathology.

The language people use both makes possible and constrains the thoughts they can have. More than just a vehicle for ideas, language shapes ideas--and the practices that follow from them. Thus, in medical education, teaching students how to talk about medical cases also teaches them how to think about patients and medical work, and how to define their relationships to both. Without a theoretical model, however, teaching efforts in this domain tend to be implicit and ad hoc, which can lead to serious problems. Rhetoric is one science that can deepen understanding of communication and improve teaching of this clinical skill. Rhetoric systematically studies the relationships between communication and its effects, between how things are named and how they are experienced, between discourse and socialization. Bringing language to the foreground of education, rhetoric directs attention to the relationship between what medical students learn to say and what they learn to value, believe, and practice.

A practical problem with barrier options is the one-touch nature of the knock-in or knock-out provision that is triggered if the barrier is ever reached, however briefly. The contract9s payoff can be greatly affected by sharp but economically unimportant price spikes and outliers, and there is also an incentive for market manipulation near the barrier to push the asset price one way or the other. The Parisian variant of the contract reduces this problem by requiring the barrier to be breached for a specific time period. In this standard contract, the “clock” is reset if the barrier is recrossed before the required period is achieved; a related instrument, dubbed a “Parisian” option by the authors, does not reset the clock each time the barrier is hit, so that barrier crossing time cumulates over multiple excursions. This article describes these interesting contracts and presents a procedure for valuing them.

Recurrent intussusception is defined as an occurrence of intussusception of a bowel loop in a patient with a prior resolution of intussusception, either spontaneously or with an intervention. It is not rare to develop a subsequent episode after a successful reduction of intussusception. We report the cases of 2 children who presented to the emergency department with recurrent intussusception and review the pertinent literature.

Objective: To determine whether raters using the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Resident Evaluation Form can detect differences among residents in clinical competence. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Inpatient general medicine service in a university-affiliated public hospital. Participants: University-based internal medicine (UCIM) residents (ABIM certifying examination pass rate, 91%; mean score, 95th percentile), community hospital-based internal medicine (CHIM) residents (ABIM examination pass rate, 68%; mean score, 42nd percentile), and residents from three university-based non-internal medicine (UC non-IM) programs all assigned to the same inpatient general medicine service over a three-year period. Four hundred eighty-nine evaluations of 110 postgraduate-year-one residents were analyzed. Measurements and main results: Mean ratings for the UCIM residents were significantly higher than those for the CHIM or UC non-IM residents (analysis of variance [ANOVA], p

Derivatives of 12-molybdophosphoric acid (H3PMo12O40), containing vanadium in the form of a vanadyl cation or substituted as addenda in Keggin anions, have been synthesized and characterized by IR, LRS, XPS, NMR, and DTA/DTG. Their catalytic behavior in the oxidation of methanol, butane and pentane has been determined. Both catalysts exhibit strong acidity, due to hydrolysis of the secondary structure in the case of the salt. The vanadium atom performs its role as the active site for the activation of hydrocarbon molecules irrespective of whether it is present as a cation or incorporated in Keggin anions.