New York Institute of Technology

With the growing realization that current Internet protocols are reaching the limits of their senescence, several on-going research efforts aim to design potential next-generation Internet architectures. Although they vary in maturity and scope, in order to avoid past pitfalls, these efforts seek to treat security and privacy as fundamental requirements. Resilience to Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks that plague today's Internet is a major issue for any new architecture and deserves full attention. In this paper, we focus on DoS in Named Data Networking (NDN) -- a specific candidate for next-generation Internet architecture designs. By naming data instead of its locations, NDN transforms data into a first-class entity and makes itself an attractive and viable approach to meet the needs for many current and emerging applications. It also incorporates some basic security features that mitigate classes of attacks that are commonly seen today. However, NDN's resilience to DoS attacks has not been analyzed to-date. This paper represents a first step towards assessment and possible mitigation of DoS in NDN. After identifying and analyzing several new types of attacks, it investigates their variations, effects and counter-measures. This paper also sheds some light on the debate about relative virtues of self-certifying, as opposed to human-readable, names in the context of content-centric networking.

Abstract Context As a novel coronavirus swept the world in early 2020, thousands of software developers began working from home. Many did so on short notice, under difficult and stressful conditions. Objective This study investigates the effects of the pandemic on developers’ wellbeing and productivity. Method A questionnaire survey was created mainly from existing, validated scales and translated into 12 languages. The data was analyzed using non-parametric inferential statistics and structural equation modeling. Results The questionnaire received 2225 usable responses from 53 countries. Factor analysis supported the validity of the scales and the structural model achieved a good fit (CFI = 0.961, RMSEA = 0.051, SRMR = 0.067). Confirmatory results include: (1) the pandemic has had a negative effect on developers’ wellbeing and productivity; (2) productivity and wellbeing are closely related; (3) disaster preparedness, fear related to the pandemic and home office ergonomics all affect wellbeing or productivity. Exploratory analysis suggests that: (1) women, parents and people with disabilities may be disproportionately affected; (2) different people need different kinds of support. Conclusions To improve employee productivity, software companies should focus on maximizing employee wellbeing and improving the ergonomics of employees’ home offices. Women, parents and disabled persons may require extra support.

Content-Centric Networking (CCN) is an emerging networking paradigm being considered as a possible replacement for the current IP-based host-centric Internet infrastructure. CCN focuses on content distribution, which is arguably not well served by IP. Named-Data Networking (NDN) is an example of CCN. NDN is also an active research project under the NSF Future Internet Architectures (FIA) program. FIA emphasizes security and privacy from the outset and by design. To be a viable Internet architecture, NDN must be resilient against current and emerging threats. This paper focuses on distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks; in particular we address interest flooding, an attack that exploits key architectural features of NDN. We show that an adversary with limited resources can implement such attack, having a significant impact on network performance. We then introduce Poseidon: a framework for detecting and mitigating interest flooding attacks. Finally, we report on results of extensive simulations assessing proposed countermeasure.

Inaccurate measurement and incorrect reporting of dosages are major shortcomings of phototherapy articles. As many as 30% of published reports in the field either lack relevant information needed to determine a dosage or report dosages that are altogether inaccurate. The high prevalence of dosage-related mistakes in published reports suggests that dosage determination errors are common among clinicians and other end-users. This special article is designed to advance understanding of the relevant parameters used in phototherapy for tissue repair and pain relief, particularly among clinicians and others who may not be completely familiar with the technology. I define and discuss five key parameters that influence dosage, including 1) radiant power, 2) radiant energy, 3) power density, 4) energy density, and 5) wavelength, and use hypothetical cases to demonstrate how factors such as beam spot size, size of lesion, mode of treatment (contact, noncontact, or scanning), frequency of treatment, dose per treatment, and cumulative dose affect dosages and treatment outcomes. The potential effects of patient-related factors, such as etiology, pathology, tissue optical density, depth of target tissue, and skin pigmentation are discussed concurrently and strategies are suggested to improve dosage determination.

In constant false alarm rate (CFAR) detection, the clutter background in the cell under test is estimated by combining the outputs of the nearby resolution cells. In a nonhomogeneous background environment, the false alarm regulation capabilities and the detection performance of a CFAR detector depend on the robustness of the noise level estimator. The authors propose and study automatic censoring algorithms for nonhomogeneous clutter background environments. A cell-by-cell criterion for accepting or rejecting reference samples is introduced. The detection schemes that are considered do not require any a priori knowledge about the background environment. The case where a clutter edge is present in the reference window is considered, and the case of multiple target situations is studied. The case when both interfering targets and a clutter edge appear in the reference window of the cell under test is considered. The performances of the proposed schemes are compared with that of the trimmed-mean (TM) CFAR detector, in which the censoring points are preassigned.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

RFID is one of the enabling technologies of the Internet of Things. RFID has the potential to enable machines to identify objects, understand their status, and communicate and take action if necessary, to create "real time awareness." The pervasiveness of RFID technology has given rise to a number of serious issues including security and privacy concerns. This paper will discuss current RFID usage issues and conduct a threat analysis of the RFID system components then identify issues/risks and elucidate how these issues can be resolved or risks can be mitigated.

The antidiarrheal effects of the aqueous extract of Punica granatum. L. (Punicaceae) peels were evaluated in rats. Studies were carried out on the isolated rat ileum, gastrointestinal motility in vivo., and on castor oil–induced diarrhea in rats. The results revealed that the extract exhibited a concentration-dependent inhibition of the spontaneous movement of the isolated rat ileum and attenuated acetylcholine-induced contractions. The extract (100, 200, 300, and 400 mg/kg) also caused a dose-dependent decrease of gastrointestinal transit and markedly protected rats against castor oil–induced diarrhea enteropooling. The intraperitoneal injection LD50 of the extract was found to be 1321 ± 15 mg/kg in mice. A preliminary phytochemical screening of the aqueous extract of Punica granatum. peels gave positive tests for tannins, flavonoids, and alkaloids. The results obtained showed that the aqueous extract of Punica granatum. peels may contain some biologically active principles that may be active against diarrhea, and this may be the basis for its traditional use for gastrointestinal disorders.

Smart contracts are self-executing programs that run on the blockchain and make it possible for peers to enforce agreements without a third-party guarantee. The smart contract on Ethereum is the fundamental element of decentralized finance with billions of US dollars in value. Smart contracts cannot be changed after deployment and hence the code needs to be verified for potential vulnerabilities. However, smart contracts are far from being secure and attacks exploiting vulnerabilities that have led to losses valued in the millions. In this work, we explore the current state of smart contracts security, prevalent vulnerabilities, and security-analysis tool support, through reviewing the latest advancement and research published in the past five years. We study 13 vulnerabilities in Ethereum smart contracts and their countermeasures, and investigate nine security-analysis tools. Our findings indicate that a uniform set of smart contract vulnerability definitions does not exist in research work and bugs pertaining to the same mechanisms sometimes appear with different names. This inconsistency makes it difficult to identify, categorize, and analyze vulnerabilities. We explain some safeguarding approaches and best practices. However, as technology improves new vulnerabilities may emerge. Regarding tool support, SmartCheck, DefectChecker, contractWard, and sFuzz tools are better choices in terms of more coverage of vulnerabilities; however, tools such as NPChecker, MadMax, Osiris, and Sereum target some specific categories of vulnerabilities if required. While contractWard is relatively fast and more accurate, it can only detect pre-defined vulnerabilities. The NPChecker is slower, however, can find new vulnerability patterns.

Presently, many state departments of education and school counselor associations have published second-generation documents aligned with the ASCA National Model® (American School Counselor Association, 2005). This research study analyzed some school counselors' readiness to deliver comprehensive programs by assessing their attitudes, beliefs, and priorities for key program elements affirmed in the ASCA National Model. The results identified gaps in the school counselors' ability to embrace and implement the new vision of comprehensive school counseling during the initial stages of implementation and thus informed professional development needs.

ABSTRACT A comparative tooth micro wear data base was established and analyzed for seventeen extant ungulates (six browsing species, four mixed feeder species, and seven grazing species). The three dietary categories are clearly reflected by the microwear results. Browsers have more pits, fewer total scratches, and more cross scratches, while grazers have fewer pits, more total scratches, and fewer cross scratches. The data of the mixed feeders form bimodal distributions, consisting of a browsing group and a grazing group, indicating that they either graze or browse. The microwear values of E. sansaniensis clearly fall within the browsing domain and more specifically, closest to the browser Tragelaphus strepsiceros.

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most prevalent cancer in the Western world and its incidence is increasing. The pathogenesis of BCC involves deregulated Sonic hedgehog signaling, leading to activation of the Gli transcription factors. Most BCCs have a nodular growth pattern, and are indolent, slow-growing, and considered "low-risk" lesions. In contrast, the "high-risk" morphoeic variant, which causes significant morbidity, has an infiltrative growth pattern, and is so-called because of its densely fibrous stroma. As alpha v beta 6 is capable of promoting both carcinoma invasion and fibrosis, we examined the expression of this integrin in BCCs and found that the morphoeic type showed significantly higher alpha v beta 6 expression than the nodular type (P = 0.0009). In order to examine the function of alpha v beta 6, we transfected the transcription factors Gli1 or Gli2 into NTERT, human keratinocytes to generate a BCC model. These cells expressed alpha v beta 6 and were invasive, although inhibition of alpha v beta 6 had no direct effect on cell invasion. However, the cells showed alpha v beta 6-dependent activation of transforming growth factor-beta1, which induced transdifferentiation of human fibroblasts into myofibroblasts. Paracrine secretion of hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor by these myofibroblasts promoted c-Met-dependent tumor invasion in both Transwell and three-dimensional organotypic assays. These experimental in vitro findings were confirmed using human clinical samples in which we showed that the stroma of morphoeic BCC is myofibroblast-rich compared with nodular BCC (P = 0.0036), that myofibroblasts express hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor, and that morphoeic BCCs are strongly c-Met-positive. These data suggest that alpha v beta 6-dependent transforming growth factor-beta1 activation induces both the infiltrative growth pattern and fibrotic stroma so characteristic of morphoeic BCC.

This essay revives the humanistic paradigm in education of Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers that in the 1960's fueled the establishment of the humanistic movement in American psychology. The essay di...

Data entry for mobile phones has always been limited by the phone's numeric keypad. One way to overcome this is through two-dimensional bar-codes read by the phone's camera. This paper presents two-dimensional bar-code reading using camera phones. Bar-code reading applications use the phone's camera to capture an image of a bar-code, and then use the phone's processor for decoding. They have been mostly developed in native code for a limited number of phone platforms. In contrast, development for Java-enabled phones allows bar-code reading regardless of the phone manufacturer and/or platform. It is argued that Java is a viable alternative if software is carefully crafted. A review of attempts in the use of mobile phones as bar-code readers, and a novel implementation of this technology, with very promising results, are presented

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to determine whether subway ridership and built environmental factors, such as population density and points of interests, are linked to the per capita COVID-19 infection rate in New York City ZIP codes, after controlling for racial and socioeconomic characteristics. METHODS: Spatial lag models were employed to model the cumulative COVID-19 per capita infection rate in New York City ZIP codes (N=177) as of April 1 and May 25, 2020, accounting for the spatial relationships among observations. Both direct and total effects (through spatial relationships) were reported. RESULTS: This study distinguished between density and crowding. Crowding (and not density) was associated with the higher infection rate on April 1. Average household size was another significant crowding-related variable in both models. There was no evidence that subway ridership was related to the COVID-19 infection rate. Racial and socioeconomic compositions were among the most significant predictors of spatial variation in COVID-19 per capita infection rates in New York City, even more so than variables such as point-of-interest rates, density, and nursing home bed rates. CONCLUSIONS: Point-of-interest destinations not only could facilitate the spread of virus to other parts of the city (through indirect effects) but also were significantly associated with the higher infection rate in their immediate neighborhoods during the early stages of the pandemic. Policymakers should pay particularly close attention to neighborhoods with a high proportion of crowded households and these destinations during the early stages of pandemics.

Integrated reporting is becoming increasingly popular. The focus of this study was to assess the overall integrated reporting quality of global companies and find determinants of high-level integrated reporting. Qualitative text analysis was performed on the 2017 integrated reports of 110 global organizations to determine in what way companies report on specific topics related to the six capitals: social and relationship, human, intellectual, manufacturing, natural, and financial. Using a novel assessment technique, scores were then assigned according to the details provided in the integrated reports on the various topics. This was done for each form of capital, and the total integrated score was subsequently calculated as the average between all the capital scores. Finally, a regression analysis was performed to determine the characteristics of high-quality integrated reporters. The results of univariate analysis and two-stage least squares instrumental variable (2SLS) regression indicate that companies of a larger size with a higher female board ratio and listing in the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC) examples database are more likely to publish a higher quality integrated report. The results imply that these variables are the main disclosure drivers. However, a significant negative correlation was found between integrated report quality and the variables related to female executive ratio, external board member ratio, profitability, leverage, and previous report experience, as well as report length. No significant association was found between the location and industry group and report quality. The empirical evidence of this study shows that even though integrated reporting has become more common overall, the comparability and quality of the reports still remain low.

The voices of women suffering from postpartum depression are often silent. Women are reluctant to reveal to others that they are unhappy after the birth of their babies. Much has been written on possible causes, risk factors, and treatments for postpartum depression, but little has been done to investigate why women take so long to seek help. Early detection and treatment are key to a full recovery. Childbirth educators are in the position to offer anticipatory guidance on possible complications of the postpartum period, including postpartum depression. This article explores why women with postpartum depression choose to suffer in silence and suggests how childbirth educators can help new mothers find their voices.

School principals and school counselors have the ability to forge a unique collaborative relationship to improve student achievement. Historically, school counselors have altered the primary focus of their work as deemed by the perspective of their principals.With an emphasis on improving student success in school, this study revealed the differences in counselor-principal priorities and perceptions and suggests the importance of counselor and principal collaboration to support this common goal.

Knowledge of the latest Late Cretaceous mammalian fauna in the South America was, until now, mostly based on den− tally known taxa recovered at Los Alamitos (Río Negro, Argentina). Here we describe new mammalian remains collected in outcrops of the La Colonia Formation (Campanian–Maastrichtian) exposed in Chubut Province, Argentina, warranting the recognition of a new mesungulatid: Coloniatherium cilinskii gen. et sp. nov. The mammalian high−level taxonomic compositions of the localities in the La Colonia Formation and at Los Alamitos are roughly similar (Reigitheriidae, Mesungulatidae, and Ferugliotheridae are represented in both localities), but gondwanatheriids and the more plesio− morphic dryolestoids from Los Alamitos are missing from La Colonia. The most abundant mammalian remains collected at La Colonia correspond to large−sized mesungulatids. Coloniatherium cilinskii is recognized by the dentition and lower jaw, and we assign five isolated petrosal bones, focusing our study primarily on the analysis of the ear regions. The mor− phology of the petrosals suggests a phylogenetic position similar to Vincelestes, but sharing some derived features, possi− bly convergent, with therians. Attribution of the petrosals to the mesungulatid Coloniatherium cilinskii is supported by

CONTEXT: The leaf of sage Salvia officinalis L. (Lamiaceae) is reputed in the folk medicine of Arabia, and Jordan in particular, to relieve pain associated with gastrointestinal disturbance. OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of the antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of aqueous and butanol extracts of S. officinalis leaf. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The analgesic effects of the aqueous extract (10, 31.6, 100, 316, 1000 mg/kg) and butanol extract (10, 31.6, 100, 316 mg/kg) were studied using the hot-plate test for mice and the formalin-induced paw licking in rats. The effects were compared to those of morphine and the influence of naloxone on these effects was also evaluated. The same concentrations of both extracts were used to evaluate their anti-inflammatory effects using the cotton pellet granuloma and carrageenan-induced paw edema in rats. RESULTS: The aqueous extract (10, 31.6, 100, 316, 1000 mg/kg) and butanol extract (10, 31.6, 100, 316 mg/kg) caused analgesic effect in the hot-plate latency assay as well as in early and late phases of formalin-induced paw licking in rats. These effects were reduced by the opioid receptor antagonist, naloxone (5 mg/kg). The same range of doses of both extracts caused dose-dependent inhibition of carrageenan-induced paw edema in rats as well as inhibition of cotton pellet granuloma. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: These observations suggest that the sage leaf aqueous and butanol extracts have analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects, confirming the traditional use of this plant for pain alleviation.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of phototherapy on delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) as measured using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), McGill Pain Questionnaire, Resting Angle (RANG), and girth measurements. BACKGROUND DATA: Previous research has failed to prove the beneficial effects of phototherapy on DOMS. METHODS: This was a randomized double-blind controlled study with 27 subjects (18-35 years) assigned to one of three groups. The experimental group received 8 J/cm2 of phototherapy each day for five consecutive days using super luminous diodes with wavelengths of 880 and visible diodes of 660 nm at three standardized sites over the musculotendinous junction of the bicep. The sham group received identical treatment from a dummy cluster. The controls did not receive treatment. The study was completed over five consecutive days: on day one baseline measurements of RANG and upper arm girths were recorded prior to DOMS induction. On days 2-5, RANG, girth, and pain were assessed using VAS and the McGill Pain Questionnaire. RESULTS: The experimental group exhibited a significant decrease in pain associated with DOMS compared to the control (p=0.01) and sham groups (p=0.03) based upon the VAS at the 48-h period. The McGill Pain Questionnaire showed a significant difference in pain scores at the 48-h period between the experimental and the sham groups (p=0.01). There were no significant differences day to day and between the groups with respect to girth and RANG. CONCLUSION: The results of this study provide scientific evidence that phototherapy as used in this study provides a beneficial effect to patients who may experience DOMS after a novel exercise session.