12 research outputs found
Dynamic trust negotiation for decentralised e-health collaborations
Get PDFIn the Internet-age, the geographical boundaries that have previously impinged upon inter-organisational collaborations have become decreasingly important. Of more importance for such collaborations is the notion and subsequent nature of security and trust - this is especially so in open collaborative environments like the Grid where resources can be both made available, subsequently accessed and used by remote users from a multitude of institutions with a variety of different privileges spanning across the collaboration. In this context, the ability to dynamically negotiate and subsequently enforce security policies driven by various levels of inter-organisational trust is essential.
Numerous access control solutions exist today to address aspects of inter-organisational security. These include the use of centralised access control lists where all collaborating partners negotiate and agree on privileges required to access shared resources. Other solutions involve delegating aspects of access right management to trusted remote individuals in assigning privileges to their (remote) users. These solutions typically entail negotiations and delegations which are constrained by organisations, people and the static rules they impose. Such constraints often result in a lack of flexibility in what has been agreed; difficulties in reaching agreement, or once established, in subsequently maintaining these agreements. Furthermore, these solutions often reduce the autonomous capacity of collaborating organisations because of the need to satisfy collaborating partners demands. This can result in increased security risks or reducing the granularity of security policies.
Underpinning this is the issue of trust. Specifically trust realisation between organisations, between individuals, and/or between entities or systems that are present in multi-domain authorities. Trust negotiation is one approach that allows and supports trust realisation. The thesis introduces a novel model called dynamic trust negotiation (DTN) that supports n-tier negotiation hops for trust realisation in multi-domain collaborative environments with specific focus on e-Health environments. DTN describes how trust pathways can be discovered and subsequently how remote security credentials can be mapped to local security credentials through trust contracts, thereby bridging the gap that makes decentralised security policies difficult to define and enforce. Furthermore, DTN shows how n-tier negotiation hops can limit the disclosure of access control policies and how semantic issues that exist with security attributes in decentralised environments can be reduced. The thesis presents the results from the application of DTN to various clinical trials and the implementation of DTN to Virtual Organisation for Trials of Epidemiological Studies (VOTES). The thesis concludes that DTN can address the issue of realising and establishing trust between systems or agents within the e-Health domain, such as the clinical trials domain
Simulation and Optimization of an Integrated Process Flow Sheet for Cement Production
Get PDFIn this study the process flow diagram for the cement production was simulated using Aspen HYSYS 8.8 software to achieve high energy optimization and optimum cement flow rate by varying the flow rate of calcium oxide and silica in the clinker feed. Central composite Design (C.C.D) of Response Surface Methodology was used to design the ten experiments for the simulation using Design Expert 10.0.3. Energy efficiency optimization is also carried out using Aspen Energy Analyser. The optimum cement flow rate is found from the contour plot and 3D surface plot to be 47.239 tonnes/day at CaO flow rate of 152.346 tonnes/day and the SiO2 flow rate of 56.8241 tonnes/day. The R2 value of 0.9356 determined from the statistical analysis shows a good significance of the model. The overall utilities in terms of energy are found to be optimised by 81.4% from 6.511 x 107 kcal/h actual value of 1.211 x 107 kcal/h with 297.4 tonnes/day the carbon emission savings
Energy and Economic Comparison of Different Fuels in Cement Production
Get PDFCement clinkerisation is the major energy-consuming process in cement manufacturing due to the high-temperature requirement. In this paper, energy data including specific energy consumption, forms, and types of energy used at different units of cement manufacturing processes were analyzed and compared for effectiveness, availability, cost, environmental, and health impact. Data from three different cement industries in Nigeria labeled as A, B, and C were used for the analysis in this study. The results of this research work established that coal is the cheapest energy source but environmental issues exonerate it from being the choice energy source. LPFO and Natural gas give better production output while minimizing pollution and health issues. When benchmarked against each other, Factory B was found to be the most energy-efficient in terms of output and cost of production. Although coal is cheaper compared to fuel oil and supposed to contribute a share of fuel used in cement industries, the industries are moving towards the use of alternative and conventional fuels to reduce environmental pollution. It is therefore recommended that deliberate effort to achieve appreciable energy-efficient levels should be the priorities of the cement industries in Nigeria
A standardised Phase III clinical trial framework to assess therapeutic interventions for Lassa fever
Get PDFBACKGROUND: Only one recommendation currently exists for the treatment of Lassa fever (LF), which is ribavirin administered in conjunction with supportive care. This recommendation is primarily based on evidence generated from a single clinical trial that was conducted more than 30 years ago-the methodology and results of which have recently come under scrutiny. The requirement for novel therapeutics and reassessment of ribavirin is therefore urgent. However, a significant amount of work now needs to be undertaken to ensure that future trials for LF can be conducted consistently and reliably to facilitate the efficient generation of evidence. METHODOLOGY: We convened a consultation group to establish the position of clinicians and researchers on the core components of future trials. A Core Eligibility Criteria (CEC), Core Case Definition (CCD), Core Outcome Set (COS) and Core Data Variables (CDV) were developed through the process of a multi-stakeholder consultation that took place using a modified-Delphi methodology. RESULTS: A consensus position was achieved for each aspect of the framework, which accounts for the inclusion of pregnant women and children in future LF clinical trials. The framework consists of 8 core criteria, as well as additional considerations for trial protocols. CONCLUSIONS: This project represents the first step towards delineating the clinical development pathway for new Lassa fever therapeutics, following a period of 40 years without advancement. Future planned projects will bolster the work initiated here to continue the advancement of LF clinical research through a regionally-centred, collaborative methodology, with the aim of delineating a clear pathway through which LF clinical trials can progress efficiently and ensure sustainable investments are made in research capacity at a regional level
Blind data aggregation from distributed, protected sources
No full textThis is a pre-print of a paper from UK e-Science All Hands Meeting 2008. http://www.allhands.org.uk/2008/index.htmlSuccessful e-health research depends on access to and usage of a wide range of clinical, biomedical, social, geo-spatial, environmental and other data sets. In large scale, multi-centre clinical studies crossing geographical and organizational divides, the need to access, link and aggregate data securely is essential. Whilst the e-Science community have come up with a wide variety of technologies that support authentication and authorization, past experiences from working with organizations such as the National Health Service (NHS) in projects such as the MRC funded Virtual Organizations for Trials and Epidemiological Studies (VOTES) project, have shown that irrespective of the technological advances and capabilities offered by the e-Science community, data providers themselves are typically unwilling to provide direct access to their data sets, i.e. through penetration of the NHS firewall for example from HE/FE. There are many reasons for this which we outline in this paper, both pragmatic and technological. Ultimately, data providers and the key stakeholders in this space are acutely aware of confidentiality and ethics concerns on data access and usage. They will only release their data provided it can be ensured that it is not possible to link it with other data sets that can result in potential violations of patient confidentiality for example through statistical disclosure.
This paper presents a novel approach and its implementation that directly addresses these issues, providing a so-called Virtual Anonymisation Grid for Unified Access to Remote Clinical Data (Vanguard). Key features of Vanguard are its support for pull models of interaction with data providers such as the NHS, who do not necessarily have to open up their firewalls and thereby open themselves up to risks of attack; support of secure, anonymous data aggregation; support for novel ways in which data release to users undertaking research allows them to obtain and use data in a secure, disclosure free environment where third parties cannot access/use any released data. We demonstrate this through case studies applying the Vanguard system to clinical scenarios and systems working with the NHS in Scotland.8-11 Septembe
Solid state synthesis, spectroscopic and X-ray studies of metal complexes of 2-picolinic acid and vapochromic behavior of [Co(Pic)2(H2O)2]$2H2O
No full textThree compounds, [Cu(Pic)2(H2O)] (1a), [M(Pic)2(H2O)2]2H2O obtained from the Cambridge structure database (CSD), its
PXRD simulated patterns closely matched that of complex 2a by solvent-free synthesis. Vapochromic
behavior of this complex was studied using colour change, FT-IR, TGA, PXRD and solid state UV-visible
spectroscopies. This complex generated specific colour which is also evident in the shifting of the
vibrational frequencies (nO-H and n C¼O bands). The resulting inclusion compounds have different
colours depending on the solvent used. In addition, exposure of the resultant inclusion compounds to
ambient environment or heating for a few minutes regenerate the original material without degradation
even after exposure/heating cycles as evident from TGA/DTG thermogram
Health and environmental impacts of pesticide use practices: a case study of farmers in Ekiti State, Nigeria
No full textCommonly used pesticides and handling practices which might expose farmers and their environment to chemical hazards were investigated in the Irepodun/Ifelodun local government area of Ekiti State, Nigeria. Direct field observations and answers to a structured questionnaire from a random sample of 150 farming households showed that commonly used pesticides comprised herbicides (48.3 per cent), fungicides (28.2 per cent) and insecticides (23.5 per cent). Of these, 86.7 per cent are classified as ‘highly’ hazardous by the World Health Organization (WHO) and have been banned or restricted in many developed countries. Nearly all of the farmers (94.7 per cent) had received no formal training in
safe pesticide use and mixed different products. Farmers suffered from discomforts ranging from eye irritation (91.3 per cent), skin problems (87.3 per cent), nausea (86.0 per cent), headache (83.3 per cent) and vomiting (58.0 per cent). More than half of the pesticide applicators (61.3 per cent) sprayed pesticides near water bodies. Only a few farmers reported decreasing trends in numbers of beneficial
insects (27.3 per cent) and other animals (29.3 per cent). The results showed that the awareness of farmers and authorities needs to be raised regarding the use of protective equipment and correct procedures when handling pesticides and, also, that there should be stricter enforcement of existing pesticide regulation and monitoring policies to minimize the threats that the farmers’ current practices pose to their health and to the environment
Assessment of PMTCT Success Rates Based on Antiretroviral Interventions and Feeding Options: A Prospective Cohort Study
Get PDFBackground: The success of any prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) program is assessed by the proportion of HIV-exposed infants that sero-convert at the end of all risk exposures. Although adopting the best feeding option for HIV-exposed infants is one of the factors that impact PMTCT outcomes, there is limited data on the assessment of PMTCT success rates based on antiretroviral interventions and feeding options. This study assesses the success rate of PMTCT service based on antiretroviral interventions and feeding options.
Methods: Eighty-five HIV-infected mothers previously in care were enrolled in a prospective cohort study. Folders and structured questionnaires were used to extract data on mother-infant pair and the first CD4, count of infected mothers on enrolment at PMTCT clinic. Dry blood spot samples were obtained from exposed infants for early infant diagnosis. Results were analyzed using the SPSS software.
Results: The mean age of enrolled mothers was 31.3 ± 4.4 years, and an average CD4+ T-lymphocyte count of 368.6 ± 216.2 cells/µl. Seven (8.2%) of the HIV-exposed infants were positive for HIV-1 based on early infant diagnosis results. Overall PMTCT success rate (PMTCTSR) was 91.8%. HIV-1 prevalence of 5.0%, 0% and 21.1% was found among infants of patients who opted for breastfeeding, replacement feeding, and mixed feeding respectively thus yielding PMTCT success rates of 95%, 100% and 78.9%. Pediatric antiretroviral interventions success rates in HIV-exposed infants was 95.8%, 80.0% and 66.7% based on age groups ≤ 6 months, > 6 ≤ 12 months, and > 12 ≤ 18 months respectively.
Conclusion and Global Health Implications: Quality PMTCT service is vital for successful prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Implementation of more dynamic approaches such as adherence to option B+ guidelines in PMTCT service in our settings can further reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV and improve outcomes.
Key words: Assessment, Antiretroviral Interventions, PMTCT, Success Rates, Feeding Options, Cohort
Copyright © 2018 Fasakin et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
Kaempferol as a Potential PAK4 Inhibitor in Triple Negative Breast Cancer: Extra Precision Glide Docking and Free Energy Calculation
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