Tahiri, Mehdi MD; Benay, Cassandre E. MD; Levy, Jordan; Sikder, Tarifin; Newman, Daniel; Vedel, Isabelle MD, PhD; Maimon, Geva PhD; Bergman, Simon MD, FACS Author Information

Post-operative delirium in elderly patients is associated with higher mortality and longer lengths of stay. This prospective observational study investigated the incidences of preoperative mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and post-operative delirium among elderly patients undergoing elective surgery at the authors’ institution, the relationship between MCI and delirium, and the impact of delirium on surgical morbidity and lengths of stay. The authors found that although MCI did not predict post-operative delirium, the high incidence of MCI in elective surgery patients warrants further study.

System level barriers have been associated with inadequate follow-up of abnormal cervical cytology.

This study aimed to describe the differences in the management of symptomatic gallstone disease within different elderly groups and to evaluate the association between older age and surgical treatment.

Despite the recent infamy of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), there is a dearth of literature quantifying the performance of this fixed-income product. While performance is usually measured in terms of return relative to a benchmark, lack of pricing information necessitates an alternative methodology for assessing CDO performance. In this article, we use rating changes (principally downgrades) to assess 10 types of CDOs across 11 vintages, analyzing 4,328 CDOs and 13,333 tranches in total. We find the following: Asset-backed CDOs have performed far worse than other CDOs issued 1999–2007. Market value CDOs are the second-worse performers. Collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) and CDOs backed by emerging market bonds, investment-grade bonds, and high-yield bonds have significantly outperformed other types of CDOs over the last four years of issuance. TOPICS: CLOs, CDOs, and other structured credit, information providers/credit ratings, performance measurement

is not individual academics as such, but the institutions they work for and ‘to provide a compelling moral or practical argument against the continuation of deplorable practices’ (p. 20). In the USA and apparently to some extent in Britain as well the argument raised by detractors of a boycott is that such actions are ‘anti-semitic’. Here in The Netherlands it is diff erent, with a sense of collective guilt felt at the deportation of 80 per cent of Holland’s Jewish population. This has led to a kind of self-censorship and refusal to engage in a critical dialogue, where criticisms of Israel and especially talk of boycotting Israeli institutions are felt to betray the memory of these events. Rather than confront the guilt, people, including academics, simply turn a blind eye to Israel’s atrocities committed against Palestinians. A similarly deceptive situation exists in other European countries. The principal message contained in the BRICUP publication is that Palestinians are denied their fundamental human rights, including a systematic denial of academic freedom, through the policies of the State of Israel and Israeli academic institutions. The publication provides a compelling argument that these institutions be held accountable both for their discriminatory policies and for their complicity in these violations. As the publication clearly states, if a normal mechanism to resolve grievances was in existence, then ‘there would be no need for a boycott’ (p. 21). Informed in large part by this publication, on 30 May 2007, the University and College Union (UK) called on branches of the union to ‘consult all of their members on the issue’ of a boycott. It is sincerely hoped that academics in Britain, The Netherlands and other countries will have the courage to undertake this very important discussion and consider similar actions to protect the academic freedom and other human rights of the Palestinians.

In early October 2007, Moody's downgraded 2,506 first lien subprime bonds issued in 2006. Most of these were rated from A1 to Baa3. An additional 323 bonds rated A1 to Baa3 were kept on watch for further downgrade, and 529 Aaa and Aa subprime bonds were put on watch for downgrade. As a result of these massive downgrades and future rating agency downgrades, investors have become concerned that Event of Default (EoD) provisions in ABS CDOs will be tripped, allowing controlling investors to accelerate many CDOs that own subprime bonds. This would result in diversion of cash flows from lower rated CDO tranches until principal and interest were paid in full on the highest rated tranches. In this article, the authors briefly review EoD provisions, explain how EoD provisions have reshaped the landscape for many distressed collateralized debt obligations backed by subprime mortgage bonds, and show that while many CDOs share basic EoD features, the substantive effect on the cash flows to CDO tranches varies widely. Two decision trees, one to show the diversity of ABS CDO cash flow acceleration features and another to rank different structures by the length of interest flow to subordinate tranches, are presented to show how the most important factors affect cash flows.

Foreword Introduction Part I Overview of Penetration Testing Chapter 1 Understanding Penetration Testing Defining Penetration Testing Assessing the Need for Penetration Testing Proliferation of Viruses and Worms Wireless LANs Complexity of Networks Today Frequency of Software Updates Availability of Hacking Tools The Nature of Open Source Reliance on the Internet Unmonitored Mobile Users and Telecommuters Marketing Demands Industry Regulations Administrator Trust Business Partnerships Hacktivism Attack Stages Choosing a Penetration Testing Vendor Preparing for the Test Summary Chapter 2 Legal and Ethical Considerations Ethics of Penetration Testing Laws U.S. Laws Pertaining to Hacking 1973 U.S. Code of Fair Information Practices 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) State Laws Regulatory Laws 1996 U.S. Kennedy-Kasselbaum Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Graham-Leach-Bliley (GLB) USA PATRIOT ACT 2002 Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) 2003 Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) Non-U.S. Laws Pertaining to Hacking Logging To Fix or Not to Fix Summary Chapter 3 Creating a Test Plan Step-by-Step Plan Defining the Scope Social Engineering Session Hijacking Trojan/Backdoor Open-Source Security Testing Methodology Manual Documentation Executive Summary Project Scope Results Analysis Summary Appendixes Summary Part II Performing the Test Chapter 4 Performing Social Engineering Human Psychology Conformity Persuasion Logic Persuasion Need-Based Persuasion Authority-Based Persuasion Reciprocation-Based Social Engineering Similarity-Based Social Engineering Information-Based Social Engineering What It Takes to Be a Social Engineer Using Patience for Social Engineering Using Confidence for Social Engineering Using Trust for Social Engineering Using Inside Knowledge for Social Engineering First Impressions and the Social Engineer Tech Support Impersonation Third-Party Impersonation E-Mail Impersonation End User Impersonation Customer Impersonation Reverse Social Engineering Protecting Against Social Engineering Case Study Summary Chapter 5 Performing Host Reconnaissance Passive Host Reconnaissance A Company Website EDGAR Filings NNTP USENET Newsgroups User Group Meetings Business Partners Active Host Reconnaissance NSLookup/Whois Lookups SamSpade Visual Route Port Scanning TCP Connect() Scan SYN Scan NULL Scan FIN Scan ACK Scan Xmas-Tree Scan Dumb Scan NMap NMap Switches and Techniques Compiling and Testing NMap Fingerprinting Footprinting Detecting a Scan Intrusion Detection Anomaly Detection Systems Misuse Detection System Host-Based IDSs Network-Based IDSs Network Switches Examples of Scan Detection Detecting a TCP Connect() Scan Detecting a SYN Scan Detecting FIN, NULL, and Xmas-Tree Scans Detecting OS Guessing Case Study Summary Chapter 6 Understanding and Attempting Session Hijacking Defining Session Hijacking Nonblind Spoofing Blind Spoofing TCP Sequence Prediction (Blind Hijacking) Tools Juggernaut Hunt TTY-Watcher T-Sight Other Tools Beware of ACK Storms Kevin Mitnick's Session Hijack Attack Detecting Session Hijacking Detecting Session Hijacking with a Packet Sniffer Configuring Ethereal Watching a Hijacking with Ethereal Detecting Session Hijacking with Cisco IDS Signature 1300: TCP Segment Overwrite Signature 3250: TCP Hijack Signature 3251: TCP Hijacking Simplex Mode Watching a Hijacking with IEV Protecting Against Session Hijacking Case Study Summary Resources Chapter 7 Performing Web Server Attacks Understanding Web Languages HTML DHTML XML XHTML JavaScript JScript VBScript Perl ASP CGI PHP Hypertext Preprocessor ColdFusion Java Once Called Oak Client-Based Java Server-Based Java Website Architecture E-Commerce Architecture Apache HTTP Server Vulnerabilities IIS Web Server Showcode.asp Privilege Escalation Buffer Overflows Web Page Spoofing Cookie Guessing Hidden Fields Brute Force Attacks Brutus HTTP Brute Forcer Detecting a Brute Force Attack Protecting Against Brute Force Attacks Tools NetCat Vulnerability Scanners IIS Xploit execiis-win32.exe CleanIISLog IntelliTamper Web Server Banner Grabbing Hacking with Google Detecting Web Attacks Detecting Directory Traversal Detecting Whisker Protecting Against Web Attacks Securing the Operating System Securing Web Server Applications IIS Apache Securing Website Design Securing Network Architecture Case Study Summary Chapter 8 Performing Database Attacks Defining Databases Oracle Structure SQL MySQL Structure SQL SQL Server Structure SQL Database Default Accounts Testing Database Vulnerabilities SQL Injection System Stored Procedures xp_cmdshell Connection Strings Password Cracking/Brute Force Attacks Securing Your SQL Server Authentication Service Accounts Public Role Guest Account Sample Databases Network Libraries Ports Detecting Database Attacks Auditing Failed Logins System Stored Procedures SQL Injection Protecting Against Database Attacks Case Study Summary References and Further Reading Chapter 9 Password Cracking Password Hashing Using Salts Microsoft Password Hashing UNIX Password Hashing Password-Cracking Tools John the Ripper Pwdump3 L0phtcrack Nutcracker Hypnopaedia Snadboy Revelation Boson GetPass RainbowCrack Detecting Password Cracking Network Traffic System Log Files Account Lockouts Physical Access Dumpster Diving and Key Logging Social Engineering Protecting Against Password Cracking Password Auditing Logging Account Logins Account Locking Password Settings Password Length Password Expiration Password History Physical Protection Employee Education and Policy Case Study Summary Chapter 10 Attacking the Network Bypassing Firewalls Evading Intruder Detection Systems Testing Routers for Vulnerabilities CDP HTTP Service Password Cracking Modifying Routing Tables Testing Switches for Vulnerabilities VLAN Hopping Spanning Tree Attacks MAC Table Flooding ARP Attacks VTP Attacks Securing the Network Securing Firewalls Securing Routers Disabling CDP Disabling or Restricting the HTTP Service Securing Router Passwords Enabling Authentication for Routing Protocols Securing Switches Securing Against VLAN Hopping Securing Against Spanning Tree Attacks Securing Against MAC Table Flooding and ARP Attacks Securing Against VTP Attacks Case Study Summary Chapter 11 Scanning and Penetrating Wireless Networks History of Wireless Networks Antennas and Access Points Wireless Security Technologies Service Set Identifiers (SSIDs) Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) MAC Filtering 802.1x Port Security IPSec War Driving Tools NetStumbler StumbVerter DStumbler Kismet GPSMap AiroPeek NX AirSnort WEPCrack Detecting Wireless Attacks Unprotected WLANs DoS Attacks Rogue Access Points MAC Address Spoofing Unallocated MAC Addresses Preventing Wireless Attacks Preventing Man-in-the-Middle Attacks Establishing and Enforcing Standards for Wireless Networking Case Study Summary Chapter 12 Using Trojans and Backdoor Applications Trojans, Viruses, and Backdoor Applications Common Viruses and Worms Chernobyl I Love You Melissa BugBear MyDoom W32/Klez Blaster SQL Slammer Sasser Trojans and Backdoors Back Orifice 2000 Tini Donald Dick Rootkit NetCat SubSeven Brown Orifice Beast Beast Server Settings Beast Client Detecting Trojans and Backdoor Applications MD5 Checksums Monitoring Ports Locally Netstat fport TCPView Monitoring Ports Remotely Anti-virus and Trojan Scanners Software Intrusion Detection Systems Prevention Case Study Summary Chapter 13 Penetrating UNIX, Microsoft, and Novell Servers General Scanners Nessus SAINT SARA ISS NetRecon UNIX Permissions and Root Access Elevation Techniques Stack Smashing Exploit rpc.statd Exploit irix-login.c Rootkits Linux Rootkit IV Beastkit Microsoft Security Models and Exploits Elevation Techniques PipeUpAdmin HK Rootkits Novell Server Permissions and Vulnerabilities Pandora NovelFFS Detecting Server Attacks Preventing Server Attacks Case Study Summary Chapter 14 Understanding and Attempting Buffer Overflows Memory Architecture Stacks Heaps NOPs Buffer Overflow Examples Simple Example Linux Privilege Escalation Windows Privilege Escalation Preventing Buffer Overflows Library Tools to Prevent Buffer Overflows Compiler-Based Solutions to Prevent Buffer Overflows Using a Non-Executable Stack to Prevent Buffer Overflows Case Study Summary Chapter 15 Denial-of-Service Attacks Types of DoS Attacks Ping of Death Smurf and Fraggle LAND Attack SYN Flood Tools for Executing DoS Attacks Datapool Jolt2 Hgod Other Tools Detecting DoS Attacks Appliance Firewalls Host-Based IDS Signature-Based Network IDS Network Anomaly Detectors Preventing DoS Attacks Hardening Network Hardening Application Hardening Intrusion Detection Systems Case Study Summary Chapter 16 Case Study: A Methodical Step-By-Step Penetration Test Case Study: LCN Gets Tested Planning the Attack Gathering Information Scanning and Enumeration External Scanning Wireless Scanning Gaining Access Gaining Access via the Website Gaining Access via Wireless Maintain Access Covering Tracks Writing the Report DAWN Security Executive Summary Objective Methodology Findings Summary Graphical Summary Technical Testing Report Black-Box Testing Presenting and Planning the Follow-Up Part III Appendixes Appendix A Preparing a Security Policy Appendix B Tools Glossary

BACKGROUND. The authors previously sought to identify novel markers of glioma invasion and recurrence. Their research demonstrated that brain gliomas overexpressed a subset of vascular basement components, laminins, that contained the alpha4 chain. One of these laminins, laminin-8, was found to be present in highly invasive and malignant glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) (Grade 4 astrocytoma); its expression was associated with a decreased time to tumor recurrence, and it was found in vitro to promote invasion of GBM cell lines.METHODS. in the current study, the authors studied glial tumors of different grades in an attempt to correlate laminin-8 expression with tumor recurrence and patient survival. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis were used to detect laminin isoforms of interest.RESULTS. Using immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis, the authors confirmed high levels of laminin-8 expression in approximately 75% of the GBM cases examined and in their adjacent tissues, whereas astrocytomas of lower grades expressed for the most part a different isoform, laminin-9, which also was found in low amounts in normal brain tissue and benign meningiomas. Overexpression of laminin-8 in GBM was found to be associated with a statistically significant shorter time to tumor recurrence (P < 0.0002) and a decreased patient survival time (P < 0.015).CONCLUSIONS. The data suggest that laminin-8, which may facilitate tumor invasion, contributes to tumor regrowth after therapy. Laminin-8 may be used as a predictor of tumor recurrence and patient survival and as a potential molecular target for glioma therapy. (C) 2004 American Cancer Society.

Your resource to passing the Cisco CCSP CSIDS Certification Exam!Join the ranks of readers who have trusted Exam Cram 2 to their certification preparation needs! The CCSP CSIDS Exam Cram 2 (Exam 642-531) is focused on what you need to know to pass the CCSP CSI exam. The Exam Cram 2 Method of Study provides you with a concise method to learn the exam topics. The book includes tips, exam notes, acronyms and memory joggers in order to help you pass the exam.Included in the CCSP CSIDS Exam Cram 2: A tear-out "Cram Sheet" for last minute test preparation. Covers the current exam objectives for the 642-821 exam. The PrepLogic Practice Tests, test engine to simulate the testing environment and test your knowledge.Trust in the series that has helped many others achieve certification success - Exam Cram 2.

The closing years of the 20th century were a time in New Zealand dominated by health care reforms inspired by neo-liberal ideology. The result has been changing geographies of public and private health care providers and the evolution of a new discourse of health care. Ascot Integrated Hospital, situated in the affluent Auckland suburb of Remuera, opened in 1999, reflecting and projecting this new discourse. It is a pioneer, competing for patient patronage in a contracting market for surgical and medical providers. In this paper we survey the recent history of private hospital developments in New Zealand, then more closely consider the Ascot, a hospital that has deployed language to construct itself and its achievements in the public imagination. Given the context of an extremely competitive environment for private patients, this construction glamorises medicine and links healing with a contrived place. We conclude that texts associated with the Ascot provide a useful vehicle for advancing cultural geographies of health care and ideas of the place of hospitals in western capitalist countries.

Your resource to passing the Cisco CCSP CSPFA Certification Exam!Join the ranks of readers who have trusted Exam Cram 2 to their certification preparation needs! The CCSP CSPFA Exam Cram 2 (Exam 642-521) is focused on what you need to know to pass the CCSP CSPFA exam. The Exam Cram 2 Method of Study provides you with a concise method to learn the exam topics. The book includes tips, exam notes, acronyms and memory joggers in order to help you pass the exam.Included in the CCSP CSPFA Exam Cram 2: A tear-out "Cram Sheet" for last minute test preparation. Covers the latest exam objectives to the 642-521 exam. The PrepLogic Practice Tests, test engine to simulate the testing environment and test your knowledge.Trust in the series that has helped many others achieve certification success - Exam Cram 2.

Accurate wavelengths for highly-ionized L-shell spectra were measured in the 10–16Å region. The purpose being to determine lines in coincidence with L-shell transitions from the elements oxygen, fluorine, and neon. L-shell transitions have been proposed for resonant photopumping of K-shell electrons in these elements to, generate lasing between upper levels in the 40–150 eV region. The current effort improves on and expands the earlier spectroscopic work performed at KMS Fusion, Inc., where possible line coincidences were identified for photoionizing in the 1–3 and 1–4 levels in fluorine. New experimental techniques have led to a wavelength accuracy now believed to be ± 2 mÅ for cases in which adequate calibration lines are available. Exact spectral line matches were found for Mn with the F H,-line at 12.643Å and for both Mn and Cr with the F He line at 14.458Å. The Mn line at 12.643Å has been identified, using ab initio atomic structure calculations, as the 1D2 − 1F3 transition in Be-like Mn XXII. The Mn line emissivity was determined to be 30 MW into 2 steradians for a conversion efficiency of 0.04%. Photopumping with Mn coated gasfilled targets is presently being tried in gain measurement experiments at LLNL.

Improved spectroscopic techniques have yielded high-resolution L-series spectra for Cr. A focused-laser beam was used to generate the plasma source emission. The spectra, collected in two separate spectrograph settings, were identified with the aid of theoretical atomic-structure calculations as 2p–3d transitions in B- and Be-like Cr xx and xxi. Distinct spectral lines were classified by using isoelectronic sequence plots.