A Noninterference Model for Mobile OS Information Flow Control and Its Policy Verification

Mobile operating systems such as Android are facing serious security risk. First, they have a large number of users and store a large number of users’ private data, which have become major targets of network attack; second, their openness leads to high security risks; third, their coarse-grained static permission control mechanism leads to a large number of privacy leaks. Recent decentralized information flow control (DIFC) operating systems such as Asbestos, HiStar, and Flume dynamically adjust the label of each process. Asbestos contains inherent covert channels due to this implicit label adjustment. The others close these covert channels through the use of explicit label change, but this impedes communication and increases performance overhead. We present an enhanced implicit label change model (EILCM) for mobile operating systems that can close the known covert channel in these models with implicit label change and supports dynamic constraints on tags for separation of duty. We also formally analyze the reasons why EILCM can close the known covert channels and prove that abstract EILCM systems have the security property of noninterference with declassification by virtue of the model checker tool FDR. We also prove that the problem of EILCM policy verification is NP-complete and propose a backtrack-based search algorithm to solve the problem. Experiments are presented to show that the algorithm is effective.

Post-marketing reports of pancreatitis in eluxadoline-treated patients pre and post US label change

Background: Eluxadoline, a United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved treatment for irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D), underwent a change to its US prescribing information on 21 April 2017, contraindicating it in patients without a gallbladder due to increased risk of pancreatitis. This study aimed to elucidate the potential role of eluxadoline’s label change on the number of reported spontaneous adverse events (AEs) of pancreatitis. Methods: A pharmacovigilance database (Oracle Argus) was searched for eluxadoline use and spontaneously reported pancreatitis cases from 1 January 2016 to 30 June 2018. Pancreatitis cases were reported as a proportion of the total number of reported AE cases in the safety database. The FDA’s adverse event reporting system (AERS) was also interrogated for cases of pancreatitis concomitantly reported with eluxadoline use. Results: In patients who received eluxadoline, 273 reported cases of pancreatitis were recorded (total AEs n = 2191; 12.5%). When known, 28.2% of patients reporting pancreatitis had intact gallbladders (49/174). Eluxadoline was withdrawn in 97.5% of cases, with 87.1% of patients improving or recovered at time of reporting. Importantly, the reporting proportion of pancreatitis cases decreased from 14.4% to 8.9% post label change. Findings were supported by the AERS results, which demonstrated a decrease in reporting proportion from 21.2% to 12.8%. Conclusions: While cautious interpretation is warranted, post-marketing data indicate that the contraindication of eluxadoline in patients without a gallbladder led to reduced reported cases of pancreatitis, with no additional reports of moderately severe or severe cases. Eluxadoline is a safe and well-tolerated treatment option for IBS-D when used according to the label.

The FDA Metformin Label Change and Racial and Sex Disparities in Metformin Prescription among Patients with CKD

BackgroundIn 2016, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changed labeling regarding metformin contraindications in patients with diabetes and CKD from using serum creatinine–based thresholds to using eGFR-based thresholds. Because race and sex affect serum creatinine levels independently of GFR, the earlier creatinine-based contraindication may have inadvertently caused racial and sex disparities in metformin prescription among patients with low eGFR.MethodsIn an analysis of 15,946 Black and White primary care patients with diabetes and eGFR≥30 ml/min per 1.73 m2 in a large health system (the primary cohort), we assessed the association of race and sex with metformin prescription across eGFR level before and after the FDA label change. For a replication cohort, we meta-analyzed data from 36 cohorts with 1,051,723 patients from OptumLabs Data Warehouse.ResultsIn the primary cohort, before the label change, Black patients with eGFR of 30–44 ml/min per 1.73 m2 were prescribed metformin less often than White counterparts (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR], 0.65; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.52 to 0.82); this disparity was significantly attenuated after the label change (aPR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.74 to 1.09; P value for interaction by period =0.04). Results were consistent in the replication cohorts. Men with eGFR of 30–44 ml/min per 1.73 m2 received metformin prescriptions less often than women counterparts before the label change; this was nonsignificantly attenuated after the label change, but we found significant attenuation in the replication cohorts (aPRpre-label change, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.79; aPRpost-label change, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.83 to 0.88; P value for interaction by period <0.001).ConclusionsThe metformin label change to an eGFR-based contraindication may have reduced racial and sex disparities in metformin prescription in moderate kidney dysfunction.

New religions as the postsecular epiphenomenon of globalisation in the contemporary Ukrainian society

The tendencies of postsecularism in the social life of today’s Ukraine are especially significant in their influence on the quasi-religious context of religious worships practiced in the country. These factors erode the modernity basis of the society, and Ukraine appears in the contradictory situation of its intention to complete the modernisation process and oppose the antiglobalistic isolationism. The neo-Protestant teachings and practices are obviouly connected with the principles of liberalism and consumerism. Neo-Oriental and new syncretic religions show that they produce significant influence on spreading globalistic views in the Ukrainian society. The marginality characteristics of new religions prove the idea that their values are a challenge to the essentialistic dichotomies of the Ukrainian traditional churches. The sociocultural and political context of globalisation and postmodernism includes religious transformations axiomatically, and the impact of both on the late capitalism stage is evident in different contexts. The culture of postmodernism makes this process complicated in the countries which are still between modernity and postmodernity. The processes of ‘label change’ are important with the stress on the substitution of the rationalistic foundation by quasi-scientific teachings. The conclusions demonstrate that the very incompleteness of the modernity has led to the expansion of the quasi-religious techniques in the social and cultural life of Ukraine. The erosion of the modernity values results in spreading new religions, which became vivid at the end of the last century. As globalisation promotes syncretic and neo-Oriental religions, antiglobalistic movements are supported by neo-pagan techniques and practices.

To Quote or Not to Quote: Literary Quotations as Change from Above

Phrases deriving from literary quotations are sometimes included in language histories as contributions from famous writers, like Shakespeare. This paper will argue that the label “change from above” is still a useful label for the addition of literary phrases to the language, even if such an addition is not typical of the variationist changes for which the label was coined. This paper will also demonstrate that the process of incorporating a literary quotation into the language involves several alterations to the quotation’s form and meaning, and that these changes are also part of the “change from above” characterizing the adoption of literary phrases.