Introduction: Razors were being used for pre-operative hair removal in our Institute. As per international guidelines recommending the use of surgical clippers, we opted to study the effects of two pre-operative skin preparations in our Neurosurgical centre Objectives: Primary; Pre auditing period -Assess knowledge and skill in usage of Razor/Clipper as preoperative skin preparation methods, Provide training on Clipper method and assess the knowledge /awareness on merits and demerits of both methods, To implement the Clipper method as against Shaving Secondary ; Post auditing period -Investigate the efficacy and safety of clippers versus razors, on variety of biophysical parameters and Surgical Site Infection (SSI) Methods : PICO questions ; Population: Adult patients undergoing any type of surgical procedure, Intervention: Hair removal, Comparator: Different methods of Hair removal, Outcomes: Biophysical parameters and SSI •Target population: Sixty adult patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures. •Subjects: 30 each subjected to shaving and clipper methods •Pre and Post assessment of on 25 parameters /sub-parameters •Analysis by MS-Excel and SPSS. Results:•Preoperative -Prior skin injuries and/or reactions; adequacy of hair removal •Complete hair removal : 30 (100%) in the clipper group versus 3 (10%) by shaving (p = 0.0001). •30 mins after hair removal ; significantly less skin issues in the clipper group •Post operative - Skin injuries in 20 (66.6%) of the razor and none in the clipper group. •SSI - Two (6.6%) in the razor and none in the clipper group. Conclusions: The assessment showed that shaving leads to partial hair removal increasing the scores for skin issues, significant association between preoperative skin injuries and SSI, implying inverse correlation with the clipper method. This study provides insights into significance of among other biophysical parameters underscoring adoption of clipper as the standard practice for preoperative hair removal, in our setting thus enhancing patient safety.

Self-sovereign identity (SSI) is an emerging and promising concept that enables users to control their identity while enhancing security and privacy compared to other identity management (IDM) approaches. Despite the recent advancements in SSI technologies, federated identity management (FIDM) systems continue to dominate the IDM market. Selecting an IDM to implement for a specific application is a complex task that requires a thorough understanding of the potential external cyber risks. However, existing research scarcely compares SSI and FIDM from the perspective of these external threats. In response to this gap, our article provides an attack surface analysis focused solely on external threats for both systems. This analysis can serve as a reference to compare the relevant security and privacy risks associated with these external threats. The threat landscapes of external attackers were systematically synthesized from the main components and functionalities of the common standards and designs. We further present a use case analysis that applies this attack surface analysis to compare the external cyber risks of the two systems in detail when managing cross-border identity between European countries. This work can be particularly useful for considering a more secure design for future IDM applications, taking into account the landscape of external threats.

We compare the trajectories of families who have a child with poor neonatal health compared to those who do not, using administrative birth record data merged with longitudinal household survey data. We apply entropy balancing and weighting methods to enhance comparison between the two types of families. We find that children with poor neonatal health are more likely to be diagnosed with a disability and to receive Supplemental Security Income. Mothers who have children with poor neonatal health are more likely to reduce labor force participation at both the intensive and extensive margins when the child is young. Further, they are more likely to receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. We find no significant effects of poor neonatal health on maternal mental health or household income. Parents who have children with poor neonatal health are significantly less likely to remain married or cohabiting.