Collaboration between SAML federations and OpenStack clouds

In this paper, we present a novel OpenStack module called regsite for enabling easy access for researchers to OpenStack research clouds. Many researchers have an account in an Academic AAI federation, such as national research and education federations or the eduGAIN SAML meta-federation. The software solution presented here makes it possible to use these institutional accounts together with so-called virtual organization managers for authenticating and authorizing in OpenStack instances in a clean and secure way. An analysis of earlier generations of OpenStack-related developments trying to tackle the same problem is given. Many aspects of this software integration can be generalized to serve as a template for federative research cloud access. Keywords: SAML, OpenStack, Research loud, eduGAI

AARC: First draft of the Blueprint Architecture for Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructures

AARC (Authentication and Authorisation for Research Communities) is a two-year EC-funded project to develop and pilot an integrated cross-discipline authentication and authorisation framework, building on existing authentication and authorisation infrastructures (AAIs) and production federated infrastructure. AARC also champions federated access and offers tailored training to complement the actions needed to test AARC results and to promote AARC outcomes. This article describes a high-level blueprint architectures for interoperable AAIs

Multiple-Choice Question Generation Using Large Language Models: Methodology and Educator Insights

Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) in educational settings has brought new learning approaches, transforming the practices of both students and educators. Among the various technologies driving this transformation, Large Language Models (LLMs) have emerged as powerful tools for creating educational materials and question answering, but there are still space for new applications. Educators commonly use Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs) to assess student knowledge, but manually generating these questions is resource-intensive and requires significant time and cognitive effort. In our opinion, LLMs offer a promising solution to these challenges. This paper presents a novel comparative analysis of three widely known LLMs - Llama 2, Mistral, and GPT-3.5 - to explore their potential for creating informative and challenging MCQs. In our approach, we do not rely on the knowledge of the LLM, but we inject the knowledge into the prompt to contrast the hallucinations, giving the educators control over the test's source text, too. Our experiment involving 21 educators shows that GPT-3.5 generates the most effective MCQs across several known metrics. Additionally, it shows that there is still some reluctance to adopt AI in the educational field. This study sheds light on the potential of LLMs to generate MCQs and improve the educational experience, providing valuable insights for the future

Experimental evidence for protein oxidative damage and altered antioxidant defense in patients with medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency

The objective of this study was to test whether macromolecule oxidative damage and altered enzymatic antioxidative defenses occur in patients with medium-chain acyl coenzyme A dehydrogenase (MCAD) deficiency. We performed a cross-sectional observational study of in vivo parameters of lipid and protein oxidative damage and antioxidant defenses in asymptomatic, nonstressed, MCAD-deficient patients and healthy controls. Patients were subdivided into three groups based on therapy: patients without prescribed supplementation, patients with carnitine supplementation, and patients with carnitine plus riboflavin supplementation. Compared with healthy controls, nonsupplemented MCAD-deficient patients and patients receiving carnitine supplementation displayed decreased plasma sulfhydryl content (indicating protein oxidative damage). Increased erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in patients receiving carnitine supplementation probably reflects a compensatory mechanism for scavenging reactive species formation. The combination of carnitine plus riboflavin was not associated with oxidative damage. These are the first indications that MCAD-deficient patients experience protein oxidative damage and that combined supplementation of carnitine and riboflavin may prevent these biochemical alterations. Results suggest involvement of free radicals in the pathophysiology of MCAD deficiency. The underlying mechanisms behind the increased SOD activity upon carnitine supplementation need to be determined. Further studies are necessary to determine the clinical relevance of oxidative stress, including the possibility of antioxidant therapy