SOTER: A Runtime Assurance Framework for Programming Safe Robotics Systems

The recent drive towards achieving greater autonomy and intelligence in robotics has led to high levels of complexity. Autonomous robots increasingly depend on third party off-the-shelf components and complex machine-learning techniques. This trend makes it challenging to provide strong design-time certification of correct operation. To address these challenges, we present SOTER, a robotics programming framework with two key components: (1) a programming language for implementing and testing high-level reactive robotics software and (2) an integrated runtime assurance (RTA) system that helps enable the use of uncertified components, while still providing safety guarantees. SOTER provides language primitives to declaratively construct a RTA module consisting of an advanced, high-performance controller (uncertified), a safe, lower-performance controller (certified), and the desired safety specification. The framework provides a formal guarantee that a well-formed RTA module always satisfies the safety specification, without completely sacrificing performance by using higher performance uncertified components whenever safe. SOTER allows the complex robotics software stack to be constructed as a composition of RTA modules, where each uncertified component is protected using a RTA module. To demonstrate the efficacy of our framework, we consider a real-world case-study of building a safe drone surveillance system. Our experiments both in simulation and on actual drones show that the SOTER-enabled RTA ensures the safety of the system, including when untrusted third-party components have bugs or deviate from the desired behavior

LEAKING AGENT DETECTION AND EMAIL FILTERING

Leaking of confidential data to an unauthorized agent is a major concern for an organization. In this article we seek to detect the trusted node that leaks the confidential data to an unauthorized agent. Traditionally, leakage of data is handled by water marking technique which requires data modification. If the watermarked copy is found at some unauthorized site then distributor can claim his ownership. But one of the issues with watermarking method is data modification. To overcome the disadvantages of using watermark, data allocation strategies are used to improve the probability of identifying guilty third parties. The idea is to distribute the data intelligently to agents based on sample data request and explicit data request in order to improve the chance of detecting the guilty agents. Modern business activities also rely on extensive email exchange. Email leakages have become widespread, and the severe damage caused by such leakages constitutes a disturbing problem for organizations. Hence, filtering of E-mails is also necessary. This can be done by blocking E-mails which contains images, videos or sensitive data and filtering the text file of an organization

TO STUDY CORRELATION BETWEEN HYPOTHYROIDISM AND CHARAKOKTA KAPHAJ PANDU

The disease Hypothyroidism is more prevalent among Thyroid disorders. For giving proper Ayurvedic treatment to patient of Hypothyroidism, it is important to study this disease in the view of Ayurveda. In Ayurveda, there is no direct reference of the disease which can be correlated to Hypothyroidism. But, some of the signs and symptoms of Hypothyroidism are parallel to Kaphaj pandu and hence to see Correlation between them detailed study of Kaphaj pandu is also done. In present study To study correlation between Hypothyroidism and Charakokta kaphaj pandu, 30 diagnosed patients of Hypothyroidism were selected and a detail case taken of each patient to find out presence of number of Lakshanas of Charakokta kaphaj pandu in that patient. Presence of minimum 50% Lakshanas of Kaphaj pandu will be considered as positive result i.e., Hypothyroidism can be correlated with Charakokta kaphaj pandu. Out of 30 patients of Hypothyroidism 3 patients had more than 10 symptoms of Kaphaj pandu. Correlation between Hypothyroidism and Kaphaj pandu was made and expressed statistically. Out of 30 observed patients 3 patients were having more than 10 symptoms of Kaphaj pandu and remaining 27 patients were having symptoms of Kaphaj pandu. In these 30 patients it is seen that average TSH level is 23.13, which is high than normal level i.e. 5.5. Further, average HB was 8.7 which is below the normal range i.e., 12-14 gm/dl. As described earlier, Shwetavbhasata is one of the main symptoms of Kaphaj pandu and it is found in every patient

Modeling Supply Chain Performance Variablesa

In order to understand the dynamic behavior of the variables that can play a major role in the performance improvement in a supply chain, a System Dynamics-based model is proposed. The model provides an effective framework for analyzing different variables affecting supply chain performance. Among different variables, a causal relationship among different variables has been identified. Variables emanating from performance measures such as gaps in customer satisfaction, cost minimization, lead-time reduction, service level improvement and quality improvement have been identified as goal-seeking loops. The proposed System Dynamics-based model analyzes the affect of dynamic behavior of variables for a period of 10 years on performance of case supply chain in auto business

Binary Quasars at High Redshift I: 24 New Quasar Pairs at z ~ 3-4

The clustering of quasars on small scales yields fundamental constraints on models of quasar evolution and the buildup of supermassive black holes. This paper describes the first systematic survey to discover high redshift binary quasars. Using color-selection and photometric redshift techniques, we searched 8142 deg^2 of SDSS imaging data for binary quasar candidates, and confirmed them with follow-up spectroscopy. Our sample of 27 high redshift binaries (24 of them new discoveries) at redshifts 2.9 < z < 4.3 with proper transverse separations 10 kpc < R_{\perp} < 650 kpc increases the number of such objects known by an order of magnitude. Eight members of this sample are very close pairs with R_{\perp} 3.5. The completeness and efficiency of our well-defined selection algorithm are quantified using simulated photometry and we find that our sample is ~ 50% complete. Our companion paper uses this knowledge to make the first measurement of the small scale clustering (R < 1 Mpc/h comoving) of high-redshift quasars. High redshift binaries constitute exponentially rare coincidences of two extreme (M >~ 10^9 Msun) supermassive black holes. At z ~ 4 there is about one close binary per 10 Gpc^3, thus these could be the highest sigma peaks, the analogs of superclusters, in the early Universe.Comment: Submitted to Ap

Long-Term Velaglucerase Alfa Treatment in Children with Gaucher Disease Type 1 Naïve to Enzyme Replacement Therapy or Previously Treated with Imiglucerase

Background Gaucher Disease type 1 (GD1) often manifests in childhood. Early treatment with enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) may prevent disease complications. We report the assessment of velaglucerase alfa ERT in pediatric GD1 patients who participated in a long-term extension study (HGT-GCB-044, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT00635427). Methods Safety and efficacy were evaluated in pediatric patients receiving velaglucerase alfa 30–60 U/kg by intravenous infusion every other week. In addition to key hematological and visceral efficacy assessments, exploratory assessments conducted specifically in pediatric patients included evaluation of height, bone age, bone marrow burden, and Tanner stage of puberty. Results The study included 24 pediatric patients. Fifteen patients were naïve to ERT on entry into the preceding trials TKT032 (12-month trial) or HGT-GCB-039 (9-month trial): in the preceding trials, ten of these 15 patients received velaglucerase alfa and five patients received imiglucerase ERT. Nine patients in the study were previously treated with imiglucerase for \u3e 30 months and were switched to velaglucerase alfa in the preceding trial TKT034 (12-month trial). Cumulative ERT exposure in the clinical studies ranged from 2.0 to 5.8 years. Three serious adverse events, including a fatal convulsion, were reported; none were deemed related to velaglucerase alfa. One patient tested positive for anti-velaglucerase alfa antibodies. An efficacy assessment at 24 months showed that velaglucerase alfa had positive effects on primary hematological and visceral parameters in treatment-naïve patients, which were maintained with longer-term treatment. Disease parameters were stable in patients switched from long-term imiglucerase ERT. Exploratory results may suggest benefits of early treatment to enable normal growth in pediatric patients. Conclusion The safety profile and clinical response seen in pediatric patients are consistent with results reported in adults

Binary Quasars at High Redshift. II. Sub-Mpc Clustering at z ~ 3-4

We present measurements of the small-scale (0.1 ≲ r ≲ 1 h^(-1) Mpc) quasar two-point correlation function at z>2.9, for a flux-limited (i < 21) sample of 15 binary quasars compiled by Hennawi et al. The amplitude of the small-scale clustering increases from z ~ 3 to z ~ 4. The small-scale clustering amplitude is comparable to or lower than power-law extrapolations (assuming a fixed slope γ = 2) from the large-scale correlation function of the i < 20.2 quasar sample from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Using simple prescriptions relating quasars to dark matter halos, we model the observed small-scale clustering with halo occupation models. We found that the level of small-scale clustering favors an active fraction of black holes in (M ≳ 10^(13) h^(–1) M_☉) satellite halos f_s ≳ 0.1 at z ≳ 3

Real World Performance of the 21st Century Cures Act Population Level Application Programming Interface

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the real-world performance in delivering patient data on populations, of the SMART/HL7 Bulk FHIR Access API, required in Electronic Health Records (EHRs) under the 21st Century Cures Act Rule. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used an open-source Bulk FHIR Testing Suite at five healthcare sites from April to September 2023, including four hospitals using EHRs certified for interoperability, and one Health Information Exchange (HIE) using a custom, standards-compliant API build. We measured export speeds, data sizes, and completeness across six types of FHIR resources. RESULTS: Among the certified platforms, Oracle Cerner led in speed, managing 5-16 million resources at over 8,000 resources/min. Three Epic sites exported a FHIR data subset, achieving 1-12 million resources at 1,555-2,500 resources/min. Notably, the HIE's custom API outperformed, generating over 141 million resources at 12,000 resources/min. DISCUSSION: The HIE's custom API showcased superior performance, endorsing the effectiveness of SMART/HL7 Bulk FHIR in enabling large-scale data exchange while underlining the need for optimization in existing EHR platforms. Agility and scalability are essential for diverse health, research, and public health use cases. CONCLUSION: To fully realize the interoperability goals of the 21st Century Cures Act, addressing the performance limitations of Bulk FHIR API is critical. It would be beneficial to include performance metrics in both certification and reporting processes

Population-level risks of alcohol consumption by amount, geography, age, sex, and year: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2020

Background: The health risks associated with moderate alcohol consumption continue to be debated. Small amounts of alcohol might lower the risk of some health outcomes but increase the risk of others, suggesting that the overall risk depends, in part, on background disease rates, which vary by region, age, sex, and year. Methods: For this analysis, we constructed burden-weighted dose–response relative risk curves across 22 health outcomes to estimate the theoretical minimum risk exposure level (TMREL) and non-drinker equivalence (NDE), the consumption level at which the health risk is equivalent to that of a non-drinker, using disease rates from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2020 for 21 regions, including 204 countries and territories, by 5-year age group, sex, and year for individuals aged 15–95 years and older from 1990 to 2020. Based on the NDE, we quantified the population consuming harmful amounts of alcohol. Findings: The burden-weighted relative risk curves for alcohol use varied by region and age. Among individuals aged 15–39 years in 2020, the TMREL varied between 0 (95% uncertainty interval 0–0) and 0·603 (0·400–1·00) standard drinks per day, and the NDE varied between 0·002 (0–0) and 1·75 (0·698–4·30) standard drinks per day. Among individuals aged 40 years and older, the burden-weighted relative risk curve was J-shaped for all regions, with a 2020 TMREL that ranged from 0·114 (0–0·403) to 1·87 (0·500–3·30) standard drinks per day and an NDE that ranged between 0·193 (0–0·900) and 6·94 (3·40–8·30) standard drinks per day. Among individuals consuming harmful amounts of alcohol in 2020, 59·1% (54·3–65·4) were aged 15–39 years and 76·9% (73·0–81·3) were male. Interpretation: There is strong evidence to support recommendations on alcohol consumption varying by age and location. Stronger interventions, particularly those tailored towards younger individuals, are needed to reduce the substantial global health loss attributable to alcohol. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation