A Colonel Blotto Game for Interdependence-Aware Cyber-Physical Systems Security in Smart Cities

Smart cities must integrate a number of interdependent cyber-physical systems that operate in a coordinated manner to improve the well-being of the city's residents. A cyber-physical system (CPS) is a system of computational elements controlling physical entities. Large-scale CPSs are more vulnerable to attacks due to the cyber-physical interdependencies that can lead to cascading failures which can have a significant detrimental effect on a city. In this paper, a novel approach is proposed for analyzing the problem of allocating security resources, such as firewalls and anti-malware, over the various cyber components of an interdependent CPS to protect the system against imminent attacks. The problem is formulated as a Colonel Blotto game in which the attacker seeks to allocate its resources to compromise the CPS, while the defender chooses how to distribute its resources to defend against potential attacks. To evaluate the effects of defense and attack, various CPS factors are considered including human-CPS interactions as well as physical and topological characteristics of a CPS such as flow and capacity of interconnections and minimum path algorithms. Results show that, for the case in which the attacker is not aware of the CPS interdependencies, the defender can have a higher payoff, compared to the case in which the attacker has complete information. The results also show that, in the case of more symmetric nodes, due to interdependencies, the defender achieves its highest payoff at the equilibrium compared to the case with independent, asymmetric nodes

Game Theory for Secure Critical Interdependent Gas-Power-Water Infrastructure

A city's critical infrastructure such as gas, water, and power systems, are largely interdependent since they share energy, computing, and communication resources. This, in turn, makes it challenging to endow them with fool-proof security solutions. In this paper, a unified model for interdependent gas-power-water infrastructure is presented and the security of this model is studied using a novel game-theoretic framework. In particular, a zero-sum noncooperative game is formulated between a malicious attacker who seeks to simultaneously alter the states of the gas-power-water critical infrastructure to increase the power generation cost and a defender who allocates communication resources over its attack detection filters in local areas to monitor the infrastructure. At the mixed strategy Nash equilibrium of this game, numerical results show that the expected power generation cost deviation is 35\% lower than the one resulting from an equal allocation of resources over the local filters. The results also show that, at equilibrium, the interdependence of the power system on the natural gas and water systems can motivate the attacker to target the states of the water and natural gas systems to change the operational states of the power grid. Conversely, the defender allocates a portion of its resources to the water and natural gas states of the interdependent system to protect the grid from state deviations.Comment: 7 pages, in proceedings of Resilience Week 201

Clinical application of ceramics in anterior cervical discectomy and fusion: A review and update

Study Design: Narrative review. Objectives: Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is a reliable procedure, commonly used for cervical degenerative disc disease. For interbody fusions, autograft was the gold standard for decades; however, limited availability and donor site morbidities have led to a constant search for new materials. Clinically, it has been shown that calcium phosphate ceramics, including hydroxyapatite (HA) and tricalcium phosphate (TCP), are effective as osteoconductive materials and bone grafts. In this review, we present the current findings regarding the use of ceramics in ACDF. Methods: A review of the relevant literature examining the clinical use of ceramics in anterior cervical discectomy and fusion procedures was conducted using PubMed, OVID and Cochrane. Result: HA, coralline HA, sandwiched HA, TCP, and biphasic calcium phosphate ceramics were used in combination with osteoinductive materials such as bone marrow aspirate and various cages composed of poly-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK), fiber carbon, and titanium. Stand-alone ceramic spacers have been associated with fracture and cracks. Metallic cages such as titanium endure the risk of subsidence and migration. PEEK cages in combination with ceramics were shown to be a suitable substitute for autograft. Conclusion: None of the discussed options has demonstrated clear superiority over others, although direct comparisons are often difficult due to discrepancies in data collection and study methodologies. Future randomized clinical trials are warranted before definitive conclusions can be drawn. © The Author(s) 2017

Do Patients’ Perceptions of Leg Length Correlate With Standing 2- and 3-Dimensional Radiographic Imaging?

BACKGROUND: This study compared 2- and 3-dimensional (2D and 3D) radiographic measurements of anatomical and functional leg length and knee coronal and sagittal alignments and correlated these measurements with patients' leg-length perceptions. METHODS: Patients without symptomatic spinal pathology, previous surgery of the spine, and lower extremities (140 lower extremities) were evaluated on EOS images obtained in standing position. Numerous measurements of each limb were compared to the contralateral limb. All 2D/3D measures were evaluated and compared for repeatability and reproducibility. RESULTS: Mean 2D functional and anatomical lengths were 78.7 cm (64.7-88.4, confidence interval [CI] 95%: 77.4-80) and 78.3 cm (64.9-87.9, CI 95%: 77-79.6), respectively. Mean 3D functional and anatomical lengths were 78.9 cm (65.1-88.7, CI 95%: 77.6-80.2) and 78.9 cm (65.6-88.3, CI 95%: 77.8-80.5), respectively (P 10° of flexum/recurvatum were 2.1× more likely to perceive unequal length (P < .1). Patients with irreducible varus/valgus knee deformity were 4× more likely to perceive unequal length (P < .04). CONCLUSION: EOS imaging allows more accurate assessment of anatomical and functional lengths. Patients' perceptions of lower extremity length may correlate more closely with coronal and sagittal alignments of the knee than with femoral or tibial length. This study highlights the importance of physical examination of all the joints and 3D measurements in functional standing position.This study was unfunded

ЗАСТОСУВАННЯ КАЛЬЦІЮ ІОНОФОРУ У ПАЦІЄНТОК ЗІ ЗНИЖЕНИМ РЕПРОДУКТИВНИМ ПРОГНОЗОМ У ПРОТОКОЛАХ ДРТ

The aim of the study – to learn the effectiveness of the use of Ca ionophore in IVF – ICSI protocols in patients with a reduced reproductive prognosis. Materials and Methods. A study was conducted of the effectiveness of the method of oocyte activation in ECO-ICSI protocols in patients after at least one unsuccessful attempt of ART. Identical CSR protocols were used. Effectiveness was estimated on the basis of embryological (frequency of fertilization, embryo cleavage, percentage of blastulation) and clinical indicators (frequency of pregnancy). Results and Discussion. The use of calcium ionophore at the time of the ICSI procedure allows to improve the percentage of oocyte fertilization, the percentage of cleavage, the percentage of blastulation. This, in turn, has increased the pregnancy rate in the IVF-ICSI treatment. Conclusion. Improvement of embryological parameters allowed to significantly improve the results of the frequency of pregnancy in women of older reproductive age with a reduced prognosis for the occurrence of pregnancy.Мета дослідження – вивчення ефективності використання Са іонофору в протоколах ЕКЗ – ICSI у пацієнток зі зниженим репродуктивним прогнозом. Матеріали та методи. Проведено дослідження ефективності методики активації ооцитів у протоколах ЕКЗ – ICSI у пацієнток після як мінімум однієї невдалої спроби ДРТ. Застосовували ідентичні протоколи КСО. Результативність оцінювали, виходячи з ембріологічних (частота запліднення, дроблення ембріонів, відсоток бластуляції) і клінічних показників (частота настання вагітності). Результати дослідження та їх обговорення. Застосування кальцію іонофору в момент проведення процедури ICSI дозволяє поліпшити відсоток запліднення ооцитів, відсоток дроблення, відсоток бластуляції. Це, у свою чергу, дозволило підвищити частоту настання вагітності в програмах ЕКЗ – ICSI. Висновок. Поліпшення ембріологічних показників дозволило істотно поліпшити результати щодо частоти настання вагітності в жінок старшого репродуктивного віку зі зниженим прогнозом по настанню вагітності.Мета дослідження – вивчення ефективності використання Са іонофору в протоколах ЕКЗ – ICSI у пацієнток зі зниженим репродуктивним прогнозом. Матеріали та методи. Проведено дослідження ефективності методики активації ооцитів у протоколах ЕКЗ – ICSI у пацієнток після як мінімум однієї невдалої спроби ДРТ. Застосовували ідентичні протоколи КСО. Результативність оцінювали, виходячи з ембріологічних (частота запліднення, дроблення ембріонів, відсоток бластуляції) і клінічних показників (частота настання вагітності). Результати дослідження та їх обговорення. Застосування кальцію іонофору в момент проведення процедури ICSI дозволяє поліпшити відсоток запліднення ооцитів, відсоток дроблення, відсоток бластуляції. Це, у свою чергу, дозволило підвищити частоту настання вагітності в програмах ЕКЗ – ICSI. Висновок. Поліпшення ембріологічних показників дозволило істотно поліпшити результати щодо частоти настання вагітності в жінок старшого репродуктивного віку зі зниженим прогнозом по настанню вагітності

Utilizing multi-objective decision support tools for protected area selection

Establishing and maintaining protected areas (PAs) is a key action in delivering post-2020 biodiversity targets. PAs often need to meet multiple objectives, ranging from biodiversity protection to ecosystem service provision and climate change mitigation, but available land and conservation funding is limited. Therefore, optimizing resources by selecting the most beneficial PAs is vital. Here, we advocate for a flexible and transparent approach to selecting PAs based on multiple objectives, and illustrate this with a decision support tool on a global scale. The tool allows weighting and prioritization of different conservation objectives according to user-specified preferences as well as real-time comparison of the outcome. Applying the tool across 1,346 terrestrial PAs, we demonstrate that decision makers frequently face trade-offs among conflicting objectives, e.g., between species protection and ecosystem integrity. Nevertheless, we show that transparent decision support tools can reveal synergies and trade-offs associated with PA selection, thereby helping to illuminate and resolve land-use conflicts embedded in divergent societal and political demands and values.publishedVersio