SENinja: A symbolic execution plugin for Binary Ninja

Symbolic execution is a program analysis technique that aims to automatically identify interesting inputs for an application, using them to generate program executions covering different parts of the code. It is widely used in the context of vulnerability discovery and reverse engineering. In this paper we present SENINJA, a symbolic execution plugin for the BINARYNINJA disassembler. The tool allows the user to perform symbolic execution analyses directly within the user interface of the disassembler, and can be used to support a variety of reverse engineering tasks

Detection of bovine papillomavirus type 2 in the peripheral blood of cattle with urinary bladder tumours: possible biological role

Bovine papillomavirus type 2 (BPV-2) infection has been associated with urinary bladder tumours in adult cattle grazing on bracken fern-infested land. In this study, we investigated the simultaneous presence of BPV-2 in whole blood and urinary bladder tumours of adult cattle in an attempt to better understand the biological role of circulating BPV-2. Peripheral blood samples were collected from 78 cattle clinically suffering from a severe chronic enzootic haematuria. Circulating BPV-2 DNA was detected in 61 of them and in two blood samples from healthy cows. Fifty of the affected animals were slaughtered at public slaughterhouses and neoplastic proliferations in the urinary bladder were detected in all of them. BPV-2 DNA was amplified and sequenced in 78% of urinary bladder tumour samples and in 38.9% of normal samples as a control. Circulating episomal BPV-2 DNA was detected in 78.2% of the blood samples. Simultaneous presence of BPV-2 DNA in neoplastic bladder and blood samples was detected in 37 animals. Specific viral E5 mRNA and E5 oncoprotein were also detected in blood by RT-PCR and Western blot/immunocytochemistry, respectively. It is likely that BPV-2 can persist and be maintained in an active status in the bloodstream, in particular in the lymphocytes, as a reservoir of viral infection that, in the presence of co-carcinogens, may cause the development of urinary bladder tumours

Biotechnological Transformation of Hydrocortisone into 16α-Hydroxyprednisolone by Coupling Arthrobacter simplex and Streptomyces roseochromogenes

16α-Hydroxyprednisolone, an anti-inflammatory drug, could be potentially obtained from hydrocortisone bioconversion by combining a 1,2-dehydrogenation reaction performed by Arthrobacter simplexATCC31652 with a 16α-hydroxylation reaction by Streptomyces roseochromogenes ATCC13400. In this study we tested, for the first time, potential approaches to couple the two reactions using similar pH and temperature conditions for hydrocortisone bioconversion by the two strains. The A. simplex capability to 1,2-dehydrogenate the 16α-hydroxyhydrocortisone, the product of S. roseochromogenes transformation of hydrocortisone, and vice versa the capability of S. roseochromogenes to 16α-hydroxylate the prednisolone were assessed. Bioconversions were studied in shake flasks and strain morphology changes were observed by SEM. Whole cell experiments were set up to perform the two reactions in a sequential mode in alternate order or contemporarily at diverse temperature conditions. A. simplex catalyzed either the dehydrogenation of hydrocortisone into prednisolone efficiently or of 16α-hydroxyhydrocortisone into 16α-hydroxyprednisolone in 24 h (up to 93.9%). Surprisingly S. roseochromogenes partially converted prednisolone back to hydrocortisone. A 68.8% maximum of 16α-hydroxyprednisolone was obtained in 120-h bioconversion by coupling whole cells of the two strains at pH 6.0 and 26 °C. High bioconversion of hydrocortisone into 16α-hydroxyprednisolone was obtained for the first time by coupling A. simplex and S. roseochromogenes

Estimating the Relative Stiffness between a Hepatic Lesion and the Liver Parenchyma through Biomechanical Simulations of the Breathing Process

[EN] In this paper, a method to in vivo estimate the relative stifness between a hepatic lesion and the liver parenchyma is presented. Tis method is based on the fnite element simulation of the deformation that the liver undergoes during the breathing process. Boundary conditions are obtained through a registration algorithm known as Coherent Point Drif (CPD), which compares the liver form in two phases of the breathing process. Finally, the relative stifness of the tumour with respect to the liver parenchyma is calculated by means of a Genetic Algorithm, which does a blind search of this parameter. Te relative stifness together with the clinical information of the patient can be used to establish the type of hepatic lesion. Te developed methodology was frst applied to a test case, i.e., to a control case where the parameters were known, in order to verify its validity. Afer that, the method was applied to two real cases and low errors were obtained.This work has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) through research projects DPI2013-40859-R and TIN2014-52033-R, both also supported by European FEDER funds.Martinez-Sanchis, S.; Rupérez Moreno, MJ.; Nadal, E.; Pareja, E.; Brugger, S.; Borzacchiello, D.; López, R.... (2018). Estimating the Relative Stiffness between a Hepatic Lesion and the Liver Parenchyma through Biomechanical Simulations of the Breathing Process. Mathematical Problems in Engineering. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/5317324S110Kmieć, Z. (2001). Introduction — Morphology of the Liver Lobule. Advances in Anatomy Embryology and Cell Biology, 1-6. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-56553-3_1Cequera, A., & García de León Méndez, M. C. (2014). Biomarkers for liver fibrosis: Advances, advantages and disadvantages. 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Mitochondrial a kinase anchor proteins in cardiovascular health and disease: a review article on behalf of the Working Group on Cellular and Molecular Biology of the Heart of the Italian Society of Cardiology

Second messenger cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) has been found to regulate multiple mitochondrial functions, including respiration, dynamics, reactive oxygen species production, cell survival and death through the activation of cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) and other effectors. Several members of the large family of A kinase anchor proteins (AKAPs) have been previously shown to locally amplify cAMP/PKA signaling to mitochondria, promoting the assembly of signalosomes, regulating multiple cardiac functions under both physiological and pathological conditions. In this review, we will discuss roles and regulation of major mitochondria-targeted AKAPs, along with opportunities and challenges to modulate their functions for translational purposes in the cardiovascular system