Integrating security policy design in the software design

Security is an integral part of most distributed modern software systems, but is still not considered as an explicit part in the development process. Security mechanisms and policies are generally added to existing systems as an afterthought, with all the problems of unsatisfied security requirements, integration difficulties and mismatches between running system and the design models. We propose to integrate the design of application-oriented access control policies early into the system’s development process. The standard language for modeling the design of systems the Unified Modeling Language (UML), is used to specify access control policies. Within the integration we will develop extensions of the UML model support the automatic generation and verification of a access control policy to configure a distributed component- based for view-based access control

Neurocognitive Impairment as Systemic Effects of COPD

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI), also known as incipient dementia, is characterized by the decline of cognitive function greater than expected for a certain age and educational level of the individual but not severe enough to interfere with their daily activities. However, this mild cognitive impairment affects several areas: visuospatial, memory, attention and fluency and it is a significant concern because it decreases the quality of life and treatment adherence of these patients. On the other hand, evidence suggests that individuals with Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) also present an important risk of falls: 46% of these patients experience a fall/year, sometimes with fatal consequences. Standard clinical balance measures can predict the risk of falls in this population. Moreover, increased inflammatory biomarkers are associated with the decrease of cognitive functions and a higher risk of falls in this population. Patients with COPD have a higher balance and cognitive impairment than their healthy peers Therefore, it is important to identify, assess and understand the relevance of these comorbidities in order to characterize the full clinical spectrum of COPD and adjust prevention strategies, given the devastating consequences of these problems

Noninvasive Ventilation in Neuromuscular Diseases

Respiratory muscle weakness is the main contributor to respiratory imbalance in patients with neuromuscular diseases (NMD). In the advanced stages of the disease, patients develop a chronic respiratory failure due to muscle weakness, which is the principal cause of death among these patients. Respiratory muscle weakness ultimately causes alveolar hypoventilation, initially nocturnal, and later daytime respiratory failure. The signs and symptoms of early respiratory muscle weakness are discrete, namely: dyspnoea on effort, orthopnea, insomnia, frequent nocturnal awakenings, morning headache, loss of appetite, excessive daytime sleepiness, depression, anxiety, and marked fatigue. The management of respiratory failure in neuromuscular diseases requires the use of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) to assist the respiratory muscles in order to correct the alveolar hypoventilation and ameliorate gas exchange. NIV thus slows down the decline of forced vital capacity thereby improving the patient’s quality of life, physical activity and hemodynamics, normalization of blood gases, slight improvement in other physiological measures, and maximal mouth pressures and increases survival. NIV support should be offered to all patients who present with early signs of ventilatory failure as it is probably the most effective among treatments in prolonging life in neuromuscular patients

Mobile Application for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Monitoring: A Romanian Perspective

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) encompasses a cluster of chronic inflammatory disorders affecting the gastrointestinal tract. The primary objective of IBD treatment is the management of inflammation, symptom control, and the induction and sustenance of remission. Therapeutic interventions commonly encompass medications, dietary modifications, and, in certain instances, surgical procedures; however, a definitive cure remains elusive. While several nations have established national IBD registries, Romania has not. The responsibility of the implementation of such a registry was assumed by a non-profit organization, the "Clubul Român de Boală Crohn și Colită Ulcerativă", resulting in the creation of the registrul-ibd.ro platform. Given the absence of a curative remedy for IBD, it falls within the realm of personalized medicine. In light of this, the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova has developed a mobile application, IBDMonitor, intricately linked with the IBD registry. This innovative application empowers patients to meticulously record critical data, encompassing medication administration, symptomatology, lifestyle habits, as well as physiological, pathological, and daily occurrences. Medical professionals are granted real-time access to these patient-generated reports, enabling them to make prompt treatment adjustments. Following a successful pilot phase, various insights have emerged, notably revealing a relatively low long-term adherence rate to the application. Consequently, advocating for the widespread adoption of both the application and the registry on a national scale holds the potential to significantly enhance the utilization of these invaluable tools in the management of IBD

Synthesis and characterization of some carbon based nanostructures

The aim of present paper is to present the latest results on investigations of the carbon thin film deposited by Thermionic Vacuum Arc (TVA) method and laser pyrolysis. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray generated Auger electron spectroscopy (XAES) were used to determine composition and sp2 to sp3 ratios in the outer layers of the film surfaces. The analyses were conducted in a Thermoelectron ESCALAB 250 electron spectrometer equipped with a hemispherical sector energy analyser. Monochromated Al K X-radiation was employed for the XPS examination, at source excitation energy of 15 KeV and emission current of 20 mA. Analyzer pass energy of 20 eV with step size of 0.1 eV and dwell time of 100 ms was used throughout

The effects of 6-weeks program of physical therapeutic exergames on cognitive flexibility focused by reaction times in relation to manual and podal motor abilities

The main purpose of the study was to identify the level of improvement in cognitive flexi-bility manifested by choice and cognition reaction times in relation to manual and podal skills as a result of the implementation of a program of therapeutic exergame exercises, for a time interval of 6 weeks at the level of students. 511 students participated in the cross-sectional study, of which 279 male (54.6%) and 232 female (45.4%), divided into two groups: the experimental group 266 (521%) subjects and the control group 245 (48%) sub-jects. The implementation of the experimental program comprising of 8 physical thera-peutic exergames took place for 6 weeks, in one session per week, within the physical edu-cation lessons, only for the male and female experimental groups. In the initial and final testing session, 2 standardized tests were applied: TMT part A, B and 2 tests adapted for this study: Square Test and 25 Squares Test. The progress registered by the male and fe-male experimental groups was statistically significant. In all tests, the experimental groups showed higher progress compared to the control groups. Depending on the gender differences, it was found that the male experimental and control groups made better pro-gress compared to the female groups in the following tests: TMT part A, Square Test, 25 Squares Tests. The implementation of a physical therapeutic exergame program deter-mined the improvement of cognitive flexibility man-ifested by choice and cognitive reac-tion times in conditions of manual and podal motor skills, demonstrating the effective-ness of exergame technologies adapted and implemented for prophy-lactic purpose

Global Self-Organization of the Cellular Metabolic Structure

Background: Over many years, it has been assumed that enzymes work either in an isolated way, or organized in small catalytic groups. Several studies performed using "metabolic networks models'' are helping to understand the degree of functional complexity that characterizes enzymatic dynamic systems. In a previous work, we used "dissipative metabolic networks'' (DMNs) to show that enzymes can present a self-organized global functional structure, in which several sets of enzymes are always in an active state, whereas the rest of molecular catalytic sets exhibit dynamics of on-off changing states. We suggested that this kind of global metabolic dynamics might be a genuine and universal functional configuration of the cellular metabolic structure, common to all living cells. Later, a different group has shown experimentally that this kind of functional structure does, indeed, exist in several microorganisms. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we have analyzed around 2.500.000 different DMNs in order to investigate the underlying mechanism of this dynamic global configuration. The numerical analyses that we have performed show that this global configuration is an emergent property inherent to the cellular metabolic dynamics. Concretely, we have found that the existence of a high number of enzymatic subsystems belonging to the DMNs is the fundamental element for the spontaneous emergence of a functional reactive structure characterized by a metabolic core formed by several sets of enzymes always in an active state. Conclusions/Significance: This self-organized dynamic structure seems to be an intrinsic characteristic of metabolism, common to all living cellular organisms. To better understand cellular functionality, it will be crucial to structurally characterize these enzymatic self-organized global structures.Supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education Grants MTM2005-01504, MTM2004-04665, partly with FEDER funds, and by the Basque Government, Grant IT252-07

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Étude de la solubilité et de l'incorporation du formaldéhyde dans l'eau et la glace

L impact des interactions hétérogènes entre la glace et les gaz traces sur la physico-chimie atmosphérique est à présent bien établi. A cause des propriétés spécifiques de la glace atmosphérique la quantification de cet impact reste encore très incertaine. Dans ce contexte nous avons étudié la solubilité et l incorporation de formaldéhyde (H2CO) dans la glace, ce composé appartenant à la famille des composés organiques volatils qui ont une influence majeure sur la capacité oxydante de l atmosphère. A l aide de la spectrométrie de masse et de la spectroscopie d absorption infrarouge par diode laser accordable, nous avons analysé la pression de vapeur de H2CO au-dessus des solutions aqueuses de formaldéhyde (10-3 à 30 mol %) à l équilibre liquide vapeur à T = 295 K. L analyse des solutions à faible concentration (<1mol %) a conduit à la détermination de la constante de Henry (H), paramètre thermodynamique important pour mieux comprendre la répartition de H2CO dans l atmosphère. Cette étude a ensuite été étendue à T = 273 K, où une inversion dans la dépendance de H avec la température a été observée. Les mesures sur la phase gaz des solutions aqueuses concentrées ont servi à estimer la concentration de formaldéhyde dans les films de glace obtenus par co-condensation à basse température. Lors de l analyse par la diffusion Raman, nous avons trouvé que lors du recuit sous une atmosphère d azote, le mélange amorphe H2O-H2CO se transformait dans une structure clathrate à T = 148 K, même à faibles concentrations (~10-3 mol mol-1). L azote gazeux s adsorbe à la surface de la glace et semble agir par la suite comme un noyau de cristallisation pour la formation du clathrate de H2CO.The impact of the heterogeneous interactions between the ice and the traces gases in the atmospheric physico-chemistry is now well established. However, because of the specific properties of the ice atmospheric crystals the quantification of this impact still remains very uncertain. In this context we have studied the solubility and the incorporation of the formaldehyde (H2CO) in the ice. This compound belongs to the group of volatile organic compounds (VOC), which have a major importance in atmospheric chemistry. By using mass spectrometry and infrared tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy we analyzed the partial pressure of H2CO above the aqueous formaldehyde solutions at vapor liquid equilibrium. This has been done at T = 295 K, on a range of concentration going from 10-3 to 30 mol%. The analysis of the solutions with a concentration < 1 mol % leads to the determination of the Henry s law constant (H) of formaldehyde. This is a key thermodynamic parameter to better characterize the distribution of formaldehyde in the atmosphere. This study was extended at T = 273 K, where an inversion in the dependence of H with the temperature was observed. Measurements on the gas phase of the concentrated aqueous solutions are used to estimate the formaldehyde concentration trapped in the ice films obtained by co-condensation at low temperatures. By annealing the ice-formaldehyde films we have found by Raman scattering that formaldehyde forms a clathrate hydrate phase at 148 K, even at low H2CO concentrations. The gaseous N2 adsorbs at the porous ice surface and forms a clathrate that will act as nucleation seed for the H2CO clathrate formation.LILLE1-Bib. Electronique (590099901) / SudocSudocFranceF