Security Policy Consistency

With the advent of wide security platforms able to express simultaneously all the policies comprising an organization's global security policy, the problem of inconsistencies within security policies become harder and more relevant. We have defined a tool based on the CHR language which is able to detect several types of inconsistencies within and between security policies and other specifications, namely workflow specifications. Although the problem of security conflicts has been addressed by several authors, to our knowledge none has addressed the general problem of security inconsistencies, on its several definitions and target specifications.Comment: To appear in the first CL2000 workshop on Rule-Based Constraint Reasoning and Programmin

Parallel prediction of radio propagation

Tese de mestrado. Engenharia Informática e Computação. Cranfield University. School of Engineering. 201

A framework to quantify the quality-of-life value of progression-free survival in cancer clinical trials

Background: Progression-Free Survival (PFS) is a key outcome in cancer treatment trials, but its clinical value is unclear, particularly when there is a benefit on PFS but not for Overall Survival (OS). Considering PFS and Health-Related Quality-of-Life (HRQoL) together can help confirm PFS as a valuable outcome, but quantifying their relationship is challenging. Objective: To develop a new estimand that quantitatively combines PFS and HRQoL across the follow-up period for a patient: Time of Accumulated Quality of Life during PFS (TAQL PFS). Methods: The research involved literature reviews and development and evaluation of the TAQL PFS estimand. TAQL PFS incorporates PFS and HRQoL, considering HRQoL duration and intensity until a PFS event. A STATA command was developed for TAQL PFS analysis, which includes imputing censored PFS times, fitting mixed models, predicting HRQoL trajectories, and implementing bootstrapping for inference. The TAQL PFS analysis was validated using simulations and real-world trial data. Results: Among 13 studies, evidence of a link between progressive disease (PD) and HRQoL decline was mixed. A review of 20 colorectal cancer trials found a lack of standardisation in HRQoL assessment and reporting. It was unclear whether improved PFS or OS equated to HRQoL benefit, highlighting the need for a combined metric. Simulations confirmed sensitivity of TAQL PFS measure to PFS time and HRQoL scores and its robustness across different model specifications. TAQL PFS can be computed from published summary data using individual-level data reconstruction. Analysis of the ABC-02 trial identified PD as a factor in HRQoL decline and showed that extending PFS in the CisGem arm corresponded to a longer 12-month TAQL PFS across assessed HRQoL dimensions (treatment difference: 0.98-1.32 HRQoL-corrected PFS months, p<0.05). Conclusion: TAQL PFS combines PFS-HRQoL in a new way to quantify patient outcomes in cancer trials. It enhances the relevance of PFS as an outcome measure for clinicians, patients, and regulators. Further validation is needed to confirm robustness and generalisability across a range of cancer types and interventions

Purinergic Calcium Signaling and Calcium-Activated Chloride Channels in the Supporting Cells of the Peripheral Olfactory Systems

This study is divided in three individual projects focusing on calcium signaling on nonneuronal cells of different peripheral olfactory systems. In particular, I investigated (1) the role of calcium-activated chloride channel TMEM16A in the development of the mouse olfactory epithelium, (2) the functional role of TMEM16A of mouse olfactory epithelium and (3) purinergic receptor mediated calcium signaling in the supporting cells of the vomeronasal organ (VNO). Previous reports showed that TMEM16A is expressed in the olfactory epithelium, where it localizes at the apical surface of supporting cells, more specifically, in their microvilli. To understand the role of TMEM16A on the development of the mouse olfactory epithelium we conducted the first immunohistochemistry study comparing the morphological properties of the olfactory epithelium and nasal glands in TMEM16A wild-type and knockout littermate mice. The genetic ablation of TMEM16A did not affect the maturation of olfactory sensory neurons and the morphology of the ciliary structures. In addition, TMEM16A knockout did not significantly affect the morphology of supporting cells. The average number of supporting cells, olfactory sensory neurons, horizontal and globose basal cells were not significantly different in the two mice models. These results indicate that the genetic ablation of TMEM16A does not affect the development of the olfactory epithelium. To further understand the functional role of TMEM16A, we investigated the presence of calcium-activated chloride currents in the supporting cells of the olfactory epithelium. Whole-cell patch clamp recordings from TMEM16A wild-type and knockout mice showed that the supporting cells of olfactory epithelium had a calcium-activated chloride current that was abolished in TMEM16A knockout mice. Moreover, we found that this calcium-activated currents can also be activated after the stimulation of the cells with ATP, in line with previous reports showing that supporting cells of mouse olfactory epithelium express purinergic receptors. Although the expression of purinergic receptors in supporting cells in the mouse olfactory epithelium is well documented, the expression of these receptors in mouse VNO is still unknown. Here, we conducted the first study in mouse VNO showing that vomeronasal supporting cells also express purinergic ATP receptors. Using confocal calcium imaging recording we found that a large subset of these cells, about 75%, expressed metabotropic purinergic receptors, and a smaller subset of cells, 38%, expressing P2Y2 and/or P2Y4 receptors

TMJ evaluation with multiplanar reconstruction in patients with and without headache associated to temporomandibular disorder

Orientador: Fernando CendesTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciencias MedicasResumo: O presente trabalho teve como objetivo verificar o uso da reconstrução em três dimensões da articulação temporomandibular (ATM) em imagens geradas por ressonância magnética (RM) em indivíduos com desordem temporomandibular (DTM) e cefaléia e DTM sem cefaléia. Para tal, um grupo de 42 pacientes com DTM e desarranjo interno (DI) unilateral e um grupo controle (sem DTM e DI) de 18 indivíduos foram selecionados. O grupo de 42 indivíduos citado foi dividido em presença de cefaléia e ausência de cefaléia, contendo cada um 21 indivíduos, analisados a partir da classificação da International Headache Society. Todos os indivíduos foram submetidos ao exame por ressonância magnética das ATM e as imagens digitalizadas para reconstrução em 3 dimensões (3D) e reformatação multiplanar através de um software para avaliar estruturas anatômicas (disco, côndilo e osso temporal) e diferentes possibilidades quanto à posição dos componentes da articulação. Os resultados mostraram que o diagnóstico da posição do disco foi equivalente na IRM e na reconstrução em 3D, revelando um uma concordância aceitável (p= 0.9) entre os achados de IRM e de recontrução em 3D no grupo controle e pacientes. Foi encontrada uma diminuição significante dos volumes dos discos das ATM do grupo paciente, o lado afetado pelo DI apresentou frequentemente com efusão e volume significantemente menor, quando comparado ao disco do outro lado (p < 0.001), assim como o volume dos discos do lado afetado pela DI dos pacientes que possuiam bruxismo (p < 0.001). Os volumes dos discos do lado afetado dos pacientes foram menores quando comparado com um dos lados dos discos do grupo controle (p < 0.001). Em relação à análise clínica e visual, bruxismo foi mais relatado nos pacientes com cefaléia (p< 0.012). Foi encontrada uma significante associação entre cefaléia e efusão articular (p< 0.012). Pacientes com maior grau de DI, também tiveram maior freqüência de efusão (p< 0.012). Os resultados encontrados neste estudo mostram que a recontrução em 3D mostrou-se eficaz e didática para compreensão do DI na ATM; que a efusão articular tem participação na patologia da cefaléia presente em indivíduos com DTM. Quanto à diminuição do volume dos discos articulares em pacientes com DTM, estes resultados revelam que estão relacionados com a presença de efusão articular e bruxismo nestes indivíduosAbstract: The aim of the present work was to evaluate a 3D reconstruction method of the temporomandibular joint by magnetic resonance imaging. The sample comprised of 42 individuals, 21 diagnosed with unilateral temporomandibular joint internal derangement (TMJ ID) and headache, 21 diagnosed with unilateral TMJ ID without headache. Eigtheen individuals without signs or symptoms of temporomandibular disorders or headache (control group) were included. The subjects with headache were evaluated by a neurologist, who performed a neurological examination by International Headache Society. All subjects were submitted TMJ magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Three dimensional imaging reconstructions of temporomandibular joint were generated by segmentation software, allowing visualization of the components of temporomandibular joint (articular disc, condyle and temporal bone) on arbitrary planes. The diagnosis of disc position was equivalent in RM and in the three-dimensional reconstruction, disclosing an acceptable agreement for diagnostic accuracy (p = 0.9) between MRI findings and 3D reconstruction in control group and patients group. We found a significant decrease of TMJ disc volumes in the group of patients with TMD compared to the control group (p < 0.001). In addition, disc volumes were significantly smaller in joints from patients with effusion versus those without it (p< 0.001); as well as in patients with bruxism behavior compared those without it (p< 0.001); disc volumes of TMJ affected side when compared with any controls¿s side (p< 0.001). With regard to clinical and visual analyses, bruxing behavior was most frequently reported by patients with headaches (p< 0.012). A significant association between headache and temporomandibular joint effusion (p<0.012) was noted. Patients with more severe disc displacement also had a higher frequency of effusion (p<0.001). Thus, we concluded that 3D reconstruction is a useful and accurate method for the assessment of the ID TMJ and there is reduction of TMJ disc volume in patients with TMJ ID with joint effusion and/or bruxismDoutoradoNeurocienciasDoutor em Fisiopatologia Medic

Conception of a management tool of Technology Enhanced Learning Environments

This paper describes the process of the conception of a software tool of TELE management. The proposed management tool combines information from two sources: i) the automatic reports produced by the Learning Content Management System (LCMS) Blackboard and ii) the views of students and teachers on the use of the LCMS in the process of teaching and learning. The results show that the architecture of the proposed management tool has the features of a management tool, since its potential to control, to reset and to enhance the use of an LCMS in the process of teaching and learning and teacher training, is shown

Discriminating different classes of biological networks by analyzing the graphs spectra distribution

The brain's structural and functional systems, protein-protein interaction, and gene networks are examples of biological systems that share some features of complex networks, such as highly connected nodes, modularity, and small-world topology. Recent studies indicate that some pathologies present topological network alterations relative to norms seen in the general population. Therefore, methods to discriminate the processes that generate the different classes of networks (e.g., normal and disease) might be crucial for the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of the disease. It is known that several topological properties of a network (graph) can be described by the distribution of the spectrum of its adjacency matrix. Moreover, large networks generated by the same random process have the same spectrum distribution, allowing us to use it as a "fingerprint". Based on this relationship, we introduce and propose the entropy of a graph spectrum to measure the "uncertainty" of a random graph and the Kullback-Leibler and Jensen-Shannon divergences between graph spectra to compare networks. We also introduce general methods for model selection and network model parameter estimation, as well as a statistical procedure to test the nullity of divergence between two classes of complex networks. Finally, we demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed methods by applying them on (1) protein-protein interaction networks of different species and (2) on networks derived from children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and typically developing children. We conclude that scale-free networks best describe all the protein-protein interactions. Also, we show that our proposed measures succeeded in the identification of topological changes in the network while other commonly used measures (number of edges, clustering coefficient, average path length) failed

Infall models of Class 0 protostars

We have carried out radiative transfer calculations of infalling, dusty envelopes surrounding embedded protostars to understand the observed properties of the recently identified ``Class 0'' sources. To match the far-infrared peaks in the spectral energy distributions of objects such as the prototype Class 0 source VLA 1623, pure collapse models require mass infall rates \sim10^{-4}\msunyr$^{-1}$. The radial intensity distributions predicted by such infall models are inconsistent with observations of VLA 1623 at sub-mm wavelengths, in agreement with the results of Andre et al. (1993) who found a density profile of $\rho \propto r^{-1/2}$ rather than the expected $\rho \propto r^{-3/2}$ gradient. To resolve this conflict, while still invoking infall to produce the outflow source at the center of VLA 1623, we suggest that the observed sub-mm intensity distribution is the sum of two components: an inner infall zone, plus an outer, more nearly constant-density region. This explanation of the observations requires that roughly half the total mass observed within 2000 AU radius of the source lies in a region external to the infall zone. The column densities for this external region are comparable to those found in the larger Oph A cloud within which VLA 1623 is embedded. The extreme environments of Class 0 sources lead us to suggest an alternative or additional interpretation of these objects: rather than simply concluding with Andre et al. that Class 0 objects only represent the earliest phases of protostellar collapse, and ultimately evolve into older ``Class I'' protostars, we suggest that many Class 0 sources could be the protostars of very dense regions. (Shortened)Comment: 22 pages, including 3 PostScript figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa