A Java Middleware for Guaranteeing Privacy of Distributed Tuple Spaces

The tuple space communication model, such as the one used in Linda, provides great flexibility for modeling concurrent, distributed and mobile processes. In a distributed setting with mobile agents, particular attention is needed for protecting sites and information. We have designed and developed a Java middleware, Klava, for implementing distributed tuple spaces and operations to support agent interaction and mobility. In this paper, we extend the Klava middleware with cryptographic primitives that enable encryption and decryption of tuple fields. We describe the actual implementation of the new primitives and provide a few examples. The proposed extension is general enough to be applied to similar Java frameworks using multiple distributed tuples spaces possibly dealing with mobility

History-sensitive versus future-sensitive approaches to security in distributed systems

We consider the use of aspect-oriented techniques as a flexible way to deal with security policies in distributed systems. Recent work suggests to use aspects for analysing the future behaviour of programs and to make access control decisions based on this; this gives the flavour of dealing with information flow rather than mere access control. We show in this paper that it is beneficial to augment this approach with history-based components as is the traditional approach in reference monitor-based approaches to mandatory access control. Our developments are performed in an aspect-oriented coordination language aiming to describe the Bell-LaPadula policy as elegantly as possible. Furthermore, the resulting language has the capability of combining both history- and future-sensitive policies, providing even more flexibility and power.Comment: In Proceedings ICE 2010, arXiv:1010.530

Predicting global usages of resources endowed with local policies

The effective usages of computational resources are a primary concern of up-to-date distributed applications. In this paper, we present a methodology to reason about resource usages (acquisition, release, revision, ...), and therefore the proposed approach enables to predict bad usages of resources. Keeping in mind the interplay between local and global information occurring in the application-resource interactions, we model resources as entities with local policies and global properties governing the overall interactions. Formally, our model takes the shape of an extension of pi-calculus with primitives to manage resources. We develop a Control Flow Analysis computing a static approximation of process behaviour and therefore of the resource usages.Comment: In Proceedings FOCLASA 2011, arXiv:1107.584

Orchestrating Tuple-based Languages

The World Wide Web can be thought of as a global computing architecture supporting the deployment of distributed networked applications. Currently, such applications can be programmed by resorting mainly to two distinct paradigms: one devised for orchestrating distributed services, and the other designed for coordinating distributed (possibly mobile) agents. In this paper, the issue of designing a pro- gramming language aiming at reconciling orchestration and coordination is investigated. Taking as starting point the orchestration calculus Orc and the tuple-based coordination language Klaim, a new formalism is introduced combining concepts and primitives of the original calculi. To demonstrate feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach, a prototype implementation of the new formalism is described and it is then used to tackle a case study dealing with a simplified but realistic electronic marketplace, where a number of on-line stores allow client applications to access information about their goods and to place orders

Genome-wide association study identifies loci associated with liability to alcohol and drug dependence that is associated with variability in reward-related ventral striatum activity in African- and European-Americans.

Genetic influences on alcohol and drug dependence partially overlap, however, specific loci underlying this overlap remain unclear. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of a phenotype representing alcohol or illicit drug dependence (ANYDEP) among 7291 European-Americans (EA; 2927 cases) and 3132 African-Americans (AA: 1315 cases) participating in the family-based Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism. ANYDEP was heritable (h 2 in EA = 0.60, AA = 0.37). The AA GWAS identified three regions with genome-wide significant (GWS; P < 5E-08) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on chromosomes 3 (rs34066662, rs58801820) and 13 (rs75168521, rs78886294), and an insertion-deletion on chromosome 5 (chr5:141988181). No polymorphisms reached GWS in the EA. One GWS region (chromosome 1: rs1890881) emerged from a trans-ancestral meta-analysis (EA + AA) of ANYDEP, and was attributable to alcohol dependence in both samples. Four genes (AA: CRKL, DZIP3, SBK3; EA: P2RX6) and four sets of genes were significantly enriched within biological pathways for hemostasis and signal transduction. GWS signals did not replicate in two independent samples but there was weak evidence for association between rs1890881 and alcohol intake in the UK Biobank. Among 118 AA and 481 EA individuals from the Duke Neurogenetics Study, rs75168521 and rs1890881 genotypes were associated with variability in reward-related ventral striatum activation. This study identified novel loci for substance dependence and provides preliminary evidence that these variants are also associated with individual differences in neural reward reactivity. Gene discovery efforts in non-European samples with distinct patterns of substance use may lead to the identification of novel ancestry-specific genetic markers of risk

Genome-wide association study of opioid cessation

The United States is experiencing an epidemic of opioid use disorder (OUD) and overdose-related deaths. However, the genetic basis for the ability to discontinue opioid use has not been investigated. We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of opioid cessation (defined as abstinence from illicit opioids for \u3e1 year or \u3c6 months before the interview date) in 1130 African American (AA) and 2919 European ancestry (EA) participants recruited for genetic studies of substance use disorders and who met lifetime Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) criteria for OUD. Association tests performed separately within each ethnic group were combined by meta-analysis with results obtained from the Comorbidity and Trauma Study. Although there were no genome-wide significant associations, we found suggestive associations with nine independent loci, including three which are biologically relevant: rs4740988 i

Message Quality for Ambient System Security

In ambient systems, a principal may be a physical object whose identity does not convey useful information for taking security decisions. Thus, establishing a trusted channel with a device depends more on the device being able to demonstrate what it does, rather than who it is. This paper proposes a security model that allows a principal to establish the intent of an adversary and to make the adversary prove its trustworthiness by furnishing proof of current and past behavior

Genetic Decomposition of the Heritable Component of Reported Childhood Maltreatment

BACKGROUND: Decades of research have shown that environmental exposures, including self-reports of trauma, are partly heritable. Heritable characteristics may influence exposure to and interpretations of environmental factors. Identifying heritable factors associated with self-reported trauma could improve our understanding of vulnerability to exposure and the interpretation of life events. METHODS: We used genome-wide association study summary statistics of childhood maltreatment, defined as reporting of abuse (emotional, sexual, and physical) and neglect (emotional and physical) (N = 185,414 participants). We calculated genetic correlations (rg) between reported childhood maltreatment and 576 traits to identify phenotypes that might explain the heritability of reported childhood maltreatment, retaining those with |rg| > 0.25. We specified multiple regression models using genomic structural equation modeling to detect residual genetic variance in childhood maltreatment after accounting for genetically correlated traits. RESULTS: In 2 separate models, the shared genetic component of 12 health and behavioral traits and 7 psychiatric disorders accounted for 59% and 56% of heritability due to common genetic variants (single nucleotide polymorphism–based heritability [h2SNP]) of childhood maltreatment, respectively. Genetic influences on h2SNP of childhood maltreatment were generally accounted for by a shared genetic component across traits. The exceptions to this were general risk tolerance, subjective well-being, posttraumatic stress disorder, and autism spectrum disorder, identified as independent contributors to h2SNP of childhood maltreatment. These 4 traits alone were sufficient to explain 58% of h2SNP of childhood maltreatment. CONCLUSIONS: We identified putative traits that reflect h2SNP of childhood maltreatment. Elucidating the mechanisms underlying these associations may improve trauma prevention and posttraumatic intervention strategies

Genome-Wide Association Study of Smoking Trajectory and Meta-Analysis of Smoking Status in 842,000 Individuals

Here we report a large genome-wide association study (GWAS) for longitudinal smoking phenotypes in 286,118 individuals from the Million Veteran Program (MVP) where we identified 18 loci for smoking trajectory of current versus never in European Americans, one locus in African Americans, and one in Hispanic Americans. Functional annotations prioritized several dozen genes where significant loci co-localized with either expression quantitative trait loci or chromatin interactions. The smoking trajectories were genetically correlated with 209 complex traits, for 33 of which smoking was either a causal or a consequential factor. We also performed European-ancestry meta-analyses for smoking status in the MVP and GWAS & Sequencing Consortium of Alcohol and Nicotine use (GSCAN) (Ntotal = 842,717) and identified 99 loci for smoking initiation and 13 loci for smoking cessation. Overall, this large GWAS of longitudinal smoking phenotype in multiple populations, combined with a meta-GWAS for smoking status, adds new insights into the genetic vulnerability for smoking behavior

Alcohol Misuse and Coâ Occurring Mental Disorders Among New Soldiers in the U.S. Army

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135492/1/acer13269_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135492/2/acer13269.pd