Trust Challenges in Reusing Open Source Software: An Interview-based Initial Study

Open source projects play a significant role in software production. Most of the software projects reuse and build upon the existing open source projects and libraries. While reusing is a time and cost-saving strategy, some of the key factors are often neglected that create vulnerability in the software system. We look beyond the static code analysis and dependency chain tracing to prevent vulnerabilities at the human factors level. The literature lacks a comprehensive study of the human factors perspective on the issue of trust in reusing open source projects. We performed an interview-based initial study with software developers to get an understanding of the trust issue and limitations among the practitioners. We outline some of the key trust issues in this paper and lay out the first steps toward the trustworthy reuse of software.Comment: To appear in Proceedings of 26th ACM International Systems and Software Product Line Conference - Volume

TLM 2.0 simple sockets synthesis to RTL

Convenience sockets are a family of derived sockets provided in utilities namespace of TLM 2.0 library which add additional functionalities to TLM 2.0 sockets. As one of the goals of high level modeling is to part communication from computation, synthesizing communication mechanisms including sockets can be a primary step to synthesize each TLM 2.0 design on RTL. Synthesizing sockets on RTL can provide the designer with the big picture of module's functionality and communication requirements. In this paper, algorithms are proposed to map TLM 2.0 simple sockets down to RTL focusing on TLM 2.0 blocking and non-blocking transport interfaces. The algorithms get TLM 2.0 sockets as an input and generate an intermediate description of sockets in terms of ports. After that, RTL descriptions of the ports are generated using the standard generic payload packet as transaction type. The automation caused by synthesis algorithms in this paper can reduce the simulation speed and the designer's effort

Clinical survey of cerebrovascular disease in children

Objective: Stroke is defined as the sudden occlusion or rupture of cerebral arteries or veins resulting in focal cerebral damage and clinical neurologic deficits. The risk factors for stroke in children are numerous and differ from those in adults. Identification of these factors can prevent subsequent strokes. The aim of this study is to determine the etiology of stroke in children. Methods: In this descriptive prospective study, children who were referred to pediatric neurology clinic in Mofid Children's Hospital due to acute hemiparesis during 2 years period (Sep 2003-Sep 2005) were evaluated and their diagnosis was cerebrovascular disorders, in the view of physical examination and brain imaging. Findings: The study group consisted of 40 children in age groups between 3 months to 14 years old. The most common age group at presentation was 2 to 5 years old. Occurrence was predominant during autumn and winter (70). The most common clinical presentations were acute hemiparesis (85) and seizures (40). The other symptoms were as follow: 15 decreased level of consciousness, 12.5 fever, 7.5 VI nerve palsy, and 2.5 cerebellar signs. 20 of patients suffered from hemorrhagic and 80 had ischemic stroke. In 60 of the patients specific etiologic factors were identified and in the rest of the group, risk factors could be delineated. The most common etiologies were: 17.5 cardiac diseases or procedures and 10 hematologic disorders. Other etiologies included: 7.5 prothrombotic states, 7.5 CNS infection, 5 mitochondriopathy, 2.5 for each of the head trauma, migraine, serum lipid abnormality, hypertension and arteriovenus malformation. The most common risk factors consisted of 40 anemia and 20 infections. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that stroke in children is a multifactorial process. Identification of the underlying risk factors for cerebrovascular disorders is highly desirable because many of the risk factors can be prevented, resulting in reduction of the risk of subsequent strokes

Long-term therapy of interferon-alpha induced pulmonary arterial hypertension with different PDE-5 inhibitors: a case report

BACKGROUND: Interferon alpha2 is widely used in hepatitis and high-risk melanoma. Interferon-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension as a side effect is rare. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe a melanoma patient who developed severe pulmonary arterial hypertension 30 months after initiation of adjuvant interferon alpha2b therapy. Discontinuation of interferon did not improve pulmonary arterial hypertension. This patient could be treated successfully with phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor therapy. CONCLUSION: This is only the 5th case of interferon-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension and the first documented case where pulmonary arterial hypertension was not reversible after termination of interferon alpha2 therapy. If interferon alpha2 treated patients develop respiratory symptoms, pulmonary arterial hypertension should be considered in the differential diagnosis. For these patients phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors, e.g. sildenafil or vardenafil, could be an effective therapeutic approach

Riociguat for the treatment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Riociguat, a member of a new class of compounds (soluble guanylate cyclase stimulators), has been shown in previous clinical studies to be beneficial in the treatment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. METHODS: In this phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, we randomly assigned 261 patients with inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension or persistent or recurrent pulmonary hypertension after pulmonary endarterectomy to receive placebo or riociguat. The primary end point was the change from baseline to the end of week 16 in the distance walked in 6 minutes. Secondary end points included changes from baseline in pulmonary vascular resistance, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) level, World Health Organization (WHO) functional class, time to clinical worsening, Borg dyspnea score, quality-of-life variables, and safety. RESULTS: By week 16, the 6-minute walk distance had increased by a mean of 39 m in the riociguat group, as compared with a mean decrease of 6 m in the placebo group (least-squares mean difference, 46 m; 95% confidence interval [CI], 25 to 67; P<0.001). Pulmonary vascular resistance decreased by 226 dyn · sec · cm-5in the riociguat group and increased by 23 dyn · sec · cm-5in the placebo group (least-squares mean difference, -246 dyn · sec · cm-5; 95% CI, -303 to -190; P<0.001). Riociguat was also associated with significant improvements in the NT-proBNP level (P<0.001) and WHO functional class (P = 0.003). The most common serious adverse events were right ventricular failure (in 3% of patients in each group) and syncope (in 2% of the riociguat group and in 3% of the placebo group). CONCLUSIONS: Riociguat significantly improved exercise capacity and pulmonary vascular resistance in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. (Funded by Bayer HealthCare; CHEST-1 and CHEST-2 ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT00855465 and NCT00910429, respectively.) Copyright © 2013 Massachusetts Medical Society

Monitoring protected areas using remote sensing technology

Due to irrational use of natural resources, human society is facing unprecedented threats. Remote sensing is one of the essential tools to determine changes in various forms of biological diversity over time. There are many methods to determine changes in protected areas, using satellite images. In this paper after introducing different change detection methods and their advantages and disadvantages, a hybrid method is used to analyse changes in forests and protected areas in a national park. Two Landsat images of Golestan National Park in Iran (taken in 1998 and 2010) were used. This hybrid approach combines Change Vector Analysis (CVA) for flagging the occurrence of changes, followed by signature extension to assign labels to changedpixels. The main objective of this paper is to propose a method for discovering and assessing environmental threats to natural treasures