Safe and Secure Support for Public Safety Networks

International audienceAs explained by Tanzi et al. in the first volume of this book, communicating and autonomous devices will surely have a role to play in the future Public Safety Networks. The “communicating” feature comes from the fact that the information should be delivered in a fast way to rescuers. The “autonomous” characteristic comes from the fact that rescuers should not have to concern themselves about these objects: they should perform their mission autonomously so as not to delay the intervention of the rescuers, but rather to assist them efficiently and reliably.</p

Unsupervised clustering of file dialects according to monotonic decompositions of mixtures

This paper proposes an unsupervised classification method that partitions a set of files into non-overlapping dialects based upon their behaviors, determined by messages produced by a collection of programs that consume them. The pattern of messages can be used as the signature of a particular kind of behavior, with the understanding that some messages are likely to co-occur, while others are not. Patterns of messages can be used to classify files into dialects. A dialect is defined by a subset of messages, called the required messages. Once files are conditioned upon dialect and its required messages, the remaining messages are statistically independent. With this definition of dialect in hand, we present a greedy algorithm that deduces candidate dialects from a dataset consisting of a matrix of file-message data, demonstrate its performance on several file formats, and prove conditions under which it is optimal. We show that an analyst needs to consider fewer dialects than distinct message patterns, which reduces their cognitive load when studying a complex format

Elevated cardiovascular risk among adults with obstructive and restrictive airway functioning in the United States: a cross-sectional study of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2007-2010

BACKGROUND: Reasons for the excess risk for cardiovascular disease among people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease remain unclear. Our objective was to examine the cardiovascular risk profile for adults with obstructive and restrictive impairments of lung functioning in a representative sample of adults from the United States. METHODS: We used data from adults aged 20-79 years who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2007 to 2010 and had a pulmonary function test. The severity of obstructive impairment was defined by adapting the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease criteria. RESULTS: Among 7249 participants, 80.9% had a normal pulmonary function test, 5.7% had a restrictive impairment, 7.9% had mild obstructive impairment, and 5.5% had moderate or severe/very severe obstructive impairment. Participants with obstructive impairment had high rates of smoking and increased serum concentrations of cotinine. Compared to participants with normal pulmonary functioning, participants with at least moderate obstructive impairment had elevated concentrations of C-reactive protein but lower concentrations of total cholesterol and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Among participants aged 50-74 years, participants with at least a moderate obstructive impairment or a restrictive impairment had an elevated predicted 10-year risk for cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSIONS: The high rates of smoking among adults with impaired pulmonary functioning, particularly those with obstructive impairment, point to a need for aggressive efforts to promote smoking cessation in these adults. In addition, adults with restrictive impairment may require increased attention to and fine-tuning of their cardiovascular risk profile

Thioredoxin-interacting protein regulates protein disulfide isomerases and endoplasmic reticulum stress

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is responsible for protein folding, modification, and trafficking. Accumulation of unfolded or misfolded proteins represents the condition of ER stress and triggers the unfolded protein response (UPR), a key mechanism linking supply of excess nutrients to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in obesity. The ER harbors proteins that participate in protein folding including protein disulfide isomerases (PDIs). Changes in PDI activity are associated with protein misfolding and ER stress. Here, we show that thioredoxin-interacting protein (Txnip), a member of the arrestin protein superfamily and one of the most strongly induced proteins in diabetic patients, regulates PDI activity and UPR signaling. We found that Txnip binds to PDIs and increases their enzymatic activity. Genetic deletion of Txnip in cells and mice led to increased protein ubiquitination and splicing of the UPR regulated transcription factor X-box-binding protein 1 (Xbp1s) at baseline as well as under ER stress. Our results reveal Txnip as a novel direct regulator of PDI activity and a feedback mechanism of UPR signaling to decrease ER stress

A large peptidome dataset improves HLA class I epitope prediction across most of the human population

Published in final edited form as: Nat Biotechnol. 2020 February ; 38(2): 199–209. doi:10.1038/s41587-019-0322-9.Prediction of HLA epitopes is important for the development of cancer immunotherapies and vaccines. However, current prediction algorithms have limited predictive power, in part because they were not trained on high-quality epitope datasets covering a broad range of HLA alleles. To enable prediction of endogenous HLA class I-associated peptides across a large fraction of the human population, we used mass spectrometry to profile >185,000 peptides eluted from 95 HLA-A, -B, -C and -G mono-allelic cell lines. We identified canonical peptide motifs per HLA allele, unique and shared binding submotifs across alleles and distinct motifs associated with different peptide lengths. By integrating these data with transcript abundance and peptide processing, we developed HLAthena, providing allele-and-length-specific and pan-allele-pan-length prediction models for endogenous peptide presentation. These models predicted endogenous HLA class I-associated ligands with 1.5-fold improvement in positive predictive value compared with existing tools and correctly identified >75% of HLA-bound peptides that were observed experimentally in 11 patient-derived tumor cell lines.P01 CA229092 - NCI NIH HHS; P50 CA101942 - NCI NIH HHS; T32 HG002295 - NHGRI NIH HHS; T32 CA009172 - NCI NIH HHS; U24 CA224331 - NCI NIH HHS; R21 CA216772 - NCI NIH HHS; R01 CA155010 - NCI NIH HHS; U01 CA214125 - NCI NIH HHS; T32 CA207021 - NCI NIH HHS; R01 HL103532 - NHLBI NIH HHS; U24 CA210986 - NCI NIH HHSAccepted manuscrip

The OpenMolcas Web: A Community-Driven Approach to Advancing Computational Chemistry

The developments of the open-source OpenMolcas chemistry software environment since spring 2020 are described, with a focus on novel functionalities accessible in the stable branch of the package or via interfaces with other packages. These developments span a wide range of topics in computational chemistry and are presented in thematic sections: electronic structure theory, electronic spectroscopy simulations, analytic gradients and molecular structure optimizations, ab initio molecular dynamics, and other new features. This report offers an overview of the chemical phenomena and processes OpenMolcas can address, while showing that OpenMolcas is an attractive platform for state-of-the-art atomistic computer simulations

Narcissism and the strategic pursuit of short-term mating : universal links across 11 world regions of the International Sexuality Description Project-2.

Previous studies have documented links between sub-clinical narcissism and the active pursuit of short-term mating strategies (e.g., unrestricted sociosexuality, marital infidelity, mate poaching). Nearly all of these investigations have relied solely on samples from Western cultures. In the current study, responses from a cross-cultural survey of 30,470 people across 53 nations spanning 11 world regions (North America, Central/South America, Northern Europe, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Middle East, Africa, Oceania, Southeast Asia, and East Asia) were used to evaluate whether narcissism (as measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory; NPI) was universally associated with short-term mating. Results revealed narcissism scores (including two broad factors and seven traditional facets as measured by the NPI) were functionally equivalent across cultures, reliably associating with key sexual outcomes (e.g., more active pursuit of short-term mating, intimate partner violence, and sexual aggression) and sex-related personality traits (e.g., higher extraversion and openness to experience). Whereas some features of personality (e.g., subjective well-being) were universally associated with socially adaptive facets of Narcissism (e.g., self-sufficiency), most indicators of short-term mating (e.g., unrestricted sociosexuality and marital infidelity) were universally associated with the socially maladaptive facets of narcissism (e.g., exploitativeness). Discussion addresses limitations of these cross-culturally universal findings and presents suggestions for future research into revealing the precise psychological features of narcissism that facilitate the strategic pursuit of short-term mating

Narcisismo y búsqueda estratégica del emparejamiento a corto plazo a través de las culturas: Enlaces omnipresentes a través de 11 regiones mundiales del Proyecto de la descripción de la sexualidad internacional 2

Previous studies have documented links between sub-clinical narcissism and the active pursuit of short-term mating strategies (e.g., unrestricted sociosexuality, marital infidelity, mate poaching). Nearly all of these investigations have relied solely on samples from Western cultures. In the current study, responses from a cross-cultural survey of 30,470 people across 53 nations spanning 11 world regions (North America, Central/South America, Northern Europe, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Middle East, Africa, Oceania, Southeast Asia, and East Asia) were used to evaluate whether narcissism (as measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory; NPI) was universally associated with short-term mating. Results revealed narcissism scores (including two broad factors and seven traditional facets as measured by the NPI) were functionally equivalent across cultures, reliably associating with key sexual outcomes (e.g., more active pursuit of short-term mating, intimate partner violence, and sexual aggression) and sex-related personality traits (e.g., higher extraversion and openness to experience). Whereas some features of personality (e.g., subjective well-being) were universally associated with socially adaptive facets of Narcissism (e.g., self-sufficiency), most indicators of short-term mating (e.g., unrestricted sociosexuality and marital infidelity) were universally associated with the socially maladaptive facets of narcissism (e.g., exploitativeness). Discussion addresses limitations of these cross-culturally universal findings and presents suggestions for future research into revealing the precise psychological features of narcissism that facilitate the strategic pursuit of short-term mating.Estudios previos, en primer lugar a través de las muestras de culturas occidentales, han documentado asociaciones sistemáticas del narcisismo subclínico con múltiples indicadores de estrategias del emparejamiento a corto plazo (p. ej. sociosexualidad ilimitada, infidelidad, caza de pareja). En este estudio se han usado respuestas de la encuesta transcultural de 30.470 personas de 53 naciones de 11 regiones mundiales (América del Norte, América del Sur/América Central, Europa del Norte, Europa del Oeste, Europa del Este, Europa del Sur, Oriente Próximo, África, Asia del Sur/Sudoeste de Asia, Asia del Este y Oceanía) para evaluar si el narcisismo (medido por el Inventario de Personalidad Narcisista; NPI) se asocia panuniversalmente con los indicadores del emparejamiento a corto plazo, tanto en la dirección, como en la intensidad. Los resultados sugieren que el narcisismo (incluidos muchos aspectos suyos medidos por el NPI) tiene las mismas asociaciones básicas con los rasgos de personalidad relacionados con el sexo (p. ej. extraversión alta) y con los resultados sexuales claves (p. ej. búsqueda más activa de las estrategias del emparejamiento a corto plazo) a través de las 11 mayores regiones mundiales del PDSI 2. La discusión se enfoca en las implicaciones y limitaciones del estudio actual

Safe and secure model-driven design for embedded systems

La présence de systèmes et d'objets embarqués communicants dans notre vie quotidienne nous a apporté une myriade d'avantages, allant de l'ajout de commodité et de divertissement à l'amélioration de la sûreté de nos déplacements et des soins de santé. Cependant, les défauts et les vulnérabilités de ces systèmes exposent leurs utilisateurs à des risques de dommages matériels, de pertes financières, et même des dommages corporels. Par exemple, certains véhicules commercialisés, qu'ils soient connectés ou conventionnels, ont déjà souffert d'une variété de défauts de conception entraînant des blessures et la mort. Dans le même temps, alors que les véhicules sont de plus en plus connectés (et dans un avenir proche, autonomes), les chercheurs ont démontré la possibilité de piratage de leurs capteurs ou de leurs systèmes de contrôle interne, y compris l'injection directe de messages sur le bus CAN.Pour assurer la sûreté des utilisateurs et des passants, il faut considérer plusieurs facteurs. La sûreté conventionnelle suggère qu'un système ne devrait pas contenir de défauts logiciels et matériels qui peuvent l'empêcher de fonctionner correctement. La "sûreté de la fonction attendue" consiste à éviter les situations que le système ou ses composants ne peuvent pas gérer, comme des conditions environnementales extrêmes. Le timing peut être critique pour certains systèmes en temps réel, car afin d'éviter des situations dangereuses, le système devra réagir à certains événements, comme l'évitement d'obstacles, dans un délai déterminé. Enfin, la sûreté d'un système dépend de sa sécurité. Un attaquant qui peut envoyer des commandes fausses ou modifier le logiciel du système peut changer son comportement et le mettre dans diverses situations dangereuses. Diverses contre-mesures de sécurité et de sûreté pour les systèmes embarqués, en particulier les véhicules connectés, ont été proposées. Pour mettre en oeuvre correctement ces contre-mesures, il faut analyser et vérifier que le système répond à toutes les exigences de sûreté, de sécurité et de performance, et les faire la plus tôt possible dans les premières phases de conception afin de réduire le temps de mise sur le marché, et éviter les reprises. Cette thèse s'intéresse à la sécurité et la sûreté des les systèmes embarqués, dans le contexte du véhicule autonome de l'Institut Vedecom. Parmi les approches proposées pour assurer la sûreté et la sécurité des les systèmes embarqués, l'ingénierie dirigée par modèle est l'une de ces approches qui couvre l'ensemble du processus de conception, depuis la définition des exigences, la conception du matériel et des logiciels, la simulation/vérification formelle et la génération du code final. Cette thèse propose une méthodologie de modélisation pour une conception sûre et sécurisée, basée sur la méthodologie SysML-Sec, qui implique de nouvelles méthodes de modélisation et de vérification. La modélisation de la sécurité est généralement effectuée dans les dernières phases de la conception. Cependant, la sécurité a un impact sur l'architecture/allocation; les décisions de partitionnement logiciel/matériel devraient être prises en fonction de la capacité de l'architecture à satisfaire aux exigences de sécurité. Cette thèse propose comment modéliser les mécanismes de sécurité et l'impact d'un attaquant dans la phase de partitionnement logiciel/matériel. Comme les protocoles de sécurité ont un impact négatif sur le performance d'un système, c'est important de mesurer l'utilisation des composants matériels et les temps de réponse du système. Des composants surchargés peuvent entraîner des performances imprévisibles et des retards indésirables. Cette thèse traite aussi des mesures de latence des événements critiques pour la sécurité, en se concentrant sur un exemple critique pour les véhicules autonomes : le freinage/réponse après la détection d'obstacles. Ainsi, nos contributions soutiennent la conception sûre et sécurisée des systèmes embarqués.The presence of communicating embedded systems/IoTs in our daily lives have brought a myriad of benefits, from adding conveniences and entertainment, to improving the safety of our commutes and health care. However, the flaws and vulnerabilities in these devices expose their users to risks of property damage, monetary losses, and personal injury. For example, consumer vehicles, both connected and conventional, have succumbed to a variety of design flaws resulting in injuries and death. At the same time, as vehicles are increasingly connected (and in the near future, autonomous), researchers have demonstrated possible hacks on their sensors or internal control systems, including direct injection of messages on the CAN bus.Ensuring the safety of users or bystanders involves considering multiple factors. Conventional safety suggests that a system should not contain software and hardware flaws which can prevent it from correct function. `Safety of the Intended Function' involves avoiding the situations which the system or its components cannot handle, such as adverse extreme environmental conditions. Timing can be critical for certain real-time systems, as the system will need to respond to certain events, such as obstacle avoidance, within a set period to avoid dangerous situations. Finally, the safety of a system depends on its security. An attacker who can send custom commands or modify the software of the system may change its behavior and send it into various unsafe situations. Various safety and security countermeasures for embedded systems, especially connected vehicles, have been proposed. To place these countermeasures correctly requires methods of analyzing and verifying that the system meets all safety, security, and performance requirements, preferably at the early design phases to minimize costly re-work after production. This thesis discusses the safety and security considerations for embedded systems, in the context of Institut Vedecom's autonomous vehicle. Among the proposed approaches to ensure safety and security in embedded systems, Model-Driven Engineering is one such approach that covers the full design process, from elicitation of requirements, design of hardware and software, simulation/formal verification, and final code generation. This thesis proposes a modeling-based methodology for safe and secure design, based on the SysML-Sec Methodology, which involve new modeling and verification methods. Security modeling is generally performed in the last phases of design. However, security impacts the early architecture/mapping and HW/SW partitioning decisions should be made based on the ability of the architecture to satisfy security requirements. This thesis proposes how to model the security mechanisms and the impact of an attacker as relevant to the HW/SW Partitioning phase. As security protocols negatively impact performance, it becomes important to measure both the usage of hardware components and response times of the system. Overcharged components can result in unpredictable performance and undesired delays. This thesis also discusses latency measurements of safety-critical events, focusing on one critical to autonomous vehicles: braking as after obstacle detection. Together, these additions support the safe and secure design of embedded systems

Approche orientée modèles pour la sûreté et la sécurité des systèmes embarqués

The presence of communicating embedded systems/IoTs in our daily lives have brought a myriad of benefits, from adding conveniences and entertainment, to improving the safety of our commutes and health care. However, the flaws and vulnerabilities in these devices expose their users to risks of property damage, monetary losses, and personal injury. For example, consumer vehicles, both connected and conventional, have succumbed to a variety of design flaws resulting in injuries and death. At the same time, as vehicles are increasingly connected (and in the near future, autonomous), researchers have demonstrated possible hacks on their sensors or internal control systems, including direct injection of messages on the CAN bus.Ensuring the safety of users or bystanders involves considering multiple factors. Conventional safety suggests that a system should not contain software and hardware flaws which can prevent it from correct function. `Safety of the Intended Function' involves avoiding the situations which the system or its components cannot handle, such as adverse extreme environmental conditions. Timing can be critical for certain real-time systems, as the system will need to respond to certain events, such as obstacle avoidance, within a set period to avoid dangerous situations. Finally, the safety of a system depends on its security. An attacker who can send custom commands or modify the software of the system may change its behavior and send it into various unsafe situations. Various safety and security countermeasures for embedded systems, especially connected vehicles, have been proposed. To place these countermeasures correctly requires methods of analyzing and verifying that the system meets all safety, security, and performance requirements, preferably at the early design phases to minimize costly re-work after production. This thesis discusses the safety and security considerations for embedded systems, in the context of Institut Vedecom's autonomous vehicle. Among the proposed approaches to ensure safety and security in embedded systems, Model-Driven Engineering is one such approach that covers the full design process, from elicitation of requirements, design of hardware and software, simulation/formal verification, and final code generation. This thesis proposes a modeling-based methodology for safe and secure design, based on the SysML-Sec Methodology, which involve new modeling and verification methods. Security modeling is generally performed in the last phases of design. However, security impacts the early architecture/mapping and HW/SW partitioning decisions should be made based on the ability of the architecture to satisfy security requirements. This thesis proposes how to model the security mechanisms and the impact of an attacker as relevant to the HW/SW Partitioning phase. As security protocols negatively impact performance, it becomes important to measure both the usage of hardware components and response times of the system. Overcharged components can result in unpredictable performance and undesired delays. This thesis also discusses latency measurements of safety-critical events, focusing on one critical to autonomous vehicles: braking as after obstacle detection. Together, these additions support the safe and secure design of embedded systems.La présence de systèmes et d'objets embarqués communicants dans notre vie quotidienne nous a apporté une myriade d'avantages, allant de l'ajout de commodité et de divertissement à l'amélioration de la sûreté de nos déplacements et des soins de santé. Cependant, les défauts et les vulnérabilités de ces systèmes exposent leurs utilisateurs à des risques de dommages matériels, de pertes financières, et même des dommages corporels. Par exemple, certains véhicules commercialisés, qu'ils soient connectés ou conventionnels, ont déjà souffert d'une variété de défauts de conception entraînant des blessures et la mort. Dans le même temps, alors que les véhicules sont de plus en plus connectés (et dans un avenir proche, autonomes), les chercheurs ont démontré la possibilité de piratage de leurs capteurs ou de leurs systèmes de contrôle interne, y compris l'injection directe de messages sur le bus CAN.Pour assurer la sûreté des utilisateurs et des passants, il faut considérer plusieurs facteurs. La sûreté conventionnelle suggère qu'un système ne devrait pas contenir de défauts logiciels et matériels qui peuvent l'empêcher de fonctionner correctement. La "sûreté de la fonction attendue" consiste à éviter les situations que le système ou ses composants ne peuvent pas gérer, comme des conditions environnementales extrêmes. Le timing peut être critique pour certains systèmes en temps réel, car afin d'éviter des situations dangereuses, le système devra réagir à certains événements, comme l'évitement d'obstacles, dans un délai déterminé. Enfin, la sûreté d'un système dépend de sa sécurité. Un attaquant qui peut envoyer des commandes fausses ou modifier le logiciel du système peut changer son comportement et le mettre dans diverses situations dangereuses. Diverses contre-mesures de sécurité et de sûreté pour les systèmes embarqués, en particulier les véhicules connectés, ont été proposées. Pour mettre en oeuvre correctement ces contre-mesures, il faut analyser et vérifier que le système répond à toutes les exigences de sûreté, de sécurité et de performance, et les faire la plus tôt possible dans les premières phases de conception afin de réduire le temps de mise sur le marché, et éviter les reprises. Cette thèse s'intéresse à la sécurité et la sûreté des les systèmes embarqués, dans le contexte du véhicule autonome de l'Institut Vedecom. Parmi les approches proposées pour assurer la sûreté et la sécurité des les systèmes embarqués, l'ingénierie dirigée par modèle est l'une de ces approches qui couvre l'ensemble du processus de conception, depuis la définition des exigences, la conception du matériel et des logiciels, la simulation/vérification formelle et la génération du code final. Cette thèse propose une méthodologie de modélisation pour une conception sûre et sécurisée, basée sur la méthodologie SysML-Sec, qui implique de nouvelles méthodes de modélisation et de vérification. La modélisation de la sécurité est généralement effectuée dans les dernières phases de la conception. Cependant, la sécurité a un impact sur l'architecture/allocation; les décisions de partitionnement logiciel/matériel devraient être prises en fonction de la capacité de l'architecture à satisfaire aux exigences de sécurité. Cette thèse propose comment modéliser les mécanismes de sécurité et l'impact d'un attaquant dans la phase de partitionnement logiciel/matériel. Comme les protocoles de sécurité ont un impact négatif sur le performance d'un système, c'est important de mesurer l'utilisation des composants matériels et les temps de réponse du système. Des composants surchargés peuvent entraîner des performances imprévisibles et des retards indésirables. Cette thèse traite aussi des mesures de latence des événements critiques pour la sécurité, en se concentrant sur un exemple critique pour les véhicules autonomes : le freinage/réponse après la détection d'obstacles. Ainsi, nos contributions soutiennent la conception sûre et sécurisée des systèmes embarqués