Building an Emulation Environment for Cyber Security Analyses of Complex Networked Systems

Computer networks are undergoing a phenomenal growth, driven by the rapidly increasing number of nodes constituting the networks. At the same time, the number of security threats on Internet and intranet networks is constantly growing, and the testing and experimentation of cyber defense solutions requires the availability of separate, test environments that best emulate the complexity of a real system. Such environments support the deployment and monitoring of complex mission-driven network scenarios, thus enabling the study of cyber defense strategies under real and controllable traffic and attack scenarios. In this paper, we propose a methodology that makes use of a combination of techniques of network and security assessment, and the use of cloud technologies to build an emulation environment with adjustable degree of affinity with respect to actual reference networks or planned systems. As a byproduct, starting from a specific study case, we collected a dataset consisting of complete network traces comprising benign and malicious traffic, which is feature-rich and publicly available

Concomitant radiotherapy and TKI in metastatic EGFR- or ALK-mutated non-small cell lung cancer: a multicentric analysis on behalf of AIRO lung cancer study group

PurposeTo investigate the role of radiotherapy (RT) in the management of EGFR- or ALK-mutated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with TKI.Materials and methodsClinical data of 106 patients (pts) from five Institutions treated with RT concomitant to TKI were retrospectively revised. Overall survival (OS) and toxicities were analyzed as endpoints of the study.ResultsMedian age of pts was 65years. TKIs were given for EGFR (81%)- or ALK (19%)-mutated metastatic NSCLC. Stereotactic RT (SRT) was delivered to 49 pts (46%). Patients with four or less metastasis were defined as oligometastatic/oligoprogressive (OM/OP); sites of RT were brain, bone, lung or others in 46%, 27%, 14% and 13%, respectively. Median OS was 23months. At univariate analysis SRT, ECOG PS 0-1, OM/OP disease, lung sites and a TKI duration longer than median favorably affected OS (all p14months (HR 0.17, 95% CI 0.10-0.30; p<0.001) as independent factors related to better OS. Toxicities were rare.ConclusionsSRT seems to positively affect OS with limited toxicity in selected patients

Octogenarian donors in liver transplantation grant an equivalent perioperative course to ideal young donors

Background Use of grafts from very old donors for liver transplantation is controversial. Aim To compare the perioperative course of patients receiving liver grafts from young ideal vs octogenarian donors. Methods Analysis of the perioperative course of patients receiving liver grafts from young, ideal (18â\u80\u9339 years) vs octogenarian (â\u89¥80 years) deceased donors between 2001 and 2014. Results 346 patients were studied: 179 (51.7%) received grafts aged 18â\u80\u9339 years whereas 167 (48.3%) received a graft from a donor aged â\u89¥80 years. Intra-operative cardiovascular (p = 0.2), coagulopathy (p = 0.5) and respiratory (p = 1.0) complications and incidence of reperfusion syndrome (p = 0.3) were similar. Patients receiving a young graft required more fresh frozen plasma units (p â\u89¤Â 0.03) but did not differ for the need of packed red cells (p = 0.2) and platelet (p = 0.3) transfusions. Median ICU stay was identical (p = 0.4). Patients receiving octogenarian vs young grafts did not differ in terms of death or re-transplant (p = 1.0) during the ICU stay. Similar cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, infectious and neurological postoperative complication rates were observed in the two groups. Conclusions Octogenarian donors in liver transplantation grant an equivalent perioperative course to ideal young donors

Prognostic factors in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer treated with concurrent radiochemotherapy

This study was undertaken to evaluate the association of individual parameters and outcome in patients with unresectable locally advanced head and neck cancer treated with radiochemotherapy

The Overweight Paradox: Impact of Body Mass Index on Patients Undergoing VATS Lobectomy or Segmentectomy

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of BMI on perioperative outcomes in patients undergoing VATS lobectomy or segmentectomy. Data from 5088 patients undergoing VATS lobectomy or segmentectomy, included in the VATS Group Italian Registry, were collected. BMI (kg/m2) was categorized according to the WHO classes: underweight, normal, overweight, obese. The effects of BMI on outcomes (complications, 30-days mortality, DFS and OS) were evaluated with a linear regression model, and with a logistic regression model for binary endpoints. In overweight and obese patients, operative time increased with BMI value. Operating room time increased by 5.54 minutes (S.E. = 1.57) in overweight patients, and 33.12 minutes (S.E. = 10.26) in obese patients (P < 0.001). Compared to the other BMI classes, overweight patients were at the lowest risk of pulmonary, acute cardiac, surgical, major, and overall postoperative complications. In the overweight range, a BMI increase from 25 to 29.9 did not significantly affect the length of stay, nor the risk of any complications, except for renal complications (OR: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.07-2.24; P = 0.03), and it reduced the risk of prolonged air leak (OR: 0.8; 95% CI: 0.71-0.90; P < 0.001). 30-days mortality is higher in the underweight group compared to the others. We did not find any significant difference in DFS and OS. According to our results, obesity increases operating room time for VATS major lung resection. Overweight patients are at the lowest risk of pulmonary, acute cardiac, surgical, major, and overall postoperative complications following VATS resections. The risk of most postoperative complications progressively increases as the BMI deviates from the point at the lowest risk, towards both extremes of BMI values. Thirty days mortality is higher in the underweight group, with no differences in DFS and OS