PADS: Practical Attestation for Highly Dynamic Swarm Topologies

Remote attestation protocols are widely used to detect device configuration (e.g., software and/or data) compromise in Internet of Things (IoT) scenarios. Unfortunately, the performances of such protocols are unsatisfactory when dealing with thousands of smart devices. Recently, researchers are focusing on addressing this limitation. The approach is to run attestation in a collective way, with the goal of reducing computation and communication. Despite these advances, current solutions for attestation are still unsatisfactory because of their complex management and strict assumptions concerning the topology (e.g., being time invariant or maintaining a fixed topology). In this paper, we propose PADS, a secure, efficient, and practical protocol for attesting potentially large networks of smart devices with unstructured or dynamic topologies. PADS builds upon the recent concept of non-interactive attestation, by reducing the collective attestation problem into a minimum consensus one. We compare PADS with a state-of-the art collective attestation protocol and validate it by using realistic simulations that show practicality and efficiency. The results confirm the suitability of PADS for low-end devices, and highly unstructured networks.Comment: Submitted to ESORICS 201

Plan estratégico para una clínica ontológica en la ciudad de Riobamba caso: Servicdental CÍA. LTDA.

Servicdental Cía. Ltda., es una Clínica Odontológica que busca desde el año 2004 ser la empresa líder en el sector de la salud oral en la ciudad de Riobamba por lo que requiere para su óptimo funcionamiento un Plan Estratégico integral que direccione las operaciones, mediante diferentes estrategias de gestión en las áreas de servicio que actualmente oferta en su portafolio de servicios. El mundo en la actualidad vive tiempos difíciles, sin embargo, la tecnología está jugando un papel determinante en todas las actividades comerciales a nivel global. Ecuador se encuentra en circunstancias políticas y económicas complejas, por esto, resulta fundamental para la empresa saber potenciar sus fortalezas para lograr tomar las oportunidades que ofrece el mercado, integrando en su gestión herramientas tecnológicas y digitales para la optimización de recursos y procesos. Servicdental Cía. Ltda., en sus 13 años de existencia es reconocida como una de las mejores clínicas odontológicas en la ciudad de Riobamba por su excelente servicio al cliente, diversidad de servicios y sus aportaciones al desarrollo de la sociedad. A lo largo de los años ha generado una imagen de marca estable, sin embargo, por el inadecuado uso de los recursos, se ha visto afectada con la disminución sustancial de clientes, además, sus iniciativas de publicidad y marketing han estado orientadas únicamente hacia lo tradicional, dejando de lado la innovación con herramientas digitales. Servicdental Cía. Ltda., desea dirigir sus esfuerzos a diferentes segmentos del mercado, de acuerdo a las necesidades que los mismos demandan, para una posterior expansión de la marca a otras ciudades del país. Las estrategias de gestión y marketing que contempla el presente trabajo se enfocan en la correcta comunicación y difusión masiva de la empresa hacia los ciudadanos mediante el uso de herramientas de social media marketing; de esta manera busca generar un incremento sustancial en las ventas y la fidelización de los actuales clientes

Recent Developments and Applications of Acoustic Infrasound to Monitor Volcanic Emissions

Volcanic ash is a well-known hazard to population, infrastructure, and commercial and civil aviation. Early assessment of the parameters that control the development and evolution of volcanic plumes is crucial to effective risk mitigation. Acoustic infrasound is a ground-based remote sensing technique—increasingly popular in the past two decades—that allows rapid estimates of eruption source parameters, including fluid flow velocities and volume flow rates of erupted material. The rate at which material is ejected from volcanic vents during eruptions, is one of the main inputs into models of atmospheric ash transport used to dispatch aviation warnings during eruptive crises. During explosive activity at volcanoes, the injection of hot gas-laden pyroclasts into the atmosphere generates acoustic waves that are recorded at local, regional and global scale. Within the framework of linear acoustic theory, infrasound sources can be modelled as multipole series, and acoustic pressure waveforms can be inverted to obtain the time history of volume flow at the vent. Here, we review near-field (<10 km from the vent) linear acoustic wave theory and its applications to the assessment of eruption source parameters. We evaluate recent advances in volcano infrasound modelling and inversion, and comment on the advantages and current limitations of these methods. We review published case studies from different volcanoes and show applications to new data that provide a benchmark for future acoustic infrasound studies.Silvio De Angelis and Alejandro Diaz-Moreno are funded by NERC grant number NE/P00105X/1. Luciano Zuccarello has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 798480

Analysis of a possible association between oral lichen planus and drug intake. A controlled study

Objectives: To investigate whether daily systemic and/or topical medication contributes to the development of oral lichen planus (OLP) lesions. Study Design: The study involved 110 OLP patients and 76 control subjects, matched by age, race and sex. The analyzed data included medical records, drug intake and topical medication. Criteria for analysis of drug intake included: (1) ATC-code drug classification; (2) number of different drugs used daily in the categories of monopharmacy (1 drug), minor polypharmacy (2 4 drugs), and major polypharmacy (> 5 drugs); and (3) drugs implicated in lichenoid reactions (DILRs). Results: Sixty (54.5%) of the 110 OLP patients reported daily medication (prior to the appearance of the OLP lesion) compared to 52 (68.4%) of the 76 control subjects. No statistical difference was found between the two groups in terms of systemic diseases, number of medicated individuals in the categories of mono- and polypharmacy, nor use of DILRs (P > 0.05). Regarding the clinical forms and site of involvement, a statistically significant difference was only found for the clinical erosive form of OLP, seen more frequently in non-DILR (P = 0.04) and nonmedicated OLP patients (P = 0.02) than in DILR OLP patients. Daily use of topical oral medication was reported by 2 (1.8%) OLP patients and 1 (1.3%) control subject. Conclusions: It seems that the use of systemic medication does not lead to a significant increase in the incidence of OLP lesions. For their part, lichenoid drug reactions are likely to occur only in a very low percentage of patients. © Medicina Oral S. L

Planes de selección, capacitación, y comercialización de empleados de mesa por coobienco en Medellín

En los últimos siete años se han incrementado en la ciudad de Medellín. Las empresas en el sector gastronómico tales como: hoteles, restaurantes, clubes sociales y centros recreativos. Esta situación ha contribuido a dinamizar el movimiento de personal en áreas como: recepción, cocina, servicios de mesa, servicios de bar y supervisores, entre otros. Además, se han creado escuelas y programas de formación para los cargos arriba descritos. Entre estos centros de formación se encuentran la Escuela Gastronómica de Antioquia, la Colegiatura de Medellín y el Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje SENA”. A pesar de existir cierto equilibrio entre la demanda de personas para ocupar estos puestos y la oferta necesaria, se observa en el medio una alta desmotivación de las personas que se han capacitado en estas áreas debido a que no logran encontrar un empleo continuo y estable para desempeñarse, ya que la mayoría de empresas gastronómicas solo los ocupan 1 ó 2 días por semanas o en las altas temporadas de ferias o congresos.En los últimos siete años se han incrementado en la ciudad de Medellín. Las empresas en el sector gastronómico tales como: hoteles, restaurantes, clubes sociales y centros recreativos. Esta situación ha contribuido a dinamizar el movimiento de personal en áreas como: recepción, cocina, servicios de mesa, servicios de bar y supervisores, entre otros. Además, se han creado escuelas y programas de formación para los cargos arriba descritos. Entre estos centros de formación se encuentran la Escuela Gastronómica de Antioquia, la Colegiatura de Medellín y el Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje SENA”. A pesar de existir cierto equilibrio entre la demanda de personas para ocupar estos puestos y la oferta necesaria, se observa en el medio una alta desmotivación de las personas que se han capacitado en estas áreas debido a que no logran encontrar un empleo continuo y estable para desempeñarse, ya que la mayoría de empresas gastronómicas solo los ocupan 1 ó 2 días por semanas o en las altas temporadas de ferias o congresos

Characteristics and outcomes of cancer patients in European ICUs

Increasing numbers of cancer patients are being admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), either for cancer-related complications or treatment-associated side effects, yet there are relatively few data concerning the epidemiology and prognosis of cancer patients admitted to general ICUs. The aim of this study was to assess the characteristics of critically ill cancer patients, and to evaluate their prognosis.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Non-specific vaccination exerts anti-tumor effect through CD11c (+) cells stimulation in a breast cancer model

Background: Immunotherapy by using non-specific vaccines has proven to be effective in experimental animal models and also in patients suffering cancer. In the present work, the effectiveness of this immunotherapy was evaluated using a murine breast cancer model and a polymicrobial vaccine. Methodology/Principal: Mice bearing injected with tumor cells from the spontaneous syngeneic mammary adeno carcinoma M3 were used as breast cancer model. The immune adjuvant effect of the vaccine was analyzed in comparison or in the presence of doxorubicin. Tumor volume was calculated. Tumor, spleen and lymph nodes were processed for histological observations and to determinate the percentage of CD11c (+) cells. Results: Mice treated with the vaccine or with doxorubicin decreased tumor growth, with less tumor cell invasion. Tumor tissues showed decreased necrosis and nuclear areas in mice that received any of the treatments under study, compared with the control group. The benefits of vaccination were associated to stimulation of the immune response. More hyperplasia of the red and white pulp, and increased marginal megakaryocytes were observed in the spleens from mice treated with the vaccine. CD11c (+) cells did not increase  in tumor draining nodes by the immune stimulating effect of the vaccine; however,  his treatment increased CD11c (+) cells in the spleen and tumor. Conclusions: A non-specific vaccine used as immunotherapy can be used to prolong an equilibrium phase in  he tumor growth, similar to the doxorubicin treatment used in the model, although by different mechanisms. Non synergic effect was observed in the group treated with both vaccine and doxorubicin (low dose). Future studies should be necessary to evaluate the correct combination of vaccination and cytotoxic drug can be used for this purpose and to achieve increased activated dendritic cells in the tumor draining lymph nodes.Fil: de Gregorio, Vanessa Elizabeth. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Odontología; ArgentinaFil: Carino, Silvia. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Odontología; ArgentinaFil: Valdéz, Juan Carlos. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Facultad de Bioquimica, Quimica y Farmacia. Instituto de Microbiologia. Cátedra de Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Castillo, Silvio Eugenio. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo; ArgentinaFil: de Moreno, Maria Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Centro de Referencia Para Lactobacilos; Argentin

Uncertainty in Detection of Volcanic Activity Using Infrasound Arrays: Examples From Mt. Etna, Italy

SD and LZ acknowledge the support from the EUROVOLC project under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 731070). The authors thank the staff of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia Sezione di Catania, in particular Salvo Rapisarda, Daniele Pellegrino, Mario Pulvirenti, and Danilo Contrafatto for their valuable support in the field.The injection of gas and pyroclastic material from volcanic vents into the atmosphere is a prolific source of acoustic waves. Infrasound arrays offer efficient, cost-effective, and near real-time solutions to track the rate and intensity of surface activity at volcanoes. Here, we present a simple framework for the analysis of acoustic array data, based on least-squares beamforming, that allows to evaluate the direction and speed of propagation of acoustic waves between source and array. The algorithms include a new and computationally efficient approach for quantitative assessment of the uncertainty on array measurements based on error propagation theory. We apply the algorithms to new data collected by two 6-element infrasound arrays deployed at Mt. Etna during the period July–August 2019. Our results demonstrate that the use of two infrasound arrays allowed detecting and tracking acoustic sources from multiple craters and active vents associated with degassing and ash-rich explosions, vigorous and frequent Strombolian activity, opening of new eruptive fractures and emplacement of lava flows. Finally, we discuss the potential use of metrics based on infrasound array analyses to inform eruption monitoring operations and early warning at volcanoes characterized by episodic intensification of activity.NERC Natural Environment Research Council NE/P00105X/1European Union (EU)Geoscientists without Borders grant from the Society of Exploration Geophysic