Performance Analysis of a Consensus Algorithm Combining Stochastic Activity Networks and Measurements

A. Coccoli, P. Urban, A. Bondavalli, and A. Schiper. Performance analysis of a consensus algorithm combining Stochastic Activity Networks and measurements. In Proc. Int'l Conf. on Dependable Systems and Networks (DSN), pages 551-560, Washington, DC, USA, June 2002. Protocols which solve agreement problems are essential building blocks for fault tolerant distributed applications. While many protocols have been published, little has been done to analyze their performance. This paper represents a starting point for such studies, by focusing on the consensus problem, a problem related to most other agreement problems. The paper analyzes the latency of a consensus algorithm designed for the asynchronous model with failure detectors, by combining experiments on a cluster of PCs and simulation using Stochastic Activity Networks. We evaluated the latency in runs (1) with no failures nor failure suspicions, (2) with failures but no wrong suspicions and (3) with no failures but with (wrong) failure suspicions. We validated the adequacy and the usability of the Stochastic Activity Network model by comparing experimental results with those obtained from the model. This has led us to identify limitations of the model and the measurements, and suggests new directions for evaluating the performance of agreement protocols. Keywords: quantitative analysis, distributed consensus, failure detectors, Stochastic Activity Networks, measurement

Analysis of Simulated Output Characteristics of Gas Sensor Based on Graphene Nanoribbon

This work presents simulated output characteristics of gas sensor transistors based on graphene nanoribbon (GNRFET). The device studied in this work is a new generation of gas sensing devices, which are easy to use, ultracompact, ultrasensitive, and highly selective. We will explain how the exposure to the gas changes the conductivity of graphene nanoribbon. The equations of the GNRFET gas sensor model include the Poisson equation in the weak nonlocality approximation with proposed sensing parameters. As we have developed this model as a platform for a gas detection sensor, we will analyze the current-voltage characteristics after exposure of the GNRFET nanosensor device to NH3 gas. A sensitivity of nearly 2.7% was indicated in our sensor device after exposure of 1 ppm of NH3. The given results make GNRFET the right candidate for use in gas sensing/measuring appliances. Thus, we will investigate the effect of the channel length on the ON- and OFF-current

time and resilient master clocks in cyber physical systems

Since many years, it has been acknowledged that the role of time is fundamental to the design of distributed algorithms [21]. This is exacerbated in cyber-physical distributed systems, and consequently in Systems-of-Systems, where it is sometimes impossible to say which one of two observed environmental events occurred first

The future of Cybersecurity in Italy: Strategic focus area

This volume has been created as a continuation of the previous one, with the aim of outlining a set of focus areas and actions that the Italian Nation research community considers essential. The book touches many aspects of cyber security, ranging from the definition of the infrastructure and controls needed to organize cyberdefence to the actions and technologies to be developed to be better protected, from the identification of the main technologies to be defended to the proposal of a set of horizontal actions for training, awareness raising, and risk management

Analysis of italian BRCA1/2 pathogenic variants identifies a private spectrum in the population from the Bergamo Province in northern Italy

Germline pathogenic variants (PVs) in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes cause high breast cancer risk. Recurrent or founder PVs have been described worldwide including some in the Bergamo province in Northern Italy. The aim of this study was to compare the BRCA1/2 PV spectra of the Bergamo and of the general Italian populations. We retrospectively identified at five Italian centers 1019 BRCA1/2 PVs carrier individuals affected with breast cancer and representative of the heterogeneous national population. Each individual was assigned to the Bergamo or non-Bergamo cohort based on self-reported birthplace. Our data indicate that the Bergamo BRCA1/2 PV spectrum shows less heterogeneity with fewer different variants and an average higher frequency compared to that of the rest of Italy. Consistently, four PVs explained about 60% of all carriers. The majority of the Bergamo PVs originated locally with only two PVs clearly imported. The Bergamo BRCA1/2 PV spectrum appears to be private. Hence, the Bergamo population would be ideal to study the disease risk associated with local PVs in breast cancer and other disease-causing genes. Finally, our data suggest that the Bergamo population is a genetic isolate and further analyses are warranted to prove this notion

Resilient architecture (preliminary version)

The main objectives of WP2 are to define a resilient architecture and to develop a range of middleware solutions (i.e. algorithms, protocols, services) for resilience to be applied in the design of highly available, reliable and trustworthy networking solutions. This is the first deliverable within this work package, a preliminary version of the resilient architecture. The deliverable builds on previous results from WP1, the definition of a set of applications and use cases, and provides a perspective of the middleware services that are considered fundamental to address the dependability requirements of those applications. Then it also describes the architectural organisation of these services, according to a number of factors like their purpose, their function within the communication stack or their criticality/specificity for resilience. WP2 proposes an architecture that differentiates between two classes of services, a class including timeliness and trustworthiness oracles, and a class of so called complex services. The resulting architecture is referred to as a "hybrid architecture". The hybrid architecture is motivated and discussed in this document. The services considered within each of the service classes of the hybrid architecture are described. This sets the background for the work to be carried on in the scope of tasks 2.2 and 2.3 of the work package. Finally, the deliverable also considers high-level interfacing aspects, by providing a discussion about the possibility of using existing Service Availability Forum standard interfaces within HIDENETS, in particular discussing possibly necessary extensions to those interfaces in order to accommodate specific HIDENETS services suited for ad-hoc domain