Efficacy of first-line sodium thiosulphate administration in a case of potassium cyanide poisoning

Cyanide poisoning may occur following accidental fire-smoke inhalation or deliberate ingestion of salts. Hydroxocobalamin represents a first-line life-saving antidote. Although hydroxocobalamin represents a first-line lifesaving antidote, it is still not promptly available in the emergency department. Sodium thiosulfate can be administered in association with hydroxocobalamin whereas the delayed onset of clinical response makes sodium thiosulfate less suitable for emergency use. We describe a case of cyanide intoxication of a 43-year-old man who ingested an unknown amount of potassium cyanide, purchased via the Internet, in an attempted suicide. At admission to the emergency department, the patient presented GCS 3 with severe lactic acidosis. Orotracheal intubation, gastric lavage and oral activated charcoal were applied. Sodium thiosulfate was available in the emergency department and 10 grams were infused over a 30 minute period. Hydroxocobalamin was prescribed by the poison control centre and 5 grams were infused 2 hours after admission. Following sodium thiosulfate administration the patient was arousable and lactate concentration improved. No adverse effects were noted. Metabolic acidosis completely resolved 12 hours later. Cyanide concentration performed on blood samples collected at admission confirmed high cyanide blood levels (15 mg/L). This report highlights as the first-line administration of sodium thiosulfate, in rapid infusion, resulted effective and safe for cyanide poisoning. Our report suggests that sodium thiosulfate should be considered when hydroxocobalamin is not promptly available in an emergency settin

SoK: A Unified Data Model for Smart Contract Vulnerability Taxonomies

Modern blockchains support the execution of application-level code in the form of smart contracts, allowing developers to devise complex Distributed Applications (DApps). Smart contracts are typically written in high-level languages, such as Solidity, and after deployment on the blockchain, their code is executed in a distributed way in response to transactions or calls from other smart contracts. As a common piece of software, smart contracts are susceptible to vulnerabilities, posing security threats to DApps and their users. The community has already made many different proposals involving taxonomies related to smart contract vulnerabilities. In this paper, we try to systematize such proposals, evaluating their common traits and main discrepancies. A major limitation emerging from our analysis is the lack of a proper formalization of such taxonomies, making hard their adoption within, e.g., tools and disfavoring their improvement over time as a community-driven effort. We thus introduce a novel data model that clearly defines the key entities and relationships relevant to smart contract vulnerabilities. We then show how our data model and its preliminary instantiation can effectively support several valuable use cases, such as interactive exploration of the taxonomy, integration with security frameworks for effective tool orchestration, and statistical analysis for performing longitudinal studies

Inhibition of Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria by a Photoactivated Porphyrin

The authors studied the in vitro antibacterial activity of the photo-activated porphyrin meso-tri(N-methyl-pyridyl), mono(N-tetradecyl-pyridyl)porphine (C14) against four multidrug-resistant bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis (Gram-positive), Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Gram-negative). Using 10 g/ml of porphyrin and 60 sec irradiation we observed the remarkable susceptibility of S. aureus and E. faecalis to treatment while, under the same conditions, E. coli and P. aeruginosa showed very low susceptibility. In a later stage, suspensions of Gram-negative bacteria were processed with EDTA before photo-activation, obtaining a significant decrease in viable counts. In view of the results, if the combination of low porphyrin concentrations and short irradiation times will be effective in vivo also, this approach could be a possible alternative to antibiotics, in particular against localized infections due to multidrug-resistant microorganisms

Improving Requirements Engineering within the European Space Industry

International audienceThe Next Generation Requirements Engineering (NextGenRE) (ESA/ESTEC Contract 4000101353/10/NL/SFe) project seeks to identify possibilities to improve the requirements engineering process within the European Space industry in connection with Model-based System Engineering (MBSE)

Contrasting roles of SPARC-related granuloma in bacterial containment and in the induction of anti–Salmonella typhimurium immunity

The role of matricellular proteins in bacterial containment and in the induction of pathogen-specific adaptive immune responses is unknown. We studied the function of the matricellular protein secreted protein, acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC/osteonectin) in the dissemination of locally injected Salmonella typhimurium and in the subsequent immune response. We show that SPARC was required for the development of organized acute inflammatory reactions with granuloma-like (GL) features and for the control of bacterial spreading to draining lymph nodes (DLNs). However, SPARC-related GL also inhibited dendritic cell (DC) migration to the DLNs and limited the development of adaptive immune response, thus conferring increased susceptibility to the pathogen. In SPARC-deficient mice, both DC migration and antigen-specific responses were restored against bacteria, leading to protective anti–S. typhimurium immunity. This highlights a new function of matricellular proteins in bacterial infection and suggests that initial containment of bacteria can have drawbacks

Saildrone: Adaptively Sampling the Marine Environment

From 11 April to 11 June 2018 a new type of ocean observing platform, the Saildrone surface vehicle, collected data on a round-trip, 60-day cruise from San Francisco Bay, down the U.S. and Mexican coast to Guadalupe Island. The cruise track was selected to optimize the science team’s validation and science objectives. The validation objectives include establishing the accuracy of these new measurements. The scientific objectives include validation of satellite-derived fluxes, sea surface temperatures, and wind vectors and studies of upwelling dynamics, river plumes, air–sea interactions including frontal regions, and diurnal warming regions. On this deployment, the Saildrone carried 16 atmospheric and oceanographic sensors. Future planned cruises (with open data policies) are focused on improving our understanding of air–sea fluxes in the Arctic Ocean and around North Brazil Current rings

A comparison of mechanisms generating vertical transport in the Brazilian coastal upwelling regions

Several mechanisms can drive vertical velocities in the coastal ocean, including wind-forcing and through gradients in the vorticity field generated by flow-topography interactions. A two-layer, steady, wind-driven, analytical model is applied to the major upwelling systems of Brazil : Cabo Frio (CF) and Cabo de Santa Marta (CSM) regions. Comparisons are made between the relative roles of wind and flow-topography interaction in inducing upwelling over these regions. Ekman pumping is the weakest mechanism over the shelf, but does influence the along-shelf temperature in the CF area. Away from coastline irregularities, wind-driven upwelling (Ekman transport) dominates over all mechanisms. However, in the vicinity of capes and coastal features, topographically driven upwelling plays a significant role, and its transports may vary from 43% to 94% of wind-driven upwelling. Upstream of capes, topographically driven vertical motions are downwelling favorable and act against the wind-driven coastal upwelling, while downstream of capes, they are upwelling favorable, where all mechanisms add up to create strong upwelling. Peaks in total upwelling in the CF region are about twice as large as those in the CSM area because the CF region has stronger winds and larger coastline perturbations than in the CSM region. Observed sea surface temperatures (SST) agree well with variability in the vertical transports where upwelling peaks are in phase with low temperature peaks along the coast. Results suggest that on larger scales, the SST variability along the coast is mainly controlled by wind-driven upwelling, while upwelling due to flow-topography interaction is responsible for the smaller scale SST variability.Keywords: Flow-topography interaction, Brazil, Cabo Frio, Upwelling, Cabo de Santa Mart

Do You Trust Your Device? Open Challenges in IoT Security Analysis

Several critical contexts, such as healthcare, smart cities, drones, transportation, and agriculture, nowadays rely on IoT, or more in general embedded, devices that require comprehensive security analysis to ensure their integrity before deployment. Security concerns are often related to vulnerabilities that result from inadequate coding or undocumented features that may create significant privacy issues for users and companies. Current analysis methods, albeit dependent on complex tools, may lead to superficial assessments due to compatibility issues, while authoritative entities struggle with specifying feasible firmware analysis requests for manufacturers within operational contexts. This paper urges the scientific community to collaborate with stakeholders—manufacturers, vendors, security analysts, and experts—to forge a cooperative model that clarifies manufacturer contributions and aligns analysis demands with operational constraints. Aiming at a modular approach, this paper highlights the crucial need to refine security analysis, ensuring more precise requirements, balanced expectations, and stronger partnerships between vendors and analysts. To achieve this, we propose a threat model based on the feasible interactions of actors involved in the security evaluation of a device, with a particular emphasis on the responsibilities and necessities of all entities involved