Big Data in Critical Infrastructures Security Monitoring: Challenges and Opportunities

Critical Infrastructures (CIs), such as smart power grids, transport systems, and financial infrastructures, are more and more vulnerable to cyber threats, due to the adoption of commodity computing facilities. Despite the use of several monitoring tools, recent attacks have proven that current defensive mechanisms for CIs are not effective enough against most advanced threats. In this paper we explore the idea of a framework leveraging multiple data sources to improve protection capabilities of CIs. Challenges and opportunities are discussed along three main research directions: i) use of distinct and heterogeneous data sources, ii) monitoring with adaptive granularity, and iii) attack modeling and runtime combination of multiple data analysis techniques.Comment: EDCC-2014, BIG4CIP-201

LEVELS OF HEAVY METALS IN ITALIAN MARKETED CANNED TUNA

Fish products are essential and irreplaceable components of human diet; nevertheless, they could result in a risk to the health of consumers due to the potential content of some xenobiotics such as heavy metals and persistent organic contaminants (Debeka et al., 2004; Storelli et al., 2005). Constant control network and surveys are valuable tools in order to prevent such risk and to ensure product quality and consumers??? safety. The aim of the current study was to measure the levels of some heavy metals (Hg, Pb, Cd) in samples of marked canned tuna in olive oil. The results showed that levels of Cd and Hg were always within the law limits and, in many samples, below the detection limit. Pb was found in concentrations exceeding the law limits in 9.8% of the analyzed samples. In conclusion, the results of the current study, quite reassuring in terms of food safety, highlighted the need to constantly monitor the levels of some chemical contaminants in fish products such as heavy metals that might endanger the health of the consumers

PROTEOMICS AS USEFUL TOOL FOR STUDING BIOMARKERS OF EARLY EXPOSURE TO POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENILS

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are toxic persistent organic pollutants present in the hydrosphere. Mussels are used as sentinel organisms for the monitoring of marine pollution for their ability to bioaccumulate contaminants, their sessile nature, filter-feeding habits and widespread distribution. Alteration in protein expression is often indicative of toxic exposure or effect and changes in protein expression profiles derived from environmental stress may be used for the identification of novel biomarkers. In this study, proteomics has been used in mussels as a preliminary screening of quantitative changes in protein expression caused by a mixture of PCBs, potentially useful as new biomarkers, following the identification of the proteins more drastically altered. Our data demonstrated that proteomic approach represents a valuable tool for identifying biomarkers of exposure to environmental contaminants

Heavy Metals in Canned Tuna from Italian Markets

Fish is a good source of nutrients for humans but can pose a risk to human health because of the possible presence of some xenobiotics such as heavy metals and persistent organic contaminants. Constant monitoring is needed to minimize health risks and ensure product quality and consumer safety. The aim of the present study was to use atomic absorption spectrometry to determine the concentrations of some heavy metals (Hg, Pb, and Cd) in tuna packaged in different kinds of packages (cans or glass) in various countries (Italy and elsewhere). Concentrations of Cd and Hg were within the limits set by European Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 and in many samples were below the detection limit. Pb concentrations exceeded European limits in 9.8% of the analyzed samples. These results are reassuring in terms of food safety but highlighted the need to constantly monitor the concentrations of heavy metals in fish products that could endanger consumer health

Heavy metals in canned tuna from Italian markets.

Fish is a good source of nutrients for humans but can pose a risk to human health because of the possible presence of some xenobiotics such as heavy metals and persistent organic contaminants. Constant monitoring is needed to minimize health risks and ensure product quality and consumer safety. The aim of the present study was to use atomic absorption spectrometry to determine the concentrations of some heavy metals (Hg, Pb, and Cd) in tuna packaged in different kinds of packages (cans or glass) in various countries (Italy and elsewhere). Concentrations of Cd and Hg were within the limits set by European Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 and in many samples were below the detection limit. Pb concentrations exceeded European limits in 9.8% of the analyzed samples. These results are reassuring in terms of food safety but highlighted the need to constantly monitor the concentrations of heavy metals in fish products that could endanger consumer health

Combining Litter Observations with a Regional Ocean Model to Identify Sources and Sinks of Floating Debris in a Semi-enclosed Basin: The Adriatic Sea

Visual ship transect surveys provide crucial information about the density, and spatial distribution of floating anthropogenic litter in a basin. However, such observations provide a ‘snapshot’ of local conditions at a given time and cannot be used to deduce the provenance of the litter or to predict its fate, crucial information for management and mitigation policies. Particle tracking techniques have seen extensive use in these roles, however, most previous studies have used simplistic initial conditions based on bulk average inputs of debris to the system. Here, observations of floating anthropogenic macro debris in the Adriatic Sea are used to define initial conditions (number of particles, location, and time) in a Lagrangian particle tracking model. Particles are advected backward and forward in time for 60 days (120 days total) using surface velocities from an operational regional ocean model. Sources and sinks for debris observed in the central and southern Adriatic in May 2013 and March 2015 included the Italian coastline from Pescara to Brindisi, the Croatian island of Mljet, and the coastline from Dubrovnik through Montenegro to Albania. Debris observed in the northern Adriatic originated from the Istrian peninsula to the Italian city of Termoli, as well as the Croatian island of Cres and the Kornati archipelago. Particles spent a total of roughly 47 days afloat. Coastal currents, notably the eastern and western Adriatic currents, resulted in large alongshore displacements. Our results indicate that anthropogenic macro debris originates largely from coastal sources near population centers and is advected by the cyclonic surface circulation until it strands on the southwest (Italian) coast, exits the Adriatic, or recirculates in the southern gyreVersión del edito

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

Colorectal Cancer Stage at Diagnosis Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

IMPORTANCE Delays in screening programs and the reluctance of patients to seek medical attention because of the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 could be associated with the risk of more advanced colorectal cancers at diagnosis. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was associated with more advanced oncologic stage and change in clinical presentation for patients with colorectal cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective, multicenter cohort study included all 17 938 adult patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer from March 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021 (pandemic period), and from January 1, 2018, to February 29, 2020 (prepandemic period), in 81 participating centers in Italy, including tertiary centers and community hospitals. Follow-up was 30 days from surgery. EXPOSURES Any type of surgical procedure for colorectal cancer, including explorative surgery, palliative procedures, and atypical or segmental resections. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was advanced stage of colorectal cancer at diagnosis. Secondary outcomes were distant metastasis, T4 stage, aggressive biology (defined as cancer with at least 1 of the following characteristics: signet ring cells, mucinous tumor, budding, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, and lymphangitis), stenotic lesion, emergency surgery, and palliative surgery. The independent association between the pandemic period and the outcomes was assessed using multivariate random-effects logistic regression, with hospital as the cluster variable. RESULTS A total of 17 938 patients (10 007 men [55.8%]; mean [SD] age, 70.6 [12.2] years) underwent surgery for colorectal cancer: 7796 (43.5%) during the pandemic period and 10 142 (56.5%) during the prepandemic period. Logistic regression indicated that the pandemic period was significantly associated with an increased rate of advanced-stage colorectal cancer (odds ratio [OR], 1.07; 95%CI, 1.01-1.13; P = .03), aggressive biology (OR, 1.32; 95%CI, 1.15-1.53; P < .001), and stenotic lesions (OR, 1.15; 95%CI, 1.01-1.31; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This cohort study suggests a significant association between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the risk of a more advanced oncologic stage at diagnosis among patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer and might indicate a potential reduction of survival for these patients

Development and validation of HERWIG 7 tunes from CMS underlying-event measurements

This paper presents new sets of parameters (“tunes”) for the underlying-event model of the HERWIG7 event generator. These parameters control the description of multiple-parton interactions (MPI) and colour reconnection in HERWIG7, and are obtained from a fit to minimum-bias data collected by the CMS experiment at s=0.9, 7, and 13Te. The tunes are based on the NNPDF 3.1 next-to-next-to-leading-order parton distribution function (PDF) set for the parton shower, and either a leading-order or next-to-next-to-leading-order PDF set for the simulation of MPI and the beam remnants. Predictions utilizing the tunes are produced for event shape observables in electron-positron collisions, and for minimum-bias, inclusive jet, top quark pair, and Z and W boson events in proton-proton collisions, and are compared with data. Each of the new tunes describes the data at a reasonable level, and the tunes using a leading-order PDF for the simulation of MPI provide the best description of the dat

Measurement of the top quark forward-backward production asymmetry and the anomalous chromoelectric and chromomagnetic moments in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV

Abstract The parton-level top quark (t) forward-backward asymmetry and the anomalous chromoelectric (d̂ t) and chromomagnetic (μ̂ t) moments have been measured using LHC pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected in the CMS detector in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1. The linearized variable AFB(1) is used to approximate the asymmetry. Candidate t t ¯ events decaying to a muon or electron and jets in final states with low and high Lorentz boosts are selected and reconstructed using a fit of the kinematic distributions of the decay products to those expected for t t ¯ final states. The values found for the parameters are AFB(1)=0.048−0.087+0.095(stat)−0.029+0.020(syst),μ̂t=−0.024−0.009+0.013(stat)−0.011+0.016(syst), and a limit is placed on the magnitude of | d̂ t| < 0.03 at 95% confidence level. [Figure not available: see fulltext.