Masterminding change by combining secure system design with security risk assessment

This track introduction presents the results of the Workshop on Security practices for Internet of Things, SPIoT held at ETAPS in Prague in April 2019. For this Special Issue of STTT, we have selected, invited and edited three distinguished papers. We briefly recall the aims, summarize the Workshop held in Prague and introduce the selected papers

The Asthma-COPD Overlap Syndrome: A Common Clinical Problem in the Elderly

Many patients with breathlessness and chronic obstructive lung disease are diagnosed with either asthma, COPD, or—frequently—mixed disease. More commonly, patients with uncharacterized breathlessness are treated with therapies that target asthma and COPD rather than one of these diseases. This common practice represents the difficulty in distinguishing these disorders clinically, particularly in patients with a history that does not easily differentiate asthma from COPD. A common clinical scenario is an older former smoker with partially reversible or fixed airflow obstruction and evidence of atopy, demonstrating “overlap” features of asthma and COPD. We stress that asthma-COPD overlap syndrome becomes more prevalent with advancing age as patients respond less favorably to guideline-recommended drug therapy. We review the similarities and differences in clinical characteristics between these disorders, and their physiologic and inflammatory profiles within the context of the aging patient. We underscore the difficulties in differentiating asthma from COPD in current or former smokers, share our institutional experience with overlap syndrome, and highlight the need for new research to better characterize and investigate this important clinical phenotype

The central role of Italy in the spatial spread of USUTU virus in Europe

USUTU virus (USUV) is an arbovirus maintained in the environment through a bird-mosquito enzootic cycle. Previous surveillance plans highlighted the endemicity of USUV in North-eastern Italy. In this work, we sequenced 138 new USUV full genomes from mosquito pools (Culex pipiens) and wild birds collected in North-eastern Italy and we investigated the evolutionary processes (phylogenetic analysis, selection pressure and evolutionary time-scale analysis) and spatial spread of USUV strains circulating in the European context and in Italy, with a particular focus on North-eastern Italy. Our results confirmed the circulation of viruses belonging to four different lineages in Italy (EU1, EU2, EU3 and EU4), with the newly sequenced viruses from the North-eastern regions, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia, belonging to the EU2 lineage and clustering into two different sub-lineages, EU2-A and EU2-B. Specific mutations characterize each European lineage and geographic location seem to have shaped their phylogenetic structure. By investigating the spatial spread in Europe, we were able to show that Italy acted mainly as donor of USUV to neighbouring countries. At a national level, we identified two geographical clusters mainly circulating in Northern and North-western Italy, spreading both northward and southward. Our analyses provide important information on the spatial and evolutionary dynamics of USUTU virus that can help to improve surveillance plans and control strategies for this virus of increasing concern for human health

Flotación de la pala de limpieza de la reja de toma de agua de rio de Atucha 2 : Analisis y propuestas de solución

En la Central Nuclear Atucha 2, el agua de rio es bombeada hacia el condensador a fin de condensar el vapor de salida de las turbinas. Se utiliza un sistema de filtros de varias etapas a fin de minimizar el ensuciamiento de los componentes. Uno de los primeros filtros es simplemente una reja que impide el paso de elementos de tamaño medio y grande. Esta reja es limpiada en forma periódica por medio de una pala mecánica a fin de evitar la obstrucción de la misma. Se observó que cuando el caudal que pasa por la reja es incrementado, la pala mecánica no logra descender por su propio peso y queda flotando impidiendo la limpieza de la reja. Se analizaron las causas y se propusieron soluciones.Publicado en: Mecánica Computacional vol. XXXV no.32Facultad de Ingenierí

Modeling Biological Pathway Dynamics With Timed Automata

Living cells are constantly subjected to a plethora of environmental stimuli that require integration into an appropriate cellular response. This integration takes place through signal transduction events that form tightly interconnected networks. The understanding of these networks requires to capture their dynamics through computational support and models. ANIMO (Analysis of Networks with Interactive MOdelling) is a tool that enables construction and exploration of executable models of biological networks, helping to derive hypotheses and to plan wet-lab experiments. The tool is based on the formalism of Timed Automata, which can be analysed via the UPPAAL model checker. Thanks to Timed Automata, we can provide a formal semantics for the domain-specific language used to represent signalling networks. This enforces precision and uniformity in the definition of signalling pathways, contributing to the integration of isolated signalling events into complex network models. We propose an approach to discretization of reaction kinetics that allows us to efficiently use UPPAAL as the computational engine to explore the dynamic behaviour of the network of interest. A user-friendly interface hides the use of Timed Automata from the user, while keeping the expressive power intact. Abstraction to single-parameter kinetics speeds up construction of models that remain faithful enough to provide meaningful insight. The resulting dynamic behaviour of the network components is displayed graphically, allowing for an intuitive and interactive modelling experience

Global economic burden of unmet surgical need for appendicitis

Background: There is a substantial gap in provision of adequate surgical care in many low-and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the economic burden of unmet surgical need for the common condition of appendicitis. Methods: Data on the incidence of appendicitis from 170 countries and two different approaches were used to estimate numbers of patients who do not receive surgery: as a fixed proportion of the total unmet surgical need per country (approach 1); and based on country income status (approach 2). Indirect costs with current levels of access and local quality, and those if quality were at the standards of high-income countries, were estimated. A human capital approach was applied, focusing on the economic burden resulting from premature death and absenteeism. Results: Excess mortality was 4185 per 100 000 cases of appendicitis using approach 1 and 3448 per 100 000 using approach 2. The economic burden of continuing current levels of access and local quality was US $92 492 million using approach 1 and$73 141 million using approach 2. The economic burden of not providing surgical care to the standards of high-income countries was $95 004 million using approach 1 and$75 666 million using approach 2. The largest share of these costs resulted from premature death (97.7 per cent) and lack of access (97.0 per cent) in contrast to lack of quality. Conclusion: For a comparatively non-complex emergency condition such as appendicitis, increasing access to care should be prioritized. Although improving quality of care should not be neglected, increasing provision of care at current standards could reduce societal costs substantially