124 research outputs found
Convergence of the Latest Standards Addressing Safety and Security for Information Technology
International audienceSafety and Security have always been considered separately in most industrial process. Actually, there is a growing consensus that for many applications, Safety as well as Security demands have to be observed in a coherent manner. Risk analysis to counter malicious attacks can be also reused with appropriate modification for unplanned system failure
Do Android Taint Analysis Tools Keep Their Promises?
In recent years, researchers have developed a number of tools to conduct
taint analysis of Android applications. While all the respective papers aim at
providing a thorough empirical evaluation, comparability is hindered by varying
or unclear evaluation targets. Sometimes, the apps used for evaluation are not
precisely described. In other cases, authors use an established benchmark but
cover it only partially. In yet other cases, the evaluations differ in terms of
the data leaks searched for, or lack a ground truth to compare against. All
those limitations make it impossible to truly compare the tools based on those
published evaluations.
We thus present ReproDroid, a framework allowing the accurate comparison of
Android taint analysis tools. ReproDroid supports researchers in inferring the
ground truth for data leaks in apps, in automatically applying tools to
benchmarks, and in evaluating the obtained results. We use ReproDroid to
comparatively evaluate on equal grounds the six prominent taint analysis tools
Amandroid, DIALDroid, DidFail, DroidSafe, FlowDroid and IccTA. The results are
largely positive although four tools violate some promises concerning features
and accuracy. Finally, we contribute to the area of unbiased benchmarking with
a new and improved version of the open test suite DroidBench
Polymorphisms in FFAR4 (GPR120) gene modulate insulin levels and sensitivity after fish oil supplementation
The objective was to test whether FFAR4 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are
associated with glycemic control-related traits in humans following fish oil supplementation.
A total of 210 participants were given 3 g/day of omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids (FA) (1.9–2.2 g of
eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 1.1 g of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)) during six weeks.
Biochemical parameters were taken before and after the supplementation. Using the HapMap
database and the tagger procedure in Haploview, 12 tagging SNPs in FFAR4 were selected and then
genotyped using TaqMan technology. Transcript expression levels were measured for 30
participants in peripheral mononuclear blood cells. DNA methylation levels were measured for 35
participants in leukocytes. In silico analyses were also performed. Four gene–diet interactions on
fasting insulin levels and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index
values were found. rs17108973 explained a significant proportion of the variance of insulin levels
(3.0%) and HOMA-IR (2.03%) index values. Splice site prediction was different depending on the
allele for rs11187527. rs17108973 and rs17484310 had different affinity for transcription factors
depending on the allele. n-3 FAs effectively improve insulin-related traits for major allele
homozygotes of four FFAR4 SNPs as opposed to carriers of the minor alleles
Novel genetic loci associated with the plasma triglyceride response to an omega-3 fatty acid supplementation
A recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) by our group identified 13 loci associated with the plasma triglyceride (TG) response to omega-3 (n-3) fatty acid (FA) supplementation. This study aimed to test whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the IQCJ, NXPH1, PHF17 and MYB genes are associated with the plasma TG response to an n-3 FA supplementation. Methods: A total of 208 subjects followed a 6-week n-3 FA supplementation of 5 g/day of fish oil (1.9-2.2 g of eicosapentaenoic acid and 1.1 g of docosahexaenoic acid). Measurements of plasma lipids were made before and after the supplementation. Sixty-seven tagged SNPs were selected to increase the density of markers near GWAS hits. Results: In a repeated model, independent effects of the genotype and the gene-supplementation interaction were associated with plasma TG. Genotype effects were observed with two SNPs of NXPH1, and gene-diet interactions were observed with ten SNPs of IQCJ, four SNPs of NXPH1 and three SNPs of MYB. Positive and negative responders showed different genotype frequencies with nine SNPs of IQCJ, two SNPs of NXPH1 and two SNPs of MYB. Conclusion: Fine mapping in GWAS-associated loci allowed the identification of SNPs partly explaining the large interindividual variability observed in plasma TG levels in response to an n-3 FA supplementation
ACMiner: Extraction and Analysis of Authorization Checks in Android's Middleware
Billions of users rely on the security of the Android platform to protect
phones, tablets, and many different types of consumer electronics. While
Android's permission model is well studied, the enforcement of the protection
policy has received relatively little attention. Much of this enforcement is
spread across system services, taking the form of hard-coded checks within
their implementations. In this paper, we propose Authorization Check Miner
(ACMiner), a framework for evaluating the correctness of Android's access
control enforcement through consistency analysis of authorization checks.
ACMiner combines program and text analysis techniques to generate a rich set of
authorization checks, mines the corresponding protection policy for each
service entry point, and uses association rule mining at a service granularity
to identify inconsistencies that may correspond to vulnerabilities. We used
ACMiner to study the AOSP version of Android 7.1.1 to identify 28
vulnerabilities relating to missing authorization checks. In doing so, we
demonstrate ACMiner's ability to help domain experts process thousands of
authorization checks scattered across millions of lines of code
High-Angular Resolution Dust Polarization Measurements: Shaped B-field Lines in the Massive Star Forming Region Orion BN/KL
We present observational results of the thermal dust continuum emission and
its linear polarization in one of the nearest massive star-forming sites Orion
BN/KL in Orion Molecular Cloud-1. The observations were carried out with the
Submillimeter Array. With an angular resolution of 1" (~2 mpc; 480 AU), we have
detected and resolved the densest cores near the BN/KL region. At a wavelength
of ~870 micron, the polarized dust emission can be used to trace the structure
of the magnetic field in this star-forming core. The dust continuum appears to
arise from a V-shaped region, with a cavity nearly coincident with the center
of the explosive outflows observed on larger scales. The position angles
(P.A.s) of the observed polarization vary significantly by a total of about 90
degree but smoothly, i.e., curl-like, across the dust ridges. Such a
polarization pattern can be explained with dust grains being magnetically
aligned instead of mechanically with outflows, since the latter mechanism would
cause the P.A.s to be parallel to the direction of the outflow, i.e.,
radial-like. The magnetic field projected in the plane of sky is therefore
derived by rotating the P.A.s of the polarization by 90 degree. We find an
azimuthally symmetric structure in the overall magnetic field morphology, with
the field directions pointing toward 2.5" west to the center of the explosive
outflows. We also find a preferred symmetry plane at a P.A. of 36 degree, which
is perpendicular to the mean magnetic field direction (120 degree) of the 0.5
pc dust ridge. Two possible interpretations of the origin of the observed
magnetic field structure are discussed.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures; ApJ in pres
Fine mapping of GWAS signals to identify genetic markers of the plasma triglyceride response to an omega-3 fatty acid supplementation
Background: Using a genome-wide association study (GWAS) approach, our group previously computed a genetic risk score (GRS) from single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of ten loci which affect the plasma triglyceride (TG) response to an omega-3 (n-3) fatty acid (FA) supplementation. Objective: The objective was to compute a novel and more refined GRS using fine mapping to include a large number of genetic variants. Design: A total of 208 participants of the Fatty Acid Sensor (FAS) study received 5g of fish oil per day, containing 1.9–2.2g of eicosapentanoic acid and 1.1g of docosahexanoic acid, for six weeks. Plasma TG levels were measured before and after supplementation. Dense genotyping and genotype imputation were employed to refine mapping around GWAS hits. A GRS was computed by summing the number of at-risk alleles of tagging SNPs. Analyses were replicated in samples of the FINGEN study. Results: A total of 31 tagging SNPs associated with the TG response were used for GRS calculation in the FAS study. In a general linear model adjusted for age, sex and body mass index, the GRS explained 49.73% of TG response variance (p < 0.0001). Non-responders to the n-3 FA supplementation had a higher GRS than responders. In the FINGEN replication study, the GRS explained 3.67% of TG response variance (p = 0.0006). Conclusion: Fine mapping proved to be effective to refine the previous GRS. Carrying increasing numbers of at-risk alleles of 31 SNPs confers a higher risk of being non-responsive to n-3 FA. The genetic profile therefore appears to be an important determinant of the plasma TG response to an n-3 FA supplementation and could be used to target those most likely to gain clinical benefit
One-year changes in brain microstructure differentiate preclinical Huntington's disease stages.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether brain imaging markers of tissue microstructure can detect the effect of disease progression across the preclinical stages of Huntington's disease. METHODS: Longitudinal microstructural changes in diffusion imaging metrics (mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy) were investigated in participants with presymptomatic Huntington's disease (NÂ =Â 35) stratified into three preclinical subgroups according to their estimated time until onset of symptoms, compared with age- and gender-matched healthy controls (NÂ =Â 19) over a 1y period. RESULTS: Significant differences were found over the four groups in change of mean diffusivity in the posterior basal ganglia and the splenium of the corpus callosum. This overall effect was driven by significant differences between the group far-from-onset (FAR) of symptoms and the groups midway- (MID) and near-the-onset (NEAR) of symptoms. In particular, an initial decrease of mean diffusivity in the FAR group was followed by a subsequent increase in groups closer to onset of symptoms. The seemingly counter-intuitive decrease of mean diffusivity in the group furthest from onset of symptoms might be an early indicator of neuroinflammatory process preceding the neurodegenerative phase. In contrast, the only clinical measure that was able to capture a difference in 1y changes between the preclinical stages was the UHDRS confidence in motor score. CONCLUSIONS: With sensitivity to longitudinal changes in brain microstructure within and between preclinical stages, and potential differential response to distinct pathophysiological mechanisms, diffusion imaging is a promising state marker for monitoring treatment response and identifying the optimal therapeutic window of opportunity in preclinical Huntington's disease
Faraday Rotation as a Diagnostic of Galactic Foreground Contamination of CMB Maps
We present a diagnostic test of possible Galactic contamination of cosmic
microwave background sky maps designed to provide an independent check on the
methods used to compile these maps. The method involves a non-parametric
measurement of cross-correlation between the Faraday rotation measure (RM) of
extragalactic sources and the measured microwave signal at the same angular
position. We argue that statistical properties of the observed distribution of
rotation measures are consistent with a Galactic origin, an argument reinforced
by a direct measurement of cross-correlation between dust, free-free and
synchrotron foreground maps and RM values with the strongest correlation being
for dust and free-free. We do not find any statistically compelling evidence
for correlations between the RM values and the COBE DMR maps at any frequency,
so there is no evidence of residual contamination in these CMB maps. On the
other hand, there is a statistically significant correlation of RM with the
preliminary WMAP individual frequency maps which remains significant in the
Tegmark et al. Wiener-filtered map but not in the Internal Linear Combination
map produced by the WMAP team.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in MNRA
A Faraday Rotation Template for the Galactic Sky
Using a set of compilations of measurements for extragalactic radio sources
we construct all-sky maps of the Faraday Rotation produced by the Galactic
magnetic field. In order to generate the maps we treat the radio source
positions as a kind of "mask" and construct combinations of spherical harmonic
modes that are orthogonal on the masked sky. As long as relatively small
multipoles are used the resulting maps are quite stable to changes in selection
criteria for the sources, and show clearly the structure of the local Galactic
magnetic field. We also suggest the use of these maps as templates for CMB
foreground analysis, illustrating the idea with a cross-correlation analysis
between the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data and our maps. We
find a significant cross-correlation, indicating the presence of significant
residual contamination.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
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