Co-simulated digital twin on the network edge: A vehicle platoon

This paper presents an approach to create high-fidelity models suited for digital twin application of distributed multi-agent cyber–physical systems (CPSs) exploiting the combination of simulation units through co-simulation. This approach allows for managing the complexity of cyber–physical systems by decomposing them into multiple intertwined components tailored to specific domains. The native modular design simplifies the building, testing, prototyping, and extending CPSs compared to monolithic simulator approaches. A system of platoon of vehicles is used as a case study to show the advantages achieved with the proposed approach. Multiple components model the physical dynamics, the communication network and protocol, as well as different control software and external environmental situations. The model of the platooning system is used to compare the performance of Vehicle-to-Vehicle communication against a centralized multi-access edge computing paradigm. Moreover, exploiting the detailed model of vehicle dynamics, different road surface conditions are considered to evaluate the performance of the platooning system. Finally, taking advantage of the co-simulation approach, a solution to drive a platoon in critical road conditions has been proposed. The paper shows how co-simulation and design space exploration can be used for parameter calibration and the design of countermeasures to unsafe situations

Block-Based Models and Theorem Proving in Model-Based Development

This paper presents a methodology to integrate computer-assisted theorem proving into a standard workflow for model-based development that uses a block-based language as a modeling and simulation tool. The theorem prover provides confidence in the results of the analysis as it guides the developers towards a correct formalization of the system under development

Design and Validation of Cyber-Physical Systems Through Co-Simulation: The Voronoi Tessellation Use Case

This paper reports on the use of co-simulation techniques to build prototypes of co-operative autonomous robotic cyber-physical systems. Designing such systems involves a mission-specific planner algorithm, a control algorithm to drive an agent performing its task; and the plant model to simulate the agent dynamics. An application aimed at positioning a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) in a bounded area, exploiting a Voronoi tessellation algorithm developed in this work, is taken as a case study. The paper shows how co-simulation allows testing the complex system at the design phase using models created with different languages and tools. The paper then reports on how the adopted co-simulation platform enables control parameters calibration, by exploiting design space exploration technology. The INTO-CPS co-simulation platform, compliant with the Functional Mock-up Interface standard to exchange dynamic simulation models using various languages, was used in this work. The different software modules were written in Modelica, C, and Python. In particular, the latter was used to implement an original variant of the Voronoi algorithm to tesselate a convex polygonal region, by means of dummy points added at appropriate positions outside the bounding polygon. A key contribution of this case study is that it demonstrates how an accurate simulation of a cooperative drone swarm requires modeling the physical plant together with the high-level coordination algorithm. The coupling of co-simulation and design space exploration has been demonstrated to support control parameter calibration to optimize energy consumption and convergence time to the target positions of the drone swarm. From a practical point of view, this makes it possible to test the ability of the swarm to self-deploy in space in order to achieve optimal detection coverage and allow unmanned aerial vehicles in a swarm to coordinate with each other

ReLock: a resilient two-phase locking RESTful transaction model

Service composition and supporting transactions across composed services are among the major challenges characterizing service-oriented computing. REpresentational State Transfer (REST) is one of the approaches used for implementing Web services that is gaining momentum thanks to its features making it suitable for cloud computing and microservices-based contexts. This paper introduces ReLock, a resilient RESTful transaction model introducing general purpose transactions on RESTful services by a layered approach and a two-phase locking mechanism not requesting any change to the RESTful services involved in a transaction

Formal verification and co-simulation in the design of a synchronous motor control algorithm

Mechatronic systems are a class of cyber-physical systems, whose increasing complexity makes their validation and verification more and more difficult, while their requirements become more challenging. This paper introduces a development method based on model-based design, co-simulation and formal verification. The objective of this paper is to show the applicability of the method in an industrial setting. An application case study comes from the field of precision servo-motors, where formal verification has been used to find acceptable intervals of values for design parameters of the motor controller, which have been further explored using co-simulation to find optimal values. The reported results show that the method has been applied successfully to the case study, augmenting the current model-driven development processes by formal verification of stability, formal identification of acceptable parameter ranges, and automatic design-space exploration

SRAM-Based FPGA Systems for Safety-Critical Applications: A Survey on Design Standards and Proposed Methodologies

As the ASIC design cost becomes affordable only for very large-scale productions, the FPGA technology is currently becoming the leading technology for those applications that require a small-scale production. FPGAs can be considered as a technology crossing between hardware and software. Only a small-number of standards for the design of safety-critical systems give guidelines and recommendations that take the peculiarities of the FPGA technology into consideration. The main contribution of this paper is an overview of the existing design standards that regulate the design and verification of FPGA-based systems in safety-critical application fields. Moreover, the paper proposes a survey of significant published research proposals and existing industrial guidelines about the topic, and collects and reports about some lessons learned from industrial and research projects involving the use of FPGA devices

Connexin Expression in Human Minor Salivary Glands: An Immunohistochemical Microscopy Study

Connexins (Cxs) are transmembrane proteins involved in the formation of hemichannels and gap junctions (GJs). GJs are involved in various physiological functions, including secretion in glandular tissue. It has been demonstrated that Cx26, Cx32, and Cx43 are mainly expressed in glands, but no data are available in human salivary glands to date. The aim of our study was to investigate the presence and the localization of Cxs in human minor labial salivary glands. Immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy were employed to evaluate the Cx26, Cx32, and Cx43 protein in human labial salivary gland biopsies (hLSGBs). RT-PCR was also used to detect their mRNA expression. Cx expression was found at both the mRNA and protein levels in all hLSGBs analysed. Cxs were observed at the level of the duct and acinar cells, as well as in myoepithelial cells. The localization of the three Cx types was very similar, suggesting colocalization of these Cxs in the same connexons. These results demonstrated the presence of Cxs in human salivary glands for the first time. Moreover, the few samples with primary Sjogren's Syndrome analysed only by immunofluorescence showed an alteration of the Cx expression, indicating that these proteins could be involved in salivary gland dysfunctions

PMS53 Association Between Teriparatide Adherence and Health Care Utilization and Costs in Real World United States Kyphoplasty/Vertebroplasty Patients

The Gulf of Follonica (Italy) is impacted by the chemical pollution from ancient mining activity and present industrial processes. This study was aimed to determine the bioavailability of dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) in coastal marine environment and to assess the genotoxic potential of waste waters entering the sea from an industrial canal. Moderately high levels of DCLs compounds ( 11 PCDDs + PCDFs 2.18\u201329.00 pg/g dry wt) were detected in Mytilus galloprovincialis transplanted near the waste waters canal and their corresponding Toxic Equivalents (TEQs) calculated. In situ exposed mussels did not show any genotoxic effect (by Comet and Micronucleus assay). Otherwise, laboratory exposure to canal waters exhibited a reduced genomic template stability (by RAPD-PCR assay) but not DNA or chromosomal damage. Our data reveal the need to focus on the levels and distribution of DLCs in edible species from the study area considering their potential transfer to humans through the consumption of sea food

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