IoTSan: Fortifying the Safety of IoT Systems

Today's IoT systems include event-driven smart applications (apps) that interact with sensors and actuators. A problem specific to IoT systems is that buggy apps, unforeseen bad app interactions, or device/communication failures, can cause unsafe and dangerous physical states. Detecting flaws that lead to such states, requires a holistic view of installed apps, component devices, their configurations, and more importantly, how they interact. In this paper, we design IoTSan, a novel practical system that uses model checking as a building block to reveal "interaction-level" flaws by identifying events that can lead the system to unsafe states. In building IoTSan, we design novel techniques tailored to IoT systems, to alleviate the state explosion associated with model checking. IoTSan also automatically translates IoT apps into a format amenable to model checking. Finally, to understand the root cause of a detected vulnerability, we design an attribution mechanism to identify problematic and potentially malicious apps. We evaluate IoTSan on the Samsung SmartThings platform. From 76 manually configured systems, IoTSan detects 147 vulnerabilities. We also evaluate IoTSan with malicious SmartThings apps from a previous effort. IoTSan detects the potential safety violations and also effectively attributes these apps as malicious.Comment: Proc. of the 14th ACM CoNEXT, 201

Safety and pharmacokinetics of motesanib in combination with gemcitabine for the treatment of patients with solid tumours

The aim of this open-label phase 1b study was to assess the safety and pharmacokinetics of motesanib in combination with gemcitabine in patients with advanced solid tumours. Eligible patients with histologically or cytologically documented solid tumours or lymphoma were enroled in three sequential, dose-escalating cohorts to receive motesanib 50 mg once daily (QD), 75 mg two times daily (BID), or 125 mg QD in combination with gemcitabine (1000 mg m−2). The primary end point was the incidence of dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs). Twenty-six patients were enroled and received motesanib and gemcitabine. No DLTs occurred. The 75 mg BID cohort was discontinued early; therefore, 125 mg QD was the maximum target dose. Sixteen patients (62%) experienced motesanib-related adverse events, most commonly lethargy (n=6), diarrhoea (n=4), fatigue (n=3), headache (n=3), and nausea (n=3). The pharmacokinetics of motesanib and of gemcitabine were not markedly affected after combination therapy. The objective response rate was 4% (1 of 26), and 27% (7 of 26) of patients achieved stable disease. In conclusion, treatment with motesanib plus gemcitabine was well tolerated, with adverse event and pharmacokinetic profiles similar to that observed in monotherapy studies

Liposomal Packaging Generates Wnt Protein with In Vivo Biological Activity

Wnt signals exercise strong cell-biological and regenerative effects of considerable therapeutic value. There are, however, no specific Wnt agonists and no method for in vivo delivery of purified Wnt proteins. Wnts contain lipid adducts that are required for activity and we exploited this lipophilicity by packaging purified Wnt3a protein into lipid vesicles. Rather than being encapsulated, Wnts are tethered to the liposomal surface, where they enhance and sustain Wnt signaling in vitro. Molecules that effectively antagonize soluble Wnt3a protein but are ineffective against the Wnt3a signal presented by a cell in a paracrine or autocrine manner are also unable to block liposomal Wnt3a activity, suggesting that liposomal packaging mimics the biological state of active Wnts. When delivered subcutaneously, Wnt3a liposomes induce hair follicle neogenesis, demonstrating their robust biological activity in a regenerative context

Factor structure of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in Japanese psychiatric outpatient and student populations

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is a common screening instrument excluding somatic symptoms of depression and anxiety, but previous studies have reported inconsistencies of its factor structure. The construct validity of the Japanese version of the HADS has yet to be reported. To examine the factor structure of the HADS in a Japanese population is needed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted in the combined data of 408 psychiatric outpatients and 1069 undergraduate students. The data pool was randomly split in half for a cross validation. An exploratory factor analysis was performed on one half of the data, and the fitness of the plausible model was examined in the other half of the data using a confirmatory factor analysis. Simultaneous multi-group analyses between the subgroups (outpatients vs. students, and men vs. women) were subsequently conducted.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A two-factor model where items 6 and 7 had dual loadings was supported. These factors were interpreted as reflecting anxiety and depression. Item 10 showed low contributions to both of the factors. Simultaneous multi-group analyses indicated a factor pattern stability across the subgroups.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The Japanese version of HADS indicated good factorial validity in our samples. However, ambiguous wording of item 7 should be clarified in future revisions.</p

Symmetry in temporal logic model checking

Temporal logic model checking involves checking the state-space of a model of a system to determine whether errors can occur in the system. Often this involves checking symmetrically equivalent areas of the state-space. The use of symmetry reduction to increase the efficiency of model checking has inspired a wealth of activity in the area of model checking research. We provide a survey of the associated literature

Evidence-based care of older people with suspected cognitive impairment in general practice: protocol for the IRIS cluster randomised trial

Background: Dementia is a common and complex condition. Evidence-based guidelines for the management of people with dementia in general practice exist; however, detection, diagnosis and disclosure of dementia have been identified as potential evidence-practice gaps. Interventions to implement guidelines into practice have had varying success. The use of theory in designing implementation interventions has been limited, but is advocated because of its potential to yield more effective interventions and aid understanding of factors modifying the magnitude of intervention effects across trials. This protocol describes methods of a randomised trial that tests a theory-informed implementation intervention that, if effective, may provide benefits for patients with dementia and their carers. Aims: This trial aims to estimate the effectiveness of a theory-informed intervention to increase GPs’ (in Victoria, Australia) adherence to a clinical guideline for the detection, diagnosis, and management of dementia in general practice, compared with providing GPs with a printed copy of the guideline. Primary objectives include testing if the intervention is effective in increasing the percentage of patients with suspected cognitive impairment who receive care consistent with two key guideline recommendations: receipt of a i) formal cognitive assessment, and ii) depression assessment using a validated scale (primary outcomes for the trial). Methods: The design is a parallel cluster randomised trial, with clusters being general practices. We aim to recruit 60 practices per group. Practices will be randomised to the intervention and control groups using restricted randomisation. Patients meeting the inclusion criteria, and GPs’ detection and diagnosis behaviours directed toward these patients, will be identified and measured via an electronic search of the medical records nine months after the start of the intervention. Practitioners in the control group will receive a printed copy of the guideline. In addition to receipt of the printed guideline, practitioners in the intervention group will be invited to participate in an interactive, opinion leader-led, educational face-to-face workshop. The theory-informed intervention aims to address identified barriers to and enablers of implementation of recommendations. Researchers responsible for identifying the cohort of patients with suspected cognitive impairment, and their detection and diagnosis outcomes, will be blind to group allocation. Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12611001032943 (date registered 28 September, 2011)

PEGylated systems in pharmaceutics

This review addresses the use of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and PEG conjugation for the design of novel dosage forms and the modification of biomolecules. The peculiarities of PEGylated nanoparticles, liposomes, proteins, enzymes, and small drug and polyelectrolyte molecules and their influence on systemic drug delivery, including overcoming of various biological barriers and adhesion to mucosal tissues (mucoadhesion), are considered