Automated Extraction of Behaviour Model of Applications

Highly replicated cloud applications are deployed only when they are deemed to be func- tional. That is, they generally perform their task and their failure rate is relatively low. However, even though failure is rare, it does occur and is very difficult to diagnose. We devise a tool for failure diagnosis which learns the normal behaviour of an application in terms of the statistical properties of variables used throughout its execution, and then monitors it for deviation from these statistical properties. Our study reveals that many variables have unique statistical characteristics that amount to an invariant of the pro- gram. Therefore, any significant deviation from these characteristics reflects an abnormal behaviour of the application which may be caused by a program error. It is difficult to get the invariant from the application’s static code analysis alone. For example, the name of a person usually does not include a semicolon; however, an intruder may try to do a SQL injection (which will include a semicolon) through the ‘name’ field while entering his information and be successful if there is no checking for this case. This scenario can only be captured at runtime and may not be tested by the application de- veloper. The character range of the ‘name’ variable is one of its statistical properties; by learning this range from the execution of the application it is possible to detect the above described abnormal input. Hence, monitoring the statistics of values taken by the different variables of an application is an effective way to detect anomalies that can help to diagnose the failure of the application. We build a tool that collects frequent snapshots of the application’s heap and build a statistical model solely from the extensional knowledge of the application. The extensional knowledge is only obtainable from runtime data of the application without having any description or explanation of the application’s execution flow. The model characterizes the application’s normal behaviour. Collecting snapshots in form of memory dumps and determine the application’s behaviour model from them without code instrumentation make our tool applicable in cases where instrumentation is computationally expensive. Our approach allows a behaviour model to be automatically and efficiently built using the monitoring data alone. We evaluate the utility of our approach by applying it on an e-commerce application and online bidding system, and then derive different statisti- cal properties of variables from their runtime-exhibited values. Our experimental result demonstrates 96% accuracy in the generated statistical model with a maximum 1% per- formance overhead. This accuracy is measured at the basis of generating less false positive alerts when the application is running without any anomaly. The high accuracy and low performance overhead indicates that our tool can successfully determine the application’s normal behaviour without affecting the performance of the application and can be used to monitor it in production time. Moreover, our tool also correctly detected two anomalous condition while monitoring the application with a small amount of injected fault. In ad- dition to anomaly detection, our tool logs all the variables of the application that violates the learned model. The log file can help to diagnose any failure caused by the variables and gives our tool a source-code granularity in fault localization

Long-Term High Fat Diet Has a Profound Effect on Body Weight, Hormone Levels, and Estrous Cycle in Mice

Background: Obesity causes several health complications along with disruption of the reproductive system. The aim of the current study was to determine how long-term intake of very high fat diet (VHFD) changes the hormonal milieu, affecting the cellular morphology and reproductive cycle in female mice. Material/Methods: Mice were fed on normal diet (ND) and VHFD for 2 weeks, 12 weeks, and 25–27 weeks. We assessed changes in body weight, food consumption, energy intake, cellular and tissue morphology, hormonal levels (leptin, insulin, and estradiol), and vaginal smears were performed at various time points to determine the length and cellularity at each stage of the estrous cycle. Results: Mice fed on VHFD showed a significant increase in weight gain, reduction in food intake, and increase in energy intake compared to animals fed on ND, indicating that the caloric density of the diet is responsible for the differences in weight gain. Hormonal analysis showed hyperleptinemia, hyperinsulinemia, and increases in estrogen levels, along with increases in size of the islet of Langerhans and adipocytes. After 25–27 weeks, all animals fed on VHFD showed complete acyclicity; elongation of phases (e.g., diestrous), skipping of phases (e.g., metestrous), or a combination of both, indicating disruption in the reproductive cycle. Quantitative analysis showed that in the diestrous phase there was a 70% increase in cell count in VHFD compared to animals fed on ND. Conclusions: The above results show that morphological and hormonal changes caused by VHFD probably act via negative feedback to the hypothalamic-pituitary axis to shut down reproduction, which has a direct effect on the estrous cycle, causing acyclicity in mice

Cannabis as homeopathic medicine in extreme dilutions: Thermal analysis for their differentiation and action on a protein

Cannabis indica and C. sativa have been used in homeopathy in extreme dilutions, called potencies, for therapeutic purposes since 1841. The purpose of the present study is to see whether Cannabis dilutions have specific levels of free water molecules which characterize other homeopathic potencies. The second objective is to see whether Cannabis mother tincture (MT) and potencies act on the binding sites of a protein. The three potencies 8, 14 and 32 cH were prepared from Cannabis mother tincture (MT) by successive dilution followed by succussion in 8, 14 and 32 steps, respectively. The 3 potencies of diluent medium 90% EtOH were similarly prepared. Each potency was analysed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to determine the free water level in it. The drug potencies and unpotentised EtOH were tested for their binding reaction with a protein human serum albumin (HSA) by isothermal calorimetry (ITC). MTs and the potencies differ from each other and also from water control and EtOH with respect to free water content as revealed by DSC. MTs, their potencies and EtOH bind to HSA showing difference in thermodynamic parameters in terms of stoichiometry, binding constant, change in enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs free energy. Potencies may initiate their individual effect through binding with a protein thereby leading to subsequent biochemical events inside the cell

Cannabis as homeopathic medicine in extreme dilutions: Thermal analysis for their differentiation and action on a protein

506-513Cannabis indica and C. sativa have been used in homeopathy in extreme dilutions, called potencies, for therapeutic purposes since 1841. The purpose of the present study is to see whether Cannabis dilutions have specific levels of free water molecules which characterize other homeopathic potencies. The second objective is to see whether Cannabis mother tincture (MT) and potencies act on the binding sites of a protein. The three potencies 8, 14 and 32 cH were prepared from Cannabis mother tincture (MT) by successive dilution followed by succussion in 8, 14 and 32 steps, respectively. The 3 potencies of diluent medium 90% EtOH were similarly prepared. Each potency was analysed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to determine the free water level in it. The drug potencies and unpotentised EtOH were tested for their binding reaction with a protein human serum albumin (HSA) by isothermal calorimetry (ITC). MTs and the potencies differ from each other and also from water control and EtOH with respect to free water content as revealed by DSC. MTs, their potencies and EtOH bind to HSA showing difference in thermodynamic parameters in terms of stoichiometry, binding constant, change in enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs free energy. Potencies may initiate their individual effect through binding with a protein thereby leading to subsequent biochemical events inside the cell

Analysis of knockout mice suggests a role for VGF in the control of fat storage and energy expenditure

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous studies of mixed background mice have demonstrated that targeted deletion of <it>Vgf </it>produces a lean, hypermetabolic mouse that is resistant to diet-, lesion-, and genetically-induced obesity. To investigate potential mechanism(s) and site(s) of action of VGF, a neuronal and endocrine secreted protein and neuropeptide precursor, we further analyzed the metabolic phenotypes of two independent VGF knockout lines on C57Bl6 backgrounds.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Unlike hyperactive VGF knockout mice on a mixed C57Bl6-129/SvJ background, homozygous mutant mice on a C57Bl6 background were hypermetabolic with similar locomotor activity levels to <it>Vgf+/Vgf+ </it>mice, during day and night cycles, indicating that mechanism(s) other than hyperactivity were responsible for their increased energy expenditure. In <it>Vgf-/Vgf- </it>knockout mice, morphological analysis of brown and white adipose tissues (BAT and WAT) indicated decreased fat storage in both tissues, and decreased adipocyte perimeter and area in WAT. Changes in gene expression measured by real-time RT-PCR were consistent with increased fatty acid oxidation and uptake in BAT, and increased lipolysis, decreased lipogenesis, and brown adipocyte differentiation in WAT, suggesting that increased sympathetic nervous system activity in <it>Vgf-/Vgf- </it>mice may be associated with or responsible for alterations in energy expenditure and fat storage. In addition, uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) and UCP2 protein levels, mitochondrial number, and mitochondrial cristae density were upregulated in <it>Vgf-/Vgf- </it>BAT. Using immunohistochemical and histochemical techniques, we detected VGF in nerve fibers innervating BAT and <it>Vgf </it>promoter-driven reporter expression in cervical and thoracic spinal ganglia that project to and innervate the chest wall and tissues including BAT. Moreover, VGF peptide levels were quantified by radioimmunoassay in BAT, and were found to be down-regulated by a high fat diet. Lastly, despite being hypermetabolic, VGF knockout mice were cold intolerant.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We propose that VGF and/or VGF-derived peptides modulate sympathetic outflow pathways to regulate fat storage and energy expenditure.</p

A comprehensive review on global contributions and recognition of pharmacy professionals amidst COVID-19 pandemic: moving from present to future

Abstract Background COVID-19, a respiratory tract infection caused by SARS-CoV-2, is a burning question worldwide as it gives rise to a pandemic situation. No specific medications are still recommended for COVID-19; however, healthcare support is crucial for ameliorating the disease condition. Pharmacists are the frontline fighters who are responsible for providing healthcare support to the COVID-19 infected patients around the world. This review endeavored to briefly rationalize the contributions of several pharmacy professionals in diverse fields along with their collaborative efforts and dedication regarding their limitations during the COVID-19 situation and view the prospects of pharmaceutical care services in the post-pandemic period. Main body of the abstract Online databases were utilized to search for scholarly articles and organizational websites, to sum up the information about the contemporary and expanded role of pharmacists. Key articles were retrieved from Google Scholar, PubMed, and Science Direct databases using terms: “COVID-19,” “novel coronavirus,” “community,” “industrial,” “hospital,” “clinical,” “recognition,” “obstacles,” “collaboration,” “SARS-CoV-2,” “healthcare,” and “outbreak” in combination with “pharmacist.” The articles were included from the inception of the pandemic to January 25, 2021. The current review found pharmacist’s global contributions and involvements with other professionals to provide healthcare services amidst COVID-19. This included testing of suspects, providing medical information, psycho-social support, debunking myths, mitigating drug shortage events, telemedicine, e-prescription, infection control, and controlling the drug supply chain. In many countries, pharmacists’ activities were much appreciated but in some countries, they were not properly acknowledged for their contributions amidst COVID-19 outbreak. They played additional roles such as participating in the antimicrobial stewardship team, improving value-added services, conducting clinical data analysis to suppress the outspread of the SARS-CoV-2. Short conclusion During the COVID-19 pandemic while the whole world is fighting against an invisible virus, the pharmacists are the earnest hero to serve their responsibilities along with additional activities. They need to be prepared and collaborate with other healthcare professionals further to meet the challenges of post-pandemic circumstances