Architectural Support for Hypervisor-Level Intrusion Tolerance in MPSoCs

Increasingly, more aspects of our lives rely on the correctness and safety of computing systems, namely in the embedded and cyber-physical (CPS) domains, which directly affect the physical world. While systems have been pushed to their limits of functionality and efficiency, security threats and generic hardware quality have challenged their safety. Leveraging the enormous modular power, diversity and flexibility of these systems, often deployed in multi-processor systems-on-chip (MPSoC), requires careful orchestration of complex and heterogeneous resources, a task left to low-level software, e.g., hypervisors. In current architectures, this software forms a single point of failure (SPoF) and a worthwhile target for attacks: once compromised, adversaries can gain access to all information and full control over the platform and the environment it controls, for instance by means of privilege escalation and resource allocation. Currently, solutions to protect low-level software often rely on a simpler, underlying trusted layer which is often a SPoF itself and/or exhibits downgraded performance. Architectural hybridization allows for the introduction of trusted-trustworthy components, which combined with fault and intrusion tolerance (FIT) techniques leveraging replication, are capable of safely handling critical operations, thus eliminating SPoFs. Performing quorum-based consensus on all critical operations, in particular privilege management, ensures no compromised low-level software can single handedly manipulate privilege escalation or resource allocation to negatively affect other system resources by propagating faults or further extend an adversary’s control. However, the performance impact of traditional Byzantine fault tolerant state-machine replication (BFT-SMR) protocols is prohibitive in the context of MPSoCs due to the high costs of cryptographic operations and the quantity of messages exchanged. Furthermore, fault isolation, one of the key prerequisites in FIT, presents a complicated challenge to tackle, given the whole system resides within one chip in such platforms. There is so far no solution completely and efficiently addressing the SPoF issue in critical low-level management software. It is our aim, then, to devise such a solution that, additionally, reaps benefit of the tight-coupled nature of such manycore systems. In this thesis we present two architectures, using trusted-trustworthy mechanisms and consensus protocols, capable of protecting all software layers, specifically at low level, by performing critical operations only when a majority of correct replicas agree to their execution: iBFT and Midir. Moreover, we discuss ways in which these can be used at application level on the example of replicated applications sharing critical data structures. It then becomes possible to confine software-level faults and some hardware faults to the individual tiles of an MPSoC, converting tiles into fault containment domains, thus, enabling fault isolation and, consequently, making way to high-performance FIT at the lowest level

Chronic Illness-Related Shame: Development of a New Scale and Novel Approach for IBD Patients' Depressive Symptomatology

The aims of the present study were to develop and validate a scale specifically focused on shame feelings derived from chronic illness-related experiences, the Chronic Illness-related Shame Scale (CISS) and to fill a gap in literature and analyse the role of this construct in the association between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) symptomatology and depressed mood. This study comprised two samples: a sample of 161 IBD patients and a mixed sample of 65 chronic patients that reported medical data and completed self-report measures. The CISS's unidimensional seven-item structure was evaluated through confirmatory factor analyses. These analyses revealed good to excellent global and local adjustments in both samples. Results also showed that the CISS presents excellent internal consistencies and convergent, concurrent and divergent validity, being a valid, short and robust scale. Furthermore, the present study explored through path analyses, the role of CISS and self-judgement in the relationship between IBD symptomatology and depressed mood. Results showed that, although the level of IBD symptomatology directly predicted patients' depressive symptoms, the majority of this effect was mediated by CISS and self-judgement. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed in more detail in the succeeding text. The present study seems to highlight the pertinence of developing IBD patients' self-compassionate abilities to adaptively deal with symptomatology and related shame feelings. It thus may represent an avenue for the development of compassionate-based interventions for IBD patients and for the conduction of future studies exploring the shame phenomenon in other chronic illnesses. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Behind the Last Line of Defense -- Surviving SoC Faults and Intrusions

Today, leveraging the enormous modular power, diversity and flexibility of manycore systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) requires careful orchestration of complex resources, a task left to low-level software, e.g. hypervisors. In current architectures, this software forms a single point of failure and worthwhile target for attacks: once compromised, adversaries gain access to all information and full control over the platform and the environment it controls. This paper proposes Midir, an enhanced manycore architecture, effecting a paradigm shift from SoCs to distributed SoCs. Midir changes the way platform resources are controlled, by retrofitting tile-based fault containment through well known mechanisms, while securing low-overhead quorum-based consensus on all critical operations, in particular privilege management and, thus, management of containment domains. Allowing versatile redundancy management, Midir promotes resilience for all software levels, including at low level. We explain this architecture, its associated algorithms and hardware mechanisms and show, for the example of a Byzantine fault tolerant microhypervisor, that it outperforms the highly efficient MinBFT by one order of magnitude

Getting entangled with body image: Development and validation of a new measure.

Ferreira, C., Trindade, I. A., Duarte, C. & Pinto-Gouveia, J. (2015). Getting entangled with body image: Development and validation of a new measure. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 88(3), 304–316. doi: 10.1111/papt.12047Objectives. Several studies have highlighted the role of cognitive fusion on human suffering and a wide range of psychopathological conditions. Namely, this process has been regarded as a core aspect in eating disorders. Nevertheless, the study of cognitive fusion on eating psychopathology is scarce and a measure that specifically concerns body image was still to be created. The present study aimed therefore at developing and validating such measure, the Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire Body Image (CFQ-BI). Design and methods. The current study was conducted using different samples of both genders, collected in the general and student populations. The dimensionality of the CFQ-BI was tested through an exploratory factor analysis and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The scale’s internal reliability and other psychometric qualities were also analysed. Results. The CFQ-BI’s final structure was one-dimensional and comprised 10 items that assess body image-related cognitive fusion. This final structure explained a total of 73.41% of the variance. The adequacy of the questionnaire was corroborated through a CFA which revealed that CFQ-BI presents good global and local adjustment values and goodness-of-fit indices. Results also showed that the CFQ-BI holds a very good internal consistency (a = .96), convergent, divergent and temporal reliabilities, and is able to discriminate cases from non-cases of eating psychopathology. Conclusions. The CFQ-BI was thus established as a short, robust, and reliable measure of body image-related cognitive fusion. This new measure may correspond to a significant contribution to research and clinical practice in the field of body image and eating-related difficulties

The impact of illness-related shame on psychological health and social relationships: Testing a mediational model in students with chronic illness

This study explores the impact of illness‐related shame on the quality of social relationships and psychological health in chronic patients. We aimed to examine the roles of fear of receiving compassion from others and experiential avoidance as potential mediators of this relationship. Although some studies have demonstrated the negative impact of chronic illness‐related shame on psychological functioning, the mechanisms that may underlie this link remain understudied. The sample was comprised by 115 college students, which had been diagnosed with at least 1 chronic illness. Participants completed self‐report measures on an online platform. This study's design was cross‐sectional. A path analysis was conducted using structural equation modelling. Results showed that the impact of illness‐related shame on both psychological health (R2 = .45) and the quality of social relationships (R2 = .33) was fully accounted by fear of compassion from others and experiential avoidance. This model revealed an excellent fit. Fear of receiving compassion from others was the main mediator of the illness‐related shame link with the quality of social relationships (β = −.22). The main mediator of the association between shame‐related chronic illness and psychological health was experiential avoidance (β = −.21).This study shed light on possible psychological mechanisms linking feelings of shame associated with having a chronic condition and impaired social relationships and mental health. On one hand, resisting feelings of compassion and care from others and, on the other hand, avoiding difficult internal experiences and situations that might trigger them seem to underlie the impact of shame on psychological and social functioning in chronic patients

Envisioning a Safety Island to Enable HPC Devices in Safety-Critical Domains

HPC (High Performance Computing) devices increasingly become the only alternative to deliver the performance needed in safety-critical autonomous systems (e.g., autonomous cars, unmanned planes) due to deploying large and powerful multicores along with accelerators such as GPUs. However, the support that those HPC devices offer to realize safety-critical systems on top is heterogeneous. Safety islands have been devised to be coupled to HPC devices and complement them to meet the safety requirements of an increased set of applications, yet the variety of concepts and realizations is large. This paper presents our own concept of a safety island with two goals in mind: (1) offering a wide set of features to enable the broadest set of safety applications for each HPC device, and (2) being realized with open source components based on RISC-V ISA to ease its use and adoption. In particular, we present our safety island concept, the key features we foresee it should include, and its potential application beyond safety.Comment: White pape

Gemcitabine-Induced Bullous Acral Erythema

O eritema acral da quimioterapia é caracterizado por áreas eritematosas e dolorosas, envolvendo predominantemente as mãos e pés, com formação de bolhas em casos severos. A gemcitabina é responsável frequentemente por reacções adversas cutâneas, embora estas sejam habitualmente transitórias e ligeiras. Relatamos o caso de um doente sob quimioterapia paliativa com gemcitabina por adenocarcinoma ductal pancreático, que desenvolveu lesões bolhosas em ambos os pés, de maiores dimensões à esquerda. A histopatologia foi consistente com eritema acral. A variante bolhosa do eritema acral da quimioterapia é uma reacção rara e, embora descrita para agentes citotóxicos estruturalmente semelhantes, não tem sido associada à gemcitabina. No doente apresentado, os antecedentes pessoais de doença arterial periférica podem ter desempenhado um papel importante na apresentação clínica final.Chemotherapy-induced acral erythema is characterized by areas of painful erythema affecting predominantly hands and feet, and in severe cases bullous lesions may develop. Gemcitabine is frequently responsible for cutaneous side effects, but these are usually mild and transient. We report a patient under palliative chemotherapy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with gemcitabine, who presented large bullous lesions on both feet, but of larger size on the left. Histopathology was consistent with acral erythema. The bullous variant of chemotherapy-induced acral eythema is a rare reaction, and although described for structurally similar cytotoxic agents, it has not been reported in association with gemcitabine. In our case, the patient’s medical history of significant peripheral arterial disease may have also played an important role in the overall clinical presentation

Position Paper - Os Desafios da Reavaliação de Tecnologias de Saúde em Portugal

Introduction: The recently created Health Technology Assessment System (SiNATS) in Portugal will allow the reassessment of health technologies in a clinical practice context. This position paper intends to list and briefly describe the numerous challenges and limitations that may influence the premises and the Outcomes of the health technology reassessments and therefore its own purpose. This paper reflects the position adopted by the ISPOR Portugal Regional Chapter (International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research – ISPOR Portugal) regarding this subject. Methods: A group of members of ISPOR Portugal reviewed the literature available, namely documents of international workgroups that have previously focused on similar matters, and conducted a critical analysis on the challenges faced by health technologies reassessment within the national context. A final revision of the paper was requested to all members of the ISPOR Portugal Regional Chapter. Results: Several limitations that may potentially compromise the reassessment of health technologies have been identified and thoroughly described, namely those with regard to the intervention itself (i.e. the health technology), the study population, the selection of the comparator and the Health Outcomes to consider in this type of analysis. The relevance of the information sources on which the investigation of comparative effectiveness may rely upon (at least to some extent) as well as the limitations and flaws inherent to it (i.e. bias and confounding factors) were also highlighted. Conclusions: A health technology reassessment system must be subject to an a priori analysis regarding its potentialities and limitations. In this paper these issues are addressed while taking SiNATS’s goals as reference points. Nevertheless, it is necessary to give continuity to this work, particularly through the creation of workgroups whose purpose is to study and analyse with greater detail the matters mentioned herein. Such work may, in fact, prove to be crucial for a successful implementation of a reassessment system that makes fair and efficient decisions on the funding of health technologies in Portugal

Isolation and characterization of cgchi3, a nodule-specific gene from Casuarina glauca encoding a class III chitinase

Chitinases (EC 3.2.1.14) catalyse the hydrolysis of chitin, a homopolymer of b-1,4-linked N-acetyl-D-glucosamine residues. Plant chitinases are involved in a wide variety of processes; in particular, their expression has been found to be enhanced in symbiotic and pathogenic plant–microbe interactions. During this work we have cloned and characterized a gene encoding a class III chitinase from actinorhizal nodules of Casuarina glauca (cgchi3). CGCHI3 was found to be encoded by a single gene that was specifically activated in nodules as compared with uninoculated control roots and leaves. The expression of this gene was further enhanced in nodules after salicylic acid treatment and completely repressed after wounding. In situ hybridisation analysis revealed that cgchi3 is an early nodulin gene, being expressed in the meristem and in the uninfected cortical cells of young nodules. Based on the obtained results we suggest that this gene is involved in nodule development. This is the first report on a class III chitinase coding gene that is specifically activated during actinorhizal symbiosis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio