SafeRegions: performance evaluation of multi-party protocols on HBase

On-line applications and services are now a critical part of our everyday life. Using these services typically requires us to trust our personal or company's information to a large number of third-party entities. These entities enforce several security measures to avoid unauthorized accesses but data is still stored on common database systems that are designed without data privacy concerns in mind. As a result, data is vulnerable against anyone with direct access to the database, which may be external attackers, malicious insiders, spies or even subpoenas. Building strong data privacy mechanisms on top of common database systems is possible but has a significant impact on the system's resources, computational capabilities and performance. Notably, the amount of useful computation that may be done over strongly encrypted data is close to none, which defeats the purpose of offloading computation to third-party services. In this paper, we propose to shift the need to trust in the honesty and security of service providers to simply trust that they will not collude. This is reasonable as cloud providers, being competitors, do not share data among themselves. We focus on NoSQL databases and present SafeRegions, a novel prototype of a distributed and secure NoSQL database that is built on top of HBase and that guarantees strong data privacy while still providing most of HBase's query capabilities. SafeRegions relies on secret sharing and multiparty computation techniques to provide a NoSQL database built on top of multiple, non-colluding service providers that appear as a single one to the user. Strikingly, service providers, individually, cannot disclose any of the user's data but, together, are able to offer data storage and processing capabilities. Additionally, we evaluate SafeRegions exposing performance trade-offs imposed by security mechanisms and provide useful insights for future research on performance optimization

d'Artagnan: a trusted NoSQL database on untrusted clouds

Privacy sensitive applications that store confidential information such as personal identifiable data or medical records have strict security concerns. These concerns hinder the adoption of the cloud. With cloud providers under the constant threat of malicious attacks, a single successful breach is sufficient to exploit any valuable information and disclose sensitive data. Existing privacy-aware databases mitigate some of these concerns, but sill leak critical information that can potently compromise the entire system's security. This paper proposes d'Artagnan, the first privacy-aware multi-cloud NoSQL database framework that renders database leaks worthless. The framework stores data as encrypted secrets in multiple clouds such that i) a single data breach cannot break the database's confidentiality and ii) queries are processed on the server-side without leaking any sensitive information. d'Artagnan is evaluated with industry-standard benchmark on market-leading cloud providers.This work is financed by National Funds through thePortuguese funding agency, FCT - Fundação para a Ciência ea Tecnologia within project: UID/EEA/50014/2019. This workis financed by National Funds through the Portuguese fundingagency, FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia withthe grant: SFRH/BD/142704/201

Democracia digital: consultas públicas interativas

Apresenta-se neste artigo uma síntese da análise de consultas públicas interativas realizadas online a partir do Marco Civil da Internet. O trabalho investiga plataformas de participação social, mediadas pela tecnologia, que surgem como ferramentas para a promoção de diálogo entre governo e cidadãos. O objetivo geral da pesquisa é identificar variáveis relevantes na elaboração de ambientes digitais de participação social a partir de uma investigação acerca das consultas públicas interativas já realizadas no Brasil. Para destacar elementos que devem ser levados em conta ao elaborar ambientes de participação social, foram realizadas entrevistas com gestores de consultas interativas. Em seguida, foi realizada uma avaliação de inspeção, que consistiu em um mapeamento com análise documental deste tipo de iniciativa com o recorte do Governo Federal Brasileiro. De forma a complementar a investigação realizou-se um teste da interface, que envolveu pessoas interagindo com sistemas de consulta e sua análise a partir do método de avaliação de comunicabilidade, compreendido como a capacidade do designer de transmitir às pessoas, por meio da interface, o design tal como foi concebido. Para verificar a percepção das pessoas com relação à interface e estrutura de interação de consultas promovidas pelo Governo Federal, optou-se por realizar testes com usuários. Assim, ao longo deste trabalho foram agregados diversos pontos de vista sobre a promoção de consultas públicas interativas no Brasil. Com isso, foi possível elaborar recomendações para a promoção de consultas interativas, que agregaram diversas dimensões, desde a estratégia de promoção e divulgação até os prazos

Downregulation Of 14q32 Micrornas In Primary Human Desmoplastic Medulloblastoma.

Medulloblastoma (MB) is one of the most common pediatric cancers, likely originating from abnormal development of cerebellar progenitor neurons. MicroRNA (miRNA) has been shown to play an important role in the development of the central nervous system. Microarray analysis was used to investigate miRNA expression in desmoplastic MB from patients diagnosed at a young age (1 or 2 years old). Normal fetal or newborn cerebellum was used as control. A total of 84 differentially expressed miRNAs (64 downregulated and 20 upregulated) were found. Most downregulated miRNAs (32/64) were found to belong to the cluster of miRNAs at the 14q32 locus, suggesting that this miRNA locus is regulated as a module in MB. Possible mechanisms of 14q32 miRNAs downregulation were investigated by the analysis of publicly available gene expression data sets. First, expression of estrogen-related receptor-γ (ESRRG), a reported positive transcriptional regulator of some 14q32 miRNAs, was found downregulated in desmoplastic MB. Second, expression of the parentally imprinted gene MEG3 was lower in MB in comparison to normal cerebellum, suggesting a possible epigenetic silencing of the 14q32 locus. miR-129-5p (11p11.2/7q32.1), miR-206 (6p12.2), and miR-323-3p (14q32.2), were chosen for functional studies in DAOY cells. Overexpression of miR-129-5p using mimics decreased DAOY proliferation. No effect was found with miR-206 or miR-323 mimics.325

An unusual case of bacillary angiomatosis in the oral cavity of an AIDS patient who had no concomitant tegumentary lesions – case report and review

Bacillary angiomatosis (BA) is an angioproliferative disease of immunocompromised patients that usually presents as vascular tumors in the skin and subcutaneous tissues. It is caused by chronic infections with either Bartonella henselae or B. quintana. Oral cavity BA is exceedingly rare and even rarer without simultaneous cutaneous disease. We report herein the case of a 51-year-old HIV-infected man who presented severe odynophagia and an eroded lesion on the hard palate that progressed to an oronasal fistula. No cutaneous lesions were recorded. Doxycycline led to complete resolution. To the best of our knowledge, only six previous cases of oral BA without tegumentary disease have been previously reported and none of them progressed to fistula

Parque municipal do Morro do Sao bento

TCC (graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina,Centro Tecnologico,Curso de Arquitetura e Urbanism

Parque Municipal do Morro do São Bento

TCC (graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro Tecnológico. Arquiteturatcc sem resumo

Democracia digital: consultas públicas interativas

This article presents a synthesis of the analysis of interactive public consultations conducted online from the Civil Framework of the Internet. The work investigates social media platforms mediated by technology, that appear as tools for promoting dialogue between government and citizens. The general objective of the research is to identify relevant variables in the elaboration of digital social participation environments based on an investigation about interactive public consultations already carried out in Brazil. In order to highlight elements that should be taken into account when designing social participation environments, interviews with interactive consultation managers were conducted. Then, an inspection evaluation was carried out, which consisted of a mapping with documentary analysis of this type of initiative from the Brazilian Federal Government. In order to complement the research, a test of the interface was carried out, involving people interacting with query systems and their analysis based on the method of evaluation of communicability, understood as the ability of the designer to transmit to the people, through the interface, the content as designed. In order to verify the perception of the people regarding the interface and interaction structure of queries promoted by the Federal Government, it was decided to perform tests with users. Thus, throughout this work were added several points of view on the promotion of interactive public consultations in Brazil. With this, it was possible to elaborate recommendations for the promotion of interactive consultations, which included different dimensions, from the strategy of promotion and dissemination, and also the deadlines.Apresenta-se neste artigo uma síntese da análise de consultas públicas interativas realizadas online a partir do Marco Civil da Internet. O trabalho investiga plataformas de participação social, mediadas pela tecnologia, que surgem como ferramentas para a promoção de diálogo entre governo e cidadãos. O objetivo geral da pesquisa é identificar variáveis relevantes na elaboração de ambientes digitais de participação social a partir de uma investigação acerca das consultas públicas interativas já realizadas no Brasil. Para destacar elementos que devem ser levados em conta ao elaborar ambientes de participação social, foram realizadas entrevistas com gestores de consultas interativas. Em seguida, foi realizada uma avaliação de inspeção, que consistiu em um mapeamento com análise documental deste tipo de iniciativa com o recorte do Governo Federal Brasileiro. De forma a complementar a investigação realizou-se um teste da interface, que envolveu pessoas interagindo com sistemas de consulta e sua análise a partir do método de avaliação de comunicabilidade, compreendido como a capacidade do designer de transmitir às pessoas, por meio da interface, o design tal como foi concebido. Para verificar a percepção das pessoas com relação à interface e estrutura de interação de consultas promovidas pelo Governo Federal, optou-se por realizar testes com usuários. Assim, ao longo deste trabalho foram agregados diversos pontos de vista sobre a promoção de consultas públicas interativas no Brasil. Com isso, foi possível elaborar recomendações para a promoção de consultas interativas, que agregaram diversas dimensões, desde a estratégia de promoção e divulgação até os prazos

Evaluation of epidural blockade as therapy for patients with sciatica secondary to lumbar disc herniation

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE: Sciatic pain secondary to lumbar disc herniation is a complex condition that is often highly limiting. The causes of pain in disc herniation are multifactorial. Two physiopathological mechanisms are involved in discogenic pain: mechanical deformation of nerve roots and a biochemical inflammatory component resulting from contact between the intervertebral disc and neural tissue, by way of the nucleus pulposus. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of epidural blockade as therapy for bulging lumbar disc herniation. METHODS: A clinical study was conducted based on a retrospective and prospective survey. The blockade consisted of interlaminar puncture and bolus drug delivery. The number of procedures varied according to the clinical response, as determined through weekly evaluations and then 30, 90, and 180 days after the final session. A total of 124 patients who received one to five blockades were evaluated. RESULTS: The success rate (defining success as a reduction in sciatic pain of at least 80%) was 75.8%. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrated the therapeutic action of epidural blockade over the short term, i.e. in cases of acute pain, thus showing that intense and excruciating sciatic pain can be relieved through this technique. Because of the multifactorial genesis of sciatica and the difficulties encountered by healthcare professionals in treating this condition, epidural blockade can become part of therapeutic arsenal available. This procedure is situated between conservative treatment with an eminently clinical focus and surgical approaches