Gray-box monitoring of hyperproperties with an application to privacy

Runtime verification is a complementary approach to testing, model checking and other static verification techniques to verify software properties. Monitorability characterizes what can be verified (monitored) at run time. Different definitions of monitorability have been given both for trace properties and for hyperproperties (properties defined over sets of traces), but these definitions usually cover only some aspects of what is important when characterizing the notion of monitorability. The first contribution of this paper is a refinement of classic notions of monitorability both for trace properties and hyperproperties, taking into account, among other things, the computability of the monitor. A second contribution of our work is to show that black-box monitoring of HyperLTL (a logic for hyperproperties) is in general unfeasible, and to suggest a gray-box approach in which we combine static and runtime verification. The main idea is to call a static verifier as an oracle at run time allowing, in some cases, to give a final verdict for properties that are considered to be non-monitorable under a black-box approach. Our third contribution is the instantiation of this solution to a privacy property called distributed data minimization which cannot be verified using black-box runtime verification. We use an SMT-based static verifier as an oracle at run time. We have implemented our gray-box approach for monitoring data minimization into the proof-of-concept tool Minion. We describe the tool and apply it to a few case studies to show its feasibility

Conformational polymorphic changes in the crystal structure of the chiral antiparasitic drug praziquantel and interactions with calcium carbonate

Praziquantel is an antiparasitic drug used for decades. Currently, the praziquantel commercial preparation is a racemic mixture, in which only the levo-enantiomer possesses anthelmintic activity. The knowledge of its properties in the solid state and other chemical-physical properties is necessary for improving its efficacy and applications. Drug solid dispersions were prepared with calcium carbonate at 1:5 drug to excipient weight ratio by solvent evaporation method. Then, the modification of the crystal structure of the racemic polymorph of praziquantel in presence of calcium carbonate has been studied by means of several analytical techniques (DSC,TGA, XRD, SEM, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy and chiral liquid chromatography). This study has been completed with atomistic calculations based on empirical interatomic force fields and quantum mechanics methods applied to the crystal structure of praziquantel and of intermolecular interactions. The results evidenced that calcium carbonate provoked a conformational change in the praziquantel molecule yielding the formation of different polymorphs of praziquantel crystal. These alterations were not observed replacing calcium carbonate with colloidal silica as excipient in the solid dispersion

Nest, Egg, and Nesting Biology of the Snowy Cotinga (Carpodectes nitidus)

Volume: 114Start Page: 517End Page: 51

Los deberes formales previstos en la ley sobre r\ue9gimen y aprovechamiento de minerales no met\ue1licos del Estado Lara y las sanciones tributarias derivadas de su incumplimiento

La Ley sobre R\ue9gimen de Aprovechamiento de Minerales No Met\ue1licos del Estado Lara es un instrumento que regula de manera directa las actividades de exploraci\uf3n, explotaci\uf3n y comercializaci\uf3n de este tipo de minerales que existen en los yacimientos ubicados en el Estado Lara. El objetivo general de esta investigaci\uf3n es analizar los deberes formales previstos en la Ley sobre R\ue9gimen y Aprovechamiento de Minerales No Met\ue1licos del Estado Lara con el fin de evitar la aplicaci\uf3n de las sanciones tributarias derivadas de su incumplimiento. La investigaci\uf3n es documental de tipo explicativa y se utilizaron como t\ue9cnicas de recolecci\uf3n de informaci\uf3n las propias de este tipo de investigaci\uf3n tales como: observaci\uf3n documental, presentaci\uf3n resumida de textos y como t\ue9cnica de interpretaci\uf3n el resumen anal\uedtico y el an\ue1lisis critico. Como conclusi\uf3n se tiene que los deberes formales m\ue1s importantes contenidos en la Ley objeto de este estudio son, poseer autorizaci\uf3n para realizar actividad de explotaci\uf3n de minerales no met\ue1licos, usar gu\uedas de circulaci\uf3n, presentar informe mensual de actividades, presentar declaraci\uf3n jurada de ingresos mensuales y llevar un registro de control de explotaci\uf3n, su incumplimiento acarrea sanciones tales como la revocatoria de la autorizaci\uf3n para la explotaci\uf3n de minerales no met\ue1licos, sanciones de tipo pecuniaria y de comiso de estos minerales

Short-term clearing of opaque otoliths from larval fish

Se describe una técnica sencilla para transparentar otolitos de larvas de peces. Después de fijar los otolitos con alguna resina y dejar secar, se levanta la resina en algún punto y se agrega 1-2 gotas de Xilol. El otolito se transparenta y permite contar los anillos de crecimiento, antes de que el xilol se evapore

Canairan astronomy before the Conquest: the pre-hispanic calendar

Volume: 6Start Page: 133End Page: 15

On the relation amongst limnological factors and fish abundance in reservoirs at semiarid region

Aim:To evaluate possible nycthemeral and seasonal temporal patterns in fish assemblage associated with limnological aspects and biotic factors in two reservoirs in semarid Northeastern Brazil.MethodsFish were sampled with gillnets in nycthemeral cycles throughout the dry and rainy season in two reservoirs (Paulo Sarasate/PS and Edson Queiroz/EQ). The stomach contents of the predator species were surveyed. The limnological variables were submitted to principal components analysis, while their relation to fish abundance was determined by canonical correspondence analysis. Temporal patterns in relative fish species abundance were detected with nMDS.ResultsTemperature and dissolved oxygen levels segregated the reservoirs physico-chemically. Turbidity and chlorophyll-a levels differed between seasons, and the relative abundance of species differed between the reservoirs. Predators were more abundant in PS, while detritivores were more abundant in EQ. Triportheus signatusand Plagioscion squamosissimus were the most abundant species in both reservoirs. In general, predator abundance was positively associated with high temperature and dissolved oxygen (PS>EQ) and negatively associated with turbidity. The activity patterns of P. squamosissimus could not be explained by fluctuations in environmental variables. Non-predators tended to cluster around the vectors chlorophyll-a, pH and turbidity. Predators had a more diversified diet in PS in accordance with food availability, while predators in EQ ate only fish and shrimp. Nycthemeral patterns varied for the same species depending on the reservoir. Generally, in PS predators were more active during daylight hours while non-predators were more active after dark. However, in EQ predators and non-predators displayed similar nycthemeral activity patterns. Regardless of the reservoir, predators were more abundant in the rainy season. No seasonal trend was observed for non-predators.ConclusionsLimnological differences between PS and EQ influenced temporal species abundance patterns. The species distribution was determined by predation conditions and physiological attributes

Antibacterial activity of some medicinal Eupatorium species against antibiotic resistant pathogenic bacteria

Thirty six samples arising from hexane, dichloromethane, and methanol extracts from four medicinal Eupatorium species were screened against Gram positive and Gram negative resistant bacteria associated with nosocomial infections by disk diffusion method. The best antibacterial extracts were selected by correspondence analysis. The hexane extracts showed high inhibition against clinical isolated bacteria. The qualitative chemical analysis was realized in the best antibacterial hexane extracts. The main components identified were triterpenes and benzopyran compounds which of extensively had been reported their antibacterial activities. Our results showing that medicinal Eupatorium species studied in this work have metabolites secondary antibacterial particularly against antibiotic resistant strains, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus and validate their uses in traditional medicine.Treinta y seis extractos hexánicos, diclorometanólicos y metanólicos de cuatro especies medicinales de Eupatorium fueron ensayados contra bacterias resistentes Gram positivas y Gram negativas asociadas con infecciones nosocomiales por el método de difusión en disco. Los mejores extractos antibacterianos fueron seleccionados por un análisis de correspondencia. Los extractos hexánicos mostraron mejor inhibición de los aislados clínicos. El análisis químico cualitativo fue realizado a los extractos con mejor actividad antibacteriana. Los principales componentes identificados fueron triterpenos y benzopiranos los cuales han sido extensamente reportados por sus actividades antibacterianas. Nuestros resultados muestran que las especies medicinales de Eupatorium estudiadas en este trabajo tienen metabolitos secundarios antibacterianos contra bacterias resistentes a antibióticos tales como, Klebsiella pneumoniae y Staphylococcus aureus, y se validan sus usos en la medicina tradicional