Reliability study of duplex-hybrid systems

Duplex (double modular redundant) systems utilising standby spares are described and the reliability equations of such systems are derived. The system reliability as a function of normalised time is plotted and compared with conventional TMR (triple modular redundant) system. It is shown that the duplex-hybrid system is noticeably more reliable than the TMR-hybrid system with the similar configuration of standby spares. Implementation of a duplex-hybrid system supplemented by an intelligent unit with powerful capabilities is discussed.     

Estimation of total errors in software

To improve the reliability of software, any information about errors in computer programs is useful. A simple parametrization scheme to estimate the total errors during development phase is suggested. Estimated errors using available data are compared with the actual errors.     

Software implemented fault tolerance: A methodology

A methodology for fault tolerance is proposed. This is based on the interactions between hardware and software in a scheme made of intelligent modules. This is particularly applicable to VLSI systems. Particular emphasis has been posed on the software implementation to reduce the external hardware, as this is the main source of hard core failures. A design of a duplex hybrid system with software implemented fault tolerance is presented to evidentiate the novel characteristics of this approach.     

A microfluidic vesicle screening platform: monitoring the lipid membrane permeability of tetracyclines

For many drugs including antibiotics such as tetracyclines it is crucial that the molecule has the ability to quickly and passively permeate lipid membranes. Hence, the understanding of the permeability in relation to the molecular structure is an important aspect to rationally design novel pharmaceutically active compounds with high bioavailability. Here, we present a versatile method to study the kinetics of tetracycline permeation across liposome membranes on a microchip. Liposomes are immobilized onto the glass surface in a stripe pattern via an avidin-biotin bond and covered by microchannels to allow continuous delivery of tetracycline and buffer. The fluid flow provides a constant concentration profile and thereby resembles the drug transport via blood in the human body. Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy was used to image the formation of a fluorescent drug-europium complex inside the liposomes. The permeation rates of various tetracyclines were investigated and the results compared to a conventional method (water-octanol partitioning). The findings largely confirm the correlation between membrane permeability and lipophilicity of the permeating molecules (Overton's rule). However, slight deviations reveal that lipophilicity is an important but not the exclusive parameter for the prediction of permeation. The method is fast enough to study the permeation of unstable tetracyclines such as rolitetracycline. Additionally, with the use of different cholesterol concentrations, the influence of membrane composition on the permeation rate can be investigated conveniently. The microfluidic approach can be easily applied to investigate the kinetics of other processes such as ligand-membrane receptor association and dissociation, provided that the process can be visualized by means of fluorescence spectroscopy.     

Nondestructive identification of natural and synthetic organic colorants in works of art by surface enhanced Raman scattering

We present a new method based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for the nondestructive identification of organic colorants in objects whose value or function precludes sampling, such as drawings, prints, historic and archeological textiles, handwritten or printed documents, and forensic evidence. A bead of a polymer hydrogel loaded with a solution containing water, an organic solvent, and a chelating agent is used to extract minimal amounts of the colorants from the work of art for SERS analysis. Using a gel as a medium for the solvent mixture confines its action only to the areas of the work of art covered by the gel bead. The gel bead is then removed from the work of art, covered with a drop of Ag colloid, and examined with a Raman microscope. Transfer of the dye from the substrate to the gel does not require removing a sample from the work of art, therefore preserving the physical integrity of the object. Spectrophotometric color measurements confirm that color change is below the limit perceivable by a human observer. Finally, the size of the polymer bead can be reduced to a fraction of a millimeter in order to further minimize any impact on the work of art, without detriment to the effectiveness of the method. The technique has been successfully used for the analysis of a mordant dye on the 15th century Netherlandish tapestry, "The Hunt for the Unicorn", and of a synthetic lake pigment on a Meiji period Japanese woodblock print.     

Impact of Oral Microbiome in Periodontal Health and Periodontitis: A Critical Review on Prevention and Treatment

The skin, oral cavity, digestive and reproductive tracts of the human body harbor symbiotic and commensal microorganisms living harmoniously with the host. The oral cavity houses one of the most heterogeneous microbial communities found in the human organism, ranking second in terms of species diversity and complexity only to the gastrointestinal microbiota and including bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses. The accumulation of microbial plaque in the oral cavity may lead, in susceptible individuals, to a complex host-mediated inflammatory and immune response representing the primary etiological factor of periodontal damage that occurs in periodontitis. Periodontal disease is a chronic inflammatory condition affecting about 20–50% of people worldwide and manifesting clinically through the detection of gingival inflammation, clinical attachment loss (CAL), radiographic assessed resorption of alveolar bone, periodontal pockets, gingival bleeding upon probing, teeth mobility and their potential loss in advanced stages. This review will evaluate the changes characterizing the oral microbiota in healthy periodontal tissues and those affected by periodontal disease through the evidence present in the literature. An important focus will be placed on the immediate and future impact of these changes on the modulation of the dysbiotic oral microbiome and clinical management of periodontal disease.     

A technical characterization of APTs by leveraging public resources

Advanced persistent threats (APTs) have rocketed over the last years. Unfortunately, their technical characterization is incomplete—it is still unclear if they are advanced usages of regular malware or a different form of malware. This is key to develop an effective cyberdefense. To address this issue, in this paper we analyze the techniques and tactics at stake for both regular and APT-linked malware. To enable reproducibility, our approach leverages only publicly available datasets and analysis tools. Our study involves 11,651 regular malware and 4686 APT-linked ones. Results show that both sets are not only statistically different, but can be automatically classified with F1 > 0.8 in most cases. Indeed, 8 tactics reach F1 > 0.9. Beyond the differences in techniques and tactics, our analysis shows thats actors behind APTs exhibit higher technical competence than those from non-APT malwares.

     

TINYCD: a (not so) deep learning model for change detection

Neural Computing and Applications - In this paper, we present a lightweight and effective change detection model, called TinyCD. This model has been designed to be faster and smaller than current...