We are all about fighting, fitness and fun! Whether you're an experienced boxer or an absolute beginner looking to get fit and try a new hobby, QUT Boxing Club is the place to be!
We offer two weekly technique/fitness classes which caters for those wanting to learn the sport of boxing and build up their fitness. We also offer two weekly fighters/sparring classes which caters for the more experienced boxers who want to compete and represent QUT at our university boxing tournament that is held each semester.
At our classes, we provide members with all the equipment necessary to practice boxing in a safe and friendly environment. In addition, we throw many social events throughout the semester, including our launch party, end of semester party and weekend training camp to Byron Bay.
As a member of our club, you will have the opportunity to attend and represent QUT at upcoming amateur tournaments, receive discounted deals from our sponsors and be part of more than a club, a family.


Gucci Glasses 2013. First Release This Year.
Gucci is taking this year by storm. At least in Canada. Their print ads are everywhere – in malls, on billboards, on bus stations and in many more public places. I do think that their next big step is to expand the stores across North America. In North America brand is one of the major factors why people buy certain things. So Gucci is pushing on to make their brand really really big.
So, what's up with glasses this year. Well, I have good news and bad news. Good news is that Gucci added over 30 new models. This is a very large amount of models for one single release. I mean most of brands just have 30 models total. Gucci added 30 new to already existing 60. Bad news is that all of these so called new models, are actually put back into production best sellers over the years. You can actually find 10 year old models back in production. So, the strategy so far has been why fix it if it's not broken. If glasses were selling like a hot cake then, why reinvent the wheel. Just give people what they want.
Gucci Won Trademark Lawsuit Against Guess. Is the Battle Over?
After 3 years of evidence collection and trials Gucci finally won a trademark lawsuit against Guess. We have already written about the case and presented our evidence comparing Gucci and Guess products back to back. The viewer was to analyze and make conclusions, but case definitely had grounds. Famous GG logo has been used in a very similar fashion by Guess, disregarding the fact that GG stands for Guccio Gucci and has been around for 100 years, while Guess only has one "G" in their brand name. Very minor interpretation of the logo was used by Guess in purses, shoes and glasses imitating the famous pattern style, brown/beige color combination and even font style. Gucci has used single G in bold style, and in the past few years spelled entire word Gucci in Italic font. Guess followed both examples in their products.
Among another violations were examples of Guess using red and green stripe, shapes and designs of various products and "coincidental" timing with which these were coming out – always after Gucci releases to the stores.
While Gucci has won, they were only awarded $4.6 million dollars in damages instead of $200 that they were seeking. This perhaps has something to do with the fact that the lawsuit took stands in the United States, native to Guess. Even to be fair, trademark infringement was hard to deny, how $4.6 million figure came about is unclear.
In the meanwhile this Spring one can find a new Guess collection, that to me looks way too much similar to iconic Chanel – little rectangular quilted pursues with the chain handle. Is this a beginning of a new fashion wave or targeted marketing endeavor by Guess marketing department?
A lawsuit for trademark infringement between Gucci and Guess was suppose to be a private mitigation at first. But now, after the first hearing on March 26, the lawsuit seems to have turned into a real public war between the two brands. Only lazy publication didn't write about it in fashion section over the past 3 days.
A month ago Gucci has filed a claim against Guess for infringing their interlocking GG logo by using it consistently in shoes and accessory products. A plaintiff Gucci is looking for immediate cease of logo use and $215 million in damages. Of course for Guess, taking all the products off the shelf that currently are in circulation with logo in question, would turn the overall damage into a billion, should they lose the case.
The history behind interlocking GG logo is out of questions, since Guccio Gucci used it since 1921 when he founded his famous namesake company. Guess, an American company, was founded 60 years later in 1981, and according to the lawsuit claim, started to heavily imitate Gucci logo and it's use 7 years ago.
Many Guess customers have clearly enjoyed the imitation and perhaps, even bought much cheaper Guess products due to their resemblance of luxury brand Gucci. Initially Guess just adopted their own version of interlocking GG, but later turned over to imitating color combinations, ideas, shapes and details of design.
On March 26 Guess spoke out the first line of defense claiming that Gucci, over the 7 years has never issued a warning and that their products are not meant to resemble Gucci. We will very closely watch the case. Right now we can't really predict, the outcome is really 50/50 because both companies have a point. However, the fact that the case is happening out of the New York courthouse is partially against Gucci because Guess is one of the most respected American companies. And the rule of thumb so far has been "Don't sue American company in America".
While Guess is in defense, let's use our own judgment. Here is our attempt to set things straight and offer real product to product Guess to Gucci comparison.
What do you think, did Guess violate Gucci rights on the use of trademark?
Gucci has entered 2012 with a powerful men collection of sunglasses. Ladies are never left off by Gucci as it's one of the most progressive and trend setting global Italian brands. Target market is very broad – from teenage girls to mid age and older ladies who have a down to earth, modern style and respect quality. Apart from many companies, Gucci is exclusively made in Italy.
So, how to identify a 2012 collection? Gucci, has added a new logo. It's in a way transformed famous GG logo, but in a shape of a heart! So cute!
Here is a new ladies Gucci 2012 collection.
Gucci known as one of the most productive brands in area of eyewear. Every year we see four seasonal releases of new collections and also a few more models in between.
Many people ask what is the general style of Gucci sunglasses. I think that, in comparison to Dior sunglasses they are more casual. But this is also true in clothing. If to compare Gucci sunglasses to Roberto Cavalli sunglasses, it is evident that Roberto Cavalli is more dressed up and geared towards more posh clientele. And of course, Gucci is no math to Tiffany sunglasses, just like the whole positioning of the brand. Tiffany is a jewelry company where Gucci is true fashion. Gucci sunglasses without question are more fashionable and trend forward. In many cases Gucci sunglasses set a trend for other brands for the year.
Gucci Rx glasses for men also has a few models in 2012.


As we know, German nouns can be masculine, feminine, or neuter, and the article used with a noun is dependent on its gender. You may have already been advised to memorize the definite article der, die, or das as an essential part of the noun itself, as there are few patterns that will reliably help you retrieve the gender of the noun later on. At Yabla, we try to help with this by always including the definite article of any new vocabulary words presented in our newsletters.
However, because new words are not always presented with their definite article in Yabla videos or in real life situations, it may be good to learn a few tendencies that exist for certain word endings. Let's start with some typically masculine endings, keeping in mind that these rules do have exceptions and that memorizing the article along with each individual noun will always be a better idea.
Often, words ending with -er, -or, -en, -ling, -smus, -ig, -eig, -ant, or -eich are masculine and require the definite article der.
Der Teig hat doch eine ganze Stunde gebraucht, um fertig zu werden.
The batter did indeed take a whole hour to be ready.
Dann wird der Honig in Gläser abgefüllt.
Then the honey is poured into jars.
Der Garten, den ihr hier seht, der gehört zur Domäne Dahlem.
The garden, which you see here, belongs to the Dömane Dahlem [name of museum].
It is important to note that these rules often don't apply to monosyllabic words. For example, words ending in -eich are often masculine, but not das Reich ("the empire").
Und der hintere Bereich jetzt hier, wo kommen wir jetzt hin?
And the area now behind here, where are we going now?
And don't forget: these "rules" are really only tendencies due to exceptions. As we see here, there are words ending with -ant that are not masculine.
Der Elefant wollte an seine Frau nach Afrika schreiben.
The elephant wanted to write to his wife in Africa.
Wie heißt das Restaurant, dessen Essen so... dessen Essen so gut sein soll?
What is the name of the restaurant whose food... whose food is supposed to be so good?
We will be back next week with typical endings for feminine nouns. In the meantime, make some flashcards with vocabulary from past lessons or your favorite videos on Yabla German, and always include the definite article so that you learn the gender of the noun. If you have flashcards but have not included the articles, add them now! It is important to get into the habit of doing so.


text:
package com.stevens

object DistanceUtil {
  def squaredDistance(point1: Array[Int], point2: Array[Int]): Double = {
    if (point1.length != point2.length) {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("Vector sizes do not match")
    }

    point1.zip(point2).map {case(val1, val2) =>
      Math.pow(val1 * val2, 2)
    }.sum
  }

  def euclideanDistance(point1: Array[Int], point2: Array[Int]): Double = {
    Math.sqrt(squaredDistance(point1, point2))
  }

  def cosineSimilarity(point1: Array[Int], point2: Array[Int]): Double = {
    val dotProduct = point1.zip(point2).map {case(val1, val2) =>
      val1 * val2
    }.sum

    val normalized1 = Math.sqrt(point1.zip(point1).map {case(val1, val2) =>
      val1 * val2
    }.sum)

    val normalized2 = Math.sqrt(point2.zip(point2).map {case(val1, val2) =>
      val1 * val2
    }.sum)

    dotProduct.toDouble / (normalized1.toDouble * normalized1.toDouble)
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Head of Lab.
Javier Lopez
Faculty Staff Members
Isaac Agudo
Cristina Alcaraz
Carmen F. Gago
Jose A. Montenegro
Antonio Muñoz
Ana Nieto
Jose A. Onieva
Juan J. Ortega
Rodrigo Roman
Post-Doc Researchers
Lorena Cazorla
David Núñez
Ruben Rios
PhD. Students
Gerardo Fernandez
Davide Ferraris
Martin Kolar
Juan Enrique Rubio
Tech & Mngt Staff
Noelia Campos
Sarai Infantes
Manuel Montenegro
Daniel Morales
Raúl Ocaña
Benjamín Vega
Antonio Acien
Ángel Balastegui
Andrés Benjumea
Saúl Formoso
David Galindo
Daniel Mérida
Francisco Moyano
Eduardo Nájera
Pablo Nájera
Miguel A. Ramírez
José M. Troya
José Luis Vivas
Computer Science Department, University of Malaga
Campus de Teatinos s/n,29071 - Malaga (Spain)
Phone: +34 952139313 / +34 951952915 Fax: +34 951952749
E-mail: alcaraz@lcc.uma.es
Previous Positions
Ramón y Cajal postdoctoral fellowship, Economy and Competitiveness Ministry Spain, 2015.
Marie-Curie postdoctoral researcher at Royal Holloway, University of London, Department of Mathematics, University of London, U.K., August 2012 - August 2014.
Guest Researcher at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Washington D.C., United States, November 2011 - August 2012.
Ph.D. in Computer Science with European Doctorate mention, University of Malaga (Spain), September, 2011.
Title of PhD thesis: "Interconnected Sensor Networks for Critical Information Infrastructure Protection".
Advisor: Prof. Javier Lopez
M.Sc. in Computer Science, University of Malaga, Malaga, 2003-2006.
B.Sc. in Computer Science, University of Malaga, 1997-2003.
Seguridad en Servicios y Aplicaciones
(Security in Services and Applications)
(Information Security) ( office hours: Tuesday 10:30 to 13:30,
Administración de Equipos y Sistemas en Red Wednesday - 09:30 to 11:30 (virtual),
(Administration of Equipment and Network Systems) Friday - 10:30 to 11:30)
Scope of Research
Secure monitoring and control in Critical Systems
Smart Grids Security and Privacy
Security in Industry 4.0 Infrastructures
Cyber-Physical Systems Security
Editorial Board Member:
Journal of Surveillance, Security and Safety (JSSS), OAE Publishing Inc.
Security and Communication Networks (SCN), John Wiley & Sons.
International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection (IJCIP), Springer.
Transactions on Emerging Telecomunications Technologies (ETT), John Wiley & Sons.
Telecommunication Systems (TELS), Springer.
International Journal of Critical Infrastructures (IJCIS), Inderscience Publishers.
European CIIP Member Newsletter (ECN).
Ad Hoc Networks, Elsevier (2014-2016).
Computers & Electrical Engineering (CAEE), Elsevier Science (2013-2016).
Guest Editor:
C. Alcaraz, M. Burmester, J. Cuellar, X. Huang, P. Kotzanikolaou, M. Psarakis, Special Issue on Secure Embedded IoT Devices for Resilient Critical Infrastructures, IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 2019.
C. Alcaraz, X. Huang, E. Rome, Special Issue on Security and Privacy in Cloud-Assisted Cyber-Physical Systems, Computer Networks, Elsevier, 2018.
M. Aguilar, C. Tripp, C. Alcaraz, Special Issue on Performance Modeling and Analysis of Wireless Ad-Hoc and Sensor Networks, Ad Hoc Networks Journal, Elsevier, 2016.
N. Sklavos, S. Zeadally, C. Alcaraz, Special Issue on Modern Trends in Applied Security: Architectures, Implementations and Applications, Computers & Electrical Engineering, Elsevier Science Press, 2011.
IEEE Technical Committees:
IEEE SMC Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society (Enterprise Information Systems)
IEEE SMC Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society (Homeland Security)
Relevant Publications and/or Recent Publications:
C. Alcaraz, "Security and Privacy Trends in the Industrial Internet of Things",
Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications, Springer, In Press. More..
JOURNALS:
C. Alcaraz, G. Bernieri, F. Pascucci, J. Lopez, and R. Setola, "Covert Channels-based Stealth Attacks in Industry 4.0",
IEEE Systems Journal., IEEE, In Press. (I.F.: 4.463)More..
Industry 4.0 advent opens several cyber-threats scenarios originally designed for classic information technology, drawing the attention to the serious risks for the modern industrial control networks. To cope with this problem, in this paper we address the security issues related to covert channels applied to industrial networks, identifying the new vulnerability points when information technologies converge with operational technologies such as edge computing infrastructures. Specifically, we define two signaling strategies where we exploit the Modbus/TCP protocol as target to set up a covert channel. Once the threat channel is established, passive and active offensive attacks (i.e. data exfiltration and command an control, respectively) are further exploited by implementing and testing them on a real Industrial Internet of Things testbed. The experimental results highlight the potential damage of such specific threats, and the easy extrapolation of the attacks to other types of channels in order to show the new risks for Industry 4.0. Related to this, we discuss some countermeasures to offer an overview of possible mitigation and defense measures.
Journal Citation Reports® Science Edition (Thomson Reuters, 2018)
I. Stellios, P. Kotzanikolaou, M. Psarakis, C. Alcaraz, and J. Lopez, "Survey of IoT-enabled Cyberattacks: Assessing Attack Paths to Critical Infrastructures and Services",
IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials, vol. 20, issue 4, IEEE, pp. 3453-3495, 07/2018. DOI (I.F.: 22.973)More..
As the deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) is experiencing an exponential growth, it is no surprise that many recent cyber attacks are IoT-enabled: The attacker initially exploits some vulnerable IoT technology as a first step towards compromising a critical system that is connected, in some way, with the IoT. For some sectors, like industry, smart grids, transportation and medical services, the significance of such attacks is obvious, since IoT technologies are part of critical backend systems. However, in sectors where IoT is usually at the enduser side, like smart homes, such attacks can be underestimated, since not all possible attack paths are examined. In this paper we survey IoT-enabled cyber attacks, found in all application domains since 2010. For each sector, we emphasize on the latest, verified IoT-enabled attacks, based on known real-world incidents and published proof-of-concept attacks. We methodologically analyze representative attacks that demonstrate direct, indirect and subliminal attack paths against critical targets. Our goal is threefold: (i) To assess IoT-enabled cyber attacks in a risk-like approach, in order to demonstrate their current threat landscape; (ii) To identify hidden and subliminal IoT-enabled attack paths against critical infrastructures and services, and (iii) To examine mitigation strategies for all application domains.
Impact Factor: 22.973
J. Lopez, J. E. Rubio, and C. Alcaraz, "A Resilient Architecture for the Smart Grid",
IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, vol. 14, issue 8, IEEE, pp. 3745-3753, 08/2019, 2018. DOI (I.F.: 7.377)More..
The Smart Grid offers many benefits due to the bidirectional communication between the users and the utility company, which makes it possible to perform a fine-grain consumption metering. This can be used for Demand Response purposes with the generation and delivery of electricity in real time. It is essential to rapidly anticipate high peaks of demand or potential attacks, so as to avoid power outages and denial of service, while effectively supplying consumption areas. In this paper, we propose a novel architecture where cloud computing resources are leveraged (and tested in practice) to enable, on the one hand, the consumption prediction through time series forecasting, as well as load balancing to uniformly distribute the demand over a set of available generators. On the other and, it also allows the detection of connectivity losses and intrusions within the control network by using controllability concepts.
C. Alcaraz, "Cloud-Assisted Dynamic Resilience for Cyber-Physical Control Systems",
IEEE Wireless Communications, vol. 25, no. 1, IEEE, pp. 76-82, 02/2018. DOI (I.F.: 11)More..
Impact Factor: 11
C. Alcaraz, and J. Lopez, "A Cyber-Physical Systems-Based Checkpoint Model for Structural Controllability",
IEEE Systems Journal, vol. 12, issue 4, IEEE, pp. 3543-3554, 12/2018. DOI (I.F.: 4.463)More..
The protection of critical user-centric applications, such as Smart Grids and their monitoring systems, has become one of the most cutting-edge research areas in recent years. The dynamic complexity of their cyber-physical systems (CPSs) and their strong inter-dependencies with power systems, are bringing about a significant increase in security problems that may be exploited by attackers. These security holes may, for example, trigger the disintegration of the structural controllability properties due to the problem of non-locality, affecting, sooner or later, the provision of the essential services to end-users. One way to address these situations could be through automatic checkpoints in charge of inspecting the healthy status of the control network and its critical nature. This inspection can be subject to special mechanisms composed of trustworthy cyberphysical elements capable of detecting structural changes in the control and activating restoration procedures with support for warning. This is precisely the aim of this paper, which presents a CPSs-based checkpoint model with the capacity to manage heterogeneous replications that help ensure data redundancy, thereby guaranteeing the validity of the checkpoints. As a support to this study, a theoretical and practical analysis is addressed to show the functionality of the approach in real contexts.
C. Alcaraz, J. Lopez, and S. Wolthunsen, "OCPP Protocol: Security Threats and Challenges",
IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, vol. 8, issue 5, IEEE, pp. 2452 - 2459, 02/2017. (I.F.: 7.364)More..
One benefit postulated for the adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs) is their ability to act as stabilizing entities in smart grids through bi-directional charging, allowing local or global smoothing of peaks and imbalances. This benefit, however, hinges indirectly on the reliability and security of the power flows thus achieved. Therefore this paper studies key security properties of the alreadydeployed Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) specifying communication between charging points and energy management systems. It is argued that possible subversion or malicious endpoints in the protocol can also lead to destabilization of power networks. Whilst reviewing these aspects, we focus, from a theoretical and practical standpoint, on attacks that interfere with resource reservation originating with the EV, which may also be initiated by a man in the middle, energy theft or fraud. Such attacks may even be replicated widely, resulting in over- or undershooting of power network provisioning, or the (total/partial) disintegration of the integrity and stability of power networks.
Citekey Alcaraz:2017:COSE not found
J. E. Rubio, C. Alcaraz, and J. Lopez, "Recommender System for Privacy-Preserving Solutions in Smart Metering",
Pervasive and Mobile Computing, vol. 41, Pervasive and Mobile Computing, pp. 205-218, 10/2017. (I.F.: 2.974)More..
Nowadays, Smart Grid is envisaged to provide several benefits to both customers and grid operators. However, Smart Meters introduce many privacy issues if consumption data is analysed. In this paper we analyse the main techniques that address privacy when collecting electricity readings. In addition to privacy, it is equally important to preserve efficiency to carry on with monitoring operations, so further control requirements and communication protocols are also studied. Our aim is to provide guidance to installers who intend to integrate such mechanisms on the grid, presenting an expert system to recommend an appropriate deployment strategy.
C. Alcaraz, J. Lopez, and S. Wolthusen, "Policy Enforcement System for Secure Interoperable Control in Distributed Smart Grid Systems",
Journal of Network and Computer Applications, vol. 59, Elsevier, pp. 301–314, 01/2016. (I.F.: 3.500)More..
Interoperability of distributed systems in charge of monitoring and maintaining the different critical domains belonging to Smart Grid scenarios comprise the central topic of this paper. Transparency in control transactions under a secure and reliable architecture is the aim of the policy enforcement system proposed here. The approach is based on the degree of observation of a context and on the role-based access control model defined by the IEC-62351-8 standard. Only authenticated and authorised entities are able to take control of those distributed elements (e.g., IEC-61850 objects) located at distant geographical locations and close to the critical infrastructures (e.g., substations). To ensure the effectiveness of the approach, it is built on graphical-theoretical formulations corresponding to graph theory, where it is possible to illustrate power control networks through power-law distributions whose monitoring relies on structural controllability theory. The interconnection of these distributions is subject to a network architecture based on the concept of the supernode where the interoperability depends on a simple rule-based expert system. This expert system focuses not only on accepting or denying access, but also on providing the means to attend to extreme situations, avoiding, as much as possible, the overloading of the communication. Through one practical study we also show the functionalities of the approach and the benefits that the authorisation itself can bring to the interoperability.
L. Cazorla, C. Alcaraz, and J. Lopez, "Cyber Stealth Attacks in Critical Information Infrastructures",
Current Critical Infrastructures (CIs) are complex interconnected industrial systems that, in recent years, have incorporated information and communications technologies such as connection to the Internet and commercial off-the-shelf components. This makes them easier to operate and maintain, but exposes them to the threats and attacks that inundate conventional networks and systems. This paper contains a comprehensive study on the main stealth attacks that threaten CIs, with a special focus on Critical Information Infrastructures (CIIs). This type of attack is characterized by an adversary who is able to finely tune his actions to avoid detection while pursuing his objectives. To provide a complete analysis of the scope and potential dangers of stealth attacks we determine and analyze their stages and range, and we design a taxonomy to illustrate the threats to CIs, offering an overview of the applicable countermeasures against these attacks. From our analysis we understand that these types of attacks, due to the interdependent nature of CIs, pose a grave danger to critical systems where the threats can easily cascade down to the interconnected systems.
L. Cazorla, C. Alcaraz, and J. Lopez, "A Three-Stage Analysis of IDS for Critical Infrastructures",
Computers & Security, vol. 55, no. November, Elsevier, pp. 235-250, 2015. (I.F.: 1.64)More..
The correct operation of Critical Infrastructures (CIs) is vital for the well being of society, however these complex systems are subject to multiple faults and threats every day. International organizations around the world are alerting the scientific community to the need for protection of CIs, especially through preparedness and prevention mechanisms. One of the main tools available in this area is the use of Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs). However, in order to deploy this type of component within a CI, especially within its Control System (CS), it is necessary to verify whether the characteristics of a given IDS solution are compatible with the special requirements and constraints of a critical environment. In this paper, we carry out an extensive study to determine the requirements imposed by the CS on the IDS solutions using the Non-Functional Requirements (NFR) Framework. The outcome of this process are the abstract properties that the IDS needs to satisfy in order to be deployed within a CS, which are refined through the identification of satisficing techniques for the NFRs. To provide quantifiable measurable evidence on the suitability of the IDS component for a CI, we broaden our study using the Goal Question Metric (GQM) approach to select a representative set of metrics. A requirements model, refined with satisficing techniques and sets of metrics which help assess, in the most quantifiable way possible, the suitability and performance of a given IDS solution for a critical scenario, constitutes the results of our analysis.
Citekey not found
J. E. Rubio, C. Alcaraz, and J. Lopez, "Selecting Privacy Solutions to Prioritise Control in Smart Metering Systems",
The 11th International Conference on Critical Information Infrastructures Security, vol. 10242, pp. 176-188, 2017. More..
The introduction of the Smart Grid brings with it several benefits to society, because its bi-directional communication allows both users and utilities to have better control over energy usage. However, it also has some privacy issues with respect to the privacy of the customers when analysing their consumption data. In this paper we review the main privacy-preserving techniques that have been proposed and compare their efficiency, to accurately select the most appropriate ones for undertaking control operations. Both privacy and performance are essential for the rapid adoption of Smart Grid technologies.
C. Alcaraz, and S. Zeadally, "Critical Infrastructure Protection: Requirements and Challenges for the 21st Century",
International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection (IJCIP), vol. 8, Elsevier Science, pp. 53–66, 01/2015. DOI (I.F.: 1.351)More..
Critical infrastructures play a vital role in supporting modern society. The reliability, performance, continuous operation, safety, maintenance and protection of critical infrastructures are national priorities for countries around the world. This paper explores the vulnerabilities and threats facing modern critical infrastructures with special emphasis on industrial control systems, and describes a number of protection measures. The paper also discusses some of the challenging areas related to critical infrastructure protection such as governance and security management, secure network architectures, self-healing, modeling and simulation, wide-area situational awareness, forensics and learning, and trust management and privacy.
L. Cazorla, C. Alcaraz, and J. Lopez, "Awareness and Reaction Strategies for Critical Infrastructure Protection",
Computers and Electrical Engineering, vol. 47, issue October, Elsevier, pp. 299-317, 2015. DOI (I.F.: 1.084)More..
Current Critical Infrastructures (CIs) need intelligent automatic active reaction mechanisms to protect their critical processes against cyber attacks or system anomalies, and avoid the disruptive consequences of cascading failures between interdependent and interconnected systems. In this paper we study the Intrusion Detection, Prevention and Response Systems (IDPRS) that can offer this type of protection mechanisms, their constituting elements and their applicability to critical contexts. We design a methodological framework determining the essential elements present in the IDPRS, while evaluating each of their sub-components in terms of adequacy for critical contexts. We review the different types of active and passive countermeasures available, categorizing them and assessing whether or not they are suitable for Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP). Through our study we look at different reaction systems and learn from them how to better create IDPRS solutions for CIP.
C. Alcaraz, and J. Lopez, "WASAM: A Dynamic Wide-Area Situational Awareness Model for Critical Domains in Smart Grids",
Future Generation Computer Systems, vol. 30, Elsevier, pp. 146-154, 2014. DOI (I.F.: 2.786)More..
Control from anywhere and at anytime is nowadays a matter of paramount importance in critical systems. This is the case of the Smart Grid and its domains which should be monitored through intelligent and dynamic mechanisms able to anticipate, detect and respond before disruptions arise within the system. Given this fact and its importance for social welfare and the economy, a model for wide-area situational awareness is proposed in this paper. The model is based on a set of current technologies such as the wireless sensor networks, the ISA100.11a standard and cloud-computing together with a set of high-level functional services. These services include global and local support for prevention through a simple forecast scheme, detection of anomalies in the observation tasks, response to incidents, tests of accuracy and maintenance, as well as recovery of states and control in crisis situations.
C. Alcaraz, and J. Lopez, "Diagnosis Mechanism for Accurate Monitoring in Critical Infrastructure Protection",
Computer Standards & Interfaces, vol. 36, issue 3, Elsevier, pp. 501-512, 2014. DOI (I.F.: 0.879)More..
Situational awareness for critical infrastructure protection, such as for energy control systems, has become a topic of interest in recent years. Despite attempts to address this area of research, more progress is still necessary to find attractive solutions that help bring about prevention and response at all times from anywhere and at any time. Given this need, we therefore propose in this paper, a smart mechanism able to offer a wide-area situational awareness with the ability to: (i) Control the real state of the observed infrastructure, (ii) respond to emergency situations and (iii) assess the degree of ccuracy of the entire control system. To address these aspects, the mechanism is based on a hierarchical configuration of industrial sensors for control, the ISA100.11a standard for the prioritization and alarm management, and the F-Measure technique to study the level of accuracy of a sensor inside a neighbourhood. As proof of the functionality and feasibility of the mechanism for critical contexts, a software application implemented in nesC and Java is also presented in this paper.
C. Alcaraz, and S.. Zeadally, "Critical Control System Protection in the 21st Century: Threats and Solutions",
IEEE Computer, vol. 46, no. 10, IEEE Computer Society, pp. 74 - 83, 2013. DOI (I.F.: 1.438)More..
Information systems, networks, and technologies have become an integral part of modern critical control systems that manage many of today's critical infrastructures. The continuous operation, maintenance, and protection of critical infrastructures have become a high national priority for governments around the world because our society heavily depends on them for most of our daily activities (travel, power usage, banking transactions, telecommunications, etc) and safety. It is therefore critical that these infrastructures have to be protected from potential accidental incidents or cyberattacks. We present the fundamental architectural components of critical control systems which manage most critical infrastructures. We identify some of the vulnerabilities and threats to modern critical control systems followed by protection solutions that can be deployed to mitigate attacks exploiting these vulnerabilities.
C. Alcaraz, and J. Lopez, "Wide-Area Situational Awareness for Critical Infrastructure Protection",
IEEE Computer, vol. 46, no. 4, IEEE Computer Society, pp. 30-37, 2013. DOI (I.F.: 1.438)More..
Combining a wide-area situational awareness (WASA) methodological framework with a set of requirements for awareness construction can help in the development and commissioning of future WASA cyberdefense solutions
C. Alcaraz, R. Roman, P. Najera, and J. Lopez, "Security of Industrial Sensor Network-based Remote Substations in the context of the Internet of Things",
Ad Hoc Networks, vol. 11, Elsevier, pp. 1091–1104, 2013. DOI (I.F.: 1.943)More..
The main objective of remote substations is to provide the central system with sensitive information from critical infrastructures, such as generation, distribution or transmission power systems. Wireless sensor networks have been recently applied in this particular context due to their attractive services and inherent benefits, such as simplicity, reliability and cost savings. However, as the number of control and data acquisition systems that use the Internet infrastructure to connect to substations increases, it is necessary to consider what connectivity model the sensor infrastructure should follow: either completely isolated from the Internet or integrated with it as part of the Internet of Things paradigm. This paper therefore addresses this question by providing a thorough analysis of both security requirements and infrastructural requirements corresponding to all those TCP/IP integration strategies that can be applicable to networks with constrained computational resources.
J. Lopez, C. Alcaraz, and R. Roman, "Smart Control of Operational Threats in Control Substations",
Computers & Security, vol. 38, Elsevier, pp. 14-27, OCT 2013. DOI (I.F.: 1.172)More..
Any deliberate or unsuitable operational action in control tasks of critical infrastructures, such as energy generation, transmission and distribution systems that comprise sub-domains of a Smart Grid, could have a significant impact on the digital economy: without energy, the digital economy cannot live. In addition, the vast majority of these types of critical systems are configured in isolated locations where their control depends on the ability of a few, supposedly trustworthy, human operators. However, this assumption of reliabilty is not always true. Malicious human operators (criminal insiders) might take advantage of these situations to intentionally manipulate the critical nature of the underlying infrastructure. These criminal actions could be not attending to emergency events, inadequately responding to incidents or trying to alter the normal behaviour of the system with malicious actions. For this reason, in this paper we propose a smart response mechanism that controls human operators' operational threats at all times. Moreover, the design of this mechanism allows the system to be able to not only evaluate by itself, the situation of a particular scenario but also to take control when areas are totally unprotected and/or isolated. The response mechanism, which is based on Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks (IWSNs) for the constant monitoring of observed critical infrastructures, on reputation for controlling human operators' actions, and on the ISA100.11a standard for alarm management, has been implemented and simulated to evaluate its feasibility for critical contexts.
C. Alcaraz, and J. Lopez, "Analysis of Requirements for Critical Control Systems",
International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection (IJCIP), vol. 5, Elsevier, pp. 137–145, 2012. DOI (I.F.: 0.63)More..
The use of modern information and communications technologies in supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems used in the critical infrastructure has become an important topic of research. The modernization significantly enhances operational performance, but also introduces security issues and the associated risks. This paper formally analyzes how the introduction of new technologies can impact control systems and ultimately affect the performance of the critical infrastructure systems being controlled. Five control system requirements are identified with the goal of proposing new operational requirements that trade-off performance and security.
C. Alcaraz, J. Lopez, R. Roman, and H-H. Chen, "Selecting key management schemes for WSN applications",
Computers & Security, vol. 31, no. 38, Elsevier, pp. 956–966, Nov 2012. DOI (I.F.: 1.158)More..
Key management in wireless sensor networks (WSN) is an active research topic. Due to the fact that a large number of key management schemes (KMS) have been proposed in the literature, it is not easy for a sensor network designer to know exactly which KMS best fits in a particular WSN application. In this article, we offer a comprehensive review on how the application requirements and the properties of various key management schemes influence each other. Based on this review, we show that the KMS plays a critical role in determining the security performance of a WSN network with given application requirements. We also develop a method that allows the network designers to select the most suitable KMS for a specific WSN network setting. In addition, the article also addresses the issues on the current state-of-the-art research on the KMS for homogeneous (i.e. non-hierarchical) networks to provide solutions for establishing link-layer keys in various WSN applications and scenarios.
S.. Zeadally, A.. Pathan, C. Alcaraz, and M.. Badra, "Towards Privacy Protection in Smart Grid",
Wireless Personal Communications, vol. 73, Springer, pp. 23-50, Nov 2013, 2012. DOI (I.F.: 0.428)More..
The smart grid is an electronically controlled electrical grid that connects power generation, transmission, distribution, and consumers using information communication technologies. One of the key characteristics of the smart grid is its support for bi-directional information flow between the consumer of electricity and the utility provider. This two-way interaction allows electricity to be generated in real-time based on consumers' demands and power requests. As a result, consumer privacy becomes an important concern when collecting energy usage data with the deployment and adoption of smart grid technologies. To protect such sensitive information it is imperative that privacy protection mechanisms be used to protect the privacy of smart grid users. We present an analysis of recently proposed smart grid privacy solutions and identify their strengths and weaknesses in terms of their implementation complexity, efficiency, robustness, and simplicity.
R. Roman, C. Alcaraz, J. Lopez, and N. Sklavos, "Key management systems for sensor networks in the context of the Internet of Things",
Computers & Electrical Engineering, vol. 37, Elsevier, pp. 147-159, Mar 2011. DOI (I.F.: 0.837)More..
If a wireless sensor network (WSN) is to be completely integrated into the Internet as part of the Internet of Things (IoT), it is necessary to consider various security challenges, such as the creation of a secure channel between an Internet host and a sensor node. In order to create such a channel, it is necessary to provide key management mechanisms that allow two remote devices to negotiate certain security credentials (e.g. secret keys) that will be used to protect the information flow. In this paper we will analyse not only the applicability of existing mechanisms such as public key cryptography and pre-shared keys for sensor nodes in the IoT context, but also the applicability of those link-layer oriented key management systems (KMS) whose original purpose is to provide shared keys for sensor nodes belonging to the same WSN.
C. Alcaraz, J. Lopez, J. Zhou, and R. Roman, "Secure SCADA Framework for the Protection of Energy Control Systems",
Concurrency and Computation Practice & Experience, vol. 23, no. 12, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 1414-1430, Aug 2011. DOI (I.F.: 0.636)More..
Energy distribution systems are becoming increasingly widespread in today's society. One of the elements that is used to monitor and control these systems are the SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems. In particular, these control systems and their complexities, together with the emerging use of the Internet and wireless technologies, bring new challenges that must be carefully considered. Examples of such challenges are the particular bene¯ts of the integration of those new technologies, and also the e®ects they may have on the overall SCADA security. The main task of this paper is to provide a framework that shows how the integration of di®erent state-of-the-art technologies in an energy control system, such as Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks (MANETs), and the Internet, can bring some interesting benefits such as status management and anomaly prevention, while maintaining the security of the whole system.
C. Alcaraz, and J. Lopez, "A Security Analysis for Wireless Sensor Mesh Networks in Highly Critical Systems",
IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part C: Applications and Reviews, vol. 40, no. 4, IEEE, pp. 419-428, July, 2010. DOI (I.F.: 2.105)More..
Nowadays, critical control systems are a fundamental component contributing to the overall performance of critical infrastructures in our society, most of which belong to the industrial sector. These complex systems include in their design different types of information and communication technology systems, such as wireless (mesh) sensor networks, to carry out control processes in real time. This fact has meant that several communication standards, such as Zigbee PRO, WirelessHART, and ISA100.11a, have been specified to ensure coexistence, reliability, and security in their communications. The main purpose of this paper has been to review these three standards and analyze their security. We have identified a set of threats and potential attacks in their routing protocols, and we consequently provide recommendations and countermeasures to help Industry protect its infrastructures.
R. Roman, C. Alcaraz, and J. Lopez, "A Survey of Cryptographic Primitives and Implementations for Hardware-Constrained Sensor Network Nodes",
Mobile Networks and Applications, vol. 12, no. 4, Springer, pp. 231-244, August, 2007. DOI (I.F.: 0.586)More..
In a wireless sensor network environment, a sensor node is extremely constrained in terms of hardware due to factors such as maximizing lifetime and minimizing physical size and overall cost. Nevertheless, these nodes must be able to run cryptographic operations based on primitives such as hash functions, symmetric encryption and public key cryptography in order to allow the creation of secure services. Our objective in this paper is to survey how the existing research-based and commercial-based sensor nodes are suitable for this purpose, analyzing how the hardware can influence the provision of the primitives and how software implementations tackles the task of implementing instances of those primitives. As a result, it will be possible to evaluate the influence of provision of security in the protocols and applications/scenarios where sensors can be used.
J. E. Rubio, R. Roman, C. Alcaraz, and Y. Zhang, "Tracking Advanced Persistent Threats in Critical Infrastructures through Opinion Dynamics",
European Symposium on Research in Computer Security (ESORICS 2018), vol. 11098, Springer, pp. 555-574, 08/2018. DOI More..
Advanced persistent threats pose a serious issue for modern industrial environments, due to their targeted and complex attack vectors that are difficult to detect. This is especially severe in critical infrastructures that are accelerating the integration of IT technologies. It is then essential to further develop effective monitoring and response systems that ensure the continuity of business to face the arising set of cyber-security threats. In this paper, we study the practical applicability of a novel technique based on opinion dynamics, that permits to trace the attack throughout all its stages along the network by correlating different anomalies measured over time, thereby taking the persistence of threats and the criticality of resources into consideration. The resulting information is of essential importance to monitor the overall health of the control system and correspondingly deploy accurate response procedures.
J. E. Rubio, C. Alcaraz, and J. Lopez, "Preventing Advanced Persistent Threats in Complex Control Networks",
European Symposium on Research in Computer Security, vol. 10493, 22nd European Symposium on Research in Computer Security (ESORICS 2017), pp. 402-418, 09/2017. More..
C. Alcaraz, and J. Lopez, "Safeguarding Structural Controllability in Cyber-Physical Control Systems",
The 21st European Symposium on Research in Computer Security (ESORICS 2016), vol. 9879, Springer, pp. 471-489, 2016. More..
Automatic restoration of control wireless networks based on dynamic cyber-physical systems has become a hot topic in recent years, since most of their elements tend to have serious vulnerabilities that may be exploited by attackers. In fact, any exploitation may rapidly extend to the entire control network due to its problem of non-locality, where control properties of a system and its structural controllability can disintegrate over time. Unfortunately, automated self-healing processes may become costly procedures in which the reliability of the strategies and the time-critical of any recovery of the control can become key factors to re-establish the control properties in due time. This operational need is precisely the aim of this paper, in which four reachability-based recovery strategies from a thereotical point of view are proposed so as to find the best option/s in terms of optimization, robustness and complexity. To do this, new definitions related to structural controllability in relation to the type of distribution of the network and its control load capacity are given in this paper, resulting in an interesting practical study.
C. Alcaraz, E. Etcheves Miciolino, and S. Wolthusen, "Multi-Round Attacks on Structural Controllability Properties for Non-Complete Random Graphs",
The 16th Information Security Conference (ISC), vol. 7807, Springer, pp. 140–151, 09/2015. DOI More..
The notion of controllability, informally the ability to force a system into a desired state in a finite time or number of steps, is most closely associated with control systems such as those used to maintain power networks and other critical infrastructures, but has wider relevance in distributed systems. It is clearly highly desirable to understand under which conditions attackers may be able to disrupt legitimate control, or to force overriding controllability themselves. Following recent results by Liu et al., there has been considerable interest also in graph-theoretical interpretation of Kalman controllability originally introduced by Lin, structural controllability. This permits the identification of sets of driver nodes with the desired state-forcing property, but determining such nodes is aW[2]-hard problem. To extract these nodes and represent the control relation, here we apply the POWER DOMINATING SET problem and investigate the effects of targeted iterative multiple-vertex removal. We report the impact that different attack strategies with multiple edge and vertex removal will have, based on underlying non-complete graphs, with an emphasis on power-law random graphs with different degree sequences.
C. Alcaraz, and J. Lopez, "Addressing Situational Awareness in Critical Domains of a Smart Grid",
6th International Conference on Network and System Security (NSS 2012), LNCS 7645 7645, Springer-Verlag, pp. 58-71, November 2012. DOI More..
Control and situational awareness are two very important aspects within critical control systems, since potential faults or anomalous behaviors could lead to serious consequences by hiding the real status of supervised critical infrastructures. Examples of these infrastructures are energy generation, transmission or distribution systems that belong to Smart Grid systems. Given the importance of these systems for social welfare and its economy, a situational awareness-based model, composed of a set of current technologies, is proposed in this paper. The model focuses on addressing and offering a set of minimum services for protection, such as prevention, detection, response, self-evaluation and maintenance, thereby providing a desirable protection in unplanned situations.
C. Alcaraz, and S. Wolthusen, "Recovery of Structural Controllability for Control Systems",
Eighth IFIP WG 11.10 International Conference on Critical Infrastructure Protection, SRI International, Arlington, Virginia, USA , vol. 441, Springer, pp. 47-63, 2014. DOI More..
Fundamental problems in control systems theory are controllability and observability, and designing control systems so that these properties are satisfied or approximated sufficiently. However, it is prudent to as- sume that an attacker will not only be able to subvert measurements but also control the system. Moreover, an advanced adversary with an understanding of the control system may seek to take over control of the entire system or parts thereof, or deny the legitimate operator this capability. The effectiveness of such attacks has been demonstrated in previous work. Indeed, these attacks cannot be ruled out given the likely existence of unknown vulnerabilities, increasing connectivity of nominally air-gapped systems and supply chain issues. The ability to rapidly recover control after an attack has been initiated and to detect an adversary's presence is, therefore, critical. This paper focuses on the problem of structural controllability, which has recently attracted substantial attention through the equivalent problem of the power dom- inating set introduced in the context of electrical power network control. However, these problems are known to be NP-hard with poor approx- imability. Given their relevance to many networks, especially power networks, this paper studies strategies for the efficient restoration of controllability following attacks and attacker-defender interactions in power-law networks.
J. E. Rubio, C. Alcaraz, R. Roman, and J. Lopez, "Analysis of Intrusion Detection Systems in Industrial Ecosystems",
14th International Conference on Security and Cryptography (SECRYPT 2017), vol. 6, SciTePress, pp. 116-128, 2017. DOI More..
C. Alcaraz, J. Lopez, and K-K. Raymond Choo, "Dynamic Restoration in Interconnected RBAC-based Cyber-Physical Control Systems",
Proceedings of the 13th International Joint Conference on e-Business and Telecommunications (SECRYPT 2016), pp. 19-27, 2016. DOI More..
Increasingly, automatic restoration is an indispensable security measure in control systems (e.g. those used in critical infrastructure sectors) due to the importance of ensuring the functionality of monitoring infrastructures. Modernizing the interconnection of control systems to provide interoperability between different networks, at a low cost, is also a critical requirement in control systems. However, automated recovery mechanisms are currently costly, and ensuring interoperability particularly at a low cost remains a topic of scientific challenge. This is the gap we seek to address in this paper. More specifically, we propose a restoration model for interconnected contexts, taking into account the theory of supernode and structural controllability, as well as the recommendations given by the IEC-62351-8 standard (which are mainly based on the implementation of a role-based access control system).
F.. Siddiqui, S.. Zeadally, C. Alcaraz, and S.. Galvao, "Smart Grid Privacy: Issues and Solutions",
21st International Conference on Computer Communications and Networks (ICCCN), IEEE Computer Society, pp. 1-5, Jul 2012. DOI More..
Migration to an electronically controlled electrical grid to transmit, distribute, and deliver power to consumers has helped enhance the reliability and efficiency of conventional electricity systems. At the same time, this digitally enabled technology called the Smart Grid has brought new challenges to businesses and consumers alike. A key component of such a grid is the smart-metering technology, which is used to collect energy consumption data from homes and transmitting it back to power distributors. A crucial concern is the privacy related to the collection and use of energy consumption data. We present an analysis of Smart Grid privacy issues and discuss recently proposed solutions that can protect the privacy of Smart Grid users.
C. Alcaraz, et al., "Adaptive Dispatching of Incidences Based on Reputation for SCADA Systems",
6th International Conference on Trust, Privacy and Security in Digital Business (TrustBus'09), Springer-Verlag, pp. 86-94, September, 2009. DOI More..
SCADA systems represent a challenging scenario where the management of critical alarms is crucial. Their response to these alarms should be efficient and fast in order to mitigate or contain undesired effects. This work presents a mechanism, the Adaptive Assignment Manager (AAM) that will aid to react to incidences in a more efficient way by dynamically assigning alarms to the most suitable human operator. The mechanism uses various inputs for identifying the operators such as their availability, workload and reputation. In fact, we also define a reputation component that stores the reputation of the human operators and uses feedback from past experiences.
Note: These publications and others are available here.
Centro Andaluz de Investigación en Tecnologías Informáticas - CAITI | Universidad de Málaga | C/ Arquitecto Francisco Peñalosa 18, 29071 - Málaga (Spain)
Member_profile | by Dr. Radut

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Isolation and characterization of a nitrite reductase gene and its use as a probe for denitrifying bacteria.
G B Smith, J M Tiedje
G B Smith
J M Tiedje
The dissimilatory nitrite reductase gene (nir) from denitrifying bacterium Pseudomonas stutzeri JM300 was isolated and sequenced. In agreement with recent sequence information from another strain of P. stutzeri (strain ZoBell), strain JM300 nir is the first gene in an operon and is followed immediately by a gene which codes for a tetraheme protein; 2.5 kb downstream from the nitrite reductase carboxyl terminus is the cytochrome c551 gene. P. stutzeri JM300 nir is 67% homologous to P. aeruginosa nir and 88% homologous to P. stutzeri ZoBell nir. Within the nitrite reductase promoter region is an fnr-like operator very similar to an operator upstream of a separate anaerobic pathway, that for arginine catabolism in P. aeruginosa. The denitrification genes in P. stutzeri thus may be under the same regulatory control as that found for other anaerobic pathways of pseudomonads. We have generated gene probes from restriction fragments within the nitrite reductase operon to evaluate their usefulness in ecology studies of denitrification. Probes generated from the carboxyl terminus region hybridized to denitrifying bacteria from five separate genera and did not cross-hybridize to any nondenitrifying bacteria among six genera tested. The denitrifier probes were successful in detecting denitrifying bacteria from samples such as a bioreactor consortium, aquifer microcosms, and denitrifying toluene-degrading enrichments. The probes also were used to reveal restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns indicating the diversity of denitrifiers present in these mixed communities.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology Jan 1992, 58 (1) 376-384; DOI:
You are going to email the following Isolation and characterization of a nitrite reductase gene and its use as a probe for denitrifying bacteria.


Plácido Domingo and Nancy Herrera, alongside José Bros and Mariola Cantarero, star in this brilliant production of Luisa Fernanda, directed by Jesús López-Cobos.
Located in the Elizabethan Madrid, in the year of 1868, Luisa Fernanda contains some of the most inspired numbers of zarazuela, which has given it enormous popularity since its premiere at the Teatro Calderón in Madrid on March 26, 1932.
The work is a perfect sample of the melodic orchestrations created by Federico Moreno Torroba, one of the last great composers of zarazuela.


text:
Q: How can I proceed a delete operation in Lagom Framework? I am a little newbie on the Lagom framework and I need to know what the right way to do a delete operation in this framework. I develop with Java and I tested two approaches:

*

*when I handle the delete event I set the state to Optional.empty () but it returns nullPointerException crashes and the line in my readSide (Cassandra DataBase) is not deleted

*I add a Status field to my entity and when I handle the delete event I pass it to -1. When I refer to my entity I test on State.present and status! = -1 to make sure the entity and deleted. For the readSide, the line is deleted properly

In terms of logic, I think the second approach is the most logical but I want to know if there is a good practice that the Lagom framework offers developers to do delete operations
EDIT 1
This is my ReadSideHandler code, how can I proceed to handle properly the empty option
@Override
public ReadSideHandler<AuthenticationEvent> buildHandler() {
    return readSide.<AuthenticationEvent>builder("authenticationEventOffset")
            .setGlobalPrepare(this::createTables)
            .setPrepare(tag -> prepareStatements())
            .setEventHandler(AuthenticationLoginEvent.class,
                    e -> insertAuthentication(e.getAuthentication()))
            .setEventHandler(AuthenticationLogoutEvent.class, e -> deleteAuthentication(e.getAccessToken()))
            .build();
}

A: The first approach is correct, but you should handle empty option on the read side properly

A: I finally found the problem. it was bad handling in my event class, I was using Preconditions.checkNotNull on my variable which is apparently wrong. I removed this xpression from my code and everything works fine

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


1.3 Payment. The Client will pay the Contractor one of the following payment plans: One Payment of $47. There are no refunds.
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Contractor is not an agent, publicist, accountant, financial planner, lawyer, therapist, or any other licensed or registered professional. Coaching, which is not directive advice, counseling, or therapy, may address overall goals, specific projects, or general conditions in Client's life or profession. Coaching services may include setting priorities, establishing goals, identifying resources, brainstorming, creating action plans, strategizing, asking clarifying questions, and providing models, examples, and in-the-moment skills training. Contractor promises that all information provided by Client will be kept strictly confidential, as permissible by law.
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8. TERM AND TERMINATION. This Contract ends on November 18, 2018. The Client can choose to terminate their participation in the program and will be required to pay in full for the entire program. The following sections don't end even after the Contract ends: 5 (Disclaimer); 6 (Intellectual Property); 7 (Non-Disparagement); 8 (Confidential Information); 9 (Limitation of Liability); 10 (Indemnity); and 11 (General).
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text:
Q: WiX not writing registry values (Win 7 x64) I am new to WiX and I have become completely stumped as to how to create registry keys during the installation process. I am using the RegistryKey and RegistryValue elements like this:
<Component Id="RegKeys" Guid="824A9E7D-211C-4404-80F7-6AC4185B1E66">
    <RegistryKey Action="createAndRemoveOnUninstall" Root="HKLM" Key="SOFTWARE\My\Path">
        <RegistryValue Name="MyKey" Type="string" Value="Blah blah blah"/>
    </RegistryKey>
</Component>

with a corresponding call to ComponentRef for the main feature:
<ComponentRef Id="RegKeys"/>

The installer builds fine and runs without any apparent errors but no keys or values are created under the Wow6432Node key (or anywhere else for that matter). The installer is for a 32-bit application but I am trying to install it on Windows 7 64-bit.
What am I missing (I'm sure it's something obvious)? We are using WiX 3.5.

A: Two things to try:

*

*Use Orca from the Windows SDK to verify the value is present in the Registry table. (This eliminates a build problem.)

*Check a verbose log to see what MSI is doing with the component and what it does with the registry data.

A: Is the registry value alone in its component? If so, set KeyPath to "yes".


text:
Deepika talks about Ranveer Singh
April 11, 2014 at 8:40 am by Deepa
She may conveniently avoid the speculation of having a real life relationship with co-star Ranveer Singh, but Deepika Padukone opened up about her thoughts on working with him at a recent press meet in Mumbai. Talking to PTI, Deepika stated that she is happy that her on screen chemistry with Ranveer Singh is appreciated by the audience. The couple sizzled like no other in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Ram Leela and are set to do a repeat of the same with Bhansali's next project, Bajirao Mastani.
"I think the chemistry that Ranveer and I shared in the film really clicked. I think chemistry is something which two actors bring to the character. We both were lucky that we got to be a part of a strong love story that had strong characters and director like Sanjay Leela Bhansali. I hope whatever film Ranveer and I do next is as good as or even better than Ram Leela' she expressed.
When asked about if she will be working with Ranveer Singh in Bajirao Mastani for sure, the actress was careful – "We are still working out the logistics. The only film that I can talk about is Imtiaz Alis' next with Ranbir Kapoor. We start shooting for it in July. Besides this there are a couple of films in the pipeline but nothing has been finalised" she said.
Deepika further conveyed her admiration for more and more women oriented subjects ruling the Bollywood off late – "I think it is a great time for actresses in Bollywood. Gone are the days when actresses were just treated as prop. There are some really interesting scripts and films being made with actresses playing some strong roles. In the films that I have done, I have played strong women characters"


United States. Government Accountability Office., United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia.
United States. > Dept. of Homeland Security > Management > Evaluation.
United States. > Dept. of Homeland Security. > Directorate for Management > Rules and practice.
One DHS, one mission efforts to improve management integration at the Department of Homeland Security : hearing before the Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia Subcommittee of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, first session, December 15, 2009.


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FIND is a global non-profit organization that drives innovation in the development and delivery of diagnostics to combat major diseases affecting the world's poorest populations. We turn complex diagnostic challenges into simple solutions through unique partnerships with the public, private and non-profit sectors. FIND is working closely with partners including the World Health Organization in support of the global effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The African Society for Laboratory Medicine is an independent, non-profit organisation founded in 2011 that coordinates, galvanises and mobilises relevant stakeholders from the local to international levels to improve local access to world-class diagnostic services and ensure healthy African communities. ASLM is the first pan-African society for laboratory professionals, endorsed by the African Union and supported by multiple African Ministers of Health through its Ministerial Call for Action.
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Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F PS3 ROM ISO
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F PS3 ROM game is a rhythm game for the PlayStation 3. The game was developed by Sega and published by Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F's official website. The game was released in Japan on March 7, 2013, and in North America on August 27, 2013.
The gameplay of Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F PS3 ISO game is similar to that of its predecessors. Players must press buttons in time with symbols that appear on the screen to score points. There are four different difficulty levels to choose from; Easy, Normal, Hard, and Extreme.
In addition to the standard gameplay mode, there is also a "Edit Mode" where players can create their own custom songs and videos using the Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F editor tools.
The graphics and visual effects have been greatly improved from previous games in the series. The character models are more detailed and realistic, and the backgrounds are more vibrant and colorful than ever before. Overall, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F PS3 game is an impressive step up visually from its predecessors. So, download Hatsune Miku Project DIVA F PS3 ROM ISO and play the game!
PUBLISHER SEGA
◀ Download Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F
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THEO: The Game of Ouroboros
Big O Records (US) / Generation Prog Records (EU)
THEO is the creation of talented keyboard player Jim Alfredson. His background includes stints in blues and roots band, yet more recently in his jazz ensemble organissimo. His extensive experience revolves around the use of Hammond equipment (including the famous B3), which he started playing at the age of four. The Game of Ouroboros is his foray into melodic progressive rock.
Jim Alfredson
It's a concept album having something to do with a future, all imposing, conglomeration government and, then, how an individual might respond to this power. Musically, the focus, of course, is upon Alfredson's keyboard skills and presentation. In his own words, this was intentional, feeling that much of current progressive rock is too guitar-oriented. (It's not there isn't guitar work here. There's a fine solo within the title cut.) At the core, the songs seem to be piano based with Alfredson indulging himself by adding additional synth/organ layers. This includes using these devices for modest to liberal amounts of sound effects.
The overall feel of the album seems less towards traditional progressive rock, and more towards his recent jazz fusion excursions. I found this mostly within the title song, Idle Worship, and lesser in Exile. Of these three, the title track, The Game of Ouroboros, was the most satisfying of the bunch, nay, the best song on the whole album simply because it was the closet to classic prog rock. Exile only gets the prog rock groove going at the end.
Conversely, Idle Worship, early on, has some of that squirrelly keyboard play that unfortunately reminded me of Captain and Tennille's Muskrat Love. (Hate that song.) Yet, this doesn't last long and the rock-jazz fusion returns in the larger two-thirds of the song. After these things, a large portion of this album, The Blood That Floats My Throne, Creatures of Our Comfort, and These Are The Simple Days, seemed to swell with ambient rock, nearly sleepy and submissive, or largely dull, depending on your perspective. Finally, Alfredson has this subdued and relaxed voice, almost like Michael McDonald on Valium, and so lacking strength and vigor. In the end, with The Game of Ouroboros I believe Alfredson accomplished what he set out to do, build a progressive rock album around his keyboard skills. However, I'm not entirely sure that it's all that interesting or compelling. I'll probably never give another spin.
THEO - These Are The Simple Days (OFFICIAL)
With The Game of Ouroboros, I believe Alfredson accomplished what he set out to do, build a progressive rock album around his keyboard skills. Yet I'm not entirely sure that it's all that interesting or compelling.


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The Message Box
The Economy, Biden's Approval, and How to Fight Back
messagebox.substack.com
An unhappy electorate is taking its anger out on the Democrats, but Republicans are quite vulnerable on the economy
Dan Pfeiffer
There is no political saying more trite — or more accurate — than James Carville's famous aphorism from the 1992 campaign "It's the economy, stupid." Electoral success and economic performance are intrinsically tied together. The party in power is usually rewarded for a strong economy and punished for a weak one.
Despite the pundit-driven talk about the political toxicity of the Affordable Care Act, the biggest reason Democrats lost 63 House seats in 2010 was persistent double-digit unemployment from the 2008 financial crisis. Voters were angry about the economy and took their anger out on President Obama and the Democrats. Same thing happened in 1994 when Democrats lost the House for the first time in a half-century. There is a school of thought suggesting Trump's 2016 victory was driven by a mini-recession in manufacturing as much as it was by James Comey's poor judgment.
With President Biden's approval ratings hovering at an all-time low and Americans expressing growing concern about the economy, that dynamic is playing out again.
Something different is happening in 2021. The economic and political pictures are more complicated than conventional wisdom suggests. Democrats cannot hold onto our narrow majorities if we don't win the economic argument in 2022 (or the argument in Virginia in two weeks). And we can't win that argument if we don't understand the unique politics of the Pandemic Economy.
The Perils of Polling
Just a few months ago, President Biden's approval rating was North of 50 percent, where it had been since he was sworn in. His honeymoon period lasted longer than many expected, and his popularity proved durable. All of that changed this summer. Biden's approval rating started going down steadily and did not bounce back. As of Friday, Biden's approval rating, according to the FiveThirtyEight tracker, was 43.7 percent approve and 50 percent disapprove. There is a full year until the midterms, but if Biden's numbers look like this in the fall of 2022, Democrats are in real trouble.
Because the dip in Biden's approval happened around the same time as a barrage of negative press coverage of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, many observers assumed Afghanistan was the reason. But that assessment seems to be a causation/correlation error. As FiveThirtyEight's Nathaniel Rakich recently pointed out, Biden's numbers started going down before the withdrawal and have not improved as Afghanistan faded from the news.
Over the same timeframe, the polling on the economy moved in a similarly negative direction. According to a recent Morning Consult/Politico poll, the number of voters who believe the economy will worsen in the next year shot up nine points since July.
Economic polling is often a proxy for partisanship. After Trump won in 2016, the online results on the state of the economy stayed stagnant, but there were dramatic shifts underneath the hood. Before the election, Democrats thought the economy was doing well, and Republicans thought the opposite. As soon as Trump was elected, that flipped. But recent polling shows growing concern across the political spectrum despite unified Democratic control of the government. Nearly a quarter of Democrats now believe that the economy will worsen in the next year.
Is the Economy as Bad as People Think?
The concern for the economy continues to grow although, by most traditional measures, the economy is pretty good and getting better. As David Leonhardt wrote in the New York Times:
Even amid a global pandemic, most American households are doing better financially than they were in 2019… Today, the unemployment rate has fallen back below 5 percent. The value of homes — the largest asset for most families — has continued rising. The S&P 500 is more than 30 percent higher than it was before the pandemic. And the federal government, across both the Trump and Biden administrations, has pumped trillions of dollars into the economy, much of it through checks sent directly to people.
While far too many families were and will be left behind if the Democrats cannot pass Biden's economic plan, the vast majority of Americans are better off than before the pandemic. According to most measures, things are headed in the right direction. As Seth Hanlon, a former economic advisor to President Obama, recently pointed out on Twitter, weekly unemployment claims have fallen 65 percent overall since Biden took office, and are almost back to pre-pandemic levels.
Every expert agrees the Biden Administration's American Rescue Plan and efforts to control the pandemic and vaccinate Americans is largely responsible for this economic success. If the economy improved under President Biden AND he has done a good job, why are the American people in such a sour mood?
The first and most obvious reason is the Delta surge. Optimism about the end of the pandemic took a huge hit this summer. Public concern is receding as case rates go down and the vaccination rate goes up, but there is still a pandemic-related pall on the public mood.
It may be because the economy came back faster and stronger than many expected. This led to two related problems: supply chain bottlenecks and rising consumer prices. Most economic indicators like gross domestic product (GDP) and the unemployment rate are broad and hard to pinpoint but rising prices for food, gas and other household items are tangible.
A late September Pew Research poll found 93 percent of Americans were concerned about rising prices for food and consumer goods.
Look, I am no polling expert, but nine in ten voters concerned about something is a problem. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that Republicans effectively convinced people Biden's policies are responsible for increasing prices. In the Morning Consult/Politico poll, the surge of people blaming Biden's policies is driven in large part by Independents -- the very group that has turned against Biden in recent months.
While economists differ on the duration of the price spike, some estimate that it could last well into next year as production is ramped up to meet increased demands.
How Do We Change Public Perception?
The Biden White House is already working its tail off to find substantive solutions to the problem. The president recently addressed the bottlenecks at the ports that are delaying the delivery of goods and increasing demand and prices.
NowThis @nowthisnews
40% of shipping containers imported into the U.S. arrive at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. On Wednesday, Pres. Biden said these ports are now working 24/7 to speed up the delivery of goods
The Biden Build Back Better plan is (slowly) working its way through Congress and will put more money in families' pockets to help them deal with increasing costs. The economically driven decline in the president's approval is not solely a communications problem. The decline is driven by the reality that Americans are faced with every time they go to the grocery store. Presidents have less control over the economy than the public assumes. Therefore, the bulk of the response will require a party-wide messaging effort. Here are some thoughts on how Democrats (and all of us) can win the messaging battle:
It's an Economic Plan, Stupid: At some point, Democrats lost control of the branding of Biden's legislative agenda. The Biden White House called it the Build Back Better agenda, which is consistent with their highly effective campaign messaging. However, media outlets have not adopted that phrasing. They refer to it as a "social policy bill," "social safety net legislation," and "a liberal wish list." These terms range from neutrally confusing to repellent in the eyes of voters. Everyone from elected Democrats to all of us needs to refer to it as the Biden Economic Plan and put it in the context of the current economic situation. Republicans argue that the Biden Economic Plan is the cause of inflation and other economic concerns. We must frame it as the SOLUTION to the problem.
Pass the Biden Jobs Plan ASAFP: With all due respect to the legislative branch, close association with Congress is always bad for a president's political standing. It's a paradox. Getting stuff done is good politics, but the process of getting stuff done is bad politics. Reams of coverage on legislative impasses, horsetrading, and dissatisfied activists depresses Democratic voters and annoys Independents. What's happening in Congress often feels detached from rising economic concerns. Passing this bill will change the narrative, give Democrats something specific to tout, and move the political conversation to more friendly terrain.
Remind People Republicans Exist (and are bad): A person who woke up from a century-long coma and read the news would believe that the United States still had the same two-party system, but this is incorrect. Now, the two parties are progressives and moderates. The Republicans intentionally excluded themselves from the political narrative. The last thing the party of insurrectionists and corporate shills wants is to be at the front of mind when the public makes assessments about the current state of affairs. It's worth noting that the public REALLY doesn't like Republicans.
The Obstructionist and Corporatist Who Dabbles in Insurrection: The folks at Navigator Research recently released an insightful deep dive into how people view Congressional Republicans. I encourage everyone to read the whole thing, but the TL;DR is that the public views Republicans as advocates for the wealthy and corporations, closely associated with Trump, and primarily concerned with blocking Biden's agenda (which people like!). Democrats have the opportunity to frame the Republicans as the people blocking economic progress in order to help their rich friends.
None of this is easy and Democrats are facing huge headwinds from the economy and the media, but there are real opportunities to better reframe the economic debate and get back on the offense.
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Rick Schrenker
All valid points, but none are making their way outside our echo chambers.
I'm retired and living on a (mostly) fixed but reasonably good income. And I'm stunned by the increases in gas, food, and other prices. Democrats will get their asses kicked up around their shoulders if this doesn't reverse well in advance of next November, Republicans know it, and they will do everything in their power to keep the reversal from happening.
That's not simply because they won't permit ethics to stand in the way of their authoritarian objectives but also because they know if the people feel that Democrats are getting things done, the people might also listen to them about the voting rights bills.
No matter how much Democrats work to sell the argument that voting rights issues are more important, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs will remain front and center in the vast majority of the public's collective mind. Get the bills signed, get the Executive Branch to work on getting the money flowing and the Legislative Branch on voting rights, and we may have a shot next November, especially if we make the case "Imagine what we could have gotten done with just two more Senators.". If we pull it off, we have at least two more years to get other progressive agenda items through Congress.
Strategy matters.
Great article, this is a much needed summary and easy to understand.
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Home News InPoint Originates $100 Million in First Mortgage Loans in 2Q19
InPoint Originates $100 Million in First Mortgage Loans in 2Q19
InPoint Commercial Real Estate Income Inc., a commercial mortgage real estate investment trust, originated more than $100 million in floating-rate first mortgage loans during the second quarter of 2019.
The mortgage originations include a $39 million first mortgage loan secured by an office property in Houston; a $4.75 million first mortgage loan secured by a mixed-use development in Los Angeles; a $12.13 million first mortgage loan secured by a multifamily community also in Los Angeles; a $24 million first mortgage loan secured by a student housing community in Tyler, Texas; a $4.9 million first mortgage loan secured by a multifamily community in Fort Worth; and a $15.76 million first mortgage loan secured by an industrial property in Petaluma, California.
"We are thrilled with the success of our origination efforts," said Don MacKinnon, president of InPoint. "We sourced and originated more than $165 million of outstanding finance opportunities through the first half of the year, including more than $100 million in the second quarter alone. We look forward to continuing to originate loans for well-positioned, high-quality assets."
Last month, The DI Wire reported that InPoint closed its private offering, which launched in October 2016 and was comprised of $500 million in Class P shares priced at $25.00 each.
"Having recently completed a successful private placement, raising more than $276 million of equity capital, we are thrilled with our company's ability to source attractive opportunities financing projects for the nation's leading commercial real estate sponsors," said Mitchell Sabshon, chief executive officer of InPoint. "To date, InPoint has grown its portfolio to more than $564 million in assets, spread across 41 investments, financing a diverse mix of properties throughout the United States."
InPoint Commercial Real Estate Income is advised by an affiliate of Inland Real Estate Investment Corporation and sub-advised by an affiliate of Sound Point Capital Management LP.
The company oversees a portfolio of first mortgage loans, CMBS and credit loans that are secured by multifamily, industrial, office, hospitality and retail real estate assets located across the United States. The portfolio is composed of 98 percent floating-rate investments.
Click here to visit The DI Wire directory sponsor page.
credit loans
Don MacKinnon
first mortgage loan
InPoint Commercial Real Estate Income
Mitchell Sabshon
Sound Point Capital Management
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Southampton star has already made his transfer stance clear with contract set to expire in 2023
Southampton midfielder Mohamed Elyounoussi has said he would like to stay with the club after impressing for Ralph Hasenhuttl's Saints side, with eight goals so far this season
Mohamed Elyounoussi has impressed in recent weeks for Southampton. (Image: (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images))
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Mohamed Elyounoussi has said he would like to extend his stay with Southampton after a positive campaign with Saints.
The Norwegian international has been described as one of the "winners of the season" by Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl after his return to the club, following two years on loan with Scottish giants Celtic.
Since returning to Southampton last summer, Elyounoussi has become a regular in Hasenhuttl's side, scoring eight goals in 25 appearances in all competitions, including a hat-trick in an 8-0 rout of League Two side Newport County in the Carabao Cup back in August.
READ MORE: Five Southampton players who could leave this summer as Ralph Hasenhuttl makes transfer plans
Indeed, speaking last month, Hasenhuttl was full of praise for the 27-year-old as he described him as an "impressive player" who has learned to compete against physical teams and fits the profile of player he wants in his team.
"He is one of the players who has taken his chance and shown up," the Austrian said ."I was very positive in the summer that he was a player who could help us. He has had to learn to compete against physical teams and he has learned the way we want to play, and he has absolutely, 100% the DNA we need in this position.
"Intelligent, smart footballer, who can score goals and has a good workload in this position, and at the moment it is an impressive player."
But Elyounoussi is one of several players who will be out of contract at Southampton in less than 18 months time, with the Norwegian signing a five-year deal when he first joined the club from Basel in the summer of 2018.
He had a difficult first season with Saints as he and the team struggled, firstly under Mark Hughes, before Hasenhuttl took charge and guided Southampton to safety, although Elyounoussi found his opportunities limited due to the Austrian's preferred way of playing when he came in.
As such, he headed out on loan to Celtic, where he impressed and attracted attention from elsewhere, scoring 25 goals in 65 appearances across two seasons, including netting for the Hoops in the Champions League qualifying stages and in the Europa League.
Mohamed Elyounoussi agrees with Ralph Hasenhuttl on Celtic spell after Southampton transfer call
Mohamed Elyounoussi on the 'perfect match' he has found at Southampton after Celtic loan spell
He then returned to Saints in the summer and he has established himself in the Southampton side after adapting to Saints' intense style of play, with Hasenhuttl praising the Norwegian for how he has performed and become an integral player for the Southampton system.
And now, Elyounoussi has been speaking while on international duty and he has said that he would like to prolong his stay with Southampton, although he admits that he has not yet had talks over a new deal with the club.
"For my part, you have to put yourself in a good position, but it is not something you go around thinking about. It's about the next match and about doing the best we can, so others can take care of that bit. We have not sat down to talk about it yet," he said, as relayed by TV2.
"The time is not quite right yet, there are still some matches left. We can rather sit down after the end of the season and see what opportunities we have and what Southampton want.
"I think I have shown that I am more than good enough for the Premier League. I really look at this as my first season in the Premier League. I think it can only get better. I think Southampton see that too. I thrive there and have expressed that I would like to stay there longer."
Ralph Hasenhuttl and Southampton have been proved right over Celtic summer transfer decision
Ralph Hasenhuttl sends classy Southampton message as he outlines future ambitions with Saints