Search

Embedded systems are now an integral part of our lives. We have smart phones, smart meters, smart appliances, smart cars, smart grids, and smart houses--most relying on embedded systems with outdated security mechanisms, if they have any at all. A renewed emphasis on embedded systems security research is critical to our economies and our daily lives. This special issue on Embedded System Security attempts to contribute to this work by drawing attention to a number of key topics including Intrusion Detection and Tolerance, Confidence and Threat Modelling, Enhancing Dependability in Embedded Systems, and reducing Vulnerabilities in System Architectures for Embedded Systems. Two papers are included in this initial instalment of the Special Issue. In the first paper ``"Randomization as Mitigation of Directed Timing Inference Based Attacks on Time-Triggered Real-Time Systems with Task Replication" by Kristin Krüger, Nils Vreman, Richard Pates, Martina Maggio, Marcus Völp and Gerhard Fohler, the vulnerabilities of time-triggered systems are investigated. They note that the assumption that faults are independent, which is often made for accidental faults, is not valid for malicious attacks. They go on to introduce two runtime mitigation strategies to withstand directed timing inference. Both involve the introduction of a level of randomization within the usual deterministic behaviour of time-triggered systems. In the second paper ``"We know what you're doing! Application detection using thermal data", Philipp Miedl, Rehan Ahmed and Lothar Thiele consider how sensitive runtime information can be extracted from a system by just using temperature sensor readings from a mobile device. They employ a Convolutional-Neural-Network to identify the sequence of executed applications over time. They test their hypothesis via collected data from two state-of-the-art smartphones and real user usage patterns. The accuracy of their finding demonstrated that this is a clear vulnerability in mobile devices, including the potential to compromise sensitive user data.

Neurointestinal diseases cause significant morbidity and effective treatments are lacking. This study aimes to test the feasibility of transplanting autologous enteric neural stem cells (ENSCs) to rescue the enteric nervous system (ENS) in a model of colonic aganglionosis. ENSCs are isolated from a segment of small intestine from Wnt1::Cre;R26iDTR mice in which focal colonic aganglionosis is simultaneously created by diphtheria toxin injection. Autologous ENSCs are isolated, expanded, labeled with lentiviral-GFP, and transplanted into the aganglionic segment in vivo. ENSCs differentiate into neurons and glia, cluster to form neo-ganglia, and restore colonic contractile activity as shown by electrical field stimulation and optogenetics. Using a non-lethal model of colonic aganglionosis, our results demonstrate the potential of autologous ENSC therapy to improve functional outcomes in neurointestinal disease, laying the groundwork for clinical application of this regenerative cell-based approach.

BACKGROUND: Enteric neuropathies, which result from abnormalities of the enteric nervous system, are associated with significant morbidity and high health-care costs, but current treatments are unsatisfactory. Cell-based therapy offers an innovative approach to replace the absent or abnormal enteric neurons and thereby restore gut function. METHODS: Enteric neuronal stem cells (ENSCs) were isolated from the gastrointestinal tract of Wnt1-Cre;R26tdTomato mice and generated neurospheres (NS). NS transplants were performed via injection into the mid-colon mesenchyme of nNOS-/- mouse, a model of colonic dysmotility, using either 1 (n = 12) or 3 (n = 12) injections (30 NS per injection) targeted longitudinally 1-2 mm apart. Functional outcomes were assessed up to 6 weeks later using electromyography (EMG), electrical field stimulation (EFS), optogenetics, and by measuring colorectal motility. RESULTS: Transplanted ENSCs formed nitrergic neurons in the nNOS-/- recipient colon. Multiple injections of ENSCs resulted in a significantly larger area of coverage compared to single injection alone and were associated with a marked improvement in colonic function, demonstrated by (1) increased colonic muscle activity by EMG recording, (2) faster rectal bead expulsion, and (3) increased fecal pellet output in vivo. Organ bath studies revealed direct neuromuscular communication by optogenetic stimulation of channelrhodopsin-expressing ENSCs and restoration of smooth muscle relaxation in response to EFS. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that transplanted ENSCs can form effective neuromuscular connections and improve colonic motor function in a model of colonic dysmotility, and additionally reveal that multiple sites of cell delivery led to an improved response, paving the way for optimized clinical trial design.

The enteric nervous system (ENS) is an extensive network of neurons and glia within the wall of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract that regulates many essential GI functions. Consequently, disorders of the ENS due to developmental defects, inflammation, infection, or age-associated neurodegeneration lead to serious neurointestinal diseases. Despite the prevalence and severity of these diseases, effective treatments are lacking as they fail to directly address the underlying pathology. Neuronal stem cell therapy represents a promising approach to treating diseases of the ENS by replacing the absent or injured neurons, and an autologous source of stem cells would be optimal by obviating the need for immunosuppression. We utilized the swine model to address key questions concerning cell isolation, delivery, engraftment, and fate in a large animal relevant to human therapy. We successfully isolated neural stem cells from a segment of small intestine resected from 1-month-old swine. Enteric neuronal stem cells (ENSCs) were expanded as neurospheres that grew optimally in low-oxygen (5%) culture conditions. Enteric neuronal stem cells were labeled by lentiviral green fluorescent protein (GFP) transduction, then transplanted into the same swine from which they had been harvested. Endoscopic ultrasound was then utilized to deliver the ENSCs (10,000-30,000 neurospheres per animal) into the rectal wall. At 10 and 28 days following injection, autologously derived ENSCs were found to have engrafted within rectal wall, with neuroglial differentiation and no evidence of ectopic spreading. These findings strongly support the feasibility of autologous cell isolation and delivery using a clinically useful and minimally invasive technique, bringing us closer to first-in-human ENSC therapy for neurointestinal diseases.

I would like to welcome all readers to the first issue of this new not-for-profit open access journal: the Leibniz Transactions on Embedded Systems (LITES). Unless you have come across this journal by accident then you will already understand the key role that embedded systems have in modern life. One can hardly think of a single human activity that is not underpinned by such systems; transport, entertainment, supply lines for supermarkets, health care and drug production, energy production and transmission, robotic manufacturing, control systems and communication media of all kinds are now dependent on the fusion of embedded hardware and software. For researchers in this domain this provides great opportunities but also responsibilities. We need to make sure that society can justifiable rely on technology that is increasing beyond the understanding of most ordinary people. Computer-based technologies have been described as modern magic; it follows that we are therefore magicians. But the spells we cast must be based on sound principles, solid theory and demonstrable performance.One of the influences that embedded and other IT technology has had in the last decade is in publishing itself. Online services are now the norm. And early and open access to publicly funded research is now rightly demanded by Government bodies and related funding councils. This new journal has been created to meet this challenge. All papers are open access, with copyright being retained by the authors. Moreover, only a small fee is charged to authors due to low operational overheads and the support of Google and the Klaus Tschira Stiftung. But the lack of a physical page limit in an online-only journal does not mean that quality is undermined. All papers are thoroughly reviewed, with only the best work, in terms of originality and rigour, being accepted. Our aim is to evolve an excellent and effective venue for publish scholarly articles. To help achieve this aim LITES benefits greatly from having the name and reputation of Schloss Dagstuhl behind it.The volume of research material produced world-wide relating to embedded systems has lead to the spawning of many conferences and workshops, special issues and focused publications. In LITES we intend to cater for the broadest collection of relevant topics. We currently have subject editors to cover: the design, implementation, verification, and testing of embedded hardware and software systems; the theoretical foundations; single-core, multi-processor and networked architectures and their energy consumption and predictability properties; reliability and fault tolerance; security properties; applications in the avionics, automotive, telecommunication, medical and production domains; cyber-physical systems; high performance and real-time embedded systems; and hybrid systems. This is an impressive list, but it is not exhaustive. New areas will emerge and new editors will be appointed.LITES obtains its governance from EDAA (European Design and Automation Association) and EMSIG (Embedded Systems Special Interest Group) as a joint endeavour with Schloss Dagstuhl. EDAA/EMSIG appoint the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) and the subject area editors. The terms for editors is four years, renewable once. All editorial work is done voluntarily.The first few issues of the journal will contain standard papers that have been through the review process. Later, comments on previously published papers will be allowed and commentaries included that will help the reader trace forward the influence of each paper. Comments will be reviewed; commentaries will just need to be passed by the EiC. I hope that as a reader you will find the papers in this journal of interest and often inspirational. As a researcher I hope you will consider it as a worthy place to entrust your work. All the editorial team will work towards building up the reputation of the journal. I hope the community at large will be part of that journey.I am proud to be the founding EiC of this journal, but I promise not to include editorials in future issues. The papers are quite capable of introducing themselves.Alan Burns