CONFUZZION: A Java Virtual Machine Fuzzer for Type Confusion Vulnerabilities

in IEEE International Conference on Software Quality, Reliability, and Security (QRS), 2021 (2021)

Functions-as-constructors Higher-order Unification: Extended Pattern Unification

in Annals of Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence (2021)

Mobilome-driven segregation of the resistome in biological wastewater treatment 2021.11.15.468621

E-print/Working paper (2021)

Biological wastewater treatment plants (BWWTP) are considered to be hotspots of evolution and subsequent spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Mobile genetic elements (MGEs) promote the mobilization ... [more ▼]

Biological wastewater treatment plants (BWWTP) are considered to be hotspots of evolution and subsequent spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Mobile genetic elements (MGEs) promote the mobilization and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and are thereby critical mediators of AMR within the BWWTP microbial community. At present, it is unclear whether specific AMR categories are differentially disseminated via bacteriophages (phages) or plasmids. To understand the segregation of AMR in relation to MGEs, we analyzed meta-omic (metagenomic, metatranscriptomic and metaproteomic) data systematically collected over 1.5 years from a BWWTP. Our results showed a core group of fifteen AMR categories which were found across all timepoints. Some of these AMR categories were disseminated exclusively (bacitracin) or primarily (aminoglycoside, MLS, sulfonamide) via plasmids or phages (fosfomycin and peptide), whereas others were disseminated equally by both MGEs. Subsequent expression- and protein-level analyses further demonstrated that aminoglycoside, bacitracin and sulfonamide resistance genes were expressed more by plasmids, in contrast to fosfomycin and peptide AMR expression by phages, thereby validating our genomic findings. Longitudinal assessment further underlined these findings whereby the log2-fold changes of aminoglycoside, bacitracin and sulfonamide resistance genes were increased in plasmids, while fosfomycin and peptide resistance showed similar trends in phages. In the analyzed communities, the dominant taxon Candidatus Microthrix parvicella was a major contributor to several AMR categories whereby its plasmids primarily mediated aminoglycoside resistance. Importantly, we also found AMR associated with ESKAPEE pathogens within the BWWTP, for which MGEs also contributed differentially to the dissemination of ARGs. Collectively our findings pave the way towards understanding the segmentation of AMR within MGEs, thereby shedding new light on resistome populations and their mediators, essential elements that are of immediate relevance to human health.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest. [less ▲]

Torn between Two Lovers: German Policy on Economic and Monetary Union, the New Hanseatic League and Franco-German Bilateralism

in German Politics (2021)

German governments and European Union (EU) member states forming the New Hanseatic League (HL) have had very similar preferences on EU / Eurozone financial support mechanisms. We would expect German and ... [more ▼]

German governments and European Union (EU) member states forming the New Hanseatic League (HL) have had very similar preferences on EU / Eurozone financial support mechanisms. We would expect German and HL governments to be close allies on these matters. However, empirically, we detect differences. German governments have repeatedly resisted participating in HL joint positions on EU financial support mechanisms and accepted compromises with France. In order to explain this divergence we consider the relative explanatory merit of economic preferences, based on both material interests and economic ideas—here ordoliberalism—on the one hand, and norms of cooperation—here Franco-German ‘embedded bilateralism’—and geo-strategic interests on the other hand. We disentangle economic preference formation and the choice in favour of a political strategy to pursue these preferences. Economic preferences are one factor explaining the extent of concessions made by Germany to the HL countries and France. However, norms of cooperation and geostrategic interests explain the choice of German governments on how and with whom best to pursue their preferences. German governments have performed a balancing act between the HL and France, skewed towards the latter. The presence of economic crises increases the degree to which this balancing act is skewed towards France. [less ▲]

Digitalisation du diagnostic pédagogique : De l’évolution à la révolution

in LUCET; SCRIPT (Eds.) Rapport national sur l’éducation au Luxembourg 2021 (2021)

Effect of conformism on firm selection, product quality and home bias

in Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2021), 185

This paper investigates the impact of local traffic pollution on the formation of residential and business districts. While firms benefit from local production externalities, households commute to their ... [more ▼]

This paper investigates the impact of local traffic pollution on the formation of residential and business districts. While firms benefit from local production externalities, households commute to their workplaces with private vehicles and exert a local pollution externality on the residents living along the urban transport networks. The spatial location of firms and residents endogenously results from the trade-off between the production and pollution externalities and the commuting costs. The analysis shows that in monocentric cities the benefits associated with a fall in per-vehicle pollution are absorbed by rents paid to absentee landlords. When a city includes business and residential districts as well as a district mixing both agents, a lower per-vehicle pollution enlarges the residential districts and shifts the business districts closer to the geographical center of the city. The paper finally studies the optimal city structure. The first-best policies that fully internalize the externalities still foster business agglomeration. [less ▲]

Quarantaine : caricatures du virus jamais devenues virales

Book published by myMorawa (2021)

Bewegungserziehung inklusiv. Luxemburger Grundschullehrkräfte im Fokus

in Luxembourg Centre for Educational Testing (LUCET); Universität Luxemburg (Uni.lu); Service de Coordination de la Recherche et de l‘Innovation pédagogiques et technologiques (SCRIPT) (Eds.) Nationaler Bildungsbericht Luxemburg 2021 (2021)

Bildungsungleichheiten am Übergang in die Sekundarschule in Luxemburg

in University of Luxembourg, LUCET; SCRIPT (Eds.) Nationaler Bildungsbericht Luxemburg 2021 (2021)

A competitive Predator–Prey approach to enhance surveillance by UAV swarms

in Applied Soft Computing (2021), 111

In this paper we present the competitive optimisation of a swarm of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) protecting a restricted area from a number of intruders following a Predator–Prey approach. We propose a ... [more ▼]

In this paper we present the competitive optimisation of a swarm of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) protecting a restricted area from a number of intruders following a Predator–Prey approach. We propose a Competitive Coevolutionary Genetic Algorithm (CompCGA) which optimises the parameters of the UAVs (i.e. predators) to maximise the detection of intruders, while the parameters of the intruders (i.e. preys) are optimised to maximise their intrusion success rate. Having chosen the CACOC (Chaotic Ant Colony Optimisation for Coverage) as the base mobility model for the UAVs, we propose an improved new version, where its behaviour is modified by identifying and optimising new parameters to improve the overall success rate when detecting intruders. Six case studies have been optimised using simulations by performing 30 independent runs (180 in total) of our CompCGA. Finally, we conducted a series of master tournaments (1,800,000 evaluations) using the best specimens obtained from each run and case study to test the robustness of our proposed approach against unexpected intruders. Our surveillance system improved the average percentage of intruders detected with respect to CACOC by a maximum of 126%. More than 90% of intruders were detected on average when using a swarm of 16 UAVs while CACOC’s detection rates are always under 80% in all cases. [less ▲]