Knowledge of global regulatory networks has been exploited to rewire the gene control programmes of the model bacterium Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. The product is an organism with competitive fitness that is superior to that of the wild type but tuneable under specific growth conditions. The paralogous hns and stpA global regulatory genes are located in distinct regions of the chro...

RpoS, the master sigma factor during stationary phase and under a variety of stress conditions, is regulated at multiple levels, including regulated degradation. Degradation is dependent upon ClpXP and the RssB adaptor protein. H-NS, a nucleoid-associated protein, affects the regulated degradation of RpoS; in the absence of H-NS, RpoS is stable. The mechanisms involved in this regulation were n...

Cyber-physical systems tightly integrate physical processes and information and communication technologies. As today’s critical infrastructures, e.g., the power grid or water distribution networks, are complex cyber-physical systems, ensuring their safety and security becomes of paramount importance.Traditional safety analysis methods, such as HAZOP, are ill-suited to assess these systems. Furt...

Context: Agile development is in widespread use, even in safety-critical domains. Motivation: However, there is a lack of an appropriate safety analysis and verification method in agile development. Objective: In this paper, we investigate the use of Behavior Driven Development (BDD) instead of standard User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for safety verification with System-Theoretic Process Analysis...

As our society becomes more and more dependent on IT systems, failures of these systems can harm more and more people and organizations both public and private. Diligently performing risk and hazard analysis helps to minimize the societal harms of IT system failures. In this paper we present experiences gained by applying the System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) method for hazard analysis o...

The Intelligent Railway Driving Assistance System (IRDAS) is a novel kind of onboard system that relies on its own situational awareness function to ensure the safety and efficiency train driving. In such systems, use brings about new fault-free problem, i.e., intended functionality (SOTIF). It essential analyze SOTIF-related hazardous factors for ensuring safe operation. this paper, hazard ana...

Targeting the analysis of socio-technical complexity, System-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes (STAMP) was developed to engineer safer systems. Since its inception in early 2000s, STAMP associated techniques, namely Process Analysis (STPA) Causal based on System Theory (CAST), have attracted increasing interest as suitable approaches for safety studies. Nonetheless, a literature review the...

Nascent transcripts in Escherichia coli that fail to be simultaneously translated are subject to a factor-dependent mechanism of termination (also termed a polarity) that involves the proteins Rho and NusG. In this study, we found that overexpression of YdgT suppressed the polarity relief phenotypes and restored the efficiency of termination in rho or nusG mutants. YdgT and Hha belong to the H-...