Fingerprinting Attack on Tor Anonymity using Deep Learning

Tor is free software that enables anonymouscommunication. It defends users against traffic analysis andnetwork surveillance. It is also useful for confidential businessactivities and state security. At the same time, anonymizedprotocols have been used to access criminal websites such as thosedealing with illegal drugs. This paper proposes a new method forlaunching a fingerprinting attack to analyze Tor traffic in orderto detect users who access illegal websites. Our new method isbased on Stacked Denoising Autoencoder, a deep-learningtechnology. Our evaluation results show 0.88 accuracy in aclosed-world test. In an open-world test, the true positive rate is0.86 and the false positive rate is 0.02

Quantum current dissipation in superconducting strings and vortons

In this work, the current stability is discussed for cosmic strings with the bosonic superconductivity. A non-vanishing curvature of string generally induce the quantum instability of the current-carrying particle. Its decay rates are explored for various types of model parameters, curved string shapes, and decay processes. As a cosmological application, the stability is examined for superconducting strings in the string network and also for cosmic vortons by evaluating their cosmological evolution. The zero mode and hence the vorton cannot be stable in various cases, e.g., with a hierarchy between the current-carrying particle mass off the string and the string tension or with sizable couplings of the current-carrying particle to light species such as the Standard Model particles.Comment: 42 pages, 14 figures, 1 tabl

High glucose level and angiotensin II type 1 receptor stimulation synergistically amplify oxidative stress in renal mesangial cells

Abstract Oxidative stress in renal mesangial cell causes diabetic glomerular changes. High glucose levels and angiotensin II (Ang II) are known to stimulate superoxide production in renal mesangial cells. However, it has been unclear whether Ang II stimulation and pre-conditioning with high glucose affects the same pathway of superoxide production in renal mesangial cells or not. In this study, we examined the levels of oxidative stress under Ang II stimulation in renal mesangial cells preincubated for six hours at various glucose levels. Intracellular levels of reactive oxidative species (ROS) were measured using dihydroethidium or 5′,6′-chloromethyl- 2′,7′ dichlorodihydro-fluorescein diacetate, which facilitates the detection of intracellular ROS under real-time fluorescent microscope. Ang II-induced elevated intracellular ROS levels were detected only when the cells were pre-incubated with high levels of glucose (13.5 mM, 27.8 mM), but was not detected under normal glucose condition (5.5 mM). Production of Ang II-induced intracellular ROS was higher under pre-treatment with 27.8 mM glucose compared to pretreatment with 13.5 mM glucose level. This ROS production in mesangial cells was induced within several minutes of the initiation of Ang II stimulation under high glucose levels. The production of intracellular ROS was significantly reduced in the presence of angiotensin II type1-receptor (AT1R) antagonist, whereas it was augmented in the presence of angiotensin II type2-receptor antagonist. In conclusion, Ang II-induced oxidative stress was augmented by high glucose levels and ROS levels were further alleviated in the presence of AT1R antagonists

Demonstration of pollinator-mediated competition between two native Impatiens species, Impatiens noli-tangere and I. textori (Balsaminaceae)

Plant–plant interspecific competition via pollinators occurs when the flowering seasons of two or more plant species overlap and the pollinator fauna is shared. Negative sexual interactions between species (reproductive interference) through improper heterospecific pollen transfer have recently been reported between native and invasive species demonstrating pollination-driven competition. We focused on two native Impatiens species (I. noli-tangere and I. textori) found in Japan and examined whether pollinator-mediated plant competition occurs between them. We demonstrate that I. noli-tangere and I. textori share the same pollination niche (i.e., flowering season, pollinator fauna, and position of pollen on the pollinator's body). In addition, heterospecific pollen grains were deposited on most stigmas of both I. noli-tangere and I. textori flowers that were situated within 2 m of flowers of the other species resulting in depressed fruit set. Further, by hand-pollination experiments, we show that when as few as 10% of the pollen grains are heterospecific, fruit set is decreased to less than half in both species. These results show that intensive pollinator-mediated competition occurs between I. noli-tangere and I. textori. This study suggests that intensive pollinator-mediated competition occurs in the wild even when interacting species are both native and not invasive.ArticleECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION. 5(6):1271-1277 (2015)journal articl

Changes in pollinator fauna affect altitudinal variation of floral size in a bumblebee-pollinated herb

Geographic trait variations are often caused by locally different selection regimes. As a steep environmental cline along altitude strongly influences adaptive traits, mountain ecosystems are ideal for exploring adaptive differentiation over short distances. We investigated altitudinal floral size variation of Campanula punctata var. hondoensis in 12 populations in three mountain regions of central Japan to test whether the altitudinal floral size variation was correlated with the size of the local bumblebee pollinator and to assess whether floral size was selected for by pollinator size. We found apparent geographic variations in pollinator assemblages along altitude, which consequently produced a geographic change in pollinator size. Similarly, we found altitudinal changes in floral size, which proved to be correlated with the local pollinator size, but not with altitude itself. Furthermore, pollen removal from flower styles onto bees (plant's male fitness) was strongly influenced by the size match between flower style length and pollinator mouthpart length. These results strongly suggest that C. punctata floral size is under pollinator-mediated selection and that a geographic mosaic of locally adapted C. punctata exists at fine spatial scale.ArticleECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION. 4(17):3395-3407 (2014)journal articl

Impaired response of hypoxic sensor protein HIF-1 alpha and its downstream proteins in the spinal motor neurons of ALS model mice

We have recently reported spinal blood flow-metabolism uncoupling in an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) animal model using Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1)-transgenic (Tg) mice, suggesting a relative hypoxia in the spinal cord. However, the hypoxic stress sensor pathway has not been well studied in ALS. Here, we examined temporal and spatial changes of the hypoxic stress sensor proteins HIF-1 alpha and its downstream proteins (VEGF, HO-1, and EPO) during the normcodccourse of motor neuron (MN) degeneration in the spinal cord of these ALS model mice. We found that HIP-1 alpha protein expression progressively increased both in the anterior large MNs and the surrounding glial cells in Tg mice from early symptomatic 14 week (W) and end stage 18W. Double immunofluorescence analysis revealed that HIP-1 alpha, plus GFAP and Iba-1 double-positive surrounding glial cells, progressively increased from 14 W to 18 W, although the immunohistochemistiy in large MNs did not change. Expression levels of VEGF and HO-1 also showed a progressive increase but were significant only in the surrounding glial cells at 18W. In contrast, EPO protein expression was decreased in the surrounding glial cells of Tg mice at 18W. Because HIF1-alpha serves as an important mediator of the hypoxic response, these findings indicate that MNs lack the neuroprotective response to hypoxic stress through the HIF-1 alpha system, which could be an important mechanism of neurodegeneration in ALS

Coordinated regulation of hepatic and adipose tissue transcriptomes by the oral administration of an amino acid mixture simulating the larval saliva of Vespa species

Genes mapped on Fig. 3. (XLSX 13 kb

A unique stroke case with contralateral sulcal hyperintensity on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery image changed to linear serpiginous structures

An 83-year-old man developed acute ischemic stroke. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed ischemic stroke in the left parietal lobe gyri, but fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) showed hyperintensity in the contralateral right temporal-occipital lobe sulci. Follow-up FLAIR image showed the gradual disappearance of the sulcal hyperintensity in the sulci and changed to linear serpiginous structures. This is a unique stroke case showing transitioned FLAIR findings suggesting that the sulcal hyperintensity findings are more severe and an earlier ischemic condition than the linear serpiginous structures

In vivo direct reprogramming of glial linage to mature neurons after cerebral ischemia

The therapeutic effect of in vivo direct reprogramming on ischemic stroke has not been evaluated. In the present study, a retroviral solution (1.5-2.0 × 107 /ul) of mock pMX-GFP (n = 13) or pMX-Ascl1/Sox2/NeuroD1 (ASN) (n = 14) was directly injected into the ipsilateral striatum and cortex 3 days after 30 min of transient cerebral ischemia. The reprogrammed cells first expressed neuronal progenitor marker Dcx 7 and 21 days after viral injection, then expressed mature neuronal marker NeuN. This was accompanied by morphological changes, including long processes and synapse-like structures, 49 days after viral injection. Meanwhile, therapeutic improvement was not detected both in clinical scores or infarct volume. The present study provides a future novel self-repair strategy for ischemic stroke with beneficial modifications of the inducer-suppressor balance

0-kV diffractive imaging using newly developed electron diffraction microscope

a b s t r a c t A new electron diffraction microscope based on a conventional scanning electron microscope (SEM), for obtaining atomic-level resolution images without causing serious damage to the specimen, has been developed. This microscope in the relatively low-voltage region makes it possible to observe specimens at suitable resolution and record diffraction patterns. Using the microscope we accomplished 10-kV diffractive imaging with the iterative phase retrieval and reconstructed the structure of a multi-wall carbon nanotube with its finest feature corresponding to 0.34-nm carbon wall spacing. These results demonstrate the possibility of seamless connection between observing specimens by SEM and obtaining their images at high resolution by diffractive imaging