Enhancing Cyberweapon Effectiveness Methodology with SE Modeling Techniques: Both for Offense and Defense

A recent cyberweapons effectiveness methodology clearly provides a parallel but distinct process from that of kinetic weapons – both for defense and offense purposes. This methodology promotes consistency and improves cyberweapon system evaluation accuracy – for both offensive and defensive postures. However, integrating this cyberweapons effectiveness methodology into the design phase and operations phase of weapons systems development is still a challenge. The paper explores several systems engineering modeling techniques (e.g., SysML) and how they can be leveraged towards an enhanced effectiveness methodology. It highlights how failure mode analyses (e.g., FMEA) can facilitate cyber damage determination and target assessment, how block and parametric diagraming techniques can facilitate characterizing cyberweapons and eventually assess the effectiveness of such weapons and conversely assess vulnerabilities of systems to certain types of cyberweapons

Characterization of ovarian cancer-derived extracellular vesicles by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological malignancy, owing to the fact that most cases are diagnosed at a late stage. To improve prognosis and reduce mortality, we must develop methods for the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer. A step towards early and non-invasive cancer diagnosis is through the utilization of extracellular vesicles (EVs), which are nanoscale, membrane-bound vesicles that contain proteins and genetic material reflective of their parent cell. Thus, EVs secreted by cancer cells can be thought of as cancer biomarkers. In this paper, we present gold nanohole arrays for the capture of ovarian cancer (OvCa)-derived EVs and their characterization by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). For the first time, we have characterized EVs isolated from two established OvCa cell lines (OV-90, OVCAR3), two primary OvCa cell lines (EOC6, EOC18), and one human immortalized ovarian surface epithelial cell line (hIOSE) by SERS. We subsequently determined their main compositional differences by principal component analysis and were able to discriminate the groups by a logistic regression-based machine learning method with ∼99% accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. The results presented here are a great step towards quick, facile, and non-invasive cancer diagnosis

Engineered Solution to Improve Water Quality of Urban Water

The Kirulapone canal is one of the most polluted urban canals situated in residential and commercial area of the metro Colombo region. Although this is a drainage canal which is facilitated to prevent flooding in urban city of Colombo, it consists of unfavorable colour, eutrophication, and bad odor due to the haphazard wastewater disposal, crummy attitudes of inhabitants, which contribute to the nutrient enrichment of surface water ecosystems. This research illustrates the use of a constructed wetland to purify the canal water in the tributary of Kirulapone canal which flows across the Open University Premises.This study is focused on designing a constructed wetland to reduce the high phosphate level and to reduce or remediate the disrupting compounds that negatively effect on the canal water quality. A canal bed level and pilot scale water quality surveys were carried out to identify the canal behavior and its current pollution status. The catchment area of the tributary is 0.47km2. The canal water discharge of the tributary was measured using a v-notch and the minimum discharge 0.05 m3/s was used for the designing purpose. After a continuous hydrological study on canal routing such as water level fluctuation, flood frequency condition with the interaction of precipitation within the selected catchment area, the retention time of the constructed wetland was decided. Subsequently size of the wetland is driven simultaneously providing good flood reduction and adequate supply even in the dry season with series of additional technical components to optimize the wetland functions. Biochar was obtained by pyrolyzed Gliricidia sepium, which is a byproduct of dendro power generation of Sri Lanka. The phosphate removal rate of biochar within the retention time was determined and suitability of native hydrologic plants for the wetland was in cooperated to the canal purification system.According to the analysis, horizontal subsurface constructed wetland system with the combination of biochar was suggested due to the high potential of biochar to recapture excess nutrient. The wetland is designed with several technical aspects to properly function in both tropical and rainy climates. The benefit of constructed wetland system is discussed in the context of the global trend for introducing sustainable methods of environmental management and low cost pollution treatment system.Keywords: Biochar, Kirulapone canal, Urban water quality, Constructed wetland, Phosphate remova

Proteomic Analysis of Rat Hypothalamus Revealed the Role of Ubiquitin–Proteasome System in the Genesis of DR or DIO

Obesity has become a global epidemic, contributing to the increasing burdens of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. However, the precise molecular mechanisms of obesity remain poorly elucidated. The hypothalamus plays a major part in regulating energy homeostasis by integrating all kinds of nutritional signals. This study investigated the hypothalamus protein profile in diet-induced obese (DIO) and diet-resistant (DR) rats using two dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) combined with MALDI-TOF/TOF–MS analysis. Twenty-two proteins were identified in the hypothalamus of DIO or DR rats. These include metabolic enzymes, antioxidant proteins, proteasome related proteins, and signaling proteins, some of which are related to AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling or mitochondrial respiration. Among these proteins, in comparison with the normal-diet group, Ubiquitin was significantly decreased in DR rats but not changed in DIO rats, while Ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal esterase L1 (UCHL-1) was decreased in DIO rats but not changed in DR rats. The expression level of Ubiquitin and UCHL-1 were further validated using Western blot analysis. Our study reveals that Ubiquitin and UCHL-1 are obesity-related factors in the hypothalamus that may play an important role in the genesis of DR or DIO by interfering with the integrated signaling network that control energy balance and feeding

Determination of selenium content in selected edible green leaves

The selenium (Se) contents in seven conventional Edible Green Leaves (EGL) that consumed by Sri Lankans were determined using Hydride Generation Atomic Absorption Spectrometric method (HGAAS). The EGLs that were grown in five districts under different climatic conditions in Sri Lanka were collected from Gampaha, Kandy, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura and Puttalam areas. The EGL that were subjected to current study are Centella asiatica (Sin. Gotukola), Alternanthra sessilis (Sin. Mukunuwenna), Basella alba (Sin. Nivithi/ Spinach), Boerhavia diffusa (Sin. Sarana), Ipomoea aquatica (Sin. Kankun), Amaranthus spinosus (Sin. Thampala) and Hygrophila schulli (Sin. Neeramulliya). Soil samples corresponding to each EGL sample were also collected from Gampaha, Kandy and Anuradhapura districts in order identify a relationship between the Se content in plants and soils. Prior to the analysis EGL samples and corresponding soil samples were subjected to acid digestion with nitric acid. Se contents in the EGL were in the range of 31.2 – 103.2 μg kg-1 on dry weight basis. According to the results, Centella asiatica and Hygrophila schulli varieties showed relatively higher Se content, while Hygrophila schulli shown the highest value and the lowest was reported in Boerhavia diffusa. The Se content in corresponding soil samples were ranged from 96.4 to 133.9 μg kg-1 on dry weight basis. The Se content in soil was higher than that in plants, but there was no significant correlation between the Se content in soil and EGLs

A two step fractionation approach for plasma proteomics using immunodepletion of abundant proteins and multi-lectin affinity chromatography: Application to the analysis of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension diseases

Plasma is an important biological material for biomarker discovery. However, the wide dynamic range in protein concentration remains a major challenge. In this paper, we introduce the development of a proteomic platform for analysis of plasma samples. The method utilizes a double fractionation approach which combines the MARS immunodepletion column with multi-lectin affinity chromatography, M-LAC, to deplete the most abundant proteins in plasma, the majority of which are glycosylated. To determine the suitability of this methodology, we applied the workflow described in this study to a sample set composed of four groups: a control pool and three different disease pools: obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. We were able to identify changes in the level of several proteins; for example, a protein such as angiotensinogen was found to be present at high levels in patients with obesity plus diabetes and hypertension. On the other hand, apolipoprotein CI was shown to be elevated in all disease groups. A review of the literature supported our observation. The methodology presented in this report was shown to be effective for profiling changes in the plasma proteome of subjects with obesity and its associated complications such as diabetes and hypertension.11 page(s

Centralized Scheduling with Sum-Rate optimization in Flexible Half-Duplex Networks

In this paper, we focus on maximization of the instantaneous sum-rate in flexible half-duplex networks, where nodes have the flexibility to choose to either transmit, receive or be silent in a given time slot. Since the corresponding optimization problem is NP-hard, we design low-cost algorithms that give sub-optimal solutions with good performance. We first consider two existing approximation techniques to simplify the sum-rate optimization problem: arithmetic-geometric means inequality and another utilising the tight lower bound approximation. We then propose a novel pattern search algorithm that performs close to exhaustive search but with significantly lower complexity. Comparing the performance of the proposed algorithm with respect to existing resource allocation techniques, we observe that our proposed algorithm provides significant sum-rate gains

Real time data analytics platform for power grid smart applications

The main objective of this paper is to elucidate issues that concern the integration of existing software systems and platforms into an open-source, open-architecture simulation engine that delivers large scale data analytics for the efficiency and stability of next generation power distribution grids. Our objective is achieved through the design and the implementation of a prototype simulation engine that couples state-of-the-art software from both the electrical engineering and information sciences. The effectiveness of our system is examined through two realistic large and detailed simulation scenarios which also involve machine learning and game theory. © 2017 IEEE

The Relationship between Personality Traits and Sickness Presenteeism among Managers in Selected Public Banks in Sri Lanka

Sickness presenteeism is grown as a legitimate concern for scholars, especially in occupational medicine who referred to it as ‘employees attending work while being ill’. The complexity of decision-making process of sickness presenteeism turned attention to possible association of personality traits as its key personal driver which permits a prediction of what a person will do in a given situation. The purpose of the study is to determine the relationship between personality traits and sickness presenteeism among managers in three public banks in Sri Lanka considering the Big Five personality traits; Extroversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism and Openness to Experience. Using a quantitative research design, a survey was conducted among managers who represent all managerial levels in selected public banks in Sri Lanka. Analysis of the data was aligned with the objective of the study to yield results of the correlation between each personality trait and sickness presenteeism. Findings revealed that all Big Five personality traits correlated to sickness presenteeism among managers in three public banks in Sri Lanka.Key Words: Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Neuroticism, Openness to Experience, Sickness Presenteeis

Media Me: Body and personal media interaction

Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)4740 LNCS407-41