Epigenetic mechanisms of TNFα activation in patients with cancer endometry

An important aspect of the management of patients with endometrial cancer (ER) is the timely identification of risk groups, early signs of the onset and recurrence of the disease. There is an active search for new markers for early diagnosis, detection of relapses and postoperative monitoring of RE. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) is a cytokine involved in the pathogenesis of various forms of cancer, as well as associated with chronic inflammation, obesity. The goal is to study the methylation of the TNFa gene in the OM and the possibility of using it as a marker for forecasting, monitoring, and the risk of developing the OM. Materials and methods. DNA methylation was determined by the method of pyrosequencing in endometrial specimens taken from 10 patients with verified endometrial hyperplasia and 13 patients with RE when performing hysteroscopy with endometrial biopsy or endometrial curettage. Results and discussion. The total degree of methylation of the TNFα gene DNA promoter in the samples under study in patients with simple and / or complex nonatypical endometrial hyperplasia was 62.6 ± 12.8% and was higher than in RE patients (34.7 ± 8.8%). Findings. The results of the study showed the involvement of the epigenetic mechanism, which is associated with hypomethylation of the TNFα gene promoter, which can lead to the activation of the TNFα gene in RE. Determining the amount of methylation DNA promoter of the TNFα gene can be used as a potential prognostic and diagnostic marker for ER

Tree Stands and Their Productivity Dynamics at the Upper Growing Limit in Khibiny on the Background of Modern Climate Changes

Within the ecotone of the upper limit of woody vegetation on the southeastern macroslope of the Khibiny Mountain ridge (Kola Peninsula), the spatial and age structure, as well as features of the phytomass accumulation of spruce–birch stands, were studied. Analysis revealed that there was a manifold increase in the density and productivity of forest stands in the last century, and the upper border of the woodlands and dense forests has moved considerably higher into the mountains. All of this happened against the background of an increase in early summer temperatures and a longer growing season in the area in the 20th century. Our data will help simulate the response of mountain ecosystems in the region to future climate change. © 2019, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd

Free-free absorption parameters of Cassiopeia A from low-frequency interferometric observations

Context. Cassiopeia A is one of the most extensively studied supernova remnants (SNRs) in our Galaxy. The analysis of its spectral features with the help of low frequency observations plays an important role for understanding the evolution of the radio source through the propagation of synchrotron emission to observers through the SNR environment and the interstellar medium. Aims. In this paper we present measurements of the integrated spectrum of Cas A to characterize the properties of free-free absorption towards this SNR. We also add new measurements to track its slowly evolving and decreasing integrated flux density. Methods. We use the Giant Ukrainian radio telescope (GURT) for measuring the continuum spectrum of Cassiopeia A within the frequency range of 16-72 MHz. The radio flux density of Cassiopeia A relative to the reference source of the radio galaxy Cygnus A has been measured on May-October, 2019 with two subarrays of the GURT, used as a two-element correlation interferometer. Results. We determine magnitudes of emission measure, electron temperature and an average number of charges of the ions for both internal and external absorbing ionized gas towards in Cassiopeia A. Generally, their values are close to the ones suggested by Arias et al. (2018), although for some there are slight differences. In the absence of clumping we find the unshocked ejecta of M = 2.61 solar mass at the electron density of 15.3 cm^-3 has a gas temperature of T=100 K. If the clumping factor is 0.67, then the unshocked ejecta of 0.96 solar mass the electron density of 18.7 cm^-3. Conclusions. The integrated flux density spectrum of Cassiopeia A obtained with the GURT interferometric observations is consistent with the theoretical model within measurement errors and also reasonably consistent with other recent results in the literature.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, 2 table

Epigenetic mechanisms of TNFα activation in patients with endometrial cancer

Timely identification of risk groups, early signs of the disease onset and recurrence is an important aspect in management of endometrial cancer (EC) patients. There is an active search for early diagnosis new markers, detection of relapses and EC postoperative monitoring. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) is a cytokine involved in the pathogenesis of various forms of cancer, as well as associated with chronic inflammation, obesity. The objective is to study TNFa gene methylation in EC and the possibility of its use as a marker for forecasting, monitoring, and EC risk development. Materials and methods. DNA methylation was determined by pyrosequencing in endometrial specimens taken from 10 patients with verified endometrial hyperplasia and 13 patients with EC when performing hysteroscopy with endometrial biopsy or endometrial curettage. Results and discussion. The total degree of methylation of the TNFα gene DNA promoter in the samples under study in the patients with simple and / or complex nonatypical endometrial hyperplasia was 62.6 ± 12.8%, which is higher than in EC patients (34.7 ± 8.8%). Conclusions. The results obtained showed the involvement of epigenetic mechanism associated with hypomethylation of the TNFα gene promoter, which can lead to the activation of the TNFα gene in EC. Determination of methylation DNA promoter of the TNFα gene and its amount can be used as a potential prognostic and diagnostic marker of EC

Обнаружение DGA доменов и предотвращение botnet средствами Q-обучения для POMDP

 An effective method for preventing the operation of computer network nodes for organizing a botnet is proposed. A botnet is a collection of devices connected via the Internet for the purpose of organizing DDoS attacks, stealing data, sending spam and other malicious actions. The described method implies the detection of generated domain names in DNS queries using a neural network with parallel organization of convolutional and bidirectional recurrent layers. The effectiveness of the method is based on the assumption that generated domain names are used to create a botnet for merging. Experiments confirm that the proposed neural network is superior to the accuracy of existing counterparts on the UMUDGA dataset. The estimation of the quality of recognition of generated domain names using ROC analysis is calculated for a trained neural network. The article also formulates a model for controlling detectors using a partially observable Markov decisionmaking process to block infected nodes of a computer network. The search for the optimal policy for the formulated model by means of Q-learning of value agents is proposed. A comparative analysis of the average, minimum and maximum value of actions taken by agents in the process of interacting with the environment is carried out. Предлагается эффективный метод предотвращения эксплуатации узлов компьютерной сети для организации botnet. Под botnet подразумевается совокупность устройств, объединенных через сеть Интернет с целью организации DDoS-атак, кражи данных, рассылки спама и других вредоносных действий. Описанный метод подразумевает детектирование сгенерированных доменных имен  в DNS-запросах с помощью нейронной сети с параллельной организацией сверточных и двунаправленных рекуррентных слоев. Эффективность метода базируется на предположении, что для создания botnet используют генерируемые доменные имена для объединения. Эксперименты подтверждают, что предлагаемая нейронная сеть превосходит точность существующих аналогов на наборе данных UMUDGA. Вычисляется оценка качества распознавания сгенерированных доменных имен с помощью ROC-анализа для обученной нейронной сети. В статье также формулируется модель управления детекторами с помощью частично наблюдаемого марковского процесса принятия решений для блокировки зараженных узлов компьютерной сети. Предлагается поиск оптимальной политики для сформулированной модели средствами Q-обучения ценностных агентов. Производится сравнительный анализ по средней, минимальной и максимальной ценности принимаемых агентами действий в процессе взаимодействия с окружением.

Текстовый анализ DNS запросов для защиты компьютерных сетей от эксфильтрации данных

The paper proposes effective method of computer network protection from data exfiltration by the system of domain names. Data exfiltration by Domain Name System (DNS) is an approach to conceal the transfer of confidential data to remote adversary using data encapsulation into the requesting domain name. The DNS requests that transfer stolen information from a host infected by malicious software to an external host controlled by a malefactor are considered. The paper proposes a method of detecting such DNS requests based on text classification of domain names by convolutional neural network. The efficiency of the method is based on assumption that domain names exploited for data exfiltration differ from domain names formed from words of natural language. To classify the requests in convolutional neural network the use of character embedding for representing the string of a domain name is proposed. Quality evaluation of the trained neural network used for recognition of data exfiltration through domain name system using ROC-analysis is performed.The paper presents the software architecture used for deployment of trained neural network into existing infrastructure of the domain name system targeting practical computer networks protection from data exfiltration. The architecture implies creation of response policy zones for blocking of individual requests, classified as malicious.Предлагается эффективный способ защиты компьютерных сетей от эксфильтрации данных через систему доменных имен (англ. Domain Name System, DNS), которая представляет собой способ сокрытия передачи конфиденциальной информации удаленному злоумышленнику путем инкапсуляции данных в запрашиваемое доменное имя. Рассматриваются DNS-запросы, в которых передается украденная информация, c зараженного вредоносной программой узла на внешний узел, управляемый злоумышленником. Описывается подход для обнаружения подобных запросов с помощью текстовой классификации доменных имен сверточной нейронной сетью. Эффективность подхода базируется на предположении, что доменные имена, используемые для эксфильтрации данных, отличаются от доменных имен, сформированных из слов естественного языка. Для классификации запросов в сверточной нейронной сети предлагается использовать символьное встраивание с целью представления строки доменного имени. Производится оценка качества распознавания эксфильтрации данных через DNS с помощью ROC-анализа для обученной нейронной сети.Демонстрируется архитектура программного обеспечения для развертывания обученной нейронной сети в существующую инфраструктуру DNS с целью практической защиты компьютерных сетей от эксфильтрации данных. Архитектура подразумевает формирование зон с политикой ответов для блокировки отдельных запросов, классифицируемых как вредоносные

PROGRESS IN THE STUDY OF DECAMETER-WAVELENGTH SOLAR RADIO EMISSION WITH UKRAINIAN RADIO TELESCOPES. Part 2

Subject and Purpose. This part of the paper continues presentation of results of the solar radio emission studies performed with Ukrainian radio telescopes over the past 20 years. The importance is stressed of developing adequate instruments and methods for identifying the nature of decameter-wavelength radio emissions from the Sun. Methods and Methodology. The low frequency Ukrainian radio telescopes UTR-2, GURT and URAN-2 have been used in the project along with other ground- and space based instruments in order to achieve a comprehensive understanding of physical conditions in the solar corona. Results. Special methods and tools have been developed for studying radio frequency burst emissions against the background of strong interference. Unique data have been obtained concerning sources of sporadic radio emissions from the Sun, as well as the contribution from wave propagation effects and the impact of the ionosphere on the results of observations. The most significant observational and theoretical results are presented, obtained in the study of solar low frequency emissions over the past 20 years. Solar radio emissions are shown to be efficient sounding signals not for the solar corona alone but for the Earth’s ionosphere as well, which allows identifying its impact on the results of radio astronomy observations. Conclusions. The Ukrainian radio telescopes of the meter and decameter wavebands currently are unrivaled tools for investigating the Universe in the low-frequency range of radio waves. Owing to their advanced characteristics, they make a significant contribution to the progress of world’s solar radio astronomy

АВТОМАТИЗИРОВАННЫЕ ЭНЕРГОСБЕРЕГАЮЩИЕ ИСПЫТАТЕЛЬНЫЕ КОМПЛЕКСЫ СИСТЕМ ЭЛЕКТРОПИТАНИЯ КОСМИЧЕСКИХ АППАРАТОВ

The Automated power-saving multifunctional testing facility for land-power systems engineering test satellites designed and developed. The proposed system allows to work out a Session schedule load in automatic and manual modes, generates dynamic and static loading regimes, allows us to study the performance and reliability of regulators of power system. Part of the complex of solar simulators and rechargeable batteries ensure the formation of the current-voltage characteristics board sources of primary energy.Разработан и создан многофункциональный автоматизированный энергосберегающий испытательный комплекс для проведения наземно-технических испытаний систем электропитания космических аппаратов. Предложенный комплекс позволяет отрабатывать сеансное расписание нагрузки в автоматическом и ручном режимах, формирует динамические и статические режимы нагрузок, позволяет исследовать быстродействие и надежность регуляторов системы электропитания. Входящие в состав комплекса имитаторы солнечной и аккумуляторной батарей обеспечивают формирование вольт-амперных характеристик (ВАХ) бортовых источников первичной энергии

PROGRESS IN THE STUDY OF DECAMETER-WAVELENGTH SOLAR RADIO EMISSION WITH UKRAINIAN RADIO TELESCOPES. Part 1. (Invited paper)

Subject and Purpose. Results are presented of the solar corona investigations performed with the world famous Ukrainian radio telescopes. The work has been aimed at offering a consistent review of recent achievements in observations of a variety of low-frequency radio emissions from the Sun. Methods and Methodology. The studies of the quiet (thermal) and sporadic (burst-like) radio emissions from the Sun have been carried out with the decameter-wavelength radio telescopes UTR-2, GURT and URAN-2. Specific features of the low-frequency solar radio emissions from a variety of sources are presented, with characterization of the optimized techniques that were applied in each case for evaluating physical parameters of the corona in the areas of decameter-wavelength radio wave generation. Results. The analysis of temporal, frequency and spatial characteristics of solar radio emissions has allowed suggesting a number of models for the coronal electron density distribution, and evaluating magnetic field strengths in the corona. Also, our experimental results have proven to be consistent with the observational data obtained in different frequency ranges and with the use of both ground based and space-borne instruments. Conclusions. The radio observations performed with Ukrainian radio telescopes have permitted studying, with high temporal, frequency and spatial resolutions, solar radio frequency emissions from various localized sources. Along with the large effective area and high sensitivity of the antennas, this permits application of a wide range of methods and tools aimed at detecting and analyzing solar bursts, of both strong and weak intensity, against the background of terrestrial interference of natural or artificial origin