Pattern Programmable Kernel Filter for Bot Detection

Bots earn their unique name as they perform a wide variety of automated task. These tasks include stealing sensitive user information. Detection of bots using solutions such as behavioral correlation of flow records, group activity in DNS traffic, observing the periodic repeatability in communication, etc., lead to monitoring the network traffic and then classifying them as Bot or normal traffic. Other solutions for Bot detection include kernel level key stroke verification, system call initialization, IP black listing, etc. In the first two solutions there is no assurance that the packet carrying user information is prevented from being sent to the attacker and the latter suffers from the problem of IP spoofing. This motivated us to think of a solution that would filter out the malicious packets before being put onto the network. To come out with such a solution, a real time bot attack was generated with SpyEye Exploit kit and traffic characteristics were analyzed. The analysis revealed the existence of a unique repeated communication between the Zombie machine and the botmaster. This motivated us to propose, a Pattern Programmable Kernel Filter (PPKF) for filtering out the malicious packets generated by bots. PPKF was developed using the windows filtering platform (WFP) filter engine. PPKF was programmed to filter out the packets with unique pattern which were observed from the bot attack experiments. Further PPKF was found to completely suppress the flow of packets having the programmed uniqueness in them thus preventing the functioning of bots in terms of user information being sent to the Botmaster.Defence Science Journal, 2012, 62(1), pp.174-179, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.62.142

Complexing Behaviour of 2-Thioorotic Acid: Complexes of Co(II), Fe(II), Rh(III), Pd(IV) & Pt(IV)

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Effect of sitagliptin on cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND: Data are lacking on the long-term effect on cardiovascular events of adding sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor, to usual care in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind study, we assigned 14,671 patients to add either sitagliptin or placebo to their existing therapy. Open-label use of antihyperglycemic therapy was encouraged as required, aimed at reaching individually appropriate glycemic targets in all patients. To determine whether sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo, we used a relative risk of 1.3 as the marginal upper boundary. The primary cardiovascular outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for unstable angina. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 3.0 years, there was a small difference in glycated hemoglobin levels (least-squares mean difference for sitagliptin vs. placebo, -0.29 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.32 to -0.27). Overall, the primary outcome occurred in 839 patients in the sitagliptin group (11.4%; 4.06 per 100 person-years) and 851 patients in the placebo group (11.6%; 4.17 per 100 person-years). Sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo for the primary composite cardiovascular outcome (hazard ratio, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.88 to 1.09; P<0.001). Rates of hospitalization for heart failure did not differ between the two groups (hazard ratio, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.20; P = 0.98). There were no significant between-group differences in rates of acute pancreatitis (P = 0.07) or pancreatic cancer (P = 0.32). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease, adding sitagliptin to usual care did not appear to increase the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, hospitalization for heart failure, or other adverse events

Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis

Background Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis. Methods A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis). Results Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent). Conclusion Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Experimental Hepatotoxicity Produced by Ethinyl estradiol

Ethinyl oestradiol (EO) is the most commonly used as a component of oral contraceptive and hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) in women. However, its excessive and prolonged use may cause cytotoxicity, including cancer of many organs. Hence, the present study was performed to produce the experimental hepatotoxicity in female albino rats. EO was administered to different groups of rats, respectively @ 250, 500 and 750 μg/kg body weight, orally, weekly for 16 and 20 weeks. One group of rats was administered with saline alone to serve as control. The rats were sacrificed after their respective experimental periods, and the livers were collected and preserved in 10% buffered formalin. Later on, the histopathological study of liver tissues was done. On the 17th week, the hepatic tissues showed severe congestion, focal areas of hemorrhage, extreme vacuolation of cytoplasm, distended sinusoids with dilated central veins. Degeneration and necrosis of hepatocytes as evidenced by increased cytoplasmic granularity, and dissolution of nuclear materials were seen. On the 21st weeks, these changes were extremely severe and quite conspicuous. Distinct fibrosis was also noticed. EO caused hepatotoxicity, the extent and severity of which were dose and time dependent, indicating that this drug at higher dose after prolonged duration (500 or 750 μg/kg, orally, weekly for 20 weeks) may cause the standard experimental hepatotoxicity in rats

Ultrasonic attenuation in semi-metallie GdX single crystals (X=P,As,Sb and Bi) in the temperature range 10 to 300 K

510-513Ultrasonic attenuation studies have been made in semi-metallic GdX single crystals (X= P, As, Sb and Bi) in the temperature range 10-300 K. Attenuation due to e-p interaction has been studied from 10 to 80K and due to p-p interaction between 100-300 K. Morse potential has been used to evaluate second and third order elastic constants at 0 K and then at higher temperatures. Mason's approach has been used to evaluate ultrasonic attenuation. Results have been discussed, at neel-temperature slight kink in ultrasonic attenuation is observed in all the cases