Statistical analysis driven optimized deep learning system for intrusion detection

Attackers have developed ever more sophisticated and intelligent ways to hack information and communication technology systems. The extent of damage an individual hacker can carry out upon infiltrating a system is well understood. A potentially catastrophic scenario can be envisaged where a nation-state intercepting encrypted financial data gets hacked. Thus, intelligent cybersecurity systems have become inevitably important for improved protection against malicious threats. However, as malware attacks continue to dramatically increase in volume and complexity, it has become ever more challenging for traditional analytic tools to detect and mitigate threat. Furthermore, a huge amount of data produced by large networks has made the recognition task even more complicated and challenging. In this work, we propose an innovative statistical analysis driven optimized deep learning system for intrusion detection. The proposed intrusion detection system (IDS) extracts optimized and more correlated features using big data visualization and statistical analysis methods (human-in-the-loop), followed by a deep autoencoder for potential threat detection. Specifically, a pre-processing module eliminates the outliers and converts categorical variables into one-hot-encoded vectors. The feature extraction module discard features with null values and selects the most significant features as input to the deep autoencoder model (trained in a greedy-wise manner). The NSL-KDD dataset from the Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity is used as a benchmark to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed architecture. Simulation results demonstrate the potential of our proposed system and its outperformance as compared to existing state-of-the-art methods and recently published novel approaches. Ongoing work includes further optimization and real-time evaluation of our proposed IDS.Comment: To appear in the 9th International Conference on Brain Inspired Cognitive Systems (BICS 2018

Prospective evaluation of BDProbeTec strand displacement amplification (SDA) system for diagnosis of tuberculosis in non-respiratory and respiratory samples.

Nucleic acid amplification techniques (NAATs) have been demonstrated to make significant improvements in the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB), particularly in the time to diagnosis and the diagnosis of smear-negative TB. The BD ProbeTec strand displacement amplification (SDA) system for the diagnosis of pulmonary and non-pulmonary tuberculosis was evaluated. A total of 689 samples were analysed from patients with clinically suspected TB. Compared with culture, the sensitivity and specificity for pulmonary samples were 98 and 89 %, and against final clinical diagnosis 93 and 92 %, respectively. This assay has undergone limited evaluation for non-respiratory samples and so 331 non-respiratory samples were tested, identifying those specimens that were likely to yield a useful result. These were CSF (n = 104), fine needle aspirates (n = 64) and pus (n = 41). Pleural fluid (n = 47) was identified as a poor specimen. A concern in using the SDA assay was that low-positive samples were difficult to interpret; 7.8 % of specimens fell into this category. Indeed, 64 % of the discrepant results, when compared to final clinical diagnosis, could be assigned as low-positive samples. Specimen type did not predict likelihood of a sample being in the low-positive zone. Although the manufacturers do not describe the concept of a low-positive zone, we have found that it aids clinical diagnosis

Ultra-short echo time cardiovascular magnetic resonance of atherosclerotic carotid plaque.

BACKGROUND: Multi-contrast weighted cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) allows detailed plaque characterisation and assessment of plaque vulnerability. The aim of this preliminary study was to show the potential of Ultra-short Echo Time (UTE) subtraction MR in detecting calcification. METHODS: 14 ex-vivo human carotid arteries were scanned using CMR and CT, prior to histological slide preparation. Two images were acquired using a double-echo 3D UTE pulse, one with a long TE and the second with an ultra-short TE, with the same TR. An UTE subtraction (DeltaUTE) image containing only ultra-short T2 (and T2*) signals was obtained by post-processing subtraction of the 2 UTE images. The DeltaUTE image was compared to the conventional 3D T1-weighted sequence and CT scan of the carotid arteries. RESULTS: In atheromatous carotid arteries, there was a 71% agreement between the high signal intensity areas on DeltaUTE images and CT scan. The same areas were represented as low signal intensity on T1W and areas of void on histology, indicating focal calcification. However, in 15% of all the scans there were some incongruent regions of high intensity on DeltaUTE that did not correspond with a high intensity signal on CT, and histology confirmed the absence of calcification. CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated that the UTE sequence has potential to identify calcified plaque. Further work is needed to fully understand the UTE findings

Effects of ERP Systems in China: Cultural Influences in the Manufacturing Industry

To gain a competitive advantage in the global market, many Chinese manufacturing firms have invested heavily in implementing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Evidence shows, however, that ERP system use has varied significantly between firms. This study addresses such variances in performance in the Chinese manufacturing context, particularly at a plant level. The Gattiker and Goodhue model was adapted for our investigation incorporating a survey instrument. Data were collected from 59 Chinese manufacturing firms. The data collected were analysed using Structural Equation Modeling in association with the Partial Least Squares technique. The results show that the level of interdependence, differentiation between plants, time elapsed after ERP system implementation, high context communication in the Chinese culture, and personal relationships (guanxi) have significant impacts the performance of on firms that use ERP systems. The results also indicate that a better fit between ERP systems and Chinese culture will lead to a higher performance. Particularly, personal relationships (guanxi) have a positive influence on the use of ERP systems, while high context communication has a negative influence. The findings have significant implications for IS researchers and practitioners in the Chinese social context

Does culture matter? Cultural influences and IT governance integration mechanism

This paper aims to contribute to the conceptualization and contextualization of IT governance (ITG) by exploring the potential influences of national culture on ITG integration mechanisms. We address the lack of understanding towards the influences that culture may have on ITG in previous literature and present a framework to examine whether and how cultural intervention effects ITG performance. Conventional themes in ITG studies pay more attention to the structure of decision-making authorities. This paper focuses on the paradigm of integrative coordination. Through the lens of the resource-based view (RBV), we conceptualize ITG as a systemic set of firm-specific resources in IT value creation; whereas the complementarity of national culture to ITG is conceptualized as a type of country-specific resource. The propositions presented are expected to enrich the understanding of ITG integration mechanisms and IT value creation and benefit the cross-country transfer of ITG concepts and practice

When sitting becomes sport: life stories in sitting volleyball

Results of recent studies support a growing literature which indicates that exercise and physical activity are associated with better quality of life and health outcomes. The purpose of the present qualitative study is to gain a deeper insight into how sitting volleyball players perceive the impact of the sport on their lives. So far, the research in the field of disability and sport has tended to focus on ideological approaches rather than empiricism. Thus, the present study explores how the participants experience their disability and their involvement in sport. The research was conducted with a group of 5 male sitting volleyball players (aged 32 to 61 years old) in Athens, Greece. Data were collected primarily through audio-recorded, semi-structured in-depth interviews and enriched with participant observation field notes. Data was analysed following an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as the aim of the research was to capture the players’ perceptions of their participation in sitting volleyball

Malaria among pregnant women in Abeokuta, Nigeria

Pregnant women were enrolled from two hospitals and a Traditional Birth Home (TBH) in Abeokuta, Nigeria and monitored monthly for malaria parasites from the first antenatal visit until delivery. A total of 466 pregnant women were recruited for the study. The prevalence of malaria was 57.4%, and was higher among women in the TBH. The prevalence of malaria in the first, second and third trimesters of pregnancy were 37.5%, 47.3% and 47.5% respectively. At the time of the first antenatal visit 35.6% of the women were already parasitaemic, with a high frequency observed among primigravids. The prevalence recorded in the ninth month of pregnancy (35.7%) was not statistically different from that recorded at first antenatal visit (P>0.05). The need to improve the quality of care, malaria prevention and treatment given to pregnant women especially receiving antenatal care outside the hospital is recommended. Keywords: malaria, pregnancy, antenatal care, traditional birth home, Nigeria Tanzania Health Research Bulletin Vol. 8(1) 2006: 28-3

Pancreatic cancer-associated diabetes mellitus: an open field for proteomic applications.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is associated with pancreatic cancer in more than 80% of the cases. Clinical, epidemiological, and experimental data indicate that pancreatic cancer causes diabetes mellitus by releasing soluble mediators which interfere with both beta-cell function and liver and muscle glucose metabolism. Methods: We analysed, by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF), a series of pancreatic cancer cell lines conditioned media, pancreatic cancer patients' peripheral and portal sera, comparing them with controls and chronic pancreatitis patients' sera. Results: MALDI-TOF analysis of pancreatic cancer cells conditioned media and patients' sera indicated a low molecular weight peptide to be the putative pancreatic cancer-associated diabetogenic factor. The sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis of tumor samples from diabetic and non-diabetic patients revealed the presence of a 1500 Da peptide only in diabetic patients. The amino acid sequence of this peptide corresponded to the N-terminal of an S-100 calcium binding protein, which was therefore suggested to be the pancreatic cancer-associated diabetogenic factor. Conclusions: We identified a tumor-derived peptide of 14 amino acids sharing a 100% homology with an S-100 calcium binding protein, which is probably the pancreatic cancer-associated diabetogenic facto

Pancreatic cancer-derived S-100A8 N-terminal peptide: a diabetes cause?

BACKGROUND: Our aim was to identify the pancreatic cancer diabetogenic peptide. METHODS: Pancreatic tumor samples from patients with (n=15) or without (n=7) diabetes were compared with 6 non-neoplastic pancreas samples using SDS-PAGE. RESULTS: A band measuring approximately 1500 Da was detected in tumors from diabetics, but not in neoplastic samples from non-diabetics or samples from non-neoplastic subjects. Sequence analysis revealed a 14 amino acid peptide (1589.88 Da), corresponding to the N-terminal of the S100A8. At 50 nmol/L and 2 mmol/L, this peptide significantly reduced glucose consumption and lactate production by cultured C(2)C(12) myoblasts. The 14 amino acid peptide caused a lack of myotubular differentiation, the presence of polynucleated cells and caspase-3 activation. CONCLUSIONS: The 14 amino acid peptide from S100A8 impairs the catabolism of glucose by myoblasts in vitro and may cause hyperglycemia in vivo. Its identification in biological fluids might be helpful in diagnosing pancreatic cancer in patients with recent onset diabetes mellitus