Radical Librarian-Technologists

Librarians may be finding themselves in the role of the technologist that supports students and faculty in Internet security, censorship circumvention, and supports whistleblowers and journalists. This paper looks at three cases where librarians present and teach technologies with these aims: the Tor anonymity network, secure communication in the field of journalism, and the librarian’s place in the maker/hackerspace movement

Building Test Anonymity Networks in a Cybersecurity Lab Environment

This paper explores current methods for creating test anonymity networks in a laboratory environment for the purpose of improving these networks while protecting user privacy. We first consider how each of these networks is research-driven and interested in helping researchers to conduct their research ethically. We then look to the software currently available for researchers to set up in their labs. Lastly we explore ways in which digital forensics and cybersecurity students could get involved with these projects and look at several class exercises that help students to understand particular attacks on these networks and ways they can help to mitigate these attacks

Radical Librarian-Technologists

Librarians may be finding themselves in the role of the technologist that supports students and faculty in Internet security, censorship circumvention, and supports whistleblowers and journalists. This paper looks at three cases where librarians present and teach technologies with these aims: the Tor anonymity network, secure communication in the field of journalism, and the librarian’s place in the maker/hackerspace movement

The Legacy of Multics and Secure Operating Systems Today

This paper looks to the legacy of Multics from 1963 and its influence on computer security. It discusses kernel-based and virtualization-based containment in projects like SELinux and Qubes, respectively. The paper notes the importance of collaborative and research-driven projects like Qubes and Tor Project

Weaving the Dark Web: Legitimacy on Freenet, Tor, and I2P

This is a book review of Robert W. Gehl\u27s Weaving the Dark Web: Legitimacy on Freenet, Tor, and I2P (2018). The book explores these anonymity networks and the concept of legitimacy throughout. Using a multidisciplinary approach and interviews with network-builders and users, Gehl helps to demystify the dark web and critically examine these networks and technologies

Predicting Stress in Russian using Modern Machine-Learning Tools

In the Russian language, stress on a word is determined via often complex patterns and rules. In this paper, after examining nearly a century of research in stress rules and methods in Russian, we turn to see if modern machine learning tools can aid in predicting stress. Using A.A. Zaliznyak’s dictionary grammar and over 300,000 word forms, we derived stress codes to aid in predicting which syllable primary stress falls on. We trained an LSTM neural network on the data and conducted eight experiments with added features such as lemma, part of speech, and morphology. While the model performed better than baseline in most experiments, the lemma feature outperformed every other feature

Monitoring the Dark Web and Securing Onion Services

This paper focuses on how researchers monitor the Dark Web. After defining what onion services and Tor are, we discuss tools for monitoring and securing onion services. As Tor Project itself is research-driven, we find that the development and use of these tools help us to project where use of the Dark Web is headed

Employment Concerns of Deaf University Students

In response to a questionnaire distributed at a university-sponsored job fair, 661 students of Gallaudet University responded to questions regarding their employment concerns. Respondents identified employment strengths in two areas-college life and self-efficacy. Students identified three aspects of career preparation- training, resources, and career selection—as problems. The findings emphasize the importance of assisting students with hearing impairments or deafness to address career-related concerns

The Internet Never Forgets: Image-Based Sexual Abuse and the Workplace

Image-based sexual abuse (IBSA), commonly known as revenge pornography, is a type of cyberharassment that often results in detrimental effects to an individual\u27s career and livelihood. Although there exists valuable research concerning cyberharassment in the workplace generally, there is little written about specifically IBSA and the workplace. This chapter examines current academic research on IBSA, the issues with defining this type of abuse, victim blaming, workplace policy, and challenges to victim-survivors\u27 redress. The authors explore monetary motivation for websites that host revenge pornography and unpack how the dark web presents new challenges to seeking justice. Additionally, this chapter presents recommendations from the literature focusing on shifting cultural attitudes, effective legislation, and increased education and training

Mitochondrial targeted catalase suppresses invasive breast cancer in mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Treatment of invasive breast cancer has an alarmingly high rate of failure because effective targets have not been identified. One potential target is mitochondrial generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) because ROS production has been associated with changes in substrate metabolism and lower concentration of anti-oxidant enzymes in tumor and stromal cells and increased metastatic potential.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Transgenic mice expressing a human catalase gene (mCAT) were crossed with MMTV-PyMT transgenic mice that develop metastatic breast cancer. All mice (33 mCAT positive and 23 mCAT negative) were terminated at 110 days of age, when tumors were well advanced. Tumors were histologically assessed for invasiveness, proliferation and metastatic foci in the lungs. ROS levels and activation status of p38 MAPK were determined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>PyMT mice expressing mCAT had a 12.5 per cent incidence of high histological grade primary tumor invasiveness compared to a 62.5 per cent incidence in PyMT mice without mCAT. The histological grade correlated with incidence of metastasis with 56 per cent of PyMT mice positive for mCAT showing evidence of pulmonary metastasis compared to 85.4 per cent of PyMT mice negative for mCAT with pulmonary metastasis (p ≤ 0.05). PyMT tumor cells expressing mCAT had lower ROS levels and were more resistant to hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress than wild type tumor cells, suggesting that mCAT has the potential of quenching intracellular ROS and subsequent invasive behavior. The metastatic tumor burden in PyMT mice expressing mCAT was 0.1 mm²/cm²of lung tissue compared with 1.3 mm²/cm²of lung tissue in PyMT mice expressing the wild type allele (p ≤ 0.01), indicating that mCAT could play a role in mitigating metastatic tumor progression at a distant organ site. Expression of mCAT in the lungs increased resistance to hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress that was associated with decreased activation of p38MAPK suggesting ROS signaling is dependent on p38MAPK for at least some of its downstream effects.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Targeting catalase within mitochondria of tumor cells and tumor stromal cells suppresses ROS-driven tumor progression and metastasis. Therefore, increasing the antioxidant capacity of the mitochondrial compartment could be a rational therapeutic approach for invasive breast cancer.</p> <p>Please see related commentary article: <url>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/9/62</url></p