15 research outputs found
Focusing and Calibration of Large Scale Network Sensors using GraphBLAS Anonymized Hypersparse Matrices
Defending community-owned cyber space requires community-based efforts.
Large-scale network observations that uphold the highest regard for privacy are
key to protecting our shared cyberspace. Deployment of the necessary network
sensors requires careful sensor placement, focusing, and calibration with
significant volumes of network observations. This paper demonstrates novel
focusing and calibration procedures on a multi-billion packet dataset using
high-performance GraphBLAS anonymized hypersparse matrices. The run-time
performance on a real-world data set confirms previously observed real-time
processing rates for high-bandwidth links while achieving significant data
compression. The output of the analysis demonstrates the effectiveness of these
procedures at focusing the traffic matrix and revealing the underlying stable
heavy-tail statistical distributions that are necessary for anomaly detection.
A simple model of the corresponding probability of detection () and
probability of false alarm () for these distributions highlights
the criticality of network sensor focusing and calibration. Once a sensor is
properly focused and calibrated it is then in a position to carry out two of
the central tenets of good cybersecurity: (1) continuous observation of the
network and (2) minimizing unbrokered network connections.Comment: Accepted to IEEE HPEC, 9 pages, 12 figures, 1 table, 63 references, 2
appendice
The Compton Spectrometer and Imager
The Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) is a NASA Small Explorer (SMEX)
satellite mission in development with a planned launch in 2027. COSI is a
wide-field gamma-ray telescope designed to survey the entire sky at 0.2-5 MeV.
It provides imaging, spectroscopy, and polarimetry of astrophysical sources,
and its germanium detectors provide excellent energy resolution for emission
line measurements. Science goals for COSI include studies of 0.511 MeV emission
from antimatter annihilation in the Galaxy, mapping radioactive elements from
nucleosynthesis, determining emission mechanisms and source geometries with
polarization measurements, and detecting and localizing multimessenger sources.
The instantaneous field of view for the germanium detectors is >25% of the sky,
and they are surrounded on the sides and bottom by active shields, providing
background rejection as well as allowing for detection of gamma-ray bursts and
other gamma-ray flares over most of the sky. In the following, we provide an
overview of the COSI mission, including the science, the technical design, and
the project status.Comment: 8 page
The cosipy library: COSI's high-level analysis software
The Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) is a selected Small Explorer
(SMEX) mission launching in 2027. It consists of a large field-of-view Compton
telescope that will probe with increased sensitivity the under-explored MeV
gamma-ray sky (0.2-5 MeV). We will present the current status of cosipy, a
Python library that will perform spectral and polarization fits, image
deconvolution, and all high-level analysis tasks required by COSI's broad
science goals: uncovering the origin of the Galactic positrons, mapping the
sites of Galactic nucleosynthesis, improving our models of the jet and emission
mechanism of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and
detecting and localizing gravitational wave and neutrino sources. The cosipy
library builds on the experience gained during the COSI balloon campaigns and
will bring the analysis of data in the Compton regime to a modern open-source
likelihood-based code, capable of performing coherent joint fits with other
instruments using the Multi-Mission Maximum Likelihood framework (3ML). In this
contribution, we will also discuss our plans to receive feedback from the
community by having yearly software releases accompanied by publicly-available
data challenges
European Red List of Habitats Part 1. Marine habitats
The European Red List of Habitats provides an overview of the risk of collapse (degree of endangerment) of marine, terrestrial and freshwater habitats in the European Union (EU28) and adjacent regions (EU28+), based on a consistent set of categories and criteria, and detailed data and expert knowledge from involved countries1. A total of 257 benthic marine habitat types were assessed. In total, 19% (EU28) and 18% (EU28+) of the evaluated habitats were assessed as threatened in categories Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable. An additional 12% were Near Threatened in the EU28 and 11% in the EU28+. These figures are approximately doubled if Data Deficient habitats are excluded. The percentage of threatened habitat types differs across the regional seas. The highest proportion of threatened habitats in the EU28 was found in the Mediterranean Sea (32%), followed by the North-East Atlantic (23%), the Black Sea (13%) and then the Baltic Sea (8%). There was a similar pattern in the EU28+. The most frequently cited pressures and threats were similar across the four regional seas: pollution (eutrophication), biological resource use other than agriculture or forestry (mainly fishing but also aquaculture), natural system modifications (e.g. dredging and sea defence works), urbanisation and climate change. Even for habitats where the assessment outcome was Data Deficient, the Red List assessment process has resulted in the compilation of a substantial body of useful information to support the conservation of marine habitats
Estrogen causes ultrastructural changes of fibrin networks during the menstrual cycle: A qualitative investigation
INTRODUCTION : Hormonal fluctuations may influence fibrin structure. During the
menstrual cycle, plasma fibrinogen levels change, mainly due to the variations of estrogen.
Throughout the menstrual cycle estrogen levels peak twice, first during the mid-follicular phase
and then a lower second peak during the luteal phase. MATERIALS AND METHODS : In order to investigate
the possible changes in the fibrin network throughout the menstrual cycle, the fibrin network
ultrastructure of six healthy female participants were studied at different intervals in the
menstrual cycle where differences in estrogen levels are prevalent. Blood plasma smears were
prepared for scanning and transmission electron microscopy analysis. RESULTS : The external and
internal structure of the fibrin fibers showed different morphologies throughout the menstrual
cycle. The fibrin fibers were smooth during days 1–5. However, during days 12–14 of the menstrual
cycle the fibrin fiber morphology started to change, becoming less smooth. During the
luteal phase of the cycle (days 20–25), the network appears sticky, where the minor, thin fibers
are more prominent between the thick fibers when compared to the menstrual phase. CONCLUSION :
The two estrogen peaks of the menstrual cycle coincide with the changes seen in the current
qualitative research, where the fibrin morphology changes during the same time as the
estrogen peaks occur. Purified fibrinogen confirmed that it is indeed estrogen that causes the
altered fibrin network morphology. This research is the first to show ultrastructural changes in
fibrin fiber morphology resulting from estrogen changes during the menstrual cycle.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1097-00292015-08-31hb201