Enhanced Prediction of Network Attacks Using Incomplete Data

For years, intrusion detection has been considered a key component of many organizations’ network defense capabilities. Although a number of approaches to intrusion detection have been tried, few have been capable of providing security personnel responsible for the protection of a network with sufficient information to make adjustments and respond to attacks in real-time. Because intrusion detection systems rarely have complete information, false negatives and false positives are extremely common, and thus valuable resources are wasted responding to irrelevant events. In order to provide better actionable information for security personnel, a mechanism for quantifying the confidence level in predictions is needed. This work presents an approach which seeks to combine a primary prediction model with a novel secondary confidence level model which provides a measurement of the confidence in a given attack prediction being made. The ability to accurately identify an attack and quantify the confidence level in the prediction could serve as the basis for a new generation of intrusion detection devices, devices that provide earlier and better alerts for administrators and allow more proactive response to events as they are occurring

Right-sided aorta with complete isolation of the left innominate artery

AbstractA right-sided aorta with an isolated left subclavian and left common carotid artery is a rare arch defect. We are presenting the case of a 56-year-old woman who had initially presented with headache and 3 episodes of right-sided facial and extremity numbness. A presumptive diagnosis of transient ischemic attack prompted imaging studies where a computer tomography angiogram showed aberrant vessels

Planet Eclipse Mapping with Long-Term Baseline Drifts

High precision lightcurves combined with eclipse mapping techniques can reveal the horizontal and vertical structure of a planet's thermal emission and the dynamics of hot Jupiters. Someday, they even may reveal the surface maps of rocky planets. However, inverting lightcurves into maps requires an understanding of the planet, star and instrumental trends because they can resemble the gradual flux variations as the planet rotates (ie. partial phase curves). In this work, we simulate lightcurves with baseline trends and assess the impact on planet maps. Baseline trends can be erroneously modeled by incorrect astrophysical planet map features, but there are clues to avoid this pitfall in both the residuals of the lightcurve during eclipse and sharp features at the terminator of the planet. Models that use a Gaussian process or polynomial to account for a baseline trend successfully recover the input map even in the presence of systematics but with worse precision for the m=1 spherical harmonic terms. This is also confirmed with the ThERESA eigencurve method where fewer lightcurve terms can model the planet without correlations between the components. These conclusions help aid the decision on how to schedule observations to improve map precision. If the m=1 components are critical, such as measuring the East/West hotspot shift on a hot Jupiter, better characterization of baseline trends can improve the m=1 terms' precision. For latitudinal North/South information from the remaining mapping terms, it is preferable to obtain high signal-to-noise at ingress/egress with more eclipses.Comment: AJ, accepted, 22 page

Identification of a Metabolic Disposal Route for the Oncometabolite S-(2-succino)cysteine in Bacillus subtilis

Cellular thiols such as cysteine spontaneously and readily react with the respiratory intermediate fumarate, resulting in the formation of stable S-(2-succino)-adducts. Fumarate-mediated succination of thiols increases in certain tumors and in response to glucotoxicity associated with diabetes. Therefore, S-(2-succino)-adducts such as S-(2-succino)cysteine (2SC) are considered oncometabolites and biomarkers for human disease. No disposal routes for S-(2-succino)-compounds have been reported prior to this study. Here, we show that Bacillus subtilis metabolizes 2SC to cysteine using a pathway encoded by the yxe operon. The first step is N-acetylation of 2SC followed by an oxygenation that we propose results in the release of oxaloacetate and N-acetylcysteine, which is deacetylated to give cysteine. Knockouts of the genes predicted to mediate each step in the pathway lose the ability to grow on 2SC as the sulfur source and accumulate the expected upstream metabolite(s). We further show that N-acetylation of 2SC relieves toxicity. This is the first demonstration of a metabolic disposal route for any S-(2-succino)-compound, paving the way toward the identification of corresponding pathways in other species

Eigenspectra: A Framework for Identifying Spectra from 3D Eclipse Mapping

Planetary atmospheres are inherently 3D objects that can have strong gradients in latitude, longitude, and altitude. Secondary eclipse mapping is a powerful way to map the 3D distribution of the atmosphere, but the data can have large correlations and errors in the presence of photon and instrument noise. We develop a technique to mitigate the large uncertainties of eclipse maps by identifying a small number of dominant spectra to make them more tractable for individual analysis via atmospheric retrieval. We use the eigencurves method to infer a multi-wavelength map of a planet from spectroscopic secondary eclipse light curves. We then apply a clustering algorithm to the planet map to identify several regions with similar emergent spectra. We combine the similar spectra together to construct an "eigenspectrum" for each distinct region on the planetary map. We demonstrate how this approach could be used to isolate hot from cold regions and/or regions with different chemical compositions in observations of hot Jupiters with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). We find that our method struggles to identify sharp edges in maps with sudden discontinuities, but generally can be used as a first step before a more physically motivated modeling approach to determine the primary features observed on the planet.Comment: 13 pages, 17 figures, accepted to MNRA

Diffusion-Based smoothers for spatial filtering of gridded geophysical data

© The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Grooms, I., Loose, N., Abernathey, R., Steinberg, J. M., Bachman, S. D., Marques, G., Guillaumin, A. P., & Yankovsky, E. Diffusion-Based smoothers for spatial filtering of gridded geophysical data. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 13(9), (2021): e2021MS002552, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021MS002552.We describe a new way to apply a spatial filter to gridded data from models or observations, focusing on low-pass filters. The new method is analogous to smoothing via diffusion, and its implementation requires only a discrete Laplacian operator appropriate to the data. The new method can approximate arbitrary filter shapes, including Gaussian filters, and can be extended to spatially varying and anisotropic filters. The new diffusion-based smoother's properties are illustrated with examples from ocean model data and ocean observational products. An open-source Python package implementing this algorithm, called gcm-filters, is currently under development.I.G. and N.L. are supported by NSF OCE 1912332. R.A. is supported by NSF OCE 1912325. J.S. is supported by NSF OCE 1912302. S.B. and G.M. are supported by NSF OCE 1912420. A.G. and E.Y. are supported by NSF GEO 1912357 and NOAA CVP NA19OAR4310364

In Vitro Colony Assays for Characterizing Tri-potent Progenitor Cells Isolated from the Adult Murine Pancreas

Stem and progenitor cells from the adult pancreas could be a potential source of therapeutic beta-like cells for treating patients with type 1 diabetes. However, it is still unknown whether stem and progenitor cells exist in the adult pancreas. Research strategies using cre-lox lineage-tracing in adult mice have yielded results that either support or refute the idea that beta cells can be generated from the ducts, the presumed location where adult pancreatic progenitors may reside. These in vivo cre-lox lineage-tracing methods, however, cannot answer the questions of self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation-two criteria necessary to define a stem cell. To begin addressing this technical gap, we devised 3-dimensional colony assays for pancreatic progenitors. Soon after our initial publication, other laboratories independently developed a similar, but not identical, method called the organoid assay. Compared to the organoid assay, our method employs methylcellulose, which forms viscous solutions that allow the inclusion of extracellular matrix proteins at low concentrations. The methylcellulose-containing assays permit easier detection and analyses of progenitor cells at the single-cell level, which are critical when progenitors constitute a small sub-population, as is the case for many adult organ stem cells. Together, results from several laboratories demonstrate in vitro self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation of pancreatic progenitor-like cells from mice. The current protocols describe two methylcellulose-based colony assays to characterize mouse pancreatic progenitors; one contains a commercial preparation of murine extracellular matrix proteins and the other an artificial extracellular matrix protein known as a laminin hydrogel. The techniques shown here are 1) dissociation of the pancreas and sorting of CD133(+)Sox9/EGFP(+) ductal cells from adult mice, 2) single cell manipulation of the sorted cells, 3) single colony analyses using microfluidic qRT-PCR and whole-mount immunostaining, and 4) dissociation of primary colonies into single-cell suspensions and re-plating into secondary colony assays to assess self-renewal or differentiation

A Rapid, Handheld Device to Assess Respiratory Resistance: Clinical and Normative Evidence

Introduction: Following reports of respiratory symptoms among service members returning from deployment to South West Asia (SWA), an expert panel recommended pre-deployment spirometry be used to assess disease burden. Unfortunately, testing with spirometry is high cost and time-consuming. The airflow perturbation device (APD) is a handheld monitor that rapidly measures respiratory resistance (APD-Rr) and has promising but limited clinical data. Its speed and portability make it ideally suited for large volume pre-deployment screening. We conducted a pilot study to assess APD performance characteristics and develop normative values. Materials and Methods: We prospectively enrolled subjects and derived reference equations for the APD from those without respiratory symptoms, pulmonary disease, or tobacco exposure. APD testing was conducted by medical technicians who received a 10-min in-service on its use. A subset of subjects performed spirometry and impulse oscillometry (iOS), administered by trained respiratory therapists. APD measures were compared with spirometry and iOS. Results: The total study population included 199 subjects (55.8% males, body mass index 27.7 ± 6.0 kg/m2, age 49.9 ± 18.7 yr). Across the three APD trials, mean inspiratory (APD-Ri), expiratory (APD-Re), and average (APD-Ravg) resistances were 3.30 ± 1.0, 3.69 ± 1.2, and 3.50 ± 1.1 cm H2O/L/s. Reference equations were derived from 142 clinically normal volunteers. Height, weight, and body mass index were independently associated with APD-Ri, APD-Re, and APD-Ravg and were combined with age and gender in linear regression models. APD-Ri, APD-Re, and APD-Ravg were significantly inversely correlated with FEV1 (r = −0.39 to −0.42), FVC (r = −0.37 to −0.40), and FEF25–75 (r = −0.31 to −0.35) and positively correlated with R5 (r = 0.61–0.62), R20 (r = 0.50–0.52), X5 (r = −0.57 to −0.59), and FRES (r = 0.42–0.43). Bland–Altman plots showed that the APD-Rr closely approximates iOS when resistance is normal. Conclusion: Rapid testing was achieved with minimal training required, and reference equations were constructed. APD-Rr correlated moderately with iOS and weakly with spirometry. More testing is required to determine whether the APD has value for pre- and post-deployment respiratory assessment

Cells with surface expression of CD133^(high)CD71^(low) are enriched for tripotent colony-forming progenitor cells in the adult murine pancreas

Progenitor cells in the adult pancreas are potential sources of endocrine beta cells for treating type 1 diabetes. Previously, we identified tri-potent progenitor cells in the adult (2–4 month-old) murine pancreas that were capable of self-renewal and differentiation into duct, acinar, and endocrine cells in vitro. These progenitor cells were named pancreatic colony-forming units (PCFUs). However, because PCFUs are a minor population in the pancreas (~ 1%) they are difficult to study. To enrich PCFUs, strategies using cell-surface marker analyses and fluorescence-activated cell sorting were developed. We found that CD133^(high)CD71^(low) cells, but not other cell populations, enriched PCFUs by up to 30 fold compared to the unsorted cells. CD133^(high)CD71^(low) cells generated primary, secondary, and subsequent colonies when serially re-plated in Matrigel-containing cultures, suggesting self-renewal abilities. In the presence of a laminin hydrogel, CD133^(high)CD71^(low) cells gave rise to colonies that contained duct, acinar, and Insulin+ Glucagon+ double-hormonal endocrine cells. Colonies from the laminin hydrogel culture were implanted into diabetic mice, and five weeks later duct, acinar, and Insulin+ Glucagon− cells were detected in the grafts, demonstrating tri-lineage differentiation potential of CD133^(high)CD71^(low) cells. These CD133^(high)CD71^(low) cells will enable future studies of putative adult pancreas stem cells in vivo

Cooperation, Norms, and Revolutions: A Unified Game-Theoretical Approach

Cooperation is of utmost importance to society as a whole, but is often challenged by individual self-interests. While game theory has studied this problem extensively, there is little work on interactions within and across groups with different preferences or beliefs. Yet, people from different social or cultural backgrounds often meet and interact. This can yield conflict, since behavior that is considered cooperative by one population might be perceived as non-cooperative from the viewpoint of another. To understand the dynamics and outcome of the competitive interactions within and between groups, we study game-dynamical replicator equations for multiple populations with incompatible interests and different power (be this due to different population sizes, material resources, social capital, or other factors). These equations allow us to address various important questions: For example, can cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma be promoted, when two interacting groups have different preferences? Under what conditions can costly punishment, or other mechanisms, foster the evolution of norms? When does cooperation fail, leading to antagonistic behavior, conflict, or even revolutions? And what incentives are needed to reach peaceful agreements between groups with conflicting interests? Our detailed quantitative analysis reveals a large variety of interesting results, which are relevant for society, law and economics, and have implications for the evolution of language and culture as well