685 research outputs found
Higher moment connectedness in cryptocurrency market
No full textUsing 5-minute data, we capture higher-moment connectedness among three dominant cryptocurrencies. We find a moderate realized-volatility connectedness wherein Bitcoin and Litecoin (Ripple and Binance Coin) emerge as the leading spillover receivers (transmitters). A robust realized-skewness connectedness is found between Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin, while a strong realized-kurtosis connectedness between Bitcoin and Ethereum. Furthermore, a time-varying connectedness analysis exhibits an enhanced higher-moment connectedness in the cryptocurrency market, which peaks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study carries critical implications for higher-order pricing in the cryptocurrency market.</p
Modelling and Analyzing Attack- Defense Scenarios for Cyber- Ranges
No full textRome was not built in a day, but it was burnt to the ground in only six. Wood naturally catches fire, and without adequate engineering, fireproof houses and training for firefighters, destruction caused by fire is inevitable. In the 21st century, our modern world is built not on wood but on a digital infrastructure that was proposed in the 20th century with very little thought to security. This has resulted in a countless number of incidents in which that infrastructure has been compromised, from hospitals serving critically ill patients to gas pipelines providing necessary heating to people living in adverse climate conditions.
The current state of affairs is unacceptable, and serious efforts are needed to design and build a secure digital world and train individuals to use and operate it securely. Engineers and scientists design road infrastructure with great safety measures, but traffic accidents still happen. Indeed, they remain one of the leading causes of death in the world, and most traffic accidents are caused by human error or negligence. Similarly, the digital infrastructure can be designed and deployed securely, but its overall security and safety depend upon the humans who are operating and using it. Therefore, there is a great need to train individuals to operate the digital infrastructure in a secure manner.
Multiple efforts are being made to provide this training. These efforts include cybersecurity education and training based on different pedagogical methods involving classroom teaching, workshops, seminars, conferences and hands-on training. However, the effects of these efforts are not yet visible, as we experience ever-increasing damage caused by cyber-attacks. Traditionally, most cybersecurity awareness and training has been achieved through classrooms and workshops. Little focus has been on hands-on cybersecurity exercises. This is because designing and deploying infrastructure to deliver realistic hands-on exercises is a resource- intensive, complex and difficult task that requires considerable manual technical expertise. This makes the training very expensive and the process error-prone and difficult to standardize.
In order to solve these issues, different researchers have tried to remove inefficiencies in cybersecurity exercises by automating different phases of the exercises with limited success. Some efforts yielded very specific testbed-related artifacts, which were only applicable to that specific testbed, while other efforts lacked the complexity required for realistic cybersecurity exercises. Moreover, there is a lack of consensus among the community on defining the training scenarios that can be used in such exercises. Therefore, standard specifications of scenarios that can be executed in a cybersecurity exercise environment are needed. In this work, I attempt to overcome and address these issues by enhancing efficiency, realism and standardization with a novel method of modeling and executing cybersecurity exercise scenarios in a cybersecurity exercise environment, or a cyber range.
This is achieved through the development of a domain-specific language that is used to model and specify the technical requirements for cybersecurity exercises at an abstract level. The model of the exercise scenario is formalized and verified through logic programming, and then the technical requirements are translated into operational artifacts through an orchestrator. The operational artifacts contain an exercise infrastructure with vulnerabilities, traffic generators and attack/defense agents that can exploit or defend those vulnerabilities at an operational level in a cyber range. The proposed system goes beyond the state of the art by overcoming many inefficiencies in cybersecurity exercise scenario modeling and deployment, making their execution efficient, realistic and computationally repeatable. The proposed artifacts and solutions were tested in Norway’s national cybersecurity competitions, university classrooms and other cybersecurity exercises with positive results
Pyramiding of Four Broad Spectrum Bacterial Blight Resistance Genes in Cross Breeds of Basmati Rice
No full textPyramiding of major resistance (R) genes through marker-assisted selection (MAS) is a useful way to attain durable and broad-spectrum resistance against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae pathogen, the causal agent of bacterial blight (BB) disease in rice (Oryza sativa L.). The present study was designed to pyramid four broad spectrum BB-R genes (Xa4, xa5, xa13 and Xa21) in the background of Basmati-385, an indica rice cultivar with much sought-after qualitative and quantitative grain traits. The cultivar, however, is susceptible to BB and was therefore, crossed with IRBB59 which possesses R genes xa5, xa13 and Xa21, to attain broad and durable resistance. A total of 19 F1 plants were obtained, some of which were backcrossed with Basmati-385 and large number of BC1F1 plants were obtained. In BC1F2 generation, 31 phenotypically superior genotypes having morphological features of Basmati-385, were selected and advanced up to BC1F6 population. Sequence-tagged site (STS)-based MAS was carried out and phenotypic selection was made in each successive generation. In BC1F6 population, potentially homozygous recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from each line were selected and evaluated on the bases of STS evaluation and resistance to local Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) isolates. Line 23 was found pyramided with all four BB-R genes i.e., Xa4, xa5, xa13 and Xa21. Five genotypes including line 8, line 16, line 21, line 27 and line 28 were identified as pyramided with three R genes, Xa4, xa5 and xa13. Pathological study showed that rice lines pyramided with quadruplet or triplet R genes showed the highest level of resistance compared to doublet or singlet R genes. Thus, line 23 with quadruplet, and lines 8, 16, 21, 27, and 28 with triplet R genes, are recommended for replicated yield and resistance trials before release as new rice varieties. Further, traditional breeding coupled with MAS, is a solid way to attain highly effective BB-resistant rice lines with no yield cost
ChatRange: Designing Cyber Security Exercise Scenarios using Autonomous AI Agents and Artificial Intelligence
No full textPlanlegging og gjennomføring av cyberøvelser er en tidkrevende prosess. Blant annet estimerer NIST og MITRE å bruke minst en til tre måneder på å planlegge en åtte timers øvelse. Dette skaper et stort problem, der bedrifter ikke er i stand til å håndtere kritiske sikkerhetshendelser, enten på grunn av mangel på ressurser eller på grunn av de høye kostnadene.
For å løse dette problemet har vi utviklet ChatRange. Løsningen bruker Autonome AI-agenter sammen med språkmodeller for å automatisere planleggingsfasen av skrivebordsøvelser. Denne teknologien kan utvikle realistiske scenarioer, blant annet ved å hente informasjon om trusselaktører og sikkerhetshendelser direkte fra internett. Dette kobles så sammen med de eksisterende språkmodellene. Systemet er laget for å enkelt kunne tas i bruk av organisasjonene som ønsker dette da løsningen benytter seg av språkmodeller som leveres som skytjenester.
I en blind studie der en øvelse utviklet av ChatRange ble målt mot en øvelse laget av mennesker scoret ChatRange 0,16 prosent lavere enn kontrollen, målt i seks kvalitetskriterier. ChatRange scoret bedre eller likt i fire av kriteriene. ChatRange ble også målt mot kostnaden for å utvikle et scenario mot den manuelle metoden. Her reduserte ChatRange kostnaden for å utvikle øvelser med 99,81 prosent, fra et estimat på 80 000 kroner per øvelse til kun 150 kroner. Av disse kostnadene er de direkte datakostnadene for å bruke løsningen på 13,10 kroner. Videre automatisering kan redusere dette tallet ytterligere.
ChatRange leverer både i kvalitet og effektivitet og beviser at autonome AI-agenter og store språkmodeller er gode verktøy for disse formålene.Planning cyber training exercises is a time-consuming process. For an eight-hour tabletop exercise, NIST and MITRE estimate a total of one to three months of planning time has to be estimated. This creates a gap where companies cannot train for critical events due to time or the cost of training. To tackle this issue we developed a system named ChatRange, using Autonomous AI agents together with Large language models to automate the planning process of tabletop exercises. The new technology is able to research realistic scenarios using tools to provide external real-world information into existing large language models. The system is able to be implemented easily by only providing API keys to the system, and uses the cloud delivery model for simple implementation.
When measured against a manually developed training scenario in a blind study, ChatRange scored only 0.16 percent lower than the average score of six quality criteria. ChatRange also scored higher or equal in four of the criteria, only scoring lower in the two related to the generalization of the scenario. The system was also compared with the cost of manually planning a scenario. ChatRange reduced the cost of creating cyber training exercises by 99.81 percent, from an estimated 80,000 NOK per exercise to only 150 NOK. The specific data cost for using ChatRange was 13.10 NOK of the 150 NOK. Further automation and optimization have the potential to enhance these results.
ChatRange delivers both quality and efficiency and proves that Autonomous AI Agents and large language models are good tools for these purposes
Low sodium levels in children affected with community acquired pneumonia.
No full textAbstract
Community acquired pneumonia if not timey treated is associated with many problems one of which is hyponatremia. It develops less frequently in pneumonia children who are hospitalized. Disease outcome can be greatly reduced if it is recognised timely and treated with isotonic saline in due time.
METHODOLOGY: One hundred children fulfilling our criteria and admitted in Department of Pediatrics, Services Hospital, Lahore were included in the study. Five cc venous blood was drawn from each children of community acquired pneumonia and sent to hospital laboratory for evaluation of blood sodium levels.
RESULTS: one hundred cases of CAP were included in the study. When mean +SD of age was calculated, mean age of the study population was found to be 1.55+0.52 years. In addition, 55 %( n=55) were male while 45 %( n=45) were females. 27 %( n=27) children effected with CAP were found to be having low sodium levels whereas 73 %( n=73) had normal sodium levels.
CONCLUSION:
After conducting research, we have come to the conclusion that community acquired pneumonia is very frequent among children in the age group between 1-1.5 years. If it is promptly treated, children can be saved from life threatening pathologies.
KEYWORDS: Children, community acquired pneumonia, hyponatremia
Introduction
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a major problem all over the world but its incidence is much higher in the underdeveloped world. More than one million children die from pneumonia every year. Major cause of pneumonia is viral in origin. Respiratory syncytial virus, influenza A, and parainfluenza types 1 through 3 are the most common viral agents.it is followed by infection with bacteria’s like streptococcus pneumonia.3,4
Most of the cases of CAP, resolves on its own but if left untreated it is associated with many complications including that of renal system The measurement of serum electrolytes may be helpful in assessing the degree of dehydration in children with limited fluid intake and whether hyponatremia is present.5many studies have produced a positive relationship between respiratory tract infections and hyponatremia .6 A study reported an incidence of 27.9% hyponatremic children who had CAP. Similarly, Don M and colleagues have found 45% incidence of hyponatremia in children of CAP. HN is easy to diagnose and rarely dangerous, but sometimes its origin may be difficult to settle, and inappropriate fluid therapy may lead to complications.7 hyponatremia results from water retention or shift of sodium from intracellular to extracellular fluid or vice versa.8 The syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) which is common in many paediatric illnesses of pulmonary, cerebral or malignant origin is responsible for water retention and thus causes hyponatremia.9
The rationale of the study is that no local literature is available to address this issue while international studies are showing a significant difference which needs another study to be conducted in our local population so that the actual frequency of the morbidity may be determined which will be helpful for the paediatricians for timely prevention of complications of hyponatremia e.g. increased hospitalization stay, cerebral edema, seizures, coma and death in community acquired pneumonia.
Materials and method
A Cross sectional Study was carried out in the Department of Pediatrics, Services, Hospital, Lahore. Children of age up to 2 years who are diagnosed as cases of CAP in the last 72 hours. However, already diagnosed cases of hyponatremia (on history and medical record), Children having previous history of hyponatremia (on history and medical record) and children who were not willing to pariciapte were excluded from the study.Informed consent of the parents of children was obtained to include their data in the study. The demographic profile of every children was recorded. 5cc blood sample of children who were diagnosed with CAP was taken and sent to hospital lab. The data was analyzed through IBM SPSS version 22. Mean ± SD were calculated for age. Stratification for age, gender, duration of CAP, nutritional status (i.e. malnourished/nourished) and socio-economic status were done to control the effect modifiers. Post stratification chi-square test was applied to know the significance. p value <0.05 was considered as significant.
RESULTS
A total of 100 cases fulfilling the inclusion/exclusion criteria were enrolled. Subjects were than stratified according to their age. Mean + SD age was calculated as 1.55+0.52 years. In addition, it showed that 45% (n=45) had upto 1 year of age while 55% (n=55) were between 1-2 years of age. Gender distribution shows that 55 %( n=55) were male while 45 %( n=45) were females. Frequency of hyponatremia in children with community acquired pneumonia was recorded in 27% (n=27) whereas 73 %( n=73) had no findings of the morbidity. (Table no. 1) Frequency of hyponatremia with regards to age showed that 7 out of 45 cases up to 1 year of age and 17 out of 55 cases between 1-2 years of age had hyponatremia. p value was 0.07. (Table No. 2). Stratification for frequency of hyponatremia with regards to gender shows that 12 out of 55 male and 12 out of 45 female cases had hyponatremia, p value was 0.42. Frequency of hyponatremia with regards to duration of CAP shows that 18 out of 67 1-2 weeks duration of CAP and 6 out of 33 >2 weeks duration of CAP had hyponatremia, p value was 0.33. (Table No. 2)
TABLE No. 1FREQUENCY OF HYPONATREMIA IN CHILDREN WITH COMMUNITY ACQUIRED PNEUMONIA (n=100)
Hyponatremia
No. of patients
%
Yes
27
27
No
73
73
Total
100
100
Table no. 2: Stratification for Frequency of Hyponatremia with Regards to Age, Gender and Duration of Community Acquired Pneumonia (n=100).
DISCUSSION
Hyponatremia is the most common finding in children of community acquired pneumonia. The current study was planned with the view that no local literature is available to address this issue while international studies are showing a significant difference. Hyponatremia leads to severe life threatening complications like cerebral edema, epileptic fits, coma and even death. The rationale of the study is to find out the frequency of hyponatremia in our population so that physicians can be guided accordingly.
In our study, we found out that frequency of hyponatremia in children with community acquired pneumonia was 24 %. A study done by Wrotek A and others recorded hyponatremia in 33.3% cases of CAP.6 Another study recorded these findings (i.e. hyponatremia) in 27.9% of the cases(with community acquired pneumonia).7 The findings of our study are in agreement with the above studies, while another study recorded it in 45.4% of children with community acquired pneumonia.10 These findings are higher than our results and can be explained by the fact that they have included patients having all type of respiratory infections whereas we have included only those patients who are suffering from lower respiratory tract infection i.e., pneumonia.
When hyponatremia was stratified with age, gender and duration of disease, it should positive statistical significant result with age only. These results were in line with a study conducted by Mandal and colleagues. 12
Hyponatremia is usually mild in children with CAP11. The basic pathophysiologic mechanism behind this can be explained by considering the role of two hormones which are antidiuretic hormone (ADH) and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP). 10Atrial natriuretic peptide is produced from atrial muscles. It is a natriuretic peptides. It regulates arterial pressure by regulating diuresis and natriuresis. 13 Fever or dehydration reset the osmostat for ADH secretion,in addition it increase atrial natriuretic peptide secretion.. Over-secretion of ANP is correlated with hypoxia, which leads to pulmonary vasoconstriction, pulmonary hypertension, and right-heart overload.11, 12 Garrahay et al. 13found that 68% of hyponatremia in community acquired pneumonia had characteristics typical of SIADH.
Severe hyponatremia is rare in children with CAP. This can be explained by the observations of Haviv et al which reported that ANP helps to maintain sodium level within normal limits through its diuretic and natriuretic effect.14 In addition, Gerigk et al.,15 found that ADH may cause HN that may originate by a non-osmotic, cardiovascular mechanism in acutely ill children, including children with pneumonia.
Hyponatremia, the most common frequent electrolyte derangement identified among hospitalized patients16 and is associated with worsened clinical and economic outcomes and indicates a poor prognosis.17 It is important to emphasize that the presence of HN is associated with not only prolongation of hospitalization ,but also with an increase in hospital mortality.18In our study, children with HN at admission had longer hospitalization times and a prolonged duration of fever, although their final outcome was favorable, including cases that developed pleural effusion.17
The point to ponder is whether hyponatremia in most patients is simply a powerful marker of severity of the underlying disease or a direct contributor to the adverse outcomes observed. But whatever it may be, hyponatremia is a compelling independent marker of adverse outcome.19 The danger of fluid overload in children with bacterial meningitis is widely appreciated 20, but it has not been valued how commonly fluid restriction is indicated in pneumonia in childhood. 17An Indian study concluded that fluid therapy in pneumonia should be modified. Those having hyponatremia with hyper osmolality need liberal fluids while those with hypo osmolality need fluid restriction and hypotonic fluids.21 In the end, we think that more studies with greater sample size and prolonged duration of research are needed to explore the mechanism and association of hyponatremia with severity of illness.
CONCLUSION
We came to a conclusion that hyponatremia is common among children affected by pneumonia and should be kept in mind while treating for pneumonia. But it needs more prolonged studies to find whether hyponatremia levels are associated with severity of disease or not.
References
1. Principi N, Esposito S. Management of severe community-acquired pneumonia of children in developing and developed countries. Thorax 2011;66:815-22.
2. Gilani Z, Kwong YD, Levine OS, Deloria-Knoll M, Scott JAG. A Literature Review and Survey of Childhood Pneumonia Etiology Studies: 2000–2010. Clin Infect Dis 2012;54 (suppl 2): S102-8.
3. Black RE, Cousens S, Johnson HL. Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality in 2008: a systematic analysis. Lancet. 2012;375(9730):1969–19.
4. Stuckey-Schrock K, Hayes BL. Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Children. Am Fam Physician. 2012;86(7):661-7.
5. Barson WJ. Community-acquired pneumonia in children: Clinical features and diagnosis. Uptodate 2015; available at: http://www.uptodate.com/ contents/community-acquired-pneumonia-in-children-clinical-features-and-diagnosis.
6. Wrotek A, Jackowska T. Hyponatremia in children hospitalized due to pneumonia. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2013;788:103-8.
7. Feld LG, Neuspiel DR, Foster BA, Leu MG, Garber MD, Austin K, Basu RK, Conway EE, Fehr JJ, Hawkins C, Kaplan RL. Clinical practice guideline: maintenance intravenous fluids in children. Pediatrics. 2018 Dec 1;142(6).
8. Lavagno C, Milani GP, Uestuener P, Simonetti GD, Casaulta C, Bianchetti MG, Fare PB, Lava SA. Hyponatremia in children with acute respiratory infections: A reappraisal. Pediatric pulmonology. 2017 Jul;52(7):962-7.
9. Adrogué HJ, Madias NE. Osmotically Inactivated Sodium in Acute Hyponatremia: Stay With Edelman. American Journal of Kidney Diseases. 2019 Sep 1;74(3):297-9.
10. Nair V, Niederman MS, Masani N, Fishbane S. Hyponatremia in community-acquired pneumonia. Am J Nephrol. 2007;27:184–90.
11. Don M, Valerio G, Korppi M, Canciani M. Hyponatremia in pediatric community-acquired pneumonia. Pediatr Nephrol. 2008 Dec;23(12):2247-53.
12. Mandal, P.P., Garg, M. and Choudhary, I.P., 2018. To Study the association and significance of hyponatremia in pneumonia in paediatric patients treated in hospital setting. 5(1), pp.11-14.
13. Garrahy, A., Sherlock, M. and Thompson, C.J., 2020. Treatment outcomes in syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis: improvements in hyponatremia may reflect successful treatment or resolution of the underlying cause. American Journal of Kidney Diseases, 76(4), p.599.
14. Haviv M, Haver E, Lichtstein D, Hurvitz H, Klar A. Atrial natriuretic peptide in children with pneumonia. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2005;40:306–9.
15. Yap LB, Mukerjee D, Timms PM, Ashrafian H, Coghlan JG. Natriuretic peptides, respiratory disease, and the right heart. Chest. 2004;126:1330–6.
16. Haynes, R., Judge, P.K., Staplin, N., Herrington, W.G., Storey, B.C., Bethel, A., Bowman, L., Brunskill, N., Cockwell, P., Hill, M. and Kalra, P.A., 2018. Effects of sacubitril/valsartan versus irbesartan in patients with chronic kidney disease: a randomized double-blind trial. Circulation, 138(15), pp.1505-1514.
17. Feld, L.G., Neuspiel, D.R., Foster, B.A., Leu, M.G., Garber, M.D., Austin, K., Basu, R.K., Conway, E.E., Fehr, J.J., Hawkins, C. and Kaplan, R.L., 2018. Clinical practice guideline: maintenance intravenous fluids in children. Pediatrics, 142(6).
18. Zilberberg MD, Exuzides A, Spalding J. Epidemiology, clinical and economic outcomes of admission hyponatremia among hospitalized patients. Curr Med Res Opin. 2008;24:1601–8
19. Al Mawed S, Pankratz VS, Chong K, Sandoval M, Roumelioti ME, Unruh M. Low serum sodium levels at hospital admission: Outcomes among 2.3 million hospitalized patients. PloS one. 2018 Mar 22;13(3):e0194379.
20. Kumar, K., Devi, A. and Sharma, R.K., 2020. HYPONATREMIA IN CHILDREN OF 2 MONTHS TO 5 YEARS OF AGE WITH PNEUMONIA AND ITS CORRELATION WITH OUTCOME. International Journal of Medical and Biomedical Studies, 4(5).
21. Singh, P., Vandana, H.K.A., Sodhi, M.K., Singh, V., Chopra, L. and Neki, N.S., A Study of Hyponatremia in Lower Respiratory Infections in Children Aged 2months to 5 Years. Annals of International Medical and Dental Research, 5(2), p.16
A Fluid–Structure Interaction Analysis to Investigate the Influence of Magnetic Fields on Plaque Growth in Stenotic Bifurcated Arteries
No full textA finite element method is employed to examine the impact of a magnetic field on the development of plaque in an artery with stenotic bifurcation. Consistent with existing literature, blood flow is characterized as a Newtonian fluid that is stable, incompressible, biomagnetic, and laminar. Additionally, it is assumed that the arterial wall is linearly elastic throughout. The hemodynamic flow within a bifurcated artery, influenced by an asymmetric magnetic field, is described using the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) method. This technique incorporates the fluid–structure interaction coupling. The nonlinear system of partial differential equations is discretized using a stable P2P1 finite element pair. To solve the resulting nonlinear algebraic equation system, the Newton-Raphson method is employed. Magnetic fields are numerically modeled, and the resulting displacement, velocity magnitude, pressure, and wall shear stresses are analyzed across a range of Reynolds numbers (Re = 500, 1000, 1500, and 2000). The numerical analysis reveals that the presence of a magnetic field significantly impacts both the displacement magnitude and the flow velocity. In fact, introducing a magnetic field leads to reduced flow separation, an expanded recirculation area near the stenosis, as well as an increase in wall shear stress.A finite element method is employed to examine the impact of a magnetic field on the development of plaque in an artery with stenotic bifurcation. Consistent with existing literature, blood flow is characterized as a Newtonian fluid that is stable, incompressible, biomagnetic, and laminar. Additionally, it is assumed that the arterial wall is linearly elastic throughout. The hemodynamic flow within a bifurcated artery, influenced by an asymmetric magnetic field, is described using the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) method. This technique incorporates the fluid–structure interaction coupling. The nonlinear system of partial differential equations is discretized using a stable P2P1 finite element pair. To solve the resulting nonlinear algebraic equation system, the Newton-Raphson method is employed. Magnetic fields are numerically modeled, and the resulting displacement, velocity magnitude, pressure, and wall shear stresses are analyzed across a range of Reynolds numbers (Re = 500, 1000, 1500, and 2000). The numerical analysis reveals that the presence of a magnetic field significantly impacts both the displacement magnitude and the flow velocity. In fact, introducing a magnetic field leads to reduced flow separation, an expanded recirculation area near the stenosis, as well as an increase in wall shear stress.A finite element method is employed to examine the impact of a magnetic field on the development of plaque in an artery with stenotic bifurcation. Consistent with existing literature, blood flow is characterized as a Newtonian fluid that is stable, incompressible, biomagnetic, and laminar. Additionally, it is assumed that the arterial wall is linearly elastic throughout. The hemodynamic flow within a bifurcated artery, influenced by an asymmetric magnetic field, is described using the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) method. This technique incorporates the fluid–structure interaction coupling. The nonlinear system of partial differential equations is discretized using a stable P2P1 finite element pair. To solve the resulting nonlinear algebraic equation system, the Newton-Raphson method is employed. Magnetic fields are numerically modeled, and the resulting displacement, velocity magnitude, pressure, and wall shear stresses are analyzed across a range of Reynolds numbers (Re = 500, 1000, 1500, and 2000). The numerical analysis reveals that the presence of a magnetic field significantly impacts both the displacement magnitude and the flow velocity. In fact, introducing a magnetic field leads to reduced flow separation, an expanded recirculation area near the stenosis, as well as an increase in wall shear stressA finite element method is employed to examine the impact of a magnetic field on the development of plaque in an artery with stenotic bifurcation. Consistent with existing literature, blood flow is characterized as a Newtonian fluid that is stable, incompressible, biomagnetic, and laminar. Additionally, it is assumed that the arterial wall is linearly elastic throughout. The hemodynamic flow within a bifurcated artery, influenced by an asymmetric magnetic field, is described using the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) method. This technique incorporates the fluid–structure interaction coupling. The nonlinear system of partial differential equations is discretized using a stable P2P1 finite element pair. To solve the resulting nonlinear algebraic equation system, the Newton-Raphson method is employed. Magnetic fields are numerically modeled, and the resulting displacement, velocity magnitude, pressure, and wall shear stresses are analyzed across a range of Reynolds numbers (Re = 500, 1000, 1500, and 2000). The numerical analysis reveals that the presence of a magnetic field significantly impacts both the displacement magnitude and the flow velocity. In fact, introducing a magnetic field leads to reduced flow separation, an expanded recirculation area near the stenosis, as well as an increase in wall shear stress.A finite element method is employed to examine the impact of a magnetic field on the development of plaque in an artery with stenotic bifurcation. Consistent with existing literature, blood flow is characterized as a Newtonian fluid that is stable, incompressible, biomagnetic, and laminar. Additionally, it is assumed that the arterial wall is linearly elastic throughout. The hemodynamic flow within a bifurcated artery, influenced by an asymmetric magnetic field, is described using the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) method. This technique incorporates the fluid–structure interaction coupling. The nonlinear system of partial differential equations is discretized using a stable P2P1 finite element pair. To solve the resulting nonlinear algebraic equation system, the Newton-Raphson method is employed. Magnetic fields are numerically modeled, and the resulting displacement, velocity magnitude, pressure, and wall shear stresses are analyzed across a range of Reynolds numbers (Re = 500, 1000, 1500, and 2000). The numerical analysis reveals that the presence of a magnetic field significantly impacts both the displacement magnitude and the flow velocity. In fact, introducing a magnetic field leads to reduced flow separation, an expanded recirculation area near the stenosis, as well as an increase in wall shear stress
Generating historical network logs for cyber range exercises
No full textCyberangrep blir stadig mer vanlige, og studier viser at trusler fra Advanced Persistance Threats (APT'er), øker eksponentielt. Trening av cybersikkerhetsprofesjonelle i realistiske miljøer er avgjørende for å være forberedt på å håndtere en virkelig hendelse. Disse treningsmiljøene kan kalles Cyber Ranger (CR); hvor deres hensikt er å tilby et trygt og isolert miljø der cybersikkerhetspersonell kan øve uten fare for å påvirke relaterte produksjonssystemer.
En CR består av en infrastruktur av klienter og servere som etterligner en virksomhet eller organisasjon. En del av å gjøre scenariet realistisk er å ha realistiske nettverkslogger for cybersikkerts-personellet å analysere under øvelser i Cyber Rangen. Forskningen i denne oppgaven omfatter metoder og teknikker for å generere historiske nettverkslogger, da dette emnet ikke er omfattet i tidligere publisert forskning. Denne prosjektet presenterer en løsning til generering av nettverkslogger for cyberøvelser, med evnen til å produsere logger som spenner over en lang periode, generert på betydelig kortere tid.
Ved å følge forskningsmetodikken Design Science Research (DSR), definerer prosjektet kravene til en nettverkslogggenerator. Til slutt presenterer den en utviklet generator for nettverkslogger som genererer logger med nevnte funksjonalitet. Det utviklede generatoren manipulerer systemklokken til å gå raskere enn normalt og simulerer brukeratferd ved hjelp av nettleseremulering på systemet for å generere trafikk, alt mens generatoren fanger all trafikken på nettverksadapteren. Artifakten er testet i et lukket nettverksmiljø med et gitt antall andre klienter på nettet, og resultatene fra loggene er analysert og sammenliknet med normaltrafikk generert på normalt vis. Nettverkslogg-generatoren, som er den ferdige artifakten etter dette prosjektet, kan generere nettverkslogger som PCAP-filer for cyberøvelser med tilpassbare start- og stopptider, forskjellige arbeidsplaner for trafikkdistribusjoner, og en hastighet på generering som varierer fra 10 til 30 ganger raskere enn sanntid.Cyber attacks are increasingly more common, and studies show that threats from Advanced Persistence Threats (APTs), are increasing exponentially. Training cybersecurity professionals in realistic environments is crucial to be prepared for handling a real incident. These training environments can go by the name Cyber Range (CR); whose intention is to provide a safe and isolated environment where cyber security personnel can exercise without risk of affecting any related production systems.
A CR consists of an infrastructure of clients and servers emulating a business or organization in a realistic manner. A part of making the scenario realistic is to have realistic network logs for a blue team to analyze. The research contributions of this thesis include investigating methods and techniques for generating historical network data, as this topic is highly lacking in current literature. This thesis presents an approach to a generator for creating network logs for cyber exercises, with the capability of producing logs spanning over a long period of time, generated in a significantly shorter time.
Following the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology, the thesis defines the requirements for a network log generator and presents a developed artifact that successfully generates logs with said functionality. The developed artifact utilizes system clock manipulation and simulates user behavior using browser emulation on the system to generate traffic, all while the generator captures all the traffic on the network interface. The proposed artifact was tested in a closed environment with several other clients, with its results analyzed and compared to a baseline of normally generated traffic. The artifact can successfully generate network logs as PCAP files for cyber exercises with customizable start and stop times, different work schedules for traffic distributions, and a speed ranging from 10 to 30 times faster than in real time
UI0T-FMT: Universal format for collection and aggregation of data from smart devices
No full textInformasjons teknologi (IT) har blitt et særdeles omfattende del av menneskets hverdag. Hverdagslige apparater og dingser har blitt mer integrert med Smart Teknologi, som gjør det enklere for individet å bruke de. Med andre ord, tingenes internett har gjort hverdagen til folk flest enklere. Men i politier oppleves det lite integrering med smart teknologi, som fører til at politi tjenester ikke får benytte seg av smart teknologiens fordeler. Hensikten med denne master oppgaven er å diskutere mulighetene for å utvikle et universelt data format for bruk på apparater i tingenes internett, slik at politiet kan bruke sensor data for å utføre sine arbeidsoppgaver. Dette prosjektet vil diskutere hva politiet mangler i sitt yrke og hvordan smart teknologi kan hjelpe med å gjøre disse problemene enklere for politiet. Et data formatterings program har blitt utviklet med hensikt å vise hva som må til for å koble sammen data fra ulike smart apparater, samt hva som ikke er mulig.Information Technology (IT) has become an essential part of our lives and due to the emergence of Internet-of-Things (IoT), technology as encompassed a majority of things that humans rely on in their daily lives. However, as IT becomes more relevant in daily lives, the need for IT to serve public emergency services has become more important. However, due to the infancy status of IoT, there is a need for a data consortium that would prove to be best used in servicing policing in a technological driven society. This thesis will discuss the plausibility of creating a universal format for use in carrying out public services, such as emergency response by the police and regular law maintenance. This project will discuss what the police requires in their line-of-duty and how smart devices can be used to satisfy those needs. A data formatting framework is developed and demonstrated, with the goal of showing what can be done to unifying data from smart city sensors
FINANCING OF SMEs (SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES);ALTERNATIVES, POLICY MEASURES AND FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS– THE CASE OF PAKISTAN’S COTTON GINNING INDUSTRY
No full textThe present study is an attempt to identify the financial issues of SMEs of Pakistan. Pakistan’s cotton ginning industry has chosen as a case. The general objective of the study is to analyze the financing issues/problems of the small‐scale industries (cotton ginning) with appropriate alternatives and financing solutions. The extensive theoretical framework about financing of SMEs along with seven hypotheses (for testing) has been included in research work as base of study. Data collection has performed through both primary and secondary sources. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods have been employed for the research work. For this research work, sample size of 30 cotton ginning factories has selected from the population of 1400 cotton ginning factories of Pakistan. The researchers have selected the cotton ginning SMEs of Faisalabad Division by keeping in view the importance of Faisalabad division as 2nd largest industrial city and 3rd largest cotton producing division of Pakistan and the factor of easy access (for researchers) to the chosen factories. Statistical data analysis techniques are used to analyze the data which was collected through questionnaire’s survey from SMEs and the results have presented with hypothesis testing. After identifying the financial issues the alternatives, financial solutions and recommendations have been given for policy measures. The findings of research work indicates that high interest rate on loans, heavy taxes, poor government policies, owner’s education level, old technology and poor legal and accounting self‐ efficacy are the major reasons of financial problems. Soft and friendly government policies, short and long term loans at lowest interest rate for running and technology up‐gradation are recommended. Joint ventures are found to be the most suitable alternative for financial solutions.Muhammad Imran Ashraf E‐mail: [email protected] Mudassar Hussain E‐mail: [email protected]
UI0T-FMT: Universal format for collection and aggregation of data from smart devices
No full textInformasjons teknologi (IT) har blitt et særdeles omfattende del av menneskets hverdag. Hverdagslige apparater og dingser har blitt mer integrert med Smart Teknologi, som gjør det enklere for individet å bruke de. Med andre ord, tingenes internett har gjort hverdagen til folk flest enklere. Men i politier oppleves det lite integrering med smart teknologi, som fører til at politi tjenester ikke får benytte seg av smart teknologiens fordeler. Hensikten med denne master oppgaven er å diskutere mulighetene for å utvikle et universelt data format for bruk på apparater i tingenes internett, slik at politiet kan bruke sensor data for å utføre sine arbeidsoppgaver. Dette prosjektet vil diskutere hva politiet mangler i sitt yrke og hvordan smart teknologi kan hjelpe med å gjøre disse problemene enklere for politiet. Et data formatterings program har blitt utviklet med hensikt å vise hva som må til for å koble sammen data fra ulike smart apparater, samt hva som ikke er mulig
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