Mitigating Malicious Code

ABSTRACT

Mitigation of malicious code is increasingly complicated by multi-staged and mutli-variant attacks taking place daily on the Internet today. It is now common for computers to be infected for long periods of time, with malicious browser help objects, rootkits, and similar stealth codes. Identification and removal from a computer can be especially difficult. In some cases, the only reasonable effort may be to completely wipe and reinstall an image of the system, known to be free of malicious code. Manual mitigation of malicious code is a sophisticated process of threat identification, research, mitigation, and monitoring to properly remove all threat components related to an attack.     

Big Board: Teleconferencing Over Maps for Shared Situational Awareness

Collaborative technologies for information sharing are an invaluable resource for emergency managers to respond to and manage highly dynamic events such as natural disasters and other emergencies. However, many standard collaboration tools can be limited either because they provide passive presentation and dissemination of information, or because they are targeted towards highly specific usage scenarios that require considerable training to use the tools. We present a real-time gather and share system called “Big Board” which facilitates collaboration over maps. The Big Board is an open-source, web based, real time visual collaborative environment that runs on all modern web browsers and uses open-source web standards developed by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and WorldWideWeb Consortium (W3C). An evaluation of Big Board was conducted by school representatives in North Carolina for use in situational understanding for school closure decisions during winter weather events. The decision to close schools has major societal impacts and is one that is usually made based on how well a teenage driver could handle wintry precipitation on a road. Collecting information on the conditions of roads is especially critical, however gathering and sharing of this information within a county can be difficult. Participants in the study found the Big Board intuitive and useful for sharing real time information, such as road conditions and temperatures, leading up to and during a winter storm scenario. We have adapted the Big Board to manage risks and hazards during other types of emergencies such as tropical storm conditions.     

Revisiting the Formation and Tunable Dissociation of a [2]Pseudorotaxane Formed by Slippage Approach

A new [2]pseudorotaxane DB24C8⊃1-H·PF₆ with dibenzo[24]crown-8 (DB24C8) crown ether-dibenzylammonium (1-H·PF₆) binding which was formed by slippage approach at different solvents and temperature, had been isolated and characterized by NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The [2]pseudorotaxane DB24C8⊃1-H·PF₆ was stable at room temperature. The dissociation rate of [2]pseudorotaxane DB24C8⊃1-H·PF₆ could be tuned by using different stimuli such as triethylamine (TEA)/diisopropylethylamine (DIPEA) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). In particular, the dissociation of [2]pseudorotaxane DB24C8⊃1-H·PF₆ by an excess of TEA/DIPEA base mixture possessed a long and sustained, complete dissociation over 60 days. Other stimuli by DMSO possessed a relatively fast dissociation over 24 h.     

Febuxostat improves endothelial function in hemodialysis patients with hyperuricemia: A randomized controlled study

Endothelial dysfunction is often found in both hyperuricemia and hemodialysis patients. Recent studies have shown that treating hyperuricemia with allopurinol improves endothelial dysfunction. This study is performed to assess the effect of febuxostat on endothelial dysfunction in hemodialysis patients with hyperuricemia. We randomly assigned 53 hemodialysis patients with hyperuricemia to a febuxostat (10 mg daily) group and a control group and measured flow‐mediated dilation, serum uric acid (UA) levels, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, malondialdehyde‐modified low‐density lipoprotein (MDA‐LDL), and highly sensitive C‐reactive protein (hsCRP) at baseline and at the end of a 4‐week study period. Flow‐mediated dilation increased from 5.3% ± 2.4% to 8.9% ± 3.6% in the febuxostat group but did not change significantly in the control group. Treatment with febuxostat resulted in a significant decrease in serum UA level and a significant decrease in MDA‐LDL compared with baseline, but no significant difference was observed in hsCRP level or blood pressure. No significant differences were observed in the control group. Febuxostat improved endothelial dysfunction and reduced serum UA levels and oxidative stress in hemodialysis patients with hyperuricemia.     

Izumoring: a novel and complete strategy for bioproduction of rare sugars

Starch, whey or hemicellulosic waste can be used as a raw material for the industrial production of rare sugars. D-glucose from starch, whey and hemicellulose, D-galactose from whey, and D-xylose from hemicellulose are the main starting monosaccharides for production of rare sugars. We can produce all monosaccharides; tetroses, pentoses and hexoses, from these raw materials. This is achieved by using D-tagatose 3-epimerase, aldose isomerase, aldose reductase, and oxidoreductase enzymes or whole cells as biocatalysts. Bioproduction strategies for all rare sugars are illustrated using ring form structures given the name Izumoring.     

Influence of external additives on the preservation of carthamin red colour: an introductory test for utilizing carthamin as a herbal colorant of processed foods

A number of carbohydrates and related compounds was admixed with carthamin in an acidic buffer solution and the effect of the test chemicals on carthamin stability examined at low temperature. Monosaccharides were scarcely effective, although slightly accentuated values were obvious in thed-forms (d-forml-form=1.31.0). Disaccharides were less effective for carthamin red preservation (dimermonomer=1.01.8). However, a high level of colour conservation was observed with sugar alcohols. Both polyethylene glycol and glycerine very effectively protected carthamin from bleaching in solution: the colour preservation rates calculated were 91.3% and 83.8%, respectively, after 24 h incubation at 5° C in the dark. Gelatine was also effective for maintaining carthamin colour (preservation rate: 81.3%). The results are assessed in connection with utilizing carthamin as a herbal colorant of processed foods.

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Einfluß von Zusatzstoffen nach Konservierung des Carthaminrots. Ein Test für die Verwertung von Carthamin als pflanzliche Farbe für verarbeitete Lebensmittel

Zusammenfassung Eine Zahl von Kohlenhydraten und verwandten Verbindungen wurden mit Carthamin in saurer Pufferlösung vermischt und die Wirkung auf dessen Stabilität bei niederer Temperatur getestet. Die Monosaccharide waren kaum effektiv, jedoch died-Form beschleunigte etwas stärker (d-Forml-Form=1.31.0). Die Disaccharide waren weniger wirksam auf die Farberhaltung (DimerMonomer=1.01.8). Jedoch wurde eine gute Farbkonservierung mit Zuckeralkoholen beobachtet, sowohl Polyethyleneglycol und auch Glycerin schützten Carthamin sehr wirksam zu 91,3 bzw. 83,8% nach 24h Einwirkung. Auch Gelatine war sehr farberhaltend (81,3%). Die Resultate wurden in bezug auf ihre Verwendung von Carthamin als Farbe für industriell verarbeitete Lebensmittel beurteilt.

     

Effect of baking temperature/time conditions and dough thickness on arabic bread quality

A new scoring system for the evaluation of Arabic bread is presented which allows discrimination between flour samples. This system is suitable for the evaluation of bread in commercial bakeries. Dough thickness and baking temperature/time conditions were varied: doughs sheeted to <3.0 mm thick require baking temperatures higher than 500°C whereas doughs that are thicker than this will benefit from temperatures lower than 500°C. Thinner doughs baked at higher temperatures for shorter times produced better quality bread. The processing variables identified as being optimal in this study were incorporated into a test baking method. This method gave reproducible results and greater discrimination between flour samples than a previous method.     

Impact of Thermal and Pressure-Based Technologies on Carotenoid Retention and Quality Attributes in Tomato Juice

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of thermal processing (TP) (90 °C, 90 s), high-pressure processing (HPP) (600 MPa, 46 °C, 5 min), and high-pressure homogenization (HPH) (246 MPa, 99 °C, <1 s) on product quality parameters, specifically carotenoid content, and physicochemical attributes of particle size, color, viscosity, total soluble solids, and pH in tomato juice. Unprocessed tomato juice was used as control. The four major species of carotenoids (lycopene, β-carotene, phytoene, and phytofluene) in tomato juice were analyzed by HPLC. The content of total lycopene, all-trans-lycopene, cis-lycopene isomers,  phytoene, and phytofluene, in TP-, HPP-, and HPH-treated tomato juice did not significantly differ from that in unprocessed (control) juice. Significant reduction in β-carotene content was observed after TP treatment but not after HPP and HPH treatments. HPH significantly reduced tomato juice particle volume mean diameter from ～330 μm in control, HPP-, and TP-treated tomato juices to ～17 μm. A concomitant increase in apparent viscosity was observed in HPH-treated juice versus control. HPH-treated juice had increased redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) than that in control and HPP-treated tomato juices. These results indicate that high-pressure-based technologies (HPP and HPH) can preserve carotenoids as well as improve physicochemical properties.     

Identification of 3,4-Dihydro-2H,6H-pyrimido[1,2-c][1,3]benzothiazin-6-imine Derivatives as Novel Selective Inhibitors of Plasmodium falciparum Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase

Plasmodium falciparum’s resistance to available antimalarial drugs highlights the need for the development of novel drugs. Pyrimidine de novo biosynthesis is a validated drug target for the prevention and treatment of malaria infection. P. falciparum dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (PfDHODH) catalyzes the oxidation of dihydroorotate to orotate and utilize ubiquinone as an electron acceptor in the fourth step of pyrimidine de novo biosynthesis. PfDHODH is targeted by the inhibitor DSM265, which binds to a hydrophobic pocket located at the N-terminus where ubiquinone binds, which is known to be structurally divergent from the mammalian orthologue. In this study, we screened 40,400 compounds from the Kyoto University chemical library against recombinant PfDHODH. These studies led to the identification of 3,4-dihydro-2H,6H-pyrimido[1,2-c][1,3]benzothiazin-6-imine and its derivatives as a new class of PfDHODH inhibitor. Moreover, the hit compounds identified in this study are selective for PfDHODH without inhibition of the human enzymes. Finally, this new scaffold of PfDHODH inhibitors showed growth inhibition activity against P. falciparum 3D7 with low toxicity to three human cell lines, providing a new starting point for antimalarial drug development.