Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Internet-scale Probing of CPS: Inference, Characterization and Orchestration Analysis

Although the security of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) has been recently receiving significant attention from the research community, undoubtedly, there still exists a substantial lack of a comprehensive and a holistic understanding of attackers’ malicious strategies, aims and intentions. To this end, this paper uniquely exploits passive monitoring and analysis of a newly deployed network telescope IP address space in a first attempt ever to build broad notions of real CPS maliciousness. Specifically, we approach this problem by inferring, investigating, characterizing and reporting large-scale probing activities that specifically target more than 20 diverse, heavily employed CPS protocols. To permit such analysis, we initially devise and evaluate a novel probabilistic model that aims at filtering noise that is embedded in network telescope traffic. Subsequently, we generate amalgamated statistics, inferences and insights characterizing such inferred scanning activities in terms of their probe types, the distribution of their sources and their packets’ headers, among numerous others, in addition to examining and visualizing the co-occurrence patterns of such events. Further, we propose and empirically evaluate an innovative hybrid approach rooted in time-series analysis and context triggered piecewise hashing to infer, characterize and cluster orchestrated and well-coordinated probing activities targeting CPS protocols, which are generated from Internet-scale unsolicited sources. Our analysis and evaluations, which draw upon extensive network telescope data observed over a recent one month period, demonstrate a staggering 33 thousand probes towards ample of CPS protocols, the lack of interest in UDP-based CPS services, and the prevalence of probes towards the ICCP and Modbus protocols. Additionally, we infer a considerable 74% of CPS probes that were persistent throughout the entire analyzed period targeting prominent protocols such as DNP3 and BACnet. Further, we uncover close to 9 thousand large-scale, stealthy, previously undocumented orchestrated probing events targeting a number of such CPS protocols. We validate the various outcomes through cross-validations against publicly available threat repositories. We concur that the devised approaches, techniques, and methods provide a solid first step towards better comprehending real CPS unsolicited objectives and intents.
Error propagation and the achievable throughput-delay trade-off in wireless networks

New results on the achievable trade-off between the per-node throughput T(n) and the average delay D(n) in a static wireless network of n nodes are presented for physical link models. For links modeled by channels with additive white Gaussian noise with power-law attenuation, a trade-off of only D(n) = ⊖ (n (log n) T(n)) is guaranteed for T(n) = ⊖(n−½). This follows from showing that there is significant information loss in the network due to error propagation, unless the length of the channel code employed is sufficiently high. Constraining the block length to be bounded yields worse trade-offs: only ⊖(n (log n)2 T(n)) is guaranteed for optimal throughput, provided there is rich fading diversity.
Educational Technology and State Reform: Examining the First-Year Impact of Louisiana's State Technology Policy on Public School Districts.

During the 1990's educational technology became a major educational policy Issue for every state (White, 1997; Education Commission of the States, 1997; National Council of State Legislators, 1996; Trotter, 1997). By early 1998, all 50 states Had state-level technology plans in various stages of implementation, and state funding for educational technologies was rapidly increasing across the country (Trotter, 1997). The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of recently enacted Louisiana state-level technology reforms on public school district technology efforts between the 1996-97 and 1997-98 school years. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to collect data, creating a mixed methodological strategy. The quantitative data for this study came from three separate survey instruments. The 1997 and 1998 Louisiana Educational State Technology Surveys (SETS) were designed to annually gather district and school technology level data for the state. The third survey instrument, A District Evaluation of Recently Enacted State Educational Technology Policies (DERST), was specifically designed to gather district perceptions of the state’s technology reforms that were implemented during the 1997-98 school year. Qualitative data were gathered through case studies of three Louisiana public school districts. Descriptive statistics were utilized to initially analyze the data from all three surveys. Analysis o f Variance (ANOVA) was used to determine if there was
Integrated guidance on the care of familial hypercholesterolaemia from the International FH Foundation

Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is a dominantly inherited disorder present from birth that markedly elevates plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and causes premature coronary heart disease. There are at least 20 million people with FH worldwide, but the majority remains undetected and current treatment is often suboptimal. To address this major gap in coronary prevention we present, from an international perspective, consensus-based guidance on the care of FH. The guidance was generated from seminars and workshops held at an international symposium. The recommendations focus on the detection, diagnosis, assessment and management of FH in adults and children, and set guidelines for clinical purposes. They also refer to best practice for cascade screening and risk notifying and testing families for FH, including use of genetic testing. Guidance on treatment is based on risk stratification, management of non-cholesterol risk factors and safe and effective use of LDL lowering therapies. Recommendations are given on lipoprotein apheresis. The use of emerging therapies for FH is also foreshadowed. This international guidance acknowledges evidence gaps, but aims to make the best use of contemporary practice and technology to achieve the best outcomes for the care of FH. It should accordingly be employed to inform clinical judgment and be adjusted for country-specific and local healthcare needs and resources.
Combining shape-from-shading and stereo using Gaussian-Markov random fields

In this paper we present a method of combining stereo and shape-from-shading information, taking account of the local reliability of each shape estimate. Local estimates of disparity and orientation are modelled using Gaussian distributions. A Gaussian-Markov random field is used to represent the disparity-map, taking into account interactions between disparity measurements and surface orientation, and the MAP estimate found using belief propagation. Local estimates of the precision of disparities and surface normals are found and used to control the process so that the most accurate data source is used in each region. We assess the performance of our approach using both synthetic and real stereo pairs, and compare against ground truth.
Industry Differences in the Persistence of Firm-Specific Returns

Some firms such as Kellogg, Nestle, Hewlett-Packard, and Boeing have consistently earned significantly higher returns than their immediate competitors. Why do intraindustry rents persist for these firms? Competition typically erodes these rents, as evidenced by the strong convergence of firm profitability to the industry mean, illustrated in Figure 1. I claim that the persistence of these firmspecific rents depends at least partly on industry economic structure (similar to Richard E. Caves and Michael E. Porter's [1977] "mobility barriers"), so the rents are more persistent in some industries than others. In this paper I test which of the theoretical industry factors are significant. To support my claim I also show that the persistence of abnormal returns differs widely and systematically across industries. For example, an industry with highly persistent profitability differences is the American automobile industry in the 1970's, as illustrated by Figure 2, which graphs differences in returns on assets (ROA's) over time. Throughout the 1970's, General Motors maintained a persistent, significant profitability advantage over Ford, while Ford held a persistent advantage over Chrysler. This situation did change later, but it is still true that, during the 1970's, there was no apparent convergence of profitability differences among the big-three auto makers. A comparison of Figures 1 and 2 suggests that the economy-wide result of Figure 1 is merely an average over very different industries with convergence rates ranging from almost zero (as in automobiles in the 1970's) to very rapid. My methods for estimating persistence of above-average returns improve on previous studies in several ways. First, I only consider the persistence of returns around the industry mean. The persistence of this intra-industry or "firm-specific" rent rather than total rent has not been previously investigated. Yet the factors affecting firm-specific rents need not be the same as those affecting industry rents. Second, I estimate persistence in several ways. Finally, I use a wider range of explanatory variables than earlier studies. This study is structured as follows. Section I explains the concept of persistent firmspecific rents. Later sections specify the empirical model and estimate persistence by industry (Section II), theoretically relate industry factors to these varying persistence estimates (Section III), discuss cross-sectional regression estimates (Section IV), and provide conclusions (Section V).
GPS estimates of ocean tide loading in NW-France: Determination of ocean tide loading constituents and comparison with a recent ocean tide model

SUMMARY Ocean loading effects cause 3-D displacements large enough to affect space geodesy measurements either at the subdiurnal periods or at longer time scales by the means of spurious signals. GPS measurements, in turn, could provide local improvements of the models in coastal areas if their ability to precisely monitor such rapid displacements is assessed. In this paper, we use 105 days of continuous GPS measurements collected in 2004 in the French Brittany and Cotentin region to investigate: (1) the precision achieved by the GPS analysis on measuring 3-D subdiurnal displacements and amplitude and phase of the tidal constituents, (2) the quality of the most recent ocean tide model FES2004 in such a complex coastal context. Indeed, in this area, tide amplitudes are among the largest in the world (up to 16 cm of loading displacements on the vertical component) and are believed to show strong shallow-water tides. From a state of the art GPS analysis using the scientific GAMIT software over 2-h sessions, we test two independent strategies for the realization of the reference frame. The position time series are then compared with the displacements predicted by the FES2004 model applied on an elastic Earth model. The two sets of results are consistent with each other at the same level of agreement than with the predicted displacements, namely 3‐5 mm on the horizontal components, 10 mm on the vertical. This assesses the capability of this technique for measuring 3-D ocean tide loading deformation. We validate the FES2004 model in the Brittany area, even though it slightly (2‐7 mm) underestimates the three components amplitudes. With a harmonic analysis of the observed position time series, we obtain nevertheless an agreement at a submillimetre level for the M2, N2, O1, Q1 tidal constituents and at a millimetre level for the K1 and S2 tidal constituents. Moreover, we can extract a significant M4 load signal at the 95 per cent confidence level from the GPS time series at the stations located in the Mont St Michel area. The detection of other shallow-water constituents would be helpful to understand the amplitude deficit between the FES2004 predicted and GPS observed displacements.
Large-eruption rates of stratovolcanoes

The large-eruption rates of stratovolcanoes are modelled exchangeably, in order to derive an informative prior distribution as an input into a subsequent volcano-by-volcano hazard assessment. Derivation and implementation of the likelihood function is not straightforward, necessitating a detailed code verification. Analysis of the LaMEVE database suggests that most of the world’s stratovolcanoes are currently capable of producing large eruptions, but that the current largeeruption rate of active volcanoes with no recent record of eruptions is low, about 1.2 /kyr. The model is checked via a visual ‘Turing test’, and the paper concludes with some reflections on code verification and computation methods.
Conceptual Distinctiveness Supports Detailed Visual Long-term Memory for Real-world Objects the Fidelity of Long-term Memory for Visual Information

Humans have a massive capacity to store detailed information in visual long-term memory. The present studies explored the fidelity of these visual long-term memory representations and examined how conceptual and perceptual features of object categories support this capacity. Observers viewed 2,800 object images with a different number of exemplars presented from each category. At test, observers indicated which of 2 exemplars they had previously studied. Memory performance was high and remained quite high (82% accuracy) with 16 exemplars from a category in memory, demonstrating a large memory capacity for object exemplars. However, memory performance decreased as more exem-plars were held in memory, implying systematic categorical interference. Object categories with conceptually distinctive exemplars showed less interference in memory as the number of exemplars increased. Interference in memory was not predicted by the perceptual distinctiveness of exemplars from an object category, though these perceptual measures predicted visual search rates for an object target among exemplars. These data provide evidence that observers' capacity to remember visual information in long-term memory depends more on conceptual structure than perceptual distinctiveness. The human brain can store a large number of objects, events, words, and pictures, often after only a single exposure. In a landmark study of visual long-term memory, Standing (1973) showed people 10,000 images and found memory performance in a recognition memory task was quite high (83%). these results demonstrated the existence of a massive capacity long-term store for visual information. However, fundamental questions were left unexplored by these seminal studies: How detailed are the visual representations? How are thousands of memory representations organized and stored so that they can be successfully retrieved at a later point in time? In the current work we begin to address these questions by examining the contributions of conceptual and perceptual distinctiveness to long-term memory for visual objects. To estimate the capacity of any storage system, one must evaluate not only how many items can be remembered (quantity) but also how much is remembered per item (fidelity). The work of Standing (1973) and others made it clear that observers can successfully remember thousands of pictures after only a single exposure. However, the representations of the images in these large-scale memory experiments were assumed to be sparse in detail: Because all the images were chosen to be visually and categorically distinct, observers could succeed at the two-alternative forced-choice memory task by using a gist-like representation— for example, one that captured …
The Effect of Incentive‐Based Compensation on Internal Auditors' Perceptions of Objectivity

A key threat to internal audit objectivity is the payment of incentive‐based compensation (IBC) to internal auditors. This study uses an experimental approach to examine whether IBC paid to internal auditors based on company performance and individual performance does impact their objectivity. The study also investigates whether the cultural background of internal auditors affects their objectivity in the context of IBC by examining whether those from an individualist culture (Australia) differ in their responses to those from a collectivist culture (Malaysia). The descriptive results suggest that IBC is awarded to both internal auditors/chief audit executives in Australia and Malaysia. The experimental results indicate that IBC is a threat to internal auditors' objectivity when it is based on company performance, but is less of a threat when it is based on individual performance. Culture does not appear to impact perceptions of internal auditors' behaviour but does affect perceptions of the appropriateness of adverse behaviour.
Revealing the Vulnerability of People and Places: A Case Study of Georgetown County, South Carolina

Losses from environmental hazards have escalated in the past decade, prompting a reorientation of emergency management systems away from simple postevent response. There is a noticeable change in policy, with more emphasis on loss reduction through mitigation, preparedness, and recovery programs. Effective mitigation of losses from hazards requires hazard identification, an assessment of all the hazards likely to affect a given place, and risk-reduction measures that are compatible across a multitude of hazards. The degree to which populations are vulnerable to hazards, however, is not solely dependent upon proximity to the source of the threat or the physical nature of the hazard –social factors also play a significant role in determining vulnerability. This paper presents a method for assessing vulnerability in spatial terms using both biophysical and social indicators. A geographic information system was utilized to establish areas of vulnerability based upon twelve environmental threats and eight social characteristics for our study area, Georgetown County, South Carolina. Our results suggest that the most biophysically vulnerable places do not always spatially intersect with the most vulnerable populations. This is an important finding because it reflects the likely ‘social costs’ of hazards on the region. While economic losses might be large in areas of high biophysical risk, the resident population also may have greater safety nets (insurance, additional financial resources) to absorb and recover from the loss quickly. Conversely, it would take only a moderate hazard event to disrupt the well-being of the majority of county residents (who are more socially vulnerable, but perhaps do not reside in the highest areas of biophysical risks) and retard their longer-term recovery from disasters. This paper advances our theoretical and conceptual understanding of the spatial dimensions of vulnerability. It further highlights the merger of conceptualizations of human environment relationships with geographical techniques in understanding contemporary public policy issues.
Pedestrian position and pathway in the design of 3D mobile interactive navigation aid

The aim of navigation aid in general is to provide an optimal route from the current position to the destination. Unfortunately, there are lot of drawbacks from many navigation aids such as giving wrong directions to the destination, and lack of interaction with other users. This paper presents pedestrian positions and pathway determination for the design of 3D mobile interactive navigation aid. The system was developed and aims to help people navigate in an unfamiliar locations and to overcome the weaknesses of conventional 2D maps, which require users to interpret its various symbols and legends and also to present desired locations and routes to a high degree of accuracy. The system allows several mobile device users to view their own and other users' locations at the same time, while being stationary or on-the-move. The role of 3D view is to add to an existing individual cognitive map. Voronoi diagram and its dual Delaunay triangulation are the algorithms used for establishing user positions and the optimum pathway to a target destination. Using this technique contributes to a well-defined positioning and pathway establishment in the design of navigation assisted systems.
OSLO: Improving the Security of Trusted Computing

In this paper we describe bugs and ways to attack trusted computing systems based on a static root of trust such as Microsoft's Bitlocker. We propose to use the dynamic root of trust feature of newer x86 processors as this shortens the trust chain, can minimize the Trusted Computing Base of applications and is less vulnerable to TPM and BIOS attacks. To support our claim we implemented the Open Secure LOader (OSLO), the first publicly available bootloader based on AMDs skinit instruction.
A Comparison of Deception Behavior in Dyad and Triadic Group Decision Making in Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication

Deception can be detrimental to individual and organizational decision making. Existing research on behavioral cues to deception has focused mainly on monologue and dyadic interaction. No studies have empirically examined the impact of group size on behavioral cues to deception. This study is the first attempt to investigate whether deceivers behave differently in dyads and triadic groups in synchronous computer-mediated communication. The empirical results revealed that cues to deception were contingent on the group size. Compared with truth tellers, deceivers showed a lower level of pleasantness and language complexity only in dyads, whereas a higher level of cognitive complexity and initiation only in triadic groups. Although participation behavior was a significant cue in both groups, its levels of significance was higher in triadic groups than in dyads. This study raises a broad yet critical issue of group effect on deception behavior. It has significant implications for deception detection in computer-mediated communication.
GLOBAL VIEW OF THE ORIGIN OF TROPICAL DISTURBANCES AND STORMS

Abstract A global observational study of atmospheric conditions associated with tropical disturbance and storm development is presented. This study primarily uses upper air observations which have become available over the tropical oceans in the last decade. Climatological values of vertical stability, low level wind, tropospheric vertical wind shear and other parameters relative to the location and seasons of tropical disturbance and storm development are discussed. Individual storm data are also presented in summary form for over 300 development cases (with over 1,500 individual observation times) for four tropical storm genesis areas. Results show that most tropical disturbances and storms form in regions equatorward of 20° lat. on the poleward side of doldrum Equatorial Troughs where the tropospheric vertical shear of horizontal wind (i.e., baroclinicity) is a minimum or zero. Storm development occurring on the poleward side of 20° lat. in the Northwest Atlantic and North-west Pacific takes place unde.
When does low interconnectivity cause systemic risk?

We analysed a systemic liquidity crisis by using a unique money market data-set in which the coded identity of the counterparties of each trade is known. Contrary to recent findings, we did not observe a positive relationship between interconnectivity and systemic risk. We have concluded that our conflicting findings can be related to the degree of market concentration on the borrowing side of the funding market. High level of concentration in the borrowing side led to lower interconnectivity but higher systemic risk prior to the crisis. We conclude that measures of market heterogeneity should be used to generalize the relationship between systemic risk and interconnectivity.