Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Understanding Promotion-as-a-Service on GitHub

As the world’s leading software development platform, GitHub has become a social networking site for programmers and recruiters who leverage its social features, such as star and fork, for career and business development. However, in this paper, we found a group of GitHub accounts that conducted promotion services in GitHub, called “promoters”, by performing paid star and fork operations on specified repositories. We also uncovered a stealthy way of tampering with historical commits, through which these promoters are able to fake commits retroactively. By exploiting such a promotion service, any GitHub user can pretend to be a skillful developer with high influence. To understand promotion services in GitHub, we first investigated the underground promotion market of GitHub and identified 1,023 suspected promotion accounts from the market. Then, we developed an SVM (Support Vector Machine) classifier to detect promotion accounts from all active users extracted from GH Archive ranging from 2015 to 2019. In total, we detected 63,872 suspected promotion accounts. We further analyzed these suspected promotion accounts, showing that (1) a hidden functionality in GitHub is abused to boost the reputation of an account by forging historical commits and (2) a group of small businesses exploit GitHub promotion services to promote their products. We estimated that suspicious promoters could have made a profit of $3.41 million and $4.37 million in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
Reboot-Oriented IoT: Life Cycle Management in Trusted Execution Environment for Disposable IoT devices

Many IoT devices are geographically distributed without human administrators, which are maintained by a remote server to enforce security updates, ideally through machine-to-machine (M2M) management. However, malware often terminates the remote control mechanism immediately after compromise and hijacks the device completely. The compromised device has no way to recover and becomes part of a botnet. Even if the IoT device remains uncompromised, it is required to update due to recall or other reasons. In addition, the device is desired to be automatically disposable after the expiration of its service, software, or device hardware to prevent being cyber debris. We present Reboot-Oriented IoT (RO-IoT), which updates the total OS image autonomously to recover from compromise (rootkit or otherwise), and manages the life cycle of the device using Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) and PKI-based certificates (i.e., CA, server, and client certificates which are linked to device, software, and service). RO-IoT is composed of three TEE-protected components: the secure network bootloader, periodic memory forensics, and life cycle management. The secure network bootloader downloads and verifies the OS image by the TEE. The periodic memory forensics causes a hardware system-reset (i.e., reboot) after detecting any un-registered binary or a time-out, which depends on a TEE-protected watchdog timer. The life cycle management checks the expiration of PKI-based certificates for the device, software, and service, and deactivates the device if necessary. These features complement each other, and all binaries and certificates are encrypted or protected by TEE. We implemented a prototype of RO-IoT on an ARM Hikey board with the open source trusted OS OP-TEE. The design and implementation take account of availability (over 99.9%) and scalability (less than 100MB traffic for a full OS update, and estimated at a cent per device), making the current prototype specifically suitable for the AI-Edge (Artificial Intelligence on the Edge) IoT devices.
DeepSIM: GPS Spoofing Detection on UAVs using Satellite Imagery Matching

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), better known as drones, have significantly advanced fields such as aerial surveillance, military reconnaissance, cadastral surveying, disaster monitoring, and delivery services. However, UAVs rely on civilian (unauthenticated) GPS for navigation which can be trivially spoofed. In this paper, we present DeepSIM, a satellite imagery matching approach to detect GPS spoofing attacks against UAVs based on deep learning. We make use of the camera(s) a typical UAV is equipped with, and present a system that compares historical satellite images of its GPS-based position (spaceborne photography) with real-time aerial images from its cameras (airborne imagery). Historical images are taken from, e. g. , Google Earth or NASA WorldWind. To detect GPS spoofing attacks, we investigate different deep neural network models that compare the real-time camera images with the historical satellite images. To train and test the models, we have constructed the SatUAV dataset (consisting of 967 image pairs), partially by using real UAVs such as the DJI Phantom 4 Advanced. Real-world experimental results show that our best model has a success rate of about 95% in detecting GPS spoofing attacks within less than 100 milliseconds. Our approach does not require any modification of the existing GPS infrastructures and relies only on public satellite imagery, making it a practical solution for many everyday scenarios.
NoSQL Breakdown: A Large-scale Analysis of Misconfigured NoSQL Services

In the last years, NoSQL databases have grown in popularity due to their easy-to-deploy, reliable, and scalable storage mechanism. While most NoSQL services offer access control mechanisms, their default configurations grant access without any form of authentication, resulting in misconfigurations that may expose data to the Internet, as demonstrated by the recent high-profile data leaks. In this paper, we investigate the usage of the most popular NoSQL databases, focusing on automatically analyzing and discovering misconfigurations that may lead to security and privacy issues. We developed a tool that automatically scans large IP subnets to detect the exposed services and performs security analyses without storing nor exposing sensitive data. We analyzed 67,725,641 IP addresses between October 2019 and March 2020, spread across several Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), and found 12,276 misconfigured databases. The risks associated with exposed services range from data leaking, which may pose a significant menace to users’ privacy, to data tampering of resources stored in the vulnerable databases, which may pose a relevant threat to a web service reputation. Regarding the last point, we found 742 potentially vulnerable websites linked to misconfigured instances with the write permission enabled to anonymous users.
The Tangled Genealogy of IoT Malware

The recent emergence of consumer off-the-shelf embedded (IoT) devices and the rise of large-scale IoT botnets has dramatically increased the volume and sophistication of Linux malware observed in the wild. The security community has put a lot of effort to document these threats but analysts mostly rely on manual work, which makes it difficult to scale and hard to regularly maintain. Moreover, the vast amount of code reuse that characterizes IoT malware calls for an automated approach to detect similarities and identify the phylogenetic tree of each family. In this paper we present the largest measurement of IoT malware to date. We systematically reconstruct – through the use of binary code similarity – the lineage of IoT malware families, and track their relationships, evolution, and variants. We apply our technique on a dataset of more than 93k samples submitted to VirusTotal over a period of 3.5 years. We discuss the findings of our analysis and present several case studies to highlight the tangled relationships of IoT malware.
Quantifying measurement quality and load distribution in Tor

Tor is a widely used anonymization network. Traffic is routed over different relay nodes to conceal the communication partners. However, if a single relay handles too much traffic, de-anonymization attacks are possible. The Tor Load Balancing Mechanism (TLBM) is responsible for balanced and secure load distribution. It must verify that relays cannot attract more traffic than they should by lying about their self-reported bandwidth. This work shows that the current bandwidth measurement method used for bandwidth verification is not suitable to verify the bandwidth of many relays. Most importantly, multiple measurements of high-bandwidth relays are uncorrelated to each other. Furthermore, we analyze the current load distribution in Tor. We show that the current load distribution reduces the resources necessary for several large-scale de-anonymization attacks by more than 80%. Additionally, as Tor favors fast relays during path selection, verifiable relays only handle a small fraction of Tor’s traffic. More precisely, we show that only 7.21% of all paths consist of entry and exit relays verifiable by measurements. We discuss these results’ security implications and argue that future TLBM research should focus at least as much on secure load distribution as on high traffic performance.
Fabrication of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes for spintronic device applications

We report on the observation of coulomb blockade and coulomb staircase at room temperature in multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) based heterostructures. The hybrid structure consists of nickel ferromagnets separated by vertically aligned MWCNTs. The MWCNTs were grown vertically on a nickel substrate by a double plasma hot filament chemical vapour deposition technique. Deposition of ferromagnetic nickel nanoparticles on the top of MWCNTs was achieved for the first time using the laser chemical vapour deposition method. The fabrication technique is unique in that it is formed of many individual ferromagnetic tunnel junctions integrated into a single system. A well defined coulomb blockade and coulomb staircase was displayed in current–voltage characteristics obtained by scanning tunnelling spectroscopy. The capacitance (1. 6 × 10−18 F) in the system is determined from the spacing ΔV between peaks in the dI/dV curves.
Beta-Cell Function and Failure in Type 2 Diabetes

The main role of beta-cell is to synthesize and secrete insulin in order to maintain circulating glucose levels within physiological range. Although there exist several triggers of insulin secretion like nutrients (amino acids such as leucine, glutamine in combination with leucine, nonesterified fatty acid), hormones, neurotransmitters and drugs (sulfonylurea, glinides), glucose represents the main physiological insulin secretagogue [1].
An empirical valence bond model for constructing global potential energy surfaces for chemical reactions of polyatomic molecular systems

An empirical valence bond (EVB) model is proposed for constructing reactive potential energy surfaces of polyatomic molecular systems. Specifically, it is shown how the exchange potential V{sub 12}(q) of the EVB model can be chosen so that the EVB potential V(q) {triple bond} 1/2(V{sub 11}(q) + V{sub 22}(q)) - ((1/2(V{sub 11}(q) - V{sub 22}(q))){sup 2} + V{sub 12}(q){sub 2}){sup 1/2} exactly reproduces the transition-state geometry, energy, and force constant matrix obtained by an independent ab initio calculation. (Here q denotes all the 3N-6 nuclear coordinates of the N-atom system, and V{sub 11} and V{sub 22} are empirical diabatic, i.e., nonreactive, potential functions that describe the reactant and product regions of the potential surface, respectively.) Application of the overall prescription to a variety of two-dimensional test potential surfaces shows that this version of the EVB model provides an excellent description of reactive potential surfaces for a wide variety of situations.
(Nitroethenyl)salicylic Acid Anilides and Related Substances, a New Group of Molluscicidal and Microbicidal Compounds

5-(2-Nitroethenyl)salicyloyl chloride (2b) condenses with anilines affording the anilides 3a–h. The compound 3a reacts with isocyanates to give the corresponding carbamates 5a–c, whereas at higher temperatures the anilide 3a as well as the acid 2a give the same benzoxazinedione 4a which affords 5-formyl-N-methylsalicylamide (6) upon treatment with alkali. 3a and 3d react with thionyl chloride to give the corresponding 2-chloro-5-(2-nitroethenyl)benzanilides 8a and 8b. Spectral features of the compounds are discussed and their molluscicidal and microbicidal activities are presented. (Nitroethenyl)salicylsaureanilide und verwandte Substanzen, eine neue Gruppe molluskizider und mikrobizider Verbindungen 5-(2-Nitroethenyl)salicylsaurechlorid (2b) wird mit Anilinen zu den Aniliden 3a–h kondensiert. Mit Isocyanaten liefert 3a die entsprechenden Carbamate 5a–c, dagegen ergibt sowohl das Anilid 3a als auch die Saure 2a bei hoheren Temperaturen dasselbe Benzoxazindion 4a. Dieses bildet bei der Behandlung mit Alkali 5-Formyl-N-methylsalicylamid (6). Mit Thionylchlorid reagieren 3a und 3d zu den entsprechenden 2-Chlor-5-(2-nitroethenyl)-benzaniliden 8a bzw. 8b. Die spektroskopischen Merkmale der Verbindungen werden diskutiert, und uber die molluskiziden und mikrobiziden Eigenschaften wird berichtet.
PLANT UPTAKE AND LEACHING OF SELENIUM IN MANURE- AND GYPSUM-AMENDED SOILS OF THE WESTERN PHOSPHATE RESOURCE AREA

Selenium (Se) that was once sequestered below the soil surface has been exposed to accelerated weathering conditions in the Western Phosphate Resource Area (WPRA), creating a potential threat to the ecosystem. The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of an organic amendment (manure) and a sulfur-containing fertilizer on Se availability as determined by plant tissue concentrations and soil water chemistry. Tension lysimeters were used to sample soil water from treated plots. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to study the impact of these amendments on plant uptake of Se in a more controlled environment. A maximum of 7% of the soil water samples collected on any one date exceeded the suggested limit for water consumed by livestock (50 &mgr;g Se L−1) within the United States. Significant differences among treatments only occurred in the first sampling date when the mean Se concentration of water samples from the gypsum treatment was higher than in the manure and control treatments. In the greenhouse study, Se uptake by alfalfa (Medicago sativa) was higher than uptake by mountain bromegrass (Bromus marginatus), suggesting that alfalfa should not be planted on reclaimed mine soils within the WPRA. Although the use of organic amendments has been shown to increase the loss of Se through volatilization, our data suggest that it may result in a short-term increase in Se uptake, possibly caused by organic acids outcompeting selenite for soil-binding sites. These results can be used to help design and implement future remediation strategies in the WPRA.
Humans optimally anticipate and compensate for an uneven step during walking

The simple task of walking up a sidewalk curb is actually a dynamic prediction task. The curb is a disturbance that causes a loss of momentum, to be anticipated and compensated for. For example, the compensation might regain momentum and ensure undisturbed time of arrival. But without a selection criterion, there are infinite possible strategies. Here we show that humans compensate with an anticipatory pattern of forward speed adjustments, with a criterion of minimizing mechanical energy input. This is predicted by optimal control for a simple model of walking dynamics, with each leg’s push-off work as input. Optimization predicts a tri-phasic trajectory of speed (and thus momentum) adjustments, including an anticipatory, feedforward phase. In experiment, human subjects successfully regain time relative to undisturbed walking, with the predicted tri-phasic trajectory. They also scale the pattern with up- or down-steps, and inversely with average speed, as also predicted by model. Humans can reason about the dynamics of walking to plan anticipatory and economical control, even with a sidewalk curb in the way.
Tissue-specific regulation of translational readthrough tunes functions of the traffic jam transcription factor

Translational readthrough (TR) occurs when the ribosome decodes a stop codon as a sense codon, resulting in two protein isoforms synthesized from the same mRNA. TR is pervasive in eukaryotic organisms; however, its biological significance remains unclear. In this study, we quantify the TR potential of several candidate genes in Drosophila melanogaster and characterize the regulation of TR in the large Maf transcription factor Traffic jam (Tj). We used CRISPR/Cas9 generated mutant flies to show that the TR-generated Tj isoform is expressed in the nuclei of a subset of neural cells of the central nervous system and is excluded from the somatic cells of gonads, which express the short Tj isoform only. Translational control of TR is critical for preservation of neuronal integrity and maintenance of reproductive health. Fine-tuning of the gene regulatory functions of transcription factors by TR provides a new potential mechanism for cell-specific regulation of gene expression. Highlights Tj undergoes tissue-specific TR in neural cells of the central nervous system. Strict control of TR is crucial for neuroprotection and maintenance of reproductive capacity. TR selectively fine-tunes the gene regulatory functions of the transcription factor. TR in Tj links transcription and translation of tissue-specific control of gene expression.
EFFECT OF WATER STRESS ON NUTRIENT CONTENT AND THEIR UPTAKE IN INDIAN MUSTARD[Brassica juncea (L.) Czern and Coss] GENOTYPES

The mustard crop, during its ontogeny, is observed to face the effect of moisture stress of various degrees, especially at different growth stages of crop leading to drastic reduction in production and productivity. Four varieties of Indian mustard viz., Pusa Bahar, Varuna, Pusa Jai Kisan and Pusa Agrani were used to study the biochemical response to water stress. Water stress was imposed by withholding irrigation at 3 different stages of crop growth i.e., vegetative (S1), reproductive (S2) and pod-filling (S3) stage. The total chlorophyll content, nitrate reductase activity (NRA) and starch content decreased significantly in all the varieties irrespective of stress at different growth stages, the maximum reduction was observed at pod filling stage. The maximum impact of water stress on total chlorophyll content was observed at pod filling stage (35.68- 44.81%) among the cultivars. The total chlorophyll content decreased a maximum in cv. Pusa Agrani and minimum in Pusa Jai Kisan. Proline accumulation increased in all the test varities irrespective of stress at different growth stages, maximum accumulation was observed at reproductive stage. Cultivar Varuna registered the maximum prolin accumulation. Total chlorophyll and proline content can be considered as the desirable traits for screening the cultivars for drought prone environments.
Toxic Effects of Organotin Species on Algae

The inhibition by 20 organotin compounds (R n SnX 4-n ), which included some newly synthesized pesticides, of the growth of two green algae (Scenedesmus obliquus and Platymonas sp.) was studied. The influence of the counterion X group on the toxicity of organotins was discussed. The destruction of submicrostructures of the algal cell by organotins was viewed by micrography and electron microscope scanning. It was found that the toxicity of the organotins varied significantly according to their substitution. The order of toxicity is tri- » di- ≥ mono-organotins. Within the same substituent series, the toxicity depends on the properties of both R and X groups. The larger and the more lipophilic the R group, the more toxic is the organotin. The influence of the X group is more complex: when X is a small easily ionizable group, it has little effect on the toxicity; however, when it is a large organic group, it does change the bioactivity of the organotin. Large organic groups may influence the polarizability of the central tin atom, and so change the toxicity of organotins.
Biliverdin reductase bridges focal adhesion kinase to Src to modulate synaptic signaling

Synapses are complex bridges that connect discrete neurons into vast networks that send, receive, and encode diverse forms of information. However, they must remain dynamic in order to adapt to changing inputs. Here, we report that the enzyme biliverdin reductase (BVR) physically links together key molecules in focal adhesion signaling at the synapse. In challenging mice with a battery of neurocognitive tasks, we first discover that BVR null (BVR-/-) mice exhibit profound deficits in learning and memory. We uncover that these deficits may be explained by a loss of focal adhesion signaling that is both transcriptionally and biochemically disrupted in BVR-/- hippocampi. We learn that BVR mediates focal adhesion signaling by physically bridging the initiatory kinases FAK/Pyk2 to the effector kinase Src. Activated Src normally promotes synaptic plasticity by phosphorylating the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, but FAK/Pyk2 are unable to bind and stimulate Src without BVR. Src itself is a molecular hub upon which many signaling pathways converge in order to stimulate NMDA neurotransmission, positioning BVR at a prominent intersection of synaptic signaling.
Oxide Ion Transport in Donor‐Doped Pb(ZrxTi1−x)O3: Near‐Surface Diffusion Properties

Oxide ion transport in Pb(ZrxTi1–x)O3 (PZT) was investigated using 18O tracer diffusion and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry analysis. Particularly diffusion in the near-surface regions (a few 100 nm in depth) is discussed and strong evidence for a space charge layer near the surface is provided. In this layer, an enrichment of oxygen vacancies is found at temperatures up to 600°C, resulting in box-shaped tracer diffusion profiles. At 650°C, however, the profile shape is modified and reveals a depletion of oxygen vacancies close to the surface. Accordingly, a change in the polarity of the surface charge takes place between 600°C and 650°C. The tracer diffusion profiles are very sensitive to surface modification, caused by etching or annealing at higher temperature, and also depend on the sintering procedure. Moreover, application of an external field during the tracer experiments affected the tracer diffusion at the cathode, while leaving the profile at the anode unperturbed. Quantitative analysis of the profiles was performed by means of numerical calculations based on Gouy-Chapman or Mott-Schottky space charge models. Estimates of the oxygen vacancy concentration and ionic transference number of donor-doped PZT are provided.
Zika Virus Infection Prevents Host mRNA Nuclear Export by Disrupting UPF1 Function

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne RNA virus that can infect fetuses in utero causing characteristic neurodevelopmental disorders including microcephaly. We previously showed that ZIKV infection downregulates expression of up-frameshift protein 1 (UPF1), a helicase/ATPase and central regulator of the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway. Here, we identify a novel function of nuclear UPF1 in mRNA export. Using crosslinking immunoprecipitation of UPF1 followed by sequencing of associated transcripts as well as fluorescence in situ hybridization experiments, we find widespread mRNA accumulation in the nucleus of human neural progenitor cells (NPCs) upon ZIKV infection or UPF1 knockdown. Knockdown of FREM2, a top UPF1 target transcript encoding an extra-cellular matrix protein critical in fetal development, decreased expression of pluripotency markers and increased expressed neuronal differentiation in NPCs, consistent with the model that trapping FREM2 mRNA in the nucleus perturbs proper NPC function. Collectively, our data uncover a new posttranscriptional mechanism by which ZIKV “shuts off” host mRNA export via UPF1. As we find UPF1 linked to many neurodevelopment pathways, we propose that the lack of host mRNA export contributes to the neurodevelopmental defects associated with ZIKV infection.