Towards Understanding Man-In-The-Middle Attacks on IEC 60870-5-104 SCADA Networks

This paper investigates cyber attacks on ICS which rely on IEC 60870-5-104 for telecontrol communications. The main focus of the paper is on man-in-the-middle attacks, covering modification and injection of commands, it also details capture and replay attacks. An initial set of attacks are preformed on a local software simulated laboratory. Final experiments and validation of a man-in-the-middle attack are performed in a comprehensive testbed environment in conjunction with an electricity distribution operator.

Defining and assessing animal pain

The detection and assessment of pain in animals is crucial to improving their welfare in a variety of contexts in which humans are ethically or legally bound to do so. Thus clear standards to judge whether pain is likely to occur in any animal species is vital to inform whether to alleviate pain or to drive the refinement of procedures to reduce invasiveness, thereby minimizing pain. We define two key concepts that can be used to evaluate the potential for pain in both invertebrate and vertebrate taxa. First, responses to noxious, potentially painful events should affect neurobiology, physiology and behaviour in a different manner to innocuous stimuli and subsequent behaviour should be modified including avoidance learning and protective responses. Second, animals should show a change in motivational state after experiencing a painful event such that future behavioural decision making is altered and can be measured as a change in conditioned place preference, self-administration of analgesia, paying a cost to access analgesia or avoidance of painful stimuli and reduced performance in concurrent events. The extent to which vertebrate and selected invertebrate groups fulfil these criteria is discussed in light of the empirical evidence and where there are gaps in our knowledge we propose future studies are vital to improve our assessment of pain. This review highlights arguments regarding animal pain and defines criteria that demonstrate, beyond a reasonable doubt, whether animals of a given species experience pain.

Inhibition of Rho-kinase protects cerebral barrier from ischaemia-evoked injury through modulations of endothelial cell oxidative stress and tight junctions

Ischaemic strokes evoke blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption and oedema formation through a series of mechanisms involving Rho-kinase activation. Using an animal model of human focal cerebral ischaemia, this study assessed and confirmed the therapeutic potential of Rho-kinase inhibition during the acute phase of stroke by displaying significantly improved functional outcome and reduced cerebral lesion and oedema volumes in fasudil- versus vehicle-treated animals. Analyses of ipsilateral and contralateral brain samples obtained from mice treated with vehicle or fasudil at the onset of reperfusion plus 4 h post-ischaemia or 4 h post-ischaemia alone revealed these benefits to be independent of changes in the activity and expressions of oxidative stress- and tight junction-related parameters. However, closer scrutiny of the same parameters in brain microvascular endothelial cells subjected to oxygen-glucose deprivation ± reperfusion revealed marked increases in prooxidant NADPH oxidase enzyme activity, superoxide anion release and in expressions of antioxidant enzyme catalase and tight junction protein claudin-5. Cotreatment of cells with Y-27632 prevented all of these changes and protected in vitro barrier integrity and function. These findings suggest that inhibition of Rho-kinase after acute ischaemic attacks improves cerebral integrity and function through regulation of endothelial cell oxidative stress and reorganization of intercellular junctions. Inhibition of Rho-kinase (ROCK) activity in a mouse model of human ischaemic stroke significantly improved functional outcome while reducing cerebral lesion and oedema volumes compared to vehicle-treated counterparts. Studies conducted with brain microvascular endothelial cells exposed to OGD ± R in the presence of Y-27632 revealed restoration of intercellular junctions and suppression of prooxidant NADPH oxidase activity as important factors in ROCK inhibition-mediated BBB protection.

Environmental filtering vs. resource-based niche partitioning in diverse soil animal assemblages

Terrestrial invertebrates constitute most of described animal biodiversity and soil is a major reservoir of this diversity. In the classical attempt to understand the processes supporting biodiversity, ecologists are currently seeking to unravel the differential roles of environmental filtering and competition for resources in niche partitioning processes: these processes are in principle distinct although they may act simultaneously, interact at multiple spatial and temporal scales, and are often confounded in studies of soil communities. We used a novel combination of methods based on stable isotopes and trait analysis to resolve these processes in diverse oribatid mite assemblages at spatial
scales at which competition for resources could in principle be a major driver. We also used a null model approach based on a general neutral model of beta diversity. A large and significant fraction of community variation was explainable in terms of linear and periodic spatial structures in the distribution of organic C, N and soil structure: species were clearly arranged along an environmental, spatially structured gradient. However, competition related trait differences did not map onto the distances separating species along the environmental gradient and neutral models provided a satisfying approximation of beta diversity patterns. The results represent the first robust evidence
that in very diverse soil arthropod assemblages resource-based niche partitioning plays a minor role while environmental filtering remains a fundamental driver of species distribution.

Animal models of diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a major cause of visual impairment worldwide. The precise pathogenesis of this diabetic complication remains ill-defined and this is reflected in the limited options for preventing development and progression of this disease. The value of animal models to understand and treat human disease is well recognised and this chapter focuses on the range of in vivo model systems that are available for studying DR. These models have been developed over many decades and utilised to aid our understanding of what causes DR, about how microvascular and neural lesions develop and to provide evidence for key cellular and molecular mechanisms that drive this pathology. A wide range of animal models of DR are currently available, each with advantages and disadvantages that need to be understood and evaluated for their scientific and clinical value. As transgenic and imaging technology improves, more models will be developed and they will continue to play a critical role in the development of new therapeutic approaches to DR by providing robust, preclinical evidence prior to clinical trial.

AgriSense: Multichannel disposable sensors for animal health disease diagnostics

Rapid and sensitive detection of viral infections associated with Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) in live animals is recognized as key to minimizing the impact of this disease. ELISA-based testing is limited as it typically relies on the detection of a single viral antibody subtype within an individual test sample and testing is relatively slow and expensive. We have recently initiated a new project entitled AgriSense to develop a novel low-cost and label-free, integrated bimodal electronic biosensor system for BRD. The biosensor system will consist of an integrated multichannel thin-film-transistor biosensor and an electrochemical impedance spectroscopy biosensor, interfaced with PDMS-based microfluidic sample delivery channels. By using both sensors in tandem, nonspecific binding biomolecules must have the same mass to charge ratio as the target analyte to elicit equivalent responses from both sensors. The system will target simultaneous multiplexed sensing of the four primary viral agents involved in the development of BRD: bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1), bovine parainfluenza virus-3 (BPIV-3), bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), and bovine viral diarrhea (BVD). Optimized experimental conditions derived through model antigen-antibody studies will be applied to the detection of serological markers of BRD-related infections based on IgG interaction with a panel of sensor-immobilized viral proteins. This rapid, “cowside” multiplex sensor capability presents a major step forward in disease diagnosis, helping to ensure the integrity of the agri-food supply chain by reducing the risk of disease spread during animal movement and transport.

Analytical examination of animal remains from Borneo:the painting of bone and shell

Examination of a selection of shell and bone from archaeological assemblages excavated at Niah Cave and Gua Sireh, both of which are located in Sarawak, Borneo, has revealed the deliberate application of coloured material to one or more surfaces. Small fragments of the surface colourant were analysed using a variety of techniques, including microscopy, energy dispersive microwave analysis and infra-red spectrophotometry. These procedures established that, although red in colour, the applied coating in each instance was not red iron oxide. It is suggested that, based on the chemical components present, this coating was a tree resin or a similar organic substance. The paper further reports the presence of enhanced chloride values in the colourant recovered from the ancient human cranial fragment tested. It is suggested that elevated concentrations of this trace element may indicate that the site, the human remains or ingredients within the colourant were once in close proximity to the sea. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Empirical evaluation of multi-device profiling side-channel attacks

Side-channel analysis of cryptographic systems can allow for the recovery of secret information by an adversary even where the underlying algorithms have been shown to be provably secure. This is achieved by exploiting the unintentional leakages inherent in the underlying implementation of the algorithm in software or hardware. Within this field of research, a class of attacks known as profiling attacks, or more specifically as used here template attacks, have been shown to be extremely efficient at extracting secret keys. Template attacks assume a strong adversarial model, in that an attacker has an identical device with which to profile the power consumption of various operations. This can then be used to efficiently attack the target device. Inherent in this assumption is that the power consumption across the devices under test is somewhat similar. This central tenet of the attack is largely unexplored in the literature with the research community generally performing the profiling stage on the same device as being attacked. This is beneficial for evaluation or penetration testing as it is essentially the best case scenario for an attacker where the model built during the profiling stage matches exactly that of the target device, however it is not necessarily a reflection on how the attack will work in reality. In this work, a large scale evaluation of this assumption is performed, comparing the key recovery performance across 20 identical smart-cards when performing a profiling attack.

Small animal image-guided radiotherapy: status, considerations and potential for translational impact.

Radiation biology is being transformed by the implementation of small animal image-guided precision radiotherapy into pre-clinical research programmes worldwide. We report on the current status and developments of the small animal radiotherapy field, suggest criteria for the design and execution of effective studies and contend that this powerful emerging technology, used in combination with relevant small animal models, holds much promise for translational impact in radiation oncology.

Hydrophilic Interaction Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Triple-Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry for Determination of Nucleosides and Nucleobases in Animal Horns

Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs) derived from animal horns are one of the most important types of Chinese medicine. In the present study, a fast and sensitive analytical method was established for qualitative and quantitative determination of 14 nucleosides and nucleobases in animal horns using hydrophilic interaction ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple-quadruple tandem mass spectrometry (HILIC-UPLC-QQQ-MS/MS) in selective reaction monitoring (SRM) mode. The method was optimized and validated, and showed good linearity, precision, repeatability, and accuracy. The method was successfully used to determine contents of the 14 nucleosides and nucleobases in 25 animal horn samples. Hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) were performed and the 25 samples were thereby divided into two groups, which agreed with taxonomy. The method may enable quick and effective search of substitutes for precious horns.