An integrated malware detection and classification system

This thesis is to develop effective and efficient methodologies which can be applied to continuously improve the performance of detection and classification on malware collected over an extended period of time. The robustness of the proposed methodologies has been tested on malware collected over 2003-2010.

Malware detection and prevention system based on multi-stage rules

The continuously rising Internet attacks pose severe challenges to develop an effective Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to detect known and unknown malicious attack. In order to address the problem of detecting known, unknown attacks and identify an attack grouped, the authors provide a new multi stage rules for detecting anomalies in multi-stage rules. The authors used the RIPPER for rule generation, which is capable to create rule sets more quickly and can determine the attack types with smaller numbers of rules. These rules would be efficient to apply for Signature Intrusion Detection System (SIDS) and Anomaly Intrusion Detection System (AIDS).

The association between attributions of responsibility for motor vehicle accidents and patient satisfaction: a study within a no-fault injury compensation system

This study set out to test the relationship between attributions of responsibility for motor vehicle accidents and satisfaction with personal injury compensation systems.

Using response action with Intelligent Intrusion detection and prevention System against web application malware

Findings: After evaluating the new system, a better result was generated in line with detection efficiency and the false alarm rate. This demonstrates the value of direct response action in an intrusion detection system.

System identification and active vibration control of a flexible structure

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Guía para la identificación y formulación de proyectos de vialidad urbana = Guidelines for the identification and formulation or urban roadway system projects

Incluye Bibliografía

Agent Based Intrusion Detection and Response System for Wireless LANs

Wireless LAN technology, despite the numerous advantages it has over competing technologies, has not seen widespread deployment. A primary reason for markets not adopting this technology is its failure to provide adequate security. Data that is sent over wireless links can be compromised with utmost ease. In this project, we propose a distributed agent based intrusion detection and response system for wireless LANs that can detect unauthorized wireless elements like access points, wireless clients that are in promiscuous mode etc. The system reacts to intrusions by either notifying the concerned personnel, in case of rogue access points and promiscuous nodes, or by blocking unauthorized users from accessing the network resources.

Optical Design for Automatic Identification and Portable Systems

This thesis proposes design methods and test tools, for optical systems, which may be used in an industrial environment, where not only precision and reliability but also ease of use is important. The approach to the problem has been conceived to be as general as possible, although in the present work, the design of a portable device for automatic identification applications has been studied, because this doctorate has been funded by Datalogic Scanning Group s.r.l., a world-class producer of barcode readers. The main functional components of the complete device are: electro-optical imaging, illumination and pattern generator systems. For what concerns the electro-optical imaging system, a characterization tool and an analysis one has been developed to check if the desired performance of the system has been achieved. Moreover, two design tools for optimizing the imaging system have been implemented. The first optimizes just the core of the system, the optical part, improving its performance ignoring all other contributions and generating a good starting point for the optimization of the whole complex system. The second tool optimizes the system taking into account its behavior with a model as near as possible to reality including optics, electronics and detection. For what concerns the illumination and the pattern generator systems, two tools have been implemented. The first allows the design of free-form lenses described by an arbitrary analytical function exited by an incoherent source and is able to provide custom illumination conditions for all kind of applications. The second tool consists of a new method to design Diffractive Optical Elements excited by a coherent source for large pattern angles using the Iterative Fourier Transform Algorithm. Validation of the design tools has been obtained, whenever possible, comparing the performance of the designed systems with those of fabricated prototypes. In other cases simulations have been used.

Tandem mass spectrometry identification and LC-MS quantification of intact cytokinin nucleotides in K-562 human leukemia cells

We describe here a new reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry detection method for quantifying intact cytokinin nucleotides in human K-562 leukemia cells. Tandem mass spectrometry was used to identify the intracellular metabolites (cytokinin monophosphorylated, diphosphorylated, and triphosphorylated nucleotides) in riboside-treated cells. For the protein precipitation and sample preparation, a trichloroacetic acid extraction method is used. Samples are then back-extracted with diethyl ether, lyophilized, reconstituted, and injected into the LC system. Analytes were quantified in negative selected ion monitoring mode using a single quadrupole mass spectrometer. The method was validated in terms of retention time stabilities, limits of detection, linearity, recovery, and analytical accuracy. The developed method was linear in the range of 1-1,000 pmol for all studied compounds. The limits of detection for the analytes vary from 0.2 to 0.6 pmol.

A novel universal DNA labeling and amplification system for rapid microarray-based detection of 117 antibiotic resistance genes in Gram-positive bacteria.

A rapid and simple DNA labeling system has been developed for disposable microarrays and has been validated for the detection of 117 antibiotic resistance genes abundant in Gram-positive bacteria. The DNA was fragmented and amplified using phi-29 polymerase and random primers with linkers. Labeling and further amplification were then performed by classic PCR amplification using biotinylated primers specific for the linkers. The microarray developed by Perreten et al. (Perreten, V., Vorlet-Fawer, L., Slickers, P., Ehricht, R., Kuhnert, P., Frey, J., 2005. Microarray-based detection of 90 antibiotic resistance genes of gram-positive bacteria. J.Clin.Microbiol. 43, 2291-2302.) was improved by additional oligonucleotides. A total of 244 oligonucleotides (26 to 37 nucleotide length and with similar melting temperatures) were spotted on the microarray, including genes conferring resistance to clinically important antibiotic classes like β-lactams, macrolides, aminoglycosides, glycopeptides and tetracyclines. Each antibiotic resistance gene is represented by at least 2 oligonucleotides designed from consensus sequences of gene families. The specificity of the oligonucleotides and the quality of the amplification and labeling were verified by analysis of a collection of 65 strains belonging to 24 species. Association between genotype and phenotype was verified for 6 antibiotics using 77 Staphylococcus strains belonging to different species and revealed 95% test specificity and a 93% predictive value of a positive test. The DNA labeling and amplification is independent of the species and of the target genes and could be used for different types of microarrays. This system has also the advantage to detect several genes within one bacterium at once, like in Staphylococcus aureus strain BM3318, in which up to 15 genes were detected. This new microarray-based detection system offers a large potential for applications in clinical diagnostic, basic research, food safety and surveillance programs for antimicrobial resistance.

Identification of endocannabinoid system-modulating N-alkylamides from Heliopsis helianthoides var. scabra and Lepidium meyenii.

The discovery of the interaction of plant-derived N-alkylamides (NAAs) and the mammalian endocannabinoid system (ECS) and the existence of a plant endogenous N-acylethanolamine signaling system have led to the re-evaluation of this group of compounds. Herein, the isolation of seven NAAs and the assessment of their effects on major protein targets in the ECS network are reported. Four NAAs, octadeca-2E,4E,8E,10Z,14Z-pentaene-12-ynoic acid isobutylamide (1), octadeca-2E,4E,8E,10Z,14Z-pentaene-12-ynoic acid 2'-methylbutylamide (2), hexadeca-2E,4E,9Z-triene-12,14-diynoic acid isobutylamide (3), and hexadeca-2E,4E,9,12-tetraenoic acid 2'-methylbutylamide (4), were identified from Heliopsis helianthoides var. scabra. Compounds 2-4 are new natural products, while 1 was isolated for the first time from this species. The previously described macamides, N-(3-methoxybenzyl)-(9Z,12Z,15Z)-octadecatrienamide (5), N-benzyl-(9Z,12Z,15Z)-octadecatrienamide (6), and N-benzyl-(9Z,12Z)-octadecadienamide (7), were isolated from Lepidium meyenii (Maca). N-Methylbutylamide 4 and N-benzylamide 7 showed submicromolar and selective binding affinities for the cannabinoid CB1 receptor (Ki values of 0.31 and 0.48 μM, respectively). Notably, compound 7 also exhibited weak fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibition (IC50 = 4 μM) and a potent inhibition of anandamide cellular uptake (IC50 = 0.67 μM) that was stronger than the inhibition obtained with the controls OMDM-2 and UCM707. The pronounced ECS polypharmacology of compound 7 highlights the potential involvement of the arachidonoyl-mimicking 9Z,12Z double-bond system in the linoleoyl group for the overall cannabimimetic action of NAAs. This study provides additional strong evidence of the endocannabinoid substrate mimicking of plant-derived NAAs and uncovers a direct and indirect cannabimimetic action of the Peruvian Maca root.

A Stress-Detection System Based on Physiological Signals and Fuzzy Logic

A stress-detection system is proposed based on physiological signals. Concretely, galvanic skin response (GSR) and heart rate (HR) are proposed to provide information on the state of mind of an individual, due to their nonintrusiveness and noninvasiveness. Furthermore, specific psychological experiments were designed to induce properly stress on individuals in order to acquire a database for training, validating, and testing the proposed system. Such system is based on fuzzy logic, and it described the behavior of an individual under stressing stimuli in terms of HR and GSR. The stress-detection accuracy obtained is 99.5% by acquiring HR and GSR during a period of 10 s, and what is more, rates over 90% of success are achieved by decreasing that acquisition period to 3-5 s. Finally, this paper comes up with a proposal that an accurate stress detection only requires two physiological signals, namely, HR and GSR, and the fact that the proposed stress-detection system is suitable for real-time applications.