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"Jacobs, Matthew"
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A Reinforcement Learning Framework with Oversampling and Undersampling Algorithms for Intrusion Detection System
Intrusion detection systems (IDSs) play a pivotal role in safeguarding networks and systems against malicious activities. However, the challenge of imbalanced datasets significantly impacts IDS research, skewing learning models towards the majority class and diminishing accuracy for the minority class. This study introduces the Reinforcement Learning (RL) Framework with Oversampling and Undersampling Algorithm (RLFOUA) to address imbalanced datasets. RLFOUA combines RL with diverse resampling algorithms, creating an adaptive learning environment. It integrates the novel True False Rate Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (TFRSMOTE) algorithm, emphasizing data-level approaches. Additionally, RLFOUA employs a cost-sensitive approach based on classification metrics. Using the CSE-CIC-IDS2018 and NSL-KDD datasets, RLFOUA demonstrates substantial improvement over existing resampling techniques. Achieving an accuracy of 0.9981 for NSL-KDD and 0.9846 for CSE-CIC-IDS2018, the framework’s performance is evaluated using F1 score, accuracy, precision, recall, and a proposed Index Metric (IM). RLFOUA presents a significant advancement in addressing class imbalance challenges in IDS. It shows an average accuracy improvement of 21.5% compared to the recent resampling technique AESMOTE on the NSL-KDD dataset.
Journal Article
Imagining the Middle East
As its interests have become deeply tied to the Middle East, the
United States has long sought to develop a usable understanding of
the people, politics, and cultures of the region. In Imagining
the Middle East , Matthew Jacobs illuminates how Americans'
ideas and perspectives about the region have shaped, justified, and
sustained U.S. cultural, economic, military, and political
involvement there. Jacobs examines the ways in which an informal
network of academic, business, government, and media specialists
interpreted and shared their perceptions of the Middle East from
the end of World War I through the late 1960s. During that period,
Jacobs argues, members of this network imagined the Middle East as
a region defined by certain common characteristics--religion, mass
politics, underdevelopment, and an escalating
Arab-Israeli-Palestinian conflict--and as a place that might be
transformed through U.S. involvement. Thus, the ways in which
specialists and policymakers imagined the Middle East of the past
or present came to justify policies designed to create an imagined
Middle East of the future. Jacobs demonstrates that an analysis of
the intellectual roots of current politics and foreign policy is
critical to comprehending the styles of U.S. engagement with the
Middle East in a post-9/11 world.
eBook
Assessment of Antifouling Potential of Novel Transparent Sol Gel Coatings for Application in the Marine Environment
In recent years, there has become a growing need for the development of antifouling technology for application in the marine environment. The accumulation of large quantities of biomass on these surfaces cause substantial economic burdens within the marine industry, or adversely impact the performance of sensor technologies. Here, we present a study of transparent coatings with potential for applications on sensors or devices with optical windows. The focus of the study is on the abundance and diversity of biofouling organisms that accumulate on glass panels coated with novel transparent or opaque organically modified silicate (ORMOSIL) coatings. The diatom assessment was used to determine the effectiveness of the coatings against biofouling. Test panels were deployed in a marine environment in Galway Bay for durations of nine and thirteen months to examine differences in biofilm formation in both microfouling and macrofouling conditions. The most effective coating is one which consists of precursor, tetraethyl orthosilicate (HC006) that has a water contact angle > 100, without significant roughness (43.52 nm). However, improved roughness and wettability of a second coating, diethoxydimethylsilane (DMDEOS), showed real promise in relation to macrofouling reduction.
Journal Article
Assessment of anthropogenic pollution by monitoring occurrence and distribution of chemicals in the river Liffey in Dublin
This paper evaluates for the first time the spatial distribution of a wide group of organic (phthalates, nitro, aliphatic, halogen, aromatic, phenol and amino compounds) and inorganic pollutants along the Liffey river in Dublin city. The work takes into account the effect of short-term weather conditions on the occurrence of these contaminants. The results showed that rainfall conditions affect the levels of pollutants along the river in the days following a rainfall event. In addition, the tributaries entering the river Liffey were not found to impact its water quality. In relation to organic pollutants, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol, 2-nitrophenol and phthalate compounds were found in many water samples between concentrations of 0.21 and 2.17 μg L
−1
. On the other hand, dimethyl phthalate was present in certain samples at levels around 100 μg L
−1
. The levels of these contaminants in the river were lower than the toxicity values reported in the literature. Regarding inorganic pollutants, nitrates were detected from 0.59 to 6.81 mg L
−1
increasing from upstream to downstream. Based on the chemical nature and applications of detected pollutants, the river contamination can be mainly related to agricultural, industrial activities as well as diffuse urban contributions. These vary with location within a short distance and have the potential to impact aquatic biodiversity as the chemical composition changes with rainfall events.
Journal Article
Epigenomic diversity of cortical projection neurons in the mouse brain
Neuronal cell types are classically defined by their molecular properties, anatomy and functions. Although recent advances in single-cell genomics have led to high-resolution molecular characterization of cell type diversity in the brain
1
, neuronal cell types are often studied out of the context of their anatomical properties. To improve our understanding of the relationship between molecular and anatomical features that define cortical neurons, here we combined retrograde labelling with single-nucleus DNA methylation sequencing to link neural epigenomic properties to projections. We examined 11,827 single neocortical neurons from 63 cortico-cortical and cortico-subcortical long-distance projections. Our results showed unique epigenetic signatures of projection neurons that correspond to their laminar and regional location and projection patterns. On the basis of their epigenomes, intra-telencephalic cells that project to different cortical targets could be further distinguished, and some layer 5 neurons that project to extra-telencephalic targets (L5 ET) formed separate clusters that aligned with their axonal projections. Such separation varied between cortical areas, which suggests that there are area-specific differences in L5 ET subtypes, which were further validated by anatomical studies. Notably, a population of cortico-cortical projection neurons clustered with L5 ET rather than intra-telencephalic neurons, which suggests that a population of L5 ET cortical neurons projects to both targets. We verified the existence of these neurons by dual retrograde labelling and anterograde tracing of cortico-cortical projection neurons, which revealed axon terminals in extra-telencephalic targets including the thalamus, superior colliculus and pons. These findings highlight the power of single-cell epigenomic approaches to connect the molecular properties of neurons with their anatomical and projection properties.
Quantitative analysis of the methylation of mouse cortical neurons that project to different cortical and subcortical target regions provides insight into genetic mechanisms that contribute to differences in cell function.
Journal Article
Potential Viable Products Identified from Characterisation of Agricultural Slaughterhouse Rendering Wastewater
The composition of challenging matrices must be fully understood in order to determine the impact of the matrix and to establish suitable treatment methods. Rendering condensate wastewater is a complex matrix which is understudied. It is produced when the vapour from rendering facilities (heat processing of slaughterhouse waste material) is cooled as a liquid for discharge. This study offers a full physicochemical characterisation of rendering condensate wastewater and its potential for valorisation via production of viable by-products. A study of seasonal variation of levels of dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen and ammonia was carried out on the wastewater. The results show that the wastewater was high strength all year-round, with a chemical oxygen demand of 10,813 ± 427 mg/L and high concentrations of total Kjeldahl nitrogen (1745 ± 90 mg/L), ammonia (887 ± 21 mg/L), crude protein (10,911 ± 563 mg/L), total phosphorous (51 ± 1 mg/L), fat and oil (11,363 ± 934 mg/L), total suspended solids (336 ± 73 mg/L) and total dissolved solids (4397 ± 405 mg/L). This characterisation demonstrates the requirement for adequate treatment of the condensate before releasing it to the environment. While there is a reasonably constant flow rate and dissolved oxygen level throughout the year, higher chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen and ammonia levels were found in the warmer summer months. From this study, rendering condensate slaughterhouse wastewater is shown to have potential for production of marketable goods. These products may include ammonium sulphate fertilizer, protein supplements for animal feeds and recovery of acetic acid calcium hydroxyapatite, thus enhancing both the financial and environmental sustainability of slaughterhouse operations. This work demonstrates a valuable assessment of a complex wastewater, while taking advantage of on-site access to samples and process data to inform the potential for wastewater reuse.
Journal Article
CMR provides comparable measurements of diastolic function as echocardiography
Clinical application of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is expanding but CMR assessment of LV diastolic function is still being validated. The purpose of this study was to validate assessments of left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction (DD) using CMR by comparing with transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) performed on the same day. Patients with suspected or diagnosed cardiomyopathy (n = 63) and healthy volunteers (n = 24) were prospectively recruited and included in the study. CMR diastolic parameters were measured on cine images and velocity-encoded phase contrast cine images and compared with corresponding parameters measured on TTE. A contextual correlation feature tracking method was developed to calculate the mitral annular velocity curve. LV DD was classified by CMR and TTE following 2016 guidelines. Overall DD classification was 78.1% concordant between CMR and TTE (
p
< 0.0001). The trans-mitral inflow parameters correlated well between the two modalities (E, r = 0.78; A, r = 0.90; E/A, r = 0.82; all
p
< 0.0001) while the remaining diastolic parameters showed moderate correlation (e’, r = 0.64; E/e’, r = 0.54; left atrial volume index (LAVi), r = 0.61; all
p
< 0.0001). Classification of LV diastolic function by CMR showed good concordance with standardized grades established for TTE. CMR-based LV diastolic function may be integrated in routine clinical practice.
Name of the registry
: Technical Development of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Trial registration number: NCT00027170. Date of registration: November 26, 2001. URL of trial registry record:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00027170
Journal Article
Photonic multilayer structure of Begonia chloroplasts enhances photosynthetic efficiency
Enhanced light harvesting is an area of interest for optimizing both natural photosynthesis and artificial solar energy capture
1
,
2
. Iridescence has been shown to exist widely and in diverse forms in plants and other photosynthetic organisms and symbioses
3
,
4
, but there has yet to be any direct link demonstrated between iridescence and photosynthesis. Here we show that epidermal chloroplasts, also known as iridoplasts, in shade-dwelling species of
Begonia
5
, notable for their brilliant blue iridescence, have a photonic crystal structure formed from a periodic arrangement of the light-absorbing thylakoid tissue itself. This structure enhances photosynthesis in two ways: by increasing light capture at the predominantly green wavelengths available in shade conditions, and by directly enhancing quantum yield by 5–10% under low-light conditions. These findings together imply that the iridoplast is a highly modified chloroplast structure adapted to make best use of the extremely low-light conditions in the tropical forest understorey in which it is found
5
,
6
. A phylogenetically diverse range of shade-dwelling plant species has been found to produce similarly structured chloroplasts
7
–
9
, suggesting that the ability to produce chloroplasts whose membranes are organized as a multilayer with photonic properties may be widespread. In fact, given the well-established diversity and plasticity of chloroplasts
10
,
11
, our results imply that photonic effects may be important even in plants that do not show any obvious signs of iridescence to the naked eye but where a highly ordered chloroplast structure may present a clear blue reflectance at the microscale. Chloroplasts are generally thought of as purely photochemical; we suggest that one should also think of them as a photonic structure with a complex interplay between control of light propagation, light capture and photochemistry.
Many plants exhibit iridescence but no link has been demonstrated between this phenomenon and photosynthesis. This study shows the epidermal chloroplasts of
Begonia
to have photonic properties that increase both light capture and quantum yield.
Journal Article
Reformists, Revolutionaries, and Kennedy Administration Public Diplomacy in Colombia and Venezuela
While discussing U.S. foreign policy in Latin America on the campaign trail in October 1960, Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy declared that “whatever we do in Cuba itself … we must create a Latin America where freedom can flourish—where long enduring people know … that they are moving toward a better life for themselves and their children—where tyranny, isolated and despised, eventually withers on the vine.”1 Kennedy’s rhetoric illustrated a deep understanding of the issues facing the United States in the Western Hemisphere. No challenge was greater than that of the Cuban Revolution. Historian Thomas Wright notes that the revolution...
Journal Article