Entropy/IP: Uncovering Structure in IPv6 Addresses

In this paper, we introduce Entropy/IP: a system that discovers Internet address structure based on analyses of a subset of IPv6 addresses known to be active, i.e., training data, gleaned by readily available passive and active means. The system is completely automated and employs a combination of information-theoretic and machine learning techniques to probabilistically model IPv6 addresses. We present results showing that our system is effective in exposing structural characteristics of portions of the IPv6 Internet address space populated by active client, service, and router addresses. In addition to visualizing the address structure for exploration, the system uses its models to generate candidate target addresses for scanning. For each of 15 evaluated datasets, we train on 1K addresses and generate 1M candidates for scanning. We achieve some success in 14 datasets, finding up to 40% of the generated addresses to be active. In 11 of these datasets, we find active network identifiers (e.g., /64 prefixes or `subnets') not seen in training. Thus, we provide the first evidence that it is practical to discover subnets and hosts by scanning probabilistically selected areas of the IPv6 address space not known to contain active hosts a priori.Comment: Paper presented at the ACM IMC 2016 in Santa Monica, USA (https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2987445). Live Demo site available at http://www.entropy-ip.com

Diatom response to liming of a temperate, brown water lake

In a 1951 experiment, the two basins of acidic, dark water Peter-Paul Lake, Michigan, U.S.A., were separated by an earthen dam. Peter Lake was limed and Paul Lake was not. Since approximately 1920, reconstructed fossil diatom communities of the two basins were similar immediately before 1951 and different after 1951. Communities of both basins were altered in 1951, indicating concurrent nonliming factors were active. Since 1951 the Peter Lake diatom community has gone through a series of species successions apparently influenced by liming. Most recently, the Peter Lake community had nearly the same community structure as just prior to the manipulation, whereas the Paul Lake community stabilized soon after 1951 and retained its altered structure. The two communities were different before the 1951 experiment, and the use of Paul Lake as a reference was questioned. Postmanipulation diatom inferred pH was significantly higher in Peter Lake only when compared to premanipulation values in the same basin. </jats:p

Induction of senescence in primary glioblastoma cells by serum and TGFβ

AbstractGlioblastoma is the most common type of adult brain tumour and has a median survival after diagnosis of a little more than a year. Glioblastomas have a high frequency of mutations in the TERT promoter and CDKN2A locus that are expected to render them resistant to both replicative and oncogene-induced senescence. However, exposure of PriGO8A primary glioblastoma cells to media with 10% serum induced a senescence-like phenotype characterized by increased senescence-associated β galactosidase activity, PML bodies and p21 and morphological changes typical of senescence. Microarray expression analysis showed that 24 h serum exposure increased the expression of genes associated with the TGFβ pathway. Treatment of PriGO8A cells with TGFβ was sufficient to induce senescence in these cells. The response of PriGO8A cells to serum was dependent on basal expression of the TGFβ activator protein thrombospondin. Primary glioblastoma cells from three additional patients showed a variable ability to undergo senescence in response to serum. However all were able to undergo senescence in response to TGFβ, although for cells from one patient this required concomitant inhibition of Ras pathway signalling. Primary glioblastoma cells therefore retain a functional senescence program that is inducible by acute activation of the TGFβ signalling pathway.</jats:p