Object Code Research Articles

A Natural Language Processing Approach for Instruction Set Architecture Identification

Binary analysis of software is a critical step in cyber forensics applications such as program vulnerability assessment and malware detection. This involves interpreting instructions executed by software and often necessitates converting the software’s binary file data to assembly language. The conversion process requires information about the binary file’s target instruction set architecture (ISA). However, ISA information might not be included in binary files due to compilation errors, partial downloads, or adversarial corruption of file metadata. Machine learning (ML) is a promising methodology that can be used to identify the target ISA using binary data in the object code section of binary files. In this paper we propose a binary code feature extraction model to improve the accuracy and scalability of ML-based ISA identification methods. Our feature extraction model can be used in the absence of domain knowledge about the ISAs. Specifically, we adapt models from natural language processing (NLP) to i) identify successive byte patterns commonly observed in binary codes, ii) estimate the significance of each byte pattern to a binary file, and iii) estimate the relevance of each byte pattern in distinguishing between ISAs. We introduce character-level features of encoded binaries to identify fine-grained bit patterns inherent to each ISA. We evaluate our approach using two different datasets: binaries from 12 ISAs and 23 ISAs. Empirical evaluations show that using our byte-level features in ML-based ISA identification results in ~ 98% accuracy compared to the ~ 91% accuracy of state-of-the-art features based on byte-histograms and byte pattern signatures. We observe that character-level features allow reducing the size of the feature set by up to 16x while maintaining accuracy of ISA identification above 97%.

Secure Consensus via Objective Coding: Robustness Analysis to Channel Tampering

This work mainly addresses continuous-time multiagent consensus networks where an adverse attacker affects the convergence performances of said protocol. In particular, we develop a novel secure-by-design approach in which the presence of a network manager monitors the system and broadcasts encrypted tasks (i.e., hidden edge weight assignments) to the agents involved. Each agent is then expected to decode the received codeword containing data on the task through appropriate decoding functions by leveraging advanced security principles, such as objective coding and information localization. Within this framework, a stability analysis is conducted for showing the robustness to channel tampering in the scenario where part of the codeword corresponding to a single link in the system is corrupted. A tradeoff between objective coding capability and network robustness is also pointed out. To support these novelties, an application example on decentralized estimation is provided. Moreover, an investigation of the robust agreement is as well extended in the discrete-time domain. Further numerical simulations are given to validate the theoretical results in both the time domains.

An Original Approach for Translating Grafcet into C/Unix Code for Validation Purposes

This paper proposes an approach to simulate the function of the control part of a Grafcet model, translating it into C code in a Unix environment. First, the Grafcet/C generation schemes are established. The Grafcet model, described in graphic or text form, is transformed in an internal form and then to C code by a generation algorithm based on the previously found diagrams. The result is a program that simulates the operation of the automation in question and makes it possible to validate the functional specifications of sequential automation. This validation can be used for educational purposes, such as the learning of the Grafcet formalism, or corrective or evolutionary maintenance. Once the configuration, testing, and validation of the program are complete, it is possible to implement the object code on the microcontroller of the control system.

Object coding in peripersonal space depends on object ownership.

Previous studies have shown that objects located in the peripersonal space (PPS) receive enhanced attention, as compared with extrapersonal space (EPS), However, most objects in the environment belong to someone in particular and how object ownership influences object coding in relation to PPS representation is still unclear. In the present study, after having chosen their own mug, participants performed a reachability judgement task of self-owned and other-owned mugs presented at different distances while facing a virtual character. This task was followed, on each trial, by a localisation task in which participants had to indicate where the mug, removed from view, was previously located. The two tasks were separated by a 900-ms visual mask during which the virtual character was unnoticeably shifted by 3° to evaluate the spatial frame-of-reference used. The results showed that self-owned mugs were processed faster than other-owned mugs, but only when located in the PPS. Furthermore, reachability judgements were biased for self-owned mugs, leading to an extension of the PPS representation, especially for participants with a high score on the fantasy scale of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Finally, the virtual character shift altered the localisation performance but only for the distant mugs, suggesting a progressive shift from egocentric to allocentric frame-of-reference when moving from the PPS to EPS, irrespective of object ownership. Overall, our data reveal that the representations of ownership and PPS interact to facilitate the processing of manipulable objects, to an extent that depends on individual sensitivity to the social presence of others.

Medial entorhinal cortex commissural input regulates the activity of spatially and object-tuned cells contributing to episodic memory

Extensive interhemispheric projections connect many homotopic brain regions, including the hippocampal formation, but little is known as to how information transfer affects the functions supported by the target area. Here, we studied whether the commissural projections connecting the medial entorhinal cortices contribute to spatial coding, object coding, and memory. We demonstrate that input from the contralateral medial entorhinal cortex targets all major cell types in the superficial medial entorhinal cortex, modulating their firing rate. Notably, a fraction of responsive cells displayed object tuning and exhibited a reduction in their firing rate upon the inhibition of commissural input. In line with this finding are behavioral results that revealed the contribution of commissural input to episodic-like memory retrieval.

Selective neural coding of object, feature, and geometry spatial cues in humans.

Orienting in space requires the processing of visual spatial cues. The dominant hypothesis about the brain structures mediating the coding of spatial cues stipulates the existence of a hippocampal-dependent system for the representation of geometry and a striatal-dependent system for the representation of landmarks. However, this dual-system hypothesis is based on paradigms that presented spatial cues conveying either conflicting or ambiguous spatial information and that used the term landmark to refer to both discrete three-dimensional objects and wall features. Here, we test the hypothesis of complex activation patterns in the hippocampus and the striatum during visual coding. We also postulate that object-based and feature-based navigation are not equivalent instances of landmark-based navigation. We examined how the neural networks associated with geometry-, object-, and feature-based spatial navigation compared with a control condition in a two-choice behavioral paradigm using fMRI. We showed that the hippocampus was involved in all three types of cue-based navigation, whereas the striatum was more strongly recruited in the presence of geometric cues than object or feature cues. We also found that unique, specific neural signatures were associated with each spatial cue. Object-based navigation elicited a widespread pattern of activity in temporal and occipital regions relative to feature-based navigation. These findings extend the current view of a dual, juxtaposed hippocampal-striatal system for visual spatial coding in humans. They also provide novel insights into the neural networks mediating object versus feature spatial coding, suggesting a need to distinguish these two types of landmarks in the context of human navigation.

Development of unified classifier of special terrain maps using geoinformation technologies

A method for creating a unified classifier of special terrain maps using geoinformation technologies is presented. The existing classifiers of maps of the operational and tactical situation, special and topographic terrain maps used in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus are analysed. Using the software products of the design bureau «Panorama», a methodology of developing new classifiers for geoinformation and traditional approaches is described. The urgency of creating the first unified digital classifier of special terrain maps for the geoinformation approach, which contains all available special terrain maps and allow you to use them in conjunction with maps of the operational-tactical situation and electronic topographic terrain maps crosslinking, is substantiated. The relevance of the creation of digital classifiers of special terrain maps by scale for the traditional approach involving the development of maps for analog printing is substantiated. In the created digital classifiers, for the first time, a system of classification and coding of terrain objects was used for them, which is based on the hierarchical method of classification of information of the first subset and the faceted method of classification of information of the second subset. The developed classifiers have a unified colour palette and cartographic fonts. Examples of the created symbols of the classifiers of special terrain maps are given. It is concluded that it is necessary to use the developed unified classifier of special terrain maps in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus.

Apícula: Static detection of API calls in generic streams of bytes

API functions often require the crafting of specific inputs and may return some output that is usually processed by the code that immediately follows their invocation. In this work, we claim that - for some APIs - those two stages are both frequently similar across different binaries and sufficiently unique to be fingerprinted.We build upon this intuition and present Apícula, a static analysis tool for identifying API calls in generic streams of bytes, such as memory dumps, network traffic, or object code files. In a nutshell, Apícula leverages the control flow graph of a binary to generate a set of fingerprints for all basic blocks that end with a call instruction. Those sets are then compared against a database of pre-computed fingerprints to establish whether any known API is being invoked. Due to its applicability to unstructured byte streams, Apícula can complement the reverse engineering process when this is carried out over memory dumps collected after a cyber-incident. Moreover, it can enable behavioral analysis in a fully static way, by identifying sequences of API calls even in non executable binaries.We provide a series of experiments that are instrumental (1) in demonstrating that the same fingerprints computed for specific APIs can be observed across different binaries and (2) in identifying a subset of the Windows APIs whose usage can be detected by Apícula with sufficient precision and sensitivity, focusing in particular on malicious binaries. Furthermore, we illustrate two techniques that can be used to validate different fingerprint databases in case someone wants to detect APIs belonging to libraries different from those that we consider in this work.In particular, we prove that fingerprints associated with different APIs are remarkably dissimilar and therefore can be employed for distinguishing between APIs. More specifically, we find that fingerprint sets associated with different APIs present on average a Jaccard index value of 0.000125; in comparison, the average similarity between fingerprint sets associated with the same API is 0.29 (Jaccard index) for binaries compiled with the same optimization level and 0.07 (Jaccard index) for binaries compiled with different optimization levels. Moreover, we show that we can build databases of fingerprints that are sufficiently comprehensive to identify specific APIs in unseen binaries. More precisely, we identify 228 different APIs among the Windows APIs (including the C run-time libraries) whose usage can be detected by Apículawith sensitivity greater than 80% and a false discovery rate lower than 5%.

Multi-stage dynamic optimization method for long-term planning of the concentrate ingredient in copper industry

As grade differences between concentrates increase, long-term concentrate ingredient planning (LCIP) becomes a crucial issue in ensuring continuous production and maximizing the concentrate utilization. Comparing with the existing studies, the number of LCIP ingredient stages is not deterministic and the decision variables and constraints are also will also change in accordance with the preceding ingredient list. Given these features of LCIP, this paper presents the concept of unpredictable multistage dynamic optimization (UMDO) and establishes an LCIP model that comprehensively considers production constraints, ingredient list duration, and concentrates inventories. A multistage stochastic object coding (MSOC) that establishes a mapping relationship between the coding sequence and the feasible solution space at each scheduling stage is further proposed. A multi-agent differential evolution (DE) algorithm based on the application of sequential simulation is proposed to optimize the high-dimensional population of the MSOC, enabling a globally optimal scheme in which the feasibility of the ingredient plan at each stage is ensured. Finally, the actual inventory concentration data collected from a copper industry in China are used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed planning methodology.

Side‐by‐side management of mutual funds and actively managed exchange traded funds

AbstractWe document the recent rise in the side‐by‐side (SBS) management of mutual funds and actively managed ETFs (AMETFs). Although these funds are run in a SBS manner, only 21% share an investment objective code. This relationship is started by families with more ETF experience and is not used to reward “star” managers. On average, mutual funds with SBS AMETFs perform similarly to comparable funds after SBS formation; however, their flows fall when pairs share the same investment objective. We find evidence of both a substitution effect and conflicts of interest between SBS funds, depending on the contracting and organizational structures.

Neural Coding of Visual Objects Rapidly Reconfigures to Reflect Subtrial Shifts in Attentional Focus.

Every day, we respond to the dynamic world around us by choosing actions to meet our goals. Flexible neural populations are thought to support this process by adapting to prioritize task-relevant information, driving coding in specialized brain regions toward stimuli and actions that are currently most important. Accordingly, human fMRI shows that activity patterns in frontoparietal cortex contain more information about visual features when they are task-relevant. However, if this preferential coding drives momentary focus, for example, to solve each part of a task in turn, it must reconfigure more quickly than we can observe with fMRI. Here, we used multivariate pattern analysis of magnetoencephalography data to test for rapid reconfiguration of stimulus information when a new feature becomes relevant within a trial. Participants saw two displays on each trial. They attended to the shape of a first target then the color of a second, or vice versa, and reported the attended features at a choice display. We found evidence of preferential coding for the relevant features in both trial phases, even as participants shifted attention mid-trial, commensurate with fast subtrial reconfiguration. However, we only found this pattern of results when the stimulus displays contained multiple objects and not in a simpler task with the same structure. The data suggest that adaptive coding in humans can operate on a fast, subtrial timescale, suitable for supporting periods of momentary focus when complex tasks are broken down into simpler ones, but may not always do so.

Distortion Reduction via CAE and DenseNet Mixture Network for Low Bitrate Spatial Audio Object Coding

Object-based audio content is becoming popular to represent immersive spatial sound because audio object positions can be totally independent of the locations of available loudspeakers. The encoder of the spatial audio object coding (SAOC) method transmits a mono downmix signal with spatial parameters of all audio objects, and the decoder reconstructs the original audio objects. However, the decoded audio object by SAOC has severe aliasing distortion, especially at low bitrates. This study focuses on distortion reduction of decoded audio objects at low bitrates. We present a new audio coding method via nonuniform fine sub-bands division strategy with convolutional autoencoder and a dense convolutional network mixture model, aiming to effectively compress spatial parameters of all audio objects. Evaluations indicate that the proposed approach reduces the aliasing distortion by 2.02%. It has achieved the best performances in both objective and subjective results with a low bitrate 1 kb/s per object.

Service Rate Region: A New Aspect of Coded Distributed System Design

Erasure coding has been recognized as a powerful method to mitigate delays due to slow or straggling nodes in distributed systems. This work shows that erasure coding of data objects can flexibly handle skews in the request rates. Coding can help boost the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">service rate region</i> , that is, increase the overall volume of data access requests that the system can handle. This paper aims to postulate the service rate region as an important consideration in the design of erasure-coded distributed systems. We highlight several open problems that can be grouped into two broad threads: 1) characterizing the service rate region of a given code and finding the optimal request allocation, and 2) designing the underlying erasure code for a given service rate region. As contributions along the first thread, we find the rate regions of maximum-distance-separable, locally repairable, and simplex codes. We show the effectiveness of hybrid codes that combine replication and erasure coding in terms of code design. We also discover fundamental connections between multi-set batch codes and the problem of maximizing the service rate region.

Mihi est from Brythonic to Breton II

Abstract Middle Breton (MB) presents an anomaly of pronominal argument coding in imperative and mihi est HAVE constructions: objects can be accusative proclitics only in 1st/2nd person, while unique enclitics appear in 3rd person. Part II traces the history of object coding: Independent &gt; enclitic coding originates in unavailability of accusative object mesoclitics in V1 imperatives by Vendryes’ Restriction in Brythonic, and nonagreement with nominative objects of mihi est in Breton-Cornish. Restriction of enclitics to 3rd person originates with mihi est in typically nonhuman nominative object possessa in Brythonic or Breton-Cornish. It spreads to imperatives through shared enclitic coding in MB, and is circumvented by the MB innovation of accusative proclitics for mesoclitics that allows 1st/2nd person even in V1, as well as the participle in the new HAVE-perfect later in MB. “Innovative” varieties of Breton transition to regular accusative objects with or without losing dative subjects of mihi est. The developments are constrained to familiar patterns of nominative/anomalous subject + accusative/nominative object case combinations, giving rise to the imperative + HAVE construction grouping of Finnish within the history of Breton.

Lexical Analysis Implementation by Using Deterministic Finite Automata (DFA)

A compiler is a computer program (or set of programs) that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language known as the target language, often having a binary form identified as object code. The compiler has some phases and the main concern of this report is about the implementation of Lexical Analysis using the Deterministic Finite Automata (DFA) that is a finite state machine that accepts or rejects finite strings of symbols and only produces a unique computation of the automaton for each input string.&#x0D; Through building a Finite Automata using a model known as JFLAP and utilizing it to execute some patterns, which were integer number, real number, operators, and some keywords. This model approved that DFA is accurate to produce a unique computation for each input string. In addition, using JFLAP approved that the time-consuming.

A IMPORTÂNCIA DA APLICAÇÃO DO CÓDIGO DE GERENCIAMENTO DE SEGURANÇA A BORDO DE NAVIOS MERCANTES

This article aims to point out the reasons that led to the creation of the ISM code, the requirements for its application and the code's objectives, together with all the documentation necessary for its effectiveness. Also the implementation process for safety management is explained, as well as the certificates generated and the description of the functions of each position involved in its administration. Audits and their relevance in the safety scenario of shipping companies and their vessels are mentioned. Finally, it is shown that the main goal of code apllication is to develop a change in the manner how team work drives the daily operation, reducing risks on board in order to decrease the frequency of accidents.

Object representations in the human brain reflect the co-occurrence statistics of vision and language

A central regularity of visual perception is the co-occurrence of objects in the natural environment. Here we use machine learning and fMRI to test the hypothesis that object co-occurrence statistics are encoded in the human visual system and elicited by the perception of individual objects. We identified low-dimensional representations that capture the latent statistical structure of object co-occurrence in real-world scenes, and we mapped these statistical representations onto voxel-wise fMRI responses during object viewing. We found that cortical responses to single objects were predicted by the statistical ensembles in which they typically occur, and that this link between objects and their visual contexts was made most strongly in parahippocampal cortex, overlapping with the anterior portion of scene-selective parahippocampal place area. In contrast, a language-based statistical model of the co-occurrence of object names in written text predicted responses in neighboring regions of object-selective visual cortex. Together, these findings show that the sensory coding of objects in the human brain reflects the latent statistics of object context in visual and linguistic experience.

IMPLEMENTATION OF NOVEL APPROACHES IN BIDIRECTIONAL MODEL TRANSFORMATION: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

In the past few years, software development has seen rapid growth, and developers have adopted different methods to provide efficient procedures in software development, thus reducing the overall bug counts and time delay. Bidirectional model transformation is one such technique that encompasses the development of the object code in both directions enabling an abstract view of the software to the developer; over the year’s researchers, have been able to produce many approaches in bidirectional model transformations (bx), but the cost and best fir for effective model transformation, in particular, a quantities survey will be designed which will discuss the best possible apron in the bx. The methodology for this survey shall be made through SLR to identify around 20 different approaches proposed for bidirectional model transformation; these studies range from the year 2010 till date and are thus, rendered latest in the respective fields of our survey. The gathered results have been calculated on the specific set of parameters that are cost and time of usage time are the main aspects of these approaches, and that is the predicament that has made us produce a systematic literature review (SLR) on this very topic. Thus, this paper investigates different approaches based on their implementation cost and time delay and discusses their limitations, and the approach is implemented. Those approaches have been selected, which culminate in both of these respective parameters. The main objective of this SLR is to provide an insight into the different approaches and establish a well-balanced approach that can be used in bidirectional model transformation in software development.

Copyright protection for computer programs

Zerov K. Copyright protection for computer programs. The article discusses the main approaches to the legal protection of software, particularly computer programs, in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine and foreign practices. It is concluded that copyright allows to adequately protect the forms of expression of a computer program: object and source codes of the program. It is noted that a computer program shall be protected if it is original in the sense that it is the author's own intellectual creation, and no other criteria shall be applied to determine its eligibility for protection in Ukraine. Like any other copyright object, a computer program has «legally indifferent» and «legally significant» elements of the form of expression. The legally indifferent elements of a computer program should include a) elements dictated by the efficiency of a computer program; (b) elements that are dictated by external factors; and (c) elements that the original programmer had taken from the public domain. The main approaches to the use (copying) of the source or object code of computer programs as part of other computer programs are given: «literal copying» and «non-literal copying.» It is concluded that «non-literal copying» of a computer program cannot violate the copyright law in Ukraine since the ideas and principles on which any element of a computer program is based are not protected by copyright. It is assumed that the modification of a computer program by eliminating technical means of protection and further use of computer program gives grounds to qualify such actions as two separate types of copyright infringement: infringement of the copyright holder's property rights and deliberately circumventing technical means of copyright protection. It is noted that in some scenarios, theuse of works under the limitation of copyright without circumvention of technical means may be impossible. The proposal to legislatively provide for the possibility of a person who has the right to freely use work to contact the copyright holder with a request to remove technical means solely for such use, as well as cases of permissible circumvention of technical means, has been made.Keywords: computer program, copyright, literal copying, non-literal copying

Problems of legal regulation of copyright to official works in the IT sphere under the legislation of Ukraine

The article examines the problems of legal regulation of copyright in official works in the IT field. According to the results of the study, it is established that in the legislation of Ukraine, computer program — a set of instructions in the form of words, numbers, codes, diagrams, symbols or in any other form, expressed in a form readable by a computer, which actuate it to achieve a certain goal or result (this the concept covers both the operating system and the application program, expressed in source or object code). In this case, it is proposed to supplement the legislative definition with an indication that a computer program is an algorithm. It has been found that modern software, which often makes extensive use of graphic images, is more like a work of art than a literary one. Unlike literary works, the text of a computer program (source or object code) have no independent value without the possibility of their application in a computer. It has been established that the conflict of legal norms regarding copyrights to official works, including computer programs, also remains unresolved. It is illustrated that despite the existing presumption of authorship in the legislation, courts take into account only documentary evidence of such authorship. It is established that improper registration of relations between the employee and the employer, as well as the distribution of property rights to the object of copyright created by the employee is one of the most important mistakes in this area. It is proposed to legislate the content of the agreement on the creation of a computer program as an official work. In particular, the content of this type of contract is proposed to include conditions for the transfer of property rights, all methods and limits of use computer program as a service work, an indication of that from which moment the property rights are transferred to the employer. It is emphasized that the fact of transfer of property rights to a computer program as an official work should be confirmed by a separate act. Key words: legal regulation, copyright, official work, IT sphere, computer program.