Time-based Memory Research Articles

KTSDroid: A Framework for Android Malware Categorization Using the Kernel Task Structure

The penetration of malicious applications in the Android market has enhanced the significance of designing malware mitigation systems for Android. Malware detection systems are being developed by examining applications using static and dynamic analysis techniques. The use of code obfuscation has highlighted the importance of dynamic analysis as many static analysis schemes can be evaded by code obfuscation strategies. In order to record the true working of the application, a volatile memory-based solution for application analysis is presented in this study. Time-based memory dumps are collected after interactions with an application. Process-specific artifacts of the application under analysis are extracted by examining the kernel task structure of memory. The features in the kernel task structure belong to nine broad categories based on their semantics. An important contribution of the study is the analysis of the kernel task structure for determining the set of effective categories and features for Android malware categorization. Three of the most important categories and fourteen valuable features are reported. The proposed system categorizes the applications into five classes: adware, banking Trojans, riskware, SMS Trojans, and benign. The proposed system is able to categorize applications with an average F1-score of 0.984, which is the highest score reported so far for multiclass Android malware categorization with a minimum number of kernel task structure-based features.

Health effects of electronic cigarette (e‑cigarette) use on organ systems and its implications for public health.

BackgroundThere has been growing concern over the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) in recent years. Although advocated as an aid to smoking cessation, there is increasing evidence of harm not just to the respiratory system, but to all other organs in the body. To give a clearer picture on how e‑cigarettes can affect our health, we gathered an overview of the literature on the various health effects of e‑cigarettes and categorized them into how they specifically affect organ systems.E‑cigarette exposure has produced a range of stress and inflammatory reactions in the pulmonary system, including shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, bronchial and pulmonary irritations, and impaired pulmonary function. In the oral and gastrointestinal system, gingival inflammation, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea have been reported. Increased tachycardia and blood pressure were reported reactions in the cardiovascular system. In the neurological system headaches, irritability, anxiety, dependence and insomnia were observed. Other effects included ocular irritation, contact dermatitis, acute renal insufficiency, toxicity and potential carcinogenicity. Nevertheless, studies have found improvements in time-based memory and nicotine withdrawal associated with the cessation of conventional cigarette smoking and switching to e‑cigarette use. Also, toxic and carcinogenic metabolites were reportedly lower in e‑cigarette smokers than in conventional cigarette smokers.ConclusionA growing number of studies are showing the adverse effects caused by e‑cigarettes on all human organ systems. Further research on the chemical components, the diverse flavors, and the long-term effects on active and passive users are needed to clarify the implications of e‑cigarette use on individual and public health.

Tone series and the nature of working memory capacity development.

Recent advances in understanding visual working memory, the limited information held in mind for use in ongoing processing, are extended here to examine auditory working memory development. Research with arrays of visual objects has shown how to distinguish the capacity, in terms of the number of objects retained, from the precision of the object representations. We adapt the technique to sequences of nonmusical tones, in an investigation including children (6-13 years, N = 84) and adults (26-50 years, N = 31). For each series of 1 to 4 tones, the participant responded by using an 80-choice scale to try to reproduce the tone at a queried serial position. Despite the much longer-lasting usefulness of sensory memory for tones compared with visual objects, the observed tone capacity was similar to previous findings for visual capacity. The results also constrain theories of childhood working memory development, indicating increases with age in both the capacity and the precision of the tone representations, similar to the visual studies, rather than age differences in time-based memory decay. The findings, including patterns of correlations between capacity, precision, and some auxiliary tasks and questionnaires, establish capacity and precision as dissociable processes and place important constraints on various hypotheses of working memory development. (PsycINFO Database Record

Interference and memory capacity limitations.

Working memory (WM) is thought to have a fixed and limited capacity. However, the origins of these capacity limitations are debated, and generally attributed to active, attentional processes. Here, we show that the existence of interference among items in memory mathematically guarantees fixed and limited capacity limits under very general conditions, irrespective of any processing assumptions. Assuming that interference (a) increases with the number of interfering items and (b) brings memory performance to chance levels for large numbers of interfering items, capacity limits are a simple function of the relative influence of memorization and interference. In contrast, we show that time-based memory limitations do not lead to fixed memory capacity limitations that are independent of the timing properties of an experiment. We show that interference can mimic both slot-like and continuous resource-like memory limitations, suggesting that these types of memory performance might not be as different as commonly believed. We speculate that slot-like WM limitations might arise from crowding-like phenomena in memory when participants have to retrieve items. Further, based on earlier research on parallel attention and enumeration, we suggest that crowding-like phenomena might be a common reason for the 3 major cognitive capacity limitations. As suggested by Miller (1956) and Cowan (2001), these capacity limitations might arise because of a common reason, even though they likely rely on distinct processes. (PsycINFO Database Record

Time-based prospective memory performance in young children

Time-based prospective memory refers to the ability to remember to execute a delayed intention after a specific time. In this study, for the first time, a time-based prospective memory task was applied in a sample of 42 kindergarten children (age range: 62 to 87 months) while simultaneously playing a game of Memory/Pairs as the continuous ongoing activity. Significant age differences were identified, as prospective task performance was positively correlated with age. Still, even the youngest children were able to perform the time-based memory task at a basic level. In addition, time-based prospective memory performance was associated with processing speed and working memory. These findings indicate that already by kindergarten age, children are able to remember to carry out a delayed intention on their own initiative. Yet, this ability still develops over time. A possible mechanism in time-based prospective memory development might be seen in the development of working memory resources.

Psychosocial stress enhances time-based prospective memory in healthy young men

Forgetting of intentions (such as to take one’s medication) is the most frequent everyday memory failure. No study so far has looked into the possible consequences stress might exert on memory for intentions (i.e., prospective memory). Twenty healthy young male adults were exposed to a psychosocial stress test and a non-stress condition. After a delay of 15 min, a time- and an event-based prospective memory task were administered during the peak of cortisol concentrations. Results show that participants performed significantly better in the time-based memory task after stress in comparison to the non-stress condition. In contrast, there was no stress effect on event-based prospective memory. The results demonstrate that prospective memory might be enhanced when participants are exposed to stress prior to the memory task and that this effect is associated to stress-related glucocorticoid effects.

Visual Perception and the Guidance of Locomotion without Vision to Previously Seen Targets

Two experiments were performed to assess the accuracy and precision with which adults perceive absolute egocentric distances to visible targets and coordinate their actions with them when walking without vision. In experiment 1 subjects stood in a large open field and attempted to judge the midpoint of self-to-target distances of between 4 and 24 m. In experiment 2 both highly practiced and unpracticed subjects stood in the same open field, viewed the same targets, and attempted to walk to them without vision or other environmental feedback under three conditions designed to assess the effects on accuracy of time-based memory decay and of walking at an unusually rapid pace. In experiment 1 the visual judgments were quite accurate and showed no systematic constant error. The small variable errors were linearly related to target distance. In experiment 2 the briskly paced walks were accurate, showing no systematic constant error, and the small, variable errors were a linear function of target distance and averaged about 8% of the target distance. Unlike Thomson's (1983) findings, there was not an abrupt increase in variable error at around 9 m, and no significant time-based effects were observed. The results demonstrate the accuracy of people's visual perception of absolute egocentric distances out to 24 m under open field conditions. The accuracy of people's walking without vision to previously seen targets shows that efferent and proprioceptive information about locomotion is closely calibrated to visually perceived distance. Sensitivity to the correlation of optical flow with efferent/proprioceptive information while walking with vision may provide the basis for this calibration when walking without vision.