A cache-aided multiprocessor rollback recovery scheme

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, Kun-Lung; Fuchs, W. Kent

1989-01-01

This paper demonstrates how previous uniprocessor cache-aided recovery schemes can be applied to multiprocessor architectures, for recovering from transient processor failures, utilizing private caches and a global shared memory. As with cache-aided uniprocessor recovery, the multiprocessor cache-aided recovery scheme of this paper can be easily integrated into standard bus-based snoopy cache coherence protocols. A consistent shared memory state is maintained without the necessity of global check-pointing.

A Note on Threshold Schemes with Disenrollment

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-01-01

such a way that t or more participants can construct the secret by pooling their shares, but the secret remains undetermined to (t − 1) or fewer par...the threshold size t by 1, because (t− 1) shares plus the disclosed share can decrypt the secret . To keep the same level of secrecy in terms of...t. (2) In a (t, n) threshold scheme, the secret K is recoverable from t or more shares based on condition (1), but the secret remains uncertain even

Unconditional security of entanglement-based continuous-variable quantum secret sharing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kogias, Ioannis; Xiang, Yu; He, Qiongyi; Adesso, Gerardo

2017-01-01

The need for secrecy and security is essential in communication. Secret sharing is a conventional protocol to distribute a secret message to a group of parties, who cannot access it individually but need to cooperate in order to decode it. While several variants of this protocol have been investigated, including realizations using quantum systems, the security of quantum secret sharing schemes still remains unproven almost two decades after their original conception. Here we establish an unconditional security proof for entanglement-based continuous-variable quantum secret sharing schemes, in the limit of asymptotic keys and for an arbitrary number of players. We tackle the problem by resorting to the recently developed one-sided device-independent approach to quantum key distribution. We demonstrate theoretically the feasibility of our scheme, which can be implemented by Gaussian states and homodyne measurements, with no need for ideal single-photon sources or quantum memories. Our results contribute to validating quantum secret sharing as a viable primitive for quantum technologies.

Quantum-Secret-Sharing Scheme Based on Local Distinguishability of Orthogonal Seven-Qudit Entangled States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Cheng-Ji; Li, Zhi-Hui; Bai, Chen-Ming; Si, Meng-Meng

2018-02-01

The concept of judgment space was proposed by Wang et al. (Phys. Rev. A 95, 022320, 2017), which was used to study some important properties of quantum entangled states based on local distinguishability. In this study, we construct 15 kinds of seven-qudit quantum entangled states in the sense of permutation, calculate their judgment space and propose a distinguishability rule to make the judgment space more clearly. Based on this rule, we study the local distinguishability of the 15 kinds of seven-qudit quantum entangled states and then propose a ( k, n) threshold quantum secret sharing scheme. Finally, we analyze the security of the scheme.

Experimental evaluation of multiprocessor cache-based error recovery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Janssens, Bob; Fuchs, W. K.

1991-01-01

Several variations of cache-based checkpointing for rollback error recovery in shared-memory multiprocessors have been recently developed. By modifying the cache replacement policy, these techniques use the inherent redundancy in the memory hierarchy to periodically checkpoint the computation state. Three schemes, different in the manner in which they avoid rollback propagation, are evaluated. By simulation with address traces from parallel applications running on an Encore Multimax shared-memory multiprocessor, the performance effect of integrating the recovery schemes in the cache coherence protocol are evaluated. The results indicate that the cache-based schemes can provide checkpointing capability with low performance overhead but uncontrollable high variability in the checkpoint interval.

Multiparty Quantum Secret Sharing of Key Using Practical Faint Laser Pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zhan-Jun; Man, Zhong-Xiao

2005-07-01

Based on a bidirectional quantum key distribution protocol [Phys. Rev. A 70 (2004) 012311], we propose a (m-1,m-1)-threshold scheme of m (m >= 3)-party quantum secret sharing of key by using practical faint laser pulses. In our scheme, if all the m-1 sharers collaborate, they can obtain the joint secret key from the message sender. Our scheme is more feasible according to the present-day technology.

Two-out-of-two color matching based visual cryptography schemes.

PubMed

Machizaud, Jacques; Fournel, Thierry

2012-09-24

Visual cryptography which consists in sharing a secret message between transparencies has been extended to color prints. In this paper, we propose a new visual cryptography scheme based on color matching. The stacked printed media reveal a uniformly colored message decoded by the human visual system. In contrast with the previous color visual cryptography schemes, the proposed one enables to share images without pixel expansion and to detect a forgery as the color of the message is kept secret. In order to correctly print the colors on the media and to increase the security of the scheme, we use spectral models developed for color reproduction describing printed colors from an optical point of view.

Matroids and quantum-secret-sharing schemes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sarvepalli, Pradeep; Raussendorf, Robert

A secret-sharing scheme is a cryptographic protocol to distribute a secret state in an encoded form among a group of players such that only authorized subsets of the players can reconstruct the secret. Classically, efficient secret-sharing schemes have been shown to be induced by matroids. Furthermore, access structures of such schemes can be characterized by an excluded minor relation. No such relations are known for quantum secret-sharing schemes. In this paper we take the first steps toward a matroidal characterization of quantum-secret-sharing schemes. In addition to providing a new perspective on quantum-secret-sharing schemes, this characterization has important benefits. While previousmore » work has shown how to construct quantum-secret-sharing schemes for general access structures, these schemes are not claimed to be efficient. In this context the present results prove to be useful; they enable us to construct efficient quantum-secret-sharing schemes for many general access structures. More precisely, we show that an identically self-dual matroid that is representable over a finite field induces a pure-state quantum-secret-sharing scheme with information rate 1.« less

Robust multiparty quantum secret key sharing over two collective-noise channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zhan-jun

2006-02-01

Based on a polarization-based quantum key distribution protocol over a collective-noise channel [Phys. Rev. Lett. 92 (2004) 017901], a robust (n,n)-threshold scheme of multiparty quantum secret sharing of key over two collective-noise channels (i.e., the collective dephasing channel and the collective rotating channel) is proposed. In this scheme the sharer entirety can establish a joint key with the message sender only if all the sharers collaborate together. Since Bell singlets are enough for use and only single-photon polarization needs to be identified, this scheme is feasible according to the present-day technique.

A Strategic Bargaining Game for a Spectrum Sharing Scheme in Cognitive Radio-Based Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Mao, Yuxing; Cheng, Tao; Zhao, Huiyuan; Shen, Na

2017-11-27

In Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), unlicensed users, that is, sensor nodes, have excessively exploited the unlicensed radio spectrum. Through Cognitive Radio (CR), licensed radio spectra, which are owned by licensed users, can be partly or entirely shared with unlicensed users. This paper proposes a strategic bargaining spectrum-sharing scheme, considering a CR-based heterogeneous WSN (HWSN). The sensors of HWSNs are discrepant and exist in different wireless environments, which leads to various signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) for the same or different licensed users. Unlicensed users bargain with licensed users regarding the spectrum price. In each round of bargaining, licensed users are allowed to adaptively adjust their spectrum price to the best for maximizing their profits. . Then, each unlicensed user makes their best response and informs licensed users of "bargaining" and "warning". Through finite rounds of bargaining, this scheme can obtain a Nash bargaining solution (NBS), which makes all licensed and unlicensed users reach an agreement. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme can quickly find a NBS and all players in the game prefer to be honest. The proposed scheme outperforms existing schemes, within a certain range, in terms of fairness and trade success probability.

A no-key-exchange secure image sharing scheme based on Shamir's three-pass cryptography protocol and the multiple-parameter fractional Fourier transform.

PubMed

Lang, Jun

2012-01-30

In this paper, we propose a novel secure image sharing scheme based on Shamir's three-pass protocol and the multiple-parameter fractional Fourier transform (MPFRFT), which can safely exchange information with no advance distribution of either secret keys or public keys between users. The image is encrypted directly by the MPFRFT spectrum without the use of phase keys, and information can be shared by transmitting the encrypted image (or message) three times between users. Numerical simulation results are given to verify the performance of the proposed algorithm.

Quantum secret sharing for a general quantum access structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Chen-Ming; Li, Zhi-Hui; Si, Meng-Meng; Li, Yong-Ming

2017-10-01

Quantum secret sharing is a procedure for sharing a secret among a number of participants such that only certain subsets of participants can collaboratively reconstruct it, which are called authorized sets. The quantum access structure of a secret sharing is a family of all authorized sets. Firstly, in this paper, we propose the concept of decomposition of quantum access structure to design a quantum secret sharing scheme. Secondly, based on a maximal quantum access structure (MQAS) [D. Gottesman, Phys. Rev. A 61, 042311 (2000)], we propose an algorithm to improve a MQAS and obtain an improved maximal quantum access structure (IMQAS). Then, we present a sufficient and necessary condition about IMQAS, which shows the relationship between the minimal authorized sets and the players. In accordance with properties, we construct an efficient quantum secret sharing scheme with a decomposition and IMQAS. A major advantage of these techniques is that it allows us to construct a method to realize a general quantum access structure. Finally, we present two kinds of quantum secret sharing schemes via the thought of concatenation or a decomposition of quantum access structure. As a consequence, we find that the application of these techniques allows us to save more quantum shares and reduces more cost than the existing scheme.

Developments of new force reflecting control schemes and an application to a teleoperation training simulator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Won S.

1992-01-01

Two schemes of force reflecting control, position-error based force reflection and low-pass-filtered force reflection, both combined with shared compliance control, were developed for dissimilar master-slave arms. These schemes enabled high force reflection gains, which were not possible with a conventional scheme when the slave arm was much stiffer than the master arm. The experimental results with a peg-in-hole task indicated that the newly force reflecting control schemes combined with compliance control resulted in best task performances. As a related application, a simulated force reflection/shared compliance control teleoperation trainer was developed that provided the operator with the feel of kinesthetic force virtual reality.

EPPS: Efficient and Privacy-Preserving Personal Health Information Sharing in Mobile Healthcare Social Networks

PubMed Central

Jiang, Shunrong; Zhu, Xiaoyan; Wang, Liangmin

2015-01-01

Mobile healthcare social networks (MHSNs) have emerged as a promising next-generation healthcare system, which will significantly improve the quality of life. However, there are many security and privacy concerns before personal health information (PHI) is shared with other parities. To ensure patients’ full control over their PHI, we propose a fine-grained and scalable data access control scheme based on attribute-based encryption (ABE). Besides, policies themselves for PHI sharing may be sensitive and may reveal information about underlying PHI or about data owners or recipients. In our scheme, we let each attribute contain an attribute name and its value and adopt the Bloom filter to efficiently check attributes before decryption. Thus, the data privacy and policy privacy can be preserved in our proposed scheme. Moreover, considering the fact that the computational cost grows with the complexity of the access policy and the limitation of the resource and energy in a smart phone, we outsource ABE decryption to the cloud while preventing the cloud from learning anything about the content and access policy. The security and performance analysis is carried out to demonstrate that our proposed scheme can achieve fine-grained access policies for PHI sharing in MHSNs. PMID:26404300

EPPS: Efficient and Privacy-Preserving Personal Health Information Sharing in Mobile Healthcare Social Networks.

PubMed

Jiang, Shunrong; Zhu, Xiaoyan; Wang, Liangmin

2015-09-03

Mobile healthcare social networks (MHSNs) have emerged as a promising next-generation healthcare system, which will significantly improve the quality of life. However, there are many security and privacy concerns before personal health information (PHI) is shared with other parities. To ensure patients' full control over their PHI, we propose a fine-grained and scalable data access control scheme based on attribute-based encryption (ABE). Besides, policies themselves for PHI sharing may be sensitive and may reveal information about underlying PHI or about data owners or recipients. In our scheme, we let each attribute contain an attribute name and its value and adopt the Bloom filter to efficiently check attributes before decryption. Thus, the data privacy and policy privacy can be preserved in our proposed scheme. Moreover, considering the fact that the computational cost grows with the complexity of the access policy and the limitation of the resource and energy in a smart phone, we outsource ABE decryption to the cloud while preventing the cloud from learning anything about the content and access policy. The security and performance analysis is carried out to demonstrate that our proposed scheme can achieve fine-grained access policies for PHI sharing in MHSNs.

Cache-based error recovery for shared memory multiprocessor systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, Kun-Lung; Fuchs, W. Kent; Patel, Janak H.

1989-01-01

A multiprocessor cache-based checkpointing and recovery scheme for of recovering from transient processor errors in a shared-memory multiprocessor with private caches is presented. New implementation techniques that use checkpoint identifiers and recovery stacks to reduce performance degradation in processor utilization during normal execution are examined. This cache-based checkpointing technique prevents rollback propagation, provides for rapid recovery, and can be integrated into standard cache coherence protocols. An analytical model is used to estimate the relative performance of the scheme during normal execution. Extensions that take error latency into account are presented.

Agent-based power sharing scheme for active hybrid power sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Zhenhua

The active hybridization technique provides an effective approach to combining the best properties of a heterogeneous set of power sources to achieve higher energy density, power density and fuel efficiency. Active hybrid power sources can be used to power hybrid electric vehicles with selected combinations of internal combustion engines, fuel cells, batteries, and/or supercapacitors. They can be deployed in all-electric ships to build a distributed electric power system. They can also be used in a bulk power system to construct an autonomous distributed energy system. An important aspect in designing an active hybrid power source is to find a suitable control strategy that can manage the active power sharing and take advantage of the inherent scalability and robustness benefits of the hybrid system. This paper presents an agent-based power sharing scheme for active hybrid power sources. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed agent-based power sharing scheme, simulation studies are performed for a hybrid power source that can be used in a solar car as the main propulsion power module. Simulation results clearly indicate that the agent-based control framework is effective to coordinate the various energy sources and manage the power/voltage profiles.

Quantum Optimal Multiple Assignment Scheme for Realizing General Access Structure of Secret Sharing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsumoto, Ryutaroh

The multiple assignment scheme is to assign one or more shares to single participant so that any kind of access structure can be realized by classical secret sharing schemes. We propose its quantum version including ramp secret sharing schemes. Then we propose an integer optimization approach to minimize the average share size.

A novel lost packets recovery scheme based on visual secret sharing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Kun; Shan, Hong; Li, Zhi; Niu, Zhao

2017-08-01

In this paper, a novel lost packets recovery scheme which encrypts the effective parts of an original packet into two shadow packets based on (2, 2)-threshold XOR-based visual Secret Sharing (VSS) is proposed. The two shadow packets used as watermarks would be embedded into two normal data packets with digital watermarking embedding technology and then sent from one sensor node to another. Each shadow packet would reveal no information of the original packet, which can improve the security of original packet delivery greatly. The two shadow packets which can be extracted from the received two normal data packets delivered from a sensor node can recover the original packet lossless based on XOR-based VSS. The Performance analysis present that the proposed scheme provides essential services as long as possible in the presence of selective forwarding attack. The proposed scheme would not increase the amount of additional traffic, namely, lower energy consumption, which is suitable for Wireless Sensor Network (WSN).

Quantum Stabilizer Codes Can Realize Access Structures Impossible by Classical Secret Sharing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsumoto, Ryutaroh

We show a simple example of a secret sharing scheme encoding classical secret to quantum shares that can realize an access structure impossible by classical information processing with limitation on the size of each share. The example is based on quantum stabilizer codes.

A Secure and Efficient Scalable Secret Image Sharing Scheme with Flexible Shadow Sizes.

PubMed

Xie, Dong; Li, Lixiang; Peng, Haipeng; Yang, Yixian

2017-01-01

In a general (k, n) scalable secret image sharing (SSIS) scheme, the secret image is shared by n participants and any k or more than k participants have the ability to reconstruct it. The scalability means that the amount of information in the reconstructed image scales in proportion to the number of the participants. In most existing SSIS schemes, the size of each image shadow is relatively large and the dealer does not has a flexible control strategy to adjust it to meet the demand of differen applications. Besides, almost all existing SSIS schemes are not applicable under noise circumstances. To address these deficiencies, in this paper we present a novel SSIS scheme based on a brand-new technique, called compressed sensing, which has been widely used in many fields such as image processing, wireless communication and medical imaging. Our scheme has the property of flexibility, which means that the dealer can achieve a compromise between the size of each shadow and the quality of the reconstructed image. In addition, our scheme has many other advantages, including smooth scalability, noise-resilient capability, and high security. The experimental results and the comparison with similar works demonstrate the feasibility and superiority of our scheme.

[Risk sharing methods in middle income countries].

PubMed

Inotai, András; Kaló, Zoltán

2012-01-01

The pricing strategy of innovative medicines is based on the therapeutic value in the largest pharmaceutical markets. The cost-effectiveness of new medicines with value based ex-factory price is justifiable. Due to the international price referencing and parallel trade the ex-factory price corridor of new medicines has been narrowed in recent years. Middle income countries have less negotiation power to change the narrow drug pricing corridor, although their fair intention is to buy pharmaceuticals at lower price from their scarce public resources compared to higher income countries. Therefore the reimbursement of new medicines at prices of Western-European countries may not be justifiable in Central-Eastern European countries. Confidential pricing agreements (i.e. confidential price discounts, claw-back or rebate) in lower income countries of the European Union can alleviate this problem, as prices of new medicines can be adjusted to local purchasing power without influencing the published ex-factory price and so the accessibility of patients to these drugs in other countries. In order to control the drug budget payers tend to apply financial risk sharing agreements for new medicines in more and more countries to shift the consequences of potential overspending to pharmaceutical manufacturers. The major paradox of financial risk-sharing schemes is that increased mortality, poor persistence of patients, reduced access to healthcare providers, and no treatment reduce pharmaceutical spending. Consequently, payers have started to apply outcome based risk sharing agreements for new medicines recently to improve the quality of health care provision. Our paper aims to review and assess the published financial and outcome based risk sharing methods. Introduction of outcome based risk-sharing schemes can be a major advancement in the drug reimbursement strategy of payers in middle income countries. These schemes can help to reduce the medical uncertainty in coverage decisions for valuable innovative healthcare technologies. However risk-sharing schemes can also reduce the transparency of pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement, as the payback, and consequently the actual price per patient can be calculated only retrospectively. Therefore risk-sharing agreements can be interpreted as special forms of confidential pricing agreements to facilitate the implementation of differential pricing in middle income countries.

An Expressive, Lightweight and Secure Construction of Key Policy Attribute-Based Cloud Data Sharing Access Control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Guofen; Hong, Hanshu; Xia, Yunhao; Sun, Zhixin

2017-10-01

Attribute-based encryption (ABE) is an interesting cryptographic technique for flexible cloud data sharing access control. However, some open challenges hinder its practical application. In previous schemes, all attributes are considered as in the same status while they are not in most of practical scenarios. Meanwhile, the size of access policy increases dramatically with the raise of its expressiveness complexity. In addition, current research hardly notices that mobile front-end devices, such as smartphones, are poor in computational performance while too much bilinear pairing computation is needed for ABE. In this paper, we propose a key-policy weighted attribute-based encryption without bilinear pairing computation (KP-WABE-WB) for secure cloud data sharing access control. A simple weighted mechanism is presented to describe different importance of each attribute. We introduce a novel construction of ABE without executing any bilinear pairing computation. Compared to previous schemes, our scheme has a better performance in expressiveness of access policy and computational efficiency.

Optical threshold secret sharing scheme based on basic vector operations and coherence superposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Xiaopeng; Wen, Wei; Mi, Xianwu; Long, Xuewen

2015-04-01

We propose, to our knowledge for the first time, a simple optical algorithm for secret image sharing with the (2,n) threshold scheme based on basic vector operations and coherence superposition. The secret image to be shared is firstly divided into n shadow images by use of basic vector operations. In the reconstruction stage, the secret image can be retrieved by recording the intensity of the coherence superposition of any two shadow images. Compared with the published encryption techniques which focus narrowly on information encryption, the proposed method can realize information encryption as well as secret sharing, which further ensures the safety and integrality of the secret information and prevents power from being kept centralized and abused. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method are demonstrated by numerical results.

Discriminative and robust zero-watermarking scheme based on completed local binary pattern for authentication and copyright identification of medical images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Xiyao; Lou, Jieting; Wang, Yifan; Du, Jingyu; Zou, Beiji; Chen, Yan

2018-03-01

Authentication and copyright identification are two critical security issues for medical images. Although zerowatermarking schemes can provide durable, reliable and distortion-free protection for medical images, the existing zerowatermarking schemes for medical images still face two problems. On one hand, they rarely considered the distinguishability for medical images, which is critical because different medical images are sometimes similar to each other. On the other hand, their robustness against geometric attacks, such as cropping, rotation and flipping, is insufficient. In this study, a novel discriminative and robust zero-watermarking (DRZW) is proposed to address these two problems. In DRZW, content-based features of medical images are first extracted based on completed local binary pattern (CLBP) operator to ensure the distinguishability and robustness, especially against geometric attacks. Then, master shares and ownership shares are generated from the content-based features and watermark according to (2,2) visual cryptography. Finally, the ownership shares are stored for authentication and copyright identification. For queried medical images, their content-based features are extracted and master shares are generated. Their watermarks for authentication and copyright identification are recovered by stacking the generated master shares and stored ownership shares. 200 different medical images of 5 types are collected as the testing data and our experimental results demonstrate that DRZW ensures both the accuracy and reliability of authentication and copyright identification. When fixing the false positive rate to 1.00%, the average value of false negative rates by using DRZW is only 1.75% under 20 common attacks with different parameters.

Efficient multiparty quantum-secret-sharing schemes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xiao Li; Deng Fuguo; Key Laboratory for Quantum Information and Measurements, MOE, Beijing 100084

In this work, we generalize the quantum-secret-sharing scheme of Hillery, Buzek, and Berthiaume [Phys. Rev. A 59, 1829 (1999)] into arbitrary multiparties. Explicit expressions for the shared secret bit is given. It is shown that in the Hillery-Buzek-Berthiaume quantum-secret-sharing scheme the secret information is shared in the parity of binary strings formed by the measured outcomes of the participants. In addition, we have increased the efficiency of the quantum-secret-sharing scheme by generalizing two techniques from quantum key distribution. The favored-measuring-basis quantum-secret-sharing scheme is developed from the Lo-Chau-Ardehali technique [H. K. Lo, H. F. Chau, and M. Ardehali, e-print quant-ph/0011056] wheremore » all the participants choose their measuring-basis asymmetrically, and the measuring-basis-encrypted quantum-secret-sharing scheme is developed from the Hwang-Koh-Han technique [W. Y. Hwang, I. G. Koh, and Y. D. Han, Phys. Lett. A 244, 489 (1998)] where all participants choose their measuring basis according to a control key. Both schemes are asymptotically 100% in efficiency, hence nearly all the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states in a quantum-secret-sharing process are used to generate shared secret information.« less

A Secure and Efficient Scalable Secret Image Sharing Scheme with Flexible Shadow Sizes

PubMed Central

Xie, Dong; Li, Lixiang; Peng, Haipeng; Yang, Yixian

2017-01-01

In a general (k, n) scalable secret image sharing (SSIS) scheme, the secret image is shared by n participants and any k or more than k participants have the ability to reconstruct it. The scalability means that the amount of information in the reconstructed image scales in proportion to the number of the participants. In most existing SSIS schemes, the size of each image shadow is relatively large and the dealer does not has a flexible control strategy to adjust it to meet the demand of differen applications. Besides, almost all existing SSIS schemes are not applicable under noise circumstances. To address these deficiencies, in this paper we present a novel SSIS scheme based on a brand-new technique, called compressed sensing, which has been widely used in many fields such as image processing, wireless communication and medical imaging. Our scheme has the property of flexibility, which means that the dealer can achieve a compromise between the size of each shadow and the quality of the reconstructed image. In addition, our scheme has many other advantages, including smooth scalability, noise-resilient capability, and high security. The experimental results and the comparison with similar works demonstrate the feasibility and superiority of our scheme. PMID:28072851

A New Improving Quantum Secret Sharing Scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Ting-Ting; Li, Zhi-Hui; Bai, Chen-Ming; Ma, Min

2017-04-01

An improving quantum secret sharing scheme (IQSS scheme) was introduced by Nascimento et al. (Phys. Rev. A 64, 042311 (2001)), which was analyzed by the improved quantum access structure. In this paper, we propose a new improving quantum secret sharing scheme, and more quantum access structures can be realized by this scheme than the previous one. For example, we prove that any threshold and hypercycle quantum access structures can be realized by the new scheme.

Multi-dimensional quantum state sharing based on quantum Fourier transform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Huawang; Tso, Raylin; Dai, Yuewei

2018-03-01

A scheme of multi-dimensional quantum state sharing is proposed. The dealer performs the quantum SUM gate and the quantum Fourier transform to encode a multi-dimensional quantum state into an entanglement state. Then the dealer distributes each participant a particle of the entanglement state, to share the quantum state among n participants. In the recovery, n-1 participants measure their particles and supply their measurement results; the last participant performs the unitary operation on his particle according to these measurement results and can reconstruct the initial quantum state. The proposed scheme has two merits: It can share the multi-dimensional quantum state and it does not need the entanglement measurement.

Unitary reconstruction of secret for stabilizer-based quantum secret sharing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsumoto, Ryutaroh

2017-08-01

We propose a unitary procedure to reconstruct quantum secret for a quantum secret sharing scheme constructed from stabilizer quantum error-correcting codes. Erasure correcting procedures for stabilizer codes need to add missing shares for reconstruction of quantum secret, while unitary reconstruction procedures for certain class of quantum secret sharing are known to work without adding missing shares. The proposed procedure also works without adding missing shares.

Bounds on the information rate of quantum-secret-sharing schemes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sarvepalli, Pradeep

An important metric of the performance of a quantum-secret-sharing scheme is its information rate. Beyond the fact that the information rate is upper-bounded by one, very little is known in terms of bounds on the information rate of quantum-secret-sharing schemes. Furthermore, not every scheme can be realized with rate one. In this paper we derive upper bounds for the information rates of quantum-secret-sharing schemes. We show that there exist quantum access structures on n players for which the information rate cannot be better than O((log{sub 2}n)/n). These results are the quantum analogues of the bounds for classical-secret-sharing schemes proved bymore » Csirmaz.« less

Learning-based traffic signal control algorithms with neighborhood information sharing: An application for sustainable mobility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aziz, H. M. Abdul; Zhu, Feng; Ukkusuri, Satish V.

Here, this research applies R-Markov Average Reward Technique based reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm, namely RMART, for vehicular signal control problem leveraging information sharing among signal controllers in connected vehicle environment. We implemented the algorithm in a network of 18 signalized intersections and compare the performance of RMART with fixed, adaptive, and variants of the RL schemes. Results show significant improvement in system performance for RMART algorithm with information sharing over both traditional fixed signal timing plans and real time adaptive control schemes. Additionally, the comparison with reinforcement learning algorithms including Q learning and SARSA indicate that RMART performs better atmore » higher congestion levels. Further, a multi-reward structure is proposed that dynamically adjusts the reward function with varying congestion states at the intersection. Finally, the results from test networks show significant reduction in emissions (CO, CO 2, NO x, VOC, PM 10) when RL algorithms are implemented compared to fixed signal timings and adaptive schemes.« less

Truthful Channel Sharing for Self Coexistence of Overlapping Medical Body Area Networks

PubMed Central

Dutkiewicz, Eryk; Zheng, Guanglou

2016-01-01

As defined by IEEE 802.15.6 standard, channel sharing is a potential method to coordinate inter-network interference among Medical Body Area Networks (MBANs) that are close to one another. However, channel sharing opens up new vulnerabilities as selfish MBANs may manipulate their online channel requests to gain unfair advantage over others. In this paper, we address this issue by proposing a truthful online channel sharing algorithm and a companion protocol that allocates channel efficiently and truthfully by punishing MBANs for misreporting their channel request parameters such as time, duration and bid for the channel. We first present an online channel sharing scheme for unit-length channel requests and prove that it is truthful. We then generalize our model to settings with variable-length channel requests, where we propose a critical value based channel pricing and preemption scheme. A bid adjustment procedure prevents unbeneficial preemption by artificially raising the ongoing winner’s bid controlled by a penalty factor λ. Our scheme can efficiently detect selfish behaviors by monitoring a trust parameter α of each MBAN and punish MBANs from cheating by suspending their requests. Our extensive simulation results show our scheme can achieve a total profit that is more than 85% of the offline optimum method in the typical MBAN settings. PMID:26844888

A new routing enhancement scheme based on node blocking state advertisement in wavelength-routed WDM networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Peigang; Jin, Yaohui; Zhang, Chunlei; He, Hao; Hu, WeiSheng

2005-02-01

The increasing switching capacity brings the optical node with considerable complexity. Due to the limitation in cost and technology, an optical node is often designed with partial switching capability and partial resource sharing. It means that the node is of blocking to some extent, for example multi-granularity switching node, which in fact is a structure using pass wavelength to reduce the dimension of OXC, and partial sharing wavelength converter (WC) OXC. It is conceivable that these blocking nodes will have great effects on the problem of routing and wavelength assignment. Some previous works studied the blocking case, partial WC OXC, using complicated wavelength assignment algorithm. But the complexities of these schemes decide them to be not in practice in real networks. In this paper, we propose a new scheme based on the node blocking state advertisement to reduce the retry or rerouting probability and improve the efficiency of routing in the networks with blocking nodes. In the scheme, node blocking state are advertised to the other nodes in networks, which will be used for subsequent route calculation to find a path with lowest blocking probability. The performance of the scheme is evaluated using discrete event model in 14-node NSFNET, all the nodes of which employ a kind of partial sharing WC OXC structure. In the simulation, a simple First-Fit wavelength assignment algorithm is used. The simulation results demonstrate that the new scheme considerably reduces the retry or rerouting probability in routing process.

Maintenance service contract model for heavy equipment in mining industry using principal agent theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pakpahan, Eka K. A.; Iskandar, Bermawi P.

2015-12-01

Mining industry is characterized by a high operational revenue, and hence high availability of heavy equipment used in mining industry is a critical factor to ensure the revenue target. To maintain high avaliability of the heavy equipment, the equipment's owner hires an agent to perform maintenance action. Contract is then used to control the relationship between the two parties involved. The traditional contracts such as fixed price, cost plus or penalty based contract studied is unable to push agent's performance to exceed target, and this in turn would lead to a sub-optimal result (revenue). This research deals with designing maintenance contract compensation schemes. The scheme should induce agent to select the highest possible maintenance effort level, thereby pushing agent's performance and achieve maximum utility for both parties involved. Principal agent theory is used as a modeling approach due to its ability to simultaneously modeled owner and agent decision making process. Compensation schemes considered in this research includes fixed price, cost sharing and revenue sharing. The optimal decision is obtained using a numerical method. The results show that if both parties are risk neutral, then there are infinite combination of fixed price, cost sharing and revenue sharing produced the same optimal solution. The combination of fixed price and cost sharing contract results in the optimal solution when the agent is risk averse, while the optimal combination of fixed price and revenue sharing contract is obtained when agent is risk averse. When both parties are risk averse, the optimal compensation scheme is a combination of fixed price, cost sharing and revenue sharing.

Security of a kind of quantum secret sharing with entangled states.

PubMed

Wang, Tian-Yin; Liu, Ying-Zhao; Wei, Chun-Yan; Cai, Xiao-Qiu; Ma, Jian-Feng

2017-05-30

We present a new collusion attack to a kind of quantum secret sharing schemes with entangled states. Using this attack, an unauthorized set of agents can gain access to the shared secret without the others' cooperation. Furthermore, we establish a general model for this kind of quantum secret sharing schemes and then give some necessary conditions to design a secure quantum secret sharing scheme under this model.

Local distinguishability of Dicke states in quantum secret sharing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jing-Tao; Xu, Gang; Chen, Xiu-Bo; Sun, Xing-Ming; Jia, Heng-Yue

2017-03-01

We comprehensively investigate the local distinguishability of orthogonal Dicke states under local operations and classical communication (LOCC) from both qualitative and quantitative aspects. Based on our work, defects in the LOCC-quantum secret sharing (QSS) scheme can be complemented, and the information leakage can be quantified. For (k1 ,k2 , k , n)-threshold LOCC-QSS scheme, more intuitive formulas for unambiguous probability and guessing probability were established, which can be used for determining the parameter k1 and k2 directly.

Quantum-secret-sharing scheme based on local distinguishability of orthogonal multiqudit entangled states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jingtao; Li, Lixiang; Peng, Haipeng; Yang, Yixian

2017-02-01

In this study, we propose the concept of judgment space to investigate the quantum-secret-sharing scheme based on local distinguishability (called LOCC-QSS). Because of the proposing of this conception, the property of orthogonal mutiqudit entangled states under restricted local operation and classical communication (LOCC) can be described more clearly. According to these properties, we reveal that, in the previous (k ,n )-threshold LOCC-QSS scheme, there are two required conditions for the selected quantum states to resist the unambiguous attack: (i) their k -level judgment spaces are orthogonal, and (ii) their (k -1 )-level judgment spaces are equal. Practically, if k

Hybrid threshold adaptable quantum secret sharing scheme with reverse Huffman-Fibonacci-tree coding.

PubMed

Lai, Hong; Zhang, Jun; Luo, Ming-Xing; Pan, Lei; Pieprzyk, Josef; Xiao, Fuyuan; Orgun, Mehmet A

2016-08-12

With prevalent attacks in communication, sharing a secret between communicating parties is an ongoing challenge. Moreover, it is important to integrate quantum solutions with classical secret sharing schemes with low computational cost for the real world use. This paper proposes a novel hybrid threshold adaptable quantum secret sharing scheme, using an m-bonacci orbital angular momentum (OAM) pump, Lagrange interpolation polynomials, and reverse Huffman-Fibonacci-tree coding. To be exact, we employ entangled states prepared by m-bonacci sequences to detect eavesdropping. Meanwhile, we encode m-bonacci sequences in Lagrange interpolation polynomials to generate the shares of a secret with reverse Huffman-Fibonacci-tree coding. The advantages of the proposed scheme is that it can detect eavesdropping without joint quantum operations, and permits secret sharing for an arbitrary but no less than threshold-value number of classical participants with much lower bandwidth. Also, in comparison with existing quantum secret sharing schemes, it still works when there are dynamic changes, such as the unavailability of some quantum channel, the arrival of new participants and the departure of participants. Finally, we provide security analysis of the new hybrid quantum secret sharing scheme and discuss its useful features for modern applications.

Hybrid threshold adaptable quantum secret sharing scheme with reverse Huffman-Fibonacci-tree coding

PubMed Central

Lai, Hong; Zhang, Jun; Luo, Ming-Xing; Pan, Lei; Pieprzyk, Josef; Xiao, Fuyuan; Orgun, Mehmet A.

2016-01-01

With prevalent attacks in communication, sharing a secret between communicating parties is an ongoing challenge. Moreover, it is important to integrate quantum solutions with classical secret sharing schemes with low computational cost for the real world use. This paper proposes a novel hybrid threshold adaptable quantum secret sharing scheme, using an m-bonacci orbital angular momentum (OAM) pump, Lagrange interpolation polynomials, and reverse Huffman-Fibonacci-tree coding. To be exact, we employ entangled states prepared by m-bonacci sequences to detect eavesdropping. Meanwhile, we encode m-bonacci sequences in Lagrange interpolation polynomials to generate the shares of a secret with reverse Huffman-Fibonacci-tree coding. The advantages of the proposed scheme is that it can detect eavesdropping without joint quantum operations, and permits secret sharing for an arbitrary but no less than threshold-value number of classical participants with much lower bandwidth. Also, in comparison with existing quantum secret sharing schemes, it still works when there are dynamic changes, such as the unavailability of some quantum channel, the arrival of new participants and the departure of participants. Finally, we provide security analysis of the new hybrid quantum secret sharing scheme and discuss its useful features for modern applications. PMID:27515908

Learning-automaton-based online discovery and tracking of spatiotemporal event patterns.

PubMed

Yazidi, Anis; Granmo, Ole-Christoffer; Oommen, B John

2013-06-01

Discovering and tracking of spatiotemporal patterns in noisy sequences of events are difficult tasks that have become increasingly pertinent due to recent advances in ubiquitous computing, such as community-based social networking applications. The core activities for applications of this class include the sharing and notification of events, and the importance and usefulness of these functionalities increase as event sharing expands into larger areas of one's life. Ironically, instead of being helpful, an excessive number of event notifications can quickly render the functionality of event sharing to be obtrusive. Indeed, any notification of events that provides redundant information to the application/user can be seen to be an unnecessary distraction. In this paper, we introduce a new scheme for discovering and tracking noisy spatiotemporal event patterns, with the purpose of suppressing reoccurring patterns, while discerning novel events. Our scheme is based on maintaining a collection of hypotheses, each one conjecturing a specific spatiotemporal event pattern. A dedicated learning automaton (LA)--the spatiotemporal pattern LA (STPLA)--is associated with each hypothesis. By processing events as they unfold, we attempt to infer the correctness of each hypothesis through a real-time guided random walk. Consequently, the scheme that we present is computationally efficient, with a minimal memory footprint. Furthermore, it is ergodic, allowing adaptation. Empirical results involving extensive simulations demonstrate the superior convergence and adaptation speed of STPLA, as well as an ability to operate successfully with noise, including both the erroneous inclusion and omission of events. An empirical comparison study was performed and confirms the superiority of our scheme compared to a similar state-of-the-art approach. In particular, the robustness of the STPLA to inclusion as well as to omission noise constitutes a unique property compared to other related approaches. In addition, the results included, which involve the so-called " presence sharing" application, are both promising and, in our opinion, impressive. It is thus our opinion that the proposed STPLA scheme is, in general, ideal for improving the usefulness of event notification and sharing systems, since it is capable of significantly, robustly, and adaptively suppressing redundant information.

Deterministic MDI QKD with two secret bits per shared entangled pair

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zebboudj, Sofia; Omar, Mawloud

2018-03-01

Although quantum key distribution schemes have been proven theoretically secure, they are based on assumptions about the devices that are not yet satisfied with today's technology. The measurement-device-independent scheme has been proposed to shorten the gap between theory and practice by removing all detector side-channel attacks. On the other hand, two-way quantum key distribution schemes have been proposed to raise the secret key generation rate. In this paper, we propose a new quantum key distribution scheme able to achieve a relatively high secret key generation rate based on two-way quantum key distribution that also inherits the robustness of the measurement-device-independent scheme against detector side-channel attacks.

Unbreakable distributed storage with quantum key distribution network and password-authenticated secret sharing

PubMed Central

Fujiwara, M.; Waseda, A.; Nojima, R.; Moriai, S.; Ogata, W.; Sasaki, M.

2016-01-01

Distributed storage plays an essential role in realizing robust and secure data storage in a network over long periods of time. A distributed storage system consists of a data owner machine, multiple storage servers and channels to link them. In such a system, secret sharing scheme is widely adopted, in which secret data are split into multiple pieces and stored in each server. To reconstruct them, the data owner should gather plural pieces. Shamir’s (k, n)-threshold scheme, in which the data are split into n pieces (shares) for storage and at least k pieces of them must be gathered for reconstruction, furnishes information theoretic security, that is, even if attackers could collect shares of less than the threshold k, they cannot get any information about the data, even with unlimited computing power. Behind this scenario, however, assumed is that data transmission and authentication must be perfectly secure, which is not trivial in practice. Here we propose a totally information theoretically secure distributed storage system based on a user-friendly single-password-authenticated secret sharing scheme and secure transmission using quantum key distribution, and demonstrate it in the Tokyo metropolitan area (≤90 km). PMID:27363566

Unbreakable distributed storage with quantum key distribution network and password-authenticated secret sharing.

PubMed

Fujiwara, M; Waseda, A; Nojima, R; Moriai, S; Ogata, W; Sasaki, M

2016-07-01

Distributed storage plays an essential role in realizing robust and secure data storage in a network over long periods of time. A distributed storage system consists of a data owner machine, multiple storage servers and channels to link them. In such a system, secret sharing scheme is widely adopted, in which secret data are split into multiple pieces and stored in each server. To reconstruct them, the data owner should gather plural pieces. Shamir's (k, n)-threshold scheme, in which the data are split into n pieces (shares) for storage and at least k pieces of them must be gathered for reconstruction, furnishes information theoretic security, that is, even if attackers could collect shares of less than the threshold k, they cannot get any information about the data, even with unlimited computing power. Behind this scenario, however, assumed is that data transmission and authentication must be perfectly secure, which is not trivial in practice. Here we propose a totally information theoretically secure distributed storage system based on a user-friendly single-password-authenticated secret sharing scheme and secure transmission using quantum key distribution, and demonstrate it in the Tokyo metropolitan area (≤90 km).

Authentication Based on Non-Interactive Zero-Knowledge Proofs for the Internet of Things.

PubMed

Martín-Fernández, Francisco; Caballero-Gil, Pino; Caballero-Gil, Cándido

2016-01-07

This paper describes the design and analysis of a new scheme for the authenticated exchange of confidential information in insecure environments within the Internet of Things, which allows a receiver of a message to authenticate the sender and compute a secret key shared with it. The proposal is based on the concept of a non-interactive zero-knowledge proof, so that in a single communication, relevant data may be inferred to verify the legitimacy of the sender. Besides, the new scheme uses the idea under the Diffie-Hellman protocol for the establishment of a shared secret key. The proposal has been fully developed for platforms built on the Android Open Source Project, so it can be used in any device or sensor with this operating system. This work provides a performance study of the implementation and a comparison between its promising results and others obtained with similar schemes.

Authentication Based on Non-Interactive Zero-Knowledge Proofs for the Internet of Things

PubMed Central

Martín-Fernández, Francisco; Caballero-Gil, Pino; Caballero-Gil, Cándido

2016-01-01

This paper describes the design and analysis of a new scheme for the authenticated exchange of confidential information in insecure environments within the Internet of Things, which allows a receiver of a message to authenticate the sender and compute a secret key shared with it. The proposal is based on the concept of a non-interactive zero-knowledge proof, so that in a single communication, relevant data may be inferred to verify the legitimacy of the sender. Besides, the new scheme uses the idea under the Diffie–Hellman protocol for the establishment of a shared secret key. The proposal has been fully developed for platforms built on the Android Open Source Project, so it can be used in any device or sensor with this operating system. This work provides a performance study of the implementation and a comparison between its promising results and others obtained with similar schemes. PMID:26751454

A Bookmarking Service for Organizing and Sharing URLs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keller, Richard M.; Wolfe, Shawn R.; Chen, James R.; Mathe, Nathalie; Rabinowitz, Joshua L.

1997-01-01

Web browser bookmarking facilities predominate as the method of choice for managing URLs. In this paper, we describe some deficiencies of current bookmarking schemes, and examine an alternative to current approaches. We present WebTagger(TM), an implemented prototype of a personal bookmarking service that provides both individuals and groups with a customizable means of organizing and accessing Web-based information resources. In addition, the service enables users to supply feedback on the utility of these resources relative to their information needs, and provides dynamically-updated ranking of resources based on incremental user feedback. Individuals may access the service from anywhere on the Internet, and require no special software. This service greatly simplifies the process of sharing URLs within groups, in comparison with manual methods involving email. The underlying bookmark organization scheme is more natural and flexible than current hierarchical schemes supported by the major Web browsers, and enables rapid access to stored bookmarks.

A novel secret sharing with two users based on joint transform correlator and compressive sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Tieyu; Chi, Yingying

2018-05-01

Recently, joint transform correlator (JTC) has been widely applied to image encryption and authentication. This paper presents a novel secret sharing scheme with two users based on JTC. Two users must be present during the decryption that the system has high security and reliability. In the scheme, two users use their fingerprints to encrypt plaintext, and they can decrypt only if both of them provide the fingerprints which are successfully authenticated. The linear relationship between the plaintext and ciphertext is broken using the compressive sensing, which can resist existing attacks on JTC. The results of the theoretical analysis and numerical simulation confirm the validity of the system.

A Generalized Information Theoretical Model for Quantum Secret Sharing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Chen-Ming; Li, Zhi-Hui; Xu, Ting-Ting; Li, Yong-Ming

2016-11-01

An information theoretical model for quantum secret sharing was introduced by H. Imai et al. (Quantum Inf. Comput. 5(1), 69-80 2005), which was analyzed by quantum information theory. In this paper, we analyze this information theoretical model using the properties of the quantum access structure. By the analysis we propose a generalized model definition for the quantum secret sharing schemes. In our model, there are more quantum access structures which can be realized by our generalized quantum secret sharing schemes than those of the previous one. In addition, we also analyse two kinds of important quantum access structures to illustrate the existence and rationality for the generalized quantum secret sharing schemes and consider the security of the scheme by simple examples.

Secret Sharing of a Quantum State.

PubMed

Lu, He; Zhang, Zhen; Chen, Luo-Kan; Li, Zheng-Da; Liu, Chang; Li, Li; Liu, Nai-Le; Ma, Xiongfeng; Chen, Yu-Ao; Pan, Jian-Wei

2016-07-15

Secret sharing of a quantum state, or quantum secret sharing, in which a dealer wants to share a certain amount of quantum information with a few players, has wide applications in quantum information. The critical criterion in a threshold secret sharing scheme is confidentiality: with less than the designated number of players, no information can be recovered. Furthermore, in a quantum scenario, one additional critical criterion exists: the capability of sharing entangled and unknown quantum information. Here, by employing a six-photon entangled state, we demonstrate a quantum threshold scheme, where the shared quantum secrecy can be efficiently reconstructed with a state fidelity as high as 93%. By observing that any one or two parties cannot recover the secrecy, we show that our scheme meets the confidentiality criterion. Meanwhile, we also demonstrate that entangled quantum information can be shared and recovered via our setting, which shows that our implemented scheme is fully quantum. Moreover, our experimental setup can be treated as a decoding circuit of the five-qubit quantum error-correcting code with two erasure errors.

Dynamic quantum secret sharing by using d-dimensional GHZ state

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Huawang; Dai, Yuewei

2017-03-01

Through generating the d-dimensional GHZ state in the Z-basis and measuring it in the X-basis, a dynamic quantum secret sharing scheme is proposed. In the proposed scheme, multiple participants can be added or deleted in one update period, and the shared secret does not need to be changed. The participants can be added or deleted by themselves, and the dealer does not need to be online. Compared to the existing schemes, the proposed scheme is more efficient and more practical.

Computing on quantum shared secrets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ouyang, Yingkai; Tan, Si-Hui; Zhao, Liming; Fitzsimons, Joseph F.

2017-11-01

A (k ,n )-threshold secret-sharing scheme allows for a string to be split into n shares in such a way that any subset of at least k shares suffices to recover the secret string, but such that any subset of at most k -1 shares contains no information about the secret. Quantum secret-sharing schemes extend this idea to the sharing of quantum states. Here we propose a method of performing computation securely on quantum shared secrets. We introduce a (n ,n )-quantum secret sharing scheme together with a set of algorithms that allow quantum circuits to be evaluated securely on the shared secret without the need to decode the secret. We consider a multipartite setting, with each participant holding a share of the secret. We show that if there exists at least one honest participant, no group of dishonest participants can recover any information about the shared secret, independent of their deviations from the algorithm.

An accurate reactive power control study in virtual flux droop control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Aimeng; Zhang, Jia

2017-12-01

This paper investigates the problem of reactive power sharing based on virtual flux droop method. Firstly, flux droop control method is derived, where complicated multiple feedback loops and parameter regulation are avoided. Then, the reasons for inaccurate reactive power sharing are theoretically analyzed. Further, a novel reactive power control scheme is proposed which consists of three parts: compensation control, voltage recovery control and flux droop control. Finally, the proposed reactive power control strategy is verified in a simplified microgrid model with two parallel DGs. The simulation results show that the proposed control scheme can achieve accurate reactive power sharing and zero deviation of voltage. Meanwhile, it has some advantages of simple control and excellent dynamic and static performance.

Accelerate quasi Monte Carlo method for solving systems of linear algebraic equations through shared memory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lai, Siyan; Xu, Ying; Shao, Bo; Guo, Menghan; Lin, Xiaola

2017-04-01

In this paper we study on Monte Carlo method for solving systems of linear algebraic equations (SLAE) based on shared memory. Former research demostrated that GPU can effectively speed up the computations of this issue. Our purpose is to optimize Monte Carlo method simulation on GPUmemoryachritecture specifically. Random numbers are organized to storein shared memory, which aims to accelerate the parallel algorithm. Bank conflicts can be avoided by our Collaborative Thread Arrays(CTA)scheme. The results of experiments show that the shared memory based strategy can speed up the computaions over than 3X at most.

Data traffic reduction schemes for Cholesky factorization on asynchronous multiprocessor systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Naik, Vijay K.; Patrick, Merrell L.

1989-01-01

Communication requirements of Cholesky factorization of dense and sparse symmetric, positive definite matrices are analyzed. The communication requirement is characterized by the data traffic generated on multiprocessor systems with local and shared memory. Lower bound proofs are given to show that when the load is uniformly distributed the data traffic associated with factoring an n x n dense matrix using n to the alpha power (alpha less than or equal 2) processors is omega(n to the 2 + alpha/2 power). For n x n sparse matrices representing a square root of n x square root of n regular grid graph the data traffic is shown to be omega(n to the 1 + alpha/2 power), alpha less than or equal 1. Partitioning schemes that are variations of block assignment scheme are described and it is shown that the data traffic generated by these schemes are asymptotically optimal. The schemes allow efficient use of up to O(n to the 2nd power) processors in the dense case and up to O(n) processors in the sparse case before the total data traffic reaches the maximum value of O(n to the 3rd power) and O(n to the 3/2 power), respectively. It is shown that the block based partitioning schemes allow a better utilization of the data accessed from shared memory and thus reduce the data traffic than those based on column-wise wrap around assignment schemes.

Construct the stable vendor managed inventory partnership through a profit-sharing approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, S.; Yu, Z.; Dong, M.

2015-01-01

In real life, the vendor managed inventory (VMI) model is not always a stable supply chain partnership. This paper proposes a cooperative game based profit-sharing method to stabilize the VMI partnership. Specifically, in a B2C setting, we consider a VMI program including a manufacturer and multiple online retailers. The manufacturer provides the finished product at the equal wholesale price to multiple online retailers. The online retailers face the same customer demand information. We offer the model to compute the increased profits generated by information sharing for total possible VMI coalitions. Using the solution concept of Shapley value, the profit-sharing scheme is produced to fairly divide the total increased profits among the VMI members. We find that under a fair allocation scheme, the higher inventory cost of one VMI member increases the surplus of the other members. Furthermore, the manufacturer is glad to increase the size of VMI coalition, whereas, the retailers are delighted to limit the size of the alliance. Finally, the manufacturer can select the appropriate retailer to boost its surplus, which has no effect on the surplus of the other retailers. The numerical examples indicate that the grand coalition is stable under the proposed allocation scheme.

A potential application in quantum networks—Deterministic quantum operation sharing schemes with Bell states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, KeJia; Zhang, Long; Song, TingTing; Yang, YingHui

2016-06-01

In this paper, we propose certain different design ideas on a novel topic in quantum cryptography — quantum operation sharing (QOS). Following these unique ideas, three QOS schemes, the "HIEC" (The scheme whose messages are hidden in the entanglement correlation), "HIAO" (The scheme whose messages are hidden with the assistant operations) and "HIMB" (The scheme whose messages are hidden in the selected measurement basis), have been presented to share the single-qubit operations determinately on target states in a remote node. These schemes only require Bell states as quantum resources. Therefore, they can be directly applied in quantum networks, since Bell states are considered the basic quantum channels in quantum networks. Furthermore, after analyse on the security and resource consumptions, the task of QOS can be achieved securely and effectively in these schemes.

Emerging Security Mechanisms for Medical Cyber Physical Systems.

PubMed

Kocabas, Ovunc; Soyata, Tolga; Aktas, Mehmet K

2016-01-01

The following decade will witness a surge in remote health-monitoring systems that are based on body-worn monitoring devices. These Medical Cyber Physical Systems (MCPS) will be capable of transmitting the acquired data to a private or public cloud for storage and processing. Machine learning algorithms running in the cloud and processing this data can provide decision support to healthcare professionals. There is no doubt that the security and privacy of the medical data is one of the most important concerns in designing an MCPS. In this paper, we depict the general architecture of an MCPS consisting of four layers: data acquisition, data aggregation, cloud processing, and action. Due to the differences in hardware and communication capabilities of each layer, different encryption schemes must be used to guarantee data privacy within that layer. We survey conventional and emerging encryption schemes based on their ability to provide secure storage, data sharing, and secure computation. Our detailed experimental evaluation of each scheme shows that while the emerging encryption schemes enable exciting new features such as secure sharing and secure computation, they introduce several orders-of-magnitude computational and storage overhead. We conclude our paper by outlining future research directions to improve the usability of the emerging encryption schemes in an MCPS.

An Overview of Recent Advances in Event-Triggered Consensus of Multiagent Systems.

PubMed

Ding, Lei; Han, Qing-Long; Ge, Xiaohua; Zhang, Xian-Ming

2018-04-01

Event-triggered consensus of multiagent systems (MASs) has attracted tremendous attention from both theoretical and practical perspectives due to the fact that it enables all agents eventually to reach an agreement upon a common quantity of interest while significantly alleviating utilization of communication and computation resources. This paper aims to provide an overview of recent advances in event-triggered consensus of MASs. First, a basic framework of multiagent event-triggered operational mechanisms is established. Second, representative results and methodologies reported in the literature are reviewed and some in-depth analysis is made on several event-triggered schemes, including event-based sampling schemes, model-based event-triggered schemes, sampled-data-based event-triggered schemes, and self-triggered sampling schemes. Third, two examples are outlined to show applicability of event-triggered consensus in power sharing of microgrids and formation control of multirobot systems, respectively. Finally, some challenging issues on event-triggered consensus are proposed for future research.

A secure data outsourcing scheme based on Asmuth-Bloom secret sharing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Idris Muhammad, Yusuf; Kaiiali, Mustafa; Habbal, Adib; Wazan, A. S.; Sani Ilyasu, Auwal

2016-11-01

Data outsourcing is an emerging paradigm for data management in which a database is provided as a service by third-party service providers. One of the major benefits of offering database as a service is to provide organisations, which are unable to purchase expensive hardware and software to host their databases, with efficient data storage accessible online at a cheap rate. Despite that, several issues of data confidentiality, integrity, availability and efficient indexing of users' queries at the server side have to be addressed in the data outsourcing paradigm. Service providers have to guarantee that their clients' data are secured against internal (insider) and external attacks. This paper briefly analyses the existing indexing schemes in data outsourcing and highlights their advantages and disadvantages. Then, this paper proposes a secure data outsourcing scheme based on Asmuth-Bloom secret sharing which tries to address the issues in data outsourcing such as data confidentiality, availability and order preservation for efficient indexing.

Unconditionally secure commitment in position-based quantum cryptography.

PubMed

Nadeem, Muhammad

2014-10-27

A new commitment scheme based on position-verification and non-local quantum correlations is presented here for the first time in literature. The only credential for unconditional security is the position of committer and non-local correlations generated; neither receiver has any pre-shared data with the committer nor does receiver require trusted and authenticated quantum/classical channels between him and the committer. In the proposed scheme, receiver trusts the commitment only if the scheme itself verifies position of the committer and validates her commitment through non-local quantum correlations in a single round. The position-based commitment scheme bounds committer to reveal valid commitment within allocated time and guarantees that the receiver will not be able to get information about commitment unless committer reveals. The scheme works for the commitment of both bits and qubits and is equally secure against committer/receiver as well as against any third party who may have interests in destroying the commitment. Our proposed scheme is unconditionally secure in general and evades Mayers and Lo-Chau attacks in particular.

Quantum secret sharing via local operations and classical communication.

PubMed

Yang, Ying-Hui; Gao, Fei; Wu, Xia; Qin, Su-Juan; Zuo, Hui-Juan; Wen, Qiao-Yan

2015-11-20

We investigate the distinguishability of orthogonal multipartite entangled states in d-qudit system by restricted local operations and classical communication. According to these properties, we propose a standard (2, n)-threshold quantum secret sharing scheme (called LOCC-QSS scheme), which solves the open question in [Rahaman et al., Phys. Rev. A, 91, 022330 (2015)]. On the other hand, we find that all the existing (k, n)-threshold LOCC-QSS schemes are imperfect (or "ramp"), i.e., unauthorized groups can obtain some information about the shared secret. Furthermore, we present a (3, 4)-threshold LOCC-QSS scheme which is close to perfect.

Distributed computing for membrane-based modeling of action potential propagation.

PubMed

Porras, D; Rogers, J M; Smith, W M; Pollard, A E

2000-08-01

Action potential propagation simulations with physiologic membrane currents and macroscopic tissue dimensions are computationally expensive. We, therefore, analyzed distributed computing schemes to reduce execution time in workstation clusters by parallelizing solutions with message passing. Four schemes were considered in two-dimensional monodomain simulations with the Beeler-Reuter membrane equations. Parallel speedups measured with each scheme were compared to theoretical speedups, recognizing the relationship between speedup and code portions that executed serially. A data decomposition scheme based on total ionic current provided the best performance. Analysis of communication latencies in that scheme led to a load-balancing algorithm in which measured speedups at 89 +/- 2% and 75 +/- 8% of theoretical speedups were achieved in homogeneous and heterogeneous clusters of workstations. Speedups in this scheme with the Luo-Rudy dynamic membrane equations exceeded 3.0 with eight distributed workstations. Cluster speedups were comparable to those measured during parallel execution on a shared memory machine.

Quantum state sharing against the controller's cheating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Run-hua; Zhong, Hong; Huang, Liu-sheng

2013-08-01

Most existing QSTS schemes are equivalent to the controlled teleportation, in which a designated agent (i.e., the recoverer) can recover the teleported state with the help of the controllers. However, the controller may attempt to cheat the recoverer during the phase of recovering the secret state. How can we detect this cheating? In this paper, we considered the problem of detecting the controller's cheating in Quantum State Sharing, and further proposed an effective Quantum State Sharing scheme against the controller's cheating. We cleverly use Quantum Secret Sharing, Multiple Quantum States Sharing and decoy-particle techniques. In our scheme, via a previously shared entanglement state Alice can teleport multiple arbitrary multi-qubit states to Bob with the help of Charlie. Furthermore, by the classical information shared previously, Alice and Bob can check whether there is any cheating of Charlie. In addition, our scheme only needs to perform Bell-state and single-particle measurements, and to apply C-NOT gate and other single-particle unitary operations. With the present techniques, it is feasible to implement these necessary measurements and operations.

Experimentally feasible security check for n-qubit quantum secret sharing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schauer, Stefan; Huber, Marcus; Hiesmayr, Beatrix C.

In this article we present a general security strategy for quantum secret sharing (QSS) protocols based on the scheme presented by Hillery, Buzek, and Berthiaume (HBB) [Phys. Rev. A 59, 1829 (1999)]. We focus on a generalization of the HBB protocol to n communication parties thus including n-partite Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states. We show that the multipartite version of the HBB scheme is insecure in certain settings and impractical when going to large n. To provide security for such QSS schemes in general we use the framework presented by some of the authors [M. Huber, F. Mintert, A. Gabriel, B. C. Hiesmayr,more » Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 210501 (2010)] to detect certain genuine n-partite entanglement between the communication parties. In particular, we present a simple inequality which tests the security.« less

Semi-counterfactual cryptography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akshata Shenoy, H.; Srikanth, R.; Srinivas, T.

2013-09-01

In counterfactual quantum key distribution (QKD), two remote parties can securely share random polarization-encoded bits through the blocking rather than the transmission of particles. We propose a semi-counterfactual QKD, i.e., one where the secret bit is shared, and also encoded, based on the blocking or non-blocking of a particle. The scheme is thus semi-counterfactual and not based on polarization encoding. As with other counterfactual schemes and the Goldenberg-Vaidman protocol, but unlike BB84, the encoding states are orthogonal and security arises ultimately from single-particle non-locality. Unlike any of them, however, the secret bit generated is maximally indeterminate until the joint action of Alice and Bob. We prove the general security of the protocol, and study the most general photon-number-preserving incoherent attack in detail.

(t, n) Threshold d-Level Quantum Secret Sharing.

PubMed

Song, Xiu-Li; Liu, Yan-Bing; Deng, Hong-Yao; Xiao, Yong-Gang

2017-07-25

Most of Quantum Secret Sharing(QSS) are (n, n) threshold 2-level schemes, in which the 2-level secret cannot be reconstructed until all n shares are collected. In this paper, we propose a (t, n) threshold d-level QSS scheme, in which the d-level secret can be reconstructed only if at least t shares are collected. Compared with (n, n) threshold 2-level QSS, the proposed QSS provides better universality, flexibility, and practicability. Moreover, in this scheme, any one of the participants does not know the other participants' shares, even the trusted reconstructor Bob 1 is no exception. The transformation of the particles includes some simple operations such as d-level CNOT, Quantum Fourier Transform(QFT), Inverse Quantum Fourier Transform(IQFT), and generalized Pauli operator. The transformed particles need not to be transmitted from one participant to another in the quantum channel. Security analysis shows that the proposed scheme can resist intercept-resend attack, entangle-measure attack, collusion attack, and forgery attack. Performance comparison shows that it has lower computation and communication costs than other similar schemes when 2 < t < n - 1.

An efficient (t,n) threshold quantum secret sharing without entanglement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Huawang; Dai, Yuewei

2016-04-01

An efficient (t,n) threshold quantum secret sharing (QSS) scheme is proposed. In our scheme, the Hash function is used to check the eavesdropping, and no particles need to be published. So the utilization efficiency of the particles is real 100%. No entanglement is used in our scheme. The dealer uses the single particles to encode the secret information, and the participants get the secret through measuring the single particles. Compared to the existing schemes, our scheme is simpler and more efficient.

A Pipelined Non-Deterministic Finite Automaton-Based String Matching Scheme Using Merged State Transitions in an FPGA

PubMed Central

Choi, Kang-Il

2016-01-01

This paper proposes a pipelined non-deterministic finite automaton (NFA)-based string matching scheme using field programmable gate array (FPGA) implementation. The characteristics of the NFA such as shared common prefixes and no failure transitions are considered in the proposed scheme. In the implementation of the automaton-based string matching using an FPGA, each state transition is implemented with a look-up table (LUT) for the combinational logic circuit between registers. In addition, multiple state transitions between stages can be performed in a pipelined fashion. In this paper, it is proposed that multiple one-to-one state transitions, called merged state transitions, can be performed with an LUT. By cutting down the number of used LUTs for implementing state transitions, the hardware overhead of combinational logic circuits is greatly reduced in the proposed pipelined NFA-based string matching scheme. PMID:27695114

A Pipelined Non-Deterministic Finite Automaton-Based String Matching Scheme Using Merged State Transitions in an FPGA.

PubMed

Kim, HyunJin; Choi, Kang-Il

2016-01-01

This paper proposes a pipelined non-deterministic finite automaton (NFA)-based string matching scheme using field programmable gate array (FPGA) implementation. The characteristics of the NFA such as shared common prefixes and no failure transitions are considered in the proposed scheme. In the implementation of the automaton-based string matching using an FPGA, each state transition is implemented with a look-up table (LUT) for the combinational logic circuit between registers. In addition, multiple state transitions between stages can be performed in a pipelined fashion. In this paper, it is proposed that multiple one-to-one state transitions, called merged state transitions, can be performed with an LUT. By cutting down the number of used LUTs for implementing state transitions, the hardware overhead of combinational logic circuits is greatly reduced in the proposed pipelined NFA-based string matching scheme.

Modeled Health Economic Impact of a Hypothetical Certolizumab Pegol Risk-Sharing Scheme for Patients with Moderate-to-Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis in Finland.

PubMed

Soini, Erkki; Asseburg, Christian; Taiha, Maarit; Puolakka, Kari; Purcaru, Oana; Luosujärvi, Riitta

2017-10-01

To model the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and budget impact of certolizumab pegol (CZP) (with and without a hypothetical risk-sharing scheme at treatment initiation for biologic-naïve patients) versus the current mix of reimbursed biologics for treatment of moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Finland. A probabilistic model with 12-week cycles and a societal approach was developed for the years 2015-2019, accounting for differences in ACR responses (meta-analysis), mortality, and persistence. The risk-sharing scheme included a treatment switch and refund of the costs associated with CZP acquisition if patients failed to achieve ACR20 response at week 12. For the current treatment mix, ACR20 at week 24 determined treatment continuation. Quality-adjusted life years were derived on the basis of the Health Utilities Index. In the Finnish target population, CZP treatment with a risk-sharing scheme led to a estimated annual net expenditure decrease ranging from 1.7% in 2015 to 5.6% in 2019 compared with the current treatment mix. Per patient over the 5 years, CZP risk sharing was estimated to decrease the time without ACR response by 5%-units, decrease work absenteeism by 24 days, and increase the time with ACR20, ACR50, and ACR70 responses by 5%-, 6%-, and 1%-units, respectively, with a gain of 0.03 quality-adjusted life years. The modeled risk-sharing scheme showed reduced costs of €7866 per patient, with a more than 95% probability of cost-effectiveness when compared with the current treatment mix. The present analysis estimated that CZP, with or without the risk-sharing scheme, is a cost-effective alternative treatment for RA patients in Finland. The surplus provided by the CZP risk-sharing scheme could fund treatment for 6% more Finnish RA patients. UCB Pharma.

Quantum secret sharing via local operations and classical communication

PubMed Central

Yang, Ying-Hui; Gao, Fei; Wu, Xia; Qin, Su-Juan; Zuo, Hui-Juan; Wen, Qiao-Yan

2015-01-01

We investigate the distinguishability of orthogonal multipartite entangled states in d-qudit system by restricted local operations and classical communication. According to these properties, we propose a standard (2, n)-threshold quantum secret sharing scheme (called LOCC-QSS scheme), which solves the open question in [Rahaman et al., Phys. Rev. A, 91, 022330 (2015)]. On the other hand, we find that all the existing (k, n)-threshold LOCC-QSS schemes are imperfect (or “ramp”), i.e., unauthorized groups can obtain some information about the shared secret. Furthermore, we present a (3, 4)-threshold LOCC-QSS scheme which is close to perfect. PMID:26586412

An Improved Distributed Secondary Control Method for DC Microgrids With Enhanced Dynamic Current Sharing Performance

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Panbao; Lu, Xiaonan; Yang, Xu

This paper proposes an improved distributed secondary control scheme for dc microgrids (MGs), aiming at overcoming the drawbacks of conventional droop control method. The proposed secondary control scheme can remove the dc voltage deviation and improve the current sharing accuracy by using voltage-shifting and slope-adjusting approaches simultaneously. Meanwhile, the average value of droop coefficients is calculated, and then it is controlled by an additional controller included in the distributed secondary control layer to ensure that each droop coefficient converges at a reasonable value. Hence, by adjusting the droop coefficient, each participating converter has equal output impedance, and the accurate proportionalmore » load current sharing can be achieved with different line resistances. Furthermore, the current sharing performance in steady and transient states can be enhanced by using the proposed method. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by detailed experimental tests based on a 3 × 1 kW prototype with three interface converters.« less

Comment on "Proactive quantum secret sharing"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Gan; Wang, Yue

2017-03-01

In the paper, Qin and Dai (Quantum Inf Process 14:4237-4244, 2015) proposed a proactive quantum secret sharing scheme. We study the security of the proposed scheme and find that it is not secure. In the distribution phase of the proposed scheme, two dishonest participants may collaborate to eavesdrop the secret of the dealer without introducing any error.

Position-based quantum cryptography over untrusted networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nadeem, Muhammad

2014-08-01

In this article, we propose quantum position verification (QPV) schemes where all the channels are untrusted except the position of the prover and distant reference stations of verifiers. We review and analyze the existing QPV schemes containing some pre-shared data between the prover and verifiers. Most of these schemes are based on non-cryptographic assumptions, i.e. quantum/classical channels between the verifiers are secure. It seems impractical in an environment fully controlled by adversaries and would lead to security compromise in practical implementations. However, our proposed formula for QPV is more robust, secure and according to the standard assumptions of cryptography. Furthermore, once the position of the prover is verified, our schemes establish secret keys in parallel and can be used for authentication and secret communication between the prover and verifiers.

Security analysis and enhanced user authentication in proxy mobile IPv6 networks.

PubMed

Kang, Dongwoo; Jung, Jaewook; Lee, Donghoon; Kim, Hyoungshick; Won, Dongho

2017-01-01

The Proxy Mobile IPv6 (PMIPv6) is a network-based mobility management protocol that allows a Mobile Node(MN) connected to the PMIPv6 domain to move from one network to another without changing the assigned IPv6 address. The user authentication procedure in this protocol is not standardized, but many smartcard based authentication schemes have been proposed. Recently, Alizadeh et al. proposed an authentication scheme for the PMIPv6. However, it could allow an attacker to derive an encryption key that must be securely shared between MN and the Mobile Access Gate(MAG). As a result, outsider adversary can derive MN's identity, password and session key. In this paper, we analyze Alizadeh et al.'s scheme regarding security and propose an enhanced authentication scheme that uses a dynamic identity to satisfy anonymity. Furthermore, we use BAN logic to show that our scheme can successfully generate and communicate with the inter-entity session key.

Error recovery in shared memory multiprocessors using private caches

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, Kun-Lung; Fuchs, W. Kent; Patel, Janak H.

1990-01-01

The problem of recovering from processor transient faults in shared memory multiprocesses systems is examined. A user-transparent checkpointing and recovery scheme using private caches is presented. Processes can recover from errors due to faulty processors by restarting from the checkpointed computation state. Implementation techniques using checkpoint identifiers and recovery stacks are examined as a means of reducing performance degradation in processor utilization during normal execution. This cache-based checkpointing technique prevents rollback propagation, provides rapid recovery, and can be integrated into standard cache coherence protocols. An analytical model is used to estimate the relative performance of the scheme during normal execution. Extensions to take error latency into account are presented.

On Asymptotically Good Ramp Secret Sharing Schemes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geil, Olav; Martin, Stefano; Martínez-Peñas, Umberto; Matsumoto, Ryutaroh; Ruano, Diego

Asymptotically good sequences of linear ramp secret sharing schemes have been intensively studied by Cramer et al. in terms of sequences of pairs of nested algebraic geometric codes. In those works the focus is on full privacy and full reconstruction. In this paper we analyze additional parameters describing the asymptotic behavior of partial information leakage and possibly also partial reconstruction giving a more complete picture of the access structure for sequences of linear ramp secret sharing schemes. Our study involves a detailed treatment of the (relative) generalized Hamming weights of the considered codes.

Financial risk-sharing in updating the National List of Health Services in Israel: stakeholders' perceived interests.

PubMed

Hammerman, Ariel; Feder-Bubis, Paula; Greenberg, Dan

2012-01-01

Risk-sharing is being considered by many health care systems to address the financial risk associated with the adoption of new technologies. We explored major stakeholders' views toward the potential implementation of a financial risk-sharing mechanism regarding budget-impact estimates for adding new technologies to the Israeli National List of Health Services. According to our proposed scheme, health plans will be partially compensated by technology sponsors if the actual use of a technology is substantially higher than what was projected and health plans will refund the government for budgets that were not fully utilized. By using a semi-structured protocol, we interviewed major stakeholders involved in the process of updating the National List of Health Services (N = 31). We inquired into participants' views toward our proposed risk-sharing mechanism, whether the proposed scheme would achieve its purpose, its feasibility of implementation, and their opinion on the other stakeholders' incentives. Participants' considerations were classified into four main areas: financial, administrative/managerial, impact on patients' health, and influence on public image. Most participants agreed that the conceptual risk-sharing scheme will improve the accuracy of early budget estimates and were in favor of the proposed scheme, although Ministry of Finance officials tended to object to it. The successful implementation of risk-sharing schemes depends mainly on their perception as a win-win situation by all stakeholders. The perception exposed by our participants that risk-sharing can be a tool for improving the accuracy of early budget-impact estimates and the challenges pointed by them are relevant to other health care systems also and should be considered when implementing similar schemes. Copyright © 2012 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Privacy-Preserving and Secure Sharing of PHR in the Cloud.

PubMed

Zhang, Leyou; Wu, Qing; Mu, Yi; Zhang, Jingxia

2016-12-01

As a new summarized record of an individual's medical data and information, Personal Health Record (PHR) can be accessible online. The owner can control fully his/her PHR files to be shared with different users such as doctors, clinic agents, and friends. However, in an open network environment like in the Cloud, these sensitive privacy information may be gotten by those unauthorized parties and users. In this paper, we consider how to achieve PHR data confidentiality and provide fine-grained access control of PHR files in the public Cloud based on Attribute Based Encryption(ABE). Differing from previous works, we also consider the privacy preserving of the receivers since the attributes of the receivers relate to their identity or medical information, which would make some sensitive data exposed to third services. Anonymous ABE(AABE) not only enforces the security of PHR of the owners but also preserves the privacy of the receivers. But a normal AABE with a single private key generation(PKG) center may not match a PHR system in the hierarchical architecture. Therefore, we discuss not only the construction of the PHR sharing system base on AABE but also how to construct the PHR sharing system based on the hierarchical AABE. The proposed schemes(especially based on hierarchical AABE) have many advantages over the available such as short public keys, constant-size private keys, which overcome the weaknesses in the existing works. In the standard model, the introduced schemes achieve compact security in the prime order groups.

A cognitive gateway-based spectrum sharing method in downlink round robin scheduling of LTE system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Hongyu; Wu, Cheng; Wang, Yiming

2017-07-01

A key technique of LTE is how to allocate efficiently the resource of radio spectrum. Traditional Round Robin (RR) scheduling scheme may lead to too many resource residues when allocating resources. When the number of users in the current transmission time interval (TTI) is not the greatest common divisor of resource block groups (RBGs), and such a phenomenon lasts for a long time, the spectrum utilization would be greatly decreased. In this paper, a novel spectrum allocation scheme of cognitive gateway (CG) was proposed, in which the LTE spectrum utilization and CG’s throughput were greatly increased by allocating idle resource blocks in the shared TTI in LTE system to CG. Our simulation results show that the spectrum resource sharing method can improve LTE spectral utilization and increase the CG’s throughput as well as network use time.

Bargaining over an international water resource based on cooperative game theory concepts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madani, K.; Gholizadeh, S.

2011-12-01

Prior the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Caspian Sea was peacefully shared by Iran and the USSR, based on the two historic treaties between Iran (Persia) and Russia. Collapse of the USSR gave birth to one of the world's serious conflicts over international water resources. Since then, the five littoral states of the Caspian Sea, namely Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan have been negotiating over finding an appropriate allocation scheme for sharing the sea and its valuable energy and environmental resources. Although several solution methods have been proposed, the negotiating parties have been unsuccessful in developing a compromise solution. A range of bargaining solutions are used here to show how cooperative game theory can be used to develop fair and efficient allocation schemes to resolve the Caspian Sea conflict. It is also examined how the negotiators may use their powers to change their shares from the Caspian Sea resources. Finally, the stability of the suggested game theoretic solutions are tested to find the solution which is more acceptable by the negotiating parties.

Long-distance quantum communication over noisy networks without long-time quantum memory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mazurek, Paweł; Grudka, Andrzej; Horodecki, Michał; Horodecki, Paweł; Łodyga, Justyna; Pankowski, Łukasz; PrzysieŻna, Anna

2014-12-01

The problem of sharing entanglement over large distances is crucial for implementations of quantum cryptography. A possible scheme for long-distance entanglement sharing and quantum communication exploits networks whose nodes share Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) pairs. In Perseguers et al. [Phys. Rev. A 78, 062324 (2008), 10.1103/PhysRevA.78.062324] the authors put forward an important isomorphism between storing quantum information in a dimension D and transmission of quantum information in a D +1 -dimensional network. We show that it is possible to obtain long-distance entanglement in a noisy two-dimensional (2D) network, even when taking into account that encoding and decoding of a state is exposed to an error. For 3D networks we propose a simple encoding and decoding scheme based solely on syndrome measurements on 2D Kitaev topological quantum memory. Our procedure constitutes an alternative scheme of state injection that can be used for universal quantum computation on 2D Kitaev code. It is shown that the encoding scheme is equivalent to teleporting the state, from a specific node into a whole two-dimensional network, through some virtual EPR pair existing within the rest of network qubits. We present an analytic lower bound on fidelity of the encoding and decoding procedure, using as our main tool a modified metric on space-time lattice, deviating from a taxicab metric at the first and the last time slices.

Statistical mechanics of broadcast channels using low-density parity-check codes.

PubMed

Nakamura, Kazutaka; Kabashima, Yoshiyuki; Morelos-Zaragoza, Robert; Saad, David

2003-03-01

We investigate the use of Gallager's low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes in a degraded broadcast channel, one of the fundamental models in network information theory. Combining linear codes is a standard technique in practical network communication schemes and is known to provide better performance than simple time sharing methods when algebraic codes are used. The statistical physics based analysis shows that the practical performance of the suggested method, achieved by employing the belief propagation algorithm, is superior to that of LDPC based time sharing codes while the best performance, when received transmissions are optimally decoded, is bounded by the time sharing limit.

Force sharing in high-power parallel servo-actuators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neal, T. P.

1974-01-01

The various existing force sharing schemes were examined by conducting a literature survey. A list of potentially applicable concepts was compiled from this survey, and a brief analysis was then made of each concept, which resulted in two competing schemes being selected for in-depth evaluation. A functional design of the equalization logic for the two schemes was undertaken and specific space shuttle application was chosen for experimental evaluation. The application was scaled down so that existing hardware could be utilized. Next, an analog computer study was conducted to evaluate the more important characteristics of the two competing force sharing schemes. On the basis of the computers study, a final configuration was selected. A load simulator was then designed to evaluate this configuration on actual hardware.

Quantum computers based on electron spins controlled by ultrafast off-resonant single optical pulses.

PubMed

Clark, Susan M; Fu, Kai-Mei C; Ladd, Thaddeus D; Yamamoto, Yoshihisa

2007-07-27

We describe a fast quantum computer based on optically controlled electron spins in charged quantum dots that are coupled to microcavities. This scheme uses broadband optical pulses to rotate electron spins and provide the clock signal to the system. Nonlocal two-qubit gates are performed by phase shifts induced by electron spins on laser pulses propagating along a shared waveguide. Numerical simulations of this scheme demonstrate high-fidelity single-qubit and two-qubit gates with operation times comparable to the inverse Zeeman frequency.

An Efficient Searchable Encryption Against Keyword Guessing Attacks for Sharable Electronic Medical Records in Cloud-based System.

PubMed

Wu, Yilun; Lu, Xicheng; Su, Jinshu; Chen, Peixin

2016-12-01

Preserving the privacy of electronic medical records (EMRs) is extremely important especially when medical systems adopt cloud services to store patients' electronic medical records. Considering both the privacy and the utilization of EMRs, some medical systems apply searchable encryption to encrypt EMRs and enable authorized users to search over these encrypted records. Since individuals would like to share their EMRs with multiple persons, how to design an efficient searchable encryption for sharable EMRs is still a very challenge work. In this paper, we propose a cost-efficient secure channel free searchable encryption (SCF-PEKS) scheme for sharable EMRs. Comparing with existing SCF-PEKS solutions, our scheme reduces the storage overhead and achieves better computation performance. Moreover, our scheme can guard against keyword guessing attack, which is neglected by most of the existing schemes. Finally, we implement both our scheme and a latest medical-based scheme to evaluate the performance. The evaluation results show that our scheme performs much better performance than the latest one for sharable EMRs.

Privacy-preserving photo sharing based on a public key infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Lin; McNally, David; Küpçü, Alptekin; Ebrahimi, Touradj

2015-09-01

A significant number of pictures are posted to social media sites or exchanged through instant messaging and cloud-based sharing services. Most social media services offer a range of access control mechanisms to protect users privacy. As it is not in the best interest of many such services if their users restrict access to their shared pictures, most services keep users' photos unprotected which makes them available to all insiders. This paper presents an architecture for a privacy-preserving photo sharing based on an image scrambling scheme and a public key infrastructure. A secure JPEG scrambling is applied to protect regional visual information in photos. Protected images are still compatible with JPEG coding and therefore can be viewed by any one on any device. However, only those who are granted secret keys will be able to descramble the photos and view their original versions. The proposed architecture applies an attribute-based encryption along with conventional public key cryptography, to achieve secure transmission of secret keys and a fine-grained control over who may view shared photos. In addition, we demonstrate the practical feasibility of the proposed photo sharing architecture with a prototype mobile application, ProShare, which is built based on iOS platform.

Reliability demonstration test for load-sharing systems with exponential and Weibull components

PubMed Central

Hu, Qingpei; Yu, Dan; Xie, Min

2017-01-01

Conducting a Reliability Demonstration Test (RDT) is a crucial step in production. Products are tested under certain schemes to demonstrate whether their reliability indices reach pre-specified thresholds. Test schemes for RDT have been studied in different situations, e.g., lifetime testing, degradation testing and accelerated testing. Systems designed with several structures are also investigated in many RDT plans. Despite the availability of a range of test plans for different systems, RDT planning for load-sharing systems hasn’t yet received the attention it deserves. In this paper, we propose a demonstration method for two specific types of load-sharing systems with components subject to two distributions: exponential and Weibull. Based on the assumptions and interpretations made in several previous works on such load-sharing systems, we set the mean time to failure (MTTF) of the total system as the demonstration target. We represent the MTTF as a summation of mean time between successive component failures. Next, we introduce generalized test statistics for both the underlying distributions. Finally, RDT plans for the two types of systems are established on the basis of these test statistics. PMID:29284030

Reliability demonstration test for load-sharing systems with exponential and Weibull components.

PubMed

Xu, Jianyu; Hu, Qingpei; Yu, Dan; Xie, Min

2017-01-01

Conducting a Reliability Demonstration Test (RDT) is a crucial step in production. Products are tested under certain schemes to demonstrate whether their reliability indices reach pre-specified thresholds. Test schemes for RDT have been studied in different situations, e.g., lifetime testing, degradation testing and accelerated testing. Systems designed with several structures are also investigated in many RDT plans. Despite the availability of a range of test plans for different systems, RDT planning for load-sharing systems hasn't yet received the attention it deserves. In this paper, we propose a demonstration method for two specific types of load-sharing systems with components subject to two distributions: exponential and Weibull. Based on the assumptions and interpretations made in several previous works on such load-sharing systems, we set the mean time to failure (MTTF) of the total system as the demonstration target. We represent the MTTF as a summation of mean time between successive component failures. Next, we introduce generalized test statistics for both the underlying distributions. Finally, RDT plans for the two types of systems are established on the basis of these test statistics.

(LBA-and-WRM)-based DBA scheme for multi-wavelength upstream transmission supporting 10 Gbps and 1 Gbps in MAN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yuchao; Gan, Chaoqin; Gou, Kaiyu; Xu, Anni; Ma, Jiamin

2018-01-01

DBA scheme based on Load balance algorithm (LBA) and wavelength recycle mechanism (WRM) for multi-wavelength upstream transmission is proposed in this paper. According to 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps line rates, ONUs are grouped into different VPONs. To facilitate wavelength management, resource pool is proposed to record wavelength state. To realize quantitative analysis, a mathematical model describing metro-access network (MAN) environment is presented. To 10G-EPON upstream, load balance algorithm is designed to ensure load distribution fairness for 10G-OLTs. To 1G-EPON upstream, wavelength recycle mechanism is designed to share remained wavelengths. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed scheme is demonstrated by simulation and analysis.

Farmer Attitudes and Livestock Disease: Exploring Citizenship Behaviour and Peer Monitoring across Two BVD Control Schemes in the UK.

PubMed

Heffernan, Claire; Azbel-Jackson, Lena; Brownlie, Joe; Gunn, George

2016-01-01

The eradication of BVD in the UK is technically possible but appears to be socially untenable. The following study explored farmer attitudes to BVD control schemes in relation to advice networks and information sharing, shared aims and goals, motivation and benefits of membership, notions of BVD as a priority disease and attitudes toward regulation. Two concepts from the organisational management literature framed the study: citizenship behaviour where actions of individuals support the collective good (but are not explicitly recognised as such) and peer to peer monitoring (where individuals evaluate other's behaviour). Farmers from two BVD control schemes in the UK participated in the study: Orkney Livestock Association BVD Eradication Scheme and Norfolk and Suffolk Cattle Breeders Association BVD Eradication Scheme. In total 162 farmers participated in the research (109 in-scheme and 53 out of scheme). The findings revealed that group helping and information sharing among scheme members was low with a positive BVD status subject to social censure. Peer monitoring in the form of gossip with regard to the animal health status of other farms was high. Interestingly, farmers across both schemes supported greater regulation with regard to animal health, largely due to the mistrust of fellow farmers following voluntary disease control measures. While group cohesiveness varied across the two schemes, without continued financial inducements, longer-term sustainability is questionable.

A new scheme of force reflecting control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Won S.

1992-01-01

A new scheme of force reflecting control has been developed that incorporates position-error-based force reflection and robot compliance control. The operator is provided with a kinesthetic force feedback which is proportional to the position error between the operator-commanded and the actual position of the robot arm. Robot compliance control, which increases the effective compliance of the robot, is implemented by low pass filtering the outputs of the force/torque sensor mounted on the base of robot hand and using these signals to alter the operator's position command. This position-error-based force reflection scheme combined with shared compliance control has been implemented successfully to the Advanced Teleoperation system consisting of dissimilar master-slave arms. Stability measurements have demonstrated unprecedentedly high force reflection gains of up to 2 or 3, even though the slave arm is much stiffer than operator's hand holding the force reflecting hand controller. Peg-in-hole experiments were performed with eight different operating modes to evaluate the new force-reflecting control scheme. Best task performance resulted with this new control scheme.

Semi-quantum communication: protocols for key agreement, controlled secure direct communication and dialogue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shukla, Chitra; Thapliyal, Kishore; Pathak, Anirban

2017-12-01

Semi-quantum protocols that allow some of the users to remain classical are proposed for a large class of problems associated with secure communication and secure multiparty computation. Specifically, first-time semi-quantum protocols are proposed for key agreement, controlled deterministic secure communication and dialogue, and it is shown that the semi-quantum protocols for controlled deterministic secure communication and dialogue can be reduced to semi-quantum protocols for e-commerce and private comparison (socialist millionaire problem), respectively. Complementing with the earlier proposed semi-quantum schemes for key distribution, secret sharing and deterministic secure communication, set of schemes proposed here and subsequent discussions have established that almost every secure communication and computation tasks that can be performed using fully quantum protocols can also be performed in semi-quantum manner. Some of the proposed schemes are completely orthogonal-state-based, and thus, fundamentally different from the existing semi-quantum schemes that are conjugate coding-based. Security, efficiency and applicability of the proposed schemes have been discussed with appropriate importance.

Security analysis and enhanced user authentication in proxy mobile IPv6 networks

PubMed Central

Kang, Dongwoo; Jung, Jaewook; Lee, Donghoon; Kim, Hyoungshick

2017-01-01

The Proxy Mobile IPv6 (PMIPv6) is a network-based mobility management protocol that allows a Mobile Node(MN) connected to the PMIPv6 domain to move from one network to another without changing the assigned IPv6 address. The user authentication procedure in this protocol is not standardized, but many smartcard based authentication schemes have been proposed. Recently, Alizadeh et al. proposed an authentication scheme for the PMIPv6. However, it could allow an attacker to derive an encryption key that must be securely shared between MN and the Mobile Access Gate(MAG). As a result, outsider adversary can derive MN’s identity, password and session key. In this paper, we analyze Alizadeh et al.’s scheme regarding security and propose an enhanced authentication scheme that uses a dynamic identity to satisfy anonymity. Furthermore, we use BAN logic to show that our scheme can successfully generate and communicate with the inter-entity session key. PMID:28719621

New power sharing control for inverter-dominated microgrid based on impedance match concept.

PubMed

Gu, Herong; Wang, Deyu; Shen, Hong; Zhao, Wei; Guo, Xiaoqiang

2013-01-01

Power flow control is one of the most important issues for operating the inverter-dominated autonomous microgrid. A technical challenge is how to achieve the accurate active/reactive power sharing of inverters. P-F and Q-V droop control schemes have been widely used for power sharing in the past decades. But they suffer from the poor power sharing in the presence of unequal line impedance. In order to solve the problem, a comprehensive analysis of the power droop control is presented, and a new droop control based on the impedance match concept is proposed in this paper. In addition, the design guidelines of control coefficients and virtual impedance are provided. Finally, the performance evaluation is carried out, and the evaluation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Quantum coordinated multi-point communication based on entanglement swapping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Gang; Shang, Tao; Liu, Jian-wei

2017-05-01

In a quantum network, adjacent nodes can communicate with each other point to point by using pre-shared Einsten-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) pairs, and furthermore remote nodes can establish entanglement channels by using quantum routing among intermediate nodes. However, with the rapid development of quantum networks, the demand of various message transmission among nodes inevitably emerges. In order to realize this goal and extend quantum networks, we propose a quantum coordinated multi-point communication scheme based on entanglement swapping. The scheme takes full advantage of EPR pairs between adjacent nodes and performs multi-party entanglement swapping to transmit messages. Considering various demands of communication, all nodes work cooperatively to realize different message transmission modes, including one to many, many to one and one to some. Scheme analysis shows that the proposed scheme can flexibly organize a coordinated group and efficiently use EPR resources, while it meets basic security requirement under the condition of coordinated communication.

Verifiable Secret Redistribution for Threshold Sharing Schemes

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-02-01

complete verification in our protocol, old shareholders broadcast a commitment to the secret to the new shareholders. We prove that the new...of an m − 1 degree polynomial from m of n points yields a constant term in 1 the polynomial that corresponds to the secret . In Blakley’s scheme [Bla79...the intersection of m of n vector spaces yields a one-dimensional vector that corresponds to the secret . Desmedt surveys other sharing schemes

Deterministic Joint Remote Preparation of Arbitrary Four-Qubit Cluster-Type State Using EPR Pairs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Wenqian; Chen, Hanwu; Liu, Zhihao

2017-02-01

Using four Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) pairs as the pre-shared quantum channel, an economic and feasible scheme for deterministic joint remote preparation of the four-particle cluster-type state is presented. In the scheme, one of the senders performs a four-qubit projective measurement based on a set of ingeniously constructed vectors with real coefficients, while the other performs the bipartite projective measurements in terms of the imaginary coefficients. Followed with some appropriate unitary operations and controlled-NOT operations, the receiver can reconstruct the desired state. Compared with other analogous JRSP schemes, our scheme can not only reconstruct the original state (to be prepared remotely) with unit successful probability, but also ensure greater efficiency.

A copyright protection scheme for digital images based on shuffled singular value decomposition and visual cryptography.

PubMed

Devi, B Pushpa; Singh, Kh Manglem; Roy, Sudipta

2016-01-01

This paper proposes a new watermarking algorithm based on the shuffled singular value decomposition and the visual cryptography for copyright protection of digital images. It generates the ownership and identification shares of the image based on visual cryptography. It decomposes the image into low and high frequency sub-bands. The low frequency sub-band is further divided into blocks of same size after shuffling it and then the singular value decomposition is applied to each randomly selected block. Shares are generated by comparing one of the elements in the first column of the left orthogonal matrix with its corresponding element in the right orthogonal matrix of the singular value decomposition of the block of the low frequency sub-band. The experimental results show that the proposed scheme clearly verifies the copyright of the digital images, and is robust to withstand several image processing attacks. Comparison with the other related visual cryptography-based algorithms reveals that the proposed method gives better performance. The proposed method is especially resilient against the rotation attack.

Resource allocation in shared spectrum access communications for operators with diverse service requirements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kibria, Mirza Golam; Villardi, Gabriel Porto; Ishizu, Kentaro; Kojima, Fumihide; Yano, Hiroyuki

2016-12-01

In this paper, we study inter-operator spectrum sharing and intra-operator resource allocation in shared spectrum access communication systems and propose efficient dynamic solutions to address both inter-operator and intra-operator resource allocation optimization problems. For inter-operator spectrum sharing, we present two competent approaches, namely the subcarrier gain-based sharing and fragmentation-based sharing, which carry out fair and flexible allocation of the available shareable spectrum among the operators subject to certain well-defined sharing rules, traffic demands, and channel propagation characteristics. The subcarrier gain-based spectrum sharing scheme has been found to be more efficient in terms of achieved throughput. However, the fragmentation-based sharing is more attractive in terms of computational complexity. For intra-operator resource allocation, we consider resource allocation problem with users' dissimilar service requirements, where the operator supports users with delay constraint and non-delay constraint service requirements, simultaneously. This optimization problem is a mixed-integer non-linear programming problem and non-convex, which is computationally very expensive, and the complexity grows exponentially with the number of integer variables. We propose less-complex and efficient suboptimal solution based on formulating exact linearization, linear approximation, and convexification techniques for the non-linear and/or non-convex objective functions and constraints. Extensive simulation performance analysis has been carried out that validates the efficiency of the proposed solution.

Trusted measurement model based on multitenant behaviors.

PubMed

Ning, Zhen-Hu; Shen, Chang-Xiang; Zhao, Yong; Liang, Peng

2014-01-01

With a fast growing pervasive computing, especially cloud computing, the behaviour measurement is at the core and plays a vital role. A new behaviour measurement tailored for Multitenants in cloud computing is needed urgently to fundamentally establish trust relationship. Based on our previous research, we propose an improved trust relationship scheme which captures the world of cloud computing where multitenants share the same physical computing platform. Here, we first present the related work on multitenant behaviour; secondly, we give the scheme of behaviour measurement where decoupling of multitenants is taken into account; thirdly, we explicitly explain our decoupling algorithm for multitenants; fourthly, we introduce a new way of similarity calculation for deviation control, which fits the coupled multitenants under study well; lastly, we design the experiments to test our scheme.

Trusted Measurement Model Based on Multitenant Behaviors

PubMed Central

Ning, Zhen-Hu; Shen, Chang-Xiang; Zhao, Yong; Liang, Peng

2014-01-01

With a fast growing pervasive computing, especially cloud computing, the behaviour measurement is at the core and plays a vital role. A new behaviour measurement tailored for Multitenants in cloud computing is needed urgently to fundamentally establish trust relationship. Based on our previous research, we propose an improved trust relationship scheme which captures the world of cloud computing where multitenants share the same physical computing platform. Here, we first present the related work on multitenant behaviour; secondly, we give the scheme of behaviour measurement where decoupling of multitenants is taken into account; thirdly, we explicitly explain our decoupling algorithm for multitenants; fourthly, we introduce a new way of similarity calculation for deviation control, which fits the coupled multitenants under study well; lastly, we design the experiments to test our scheme. PMID:24987731

A Novel Complex-Coefficient In-Band Interference Suppression Algorithm for Cognitive Ultra-Wide Band Wireless Sensors Networks.

PubMed

Xiong, Hailiang; Zhang, Wensheng; Xu, Hongji; Du, Zhengfeng; Tang, Huaibin; Li, Jing

2017-05-25

With the rapid development of wireless communication systems and electronic techniques, the limited frequency spectrum resources are shared with various wireless devices, leading to a crowded and challenging coexistence circumstance. Cognitive radio (CR) and ultra-wide band (UWB), as sophisticated wireless techniques, have been considered as significant solutions to solve the harmonious coexistence issues. UWB wireless sensors can share the spectrum with primary user (PU) systems without harmful interference. The in-band interference of UWB systems should be considered because such interference can severely affect the transmissions of UWB wireless systems. In order to solve the in-band interference issues for UWB wireless sensor networks (WSN), a novel in-band narrow band interferences (NBIs) elimination scheme is proposed in this paper. The proposed narrow band interferences suppression scheme is based on a novel complex-coefficient adaptive notch filter unit with a single constrained zero-pole pair. Moreover, in order to reduce the computation complexity of the proposed scheme, an adaptive complex-coefficient iterative method based on two-order Taylor series is designed. To cope with multiple narrow band interferences, a linear cascaded high order adaptive filter and a cyclic cascaded high order matrix adaptive filter (CCHOMAF) interference suppression algorithm based on the basic adaptive notch filter unit are also presented. The theoretical analysis and numerical simulation results indicate that the proposed CCHOMAF algorithm can achieve better performance in terms of average bit error rate for UWB WSNs. The proposed in-band NBIs elimination scheme can significantly improve the reception performance of low-cost and low-power UWB wireless systems.

A Novel Complex-Coefficient In-Band Interference Suppression Algorithm for Cognitive Ultra-Wide Band Wireless Sensors Networks

PubMed Central

Xiong, Hailiang; Zhang, Wensheng; Xu, Hongji; Du, Zhengfeng; Tang, Huaibin; Li, Jing

2017-01-01

With the rapid development of wireless communication systems and electronic techniques, the limited frequency spectrum resources are shared with various wireless devices, leading to a crowded and challenging coexistence circumstance. Cognitive radio (CR) and ultra-wide band (UWB), as sophisticated wireless techniques, have been considered as significant solutions to solve the harmonious coexistence issues. UWB wireless sensors can share the spectrum with primary user (PU) systems without harmful interference. The in-band interference of UWB systems should be considered because such interference can severely affect the transmissions of UWB wireless systems. In order to solve the in-band interference issues for UWB wireless sensor networks (WSN), a novel in-band narrow band interferences (NBIs) elimination scheme is proposed in this paper. The proposed narrow band interferences suppression scheme is based on a novel complex-coefficient adaptive notch filter unit with a single constrained zero-pole pair. Moreover, in order to reduce the computation complexity of the proposed scheme, an adaptive complex-coefficient iterative method based on two-order Taylor series is designed. To cope with multiple narrow band interferences, a linear cascaded high order adaptive filter and a cyclic cascaded high order matrix adaptive filter (CCHOMAF) interference suppression algorithm based on the basic adaptive notch filter unit are also presented. The theoretical analysis and numerical simulation results indicate that the proposed CCHOMAF algorithm can achieve better performance in terms of average bit error rate for UWB WSNs. The proposed in-band NBIs elimination scheme can significantly improve the reception performance of low-cost and low-power UWB wireless systems. PMID:28587085

Cache Sharing and Isolation Tradeoffs in Multicore Mixed-Criticality Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-05-01

of lockdown registers, to provide way-based partitioning. These alternatives are illustrated in Fig. 1 with respect to a quad-core ARM Cortex A9...presented a cache-partitioning scheme that allows multiple tasks to share the same cache partition on a single processor (as we do for Level-A and...sets and determined the fraction that were schedulable on our target hardware platform, the quad-core ARM Cortex A9 machine mentioned earlier, the LLC

New Power Sharing Control for Inverter-Dominated Microgrid Based on Impedance Match Concept

PubMed Central

Gu, Herong; Wang, Deyu; Shen, Hong; Zhao, Wei; Guo, Xiaoqiang

2013-01-01

Power flow control is one of the most important issues for operating the inverter-dominated autonomous microgrid. A technical challenge is how to achieve the accurate active/reactive power sharing of inverters. P-F and Q-V droop control schemes have been widely used for power sharing in the past decades. But they suffer from the poor power sharing in the presence of unequal line impedance. In order to solve the problem, a comprehensive analysis of the power droop control is presented, and a new droop control based on the impedance match concept is proposed in this paper. In addition, the design guidelines of control coefficients and virtual impedance are provided. Finally, the performance evaluation is carried out, and the evaluation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. PMID:24453910

Experimental circular quantum secret sharing over telecom fiber network.

PubMed

Wei, Ke-Jin; Ma, Hai-Qiang; Yang, Jian-Hui

2013-07-15

We present a robust single photon circular quantum secret sharing (QSS) scheme with phase encoding over 50 km single mode fiber network using a circular QSS protocol. Our scheme can automatically provide a perfect compensation of birefringence and remain stable for a long time. A high visibility of 99.3% is obtained. Furthermore, our scheme realizes a polarization insensitive phase modulators. The visibility of this system can be maintained perpetually without any adjustment to the system every time we test the system.

Multi-party semi-quantum key distribution-convertible multi-party semi-quantum secret sharing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Kun-Fei; Gu, Jun; Hwang, Tzonelih; Gope, Prosanta

2017-08-01

This paper proposes a multi-party semi-quantum secret sharing (MSQSS) protocol which allows a quantum party (manager) to share a secret among several classical parties (agents) based on GHZ-like states. By utilizing the special properties of GHZ-like states, the proposed scheme can easily detect outside eavesdropping attacks and has the highest qubit efficiency among the existing MSQSS protocols. Then, we illustrate an efficient way to convert the proposed MSQSS protocol into a multi-party semi-quantum key distribution (MSQKD) protocol. The proposed approach is even useful to convert all the existing measure-resend type of semi-quantum secret sharing protocols into semi-quantum key distribution protocols.

Sequential Quantum Secret Sharing Using a Single Qudit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Chen-Ming; Li, Zhi-Hui; Li, Yong-Ming

2018-05-01

In this paper we propose a novel and efficient quantum secret sharing protocol using d-level single particle, which it can realize a general access structure via the thought of concatenation. In addition, Our scheme includes all advantages of Tavakoli’s scheme [Phys. Rev. A 92 (2015) 030302(R)]. In contrast to Tavakoli’s scheme, the efficiency of our scheme is 1 for the same situation, and the access structure is more general and has advantages in practical significance. Furthermore, we also analyze the security of our scheme in the primary quantum attacks. Sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 61373150 and 61602291, and Industrial Research and Development Project of Science and Technology of Shaanxi Province under Grant No. 2013k0611

Quantum secret sharing using orthogonal multiqudit entangled states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Chen-Ming; Li, Zhi-Hui; Liu, Cheng-Ji; Li, Yong-Ming

2017-12-01

In this work, we investigate the distinguishability of orthogonal multiqudit entangled states under restricted local operations and classical communication. According to these properties, we propose a quantum secret sharing scheme to realize three types of access structures, i.e., the ( n, n)-threshold, the restricted (3, n)-threshold and restricted (4, n)-threshold schemes (called LOCC-QSS scheme). All cooperating players in the restricted threshold schemes are from two disjoint groups. In the proposed protocol, the participants use the computational basis measurement and classical communication to distinguish between those orthogonal states and reconstruct the original secret. Furthermore, we also analyze the security of our scheme in four primary quantum attacks and give a simple encoding method in order to better prevent the participant conspiracy attack.

Quantum secret sharing using the d-dimensional GHZ state

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Chen-Ming; Li, Zhi-Hui; Xu, Ting-Ting; Li, Yong-Ming

2017-03-01

We propose a quantum secret sharing scheme that uses an orthogonal pair of n-qudit GHZ states and local distinguishability. In the proposed protocol, the participants use an X-basis measurement and classical communication to distinguish between the two orthogonal states and reconstruct the original secret. We also present (2, n)-threshold and generalized restricted (2, n)-threshold schemes that enable any two cooperating players from two disjoint groups to always reconstruct the secret. Compared to the existing scheme by Rahaman and Parker (Phys Rev A 91:022330, 2015), the proposed scheme is more general and the access structure contains more authorized sets.

Microinsurance: innovations in low-cost health insurance.

PubMed

Dror, David M; Radermacher, Ralf; Khadilkar, Shrikant B; Schout, Petra; Hay, François-Xavier; Singh, Arbind; Koren, Ruth

2009-01-01

Microinsurance--low-cost health insurance based on a community, cooperative, or mutual and self-help arrangements-can provide financial protection for poor households and improve access to health care. However, low benefit caps and a low share of premiums paid as benefits--both designed to keep these arrangements in business--perversely limited these schemes' ability to extend coverage, offer financial protection, and retain members. We studied three schemes in India, two of which are member-operated and one a commercial scheme, using household surveys of insured and uninsured households and interviews with managers. All three enrolled poor households and raised their use of hospital services, as intended. Financial exposure was greatest, and protection was least, in the commercial scheme, which imposed the lowest caps on benefits and where income was the lowest.

Determinants of enrollment of informal sector workers in cooperative based health scheme in Bangladesh.

PubMed

Sarker, Abdur Razzaque; Sultana, Marufa; Mahumud, Rashidul Alam; Ahmed, Sayem; Islam, Ziaul; Morton, Alec; Khan, Jahangir A M

2017-01-01

Providing access to affordable health care for the informal sector remains a considerable challenge for low income countries striving to make progress towards universal health coverage. The objective of the study is to identify the factors shaping the decision to enroll in a cooperative based health scheme for informal workers in Bangladesh and also help to identify the features of informal workers without health schemes and their likelihood of being insured. Data were derived from a cross-sectional in-house survey within the catchment area of a cooperative based health scheme in Bangladesh during April-June 2014, covering a total of 784 households (458 members and 326 non-members). Multivariate logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with cooperative based health scheme and explanatory variables. This study found that a number of factors were significant determinants of health scheme participation including sex of household head, household composition, occupational category as well as involvement social financial safety net programs. Findings from this study can be suggestive for policy-makers interested in scaling up health insurance for informal workers in Bangladesh. Shared funding from this large informal sector can generate new resources for healthcare, which is in line with the healthcare financing strategy of Bangladesh as well as the recommendation of the World Health Organization for developing social health insurance as part of the path to Universal Health Coverage.

Network-based Arbitrated Quantum Signature Scheme with Graph State

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Hongling; Li, Fei; Mao, Ningyi; Wang, Yijun; Guo, Ying

2017-08-01

Implementing an arbitrated quantum signature(QAS) through complex networks is an interesting cryptography technology in the literature. In this paper, we propose an arbitrated quantum signature for the multi-user-involved networks, whose topological structures are established by the encoded graph state. The determinative transmission of the shared keys, is enabled by the appropriate stabilizers performed on the graph state. The implementation of this scheme depends on the deterministic distribution of the multi-user-shared graph state on which the encoded message can be processed in signing and verifying phases. There are four parties involved, the signatory Alice, the verifier Bob, the arbitrator Trent and Dealer who assists the legal participants in the signature generation and verification. The security is guaranteed by the entanglement of the encoded graph state which is cooperatively prepared by legal participants in complex quantum networks.

Simple Peer-to-Peer SIP Privacy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koskela, Joakim; Tarkoma, Sasu

In this paper, we introduce a model for enhancing privacy in peer-to-peer communication systems. The model is based on data obfuscation, preventing intermediate nodes from tracking calls, while still utilizing the shared resources of the peer network. This increases security when moving between untrusted, limited and ad-hoc networks, when the user is forced to rely on peer-to-peer schemes. The model is evaluated using a Host Identity Protocol-based prototype on mobile devices, and is found to provide good privacy, especially when combined with a source address hiding scheme. The contribution of this paper is to present the model and results obtained from its use, including usability considerations.

Secure Communications in CIoT Networks with a Wireless Energy Harvesting Untrusted Relay

PubMed Central

Hu, Hequn; Liao, Xuewen

2017-01-01

The Internet of Things (IoT) represents a bright prospect that a variety of common appliances can connect to one another, as well as with the rest of the Internet, to vastly improve our lives. Unique communication and security challenges have been brought out by the limited hardware, low-complexity, and severe energy constraints of IoT devices. In addition, a severe spectrum scarcity problem has also been stimulated by the use of a large number of IoT devices. In this paper, cognitive IoT (CIoT) is considered where an IoT network works as the secondary system using underlay spectrum sharing. A wireless energy harvesting (EH) node is used as a relay to improve the coverage of an IoT device. However, the relay could be a potential eavesdropper to intercept the IoT device’s messages. This paper considers the problem of secure communication between the IoT device (e.g., sensor) and a destination (e.g., controller) via the wireless EH untrusted relay. Since the destination can be equipped with adequate energy supply, secure schemes based on destination-aided jamming are proposed based on power splitting (PS) and time splitting (TS) policies, called intuitive secure schemes based on PS (Int-PS), precoded secure scheme based on PS (Pre-PS), intuitive secure scheme based on TS (Int-TS) and precoded secure scheme based on TS (Pre-TS), respectively. The secure performances of the proposed schemes are evaluated through the metric of probability of successfully secure transmission (PSST), which represents the probability that the interference constraint of the primary user is satisfied and the secrecy rate is positive. PSST is analyzed for the proposed secure schemes, and the closed form expressions of PSST for Pre-PS and Pre-TS are derived and validated through simulation results. Numerical results show that the precoded secure schemes have better PSST than the intuitive secure schemes under similar power consumption. When the secure schemes based on PS and TS polices have similar PSST, the average transmit power consumption of the secure scheme based on TS is lower. The influences of power splitting and time slitting ratios are also discussed through simulations. PMID:28869540

On fuzzy semantic similarity measure for DNA coding.

PubMed

Ahmad, Muneer; Jung, Low Tang; Bhuiyan, Md Al-Amin

2016-02-01

A coding measure scheme numerically translates the DNA sequence to a time domain signal for protein coding regions identification. A number of coding measure schemes based on numerology, geometry, fixed mapping, statistical characteristics and chemical attributes of nucleotides have been proposed in recent decades. Such coding measure schemes lack the biologically meaningful aspects of nucleotide data and hence do not significantly discriminate coding regions from non-coding regions. This paper presents a novel fuzzy semantic similarity measure (FSSM) coding scheme centering on FSSM codons׳ clustering and genetic code context of nucleotides. Certain natural characteristics of nucleotides i.e. appearance as a unique combination of triplets, preserving special structure and occurrence, and ability to own and share density distributions in codons have been exploited in FSSM. The nucleotides׳ fuzzy behaviors, semantic similarities and defuzzification based on the center of gravity of nucleotides revealed a strong correlation between nucleotides in codons. The proposed FSSM coding scheme attains a significant enhancement in coding regions identification i.e. 36-133% as compared to other existing coding measure schemes tested over more than 250 benchmarked and randomly taken DNA datasets of different organisms. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Insecurity of position-based quantum-cryptography protocols against entanglement attacks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lau, Hoi-Kwan; Lo, Hoi-Kwong

2011-01-15

Recently, position-based quantum cryptography has been claimed to be unconditionally secure. On the contrary, here we show that the existing proposals for position-based quantum cryptography are, in fact, insecure if entanglement is shared among two adversaries. Specifically, we demonstrate how the adversaries can incorporate ideas of quantum teleportation and quantum secret sharing to compromise the security with certainty. The common flaw to all current protocols is that the Pauli operators always map a codeword to a codeword (up to an irrelevant overall phase). We propose a modified scheme lacking this property in which the same cheating strategy used to underminemore » the previous protocols can succeed with a rate of at most 85%. We prove the modified protocol is secure when the shared quantum resource between the adversaries is a two- or three-level system.« less

Pricing schemes for new drugs: a welfare analysis.

PubMed

Levaggi, Rosella

2014-02-01

Drug price regulation is acquiring increasing significance in the investment choices of the pharmaceutical sector. The overall objective is to determine an optimal trade-off between the incentives for innovation, consumer protection, and value for money. However, price regulation is itself a source of distortion. In this study, we examine the welfare properties of listing through a bargaining process and value-based pricing schemes. The latter are superior instruments to uncertain listing processes for maximising total welfare, but the distribution of the benefits between consumers and the industry depends on rate of rebate chosen by the regulator. However, through an appropriate choice, it is always possible to define a value-based pricing scheme with risk sharing, which both consumers and the industry prefer to an uncertain bargaining process. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Access Scheme for Controlling Mobile Agents and its Application to Share Medical Information.

PubMed

Liao, Yu-Ting; Chen, Tzer-Shyong; Chen, Tzer-Long; Chung, Yu-Fang; Chen, Yu- Xin; Hwang, Jen-Hung; Wang, Huihui; Wei, Wei

2016-05-01

This study is showing the advantage of mobile agents to conquer heterogeneous system environments and contribute to a virtual integrated sharing system. Mobile agents will collect medical information from each medical institution as a method to achieve the medical purpose of data sharing. Besides, this research also provides an access control and key management mechanism by adopting Public key cryptography and Lagrange interpolation. The safety analysis of the system is based on a network attacker's perspective. The achievement of this study tries to improve the medical quality, prevent wasting medical resources and make medical resources access to appropriate configuration.

Proximity-based access control for context-sensitive information provision in SOA-based systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajappan, Gowri; Wang, Xiaofei; Grant, Robert; Paulini, Matthew

2014-06-01

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) has enabled open-architecture integration of applications within an enterprise. For net-centric Command and Control (C2), this elucidates information sharing between applications and users, a critical requirement for mission success. The Information Technology (IT) access control schemes, which arbitrate who gets access to what information, do not yet have the contextual knowledge to dynamically allow this information sharing to happen dynamically. The access control might prevent legitimate users from accessing information relevant to the current mission context, since this context may be very different from the context for which the access privileges were configured. We evaluate a pair of data relevance measures - proximity and risk - and use these as the basis of dynamic access control. Proximity is a measure of the strength of connection between the user and the resource. However, proximity is not sufficient, since some data might have a negative impact, if leaked, which far outweighs importance to the subject's mission. For this, we use a risk measure to quantify the downside of data compromise. Given these contextual measures of proximity and risk, we investigate extending Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC), which is used by the Department of Defense, and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), which is widely used in the civilian market, so that these standards-based access control models are given contextual knowledge to enable dynamic information sharing. Furthermore, we consider the use of such a contextual access control scheme in a SOA-based environment, in particular for net-centric C2.

A Privacy-Protecting Multi-Coupon Scheme with Stronger Protection Against Splitting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Liqun; Escalante B., Alberto N.; Löhr, Hans; Manulis, Mark; Sadeghi, Ahmad-Reza

A multi-coupon (MC) represents a collection of k coupons that a user can redeem to a vendor in exchange for some goods or services. Nguyen (FC 2006), deepening the ideas of Chen et al. (FC 2005), introduced an unforgeable privacy-protecting MC system with constant complexity for issuing and redemption of MCs, that discourages sharing of coupons through a property called weak unsplittability, where sharing of a single coupon implies sharing of the whole multi-coupon (all-or-nothing sharing). Both schemes still lack some features required by many applications in practice, and also stronger forms of unsplittability are desirable. In this paper, we propose a new security model for MC systems with stronger definitions, followed by a concrete realization where single coupons within a MC may represent different goods or services, have independent validity periods, and must be redeemed sequentially ensuring a stronger version of unsplittability compared to all-or-nothing sharing. The complexity of the proposed scheme is linear in k for the generation of multi-coupons and constant for each redeemed single coupon.

Cheating prevention in visual cryptography.

PubMed

Hu, Chih-Ming; Tzeng, Wen-Guey

2007-01-01

Visual cryptography (VC) is a method of encrypting a secret image into shares such that stacking a sufficient number of shares reveals the secret image. Shares are usually presented in transparencies. Each participant holds a transparency. Most of the previous research work on VC focuses on improving two parameters: pixel expansion and contrast. In this paper, we studied the cheating problem in VC and extended VC. We considered the attacks of malicious adversaries who may deviate from the scheme in any way. We presented three cheating methods and applied them on attacking existent VC or extended VC schemes. We improved one cheat-preventing scheme. We proposed a generic method that converts a VCS to another VCS that has the property of cheating prevention. The overhead of the conversion is near optimal in both contrast degression and pixel expansion.

A shared position/force control methodology for teleoperation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Jin S.

1987-01-01

A flexible and computationally efficient shared position/force control concept and its implementation in the Robot Control C Library (RCCL) are presented form the point of teleoperation. This methodology enables certain degrees of freedom to be position-controlled through real time manual inputs and the remaining degrees of freedom to be force-controlled by computer. Functionally, it is a hybrid control scheme in that certain degrees of freedom are designated to be under position control, and the remaining degrees of freedom to be under force control. However, the methodology is also a shared control scheme because some degrees of freedom can be put under manual control and the other degrees of freedom put under computer control. Unlike other hybrid control schemes, which process position and force commands independently, this scheme provides a force control loop built on top of a position control inner loop. This feature minimizes the computational burden and increases disturbance rejection. A simple implementation is achieved partly because the joint control servos that are part of most robots can be used to provide the position control inner loop. Along with this control scheme, several menus were implemented for the convenience of the user. The implemented control scheme was successfully demonstrated for the tasks of hinged-panel opening and peg-in-hole insertion.

Health Care Coverage Decision Making in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Experiences from 25 Coverage Schemes.

PubMed

Gutierrez, Hialy; Shewade, Ashwini; Dai, Minghan; Mendoza-Arana, Pedro; Gómez-Dantés, Octavio; Jain, Nishant; Khonelidze, Irma; Nabyonga-Orem, Juliet; Saleh, Karima; Teerawattananon, Yot; Nishtar, Sania; Hornberger, John

2015-08-01

Lessons learned by countries that have successfully implemented coverage schemes for health services may be valuable for other countries, especially low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), which likewise are seeking to provide/expand coverage. The research team surveyed experts in population health management from LMICs for information on characteristics of health care coverage schemes and factors that influenced decision-making processes. The level of coverage provided by the different schemes varied. Nearly all the health care coverage schemes involved various representatives and stakeholders in their decision-making processes. Maternal and child health, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and HIV were among the highest priorities guiding coverage development decisions. Evidence used to inform coverage decisions included medical literature, regional and global epidemiology, and coverage policies of other coverage schemes. Funding was the most commonly reported reason for restricting coverage. This exploratory study provides an overview of health care coverage schemes from participating LMICs and contributes to the scarce evidence base on coverage decision making. Sharing knowledge and experiences among LMICs can support efforts to establish systems for accessible, affordable, and equitable health care.

7 CFR 701.36 - Schemes and devices and claims avoidances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 7 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Schemes and devices and claims avoidances. 701.36... RELATED PROGRAMS PREVIOUSLY ADMINISTERED UNDER THIS PART § 701.36 Schemes and devices and claims..., any scheme or device designed to evade the maximum cost-share limitation that applies to the ECP or to...

Evaluation of multicast schemes in optical burst-switched networks: the case with dynamic sessions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeong, Myoungki; Qiao, Chunming; Xiong, Yijun; Vandenhoute, Marc

2000-10-01

In this paper, we evaluate the performance of several multicast schemes in optical burst-switched WDM networks taking into accounts the overheads due to control packets and guard bands (Gbs) of bursts on separate channels (wavelengths). A straightforward scheme is called Separate Multicasting (S-MCAST) where each source node constructs separate bursts for its multicast (per each multicast session) and unicast traffic. To reduce the overhead due to Gbs (and control packets), one may piggyback the multicast traffic in bursts containing unicast traffic using a scheme called Multiple Unicasting (M-UCAST). The third scheme is called Tree-Shared Multicasting (TS-MCAST) wehreby multicast traffic belonging to multiple multicast sesions can be mixed together in a burst, which is delivered via a shared multicast tree. In [1], we have evaluated several multicast schemes with static sessions at the flow level. In this paper, we perform a simple analysis for the multicast schemes and evaluate the performance of three multicast schemes, focusing on the case with dynamic sessions in terms of the link utilization, bandwidth consumption, blocking (loss) probability, goodput and the processing loads.

Eco-certification of farmed seafood: will it make a difference?

PubMed

Jonell, Malin; Phillips, Michael; Rönnbäck, Patrik; Troell, Max

2013-10-01

Eco-certification is widely considered a tool for reducing environmental impacts of aquaculture, but what are the likely environmental outcomes for the world's fastest growing animal-food production sector? This article analyzes a number of eco-certification schemes based on species choice, anticipated share of the global seafood market, size of eligible producers, and targeted environmental impacts. The potential of eco-certification to reduce the negative environmental impacts of aquaculture at scale presently appears uncertain as: (a) certification schemes currently focus on species predominantly consumed in the EU and US, with limited coverage of Asian markets; (b) the share of certified products in the market as currently projected is too low; (c) there is an inequitable and non-uniform applicability of certification across the sector; (d) mechanisms or incentives for improvement among the worst performers are lacking; and (e) there is incomplete coverage of environmental impacts, with biophysical sustainability and ecosystem perspectives generally lacking.

A robot arm simulation with a shared memory multiprocessor machine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Sung-Soo; Chuang, Li-Ping

1989-01-01

A parallel processing scheme for a single chain robot arm is presented for high speed computation on a shared memory multiprocessor. A recursive formulation that is derived from a virtual work form of the d'Alembert equations of motion is utilized for robot arm dynamics. A joint drive system that consists of a motor rotor and gears is included in the arm dynamics model, in order to take into account gyroscopic effects due to the spinning of the rotor. The fine grain parallelism of mechanical and control subsystem models is exploited, based on independent computation associated with bodies, joint drive systems, and controllers. Efficiency and effectiveness of the parallel scheme are demonstrated through simulations of a telerobotic manipulator arm. Two different mechanical subsystem models, i.e., with and without gyroscopic effects, are compared, to show the trade-off between efficiency and accuracy.

Blended shared control utilizing online identification : Regulating grasping forces of a surrogate surgical grasper.

PubMed

Stephens, Trevor K; Kong, Nathan J; Dockter, Rodney L; O'Neill, John J; Sweet, Robert M; Kowalewski, Timothy M

2018-06-01

Surgical robots are increasingly common, yet routine tasks such as tissue grasping remain potentially harmful with high occurrences of tissue crush injury due to the lack of force feedback from the grasper. This work aims to investigate whether a blended shared control framework which utilizes real-time identification of the object being grasped as part of the feedback may help address the prevalence of tissue crush injury in robotic surgeries. This work tests the proposed shared control framework and tissue identification algorithm on a custom surrogate surgical robotic grasping setup. This scheme utilizes identification of the object being grasped as part of the feedback to regulate to a desired force. The blended shared control is arbitrated between human and an implicit force controller based on a computed confidence in the identification of the grasped object. The online identification is performed using least squares based on a nonlinear tissue model. Testing was performed on five silicone tissue surrogates. Twenty grasps were conducted, with half of the grasps performed under manual control and half of the grasps performed with the proposed blended shared control, to test the efficacy of the control scheme. The identification method resulted in an average of 95% accuracy across all time samples of all tissue grasps using a full leave-grasp-out cross-validation. There was an average convergence time of [Formula: see text] ms across all training grasps for all tissue surrogates. Additionally, there was a reduction in peak forces induced during grasping for all tissue surrogates when applying blended shared control online. The blended shared control using online identification more successfully regulated grasping forces to the desired target force when compared with manual control. The preliminary work on this surrogate setup for surgical grasping merits further investigation on real surgical tools and with real human tissues.

HydroShare for iUTAH: Collaborative Publication, Interoperability, and Reuse of Hydrologic Data and Models for a Large, Interdisciplinary Water Research Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horsburgh, J. S.; Jones, A. S.

2016-12-01

Data and models used within the hydrologic science community are diverse. New research data and model repositories have succeeded in making data and models more accessible, but have been, in most cases, limited to particular types or classes of data or models and also lack the type of collaborative, and iterative functionality needed to enable shared data collection and modeling workflows. File sharing systems currently used within many scientific communities for private sharing of preliminary and intermediate data and modeling products do not support collaborative data capture, description, visualization, and annotation. More recently, hydrologic datasets and models have been cast as "social objects" that can be published, collaborated around, annotated, discovered, and accessed. Yet it can be difficult using existing software tools to achieve the kind of collaborative workflows and data/model reuse that many envision. HydroShare is a new, web-based system for sharing hydrologic data and models with specific functionality aimed at making collaboration easier and achieving new levels of interactive functionality and interoperability. Within HydroShare, we have developed new functionality for creating datasets, describing them with metadata, and sharing them with collaborators. HydroShare is enabled by a generic data model and content packaging scheme that supports describing and sharing diverse hydrologic datasets and models. Interoperability among the diverse types of data and models used by hydrologic scientists is achieved through the use of consistent storage, management, sharing, publication, and annotation within HydroShare. In this presentation, we highlight and demonstrate how the flexibility of HydroShare's data model and packaging scheme, HydroShare's access control and sharing functionality, and versioning and publication capabilities have enabled the sharing and publication of research datasets for a large, interdisciplinary water research project called iUTAH (innovative Urban Transitions and Aridregion Hydro-sustainability). We discuss the experiences of iUTAH researchers now using HydroShare to collaboratively create, curate, and publish datasets and models in a way that encourages collaboration, promotes reuse, and meets funding agency requirements.

Multiparty Quantum Direct Secret Sharing of Classical Information with Bell States and Bell Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Yun; Li, Yongming; Wang, Wenhua

2018-02-01

This paper proposed a new and efficient multiparty quantum direct secret sharing (QDSS) by using swapping quantum entanglement of Bell states. In the proposed scheme, the quantum correlation between the possible measurement results of the members (except dealer) and the original local unitary operation encoded by the dealer was presented. All agents only need to perform Bell measurements to share dealer's secret by recovering dealer's operation without performing any unitary operation. Our scheme has several advantages. The dealer is not required to retain any photons, and can further share a predetermined key instead of a random key to the agents. It has high capacity as two bits of secret messages can be transmitted by an EPR pair and the intrinsic efficiency approaches 100%, because no classical bit needs to be transmitted except those for detection. Without inserting any checking sets for detecting the eavesdropping, the scheme can resist not only the existing attacks, but also the cheating attack from the dishonest agent.

Determinants of enrollment of informal sector workers in cooperative based health scheme in Bangladesh

PubMed Central

Sarker, Abdur Razzaque; Sultana, Marufa; Mahumud, Rashidul Alam; Ahmed, Sayem; Islam, Ziaul; Morton, Alec; Khan, Jahangir A. M.

2017-01-01

Background Providing access to affordable health care for the informal sector remains a considerable challenge for low income countries striving to make progress towards universal health coverage. The objective of the study is to identify the factors shaping the decision to enroll in a cooperative based health scheme for informal workers in Bangladesh and also help to identify the features of informal workers without health schemes and their likelihood of being insured. Methods Data were derived from a cross-sectional in-house survey within the catchment area of a cooperative based health scheme in Bangladesh during April–June 2014, covering a total of 784 households (458 members and 326 non-members). Multivariate logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with cooperative based health scheme and explanatory variables. Findings This study found that a number of factors were significant determinants of health scheme participation including sex of household head, household composition, occupational category as well as involvement social financial safety net programs. Conclusion Findings from this study can be suggestive for policy-makers interested in scaling up health insurance for informal workers in Bangladesh. Shared funding from this large informal sector can generate new resources for healthcare, which is in line with the healthcare financing strategy of Bangladesh as well as the recommendation of the World Health Organization for developing social health insurance as part of the path to Universal Health Coverage. PMID:28750052

Teleportation-based continuous variable quantum cryptography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luiz, F. S.; Rigolin, Gustavo

2017-03-01

We present a continuous variable (CV) quantum key distribution (QKD) scheme based on the CV quantum teleportation of coherent states that yields a raw secret key made up of discrete variables for both Alice and Bob. This protocol preserves the efficient detection schemes of current CV technology (no single-photon detection techniques) and, at the same time, has efficient error correction and privacy amplification schemes due to the binary modulation of the key. We show that for a certain type of incoherent attack, it is secure for almost any value of the transmittance of the optical line used by Alice to share entangled two-mode squeezed states with Bob (no 3 dB or 50% loss limitation characteristic of beam splitting attacks). The present CVQKD protocol works deterministically (no postselection needed) with efficient direct reconciliation techniques (no reverse reconciliation) in order to generate a secure key and beyond the 50% loss case at the incoherent attack level.

Practical scheme to share a secret key through a quantum channel with a 27.6% bit error rate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chau, H. F.

2002-12-01

A secret key shared through quantum key distribution between two cooperative players is secure against any eavesdropping attack allowed by the laws of physics. Yet, such a key can be established only when the quantum channel error rate due to eavesdropping or imperfect apparatus is low. Here, a practical quantum key distribution scheme by making use of an adaptive privacy amplification procedure with two-way classical communication is reported. Then, it is proven that the scheme generates a secret key whenever the bit error rate of the quantum channel is less than 0.5-0.1(5)≈27.6%, thereby making it the most error resistant scheme known to date.

The solvability of quantum k-pair network in a measurement-based way.

PubMed

Li, Jing; Xu, Gang; Chen, Xiu-Bo; Qu, Zhiguo; Niu, Xin-Xin; Yang, Yi-Xian

2017-12-01

Network coding is an effective means to enhance the communication efficiency. The characterization of network solvability is one of the most important topic in this field. However, for general network, the solvability conditions are still a challenge. In this paper, we consider the solvability of general quantum k-pair network in measurement-based framework. For the first time, a detailed account of measurement-based quantum network coding(MB-QNC) is specified systematically. Differing from existing coding schemes, single qubit measurements on a pre-shared graph state are the only allowed coding operations. Since no control operations are concluded, it makes MB-QNC schemes more feasible. Further, the sufficient conditions formulating by eigenvalue equations and stabilizer matrix are presented, which build an unambiguous relation among the solvability and the general network. And this result can also analyze the feasibility of sharing k EPR pairs task in large-scale networks. Finally, in the presence of noise, we analyze the advantage of MB-QNC in contrast to gate-based way. By an instance network [Formula: see text], we show that MB-QNC allows higher error thresholds. Specially, for X error, the error threshold is about 30% higher than 10% in gate-based way. In addition, the specific expressions of fidelity subject to some constraint conditions are given.

Development of Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) core genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) scheme.

PubMed

Ghanem, Mostafa; El-Gazzar, Mohamed

2018-05-01

Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) is a poultry pathogen with reported increased prevalence and virulence in recent years. MS strain identification is essential for prevention, control efforts and epidemiological outbreak investigations. Multiple multilocus based sequence typing schemes have been developed for MS, yet the resolution of these schemes could be limited for outbreak investigation. The cost of whole genome sequencing became close to that of sequencing the seven MLST targets; however, there is no standardized method for typing MS strains based on whole genome sequences. In this paper, we propose a core genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) scheme as a standardized and reproducible method for typing MS based whole genome sequences. A diverse set of 25 MS whole genome sequences were used to identify 302 core genome genes as cgMLST targets (35.5% of MS genome) and 44 whole genome sequences of MS isolates from six countries in four continents were used for typing applying this scheme. cgMLST based phylogenetic trees displayed a high degree of agreement with core genome SNP based analysis and available epidemiological information. cgMLST allowed evaluation of two conventional MLST schemes of MS. The high discriminatory power of cgMLST allowed differentiation between samples of the same conventional MLST type. cgMLST represents a standardized, accurate, highly discriminatory, and reproducible method for differentiation between MS isolates. Like conventional MLST, it provides stable and expandable nomenclature, allowing for comparing and sharing the typing results between different laboratories worldwide. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dual-Arm Generalized Compliant Motion With Shared Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Backes, Paul G.

1994-01-01

Dual-Arm Generalized Compliant Motion (DAGCM) primitive computer program implementing improved unified control scheme for two manipulator arms cooperating in task in which both grasp same object. Provides capabilities for autonomous, teleoperation, and shared control of two robot arms. Unifies cooperative dual-arm control with multi-sensor-based task control and makes complete task-control capability available to higher-level task-planning computer system via large set of input parameters used to describe desired force and position trajectories followed by manipulator arms. Some concepts discussed in "A Generalized-Compliant-Motion Primitive" (NPO-18134).

Teaching Qualitative Research: Experiential Learning in Group-Based Interviews and Coding Assignments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeLyser, Dydia; Potter, Amy E.

2013-01-01

This article describes experiential-learning approaches to conveying the work and rewards involved in qualitative research. Seminar students interviewed one another, transcribed or took notes on those interviews, shared those materials to create a set of empirical materials for coding, developed coding schemes, and coded the materials using those…

Exploring the Influences on Classroom-Based Contact via Shared Education in Northern Ireland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loader, Rebecca

2017-01-01

Initiatives in intercultural education have frequently involved the promotion of contact between members of different groups as a means of improving intergroup relations. Experience from Northern Ireland suggests, however, that such schemes have often been organised and delivered in such a way that opportunities for sustained, high-quality contact…

Secure Communications in CIoT Networks with a Wireless Energy Harvesting Untrusted Relay.

PubMed

Hu, Hequn; Gao, Zhenzhen; Liao, Xuewen; Leung, Victor C M

2017-09-04

The Internet of Things (IoT) represents a bright prospect that a variety of common appliances can connect to one another, as well as with the rest of the Internet, to vastly improve our lives. Unique communication and security challenges have been brought out by the limited hardware, low-complexity, and severe energy constraints of IoT devices. In addition, a severe spectrum scarcity problem has also been stimulated by the use of a large number of IoT devices. In this paper, cognitive IoT (CIoT) is considered where an IoT network works as the secondary system using underlay spectrum sharing. A wireless energy harvesting (EH) node is used as a relay to improve the coverage of an IoT device. However, the relay could be a potential eavesdropper to intercept the IoT device's messages. This paper considers the problem of secure communication between the IoT device (e.g., sensor) and a destination (e.g., controller) via the wireless EH untrusted relay. Since the destination can be equipped with adequate energy supply, secure schemes based on destination-aided jamming are proposed based on power splitting (PS) and time splitting (TS) policies, called intuitive secure schemes based on PS (Int-PS), precoded secure scheme based on PS (Pre-PS), intuitive secure scheme based on TS (Int-TS) and precoded secure scheme based on TS (Pre-TS), respectively. The secure performances of the proposed schemes are evaluated through the metric of probability of successfully secure transmission ( P S S T ), which represents the probability that the interference constraint of the primary user is satisfied and the secrecy rate is positive. P S S T is analyzed for the proposed secure schemes, and the closed form expressions of P S S T for Pre-PS and Pre-TS are derived and validated through simulation results. Numerical results show that the precoded secure schemes have better P S S T than the intuitive secure schemes under similar power consumption. When the secure schemes based on PS and TS polices have similar P S S T , the average transmit power consumption of the secure scheme based on TS is lower. The influences of power splitting and time slitting ratios are also discussed through simulations.

An Enhanced Privacy-Preserving Authentication Scheme for Vehicle Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Zhou, Yousheng; Zhao, Xiaofeng; Jiang, Yi; Shang, Fengjun; Deng, Shaojiang; Wang, Xiaojun

2017-12-08

Vehicle sensor networks (VSNs) are ushering in a promising future by enabling more intelligent transportation systems and providing a more efficient driving experience. However, because of their inherent openness, VSNs are subject to a large number of potential security threats. Although various authentication schemes have been proposed for addressing security problems, they are not suitable for VSN applications because of their high computation and communication costs. Chuang and Lee have developed a trust-extended authentication mechanism (TEAM) for vehicle-to-vehicle communication using a transitive trust relationship, which they claim can resist various attacks. However, it fails to counter internal attacks because of the utilization of a shared secret key. In this paper, to eliminate the vulnerability of TEAM, an enhanced privacy-preserving authentication scheme for VSNs is constructed. The security of our proposed scheme is proven under the random oracle model based on the assumption of the computational Diffie-Hellman problem.

An Enhanced Privacy-Preserving Authentication Scheme for Vehicle Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Zhou, Yousheng; Zhao, Xiaofeng; Jiang, Yi; Shang, Fengjun; Deng, Shaojiang; Wang, Xiaojun

2017-01-01

Vehicle sensor networks (VSNs) are ushering in a promising future by enabling more intelligent transportation systems and providing a more efficient driving experience. However, because of their inherent openness, VSNs are subject to a large number of potential security threats. Although various authentication schemes have been proposed for addressing security problems, they are not suitable for VSN applications because of their high computation and communication costs. Chuang and Lee have developed a trust-extended authentication mechanism (TEAM) for vehicle-to-vehicle communication using a transitive trust relationship, which they claim can resist various attacks. However, it fails to counter internal attacks because of the utilization of a shared secret key. In this paper, to eliminate the vulnerability of TEAM, an enhanced privacy-preserving authentication scheme for VSNs is constructed. The security of our proposed scheme is proven under the random oracle model based on the assumption of the computational Diffie–Hellman problem. PMID:29292792

An Efficient Location Verification Scheme for Static Wireless Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Kim, In-Hwan; Kim, Bo-Sung; Song, JooSeok

2017-01-24

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), the accuracy of location information is vital to support many interesting applications. Unfortunately, sensors have difficulty in estimating their location when malicious sensors attack the location estimation process. Even though secure localization schemes have been proposed to protect location estimation process from attacks, they are not enough to eliminate the wrong location estimations in some situations. The location verification can be the solution to the situations or be the second-line defense. The problem of most of the location verifications is the explicit involvement of many sensors in the verification process and requirements, such as special hardware, a dedicated verifier and the trusted third party, which causes more communication and computation overhead. In this paper, we propose an efficient location verification scheme for static WSN called mutually-shared region-based location verification (MSRLV), which reduces those overheads by utilizing the implicit involvement of sensors and eliminating several requirements. In order to achieve this, we use the mutually-shared region between location claimant and verifier for the location verification. The analysis shows that MSRLV reduces communication overhead by 77% and computation overhead by 92% on average, when compared with the other location verification schemes, in a single sensor verification. In addition, simulation results for the verification of the whole network show that MSRLV can detect the malicious sensors by over 90% when sensors in the network have five or more neighbors.

An Efficient Location Verification Scheme for Static Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Kim, In-hwan; Kim, Bo-sung; Song, JooSeok

2017-01-01

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), the accuracy of location information is vital to support many interesting applications. Unfortunately, sensors have difficulty in estimating their location when malicious sensors attack the location estimation process. Even though secure localization schemes have been proposed to protect location estimation process from attacks, they are not enough to eliminate the wrong location estimations in some situations. The location verification can be the solution to the situations or be the second-line defense. The problem of most of the location verifications is the explicit involvement of many sensors in the verification process and requirements, such as special hardware, a dedicated verifier and the trusted third party, which causes more communication and computation overhead. In this paper, we propose an efficient location verification scheme for static WSN called mutually-shared region-based location verification (MSRLV), which reduces those overheads by utilizing the implicit involvement of sensors and eliminating several requirements. In order to achieve this, we use the mutually-shared region between location claimant and verifier for the location verification. The analysis shows that MSRLV reduces communication overhead by 77% and computation overhead by 92% on average, when compared with the other location verification schemes, in a single sensor verification. In addition, simulation results for the verification of the whole network show that MSRLV can detect the malicious sensors by over 90% when sensors in the network have five or more neighbors. PMID:28125007

Bidirectional teleportation of a pure EPR state by using GHZ states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hassanpour, Shima; Houshmand, Monireh

2016-02-01

In the present paper, a novel bidirectional quantum teleportation protocol is proposed. By using entanglement swapping technique, two GHZ states are shared as a quantum channel between Alice and Bob as legitimate users. In this scheme, based on controlled-not operation, single-qubit measurement, and appropriate unitary operations, two users can simultaneously transmit a pure EPR state to each other, While, in the previous protocols, the users can just teleport a single-qubit state to each other via more than four-qubit state. Therefore, the proposed scheme is economical compared with previous protocols.

ESSG-based global spatial reference frame for datasets interrelation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, J. Q.; Wu, L. X.; Jia, Y. J.

2013-10-01

To know well about the highly complex earth system, a large volume of, as well as a large variety of, datasets on the planet Earth are being obtained, distributed, and shared worldwide everyday. However, seldom of existing systems concentrates on the distribution and interrelation of different datasets in a common Global Spatial Reference Frame (GSRF), which holds an invisble obstacle to the data sharing and scientific collaboration. Group on Earth Obeservation (GEO) has recently established a new GSRF, named Earth System Spatial Grid (ESSG), for global datasets distribution, sharing and interrelation in its 2012-2015 WORKING PLAN.The ESSG may bridge the gap among different spatial datasets and hence overcome the obstacles. This paper is to present the implementation of the ESSG-based GSRF. A reference spheroid, a grid subdvision scheme, and a suitable encoding system are required to implement it. The radius of ESSG reference spheroid was set to the double of approximated Earth radius to make datasets from different areas of earth system science being covered. The same paramerters of positioning and orienting as Earth Centred Earth Fixed (ECEF) was adopted for the ESSG reference spheroid to make any other GSRFs being freely transformed into the ESSG-based GSRF. Spheroid degenerated octree grid with radius refiment (SDOG-R) and its encoding method were taken as the grid subdvision and encoding scheme for its good performance in many aspects. A triple (C, T, A) model is introduced to represent and link different datasets based on the ESSG-based GSRF. Finally, the methods of coordinate transformation between the ESSGbased GSRF and other GSRFs were presented to make ESSG-based GSRF operable and propagable.

The designing and implementation of PE teaching information resource database based on broadband network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jian

2017-01-01

In order to change traditional PE teaching mode and realize the interconnection, interworking and sharing of PE teaching resources, a distance PE teaching platform based on broadband network is designed and PE teaching information resource database is set up. The designing of PE teaching information resource database takes Windows NT 4/2000Server as operating system platform, Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 as RDBMS, and takes NAS technology for data storage and flow technology for video service. The analysis of system designing and implementation shows that the dynamic PE teaching information resource sharing platform based on Web Service can realize loose coupling collaboration, realize dynamic integration and active integration and has good integration, openness and encapsulation. The distance PE teaching platform based on Web Service and the design scheme of PE teaching information resource database can effectively solve and realize the interconnection, interworking and sharing of PE teaching resources and adapt to the informatization development demands of PE teaching.

Protecting sensitive systems and data in an open agency

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hunt, Douglas B.; Tompkins, Frederick G.

1987-01-01

This paper focuses on the policy and definitional issues associated with providing adequate and reasonable levels of protection for sensitive systems and data in an agency whose basic charter mandates the open sharing of information and transfer of technology into the market economy. An information model based on current Federal regulatory issuances is presented. A scheme for determining sensitivity levels, based on a categorization taxonomy,is provided.

Using the Staff Sharing Scheme to Support School Staff in Managing Challenging Behaviour More Effectively

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Daniel; Monsen, Jeremy; Franey, John

2013-01-01

This paper explores how educational psychologists working in a training/consultative way can enable teachers to manage challenging pupil behaviour more effectively. It sets out a rationale which encourages schools to embrace a group based teacher peer-support system as part of regular school development. It then explores the usefulness of the…

Teleradiology mobile internet system with a new information security solution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Satoh, Hitoshi; Niki, Noboru; Eguchi, Kenji; Ohmatsu, Hironobu; Kusumoto, Masahiko; Kaneko, Masahiro; Moriyama, Noriyuki

2014-03-01

We have developed an external storage system by using secret sharing scheme and tokenization for regional medical cooperation, PHR service and information preservation. The use of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets will be accelerated for a PHR service, and the confidential medical information is exposed to the risk of damage and intercept. We verified the transfer rate of the sending and receiving of data to and from the external storage system that connected it with PACS by the Internet this time. External storage systems are the data centers that exist in Okinawa, in Osaka, in Sapporo and in Tokyo by using secret sharing scheme. PACS continuously transmitted 382 CT images to the external data centers. Total capacity of the CT images is about 200MB. The total time that had been required to transmit was about 250 seconds. Because the preservation method to use secret sharing scheme is applied, security is strong. But, it also takes the information transfer time of this system too much. Therefore, DICOM data is masked to the header information part because it is made to anonymity in our method. The DICOM data made anonymous is preserved in the data base in the hospital. Header information including individual information is divided into two or more tallies by secret sharing scheme, and preserved at two or more external data centers. The token to relate the DICOM data anonymity made to header information preserved outside is strictly preserved in the token server. The capacity of header information that contains patient's individual information is only about 2% of the entire DICOM data. This total time that had been required to transmit was about 5 seconds. Other, common solutions that can protect computer communication networks from attacks are classified as cryptographic techniques or authentication techniques. Individual number IC card is connected with electronic certification authority of web medical image conference system. Individual number IC card is given only to the person to whom the authority to operate web medical image conference system was given.

Cost-Sharing of Ecological Construction Based on Trapezoidal Intuitionistic Fuzzy Cooperative Games.

PubMed

Liu, Jiacai; Zhao, Wenjian

2016-11-08

There exist some fuzziness and uncertainty in the process of ecological construction. The aim of this paper is to develop a direct and an effective simplified method for obtaining the cost-sharing scheme when some interested parties form a cooperative coalition to improve the ecological environment of Min River together. Firstly, we propose the solution concept of the least square prenucleolus of cooperative games with coalition values expressed by trapezoidal intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. Then, based on the square of the distance in the numerical value between two trapezoidal intuitionistic fuzzy numbers, we establish a corresponding quadratic programming model to obtain the least square prenucleolus, which can effectively avoid the information distortion and uncertainty enlargement brought about by the subtraction of trapezoidal intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. Finally, we give a numerical example about the cost-sharing of ecological construction in Fujian Province in China to show the validity, applicability, and advantages of the proposed model and method.

76 FR 35181 - Wireless Backhaul; Further Inquiry Into Fixed Service Sharing of the 6875-7125 and 12700-13200...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-16

... continuation of electronic newsgathering operations, and the appropriate channelization scheme, coordination... also sought comment on alternative channelization schemes. Several commenters, including FWCC and...

A Lossless Multichannel Bio-Signal Compression Based on Low-Complexity Joint Coding Scheme for Portable Medical Devices

PubMed Central

Kim, Dong-Sun; Kwon, Jin-San

2014-01-01

Research on real-time health systems have received great attention during recent years and the needs of high-quality personal multichannel medical signal compression for personal medical product applications are increasing. The international MPEG-4 audio lossless coding (ALS) standard supports a joint channel-coding scheme for improving compression performance of multichannel signals and it is very efficient compression method for multi-channel biosignals. However, the computational complexity of such a multichannel coding scheme is significantly greater than that of other lossless audio encoders. In this paper, we present a multichannel hardware encoder based on a low-complexity joint-coding technique and shared multiplier scheme for portable devices. A joint-coding decision method and a reference channel selection scheme are modified for a low-complexity joint coder. The proposed joint coding decision method determines the optimized joint-coding operation based on the relationship between the cross correlation of residual signals and the compression ratio. The reference channel selection is designed to select a channel for the entropy coding of the joint coding. The hardware encoder operates at a 40 MHz clock frequency and supports two-channel parallel encoding for the multichannel monitoring system. Experimental results show that the compression ratio increases by 0.06%, whereas the computational complexity decreases by 20.72% compared to the MPEG-4 ALS reference software encoder. In addition, the compression ratio increases by about 11.92%, compared to the single channel based bio-signal lossless data compressor. PMID:25237900

A new CAD approach for improving efficacy of cancer screening

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Bin; Qian, Wei; Li, Lihua; Pu, Jiantao; Kang, Yan; Lure, Fleming; Tan, Maxine; Qiu, Yuchen

2015-03-01

Since performance and clinical utility of current computer-aided detection (CAD) schemes of detecting and classifying soft tissue lesions (e.g., breast masses and lung nodules) is not satisfactory, many researchers in CAD field call for new CAD research ideas and approaches. The purpose of presenting this opinion paper is to share our vision and stimulate more discussions of how to overcome or compensate the limitation of current lesion-detection based CAD schemes in the CAD research community. Since based on our observation that analyzing global image information plays an important role in radiologists' decision making, we hypothesized that using the targeted quantitative image features computed from global images could also provide highly discriminatory power, which are supplementary to the lesion-based information. To test our hypothesis, we recently performed a number of independent studies. Based on our published preliminary study results, we demonstrated that global mammographic image features and background parenchymal enhancement of breast MR images carried useful information to (1) predict near-term breast cancer risk based on negative screening mammograms, (2) distinguish between true- and false-positive recalls in mammography screening examinations, and (3) classify between malignant and benign breast MR examinations. The global case-based CAD scheme only warns a risk level of the cases without cueing a large number of false-positive lesions. It can also be applied to guide lesion-based CAD cueing to reduce false-positives but enhance clinically relevant true-positive cueing. However, before such a new CAD approach is clinically acceptable, more work is needed to optimize not only the scheme performance but also how to integrate with lesion-based CAD schemes in the clinical practice.

Traditional risk-sharing arrangements and informal social insurance in Eritrea.

PubMed

Habtom, GebreMichael Kibreab; Ruys, Pieter

2007-01-01

In Eritrea neither the state nor the market is effective in providing health insurance to low-income people (in rural and informal job sector). Schemes intended for the informal sector are confronted with low and irregular incomes of target populations and consequently negligible potential for profit making. Because of this there, are no formal health insurance systems in Eritrea that cover people in the traditional (or informal) sector of the economy. In the absence of formal safety nets traditional Eritrean societies use their local social capital to alleviate unexpected social costs. In Eritrea traditional risk-sharing arrangements are made within extended families and mutual aid community associations. This study reveals that in a situation where the state no longer provides free public health services any more and access to private insurance is denied, the extension of the voluntary mutual aid community associations to Mahber-based health insurance schemes at the local level is a viable way for providing modern health services.

Convenient total variation diminishing conditions for nonlinear difference schemes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tadmor, Eitan

1986-01-01

Convenient conditions for nonlinear difference schemes to be total-variation diminishing (TVD) are reviewed. It is shown that such schemes share the TVD property, provided their numerical fluxes meet a certain positivity condition at extrema values but can be arbitrary otherwise. The conditions are invariant under different incremental representations of the nonlinear schemes, and thus provide a simplified generalization of the TVD conditions due to Harten and others.

Integration of quantum key distribution and private classical communication through continuous variable

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Tianyi; Gong, Feng; Lu, Anjiang; Zhang, Damin; Zhang, Zhengping

2017-12-01

In this paper, we propose a scheme that integrates quantum key distribution and private classical communication via continuous variables. The integrated scheme employs both quadratures of a weak coherent state, with encrypted bits encoded on the signs and Gaussian random numbers encoded on the values of the quadratures. The integration enables quantum and classical data to share the same physical and logical channel. Simulation results based on practical system parameters demonstrate that both classical communication and quantum communication can be implemented over distance of tens of kilometers, thus providing a potential solution for simultaneous transmission of quantum communication and classical communication.

Efficiently sphere-decodable physical layer transmission schemes for wireless storage networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Hsiao-Feng Francis; Barreal, Amaro; Karpuk, David; Hollanti, Camilla

2016-12-01

Three transmission schemes over a new type of multiple-access channel (MAC) model with inter-source communication links are proposed and investigated in this paper. This new channel model is well motivated by, e.g., wireless distributed storage networks, where communication to repair a lost node takes place from helper nodes to a repairing node over a wireless channel. Since in many wireless networks nodes can come and go in an arbitrary manner, there must be an inherent capability of inter-node communication between every pair of nodes. Assuming that communication is possible between every pair of helper nodes, the newly proposed schemes are based on various smart time-sharing and relaying strategies. In other words, certain helper nodes will be regarded as relays, thereby converting the conventional uncooperative multiple-access channel to a multiple-access relay channel (MARC). The diversity-multiplexing gain tradeoff (DMT) of the system together with efficient sphere-decodability and low structural complexity in terms of the number of antennas required at each end is used as the main design objectives. While the optimal DMT for the new channel model is fully open, it is shown that the proposed schemes outperform the DMT of the simple time-sharing protocol and, in some cases, even the optimal uncooperative MAC DMT. While using a wireless distributed storage network as a motivating example throughout the paper, the MAC transmission techniques proposed here are completely general and as such applicable to any MAC communication with inter-source communication links.

A multi-mode operation control strategy for flexible microgrid based on sliding-mode direct voltage and hierarchical controls.

PubMed

Zhang, Qinjin; Liu, Yancheng; Zhao, Youtao; Wang, Ning

2016-03-01

Multi-mode operation and transient stability are two problems that significantly affect flexible microgrid (MG). This paper proposes a multi-mode operation control strategy for flexible MG based on a three-layer hierarchical structure. The proposed structure is composed of autonomous, cooperative, and scheduling controllers. Autonomous controller is utilized to control the performance of the single micro-source inverter. An adaptive sliding-mode direct voltage loop and an improved droop power loop based on virtual negative impedance are presented respectively to enhance the system disturbance-rejection performance and the power sharing accuracy. Cooperative controller, which is composed of secondary voltage/frequency control and phase synchronization control, is designed to eliminate the voltage/frequency deviations produced by the autonomous controller and prepare for grid connection. Scheduling controller manages the power flow between the MG and the grid. The MG with the improved hierarchical control scheme can achieve seamless transitions from islanded to grid-connected mode and have a good transient performance. In addition the presented work can also optimize the power quality issues and improve the load power sharing accuracy between parallel VSIs. Finally, the transient performance and effectiveness of the proposed control scheme are evaluated by theoretical analysis and simulation results. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Classification of basic facilities for high-rise residential: A survey from 100 housing scheme in Kajang area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ani, Adi Irfan Che; Sairi, Ahmad; Tawil, Norngainy Mohd; Wahab, Siti Rashidah Hanum Abd; Razak, Muhd Zulhanif Abd

2016-08-01

High demand for housing and limited land in town area has increasing the provision of high-rise residential scheme. This type of housing has different owners but share the same land lot and common facilities. Thus, maintenance works of the buildings and common facilities must be well organized. The purpose of this paper is to identify and classify basic facilities for high-rise residential building hoping to improve the management of the scheme. The method adopted is a survey on 100 high-rise residential schemes that ranged from affordable housing to high cost housing by using a snowball sampling. The scope of this research is within Kajang area, which is rapidly developed with high-rise housing. The objective of the survey is to list out all facilities in every sample of the schemes. The result confirmed that pre-determined 11 classifications hold true and can provide the realistic classification for high-rise residential scheme. This paper proposed for redefinition of facilities provided to create a better management system and give a clear definition on the type of high-rise residential based on its facilities.

Multi-GPU and multi-CPU accelerated FDTD scheme for vibroacoustic applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Francés, J.; Otero, B.; Bleda, S.; Gallego, S.; Neipp, C.; Márquez, A.; Beléndez, A.

2015-06-01

The Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) method is applied to the analysis of vibroacoustic problems and to study the propagation of longitudinal and transversal waves in a stratified media. The potential of the scheme and the relevance of each acceleration strategy for massively computations in FDTD are demonstrated in this work. In this paper, we propose two new specific implementations of the bi-dimensional scheme of the FDTD method using multi-CPU and multi-GPU, respectively. In the first implementation, an open source message passing interface (OMPI) has been included in order to massively exploit the resources of a biprocessor station with two Intel Xeon processors. Moreover, regarding CPU code version, the streaming SIMD extensions (SSE) and also the advanced vectorial extensions (AVX) have been included with shared memory approaches that take advantage of the multi-core platforms. On the other hand, the second implementation called the multi-GPU code version is based on Peer-to-Peer communications available in CUDA on two GPUs (NVIDIA GTX 670). Subsequently, this paper presents an accurate analysis of the influence of the different code versions including shared memory approaches, vector instructions and multi-processors (both CPU and GPU) and compares them in order to delimit the degree of improvement of using distributed solutions based on multi-CPU and multi-GPU. The performance of both approaches was analysed and it has been demonstrated that the addition of shared memory schemes to CPU computing improves substantially the performance of vector instructions enlarging the simulation sizes that use efficiently the cache memory of CPUs. In this case GPU computing is slightly twice times faster than the fine tuned CPU version in both cases one and two nodes. However, for massively computations explicit vector instructions do not worth it since the memory bandwidth is the limiting factor and the performance tends to be the same than the sequential version with auto-vectorisation and also shared memory approach. In this scenario GPU computing is the best option since it provides a homogeneous behaviour. More specifically, the speedup of GPU computing achieves an upper limit of 12 for both one and two GPUs, whereas the performance reaches peak values of 80 GFlops and 146 GFlops for the performance for one GPU and two GPUs respectively. Finally, the method is applied to an earth crust profile in order to demonstrate the potential of our approach and the necessity of applying acceleration strategies in these type of applications.

Offering to Share: How to Put Heads Together in Autism Neuroimaging

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Belmonte, Matthew K.; Mazziotta, John C.; Minshew, Nancy J.; Evans, Alan C.; Courchesne, Eric; Dager, Stephen R.; Bookheimer, Susan Y.; Aylward, Elizabeth H.; Amaral, David G.; Cantor, Rita M.; Chugani, Diane C.; Dale, Anders M.; Davatzikos, Christos; Gerig, Guido; Herbert, Martha R.; Lainhart, Janet E.; Murphy, Declan G.; Piven, Joseph; Reiss, Allan L.; Schultz, Robert T.; Zeffiro, Thomas A.; Levi-Pearl, Susan; Lajonchere, Clara; Colamarino, Sophia A.

2008-01-01

Data sharing in autism neuroimaging presents scientific, technical, and social obstacles. We outline the desiderata for a data-sharing scheme that combines imaging with other measures of phenotype and with genetics, defines requirements for comparability of derived data and recommendations for raw data, outlines a core protocol including…

A novel high-speed CMOS circuit based on a gang of capacitors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharroush, Sherif M.

2017-08-01

There is no doubt that complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuits with wide fan-in suffers from the relatively sluggish operation. In this paper, a circuit that contains a gang of capacitors sharing their charge with each other is proposed as an alternative to long N-channel MOS and P-channel MOS stacks. The proposed scheme is investigated quantitatively and verified by simulation using the 45-nm CMOS technology with VDD = 1 V. The time delay, area and power consumption of the proposed scheme are investigated and compared with the conventional static CMOS logic circuit. It is verified that the proposed scheme achieves 52% saving in the average propagation delay for eight inputs and that it has a smaller area compared to the conventional CMOS logic when the number of inputs exceeds three and a smaller power consumption for a number of inputs exceeding two. The impacts of process variations, component mismatches and technology scaling on the proposed scheme are also investigated.

Infotech. Cyber security. Health care learns to share scares and solutions.

PubMed

Colias, Mike

2004-05-01

Health care information technology leaders and others are coming together to share scary experiences and develop best practices to guard against crippling computer viruses, scheming hackers and other cyber threats.

A Secure and Efficient Audit Mechanism for Dynamic Shared Data in Cloud Storage

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

With popularization of cloud services, multiple users easily share and update their data through cloud storage. For data integrity and consistency in the cloud storage, the audit mechanisms were proposed. However, existing approaches have some security vulnerabilities and require a lot of computational overheads. This paper proposes a secure and efficient audit mechanism for dynamic shared data in cloud storage. The proposed scheme prevents a malicious cloud service provider from deceiving an auditor. Moreover, it devises a new index table management method and reduces the auditing cost by employing less complex operations. We prove the resistance against some attacks and show less computation cost and shorter time for auditing when compared with conventional approaches. The results present that the proposed scheme is secure and efficient for cloud storage services managing dynamic shared data. PMID:24959630

A secure and efficient audit mechanism for dynamic shared data in cloud storage.

PubMed

Kwon, Ohmin; Koo, Dongyoung; Shin, Yongjoo; Yoon, Hyunsoo

2014-01-01

With popularization of cloud services, multiple users easily share and update their data through cloud storage. For data integrity and consistency in the cloud storage, the audit mechanisms were proposed. However, existing approaches have some security vulnerabilities and require a lot of computational overheads. This paper proposes a secure and efficient audit mechanism for dynamic shared data in cloud storage. The proposed scheme prevents a malicious cloud service provider from deceiving an auditor. Moreover, it devises a new index table management method and reduces the auditing cost by employing less complex operations. We prove the resistance against some attacks and show less computation cost and shorter time for auditing when compared with conventional approaches. The results present that the proposed scheme is secure and efficient for cloud storage services managing dynamic shared data.

A Comprehensive Comparison of Multiparty Secure Additions with Differential Privacy

PubMed Central

Goryczka, Slawomir; Xiong, Li

2016-01-01

This paper considers the problem of secure data aggregation (mainly summation) in a distributed setting, while ensuring differential privacy of the result. We study secure multiparty addition protocols using well known security schemes: Shamir’s secret sharing, perturbation-based, and various encryptions. We supplement our study with our new enhanced encryption scheme EFT, which is efficient and fault tolerant. Differential privacy of the final result is achieved by either distributed Laplace or Geometric mechanism (respectively DLPA or DGPA), while approximated differential privacy is achieved by diluted mechanisms. Distributed random noise is generated collectively by all participants, which draw random variables from one of several distributions: Gamma, Gauss, Geometric, or their diluted versions. We introduce a new distributed privacy mechanism with noise drawn from the Laplace distribution, which achieves smaller redundant noise with efficiency. We compare complexity and security characteristics of the protocols with different differential privacy mechanisms and security schemes. More importantly, we implemented all protocols and present an experimental comparison on their performance and scalability in a real distributed environment. Based on the evaluations, we identify our security scheme and Laplace DLPA as the most efficient for secure distributed data aggregation with privacy. PMID:28919841

A Comprehensive Comparison of Multiparty Secure Additions with Differential Privacy.

PubMed

Goryczka, Slawomir; Xiong, Li

2017-01-01

This paper considers the problem of secure data aggregation (mainly summation) in a distributed setting, while ensuring differential privacy of the result. We study secure multiparty addition protocols using well known security schemes: Shamir's secret sharing, perturbation-based, and various encryptions. We supplement our study with our new enhanced encryption scheme EFT, which is efficient and fault tolerant. Differential privacy of the final result is achieved by either distributed Laplace or Geometric mechanism (respectively DLPA or DGPA), while approximated differential privacy is achieved by diluted mechanisms. Distributed random noise is generated collectively by all participants, which draw random variables from one of several distributions: Gamma, Gauss, Geometric, or their diluted versions. We introduce a new distributed privacy mechanism with noise drawn from the Laplace distribution, which achieves smaller redundant noise with efficiency. We compare complexity and security characteristics of the protocols with different differential privacy mechanisms and security schemes. More importantly, we implemented all protocols and present an experimental comparison on their performance and scalability in a real distributed environment. Based on the evaluations, we identify our security scheme and Laplace DLPA as the most efficient for secure distributed data aggregation with privacy.

Rural health prepayment schemes in China: towards a more active role for government.

PubMed

Bloom, G; Shenglan, T

1999-04-01

A large majority of China's rural population were members of health prepayment schemes in the 1970's. Most of these schemes collapsed during the transition to a market economy. Some localities subsequently reestablished schemes. In early 1997 a new government policy identified health prepayment as a major potential source of rural health finance. This paper draws on the experience of existing schemes to explore how government can support implementation of this policy. The decision to support the establishment of health prepayment schemes is part of the government's effort to establish new sources of finance for social services. It believes that individuals are more likely to accept voluntary contributions to a prepayment scheme than tax increases. The voluntary nature of the contributions limits the possibilities for risk-sharing and redistribution between rich and poor. This underlines the need for the government to fund a substantial share of health expenditure out of general revenues, particularly in poor localities. The paper notes that many successful prepayment schemes depend on close supervision by local political leaders. It argues that the national programme will have to translate these measures into a regulatory system which defines the responsibilities of scheme management bodies and local governments. A number of prepayment schemes have collapsed because members did not feel they got value for money. Local health bureaux will have to cooperate with prepayment schemes to ensure that health facilities provide good quality services at a reasonable cost. Users' representatives can also monitor performance. The paper concludes that government needs to clarify the relationship between health prepayment schemes and other actors in rural localities in order to increase the chance that schemes will become a major source rural health finance.

Secret shared multiple-image encryption based on row scanning compressive ghost imaging and phase retrieval in the Fresnel domain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xianye; Meng, Xiangfeng; Wang, Yurong; Yang, Xiulun; Yin, Yongkai; Peng, Xiang; He, Wenqi; Dong, Guoyan; Chen, Hongyi

2017-09-01

A multiple-image encryption method is proposed that is based on row scanning compressive ghost imaging, (t, n) threshold secret sharing, and phase retrieval in the Fresnel domain. In the encryption process, after wavelet transform and Arnold transform of the target image, the ciphertext matrix can be first detected using a bucket detector. Based on a (t, n) threshold secret sharing algorithm, the measurement key used in the row scanning compressive ghost imaging can be decomposed and shared into two pairs of sub-keys, which are then reconstructed using two phase-only mask (POM) keys with fixed pixel values, placed in the input plane and transform plane 2 of the phase retrieval scheme, respectively; and the other POM key in the transform plane 1 can be generated and updated by the iterative encoding of each plaintext image. In each iteration, the target image acts as the input amplitude constraint in the input plane. During decryption, each plaintext image possessing all the correct keys can be successfully decrypted by measurement key regeneration, compression algorithm reconstruction, inverse wavelet transformation, and Fresnel transformation. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations both verify the feasibility of the proposed method.

Real-time dynamic pricing for bicycle sharing programs.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-10-01

This paper presents a new conceptual approach to improve the operational performance of public bike sharing systems : using pricing schemes. Its methodological developments are accompanied by experimental analyses with bike demand : data from Capital...

Inferring Recent Demography from Isolation by Distance of Long Shared Sequence Blocks

PubMed Central

Ringbauer, Harald; Coop, Graham

2017-01-01

Recently it has become feasible to detect long blocks of nearly identical sequence shared between pairs of genomes. These identity-by-descent (IBD) blocks are direct traces of recent coalescence events and, as such, contain ample signal to infer recent demography. Here, we examine sharing of such blocks in two-dimensional populations with local migration. Using a diffusion approximation to trace genetic ancestry, we derive analytical formulas for patterns of isolation by distance of IBD blocks, which can also incorporate recent population density changes. We introduce an inference scheme that uses a composite-likelihood approach to fit these formulas. We then extensively evaluate our theory and inference method on a range of scenarios using simulated data. We first validate the diffusion approximation by showing that the theoretical results closely match the simulated block-sharing patterns. We then demonstrate that our inference scheme can accurately and robustly infer dispersal rate and effective density, as well as bounds on recent dynamics of population density. To demonstrate an application, we use our estimation scheme to explore the fit of a diffusion model to Eastern European samples in the Population Reference Sample data set. We show that ancestry diffusing with a rate of σ≈50−−100 km/gen during the last centuries, combined with accelerating population growth, can explain the observed exponential decay of block sharing with increasing pairwise sample distance. PMID:28108588

Controlled teleportation of an arbitrary n-qubit quantum information using quantum secret sharing of classical message

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zhan-Jun

2006-03-01

I present a scheme which allows an arbitrary 2-qubit quantum state teleportation between two remote parties with control of many agents in a network. Comparisons between the present scheme and the existing scheme proposed recently [F.G. Deng, et al., Phys. Rev. A 72 (2005) 022338] are made. It seems that the present scheme is much simpler and more economic. Then I generalize the scheme to teleport an arbitrary n-qubit quantum state between two remote parties with control of agents in a network.

Social capital and active membership in the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme - a mixed method study.

PubMed

Fenenga, Christine J; Nketiah-Amponsah, Edward; Ogink, Alice; Arhinful, Daniel K; Poortinga, Wouter; Hutter, Inge

2015-11-02

People's decision to enroll in a health insurance scheme is determined by socio-cultural and socio-economic factors. On request of the National health Insurance Authority (NHIA) in Ghana, our study explores the influence of social relationships on people's perceptions, behavior and decision making to enroll in the National Health Insurance Scheme. This social scheme, initiated in 2003, aims to realize accessible quality healthcare services for the entire population of Ghana. We look at relationships of trust and reciprocity between individuals in the communities (so called horizontal social capital) and between individuals and formal health institutions (called vertical social capital) in order to determine whether these two forms of social capital inhibit or facilitate enrolment of clients in the scheme. Results can support the NHIA in exploiting social capital to reach their objective and strengthen their policy and practice. We conducted 20 individual- and seven key-informant interviews, 22 focus group discussions, two stakeholder meetings and a household survey, using a random sample of 1903 households from the catchment area of 64 primary healthcare facilities. The study took place in Greater Accra Region and Western Regions in Ghana between June 2011 and March 2012. While social developments and increased heterogeneity seem to reduce community solidarity in Ghana, social networks remain common in Ghana and are valued for their multiple benefits (i.e. reciprocal trust and support, information sharing, motivation, risk sharing). Trusting relations with healthcare and insurance providers are, according healthcare clients, based on providers' clear communication, attitude, devotion, encouragement and reliability of services. Active membership of the NHIS is positive associated with community trust, trust in healthcare providers and trust in the NHIS (p-values are .009, .000 and .000 respectively). Social capital can motivate clients to enroll in health insurance. Fostering social capital through improving information provision to communities and engaging community groups in health care and NHIS services can facilitate peoples' trust in these institutions and their active participation in the scheme.

General A Scheme to Share Information via Employing Discrete Algorithm to Quantum States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Guo-Dong; Fang, Mao-Fa

2011-02-01

We propose a protocol for information sharing between two legitimate parties (Bob and Alice) via public-key cryptography. In particular, we specialize the protocol by employing discrete algorithm under mod that maps integers to quantum states via photon rotations. Based on this algorithm, we find that the protocol is secure under various classes of attacks. Specially, owe to the algorithm, the security of the classical privacy contained in the quantum public-key and the corresponding ciphertext is guaranteed. And the protocol is robust against the impersonation attack and the active wiretapping attack by designing particular checking processing, thus the protocol is valid.

A Hybrid Scheme for Fine-Grained Search and Access Authorization in Fog Computing Environment

PubMed Central

Xiao, Min; Zhou, Jing; Liu, Xuejiao; Jiang, Mingda

2017-01-01

In the fog computing environment, the encrypted sensitive data may be transferred to multiple fog nodes on the edge of a network for low latency; thus, fog nodes need to implement a search over encrypted data as a cloud server. Since the fog nodes tend to provide service for IoT applications often running on resource-constrained end devices, it is necessary to design lightweight solutions. At present, there is little research on this issue. In this paper, we propose a fine-grained owner-forced data search and access authorization scheme spanning user-fog-cloud for resource constrained end users. Compared to existing schemes only supporting either index encryption with search ability or data encryption with fine-grained access control ability, the proposed hybrid scheme supports both abilities simultaneously, and index ciphertext and data ciphertext are constructed based on a single ciphertext-policy attribute based encryption (CP-ABE) primitive and share the same key pair, thus the data access efficiency is significantly improved and the cost of key management is greatly reduced. Moreover, in the proposed scheme, the resource constrained end devices are allowed to rapidly assemble ciphertexts online and securely outsource most of decryption task to fog nodes, and mediated encryption mechanism is also adopted to achieve instantaneous user revocation instead of re-encrypting ciphertexts with many copies in many fog nodes. The security and the performance analysis show that our scheme is suitable for a fog computing environment. PMID:28629131

A Hybrid Scheme for Fine-Grained Search and Access Authorization in Fog Computing Environment.

PubMed

Xiao, Min; Zhou, Jing; Liu, Xuejiao; Jiang, Mingda

2017-06-17

In the fog computing environment, the encrypted sensitive data may be transferred to multiple fog nodes on the edge of a network for low latency; thus, fog nodes need to implement a search over encrypted data as a cloud server. Since the fog nodes tend to provide service for IoT applications often running on resource-constrained end devices, it is necessary to design lightweight solutions. At present, there is little research on this issue. In this paper, we propose a fine-grained owner-forced data search and access authorization scheme spanning user-fog-cloud for resource constrained end users. Compared to existing schemes only supporting either index encryption with search ability or data encryption with fine-grained access control ability, the proposed hybrid scheme supports both abilities simultaneously, and index ciphertext and data ciphertext are constructed based on a single ciphertext-policy attribute based encryption (CP-ABE) primitive and share the same key pair, thus the data access efficiency is significantly improved and the cost of key management is greatly reduced. Moreover, in the proposed scheme, the resource constrained end devices are allowed to rapidly assemble ciphertexts online and securely outsource most of decryption task to fog nodes, and mediated encryption mechanism is also adopted to achieve instantaneous user revocation instead of re-encrypting ciphertexts with many copies in many fog nodes. The security and the performance analysis show that our scheme is suitable for a fog computing environment.

Combination of Sharing Matrix and Image Encryption for Lossless $(k,n)$ -Secret Image Sharing.

PubMed

Bao, Long; Yi, Shuang; Zhou, Yicong

2017-12-01

This paper first introduces a (k,n) -sharing matrix S (k, n) and its generation algorithm. Mathematical analysis is provided to show its potential for secret image sharing. Combining sharing matrix with image encryption, we further propose a lossless (k,n) -secret image sharing scheme (SMIE-SIS). Only with no less than k shares, all the ciphertext information and security key can be reconstructed, which results in a lossless recovery of original information. This can be proved by the correctness and security analysis. Performance evaluation and security analysis demonstrate that the proposed SMIE-SIS with arbitrary settings of k and n has at least five advantages: 1) it is able to fully recover the original image without any distortion; 2) it has much lower pixel expansion than many existing methods; 3) its computation cost is much lower than the polynomial-based secret image sharing methods; 4) it is able to verify and detect a fake share; and 5) even using the same original image with the same initial settings of parameters, every execution of SMIE-SIS is able to generate completely different secret shares that are unpredictable and non-repetitive. This property offers SMIE-SIS a high level of security to withstand many different attacks.

Using Ada to implement the operations management system in a community of experts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frank, M. S.

1986-01-01

An architecture is described for the Space Station Operations Management System (OMS), consisting of a distributed expert system framework implemented in Ada. The motivation for such a scheme is based on the desire to integrate the very diverse elements of the OMS while taking maximum advantage of knowledge based systems technology. Part of the foundation of an Ada based distributed expert system was accomplished in the form of a proof of concept prototype for the KNOMES project (Knowledge-based Maintenance Expert System). This prototype successfully used concurrently active experts to accomplish monitoring and diagnosis for the Remote Manipulator System. The basic concept of this software architecture is named ACTORS for Ada Cognitive Task ORganization Scheme. It is when one considers the overall problem of integrating all of the OMS elements into a cooperative system that the AI solution stands out. By utilizing a distributed knowledge based system as the framework for OMS, it is possible to integrate those components which need to share information in an intelligent manner.

Virtual optical network mapping and core allocation in elastic optical networks using multi-core fibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xuan, Hejun; Wang, Yuping; Xu, Zhanqi; Hao, Shanshan; Wang, Xiaoli

2017-11-01

Virtualization technology can greatly improve the efficiency of the networks by allowing the virtual optical networks to share the resources of the physical networks. However, it will face some challenges, such as finding the efficient strategies for virtual nodes mapping, virtual links mapping and spectrum assignment. It is even more complex and challenging when the physical elastic optical networks using multi-core fibers. To tackle these challenges, we establish a constrained optimization model to determine the optimal schemes of optical network mapping, core allocation and spectrum assignment. To solve the model efficiently, tailor-made encoding scheme, crossover and mutation operators are designed. Based on these, an efficient genetic algorithm is proposed to obtain the optimal schemes of the virtual nodes mapping, virtual links mapping, core allocation. The simulation experiments are conducted on three widely used networks, and the experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed model and algorithm.

Sharing Regional Cooperative Gains From Reusing Effluent for Irrigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dinar, Ariel; Yaron, Dan; Kannai, Yakar

1986-03-01

This paper is concerned with the allocation of cost and benefits from regional cooperation, with respect to reuse of municipal effluent for irrigation at the Ramla region of Israel. An efficient regional solution provides the maximal regional income which has to be redistributed among the town and several farms. Different allocations based on marginal cost pricing and schemes from cooperative game theory like the core, Shapley value, generalized Shapley value, and nucleolus are applied. The town and farm A have the main additional gains according to all allocation schemes presented. Advantages and disadvantages of these allocation schemes are examined in order to suggest a fair and acceptable allocation of the regional cooperative gains. Although no method has been preferred, the marginal cost pricing was found to be unacceptable by the participants. The conclusion is that the theory of cooperative games may provide guidelines while comparing the different solutions.

A structure-preserving split finite element discretization of the split 1D linear shallow-water equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, Werner; Behrens, Jörn

2017-04-01

We present a locally conservative, low-order finite element (FE) discretization of the covariant 1D linear shallow-water equations written in split form (cf. tet{[1]}). The introduction of additional differential forms (DF) that build pairs with the original ones permits a splitting of these equations into topological momentum and continuity equations and metric-dependent closure equations that apply the Hodge-star. Our novel discretization framework conserves this geometrical structure, in particular it provides for all DFs proper FE spaces such that the differential operators (here gradient and divergence) hold in strong form. The discrete topological equations simply follow by trivial projections onto piecewise constant FE spaces without need to partially integrate. The discrete Hodge-stars operators, representing the discretized metric equations, are realized by nontrivial Galerkin projections (GP). Here they follow by projections onto either a piecewise constant (GP0) or a piecewise linear (GP1) space. Our framework thus provides essentially three different schemes with significantly different behavior. The split scheme using twice GP1 is unstable and shares the same discrete dispersion relation and similar second-order convergence rates as the conventional P1-P1 FE scheme that approximates both velocity and height variables by piecewise linear spaces. The split scheme that applies both GP1 and GP0 is stable and shares the dispersion relation of the conventional P1-P0 FE scheme that approximates the velocity by a piecewise linear and the height by a piecewise constant space with corresponding second- and first-order convergence rates. Exhibiting for both velocity and height fields second-order convergence rates, we might consider the split GP1-GP0 scheme though as stable versions of the conventional P1-P1 FE scheme. For the split scheme applying twice GP0, we are not aware of a corresponding conventional formulation to compare with. Though exhibiting larger absolute error values, it shows similar convergence rates as the other split schemes, but does not provide a satisfactory approximation of the dispersion relation as short waves are propagated much to fast. Despite this, the finding of this new scheme illustrates the potential of our discretization framework as a toolbox to find and to study new FE schemes based on new combinations of FE spaces. [1] Bauer, W. [2016], A new hierarchically-structured n-dimensional covariant form of rotating equations of geophysical fluid dynamics, GEM - International Journal on Geomathematics, 7(1), 31-101.

Community oncology in an era of payment reform.

PubMed

Cox, John V; Ward, Jeffery C; Hornberger, John C; Temel, Jennifer S; McAneny, Barbara L

2014-01-01

Patients and payers (government and private) are frustrated with the fee-for-service system (FFS) of payment for outpatient health services. FFS rewards volume and highly valued services, including expensive diagnostics and therapeutics, over lesser valued cognitive services. Proposed payment schemes would incent collaboration and coordination of care among providers and reward quality. In oncology, new payment schemes must address the high costs of all services, particularly drugs, while preserving the robust distribution of sites of service available to patients in the United States. Information technology and personalized cancer care are changing the practice of oncology. Twenty-first century oncology will require increasing cognitive work and shared decision making, both of which are not well regarded in the FFS model. A high proportion of health care dollars are consumed in the final months of life. Effective delivery of palliative and end-of-life care must be addressed by practice and by new models of payment. Value-based reimbursement schemes will require oncology practices to change how they are structured. Lessons drawn from the principles of primary care's Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) will help oncology practice to prepare for new schemes. PCMH principles place a premium on proactively addressing toxicities of therapies, coordinating care with other providers, and engaging patients in shared decision making, supporting the ideal of value defined in the triple aim-to measurably improve patient experience and quality of care at less cost. Payment reform will be disruptive to all. Oncology must be engaged in policy discussions and guide rational shifts in priorities defined by new payment models.

Classical and quantum communication without a shared reference frame.

PubMed

Bartlett, Stephen D; Rudolph, Terry; Spekkens, Robert W

2003-07-11

We show that communication without a shared reference frame is possible using entangled states. Both classical and quantum information can be communicated with perfect fidelity without a shared reference frame at a rate that asymptotically approaches one classical bit or one encoded qubit per transmitted qubit. We present an optical scheme to communicate classical bits without a shared reference frame using entangled photon pairs and linear optical Bell state measurements.

MedBlock: Efficient and Secure Medical Data Sharing Via Blockchain.

PubMed

Fan, Kai; Wang, Shangyang; Ren, Yanhui; Li, Hui; Yang, Yintang

2018-06-21

With the development of electronic information technology, electronic medical records (EMRs) have been a common way to store the patients' data in hospitals. They are stored in different hospitals' databases, even for the same patient. Therefore, it is difficult to construct a summarized EMR for one patient from multiple hospital databases due to the security and privacy concerns. Meanwhile, current EMRs systems lack a standard data management and sharing policy, making it difficult for pharmaceutical scientists to develop precise medicines based on data obtained under different policies. To solve the above problems, we proposed a blockchain-based information management system, MedBlock, to handle patients' information. In this scheme, the distributed ledger of MedBlock allows the efficient EMRs access and EMRs retrieval. The improved consensus mechanism achieves consensus of EMRs without large energy consumption and network congestion. In addition, MedBlock also exhibits high information security combining the customized access control protocols and symmetric cryptography. MedBlock can play an important role in the sensitive medical information sharing.

Graph State-Based Quantum Secret Sharing with the Chinese Remainder Theorem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Ying; Luo, Peng; Wang, Yijun

2016-11-01

Quantum secret sharing (QSS) is a significant quantum cryptography technology in the literature. Dividing an initial secret into several sub-secrets which are then transferred to other legal participants so that it can be securely recovered in a collaboration fashion. In this paper, we develop a quantum route selection based on the encoded quantum graph state, thus enabling the practical QSS scheme in the small-scale complex quantum network. Legal participants are conveniently designated with the quantum route selection using the entanglement of the encoded graph states. Each participant holds a vertex of the graph state so that legal participants are selected through performing operations on specific vertices. The Chinese remainder theorem (CRT) strengthens the security of the recovering process of the initial secret among the legal participants. The security is ensured by the entanglement of the encoded graph states that are cooperatively prepared and shared by legal users beforehand with the sub-secrets embedded in the CRT over finite fields.

Cost-Sharing of Ecological Construction Based on Trapezoidal Intuitionistic Fuzzy Cooperative Games

PubMed Central

Liu, Jiacai; Zhao, Wenjian

2016-01-01

There exist some fuzziness and uncertainty in the process of ecological construction. The aim of this paper is to develop a direct and an effective simplified method for obtaining the cost-sharing scheme when some interested parties form a cooperative coalition to improve the ecological environment of Min River together. Firstly, we propose the solution concept of the least square prenucleolus of cooperative games with coalition values expressed by trapezoidal intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. Then, based on the square of the distance in the numerical value between two trapezoidal intuitionistic fuzzy numbers, we establish a corresponding quadratic programming model to obtain the least square prenucleolus, which can effectively avoid the information distortion and uncertainty enlargement brought about by the subtraction of trapezoidal intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. Finally, we give a numerical example about the cost-sharing of ecological construction in Fujian Province in China to show the validity, applicability, and advantages of the proposed model and method. PMID:27834830

Link importance incorporated failure probability measuring solution for multicast light-trees in elastic optical networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xin; Zhang, Lu; Tang, Ying; Huang, Shanguo

2018-03-01

The light-tree-based optical multicasting (LT-OM) scheme provides a spectrum- and energy-efficient method to accommodate emerging multicast services. Some studies focus on the survivability technologies for LTs against a fixed number of link failures, such as single-link failure. However, a few studies involve failure probability constraints when building LTs. It is worth noting that each link of an LT plays different important roles under failure scenarios. When calculating the failure probability of an LT, the importance of its every link should be considered. We design a link importance incorporated failure probability measuring solution (LIFPMS) for multicast LTs under independent failure model and shared risk link group failure model. Based on the LIFPMS, we put forward the minimum failure probability (MFP) problem for the LT-OM scheme. Heuristic approaches are developed to address the MFP problem in elastic optical networks. Numerical results show that the LIFPMS provides an accurate metric for calculating the failure probability of multicast LTs and enhances the reliability of the LT-OM scheme while accommodating multicast services.

Data traffic reduction schemes for sparse Cholesky factorizations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Naik, Vijay K.; Patrick, Merrell L.

1988-01-01

Load distribution schemes are presented which minimize the total data traffic in the Cholesky factorization of dense and sparse, symmetric, positive definite matrices on multiprocessor systems with local and shared memory. The total data traffic in factoring an n x n sparse, symmetric, positive definite matrix representing an n-vertex regular 2-D grid graph using n (sup alpha), alpha is equal to or less than 1, processors are shown to be O(n(sup 1 + alpha/2)). It is O(n(sup 3/2)), when n (sup alpha), alpha is equal to or greater than 1, processors are used. Under the conditions of uniform load distribution, these results are shown to be asymptotically optimal. The schemes allow efficient use of up to O(n) processors before the total data traffic reaches the maximum value of O(n(sup 3/2)). The partitioning employed within the scheme, allows a better utilization of the data accessed from shared memory than those of previously published methods.

Consensus-based distributed cooperative learning from closed-loop neural control systems.

PubMed

Chen, Weisheng; Hua, Shaoyong; Zhang, Huaguang

2015-02-01

In this paper, the neural tracking problem is addressed for a group of uncertain nonlinear systems where the system structures are identical but the reference signals are different. This paper focuses on studying the learning capability of neural networks (NNs) during the control process. First, we propose a novel control scheme called distributed cooperative learning (DCL) control scheme, by establishing the communication topology among adaptive laws of NN weights to share their learned knowledge online. It is further proved that if the communication topology is undirected and connected, all estimated weights of NNs can converge to small neighborhoods around their optimal values over a domain consisting of the union of all state orbits. Second, as a corollary it is shown that the conclusion on the deterministic learning still holds in the decentralized adaptive neural control scheme where, however, the estimated weights of NNs just converge to small neighborhoods of the optimal values along their own state orbits. Thus, the learned controllers obtained by DCL scheme have the better generalization capability than ones obtained by decentralized learning method. A simulation example is provided to verify the effectiveness and advantages of the control schemes proposed in this paper.

On Proportionate and Truthful International Alliance Contributions: An Analysis of IncentiveCompatible Cost Sharing Mechanisms to Burden Sharing

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-23

Therefore, the mecha- nism induces a stable cost sharing scheme wherein a subset of colluding players will not all benefit . In a subset of colluding...goods are not divisible and are not excludable. Cost sharing mechanisms specific to public goods have been researched extensively in the literature...Jackson & Moulin [1992] consider the sharing of cost for an indivisible public project among many players, and their work was extended by Bag [1997] to

Interference Information Based Power Control for Cognitive Radio with Multi-Hop Cooperative Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Youngjin; Murata, Hidekazu; Yamamoto, Koji; Yoshida, Susumu

Reliable detection of other radio systems is crucial for systems that share the same frequency band. In wireless communication channels, there is uncertainty in the received signal level due to multipath fading and shadowing. Cooperative sensing techniques in which radio stations share their sensing information can improve the detection probability of other systems. In this paper, a new cooperative sensing scheme that reduces the false detection probability while maintaining the outage probability of other systems is investigated. In the proposed system, sensing information is collected using multi-hop transmission from all sensing stations that detect other systems, and transmission decisions are based on the received sensing information. The proposed system also controls the transmit power based on the received CINRs from the sensing stations. Simulation results reveal that the proposed system can reduce the outage probability of other systems, or improve its link success probability.

SSeCloud: Using secret sharing scheme to secure keys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Liang; Huang, Yang; Yang, Disheng; Zhang, Yuzhen; Liu, Hengchang

2017-08-01

With the use of cloud storage services, one of the concerns is how to protect sensitive data securely and privately. While users enjoy the convenience of data storage provided by semi-trusted cloud storage providers, they are confronted with all kinds of risks at the same time. In this paper, we present SSeCloud, a secure cloud storage system that improves security and usability by applying secret sharing scheme to secure keys. The system encrypts uploading files on the client side and splits encrypted keys into three shares. Each of them is respectively stored by users, cloud storage providers and the alternative third trusted party. Any two of the parties can reconstruct keys. Evaluation results of prototype system show that SSeCloud provides high security without too much performance penalty.

Priority and Negotiation Based Dynamic Spectrum Allocation Scheme for Multiple Radio Access Network Operators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Hoon; Hyon, Taein; Lee, Yeonwoo

Most of previous works have presented the dynamic spectrum allocation (DSA) gain achieved by utilizing the time or regional variations in traffic demand between multi-network operators (NOs). In this paper, we introduce the functionalities required for the entities related with the spectrum sharing and allocation and propose a spectrum allocation algorithm while considering the long-term priority between NOs, the priority between multiple class services, and the urgent bandwidth request. To take into account the priorities among the NOs and the priorities of multiple class services, a spectrum sharing metric (SSM) is proposed, while a negotiation procedure is proposed to treat the urgent bandwidth request.

Improved Secret Image Sharing Scheme in Embedding Capacity without Underflow and Overflow.

PubMed

Pang, Liaojun; Miao, Deyu; Li, Huixian; Wang, Qiong

2015-01-01

Computational secret image sharing (CSIS) is an effective way to protect a secret image during its transmission and storage, and thus it has attracted lots of attentions since its appearance. Nowadays, it has become a hot topic for researchers to improve the embedding capacity and eliminate the underflow and overflow situations, which is embarrassing and difficult to deal with. The scheme, which has the highest embedding capacity among the existing schemes, has the underflow and overflow problems. Although the underflow and overflow situations have been well dealt with by different methods, the embedding capacities of these methods are reduced more or less. Motivated by these concerns, we propose a novel scheme, in which we take the differential coding, Huffman coding, and data converting to compress the secret image before embedding it to further improve the embedding capacity, and the pixel mapping matrix embedding method with a newly designed matrix is used to embed secret image data into the cover image to avoid the underflow and overflow situations. Experiment results show that our scheme can improve the embedding capacity further and eliminate the underflow and overflow situations at the same time.

Improved Secret Image Sharing Scheme in Embedding Capacity without Underflow and Overflow

PubMed Central

Pang, Liaojun; Miao, Deyu; Li, Huixian; Wang, Qiong

2015-01-01

Computational secret image sharing (CSIS) is an effective way to protect a secret image during its transmission and storage, and thus it has attracted lots of attentions since its appearance. Nowadays, it has become a hot topic for researchers to improve the embedding capacity and eliminate the underflow and overflow situations, which is embarrassing and difficult to deal with. The scheme, which has the highest embedding capacity among the existing schemes, has the underflow and overflow problems. Although the underflow and overflow situations have been well dealt with by different methods, the embedding capacities of these methods are reduced more or less. Motivated by these concerns, we propose a novel scheme, in which we take the differential coding, Huffman coding, and data converting to compress the secret image before embedding it to further improve the embedding capacity, and the pixel mapping matrix embedding method with a newly designed matrix is used to embed secret image data into the cover image to avoid the underflow and overflow situations. Experiment results show that our scheme can improve the embedding capacity further and eliminate the underflow and overflow situations at the same time. PMID:26351657

Humanity and Social Responsibility, Solidarity, and Social Rights.

PubMed

Ahola-Launonen, Johanna

2016-04-01

This article discusses the suggestion of having the notion of solidarity as the foundational value for welfare scheme reforms. Solidarity is an emerging concept in bioethical deliberations emphasizing the need for value-oriented discussion in revising healthcare structures, and the notion has been contrasted with liberal justice and rights. I suggest that this contrast is unnecessary, flawed, and potentially counterproductive. As necessary as the sense of solidarity is in a society, it is an insufficient concept to secure the goals related to social responsibility. The discussion on solidarity is also based on a questionable sense of nostalgia. Furthermore, solidarity and liberal justice share essential objectives concerning welfare schemes; therefore, the question arises whether the proper comparison should in the first place be within justice and solidarity.

Asynchronous Communication Scheme For Hypercube Computer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Madan, Herb S.

1988-01-01

Scheme devised for asynchronous-message communication system for Mark III hypercube concurrent-processor network. Network consists of up to 1,024 processing elements connected electrically as though were at corners of 10-dimensional cube. Each node contains two Motorola 68020 processors along with Motorola 68881 floating-point processor utilizing up to 4 megabytes of shared dynamic random-access memory. Scheme intended to support applications requiring passage of both polled or solicited and unsolicited messages.

Method for a dummy CD mirror server based on NAS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Muna; Pei, Jing

2002-09-01

With the development of computer network, information sharing is becoming the necessity in human life. The rapid development of CD-ROM and CD-ROM driver techniques makes it possible to issue large database online. After comparing many designs of dummy CD mirror database, which are the embodiment of a main product in CD-ROM database now and in near future, we proposed and realized a new PC based scheme. Our system has the following merits, such as, supporting all kinds of CD format; supporting many network protocol; the independence of mirror network server and the main server; low price, super large capacity, without the need of any special hardware. Preliminarily experiments have verified the validity of the proposed scheme. Encouraged by the promising application future, we are now preparing to put it into market. This paper discusses the design and implement of the CD-ROM server detailedly.

Controlled quantum perfect teleportation of multiple arbitrary multi-qubit states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Runhua; Huang, Liusheng; Yang, Wei; Zhong, Hong

2011-12-01

We present an efficient controlled quantum perfect teleportation scheme. In our scheme, multiple senders can teleport multiple arbitrary unknown multi-qubit states to a single receiver via a previously shared entanglement state with the help of one or more controllers. Furthermore, our scheme has a very good performance in the measurement and operation complexity, since it only needs to perform Bell state and single-particle measurements and to apply Controlled-Not gate and other single-particle unitary operations. In addition, compared with traditional schemes, our scheme needs less qubits as the quantum resources and exchanges less classical information, and thus obtains higher communication efficiency.

QoS support for end users of I/O-intensive applications using shared storage systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Davis, Marion Kei; Zhang, Xuechen; Jiang, Song

2011-01-19

I/O-intensive applications are becoming increasingly common on today's high-performance computing systems. While performance of compute-bound applications can be effectively guaranteed with techniques such as space sharing or QoS-aware process scheduling, it remains a challenge to meet QoS requirements for end users of I/O-intensive applications using shared storage systems because it is difficult to differentiate I/O services for different applications with individual quality requirements. Furthermore, it is difficult for end users to accurately specify performance goals to the storage system using I/O-related metrics such as request latency or throughput. As access patterns, request rates, and the system workload change in time,more » a fixed I/O performance goal, such as bounds on throughput or latency, can be expensive to achieve and may not lead to a meaningful performance guarantees such as bounded program execution time. We propose a scheme supporting end-users QoS goals, specified in terms of program execution time, in shared storage environments. We automatically translate the users performance goals into instantaneous I/O throughput bounds using a machine learning technique, and use dynamically determined service time windows to efficiently meet the throughput bounds. We have implemented this scheme in the PVFS2 parallel file system and have conducted an extensive evaluation. Our results show that this scheme can satisfy realistic end-user QoS requirements by making highly efficient use of the I/O resources. The scheme seeks to balance programs attainment of QoS requirements, and saves as much of the remaining I/O capacity as possible for best-effort programs.« less

[Risk-sharing schemes: a new paradigm in adopting innovative pharmaceuticals].

PubMed

Hammerman, Ariel; Greenberg, Dan

2012-06-01

In recent years, spending on prescription drugs contributes substantially to the continuous growth in health expenditure in most Western countries. This increase in spending is influenced by both a rise in the use of existing drugs and by the adoption of new and expensive drugs. Risk-sharing agreements between pharmaceutical companies and health insurers have emerged as insurers began to deny reimbursement of expensive innovative treatments with unfavorable cost-effectiveness ratios. This occurred in cases where the expected budgetary impact was too high or when the long-term effectiveness was questionable. Risk sharing agreements serve the interests of both the insurers and the drug manufacturers. Pharmaceutical companies' interests are to dispel the uncertainties encountered by the health insurers white deciding on drug reimbursement. The insurers are interested in these agreements in order to reduce the budgetary risk while allowing their patients access to innovative drugs. Currently, only a few risk sharing agreements have been implemented, and the scientific literature on such schemes is still sparse. Since the health insurers' interest is to develop mechanisms that will contain health costs, without affecting the insured, it appears that this trend will continue to emerge. It is also likely that the adoption of similar mechanisms in the Israeli National List of Health Services updating process, would improve the accuracy of early estimates of the budgetary impact, and the actual use of the new technologies would be close to early estimates. This article reviews the principles of risk-sharing schemes and issues involved in the actual implementation of such agreements.

Build Your Own Particle Smasher: The Royal Society Partnership Grants Scheme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Education in Science, 2012

2012-01-01

This article features the project, "Build Your Own Particle Smasher" and shares how to build a particle smasher project. A-level and AS-level students from Trinity Catholic School have built their own particle smashers, in collaboration with Nottingham Trent University, as part of The Royal Society's Partnership Grants Scheme. The…

Bento and Buffet: Two Approaches to Flexible Summative Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Didicher, Nicky

2016-01-01

This practice-sharing piece outlines two main approaches to flexible summative assessment schemes, including for each approach one example from my practice and another from a published study. The bento approach offers the same assessments to all students but a variety of grade weighting schemes, allowing students to change weighting during the…

OS2: Oblivious similarity based searching for encrypted data outsourced to an untrusted domain

PubMed Central

Pervez, Zeeshan; Ahmad, Mahmood; Khattak, Asad Masood; Ramzan, Naeem

2017-01-01

Public cloud storage services are becoming prevalent and myriad data sharing, archiving and collaborative services have emerged which harness the pay-as-you-go business model of public cloud. To ensure privacy and confidentiality often encrypted data is outsourced to such services, which further complicates the process of accessing relevant data by using search queries. Search over encrypted data schemes solve this problem by exploiting cryptographic primitives and secure indexing to identify outsourced data that satisfy the search criteria. Almost all of these schemes rely on exact matching between the encrypted data and search criteria. A few schemes which extend the notion of exact matching to similarity based search, lack realism as those schemes rely on trusted third parties or due to increase storage and computational complexity. In this paper we propose Oblivious Similarity based Search (OS2) for encrypted data. It enables authorized users to model their own encrypted search queries which are resilient to typographical errors. Unlike conventional methodologies, OS2 ranks the search results by using similarity measure offering a better search experience than exact matching. It utilizes encrypted bloom filter and probabilistic homomorphic encryption to enable authorized users to access relevant data without revealing results of search query evaluation process to the untrusted cloud service provider. Encrypted bloom filter based search enables OS2 to reduce search space to potentially relevant encrypted data avoiding unnecessary computation on public cloud. The efficacy of OS2 is evaluated on Google App Engine for various bloom filter lengths on different cloud configurations. PMID:28692697

[Formula: see text]: Oblivious similarity based searching for encrypted data outsourced to an untrusted domain.

PubMed

Pervez, Zeeshan; Ahmad, Mahmood; Khattak, Asad Masood; Ramzan, Naeem; Khan, Wajahat Ali

2017-01-01

Public cloud storage services are becoming prevalent and myriad data sharing, archiving and collaborative services have emerged which harness the pay-as-you-go business model of public cloud. To ensure privacy and confidentiality often encrypted data is outsourced to such services, which further complicates the process of accessing relevant data by using search queries. Search over encrypted data schemes solve this problem by exploiting cryptographic primitives and secure indexing to identify outsourced data that satisfy the search criteria. Almost all of these schemes rely on exact matching between the encrypted data and search criteria. A few schemes which extend the notion of exact matching to similarity based search, lack realism as those schemes rely on trusted third parties or due to increase storage and computational complexity. In this paper we propose Oblivious Similarity based Search ([Formula: see text]) for encrypted data. It enables authorized users to model their own encrypted search queries which are resilient to typographical errors. Unlike conventional methodologies, [Formula: see text] ranks the search results by using similarity measure offering a better search experience than exact matching. It utilizes encrypted bloom filter and probabilistic homomorphic encryption to enable authorized users to access relevant data without revealing results of search query evaluation process to the untrusted cloud service provider. Encrypted bloom filter based search enables [Formula: see text] to reduce search space to potentially relevant encrypted data avoiding unnecessary computation on public cloud. The efficacy of [Formula: see text] is evaluated on Google App Engine for various bloom filter lengths on different cloud configurations.

Experimental on-demand recovery of entanglement by local operations within non-Markovian dynamics

PubMed Central

Orieux, Adeline; D'Arrigo, Antonio; Ferranti, Giacomo; Franco, Rosario Lo; Benenti, Giuliano; Paladino, Elisabetta; Falci, Giuseppe; Sciarrino, Fabio; Mataloni, Paolo

2015-01-01

In many applications entanglement must be distributed through noisy communication channels that unavoidably degrade it. Entanglement cannot be generated by local operations and classical communication (LOCC), implying that once it has been distributed it is not possible to recreate it by LOCC. Recovery of entanglement by purely local control is however not forbidden in the presence of non-Markovian dynamics, and here we demonstrate in two all-optical experiments that such entanglement restoration can even be achieved on-demand. First, we implement an open-loop control scheme based on a purely local operation, without acquiring any information on the environment; then, we use a closed-loop scheme in which the environment is measured, the outcome controling the local operations on the system. The restored entanglement is a manifestation of “hidden” quantum correlations resumed by the local control. Relying on local control, both schemes improve the efficiency of entanglement sharing in distributed quantum networks. PMID:25712406

Coordinated single-phase control scheme for voltage unbalance reduction in low voltage network.

PubMed

Pullaguram, Deepak; Mishra, Sukumar; Senroy, Nilanjan

2017-08-13

Low voltage (LV) distribution systems are typically unbalanced in nature due to unbalanced loading and unsymmetrical line configuration. This situation is further aggravated by single-phase power injections. A coordinated control scheme is proposed for single-phase sources, to reduce voltage unbalance. A consensus-based coordination is achieved using a multi-agent system, where each agent estimates the averaged global voltage and current magnitudes of individual phases in the LV network. These estimated values are used to modify the reference power of individual single-phase sources, to ensure system-wide balanced voltages and proper power sharing among sources connected to the same phase. Further, the high X / R ratio of the filter, used in the inverter of the single-phase source, enables control of reactive power, to minimize voltage unbalance locally. The proposed scheme is validated by simulating a LV distribution network with multiple single-phase sources subjected to various perturbations.This article is part of the themed issue 'Energy management: flexibility, risk and optimization'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Dual-beam laser autofocusing system based on liquid lens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Fumin; Yao, Yannan; Qu, Xinghua; Zhang, Tong; Pei, Bing

2017-02-01

A dual-beam laser autofocusing system is designed in this paper. The autofocusing system is based on a liquid lens with less moving parts and fast response time, which makes the system simple, reliable, compact and fast. A novel scheme ;Time-sharing focus, fast conversion; is innovatively proposed. The scheme effectively solves the problem that the guiding laser and the working laser cannot focus at the same target point because of the existence of chromatic aberration. This scheme not only makes both guiding laser and working laser achieve optimal focusing in guiding stage and working stage respectively, but also greatly reduces the system complexity and simplifies the focusing process as well as makes autofocusing time of the working laser reduce to about 10 ms. In the distance range of 1 m to 30 m, the autofocusing spot size is kept under 4.3 mm at 30 m and just 0.18 mm at 1 m. The spot size is much less influenced by the target distance compared with the collimated laser with a micro divergence angle for its self-adaptivity. The dual-beam laser autofocusing system based on liquid lens is fully automatic, compact and efficient. It is fully meet the need of dynamicity and adaptivity and it will play an important role in a number of long-range control applications.

Counterfactual quantum-information transfer without transmitting any physical particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Qi; Cheng, Liu-Yong; Chen, Li; Wang, Hong-Fu; Zhang, Shou

2015-02-01

We demonstrate quantum information can be transferred between two distant participants without any physical particles traveling between them. The key procedure of the counterfactual scheme is to entangle two nonlocal qubits with each other without interaction, so the scheme can also be used to generate nonlocal entanglement counterfactually. We here illustrate the scheme by using flying photon qubits and Rydberg atom qubits assisted by a mesoscopic atomic ensemble. Unlike the typical teleportation, the present scheme can transport an unknown qubit in a nondeterministic manner without prior entanglement sharing or classical communication between the two distant participants.

Counterfactual quantum-information transfer without transmitting any physical particles.

PubMed

Guo, Qi; Cheng, Liu-Yong; Chen, Li; Wang, Hong-Fu; Zhang, Shou

2015-02-12

We demonstrate quantum information can be transferred between two distant participants without any physical particles traveling between them. The key procedure of the counterfactual scheme is to entangle two nonlocal qubits with each other without interaction, so the scheme can also be used to generate nonlocal entanglement counterfactually. We here illustrate the scheme by using flying photon qubits and Rydberg atom qubits assisted by a mesoscopic atomic ensemble. Unlike the typical teleportation, the present scheme can transport an unknown qubit in a nondeterministic manner without prior entanglement sharing or classical communication between the two distant participants.

Feedback loops and temporal misalignment in component-based hydrologic modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elag, Mostafa M.; Goodall, Jonathan L.; Castronova, Anthony M.

2011-12-01

In component-based modeling, a complex system is represented as a series of loosely integrated components with defined interfaces and data exchanges that allow the components to be coupled together through shared boundary conditions. Although the component-based paradigm is commonly used in software engineering, it has only recently been applied for modeling hydrologic and earth systems. As a result, research is needed to test and verify the applicability of the approach for modeling hydrologic systems. The objective of this work was therefore to investigate two aspects of using component-based software architecture for hydrologic modeling: (1) simulation of feedback loops between components that share a boundary condition and (2) data transfers between temporally misaligned model components. We investigated these topics using a simple case study where diffusion of mass is modeled across a water-sediment interface. We simulated the multimedia system using two model components, one for the water and one for the sediment, coupled using the Open Modeling Interface (OpenMI) standard. The results were compared with a more conventional numerical approach for solving the system where the domain is represented by a single multidimensional array. Results showed that the component-based approach was able to produce the same results obtained with the more conventional numerical approach. When the two components were temporally misaligned, we explored the use of different interpolation schemes to minimize mass balance error within the coupled system. The outcome of this work provides evidence that component-based modeling can be used to simulate complicated feedback loops between systems and guidance as to how different interpolation schemes minimize mass balance error introduced when components are temporally misaligned.

ONU Power Saving Scheme for EPON System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukai, Hiroaki; Tano, Fumihiko; Tanaka, Masaki; Kozaki, Seiji; Yamanaka, Hideaki

PON (Passive Optical Network) achieves FTTH (Fiber To The Home) economically, by sharing an optical fiber among plural subscribers. Recently, global climate change has been recognized as a serious near term problem. Power saving techniques for electronic devices are important. In PON system, the ONU (Optical Network Unit) power saving scheme has been studied and defined in XG-PON. In this paper, we propose an ONU power saving scheme for EPON. Then, we present an analysis of the power reduction effect and the data transmission delay caused by the ONU power saving scheme. According to the analysis, we propose an efficient provisioning method for the ONU power saving scheme which is applicable to both of XG-PON and EPON.

Automatic image database generation from CAD for 3D object recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sardana, Harish K.; Daemi, Mohammad F.; Ibrahim, Mohammad K.

1993-06-01

The development and evaluation of Multiple-View 3-D object recognition systems is based on a large set of model images. Due to the various advantages of using CAD, it is becoming more and more practical to use existing CAD data in computer vision systems. Current PC- level CAD systems are capable of providing physical image modelling and rendering involving positional variations in cameras, light sources etc. We have formulated a modular scheme for automatic generation of various aspects (views) of the objects in a model based 3-D object recognition system. These views are generated at desired orientations on the unit Gaussian sphere. With a suitable network file sharing system (NFS), the images can directly be stored on a database located on a file server. This paper presents the image modelling solutions using CAD in relation to multiple-view approach. Our modular scheme for data conversion and automatic image database storage for such a system is discussed. We have used this approach in 3-D polyhedron recognition. An overview of the results, advantages and limitations of using CAD data and conclusions using such as scheme are also presented.

R2NA: Received Signal Strength (RSS) Ratio-Based Node Authentication for Body Area Network

PubMed Central

Wu, Yang; Wang, Kai; Sun, Yongmei; Ji, Yuefeng

2013-01-01

The body area network (BAN) is an emerging branch of wireless sensor networks for personalized applications. The services in BAN usually have a high requirement on security, especially for the medical diagnosis. One of the fundamental directions to ensure security in BAN is how to provide node authentication. Traditional research using cryptography relies on prior secrets shared among nodes, which leads to high resource cost. In addition, most existing non-cryptographic solutions exploit out-of-band (OOB) channels, but they need the help of additional hardware support or significant modifications to the system software. To avoid the above problems, this paper presents a proximity-based node authentication scheme, which only uses wireless modules equipped on sensors. With only one sensor and one control unit (CU) in BAN, we could detect a unique physical layer characteristic, namely, the difference between the received signal strength (RSS) measured on different devices in BAN. Through the above-mentioned particular difference, we can tell whether the sender is close enough to be legitimate. We validate our scheme through both theoretical analysis and experiments, which are conducted on the real Shimmer nodes. The results demonstrate that our proposed scheme has a good security performance.

Reply to Comment on ‘Authenticated quantum secret sharing with quantum dialogue based on Bell states'

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abulkasim, Hussein; Hamad, Safwat; Elhadad, Ahmed

2018-02-01

In the Comment made by Gao (2018 Phys. Scr. 93 027002), it has been shown that the multiparty case in our proposed scheme in Abulkasim et al (2016 Phys. Scr. 91 085101) is not secure, where Bob and Charlie can deduce Alice’s unitary operations without being detected. This reply shows a simple modification of the multiparty case to prevent the dishonest agents from performing this kind of attack.

DISP: Optimizations towards Scalable MPI Startup

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fu, Huansong; Pophale, Swaroop S; Gorentla Venkata, Manjunath

2016-01-01

Despite the popularity of MPI for high performance computing, the startup of MPI programs faces a scalability challenge as both the execution time and memory consumption increase drastically at scale. We have examined this problem using the collective modules of Cheetah and Tuned in Open MPI as representative implementations. Previous improvements for collectives have focused on algorithmic advances and hardware off-load. In this paper, we examine the startup cost of the collective module within a communicator and explore various techniques to improve its efficiency and scalability. Accordingly, we have developed a new scalable startup scheme with three internal techniques, namelymore » Delayed Initialization, Module Sharing and Prediction-based Topology Setup (DISP). Our DISP scheme greatly benefits the collective initialization of the Cheetah module. At the same time, it helps boost the performance of non-collective initialization in the Tuned module. We evaluate the performance of our implementation on Titan supercomputer at ORNL with up to 4096 processes. The results show that our delayed initialization can speed up the startup of Tuned and Cheetah by an average of 32.0% and 29.2%, respectively, our module sharing can reduce the memory consumption of Tuned and Cheetah by up to 24.1% and 83.5%, respectively, and our prediction-based topology setup can speed up the startup of Cheetah by up to 80%.« less

Hierarchical Data Distribution Scheme for Peer-to-Peer Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhushan, Shashi; Dave, M.; Patel, R. B.

2010-11-01

In the past few years, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks have become an extremely popular mechanism for large-scale content sharing. P2P systems have focused on specific application domains (e.g. music files, video files) or on providing file system like capabilities. P2P is a powerful paradigm, which provides a large-scale and cost-effective mechanism for data sharing. P2P system may be used for storing data globally. Can we implement a conventional database on P2P system? But successful implementation of conventional databases on the P2P systems is yet to be reported. In this paper we have presented the mathematical model for the replication of the partitions and presented a hierarchical based data distribution scheme for the P2P networks. We have also analyzed the resource utilization and throughput of the P2P system with respect to the availability, when a conventional database is implemented over the P2P system with variable query rate. Simulation results show that database partitions placed on the peers with higher availability factor perform better. Degradation index, throughput, resource utilization are the parameters evaluated with respect to the availability factor.

The a(4) Scheme-A High Order Neutrally Stable CESE Solver

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chang, Sin-Chung

2009-01-01

The CESE development is driven by a belief that a solver should (i) enforce conservation laws in both space and time, and (ii) be built from a nondissipative (i.e., neutrally stable) core scheme so that the numerical dissipation can be controlled effectively. To provide a solid foundation for a systematic CESE development of high order schemes, in this paper we describe a new high order (4-5th order) and neutrally stable CESE solver of a 1D advection equation with a constant advection speed a. The space-time stencil of this two-level explicit scheme is formed by one point at the upper time level and two points at the lower time level. Because it is associated with four independent mesh variables (the numerical analogues of the dependent variable and its first, second, and third-order spatial derivatives) and four equations per mesh point, the new scheme is referred to as the a(4) scheme. As in the case of other similar CESE neutrally stable solvers, the a(4) scheme enforces conservation laws in space-time locally and globally, and it has the basic, forward marching, and backward marching forms. Except for a singular case, these forms are equivalent and satisfy a space-time inversion (STI) invariant property which is shared by the advection equation. Based on the concept of STI invariance, a set of algebraic relations is developed and used to prove the a(4) scheme must be neutrally stable when it is stable. Numerically, it has been established that the scheme is stable if the value of the Courant number is less than 1/3

An Identity Based Key Exchange Protocol in Cloud Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molli, Venkateswara Rao; Tiwary, Omkar Nath

2012-10-01

Workflow systems often use delegation to enhance the flexibility of authorization; delegation transfers privileges among users across different administrative domains and facilitates information sharing. We present an independently verifiable delegation mechanism, where a delegation credential can be verified without the participation of domain administrators. This protocol, called role-based cascaded delegation (RBCD), supports simple and efficient cross-domain delegation of authority. RBCD enables a role member to create delegations based on the dynamic needs of collaboration; in the meantime, a delegation chain canbe verified by anyone without the participation of role administrators. We also propose the Measurable Risk Adaptive decentralized Role-based Delegation framework to address this problem. Describe an efficient realization of RBCD by using aggregate signatures, where the authentication information for an arbitrarily long role-based delegation chain is captured by one short signature of constant size. RBCD enables a role member to create delegations based on the need of collaboration; in the meantime anyone can verify a delegation chain without the participation of role administrators. The protocol is general and can be realized by any signature scheme. We have described a specific realization with a hierarchical certificate-based encryption scheme that gives delegation compact credentials.

Reducing Interprocessor Dependence in Recoverable Distributed Shared Memory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Janssens, Bob; Fuchs, W. Kent

1994-01-01

Checkpointing techniques in parallel systems use dependency tracking and/or message logging to ensure that a system rolls back to a consistent state. Traditional dependency tracking in distributed shared memory (DSM) systems is expensive because of high communication frequency. In this paper we show that, if designed correctly, a DSM system only needs to consider dependencies due to the transfer of blocks of data, resulting in reduced dependency tracking overhead and reduced potential for rollback propagation. We develop an ownership timestamp scheme to tolerate the loss of block state information and develop a passive server model of execution where interactions between processors are considered atomic. With our scheme, dependencies are significantly reduced compared to the traditional message-passing model.

Modeling and Dynamic Analysis of Paralleled dc/dc Converters With Master-Slave Current Sharing Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rajagopalan, J.; Xing, K.; Guo, Y.; Lee, F. C.; Manners, Bruce

1996-01-01

A simple, application-oriented, transfer function model of paralleled converters employing Master-Slave Current-sharing (MSC) control is developed. Dynamically, the Master converter retains its original design characteristics; all the Slave converters are forced to depart significantly from their original design characteristics into current-controlled current sources. Five distinct loop gains to assess system stability and performance are identified and their physical significance is described. A design methodology for the current share compensator is presented. The effect of this current sharing scheme on 'system output impedance' is analyzed.

Inequalities in usage of a public bicycle sharing scheme: socio-demographic predictors of uptake and usage of the London (UK) cycle hire scheme.

PubMed

Ogilvie, F; Goodman, A

2012-07-01

Cycling confers individual and population-level health benefits, but uptake is not always equitable across socio-demographic groups. We sought to examine inequalities in uptake and usage of London's Barclays Cycle Hire (BCH) scheme. We obtained complete BCH registration data, and compared users with the general population. We examined usage levels by explanatory variables including gender, small-area income-deprivation and local cycling prevalence. 100,801 registered individuals made 2.5 million trips between July 2010 and March 2011. Compared with residents and workers in the central London area served by the scheme, registered individuals were more likely to be male and to live in areas of low deprivation and high cycling prevalence. Among those registered, females made 1.63 (95%CI 1.53, 1.74) fewer trips per month than males, and made under a fifth of all trips. Adjusting for the fact that deprived areas were less likely to be close to BCH docking stations, users in the most deprived areas made 0.85 (95%CI 0.63,1.07) more trips per month than those in the least deprived areas. Females and residents in deprived areas are underrepresented among users of London's public bicycle sharing scheme. The scheme's planned expansion into more deprived areas has, however, the potential to create a more equitable uptake of cycling. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Distributed Noise Generation for Density Estimation Based Clustering without Trusted Third Party

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Chunhua; Bao, Feng; Zhou, Jianying; Takagi, Tsuyoshi; Sakurai, Kouichi

The rapid growth of the Internet provides people with tremendous opportunities for data collection, knowledge discovery and cooperative computation. However, it also brings the problem of sensitive information leakage. Both individuals and enterprises may suffer from the massive data collection and the information retrieval by distrusted parties. In this paper, we propose a privacy-preserving protocol for the distributed kernel density estimation-based clustering. Our scheme applies random data perturbation (RDP) technique and the verifiable secret sharing to solve the security problem of distributed kernel density estimation in [4] which assumed a mediate party to help in the computation.

Intel Xeon Phi accelerated Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Goddard microphysics scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mielikainen, J.; Huang, B.; Huang, A. H.-L.

2014-12-01

The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is a numerical weather prediction system designed to serve both atmospheric research and operational forecasting needs. The WRF development is a done in collaboration around the globe. Furthermore, the WRF is used by academic atmospheric scientists, weather forecasters at the operational centers and so on. The WRF contains several physics components. The most time consuming one is the microphysics. One microphysics scheme is the Goddard cloud microphysics scheme. It is a sophisticated cloud microphysics scheme in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The Goddard microphysics scheme is very suitable for massively parallel computation as there are no interactions among horizontal grid points. Compared to the earlier microphysics schemes, the Goddard scheme incorporates a large number of improvements. Thus, we have optimized the Goddard scheme code. In this paper, we present our results of optimizing the Goddard microphysics scheme on Intel Many Integrated Core Architecture (MIC) hardware. The Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor is the first product based on Intel MIC architecture, and it consists of up to 61 cores connected by a high performance on-die bidirectional interconnect. The Intel MIC is capable of executing a full operating system and entire programs rather than just kernels as the GPU does. The MIC coprocessor supports all important Intel development tools. Thus, the development environment is one familiar to a vast number of CPU developers. Although, getting a maximum performance out of MICs will require using some novel optimization techniques. Those optimization techniques are discussed in this paper. The results show that the optimizations improved performance of Goddard microphysics scheme on Xeon Phi 7120P by a factor of 4.7×. In addition, the optimizations reduced the Goddard microphysics scheme's share of the total WRF processing time from 20.0 to 7.5%. Furthermore, the same optimizations improved performance on Intel Xeon E5-2670 by a factor of 2.8× compared to the original code.

Schemes for deterministic joint remote preparation of an arbitrary tripartite four-qubit entangled state

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Peng-Cheng; Chen, Gui-Bin; Li, Xiao-Wei; Zhan, You-Bang

2016-10-01

We present two schemes for the joint remote state preparation (JRSP) of an arbitrary tripartite four-qubit entangled state with complex coefficients via four and two three-qubit GHZ states as the quantum channel, respectively. In these schemes, the two senders share the original state which they wish to help the receiver remotely prepare. To complete the JRSP schemes, some novel sets of mutually orthogonal basis vectors are introduced. It is shown that, only if the two senders collaborate with each other, and perform projective measurements under a suitable measuring basis on their own qubits respectively, can the receiver reconstruct the original state by means of some appropriate unitary operations. We demonstrate, in our both schemes, the total success probability of the JRSP can reach 1. Moreover, compared with the first scheme in this paper, the advantage of the second scheme is that the entanglement resource can be reduced.

A Two Colorable Fourth Order Compact Difference Scheme and Parallel Iterative Solution of the 3D Convection Diffusion Equation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhang, Jun; Ge, Lixin; Kouatchou, Jules

2000-01-01

A new fourth order compact difference scheme for the three dimensional convection diffusion equation with variable coefficients is presented. The novelty of this new difference scheme is that it Only requires 15 grid points and that it can be decoupled with two colors. The entire computational grid can be updated in two parallel subsweeps with the Gauss-Seidel type iterative method. This is compared with the known 19 point fourth order compact differenCe scheme which requires four colors to decouple the computational grid. Numerical results, with multigrid methods implemented on a shared memory parallel computer, are presented to compare the 15 point and the 19 point fourth order compact schemes.

Coding Instead of Splitting - Algebraic Combinations in Time and Space

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-09

sources message. For certain classes of two-unicast-Z networks, we show that the rate-tuple ( N ,1) is achievable as long as the individual source...destination cuts for the two source-destination pairs are respectively at least as large as N and 1, and the generalized network sharing cut - a bound...previously defined by Kamath et. al. - is at least as large as N + 1. We show this through a novel achievable scheme which is based on random linear coding at

Data Compression With Application to Geo-Location

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-08-01

wireless sensor network requires the estimation of time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) parameters using data collected by a set of spatially separated sensors. Compressing the data that is shared among the sensors can provide tremendous savings in terms of the energy and transmission latency. Traditional MSE and perceptual based data compression schemes fail to accurately capture the effects of compression on the TDOA estimation task; therefore, it is necessary to investigate compression algorithms suitable for TDOA parameter estimation. This thesis explores the

Effects of Planetary Boundary Layer Parameterizations on CWRF Regional Climate Simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, S.; Liang, X.

2011-12-01

Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) parameterizations incorporated in CWRF (Climate extension of the Weather Research and Forecasting model) are first evaluated by comparing simulated PBL heights with observations. Among the 10 evaluated PBL schemes, 2 (CAM, UW) are new in CWRF while the other 8 are original WRF schemes. MYJ, QNSE and UW determine the PBL heights based on turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) profiles, while others (YSU, ACM, GFS, CAM, TEMF) are from bulk Richardson criteria. All TKE-based schemes (MYJ, MYNN, QNSE, UW, Boulac) substantially underestimate convective or residual PBL heights from noon toward evening, while others (ACM, CAM, YSU) well capture the observed diurnal cycle except for the GFS with systematic overestimation. These differences among the schemes are representative over most areas of the simulation domain, suggesting systematic behaviors of the parameterizations. Lower PBL heights simulated by the QNSE and MYJ are consistent with their smaller Bowen ratios and heavier rainfalls, while higher PBL tops by the GFS correspond to warmer surface temperatures. Effects of PBL parameterizations on CWRF regional climate simulation are then compared. The QNSE PBL scheme yields systematically heavier rainfall almost everywhere and throughout the year; this is identified with a much greater surface Bowen ratio (smaller sensible versus larger latent heating) and wetter soil moisture than other PBL schemes. Its predecessor MYJ scheme shares the same deficiency to a lesser degree. For temperature, the performance of the QNSE and MYJ schemes remains poor, having substantially larger rms errors in all seasons. GFS PBL scheme also produces large warm biases. Pronounced sensitivities are also found to the PBL schemes in winter and spring over most areas except the southern U.S. (Southeast, Gulf States, NAM); excluding the outliers (QNSE, MYJ, GFS) that cause extreme biases of -6 to +3°C, the differences among the schemes are still visible (±2°C), where the CAM is generally more realistic. QNSE, MYJ, GFS and BouLac PBL parameterizations are identified as obvious outliers of overall performance in representing precipitation, surface air temperature or PBL height variations. Their poor performance may result from deficiencies in physical formulations, dependences on applicable scales, or trouble numerical implementations, requiring future detailed investigation to isolate the actual cause.

Spectrum Sharing Based on a Bertrand Game in Cognitive Radio Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Zeng, Biqing; Zhang, Chi; Hu, Pianpian; Wang, Shengyu

2017-01-01

In the study of power control and allocation based on pricing, the utility of secondary users is usually studied from the perspective of the signal to noise ratio. The study of secondary user utility from the perspective of communication demand can not only promote the secondary users to meet the maximum communication needs, but also to maximize the utilization of spectrum resources, however, research in this area is lacking, so from the viewpoint of meeting the demand of network communication, this paper designs a two stage model to solve spectrum leasing and allocation problem in cognitive radio sensor networks (CRSNs). In the first stage, the secondary base station collects the secondary network communication requirements, and rents spectrum resources from several primary base stations using the Bertrand game to model the transaction behavior of the primary base station and secondary base station. The second stage, the subcarriers and power allocation problem of secondary base stations is defined as a nonlinear programming problem to be solved based on Nash bargaining. The simulation results show that the proposed model can satisfy the communication requirements of each user in a fair and efficient way compared to other spectrum sharing schemes. PMID:28067850

A mixed parallel strategy for the solution of coupled multi-scale problems at finite strains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopes, I. A. Rodrigues; Pires, F. M. Andrade; Reis, F. J. P.

2018-02-01

A mixed parallel strategy for the solution of homogenization-based multi-scale constitutive problems undergoing finite strains is proposed. The approach aims to reduce the computational time and memory requirements of non-linear coupled simulations that use finite element discretization at both scales (FE^2). In the first level of the algorithm, a non-conforming domain decomposition technique, based on the FETI method combined with a mortar discretization at the interface of macroscopic subdomains, is employed. A master-slave scheme, which distributes tasks by macroscopic element and adopts dynamic scheduling, is then used for each macroscopic subdomain composing the second level of the algorithm. This strategy allows the parallelization of FE^2 simulations in computers with either shared memory or distributed memory architectures. The proposed strategy preserves the quadratic rates of asymptotic convergence that characterize the Newton-Raphson scheme. Several examples are presented to demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of the proposed parallel strategy.

Dynamic multicast routing scheme in WDM optical network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Yonghua; Dong, Zhiling; Yao, Hong; Yang, Jianyong; Liu, Yibin

2007-11-01

During the information era, the Internet and the service of World Wide Web develop rapidly. Therefore, the wider and wider bandwidth is required with the lower and lower cost. The demand of operation turns out to be diversified. Data, images, videos and other special transmission demands share the challenge and opportunity with the service providers. Simultaneously, the electrical equipment has approached their limit. So the optical communication based on the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) and the optical cross-connects (OXCs) shows great potentials and brilliant future to build an optical network based on the unique technical advantage and multi-wavelength characteristic. In this paper, we propose a multi-layered graph model with inter-path between layers to solve the problem of multicast routing wavelength assignment (RWA) contemporarily by employing an efficient graph theoretic formulation. And at the same time, an efficient dynamic multicast algorithm named Distributed Message Copying Multicast (DMCM) mechanism is also proposed. The multicast tree with minimum hops can be constructed dynamically according to this proposed scheme.

Dynamic Transfers Of Tasks Among Computers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Howard T.; Silvester, John A.

1989-01-01

Allocation scheme gives jobs to idle computers. Ideal resource-sharing algorithm should have following characteristics: Dynamics, decentralized, and heterogeneous. Proposed enhanced receiver-initiated dynamic algorithm (ERIDA) for resource sharing fulfills all above criteria. Provides method balancing workload among hosts, resulting in improvement in response time and throughput performance of total system. Adjusts dynamically to traffic load of each station.

Efficient schemes for deterministic joint remote preparation of an arbitrary four-qubit W-type entangled state

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Hao; Ma, Peng-Cheng; Chen, Gui-Bin; Li, Xiao-Wei; Zhan, You-Bang

2017-06-01

We present three schemes for the joint remote state preparation (JRSP) of an arbitrary four-qubit W-type entangled state with complex coefficients via four and two three-qubit GHZ states as the quantum channel. In these schemes, two senders (or N senders) share the original state which they wish to help the receiver to remotely prepare. To complete the JRSP schemes, some novel sets of mutually orthogonal basis vectors are introduced. It is shown that, only if two senders (or N senders) collaborate with each other, and perform projective measurements under suitable measuring basis on their own qubits, the receiver can reconstruct the original state by means of some appropriate unitary operations. It is shown that, in all our schemes, the total success probability of the JRSP can reach 1. Specially, compared with the first scheme in our paper, the entanglement resource in the second scheme can be reduced. This means that the scheme is more efficient and economical.

Comparison of medicines management strategies in insurance schemes in middle-income countries: four case studies.

PubMed

Kaplan, Warren A; Ashigbie, Paul G; Brooks, Mohamad I; Wirtz, Veronika J

2017-01-01

Many middle-income countries are scaling up health insurance schemes to provide financial protection and access to affordable medicines to poor and uninsured populations. Although there is a wealth of evidence on how high income countries with mature insurance schemes manage cost-effective use of medicines, there is limited evidence on the strategies used in middle-income countries. This paper compares the medicines management strategies that four insurance schemes in middle-income countries use to improve access and cost-effective use of medicines among beneficiaries. We compare key strategies promoting cost-effective medicines use in the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS) in China, National Health Insurance Scheme in Ghana, Jamkesmas in Indonesia and Seguro Popular in Mexico. Through the peer-reviewed and grey literature as of late 2013, we identified strategies that met our inclusion criteria as well as any evidence showing if, and/or how, these strategies affected medicines management. Stakeholders involved and affected by medicines coverage policies in these insurance schemes were asked to provide relevant documents describing the medicines related aspects of these insurance programs. We also asked them specifically to identify publications discussing the unintended consequences of the strategies implemented. Use of formularies, bulk procurement, standard treatment guidelines and separation of prescribing and dispensing were present in all four schemes. Also, increased transparency through publication of tender agreements and procurement prices was introduced in all four. Common strategies shared by three out of four schemes were medicine price negotiation or rebates, generic reference pricing, fixed salaries for prescribers, accredited preferred provider network, disease management programs, and monitoring of medicines purchases. Cost-sharing and payment for performance was rarely used. There was a lack of performance monitoring strategies in all schemes. Most of the strategies used in the insurance schemes focus on containing expenditure growth, including budget caps on pharmaceutical expenditures (Mexico) and ceiling prices on medicines (all four countries). There were few strategies targeting quality improvement as healthcare providers are mostly paid through fixed salaries, irrespective of the quality of their prescribing or the health outcomes actually achieved. Monitoring healthcare system performance has received little attention.

Introducing Large-Scale Innovation in Schools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sotiriou, Sofoklis; Riviou, Katherina; Cherouvis, Stephanos; Chelioti, Eleni; Bogner, Franz X.

2016-08-01

Education reform initiatives tend to promise higher effectiveness in classrooms especially when emphasis is given to e-learning and digital resources. Practical changes in classroom realities or school organization, however, are lacking. A major European initiative entitled Open Discovery Space (ODS) examined the challenge of modernizing school education via a large-scale implementation of an open-scale methodology in using technology-supported innovation. The present paper describes this innovation scheme which involved schools and teachers all over Europe, embedded technology-enhanced learning into wider school environments and provided training to teachers. Our implementation scheme consisted of three phases: (1) stimulating interest, (2) incorporating the innovation into school settings and (3) accelerating the implementation of the innovation. The scheme's impact was monitored for a school year using five indicators: leadership and vision building, ICT in the curriculum, development of ICT culture, professional development support, and school resources and infrastructure. Based on about 400 schools, our study produced four results: (1) The growth in digital maturity was substantial, even for previously high scoring schools. This was even more important for indicators such as vision and leadership" and "professional development." (2) The evolution of networking is presented graphically, showing the gradual growth of connections achieved. (3) These communities became core nodes, involving numerous teachers in sharing educational content and experiences: One out of three registered users (36 %) has shared his/her educational resources in at least one community. (4) Satisfaction scores ranged from 76 % (offer of useful support through teacher academies) to 87 % (good environment to exchange best practices). Initiatives such as ODS add substantial value to schools on a large scale.

A suffix arrays based approach to semantic search in P2P systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Qingwei; Zhao, Zheng; Bao, Hu

2007-09-01

Building a semantic search system on top of peer-to-peer (P2P) networks is becoming an attractive and promising alternative scheme for the reason of scalability, Data freshness and search cost. In this paper, we present a Suffix Arrays based algorithm for Semantic Search (SASS) in P2P systems, which generates a distributed Semantic Overlay Network (SONs) construction for full-text search in P2P networks. For each node through the P2P network, SASS distributes document indices based on a set of suffix arrays, by which clusters are created depending on words or phrases shared between documents, therefore, the search cost for a given query is decreased by only scanning semantically related documents. In contrast to recently announced SONs scheme designed by using metadata or predefined-class, SASS is an unsupervised approach for decentralized generation of SONs. SASS is also an incremental, linear time algorithm, which efficiently handle the problem of nodes update in P2P networks. Our simulation results demonstrate that SASS yields high search efficiency in dynamic environments.

A Dynamic Approach to Rebalancing Bike-Sharing Systems

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Bike-sharing services are flourishing in Smart Cities worldwide. They provide a low-cost and environment-friendly transportation alternative and help reduce traffic congestion. However, these new services are still under development, and several challenges need to be solved. A major problem is the management of rebalancing trucks in order to ensure that bikes and stalls in the docking stations are always available when needed, despite the fluctuations in the service demand. In this work, we propose a dynamic rebalancing strategy that exploits historical data to predict the network conditions and promptly act in case of necessity. We use Birth-Death Processes to model the stations’ occupancy and decide when to redistribute bikes, and graph theory to select the rebalancing path and the stations involved. We validate the proposed framework on the data provided by New York City’s bike-sharing system. The numerical simulations show that a dynamic strategy able to adapt to the fluctuating nature of the network outperforms rebalancing schemes based on a static schedule. PMID:29419771

Rapid Communication: Quasi-gedanken experiment challenging the no-signalling theorem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalamidas, Demetrios A.

2018-01-01

Kennedy ( Philos. Sci. 62, 4 (1995)) has argued that the various quantum mechanical no-signalling proofs formulated thus far share a common mathematical framework, are circular in nature, and do not preclude the construction of empirically testable schemes wherein superluminal exchange of information can occur. In light of this thesis, we present a potentially feasible quantum-optical scheme that purports to enable superluminal signalling.

Modeling and Dynamic Analysis of Paralleled of dc/dc Converters with Master-Slave Current Sharing Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rajagopalan, J.; Xing, K.; Guo, Y.; Lee, F. C.; Manners, Bruce

1996-01-01

A simple, application-oriented, transfer function model of paralleled converters employing Master-Slave Current-sharing (MSC) control is developed. Dynamically, the Master converter retains its original design characteristics; all the Slave converters are forced to depart significantly from their original design characteristics into current-controlled current sources. Five distinct loop gains to assess system stability and performance are identified and their physical significance is described. A design methodology for the current share compensator is presented. The effect of this current sharing scheme on 'system output impedance' is analyzed.

Classification of cognitive systems dedicated to data sharing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogiela, Lidia; Ogiela, Marek R.

2017-08-01

In this paper will be presented classification of new cognitive information systems dedicated to cryptographic data splitting and sharing processes. Cognitive processes of semantic data analysis and interpretation, will be used to describe new classes of intelligent information and vision systems. In addition, cryptographic data splitting algorithms and cryptographic threshold schemes will be used to improve processes of secure and efficient information management with application of such cognitive systems. The utility of the proposed cognitive sharing procedures and distributed data sharing algorithms will be also presented. A few possible application of cognitive approaches for visual information management and encryption will be also described.

Uniformly high-order accurate non-oscillatory schemes, 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harten, A.; Osher, S.

1985-01-01

The construction and the analysis of nonoscillatory shock capturing methods for the approximation of hyperbolic conservation laws was begun. These schemes share many desirable properties with total variation diminishing schemes (TVD), but TVD schemes have at most first order accuracy, in the sense of truncation error, at extreme of the solution. A uniformly second order approximation was constucted, which is nonoscillatory in the sense that the number of extrema of the discrete solution is not increasing in time. This is achieved via a nonoscillatory piecewise linear reconstruction of the solution from its cell averages, time evolution through an approximate solution of the resulting initial value problem, and averaging of this approximate solution over each cell.

Perfect quantum multiple-unicast network coding protocol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Dan-Dan; Gao, Fei; Qin, Su-Juan; Wen, Qiao-Yan

2018-01-01

In order to realize long-distance and large-scale quantum communication, it is natural to utilize quantum repeater. For a general quantum multiple-unicast network, it is still puzzling how to complete communication tasks perfectly with less resources such as registers. In this paper, we solve this problem. By applying quantum repeaters to multiple-unicast communication problem, we give encoding-decoding schemes for source nodes, internal ones and target ones, respectively. Source-target nodes share EPR pairs by using our encoding-decoding schemes over quantum multiple-unicast network. Furthermore, quantum communication can be accomplished perfectly via teleportation. Compared with existed schemes, our schemes can reduce resource consumption and realize long-distance transmission of quantum information.

Classical command of quantum systems.

PubMed

Reichardt, Ben W; Unger, Falk; Vazirani, Umesh

2013-04-25

Quantum computation and cryptography both involve scenarios in which a user interacts with an imperfectly modelled or 'untrusted' system. It is therefore of fundamental and practical interest to devise tests that reveal whether the system is behaving as instructed. In 1969, Clauser, Horne, Shimony and Holt proposed an experimental test that can be passed by a quantum-mechanical system but not by a system restricted to classical physics. Here we extend this test to enable the characterization of a large quantum system. We describe a scheme that can be used to determine the initial state and to classically command the system to evolve according to desired dynamics. The bipartite system is treated as two black boxes, with no assumptions about their inner workings except that they obey quantum physics. The scheme works even if the system is explicitly designed to undermine it; any misbehaviour is detected. Among its applications, our scheme makes it possible to test whether a claimed quantum computer is truly quantum. It also advances towards a goal of quantum cryptography: namely, the use of 'untrusted' devices to establish a shared random key, with security based on the validity of quantum physics.

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-steering swapping between two Gaussian multipartite entangled states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Meihong; Qin, Zhongzhong; Wang, Yu; Su, Xiaolong

2017-08-01

Multipartite Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering is a useful quantum resource for quantum communication in quantum networks. It has potential applications in secure quantum communication, such as one-sided device-independent quantum key distribution and quantum secret sharing. By distributing optical modes of a multipartite entangled state to space-separated quantum nodes, a local quantum network can be established. Based on the existing multipartite EPR steering in a local quantum network, secure quantum communication protocol can be accomplished. In this manuscript, we present swapping schemes for EPR steering between two space-separated Gaussian multipartite entangled states, which can be used to connect two space-separated quantum networks. Two swapping schemes, including the swapping between a tripartite Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) entangled state and an EPR entangled state and that between two tripartite GHZ entangled states, are analyzed. Various types of EPR steering are presented after the swapping of two space-separated independent multipartite entanglement states without direct interaction, which can be used to implement quantum communication between two quantum networks. The presented schemes provide technical reference for more complicated quantum networks with EPR steering.

Quantum tagging for tags containing secret classical data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kent, Adrian

Various authors have considered schemes for quantum tagging, that is, authenticating the classical location of a classical tagging device by sending and receiving quantum signals from suitably located distant sites, in an environment controlled by an adversary whose quantum information processing and transmitting power is potentially unbounded. All of the schemes proposed elsewhere in the literature assume that the adversary is able to inspect the interior of the tagging device. All of these schemes have been shown to be breakable if the adversary has unbounded predistributed entanglement. We consider here the case in which the tagging device contains a finitemore » key string shared with distant sites but kept secret from the adversary, and show this allows the location of the tagging device to be authenticated securely and indefinitely. Our protocol relies on quantum key distribution between the tagging device and at least one distant site, and demonstrates a new practical application of quantum key distribution. It also illustrates that the attainable security in position-based cryptography can depend crucially on apparently subtle details in the security scenario considered.« less

Concurrent Transmission Based on Channel Quality in Ad Hoc Networks: A Game Theoretic Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Chen; Gao, Xinbo; Li, Xiaoji; Pei, Qingqi

In this paper, a decentralized concurrent transmission strategy in shared channel in Ad Hoc networks is proposed based on game theory. Firstly, a static concurrent transmissions game is used to determine the candidates for transmitting by channel quality threshold and to maximize the overall throughput with consideration of channel quality variation. To achieve NES (Nash Equilibrium Solution), the selfish behaviors of node to attempt to improve the channel gain unilaterally are evaluated. Therefore, this game allows each node to be distributed and to decide whether to transmit concurrently with others or not depending on NES. Secondly, as there are always some nodes with lower channel gain than NES, which are defined as hunger nodes in this paper, a hunger suppression scheme is proposed by adjusting the price function with interferences reservation and forward relay, to fairly give hunger nodes transmission opportunities. Finally, inspired by stock trading, a dynamic concurrent transmission threshold determination scheme is implemented to make the static game practical. Numerical results show that the proposed scheme is feasible to increase concurrent transmission opportunities for active nodes, and at the same time, the number of hunger nodes is greatly reduced with the least increase of threshold by interferences reservation. Also, the good performance on network goodput of the proposed model can be seen from the results.

High performance optical encryption based on computational ghost imaging with QR code and compressive sensing technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Shengmei; Wang, Le; Liang, Wenqiang; Cheng, Weiwen; Gong, Longyan

2015-10-01

In this paper, we propose a high performance optical encryption (OE) scheme based on computational ghost imaging (GI) with QR code and compressive sensing (CS) technique, named QR-CGI-OE scheme. N random phase screens, generated by Alice, is a secret key and be shared with its authorized user, Bob. The information is first encoded by Alice with QR code, and the QR-coded image is then encrypted with the aid of computational ghost imaging optical system. Here, measurement results from the GI optical system's bucket detector are the encrypted information and be transmitted to Bob. With the key, Bob decrypts the encrypted information to obtain the QR-coded image with GI and CS techniques, and further recovers the information by QR decoding. The experimental and numerical simulated results show that the authorized users can recover completely the original image, whereas the eavesdroppers can not acquire any information about the image even the eavesdropping ratio (ER) is up to 60% at the given measurement times. For the proposed scheme, the number of bits sent from Alice to Bob are reduced considerably and the robustness is enhanced significantly. Meantime, the measurement times in GI system is reduced and the quality of the reconstructed QR-coded image is improved.

Fractional Steps methods for transient problems on commodity computer architectures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krotkiewski, M.; Dabrowski, M.; Podladchikov, Y. Y.

2008-12-01

Fractional Steps methods are suitable for modeling transient processes that are central to many geological applications. Low memory requirements and modest computational complexity facilitates calculations on high-resolution three-dimensional models. An efficient implementation of Alternating Direction Implicit/Locally One-Dimensional schemes for an Opteron-based shared memory system is presented. The memory bandwidth usage, the main bottleneck on modern computer architectures, is specially addressed. High efficiency of above 2 GFlops per CPU is sustained for problems of 1 billion degrees of freedom. The optimized sequential implementation of all 1D sweeps is comparable in execution time to copying the used data in the memory. Scalability of the parallel implementation on up to 8 CPUs is close to perfect. Performing one timestep of the Locally One-Dimensional scheme on a system of 1000 3 unknowns on 8 CPUs takes only 11 s. We validate the LOD scheme using a computational model of an isolated inclusion subject to a constant far field flux. Next, we study numerically the evolution of a diffusion front and the effective thermal conductivity of composites consisting of multiple inclusions and compare the results with predictions based on the differential effective medium approach. Finally, application of the developed parabolic solver is suggested for a real-world problem of fluid transport and reactions inside a reservoir.

Time-domain analysis of planar microstrip devices using a generalized Yee-algorithm based on unstructured grids

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gedney, Stephen D.; Lansing, Faiza

1993-01-01

The generalized Yee-algorithm is presented for the temporal full-wave analysis of planar microstrip devices. This algorithm has the significant advantage over the traditional Yee-algorithm in that it is based on unstructured and irregular grids. The robustness of the generalized Yee-algorithm is that structures that contain curved conductors or complex three-dimensional geometries can be more accurately, and much more conveniently modeled using standard automatic grid generation techniques. This generalized Yee-algorithm is based on the the time-marching solution of the discrete form of Maxwell's equations in their integral form. To this end, the electric and magnetic fields are discretized over a dual, irregular, and unstructured grid. The primary grid is assumed to be composed of general fitted polyhedra distributed throughout the volume. The secondary grid (or dual grid) is built up of the closed polyhedra whose edges connect the centroid's of adjacent primary cells, penetrating shared faces. Faraday's law and Ampere's law are used to update the fields normal to the primary and secondary grid faces, respectively. Subsequently, a correction scheme is introduced to project the normal fields onto the grid edges. It is shown that this scheme is stable, maintains second-order accuracy, and preserves the divergenceless nature of the flux densities. Finally, for computational efficiency the algorithm is structured as a series of sparse matrix-vector multiplications. Based on this scheme, the generalized Yee-algorithm has been implemented on vector and parallel high performance computers in a highly efficient manner.

Spectrum sharing in cognitive radio networks--an auction-based approach.

PubMed

Wang, Xinbing; Li, Zheng; Xu, Pengchao; Xu, Youyun; Gao, Xinbo; Chen, Hsiao-Hwa

2010-06-01

Cognitive radio is emerging as a promising technique to improve the utilization of the radio frequency spectrum. In this paper, we consider the problem of spectrum sharing among primary (or "licensed") users (PUs) and secondary (or "unlicensed") users (SUs). We formulate the problem based on bandwidth auction, in which each SU makes a bid for the amount of spectrum and each PU may assign the spectrum among the SUs by itself according to the information from the SUs without degrading its own performance. We show that the auction is a noncooperative game and that Nash equilibrium (NE) can be its solution. We first consider a single-PU network to investigate the existence and uniqueness of the NE and further discuss the fairness among the SUs under given conditions. Then, we present a dynamic updating algorithm in which each SU achieves NE in a distributed manner. The stability condition of the dynamic behavior for this spectrum-sharing scheme is studied. The discussion is generalized to the case in which there are multiple PUs in the network, where the properties of the NE are shown under appropriate conditions. Simulations were used to evaluate the system performance and verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

On Space-Time Inversion Invariance and its Relation to Non-Dissipatedness of a CESE Core Scheme

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chang, Sin-Chung

2006-01-01

The core motivating ideas of the space-time CESE method are clearly presented and critically analyzed. It is explained why these ideas result in all the simplifying and enabling features of the CESE method. A thorough discussion of the a scheme, a two-level non-dissipative CESE solver of a simple advection equation with two independent mesh variables and two equations per mesh point is also presented. It is shown that the scheme possesses some rather intriguing properties such as: (i) its two independent mesh variables separately satisfy two decoupled three-level leapfrog schemes and (ii) it shares with the leapfrog scheme the same amplification factors, even though the a scheme and the leapfrog scheme have completely different origins and structures. It is also explained why the leapfrog scheme is not as robust as the a scheme. The amplification factors/matrices of several non-dissipative schemes are carefully studied and the key properties that contribute to their non-dissipatedness are clearly spelled out. Finally we define and establish space-time inversion (STI) invariance for several non-dissipative schemes and show that their non-dissipatedness is a result of their STI invariance.

Architectures for reasoning in parallel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, Lawrence O.

1989-01-01

The research conducted has dealt with rule-based expert systems. The algorithms that may lead to effective parallelization of them were investigated. Both the forward and backward chained control paradigms were investigated in the course of this work. The best computer architecture for the developed and investigated algorithms has been researched. Two experimental vehicles were developed to facilitate this research. They are Backpac, a parallel backward chained rule-based reasoning system and Datapac, a parallel forward chained rule-based reasoning system. Both systems have been written in Multilisp, a version of Lisp which contains the parallel construct, future. Applying the future function to a function causes the function to become a task parallel to the spawning task. Additionally, Backpac and Datapac have been run on several disparate parallel processors. The machines are an Encore Multimax with 10 processors, the Concert Multiprocessor with 64 processors, and a 32 processor BBN GP1000. Both the Concert and the GP1000 are switch-based machines. The Multimax has all its processors hung off a common bus. All are shared memory machines, but have different schemes for sharing the memory and different locales for the shared memory. The main results of the investigations come from experiments on the 10 processor Encore and the Concert with partitions of 32 or less processors. Additionally, experiments have been run with a stripped down version of EMYCIN.

Measuring Shared Decision Making in Psychiatric Care

PubMed Central

Salyers, Michelle P.; Matthias, Marianne S.; Fukui, Sadaaki; Holter, Mark C.; Collins, Linda; Rose, Nichole; Thompson, John; Coffman, Melinda; Torrey, William C.

2014-01-01

Objective Shared decision making is widely recognized to facilitate effective health care; tools are needed to measure the level of shared decision making in psychiatric practice. Methods A coding scheme assessing shared decision making in medical settings (1) was adapted, including creation of a manual. Trained raters analyzed 170 audio recordings of psychiatric medication check-up visits. Results Inter-rater reliability among three raters for a subset of 20 recordings ranged from 67% to 100% agreement for the presence of each of nine elements of shared decision making and 100% for the overall agreement between provider and consumer. Just over half of the decisions met minimum criteria for shared decision making. Shared decision making was not related to length of visit after controlling for complexity of decision. Conclusions The shared decision making rating scale appears to reliably assess shared decision making in psychiatric practice and could be helpful for future research, training, and implementation efforts. PMID:22854725

Environmental impact of non-certified versus certified (ASC) intensive Pangasius aquaculture in Vietnam, a comparison based on a statistically supported LCA.

PubMed

Nhu, Trang T; Schaubroeck, Thomas; Henriksson, Patrik J G; Bosma, Roel; Sorgeloos, Patrick; Dewulf, Jo

2016-12-01

Pangasius production in Vietnam is widely known as a success story in aquaculture, the fastest growing global food system because of its tremendous expansion by volume, value and the number of international markets to which Pangasius has been exported in recent years. While certification schemes are becoming significant features of international fish trade and marketing, an increasing number of Pangasius producers have followed at least one of the certification schemes recognised by international markets to incorporate environmental and social sustainability practices in aquaculture, typically the Pangasius Aquaculture Dialogue (PAD) scheme certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC). An assessment of the environmental benefit of applying certification schemes on Pangasius production, however, is still needed. This article compared the environmental impact of ASC-certified versus non-ASC certified intensive Pangasius aquaculture, using a statistically supported LCA. We focused on both resource-related (water, land and total resources) and emissions-related (global warming, acidification, freshwater and marine eutrophication) categories. The ASC certification scheme was shown to be a good approach for determining adequate environmental sustainability, especially concerning emissions-related categories, in Pangasius production. However, the non-ASC certified farms, due to the large spread, the impact (e.g., water resources and freshwater eutrophication) was possibly lower for a certain farm. However, this result was not generally prominent. Further improvements in intensive Pangasius production to inspire certification schemes are proposed, e.g., making the implementation of certification schemes more affordable, well-oriented and facilitated; reducing consumed feed amounts and of the incorporated share in fishmeal, especially domestic fishmeal, etc. However, their implementation should be vetted with key stakeholders to assess their feasibility. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Challenge of Financing Higher Education and the Role of Student Loans Scheme: An Analysis of the Student Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) in Ghana

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atuahene, Francis

2008-01-01

Student loans program is one of the most controversial phenomena in financing higher education in Ghana, but its importance as a cost sharing mechanism is incontestable. This paper describes the challenge of financing higher education in Ghana. It provides a critique of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) Student Loans Scheme,…

Intelligent call admission control for multi-class services in mobile cellular networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Yufeng; Hu, Xiulin; Zhang, Yunyu

2005-11-01

Scarcity of the spectrum resource and mobility of users make quality of service (QoS) provision a critical issue in mobile cellular networks. This paper presents a fuzzy call admission control scheme to meet the requirement of the QoS. A performance measure is formed as a weighted linear function of new call and handoff call blocking probabilities of each service class. Simulation compares the proposed fuzzy scheme with complete sharing and guard channel policies. Simulation results show that fuzzy scheme has a better robust performance in terms of average blocking criterion.

Smart Grid Privacy through Distributed Trust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lipton, Benjamin

Though the smart electrical grid promises many advantages in efficiency and reliability, the risks to consumer privacy have impeded its deployment. Researchers have proposed protecting privacy by aggregating user data before it reaches the utility, using techniques of homomorphic encryption to prevent exposure of unaggregated values. However, such schemes generally require users to trust in the correct operation of a single aggregation server. We propose two alternative systems based on secret sharing techniques that distribute this trust among multiple service providers, protecting user privacy against a misbehaving server. We also provide an extensive evaluation of the systems considered, comparing their robustness to privacy compromise, error handling, computational performance, and data transmission costs. We conclude that while all the systems should be computationally feasible on smart meters, the two methods based on secret sharing require much less computation while also providing better protection against corrupted aggregators. Building systems using these techniques could help defend the privacy of electricity customers, as well as customers of other utilities as they move to a more data-driven architecture.

Last-position elimination-based learning automata.

PubMed

Zhang, Junqi; Wang, Cheng; Zhou, MengChu

2014-12-01

An update scheme of the state probability vector of actions is critical for learning automata (LA). The most popular is the pursuit scheme that pursues the estimated optimal action and penalizes others. This paper proposes a reverse philosophy that leads to last-position elimination-based learning automata (LELA). The action graded last in terms of the estimated performance is penalized by decreasing its state probability and is eliminated when its state probability becomes zero. All active actions, that is, actions with nonzero state probability, equally share the penalized state probability from the last-position action at each iteration. The proposed LELA is characterized by the relaxed convergence condition for the optimal action, the accelerated step size of the state probability update scheme for the estimated optimal action, and the enriched sampling for the estimated nonoptimal actions. The proof of the ϵ-optimal property for the proposed algorithm is presented. Last-position elimination is a widespread philosophy in the real world and has proved to be also helpful for the update scheme of the learning automaton via the simulations of well-known benchmark environments. In the simulations, two versions of the LELA, using different selection strategies of the last action, are compared with the classical pursuit algorithms Discretized Pursuit Reward-Inaction (DP(RI)) and Discretized Generalized Pursuit Algorithm (DGPA). Simulation results show that the proposed schemes achieve significantly faster convergence and higher accuracy than the classical ones. Specifically, the proposed schemes reduce the interval to find the best parameter for a specific environment in the classical pursuit algorithms. Thus, they can have their parameter tuning easier to perform and can save much more time when applied to a practical case. Furthermore, the convergence curves and the corresponding variance coefficient curves of the contenders are illustrated to characterize their essential differences and verify the analysis results of the proposed algorithms.

Can't get no satisfaction? Will pay for performance help?: toward an economic framework for understanding performance-based risk-sharing agreements for innovative medical products.

PubMed

Towse, Adrian; Garrison, Louis P

2010-01-01

This article examines performance-based risk-sharing agreements for pharmaceuticals from a theoretical economic perspective. We position these agreements as a form of coverage with evidence development. New performance-based risk sharing could produce a more efficient market equilibrium, achieved by adjustment of the price post-launch to reflect outcomes combined with a new approach to the post-launch costs of evidence collection. For this to happen, the party best able to manage or to bear specific risks must do so. Willingness to bear risk will depend not only on ability to manage it, but on the degree of risk aversion. We identify three related frameworks that provide relevant insights: value of information, real option theory and money-back guarantees. We identify four categories of risk sharing: budget impact, price discounting, outcomes uncertainty and subgroup uncertainty. We conclude that a value of information/real option framework is likely to be the most helpful approach for understanding the costs and benefits of risk sharing. There are a number of factors that are likely to be crucial in determining if performance-based or risk-sharing agreements are efficient and likely to become more important in the future: (i) the cost and practicality of post-launch evidence collection relative to pre-launch; (ii) the feasibility of coverage with evidence development without a pre-agreed contract as to how the evidence will be used to adjust price, revenues or use, in which uncertainty around the pay-off to additional research will reduce the incentive for the manufacturer to collect the information; (iii) the difficulty of writing and policing risk-sharing agreements; (iv) the degree of risk aversion (and therefore opportunity to trade) on the part of payers and manufacturers; and (v) the extent of transferability of data from one country setting to another to support coverage with evidence development in a risk-sharing framework. There is no doubt that--in principle--risk sharing can provide manufacturers and payers additional real options that increase overall efficiency. Given the lack of empirical evidence on the success of schemes already agreed and on the issues we set out above, it is too early to tell if the recent surge of interest in these arrangements is likely to be a trend or only a fad.

Access Control Model for Sharing Composite Electronic Health Records

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Jing; Ahn, Gail-Joon; Covington, Michael J.; Zhang, Xinwen

The adoption of electronically formatted medical records, so called Electronic Health Records (EHRs), has become extremely important in healthcare systems to enable the exchange of medical information among stakeholders. An EHR generally consists of data with different types and sensitivity degrees which must be selectively shared based on the need-to-know principle. Security mechanisms are required to guarantee that only authorized users have access to specific portions of such critical record for legitimate purposes. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for modelling access control scheme for composite EHRs. Our model formulates the semantics and structural composition of an EHR document, from which we introduce a notion of authorized zones of the composite EHR at different granularity levels, taking into consideration of several important criteria such as data types, intended purposes and information sensitivities.

An analysis of the coexistence of two host species with a shared pathogen.

PubMed

Chen, Zhi-Min; Price, W G

2008-06-01

Population dynamics of two-host species under direct transmission of an infectious disease or a pathogen is studied based on the Holt-Pickering mathematical model, which accounts for the influence of the pathogen on the population of the two-host species. Through rigorous analysis and a numerical scheme of study, circumstances are specified under which the shared pathogen leads to the coexistence of the two-host species in either a persistent or periodic form. This study shows the importance of intrinsic growth rates or the differences between birth rates and death rates of the two host susceptible in controlling these circumstances. It is also demonstrated that the periodicity may arise when the positive intrinsic growth rates are very small, but the periodicity is very weak which may not be observed in an empirical investigation.

Fiber-Optic Distribution Of Pulsed Power To Multiple Sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirkham, Harold

1996-01-01

Optoelectronic systems designed according to time-sharing scheme distribute optical power to multiple integrated-circuit-based sensors in fiber-optic networks. Networks combine flexibility of electronic sensing circuits with advantage of electrical isolation afforded by use of optical fibers instead of electrical conductors to transmit both signals and power. Fiber optics resist corrosion and immune to electromagnetic interference. Sensor networks of this type useful in variety of applications; for example, in monitoring strains in aircraft, buildings, and bridges, and in monitoring and controlling shapes of flexible structures.

Enhancing Privacy in Participatory Sensing Applications with Multidimensional Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Forrest, Stephanie; He, Wenbo; Groat, Michael

2013-01-01

Participatory sensing applications rely on individuals to share personal data to produce aggregated models and knowledge. In this setting, privacy concerns can discourage widespread adoption of new applications. We present a privacy-preserving participatory sensing scheme based on negative surveys for both continuous and multivariate categorical data. Without relying on encryption, our algorithms enhance the privacy of sensed data in an energy and computation efficient manner. Simulations and implementation on Android smart phones illustrate how multidimensional data can be aggregated in a useful and privacy-enhancing manner.

Designing and implementing a trust-wide quality assurance programme.

PubMed

Coope, Sally-Ann

2018-04-02

Derbyshire Community Health Services (DCHS) NHS Foundation Trust provides a wide range of community-based health services. After the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found gaps in the trust's assurance process, its board decided to develop a method of continuous quality improvements that could be used as a basis for the trust's quality assurance system. The trust adapted and built on an acute model so it was suitable for community services. The final assurance system, Quality Always, has four elements: the clinical assessment and accreditation scheme; leadership development; 'champions' within clinical teams to support and promote the scheme; and dashboards to record and monitor progress. A system to recognise and reward achievement was essential for success. Quality Always has resulted in better care quality, an improved CQC rating, a sense of achievement among staff, the development of support networks, learning (especially among support staff) and good practice being shared.

A Weak Quantum Blind Signature with Entanglement Permutation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lou, Xiaoping; Chen, Zhigang; Guo, Ying

2015-09-01

Motivated by the permutation encryption algorithm, a weak quantum blind signature (QBS) scheme is proposed. It involves three participants, including the sender Alice, the signatory Bob and the trusted entity Charlie, in four phases, i.e., initializing phase, blinding phase, signing phase and verifying phase. In a small-scale quantum computation network, Alice blinds the message based on a quantum entanglement permutation encryption algorithm that embraces the chaotic position string. Bob signs the blinded message with private parameters shared beforehand while Charlie verifies the signature's validity and recovers the original message. Analysis shows that the proposed scheme achieves the secure blindness for the signer and traceability for the message owner with the aid of the authentic arbitrator who plays a crucial role when a dispute arises. In addition, the signature can neither be forged nor disavowed by the malicious attackers. It has a wide application to E-voting and E-payment system, etc.

Continuous variable quantum key distribution with modulated entangled states.

PubMed

Madsen, Lars S; Usenko, Vladyslav C; Lassen, Mikael; Filip, Radim; Andersen, Ulrik L

2012-01-01

Quantum key distribution enables two remote parties to grow a shared key, which they can use for unconditionally secure communication over a certain distance. The maximal distance depends on the loss and the excess noise of the connecting quantum channel. Several quantum key distribution schemes based on coherent states and continuous variable measurements are resilient to high loss in the channel, but are strongly affected by small amounts of channel excess noise. Here we propose and experimentally address a continuous variable quantum key distribution protocol that uses modulated fragile entangled states of light to greatly enhance the robustness to channel noise. We experimentally demonstrate that the resulting quantum key distribution protocol can tolerate more noise than the benchmark set by the ideal continuous variable coherent state protocol. Our scheme represents a very promising avenue for extending the distance for which secure communication is possible.

Ensuring correct rollback recovery in distributed shared memory systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Janssens, Bob; Fuchs, W. Kent

1995-01-01

Distributed shared memory (DSM) implemented on a cluster of workstations is an increasingly attractive platform for executing parallel scientific applications. Checkpointing and rollback techniques can be used in such a system to allow the computation to progress in spite of the temporary failure of one or more processing nodes. This paper presents the design of an independent checkpointing method for DSM that takes advantage of DSM's specific properties to reduce error-free and rollback overhead. The scheme reduces the dependencies that need to be considered for correct rollback to those resulting from transfers of pages. Furthermore, in-transit messages can be recovered without the use of logging. We extend the scheme to a DSM implementation using lazy release consistency, where the frequency of dependencies is further reduced.

Cryptanalysis on a scheme to share information via employing a discrete algorithm to quantum states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amellal, H.; Meslouhi, A.; El Baz, M.; Hassouni, Y.; El Allati, A.

2017-03-01

Recently, Yang and Hwang [Int. J. Theor. Phys. 53, 224 (2014)] demonstrated that the scheme to share information via employing discrete algorithm to quantum states presented by Kang and Fang [Commun. Theor. Phys. 55, 239 (2011)] suffers from a major vulnerability allowing an eavesdropper to perform a measurement and resend attack. By introducing an additional checking state framework, the authors have proposed an improved protocol to overcome this weakness. This work calls into question the invoked vulnerability in order to clarify a misinterpretation in the same protocol stages also introduce a possible leakage information strategy, known as a faked state attack, despite the proposed improvement, which means that the same security problem may persist. Finally, an upgrading technic was introduced in order to enhance the security transmission.

Efficient Scheme for Perfect Collective Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Steering

PubMed Central

Wang, M.; Gong, Q. H.; Ficek, Z.; He, Q. Y.

2015-01-01

A practical scheme for the demonstration of perfect one-sided device-independent quantum secret sharing is proposed. The scheme involves a three-mode optomechanical system in which a pair of independent cavity modes is driven by short laser pulses and interact with a movable mirror. We demonstrate that by tuning the laser frequency to the blue (anti-Stokes) sideband of the average frequency of the cavity modes, the modes become mutually coherent and then may collectively steer the mirror mode to a perfect Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen state. The scheme is shown to be experimentally feasible, it is robust against the frequency difference between the modes, mechanical thermal noise and damping, and coupling strengths of the cavity modes to the mirror. PMID:26212901

Steganography on multiple MP3 files using spread spectrum and Shamir's secret sharing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoeseph, N. M.; Purnomo, F. A.; Riasti, B. K.; Safiie, M. A.; Hidayat, T. N.

2016-11-01

The purpose of steganography is how to hide data into another media. In order to increase security of data, steganography technique is often combined with cryptography. The weakness of this combination technique is the data was centralized. Therefore, a steganography technique is develop by using combination of spread spectrum and secret sharing technique. In steganography with secret sharing, shares of data is created and hidden in several medium. Medium used to concealed shares were MP3 files. Hiding technique used was Spread Spectrum. Secret sharing scheme used was Shamir's Secret Sharing. The result showed that steganography with spread spectrum combined with Shamir's Secret Share using MP3 files as medium produce a technique that could hid data into several cover. To extract and reconstruct the data hidden in stego object, it is needed the amount of stego object which more or equal to its threshold. Furthermore, stego objects were imperceptible and robust.

Public policy and risk financing strategies for global catastrophe risk management - the role of global risk initiatives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McSharry, Patrick; Mitchell, Andrew; Anderson, Rebecca

2010-05-01

Decision-makers in both public and private organisations depend on accurate data and scientific understanding to adequately address climate change and the impact of extreme events. The financial impacts of catastrophes on populations and infrastructure can be offset through effective risk transfer mechanisms, structured to reflect the specific perils and levels of exposure to be covered. Optimal strategies depend on the likely socio-econonomic impact, the institutional framework, the overall objectives of the covers placed and the level of both the frequency and severity of loss potential expected. The diversity of approaches across different countries has been documented by the Spanish "Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros". We discuss why international public/private partnerships are necessary for addressing the risk of natural catastrophes. International initiatives such as the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) and the World Forum of Catastrophe Programmes (WFCP) can provide effective guidelines for constructing natural catastrophe schemes. The World Bank has been instrumental in the creation of many of the existing schemes such as the Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility and the Mongolian Index-Based Livestock Insurance Program. We review existing schemes and report on best practice in relation to providing protection against natural catastrophe perils. The suitability of catastrophe modelling approaches to support schemes across the world are discussed and we identify opportunities to improve risk assessment for such schemes through transparent frameworks for quantifying, pricing, sharing and financing catastrophe risk on a local and global basis.

An Efficient Scheme of Quantum Wireless Multi-hop Communication using Coefficient Matrix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Bei; Zha, Xin-Wei; Duan, Ya-Jun; Sun, Xin-Mei

2015-08-01

By defining the coefficient matrix, a new quantum teleportation scheme in quantum wireless multi-hop network is proposed. With the help of intermediate nodes, an unknown qubit state can be teleported between two distant nodes which do not share entanglement in advance. Arbitrary Bell pairs and entanglement swapping are utilized for establishing quantum channel among intermediate nodes. Using collapsed matrix, the initial quantum state can be perfectly recovered at the destination.

Stable and low diffusive hybrid upwind splitting methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coquel, Frederic; Liou, Meng-Sing

1992-01-01

A new concept for upwinding is introduced, named the hybrid upwind splitting (HUS), which is achieved by combining the basically distinct flux vector splitting (FVS) and the flux difference splitting (FDS) approaches. The HUS approach yields upwind methods which share the robustness of the FVS schemes in the capture of nonlinear waves and the accuracy of some of the FDS schemes. Numerical illustrations are presented proving the relevance of the HUS methods for viscous calculations.

High order parallel numerical schemes for solving incompressible flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lin, Avi; Milner, Edward J.; Liou, May-Fun; Belch, Richard A.

1992-01-01

The use of parallel computers for numerically solving flow fields has gained much importance in recent years. This paper introduces a new high order numerical scheme for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) specifically designed for parallel computational environments. A distributed MIMD system gives the flexibility of treating different elements of the governing equations with totally different numerical schemes in different regions of the flow field. The parallel decomposition of the governing operator to be solved is the primary parallel split. The primary parallel split was studied using a hypercube like architecture having clusters of shared memory processors at each node. The approach is demonstrated using examples of simple steady state incompressible flows. Future studies should investigate the secondary split because, depending on the numerical scheme that each of the processors applies and the nature of the flow in the specific subdomain, it may be possible for a processor to seek better, or higher order, schemes for its particular subcase.

Improvement of multiprocessing performance by using optical centralized shared bus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Xuliang; Chen, Ray T.

2004-06-01

With the ever-increasing need to solve larger and more complex problems, multiprocessing is attracting more and more research efforts. One of the challenges facing the multiprocessor designers is to fulfill in an effective manner the communications among the processes running in parallel on multiple multiprocessors. The conventional electrical backplane bus provides narrow bandwidth as restricted by the physical limitations of electrical interconnects. In the electrical domain, in order to operate at high frequency, the backplane topology has been changed from the simple shared bus to the complicated switched medium. However, the switched medium is an indirect network. It cannot support multicast/broadcast as effectively as the shared bus. Besides the additional latency of going through the intermediate switching nodes, signal routing introduces substantial delay and considerable system complexity. Alternatively, optics has been well known for its interconnect capability. Therefore, it has become imperative to investigate how to improve multiprocessing performance by utilizing optical interconnects. From the implementation standpoint, the existing optical technologies still cannot fulfill the intelligent functions that a switch fabric should provide as effectively as their electronic counterparts. Thus, an innovative optical technology that can provide sufficient bandwidth capacity, while at the same time, retaining the essential merits of the shared bus topology, is highly desirable for the multiprocessing performance improvement. In this paper, the optical centralized shared bus is proposed for use in the multiprocessing systems. This novel optical interconnect architecture not only utilizes the beneficial characteristics of optics, but also retains the desirable properties of the shared bus topology. Meanwhile, from the architecture standpoint, it fits well in the centralized shared-memory multiprocessing scheme. Therefore, a smooth migration with substantial multiprocessing performance improvement is expected. To prove the technical feasibility from the architecture standpoint, a conceptual emulation of the centralized shared-memory multiprocessing scheme is demonstrated on a generic PCI subsystem with an optical centralized shared bus.

Counterfactual quantum cryptography based on weak coherent states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Zhen-Qiang; Li, Hong-Wei; Yao, Yao; Zhang, Chun-Mei; Wang, Shuang; Chen, Wei; Guo, Guang-Can; Han, Zheng-Fu

2012-08-01

In the “counterfactual quantum cryptography” scheme [T.-G. Noh, Phys. Rev. Lett.PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.103.230501 103, 230501 (2009)], two legitimate distant peers may share secret-key bits even when the information carriers do not travel in the quantum channel. The security of this protocol with an ideal single-photon source has been proved by Yin [Z.-Q. Yin, H. W. Li, W. Chen, Z. F. Han, and G. C. Guo, Phys. Rev. APLRAAN1050-294710.1103/PhysRevA.82.042335 82, 042335 (2010)]. In this paper, we prove the security of the counterfactual-quantum-cryptography scheme based on a commonly used weak-coherent-laser source by considering a general collective attack. The basic assumption of this proof is that the efficiency and dark-counting rate of a single-photon detector are consistent for any n-photon Fock states. Then through randomizing the phases of the encoding weak coherent states, Eve's ancilla will be transformed into a classical mixture. Finally, the lower bound of the secret-key-bit rate and a performance analysis for the practical implementation are both given.

A power-efficient ZF precoding scheme for multi-user indoor visible light communication systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Qiong; Fan, Yangyu; Deng, Lijun; Kang, Bochao

2017-02-01

In this study, we propose a power-efficient ZF precoding scheme for visible light communication (VLC) downlink multi-user multiple-input-single-output (MU-MISO) systems, which incorporates the zero-forcing (ZF) and the characteristics of VLC systems. The main idea of this scheme is that the channel matrix used to perform pseudoinverse comes from the set of optical Access Points (APs) shared by more than one user, instead of the set of all involved serving APs as the existing ZF precoding schemes often used. By doing this, the waste of power, which is caused by the transmission of one user's data in the un-serving APs, can be avoided. In addition, the size of the channel matrix needs to perform pseudoinverse becomes smaller, which helps to reduce the computation complexity. Simulation results in two scenarios show that the proposed ZF precoding scheme has higher power efficiency, better bit error rate (BER) performance and lower computation complexity compared with traditional ZF precoding schemes.

Unstructured P2P Network Load Balance Strategy Based on Multilevel Partitioning of Hypergraph

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Lv; Chunlin, Gao; Kaiyang, Ma

2017-05-01

With rapid development of computer performance and distributed technology, P2P-based resource sharing mode plays important role in Internet. P2P network users continued to increase so the high dynamic characteristics of the system determine that it is difficult to obtain the load of other nodes. Therefore, a dynamic load balance strategy based on hypergraph is proposed in this article. The scheme develops from the idea of hypergraph theory in multilevel partitioning. It adopts optimized multilevel partitioning algorithms to partition P2P network into several small areas, and assigns each area a supernode for the management and load transferring of the nodes in this area. In the case of global scheduling is difficult to be achieved, the priority of a number of small range of load balancing can be ensured first. By the node load balance in each small area the whole network can achieve relative load balance. The experiments indicate that the load distribution of network nodes in our scheme is obviously compacter. It effectively solves the unbalanced problems in P2P network, which also improve the scalability and bandwidth utilization of system.

Verifiable Secret Redistribution

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-10-01

but they are not trusted with secret. Thus, we require a protocol for redistribution without reconstruction of the secret . We also require...verification that the new shareholders have valid shares (ones that can be used to reconstruct the secret ). We present a new protocol to perform non...secret to shareholders in Shamir’s (m,n) threshold scheme (one in which we require m of n shares to reconstruct the secret ), and wish to redistribute the

Quantum Tasks with Non-maximally Quantum Channels via Positive Operator-Valued Measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Jia-Yin; Luo, Ming-Xing; Mo, Zhi-Wen

2013-01-01

By using a proper positive operator-valued measure (POVM), we present two new schemes for probabilistic transmission with non-maximally four-particle cluster states. In the first scheme, we demonstrate that two non-maximally four-particle cluster states can be used to realize probabilistically sharing an unknown three-particle GHZ-type state within either distant agent's place. In the second protocol, we demonstrate that a non-maximally four-particle cluster state can be used to teleport an arbitrary unknown multi-particle state in a probabilistic manner with appropriate unitary operations and POVM. Moreover the total success probability of these two schemes are also worked out.

Jacobian-free approximate solvers for hyperbolic systems: Application to relativistic magnetohydrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castro, Manuel J.; Gallardo, José M.; Marquina, Antonio

2017-10-01

We present recent advances in PVM (Polynomial Viscosity Matrix) methods based on internal approximations to the absolute value function, and compare them with Chebyshev-based PVM solvers. These solvers only require a bound on the maximum wave speed, so no spectral decomposition is needed. Another important feature of the proposed methods is that they are suitable to be written in Jacobian-free form, in which only evaluations of the physical flux are used. This is particularly interesting when considering systems for which the Jacobians involve complex expressions, e.g., the relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (RMHD) equations. On the other hand, the proposed Jacobian-free solvers have also been extended to the case of approximate DOT (Dumbser-Osher-Toro) methods, which can be regarded as simple and efficient approximations to the classical Osher-Solomon method, sharing most of it interesting features and being applicable to general hyperbolic systems. To test the properties of our schemes a number of numerical experiments involving the RMHD equations are presented, both in one and two dimensions. The obtained results are in good agreement with those found in the literature and show that our schemes are robust and accurate, running stable under a satisfactory time step restriction. It is worth emphasizing that, although this work focuses on RMHD, the proposed schemes are suitable to be applied to general hyperbolic systems.

Enhancing LoRaWAN Security through a Lightweight and Authenticated Key Management Approach.

PubMed

Sanchez-Iborra, Ramon; Sánchez-Gómez, Jesús; Pérez, Salvador; Fernández, Pedro J; Santa, José; Hernández-Ramos, José L; Skarmeta, Antonio F

2018-06-05

Luckily, new communication technologies and protocols are nowadays designed considering security issues. A clear example of this can be found in the Internet of Things (IoT) field, a quite recent area where communication technologies such as ZigBee or IPv6 over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks (6LoWPAN) already include security features to guarantee authentication, confidentiality and integrity. More recent technologies are Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LP-WAN), which also consider security, but present initial approaches that can be further improved. An example of this can be found in Long Range (LoRa) and its layer-two supporter LoRa Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN), which include a security scheme based on pre-shared cryptographic material lacking flexibility when a key update is necessary. Because of this, in this work, we evaluate the security vulnerabilities of LoRaWAN in the area of key management and propose different alternative schemes. Concretely, the application of an approach based on the recently specified Ephemeral Diffie⁻Hellman Over COSE (EDHOC) is found as a convenient solution, given its flexibility in the update of session keys, its low computational cost and the limited message exchanges needed. A comparative conceptual analysis considering the overhead of different security schemes for LoRaWAN is carried out in order to evaluate their benefits in the challenging area of LP-WAN.

Von Neumann stability analysis of globally divergence-free RKDG schemes for the induction equation using multidimensional Riemann solvers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balsara, Dinshaw S.; Käppeli, Roger

2017-05-01

In this paper we focus on the numerical solution of the induction equation using Runge-Kutta Discontinuous Galerkin (RKDG)-like schemes that are globally divergence-free. The induction equation plays a role in numerical MHD and other systems like it. It ensures that the magnetic field evolves in a divergence-free fashion; and that same property is shared by the numerical schemes presented here. The algorithms presented here are based on a novel DG-like method as it applies to the magnetic field components in the faces of a mesh. (I.e., this is not a conventional DG algorithm for conservation laws.) The other two novel building blocks of the method include divergence-free reconstruction of the magnetic field and multidimensional Riemann solvers; both of which have been developed in recent years by the first author. Since the method is linear, a von Neumann stability analysis is carried out in two-dimensions to understand its stability properties. The von Neumann stability analysis that we develop in this paper relies on transcribing from a modal to a nodal DG formulation in order to develop discrete evolutionary equations for the nodal values. These are then coupled to a suitable Runge-Kutta timestepping strategy so that one can analyze the stability of the entire scheme which is suitably high order in space and time. We show that our scheme permits CFL numbers that are comparable to those of traditional RKDG schemes. We also analyze the wave propagation characteristics of the method and show that with increasing order of accuracy the wave propagation becomes more isotropic and free of dissipation for a larger range of long wavelength modes. This makes a strong case for investing in higher order methods. We also use the von Neumann stability analysis to show that the divergence-free reconstruction and multidimensional Riemann solvers are essential algorithmic ingredients of a globally divergence-free RKDG-like scheme. Numerical accuracy analyses of the RKDG-like schemes are presented and compared with the accuracy of PNPM schemes. It is found that PNPM retrieve much of the accuracy of the RKDG-like schemes while permitting a larger CFL number.

Finite Control Set Model Predictive Control for Multiple Distributed Generators Microgrids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Babqi, Abdulrahman Jamal

This dissertation proposes two control strategies for AC microgrids that consist of multiple distributed generators (DGs). The control strategies are valid for both grid-connected and islanded modes of operation. In general, microgrid can operate as a stand-alone system (i.e., islanded mode) or while it is connected to the utility grid (i.e., grid connected mode). To enhance the performance of a micrgorid, a sophisticated control scheme should be employed. The control strategies of microgrids can be divided into primary and secondary controls. The primary control regulates the output active and reactive powers of each DG in grid-connected mode as well as the output voltage and frequency of each DG in islanded mode. The secondary control is responsible for regulating the microgrid voltage and frequency in the islanded mode. Moreover, it provides power sharing schemes among the DGs. In other words, the secondary control specifies the set points (i.e. reference values) for the primary controllers. In this dissertation, Finite Control Set Model Predictive Control (FCS-MPC) was proposed for controlling microgrids. FCS-MPC was used as the primary controller to regulate the output power of each DG (in the grid-connected mode) or the voltage of the point of DG coupling (in the islanded mode of operation). In the grid-connected mode, Direct Power Model Predictive Control (DPMPC) was implemented to manage the power flow between each DG and the utility grid. In the islanded mode, Voltage Model Predictive Control (VMPC), as the primary control, and droop control, as the secondary control, were employed to control the output voltage of each DG and system frequency. The controller was equipped with a supplementary current limiting technique in order to limit the output current of each DG in abnormal incidents. The control approach also enabled smooth transition between the two modes. The performance of the control strategy was investigated and verified using PSCAD/EMTDC software platform. This dissertation also proposes a control and power sharing strategy for small-scale microgrids in both grid-connected and islanded modes based on centralized FCS-MPC. In grid-connected mode, the controller was capable of managing the output power of each DG and enabling flexible power regulation between the microgrid and the utility grid. In islanded mode, the controller regulated the microgrid voltage and frequency, and provided a precise power sharing scheme among the DGs. In addition, the power sharing can be adjusted flexibly by changing the sharing ratio. The proposed control also enabled plug-and-play operation. Moreover, a smooth transition between the two modes of operation was achieved without any disturbance in the system. Case studies were carried out in order to validate the proposed control strategy with the PSCAD/EMTDA software package.

Soils in our big back yard: characterizing the state, vulnerabilities, and opportunities for detecting changes in soil carbon storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harden, Jennifer W.; Loiesel, Julie; Ryals, Rebecca; Lawrence, Corey; Blankinship, Joseph; Phillips, Claire; Bond-Lamberty, Ben; Todd-Brown, Katherine; Vargas, Rodrigo; Hugelius, Gustaf; Nave, Luke; Malhotra, Avni; Silver, Whendee; Sanderman, Jon

2017-04-01

A number of diverse approaches and sciences can contribute to a robust understanding of the I. state, II. vulnerabilities, and III. opportunities for soil carbon in context of its potential contributions to the atmospheric C budget. Soil state refers to the current C stock of a given site, region, or ecosystem/landuse type. Soil vulnerabilities refers to the forms and bioreactivity of C stocks, which determine how soil C might respond to climate, disturbance, and landuse perturbations. Opportunities refer to the potential for soils in their current state to increase capacity for and rate of C storage under future conditions, thereby impacting atmospheric C budgets. In order to capture the state, vulnerability, and opportunities for soil C, a robust C accounting scheme must include at least three science needs: (1) a user-friendly and dynamic database with transparent, shared coding in which data layers of solid, liquid, and gaseous phases share relational metadata and allow for changes over time (2) a framework to characterize the capacity and reactivity of different soil types based on climate, historic, and landscape factors (3) a framework to characterize landuse practices and their impact on physical state, capacity/reactivity, and potential for C change. In order to transfer our science information to practicable implementations for land policies, societal and social needs must also include: (1) metrics for landowners and policy experts to recognize conditions of vulnerability or opportunity (2)communication schemes for accessing salient outcomes of the science. Importantly, there stands an opportunity for contributions of data, model code, and conceptual frameworks in which scientists, educators, and decision-makers can become citizens of a shared, scrutinized database that contributes to a dynamic, improved understanding of our soil system.

Identity-Based Authentication for Cloud Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Hongwei; Dai, Yuanshun; Tian, Ling; Yang, Haomiao

Cloud computing is a recently developed new technology for complex systems with massive-scale services sharing among numerous users. Therefore, authentication of both users and services is a significant issue for the trust and security of the cloud computing. SSL Authentication Protocol (SAP), once applied in cloud computing, will become so complicated that users will undergo a heavily loaded point both in computation and communication. This paper, based on the identity-based hierarchical model for cloud computing (IBHMCC) and its corresponding encryption and signature schemes, presented a new identity-based authentication protocol for cloud computing and services. Through simulation testing, it is shown that the authentication protocol is more lightweight and efficient than SAP, specially the more lightweight user side. Such merit of our model with great scalability is very suited to the massive-scale cloud.

Challenges and Opportunities: One Stop Processing of Automatic Large-Scale Base Map Production Using Airborne LIDAR Data Within GIS Environment. Case Study: Makassar City, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Widyaningrum, E.; Gorte, B. G. H.

2017-05-01

LiDAR data acquisition is recognized as one of the fastest solutions to provide basis data for large-scale topographical base maps worldwide. Automatic LiDAR processing is believed one possible scheme to accelerate the large-scale topographic base map provision by the Geospatial Information Agency in Indonesia. As a progressive advanced technology, Geographic Information System (GIS) open possibilities to deal with geospatial data automatic processing and analyses. Considering further needs of spatial data sharing and integration, the one stop processing of LiDAR data in a GIS environment is considered a powerful and efficient approach for the base map provision. The quality of the automated topographic base map is assessed and analysed based on its completeness, correctness, quality, and the confusion matrix.

A Fully GPU-Based Ray-Driven Backprojector via a Ray-Culling Scheme with Voxel-Level Parallelization for Cone-Beam CT Reconstruction.

PubMed

Park, Hyeong-Gyu; Shin, Yeong-Gil; Lee, Ho

2015-12-01

A ray-driven backprojector is based on ray-tracing, which computes the length of the intersection between the ray paths and each voxel to be reconstructed. To reduce the computational burden caused by these exhaustive intersection tests, we propose a fully graphics processing unit (GPU)-based ray-driven backprojector in conjunction with a ray-culling scheme that enables straightforward parallelization without compromising the high computing performance of a GPU. The purpose of the ray-culling scheme is to reduce the number of ray-voxel intersection tests by excluding rays irrelevant to a specific voxel computation. This rejection step is based on an axis-aligned bounding box (AABB) enclosing a region of voxel projection, where eight vertices of each voxel are projected onto the detector plane. The range of the rectangular-shaped AABB is determined by min/max operations on the coordinates in the region. Using the indices of pixels inside the AABB, the rays passing through the voxel can be identified and the voxel is weighted as the length of intersection between the voxel and the ray. This procedure makes it possible to reflect voxel-level parallelization, allowing an independent calculation at each voxel, which is feasible for a GPU implementation. To eliminate redundant calculations during ray-culling, a shared-memory optimization is applied to exploit the GPU memory hierarchy. In experimental results using real measurement data with phantoms, the proposed GPU-based ray-culling scheme reconstructed a volume of resolution 28032803176 in 77 seconds from 680 projections of resolution 10243768 , which is 26 times and 7.5 times faster than standard CPU-based and GPU-based ray-driven backprojectors, respectively. Qualitative and quantitative analyses showed that the ray-driven backprojector provides high-quality reconstruction images when compared with those generated by the Feldkamp-Davis-Kress algorithm using a pixel-driven backprojector, with an average of 2.5 times higher contrast-to-noise ratio, 1.04 times higher universal quality index, and 1.39 times higher normalized mutual information. © The Author(s) 2014.

Preserving privacy of online digital physiological signals using blind and reversible steganography.

PubMed

Shiu, Hung-Jr; Lin, Bor-Sing; Huang, Chien-Hung; Chiang, Pei-Ying; Lei, Chin-Laung

2017-11-01

Physiological signals such as electrocardiograms (ECG) and electromyograms (EMG) are widely used to diagnose diseases. Presently, the Internet offers numerous cloud storage services which enable digital physiological signals to be uploaded for convenient access and use. Numerous online databases of medical signals have been built. The data in them must be processed in a manner that preserves patients' confidentiality. A reversible error-correcting-coding strategy will be adopted to transform digital physiological signals into a new bit-stream that uses a matrix in which is embedded the Hamming code to pass secret messages or private information. The shared keys are the matrix and the version of the Hamming code. An online open database, the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database, was used to test the proposed algorithms. The time-complexity, capacity and robustness are evaluated. Comparisons of several evaluations subject to related work are also proposed. This work proposes a reversible, low-payload steganographic scheme for preserving the privacy of physiological signals. An (n,  m)-hamming code is used to insert (n - m) secret bits into n bits of a cover signal. The number of embedded bits per modification is higher than in comparable methods, and the computational power is efficient and the scheme is secure. Unlike other Hamming-code based schemes, the proposed scheme is both reversible and blind. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A novel, privacy-preserving cryptographic approach for sharing sequencing data

PubMed Central

Cassa, Christopher A; Miller, Rachel A; Mandl, Kenneth D

2013-01-01

Objective DNA samples are often processed and sequenced in facilities external to the point of collection. These samples are routinely labeled with patient identifiers or pseudonyms, allowing for potential linkage to identity and private clinical information if intercepted during transmission. We present a cryptographic scheme to securely transmit externally generated sequence data which does not require any patient identifiers, public key infrastructure, or the transmission of passwords. Materials and methods This novel encryption scheme cryptographically protects participant sequence data using a shared secret key that is derived from a unique subset of an individual’s genetic sequence. This scheme requires access to a subset of an individual’s genetic sequence to acquire full access to the transmitted sequence data, which helps to prevent sample mismatch. Results We validate that the proposed encryption scheme is robust to sequencing errors, population uniqueness, and sibling disambiguation, and provides sufficient cryptographic key space. Discussion Access to a set of an individual’s genotypes and a mutually agreed cryptographic seed is needed to unlock the full sequence, which provides additional sample authentication and authorization security. We present modest fixed and marginal costs to implement this transmission architecture. Conclusions It is possible for genomics researchers who sequence participant samples externally to protect the transmission of sequence data using unique features of an individual’s genetic sequence. PMID:23125421

Strategies for Energy Efficient Resource Management of Hybrid Programming Models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Dong; Supinski, Bronis de; Schulz, Martin

2013-01-01

Many scientific applications are programmed using hybrid programming models that use both message-passing and shared-memory, due to the increasing prevalence of large-scale systems with multicore, multisocket nodes. Previous work has shown that energy efficiency can be improved using software-controlled execution schemes that consider both the programming model and the power-aware execution capabilities of the system. However, such approaches have focused on identifying optimal resource utilization for one programming model, either shared-memory or message-passing, in isolation. The potential solution space, thus the challenge, increases substantially when optimizing hybrid models since the possible resource configurations increase exponentially. Nonetheless, with the accelerating adoptionmore » of hybrid programming models, we increasingly need improved energy efficiency in hybrid parallel applications on large-scale systems. In this work, we present new software-controlled execution schemes that consider the effects of dynamic concurrency throttling (DCT) and dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) in the context of hybrid programming models. Specifically, we present predictive models and novel algorithms based on statistical analysis that anticipate application power and time requirements under different concurrency and frequency configurations. We apply our models and methods to the NPB MZ benchmarks and selected applications from the ASC Sequoia codes. Overall, we achieve substantial energy savings (8.74% on average and up to 13.8%) with some performance gain (up to 7.5%) or negligible performance loss.« less

A global overview of health insurance administrative costs: what are the reasons for variations found?

PubMed

Mathauer, Inke; Nicolle, Emmanuelle

2011-10-01

Administrative costs are an important spending category in total health insurance expenditure. Yet, they have rarely been a topic outside the US and there is no cross-country comparison available. This paper provides a global overview and analysis of administrative costs for social security schemes (SSS) and private health insurance schemes (PHI). The analysis is based on data of the World Health Organization (WHO) National Health Accounts (NHA) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) System of Health Accounts (SHA). These are the only worldwide databases on health expenditure data. Further data was retrieved from a literature search. Administrative costs are presented as a share of total health insurance costs. Data is available for 58 countries. In high-income OECD countries, the average SSS administrative costs are 4.2%. Average PHI administrative costs are about three times higher. The shares are much higher for low- and middle-income countries. However, considerable variations across and within countries over time are revealed. Seven explanatory factors are explored to explain the variations: health financing system aspects, administrative activities undertaken, insurance design aspects, context factors, reporting format, accounting methods, and management and administrative efficiency measures. More detailed reporting of administrative costs would enhance comparability and provide benchmarks. Improved administrative efficiency could free resources to expand coverage. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Benefit of adaptive FEC in shared backup path protected elastic optical network.

PubMed

Guo, Hong; Dai, Hua; Wang, Chao; Li, Yongcheng; Bose, Sanjay K; Shen, Gangxiang

2015-07-27

We apply an adaptive forward error correction (FEC) allocation strategy to an Elastic Optical Network (EON) operated with shared backup path protection (SBPP). To maximize the protected network capacity that can be carried, an Integer Linear Programing (ILP) model and a spectrum window plane (SWP)-based heuristic algorithm are developed. Simulation results show that the FEC coding overhead required by the adaptive FEC scheme is significantly lower than that needed by a fixed FEC allocation strategy resulting in higher network capacity for the adaptive strategy. The adaptive FEC allocation strategy can also significantly outperform the fixed FEC allocation strategy both in terms of the spare capacity redundancy and the average FEC coding overhead needed per optical channel. The proposed heuristic algorithm is efficient and not only performs closer to the ILP model but also does much better than the shortest-path algorithm.

Multi-source and multi-angle remote sensing image data collection, application and sharing of Beichuan National Earthquake Ruins Museum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Yueguan; Wang, Wei; Wen, Qi; Huang, He; Lin, Jingli; Zhang, Wei

2015-12-01

Ms8.0 Wenchuan earthquake that occurred on May 12, 2008 brought huge casualties and property losses to the Chinese people, and Beichuan County was destroyed in the earthquake. In order to leave a site for commemorate of the people, and for science propaganda and research of earthquake science, Beichuan National Earthquake Ruins Museum has been built on the ruins of Beichuan county. Based on the demand for digital preservation of the earthquake ruins park and collection of earthquake damage assessment of research and data needs, we set up a data set of Beichuan National Earthquake Ruins Museum, including satellite remote sensing image, airborne remote sensing image, ground photogrammetry data and ground acquisition data. At the same time, in order to make a better service for earthquake science research, we design the sharing ideas and schemes for this scientific data set.

Sharing Resources In Mobile/Satellite Communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yan, Tsun-Yee; Sue, Miles K.

1992-01-01

Report presents preliminary theoretical analysis of several alternative schemes for allocation of satellite resource among terrestrial subscribers of landmobile/satellite communication system. Demand-access and random-access approaches under code-division and frequency-division concepts compared.

Development of a Shared Decision Making coding system for analysis of patient-healthcare provider encounters

PubMed Central

Clayman, Marla L.; Makoul, Gregory; Harper, Maya M.; Koby, Danielle G.; Williams, Adam R.

2012-01-01

Objectives Describe the development and refinement of a scheme, Detail of Essential Elements and Participants in Shared Decision Making (DEEP-SDM), for coding Shared Decision Making (SDM) while reporting on the characteristics of decisions in a sample of patients with metastatic breast cancer. Methods The Evidence-Based Patient Choice instrument was modified to reflect Makoul and Clayman’s Integrative Model of SDM. Coding was conducted on video recordings of 20 women at the first visit with their medical oncologists after suspicion of disease progression. Noldus Observer XT v.8, a video coding software platform, was used for coding. Results The sample contained 80 decisions (range: 1-11), divided into 150 decision making segments. Most decisions were physician-led, although patients and physicians initiated similar numbers of decision-making conversations. Conclusion DEEP-SDM facilitates content analysis of encounters between women with metastatic breast cancer and their medical oncologists. Despite the fractured nature of decision making, it is possible to identify decision points and to code each of the Essential Elements of Shared Decision Making. Further work should include application of DEEP-SDM to non-cancer encounters. Practice Implications: A better understanding of how decisions unfold in the medical encounter can help inform the relationship of SDM to patient-reported outcomes. PMID:22784391

Parallel-Vector Algorithm For Rapid Structural Anlysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Agarwal, Tarun R.; Nguyen, Duc T.; Storaasli, Olaf O.

1993-01-01

New algorithm developed to overcome deficiency of skyline storage scheme by use of variable-band storage scheme. Exploits both parallel and vector capabilities of modern high-performance computers. Gives engineers and designers opportunity to include more design variables and constraints during optimization of structures. Enables use of more refined finite-element meshes to obtain improved understanding of complex behaviors of aerospace structures leading to better, safer designs. Not only attractive for current supercomputers but also for next generation of shared-memory supercomputers.

Comment on "Cheating prevention in visual cryptography".

PubMed

Chen, Yu-Chi; Horng, Gwoboa; Tsai, Du-Shiau

2012-07-01

Visual cryptography (VC), proposed by Naor and Shamir, has numerous applications, including visual authentication and identification, steganography, and image encryption. In 2006, Horng showed that cheating is possible in VC, where some participants can deceive the remaining participants by forged transparencies. Since then, designing cheating-prevention visual secret-sharing (CPVSS) schemes has been studied by many researchers. In this paper, we cryptanalyze the Hu-Tzeng CPVSS scheme and show that it is not cheating immune. We also outline an improvement that helps to overcome the problem.

Interprocess Communication in Highly Distributed Systems - A Workshop Report - 20 to 22, November 1978.

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-12-01

Links between processes can be aLlocated strictLy to controL functions. In fact, the degree of separation of control and data is an important research is...delays or Loss of control messages. Cognoscienti agree that message-passing IPC schemes are equivalent in "power" to schemes which employ shared...THEORETICAL WORK Page 55 SECTION 6 THEORETICAL WORK 6.1 WORKING GRUP JIM REP.OR STRUCTURE of Discussion: Distributed system without central (or any) control

Color extended visual cryptography using error diffusion.

PubMed

Kang, InKoo; Arce, Gonzalo R; Lee, Heung-Kyu

2011-01-01

Color visual cryptography (VC) encrypts a color secret message into n color halftone image shares. Previous methods in the literature show good results for black and white or gray scale VC schemes, however, they are not sufficient to be applied directly to color shares due to different color structures. Some methods for color visual cryptography are not satisfactory in terms of producing either meaningless shares or meaningful shares with low visual quality, leading to suspicion of encryption. This paper introduces the concept of visual information pixel (VIP) synchronization and error diffusion to attain a color visual cryptography encryption method that produces meaningful color shares with high visual quality. VIP synchronization retains the positions of pixels carrying visual information of original images throughout the color channels and error diffusion generates shares pleasant to human eyes. Comparisons with previous approaches show the superior performance of the new method.

Effect of cost sharing on adherence to evidence-based medications in patients with acute coronary syndrome

PubMed Central

González López-Valcárcel, Beatriz; Librero, Julián; García-Sempere, Aníbal; Peña, Luz María; Bauer, Sofía; Puig-Junoy, Jaume; Oliva, Juan; Peiró, Salvador; Sanfélix-Gimeno, Gabriel

2017-01-01

Objectives Cost-sharing scheme for pharmaceuticals in Spain changed in July 2012. Our aim was to assess the impact of this change on adherence to essential medication in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in the region of Valencia. Methods Population-based retrospective cohort of 10 563 patients discharged alive after an ACS in 2009–2011. We examined a control group (low-income working population) that did not change their coinsurance status, and two intervention groups: pensioners who moved from full coverage to 10% coinsurance and middle-income to high-income working population, for whom coinsurance rose from 40% to 50% or 60%. Weekly adherence rates measured from the date of the first prescription. Days with available medication were estimated by linking prescribed and filled medications during the follow-up period. Results Cost-sharing change made no significant differences in adherence between intervention and control groups for essential medications with low price and low patient maximum coinsurance, such as antiplatelet and beta-blockers. For costlier ACE inhibitor or an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ACEI/ARB) and statins, it had an immediate effect in the proportion of adherence in the pensioner group as compared with the control group (6.8% and 8.3% decrease of adherence, respectively, p<0.01 for both). Adherence to statins decreased for the middle-income to high-income group as compared with the control group (7.8% increase of non-adherence, p<0.01). These effects seemed temporary. Conclusions Coinsurance changes may lead to decreased adherence to proven, effective therapies, especially for higher priced agents with higher patient cost share. Consideration should be given to fully exempt high-risk patients from drug cost sharing. PMID:28249992

Peer-assisted learning for foundation doctors.

PubMed

Thampy, Harish; Kersey, Nicola

2017-06-01

Peer-assisted learning (PAL) is a widely accepted learner-led educational model encouraging cooperative active learning. Whereas attention has historically focussed on the use of PAL in undergraduate contexts, less is known about the benefits and challenges of using PAL for postgraduate clinical trainees. This study describes the implementation and evaluation of a PAL scheme for UK foundation-year trainees (newly qualified doctors). Following a needs assessment, a peer-led component was introduced into the weekly foundation teaching programme at the hospital. Each week a peer tutor presented a topic relevant to the foundation curriculum, and peer participants provided written feedback. Questionnaire-based evaluation of the scheme was conducted 7 months after implementation. Ninety-eight per cent of trainees completed the evaluation. Eighty-eight per cent were satisfied with the PAL scheme. Crucially, PAL was seen to address historic barriers to effective learning. Educational content seemed to be better matched to the learning needs and experience of learners, with particular value placed on case-based peer discussions. Furthermore, PAL seemed to promote a learning environment in which questions and conjectures could be safely shared. Although some peer tutors found presenting to peers anxiety-provoking, the majority agreed that PAL not only helped develop their teaching ability but also positively impacted on their everyday clinical work. Less is known about the benefits and challenges of using PAL for postgraduate clinical trainees DISCUSSION: The PAL scheme was well received by participants and supports its use outside of its traditional undergraduate focus. Trainees identified a number of pedagogical benefits through serving as both tutor and tutee. Delivering teaching skills and feedback skills training were identified as future developments to further maximise the educational benefits of PAL. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.

Deterministic Joint Remote Preparation of Asymmetric Five-Party Three-Qubit Entangled States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Peng-Cheng; Chen, Gui-Bin; Li, Xiao-Wei; Zhan, You-Bang

2017-04-01

We present two schemes for joint remote state preparation (JRSP) of asymmetric five-party three-qubit entangled states with complex coefficients via three three-qubit and (N+1)-qubit GHZ states as the quantum channel, respectively. In these schemes, two senders(or N senders) share the original state which they wish to help the receiver to remotely prepare. To complete the JRSP schemes, some novel sets of mutually orthogonal basis vectors are introduced. It is shown that, only if two senders(or N senders) collaborate with each other, and perform projective measurements under suitable measuring basis on their own qubits respectively, the receiver can reconstruct the original state by means of some appropriate unitary operations. The advantage of the present schemes is that the success probability in all the considered JRSP can reach 1.

Numerical solution of the unsteady Navier-Stokes equation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Osher, Stanley J.; Engquist, Bjoern

1985-01-01

The construction and the analysis of nonoscillatory shock capturing methods for the approximation of hyperbolic conservation laws are discussed. These schemes share many desirable properties with total variation diminishing schemes, but TVD schemes have at most first-order accuracy, in the sense of truncation error, at extrema of the solution. In this paper a uniformly second-order approximation is constructed, which is nonoscillatory in the sense that the number of extrema of the discrete solution is not increasing in time. This is achieved via a nonoscillatory piecewise linear reconstruction of the solution from its cell averages, time evolution through an approximate solution of the resulting initial value problem, and averaging of this approximate solution over each cell.

Stable and low diffusive hybrid upwind splitting methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coquel, Frederic; Liou, Meng-Sing

1992-01-01

We introduce in this paper a new concept for upwinding: the Hybrid Upwind Splitting (HUS). This original strategy for upwinding is achieved by combining the two previous existing approaches, the Flux Vector (FVS) and Flux Difference Splittings (FDS), while retaining their own interesting features. Indeed, our approach yields upwind methods that share the robustness of FVS schemes in the capture of nonlinear waves and the accuracy of some FDS schemes in the capture of linear waves. We describe here some examples of such HUS methods obtained by hybridizing the Osher approach with FVS schemes. Numerical illustrations are displayed and will prove in particular the relevance of the HUS methods we propose for viscous calculations.

Semantic Annotation of Computational Components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vanderbilt, Peter; Mehrotra, Piyush

2004-01-01

This paper describes a methodology to specify machine-processable semantic descriptions of computational components to enable them to be shared and reused. A particular focus of this scheme is to enable automatic compositon of such components into simple work-flows.

Impact of a financial risk-sharing scheme on budget-impact estimations: a game-theoretic approach.

PubMed

Gavious, Arieh; Greenberg, Dan; Hammerman, Ariel; Segev, Ella

2014-06-01

As part of the process of updating the National List of Health Services in Israel, health plans (the 'payers') and manufacturers each provide estimates on the expected number of patients that will utilize a new drug. Currently, payers face major financial consequences when actual utilization is higher than the allocated budget. We suggest a risk-sharing model between the two stakeholders; if the actual number of patients exceeds the manufacturer's prediction, the manufacturer will reimburse the payers by a rebate rate of α from the deficit. In case of under-utilization, payers will refund the government at a rate of γ from the surplus budget. Our study objective was to identify the optimal early estimations of both 'players' prior to and after implementation of the risk-sharing scheme. Using a game-theoretic approach, in which both players' statements are considered simultaneously, we examined the impact of risk-sharing within a given range of rebate proportions, on players' early budget estimations. When increasing manufacturer's rebate α to be over 50 %, then manufacturers will announce a larger number, and health plans will announce a lower number of patients than they would without risk sharing, thus substantially decreasing the gap between their estimates. Increasing γ changes players' estimates only slightly. In reaction to applying a substantial risk-sharing rebate α on the manufacturer, both players are expected to adjust their budget estimates toward an optimal equilibrium. Increasing α is a better vehicle for reaching the desired equilibrium rather than increasing γ, as the manufacturer's rebate α substantially influences both players, whereas γ has little effect on the players behavior.

The development of GPU-based parallel PRNG for Monte Carlo applications in CUDA Fortran

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kargaran, Hamed, E-mail: h-kargaran@sbu.ac.ir; Minuchehr, Abdolhamid; Zolfaghari, Ahmad

The implementation of Monte Carlo simulation on the CUDA Fortran requires a fast random number generation with good statistical properties on GPU. In this study, a GPU-based parallel pseudo random number generator (GPPRNG) have been proposed to use in high performance computing systems. According to the type of GPU memory usage, GPU scheme is divided into two work modes including GLOBAL-MODE and SHARED-MODE. To generate parallel random numbers based on the independent sequence method, the combination of middle-square method and chaotic map along with the Xorshift PRNG have been employed. Implementation of our developed PPRNG on a single GPU showedmore » a speedup of 150x and 470x (with respect to the speed of PRNG on a single CPU core) for GLOBAL-MODE and SHARED-MODE, respectively. To evaluate the accuracy of our developed GPPRNG, its performance was compared to that of some other commercially available PPRNGs such as MATLAB, FORTRAN and Miller-Park algorithm through employing the specific standard tests. The results of this comparison showed that the developed GPPRNG in this study can be used as a fast and accurate tool for computational science applications.« less

Understanding the types of fraud in claims to South African medical schemes.

PubMed

Legotlo, T G; Mutezo, A

2018-03-28

Medical schemes play a significant role in funding private healthcare in South Africa (SA). However, the sector is negatively affected by the high rate of fraudulent claims. To identify the types of fraudulent activities committed in SA medical scheme claims. A cross-sectional qualitative study was conducted, adopting a case study strategy. A sample of 15 employees was purposively selected from a single medical scheme administration company in SA. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from study participants. A thematic analysis of the data was done using ATLAS.ti software (ATLAS.ti Scientific Software Development, Germany). The study population comprised the 17 companies that administer medical schemes in SA. Data were collected from 15 study participants, who were selected from the medical scheme administrator chosen as a case study. The study found that medical schemes were defrauded in numerous ways. The perpetrators of this type of fraud include healthcare service providers, medical scheme members, employees, brokers and syndicates. Medical schemes are mostly defrauded by the submission of false claims by service providers and syndicates. Fraud committed by medical scheme members encompasses the sharing of medical scheme benefits with non-members (card farming) and non-disclosure of pre-existing conditions at the application stage. The study concluded that perpetrators of fraud have found several ways of defrauding SA medical schemes regarding claims. Understanding and identifying the types of fraud events facing medical schemes is the initial step towards establishing methods to mitigate this risk. Future studies should examine strategies to manage fraudulent medical scheme claims.

The alpha(3) Scheme - A Fourth-Order Neutrally Stable CESE Solver

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chang, Sin-Chung

2007-01-01

The conservation element and solution element (CESE) development is driven by a belief that a solver should (i) enforce conservation laws in both space and time, and (ii) be built from a non-dissipative (i.e., neutrally stable) core scheme so that the numerical dissipation can be controlled effectively. To provide a solid foundation for a systematic CESE development of high order schemes, in this paper we describe a new 4th-order neutrally stable CESE solver of the advection equation Theta u/Theta + alpha Theta u/Theta x = 0. The space-time stencil of this two-level explicit scheme is formed by one point at the upper time level and three points at the lower time level. Because it is associated with three independent mesh variables u(sup n) (sub j), (u(sub x))(sup n) (sub j) , and (uxz)(sup n) (sub j) (the numerical analogues of u, Theta u/Theta x, and Theta(exp 2)u/Theta x(exp 2), respectively) and four equations per mesh point, the new scheme is referred to as the alpha(3) scheme. As in the case of other similar CESE neutrally stable solvers, the alpha(3) scheme enforces conservation laws in space-time locally and globally, and it has the basic, forward marching, and backward marching forms. These forms are equivalent and satisfy a space-time inversion (STI) invariant property which is shared by the advection equation. Based on the concept of STI invariance, a set of algebraic relations is developed and used to prove that the alpha(3) scheme must be neutrally stable when it is stable. Moreover it is proved rigorously that all three amplification factors of the alpha(3) scheme are of unit magnitude for all phase angles if |v| <= 1/2 (v = alpha delta t/delta x). This theoretical result is consistent with the numerical stability condition |v| <= 1/2. Through numerical experiments, it is established that the alpha(3) scheme generally is (i) 4th-order accurate for the mesh variables u(sup n) (sub j) and (ux)(sup n) (sub j); and 2nd-order accurate for (uxx)(sup n) (sub j). However, in some exceptional cases, the scheme can achieve perfect accuracy aside from round-off errors.

Comment on "An improved gray Lattice Boltzmann model for simulating fluid flow in multi-scale porous media": Intrinsic links between LBE Brinkman schemes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ginzburg, Irina

2016-02-01

In this Comment on the recent work (Zhu and Ma, 2013) [11] by Zhu and Ma (ZM) we first show that all three local gray Lattice Boltzmann (GLB) schemes in the form (Zhu and Ma, 2013) [11]: GS (Chen and Zhu, 2008; Gao and Sharma, 1994) [1,4], WBS (Walsh et al., 2009) [12] and ZM, fail to get constant Darcy's velocity in series of porous blocks. This inconsistency is because of their incorrect definition of the macroscopic velocity in the presence of the heterogeneous momentum exchange, while the original WBS model (Walsh et al., 2009) [12] does this properly. We improve the GS and ZM schemes for this and other related deficiencies. Second, we show that the ;discontinuous velocity; they recover on the stratified interfaces with their WBS scheme is inherent, in different degrees, to all LBE Brinkman schemes, including ZM scheme. None of them guarantees the stress and the velocity continuity by their implicit interface conditions, even in the frame of the two-relaxation-times (TRT) collision operator where these two properties are assured in stratified Stokes flow, Ginzburg (2007) [5]. Third, the GLB schemes are presented in work (Zhu and Ma, 2013) [11] as the alternative ones to direct, Brinkman-force based (BF) schemes (Freed, 1998; Nie and Martys, 2007) [3,8]. Yet, we show that the BF-TRT scheme (Ginzburg, 2008) [6] gets the solutions of any of the improved GLB schemes for specific, viscosity-dependent choice of its one or two local relaxation rates. This provides the principal difference between the GLB and BF: while the BF may respect the linearity of the Stokes-Brinkman equation rigorously, the GLB-TRT cannot, unless it reduces to the BF via the inverse transform of the relaxation rates. Furthermore, we show that, in limited parameter space, ;gray; schemes may run one another. From the practical point of view, permeability values obtained with the GLB are viscosity-dependent, unlike with the BF. Finally, the GLB shares with the BF a so-called anisotropy (Ginzburg, 2008; Nie and Martys, 2007) [6,8], that is, flow-direction-dependency in their effective viscosity corrections, related to the discretized spatial variation of the resistance forcing.

The quality of instruments to assess the process of shared decision making: A systematic review.

PubMed

Gärtner, Fania R; Bomhof-Roordink, Hanna; Smith, Ian P; Scholl, Isabelle; Stiggelbout, Anne M; Pieterse, Arwen H

2018-01-01

To inventory instruments assessing the process of shared decision making and appraise their measurement quality, taking into account the methodological quality of their validation studies. In a systematic review we searched seven databases (PubMed, Embase, Emcare, Cochrane, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Academic Search Premier) for studies investigating instruments measuring the process of shared decision making. Per identified instrument, we assessed the level of evidence separately for 10 measurement properties following a three-step procedure: 1) appraisal of the methodological quality using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist, 2) appraisal of the psychometric quality of the measurement property using three possible quality scores, 3) best-evidence synthesis based on the number of studies, their methodological and psychometrical quality, and the direction and consistency of the results. The study protocol was registered at PROSPERO: CRD42015023397. We included 51 articles describing the development and/or evaluation of 40 shared decision-making process instruments: 16 patient questionnaires, 4 provider questionnaires, 18 coding schemes and 2 instruments measuring multiple perspectives. There is an overall lack of evidence for their measurement quality, either because validation is missing or methods are poor. The best-evidence synthesis indicated positive results for a major part of instruments for content validity (50%) and structural validity (53%) if these were evaluated, but negative results for a major part of instruments when inter-rater reliability (47%) and hypotheses testing (59%) were evaluated. Due to the lack of evidence on measurement quality, the choice for the most appropriate instrument can best be based on the instrument's content and characteristics such as the perspective that they assess. We recommend refinement and validation of existing instruments, and the use of COSMIN-guidelines to help guarantee high-quality evaluations.

Optimal rotated staggered-grid finite-difference schemes for elastic wave modeling in TTI media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Lei; Yan, Hongyong; Liu, Hong

2015-11-01

The rotated staggered-grid finite-difference (RSFD) is an effective approach for numerical modeling to study the wavefield characteristics in tilted transversely isotropic (TTI) media. But it surfaces from serious numerical dispersion, which directly affects the modeling accuracy. In this paper, we propose two different optimal RSFD schemes based on the sampling approximation (SA) method and the least-squares (LS) method respectively to overcome this problem. We first briefly introduce the RSFD theory, based on which we respectively derive the SA-based RSFD scheme and the LS-based RSFD scheme. Then different forms of analysis are used to compare the SA-based RSFD scheme and the LS-based RSFD scheme with the conventional RSFD scheme, which is based on the Taylor-series expansion (TE) method. The contrast in numerical accuracy analysis verifies the greater accuracy of the two proposed optimal schemes, and indicates that these schemes can effectively widen the wavenumber range with great accuracy compared with the TE-based RSFD scheme. Further comparisons between these two optimal schemes show that at small wavenumbers, the SA-based RSFD scheme performs better, while at large wavenumbers, the LS-based RSFD scheme leads to a smaller error. Finally, the modeling results demonstrate that for the same operator length, the SA-based RSFD scheme and the LS-based RSFD scheme can achieve greater accuracy than the TE-based RSFD scheme, while for the same accuracy, the optimal schemes can adopt shorter difference operators to save computing time.

Share capitalism and worker wellbeing.

PubMed

Bryson, Alex; Clark, Andrew E; Freeman, Richard B; Green, Colin P

2016-10-01

We show that worker wellbeing is determined not only by the amount of compensation workers receive but also by how compensation is determined. While previous theoretical and empirical work has often been preoccupied with individual performance-related pay, we find that the receipt of a range of group-performance schemes (profit shares, group bonuses and share ownership) is associated with higher job satisfaction. This holds conditional on wage levels, so that pay methods are associated with greater job satisfaction in addition to that coming from higher wages. We use a variety of methods to control for unobserved individual and job-specific characteristics. We suggest that half of the share-capitalism effect is accounted for by employees reciprocating for the "gift"; we also show that share capitalism helps dampen the negative wellbeing effects of what we typically think of as "bad" aspects of job quality.

Memory attacks on device-independent quantum cryptography.

PubMed

Barrett, Jonathan; Colbeck, Roger; Kent, Adrian

2013-01-04

Device-independent quantum cryptographic schemes aim to guarantee security to users based only on the output statistics of any components used, and without the need to verify their internal functionality. Since this would protect users against untrustworthy or incompetent manufacturers, sabotage, or device degradation, this idea has excited much interest, and many device-independent schemes have been proposed. Here we identify a critical weakness of device-independent protocols that rely on public communication between secure laboratories. Untrusted devices may record their inputs and outputs and reveal information about them via publicly discussed outputs during later runs. Reusing devices thus compromises the security of a protocol and risks leaking secret data. Possible defenses include securely destroying or isolating used devices. However, these are costly and often impractical. We propose other more practical partial defenses as well as a new protocol structure for device-independent quantum key distribution that aims to achieve composable security in the case of two parties using a small number of devices to repeatedly share keys with each other (and no other party).

A Grid Connected Photovoltaic Inverter with Battery-Supercapacitor Hybrid Energy Storage

PubMed Central

Guerrero-Martínez, Miguel Ángel; Barrero-González, Fermín

2017-01-01

The power generation from renewable power sources is variable in nature, and may contain unacceptable fluctuations, which can be alleviated by using energy storage systems. However, the cost of batteries and their limited lifetime are serious disadvantages. To solve these problems, an improvement consisting in the collaborative association of batteries and supercapacitors has been studied. Nevertheless, these studies don’t address in detail the case of residential and large-scale photovoltaic systems. In this paper, a selected combined topology and a new control scheme are proposed to control the power sharing between batteries and supercapacitors. Also, a method for sizing the energy storage system together with the hybrid distribution based on the photovoltaic power curves is introduced. This innovative contribution not only reduces the stress levels on the battery, and hence increases its life span, but also provides constant power injection to the grid during a defined time interval. The proposed scheme is validated through detailed simulation and experimental tests. PMID:28800102

A Grid Connected Photovoltaic Inverter with Battery-Supercapacitor Hybrid Energy Storage.

PubMed

Miñambres-Marcos, Víctor Manuel; Guerrero-Martínez, Miguel Ángel; Barrero-González, Fermín; Milanés-Montero, María Isabel

2017-08-11

The power generation from renewable power sources is variable in nature, and may contain unacceptable fluctuations, which can be alleviated by using energy storage systems. However, the cost of batteries and their limited lifetime are serious disadvantages. To solve these problems, an improvement consisting in the collaborative association of batteries and supercapacitors has been studied. Nevertheless, these studies don't address in detail the case of residential and large-scale photovoltaic systems. In this paper, a selected combined topology and a new control scheme are proposed to control the power sharing between batteries and supercapacitors. Also, a method for sizing the energy storage system together with the hybrid distribution based on the photovoltaic power curves is introduced. This innovative contribution not only reduces the stress levels on the battery, and hence increases its life span, but also provides constant power injection to the grid during a defined time interval. The proposed scheme is validated through detailed simulation and experimental tests.

A Vision of China-Arab Interconnection Transmission Network Planning with UHVDC Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Dan; Liu, Yujun; Yin, Hongyuan; Xu, Qingshan; Xu, Xiaohui; Ding, Maosheng

2017-05-01

Developments in ultra-high-voltage (UHV) power systems and clean energy technologies are paving the way towards unprecedented energy market globalization. In accordance with the international community’s enthusiasm for building up the Global Energy Internet, this paper focuses on the feasibility of transmitting large-size electricity from northwest China to Arab world through a long-distance transnational power interconnection. The complete investigations on the grids of both the sending-end and receiving-end is firstly presented. Then system configuration of the transmission scheme and corridor route planning is proposed with UHVDC technology. Based on transmission costs’ investigation about similar transmission projects worldwide, the costs of the proposed transmission scheme are estimated through adjustment factors which represent differences in latitude, topography and economy. The proposed China-Arab transmission line sheds light on the prospects of power cooperation and resource sharing between China and Arab states, and appeals for more emphasis on green energy concentrated power interconnections from a global perspective.

J-PAKE: Authenticated Key Exchange without PKI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hao, Feng; Ryan, Peter

Password Authenticated Key Exchange (PAKE) is one of the important topics in cryptography. It aims to address a practical security problem: how to establish secure communication between two parties solely based on a shared password without requiring a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). After more than a decade of extensive research in this field, there have been several PAKE protocols available. The EKE and SPEKE schemes are perhaps the two most notable examples. Both techniques are however patented. In this paper, we review these techniques in detail and summarize various theoretical and practical weaknesses. In addition, we present a new PAKE solution called J-PAKE. Our strategy is to depend on well-established primitives such as the Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP). So far, almost all of the past solutions have avoided using ZKP for the concern on efficiency. We demonstrate how to effectively integrate the ZKP into the protocol design and meanwhile achieve good efficiency. Our protocol has comparable computational efficiency to the EKE and SPEKE schemes with clear advantages on security.

Jones index, secret sharing and total quantum dimension

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiedler, Leander; Naaijkens, Pieter; Osborne, Tobias J.

2017-02-01

We study the total quantum dimension in the thermodynamic limit of topologically ordered systems. In particular, using the anyons (or superselection sectors) of such models, we define a secret sharing scheme, storing information invisible to a malicious party, and argue that the total quantum dimension quantifies how well we can perform this task. We then argue that this can be made mathematically rigorous using the index theory of subfactors, originally due to Jones and later extended by Kosaki and Longo. This theory provides us with a ‘relative entropy’ of two von Neumann algebras and a quantum channel, and we argue how these can be used to quantify how much classical information two parties can hide form an adversary. We also review the total quantum dimension in finite systems, in particular how it relates to topological entanglement entropy. It is known that the latter also has an interpretation in terms of secret sharing schemes, although this is shown by completely different methods from ours. Our work provides a different and independent take on this, which at the same time is completely mathematically rigorous. This complementary point of view might be beneficial, for example, when studying the stability of the total quantum dimension when the system is perturbed.

Incentive-Based Voltage Regulation in Distribution Networks: Preprint

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhou, Xinyang; Chen, Lijun; Dall'Anese, Emiliano

This paper considers distribution networks fea- turing distributed energy resources, and designs incentive-based mechanisms that allow the network operator and end-customers to pursue given operational and economic objectives, while concurrently ensuring that voltages are within prescribed limits. Two different network-customer coordination mechanisms that require different amounts of information shared between the network operator and end-customers are developed to identify a solution of a well-defined social-welfare maximization prob- lem. Notably, the signals broadcast by the network operator assume the connotation of prices/incentives that induce the end- customers to adjust the generated/consumed powers in order to avoid the violation of the voltagemore » constraints. Stability of the proposed schemes is analytically established and numerically corroborated.« less

Incentive-Based Voltage Regulation in Distribution Networks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dall-Anese, Emiliano; Baker, Kyri A; Zhou, Xinyang

This paper considers distribution networks fea- turing distributed energy resources, and designs incentive-based mechanisms that allow the network operator and end-customers to pursue given operational and economic objectives, while concurrently ensuring that voltages are within prescribed limits. Two different network-customer coordination mechanisms that require different amounts of information shared between the network operator and end-customers are developed to identify a solution of a well-defined social-welfare maximization prob- lem. Notably, the signals broadcast by the network operator assume the connotation of prices/incentives that induce the end- customers to adjust the generated/consumed powers in order to avoid the violation of the voltagemore » constraints. Stability of the proposed schemes is analytically established and numerically corroborated.« less

AWG-based WDM-PON monitoring system using an optical switch and a WDM filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liaw, S.-K.; Lai, Y.-T.; Chang, C.-L.; Shung, O.

2008-09-01

A new WDM-PON scheme with real-time monitoring based on a time-sharing method is proposed. It uses an optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) to monitor multiple ports by integrating an optical switch (OSW) with a dense wavelength division multiplexer (DWDM) at the optical line terminal (OLT) site. Each downstream signal and its corresponding monitoring signal are separated by m times the free-space range (FSR) of an array waveguide grating (AWG). A bit error rate (BER) test in 2.5 Gb/s × 27 km is performed with and without turning on the OTDR. A small power penalty of 0.7 dB is observed compared to the back-to-back measurement.

Cooperative Learning for Distributed In-Network Traffic Classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joseph, S. B.; Loo, H. R.; Ismail, I.; Andromeda, T.; Marsono, M. N.

2017-04-01

Inspired by the concept of autonomic distributed/decentralized network management schemes, we consider the issue of information exchange among distributed network nodes to network performance and promote scalability for in-network monitoring. In this paper, we propose a cooperative learning algorithm for propagation and synchronization of network information among autonomic distributed network nodes for online traffic classification. The results show that network nodes with sharing capability perform better with a higher average accuracy of 89.21% (sharing data) and 88.37% (sharing clusters) compared to 88.06% for nodes without cooperative learning capability. The overall performance indicates that cooperative learning is promising for distributed in-network traffic classification.

Influence of bulk microphysics schemes upon Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) version 3.6.1 nor'easter simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nicholls, Stephen D.; Decker, Steven G.; Tao, Wei-Kuo; Lang, Stephen E.; Shi, Jainn J.; Mohr, Karen I.

2017-03-01

This study evaluated the impact of five single- or double-moment bulk microphysics schemes (BMPSs) on Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) simulations of seven intense wintertime cyclones impacting the mid-Atlantic United States; 5-day long WRF simulations were initialized roughly 24 h prior to the onset of coastal cyclogenesis off the North Carolina coastline. In all, 35 model simulations (five BMPSs and seven cases) were run and their associated microphysics-related storm properties (hydrometer mixing ratios, precipitation, and radar reflectivity) were evaluated against model analysis and available gridded radar and ground-based precipitation products. Inter-BMPS comparisons of column-integrated mixing ratios and mixing ratio profiles reveal little variability in non-frozen hydrometeor species due to their shared programming heritage, yet their assumptions concerning snow and graupel intercepts, ice supersaturation, snow and graupel density maps, and terminal velocities led to considerable variability in both simulated frozen hydrometeor species and radar reflectivity. WRF-simulated precipitation fields exhibit minor spatiotemporal variability amongst BMPSs, yet their spatial extent is largely conserved. Compared to ground-based precipitation data, WRF simulations demonstrate low-to-moderate (0.217-0.414) threat scores and a rainfall distribution shifted toward higher values. Finally, an analysis of WRF and gridded radar reflectivity data via contoured frequency with altitude diagrams (CFADs) reveals notable variability amongst BMPSs, where better performing schemes favored lower graupel mixing ratios and better underlying aggregation assumptions.

Influence of Bulk Microphysics Schemes upon Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Version 3.6.1 Nor'easter Simulations.

PubMed

Nicholls, Stephen D; Decker, Steven G; Tao, Wei-Kuo; Lang, Stephen E; Shi, Jainn J; Mohr, Karen I

2017-01-01

This study evaluated the impact of five, single- or double- moment bulk microphysics schemes (BMPSs) on Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) simulations of seven, intense winter time cyclones impacting the Mid-Atlantic United States. Five-day long WRF simulations were initialized roughly 24 hours prior to the onset of coastal cyclogenesis off the North Carolina coastline. In all, 35 model simulations (5 BMPSs and seven cases) were run and their associated microphysics-related storm properties (hydrometer mixing ratios, precipitation, and radar reflectivity) were evaluated against model analysis and available gridded radar and ground-based precipitation products. Inter-BMPS comparisons of column-integrated mixing ratios and mixing ratio profiles reveal little variability in non-frozen hydrometeor species due to their shared programming heritage, yet their assumptions concerning snow and graupel intercepts, ice supersaturation, snow and graupel density maps, and terminal velocities lead to considerable variability in both simulated frozen hydrometeor species and radar reflectivity. WRF-simulated precipitation fields exhibit minor spatio-temporal variability amongst BMPSs, yet their spatial extent is largely conserved. Compared to ground-based precipitation data, WRF-simulations demonstrate low-to-moderate (0.217-0.414) threat scores and a rainfall distribution shifted toward higher values. Finally, an analysis of WRF and gridded radar reflectivity data via contoured frequency with altitude (CFAD) diagrams reveals notable variability amongst BMPSs, where better performing schemes favored lower graupel mixing ratios and better underlying aggregation assumptions.

Influence of Bulk Microphysics Schemes upon Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Version 3.6.1 Nor'easter Simulations

PubMed Central

Nicholls, Stephen D.; Decker, Steven G.; Tao, Wei-Kuo; Lang, Stephen E.; Shi, Jainn J.; Mohr, Karen I.

2018-01-01

This study evaluated the impact of five, single- or double- moment bulk microphysics schemes (BMPSs) on Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) simulations of seven, intense winter time cyclones impacting the Mid-Atlantic United States. Five-day long WRF simulations were initialized roughly 24 hours prior to the onset of coastal cyclogenesis off the North Carolina coastline. In all, 35 model simulations (5 BMPSs and seven cases) were run and their associated microphysics-related storm properties (hydrometer mixing ratios, precipitation, and radar reflectivity) were evaluated against model analysis and available gridded radar and ground-based precipitation products. Inter-BMPS comparisons of column-integrated mixing ratios and mixing ratio profiles reveal little variability in non-frozen hydrometeor species due to their shared programming heritage, yet their assumptions concerning snow and graupel intercepts, ice supersaturation, snow and graupel density maps, and terminal velocities lead to considerable variability in both simulated frozen hydrometeor species and radar reflectivity. WRF-simulated precipitation fields exhibit minor spatio-temporal variability amongst BMPSs, yet their spatial extent is largely conserved. Compared to ground-based precipitation data, WRF-simulations demonstrate low-to-moderate (0.217–0.414) threat scores and a rainfall distribution shifted toward higher values. Finally, an analysis of WRF and gridded radar reflectivity data via contoured frequency with altitude (CFAD) diagrams reveals notable variability amongst BMPSs, where better performing schemes favored lower graupel mixing ratios and better underlying aggregation assumptions. PMID:29697705

Influence of Bulk Microphysics Schemes upon Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Version 3.6.1 Nor'easter Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nicholls, Stephen D.; Decker, Steven G.; Tao, Wei-Kuo; Lang, Stephen E.; Shi, Jainn J.; Mohr, Karen Irene

2017-01-01

This study evaluated the impact of five single- or double-moment bulk microphysics schemes (BMPSs) on Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) simulations of seven intense wintertime cyclones impacting the mid-Atlantic United States; 5-day long WRF simulations were initialized roughly 24 hours prior to the onset of coastal cyclogenesis off the North Carolina coastline. In all, 35 model simulations (five BMPSs and seven cases) were run and their associated microphysics-related storm properties (hydrometer mixing ratios, precipitation, and radar reflectivity) were evaluated against model analysis and available gridded radar and ground-based precipitation products. Inter-BMPS comparisons of column-integrated mixing ratios and mixing ratio profiles reveal little variability in non-frozen hydrometeor species due to their shared programming heritage, yet their assumptions concerning snow and graupel intercepts, ice supersaturation, snow and graupel density maps, and terminal velocities led to considerable variability in both simulated frozen hydrometeor species and radar reflectivity. WRF-simulated precipitation fields exhibit minor spatiotemporal variability amongst BMPSs, yet their spatial extent is largely conserved. Compared to ground-based precipitation data, WRF simulations demonstrate low-to-moderate (0.217 to 0.414) threat scores and a rainfall distribution shifted toward higher values. Finally, an analysis of WRF and gridded radar reflectivity data via contoured frequency with altitude (CFAD) diagrams reveals notable variability amongst BMPSs, where better performing schemes favored lower graupel mixing ratios and better underlying aggregation assumptions.

An Adaptive Prediction-Based Approach to Lossless Compression of Floating-Point Volume Data.

PubMed

Fout, N; Ma, Kwan-Liu

2012-12-01

In this work, we address the problem of lossless compression of scientific and medical floating-point volume data. We propose two prediction-based compression methods that share a common framework, which consists of a switched prediction scheme wherein the best predictor out of a preset group of linear predictors is selected. Such a scheme is able to adapt to different datasets as well as to varying statistics within the data. The first method, called APE (Adaptive Polynomial Encoder), uses a family of structured interpolating polynomials for prediction, while the second method, which we refer to as ACE (Adaptive Combined Encoder), combines predictors from previous work with the polynomial predictors to yield a more flexible, powerful encoder that is able to effectively decorrelate a wide range of data. In addition, in order to facilitate efficient visualization of compressed data, our scheme provides an option to partition floating-point values in such a way as to provide a progressive representation. We compare our two compressors to existing state-of-the-art lossless floating-point compressors for scientific data, with our data suite including both computer simulations and observational measurements. The results demonstrate that our polynomial predictor, APE, is comparable to previous approaches in terms of speed but achieves better compression rates on average. ACE, our combined predictor, while somewhat slower, is able to achieve the best compression rate on all datasets, with significantly better rates on most of the datasets.

Interaction with Machine Improvisation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Assayag, Gerard; Bloch, George; Cont, Arshia; Dubnov, Shlomo

We describe two multi-agent architectures for an improvisation oriented musician-machine interaction systems that learn in real time from human performers. The improvisation kernel is based on sequence modeling and statistical learning. We present two frameworks of interaction with this kernel. In the first, the stylistic interaction is guided by a human operator in front of an interactive computer environment. In the second framework, the stylistic interaction is delegated to machine intelligence and therefore, knowledge propagation and decision are taken care of by the computer alone. The first framework involves a hybrid architecture using two popular composition/performance environments, Max and OpenMusic, that are put to work and communicate together, each one handling the process at a different time/memory scale. The second framework shares the same representational schemes with the first but uses an Active Learning architecture based on collaborative, competitive and memory-based learning to handle stylistic interactions. Both systems are capable of processing real-time audio/video as well as MIDI. After discussing the general cognitive background of improvisation practices, the statistical modelling tools and the concurrent agent architecture are presented. Then, an Active Learning scheme is described and considered in terms of using different improvisation regimes for improvisation planning. Finally, we provide more details about the different system implementations and describe several performances with the system.

Experimental demonstration of bandwidth on demand (BoD) provisioning based on time scheduling in software-defined multi-domain optical networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Yongli; Li, Yajie; Wang, Xinbo; Chen, Bowen; Zhang, Jie

2016-09-01

A hierarchical software-defined networking (SDN) control architecture is designed for multi-domain optical networks with the Open Daylight (ODL) controller. The OpenFlow-based Control Virtual Network Interface (CVNI) protocol is deployed between the network orchestrator and the domain controllers. Then, a dynamic bandwidth on demand (BoD) provisioning solution is proposed based on time scheduling in software-defined multi-domain optical networks (SD-MDON). Shared Risk Link Groups (SRLG)-disjoint routing schemes are adopted to separate each tenant for reliability. The SD-MDON testbed is built based on the proposed hierarchical control architecture. Then the proposed time scheduling-based BoD (Ts-BoD) solution is experimentally demonstrated on the testbed. The performance of the Ts-BoD solution is evaluated with respect to blocking probability, resource utilization, and lightpath setup latency.

Setting Access Permission through Transitive Relationship in Web-based Social Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, Dan; Shen, Vincent Y.

The rising popularity of various social networking websites has created a huge problem on Internet privacy. Although it is easy to post photos, comments, opinions on some events, etc. on the Web, some of these data (such as a person’s location at a particular time, criticisms of a politician, etc.) are private and should not be accessed by unauthorized users. Although social networks facilitate sharing, the fear of sending sensitive data to a third party without knowledge or permission of the data owners discourages people from taking full advantage of some social networking applications. We exploit the existing relationships on social networks and build a ‘‘trust network’’ with transitive relationship to allow controlled data sharing so that the privacy and preferences of data owners are respected. The trust network linking private data owners, private data requesters, and intermediary users is a directed weighted graph. The permission value for each private data requester can be automatically assigned in this network based on the transitive relationship. Experiments were conducted to confirm the feasibility of constructing the trust network from existing social networks, and to assess the validity of permission value assignments in the query process. Since the data owners only need to define the access rights of their closest contacts once, this privacy scheme can make private data sharing easily manageable by social network participants.

Congestion schemes and Nash equilibrium in complex networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Almendral, Juan A.; López, Luis; Cholvi, Vicent; Sanjuán, Miguel A. F.

2005-09-01

Whenever a common resource is scarce, a set of rules are needed to share it in a fairly way. However, most control schemes assume that users will behave in a cooperative way, without taking care of guaranteeing that they will not act in a selfish manner. Then, a fundamental issue is to evaluate the impact of cheating. From the point of view of game theory, a Nash equilibrium implies that nobody can take advantage by unilaterally deviating from this stable state, even in the presence of selfish users. In this paper we prove that any efficient Nash equilibrium strongly depends on the number of users, if the control scheme policy does not record their previous behavior. Since this is a common pattern in real situations, this implies that the system would be always out of equilibrium. Consequently, this result proves that, in practice, oblivious control schemes must be improved to cope with selfish users.

SmartVeh: Secure and Efficient Message Access Control and Authentication for Vehicular Cloud Computing.

PubMed

Huang, Qinlong; Yang, Yixian; Shi, Yuxiang

2018-02-24

With the growing number of vehicles and popularity of various services in vehicular cloud computing (VCC), message exchanging among vehicles under traffic conditions and in emergency situations is one of the most pressing demands, and has attracted significant attention. However, it is an important challenge to authenticate the legitimate sources of broadcast messages and achieve fine-grained message access control. In this work, we propose SmartVeh, a secure and efficient message access control and authentication scheme in VCC. A hierarchical, attribute-based encryption technique is utilized to achieve fine-grained and flexible message sharing, which ensures that vehicles whose persistent or dynamic attributes satisfy the access policies can access the broadcast message with equipped on-board units (OBUs). Message authentication is enforced by integrating an attribute-based signature, which achieves message authentication and maintains the anonymity of the vehicles. In order to reduce the computations of the OBUs in the vehicles, we outsource the heavy computations of encryption, decryption and signing to a cloud server and road-side units. The theoretical analysis and simulation results reveal that our secure and efficient scheme is suitable for VCC.

SmartVeh: Secure and Efficient Message Access Control and Authentication for Vehicular Cloud Computing

PubMed Central

Yang, Yixian; Shi, Yuxiang

2018-01-01

With the growing number of vehicles and popularity of various services in vehicular cloud computing (VCC), message exchanging among vehicles under traffic conditions and in emergency situations is one of the most pressing demands, and has attracted significant attention. However, it is an important challenge to authenticate the legitimate sources of broadcast messages and achieve fine-grained message access control. In this work, we propose SmartVeh, a secure and efficient message access control and authentication scheme in VCC. A hierarchical, attribute-based encryption technique is utilized to achieve fine-grained and flexible message sharing, which ensures that vehicles whose persistent or dynamic attributes satisfy the access policies can access the broadcast message with equipped on-board units (OBUs). Message authentication is enforced by integrating an attribute-based signature, which achieves message authentication and maintains the anonymity of the vehicles. In order to reduce the computations of the OBUs in the vehicles, we outsource the heavy computations of encryption, decryption and signing to a cloud server and road-side units. The theoretical analysis and simulation results reveal that our secure and efficient scheme is suitable for VCC. PMID:29495269

Stakeholders Perspectives on the Success Drivers in Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme – Identifying Policy Translation Issues

PubMed Central

Fusheini, Adam; Marnoch, Gordon; Gray, Ann Marie

2017-01-01

Background: Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), established by an Act of Parliament (Act 650), in 2003 and since replaced by Act 852 of 2012 remains, in African terms, unprecedented in terms of growth and coverage. As a result, the scheme has received praise for its associated legal reforms, clinical audit mechanisms and for serving as a hub for knowledge sharing and learning within the context of South-South cooperation. The scheme continues to shape national health insurance thinking in Africa. While the success, especially in coverage and financial access has been highlighted by many authors, insufficient attention has been paid to critical and context-specific factors. This paper seeks to fill that gap. Methods: Based on an empirical qualitative case study of stakeholders’ views on challenges and success factors in four mutual schemes (district offices) located in two regions of Ghana, the study uses the concept of policy translation to assess whether the Ghana scheme could provide useful lessons to other African and developing countries in their quest to implement social/NHISs. Results: In the study, interviewees referred to both ‘hard and soft’ elements as driving the "success" of the Ghana scheme. The main ‘hard elements’ include bureaucratic and legal enforcement capacities; IT; financing; governance, administration and management; regulating membership of the scheme; and service provision and coverage capabilities. The ‘soft’ elements identified relate to: the background/context of the health insurance scheme; innovative ways of funding the NHIS, the hybrid nature of the Ghana scheme; political will, commitment by government, stakeholders and public cooperation; social structure of Ghana (solidarity); and ownership and participation. Conclusion: Other developing countries can expect to translate rather than re-assemble a national health insurance programme in an incomplete and highly modified form over a period of years, amounting to a process best conceived as germination as opposed to emulation. The Ghana experience illustrates that in adopting health financing systems that function well, countries need to customise systems (policy customisation) to suit their socio-economic, political and administrative settings. Home-grown health financing systems that resonate with social values will also need to be found in the process of translation PMID:28812815

Special funding schemes for innovative medical devices in French hospitals: the pros and cons of two different approaches.

PubMed

Martelli, Nicolas; van den Brink, Hélène

2014-07-01

Financing innovative medical devices is an important challenge for national health policy makers, and a crucial issue for hospitals. However, when innovative medical devices are launched on the European market there is generally little clinical evidence regarding both efficacy and safety, both because of the flaws in the European system for regulating such devices, and because they are at an early stage of development. To manage the uncertainty surrounding the reimbursement of innovation, several European countries have set up temporary funding schemes to generate evidence about the effectiveness of devices. This article explores two different French approaches to funding innovative in-hospital devices and collecting supplementary data: the coverage with evidence development (CED) scheme introduced under Article L. 165-1-1 of the French Social Security Code; and national programs for hospital-based research. We discuss pros and cons of both approaches in the light of CED policies in Germany and the UK. The CED policies for devices share common limitations. Thus, transparency of CED processes should be enhanced and decisions need to be made in a timely way. Finally, we think that closer collaboration between manufacturers, health authorities and hospitals is essential to make CED policies more operational. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Band Alignment and Charge Transfer in Complex Oxide Interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Zhicheng; Hansmann, Philipp

2017-01-01

The synthesis of transition metal heterostructures is currently one of the most vivid fields in the design of novel functional materials. In this paper, we propose a simple scheme to predict band alignment and charge transfer in complex oxide interfaces. For semiconductor heterostructures, band-alignment rules like the well-known Anderson or Schottky-Mott rule are based on comparison of the work function or electron affinity of the bulk components. This scheme breaks down for oxides because of the invalidity of a single work-function approximation as recently shown in [Phys. Rev. B 93, 235116 (2016), 10.1103/PhysRevB.93.235116; Adv. Funct. Mater. 26, 5471 (2016), 10.1002/adfm.201600243]. Here, we propose a new scheme that is built on a continuity condition of valence states originating in the compounds' shared network of oxygen. It allows for the prediction of sign and relative amplitude of the intrinsic charge transfer, taking as input only information about the bulk properties of the components. We support our claims by numerical density functional theory simulations as well as (where available) experimental evidence. Specific applications include (i) controlled doping of SrTiO3 layers with the use of 4 d and 5 d transition metal oxides and (ii) the control of magnetic ordering in manganites through tuned charge transfer.

Health effects of the London bicycle sharing system: health impact modelling study.

PubMed

Woodcock, James; Tainio, Marko; Cheshire, James; O'Brien, Oliver; Goodman, Anna

2014-02-13

To model the impacts of the bicycle sharing system in London on the health of its users. Health impact modelling and evaluation, using a stochastic simulation model. Central and inner London, England. Total population operational registration and usage data for the London cycle hire scheme (collected April 2011-March 2012), surveys of cycle hire users (collected 2011), and London data on travel, physical activity, road traffic collisions, and particulate air pollution (PM2.5, (collected 2005-12). 578,607 users of the London cycle hire scheme, aged 14 years and over, with an estimated 78% of travel time accounted for by users younger than 45 years. Change in lifelong disability adjusted life years (DALYs) based on one year impacts on incidence of disease and injury, modelled through medium term changes in physical activity, road traffic injuries, and exposure to air pollution. Over the year examined the users made 7.4 million cycle hire trips (estimated 71% of cycling time by men). These trips would mostly otherwise have been made on foot (31%) or by public transport (47%). To date there has been a trend towards fewer fatalities and injuries than expected on cycle hire bicycles. Using these observed injury rates, the population benefits from the cycle hire scheme substantially outweighed harms (net change -72 DALYs (95% credible interval -110 to -43) among men using cycle hire per accounting year; -15 (-42 to -6) among women; note that negative DALYs represent a health benefit). When we modelled cycle hire injury rates as being equal to background rates for all cycling in central London, these benefits were smaller and there was no evidence of a benefit among women (change -49 DALYs (-88 to -17) among men; -1 DALY (-27 to 12) among women). This sex difference largely reflected higher road collision fatality rates for female cyclists. At older ages the modelled benefits of cycling were much larger than the harms. Using background injury rates in the youngest age group (15 to 29 years), the medium term benefits and harms were both comparatively small and potentially negative. London's bicycle sharing system has positive health impacts overall, but these benefits are clearer for men than for women and for older users than for younger users. The potential benefits of cycling may not currently apply to all groups in all settings.

News

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2004-09-01

Meeting: Brecon hosts 'alternative-style' Education Group Conference Meeting: Schools' Physics Group meeting delivers valuable teaching update Saturn Mission: PPARC’s Saturn school resource goes online Funding: Grant scheme supports Einstein Year activities Meeting: Liverpool Teachers’ Conference revives enthusiasm for physics Loan Scheme: Moon samples loaned to schools Awards: Schoolnet rewards good use of ICT in learning Funding: PPARC provides cash for science projects Workshop: Experts in physics education research share knowledge at international event Bulgaria: Transit of Venus comes to town Conference: CERN weekend provides lessons in particle physics Summer School: Teachers receive the summer-school treatment

Counterfactual quantum cryptography network with untrusted relay

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yuanyuan; Gu, Xuemei; Jiang, Dong; Xie, Ling; Chen, Lijun

2015-07-01

Counterfactual quantum cryptography allows two remote parties to share a secret key even though a physical particle is not in fact transmitted through the quantum channel. In order to extend the scope of counterfactual quantum cryptography, we use an untrusted relay to construct a multi-user network. The implementation issues are discussed to show that the scheme can be realized with current technologies. We also prove the practical security advantages of the scheme by eliminating the probability that an eavesdropper can directly access the signal or an untrusted relay can perform false operations.

Share capitalism and worker wellbeing⋆, ⋆⋆

PubMed Central

Clark, Andrew E.; Freeman, Richard B.; Green, Colin P.

2017-01-01

We show that worker wellbeing is determined not only by the amount of compensation workers receive but also by how compensation is determined. While previous theoretical and empirical work has often been preoccupied with individual performance-related pay, we find that the receipt of a range of group-performance schemes (profit shares, group bonuses and share ownership) is associated with higher job satisfaction. This holds conditional on wage levels, so that pay methods are associated with greater job satisfaction in addition to that coming from higher wages. We use a variety of methods to control for unobserved individual and job-specific characteristics. We suggest that half of the share-capitalism effect is accounted for by employees reciprocating for the “gift”; we also show that share capitalism helps dampen the negative wellbeing effects of what we typically think of as “bad” aspects of job quality. PMID:28725118

Juggling on a rollercoaster? Gains, loss and uncertainties in IVF patients' accounts of volunteering for a U.K. ‘egg sharing for research’ scheme

PubMed Central

Haimes, Erica

2013-01-01

The past decade has seen a growth in demand for human eggs for stem cell related research and, more recently, for mitochondrial research. That demand has been accompanied by global debates over whether women should be encouraged, by offers of payments, in cash or kind, to provide eggs. Few of these debates have been informed by empirical evidence, let alone by the views of women themselves. This article addresses that gap in knowledge by presenting findings from a UK investigation, conducted 2008–2011, which is the first systematic study of women volunteering to provide eggs under such circumstances. This article focuses on the views and experiences of 25 IVF patients who volunteered for the Newcastle ‘egg sharing for research’ scheme (NESR), in exchange for reduced IVF fees. This was an interview based study, designed to gain understandings of volunteers' perspectives and reasoning. The interviews show that volunteers approached the scheme as a way of accessing more treatment in pursuit of their goal of having a baby, against a landscape of inadequate state provision of treatment and expensive private treatment. The process of deciding to volunteer raised a wide range of uncertainties about the consequent gains and losses, for women already in the uncertain world of the ‘IVF rollercoaster’. However, interviewees preferred to have the option of the NESR, than not, and they juggled the numerous uncertainties with skill and resilience. The article is as revealing of the ongoing challenges of the UK IVF bio-economy as it is of egg provision. This article adds to the growing body of knowledge of the contributions of tissue providers to the global bio-economy. It also contributes to several areas of wider sociological interest, including debates on the social management of ‘uncertainty’ and discussions at the interface of sociology and ethics. PMID:23608093

Introducing high-cost health care to patients: dentists' accounts of offering dental implant treatment.

PubMed

Vernazza, Christopher R; Rousseau, Nikki; Steele, Jimmy G; Ellis, Janice S; Thomason, John Mark; Eastham, Jane; Exley, Catherine

2015-02-01

The decision-making process within health care has been widely researched, with shared decision-making, where both patients and clinicians share technical and personal information, often being cited as the ideal model. To date, much of this research has focused on systems where patients receive their care and treatment free at the point of contact (either in government-funded schemes or in insurance-based schemes). Oral health care often involves patients making direct payments for their care and treatment, and less is known about how this payment affects the decision-making process. It is clear that patient characteristics influence decision-making, but previous evidence suggests that clinicians may assume characteristics rather than eliciting them directly. The aim was to explore the influences on how dentists' engaged in the decision-making process surrounding a high-cost item of health care, dental implant treatments (DITs). A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was undertaken using a purposive sample of primary care dentists (n = 25). Thematic analysis was undertaken to reveal emerging key themes. There were differences in how dentists discussed and offered implants. Dentists made decisions about whether to offer implants based on business factors, professional and legal obligations and whether they perceived the patient to be motivated to have treatment and their ability to pay. There was evidence that assessment of these characteristics was often based on assumptions derived from elements such as the appearance of the patient, the state of the patient's mouth and demographic details. The data suggest that there is a conflict between three elements of acting as a healthcare professional: minimizing provision of unneeded treatment, trying to fully involve patients in shared decisions and acting as a business person with the potential for financial gain. It might be expected that in the context of a high-cost healthcare intervention for which patients pay the bill themselves, that decision-making would be closer to an informed than a paternalistic model. Our research suggests that paternalistic decision-making is still practised and is influenced by assumptions about patient characteristics. Better tools and training may be required to support clinicians in this area of practice. © 2014 The Authors. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Social trust, risk perceptions and public acceptance of recycled water: testing a social-psychological model.

PubMed

Ross, Victoria L; Fielding, Kelly S; Louis, Winnifred R

2014-05-01

Faced with a severe drought, the residents of the regional city of Toowoomba, in South East Queensland, Australia were asked to consider a potable wastewater reuse scheme to supplement drinking water supplies. As public risk perceptions and trust have been shown to be key factors in acceptance of potable reuse projects, this research developed and tested a social-psychological model of trust, risk perceptions and acceptance. Participants (N = 380) were surveyed a few weeks before a referendum was held in which residents voted against the controversial scheme. Analysis using structural equation modelling showed that the more community members perceived that the water authority used fair procedures (e.g., consulting with the community and providing accurate information), the greater their sense of shared identity with the water authority. Shared social identity in turn influenced trust via increased source credibility, that is, perceptions that the water authority is competent and has the community's interest at heart. The findings also support past research showing that higher levels of trust in the water authority were associated with lower perceptions of risk, which in turn were associated with higher levels of acceptance, and vice versa. The findings have a practical application for improving public acceptance of potable recycled water schemes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Complexity Management Using Metrics for Trajectory Flexibility Preservation and Constraint Minimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Idris, Husni; Shen, Ni; Wing, David J.

2011-01-01

The growing demand for air travel is increasing the need for mitigating air traffic congestion and complexity problems, which are already at high levels. At the same time new surveillance, navigation, and communication technologies are enabling major transformations in the air traffic management system, including net-based information sharing and collaboration, performance-based access to airspace resources, and trajectory-based rather than clearance-based operations. The new system will feature different schemes for allocating tasks and responsibilities between the ground and airborne agents and between the human and automation, with potential capacity and cost benefits. Therefore, complexity management requires new metrics and methods that can support these new schemes. This paper presents metrics and methods for preserving trajectory flexibility that have been proposed to support a trajectory-based approach for complexity management by airborne or ground-based systems. It presents extensions to these metrics as well as to the initial research conducted to investigate the hypothesis that using these metrics to guide user and service provider actions will naturally mitigate traffic complexity. The analysis showed promising results in that: (1) Trajectory flexibility preservation mitigated traffic complexity as indicated by inducing self-organization in the traffic patterns and lowering traffic complexity indicators such as dynamic density and traffic entropy. (2)Trajectory flexibility preservation reduced the potential for secondary conflicts in separation assurance. (3) Trajectory flexibility metrics showed potential application to support user and service provider negotiations for minimizing the constraints imposed on trajectories without jeopardizing their objectives.

Optimized Laplacian image sharpening algorithm based on graphic processing unit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Tinghuai; Li, Lu; Ji, Sai; Wang, Xin; Tian, Yuan; Al-Dhelaan, Abdullah; Al-Rodhaan, Mznah

2014-12-01

In classical Laplacian image sharpening, all pixels are processed one by one, which leads to large amount of computation. Traditional Laplacian sharpening processed on CPU is considerably time-consuming especially for those large pictures. In this paper, we propose a parallel implementation of Laplacian sharpening based on Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA), which is a computing platform of Graphic Processing Units (GPU), and analyze the impact of picture size on performance and the relationship between the processing time of between data transfer time and parallel computing time. Further, according to different features of different memory, an improved scheme of our method is developed, which exploits shared memory in GPU instead of global memory and further increases the efficiency. Experimental results prove that two novel algorithms outperform traditional consequentially method based on OpenCV in the aspect of computing speed.

Comparison of OPC job prioritization schemes to generate data for mask manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, Travis; Veeraraghavan, Vijay; Jantzen, Kenneth; Kim, Stephen; Park, Minyoung; Russell, Gordon; Simmons, Mark

2015-03-01

Delivering mask ready OPC corrected data to the mask shop on-time is critical for a foundry to meet the cycle time commitment for a new product. With current OPC compute resource sharing technology, different job scheduling algorithms are possible, such as, priority based resource allocation and fair share resource allocation. In order to maximize computer cluster efficiency, minimize the cost of the data processing and deliver data on schedule, the trade-offs of each scheduling algorithm need to be understood. Using actual production jobs, each of the scheduling algorithms will be tested in a production tape-out environment. Each scheduling algorithm will be judged on its ability to deliver data on schedule and the trade-offs associated with each method will be analyzed. It is now possible to introduce advance scheduling algorithms to the OPC data processing environment to meet the goals of on-time delivery of mask ready OPC data while maximizing efficiency and reducing cost.

Sharing risk between payer and provider by leasing health technologies: an affordable and effective reimbursement strategy for innovative technologies?

PubMed

Edlin, Richard; Hall, Peter; Wallner, Klemens; McCabe, Christopher

2014-06-01

The challenge of implementing high-cost innovative technologies in health care systems operating under significant budgetary pressure has led to a radical shift in the health technology reimbursement landscape. New reimbursement strategies attempt to reduce the risk of making the wrong decision, that is, paying for a technology that is not good value for the health care system, while promoting the adoption of innovative technologies into clinical practice. The remaining risk, however, is not shared between the manufacturer and the health care payer at the individual purchase level; it continues to be passed from the manufacturer to the payer at the time of purchase. In this article, we propose a health technology payment strategy-technology leasing reimbursement scheme-that allows the sharing of risk between the manufacturer and the payer: the replacing of up-front payments with a stream of payments spread over the expected duration of benefit from the technology, subject to the technology delivering the claimed health benefit. Using trastuzumab (Herceptin) in early breast cancer as an exemplar technology, we show how a technology leasing reimbursement scheme not only reduces the total budgetary impact of the innovative technology but also truly shares risk between the manufacturer and the health care system, while reducing the value of further research and thus promoting the rapid adoption of innovative technologies into clinical practice. Copyright © 2014 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A 10 bit 200 MS/s pipeline ADC using loading-balanced architecture in 0.18 μm CMOS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Linfeng; Meng, Qiao; Zhi, Hao; Li, Fei

2017-07-01

A new loading-balanced architecture for high speed and low power consumption pipeline analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is presented in this paper. The proposed ADC uses SHA-less, op-amp and capacitor-sharing technique, capacitor-scaling scheme to reduce the die area and power consumption. A new capacitor-sharing scheme was proposed to cancel the extra reset phase of the feedback capacitors. The non-standard inter-stage gain increases the feedback factor of the first stage and makes it equal to the second stage, by which, the load capacitor of op-amp shared by the first and second stages is balanced. As for the fourth stage, the capacitor and op-amp no longer scale down. From the system’s point of view, all load capacitors of the shared OTAs are balanced by employing a loading-balanced architecture. The die area and power consumption are optimized maximally. The ADC is implemented in a 0.18 μm 1P6M CMOS technology, and occupies a die area of 1.2 × 1.2 mm{}2. The measurement results show a 55.58 dB signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio (SNDR) and 62.97 dB spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) with a 25 MHz input operating at a 200 MS/s sampling rate. The proposed ADC consumes 115 mW at 200 MS/s from a 1.8 V supply.

Gender and power contestations over water use in irrigation schemes: Lessons from the lake Chilwa basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nkhoma, Bryson; Kayira, Gift

2016-04-01

Over the past two decades, Malawi has been adversely hit by climatic variability and changes, and irrigation schemes which rely mostly on water from rivers have been negatively affected. In the face of dwindling quantities of water, distribution and sharing of water for irrigation has been a source of contestations and conflicts. Women who constitute a significant section of irrigation farmers in schemes have been major culprits. The study seeks to analyze gender contestations and conflicts over the use of water in the schemes developed in the Lake Chilwa basin, in southern Malawi. Using oral and written sources as well as drawing evidence from participatory and field observations conducted at Likangala and Domasi irrigation schemes, the largest schemes in the basin, the study observes that women are not passive victims of male domination over the use of dwindling waters for irrigation farming. They have often used existing political and traditional structures developed in the management of water in the schemes to competitively gain monopoly over water. They have sometimes expressed their agency by engaging in irrigation activities that fall beyond the control of formal rules and regulations of irrigation agriculture. Other than being losers, women are winning the battle for water and land resources in the basin.

Secure entanglement distillation for double-server blind quantum computation.

PubMed

Morimae, Tomoyuki; Fujii, Keisuke

2013-07-12

Blind quantum computation is a new secure quantum computing protocol where a client, who does not have enough quantum technologies at her disposal, can delegate her quantum computation to a server, who has a fully fledged quantum computer, in such a way that the server cannot learn anything about the client's input, output, and program. If the client interacts with only a single server, the client has to have some minimum quantum power, such as the ability of emitting randomly rotated single-qubit states or the ability of measuring states. If the client interacts with two servers who share Bell pairs but cannot communicate with each other, the client can be completely classical. For such a double-server scheme, two servers have to share clean Bell pairs, and therefore the entanglement distillation is necessary in a realistic noisy environment. In this Letter, we show that it is possible to perform entanglement distillation in the double-server scheme without degrading the security of blind quantum computing.

Spacetime Replication of Quantum Information Using (2 , 3) Quantum Secret Sharing and Teleportation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Yadong; Khalid, Abdullah; Davijani, Masoud; Sanders, Barry

The aim of this work is to construct a protocol to replicate quantum information in any valid configuration of causal diamonds and assess resources required to physically realize spacetime replication. We present a set of codes to replicate quantum information along with a scheme to realize these codes using continuous-variable quantum optics. We use our proposed experimental realizations to determine upper bounds on the quantum and classical resources required to simulate spacetime replication. For four causal diamonds, our implementation scheme is more efficient than the one proposed previously. Our codes are designed using a decomposition algorithm for complete directed graphs, (2 , 3) quantum secret sharing, quantum teleportation and entanglement swapping. These results show the simulation of spacetime replication of quantum information is feasible with existing experimental methods. Alberta Innovates, NSERC, China's 1000 Talent Plan and the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter, which is an NSF Physics Frontiers Center (NSF Grant PHY-1125565) with support of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF-2644).

A supply chain contract with flexibility as a risk-sharing mechanism for demand forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Whan-Seon

2013-06-01

Demand forecasting is one of the main causes of the bullwhip effect in a supply chain. As a countermeasure for demand uncertainty as well as a risk-sharing mechanism for demand forecasting in a supply chain, this article studies a bilateral contract with order quantity flexibility. Under the contract, the buyer places orders in advance for the predetermined horizons and makes minimum purchase commitments. The supplier, in return, provides the buyer with the flexibility to adjust the order quantities later, according to the most updated demand information. To conduct comparative simulations, four-echelon supply chain models, that employ the contracts and different forecasting techniques under dynamic market demands, are developed. The simulation outcomes show that demand fluctuation can be effectively absorbed by the contract scheme, which enables better inventory management and customer service. Furthermore, it has been verified that the contract scheme under study plays a role as an effective coordination mechanism in a decentralised supply chain.

The QKD network: model and routing scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Chao; Zhang, Hongqi; Su, Jinhai

2017-11-01

Quantum key distribution (QKD) technology can establish unconditional secure keys between two communicating parties. Although this technology has some inherent constraints, such as the distance and point-to-point mode limits, building a QKD network with multiple point-to-point QKD devices can overcome these constraints. Considering the development level of current technology, the trust relaying QKD network is the first choice to build a practical QKD network. However, the previous research didn't address a routing method on the trust relaying QKD network in detail. This paper focuses on the routing issues, builds a model of the trust relaying QKD network for easily analysing and understanding this network, and proposes a dynamical routing scheme for this network. From the viewpoint of designing a dynamical routing scheme in classical network, the proposed scheme consists of three components: a Hello protocol helping share the network topology information, a routing algorithm to select a set of suitable paths and establish the routing table and a link state update mechanism helping keep the routing table newly. Experiments and evaluation demonstrates the validity and effectiveness of the proposed routing scheme.

Adaptive Packet Combining Scheme in Three State Channel Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saring, Yang; Bulo, Yaka; Bhunia, Chandan Tilak

2018-01-01

The two popular techniques of packet combining based error correction schemes are: Packet Combining (PC) scheme and Aggressive Packet Combining (APC) scheme. PC scheme and APC scheme have their own merits and demerits; PC scheme has better throughput than APC scheme, but suffers from higher packet error rate than APC scheme. The wireless channel state changes all the time. Because of this random and time varying nature of wireless channel, individual application of SR ARQ scheme, PC scheme and APC scheme can't give desired levels of throughput. Better throughput can be achieved if appropriate transmission scheme is used based on the condition of channel. Based on this approach, adaptive packet combining scheme has been proposed to achieve better throughput. The proposed scheme adapts to the channel condition to carry out transmission using PC scheme, APC scheme and SR ARQ scheme to achieve better throughput. Experimentally, it was observed that the error correction capability and throughput of the proposed scheme was significantly better than that of SR ARQ scheme, PC scheme and APC scheme.

A demanding web-based PACS supported by web services technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Costa, Carlos M. A.; Silva, Augusto; Oliveira, José L.; Ribeiro, Vasco G.; Ribeiro, José

2006-03-01

During the last years, the ubiquity of web interfaces have pushed practically all PACS suppliers to develop client applications in which clinical practitioners can receive and analyze medical images, using conventional personal computers and Web browsers. However, due to security and performance issues, the utilization of these software packages has been restricted to Intranets. Paradigmatically, one of the most important advantages of digital image systems is to simplify the widespread sharing and remote access of medical data between healthcare institutions. This paper analyses the traditional PACS drawbacks that contribute to their reduced usage in the Internet and describes a PACS based on Web Services technology that supports a customized DICOM encoding syntax and a specific compression scheme providing all historical patient data in a unique Web interface.

A unified perspective on robot control - The energy Lyapunov function approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wen, John T.

1990-01-01

A unified framework for the stability analysis of robot tracking control is presented. By using an energy-motivated Lyapunov function candidate, the closed-loop stability is shown for a large family of control laws sharing a common structure of proportional and derivative feedback and a model-based feedforward. The feedforward can be zero, partial or complete linearized dynamics, partial or complete nonlinear dynamics, or linearized or nonlinear dynamics with parameter adaptation. As result, the dichotomous approaches to the robot control problem based on the open-loop linearization and nonlinear Lyapunov analysis are both included in this treatment. Furthermore, quantitative estimates of the trade-offs between different schemes in terms of the tracking performance, steady state error, domain of convergence, realtime computation load and required a prior model information are derived.

Design and implementation of a secure wireless mote-based medical sensor network.

PubMed

Malasri, Kriangsiri; Wang, Lan

2009-01-01

A medical sensor network can wirelessly monitor vital signs of humans, making it useful for long-term health care without sacrificing patient comfort and mobility. For such a network to be viable, its design must protect data privacy and authenticity given that medical data are highly sensitive. We identify the unique security challenges of such a sensor network and propose a set of resource-efficient mechanisms to address these challenges. Our solution includes (1) a novel two-tier scheme for verifying the authenticity of patient data, (2) a secure key agreement protocol to set up shared keys between sensor nodes and base stations, and (3) symmetric encryption/decryption for protecting data confidentiality and integrity. We have implemented the proposed mechanisms on a wireless mote platform, and our results confirm their feasibility.

Optimization study on multiple train formation scheme of urban rail transit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xia, Xiaomei; Ding, Yong; Wen, Xin

2018-05-01

The new organization method, represented by the mixed operation of multi-marshalling trains, can adapt to the characteristics of the uneven distribution of passenger flow, but the research on this aspect is still not perfect enough. This paper introduced the passenger sharing rate and congestion penalty coefficient with different train formations. On this basis, this paper established an optimization model with the minimum passenger cost and operation cost as objective, and operation frequency and passenger demand as constraint. The ideal point method is used to solve this model. Compared with the fixed marshalling operation model, the overall cost of this scheme saves 9.24% and 4.43% respectively. This result not only validates the validity of the model, but also illustrate the advantages of the multiple train formations scheme.

Security of counterfactual quantum cryptography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Zhen-Qiang; Li, Hong-Wei; Chen, Wei; Han, Zheng-Fu; Guo, Guang-Can

2010-10-01

Recently, a “counterfactual” quantum-key-distribution scheme was proposed by T.-G. Noh [Phys. Rev. Lett.PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.103.230501 103, 230501 (2009)]. In this scheme, two legitimate distant peers may share secret keys even when the information carriers are not traveled in the quantum channel. We find that this protocol is equivalent to an entanglement distillation protocol. According to this equivalence, a strict security proof and the asymptotic key bit rate are both obtained when a perfect single-photon source is applied and a Trojan horse attack can be detected. We also find that the security of this scheme is strongly related to not only the bit error rate but also the yields of photons. And our security proof may shed light on the security of other two-way protocols.

Security of counterfactual quantum cryptography

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yin Zhenqiang; Li Hongwei; Chen Wei

2010-10-15

Recently, a 'counterfactual' quantum-key-distribution scheme was proposed by T.-G. Noh [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 230501 (2009)]. In this scheme, two legitimate distant peers may share secret keys even when the information carriers are not traveled in the quantum channel. We find that this protocol is equivalent to an entanglement distillation protocol. According to this equivalence, a strict security proof and the asymptotic key bit rate are both obtained when a perfect single-photon source is applied and a Trojan horse attack can be detected. We also find that the security of this scheme is strongly related to not only the bitmore » error rate but also the yields of photons. And our security proof may shed light on the security of other two-way protocols.« less

A picture tells a thousand words: A content analysis of concussion-related images online.

PubMed

Ahmed, Osman H; Lee, Hopin; Struik, Laura L

2016-09-01

Recently image-sharing social media platforms have become a popular medium for sharing health-related images and associated information. However within the field of sports medicine, and more specifically sports related concussion, the content of images and meta-data shared through these popular platforms have not been investigated. The aim of this study was to analyse the content of concussion-related images and its accompanying meta-data on image-sharing social media platforms. We retrieved 300 images from Pinterest, Instagram and Flickr by using a standardised search strategy. All images were screened and duplicate images were removed. We excluded images if they were: non-static images; illustrations; animations; or screenshots. The content and characteristics of each image was evaluated using a customised coding scheme to determine major content themes, and images were referenced to the current international concussion management guidelines. From 300 potentially relevant images, 176 images were included for analysis; 70 from Pinterest, 63 from Flickr, and 43 from Instagram. Most images were of another person or a scene (64%), with the primary content depicting injured individuals (39%). The primary purposes of the images were to share a concussion-related incident (33%) and to dispense education (19%). For those images where it could be evaluated, the majority (91%) were found to reflect the Sports Concussion Assessment Tool 3 (SCAT3) guidelines. The ability to rapidly disseminate rich information though photos, images, and infographics to a wide-reaching audience suggests that image-sharing social media platforms could be used as an effective communication tool for sports concussion. Public health strategies could direct educative content to targeted populations via the use of image-sharing platforms. Further research is required to understand how image-sharing platforms can be used to effectively relay evidence-based information to patients and sports medicine clinicians. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Secret Sharing and Shared Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rauh, Johannes

2017-11-01

Secret sharing is a cryptographic discipline in which the goal is to distribute information about a secret over a set of participants in such a way that only specific authorized combinations of participants together can reconstruct the secret. Thus, secret sharing schemes are systems of variables in which it is very clearly specified which subsets have information about the secret. As such, they provide perfect model systems for information decompositions. However, following this intuition too far leads to an information decomposition with negative partial information terms, which are difficult to interpret. One possible explanation is that the partial information lattice proposed by Williams and Beer is incomplete and has to be extended to incorporate terms corresponding to higher order redundancy. These results put bounds on information decompositions that follow the partial information framework, and they hint at where the partial information lattice needs to be improved.

Mapping Monthly Water Scarcity in Global Transboundary Basins at Country-Basin Mesh Based Spatial Resolution.

PubMed

Degefu, Dagmawi Mulugeta; Weijun, He; Zaiyi, Liao; Liang, Yuan; Zhengwei, Huang; Min, An

2018-02-01

Currently fresh water scarcity is an issue with huge socio-economic and environmental impacts. Transboundary river and lake basins are among the sources of fresh water facing this challenge. Previous studies measured blue water scarcity at different spatial and temporal resolutions. But there is no global water availability and footprint assessment done at country-basin mesh based spatial and monthly temporal resolutions. In this study we assessed water scarcity at these spatial and temporal resolutions. Our results showed that around 1.6 billion people living within the 328 country-basin units out of the 560 we assessed in this study endures severe water scarcity at least for a month within the year. In addition, 175 country-basin units goes through severe water scarcity for 3-12 months in the year. These sub-basins include nearly a billion people. Generally, the results of this study provide insights regarding the number of people and country-basin units experiencing low, moderate, significant and severe water scarcity at a monthly temporal resolution. These insights might help these basins' sharing countries to design and implement sustainable water management and sharing schemes.

Control of parallel manipulators using force feedback

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nanua, Prabjot

1994-01-01

Two control schemes are compared for parallel robotic mechanisms actuated by hydraulic cylinders. One scheme, the 'rate based scheme', uses the position and rate information only for feedback. The second scheme, the 'force based scheme' feeds back the force information also. The force control scheme is shown to improve the response over the rate control one. It is a simple constant gain control scheme better suited to parallel mechanisms. The force control scheme can be easily modified for the dynamic forces on the end effector. This paper presents the results of a computer simulation of both the rate and force control schemes. The gains in the force based scheme can be individually adjusted in all three directions, whereas the adjustment in just one direction of the rate based scheme directly affects the other two directions.

Reducing financial barriers to emergency obstetric care: experience of cost-sharing mechanism in a district hospital in Burkina Faso.

PubMed

Richard, F; Ouédraogo, C; Compaoré, J; Dubourg, D; De Brouwere, V

2007-08-01

To describe the implementation of a cost-sharing system for emergency obstetric care in an urban health district of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and analyse its results after 1 year of activity. Service availability and use, service quality, knowledge of the cost-sharing system in the community and financial viability of the system were measured before and after the system was implemented. Different sources of data were used: community survey, anthropological study, routine data from hospital files and registers and specific data collected on major obstetric interventions (MOI) in all the hospitals utilized by the district population. Direct costs of MOI were collected for each patient through an individual form and monitored during the year 2005. Rates of MOI for absolute maternal indications (AMI) were calculated for the period 2003-2005. The direct cost of a MOI was on average 136US$, including referral cost. Through the cost-sharing system this amount was shared between families (46US$), health centres (15US$), Ministry of Health (38US$) and local authority (37US$). The scheme was started in January 2005. The rate of cost recovery was 91.3% and the balance at the end of 2005 was slightly positive (4.7% of the total contribution). The number of emergency referrals by health centres increased from 84 in 2004 to 683 in 2005. MOI per 100 expected births increased from 1.95% in 2003 to 3.56% in 2005 and MOI for AMI increased from 0.75% to 1.42%. The dramatic increase in MOI suggests that the cost-sharing scheme decreased financial and geographical barriers to emergency obstetric care. Other positive effects on quality of care were documented but the sustainability of such a system remains uncertain in the dynamic context of Burkina Faso (decentralization).

SMT-Aware Instantaneous Footprint Optimization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roy, Probir; Liu, Xu; Song, Shuaiwen

Modern architectures employ simultaneous multithreading (SMT) to increase thread-level parallelism. SMT threads share many functional units and the whole memory hierarchy of a physical core. Without a careful code design, SMT threads can easily contend with each other for these shared resources, causing severe performance degradation. Minimizing SMT thread contention for HPC applications running on dedicated platforms is very challenging, because they usually spawn threads within Single Program Multiple Data (SPMD) models. To address this important issue, we introduce a simple scheme for SMT-aware code optimization, which aims to reduce the memory contention across SMT threads.

Antenna Beam Pattern Characteristics of HAPS User Terminal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ku, Bon-Jun; Oh, Dae Sub; Kim, Nam; Ahn, Do-Seob

High Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS) are recently considered as a green infrastructure to provide high speed multimedia services. The critical issue of HAPS is frequency sharing with satellite systems. Regulating antenna beam pattern using adaptive antenna schemes is one of means to facilitate the sharing with a space receiver for fixed satellite services on the uplink of a HAPS system operating in U bands. In this letter, we investigate antenna beam pattern characteristics of HAPS user terminals with various values of scan angles of main beam, null position angles, and null width.

Secure data sharing in public cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Venkataramana, Kanaparti; Naveen Kumar, R.; Tatekalva, Sandhya; Padmavathamma, M.

2012-04-01

Secure multi-party protocols have been proposed for entities (organizations or individuals) that don't fully trust each other to share sensitive information. Many types of entities need to collect, analyze, and disseminate data rapidly and accurately, without exposing sensitive information to unauthorized or untrusted parties. Solutions based on secure multiparty computation guarantee privacy and correctness, at an extra communication (too costly in communication to be practical) and computation cost. The high overhead motivates us to extend this SMC to cloud environment which provides large computation and communication capacity which makes SMC to be used between multiple clouds (i.e., it may between private or public or hybrid clouds).Cloud may encompass many high capacity servers which acts as a hosts which participate in computation (IaaS and PaaS) for final result, which is controlled by Cloud Trusted Authority (CTA) for secret sharing within the cloud. The communication between two clouds is controlled by High Level Trusted Authority (HLTA) which is one of the hosts in a cloud which provides MgaaS (Management as a Service). Due to high risk for security in clouds, HLTA generates and distributes public keys and private keys by using Carmichael-R-Prime- RSA algorithm for exchange of private data in SMC between itself and clouds. In cloud, CTA creates Group key for Secure communication between the hosts in cloud based on keys sent by HLTA for exchange of Intermediate values and shares for computation of final result. Since this scheme is extended to be used in clouds( due to high availability and scalability to increase computation power) it is possible to implement SMC practically for privacy preserving in data mining at low cost for the clients.

Community first responders and responder schemes in the United Kingdom: systematic scoping review.

PubMed

Phung, Viet-Hai; Trueman, Ian; Togher, Fiona; Orner, Roderick; Siriwardena, A Niroshan

2017-06-19

Community First Responder (CFR) schemes support lay people to respond to medical emergencies, working closely with ambulance services. They operate widely in the UK. There has been no previous review of UK literature on these schemes. This is the first systematic scoping review of UK literature on CFR schemes, which identifies the reasons for becoming a CFR, requirements for training and feedback and confusion between the CFR role and that of ambulance service staff. This study also reveals gaps in the evidence base for CFR schemes. We conducted a systematic scoping review of the published literature, in the English language from 2000 onwards using specific search terms in six databases. Narrative synthesis was used to analyse article content. Nine articles remained from the initial search of 15,969 articles after removing duplicates, title and abstract and then full text review. People were motivated to become CFRs through an altruistic desire to help others. They generally felt rewarded by their work but recognised that the help they provided was limited by their training compared with ambulance staff. There were concerns about the possible emotional impact on CFRs responding to incidents. CFRs felt that better feedback would enhance their learning. Ongoing training and support were viewed as essential to enable CFRs to progress. They perceived that public recognition of the CFR role was low, patients sometimes confusing them with ambulance staff. Relationships with the ambulance service were sometimes ambivalent due to confusion over roles. There was support for local autonomy of CFR schemes but with greater sharing of best practice. Most studies dated from 2005 and were descriptive rather than analytical. In the UK and Australia CFRs are usually lay volunteers equipped with basic skills for responding to medical emergencies, whereas in the US they include other emergency staff as well as lay people. Opportunities for future research include exploring experiences and perceptions of patients who have been treated by CFRs and other stakeholders, while also evaluating the effectiveness and costs of CFR schemes.

Quantum Communication without Alignment using Multiple-Qubit Single-Photon States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aolita, L.; Walborn, S. P.

2007-03-01

We propose a scheme for encoding logical qubits in a subspace protected against collective rotations around the propagation axis using the polarization and transverse spatial degrees of freedom of single photons. This encoding allows for quantum key distribution without the need of a shared reference frame. We present methods to generate entangled states of two logical qubits using present day down-conversion sources and linear optics, and show that the application of these entangled logical states to quantum information schemes allows for alignment-free tests of Bell’s inequalities, quantum dense coding, and quantum teleportation.

The interactions between soil-biosphere-atmosphere land surface model with a multi-energy balance (ISBA-MEB) option in SURFEXv8 - Part 1: Model description

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boone, Aaron; Samuelsson, Patrick; Gollvik, Stefan; Napoly, Adrien; Jarlan, Lionel; Brun, Eric; Decharme, Bertrand

2017-02-01

Land surface models (LSMs) are pushing towards improved realism owing to an increasing number of observations at the local scale, constantly improving satellite data sets and the associated methodologies to best exploit such data, improved computing resources, and in response to the user community. As a part of the trend in LSM development, there have been ongoing efforts to improve the representation of the land surface processes in the interactions between the soil-biosphere-atmosphere (ISBA) LSM within the EXternalized SURFace (SURFEX) model platform. The force-restore approach in ISBA has been replaced in recent years by multi-layer explicit physically based options for sub-surface heat transfer, soil hydrological processes, and the composite snowpack. The representation of vegetation processes in SURFEX has also become much more sophisticated in recent years, including photosynthesis and respiration and biochemical processes. It became clear that the conceptual limits of the composite soil-vegetation scheme within ISBA had been reached and there was a need to explicitly separate the canopy vegetation from the soil surface. In response to this issue, a collaboration began in 2008 between the high-resolution limited area model (HIRLAM) consortium and Météo-France with the intention to develop an explicit representation of the vegetation in ISBA under the SURFEX platform. A new parameterization has been developed called the ISBA multi-energy balance (MEB) in order to address these issues. ISBA-MEB consists in a fully implicit numerical coupling between a multi-layer physically based snowpack model, a variable-layer soil scheme, an explicit litter layer, a bulk vegetation scheme, and the atmosphere. It also includes a feature that permits a coupling transition of the snowpack from the canopy air to the free atmosphere. It shares many of the routines and physics parameterizations with the standard version of ISBA. This paper is the first of two parts; in part one, the ISBA-MEB model equations, numerical schemes, and theoretical background are presented. In part two (Napoly et al., 2016), which is a separate companion paper, a local scale evaluation of the new scheme is presented along with a detailed description of the new forest litter scheme.

Application of visual cryptography for learning in optics and photonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandal, Avikarsha; Wozniak, Peter; Vauderwange, Oliver; Curticapean, Dan

2016-09-01

In the age data digitalization, important applications of optics and photonics based sensors and technology lie in the field of biometrics and image processing. Protecting user data in a safe and secure way is an essential task in this area. However, traditional cryptographic protocols rely heavily on computer aided computation. Secure protocols which rely only on human interactions are usually simpler to understand. In many scenarios development of such protocols are also important for ease of implementation and deployment. Visual cryptography (VC) is an encryption technique on images (or text) in which decryption is done by human visual system. In this technique, an image is encrypted into number of pieces (known as shares). When the printed shares are physically superimposed together, the image can be decrypted with human vision. Modern digital watermarking technologies can be combined with VC for image copyright protection where the shares can be watermarks (small identification) embedded in the image. Similarly, VC can be used for improving security of biometric authentication. This paper presents about design and implementation of a practical laboratory experiment based on the concept of VC for a course in media engineering. Specifically, our contribution deals with integration of VC in different schemes for applications like digital watermarking and biometric authentication in the field of optics and photonics. We describe theoretical concepts and propose our infrastructure for the experiment. Finally, we will evaluate the learning outcome of the experiment, performed by the students.

Analysis of Optimal Sequential State Discrimination for Linearly Independent Pure Quantum States.

PubMed

Namkung, Min; Kwon, Younghun

2018-04-25

Recently, J. A. Bergou et al. proposed sequential state discrimination as a new quantum state discrimination scheme. In the scheme, by the successful sequential discrimination of a qubit state, receivers Bob and Charlie can share the information of the qubit prepared by a sender Alice. A merit of the scheme is that a quantum channel is established between Bob and Charlie, but a classical communication is not allowed. In this report, we present a method for extending the original sequential state discrimination of two qubit states to a scheme of N linearly independent pure quantum states. Specifically, we obtain the conditions for the sequential state discrimination of N = 3 pure quantum states. We can analytically provide conditions when there is a special symmetry among N = 3 linearly independent pure quantum states. Additionally, we show that the scenario proposed in this study can be applied to quantum key distribution. Furthermore, we show that the sequential state discrimination of three qutrit states performs better than the strategy of probabilistic quantum cloning.

Design of on-board parallel computer on nano-satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

You, Zheng; Tian, Hexiang; Yu, Shijie; Meng, Li

2007-11-01

This paper provides one scheme of the on-board parallel computer system designed for the Nano-satellite. Based on the development request that the Nano-satellite should have a small volume, low weight, low power cost, and intelligence, this scheme gets rid of the traditional one-computer system and dual-computer system with endeavor to improve the dependability, capability and intelligence simultaneously. According to the method of integration design, it employs the parallel computer system with shared memory as the main structure, connects the telemetric system, attitude control system, and the payload system by the intelligent bus, designs the management which can deal with the static tasks and dynamic task-scheduling, protect and recover the on-site status and so forth in light of the parallel algorithms, and establishes the fault diagnosis, restoration and system restructure mechanism. It accomplishes an on-board parallel computer system with high dependability, capability and intelligence, a flexible management on hardware resources, an excellent software system, and a high ability in extension, which satisfies with the conception and the tendency of the integration electronic design sufficiently.

Addressing the Big-Earth-Data Variety Challenge with the Hierarchical Triangular Mesh

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rilee, Michael L.; Kuo, Kwo-Sen; Clune, Thomas; Oloso, Amidu; Brown, Paul G.; Yu, Honfeng

2016-01-01

We have implemented an updated Hierarchical Triangular Mesh (HTM) as the basis for a unified data model and an indexing scheme for geoscience data to address the variety challenge of Big Earth Data. We observe that, in the absence of variety, the volume challenge of Big Data is relatively easily addressable with parallel processing. The more important challenge in achieving optimal value with a Big Data solution for Earth Science (ES) data analysis, however, is being able to achieve good scalability with variety. With HTM unifying at least the three popular data models, i.e. Grid, Swath, and Point, used by current ES data products, data preparation time for integrative analysis of diverse datasets can be drastically reduced and better variety scaling can be achieved. In addition, since HTM is also an indexing scheme, when it is used to index all ES datasets, data placement alignment (or co-location) on the shared nothing architecture, which most Big Data systems are based on, is guaranteed and better performance is ensured. Moreover, our updated HTM encoding turns most geospatial set operations into integer interval operations, gaining further performance advantages.

Performance of 3D-space-based atoms-in-molecules methods for electronic delocalization aromaticity indices.

PubMed

Heyndrickx, Wouter; Salvador, Pedro; Bultinck, Patrick; Solà, Miquel; Matito, Eduard

2011-02-01

Several definitions of an atom in a molecule (AIM) in three-dimensional (3D) space, including both fuzzy and disjoint domains, are used to calculate electron sharing indices (ESI) and related electronic aromaticity measures, namely, I(ring) and multicenter indices (MCI), for a wide set of cyclic planar aromatic and nonaromatic molecules of different ring size. The results obtained using the recent iterative Hirshfeld scheme are compared with those derived from the classical Hirshfeld method and from Bader's quantum theory of atoms in molecules. For bonded atoms, all methods yield ESI values in very good agreement, especially for C-C interactions. In the case of nonbonded interactions, there are relevant deviations, particularly between fuzzy and QTAIM schemes. These discrepancies directly translate into significant differences in the values and the trends of the aromaticity indices. In particular, the chemically expected trends are more consistently found when using disjoint domains. Careful examination of the underlying effects reveals the different reasons why the aromaticity indices investigated give the expected results for binary divisions of 3D space. Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

SPECS: Secure and Privacy Enhancing Communications Schemes for VANETs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chim, T. W.; Yiu, S. M.; Hui, L. C. K.; Jiang, Zoe L.; Li, Victor O. K.

Vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) is an emerging type of networks which facilitates vehicles on roads to communicate for driving safety. The basic idea is to allow arbitrary vehicles to broadcast ad hoc messages (e.g. traffic accidents) to other vehicles. However, this raises the concern of security and privacy. Messages should be signed and verified before they are trusted while the real identity of vehicles should not be revealed, but traceable by authorized party. Existing solutions either rely heavily on a tamper-proof hardware device, or cannot satisfy the privacy requirement and do not have an effective message verification scheme. In this paper, we provide a software-based solution which makes use of only two shared secrets to satisfy the privacy requirement and gives lower message overhead and at least 45% higher successful rate than previous solutions in the message verification phase using the bloom filter and the binary search techniques. We also provide the first group communication protocol to allow vehicles to authenticate and securely communicate with others in a group of known vehicles.

Effect of cost sharing on adherence to evidence-based medications in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

PubMed

González López-Valcárcel, Beatriz; Librero, Julián; García-Sempere, Aníbal; Peña, Luz María; Bauer, Sofía; Puig-Junoy, Jaume; Oliva, Juan; Peiró, Salvador; Sanfélix-Gimeno, Gabriel

2017-07-01

Cost-sharing scheme for pharmaceuticals in Spain changed in July 2012. Our aim was to assess the impact of this change on adherence to essential medication in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in the region of Valencia. Population-based retrospective cohort of 10 563 patients discharged alive after an ACS in 2009-2011. We examined a control group (low-income working population) that did not change their coinsurance status, and two intervention groups: pensioners who moved from full coverage to 10% coinsurance and middle-income to high-income working population, for whom coinsurance rose from 40% to 50% or 60%. Weekly adherence rates measured from the date of the first prescription. Days with available medication were estimated by linking prescribed and filled medications during the follow-up period. Cost-sharing change made no significant differences in adherence between intervention and control groups for essential medications with low price and low patient maximum coinsurance, such as antiplatelet and beta-blockers. For costlier ACE inhibitor or an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ACEI/ARB) and statins, it had an immediate effect in the proportion of adherence in the pensioner group as compared with the control group (6.8% and 8.3% decrease of adherence, respectively, p<0.01 for both). Adherence to statins decreased for the middle-income to high-income group as compared with the control group (7.8% increase of non-adherence, p<0.01). These effects seemed temporary. Coinsurance changes may lead to decreased adherence to proven, effective therapies, especially for higher priced agents with higher patient cost share. Consideration should be given to fully exempt high-risk patients from drug cost sharing. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

A secure and efficient uniqueness-and-anonymity-preserving remote user authentication scheme for connected health care.

PubMed

Das, Ashok Kumar; Goswami, Adrijit

2013-06-01

Connected health care has several applications including telecare medicine information system, personally controlled health records system, and patient monitoring. In such applications, user authentication can ensure the legality of patients. In user authentication for such applications, only the legal user/patient himself/herself is allowed to access the remote server, and no one can trace him/her according to transmitted data. Chang et al. proposed a uniqueness-and-anonymity-preserving remote user authentication scheme for connected health care (Chang et al., J Med Syst 37:9902, 2013). Their scheme uses the user's personal biometrics along with his/her password with the help of the smart card. The user's biometrics is verified using BioHashing. Their scheme is efficient due to usage of one-way hash function and exclusive-or (XOR) operations. In this paper, we show that though their scheme is very efficient, their scheme has several security weaknesses such as (1) it has design flaws in login and authentication phases, (2) it has design flaws in password change phase, (3) it fails to protect privileged insider attack, (4) it fails to protect the man-in-the middle attack, and (5) it fails to provide proper authentication. In order to remedy these security weaknesses in Chang et al.'s scheme, we propose an improvement of their scheme while retaining the original merit of their scheme. We show that our scheme is efficient as compared to Chang et al.'s scheme. Through the security analysis, we show that our scheme is secure against possible attacks. Further, we simulate our scheme for the formal security verification using the widely-accepted AVISPA (Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications) tool to ensure that our scheme is secure against passive and active attacks. In addition, after successful authentication between the user and the server, they establish a secret session key shared between them for future secure communication.

Brain CT image similarity retrieval method based on uncertain location graph.

PubMed

Pan, Haiwei; Li, Pengyuan; Li, Qing; Han, Qilong; Feng, Xiaoning; Gao, Linlin

2014-03-01

A number of brain computed tomography (CT) images stored in hospitals that contain valuable information should be shared to support computer-aided diagnosis systems. Finding the similar brain CT images from the brain CT image database can effectively help doctors diagnose based on the earlier cases. However, the similarity retrieval for brain CT images requires much higher accuracy than the general images. In this paper, a new model of uncertain location graph (ULG) is presented for brain CT image modeling and similarity retrieval. According to the characteristics of brain CT image, we propose a novel method to model brain CT image to ULG based on brain CT image texture. Then, a scheme for ULG similarity retrieval is introduced. Furthermore, an effective index structure is applied to reduce the searching time. Experimental results reveal that our method functions well on brain CT images similarity retrieval with higher accuracy and efficiency.

Image encryption using fingerprint as key based on phase retrieval algorithm and public key cryptography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Tieyu; Ran, Qiwen; Yuan, Lin; Chi, Yingying; Ma, Jing

2015-09-01

In this paper, a novel image encryption system with fingerprint used as a secret key is proposed based on the phase retrieval algorithm and RSA public key algorithm. In the system, the encryption keys include the fingerprint and the public key of RSA algorithm, while the decryption keys are the fingerprint and the private key of RSA algorithm. If the users share the fingerprint, then the system will meet the basic agreement of asymmetric cryptography. The system is also applicable for the information authentication. The fingerprint as secret key is used in both the encryption and decryption processes so that the receiver can identify the authenticity of the ciphertext by using the fingerprint in decryption process. Finally, the simulation results show the validity of the encryption scheme and the high robustness against attacks based on the phase retrieval technique.

The research and implementation of PDM systems based on the .NET platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Hong-li; Jia, Ying-lian; Yang, Ji-long; Jiang, Wei

2005-12-01

A new kind of PDM system scheme based on the .NET platform for solving application problems of the current PDM system applied in an enterprise is described. The key technologies of this system, such as .NET, Accessing Data, information processing, Web, ect., were discussed. The 3-tier architecture of a PDM system based on the C/S and B/S mixed mode was presented. In this system, all users share the same Database Server in order to ensure the coherence and safety of client data. ADO.NET leverages the power of XML to provide disconnected access to data, which frees the connection to be used by other clients. Using this approach, the system performance was improved. Moreover, the important function modules in a PDM system such as project management, product structure management and Document Management module were developed and realized.

Stakeholders Perspectives on the Success Drivers in Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme - Identifying Policy Translation Issues.

PubMed

Fusheini, Adam; Marnoch, Gordon; Gray, Ann Marie

2016-10-01

Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), established by an Act of Parliament (Act 650), in 2003 and since replaced by Act 852 of 2012 remains, in African terms, unprecedented in terms of growth and coverage. As a result, the scheme has received praise for its associated legal reforms, clinical audit mechanisms and for serving as a hub for knowledge sharing and learning within the context of South-South cooperation. The scheme continues to shape national health insurance thinking in Africa. While the success, especially in coverage and financial access has been highlighted by many authors, insufficient attention has been paid to critical and context-specific factors. This paper seeks to fill that gap. Based on an empirical qualitative case study of stakeholders' views on challenges and success factors in four mutual schemes (district offices) located in two regions of Ghana, the study uses the concept of policy translation to assess whether the Ghana scheme could provide useful lessons to other African and developing countries in their quest to implement social/NHISs. In the study, interviewees referred to both 'hard and soft' elements as driving the "success" of the Ghana scheme. The main 'hard elements' include bureaucratic and legal enforcement capacities; IT; financing; governance, administration and management; regulating membership of the scheme; and service provision and coverage capabilities. The 'soft' elements identified relate to: the background/context of the health insurance scheme; innovative ways of funding the NHIS, the hybrid nature of the Ghana scheme; political will, commitment by government, stakeholders and public cooperation; social structure of Ghana (solidarity); and ownership and participation. Other developing countries can expect to translate rather than re-assemble a national health insurance programme in an incomplete and highly modified form over a period of years, amounting to a process best conceived as germination as opposed to emulation. The Ghana experience illustrates that in adopting health financing systems that function well, countries need to customise systems (policy customisation) to suit their socio-economic, political and administrative settings. Home-grown health financing systems that resonate with social values will also need to be found in the process of translation. © 2017 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

A data colocation grid framework for big data medical image processing: backend design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bao, Shunxing; Huo, Yuankai; Parvathaneni, Prasanna; Plassard, Andrew J.; Bermudez, Camilo; Yao, Yuang; Lyu, Ilwoo; Gokhale, Aniruddha; Landman, Bennett A.

2018-03-01

When processing large medical imaging studies, adopting high performance grid computing resources rapidly becomes important. We recently presented a "medical image processing-as-a-service" grid framework that offers promise in utilizing the Apache Hadoop ecosystem and HBase for data colocation by moving computation close to medical image storage. However, the framework has not yet proven to be easy to use in a heterogeneous hardware environment. Furthermore, the system has not yet validated when considering variety of multi-level analysis in medical imaging. Our target design criteria are (1) improving the framework's performance in a heterogeneous cluster, (2) performing population based summary statistics on large datasets, and (3) introducing a table design scheme for rapid NoSQL query. In this paper, we present a heuristic backend interface application program interface (API) design for Hadoop and HBase for Medical Image Processing (HadoopBase-MIP). The API includes: Upload, Retrieve, Remove, Load balancer (for heterogeneous cluster) and MapReduce templates. A dataset summary statistic model is discussed and implemented by MapReduce paradigm. We introduce a HBase table scheme for fast data query to better utilize the MapReduce model. Briefly, 5153 T1 images were retrieved from a university secure, shared web database and used to empirically access an in-house grid with 224 heterogeneous CPU cores. Three empirical experiments results are presented and discussed: (1) load balancer wall-time improvement of 1.5-fold compared with a framework with built-in data allocation strategy, (2) a summary statistic model is empirically verified on grid framework and is compared with the cluster when deployed with a standard Sun Grid Engine (SGE), which reduces 8-fold of wall clock time and 14-fold of resource time, and (3) the proposed HBase table scheme improves MapReduce computation with 7 fold reduction of wall time compare with a naïve scheme when datasets are relative small. The source code and interfaces have been made publicly available.

A Data Colocation Grid Framework for Big Data Medical Image Processing: Backend Design.

PubMed

Bao, Shunxing; Huo, Yuankai; Parvathaneni, Prasanna; Plassard, Andrew J; Bermudez, Camilo; Yao, Yuang; Lyu, Ilwoo; Gokhale, Aniruddha; Landman, Bennett A

2018-03-01

When processing large medical imaging studies, adopting high performance grid computing resources rapidly becomes important. We recently presented a "medical image processing-as-a-service" grid framework that offers promise in utilizing the Apache Hadoop ecosystem and HBase for data colocation by moving computation close to medical image storage. However, the framework has not yet proven to be easy to use in a heterogeneous hardware environment. Furthermore, the system has not yet validated when considering variety of multi-level analysis in medical imaging. Our target design criteria are (1) improving the framework's performance in a heterogeneous cluster, (2) performing population based summary statistics on large datasets, and (3) introducing a table design scheme for rapid NoSQL query. In this paper, we present a heuristic backend interface application program interface (API) design for Hadoop & HBase for Medical Image Processing (HadoopBase-MIP). The API includes: Upload, Retrieve, Remove, Load balancer (for heterogeneous cluster) and MapReduce templates. A dataset summary statistic model is discussed and implemented by MapReduce paradigm. We introduce a HBase table scheme for fast data query to better utilize the MapReduce model. Briefly, 5153 T1 images were retrieved from a university secure, shared web database and used to empirically access an in-house grid with 224 heterogeneous CPU cores. Three empirical experiments results are presented and discussed: (1) load balancer wall-time improvement of 1.5-fold compared with a framework with built-in data allocation strategy, (2) a summary statistic model is empirically verified on grid framework and is compared with the cluster when deployed with a standard Sun Grid Engine (SGE), which reduces 8-fold of wall clock time and 14-fold of resource time, and (3) the proposed HBase table scheme improves MapReduce computation with 7 fold reduction of wall time compare with a naïve scheme when datasets are relative small. The source code and interfaces have been made publicly available.

A Data Colocation Grid Framework for Big Data Medical Image Processing: Backend Design

PubMed Central

Huo, Yuankai; Parvathaneni, Prasanna; Plassard, Andrew J.; Bermudez, Camilo; Yao, Yuang; Lyu, Ilwoo; Gokhale, Aniruddha; Landman, Bennett A.

2018-01-01

When processing large medical imaging studies, adopting high performance grid computing resources rapidly becomes important. We recently presented a "medical image processing-as-a-service" grid framework that offers promise in utilizing the Apache Hadoop ecosystem and HBase for data colocation by moving computation close to medical image storage. However, the framework has not yet proven to be easy to use in a heterogeneous hardware environment. Furthermore, the system has not yet validated when considering variety of multi-level analysis in medical imaging. Our target design criteria are (1) improving the framework’s performance in a heterogeneous cluster, (2) performing population based summary statistics on large datasets, and (3) introducing a table design scheme for rapid NoSQL query. In this paper, we present a heuristic backend interface application program interface (API) design for Hadoop & HBase for Medical Image Processing (HadoopBase-MIP). The API includes: Upload, Retrieve, Remove, Load balancer (for heterogeneous cluster) and MapReduce templates. A dataset summary statistic model is discussed and implemented by MapReduce paradigm. We introduce a HBase table scheme for fast data query to better utilize the MapReduce model. Briefly, 5153 T1 images were retrieved from a university secure, shared web database and used to empirically access an in-house grid with 224 heterogeneous CPU cores. Three empirical experiments results are presented and discussed: (1) load balancer wall-time improvement of 1.5-fold compared with a framework with built-in data allocation strategy, (2) a summary statistic model is empirically verified on grid framework and is compared with the cluster when deployed with a standard Sun Grid Engine (SGE), which reduces 8-fold of wall clock time and 14-fold of resource time, and (3) the proposed HBase table scheme improves MapReduce computation with 7 fold reduction of wall time compare with a naïve scheme when datasets are relative small. The source code and interfaces have been made publicly available. PMID:29887668

Using Self-Reliance Factors to Decide How to Share Control Between Human Powered Wheelchair Drivers and Ultrasonic Sensors.

PubMed

Sanders, David A

2017-08-01

A shared-control scheme for a powered wheelchair is presented. The wheelchair can be operated by a wheelchair driver using a joystick, or directed by a sensor system, or control can be combined between them. The wheelchair system can modify direction depending on the local environment. Sharing the control allows a disabled wheelchair driver to drive safely and efficiently. The controller automatically establishes the control gains for the sensor system and the human driver by calculating a self-reliance factor for the wheelchair driver. The sensor system can influence the motion of the wheelchair to compensate for some deficiency in a disabled driver. Practical tests validate the proposed techniques and designs.

Quantum metropolitan optical network based on wavelength division multiplexing.

PubMed

Ciurana, A; Martínez-Mateo, J; Peev, M; Poppe, A; Walenta, N; Zbinden, H; Martín, V

2014-01-27

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is maturing quickly. However, the current approaches to its application in optical networks make it an expensive technology. QKD networks deployed to date are designed as a collection of point-to-point, dedicated QKD links where non-neighboring nodes communicate using the trusted repeater paradigm. We propose a novel optical network model in which QKD systems share the communication infrastructure by wavelength multiplexing their quantum and classical signals. The routing is done using optical components within a metropolitan area which allows for a dynamically any-to-any communication scheme. Moreover, it resembles a commercial telecom network, takes advantage of existing infrastructure and utilizes commercial components, allowing for an easy, cost-effective and reliable deployment.

The general theory of three-party quantum secret sharing protocols over phase-damping channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Ting-Ting; Wen, Qiao-Yan; Qin, Su-Juan; Zhang, Wei-Wei; Sun, Ying

2013-10-01

The general theory of three-party QSS protocols with the noisy quantum channels is discussed. When the particles are transmitted through the noisy quantum channels, the initial pure three-qubit tripartite entangled states would be changed into mixed states. We analyze the security of QSS protocols with the different kinds of three-qubit tripartite entangled states under phase-damping channels and figure out, for different kinds of initial states, the successful probabilities that Alice's secret can be recovered by legal agents are different. Comparing with one recent QSS protocol based on GHZ states, our scheme is secure, and has a little smaller key rate than that of the recent protocol.

'Not knowing something is normally a milestone on the way to knowledge'. An interview with Joan M. Braganza, DSc, FRCP, FRCPath, Reader Emeritus, University of Manchester, UK.

PubMed

Braganza, Joan M

2009-01-01

Dr. Joan Braganza, a world expert in the field of chronic pancreatitis, proposed a new template for its pathogenesis based on the role of free radical pathology, in particular the heightened but unmitigated oxidative detoxification reactions via cytochromes P450. Dr. Braganza has gone on to show how pancreatic damage in cystic fibrosis, acute pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer fit into the scheme, paving the way for new treatment modalities. In this interview, Dr. Braganza shares her life experience as an investigator and provides a perspective for young researchers entering the field of pancreatology. Copyright 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Building a Library Network from Scratch: Eric & Veronica's Excellent Adventure.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sisler, Eric; Smith, Veronica

2000-01-01

Describes library automation issues during the planning and construction of College Hill Library (Colorado), a joint-use facility shared by a community college and a public library. Discuses computer networks; hardware selection; public access to catalogs and electronic resources; classification schemes and bibliographic data; children's…

A metadata schema for data objects in clinical research.

PubMed

Canham, Steve; Ohmann, Christian

2016-11-24

A large number of stakeholders have accepted the need for greater transparency in clinical research and, in the context of various initiatives and systems, have developed a diverse and expanding number of repositories for storing the data and documents created by clinical studies (collectively known as data objects). To make the best use of such resources, we assert that it is also necessary for stakeholders to agree and deploy a simple, consistent metadata scheme. The relevant data objects and their likely storage are described, and the requirements for metadata to support data sharing in clinical research are identified. Issues concerning persistent identifiers, for both studies and data objects, are explored. A scheme is proposed that is based on the DataCite standard, with extensions to cover the needs of clinical researchers, specifically to provide (a) study identification data, including links to clinical trial registries; (b) data object characteristics and identifiers; and (c) data covering location, ownership and access to the data object. The components of the metadata scheme are described. The metadata schema is proposed as a natural extension of a widely agreed standard to fill a gap not tackled by other standards related to clinical research (e.g., Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium, Biomedical Research Integrated Domain Group). The proposal could be integrated with, but is not dependent on, other moves to better structure data in clinical research.

On optimal designs of transparent WDM networks with 1 + 1 protection leveraged by all-optical XOR network coding schemes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dao, Thanh Hai

2018-01-01

Network coding techniques are seen as the new dimension to improve the network performances thanks to the capability of utilizing network resources more efficiently. Indeed, the application of network coding to the realm of failure recovery in optical networks has been marking a major departure from traditional protection schemes as it could potentially achieve both rapid recovery and capacity improvement, challenging the prevailing wisdom of trading capacity efficiency for speed recovery and vice versa. In this context, the maturing of all-optical XOR technologies appears as a good match to the necessity of a more efficient protection in transparent optical networks. In addressing this opportunity, we propose to use a practical all-optical XOR network coding to leverage the conventional 1 + 1 optical path protection in transparent WDM optical networks. The network coding-assisted protection solution combines protection flows of two demands sharing the same destination node in supportive conditions, paving the way for reducing the backup capacity. A novel mathematical model taking into account the operation of new protection scheme for optimal network designs is formulated as the integer linear programming. Numerical results based on extensive simulations on realistic topologies, COST239 and NSFNET networks, are presented to highlight the benefits of our proposal compared to the conventional approach in terms of wavelength resources efficiency and network throughput.

Sharing possibilities amongst CDMA Mobile Satellite Systems, and impacts of terminal characteristics on sharing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bambace, Luís Antonio Waack; Ceballos, Décio Castilho

CDMA Mobile Satellite Systems (CDMA MSS) are able to co-directional, co-frequency and co-coverage sharing, and they are strongly interdependent in case of such a sharing. It is also known that the success of any telecommunication project is the use of the correct media to each task. Operators have a clear sight of such a media adequacy in traditional systems, but not necessarily in the case of Mobile Satellite Systems. This creates a risk that a wrong market objective operator causes trouble to other systems. This paper deals with the sharing alternatives for up to four CDMA MSS operating in the same frequency band, and analysts both: satellite to user downlink and user to satellite uplink. The influence of several items in capacity is here treated. The scope includes: downlink power flux density: code availability; single system internal interference; inter-system interference; diversity schemes: average link impairments, margins; user cooperation; terminal specifications and the dependence of the insulation between RHCP and LHCP with fade.

Towards robust algorithms for current deposition and dynamic load-balancing in a GPU particle in cell code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rossi, Francesco; Londrillo, Pasquale; Sgattoni, Andrea; Sinigardi, Stefano; Turchetti, Giorgio

2012-12-01

We present `jasmine', an implementation of a fully relativistic, 3D, electromagnetic Particle-In-Cell (PIC) code, capable of running simulations in various laser plasma acceleration regimes on Graphics-Processing-Units (GPUs) HPC clusters. Standard energy/charge preserving FDTD-based algorithms have been implemented using double precision and quadratic (or arbitrary sized) shape functions for the particle weighting. When porting a PIC scheme to the GPU architecture (or, in general, a shared memory environment), the particle-to-grid operations (e.g. the evaluation of the current density) require special care to avoid memory inconsistencies and conflicts. Here we present a robust implementation of this operation that is efficient for any number of particles per cell and particle shape function order. Our algorithm exploits the exposed GPU memory hierarchy and avoids the use of atomic operations, which can hurt performance especially when many particles lay on the same cell. We show the code multi-GPU scalability results and present a dynamic load-balancing algorithm. The code is written using a python-based C++ meta-programming technique which translates in a high level of modularity and allows for easy performance tuning and simple extension of the core algorithms to various simulation schemes.

The quality of instruments to assess the process of shared decision making: A systematic review

PubMed Central

Bomhof-Roordink, Hanna; Smith, Ian P.; Scholl, Isabelle; Stiggelbout, Anne M.; Pieterse, Arwen H.

2018-01-01

Objective To inventory instruments assessing the process of shared decision making and appraise their measurement quality, taking into account the methodological quality of their validation studies. Methods In a systematic review we searched seven databases (PubMed, Embase, Emcare, Cochrane, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Academic Search Premier) for studies investigating instruments measuring the process of shared decision making. Per identified instrument, we assessed the level of evidence separately for 10 measurement properties following a three-step procedure: 1) appraisal of the methodological quality using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist, 2) appraisal of the psychometric quality of the measurement property using three possible quality scores, 3) best-evidence synthesis based on the number of studies, their methodological and psychometrical quality, and the direction and consistency of the results. The study protocol was registered at PROSPERO: CRD42015023397. Results We included 51 articles describing the development and/or evaluation of 40 shared decision-making process instruments: 16 patient questionnaires, 4 provider questionnaires, 18 coding schemes and 2 instruments measuring multiple perspectives. There is an overall lack of evidence for their measurement quality, either because validation is missing or methods are poor. The best-evidence synthesis indicated positive results for a major part of instruments for content validity (50%) and structural validity (53%) if these were evaluated, but negative results for a major part of instruments when inter-rater reliability (47%) and hypotheses testing (59%) were evaluated. Conclusions Due to the lack of evidence on measurement quality, the choice for the most appropriate instrument can best be based on the instrument’s content and characteristics such as the perspective that they assess. We recommend refinement and validation of existing instruments, and the use of COSMIN-guidelines to help guarantee high-quality evaluations. PMID:29447193

On High-Order Upwind Methods for Advection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huynh, H. T.

2017-01-01

In the fourth installment of the celebrated series of five papers entitled "Towards the ultimate conservative difference scheme", Van Leer (1977) introduced five schemes for advection, the first three are piecewise linear, and the last two, piecewise parabolic. Among the five, scheme I, which is the least accurate, extends with relative ease to systems of equations in multiple dimensions. As a result, it became the most popular and is widely known as the MUSCL scheme (monotone upstream-centered schemes for conservation laws). Schemes III and V have the same accuracy, are the most accurate, and are closely related to current high-order methods. Scheme III uses a piecewise linear approximation that is discontinuous across cells, and can be considered as a precursor of the discontinuous Galerkin methods. Scheme V employs a piecewise quadratic approximation that is, as opposed to the case of scheme III, continuous across cells. This method is the basis for the on-going "active flux scheme" developed by Roe and collaborators. Here, schemes III and V are shown to be equivalent in the sense that they yield identical (reconstructed) solutions, provided the initial condition for scheme III is defined from that of scheme V in a manner dependent on the CFL number. This equivalence is counter intuitive since it is generally believed that piecewise linear and piecewise parabolic methods cannot produce the same solutions due to their different degrees of approximation. The finding also shows a key connection between the approaches of discontinuous and continuous polynomial approximations. In addition to the discussed equivalence, a framework using both projection and interpolation that extends schemes III and V into a single family of high-order schemes is introduced. For these high-order extensions, it is demonstrated via Fourier analysis that schemes with the same number of degrees of freedom ?? per cell, in spite of the different piecewise polynomial degrees, share the same sets of eigenvalues and thus, have the same stability and accuracy. Moreover, these schemes are accurate to order 2??-1, which is higher than the expected order of ??.

SKIRT: Hybrid parallelization of radiative transfer simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verstocken, S.; Van De Putte, D.; Camps, P.; Baes, M.

2017-07-01

We describe the design, implementation and performance of the new hybrid parallelization scheme in our Monte Carlo radiative transfer code SKIRT, which has been used extensively for modelling the continuum radiation of dusty astrophysical systems including late-type galaxies and dusty tori. The hybrid scheme combines distributed memory parallelization, using the standard Message Passing Interface (MPI) to communicate between processes, and shared memory parallelization, providing multiple execution threads within each process to avoid duplication of data structures. The synchronization between multiple threads is accomplished through atomic operations without high-level locking (also called lock-free programming). This improves the scaling behaviour of the code and substantially simplifies the implementation of the hybrid scheme. The result is an extremely flexible solution that adjusts to the number of available nodes, processors and memory, and consequently performs well on a wide variety of computing architectures.

Genetic algorithms with memory- and elitism-based immigrants in dynamic environments.

PubMed

Yang, Shengxiang

2008-01-01

In recent years the genetic algorithm community has shown a growing interest in studying dynamic optimization problems. Several approaches have been devised. The random immigrants and memory schemes are two major ones. The random immigrants scheme addresses dynamic environments by maintaining the population diversity while the memory scheme aims to adapt genetic algorithms quickly to new environments by reusing historical information. This paper investigates a hybrid memory and random immigrants scheme, called memory-based immigrants, and a hybrid elitism and random immigrants scheme, called elitism-based immigrants, for genetic algorithms in dynamic environments. In these schemes, the best individual from memory or the elite from the previous generation is retrieved as the base to create immigrants into the population by mutation. This way, not only can diversity be maintained but it is done more efficiently to adapt genetic algorithms to the current environment. Based on a series of systematically constructed dynamic problems, experiments are carried out to compare genetic algorithms with the memory-based and elitism-based immigrants schemes against genetic algorithms with traditional memory and random immigrants schemes and a hybrid memory and multi-population scheme. The sensitivity analysis regarding some key parameters is also carried out. Experimental results show that the memory-based and elitism-based immigrants schemes efficiently improve the performance of genetic algorithms in dynamic environments.

Digital interface of electronic transformers based on embedded system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shang, Qiufeng; Qi, Yincheng

2008-10-01

Benefited from digital interface of electronic transformers, information sharing and system integration in substation can be realized. An embedded system-based digital output scheme of electronic transformers is proposed. The digital interface is designed with S3C44B0X 32bit RISC microprocessor as the hardware platform. The μCLinux operation system (OS) is transplanted on ARM7 (S3C44B0X). Applying Ethernet technology as the communication mode in the substation automation system is a new trend. The network interface chip RTL8019AS is adopted. Data transmission is realized through the in-line TCP/IP protocol of uClinux embedded OS. The application result and character analysis show that the design can meet the real-time and reliability requirements of IEC60044-7/8 electronic voltage/current instrument transformer standards.

Images Encryption Method using Steganographic LSB Method, AES and RSA algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moumen, Abdelkader; Sissaoui, Hocine

2017-03-01

Vulnerability of communication of digital images is an extremely important issue nowadays, particularly when the images are communicated through insecure channels. To improve communication security, many cryptosystems have been presented in the image encryption literature. This paper proposes a novel image encryption technique based on an algorithm that is faster than current methods. The proposed algorithm eliminates the step in which the secrete key is shared during the encryption process. It is formulated based on the symmetric encryption, asymmetric encryption and steganography theories. The image is encrypted using a symmetric algorithm, then, the secret key is encrypted by means of an asymmetrical algorithm and it is hidden in the ciphered image using a least significant bits steganographic scheme. The analysis results show that while enjoying the faster computation, our method performs close to optimal in terms of accuracy.

Content relatedness in the social web based on social explicit semantic analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ntalianis, Klimis; Otterbacher, Jahna; Mastorakis, Nikolaos

2017-06-01

In this paper a novel content relatedness algorithm for social media content is proposed, based on the Explicit Semantic Analysis (ESA) technique. The proposed scheme takes into consideration social interactions. In particular starting from the vector space representation model, similarity is expressed by a summation of term weight products. In this paper, term weights are estimated by a social computing method, where the strength of each term is calculated by the attention the terms receives. For this reason each post is split into two parts, title and comments area, while attention is defined by the number of social interactions such as likes and shares. The overall approach is named Social Explicit Semantic Analysis. Experimental results on real data show the advantages and limitations of the proposed approach, while an initial comparison between ESA and S-ESA is very promising.

Mukhabarah as Sharia Financing Model in Beef Cattle Farm Entrepise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asnawi, A.; Amrawaty, A. A.; Nirwana

2018-02-01

Financing constraints on beef cattle farm nowadays have received attention by the government through distributed various assistance programs and program loans through implementing banks. The existing financing schemes are all still conventional yet sharia-based. The purpose of this research is to formulate financing pattern for sharia beef cattle farm. A qualitative and descriptive approach is used to formulate the pattern by considering the profit-sharing practices of the beef cattle farmers. The results of this study have formulated a financing pattern that integrates government, implementing banks, beef cattle farmers group and cooperative as well as breeders as its members. This pattern of financing is very accommodating of local culture that develops in rural communities. It is expected to be an input, especially in formulating a business financing policy Sharia-based beef cattle breeding.

Design and Implementation of a Secure Wireless Mote-Based Medical Sensor Network

PubMed Central

Malasri, Kriangsiri; Wang, Lan

2009-01-01

A medical sensor network can wirelessly monitor vital signs of humans, making it useful for long-term health care without sacrificing patient comfort and mobility. For such a network to be viable, its design must protect data privacy and authenticity given that medical data are highly sensitive. We identify the unique security challenges of such a sensor network and propose a set of resource-efficient mechanisms to address these challenges. Our solution includes (1) a novel two-tier scheme for verifying the authenticity of patient data, (2) a secure key agreement protocol to set up shared keys between sensor nodes and base stations, and (3) symmetric encryption/decryption for protecting data confidentiality and integrity. We have implemented the proposed mechanisms on a wireless mote platform, and our results confirm their feasibility. PMID:22454585

Health effects of the London bicycle sharing system: health impact modelling study

PubMed Central

Tainio, Marko; Cheshire, James; O’Brien, Oliver; Goodman, Anna

2014-01-01

Objective To model the impacts of the bicycle sharing system in London on the health of its users. Design Health impact modelling and evaluation, using a stochastic simulation model. Setting Central and inner London, England. Data sources Total population operational registration and usage data for the London cycle hire scheme (collected April 2011-March 2012), surveys of cycle hire users (collected 2011), and London data on travel, physical activity, road traffic collisions, and particulate air pollution (PM2.5, (collected 2005-12). Participants 578 607 users of the London cycle hire scheme, aged 14 years and over, with an estimated 78% of travel time accounted for by users younger than 45 years. Main outcome measures Change in lifelong disability adjusted life years (DALYs) based on one year impacts on incidence of disease and injury, modelled through medium term changes in physical activity, road traffic injuries, and exposure to air pollution. Results Over the year examined the users made 7.4 million cycle hire trips (estimated 71% of cycling time by men). These trips would mostly otherwise have been made on foot (31%) or by public transport (47%). To date there has been a trend towards fewer fatalities and injuries than expected on cycle hire bicycles. Using these observed injury rates, the population benefits from the cycle hire scheme substantially outweighed harms (net change −72 DALYs (95% credible interval −110 to −43) among men using cycle hire per accounting year; −15 (−42 to −6) among women; note that negative DALYs represent a health benefit). When we modelled cycle hire injury rates as being equal to background rates for all cycling in central London, these benefits were smaller and there was no evidence of a benefit among women (change −49 DALYs (−88 to −17) among men; −1 DALY (−27 to 12) among women). This sex difference largely reflected higher road collision fatality rates for female cyclists. At older ages the modelled benefits of cycling were much larger than the harms. Using background injury rates in the youngest age group (15 to 29 years), the medium term benefits and harms were both comparatively small and potentially negative. Conclusion London’s bicycle sharing system has positive health impacts overall, but these benefits are clearer for men than for women and for older users than for younger users. The potential benefits of cycling may not currently apply to all groups in all settings. PMID:24524928

Data-Gathering Scheme Using AUVs in Large-Scale Underwater Sensor Networks: A Multihop Approach

PubMed Central

Khan, Jawaad Ullah; Cho, Ho-Shin

2016-01-01

In this paper, we propose a data-gathering scheme for hierarchical underwater sensor networks, where multiple Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are deployed over large-scale coverage areas. The deployed AUVs constitute an intermittently connected multihop network through inter-AUV synchronization (in this paper, synchronization means an interconnection between nodes for communication) for forwarding data to the designated sink. In such a scenario, the performance of the multihop communication depends upon the synchronization among the vehicles. The mobility parameters of the vehicles vary continuously because of the constantly changing underwater currents. The variations in the AUV mobility parameters reduce the inter-AUV synchronization frequency contributing to delays in the multihop communication. The proposed scheme improves the AUV synchronization frequency by permitting neighboring AUVs to share their status information via a pre-selected node called an agent-node at the static layer of the network. We evaluate the proposed scheme in terms of the AUV synchronization frequency, vertical delay (node→AUV), horizontal delay (AUV→AUV), end-to-end delay, and the packet loss ratio. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme significantly reduces the aforementioned delays without the synchronization time-out process employed in conventional works. PMID:27706042

Data-Gathering Scheme Using AUVs in Large-Scale Underwater Sensor Networks: A Multihop Approach.

PubMed

Khan, Jawaad Ullah; Cho, Ho-Shin

2016-09-30

In this paper, we propose a data-gathering scheme for hierarchical underwater sensor networks, where multiple Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are deployed over large-scale coverage areas. The deployed AUVs constitute an intermittently connected multihop network through inter-AUV synchronization (in this paper, synchronization means an interconnection between nodes for communication) for forwarding data to the designated sink. In such a scenario, the performance of the multihop communication depends upon the synchronization among the vehicles. The mobility parameters of the vehicles vary continuously because of the constantly changing underwater currents. The variations in the AUV mobility parameters reduce the inter-AUV synchronization frequency contributing to delays in the multihop communication. The proposed scheme improves the AUV synchronization frequency by permitting neighboring AUVs to share their status information via a pre-selected node called an agent-node at the static layer of the network. We evaluate the proposed scheme in terms of the AUV synchronization frequency, vertical delay (node→AUV), horizontal delay (AUV→AUV), end-to-end delay, and the packet loss ratio. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme significantly reduces the aforementioned delays without the synchronization time-out process employed in conventional works.

A Systematic Scheme for Multiple Access in Ethernet Passive Optical Access Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Maode; Zhu, Yongqing; Hiang Cheng, Tee

2005-11-01

While backbone networks have experienced substantial changes in the last decade, access networks have not changed much. Recently, passive optical networks (PONs) seem to be ready for commercial deployment as access networks, due to the maturity of a number of enabling technologies. Among the PON technologies, Ethernet PON (EPON) standardized by the IEEE 802.3ah Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM) Task Force is the most attractive one because of its high speed, low cost, familiarity, interoperability, and low overhead. In this paper, we consider the issue of upstream channel sharing in the EPONs. We propose a novel multiple-access control scheme to provide bandwidth-guaranteed service for high-demand customers, while providing best effort service to low-demand customers according to the service level agreement (SLA). The analytical and simulation results prove that the proposed scheme performs best in what it is designed to do compared to another well-known scheme that has not considered providing differentiated services. With business customers preferring premium services with guaranteed bandwidth and residential users preferring low-cost best effort services, our scheme could benefit both groups of subscribers, as well as the operators.

Dynamic Resource Allocation and Access Class Barring Scheme for Delay-Sensitive Devices in Machine to Machine (M2M) Communications.

PubMed

Li, Ning; Cao, Chao; Wang, Cong

2017-06-15

Supporting simultaneous access of machine-type devices is a critical challenge in machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. In this paper, we propose an optimal scheme to dynamically adjust the Access Class Barring (ACB) factor and the number of random access channel (RACH) resources for clustered machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, in which Delay-Sensitive (DS) devices coexist with Delay-Tolerant (DT) ones. In M2M communications, since delay-sensitive devices share random access resources with delay-tolerant devices, reducing the resources consumed by delay-sensitive devices means that there will be more resources available to delay-tolerant ones. Our goal is to optimize the random access scheme, which can not only satisfy the requirements of delay-sensitive devices, but also take the communication quality of delay-tolerant ones into consideration. We discuss this problem from the perspective of delay-sensitive services by adjusting the resource allocation and ACB scheme for these devices dynamically. Simulation results show that our proposed scheme realizes good performance in satisfying the delay-sensitive services as well as increasing the utilization rate of the random access resources allocated to them.

Comparison of the co-gasification of sewage sludge and food wastes and cost-benefit analysis of gasification- and incineration-based waste treatment schemes.

PubMed

You, Siming; Wang, Wei; Dai, Yanjun; Tong, Yen Wah; Wang, Chi-Hwa

2016-10-01

The compositions of food wastes and their co-gasification producer gas were compared with the existing data of sewage sludge. Results showed that food wastes are more favorable than sewage sludge for co-gasification based on residue generation and energy output. Two decentralized gasification-based schemes were proposed to dispose of the sewage sludge and food wastes in Singapore. Monte Carlo simulation-based cost-benefit analysis was conducted to compare the proposed schemes with the existing incineration-based scheme. It was found that the gasification-based schemes are financially superior to the incineration-based scheme based on the data of net present value (NPV), benefit-cost ratio (BCR), and internal rate of return (IRR). Sensitivity analysis was conducted to suggest effective measures to improve the economics of the schemes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Revisiting Deng et al.'s Multiparty Quantum Secret Sharing Protocol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hwang, Tzonelih; Hwang, Cheng-Chieh; Yang, Chun-Wei; Li, Chuan-Ming

2011-09-01

The multiparty quantum secret sharing protocol [Deng et al. in Chin. Phys. Lett. 23: 1084-1087, 2006] is revisited in this study. It is found that the performance of Deng et al.'s protocol can be much improved by using the techniques of block-transmission and decoy single photons. As a result, the qubit efficiency is improved 2.4 times and only one classical communication, a public discussion, and two quantum communications between each agent and the secret holder are needed rather than n classical communications, n public discussions, and 3n/2 quantum communications required in the original scheme.

Fast quantum Monte Carlo on a GPU

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lutsyshyn, Y.

2015-02-01

We present a scheme for the parallelization of quantum Monte Carlo method on graphical processing units, focusing on variational Monte Carlo simulation of bosonic systems. We use asynchronous execution schemes with shared memory persistence, and obtain an excellent utilization of the accelerator. The CUDA code is provided along with a package that simulates liquid helium-4. The program was benchmarked on several models of Nvidia GPU, including Fermi GTX560 and M2090, and the Kepler architecture K20 GPU. Special optimization was developed for the Kepler cards, including placement of data structures in the register space of the Kepler GPUs. Kepler-specific optimization is discussed.

Multi-photon self-error-correction hyperentanglement distribution over arbitrary collective-noise channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Cheng-Yan; Wang, Guan-Yu; Zhang, Hao; Deng, Fu-Guo

2017-01-01

We present a self-error-correction spatial-polarization hyperentanglement distribution scheme for N-photon systems in a hyperentangled Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state over arbitrary collective-noise channels. In our scheme, the errors of spatial entanglement can be first averted by encoding the spatial-polarization hyperentanglement into the time-bin entanglement with identical polarization and defined spatial modes before it is transmitted over the fiber channels. After transmission over the noisy channels, the polarization errors introduced by the depolarizing noise can be corrected resorting to the time-bin entanglement. Finally, the parties in quantum communication can in principle share maximally hyperentangled states with a success probability of 100%.

Event-triggered output feedback control for distributed networked systems.

PubMed

Mahmoud, Magdi S; Sabih, Muhammad; Elshafei, Moustafa

2016-01-01

This paper addresses the problem of output-feedback communication and control with event-triggered framework in the context of distributed networked control systems. The design problem of the event-triggered output-feedback control is proposed as a linear matrix inequality (LMI) feasibility problem. The scheme is developed for the distributed system where only partial states are available. In this scheme, a subsystem uses local observers and share its information to its neighbors only when the subsystem's local error exceeds a specified threshold. The developed method is illustrated by using a coupled cart example from the literature. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Persistence characterization and data calibration scheme for the RSS-NIR H2RG detector on SALT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mosby, Gregory; Eggen, Nathan; Wolf, Marsha; Jaehnig, Kurt; Kotulla, Ralf

2016-07-01

The University of Wisconsin Madison is building a NIR spectrograph (RSS-NIR) for the Southern African Large Telescope. The detector system uses a H2RG HdCdTe 1.7 μm cutoff array. We performed tests to measure and characterize the persistence of the detector to inform strategies to mitigate this effect. These tests use up-the- ramp group samples to get finer time resolution of the release of persistence. We share these test results. We also present preliminary results of the dependence of persistence on detector temperature. We conclude with an outline and assessment of a persistence calibration scheme.

Leadership through Fellowship: Distributed Leadership in a Professional Recognition Scheme for University Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beckmann, Elizabeth A.

2017-01-01

Researchers in the field of teaching and learning in higher education have identified concerns with top-down leadership models. Distributed (or shared) leadership approaches may provide more successful engagement with institutional change agendas, and provide more options to reward and recognise staff leading teaching and learning initiatives.…

Survey Measurement of Father Involvement in Childrearing: A Reliability and Validity Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riley, Dave

The purpose of this paper is to describe a specific method of measuring fathers' childrearing involvement. The conceptual scheme underlying the method addresses involvement in routine child care, play with the child, and school-related interactions. Measures involved the father's share of childrearing (as compared with the mother's) and the…

Time-dependent Reliability of Dynamic Systems using Subset Simulation with Splitting over a Series of Correlated Time Intervals

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-08-01

cost due to potential warranty costs, repairs and loss of market share. Reliability is the probability that the system will perform its intended...MCMC and splitting sampling schemes. Our proposed SS/ STP method is presented in Section 4, including accuracy bounds and computational effort

XDS-I outsourcing proxy: ensuring confidentiality while preserving interoperability.

PubMed

Ribeiro, Luís S; Viana-Ferreira, Carlos; Oliveira, José Luís; Costa, Carlos

2014-07-01

The interoperability of services and the sharing of health data have been a continuous goal for health professionals, patients, institutions, and policy makers. However, several issues have been hindering this goal, such as incompatible implementations of standards (e.g., HL7, DICOM), multiple ontologies, and security constraints. Cross-enterprise document sharing (XDS) workflows were proposed by Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) to address current limitations in exchanging clinical data among organizations. To ensure data protection, XDS actors must be placed in trustworthy domains, which are normally inside such institutions. However, due to rapidly growing IT requirements, the outsourcing of resources in the Cloud is becoming very appealing. This paper presents a software proxy that enables the outsourcing of XDS architectural parts while preserving the interoperability, confidentiality, and searchability of clinical information. A key component in our architecture is a new searchable encryption (SE) scheme-Posterior Playfair Searchable Encryption (PPSE)-which, besides keeping the same confidentiality levels of the stored data, hides the search patterns to the adversary, bringing improvements when compared to the remaining practical state-of-the-art SE schemes.

PMD compensation in multilevel coded-modulation schemes with coherent detection using BLAST algorithm and iterative polarization cancellation.

PubMed

Djordjevic, Ivan B; Xu, Lei; Wang, Ting

2008-09-15

We present two PMD compensation schemes suitable for use in multilevel (M>or=2) block-coded modulation schemes with coherent detection. The first scheme is based on a BLAST-type polarization-interference cancellation scheme, and the second scheme is based on iterative polarization cancellation. Both schemes use the LDPC codes as channel codes. The proposed PMD compensations schemes are evaluated by employing coded-OFDM and coherent detection. When used in combination with girth-10 LDPC codes those schemes outperform polarization-time coding based OFDM by 1 dB at BER of 10(-9), and provide two times higher spectral efficiency. The proposed schemes perform comparable and are able to compensate even 1200 ps of differential group delay with negligible penalty.

A parallel-pipelined architecture for a multi carrier demodulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwatra, S. C.; Jamali, M. M.; Eugene, Linus P.

1991-03-01

Analog devices have been used for processing the information on board the satellites. Presently, digital devices are being used because they are economical and flexible as compared to their analog counterparts. Several schemes of digital transmission can be used depending on the data rate requirement of the user. An economical scheme of transmission for small earth stations uses single channel per carrier/frequency division multiple access (SCPC/FDMA) on the uplink and time division multiplexing (TDM) on the downlink. This is a typical communication service offered to low data rate users in commercial mass market. These channels usually pertain to either voice or data transmission. An efficient digital demodulator architecture is provided for a large number of law data rate users. A demodulator primarily consists of carrier, clock, and data recovery modules. This design uses principles of parallel processing, pipelining, and time sharing schemes to process large numbers of voice or data channels. It maintains the optimum throughput which is derived from the designed architecture and from the use of high speed components. The design is optimized for reduced power and area requirements. This is essential for satellite applications. The design is also flexible in processing a group of a varying number of channels. The algorithms that are used are verified by the use of a computer aided software engineering (CASE) tool called the Block Oriented System Simulator. The data flow, control circuitry, and interface of the hardware design is simulated in C language. Also, a multiprocessor approach is provided to map, model, and simulate the demodulation algorithms mainly from a speed view point. A hypercude based architecture implementation is provided for such a scheme of operation. The hypercube structure and the demodulation models on hypercubes are simulated in Ada.

A parallel-pipelined architecture for a multi carrier demodulator. M.S. Thesis Final Technical Report, Jan. 1989 - Aug. 1990

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kwatra, S. C.; Jamali, M. M.; Eugene, Linus P.

1991-01-01

Analog devices have been used for processing the information on board the satellites. Presently, digital devices are being used because they are economical and flexible as compared to their analog counterparts. Several schemes of digital transmission can be used depending on the data rate requirement of the user. An economical scheme of transmission for small earth stations uses single channel per carrier/frequency division multiple access (SCPC/FDMA) on the uplink and time division multiplexing (TDM) on the downlink. This is a typical communication service offered to low data rate users in commercial mass market. These channels usually pertain to either voice or data transmission. An efficient digital demodulator architecture is provided for a large number of law data rate users. A demodulator primarily consists of carrier, clock, and data recovery modules. This design uses principles of parallel processing, pipelining, and time sharing schemes to process large numbers of voice or data channels. It maintains the optimum throughput which is derived from the designed architecture and from the use of high speed components. The design is optimized for reduced power and area requirements. This is essential for satellite applications. The design is also flexible in processing a group of a varying number of channels. The algorithms that are used are verified by the use of a computer aided software engineering (CASE) tool called the Block Oriented System Simulator. The data flow, control circuitry, and interface of the hardware design is simulated in C language. Also, a multiprocessor approach is provided to map, model, and simulate the demodulation algorithms mainly from a speed view point. A hypercude based architecture implementation is provided for such a scheme of operation. The hypercube structure and the demodulation models on hypercubes are simulated in Ada.

Research Capacity Strengthening in Low and Middle Income Countries - An Evaluation of the WHO/TDR Career Development Fellowship Programme.

PubMed

Käser, Michael; Maure, Christine; Halpaap, Beatrice M M; Vahedi, Mahnaz; Yamaka, Sara; Launois, Pascal; Casamitjana, Núria

2016-05-01

Between August 2012 and April 2013 the Career Development Fellowship programme of the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (World Health Organization) underwent an external evaluation to assess its past performance and determine recommendations for future programme development and continuous performance improvement. The programme provides a year-long training experience for qualified researchers from low and middle income countries at pharmaceutical companies or product development partnerships. Independent evaluators from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health used a results-based methodology to review the programme. Data were gathered through document review, surveys, and interviews with a range of programme participants. The final evaluation report found the Career Development Fellowship to be relevant to organizers' and programme objectives, efficient in its operations, and effective in its training scheme, which was found to address needs and gaps for both fellows and their home institutions. Evaluators found that the programme has the potential for impact and sustainability beyond the programme period, especially with the successful reintegration of fellows into their home institutions, through which newly-developed skills can be shared at the institutional level. Recommendations included the development of a scheme to support the re-integration of fellows into their home institutions post-fellowship and to seek partnerships to facilitate the scaling-up of the programme. The impact of the Professional Membership Scheme, an online professional development tool launched through the programme, beyond the scope of the Career Development Fellowship programme itself to other applications, has been identified as a positive unintended outcome. The results of this evaluation may be of interest for other efforts in the field of research capacity strengthening in LMICs or, generally, to other professional development schemes of a similar structure.

Report on Pairing-based Cryptography.

PubMed

Moody, Dustin; Peralta, Rene; Perlner, Ray; Regenscheid, Andrew; Roginsky, Allen; Chen, Lily

2015-01-01

This report summarizes study results on pairing-based cryptography. The main purpose of the study is to form NIST's position on standardizing and recommending pairing-based cryptography schemes currently published in research literature and standardized in other standard bodies. The report reviews the mathematical background of pairings. This includes topics such as pairing-friendly elliptic curves and how to compute various pairings. It includes a brief introduction to existing identity-based encryption (IBE) schemes and other cryptographic schemes using pairing technology. The report provides a complete study of the current status of standard activities on pairing-based cryptographic schemes. It explores different application scenarios for pairing-based cryptography schemes. As an important aspect of adopting pairing-based schemes, the report also considers the challenges inherent in validation testing of cryptographic algorithms and modules. Based on the study, the report suggests an approach for including pairing-based cryptography schemes in the NIST cryptographic toolkit. The report also outlines several questions that will require further study if this approach is followed.

Report on Pairing-based Cryptography

PubMed Central

Moody, Dustin; Peralta, Rene; Perlner, Ray; Regenscheid, Andrew; Roginsky, Allen; Chen, Lily

2015-01-01

This report summarizes study results on pairing-based cryptography. The main purpose of the study is to form NIST’s position on standardizing and recommending pairing-based cryptography schemes currently published in research literature and standardized in other standard bodies. The report reviews the mathematical background of pairings. This includes topics such as pairing-friendly elliptic curves and how to compute various pairings. It includes a brief introduction to existing identity-based encryption (IBE) schemes and other cryptographic schemes using pairing technology. The report provides a complete study of the current status of standard activities on pairing-based cryptographic schemes. It explores different application scenarios for pairing-based cryptography schemes. As an important aspect of adopting pairing-based schemes, the report also considers the challenges inherent in validation testing of cryptographic algorithms and modules. Based on the study, the report suggests an approach for including pairing-based cryptography schemes in the NIST cryptographic toolkit. The report also outlines several questions that will require further study if this approach is followed. PMID:26958435

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ding, Jun; Ma, Evan; Asta, Mark

Using molecular dynamics simulations, we have studied the atomic correlations characterizing the second peak in the radial distribution function (RDF) of metallic glasses and liquids. The analysis was conducted from the perspective of different connection schemes of atomic packing motifs, based on the number of shared atoms between two linked coordination polyhedra. The results demonstrate that the cluster connections by face-sharing, specifically with three common atoms, are most favored when transitioning from the liquid to glassy state, and exhibit the stiffest elastic response during shear deformation. These properties of the connections and the resultant atomic correlations are generally the samemore » for different types of packing motifs in different alloys. Splitting of the second RDF peak was observed for the inherent structure of the equilibrium liquid, originating solely from cluster connections; this trait can then be inherited in the metallic glass formed via subsequent quenching of the parent liquid through the glass transition, in the absence of any additional type of local structural order. In conclusion, increasing ordering and cluster connection during cooling, however, may tune the position and intensity of the split peaks.« less

Problems of comprehensive shared diabetes care.

PubMed Central

Day, J L; Humphreys, H; Alban-Davies, H

1987-01-01

In its first year 747 diabetics were entered into a comprehensive shared care scheme in which general practitioners agreed to follow up their own patients. After two years patients were recalled to hospital for review through a computer based recall system. Analysis of the first 209 patients reviewed showed that the recall system worked well with failure to trace only eight patients. Six new cases of foot ulcer, 15 of retinopathy, 14 of macular degeneration, and 15 of raised blood pressure requiring treatment were detected at review. Sixty four patients appeared to have had no check on their diabetes during the two years. Of the 117 with written evidence in their cooperation books that they had received some diabetic supervision, many had had no measurement of weight (32), blood pressure (49), or urine (68) or blood glucose (70), and only 55 had had foot and 65 eye examination. This erratic and generally poor standard of supervision suggests that much tighter organisation is required within each practice, with time being set aside specifically for care of diabetics. Practice nurses could have an important role in the delivery and organisation of care. PMID:3113543

A Reconstruction Approach to High-Order Schemes Including Discontinuous Galerkin for Diffusion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huynh, H. T.

2009-01-01

We introduce a new approach to high-order accuracy for the numerical solution of diffusion problems by solving the equations in differential form using a reconstruction technique. The approach has the advantages of simplicity and economy. It results in several new high-order methods including a simplified version of discontinuous Galerkin (DG). It also leads to new definitions of common value and common gradient quantities at each interface shared by the two adjacent cells. In addition, the new approach clarifies the relations among the various choices of new and existing common quantities. Fourier stability and accuracy analyses are carried out for the resulting schemes. Extensions to the case of quadrilateral meshes are obtained via tensor products. For the two-point boundary value problem (steady state), it is shown that these schemes, which include most popular DG methods, yield exact common interface quantities as well as exact cell average solutions for nearly all cases.

Low- and high-order accurate boundary conditions: From Stokes to Darcy porous flow modeled with standard and improved Brinkman lattice Boltzmann schemes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Silva, Goncalo, E-mail: goncalo.nuno.silva@gmail.com; Talon, Laurent, E-mail: talon@fast.u-psud.fr; Ginzburg, Irina, E-mail: irina.ginzburg@irstea.fr

The present contribution focuses on the accuracy of reflection-type boundary conditions in the Stokes–Brinkman–Darcy modeling of porous flows solved with the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), which we operate with the two-relaxation-time (TRT) collision and the Brinkman-force based scheme (BF), called BF-TRT scheme. In parallel, we compare it with the Stokes–Brinkman–Darcy linear finite element method (FEM) where the Dirichlet boundary conditions are enforced on grid vertices. In bulk, both BF-TRT and FEM share the same defect: in their discretization a correction to the modeled Brinkman equation appears, given by the discrete Laplacian of the velocity-proportional resistance force. This correction modifies themore » effective Brinkman viscosity, playing a crucial role in the triggering of spurious oscillations in the bulk solution. While the exact form of this defect is available in lattice-aligned, straight or diagonal, flows; in arbitrary flow/lattice orientations its approximation is constructed. At boundaries, we verify that such a Brinkman viscosity correction has an even more harmful impact. Already at the first order, it shifts the location of the no-slip wall condition supported by traditional LBM boundary schemes, such as the bounce-back rule. For that reason, this work develops a new class of boundary schemes to prescribe the Dirichlet velocity condition at an arbitrary wall/boundary-node distance and that supports a higher order accuracy in the accommodation of the TRT-Brinkman solutions. For their modeling, we consider the standard BF scheme and its improved version, called IBF; this latter is generalized in this work to suppress or to reduce the viscosity correction in arbitrarily oriented flows. Our framework extends the one- and two-point families of linear and parabolic link-wise boundary schemes, respectively called B-LI and B-MLI, which avoid the interference of the Brinkman viscosity correction in their closure relations. The performance of LBM and FEM is thoroughly evaluated in three benchmark tests, which are run throughout three distinctive permeability regimes. The first configuration is a horizontal porous channel, studied with a symbolic approach, where we construct the exact solutions of FEM and BF/IBF with different boundary schemes. The second problem refers to an inclined porous channel flow, which brings in as new challenge the formation of spurious boundary layers in LBM; that is, numerical artefacts that arise due to a deficient accommodation of the bulk solution by the low-accurate boundary scheme. The third problem considers a porous flow past a periodic square array of solid cylinders, which intensifies the previous two tests with the simulation of a more complex flow pattern. The ensemble of numerical tests provides guidelines on the effect of grid resolution and the TRT free collision parameter over the accuracy and the quality of the velocity field, spanning from Stokes to Darcy permeability regimes. It is shown that, with the use of the high-order accurate boundary schemes, the simple, uniform-mesh-based TRT-LBM formulation can even surpass the accuracy of FEM employing hardworking body-fitted meshes.« less

Low- and high-order accurate boundary conditions: From Stokes to Darcy porous flow modeled with standard and improved Brinkman lattice Boltzmann schemes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, Goncalo; Talon, Laurent; Ginzburg, Irina

2017-04-01

The present contribution focuses on the accuracy of reflection-type boundary conditions in the Stokes-Brinkman-Darcy modeling of porous flows solved with the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), which we operate with the two-relaxation-time (TRT) collision and the Brinkman-force based scheme (BF), called BF-TRT scheme. In parallel, we compare it with the Stokes-Brinkman-Darcy linear finite element method (FEM) where the Dirichlet boundary conditions are enforced on grid vertices. In bulk, both BF-TRT and FEM share the same defect: in their discretization a correction to the modeled Brinkman equation appears, given by the discrete Laplacian of the velocity-proportional resistance force. This correction modifies the effective Brinkman viscosity, playing a crucial role in the triggering of spurious oscillations in the bulk solution. While the exact form of this defect is available in lattice-aligned, straight or diagonal, flows; in arbitrary flow/lattice orientations its approximation is constructed. At boundaries, we verify that such a Brinkman viscosity correction has an even more harmful impact. Already at the first order, it shifts the location of the no-slip wall condition supported by traditional LBM boundary schemes, such as the bounce-back rule. For that reason, this work develops a new class of boundary schemes to prescribe the Dirichlet velocity condition at an arbitrary wall/boundary-node distance and that supports a higher order accuracy in the accommodation of the TRT-Brinkman solutions. For their modeling, we consider the standard BF scheme and its improved version, called IBF; this latter is generalized in this work to suppress or to reduce the viscosity correction in arbitrarily oriented flows. Our framework extends the one- and two-point families of linear and parabolic link-wise boundary schemes, respectively called B-LI and B-MLI, which avoid the interference of the Brinkman viscosity correction in their closure relations. The performance of LBM and FEM is thoroughly evaluated in three benchmark tests, which are run throughout three distinctive permeability regimes. The first configuration is a horizontal porous channel, studied with a symbolic approach, where we construct the exact solutions of FEM and BF/IBF with different boundary schemes. The second problem refers to an inclined porous channel flow, which brings in as new challenge the formation of spurious boundary layers in LBM; that is, numerical artefacts that arise due to a deficient accommodation of the bulk solution by the low-accurate boundary scheme. The third problem considers a porous flow past a periodic square array of solid cylinders, which intensifies the previous two tests with the simulation of a more complex flow pattern. The ensemble of numerical tests provides guidelines on the effect of grid resolution and the TRT free collision parameter over the accuracy and the quality of the velocity field, spanning from Stokes to Darcy permeability regimes. It is shown that, with the use of the high-order accurate boundary schemes, the simple, uniform-mesh-based TRT-LBM formulation can even surpass the accuracy of FEM employing hardworking body-fitted meshes.

Phylogenetic, epidemiological and functional analyses of the Streptococcus bovis/Streptococcus equinus complex through an overarching MLST scheme.

PubMed

Jans, Christoph; de Wouters, Tomas; Bonfoh, Bassirou; Lacroix, Christophe; Kaindi, Dasel Wambua Mulwa; Anderegg, Janine; Böck, Désirée; Vitali, Sabrina; Schmid, Thomas; Isenring, Julia; Kurt, Fabienne; Kogi-Makau, Wambui; Meile, Leo

2016-06-21

The Streptococcus bovis/Streptococcus equinus complex (SBSEC) comprises seven (sub)species classified as human and animal commensals, emerging opportunistic pathogens and food fermentative organisms. Changing taxonomy, shared habitats, natural competence and evidence for horizontal gene transfer pose difficulties for determining their phylogeny, epidemiology and virulence mechanisms. Thus, novel phylogenetic and functional classifications are required. An SBSEC overarching multi locus sequence type (MLST) scheme targeting 10 housekeeping genes was developed, validated and combined with host-related properties of adhesion to extracellular matrix proteins (ECM), activation of the immune responses via NF-KB and survival in simulated gastric juice (SGJ). Commensal and pathogenic SBSEC strains (n = 74) of human, animal and food origin from Europe, Asia, America and Africa were used in the MLST scheme yielding 66 sequence types and 10 clonal complexes differentiated into distinct habitat-associated and mixed lineages. Adhesion to ECMs collagen I and mucin type II was a common characteristic (23 % of strains) followed by adhesion to fibronectin and fibrinogen (19.7 %). High adhesion abilities were found for East African dairy and human blood isolate branches whereas commensal fecal SBSEC displayed low adhesion. NF-KB activation was observed for a limited number of dairy and blood isolates suggesting the potential of some pathogenic strains for reduced immune activation. Strains from dairy MLST clades displayed the highest relative survival to SGJ independently of dairy adaptation markers lacS/lacZ. Combining phylogenetic and functional analyses via SBSEC MLST enabled the clear delineation of strain clades to unravel the complexity of this bacterial group. High adhesion values shared between certain dairy and blood strains as well as the behavior of NF-KB activation are concerning for specific lineages. They highlighted the health risk among shared lineages and establish the basis to elucidate (zoonotic-) transmission, host specificity, virulence mechanisms and enhanced risk assessment as pathobionts in an overarching One Health approach.

Effects of cost sharing on seeking outpatient care: a propensity-matched study in Germany and Switzerland.

PubMed

Huber, Carola A; Rüesch, Peter; Mielck, Andreas; Böcken, Jan; Rosemann, Thomas; Meyer, Peter C

2012-08-01

Several studies have assessed the effect of cost sharing on health service utilization (HSU), mostly in the USA. Results are heterogeneous, showing different effects. Whereas previous studies compared insurants within one health care system but different modes of insurance, we aimed at comparing two different health care systems in Europe: Germany and Switzerland. Furthermore, we assessed the impact of cost sharing depending on socio-demographic factors as well as health status. Two representative samples of 5197 Swiss insurants with and 5197 German insurants without cost sharing were used to assess the independent association between cost sharing and the use of outpatient care. To minimize confounding, we performed cross-sectional analyses between propensity score matched Swiss and German insurants. We investigated subgroups according to health and socio-economic status to assess a potential social gradient in HSU. We found a significant association between health insurance scheme and the use of outpatient services. German insurants without cost sharing (visit rate: 4.8 per year) consulted a general practitioner or specialist more frequently than Swiss insurants with cost sharing (visit rate: 3.0 per year; P < 0.01). Subgroup analyses showed that vulnerable populations were differently affected by cost sharing. In the group of respondents with poor health and low socio-economic status, the cost-sharing effect was strongest. Cost-sharing models reduce HSU. The challenge is to create cost-sharing models which do not preclude vulnerable populations from seeking essential health care. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Analysis of sensitivity to different parameterization schemes for a subtropical cyclone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quitián-Hernández, L.; Fernández-González, S.; González-Alemán, J. J.; Valero, F.; Martín, M. L.

2018-05-01

A sensitivity analysis to diverse WRF model physical parameterization schemes is carried out during the lifecycle of a Subtropical cyclone (STC). STCs are low-pressure systems that share tropical and extratropical characteristics, with hybrid thermal structures. In October 2014, a STC made landfall in the Canary Islands, causing widespread damage from strong winds and precipitation there. The system began to develop on October 18 and its effects lasted until October 21. Accurate simulation of this type of cyclone continues to be a major challenge because of its rapid intensification and unique characteristics. In the present study, several numerical simulations were performed using the WRF model to do a sensitivity analysis of its various parameterization schemes for the development and intensification of the STC. The combination of parameterization schemes that best simulated this type of phenomenon was thereby determined. In particular, the parameterization combinations that included the Tiedtke cumulus schemes had the most positive effects on model results. Moreover, concerning STC track validation, optimal results were attained when the STC was fully formed and all convective processes stabilized. Furthermore, to obtain the parameterization schemes that optimally categorize STC structure, a verification using Cyclone Phase Space is assessed. Consequently, the combination of parameterizations including the Tiedtke cumulus schemes were again the best in categorizing the cyclone's subtropical structure. For strength validation, related atmospheric variables such as wind speed and precipitable water were analyzed. Finally, the effects of using a deterministic or probabilistic approach in simulating intense convective phenomena were evaluated.

A secure smart-card based authentication and key agreement scheme for telecare medicine information systems.

PubMed

Lee, Tian-Fu; Liu, Chuan-Ming

2013-06-01

A smart-card based authentication scheme for telecare medicine information systems enables patients, doctors, nurses, health visitors and the medicine information systems to establish a secure communication platform through public networks. Zhu recently presented an improved authentication scheme in order to solve the weakness of the authentication scheme of Wei et al., where the off-line password guessing attacks cannot be resisted. This investigation indicates that the improved scheme of Zhu has some faults such that the authentication scheme cannot execute correctly and is vulnerable to the attack of parallel sessions. Additionally, an enhanced authentication scheme based on the scheme of Zhu is proposed. The enhanced scheme not only avoids the weakness in the original scheme, but also provides users' anonymity and authenticated key agreements for secure data communications.

Cryptanalysis and Improvement of a Biometric-Based Multi-Server Authentication and Key Agreement Scheme.

PubMed

Wang, Chengqi; Zhang, Xiao; Zheng, Zhiming

2016-01-01

With the security requirements of networks, biometrics authenticated schemes which are applied in the multi-server environment come to be more crucial and widely deployed. In this paper, we propose a novel biometric-based multi-server authentication and key agreement scheme which is based on the cryptanalysis of Mishra et al.'s scheme. The informal and formal security analysis of our scheme are given, which demonstrate that our scheme satisfies the desirable security requirements. The presented scheme provides a variety of significant functionalities, in which some features are not considered in the most of existing authentication schemes, such as, user revocation or re-registration and biometric information protection. Compared with several related schemes, our scheme has more secure properties and lower computation cost. It is obviously more appropriate for practical applications in the remote distributed networks.

ID-based encryption scheme with revocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Othman, Hafizul Azrie; Ismail, Eddie Shahril

2017-04-01

In 2015, Meshram proposed an efficient ID-based cryptographic encryption based on the difficulty of solving discrete logarithm and integer-factoring problems. The scheme was pairing free and claimed to be secure against adaptive chosen plaintext attacks (CPA). Later, Tan et al. proved that the scheme was insecure by presenting a method to recover the secret master key and to obtain prime factorization of modulo n. In this paper, we propose a new pairing-free ID-based encryption scheme with revocation based on Meshram's ID-based encryption scheme, which is also secure against Tan et al.'s attacks.

A secure biometrics-based authentication scheme for telecare medicine information systems.

PubMed

Yan, Xiaopeng; Li, Weiheng; Li, Ping; Wang, Jiantao; Hao, Xinhong; Gong, Peng

2013-10-01

The telecare medicine information system (TMIS) allows patients and doctors to access medical services or medical information at remote sites. Therefore, it could bring us very big convenient. To safeguard patients' privacy, authentication schemes for the TMIS attracted wide attention. Recently, Tan proposed an efficient biometrics-based authentication scheme for the TMIS and claimed their scheme could withstand various attacks. However, in this paper, we point out that Tan's scheme is vulnerable to the Denial-of-Service attack. To enhance security, we also propose an improved scheme based on Tan's work. Security and performance analysis shows our scheme not only could overcome weakness in Tan's scheme but also has better performance.

Linking payment to health outcomes: a taxonomy and examination of performance-based reimbursement schemes between healthcare payers and manufacturers.

PubMed

Carlson, Josh J; Sullivan, Sean D; Garrison, Louis P; Neumann, Peter J; Veenstra, David L

2010-08-01

To identify, categorize and examine performance-based health outcomes reimbursement schemes for medical technology. We performed a review of performance-based health outcomes reimbursement schemes over the past 10 years (7/98-010/09) using publicly available databases, web and grey literature searches, and input from healthcare reimbursement experts. We developed a taxonomy of scheme types by inductively organizing the schemes identified according to the timing, execution, and health outcomes measured in the schemes. Our search yielded 34 coverage with evidence development schemes, 10 conditional treatment continuation schemes, and 14 performance-linked reimbursement schemes. The majority of schemes are in Europe and Australia, with an increasing number in Canada and the U.S. These schemes have the potential to alter the reimbursement and pricing landscape for medical technology, but significant challenges, including high transaction costs and insufficient information systems, may limit their long-term impact. Future studies regarding experiences and outcomes of implemented schemes are necessary. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A point-value enhanced finite volume method based on approximate delta functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xuan, Li-Jun; Majdalani, Joseph

2018-02-01

We revisit the concept of an approximate delta function (ADF), introduced by Huynh (2011) [1], in the form of a finite-order polynomial that holds identical integral properties to the Dirac delta function when used in conjunction with a finite-order polynomial integrand over a finite domain. We show that the use of generic ADF polynomials can be effective at recovering and generalizing several high-order methods, including Taylor-based and nodal-based Discontinuous Galerkin methods, as well as the Correction Procedure via Reconstruction. Based on the ADF concept, we then proceed to formulate a Point-value enhanced Finite Volume (PFV) method, which stores and updates the cell-averaged values inside each element as well as the unknown quantities and, if needed, their derivatives on nodal points. The sharing of nodal information with surrounding elements saves the number of degrees of freedom compared to other compact methods at the same order. To ensure conservation, cell-averaged values are updated using an identical approach to that adopted in the finite volume method. Here, the updating of nodal values and their derivatives is achieved through an ADF concept that leverages all of the elements within the domain of integration that share the same nodal point. The resulting scheme is shown to be very stable at successively increasing orders. Both accuracy and stability of the PFV method are verified using a Fourier analysis and through applications to the linear wave and nonlinear Burgers' equations in one-dimensional space.

Understanding security failures of two authentication and key agreement schemes for telecare medicine information systems.

PubMed

Mishra, Dheerendra

2015-03-01

Smart card based authentication and key agreement schemes for telecare medicine information systems (TMIS) enable doctors, nurses, patients and health visitors to use smart cards for secure login to medical information systems. In recent years, several authentication and key agreement schemes have been proposed to present secure and efficient solution for TMIS. Most of the existing authentication schemes for TMIS have either higher computation overhead or are vulnerable to attacks. To reduce the computational overhead and enhance the security, Lee recently proposed an authentication and key agreement scheme using chaotic maps for TMIS. Xu et al. also proposed a password based authentication and key agreement scheme for TMIS using elliptic curve cryptography. Both the schemes provide better efficiency from the conventional public key cryptography based schemes. These schemes are important as they present an efficient solution for TMIS. We analyze the security of both Lee's scheme and Xu et al.'s schemes. Unfortunately, we identify that both the schemes are vulnerable to denial of service attack. To understand the security failures of these cryptographic schemes which are the key of patching existing schemes and designing future schemes, we demonstrate the security loopholes of Lee's scheme and Xu et al.'s scheme in this paper.

Robust and efficient biometrics based password authentication scheme for telecare medicine information systems using extended chaotic maps.

PubMed

Lu, Yanrong; Li, Lixiang; Peng, Haipeng; Xie, Dong; Yang, Yixian

2015-06-01

The Telecare Medicine Information Systems (TMISs) provide an efficient communicating platform supporting the patients access health-care delivery services via internet or mobile networks. Authentication becomes an essential need when a remote patient logins into the telecare server. Recently, many extended chaotic maps based authentication schemes using smart cards for TMISs have been proposed. Li et al. proposed a secure smart cards based authentication scheme for TMISs using extended chaotic maps based on Lee's and Jiang et al.'s scheme. In this study, we show that Li et al.'s scheme has still some weaknesses such as violation the session key security, vulnerability to user impersonation attack and lack of local verification. To conquer these flaws, we propose a chaotic maps and smart cards based password authentication scheme by applying biometrics technique and hash function operations. Through the informal and formal security analyses, we demonstrate that our scheme is resilient possible known attacks including the attacks found in Li et al.'s scheme. As compared with the previous authentication schemes, the proposed scheme is more secure and efficient and hence more practical for telemedical environments.

Enhanced smartcard-based password-authenticated key agreement using extended chaotic maps.

PubMed

Lee, Tian-Fu; Hsiao, Chia-Hung; Hwang, Shi-Han; Lin, Tsung-Hung

2017-01-01

A smartcard based password-authenticated key agreement scheme enables a legal user to log in to a remote authentication server and access remote services through public networks using a weak password and a smart card. Lin recently presented an improved chaotic maps-based password-authenticated key agreement scheme that used smartcards to eliminate the weaknesses of the scheme of Guo and Chang, which does not provide strong user anonymity and violates session key security. However, the improved scheme of Lin does not exhibit the freshness property and the validity of messages so it still fails to withstand denial-of-service and privileged-insider attacks. Additionally, a single malicious participant can predetermine the session key such that the improved scheme does not exhibit the contributory property of key agreements. This investigation discusses these weaknesses and proposes an enhanced smartcard-based password-authenticated key agreement scheme that utilizes extended chaotic maps. The session security of this enhanced scheme is based on the extended chaotic map-based Diffie-Hellman problem, and is proven in the real-or-random and the sequence of games models. Moreover, the enhanced scheme ensures the freshness of communicating messages by appending timestamps, and thereby avoids the weaknesses in previous schemes.

Enhanced smartcard-based password-authenticated key agreement using extended chaotic maps

PubMed Central

Lee, Tian-Fu; Hsiao, Chia-Hung; Hwang, Shi-Han

2017-01-01

A smartcard based password-authenticated key agreement scheme enables a legal user to log in to a remote authentication server and access remote services through public networks using a weak password and a smart card. Lin recently presented an improved chaotic maps-based password-authenticated key agreement scheme that used smartcards to eliminate the weaknesses of the scheme of Guo and Chang, which does not provide strong user anonymity and violates session key security. However, the improved scheme of Lin does not exhibit the freshness property and the validity of messages so it still fails to withstand denial-of-service and privileged-insider attacks. Additionally, a single malicious participant can predetermine the session key such that the improved scheme does not exhibit the contributory property of key agreements. This investigation discusses these weaknesses and proposes an enhanced smartcard-based password-authenticated key agreement scheme that utilizes extended chaotic maps. The session security of this enhanced scheme is based on the extended chaotic map-based Diffie-Hellman problem, and is proven in the real-or-random and the sequence of games models. Moreover, the enhanced scheme ensures the freshness of communicating messages by appending timestamps, and thereby avoids the weaknesses in previous schemes. PMID:28759615

An Application of UAV Attitude Estimation Using a Low-Cost Inertial Navigation System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eure, Kenneth W.; Quach, Cuong Chi; Vazquez, Sixto L.; Hogge, Edward F.; Hill, Boyd L.

2013-01-01

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are playing an increasing role in aviation. Various methods exist for the computation of UAV attitude based on low cost microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers. There has been a recent increase in UAV autonomy as sensors are becoming more compact and onboard processing power has increased significantly. Correct UAV attitude estimation will play a critical role in navigation and separation assurance as UAVs share airspace with civil air traffic. This paper describes attitude estimation derived by post-processing data from a small low cost Inertial Navigation System (INS) recorded during the flight of a subscale commercial off the shelf (COTS) UAV. Two discrete time attitude estimation schemes are presented here in detail. The first is an adaptation of the Kalman Filter to accommodate nonlinear systems, the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). The EKF returns quaternion estimates of the UAV attitude based on MEMS gyro, magnetometer, accelerometer, and pitot tube inputs. The second scheme is the complementary filter which is a simpler algorithm that splits the sensor frequency spectrum based on noise characteristics. The necessity to correct both filters for gravity measurement errors during turning maneuvers is demonstrated. It is shown that the proposed algorithms may be used to estimate UAV attitude. The effects of vibration on sensor measurements are discussed. Heuristic tuning comments pertaining to sensor filtering and gain selection to achieve acceptable performance during flight are given. Comparisons of attitude estimation performance are made between the EKF and the complementary filter.

Cryptanalysis and Improvement of a Biometric-Based Multi-Server Authentication and Key Agreement Scheme

PubMed Central

Wang, Chengqi; Zhang, Xiao; Zheng, Zhiming

2016-01-01

With the security requirements of networks, biometrics authenticated schemes which are applied in the multi-server environment come to be more crucial and widely deployed. In this paper, we propose a novel biometric-based multi-server authentication and key agreement scheme which is based on the cryptanalysis of Mishra et al.’s scheme. The informal and formal security analysis of our scheme are given, which demonstrate that our scheme satisfies the desirable security requirements. The presented scheme provides a variety of significant functionalities, in which some features are not considered in the most of existing authentication schemes, such as, user revocation or re-registration and biometric information protection. Compared with several related schemes, our scheme has more secure properties and lower computation cost. It is obviously more appropriate for practical applications in the remote distributed networks. PMID:26866606

An efficient and provable secure revocable identity-based encryption scheme.

PubMed

Wang, Changji; Li, Yuan; Xia, Xiaonan; Zheng, Kangjia

2014-01-01

Revocation functionality is necessary and crucial to identity-based cryptosystems. Revocable identity-based encryption (RIBE) has attracted a lot of attention in recent years, many RIBE schemes have been proposed in the literature but shown to be either insecure or inefficient. In this paper, we propose a new scalable RIBE scheme with decryption key exposure resilience by combining Lewko and Waters' identity-based encryption scheme and complete subtree method, and prove our RIBE scheme to be semantically secure using dual system encryption methodology. Compared to existing scalable and semantically secure RIBE schemes, our proposed RIBE scheme is more efficient in term of ciphertext size, public parameters size and decryption cost at price of a little looser security reduction. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first construction of scalable and semantically secure RIBE scheme with constant size public system parameters.

Rhetorical Perspectivism of Black Congressmen upon the 1875 Civil Rights Bill.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haskins, William A.

In their new roles as congressmen after the Civil War, blacks, for the first time in American history, advanced views of civil rights that reflected black perspectives. One scheme for analyzing black rhetoric suggests that black congressmen did not share the perspective held by many whites--that blacks were inept individuals. Rather, the black…

The Best Ideas Come from Teachers like You!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Instructor, 2007

2007-01-01

Several teachers share their ideas for classroom activities. These include: (1) combining science and art on Earth Day; (2) implementing an inexpensive incentive scheme to get students to bring their signed papers back to school on time; (3) involving students in a virtual zoo; (4) planting real grass in Easter Bunny baskets; and (5) creating own…

Efficiently Multi-User Searchable Encryption Scheme with Attribute Revocation and Grant for Cloud Storage

PubMed Central

Wang, Shangping; Zhang, Xiaoxue; Zhang, Yaling

2016-01-01

Cipher-policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) focus on the problem of access control, and keyword-based searchable encryption scheme focus on the problem of finding the files that the user interested in the cloud storage quickly. To design a searchable and attribute-based encryption scheme is a new challenge. In this paper, we propose an efficiently multi-user searchable attribute-based encryption scheme with attribute revocation and grant for cloud storage. In the new scheme the attribute revocation and grant processes of users are delegated to proxy server. Our scheme supports multi attribute are revoked and granted simultaneously. Moreover, the keyword searchable function is achieved in our proposed scheme. The security of our proposed scheme is reduced to the bilinear Diffie-Hellman (BDH) assumption. Furthermore, the scheme is proven to be secure under the security model of indistinguishability against selective ciphertext-policy and chosen plaintext attack (IND-sCP-CPA). And our scheme is also of semantic security under indistinguishability against chosen keyword attack (IND-CKA) in the random oracle model. PMID:27898703

Efficiently Multi-User Searchable Encryption Scheme with Attribute Revocation and Grant for Cloud Storage.

PubMed

Wang, Shangping; Zhang, Xiaoxue; Zhang, Yaling

2016-01-01

Cipher-policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) focus on the problem of access control, and keyword-based searchable encryption scheme focus on the problem of finding the files that the user interested in the cloud storage quickly. To design a searchable and attribute-based encryption scheme is a new challenge. In this paper, we propose an efficiently multi-user searchable attribute-based encryption scheme with attribute revocation and grant for cloud storage. In the new scheme the attribute revocation and grant processes of users are delegated to proxy server. Our scheme supports multi attribute are revoked and granted simultaneously. Moreover, the keyword searchable function is achieved in our proposed scheme. The security of our proposed scheme is reduced to the bilinear Diffie-Hellman (BDH) assumption. Furthermore, the scheme is proven to be secure under the security model of indistinguishability against selective ciphertext-policy and chosen plaintext attack (IND-sCP-CPA). And our scheme is also of semantic security under indistinguishability against chosen keyword attack (IND-CKA) in the random oracle model.

Secondary structure of the 3'-noncoding region of flavivirus genomes: comparative analysis of base pairing probabilities.

PubMed

Rauscher, S; Flamm, C; Mandl, C W; Heinz, F X; Stadler, P F

1997-07-01

The prediction of the complete matrix of base pairing probabilities was applied to the 3' noncoding region (NCR) of flavivirus genomes. This approach identifies not only well-defined secondary structure elements, but also regions of high structural flexibility. Flaviviruses, many of which are important human pathogens, have a common genomic organization, but exhibit a significant degree of RNA sequence diversity in the functionally important 3'-NCR. We demonstrate the presence of secondary structures shared by all flaviviruses, as well as structural features that are characteristic for groups of viruses within the genus reflecting the established classification scheme. The significance of most of the predicted structures is corroborated by compensatory mutations. The availability of infectious clones for several flaviviruses will allow the assessment of these structural elements in processes of the viral life cycle, such as replication and assembly.

Image size invariant visual cryptography for general access structures subject to display quality constraints.

PubMed

Lee, Kai-Hui; Chiu, Pei-Ling

2013-10-01

Conventional visual cryptography (VC) suffers from a pixel-expansion problem, or an uncontrollable display quality problem for recovered images, and lacks a general approach to construct visual secret sharing schemes for general access structures. We propose a general and systematic approach to address these issues without sophisticated codebook design. This approach can be used for binary secret images in non-computer-aided decryption environments. To avoid pixel expansion, we design a set of column vectors to encrypt secret pixels rather than using the conventional VC-based approach. We begin by formulating a mathematic model for the VC construction problem to find the column vectors for the optimal VC construction, after which we develop a simulated-annealing-based algorithm to solve the problem. The experimental results show that the display quality of the recovered image is superior to that of previous papers.

Mode-dependent templates and scan order for H.264/AVC-based intra lossless coding.

PubMed

Gu, Zhouye; Lin, Weisi; Lee, Bu-Sung; Lau, Chiew Tong; Sun, Ming-Ting

2012-09-01

In H.264/advanced video coding (AVC), lossless coding and lossy coding share the same entropy coding module. However, the entropy coders in the H.264/AVC standard were original designed for lossy video coding and do not yield adequate performance for lossless video coding. In this paper, we analyze the problem with the current lossless coding scheme and propose a mode-dependent template (MD-template) based method for intra lossless coding. By exploring the statistical redundancy of the prediction residual in the H.264/AVC intra prediction modes, more zero coefficients are generated. By designing a new scan order for each MD-template, the scanned coefficients sequence fits the H.264/AVC entropy coders better. A fast implementation algorithm is also designed. With little computation increase, experimental results confirm that the proposed fast algorithm achieves about 7.2% bit saving compared with the current H.264/AVC fidelity range extensions high profile.

A Scalable QoS-Aware VoD Resource Sharing Scheme for Next Generation Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Chenn-Jung; Luo, Yun-Cheng; Chen, Chun-Hua; Hu, Kai-Wen

In network-aware concept, applications are aware of network conditions and are adaptable to the varying environment to achieve acceptable and predictable performance. In this work, a solution for video on demand service that integrates wireless and wired networks by using the network aware concepts is proposed to reduce the blocking probability and dropping probability of mobile requests. Fuzzy logic inference system is employed to select appropriate cache relay nodes to cache published video streams and distribute them to different peers through service oriented architecture (SOA). SIP-based control protocol and IMS standard are adopted to ensure the possibility of heterogeneous communication and provide a framework for delivering real-time multimedia services over an IP-based network to ensure interoperability, roaming, and end-to-end session management. The experimental results demonstrate that effectiveness and practicability of the proposed work.

Hardware/software codesign for embedded RISC core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Peng

2001-12-01

This paper describes hardware/software codesign method of the extendible embedded RISC core VIRGO, which based on MIPS-I instruction set architecture. VIRGO is described by Verilog hardware description language that has five-stage pipeline with shared 32-bit cache/memory interface, and it is controlled by distributed control scheme. Every pipeline stage has one small controller, which controls the pipeline stage status and cooperation among the pipeline phase. Since description use high level language and structure is distributed, VIRGO core has highly extension that can meet the requirements of application. We take look at the high-definition television MPEG2 MPHL decoder chip, constructed the hardware/software codesign virtual prototyping machine that can research on VIRGO core instruction set architecture, and system on chip memory size requirements, and system on chip software, etc. We also can evaluate the system on chip design and RISC instruction set based on the virtual prototyping machine platform.

Imperceptible reversible watermarking of radiographic images based on quantum noise masking.

PubMed

Pan, Wei; Bouslimi, Dalel; Karasad, Mohamed; Cozic, Michel; Coatrieux, Gouenou

2018-07-01

Advances in information and communication technologies boost the sharing and remote access to medical images. Along with this evolution, needs in terms of data security are also increased. Watermarking can contribute to better protect images by dissimulating into their pixels some security attributes (e.g., digital signature, user identifier). But, to take full advantage of this technology in healthcare, one key problem to address is to ensure that the image distortion induced by the watermarking process does not endanger the image diagnosis value. To overcome this issue, reversible watermarking is one solution. It allows watermark removal with the exact recovery of the image. Unfortunately, reversibility does not mean that imperceptibility constraints are relaxed. Indeed, once the watermark removed, the image is unprotected. It is thus important to ensure the invisibility of reversible watermark in order to ensure a permanent image protection. We propose a new fragile reversible watermarking scheme for digital radiographic images, the main originality of which stands in masking a reversible watermark into the image quantum noise (the dominant noise in radiographic images). More clearly, in order to ensure the watermark imperceptibility, our scheme differentiates the image black background, where message embedding is conducted into pixel gray values with the well-known histogram shifting (HS) modulation, from the anatomical object, where HS is applied to wavelet detail coefficients, masking the watermark with the image quantum noise. In order to maintain the watermark embedder and reader synchronized in terms of image partitioning and insertion domain, our scheme makes use of different classification processes that are invariant to message embedding. We provide the theoretical performance limits of our scheme into the image quantum noise in terms of image distortion and message size (i.e. capacity). Experiments conducted on more than 800 12 bits radiographic images of different anatomical structures show that our scheme induces a very low image distortion (PSNR∼ 76.5 dB) for a relatively important capacity (capacity∼ 0.02 bits of message per pixel). The proposed watermarking scheme, while being reversible, preserves the diagnosis value of radiographic images by masking the watermark into the quantum noise. As theoretically and experimentally established our scheme offers a good capacity/image quality compromise that can support different watermarking based security services such as integrity and authenticity control. The watermark can be kept into the image during the interpretation of the image, offering thus a continuous protection. Such a masking strategy can be seen as the first psychovisual model for radiographic images. The reversibility allows the watermark update when necessary. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A provably-secure ECC-based authentication scheme for wireless sensor networks.

PubMed

Nam, Junghyun; Kim, Moonseong; Paik, Juryon; Lee, Youngsook; Won, Dongho

2014-11-06

A smart-card-based user authentication scheme for wireless sensor networks (in short, a SUA-WSN scheme) is designed to restrict access to the sensor data only to users who are in possession of both a smart card and the corresponding password. While a significant number of SUA-WSN schemes have been suggested in recent years, their intended security properties lack formal definitions and proofs in a widely-accepted model. One consequence is that SUA-WSN schemes insecure against various attacks have proliferated. In this paper, we devise a security model for the analysis of SUA-WSN schemes by extending the widely-accepted model of Bellare, Pointcheval and Rogaway (2000). Our model provides formal definitions of authenticated key exchange and user anonymity while capturing side-channel attacks, as well as other common attacks. We also propose a new SUA-WSN scheme based on elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), and prove its security properties in our extended model. To the best of our knowledge, our proposed scheme is the first SUA-WSN scheme that provably achieves both authenticated key exchange and user anonymity. Our scheme is also computationally competitive with other ECC-based (non-provably secure) schemes.

A Provably-Secure ECC-Based Authentication Scheme for Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Nam, Junghyun; Kim, Moonseong; Paik, Juryon; Lee, Youngsook; Won, Dongho

2014-01-01

A smart-card-based user authentication scheme for wireless sensor networks (in short, a SUA-WSN scheme) is designed to restrict access to the sensor data only to users who are in possession of both a smart card and the corresponding password. While a significant number of SUA-WSN schemes have been suggested in recent years, their intended security properties lack formal definitions and proofs in a widely-accepted model. One consequence is that SUA-WSN schemes insecure against various attacks have proliferated. In this paper, we devise a security model for the analysis of SUA-WSN schemes by extending the widely-accepted model of Bellare, Pointcheval and Rogaway (2000). Our model provides formal definitions of authenticated key exchange and user anonymity while capturing side-channel attacks, as well as other common attacks. We also propose a new SUA-WSN scheme based on elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), and prove its security properties in our extended model. To the best of our knowledge, our proposed scheme is the first SUA-WSN scheme that provably achieves both authenticated key exchange and user anonymity. Our scheme is also computationally competitive with other ECC-based (non-provably secure) schemes. PMID:25384009

A soft-hard combination-based cooperative spectrum sensing scheme for cognitive radio networks.

PubMed

Do, Nhu Tri; An, Beongku

2015-02-13

In this paper we propose a soft-hard combination scheme, called SHC scheme, for cooperative spectrum sensing in cognitive radio networks. The SHC scheme deploys a cluster based network in which Likelihood Ratio Test (LRT)-based soft combination is applied at each cluster, and weighted decision fusion rule-based hard combination is utilized at the fusion center. The novelties of the SHC scheme are as follows: the structure of the SHC scheme reduces the complexity of cooperative detection which is an inherent limitation of soft combination schemes. By using the LRT, we can detect primary signals in a low signal-to-noise ratio regime (around an average of -15 dB). In addition, the computational complexity of the LRT is reduced since we derive the closed-form expression of the probability density function of LRT value. The SHC scheme also takes into account the different effects of large scale fading on different users in the wide area network. The simulation results show that the SHC scheme not only provides the better sensing performance compared to the conventional hard combination schemes, but also reduces sensing overhead in terms of reporting time compared to the conventional soft combination scheme using the LRT.

Social health insurance coverage and financial protection among rural-to-urban internal migrants in China: evidence from a nationally representative cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

Chen, Wen; Zhang, Qi; Renzaho, Andre M N; Zhou, Fangjing; Zhang, Hui; Ling, Li

2017-01-01

Introduction Migrants are a vulnerable population and could experience various challenges and barriers to accessing health insurance. Health insurance coverage protects migrants from financial loss related to illness and death. We assessed social health insurance (SHI) coverage and its financial protection effect among rural-to-urban internal migrants (IMs) in China. Methods Data from the ‘2014 National Internal Migrant Dynamic Monitoring Survey’ were used. We categorised 170 904 rural-to-urban IMs according to their SHI status, namely uninsured by SHI, insured by the rural SHI scheme (new rural cooperative medical scheme (NCMS)) or the urban SHI schemes (urban employee-based basic medical insurance (UEBMI)/urban resident-based basic medical insurance (URBMI)), and doubly insured (enrolled in both rural and urban schemes). Financial protection was defined as ‘the percentage of out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for the latest inpatient service during the past 12 months in the total household expenditure’. Results The uninsured rate of SHI and the NCMS, UEBMI/URBMI and double insurance coverage in rural-to-urban IMs was 17.3% (95% CI 16.9% to 17.7%), 66.6% (66.0% to 67.1%), 22.6% (22.2% to 23.0%) and 5.5% (5.3% to 5.7%), respectively. On average, financial protection indicator among uninsured, only NCMS insured, only URBMI/UEBMI insured and doubly insured participants was 13.3%, 9.2%, 6.2% and 5.8%, respectively (p=0.004). After controlling for confounding factors and adjusting the protection effect of private health insurance, compared with no SHI, the UEBMI/URBMI, the NCMS and double insurance could reduce the average percentage share of OOP payments by 33.9% (95% CI 25.5% to 41.4%), 14.1% (6.6% to 20.9%) and 26.8% (11.0% to 39.7%), respectively. Conclusion Although rural-to-urban IMs face barriers to accessing SHI schemes, our findings confirm the positive financial protection effect of SHI. Improving availability and portability of health insurance would promote financial protection for IMs, and further facilitate achieving universal health coverage in China and other countries that face migration-related obstacles to achieve universal coverage. PMID:29082027

Smart Collaborative Caching for Information-Centric IoT in Fog Computing.

PubMed

Song, Fei; Ai, Zheng-Yang; Li, Jun-Jie; Pau, Giovanni; Collotta, Mario; You, Ilsun; Zhang, Hong-Ke

2017-11-01

The significant changes enabled by the fog computing had demonstrated that Internet of Things (IoT) urgently needs more evolutional reforms. Limited by the inflexible design philosophy; the traditional structure of a network is hard to meet the latest demands. However, Information-Centric Networking (ICN) is a promising option to bridge and cover these enormous gaps. In this paper, a Smart Collaborative Caching (SCC) scheme is established by leveraging high-level ICN principles for IoT within fog computing paradigm. The proposed solution is supposed to be utilized in resource pooling, content storing, node locating and other related situations. By investigating the available characteristics of ICN, some challenges of such combination are reviewed in depth. The details of building SCC, including basic model and advanced algorithms, are presented based on theoretical analysis and simplified examples. The validation focuses on two typical scenarios: simple status inquiry and complex content sharing. The number of clusters, packet loss probability and other parameters are also considered. The analytical results demonstrate that the performance of our scheme, regarding total packet number and average transmission latency, can outperform that of the original ones. We expect that the SCC will contribute an efficient solution to the related studies.

Smart Collaborative Caching for Information-Centric IoT in Fog Computing

PubMed Central

Song, Fei; Ai, Zheng-Yang; Li, Jun-Jie; Zhang, Hong-Ke

2017-01-01

The significant changes enabled by the fog computing had demonstrated that Internet of Things (IoT) urgently needs more evolutional reforms. Limited by the inflexible design philosophy; the traditional structure of a network is hard to meet the latest demands. However, Information-Centric Networking (ICN) is a promising option to bridge and cover these enormous gaps. In this paper, a Smart Collaborative Caching (SCC) scheme is established by leveraging high-level ICN principles for IoT within fog computing paradigm. The proposed solution is supposed to be utilized in resource pooling, content storing, node locating and other related situations. By investigating the available characteristics of ICN, some challenges of such combination are reviewed in depth. The details of building SCC, including basic model and advanced algorithms, are presented based on theoretical analysis and simplified examples. The validation focuses on two typical scenarios: simple status inquiry and complex content sharing. The number of clusters, packet loss probability and other parameters are also considered. The analytical results demonstrate that the performance of our scheme, regarding total packet number and average transmission latency, can outperform that of the original ones. We expect that the SCC will contribute an efficient solution to the related studies. PMID:29104219

Evaluating clustering methods within the Artificial Ecosystem Algorithm and their application to bike redistribution in London.

PubMed

Adham, Manal T; Bentley, Peter J

2016-08-01

This paper proposes and evaluates a solution to the truck redistribution problem prominent in London's Santander Cycle scheme. Due to the complexity of this NP-hard combinatorial optimisation problem, no efficient optimisation techniques are known to solve the problem exactly. This motivates our use of the heuristic Artificial Ecosystem Algorithm (AEA) to find good solutions in a reasonable amount of time. The AEA is designed to take advantage of highly distributed computer architectures and adapt to changing problems. In the AEA a problem is first decomposed into its relative sub-components; they then evolve solution building blocks that fit together to form a single optimal solution. Three variants of the AEA centred on evaluating clustering methods are presented: the baseline AEA, the community-based AEA which groups stations according to journey flows, and the Adaptive AEA which actively modifies clusters to cater for changes in demand. We applied these AEA variants to the redistribution problem prominent in bike share schemes (BSS). The AEA variants are empirically evaluated using historical data from Santander Cycles to validate the proposed approach and prove its potential effectiveness. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ultrafast superpixel segmentation of large 3D medical datasets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leblond, Antoine; Kauffmann, Claude

2016-03-01

Even with recent hardware improvements, superpixel segmentation of large 3D medical images at interactive speed (<500 ms) remains a challenge. We will describe methods to achieve such performances using a GPU based hybrid framework implementing wavefront propagation and cellular automata resolution. Tasks will be scheduled in blocks (work units) using a wavefront propagation strategy, therefore allowing sparse scheduling. Because work units has been designed as spatially cohesive, the fast Thread Group Shared Memory can be used and reused through a Gauss-Seidel like acceleration. The work unit partitioning scheme will however vary on odd- and even-numbered iterations to reduce convergence barriers. Synchronization will be ensured by an 8-step 3D variant of the traditional Red Black Ordering scheme. An attack model and early termination will also be described and implemented as additional acceleration techniques. Using our hybrid framework and typical operating parameters, we were able to compute the superpixels of a high-resolution 512x512x512 aortic angioCT scan in 283 ms using a AMD R9 290X GPU. We achieved a 22.3X speed-up factor compared to the published reference GPU implementation.

Energy Decomposition Analysis Based on Absolutely Localized Molecular Orbitals for Large-Scale Density Functional Theory Calculations in Drug Design.

PubMed

Phipps, M J S; Fox, T; Tautermann, C S; Skylaris, C-K

2016-07-12

We report the development and implementation of an energy decomposition analysis (EDA) scheme in the ONETEP linear-scaling electronic structure package. Our approach is hybrid as it combines the localized molecular orbital EDA (Su, P.; Li, H. J. Chem. Phys., 2009, 131, 014102) and the absolutely localized molecular orbital EDA (Khaliullin, R. Z.; et al. J. Phys. Chem. A, 2007, 111, 8753-8765) to partition the intermolecular interaction energy into chemically distinct components (electrostatic, exchange, correlation, Pauli repulsion, polarization, and charge transfer). Limitations shared in EDA approaches such as the issue of basis set dependence in polarization and charge transfer are discussed, and a remedy to this problem is proposed that exploits the strictly localized property of the ONETEP orbitals. Our method is validated on a range of complexes with interactions relevant to drug design. We demonstrate the capabilities for large-scale calculations with our approach on complexes of thrombin with an inhibitor comprised of up to 4975 atoms. Given the capability of ONETEP for large-scale calculations, such as on entire proteins, we expect that our EDA scheme can be applied in a large range of biomolecular problems, especially in the context of drug design.

A Novel Passive Tracking Scheme Exploiting Geometric and Intercept Theorems

PubMed Central

Zhou, Biao; Sun, Chao; Ahn, Deockhyeon; Kim, Youngok

2018-01-01

Passive tracking aims to track targets without assistant devices, that is, device-free targets. Passive tracking based on Radio Frequency (RF) Tomography in wireless sensor networks has recently been addressed as an emerging field. The passive tracking scheme using geometric theorems (GTs) is one of the most popular RF Tomography schemes, because the GT-based method can effectively mitigate the demand for a high density of wireless nodes. In the GT-based tracking scheme, the tracking scenario is considered as a two-dimensional geometric topology and then geometric theorems are applied to estimate crossing points (CPs) of the device-free target on line-of-sight links (LOSLs), which reveal the target’s trajectory information in a discrete form. In this paper, we review existing GT-based tracking schemes, and then propose a novel passive tracking scheme by exploiting the Intercept Theorem (IT). To create an IT-based CP estimation scheme available in the noisy non-parallel LOSL situation, we develop the equal-ratio traverse (ERT) method. Finally, we analyze properties of three GT-based tracking algorithms and the performance of these schemes is evaluated experimentally under various trajectories, node densities, and noisy topologies. Analysis of experimental results shows that tracking schemes exploiting geometric theorems can achieve remarkable positioning accuracy even under rather a low density of wireless nodes. Moreover, the proposed IT scheme can provide generally finer tracking accuracy under even lower node density and noisier topologies, in comparison to other schemes. PMID:29562621

Working better together: joint leadership development for doctors and managers.

PubMed

Kelly, Nicola

2014-01-01

Traditionally, there have been tensions between frontline healthcare professionals and managers, with well-known stereotypes of difficult consultants and pen-pushing managers. Many junior doctors have limited management experience and have often never even met a manager prior to taking on a consultant role. Based on a successful programme pioneered by Dr Robert Klaber (Imperial, London) we have set-up an innovative scheme for Birmingham Children's Hospital, pairing junior doctors and managers to learn and work together. Our aim was to cultivate positive attitudes and understanding between the two groups, break down inter-professional barriers, and to provide practical leadership experience and education. We recruited 60 managers and doctors to participate in shadowing, conversation, and quality improvement projects. Thought-provoking online materials, blogs, socials, and popular monthly workshops consisting of patient-focused debate and discussion around key leadership themes, have helped to support learning and cement shared values. Formal evaluation has demonstrated an improvement in how participants perceive their knowledge and ability based on key NHS Leadership Framework competencies. Participant feedback has been extremely positive, and everyone plans to continue to incorporate Paired Learning into their continuing professional development. We are now embedding Paired Learning in the on-going educational programme offered at Birmingham Children's Hospital, whilst looking at extending the scheme to include different professional groups and other trusts across the region and nationally.

A Novel Texture-Quantization-Based Reversible Multiple Watermarking Scheme Applied to Health Information System.

PubMed

Turuk, Mousami; Dhande, Ashwin

2018-04-01

The recent innovations in information and communication technologies have appreciably changed the panorama of health information system (HIS). These advances provide new means to process, handle, and share medical images and also augment the medical image security issues in terms of confidentiality, reliability, and integrity. Digital watermarking has emerged as new era that offers acceptable solutions to the security issues in HIS. Texture is a significant feature to detect the embedding sites in an image, which further leads to substantial improvement in the robustness. However, considering the perspective of digital watermarking, this feature has received meager attention in the reported literature. This paper exploits the texture property of an image and presents a novel hybrid texture-quantization-based approach for reversible multiple watermarking. The watermarked image quality has been accessed by peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR), structural similarity measure (SSIM), and universal image quality index (UIQI), and the obtained results are superior to the state-of-the-art methods. The algorithm has been evaluated on a variety of medical imaging modalities (CT, MRA, MRI, US) and robustness has been verified, considering various image processing attacks including JPEG compression. The proposed scheme offers additional security using repetitive embedding of BCH encoded watermarks and ADM encrypted ECG signal. Experimental results achieved a maximum of 22,616 bits hiding capacity with PSNR of 53.64 dB.

Smartphone-based secure authenticated session sharing in Internet of Personal Things

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krishnan, Ram; Ninglekhu, Jiwan

2015-03-01

In the context of password-based authentication, a user can only memorize limited number of usernames and passwords. They are generally referred to as user-credentials. Longer character length of passwords further adds complication in mastering them. The expansion of the Internet and our growing dependency on it, has made it almost impossible for us to handle the big pool of user-credentials. Using simple, same or similar passwords is considered a poor practice, as it can easily be compromised by password cracking tools and social engineering attacks. Therefore, a robust and painless technique to manage personal credentials for websites is desirable. In this paper, a novel technique for user-credentials management via a smart mobile device such as a smartphone in a local network is proposed. We present a secure user-credential management scheme in which user's account login (username) and password associated with websites domain name is saved into the mobile device's database using a mobile application. We develop a custom browser extension application for client and use it to import user's credentials linked with the corresponding website from the mobile device via the local Wi-Fi network connection. The browser extension imports and identifies the authentication credentials and pushes them into the target TextBox locations in the webpage, ready for the user to execute. This scheme is suitably demonstrated between two personal devices in a local network.

Symbiotic Navigation in Multi-Robot Systems with Remote Obstacle Knowledge Sharing

PubMed Central

Ravankar, Abhijeet; Ravankar, Ankit A.; Kobayashi, Yukinori; Emaru, Takanori

2017-01-01

Large scale operational areas often require multiple service robots for coverage and task parallelism. In such scenarios, each robot keeps its individual map of the environment and serves specific areas of the map at different times. We propose a knowledge sharing mechanism for multiple robots in which one robot can inform other robots about the changes in map, like path blockage, or new static obstacles, encountered at specific areas of the map. This symbiotic information sharing allows the robots to update remote areas of the map without having to explicitly navigate those areas, and plan efficient paths. A node representation of paths is presented for seamless sharing of blocked path information. The transience of obstacles is modeled to track obstacles which might have been removed. A lazy information update scheme is presented in which only relevant information affecting the current task is updated for efficiency. The advantages of the proposed method for path planning are discussed against traditional method with experimental results in both simulation and real environments. PMID:28678193

Consumer-directed health care and the disadvantaged.

PubMed

Bloche, M Gregg

2007-01-01

Broad adoption of "consumer-directed health care" would probably widen socioeconomic disparities in care and redistribute wealth in "reverse Robin Hood" fashion, from the working poor and middle classes to the well-off. Racial and ethnic disparities in care would also probably worsen. These effects could be alleviated by adjustments to the consumer-directed paradigm. Possible fixes include more progressive tax subsidies, tiering of cost-sharing schemes to promote high-value care, and reduced cost sharing for the less well-off. These fixes, though, are unlikely to gain traction. If consumer-directed plans achieve market dominance, disparities in care by class and race will probably grow.

Communications systems and methods for subsea processors

DOEpatents

Gutierrez, Jose; Pereira, Luis

2016-04-26

A subsea processor may be located near the seabed of a drilling site and used to coordinate operations of underwater drilling components. The subsea processor may be enclosed in a single interchangeable unit that fits a receptor on an underwater drilling component, such as a blow-out preventer (BOP). The subsea processor may issue commands to control the BOP and receive measurements from sensors located throughout the BOP. A shared communications bus may interconnect the subsea processor and underwater components and the subsea processor and a surface or onshore network. The shared communications bus may be operated according to a time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme.

A model of the impact of reimbursement schemes on health plan choice.

PubMed

Keeler, E B; Carter, G; Newhouse, J P

1998-06-01

Flat capitation (uniform prospective payments) makes enrolling healthy enrollees profitable to health plans. Plans with relatively generous benefits may attract the sick and fail through a premium spiral. We simulate a model of idealized managed competition to explore the effect on market performance of alternatives to flat capitation such as severity-adjusted capitation and reduced supply-side cost-sharing. In our model flat capitation causes severe market problems. Severity adjustment and to a lesser extent reduced supply-side cost-sharing improve market performance, but outcomes are efficient only in cases in which people bear the marginal costs of their choices.

A study of an arbiter function in the structures of a shared bus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seck, J.-P.

The results of a comparative study of synchronous and asynchronous arbiters for managing user access to a shared bus is presented. The best available method is determined to be modular arbiter structures attached only to the decision module. Linear and circular arbitration strategies are examined for suitability for automatic decision-making. A multiple strategies arbiter scheme is devised, involving the superposition of various strategies of one sequential machine into another. It is then possible to modify the strategy on-line if the current strategy is ineffective. The utilization of a multiple structure of cascading arbiter devices is noted to be effective if response time is not a critical matter. Finally, attention is given to automatic circuit testing and fault detection. An example is furnished in terms of a management system for a shared memory in a multimicroprocessor structure.