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SYN Flood Attack is one form of distributed denial of service attack that attains the handshake process of TCP. This attack consumes all available server resources and provokes legitimate traffic which aims to make the server unavailable. It causes serious damage to cloud server and networking protocols. The main objective of this research work is to train the neural network for detecting the attack and to secure network connection. A novel binary fruit fly optimization algorithm with deep learning is proposed to predict the syn flood attack. The proposed algorithm is implemented using the KDD cup dataset. DL- BFFA algorithm has achieved 99.96% detection accuracy for detecting the SYN Flood Attack. A comparison study is conducted to validate the proposed model.

Origami structures can transform their form and function by changing the direction of their folds. This reconfiguration can enable multifunctional robots, but doing so requires a fast, robust, and repeatable actuation method. In this article, we present an origami gripper that uses dynamic transformation to change its kinematic behavior in less than a second. We characterize individual vertices to show that the transformation is predictable and repeatable for different designs and orientations. We then apply it to a multivertex template that is capable of a wide range of shapes and motion patterns, indicating that transformation can be generalized to complex and functional machines. To demonstrate this, we built a transforming origami gripper on a robotic arm to pick up multiple objects. Demonstrations show that the gripper can quickly reconfigure between three different grasping modes and has sufficient stiffness to engage with and lift multiple objects with distinct geometries.

Grant-free access, in which channels are accessed without undergoing assignment through a handshake process, is a promising solution to support massive connectivity needed for Internet-of-Things (IoT) networks. In this paper, we consider uplink grant-free massive access for an IoT network with multiple channels. To be specific, the IoT devices generate short packets and have grant-free non-orthogonal access to a channel to transmit the generated packets to a base station (BS). With the aim of keeping the information fresh at the BS, we first derive the age of information (AoI) for grant-free short-packet communications, and then formulate the AoI minimization problem. However, the problem is challenging as the number of users involved is large, and to tackle this problem efficiently, we propose a mean-field evolutionary game-based approach. In this approach, the average behavior of the IoT devices is considered rather than their individual behaviors, and the dynamics of the strategies of the IoT devices are modeled by an evolutionary process. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed mean-field evolutionary game-based approach.

The restaurant industry is one of the largest and fastest growing sectors in the economy in the United States. According to the National Restaurant Association (NRA), the food service industry is the third largest industry accounting for more than 4% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Shake Shack is an American fast food restaurant chain based in New York City. It started out as a food cart at Madison Square Park in 2000, and its popularity grew steadily. Shake Shack is currently one of the best fast-food restaurants in the world. This article discusses the successful business model of Shake Shack through IPO analysis.

This paper mainly introduces an improved PLC communication program based on PLC link network communication. Read and write corresponding production data at different time periods through the shared link area, and use link location soft elements as interactive handshake signal. The main station download module and slave station upload module are designed to complete the large range of data transmission interaction between master and slave stations, and the control system is realized in the automatic production line for drum brake pad processing.

Underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) have a long propagation delay; thus, when multiple nodes access the channel at the same time, the nodes cannot perceive the channel status in time, which causes access conflicts between nodes. To reduce multinode access conflicts and improve network throughput, a random handshake MAC protocol based on Nash equilibrium (RHNE-MAC) is proposed. In the RTS phase, RHNE-MAC regards nodes sending control packets to channels as competitive behavior and an incomplete information game. This paper firstly discusses the collision probability of two nodes sending data to the master node at the same time when the nodes are evenly distributed. Subsequently, according to the collision probability and the size of the network, the mathematical expectation concept is added to the payment function. Then, it uses the Nash equilibrium theory to solve the game, which allows the network to dynamically adjust the probability of nodes requesting access to a channel according to the number of nodes, thereby minimizing the problem of multinode access conflicts. Finally, the master node schedules the data transmission for each node according to the successful receipt of control packet information and propagation delay information of the network; therefore, multiple nodes can transmit data after a handshake period. The simulation results show that the throughput is increased by approximately 12% compared with prescheduling-based MAC and by 207% compared with TDMA; moreover, the end-to-end delay also has better performance.

BACKGROUND Accurate identification of the cricothyroid membrane is crucial for successful cricothyroidotomy. The aim of this study was to compare the conventional downward and modified upward laryngeal handshake techniques in terms of accuracy to identify the cricothyroid membrane in nonobese female patients. METHODS In 198 anesthetized female patients, the cricothyroid membrane was identified by either the conventional downward laryngeal handshake technique (n = 99) or the modified upward laryngeal handshake technique (n = 99). According to the conventional downward laryngeal handshake technique, the cricothyroid membrane was identified by palpating the neck downward from the greater cornu of the hyoid bone, thyroid laminae, and cricoid cartilage. According to the modified upward laryngeal handshake technique, the cricothyroid membrane was located by moving up from the sternal notch. The primary outcome was the accuracy of identifying the cricothyroid membrane. Secondary outcomes included the accuracy of midline identification and time taken to locate what participants believed to be the cricothyroid membrane. The primary and secondary outcomes according to the technique were analyzed using generalized estimating equations. RESULTS The cricothyroid membrane could be identified more accurately by the modified upward laryngeal handshake technique than by the conventional downward technique (84% vs 56%, respectively; odds ratio [OR], 4.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.13-8.93; P < .001). Identification of the midline was also more accurate by the modified laryngeal handshake than by the conventional technique (96% vs 83%, respectively; OR, 4.98; 95% CI, 1.65-15.01; P = .004). The time taken to identify the cricothyroid membrane was not different between the conventional and modified techniques (20.2 [16.2-26.6] seconds vs 19.0 [14.5-26.4] seconds, respectively; P = .83). CONCLUSIONS The modified upward laryngeal handshake technique that involved tracing the trachea and laryngeal structures upward from the sternal notch was more accurate in identifying the cricothyroid membrane than the conventional downward technique in anesthetized female patients.

As a newly proposed secure transport protocol, QUIC aims to improve the transport performance of HTTPS traffic and enable rapid deployment and evolution of transport mechanisms. QUIC is currently in the IETF standardization process and will potentially carry a significant portion of Internet traffic in the emerging future. An important safety goal of QUIC protocol is to provide effective data service for users. To aim this safety requirement, we propose a formal analysis method to analyze the safety of QUIC handshake protocol by using model checker SPIN and cryptographic protocol verifier ProVerif. Our analysis shows the counterexamples to safety properties, which reveal a design flaw in the current protocol specification. To this end, we also propose and verify a possible fix that is able to mitigate these flaws.

Among the foodstuff, most often adulterated are white meat and meat products as well as fish and fish products. For this reason, we evaluated in practice the possibilities of identifying selected species of white meat, i.e., guinea fowl and rabbit as well as four fish species, namely, pollock, hake, sole, and panga, in thermally treated samples. The aim was to check whether the previously published in the scientific literature species-specific primers allows for the identification of processed meat using the end-point PCR technique. To identify the six species, the short sequence fragments (from 130 to 255 bp) of 12S rRNA, COX3, mitochondrial ATP synthase Fo subunit 6 (ATP6) gene, pantophysin (Pan I) gene, 5S rRNA gene, and microsatellite markers (locus: Phy01-KUL) were selected. Stability and specificity of the six pair primers were evaluated on cooked and autoclaved meat, and commercially processed food samples such as rabbit and guinea pâtés, ready-made baby food, and breaded, fried, and deep-frozen fish products. The method proved to be useful for the authentication of severely processed food products against fraudulent species substitution and mislabelling and this approach may be an alternative to more advanced and more expensive PCR techniques.

The response spectral ratio (RSR) used to construct a design spectrum that incorporates site effects is conventionally assumed to be independent of an earthquake scenario in linear analysis. However, recent studies have found that the RSR varies significantly with an earthquake scenario, even in linear analysis. In this study, an analytical RSR model that incorporates the effect of an earthquake scenario is proposed. To this end, the mechanism behind the effect of earthquake scenarios, i.e., the variation in the RSR with an earthquake scenario, is systematically investigated by comparisons with the scenario-independent Fourier spectral ratio based on random vibration theory. The proposed RSR model is verified by comparing its results with those obtained from a SHAKE analysis considering a variety of actual soil conditions. Based on the proposed RSR model, the design spectrum incorporating site effects can be reasonably and easily constructed.

Purpose This paper aims to dissect cross-border contracting practices among exporting businesses. The under-representation of exporter-importer dynamics and the superficial understanding of contracts are the motivation for this exploratory study. Design/methodology/approach The qualitative multiple case study design focuses on 18 small to medium size enterprise (SMEs) exporting from New Zealand. The analysis encompasses coding, pattern matching and explanation building. This paper uses coding to uncover themes and pattern matching/cross-case comparison to facilitate explanation building. Findings The paper underlines the scant use of formal international sales/distribution contracts, the lack of knowledge concerning contracting, barriers to contract formation, misgivings about the court system and litigation and the adoption of proxy contracts. This paper depicts varieties of contracting practices, namely, no formal contract, improvisational, normative, and formal contractual arrangements and underlines the context in which each approach applies. Research limitations/implications Similar to most studies in this area, the dissection of contracting practices derives from the exporter side of the dyad. This robs the research of a holistic view of the exchange. Nonetheless, this paper contributes to a better understanding of contract formation and formalization and to the role of context in shaping the activities of exporting SMEs. Practical implications Although formal contracts are vital, they are not obligatory in all exchanges. Contracts matter more for high intensity exporters with comparatively short relationship histories, selling knowledge-intensive products in predominantly non-relational cultures. Policymakers should highlight the importance of contracts in such contexts and direct SMEs to several freely available resources on cross-border contracting. Social implications The research casts fairness/equity and access to justice as pertinent structural disadvantages impacting the contracting practices of exporting SMEs. Originality/value According to the authors’ knowledge, this paper is among the first studies to provide an in-depth portrayal of the contracting practices of exporting SMEs, to detail the pervasiveness of non-contractual contracting practices and to depict contracting as nuanced and context-dependent.

Automated stocker system is widely used in semiconductor and liquid crystal display (LCD) industries for handling and storage of valuable wafers or glass panels. Massive front opening unified pods (foups) containing wafers, or cassettes storing glass panels, are placed in shelf stockers during manufacturing. Although several preventative measures have been taken, during the past earthquakes, substantial financial loss from the industries were reported, and one of the main causes was attributed to collision of the foups or cassettes and shake off from the shelfs. This paper proposes a methodology of incorporating viscous fluid dampers into the stokers to mitigate their seismic response. Unlike conventionally been done in buildings where dampers are placed between adjacent stories, it is proposed to install dampers in between the ceiling and top of the stocker. Such configuration utilizes the large velocity at the stocker top under vibration, resulting in smaller damper size, and enables a leverage mechanism that requires smaller damper force to resist the stocker’s vibration. Both shake table tests and simulation of a full-scale stocker under realistic earthquakes have been conducted. Results indicate that both displacement and acceleration responses of the stocker can be significantly reduced, and dynamic response of the stocker under seismic excitations can be well predicted.

Wrist-worn smart devices are being used to share various sensitive personal information in various fields such as social, medical treatment, sports, etc. Secure pairing establishing a trusted channel between involved devices is a prerequisite to ensure data transmission security. Handshake has been employed to realize secure pairing between devices worn by different users without pre-shared knowledge, the participation of third parties or complicated user interactions. However, existing schemes cannot meet the practical requirement in terms of time delay and security. In this paper, we present a secure and usable pairing scheme utilizing the handshake acceleration data. Specifically, we propose an optimal feature selection algorithm based on Euclidean distance sorting which improves the success rate and security of the system. In addition, we use Pearson correlation coefficient based feature sequence similarity measurement approach to enhance the accuracy of pairing scheme. Theoretical and experimental security analysis indicates that our solution can resist active and passive attacks. What’s more, the experimental results demonstrate that the proposed solution has a high key generation rate of 87 bits per second, and completes security pairing in less than 4 s.

In the IEEE S&P 2017, Ronen et al. exploited side-channel power analysis (SCPA) and approximately 5 000 power traces to recover the global AES-CCM key that Philip Hue lamps use to decrypt and authenticate new firmware. Based on the recovered key, the attacker could create a malicious firmware update and load it to Philip Hue lamps to cause Internet of Things (IoT) security issues. Inspired by the work of Ronen et al., we propose an AES-CCM-based firmware update scheme against SCPA and denial of service (DoS) attacks. The proposed scheme applied in IoT terminal devices includes two aspects of design (i.e., bootloader and application layer). Firstly, in the bootloader, the number of updates per unit time is limited to prevent the attacker from acquiring a sufficient number of useful traces in a short time, which can effectively counter an SCPA attack. Secondly, in the application layer, using the proposed handshake protocol, the IoT device can access the IoT server to regain update permission, which can defend against DoS attacks. Moreover, on the STM32F405+M25P40 hardware platform, we implement Philips’ and the proposed modified schemes. Experimental results show that compared with the firmware update scheme of Philips Hue smart lamps, the proposed scheme additionally requires only 2.35 KB of Flash memory and a maximum of 0.32 s update time to effectively enhance the security of the AES-CCM-based firmware update process.

Crane girder is subject to alternating load in long time, which makes it prone to fatigue and fracture. Vision deflection measurement has become an effective method for structural health monitoring. However, crane girder does not always exhibit high contrast feature and artificial markers have to be pasted. Existing artificial markers cannot perform well in poor light conditions and the accuracy is limited. In this paper, we design an anti-interference marker by pasting a film onto a circular surface light source. The marker allows the vision system to work well under different light conditions. In addition, the reduction of camera shake and sub-pixel technique have been studied to improve the accuracy. According to the characteristics of the marker, corresponding image processing algorithms are also studied. Firstly, the designed marker can suppress environmental interference even at long distances with a wireless module and a small aperture. Secondly, the center of the marker in the image can be calculated using a sub-pixel detection technique. Finally, a camera shake reduction method is applied by using multiple reference markers and scale conversion factors are taken into account to get the physical displacement. To verify the measurement results, two experiments were carried out using a digital dial gauge sensor and laser displacement sensor for comparison. The experimental results proved the robustness and high precision of the vision system.

A cable-stayed pedestrian bridge with an S-curved girder called Shake Hands Bridge is proposed. This type of bridge overturns the traditional notion of linearly constructed cable-stayed bridges. Ca...

Ekşi Sözlük is one of the most visited websites in Turkey. Registered users of the website share their knowledge about any topic. In this study, we collect the user entries on the topic of 20 earthquakes in Turkey and the surrounding area. Entries with city and district level information are converted to intensity values. Shake maps of the earthquakes are created by using a ground motion to intensity conversion equation. User entries and created shake maps are compared. It is found that entries correlate with the predicted intensities. It is also found that local soil conditions and building types have an amplifier effect on entries on the website. Several entries on the earthquake topics have magnitude estimations. The difference between predicted and observed intensities also varies with distance. Users are able to predict the magnitudes of the earthquakes with ±0.54 misfit. This study shows that Ekşi Sözlük has the potential to be a reliable source of macroseismic intensity for the earthquakes in Turkey if the felt reports are collected with a predetermined format.

The proximal composition, amino acids and fatty acid profile were determined in whole body of wild and captive southern hake (Merluccius australis) in order to evaluate the differences in nutrients content due to the nutritional quality of the feed consumed during broodstock conditioning of this species. Body composition of southern hake did not show significant differences in dry matter, protein or ash content between both studied groups. Conversely, lipid content was significantly higher in the whole body of captive fish compared to the wild fish. In addition, the concentration of linoleic, docosahexaenoic and eicosapentaenoic acids, showed significantly higher level in captive hake than the wild hake. Amino acids concentrations did not vary between fish, except threonine and taurine. Threonine concentration was higher in wild hake whereas taurine concentration was higher in captive hake. The results of this comparative study provide a better understanding of the effects of supplemented feed currently used to acclimate and maintain in captivity southern hake broodstock.

As robots begin to occupy our social spaces, touch will increasingly become part of human–robot interactions. This paper examines the impact of observing a robot touch a human on trust in that robot. In three online studies, observers watched short videos of human–robot interactions and provided a series of judgments about the robot, which either did or did not touch the human on the shoulder. Trust was measured using a recently introduced multi-dimensional instrument, which assesses people’s trust in a robot as being capable, reliable, sincere, and/or ethical. The first study showed that observed robot touch increased overall trust in the robot, especially for the sincere and ethical trust aspects, and led people to perceive the robot as more comforting, but also more inappropriate. A second study replicated the general pattern, even with a handshake preceding the touch; but in the context of the handshake the touch was seen as more inappropriate. A third study examined the joint impact of a handshake, touch, and information about the robot’s designed function. In the context of such information, observed touch was seen as even more inappropriate, which in turn decreased trust.

The fishing industry is an important economic sector in Namibia and South Africa, with the shallow-water hake Merluccius capensis being an important target species. Recent genetic studies of M. cap...

Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANETs) are emerging technologies with the primary purpose of establishing Vehicular communications. Available protocols for data dissemination in VANETs are faced with issues like discontinuous connections, uncertainty about receiving messages, collisions, and latency. In this paper, a new method is presented for the dissemination of advertising and infotainment messages. The proposed method has used store carry and forward (SCF), rateless coding, and a new handshake mechanism to solve discontinuous connections, uncertainty about receiving messages, and collision problems, respectively. In this paper, changing the Road Side Unit (RSU) message over time and its impact on the network is proposed as a new step in evaluating data dissemination methods. Our results showed that if changing the RSU message happened very rapidly, the network performance will almost be eliminated; to address this problem and due to the advertising nature of messages, the use of overhearing has been suggested. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that message overhearing has been used in VANET. Extensive and accurate simulations results show that the proposed method for 2, 3, 5, and 10 messages: (i) reduces the overhead of handshake on average 70% 63%, 48%, and 3%, (ii) increases the number of delivered packets on average 5%, 22%, 75%, and 84%, and (iii) increases the range of data dissemination on average 47%, 187%, 661%, and 2962%, respectively. With the mentioned improvements, the proposed method can also significantly reduce the latency of disseminating messages between vehicles.

This work presents a security analysis of the QUIC handshake protocol based on symbolic model checking. As a newly proposed secure transport protocol, the purpose of QUIC is to improve the transport performance of HTTPS traffic and enable rapid deployment and evolution of transport mechanisms. QUIC is currently in the IETF standardization process and will potentially carry a significant portion of Internet traffic in the emerging future. For a better understanding of the essential security properties, we have developed a formal model of the QUIC handshake protocol and perform a comprehensive formal security analysis by using two state-of-the-art model checking tools for cryptographic protocols, i.e., ProVeirf and Verifpal. Our analysis shows that ProVerif is generally more powerful than Verifpal in terms of verifying authentication properties. Moreover, both tools produce a counterexample to some security properties, which reveal a design flaw in the current protocol specification. Last but not least, we analyze the root causes of this counterexample and suggest a possible fix.

In this paper, a link-layer synchronization and medium access control (MAC) protocol for very-high-speed wireless communication networks in the THz band is presented. The protocol relies on a receiver-initiated handshake as a way to guarantee synchronization between transmitter and receiver. In addition, it incorporates a sliding window flow control mechanism, which combined with the one-way handshake, maximizes the channel utilization. Two different application scenarios are considered, namely, a macroscale scenario, in which nodes utilize turning directional antennas to periodically sweep the space while overcoming the distance problem at THz frequencies, and a nanoscale scenario, in which nano-nodes require energy harvesting systems to operate. A carrier-based physical layer is considered for the macro-scenario, whereas the physical layer for the nano-scenario is based on a femtosecond- long pulse-based modulation scheme with frame interleaving. The performance of the proposed MAC protocol is analytically investigated in terms of delay, throughput and successful packet transmission probability, and compared to that of an adapted Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance with and without handshake. The results are validated by means of extensive simulations with ns-3, in which all the necessary THz elements have been implemented. The results show that the proposed protocol can maximize the successful packet delivery probability without compromising the achievable throughput in THz-band communication networks.

Video prediction has developed rapidly after the booming of deep learning. As an important part of unsupervised representation learning, it plays an important role in anomalous behavior detection, autonomous driving, video games, and other fields. However, the prediction method based on optical flow estimation is susceptible to brightness change and camera shake, and it is difficult to predict occluded objects. While the prediction method based on pixel generation is difficult to fit ambiguous and complex scenes, which leads to a blurry prediction. In this work, we proposed an end-to-end video prediction framework that combines the optical flow estimation module with the pixel generation module by a learnable mask weight to predict high-fidelity videos. To further improve the prediction effect, we introduce adversarial training to the framework. We introduced a frame discriminator and a sequence discriminator to ensure the consistency of the spatio-temporal distribution of predicted video frames and real video frames. The results of experiments on challenging datasets demonstrate the practicability and effectiveness of our proposed video prediction framework. On the one hand, our proposed framework has achieved an equal quality compared with the current latest model, which requires fewer parameters and has a faster prediction speed. On the other hand, the results of ablation experiments demonstrate the effect of fusing different modules and the effectiveness of adversarial training.

Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks (WMSNs) have emerged as the new class of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) to meet the stringent Quality of Service (QoS) requirements of emerging applications. Multipath routing with cross-layer approach appears to be a potential solution for supporting the distinct characteristics of WMSNs. However, due to the broadcast nature of the underlying medium, multiple paths are exposed to inter-path interference. In addition, low-power wireless links are asymmetric, error-prone and unreliable in nature. Consequently, an accurate and stable link quality estimation is essential to guarantee the performance of routing protocol. This paper proposes Triangle link quality metric and minimum inter-path Interference based Geographic Multipath Routing (TIGMR) protocol which finds multiple node-disjoint paths in IEEE 802.15.4 compliant network. This cross-layer routing protocol selects forwarding node based on a triangle link quality metric, remaining energy, and distance while anticipating minimum adjacent path interference effect. In addition, TIGMR protocol avoids Hidden Node Problem (HNP) at the sink node without using Request-To-Send/Clear-To-Send (RTS/CTS) handshake mechanism. Simulation results indicate TIGMR protocol optimizes overall performance and improves network lifetime as compared with state-of-the-art Two-Phase Geographic Forwarding (TPGF) and Link Quality and Energy-Aware Routing (LQEAR) protocols.

Cloud computing provides solutions to a large number of organizations in terms of hosting systems and services. The services provided by cloud computing are broadly used for business and scientific applications. Business applications are task oriented applications and structured into business workflows. Whereas, scientific applications are data oriented and compute intensive applications and structured into scientific workflows. Scientific workflows are managed through scientific workflows management and scheduling systems. Recently, a significant amount of research is carried out on management and scheduling of scientific workflow applications. This study presents a comprehensive review on scientific workflows management and scheduling in cloud computing. It provides an overview of existing surveys on scientific workflows management systems. It presents a taxonomy of scientific workflow applications and characteristics. It shows the working of existing scientific workflows management and scheduling techniques including resource scheduling, fault-tolerant scheduling and energy efficient scheduling. It provides discussion on various performance evaluation parameters along with definition and equation. It also provides discussion on various performance evaluation platforms used for evaluation of scientific workflows management and scheduling strategies. It finds evaluation platforms used for the evaluation of scientific workflows techniques based on various performance evaluation parameters. It also finds various design goals for presenting new scientific workflow management techniques. Finally, it explores the open research issues that require attention and high importance.

It is often assumed that companies and consumers are on opposing ‘teams’. In reality, however, consumers and companies enjoy more commonalities than contradictions. Both benefit when deals go well and disputes are resolved quickly and cheaply. The problem is that face-toface dispute resolution can be costly in terms of time and money, and even dangerous in these times of COVID-19. Furthermore, getting lawyers is generally impractical and overly expensive in consumer cases. The solution is a well-designed online dispute resolution (ODR) system that harnesses business and consumer commonalities, and creates a win–win for all stakeholders in e-commerce disputes. That is not to say that ODR is the ‘be all and end all’ for e-commerce disputes. All ODR is not fair and efficient. Furthermore, the digital divide remains a concern and the internet undoubtedly generates vulnerabilities for consumers, but it also creates opportunities for consumer empowerment. The time is right to take advantage of those opportunities, and create a unified ODR system that provides fast and fair resolutions worldwide. This article discusses ideas for such a system to create a ‘new handshake’ that inspires trust in e-commerce.

Several studies found that the probiotic bacterias such as Lactobacillus acidophilus La5 and Bifidobacterium lactis Bb12 could prevent glycemia and control the blood lipid profiles. Currently, a probiotic product such as yogurt is not preferable by some consumers since the taste is sour. Therefore, this study was conducted to develop milkshakes supplemented by probiotics Lactobacillus acidophilus La5 and Bifidobacterium lactis Bb12 which are expected to be more acceptable and have a beneficial effect with the addition of prebiotics and soluble fiber glucomannan. This study aims to determine the effect of synbiotic shakes on fasting blood glucose levels and lipid profiles in hyperglycemia Wistar rat models. The study design was a pre-posttest controlled group with 48 male Wistar rats divided into 8 groups, namely the healthy control group (I); hyperglycemia control group (II); group III that received metformin; group IV that received synbiotic shake with La5 + FOS; group V that received synbiotic shake La5 + inulin; group VI that received synbiotic shake Bb12 + FOS; group VII that received synbiotic shake Bb12 + inulin; and group VIII that received synbiotic shake La5 + Bb12 + FOS. The dose of the intervention was 3.6 ml/day with an intervention duration of 28 days. The results showed that the differences in blood glucose levels were not significant (p> 0.05) except for groups IV and VI that experienced a significant increase (p

Objectives Few studies describe the impact of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) on recognizing and preventing diagnostic errors. Handshake stewardship (HS-ASP) is a novel ASP model that prospectively reviews hospital-wide antimicrobial usage with recommendations made in person to treatment teams. The purpose of this study was to determine if HS-ASP could identify and intervene on potential diagnostic errors for children hospitalized at a quaternary care children’s hospital. Methods Previously self-identified “Great Catch” (GC) interventions by the Children’s Hospital Colorado HS-ASP team from 10/2014 through 5/2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Each GC was categorized based on the types of recommendations from HS-ASP, including if any diagnostic recommendations were made to the treatment team. Each GC was independently scored using the “Safer Dx Instrument” to determine presence of diagnostic error based on a previously determined cut-off score of ≤1.50. Interrater reliability for the instrument was measured using a randomized subset of one third of GCs. Results During the study period, there were 162 GC interventions. Of these, 65 (40%) included diagnostic recommendations by HS-ASP and 19 (12%) had a Safer Dx Score of ≤1.50, (Κ=0.44; moderate agreement). Of those GCs associated with diagnostic errors, the HS-ASP team made a diagnostic recommendation to the primary treatment team 95% of the time. Conclusions Handshake stewardship has the potential to identify and intervene on diagnostic errors for hospitalized children.

Background and objectives The prevalence of fish allergy has increased in recent years. The parvalbumin Gad c 1 is a major cod allergen that is used as a follow-up marker in patients with fish allergy. Objectives: To determine the clinical and laboratory characteristics of a population of patients with fish allergy. To analyze the role of the specific IgE (sIgE) of recombinant Gad c 1 (rGad c 1) and skin prick tests (SPTs) in confirming the acquisition of tolerance to fish. Methods We performed a retrospective study of patients with fish allergy from July 1, 2005 to December 31, 2016. The population was characterized according to demographic data, species of fish associated with allergic reactions, and symptoms. The SPT wheal diameter and sIgE for fish and rGad c 1 were evaluated before acquisition of tolerance (T0) and afterwards (T1). Results The study population comprised 81 patients (68% male). Most reactions were triggered by hake (51%), mackerel (30%), and cod (26%). The most frequent manifestations were urticaria/angioedema (72%), gastrointestinal symptoms (35%), and eczema (33%); 42% of patients experienced anaphylaxis. At T0, the average sIgE values were as follows: cod, 32.2 kUA/L; sardine, 18.4 kUA/L; hake, 17.5 kUA/L; salmon, 13.9 kUA/L; tuna, 4.5 kUA/L; and rGad c 1, 22.9 kUA/L. In patients who acquired tolerance to at least 1 fish species (n=60; 74%), the mean value of rGad c 1 at T1 (5.1 kUA/L) was significantly lower than at T0 (16.8 kUA/L) (P=.001). Significant values were also recorded for the average diameter of the SPT wheal and the evaluations at T0 and T1 for hake (9.42 mm/3.79 mm) and salmon (7.8 mm/2.8 mm) (P=.002 and P=.026, respectively). Conclusion The decrease in sIgE to rGad c 1 and the mean wheal diameter of SPT for hake and salmon can be used as markers of prognosis in the acquisition of tolerance by fish-allergic patients.

IEEE 802.11p standard, operating over the 75-MHz spectrum at 5.9-GHz band with one control channel (CCH) and six service channels (SCHs), has been poised to provide V2X services over vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). However, due to the absence of central coordinator and the nature of high vehicular mobility, it is difficult to achieve reliable multichannel coordination and adaptive resource reservation to make full use of SCHs, resulting in dramatic throughput degradation. To mitigate this, in this article, we propose an adaptive high-throughput multichannel medium access control (MAC) protocol, namely, AHT-MAC, which can effectively handle the data transmissions over SCHs. With AHT-MAC, the data transmission range (TR) is adjusted according to the beacon TR over the CCH so that a transmitting node can determine proper communication candidates and prepare available resources for both communication nodes before transmissions. Moreover, the communication coordination is done through a two-way handshake. During the handshake, adaptive resource reservation is realized following the proposed resource sharing mechanism, where nodes first utilize as much resource as possible and then share them with others proactively. To increase the success probability of the communication handshake, a request conflict resolution mechanism is also designed to nullify improper handshakes. Therefore, AHT-MAC can reduce the resource wastage due to handshake failures and extra overheads for retransmission requests. Our performance analysis shows that AHT-MAC can significantly improve the system throughput and reduce the channel access period.

Enabling end-to-end secure communication is essential for many Internet-of-Things (IoT) application scenarios. Transport-layer security (TLS) and datagram TLS (DTLS) are the de-facto protocols for communication security in the IP-based IoT. However, the current authentication approaches of TLS are confronted with the heavy overhead and security issues in the resource-constrained IoT scenario. On the other hand, the identity-based cryptography (IBC) becomes an attractive cryptographic solution for the IoT. Unfortunately, the current IBC-based proposals exist the problem of either high communication latency or low level of security. In this article, we propose the first lightweight secure transport protocol called iTLS, which delivers protected data in the first flight with perfect forward secrecy, and provides implicit mutual authentication without certificates. iTLS dynamically generates identity-based early keys before receiving a server response, allowing clients to send the encrypted data without additional round trips. Furthermore, it employs the ephemeral secret ticket to obtain an ephemeral server key in the previous connection. Therefore, the early key established afterward can provide full forward secrecy. Design and implementation in the form of extension make iTLS fully compatible with TLS 1.3 and easy to be converted to a DTLS version. Our evaluation shows that iTLS reduces the network traffic overhead by at least 61.2%, and handshake latency on an ideal network by at least 60% compared to the certificate-based TLS. The results demonstrate iTLS achieves strong adaptability on the low-power and lossy IoT networks.

Background: Evaluation of the anterior neck anatomy is essential to identify the cricothyroid membrane (CTM) before invasive surgical airway. This study aimed to compare the accuracy of cricothyroid membrane identification done by digital palpation (DP) method and laryngeal handshake palpation (LHP).

Since mobile nodes such as autonomous underwater vehicles can effectively expand network coverage, underwater acoustic networks with mobile nodes have attracted more and more attention in recent years. To ensure the timely access of a mobile node without disturbing the normal transmission of data packets from static nodes, a sequence-scheduled and query-based medium access control protocol is proposed in this paper. The underwater nodes with data packets to be transmitted reply with a control packet for channel reservation after receiving the broadcast control packet of the buoy, then the reserved nodes transmit their data packets as the order calculated by the buoy. We develop a mechanism to adjust the transmission order of the control packets sent by the underwater nodes in the handshake phase to reduce the collision and guarantee the success rate of reservation, and a query is initiated when the reserved control packet of the mobile node is not received by the buoy in the handshake to respond to the data transmission request of the mobile node in time. Simulations show that the maximum nodal throughput of the proposed MAC protocol increases by at least 20% and the access delay of the mobile node decreases by about 90%, compared to the two reference protocols. Besides, the average access probability of the mobile node in the proposed protocol is more than 90%.

The top five products [Protein/Energy Bar, Chips/Snack Crackers, Protein Shake, Bread and Muffin] containing insect protein powder that US consumers (N = 1005) are willing to try.

Based on the analysis of the current distribution, the results of the molecular genetic study into the diversity of the mtDNA region (the first subunit of the cytochrome c oxidase I gene (COI)) in the samples of the blue hake Antimora rostrata and the Pacific flatnose A. microlepis, and the generalization of literature data on fossil records of morids (Moridae), a scheme for hypothetical spreading of these species in the oceans is presented.

With the aggravating trend of aging population in modern societies, Mobile Healthcare Social Network (MHSN) is an attracting platform for improving the life quality of elderly patients and offering mutual supports. In a sustainable MHSN system, one essential issue is to protect sensitive healthcare information while providing information-sharing for patients with multiple symptoms. To achieve multi-symptom matching and cross-domain communications for patients in MHSNs, we propose a new Secret Handshake scheme with Multi-Symptom intersection ( MSSH ), which is derived from a linear-complexity Authorized Private Set Intersection (APSI) based on Schnorr signature. In MSSH , two anonymous patients, who have registered with independent healthcare centers, are able to successfully execute an affiliation-hiding mutual anonymous authentication only if their target authentication policies are satisfied. The authentication policy demands that the designated healthcare center should be matched and the cardinality of their symptoms intersection is not less than a threshold value. Meanwhile, the symptoms outside of the set intersection remain confidential. The formal analysis proves MSSH is secure under the Random Oracle Model (ROM). The experimental results demonstrate that MSSH is efficient and feasible in MHSNs.

The TLS protocol is the main cryptographic protocol of the Internet. The work on its current version, TLS 1.3, was completed in 2018. This version differs significantly from the previous ones and has a clean-state design taking into account all modern principles of constructing secure cryptographic protocols. At the same time, even when there are security proofs in some fairly strong security model, it is important to explore the possibility of extending this model and then clarifying the security limits of the protocol. This work considers the restriction on the usage of post-handshake authentication in connections established with external PSK. We show that some vulnerability appears in the case of psk_ke mode (PSK-only key establishment) if more than one pair of entities can possess the same PSK. We provide several practical scenarios where this condition can be easily achieved. Also we propose appropriate mitigation to prevent this vulnerability.

Share contracts are the dominant remuneration system in artisanal fisheries. Introducing regulations based on collective use rights may affect the way profits are distributed. The literature on the effect of regulatory reform on factor income distribution, however, is scarce. In this paper, we look at differences in the implementation of the Extractive Artisanal Regime in Chilean hake artisanal fisheries to test its effect on share contracts. We estimated a switching regression model using census data to calculate the average treatment effect. Our results show that crewmembers in communities regulated by some form of collective use rights receive, on average, 6 per cent more of total net incomes compared to those regulated by a limited access with global quota regime. Differences in the relation between crew size and labor rewards, as well as in the negotiating power of crewmembers under different regimes, may explain the results.

The objectives of this research study were to know about the challenges/ issues to government high schools in District Bajaur, which causes exclusion of students from learning environment. The nature of the study was quantitative and the data was collected through questionnaire in Tehsil Mamund. The study identified that students of the study area are facing some problems like shortage of classrooms, non-availability of furniture, lack of clean water, not well qualified teachers, elevated student-teacher ratios and in sufficient teaching resources that causes low quality education among students and frequently transmits little or no authentic learning. Moreover, nepotism, favoritism and bribes relation both in cash and kind badly affect the education system of the study area. From the research study it was concluded that rather than to bring harmony in society through education it brings dissonance and imbalances. In light of the study it is recommended to Government for giving a friendly attention to this historical big problem in locale in traditional as well as cultural context or giving golden handshake opportunities to the aged and low qualified teachers. The politician religious clergies and welfare organization are also requested to sensitize the people of the area for this holy purpose in friendly environment.

Environmental conditions can have spatially complex effects on the dynamics of marine fish stocks that change across life-history stages. Yet the potential for non-stationary environmental effects across multiple dimensions, e.g. space and ontogeny, are rarely considered. In this study, we examined the evidence for spatial and ontogenetic non-stationary temperature effects on Pacific hakeMerluccius productusbiomass along the west coast of North America. Specifically, we used Bayesian additive models to estimate the effects of temperature on Pacific hake biomass distribution and whether the effects change across space or life-history stage. We found latitudinal differences in the effects of temperature on mature Pacific hake distribution (i.e. age 3 and older); warmer than average subsurface temperatures were associated with higher biomass north of Vancouver Island, but lower biomass offshore of Washington and southern Vancouver Island. In contrast, immature Pacific hake distribution (i.e. age 2) was better explained by a nonlinear temperature effect; cooler than average temperatures were associated with higher biomass coastwide. Together, our results suggest that Pacific hake distribution is driven by interactions between age composition and environmental conditions and highlight the importance of accounting for varying environmental effects across multiple dimensions.

Maintaining privacy on the Internet with the presence of powerful adversaries such as nation-state attackers is a challenging topic, and the Tor project is currently the most important tool to protect against this threat. The circuit construction protocol (CCP) negotiates cryptographic keys for Tor circuits, which overlay TCP/IP by routing Tor cells over n onion routers. The current circuit construction protocol provides strong security guarantees such as forward secrecy by exchanging 𝒪(n 2) messages. For several years it has been an open question if the same strong security guarantees could be achieved with less message overhead, which is desirable because of the inherent latency in overlay networks. Several publications described CCPs which require only 𝒪(n) message exchanges, but significantly reduce the security of the resulting Tor circuit. It was even conjectured that it is impossible to achieve both message complexity 𝒪(n) and forward secrecy immediately after circuit construction (so-called immediate forward secrecy). Inspired by the latest advancements in zero round-trip time key exchange (0-RTT), we present a new CCP protocol Tor 0-RTT (T0RTT). Using modern cryptographic primitives such as puncturable encryption allow to achieve immediate forward secrecy using only 𝒪(n) messages. We implemented these new primitives to give a first indication of possible problems and how to overcome them in order to build practical CCPs with 𝒪(n) messages and immediate forward secrecy in the future.

In-network middleboxes are vital for the Internet-of-Things (IoT) system security, but the widely adopted transport layer security (TLS) protocol blinds application-level middleboxes due to the encryption of traffic data. To resolve this problem, many solutions have been proposed to date. Among them, SplitTLS is widely adopted in the industry by proxy manufacturers. It requires TLS client to install customized root certificates and incurs additional security flaws, e.g., disabling server authentication and using weak cipher suites. Another approach is to customize the TLS protocol where middleboxes are enabled via either performing handshake directly with TLS endpoints or receiving session key materials in an out-of-band manner. Overall, current solutions would either jeopardize the original TLS handshake procedure or incur additional overheads on the endpoints. In this article, we design a new middlebox-enhanced TLS (ME-TLS), which enables endpoints to introduce authenticated middleboxes into a TLS session while control middleboxes’ access permission and processing order of traffic data. Particularly, in our proposed ME-TLS, the handshake structure of TLS keeps unchanged and middleboxes work in a passive manner. That is, middleboxes in the ME-TLS could recover session key materials by monitoring handshake messages passively instead of interacting with endpoints; secondary secure channels for key transmission are also not needed in our ME-TLS. We implement our ME-TLS based on the TLS 1.3 protocol and evaluate its performances. The experimental results demonstrate that our proposal is practical and deployable for real-world IoT scenarios.

HighlightsThree shaking methods and vibratory harvesting systems were evaluated and compared.Multi-year field evaluations were performed with up to six cultivars trained to formal architectures.The updated semi-automated system achieved the highest fruit removal efficiency and the best fruit quality.Abstract. Apple is the most economically important agricultural crop in Washington State. In 2018, Washington State produced ~3.3 billion kg of apple, accounting for approximately 63% of U.S. production. Fresh-market apple is currently harvested manually, requiring large numbers seasonal semi-skilled workers for a small harvest window. To overcome the increasing challenges of uncertain labor availability and raising labor costs, a promising mechanical harvesting system, using a targeted shake-and-catch approach, is under development at Washington State University. This study evaluated the system by analyzing its fruit harvest efficiency and fruit quality with three shaking methods, i.e., continuous non-linear, continuous linear, and intermittent linear shaking, on up to six apple cultivars trained to formal tree architectures. Results showed that intermittent linear shaking achieved 90% fruit removal efficiency for ‘Scifresh’ cultivar, while continuous linear shaking achieved only 63% removal efficiency for ‘Gala’. This study also compared three vibratory systems: a hand-held system, a hydraulically driven system, and a semi-automated hydraulic system. The semi-automated system achieved the highest fruit removal efficiency (90%), followed by the hand-held (87%) and hydraulic (84%) systems, mainly due to the different shaking methods employed. However, the differences were statistically insignificant. Fruit catching efficiency varied among the harvesting systems, with the hand-held system achieving the highest efficiency (97%), followed by the hydraulic (91%) and semi-automated (88%) systems. Among the three tested technologies, the prototype semi-automated system achieved the highest level of mechanization, as well as high fruit removal efficiency and the best fruit quality. Because the semi-automated system did not include an auto-positioning function, positioning its shaker head took about eight times longer (~103 s) than the actual shaking time (~13 s), which suggests that a fully automated system is desirable to further increase productivity. This study showed that the shake-and-catch approach has great potential for practical adoption in harvesting of fresh-market apple and therefore can have a positive economic impact on the U.S. apple industry. Keywords: Automation in apple production, Bulk mechanical harvest, Semi-automated system, Shaking method, Time efficiency.

In this article we test an Erlang implementation of the Noise Protocol Framework, using a novel form of white-box testing. We extend interoperability testing of an Erlang enoise implementation against an implementation of Noise in C. Testing typically performs a noise protocol handshake between the two implementations. If successful, then both implementations are somehow compatible. But this does, for example, not detect whether we reuse keys that have to be newly generated. Therefore we extend such operability testing: During the handshake the Erlang noise implementation is traced. The resulting protocol trace is refactored, obtaining as the end result a symbolic description (a functional term) of how key protocol values are constructed using cryptographic operations and keys. Therafter, this symbolic term is compared, using term rewriting, with a symbolic term representing the ideal symbolic execution of the tested noise protocol handshake (i.e., the "semantics" of the handshake). The semantic symbolic term is obtained by executing a symbolic implementation of the noise protocol that we have developed.

Cloud computing is one of the most prominent parallel and distributed computing paradigm. It is used for providing solution to a huge number of scientific and business applications. Large scale scientific applications which are structured as scientific workflows are evaluated through cloud computing. Scientific workflows are data-intensive applications, as a single scientific workflow may consist of hundred thousands of tasks. Task failures, deadline constraints, budget constraints and improper management of tasks can also instigate inconvenience. Therefore, provision of fault-tolerant techniques with data-oriented scheduling is an important approach for execution of scientific workflows in Cloud computing. Accordingly, we have presented enhanced data-oriented scheduling with Dynamic-clustering fault-tolerant technique (EDS-DC) for execution of scientific workflows in Cloud computing. We have presented data-oriented scheduling as a proposed scheduling technique. We have also equipped EDS-DC with Dynamic-clustering fault-tolerant technique. To know the effectiveness of EDS-DC, we compared its results with three well-known enhanced heuristic scheduling policies referred to as: (a) MCT-DC, (b) Max-min-DC, and (c) Min-min-DC. We considered scientific workflow of CyberShake as a case study, because it contains most of the characteristics of scientific workflows such as integration, disintegration, parallelism, and pipelining. The results show that EDS-DC reduced make-span of 10.9% as compared to MCT-DC, 13.7% as compared to Max-min-DC, and 6.4% as compared to Min-min-DC scheduling policies. Similarly, EDS-DC reduced the cost of 4% as compared to MCT-DC, 5.6% as compared to Max-min-DC, and 1.5% as compared to Min-min-DC scheduling policies. These results in respect of make-span and cost are highly significant for EDS-DC as compared with above referred three scheduling policies. The SLA is not violated for EDS-DC in respect of time and cost constraints, while it is violated number of times for MCT-DC, Max-min-DC, and Min-min-DC scheduling techniques.

With the widespread use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), the identification of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) VPN encrypted traffic has become an important issue. This paper first introduced SSL VPN encrypted traffic and analyzed the flow of its handshake protocol. Then, an improved fingerprint recognition algorithm was designed to identify SSL streams. Capsule Neural Network (CapsNet), an optimized convolutional neural network, was used to recognize SSL VPN. An experimental analysis was carried out on the ISCXVPN2016 dataset. It was found that the recognition accuracy of the proposed method reached up to 99.98% for SSL streams, and the convergence speed was high; the recognition precision reached 98.16%, and the recall rate reached 99.98% for SSL VPNs, both of which were better than the algorithms such as random forest (RF) and C4.5. The experimental results verify the effectiveness of the optimized recognition algorithm for SSL VPN recognition and make some contributions to its application in practice.