A Method for Obtaining Electronic Voting Systems based Voter Confidentiality and Voting Accuracy

A Voting is common in our daily life, from electing president to electing committee. A complete electronic voting scheme suitable for all kinds of voting with safe guaranty where the voter?s privacy can be protected. Fingerprint system security have been investigated, including the use of fake fingerprints for masquerading identity, the problem of fingerprint alteration or obfuscation has received very little attention. Fingerprint image quality assessment software (e.g., NFIQ) cannot always detect altered fingerprints since the implicit image quality due to alteration may not change significantly. The main contributions of this Research are-1.Compiling case studies of incidents where individuals were found to have altered their fingerprints for circumventing AFIS.2.Identifying the damages of fingerprint alteration on the accuracy of a commercial fingerprint matcher.3.Classifying the alterations into three major categories and suggesting possible countermeasures.4.Developing a technique to automatically detect altered fingerprints based on analyzing orientation field and minutiae distribution.5.Evaluating the proposed technique and the NFIQ algorithm on a big database of altered fingerprints provided by a law enforcement agency. Experimental results show the feasibility of the proposed approach in detecting altered fingerprints and highlight the need to further pursue this problem

Biometric Systems

Because of the accelerating progress in biometrics research and the latest nation-state threats to security, this book's publication is not only timely but also much needed. This volume contains seventeen peer-reviewed chapters reporting the state of the art in biometrics research: security issues, signature verification, fingerprint identification, wrist vascular biometrics, ear detection, face detection and identification (including a new survey of face recognition), person re-identification, electrocardiogram (ECT) recognition, and several multi-modal systems. This book will be a valuable resource for graduate students, engineers, and researchers interested in understanding and investigating this important field of study

Authentication technology methods for E-Commerce applications in Nigeria — a case for biometric digital security contactless palm vein authentication

E-Commerce has become one of the most interesting and beneficial Internet-enabled systems for humanity. E-Commerce has served as an economic enabler and driver for developed countries because of the total adoption by their citizens. However, in Nigeria citizens have rejected E-Commerce due to a lack of trust and inadequate security. This research identifies several factors that lead to distrust of E-Commerce systems in Nigeria. These factors: perceived fear, security, perceived risk, trust, usability, perceived advantage, and use of web assurance seal services are very important for intention to adopt E-Commerce as an online transaction technology. This thesis uses a novel Design Fiction and E-Commerce website simulation methodology to show citizens how new and improved security in E-Commerce could increase those citizens' trust and thus increase their intention to adopt E-Commerce. The research surveys a broad demographic sample of citizens from Nigeria who completed a set of tasks associated with the novel Design Fiction and E-Commerce website simulation followed by a detailed questionnaire. The questionnaire, with associated items, was designed to answer the research questions and hypothesis based on the E-Commerce Adoption Model proposed in the thesis. This new E-Commerce Adoption model is based on the Technology Acceptance Model and uses to comparatively test Digital Signature, Finger Print Identification, and Contactless Palm Vein Authentication technologies in E-Commerce transactions. Results from the survey show that Contactless Palm Vein Authentication leads to greater trust in E-Commerce in Nigeria. The thesis research findings also indicate that new improved security authentication techniques are overdue. The research indicates that poor E-Commerce adoption in Nigeria is mainly due to a key identified factor, which is security. The conceptual model and trust model are developed for E-Commerce adoption in Nigeria. Therefore, it shows that citizens are willing to accept Contactless Palm Vein Authentication as a solution. In particular, the research results also show that there are strong relationships between all the identified factors and citizens’ intention to adopt E-Commerce in Nigeria thus rejecting all null hypotheses

Quantification of appetite-regulating hormones in children with hypothalamic and common obesity

Background. Current understanding of the appetite-regulating neuroendocrine circuitry remains incomplete, and efficacious treatments for both common and hypothalamic obesity (HyOb) are lacking. Concurrently, the expanded role of oxytocin (OXT) in energy homeostasis and human behaviour is beginning to be understood. Objectives. To optimise and translate an OXT enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to elucidate whether there were any unique differences in the plasma endocrine milieu in patients with HyOb. Methods. Optimisation work was carried out using EIAs with polyclonal and monoclonal secondary antibodies. Obese (BMI>+2 SDS) and lean (BMI≤+2 SDS) children with (HyOb and HyLean) and without (Ob and Lean) hypothalamic disorders (septo-optic dysplasia or suprasellar tumours) were phenotyped using the Dykens’ Hyperphagia Questionnaire Score (DHQS). Plasma concentrations of leptin, insulin, OXT, BDNF, αMSH, acylated ghrelin, AgRP and copeptin were measured. Results. Solid phase extraction demonstrated markedly variable OXT recovery, and potentially increased rather than decreased interference. A polyclonal secondary antibody-containing EIA showed significant cross-reactivity with several peptides in human plasma compared to a monoclonal secondary antibody-containing EIA. Of the 122 children recruited (50 HyOb, 29 HyLean, 24 Ob, 19 Lean, mean age 11.3±3.9 years) there were no differences in DHQS or hormone concentrations between HyOb and Ob groups. Obesity was associated with compensatorily increased leptin and insulin, and decreased ghrelin and AgRP concentrations. More rapidly increasing BMI was independently associated with a younger age and lower plasma αMSH concentrations. OXT concentrations did not show any correlation with BMI or DHQS. Conclusion. The use of plasma extraction processes and EIAs in the literature needs re-examination. The plasma endocrine milieu in HyOb vs. common obesity does not differ, with a compensatory increase in anorexigens and decrease in orexigens. Lower plasma αMSH was associated with more rapid weight gain, suggesting that MC4R agonists may be a therapeutic option in all forms of obesity

Evaluation of PD-L1 expression in various formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tumour tissue samples using SP263, SP142 and QR1 antibody clones

Background & objectives: Cancer cells can avoid immune destruction through the inhibitory ligand PD-L1. PD-1 is a surface cell receptor, part of the immunoglobulin family. Its ligand PD-L1 is expressed by tumour cells and stromal tumour infltrating lymphocytes (TIL). Methods: Forty-four cancer cases were included in this study (24 triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC), 10 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 10 malignant melanoma cases). Three clones of monoclonal primary antibodies were compared: QR1 (Quartett), SP 142 and SP263 (Ventana). For visualization, ultraView Universal DAB Detection Kit from Ventana was used on an automated platform for immunohistochemical staining Ventana BenchMark GX. Results: Comparing the sensitivity of two different clones on same tissue samples from TNBC, we found that the QR1 clone gave higher percentage of positive cells than clone SP142, but there was no statistically significant difference. Comparing the sensitivity of two different clones on same tissue samples from malignant melanoma, the SP263 clone gave higher percentage of positive cells than the QR1 clone, but again the difference was not statistically significant. Comparing the sensitivity of two different clones on same tissue samples from NSCLC, we found higher percentage of positive cells using the QR1 clone in comparison with the SP142 clone, but once again, the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The three different antibody clones from two manufacturers Ventana and Quartett, gave comparable results with no statistically significant difference in staining intensity/ percentage of positive tumour and/or immune cells. Therefore, different PD-L1 clones from different manufacturers can potentially be used to evaluate the PD- L1 status in different tumour tissues. Due to the serious implications of the PD-L1 analysis in further treatment decisions for cancer patients, every antibody clone, staining protocol and evaluation process should be carefully and meticulously validated

Nostratic Dictionary

A revised edition can be found at http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/244080.Aharon Dolgopolsky is the leading authority on the Nostratic macrofamily. His 'Nostratic Dictionary' presented here is, of course, something very much more than a dictionary. It is the most thorough and extensive demonstration and documentation so far of what may be termed the Nostratic hypothesis: that several of the world's best- known language families are related in their origin, their grammar and their lexicon, and that they belong together in a larger unit, of earlier origin, the Nostratic macrofamily. It should at once be noted that several elements of this enterprise are controversial. For while the Nostratic hypothesis has many supporters, it has been criticized on rather fundamental grounds by a number of distinguished linguists. The matter was reviewed some years ago in a symposium held at the McDonald Institute, and positions remain very much polarized. It was a result of that meeting that the decision was taken to invite Aharon Dolgopolsky to publish his Dictionary - a much more substantial treatise than any work hitherto undertaken on the subject - at the McDonald Institute. For it became clear that the diversities of view expressed at that symposium were not likely to be resolved by further polemical exchanges. Instead, a substantial body of data was required, whose examination and evaluation could subsequently lead to more mature judgments. Those data are presented here, and that more mature evaluation can now proceed.McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio