432 research outputs found
Plant Genetics and Biotechnology in Biodiversity
Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) have been collected and exchanged for centuries. The rapid development of novel tools for genetic and phenotypic analysis is changing the way we can uncover diversity and exploit its value in modern agriculture. The integration of novel analytical tools is crucial for translating research into much-needed, more efficient management and use of PGRFA. This Special Issue provides an overview of recent topics on plant genetics and biotechnology in biodiversity. The proposed reviews and research papers present current trends and examples of genetic resources’ description, conservation, management, and exploitation, highlighting that new approaches and methodogies can increase our understanding and efficient use of PGRFA to address the agricultural challenges that lie ahead
Recent Developments in Smart Healthcare
Medicine is undergoing a sector-wide transformation thanks to the advances in computing and networking technologies. Healthcare is changing from reactive and hospital-centered to preventive and personalized, from disease focused to well-being centered. In essence, the healthcare systems, as well as fundamental medicine research, are becoming smarter. We anticipate significant improvements in areas ranging from molecular genomics and proteomics to decision support for healthcare professionals through big data analytics, to support behavior changes through technology-enabled self-management, and social and motivational support. Furthermore, with smart technologies, healthcare delivery could also be made more efficient, higher quality, and lower cost. In this special issue, we received a total 45 submissions and accepted 19 outstanding papers that roughly span across several interesting topics on smart healthcare, including public health, health information technology (Health IT), and smart medicine
Information Leakage Attacks and Countermeasures
The scientific community has been consistently working on the pervasive problem of information leakage, uncovering numerous attack vectors, and proposing various countermeasures. Despite these efforts, leakage incidents remain prevalent, as the complexity of systems and protocols increases, and sophisticated modeling methods become more accessible to adversaries. This work studies how information leakages manifest in and impact interconnected systems and their users. We first focus on online communications and investigate leakages in the Transport Layer Security protocol (TLS). Using modern machine learning models, we show that an eavesdropping adversary can efficiently exploit meta-information (e.g., packet size) not protected by the TLS’ encryption to launch fingerprinting attacks at an unprecedented scale even under non-optimal conditions. We then turn our attention to ultrasonic communications, and discuss their security shortcomings and how adversaries could exploit them to compromise anonymity network users (even though they aim to offer a greater level of privacy compared to TLS). Following up on these, we delve into physical layer leakages that concern a wide array of (networked) systems such as servers, embedded nodes, Tor relays, and hardware cryptocurrency wallets. We revisit location-based side-channel attacks and develop an exploitation neural network. Our model demonstrates the capabilities of a modern adversary but also presents an inexpensive tool to be used by auditors for detecting such leakages early on during the development cycle. Subsequently, we investigate techniques that further minimize the impact of leakages found in production components. Our proposed system design distributes both the custody of secrets and the cryptographic operation execution across several components, thus making the exploitation of leaks difficult
Breeding Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] for drought tolerance and medium-maturity.
Doctor of Philosophy in Plant Breeding. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2017.Abstract available in PDF file
Legume Genetics and Biology
Legumes have played an important part as human food and animal feed in cropping systems since the dawn of agriculture. The legume family is arguably one of the most abundantly domesticated crop plant families. Their ability to symbiotically fix nitrogen and improve soil fertility has been rewarded since antiquity and makes them a key protein source. Pea was the original model organism used in Mendel´s discovery of the laws of inheritance, making it the foundation of modern plant genetics. This book based on Special Issue provides up-to-date information on legume biology, genetic advances, and the legacy of Mendel
Framework for Automatic Identification of Paper Watermarks with Chain Codes
Title from PDF of title page viewed May 21, 2018Dissertation advisor: Reza DerakhshaniVitaIncludes bibliographical references (pages 220-235)Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Computing and Engineering. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2017In this dissertation, I present a new framework for automated description, archiving, and
identification of paper watermarks found in historical documents and manuscripts. The early
manufacturers of paper have introduced the embedding of identifying marks and patterns as a sign
of a distinct origin and perhaps as a signature of quality. Thousands of watermarks have been
studied, classified, and archived. Most of the classification categories are based on image similarity
and are searchable based on a set of defined contextual descriptors. The novel method presented
here is for automatic classification, identification (matching) and retrieval of watermark images
based on chain code descriptors (CC). The approach for generation of unique CC includes a novel
image preprocessing method to provide a solution for rotation and scale invariant representation
of watermarks. The unique codes are truly reversible, providing high ratio lossless compression,
fast searching, and image matching. The development of a novel distance measure for CC
comparison is also presented. Examples for the complete process are given using the recently
acquired watermarks digitized with hyper-spectral imaging of Summa Theologica, the work of
Antonino Pierozzi (1389 – 1459). The performance of the algorithm on large datasets is
demonstrated using watermarks datasets from well-known library catalogue collections.Introduction -- Paper and paper watermarks -- Automatic identification of paper watermarks -- Rotation, Scale and translation invariant chain code -- Comparison of RST_Invariant chain code -- Automatic identification of watermarks with chain codes -- Watermark composite feature vector -- Summary -- Appendix A. Watermarks from the Bernstein Collection used in this study -- Appendix B. The original and transformed images of watermarks -- Appendix C. The transformed and scaled images of watermarks -- Appendix D. Example of chain cod
RFID Technology in Intelligent Tracking Systems in Construction Waste Logistics Using Optimisation Techniques
Construction waste disposal is an urgent issue
for protecting our environment. This paper proposes a
waste management system and illustrates the work
process using plasterboard waste as an example, which
creates a hazardous gas when land filled with household
waste, and for which the recycling rate is less than 10%
in the UK. The proposed system integrates RFID
technology, Rule-Based Reasoning, Ant Colony
optimization and knowledge technology for auditing
and tracking plasterboard waste, guiding the operation
staff, arranging vehicles, schedule planning, and also
provides evidence to verify its disposal. It h relies on
RFID equipment for collecting logistical data and uses
digital imaging equipment to give further evidence; the
reasoning core in the third layer is responsible for
generating schedules and route plans and guidance, and
the last layer delivers the result to inform users. The
paper firstly introduces the current plasterboard
disposal situation and addresses the logistical problem
that is now the main barrier to a higher recycling rate,
followed by discussion of the proposed system in terms
of both system level structure and process structure.
And finally, an example scenario will be given to
illustrate the system’s utilization
- …