Computer control of an HF chirp radar

This thesis describes the interfacing of an IBM compatible microcomputer to a BR Communications chirp sounder. The need for this is twofold: Firstly for control of the sounder including automatic scheduling of operations, and secondly for data capture. A signal processing card inside the computer performs a Fast Fourier Transform on the sampled data from two phase matched receivers. The transformed data is then transferred to the host computer for further processing, display and storage on hard disk or magnetic tape, all in real time. Critical timing functions are provided by another card in the microcomputer, the timing controller. Built by the author, the design and operation of this sub-system is discussed in detail. Additional circuitry is required to perform antenna and filter switching, and a possible design thereof is also presented by the author. The completed system, comprising the chirp sounder, the PC environment, and the signal switching circuitry, has a dual purpose. It can operate as either a meteor radar, using a fixed frequency (currently 27,99 MHz), or as an advanced chirp ionosonde allowing frequency sweeps from 1,6 to 30 MHz. In the latter case fixed frequency doppler soundings are also possible. Examples of data recorded in the various modes are given

Automated and Effective Security Testing for XML-based Vulnerabilities

Nowadays, the External Markup Language (XML) is the most commonly used technology in web services for enabling service providers and consumers to exchange data. XML is also widely used to store data and configuration files that control the operation of software systems. Nevertheless, XML suffers from several well-known vulnerabilities such as XML Injections (XMLi). Any exploitation of these vulnerabilities might cause serious and undesirable consequences, e.g., denial of service and accessing or modifying highly-confidential data. Fuzz testing techniques have been investigated in the literature to detect XMLi vulnerabilities. However, their success rate tends to be very low since they cannot generate complex test inputs required for the detection of these vulnerabilities. Furthermore, these approaches are not effective for real-world complex XML-based enterprise systems, which are composed of several components including front-end web applications, XML gateway/firewall, and back-end web services. In this dissertation, we propose several automated security testing strategies for detecting XML-based vulnerabilities. In particular, we tackle the challenges of security testing in an industrial context. Our proposed strategies, target various and complementary aspects of security testing for XML-based systems, e.g., test case generation for XML gateway/firewall. The development and evaluation of these strategies have been done in close collaboration with a leading financial service provider in Luxembourg/Switzerland, namely SIX Payment Services (formerly known as CETREL S.A.). SIX Payment Services processes several thousand financial transactions daily, providing a range of financial services, e.g., online payments, issuing of credit and debit cards. The main research contributions of this dissertation are: -A large-scale and systematic experimental assessment for detecting vulnerabilities in numerous widely-used XML parsers and the underlying systems using them. In particular, we targeted two common XML parser’s vulnerabilities: (i) XML Billion Laughs (BIL), and (ii) XML External Entities (XXE). - A novel automated testing approach, that is based on constraint-solving and input mutation techniques, to detect XMLi vulnerabilities in XML gateway/firewall and back-end web services. - A black-box search-based testing approach to detect XMLi vulnerabilities in front-end web applications. Genetic algorithms are used to search for inputs that can manipulate the application to generate malicious XML messages. - An in-depth analysis of various search algorithms and fitness functions, to improve the search-based testing approach for front-end web applications. - Extensive evaluations of our proposed testing strategies on numerous real-world industrial web services, XML gateway/firewall, and web applications as well as several open-source systems

Earth observations division Earth resources data analysis capabilities

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Combining SOA and BPM Technologies for Cross-System Process Automation

This paper summarizes the results of an industry case study that introduced a cross-system business process automation solution based on a combination of SOA and BPM standard technologies (i.e., BPMN, BPEL, WSDL). Besides discussing major weaknesses of the existing, custom-built, solution and comparing them against experiences with the developed prototype, the paper presents a course of action for transforming the current solution into the proposed solution. This includes a general approach, consisting of four distinct steps, as well as specific action items that are to be performed for every step. The discussion also covers language and tool support and challenges arising from the transformation

Computational investigations of copper oxides for solar cell applications

Photovoltaic (PV) technology which makes use of the superabundant and freely available Sun’s energy to generate electricity has obvious economic, environmental and societal benefits. However, to achieve significant market penetration PV devices have to be efficient and composed of cheap and readily available material. Semiconducting copper oxide compounds are formed from comparatively inexpensive and non-toxic elements, emerge in abundant quantities, demonstrate ease of fabrication and are environmentally friendly – which makes them attractive for large-scale PV applications. Using quantum mechanical theoretical calculations based on density functional theory (DFT), distinct copper oxide compounds were investigated to asses, quantify, revise and boost their overall PV potential. First, the search for a set of unique parameters that would describe all three oxides of copper (Cu2O, Cu4O3, and CuO) simultaneously at a desired accuracy was undertaken. On top of that, the usual metric, upon which PV absorbers are addressed as suitable or not, was extended in order to include simulated absorption spectra as well as selection rules besides the commonly employed electronic band gap value. Using a hybrid-DFT approach, first row transition metal extrinsic dopants were introduced substitutionally on the cation site in Cu2O. Furthermore, additional vacancies in the proximity of the dopant site were included in order to match the experimentally observed natural presence of copper vacancies. This has lead to an increase in the overall PV conversion efficiencies of Cu2O, which is one of the key factors when a material is sought for real time applications. The occurrence of intrinsic defects in a material was proven crucial for its longlasting and stable performance. After validating the computational parameters used within DFT against available experimental values for the ground state of CuO and Cu4O3, the energetics of intrinsic defects materializing in both compounds were found and proven to be in good agreement with available experimental data

Data catalog of satellite experiments

The availability of space science data, a description of the data, and a description of the services supplied by the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) is presented. A series of cumulative indexes that reference the data descriptions contain: (1) a chronological listing of all spacecraft, experiments, and data descriptions; (2) an index of all spacecraft described, identified by common names and alternate names; (3) a listing of the original experiment institutions for experiments described; (4) a listing of the investigators associated with the experiments and their current affiliations; and (5) two displays of information about experiment data coverage for fields and particle data and a listing of all experiments sorted by phenomenon measured

Breeding Innovations in Underutilized Temperate Fruit Trees

The recent growing interest in minor species (i.e., fig, pomegranate, feijoa, etc.) has recently driven new research on breeding and genetics to address producer and consumer traits. Since these species have received little attention from the scientific community, they were less improved via conventional breeding, and lacked detailed genomic information on important traits. This lack of data, together with a general poor genetic knowledge of these species, has limited a wider cultivation of varieties with improved characteristics. For these reasons, and with the objective to increase the interest of scientists, farmers, and consumers for these fruits, this Research Topic “Breeding Innovations in Underutilized Temperate Fruit Trees” comprises biochemical, morphological, and genetic studies on some minor species regarding fruit trait variation, resistance, evolution, or sex determination. In this context, Marcotuli et al. examined the mechanisms behind the bud evolution toward breba or main crop in fig (Ficus carica L.), since this aspect remains unclear. The X-ray images of buds showed a great structural similarity between breba and the main crop during the initial stages of development, but breba inflorescence differentiation was completed in two seasons whereas that of main crop started at the end of winter and was completed within 2–3 months in the same season. The higher expression of floral homeotic protein AGAMOUS in breba compared to the main crop may indicate a role of these fruits on staminate flowers’ production for pollination of the main crop, as profichi act in the caprifig. Within the same species (Ficus carica L.) and for sexual determination, Ikegami et al. analyzed the FcRAN1 gene (during a breeding program for the selection of female plants) strongly associated with the sex phenotype. A male-biased segregation ratio distortion was obtained in 12 F1 populations, suggesting some genetic factor(s) affecting it. A comparison between the annotated genes and the genes required for normal embryo or gametophyte development and function identified several candidate genes responsible for the segregation distortion in fig. Following the same topic, Wang et al. hypothesized an early sex-identification method to improve breeding efficiency. The use of a deletion as a forward primer, a newly established AG-Marker, was as accurate as the RAN1-Marker, and provided the identification of male plants, giving new clues to understanding Ficus sex determination. Moving toward another attracting species, i.e., pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), Trainin et al. investigated the black peel color of some pomegranate varieties. Biochemical analysis revealed that delphinidin is highly abundant in the peel of black varieties and the pattern of anthocyanin accumulation is different from that of other pomegranates with red or pink colors of the peel. Genetic analysis of an F2 population segregating for the black phenotype revealed that it is determined by a single recessive gene. Pomegranate was also studied by Goudappa Patil et al. with regards to the SSR of “Tunisia” pomegranate variety. There was a positive trend in chromosome length and the SSR abundance, as marker density, enhanced with a shorter chromosome length. Examination of the distribution of SSR motif types within a chromosome suggested the abundance of hexanucleotide repeats in each chromosome followed by dinucleotides. A comprehensive set of highly polymorphic genome-wide SSRs was successively developed and tested. These chromosome-specific SSRs could serve as a powerful genomic tool to leverage future genetic studies, germplasm management, and genomics-assisted breeding in pomegranate varieties. Some evolutionary aspects of pear were investigated by Kumar et al. who put a light on runs of homozygosity (ROH) in self-incompatible plants, in particular Asian pears, European pears, and interspecific hybrids using genotyping-by-sequencing. The observed ROH patterns suggested that systematic breeding of European pears would have started earlier than Asian pears. Fruit trait variation in Persian walnut (Juglans regia L.) was addressed by Bernard et al. who conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using multi-locus models in a panel of 170 accessions of J. regia to elucidate the genetic determinants of fruit quality traits in walnut toward the breeding of new varieties. The authors proposed several candidate genes involved in nut characteristics, such as a gene coding for a beta-galactosidase linked to several size-related traits and known to also be involved in fruit development in other species. With regards of fruit traits, Kyratzis et al. investigated the germplasm of an ancient species, the carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.), on the island of Cyprus. The domestic germplasm varies both in terms of pod morphology and composition, reflecting the genetic and physiological characteristics of both grafted and non-grafted accessions, and possibly the impact of agro-environmental conditions. Morphological traits, such as seeds-to-pod weight ratio, pod width, and thickness, were principally under genetic control. Contrarily, chemical compounds, particularly total phenolic content, including condensed tannins, in vitro antioxidant capacity, and to a lesser extent gallic acid, organic acids, sugars (glucose and fructose), and minerals were more under agro-environmental control. In the Southern Hemisphere, Quezada et al. worked on feijoa (Acca sellowiana Berg.), a fruit tree species native to Uruguay and Brazil. A high-density composite genetic linkage map of feijoa was constructed using two genetically populations. Genotyping by sequencing (GBS) approach was successfully applied for developing single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. They used both the reference genome of the closely related species Eucalyptus grandis and a de novo pipeline to construct a composite map. A novel approach for the construction of composite maps where the meiosis information of individuals of two connected populations is captured in a single estimator is described. The topic of resistance was carried out by Alves et al. in order to find sources of genetic resistance to Huanglongbing (HLB)-associated “Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus” (Las), one of the most destructive diseases of citrus. Some genotypes from subtribe Citrinae, sexually incompatible but graft-compatible with Citrus, may provide new rootstocks able to restrict bacterial titer in the canopy. Authors tested for Las resistance a wide collection of graft-compatible Citrinae species using an aggressive and consistent challenge-inoculation and evaluation procedure. Eremocitrus glauca and Papua/New Guinea Microcitrus species as well as their hybrids resulted in full resistance, opening the way for using these underutilized genotypes as Las resistance sources in breeding programs

Organic Conductors

This collection of articles focuses on different aspects of the study of organic conductors. Recent progress in both theoretical and experimental studies is covered in this Special Issue. Papers on a wide variety of studies are categorized into representative topics of chemistry and physics. Besides classical studies on the crystalline organic conductors, applied studies on semiconducting thin films and a number of new topics shared with inorganic materials are also discussed