Steganography and Steganalysis : Different Approaches

Steganography is the technique of hiding confidential information within any media. Steganography is often confused with cryptography because the two are similar in the way that they both are used to protect confidential information. The difference between the two is in the appearance in the processed output; the output of steganography operation is not apparently visible but in cryptography the output is scrambled so that it can draw attention. Steganlysis is process to detect of presence of steganography. In this article we have tried to elucidate the different approaches towards implementation of steganography using ‘multimedia’ file (text, static image, audio and video) and Network IP datagram as cover. Also some methods of steganalysis will be discussed

e-Banking in India -Challenges and Opportunities

ABSTRACT E-banking i

Crowd guilds: Worker-led reputation and feedback on crowdsourcing platforms

Crowd workers are distributed and decentralized. While decentralization is designed to utilize independent judgment to promote high-quality results, it paradoxically undercuts behaviors and institutions that are critical to high-quality work. Reputation is one central example: crowdsourcing systems depend on reputation scores from decentralized workers and requesters, but these scores are notoriously inflated and uninformative. In this paper, we draw inspiration from historical worker guilds (e.g., in the silk trade) to design and implement crowd guilds: centralized groups of crowd workers who collectively certify each other’s quality through double-blind peer assessment. A two-week field experiment compared crowd guilds to a traditional decentralized crowd work model. Crowd guilds produced reputation signals more strongly correlated with ground-truth worker quality than signals available on current crowd working platforms, and more accurate than in the traditional model

The Daemo crowdsourcing marketplace

The success of crowdsourcing markets is dependent on a strong foundation of trust between workers and requesters. In current marketplaces, workers and requesters are often unable to trust each other’s quality, and their mental models of tasks are misaligned due to ambiguous instructions or confusing edge cases. This breakdown of trust typically arises from (1) flawed reputation systems which do not accurately reflect worker and requester quality, and from (2) poorly designed tasks. In this demo, we present how Boomerang and Prototype Tasks, the fundamental building blocks of the Daemo crowdsourcing marketplace, help restore trust between workers and requesters. Daemo’s Boomerang reputation system incentivizes alignment between opinion and ratings by determining the likelihood that workers and requesters will work together in the future based on how they rate each other. Daemo’s Prototype tasks require that new tasks go through a feedback iteration phase with a small number of workers so that requesters can revise their instructions and task designs before launch

Variable Scintillation Arcs of Millisecond Pulsars observed with the Large European Array for Pulsars

We present the first large sample of scintillation arcs in millisecond pulsars, analysing 12 sources observed with the Large European Array for Pulsars (LEAP), and the Effelsberg 100\,m telescope. We estimate the delays from multipath propagation, measuring significant correlated changes in scattering timescales over a 10-year timespan. Many sources show compact concentrations of power in the secondary spectrum, which in PSRs J0613$-$0200 and J1600$-$3053 can be tracked between observations, and are consistent with compact scattering at fixed angular positions. Other sources such as PSRs J1643$-$1224 and J0621+1002 show diffuse, asymmetric arcs which are likely related to phase-gradients across the scattering screen. PSR B1937+21 shows at least three distinct screens which dominate at different times and evidence of varying screen axes or multi-screen interactions. We model annual and orbital arc curvature variations in PSR J0613$-$0200, providing a measurement of the longitude of ascending node, resolving the sense of the orbital inclination, where our best fit model is of a screen with variable axis of anisotropy over time, corresponding to changes in the scattering of the source. Unmodeled variations of the screen's axis of anisotropy are likely to be a limiting factor in determining orbital parameters with scintillation, requiring careful consideration of variable screen properties, or independent VLBI measurements. Long-term scintillation studies such as this serve as a complementary tool to pulsar timing, to measure a source of correlated noise for pulsar timing arrays, solve pulsar orbits, and to understand the astrophysical origin of scattering screens.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS, first revision. 18 pages, 16 figure

From Bench to Bedside: Evaluation of AHCC Supplementation to Modulate the Host Immunity to Clear High-Risk Human Papillomavirus Infections

Objective: There is currently no effective medicine or supplement for clearance of high risk- human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infections. We have taken a systematic approach evaluating the potential use of AHCC supplementation to support clearance of HR-HPV infections. The primary objective of this research was to evaluate AHCC supplementation to modulation of the host immune system to clear HR-HPV infections from bench to bedside.Methods: Cervical cancer cells, CaSki (HPV16+), HeLa(HPV18+), SiHa(HPV16/18+), and C-33A(HPV−), were treated in vitro with AHCC 0.42 mg/mL daily x7 days then observed x7 days with daily sample collection. A confirmatory study in cervical cancer mouse models, SiHa(HPV16/18+) and C-33A(HPV−), was conducted: mice were divided into three groups per cell line then dosed with AHCC 50 mg/kg/d (N = 10), or vehicle alone (N = 10), or no supplementation (N = 10) for a total of 90 days followed by 30 days of observation. Tumors were measured 3x/week and blood samples collected bi-weekly to evaluate interferon (IFN) alpha(α), beta(β), and gamma(γ) and immunoglobulin G(IgG) by immunoassays. Tumors were evaluated for HR-HPV expression by PCR. Two pilot studies of 10 patients each were conducted in women with confirmed persistent HR-HPV+ infections. The 1st study evaluated AHCC 3g from 5 weeks up to 6 months and 2nd study evaluated AHCC 1g < 8 months. HR-HPV DNA status and the immune panel were monitored at each visit.Results: HR-HPV clearance was observed in vitro and confirmed in the animal studies as a durable response. Four of six (66.7%) patients had confirmed HR-HPV clearance after 3–6 months of AHCC 3g. Similarly, 4 of 9 (44%) patients had confirmed HR-HPV clearance after 7 months of AHCC 1g. Suppression of IFNβ <25 pg/mL was observed in those clearing the HR-HPV infection.Conclusion: Pre-clinical in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated durable clearance of HR-HPV infections. The preliminary data from the two pilot studies suggested that AHCC supplementation supports the host immune system for successful clearance of HR-HPV infections. A confirmatory phase II randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study is ongoing