Authorized and rogue device discrimination using dimensionally reduced RF-DNA fingerprints for security purposes in wireless communication systems

La nature des réseaux de capteurs sans fil comme ZigBee, permettant la communication entre différents types de nœuds du réseau, les rend très vulnérables à divers types de menaces. Dans différentes applications des technologies sans fil modernes comme SmartHome, les informations privées et sensibles produites par le réseau peuvent être transmises au monde extérieur par des moyens filaires ou sans fil. Outre les avantages offerts, cette intégration augmentera certainement les exigences en matière de protection des communications. Les nœuds capteurs du réseau étant souvent placés à proximité d'autres appareils, le réseau peut être plus vulnérable aux attaques potentielles. Cette recherche de doctorat a pour but d'utiliser les attributs natifs distincts de radiofréquence RF-DNA sécurisés produits par le processus d'empreinte numérique dans le but de fournir un support de communication sans fil sécurisé pour les communications de réseau ZigBee. Ici, nous visons à permettre une discrimination d'appareil en utilisant des préambules physiques (PHY) extraits des signaux émis pas de différents appareils. Grâce à cette procédure, nous pouvons établir une distinction entre différents appareils produits par différents fabricants ou par le même fabricant. Dans un tel cas, nous serons en mesure de fournir aux appareils des identifications physiques de niveau binaire non clonables qui empêchent l'accès non autorisé des appareils non autorisés au réseau par la falsification des identifications autorisées.The nature of wireless networks like ZigBee sensors, being able to provide communication between different types of nodes in the network makes them very vulnerable to various types of threats. In different applications of modern wireless technologies like Smart Home, private and sensitive information produced by the network can be conveyed to the outside world through wired or wireless means. Besides the advantages, this integration will definitely increase the requirements in the security of communications. The sensor nodes of the network are often located in the accessible range of other devices, and in such cases, a network may face more vulnerability to potential attacks. This Ph.D. research aims to use the secure Radio Frequency Distinct Native Attributes (RF-DNA) produced by the fingerprinting process to provide a secure wireless communication media for ZigBee network device communications. Here, we aim to provide device discrimination using Physical (PHY) preambles extracted from the signal transmitted by different devices. Through this procedure, we are able to distinguish between different devices produced by different manufacturers, or by the same one. In such cases, we will be able to provide devices with unclonable physical bit-level identifications that prevent the unauthorized access of rogue devices to the network through the forgery of authorized devices' identifications

Recovery Strategies to Sustain Religious Tourism Post-COVID-19: Evidence from Iran

Religious tourism, as one of the most significant types of tourism, is among the most seriously affected economic sectors worldwide as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This study sought to identify and prioritise the strategies for sustaining post-COVID-19 religious tourism. The study was an applied survey that drew on a mixed research design. The results of the qualitative data analysis obtained through a systematic literature review revealed that the recovery strategies to boost businesses in the field of religious tourism in the post-COVID-19 future could be divided into four main strategies (dimensions) and 24 sub-strategies (criteria). Furthermore, the quantitative analysis, conducted through the R-SWARA technique, showed that ‘making it mandatory to maintain a distance from sacred monuments (e.g., tombs) and prohibiting touching or having any physical contact with such monuments’, ‘Understanding religious tourists’ health-related expectations’, ‘making it mandatory to use masks and other health-related equipment in sacred/religious locations’, and ‘reducing the capacity for welcoming tourists in sacred and tourism sites while holding religious ceremonies with a small number of attendants’ were the most significant strategies that could boost religious tourism post-COVID-19. These factors were prioritised by experts and activists in the industry who shared their opinions in this study

Investigating the effect of using magnetic drape on preventing instruments fall during surgery in Alzahra Medical educational Center of Isfahan in 2017

Abstract: Introduction and and purpose: Falling of instrumentsis seen as a major problem and defect in the mostsurgical procedures. Instruments’ fall leads to increse inoperating time, surgical flow disruptions, more cost andpossible damage to surgical instruments. Due to the efficiencyof magnetic drapes and the maintenance of instrumentsin the field of surgery, some of Instruments’fall and its adverse effects on the operating room efficiencyare prevented. Thus, this study was undertaken toinvestigate the effect of magnetic drapes on the falling ofinstruments during neurosurgical, general, gynecological,orthopedic and urological operations.Materials and Methods: After making and testing themagnetic drape, the clinical data were recorded by intraoperativeobservation using a Self Administered checklistin two groups of control and intervention during 200 neurosurgical,general, gynecological, orthopedic and urologicalprocedures.Results: The results of this study showed that the frequencyof instruments fall in the intervention group significantlydecreased (P <0.05).Conclusion: Falling of instruments frequently occur in theoperating room and have a major effect on surgery flowand resource utilization. Thorough documentation of intraoperativefalling of instruments provides a basis for thedevelopment of solutions for improving operating roomefficiency. According to the results of present study, it canbe concluded that magnetic drape had a significant effecton reducing the falling of instruments during neurosurgical,general, gynecological, orthopedic and urologicalprocedures. So, designing and manufacturing magneticdrape is recommended for the safety and comfort of surgicalteam members and the removal of additional cost

Effect of pulmonary rehabilitation program on patients admitted to ICU:a comparative cross sectional study

Generally ICU patients are in critical status and need long stay in ICU. Pulmonary rehabilitation program (PRP) is considered as an important tool to improve outcome and shorten the length of stay in ICU. The aim of this study was to investigate whether PRP can affect outcome and duration of hospitalization in ICU patients. This study was performed in medical ICU of Labafi Nejad hospital, Tehran, Iran during 2012 and 2013. All of patients who had more than one day stay in ICU were included in the study. They underwent PRP. We compared length of stay, mortality rate and number of hospitalized patients within 2 years in patients with PRP and patients without PRP. In 2012, 155 patients and in 2013, 173 patients were admitted in ICU.  Admission period was 15 ± 2.7 and 11 ± 2.1 days, respectively (p< 0.001). Pulmonary physiotherapy showed no effect on patients’ outcome in which during 2012, 94 patients were discharged and 61 patients were died and in 2013, 98 patients were discharged and 64 patients were died (p=0.9). Our study shows that PRP can shorten hospitalization time which can indirectly decrease hospitalization costs but there is no effect on overall survival.

Rapid assessment of toxicity of chlorinated aqueous solution by dissolved oxygen depletion and optical density bioassays

Background: Chlorination of wastewater effluent with high levels of residual organic matter has been suspected to the production of toxic and hazardous disinfection by-products (DBPs) including trihalomethane (THM) compounds. Methods: In this study, two rapid techniques including dissolved oxygen depletion (DOD) and optical density (OD) bioassays were used to evaluate the chloroform toxicity of aqueous solution. The activated sludge was collected from aeration tank of a full-scale municipal wastewater treatment plant and used as a biological inoculum. In order to achieve an active and stabilized mixed culture of bacteria, the test cultures were transferred to a fresh nutrient broth culture media every day. The influence of chloroform on DOD and OD bioassays was examined at chloroform initial concentrations of 10-1000 μg/L. Results: It was revealed that the application of chloroform at concentrations of 100 and 1000 μg/L showed moderate and extreme toxicity, respectively, and reduced bacterial activity. The estimated chemical concentration with 50% inhibition of bacterial activity for DOD and OD bioassays was 457 and 961 μg/L, respectively. Conclusion: According to the results, the wastewater effluent should use bioassays in order to evaluate the effects of DBPs where the wastewater effluent is disinfected by chlorine compounds. Keywords: Trihalomethanes, Chloroform, Disinfection, Wastewater, Biological assay, Oxygen, Inhibitio

The role and spectrum of SLC26A4 mutations in Iranian patients with autosomal recessive hereditary deafness

Objective: To determine the prevalence and types of SLC26A4 mutations and the relevant phenotypes in a series of Iranian deaf patients. Design: A descriptive laboratory study. Study sample: One hundred and twenty-one families including 60 unrelated patients and 61 unrelated multiplex families with autosomal recessive deafness were included. In the 61 multiplex families, linkage was conducted for short tandem repeats (STRs) of the DFNB4. Selected individuals from the linked families and all of the 60 deaf individuals were subjected to sequencing of SLC26A4. Results: Seven out of the 61 (11.5%) families were linked to the locus which upon further inquiry led to identification of eight different mutations. Also, five out of the 60 (8.3%) patients were positive for the mutations. The SLC26A4 mutations clarified in 9.1% (12 families) of total investigated alleles included: c.2106delG, c.65-66insT, c.881-882delAC, c.863-864insT, c.1226G>A, c.1238A>G, c.1334T>G, c.1790T>C, c.1489G>A, c.919-2A>G (IVS7-2A>G), c.1412delT, and c.1197delT. Six out of 12 (50%) families with mutations were confirmed to be Pendred syndrome (PS). Conclusions: The results probably suggest a high prevalence and specificity of SLC26A4 mutations among Iranian deaf patients. Molecular study of SLC26A4 may lead to elucidation of the population-specific mutation profile which is of importance in diagnostics of deafness

Multi-Cultural Curriculum Planning Approaches in Higher Education

Curriculum as a political document in every society must reflect its values and basic policies. In this research some approaches to multi-cultural curriculum planning in higher education have been presented, the results of which could be applicable in the Ministry of Higher Education (for all Universities), Farhangian University, and Shahid Rajaiee Teachers’ Training University. The research is a practical one using a descriptive-analytical methodology and library or documented study. It has also carried out a field survey obtaining the needed info through interviews and questionnaires. Using Cochran Model, the sampling consisted of 373 persons from the statistical population of 10000 professors, staff,  and university students studying within the period of 1391 to 1396, pursuing their continuous Bachelor Degree in Farhangian University. In this research SWOT method has been used for analyzing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and presenting the most important policies of multi cultural curriculum. Moreover, the strategic model of SOAR has been applied to planning the strategy of strengths and explaining the opportunities, ideals, and results. Then with applying the quantitative strategic planning matrix, the various strategy choices have been identified and assessed. We can sum پ up the best strategy for multi-cultural curriculum planning as setting up the curriculum and syllabus on the basis of the whole country's cultural diversity to the extent that the policy of “unity in plurality” will be implemented properly

Social Alignment Contagion in Online Social Networks

Researchers have already observed social contagion effects in both in-person and online interactions. However, such studies have primarily focused on users’ beliefs, mental states, and interests. In this article, we expand the state of the art by exploring the impact of social contagion on social alignment, i.e., whether the decision to socially align oneself with the general opinion of the users on the social network is contagious to one’s connections on the network or not. The novelty of our work in this article includes: 1) unlike earlier work, this article is among the first to explore the contagiousness of the concept of social alignment on social networks; 2) our work adopts an instrumental variable approach to determine reliable causal relations between observed social contagion effects on the social network; and 3) our work expands beyond the mere presence of contagion in social alignment and also explores the role of population heterogeneity on social alignment contagion. Based on the systematic collection and analysis of data from two large social network platforms, namely, Twitter and Foursquare, we find that a user’s decision to socially align or distance from social topics and sentiments influences the social alignment decisions of their connections on the social network. We further find that such social alignment decisions are significantly impacted by population heterogeneity

Compound Heterozygosity for Two Novel SLC26A4 Mutations in a Large Iranian Pedigree with Pendred Syndrome

Objectives. The aim of this study was to detect the genetic cause of deafness in a large Iranian family. Due to the importance of SLC26A4 in causing hearing lots, information about the gene mutations can be beneficial in molecular detection and management of deaf patients. Methods. We investigated the genetic etiology in a large consanguineous family with 9 deaf patients from Ban province of Iran with no GJB2 mutations. Initially, linkage analysis was performed by four DFNB4 short tandem repeat markers. The result showed linkage to DFNB4 locus. Following that, DNA sequencing of all 21 exons, their adjacent intronic sequences and the promoter of SLC26A4 was carried out for mutation detection. Results. Two novel mutations (c.863-864insT and c.881-882delAC) were identified in exon 7 of the gene, in both homozygous and compound heterozygous state it patients. Conclusion. Our results supported the importance of the SLC26A4 mutations in the etiology of hearing loss among the Iranian patients and therefore its mutation screening should be considered after GJB2 in the molecular diagnostics of hearing loss, especially when enlarged vestibular aqueduct or goiter is detected