External attacks on automotive system through wireless communication channels

The reliance of today’s automotive system on electronics control system is expected to make the cars to be state-of-the-art vehicle. However, this technology dependency results in the cars to be exposed to attacks by the hacker through the manipulation of electronics system. Previously, for the attacker to compromise car’s system, he/she must access the car directly and internally. However, with the incorporation of wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and cellular into automotive system for example in its telematic units, the attacks are evolved from internal attacks into remote attack where the adversary does not have to internally access the car’s system. This paper analyses the vulnerabilities of the automotive system by the remote attacks performed through Bluetooth and cellular. Once the vulnerabilities were analyzed, the threats imposed by these vulnerabilities are accessed. Two scenarios namely theft and surveillance are used to exemplify the threats that are carried by the vulnerability of the automotive system to the remote attacks. From the vulnerability analysis and threat assessment, it can be deduced that the automotive system is vulnerable to attacks and proper countermeasure must be taken to curb the implication from the attacks.Keywords: Hardware Trojan, Insertion, Third-part IP, Trus

Biodegradation properties of poly (Lactic) acid reinforced by kenaf fibers

This study was conducted to study the degradation of poly (lactic acid) and its composites under natural landfill burial. Composites reinforced with natural fibres were expected to degrade faster than polymer itself. PLA was compounded with kenaf bast fibre (KBC) and kenaf core fibre (KCC) with twin screw extrusion at temperature range 150-160 degrees C and being compression moulded at 170 degrees C for 8 minutes. Samples were then cut prior to testing by burying under composting area in UiTM Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia for 6 month period. Samples were measured and observed monthly for the degradation of composites by weight loss and microscopic observation. As expected weight loss for kenaf bast composite (KBC) and kenaf core composite (KCC) was found to be higher, 15.9% and 17.1% respectively, than that of pure PLA of only 4.14%. Microscopic observation confirms degradation has occurred on surface of composites by making cracks, holes, and black spots on all samples, however degradation was more obvious on composites. FTIR analysis shows that spectra of exposed composites were reduced compared to those of unexposed composites

Fundamental Shape Discrimination of Underground Metal Object Through One-Axis Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) Scan

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was used in this research to detect or recognize the buried objects underground. Hyperbolic signals formed by datagram of GPR after detection the buried objects which quite similar to each other in term of metal shapes. The research was tested on the metal cube and metal cylinder by using the A-scan of GPR. There are steps in this signal processing step which are pre-processing step, feature extraction, and classification process. The segmentation process hyperbolic signals were segmented one by one and normalize from the negative to positive signals. The hyperbole from the metal cylinder and metal cube that had been buried in the ground is differentiated using four features of their respective A-scans which are found the maximum value of amplitude signal graph, the number of peaks in the signals graph, skewness, and standard deviation values. Finally, the classification process used learning algorithm of Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) was a test on Bayesian Regulation Backpropagation (BR) was given the highest accuracy, 98.70% as a classifier to classify the metal shapes which are a metal cube and metal cylinder

Prevalence, risk factors and health outcomes associated with polypharmacy among urban community-dwelling older adults in multi-ethnic Malaysia

Background Polypharmacy has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality in the older population. Objectives The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, risk factors and health outcomes associated with polypharmacy in a cohort of urban community-dwelling older adults receiving chronic medications in Malaysia. Methods This was a baseline study in the Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research cohort. The inclusion criteria were individuals aged ≥55years and taking at least one medication chronically (≥3 months). Participants were interviewed using a structured questionnaire during home visits where medications taken were reviewed. Health outcomes assessed were frequency of falls, functional disability, potential inappropriate medication use (PIMs), potential drugdrug interactions (PDDIs), healthcare utilisation and quality of life (QoL). Risk factors and health outcomes associated with polypharmacy (≥5 medications including dietary supplements) were determined using multivariate regression models. Results A total of 1256 participants were included with a median (interquartile range) age of 69(63± 74) years. The prevalence of polypharmacy was 45.9% while supplement users made up 56.9% of the cohort. The risk factors associated with increasing medication use were increasing age, Indian ethnicity, male, having a higher number of comorbidities specifically those diagnosed with cardiovascular, endocrine and gastrointestinal disorders, as well as supplement use. Health outcomes significantly associated with polypharmacy were PIMS, PDDIs and increased healthcare utilisation. Conclusion A significant proportion of older adults on chronic medications were exposed to polypharmacy and use of dietary supplements contributed significantly to this. Medication reviews are warranted to reduce significant polypharmacy related issues in the older population