Autonomous Vehicle Ultrasonic Sensor Vulnerability and Impact Assessment

Vehicles today are relying more on technologies to bring about fully autonomous features. The conventional wirings within are being simplified into a network of electronic components, and this network is controlled via advanced sensing of the environment to make decisions in real-time. However, with the heavy reliance on the sensor readings, any inaccurate reading from the sensors could result in decisions that may cause life-threatening incidents. As such, this research focuses on the in-depth assessment of potential vulnerabilities of an important and commonly used obstacle sensing device, which is the ultrasonic sensor, in modern as well as autonomous vehicles. This research will help bring awareness to the car manufacturers and AV researchers so as to mitigate such issues

Loss-tolerant quantum secure positioning with weak laser sources

Quantum position verification (QPV) is the art of verifying the geographical location of an untrusted party. Recently, it has been shown that the widely studied Bennett & Brassard 1984 (BB84) QPV protocol is insecure after the 3 dB loss point assuming local operations and classical communication (LOCC) adversaries. Here, we propose a time-reversed entanglement swapping QPV protocol (based on measurement-device-independent quantum cryptography) that is highly robust against quantum channel loss. First, assuming ideal qubit sources, we show that the protocol is secure against LOCC adversaries for any quantum channel loss, thereby overcoming the 3 dB loss limit. Then, we analyze the security of the protocol in a more practical setting involving weak laser sources and linear optics. In this setting, we find that the security only degrades by an additive constant and the protocol is able to verify positions up to 47 dB channel loss.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures. Partially based on an earlier work in arXiv:1510.0489

PI3 K/Akt/mTOR-mediated translational control regulates proliferation and differentiation of lineage-restricted RoSH stem cell lines

Background: We have previously derived highly similar lineage-restricted stem cell lines, RoSH and E-RoSH cell lines from mouse embryos and CD9hi SSEA-1- differentiated mouse embryonic stem cells, respectively. These cell lines are not pluripotent and differentiate readily into endothelial cells in vitro and in vivo. Results: We investigated the signaling pathway that maintains proliferation of these cells in an undifferentiated state, and demonstrate that PI3 K/Akt/mTOR, but not Raf/MEK/Erk, signaling in these cells was active during proliferation and was downregulated during endothelial differentiation. Inhibition of PI3 K/Akt/mTOR signaling, but not Raf/MEK/Erk, reduced proliferation and induced expression of endothelial specific proteins. During differentiation or inhibition of PI3 K/Akt/mTOR signaling, cyclinD2 transcript abundance in ribosome-enriched RNA but not in total RNA was reduced with a corresponding reduction in protein level. In contrast, transcript abundance of endothelial-specific genes e.g. Kdr, Tek and Pdgfrα in ribosome-enriched RNA fraction was not reduced and their protein levels were increased. Together these observations suggested that translational control mediated by PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling was critical in regulating proliferation and endothelial differentiation of lineage-restricted RoSH-like stem cell lines. Conclusion: This study highlights translation regulation as a critical regulatory mechanism during proliferation and differentiation in stem cells

Heated Bridge Deck System and Materials and Method for Constructing the Same

Aheated bridge deck (20) uses electrodes (24,26) embedded within conductive concrete and connected to a power Source to remove Snow and ice accumulation. A cement-based mixture containing optimal amounts of conductive materials is molded into pre-formed slabs (22) placed atop the paved Surface of a bridge deck. Alternatively, the conductive concrete may be cast in place on top of an existing bridge deck. A control unit with temperature and moisture Sensors may be coupled to the heated bridge deck

Human transcriptome corresponding to human oocytes and use of said genes or the corresponding polypeptides to trans-differentiate somatic cells

The identification of 101 genes upregulated or differentially expressed by mature human oocytes is provided herein. These genes and the corresponding gene products will facilitate a greater understanding of oogenesis, folliculogenesis, fertilization, and embryonic development. In addition these genes and the corresponding gene products can be used to effect dedifferentiation and/or transdifferentiation of desired somatic cells. The resultant dedifferentiated cells and somatic cells derived therefrom can be used in cell therapies such as in the treatment of cancer, autoimmunity, and other diseases wherein specific types of cells such as hematopoietic cells may be depleted because of the underlying disease or the treatment of the disease. Also, a core group of 66 transcripts was identified by intersecting significantly up-regulated genes of the human oocyte with those from the mouse oocyte and from human and mouse embryonic stem cells. Within the up-regulated probe sets, the top overrepresented categories were related to RNA and protein metabolism, followed by DNA metabolism and chromatin modification. This invention therefore provides a comprehensive expression baseline of genes expressed in in vivo matured human oocytes. Further understanding of the biological role of these genes will also expand knowledge on meiotic cell cycle, fertilization, chromatin remodeling, lineage commitment, pluripotency, tissue regeneration, and morphogenesis

Controlled biomineralization of electrospun poly(ε-caprolactone) fibers for enhancing their mechanical properties

Electrospun polymeric fibers have been investigated as scaffolding materials for bone tissue engineering. However, their mechanical properties, and in particular stiffness and ultimate tensile strength, cannot match those of natural bones. The objective of the study was to develop novel composite nanofiber scaffolds by attaching minerals to polymeric fibers using an adhesive material-the mussel-inspired protein polydopamine-as a superglue . Herein, we report for the first time the use of dopamine to regulate mineralization of electrospun poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) fibers to enhance their mechanical properties. We examined the mineralization of the PCL fibers by adjusting the concentration of HCO3 - and dopamine in the mineralized solution, the reaction time and the surface composition of the fibers. We also examined mineralization on the surface of polydopamine-coated PCL fibers. We demonstrated the control of morphology, grain size and thickness of minerals deposited on the surface of electrospun fibers. The obtained mineral coatings render electrospun fibers with much higher stiffness, ultimate tensile strength and toughness, which could be closer to the mechanical properties of natural bone. Such great enhancement of mechanical properties for electrospun fibers through mussel protein-mediated mineralization has not been seen previously. This study could also be extended to the fabrication of other composite materials to better bridge the interfaces between organic and inorganic phases