A floor sensor system for gait recognition

This paper describes the development of a prototype floor sensor as a gait recognition system. This could eventually find deployment as a standalone system (eg. a burglar alarm system) or as part of a multimodal biometric system. The new sensor consists of 1536 individual sensors arranged in a 3 m by 0.5 m rectangular strip with an individual sensor area of 3 cm2. The sensor floor operates at a sample rate of 22 Hz. The sensor itself uses a simple design inspired by computer keyboards and is made from low cost, off the shelf materials. Application of the sensor floor to a small database of 15 individuals was performed. Three features were extracted : stride length, stride cadence, and time on toe to time on heel ratio. Two of these measures have been used in video based gait recognition while the third is new to this analysis. These features proved sufficient to achieve an 80 % recognition rate

Student Recital: Felicia I. Colvin, Soprano; Skip Buss, Piano; February 23, 1975

Centennial East Recital HallSunday AfternoonFebruary 23, 19754:00 p.m

From cyber-security deception to manipulation and gratification through gamification

Over the last two decades the field of cyber-security has experienced numerous changes associated with the evolution of other fields, such as networking, mobile communications, and recently the Internet of Things (IoT) [3]. Changes in mindsets have also been witnessed, a couple of years ago the cyber-security industry only blamed users for their mistakes often depicted as the number one reason behind security breaches. Nowadays, companies are empowering users, modifying their perception of being the weak link, into being the center-piece of the network design [4]. Users are by definition "in control" and therefore a cyber-security asset. Researchers have focused on the gamification of cyber- security elements, helping users to learn and understand the concepts of attacks and threats, allowing them to become the first line of defense to report anoma- lies [5]. However, over the past years numerous infrastructures have suffered from malicious intent, data breaches, and crypto-ransomeware, clearly showing the technical "know-how" of hackers and their ability to bypass any security in place, demonstrating that no infrastructure, software or device can be consid- ered secure. Researchers concentrated on the gamification, learning and teaching theory of cyber-security to end-users in numerous fields through various techniques and scenarios to raise cyber-situational awareness [2][1]. However, they overlooked the users’ ability to gather information on these attacks. In this paper, we argue that there is an endemic issue in the the understanding of hacking practices leading to vulnerable devices, software and architectures. We therefore propose a transparent gamification platform for hackers. The platform is designed with hacker user-interaction and deception in mind enabling researchers to gather data on the techniques and practices of hackers. To this end, we developed a fully extendable gamification architecture allowing researchers to deploy virtualised hosts on the internet. Each virtualised hosts contains a specific vulnerability (i.e. web application, software, etc). Each vulnerability is connected to a game engine, an interaction engine and a scoring engine

Three-body collisions in Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck theory

Aiming at a microscopic description of heavy ion collisions in the beam energy region of about 10 A GeV, we extend the Giessen Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (GiBUU) transport model by including a relativistic mean field, in-medium baryon-baryon cross sections and three-body collisions. The model is then compared with experimental data for central Au+Au collisions at 2-10 A GeV and central Pb+Pb collisions at 30 and 40 A GeV on the proton rapidity spectra, the midrapidity yields of $\pi^+$, $K^\pm$ and $(\Lambda+\Sigma^0)$, and the transverse mass spectra of $\pi^\pm$ and $K^\pm$. The three-body collisions increase the inverse slope parameters of the hadron $m_\perp$-spectra to a good agreement with the data.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures, figures added, discussion extended, results not changed, version accepted in Phys. Rev.

Good Mates Retain Us Right: Investigating the Relationship between Mate Retention Strategies, Mate Value and Relationship Satisfaction

Mate retention strategies are an important tool in keeping a partner, and their use is determined by the mate value (MV) of the partner one is trying to keep. The type of strategy used is also dependent on one’s own MV: mates of lower MV are more prone to exhibiting strategies that are cost-inflicting for their partners, whereas partner-benefiting strategies are used by mates of higher value. The type of strategies used affects relationship satisfaction (RS), and is also affected by the perceived difference in MVs. However, it is unclear how someone’s perception of their partner’s MV is related to that partner’s behavior and their own RS. To this aim, we investigated the relationship between these variables on a sample of 178 couples. Our results showed that benefit-inducing strategies were used more by—and towards—partners of higher MV, and were positively connected with RS. Cost-inflicting strategies were more used by—and towards—partners of lower MV, and were negatively connected with RS. Less MV difference was positively correlated with RS and benefiting strategies, and negatively correlated with cost-inflicting strategies. It seems that good mates use strategies that benefit their partners, which, in turn, make them more valuable and, consequently, their partner more satisfied

Mate preferences in Argentinean transgender people:An evolutionary perspective

Transgender people provide a unique opportunity to examine the effect of biological sex versus gender identity on mating preferences. This study aimed at identifying the mate characteristics that are most and least valued by transgender people and at examining to what extent their biological sex or their gender identity determined their mate preferences. A convenience sample of 134 male-to-female (MTF) and 94 female-to-male (FTM) individuals from Argentina rated Buss's list of 18 mate attributes. Compared to FTM, MTF individuals placed significantly more emphasis on attractiveness and socioeconomic status, whereas FTM, more than MTF individuals, valued partners with a dependable character. Although biological sex differences were present in both groups, providing support to the evolutionary theory, MTF individuals valued the same characteristics as both biological male and female individuals do.Fil: Aristegui, Ines. Universidad de Palermo. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Departamento de Psicología. Centro de Investigación y Posgrados; Argentina. University of Groningen; Países BajosFil: Castro Solano, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Palermo. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Departamento de Psicología. Centro de Investigación y Posgrados; ArgentinaFil: Buunk, Abraham P.. Universidad de Palermo. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Departamento de Psicología. Centro de Investigación y Posgrados; Argentin

On Tackling the Limits of Resolution in SAT Solving

The practical success of Boolean Satisfiability (SAT) solvers stems from the CDCL (Conflict-Driven Clause Learning) approach to SAT solving. However, from a propositional proof complexity perspective, CDCL is no more powerful than the resolution proof system, for which many hard examples exist. This paper proposes a new problem transformation, which enables reducing the decision problem for formulas in conjunctive normal form (CNF) to the problem of solving maximum satisfiability over Horn formulas. Given the new transformation, the paper proves a polynomial bound on the number of MaxSAT resolution steps for pigeonhole formulas. This result is in clear contrast with earlier results on the length of proofs of MaxSAT resolution for pigeonhole formulas. The paper also establishes the same polynomial bound in the case of modern core-guided MaxSAT solvers. Experimental results, obtained on CNF formulas known to be hard for CDCL SAT solvers, show that these can be efficiently solved with modern MaxSAT solvers

The alpha 7 nicotinic receptor agonist PHA-543613 hydrochloride inhibits <i>Porphyromonas gingivalis</i>-induced expression of interleukin-8 by oral keratinocytes

Objective: The alpha 7 nicotinic receptor (α7nAChR) is expressed by oral keratinocytes. α7nAChR activation mediates anti-inflammatory responses. The objective of this study was to determine if α7nAChR activation inhibited pathogen-induced interleukin-8 (IL-8) expression by oral keratinocytes.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Materials and methods: Periodontal tissue expression of α7nAChR was determined by real-time PCR. OKF6/TERT-2 oral keratinocytes were exposed to &lt;i&gt;Porphyromonas gingivalis&lt;/i&gt; in the presence and absence of a α7nAChR agonist (PHA-543613 hydrochloride) alone or after pre-exposure to a specific α7nAChR antagonist (α-bungarotoxin). Interleukin-8 (IL-8) expression was measured by ELISA and real-time PCR. Phosphorylation of the NF-κB p65 subunit was determined using an NF-κB p65 profiler assay and STAT-3 activation by STAT-3 in-cell ELISA. The release of ACh from oral keratinocytes in response to &lt;i&gt;P. gingivalis&lt;/i&gt; lipopolysaccharide was determined using a GeneBLAzer M3 CHO-K1-blacell reporter assay.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Results: Expression of α7nAChR mRNA was elevated in diseased periodontal tissue. PHA-543613 hydrochloride inhibited &lt;i&gt;P. Gingivalis&lt;/i&gt;-induced expression of IL-8 at the transcriptional level. This effect was abolished when cells were pre-exposed to a specific α7nAChR antagonist, α-bungarotoxin. PHA-543613 hydrochloride downregulated NF-κB signalling through reduced phosphorylation of the NF-κB p65-subunit. In addition, PHA-543613 hydrochloride promoted STAT-3 signalling by maintenance of phosphorylation. Furthermore, oral keratinocytes upregulated ACh release in response to &lt;i&gt;P. Gingivalis&lt;/i&gt; lipopolysaccharide.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Conclusion: These data suggest that α7nAChR plays a role in regulating the innate immune responses of oral keratinocytes.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt

DCC gene network in the prefrontal cortex is associated with total brain volume in childhood

BACKGROUND: Genetic variation in the guidance cue DCC gene is linked to psychopathologies involving dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex. We created an expression-based polygenic risk score (ePRS) based on the DCC coexpression gene network in the prefrontal cortex, hypothesizing that it would be associated with individual differences in total brain volume. METHODS: We filtered single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from genes coexpressed with DCC in the prefrontal cortex obtained from an adult postmortem donors database (BrainEAC) for genes enriched in children 1.5 to 11 years old (BrainSpan). The SNPs were weighted by their effect size in predicting gene expression in the prefrontal cortex, multiplied by their allele number based on an individual's genotype data, and then summarized into an ePRS. We evaluated associations between the DCC ePRS and total brain volume in children in 2 community-based cohorts: the Maternal Adversity, Vulnerability and Neurodevelopment (MAVAN) and University of California, Irvine (UCI) projects. For comparison, we calculated a conventional PRS based on a genome-wide association study of total brain volume. RESULTS: Higher ePRS was associated with higher total brain volume in children 8 to 10 years old (β = 0.212, p = 0.043; n = 88). The conventional PRS at several different thresholds did not predict total brain volume in this cohort. A replication analysis in an independent cohort of newborns from the UCI study showed an association between the ePRS and newborn total brain volume (β = 0.101, p = 0.048; n = 80). The genes included in the ePRS demonstrated high levels of coexpression throughout the lifespan and are primarily involved in regulating cellular function. LIMITATIONS: The relatively small sample size and age differences between the main and replication cohorts were limitations. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the DCC coexpression network in the prefrontal cortex is critically involved in whole brain development during the first decade of life. Genes comprising the ePRS are involved in gene translation control and cell adhesion, and their expression in the prefrontal cortex at different stages of life provides a snapshot of their dynamic recruitment