1,330 research outputs found
Iterative graph cuts for image segmentation with a nonlinear statistical shape prior
Shape-based regularization has proven to be a useful method for delineating
objects within noisy images where one has prior knowledge of the shape of the
targeted object. When a collection of possible shapes is available, the
specification of a shape prior using kernel density estimation is a natural
technique. Unfortunately, energy functionals arising from kernel density
estimation are of a form that makes them impossible to directly minimize using
efficient optimization algorithms such as graph cuts. Our main contribution is
to show how one may recast the energy functional into a form that is
minimizable iteratively and efficiently using graph cuts.Comment: Revision submitted to JMIV (02/24/13
Non-collaborative Attackers and How and Where to Defend Flawed Security Protocols (Extended Version)
Security protocols are often found to be flawed after their deployment. We
present an approach that aims at the neutralization or mitigation of the
attacks to flawed protocols: it avoids the complete dismissal of the interested
protocol and allows honest agents to continue to use it until a corrected
version is released. Our approach is based on the knowledge of the network
topology, which we model as a graph, and on the consequent possibility of
creating an interference to an ongoing attack of a Dolev-Yao attacker, by means
of non-collaboration actuated by ad-hoc benign attackers that play the role of
network guardians. Such guardians, positioned in strategical points of the
network, have the task of monitoring the messages in transit and discovering at
runtime, through particular types of inference, whether an attack is ongoing,
interrupting the run of the protocol in the positive case. We study not only
how but also where we can attempt to defend flawed security protocols: we
investigate the different network topologies that make security protocol
defense feasible and illustrate our approach by means of concrete examples.Comment: 29 page
Borderline personality disorder classification based on brain network measures during emotion regulation
Verifying parameterized timed security protocols
Quantitative timing is often explicitly used in systems for better security, e.g., the credentials for automatic website logon often has limited lifetime. Verifying timing relevant security protocols in these systems is very challenging as timing adds another dimension of complexity compared with the untimed protocol verification. In our previous work, we proposed an approach to check the correctness of the timed authentication in security protocols with fixed timing constraints. However, a more difficult question persists, i.e., given a particular protocol design, whether the protocol has security flaws in its design or it can be configured secure with proper parameter values? In this work, we answer this question by proposing a parameterized verification framework, where the quantitative parameters in the protocols can be intuitively specified as well as automatically analyzed. Given a security protocol, our verification algorithm either produces the secure constraints of the parameters, or constructs an attack that works for any parameter values. The correctness of our algorithm is formally proved. We implement our method into a tool called PTAuth and evaluate it with several security protocols. Using PTAuth, we have successfully found a timing attack in Kerberos V which is unreported before.No Full Tex
Potential harmful health effects of inhaling nicotine-free shisha-pen vapor: a chemical risk assessment of the main components propylene glycol and glycerol
Background
A shisha-pen is an electronic cigarette variant that is advertised to mimic the taste of a water pipe, or shisha. The aim of this study was to assess the potential harmful health effects caused by inhaling the vapor of a nicotine-free shisha-pen.
Methods
Gas chromatography analysis was performed to determine the major components in shisha-pen vapor. Risk assessment was performed using puff volumes of e-cigarettes and “normal” cigarettes and a 1-puff scenario (one-time exposure). The concentrations that reached the airways and lungs after using a shisha-pen were calculated and compared to data from published toxicity studies.
Results
The main components in shisha-pen vapor are propylene glycol and glycerol (54%/46%). One puff (50 to 70 mL) results in exposure of propylene glycol and glycerol of 430 to 603 mg/m3 and 348 to 495 mg/m3, respectively. These exposure concentrations were higher than the points of departure for airway irritation based on a human study (propylene glycol, mean concentration of 309 mg/m3) and a rat study (glycerol, no-observed adverse effect level of 165 mg/m3).
Conclusions
Already after one puff of the shisha-pen, the concentrations of propylene glycol and glycerol are sufficiently high to potentially cause irritation of the airways. New products such as the shisha-pen should be detected and risks should be assessed to inform regulatory actions aimed at limiting potential harm that may be caused to consumers and protecting young people to take up smoking
TAuth: Verifying timed security protocols
Quantitative timing is often explicitly used in systems for better security, e.g., the credentials for automatic website logon often has limited lifetime. Verifying timing relevant security protocols in these systems is very challenging as timing adds another dimension of complexity compared with the untimed protocol verification. In our previous work, we proposed an approach to check the correctness of the timed authentication in security protocols with fixed timing constraints. However, a more difficult question persists, i.e., given a particular protocol design, whether the protocol has security flaws in its design or it can be configured secure with proper parameter values? In this work, we answer this question by proposing a parameterized verification framework, where the quantitative parameters in the protocols can be intuitively specified as well as automatically analyzed. Given a security protocol, our verification algorithm either produces the secure constraints of the parameters, or constructs an attack that works for any parameter values. The correctness of our algorithm is formally proved. We implement our method into a tool called PTAuth and evaluate it with several security protocols. Using PTAuth, we have successfully found a timing attack in Kerberos V which is unreported before.No Full Tex
ChemCam Science Objectives for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover
ChemCam consists of two remote sensing instruments. One, a Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument provides rapid elemental composition data on rocks and soils within 13 m of the rover. By using laser pulses, it can remove dust or profile through weathering layers remotely. The other instrument, the Remote Micro-Imager (RMI), provides the highest resolution images between 2 m and infinity. At approximately 80 Rad field of view, its resolution exceeds that of MER Pancam by at least a factor of four. The ChemCam instruments are described in a companion paper by Maurice et al. Here we present the science objectives for the ChemCam instrument package
Ultrashort filaments of light in weakly-ionized, optically-transparent media
Modern laser sources nowadays deliver ultrashort light pulses reaching few
cycles in duration, high energies beyond the Joule level and peak powers
exceeding several terawatt (TW). When such pulses propagate through
optically-transparent media, they first self-focus in space and grow in
intensity, until they generate a tenuous plasma by photo-ionization. For free
electron densities and beam intensities below their breakdown limits, these
pulses evolve as self-guided objects, resulting from successive equilibria
between the Kerr focusing process, the chromatic dispersion of the medium, and
the defocusing action of the electron plasma. Discovered one decade ago, this
self-channeling mechanism reveals a new physics, widely extending the frontiers
of nonlinear optics. Implications include long-distance propagation of TW beams
in the atmosphere, supercontinuum emission, pulse shortening as well as
high-order harmonic generation. This review presents the landmarks of the
10-odd-year progress in this field. Particular emphasis is laid to the
theoretical modeling of the propagation equations, whose physical ingredients
are discussed from numerical simulations. Differences between femtosecond
pulses propagating in gaseous or condensed materials are underlined. Attention
is also paid to the multifilamentation instability of broad, powerful beams,
breaking up the energy distribution into small-scale cells along the optical
path. The robustness of the resulting filaments in adverse weathers, their
large conical emission exploited for multipollutant remote sensing, nonlinear
spectroscopy, and the possibility to guide electric discharges in air are
finally addressed on the basis of experimental results.Comment: 50 pages, 38 figure
Weak localization and conductance fluctuations of a chaotic quantum dot with tunable spin-orbit coupling
In a two-dimensional quantum dot in a GaAs heterostructure, the spin-orbit
scattering rate is substantially reduced below the rate in a bulk
two-dimensional electron gas [B.I. Halperin et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 2106
(2001)]. Such a reduction can be undone if the spin-orbit coupling parameters
acquire a spatial dependence, which can be achieved, e.g., by a metal gate
covering only a part of the quantum dot. We calculate the effect of such
spatially non-uniform spin-orbit scattering on the weak localization correction
and the universal conductance fluctuations of a chaotic quantum dot coupled to
electron reservoirs by ballistic point contacts, in the presence of a magnetic
field parallel to the plane of the quantum dot.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX; 2 figures. Substantial revision
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