Two flavors of dynamical quarks on anisotropic lattices

We report on our study of two-flavor full QCD on anisotropic lattices using $O(a)$-improved Wilson quarks coupled with an RG-improved glue. The bare gauge and quark anisotropies corresponding to the renormalized anisotropy $\xi=a_s/a_t = 2$ are determined as functions of $\beta$ and $\kappa$, which covers the region of spatial lattice spacings $a_s\approx 0.28$--0.16 fm and $m_{PS}/m_V\approx 0.6$--0.9. The calibrations of the bare anisotropies are performed with the Wilson loop and the meson dispersion relation at 4 lattice cutoffs and 5--6 quark masses. Using the calibration results we calculate the meson mass spectrum and the Sommer scale $r_0$. We confirm that the values of $r_0$ calculated for the calibration using pseudo scalar and vector meson energy momentum dispersion relation coincide in the continuum limit within errors. This work serves to lay ground toward studies of heavy quark systems and thermodynamics of QCD including the extraction of the equation of state in the continuum limit using Wilson-type quark actions.Comment: 16 pages, 23 figures, Version accepted for publication in Physical Review

Blockchain-based DDoS attack mitigation protocol for device-to-device interaction in smart homes

Smart home devices are vulnerable to a variety of attacks. The matter gets more complicated when a number of devices collaborate to launch a colluding attack (e.g. Distributed-Denial-of-Service (DDoS)) in a network (e.g., Smart home). To handle these attacks, most studies have hitherto proposed authentication protocols that cannot necessarily be implemented in devices, especially during Device-to-Device (D2D) interactions. Tapping into the potential of Ethereum blockchain and smart contracts, this work proposes a lightweight authentication mechanism that enables safe D2D interactions in a smart home. The Ethereum blockchain enables the implementation of a decentralized prototype as well as a peer-to-peer distributed ledger system. The work also uses a single server queuing system model and the authentication mechanism to curtail DDoS attacks by controlling the number of service requests in the system. The simulation was conducted twenty times, each with varying number of devices chosen at random (ranging from 1 to 30). Each requester device sends an arbitrary request with a unique resource requirement at a time. This is done to measure the system’s consistency across a variety of device capabilities. The experimental results show that the proposed protocol not only prevents colluding attacks, but also outperforms the benchmark protocols in terms of computational cost, message processing, and response time

Flavor Singlet Meson Mass in the Continuum Limit in Two-Flavor Lattice QCD

We present results for the mass of the eta-prime meson in the continuum limit for two-flavor lattice QCD, calculated on the CP-PACS computer, using a renormalization-group improved gauge action, and Sheikholeslami and Wohlert's fermion action with tadpole-improved csw. Correlation functions are measured at three values of the coupling constant beta corresponding to the lattice spacing a approx. 0.22, 0.16, 0.11 fm and for four values of the quark mass parameter kappa corresponding to mpi over mrho approx. 0.8, 0.75, 0.7 and 0.6. For each beta, kappa pair, 400-800 gauge configurations are used. The two-loop diagrams are evaluated using a noisy source method. We calculate eta-prime propagators using local sources, and find that excited state contributions are much reduced by smearing. A full analysis for the smeared propagators gives metaprime=0.960(87)+0.036-0.248 GeV, in the continuum limit, where the second error represents the systematic uncertainty coming from varying the functional form for chiral and continuum extrapolations.Comment: 9 pages, 19 figures, 4 table

Solution of the Forward Problem in Magnetic-Field Tomography (MFT) Based on Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

This paper presents the methodology and some of the results of accurate solution of the forward problem in magnetic-field tomography based on magnetoencephalography for brain imaging. The solution is based on modeling and computation of magnetic-field distribution in and around the head produced by distributed 2-D cortical and 3-D volume lead current sources. The 3-D finite-element model of the brain incorporates realistic geometry based on accurate magnetic resonance imaging data and inhomogeneous conductivity properties. The model allows arbitrary placement of line, surface, and volume current sources. This gives flexibility in the source current approximation in terms of size, orientation, placement, and spatial distribution

A Robust Regression-Based Stock Exchange Forecasting and Determination of Correlation between Stock Markets

Knowledge-based decision support systems for financial management are an important part of investment plans. Investors are avoiding investing in traditional investment areas such as banks due to low return on investment. The stock exchange is one of the major areas for investment presently. Various non-linear and complex factors affect the stock exchange. A robust stock exchange forecasting system remains an important need. From this line of research, we evaluate the performance of a regression-based model to check the robustness over large datasets. We also evaluate the effect of top stock exchange markets on each other. We evaluate our proposed model on the top 4 stock exchanges—New York, London, NASDAQ and Karachi stock exchange. We also evaluate our model on the top 3 companies—Apple, Microsoft, and Google. A huge (Big Data) historical data is gathered from Yahoo finance consisting of 20 years. Such huge data creates a Big Data problem. The performance of our system is evaluated on a 1-step, 6-step, and 12-step forecast. The experiments show that the proposed system produces excellent results. The results are presented in terms of Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE)

Isoflavones-Based Liposome Formulations as Anti-Aging for Skincare

Isoflavones commonly found in plants such as soya and red clover express many health benefits including skin healing and anti-aging properties. The capacity to counteract aging is due to isoflavones being both anti-oxidants as well as phytoestrogens, hence preventing both extrinsic as well as intrinsic aging processes. In skincare formulations their effects could be enhanced with the aid of advanced delivery systems. Isoflavones from soya bean source has successfully been incorporated into liposomes and further used in commercially available anti-aging creams. However different plants vary in isoflavone composition. Red clover isoflavones express less affinity for the estrogen receptor whilst simultaneously containing isoflavone structures that should be easier to encapsulate in liposome vehicles compared to soya bean derived isoflavones. If liposome entrapped isoflavones could successfully be obtained, the novel liposome could have a visible effect on the skin and reduce the visible adverse outcomes of aging and moreover be advantageous in terms of endocrinological safety and/or have a higher efficiency of delivering active when compared to the currently available products on the market

Relativistic Quantum Games in Noninertial Frames

We study the influence of Unruh effect on quantum non-zero sum games. In particular, we investigate the quantum Prisoners' Dilemma both for entangled and unentangled initial states and show that the acceleration of the noninertial frames disturbs the symmetry of the game. It is shown that for maximally entangled initial state, the classical strategy C (cooperation) becomes the dominant strategy. Our investigation shows that any quantum strategy does no better for any player against the classical strategies. The miracle move of Eisert et al (1999 Phys. Rev. Lett. 83 3077) is no more a superior move. We show that the dilemma like situation is resolved in favor of one player or the other.Comment: 8 Pages, 2 figures, 2 table

Radiative corrections to deep-inelastic ed−ed- scattering. Case of tensor polarized deuteron

The model-independent radiative corrections to deep-inelastic scattering of unpolarized electron beam off the tensor polarized deuteron target have been considered. The contribution to the radiative corrections due to the hard-photon emission from the elastic electron-deuteron scattering (the so-called elastic radiative tail) is also investigated. The calculation is based on the covariant parametrization of the deuteron quadrupole polarization tensor. The numerical estimates of the radiative corrections to the polarization observables have been done for the kinematical conditions of the current experiment at HERAComment: 21 pages, 5 figure