Decentralizing Multi-Authority Attribute-based Data Sharing Scheme in Cloud computing

To maintain data integrity on the cloud, Attribute-based Encryption (ABE) with Key Policy Attribute-based Encryption (KP-ABE) and Ciphertext-Policy Attribute-based Encryption (CP-ABE) can be used with access control implementation for cloud computing. CP-ABE is a promising cryptographic primitive for secure data sharing in cloud computing. A data owner is the only charge of to define the access policy associated with his data which to be shared. In CP-ABE, each user's secret keys are associated with a set of attributes and data are encrypted with access policy on attributes. A user can decrypt a ciphertext if and only if his attributes satisfy the ciphertext access policy. In CP-ABE, the secret keys of users have to be issued by a trusted key authority that leads to key escrow problem. Besides, most of the existing CP-ABE schemes cannot support attribute with an arbitrary state. In this paper, weighted-attribute data sharing scheme is proposed to solve the key escrow problem and also improve the expressiveness of attribute, so that the resulting scheme is friendlier to cloud computing applications. An improved two-party key issuing protocol guarantees that neither key authority nor cloud service provider can compromise the whole secret key of a user individually. The concept of weighted-attribute not only enhance the expression of an attribute binary to arbitrary but also reduce the complexity of access policy, so that storage cost of ciphertext and time cost in encryption can be reduced

Fabrication and Characterization of ZnO Nanowire Arrays with an Investigation into Electrochemical Sensing Capabilities

ZnO nanowire arrays were grown on a Si (100) substrate using the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) method. ZnO nanowires were characterized by XRD, SEM, bright field TEM, and EDS. They were found to have a preferential orientation along the c-axis. The as-prepared sample was functionalized with glucose oxidase by physical adsorption. FTIR was taken before and after functionalization to verify the presence of the attached enzyme. Electrochemical measurements were performed on the nanowire array by differential pulse voltammetry in the range of −0.6 to 0.4 V. The nanoarray sensor displayed high sensitivity to glucose in the range of 1.0 ×10−4 to 1.0 ×10−2 mol L−1

Coming to America : the impact of acculturation and cultural identity on the preference for arranged versus love marriage among Indian Hindus residing in the United States

Ph.D. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2012.Includes bibliographical references.While marriage is a social institution that has been well-established and well-studied by scholars from various fields over the course of human history, the customs, traditions, rituals and even styles of marriage change within cultural groups over time due to various factors like time, socio-cultural differences, population migration and overall changes in societal norms. The Hindu culture within the United States is one such cultural group that seems to be undergoing tremendous changes in its marriage style, as more immigrants are opting not to get involved in arranged marriages. The goal of this study was to examine how various changes that happen due to migration impact individuals‟ decisions between an arranged marriage and a love marriage in the United States. Participants were 247 Hindu immigrants living in the United States recruited via social networking sites, and e-mail advertisements to various Indian-American organizations throughout the United States. They completed various measures of acculturation, cultural identity, attitudes towards arranged marriage and love marriage and various demographic variables. Results revealed that individuals‟ acculturation strategies did in fact have an impact on whether they preferred arranged marriage or love marriage. Cultural identity did not have an influence on the type of marriage individuals preferred. These findings suggest that psychological and socio-cultural changes that occur due to events such as migration have a long-term impact on individuals‟ personal decisions such as mate selection. Further research in this area seems to be essential both in terms of theory development and in terms of practical applications of these findings to various domains in life

Development Of Cadmium Selenide As An Absorber Layer For Tandem Solar Cells

Cadmium Selenide is a binary compound. It has a band gap of 1.7 eV. This is one of the suitable materials for an absorber layer in the top cell of a tandem solar cell. CIGS with a low Gallium content has a band gap of 1 eV suits well as an absorber layer for the bottom cell. CIGS cells have already attained an efficiency of 15% [1,2]. Since years, research has been done in developing the bottom cell. The results of the bottom cell are promising. So the fabrication of an efficient top cell in a tandem solar cell is a challenge. To achieve a high tandem efficiency of above 25 %, the top cell has to contribute at least 2/3 of the total efficiency, which necessitates the top cell to have at least 16 to 18 % efficiency [3]. Development of a defect free absorber layer is a crucial step in this process to achieve the above goals besides optimizing other layers. Selenium vacancies in CdSe make the absorber layer n-type. CdSe is deposited by closed space sublimation. Deposition of CdSe at higher substrate temperatures in comparison to the standard conditions was studied. ZnSe acts as an insulating layer. It is thermally evaporated in an Evaporation system. Copper acts as a metal contact on top of the insulator resulting in a MIS structure. Copper is also deposited by Thermal Evaporation. Devices are fabricated on different substrates like SnO2: F, AZO etc. Fabricated cells are characterized by J-V and Spectral response measurements. Devices fabricated on SnO2: F substrates show typical open circuit voltages of around 220 mV, short circuit current densities of 10.02 mA/cm2 and fill factors around 33 %. N-type CdS when deposited on SnO2: F below the absorber layer further improved Voc\u27s to around 330 mV. Annealing of these devices improved Voc\u27s to about 350 mV but Jsc\u27s remained 7.21 mA/cm2

Growth and Characterization of Nanocrystalline Diamond Films for Microelectronics and Microelectromechanical Systems

Diamond is widely known for its extraordinary properties, such as high thermal conductivity, energy bandgap and high material hardness and durability making it a very attractive material for microelectronic and mechanical applications. Synthetic diamonds produced by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods retain most of the properties of natural diamond. Within this class of material, nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) is being developed for microelectronic and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) applications. During this research, intrinsic and doped NCD films were grown by the microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MPECVD) method using CH4/Ar/H2 gas mixture and CH4/Ar/N2 gas chemistries respectively. The first part of research focused on the growth and characterization of NCD films while the second part on the application of NCD as a structural material in MEMS device fabrication. The growth processes were optimized by evaluating the structural, mechanical and electrical properties. The nature of chemical bonding, namely the ratio of sp²:sp³ carbon content was estimated by Raman spectroscopy and near edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) techniques. The micro-structural properties were studied by x-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The mechanical properties of the pure NCD films were evaluated by nano-indentation. The electrical properties of the conductive films were studied by forming ohmic as well as schottky contacts. In second part of this study, both free-standing and membrane capped field emitter devices were fabricated by a silicon mold technique using nitrogen incorporated (i.e., doped) NCD films. The capped field emission devices act as a prototype vacuum microelectronic sensor. The field emission tests of both devices were conducted using a diode electrical device model. The turn-on field and the emission current of free-standing emitter devices was found to be approximately 0.8 V/µm and 20 µA, respectively, while the turn-on fields of capped devices increased by an order of magnitude. The emission current in the field emission sensor changed from 1 µA to 25 µA as the membrane was deflected from 280 µm to 50 µm from the emission tip, respectively

Factors affecting susceptibility to emotional contagion among South Indian Hindus residing in India

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-50).vii, 50 leaves, bound 29 cmScholars have long been interested in the process of emotional contagion. It is said to aid in the functions of facilitating social interaction, promoting interpersonal trust, and defining boundaries for social transgressions such as indicating appropriate and inappropriate behaviors within groups. Research on emotional contagion has examined the impact of various factors such as gender, self-construal, and familial relationships, on Amricans' susceptibility to emotional contagion. Unfortunately, scholars have spent little effort determining whether or not the process of emotional contagion exists, or operates in the same way in cultures outside of America - specifically South Asian cultures. They have not, for example, investigated how cultural traits - such as individuals' self-construal - might affect susceptibility to emotional contagion in traditional cultures such as India. This study examines the link between gender, family composition, >urbanization, and self-construal and the susceptibility to emotional contagion among Hindu college students residing in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Specifically, the study examines links between the aforementioned variables and the respondents' scores on the Emotional Contagion (BC) scale, including the five subscales of the EC scale. Results indicate that gender and self-construal are significantly associated with participants' scores on the overall emotional contagion scale, and on some of its subsca1es. Limitations, implications, and directions for future research are discussed

Fabrication and Characterization of ZnO Nanowire Arrays with an Investigation into Electrochemical Sensing Capabilities

ZnO nanowire arrays were grown on a Si (100) substrate using the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) method. ZnO nanowires were characterized by XRD, SEM, bright field TEM, and EDS. They were found to have a preferential orientation along the -axis. The as-prepared sample was functionalized with glucose oxidase by physical adsorption. FTIR was taken before and after functionalization to verify the presence of the attached enzyme. Electrochemical measurements were performed on the nanowire array by differential pulse voltammetry in the range of -0.6 to 0.4 V. The nanoarray sensor displayed high sensitivity to glucose in the range of 1.0 x 10-4 to 1.0 x 10-2  mol L-1

Integration of ZnO nanowires with nanocrystalline diamond fibers

Provided herein is a method for the synthesis and the integration of ZnO nanowires and nanocrystalline diamond as a novel hybrid material useful in next generation MEMS/NEMS devices. As diamond can provide a highly stable surface for applications in the harsh environments, realization of such hybrid structures may prove to be very fruitful. The ZnO nanowires on NCD were synthesized by thermal evaporation technique

Fabrication and Characterization of ZnO Nanowire Arrays with an Investigation into Electrochemical Sensing Capabilities

ZnO nanowire arrays were grown on a Si (100) substrate using the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) method. ZnO nanowires were characterized by XRD, SEM, bright field TEM, and EDS. They were found to have a preferential orientation along the -axis. The as-prepared sample was functionalized with glucose oxidase by physical adsorption. FTIR was taken before and after functionalization to verify the presence of the attached enzyme. Electrochemical measurements were performed on the nanowire array by differential pulse voltammetry in the range of -0.6 to 0.4 V. The nanoarray sensor displayed high sensitivity to glucose in the range of 1.0 x 10-4 to 1.0 x 10-2  mol L-1