A privacy-preserving traffic monitoring scheme via vehicular crowdsourcing

The explosive number of vehicles has given rise to a series of traffic problems, such as traffic congestion, road safety, and fuel waste. Collecting vehicles’ speed information is an effective way to monitor the traffic conditions and avoid vehicles’ congestion, however it may threaten vehicles’ location and trajectory privacy. Motivated by the fact that traffic monitoring does not need to know each individual vehicle’s speed and the average speed would be sufficient, we propose a privacy-preserving traffic monitoring (PPTM) scheme to aggregate vehicles’ speeds at different locations. In PPTM, the roadside unit (RSU) collects vehicles’ speed information at multiple road segments, and further cooperates with a service provider to calculate the average speed information for every road segment. To preserve vehicles’ privacy, both homomorphic Paillier cryptosystem and super-increasing sequence are adopted. A comprehensive security analysis indicates that the proposed PPTM can preserve vehicles’ identities, speeds, locations, and trajectories privacy from being disclosed. In addition, extensive simulations are conducted to validate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed PPTM scheme.This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61402037, 61872041, 61272512)

A fog computing solution for context-based privacy leakage detection for android healthcare devices

Intelligent medical service system integrates wireless internet of things (WIoT), including medical sensors, wireless communications, and middleware techniques, so as to collect and analyze patients' data to examine their physical conditions by many personal health devices (PHDs) in real time. However, large amount of malicious codes on the Android system can compromise consumers' privacy, and further threat the hospital management or even the patients' health. Furthermore, this sensor-rich system keeps generating large amounts of data and saturates the middleware system. To address these challenges, we propose a fog computing security and privacy protection solution. Specifically, first, we design the security and privacy protection framework based on the fog computing to improve tele-health and tele-medicine infrastructure. Then, we propose a context-based privacy leakage detection method based on the combination of dynamic and static information. Experimental results show that the proposed method can achieve higher detection accuracy and lower energy consumption compared with other state-of-art methods.This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (General Program) under Grant No.61572253, the 13th Five-Year Plan Equipment Pre-Research Projects Fund under Grant No.61402420101HK02001, and the Aviation Science Fund under Grant No. 2016ZC52030

When Traffic Flow Prediction and Wireless Big Data Analytics Meet

In this article, we verify whether or not prediction performance can be improved by fitting the actual data to optimize the parameter values of a prediction model. The traffic flow prediction is an important research issue for solving the traffic congestion problem in an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). The traffic congestion is one of the most serious problems in a city, which can be predicted in advance by analyzing traffic flow patterns. Such prediction is possible by analyzing the realtime transportation data from correlative roads and vehicles. The verification in this article is conducted by comparing the optimized and the normal time series prediction models. With the verification, we can learn that the era of big data is here and will become an important aspect for the study of traffic flow prediction to solve the congestion problem. Experimental results of a case study are provided to verify the existence of the performance improvement in the prediction, while the research challenges of this data-analytics-based prediction are presented and discussed

When energy trading meets blockchain in electrical power system: The state of the art

With the rapid growth of renewable energy resources, energy trading has been shifting from the centralized manner to distributed manner. Blockchain, as a distributed public ledger technology, has been widely adopted in the design of new energy trading schemes. However, there are many challenging issues in blockchain-based energy trading, e.g., low efficiency, high transaction cost, and security and privacy issues. To tackle these challenges, many solutions have been proposed. In this survey, the blockchain-based energy trading in the electrical power system is thoroughly investigated. Firstly, the challenges in blockchain-based energy trading are identified and summarized. Then, the existing energy trading schemes are studied and classified into three categories based on their main focuses: energy transaction, consensus mechanism, and system optimization. Blockchain-based energy trading has been a popular research topic, new blockchain architectures, models and products are continually emerging to overcome the limitations of existing solutions, forming a virtuous circle. The internal combination of different blockchain types and the combination of blockchain with other technologies improve the blockchain-based energy trading system to better satisfy the practical requirements of modern power systems. However, there are still some problems to be solved, for example, the lack of regulatory system, environmental challenges and so on. In the future, we will strive for a better optimized structure and establish a comprehensive security assessment model for blockchain-based energy trading system.This research was funded by Beijing Natural Science Foundation (grant number 4182060).Scopu

Resource Cube:Multi-Virtual Resource Management for Integrated Satellite-Terrestrial Industrial IoT Networks

Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has found wider research, and satellite-terrestrial network (STN) can provide large-scale seamless connections for IIoT. With virtualization, we design resource cube to describe the integration and state of multi-dimensional virtual resources. To achieve higher resource utilization and smarter connections, we design a matching considered preferences (MCPR) algorithm to match IIoT nodes with service sides. The matching design considers the resource cube (MCRC) algorithm based on MCPR algorithm to lower the total system delay. In addition, in order to simplify the analysis of resource management, we adopt a layered architecture and multiple M/M/1 queuing models. We analyze the resource utilization and the total system delay for three different combinations of arrival rate and service rate of each resource cube. With MCRC algorithm, the utilization of resources is slightly reduced, while the total system delay is greatly reduced compared with MCPR algorithm. © 1967-2012 IEEE

Ultrasonically assisted atmospheric freeze-drying of button mushroom. Drying kinetics and product quality

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Drying Technology, 36, 15, 1814-1823 © Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://doi.org/10.1080/07373937.2017.1417870[EN] The aim of this work was to evaluate the feasibility of using power ultrasound to improve the atmospheric freeze-drying of mushroom, as interesting alternative to vacuum freeze-drying, considering not only kinetic effects but also the final quality. For that purpose, mushroom slices (Agaricus bisporus) were dried (¿10°C and 2 m/s) with (24.6 and 12.3 kW/m3; 21.9 kHz) and without ultrasound application. The application of ultrasound significantly influenced the drying kinetics, increasing the effective diffusivity up to 280% and shortening drying time up to 74%. As for the quality parameters (color, texture, rehydration, and cell damage), no remarkable influence of the ultrasound application was observed. Therefore, the application of power ultrasound during the atmospheric freeze-drying of mushroom might be considered as an interesting technology providing that it significantly increased the process kinetics without greatly affecting the quality of the final product.The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEOII/2014/005) and INIA-ERDF (RTA2015-00060-C04-02).Carrion, C.; Mulet Pons, A.; García Pérez, JV.; Cárcel Carrión, JA. (2017). Ultrasonically assisted atmospheric freeze-drying of button mushroom. Drying kinetics and product quality. Drying Technology. 36(15):1814-1823. https://doi.org/10.1080/07373937.2017.1417870S18141823361

Response timing in the lunge and target change in elite versus medium-level fencers.

The aim of the present work is to examine the differences between two groups of fencers with different levels of competition, elite and medium level. The timing parameters of the response reaction have been compared together with the kinetic variables which determine the sequence of segmented participation used during the lunge with a change in target during movement. A total of 30 male sword fencers participated, 13 elite and 17 medium level. Two force platforms recorded the horizontal component of the force and the start of the movement. One system filmed the movement in 3D, recording the spatial positions of 11 markers, while another system projected a mobile target over a screen. For synchronisation, an electronic signal enabled all the systems to be started simultaneously. Among the timing parameters of the reaction response, the choice reaction time (CRT) to the target change during the lunge was measured. The results revealed differences between the groups regarding the flight time, horizontal velocity at the end of the acceleration phase, and the length of the lunge, these being higher for the elite group, as well as other variables related to the temporal sequence of movement. No significant differences have been found in the simple reaction time or in CRT. According to the literature, the CRT appears to improve with sports practice, although this factor did not differentiate the elite from medium-level fencers. The coordination of fencing movements, that is, the right technique, constitutes a factor that differentiates elite fencers from medium-level ones

CO2 gasification of chars prepared from wood and forest residue

The CO2 gasification of chars prepared from Norway spruce and its forest residue was investigated in a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) at slow heating rates. The volatile content of the samples was negligible; hence the gasification reaction step could be studied alone, without the disturbance of the devolatilization reactions. Six TGA experiments were carried out for each sample with three different temperature programs in 60 and 100% CO2. Linear, modulated, and constant-reaction rate (CRR) temperature programs were employed to increase the information content available for the modeling. The temperatures at half of the mass loss were lower in the CRR experiments than in the other experiments by around 120 degrees C. A relatively simple, well-known reaction kinetic equation described the experiments. The dependence on the reacted fraction as well as the dependence on the CO2, concentration were described by power functions (n-order reactions). The evaluations were also carried out by assuming a function of the reacted fraction that can mimic the various random pore/random capillary models. These attempts, however, did not result in an improved fit quality. Nearly identical activation energy values were obtained for the chars made from wood and forest residues (221 and 218 kJ/mol, respectively). Nevertheless, the forest residue char was more reactive; the temperatures at half of the mass loss showed 20-34 degrees C differences between the two chars at 10 degrees C/min heating rates. The assumption of a common activation energy, E, and a common reaction order, v, on the CO2, concentration for the two chars had only a negligible effect on the fit quality

Comparison of diet consumption, body composition and lipoprotein lipid values of Kuwaiti fencing players with international norms

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>No published data is currently available that describes the dietary patterns or physiological profiles of athletes participating on the Kuwaiti national fencing team and its potential impact on health and physical performance. The purpose of this investigation was to: 1) collect baseline data on nutrient intake 2) collect, analyze and report baseline for body composition, plasma lipid and lipoprotein concentrations during the competitive season, 3) compare the results with the international norms, 4) and provide necessary health and nutritional information in order to enhance the athletes' performance and skills.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Fifteen national-class fencers 21.5 ± 2.6 years of age participated in this study. Food intake was measured using a 3-day food record. Body composition was estimated using both the BOD POD and Body Mass Index (BMI). Total blood lipid profiles and maximum oxygen consumption was measured for each of the subjects during the competitive season.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results of the present study showed significant differences in dietary consumption in comparison with the recommended dietary allowances (RDA). The blood lipids profile and body composition (BMI and % body fat) were in normal range in comparison with international norms However, the average VO_{2 max}value was less than the value of the other fencers.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Due to the results of the research study, a dietary regimen can be designed that would better enhance athletic performance and minimize any health risks associated with nutrition. Percent body fat and BMI will also be categorized for all players. In addition, the plasma blood tests will help to determine if any of the players have an excessive level of lipids or any blood abnormalities. The outcomes of present study will have a direct impact on the players health and therefore their skills and athletic performance.</p