Wireless sensor data security

Wireless Sensor Network (WSNs) is a network of sensors deployed in places unsuitable for human beings and where constant monitoring is required. They work with low power, low cost smart devices having limited computing resources. They have a crucial role to play in battle surveillance, border control and infrastructure protection. Keeping in view the precious data they transmit, their security from active or passive attacks is very crucial. We came to know about LOCK model implementing novel Distributed Key Management Exclusion Basis (EBS) System is very efficient in providing with Network Security. Keeping in view the importance of Data Security we preferred to secure WSN data through Public Key Encryption methods like RSA. We also discussed and implemented Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) and its advantages over RSA. However our novel Spiral Encryption Technique implemented along with ECC algorithm, has shown how it helped in making the transmitted message more secure and less informative for the eavesdropper

Turning conflicts into cooperation? The role of adaptive learning and deliberation in managing natural resources conflicts in Nepal

Conflicts over natural resources are likely to escalate under changing socio-economic contexts and climate change. This paper tests the effectiveness of what we term Adaptive Learning and Deliberation (ALD) in understanding and addressing conflicts over the local management of forests and water, drawing on the experimental works in Nepal. Based on a three-year action research, the paper offers policy and practical insights on how complex and protracted conflicts can be addressed through researcher-facilitated inquiry and deliberative process which forms the core of ALD approach. The conflicts included in the study are not solely triggered by climate change but are a result of diverse environmental changes, diverse policy responses to local issues of resource governance, and wider political and economic factors. We analyze experimental practices of ALD implemented in two sites, where our research team facilitated the ALD process, gathering evidence in relation to conflicting institutional issues, all of which was then fed into researcher-mediated and evidence informed deliberations on conflict management. The analysis shows that the ALD process was helpful in rearranging local institutions to accommodate the interests of the conflicting groups and, to some extent, challenge some of the underlying exclusionary provisions of forest and water institutions which have deep social roots in the Nepalese society. We also identify three key limitations of this approach – transaction costs, the need for strong research and facilitative capacity within the research team, and the acceptance of researchers' involvement among the conflicting stakeholders. Finally, we discuss some policy implications of the findings, including potential implications for building climate resilience

Proximity-induced supercurrent through topological insulator based nanowires for quantum computation studies

Proximity induced superconducting energy gap in the surface states of topological insulators has been predicted to host the much wanted Majorana fermions for fault tolerant quantum computation. Recent theoretically proposed architectures for topological quantum computation via Majoranas are based on large networks of Kitaevs one dimensional quantum wires, which pose a huge experimental challenge in terms of scalability of the current single nanowire based devices. Here, we address this problem by realizing robust superconductivity in junctions of fabricated topological insulator Bi2Se3 nanowires proximity coupled to conventional s wave superconducting W electrodes. Milling technique possesses great potential in fabrication of any desired shapes and structures at nanoscale level, and therefore can be effectively utilized to scale up the existing single nanowire based design into nanowire based network architectures. We demonstrate the dominant role of ballistic topological surface states in propagating the long range proximity induced superconducting order with high IcRN product in long Bi2Se3 junctions. Large upper critical magnetic fields exceeding the Chandrasekhar Clogston limit suggests the existence of robust superconducting order with spin triplet cooper pairing. An unconventional inverse dependence of IcRN product on the width of the nanowire junction was also observed.Comment: 12 page

Diabetes and kidney cancer: A direct or indirect association?

A positive association between diabetes and kidney cancer has been reported in several investigations, but it is unclear whether diabetes or its complications account for this association. Recent advances in estimating direct associations may be useful for elucidating the association between diabetes and kidney cancer. Therefore, we performed a case-control analysis to evaluate whether the direct association between diabetes and kidney cancer is the primary concern in this exposure-outcome relation. Discharge data (with International Classification of Diseases – 9 codes) from 2001 for hospitals throughout Florida were used to construct a case-control population of inpatients aged ≥45 years. Cases (n=1,909) were inpatients with malignant kidney cancer and controls (n=6,451) were inpatients with motor vehicle injuries. Diabetes status was ascertained for cases and controls. Covariates that required adjustment to estimate the total (age, gender, ethnicity, obesity, and smoking) and direct (age, gender, ethnicity, obesity, smoking, hypertension, and kidney disease) associations were identified in a directed acyclic graph. Binary logistic regression was used to estimate the adjusted total and direct odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of kidney cancer for diabetics. The odds of kidney cancer were higher for inpatients with diabetes than inpatients without diabetes when estimating the total association (OR=1.27, 95%CI: 1.10, 1.47) but attenuated when estimating the direct association (OR=1.08, 95%CI: 0.93, 1.25). Our findings provide preliminary insight that the direct association between diabetes and kidney cancer may not be the primary concern in this exposure-outcome relation; indirect pathways (i.e. diabetic complications) may have greater influence on this relation. A similar analysis using longitudinal data with appropriately measured covariates may provide more definitive conclusions and could have implications for kidney cancer prevention among diabetics

MANAGEMENT AND CLASSIFICATION OF CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION WASTE IN INDIA

Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste have a huge potential to replace virgin materials. However, due to lack of management, its utilization has not been optimized. Issues like sharing of responsibilities among various stakeholders and classification of C&D waste are some of bottleneck on part of effective implementation of C&D waste management in India. This paper illustrates quantity and quality of C&D waste generation in India, regulatory framework, policy interventions and R&D work carried out to classify C&D waste aggregate for production of concrete. Experimental studies were carried out using two different sources of recycled concrete aggregates; one batch of aggregates are obtained from Burari Plant located in New Delhi and another batch of aggregates were created in laboratory by crushing concrete cubes of 20- 30MPa. Thereafter, recycled concrete aggregates were classified on basis of their physical properties like specific gravity and water absorption and their performance in concrete have been evaluated in terms of fresh properties like workability, air content, bleed water percentage and mechanical properties like compressive and flexural strength. Study indicates that air content in concrete mixes prepared from recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) is 5-20 % higher than that of corresponding control mix whereas admixture requirement for concrete mixes prepared with RCA was found to be slightly higher in comparison to that of control. Experimental study indicates that compressive strength as well as flexural strength of concrete mixes prepared with recycled concrete aggregate has been reduced drastically in comparison to control mixes without recycled coarse aggregate

Mechanical Properties of Polypropylene Fiber Reinforced Concrete under Elevated Temperature

Apart from many advantages, High Strength Concrete (HSC) has disadvantages in terms of brittleness and poor resistance to fire. Various studies suggest that when polypropylene (PP) fibers are uniformly distributed within concrete, they play an active role in improving spalling resistance of concrete when exposed to elevated temperature while having no adverse effect on its mechanical properties. Therefore, there is a necessity to quantify the effect of the addition of polypropylene fibers in terms of the fiber dosage, the strength of the concrete, and the residual mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced concrete under exposure to high temperature from fire. The study was carried out on three water/cement (w/c) ratios (0.47, 0.36 & 0.20) using granite aggregate for determining short term mechanical properties of Polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete in comparison to control mix. The experimental program includes 100 × 200 mm & 150 x 300 mm cylinders with fiber volume of 0.5%, that were subjected to temperatures exposures of 400 °C and 600 °C for durations of 1 hour. From the results, it was observed that no significant enhancement in mechanical properties such as modulus of elasticity, Poisson’s ratio, split tensile strength, flexural strength, and compressiv

Mapping of Large Scale 158 micron [CII] Line Emission: Orion A

We present the first results of an observational programme undertaken to map the fine structure line emission of singly ionized carbon ([CII] 157.7409 micron) over extended regions using a Fabry Perot spectrometer newly installed at the focal plane of a 100cm balloon-borne far-infrared telescope. This new combination of instruments has a velocity resolution of ~200 km/s and an angular resolution of 1.5'. During the first flight, an area of 30'x15' in Orion A was mapped. The observed [CII] intensity distribution has been compared with the velocity-integrated intensity distributions of 13CO(1-0), CI(1-0) and CO(3-2) from the literature. The observed line intensities and ratios have been analyzed using the PDR models by Kaufman et al. 1999 to derive the incident UV flux and volume density at a few selected positions.Comment: To appear in Astronomy & Astrophysic