968 research outputs found
Ubic: Bridging the gap between digital cryptography and the physical world
Advances in computing technology increasingly blur the boundary between the
digital domain and the physical world. Although the research community has
developed a large number of cryptographic primitives and has demonstrated their
usability in all-digital communication, many of them have not yet made their
way into the real world due to usability aspects. We aim to make another step
towards a tighter integration of digital cryptography into real world
interactions. We describe Ubic, a framework that allows users to bridge the gap
between digital cryptography and the physical world. Ubic relies on
head-mounted displays, like Google Glass, resource-friendly computer vision
techniques as well as mathematically sound cryptographic primitives to provide
users with better security and privacy guarantees. The framework covers key
cryptographic primitives, such as secure identification, document verification
using a novel secure physical document format, as well as content hiding. To
make a contribution of practical value, we focused on making Ubic as simple,
easily deployable, and user friendly as possible.Comment: In ESORICS 2014, volume 8712 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science,
pp. 56-75, Wroclaw, Poland, September 7-11, 2014. Springer, Berlin, German
Correlation between centrality metrics and their application to the opinion model
In recent decades, a number of centrality metrics describing network
properties of nodes have been proposed to rank the importance of nodes. In
order to understand the correlations between centrality metrics and to
approximate a high-complexity centrality metric by a strongly correlated
low-complexity metric, we first study the correlation between centrality
metrics in terms of their Pearson correlation coefficient and their similarity
in ranking of nodes. In addition to considering the widely used centrality
metrics, we introduce a new centrality measure, the degree mass. The m order
degree mass of a node is the sum of the weighted degree of the node and its
neighbors no further than m hops away. We find that the B_{n}, the closeness,
and the components of x_{1} are strongly correlated with the degree, the
1st-order degree mass and the 2nd-order degree mass, respectively, in both
network models and real-world networks. We then theoretically prove that the
Pearson correlation coefficient between x_{1} and the 2nd-order degree mass is
larger than that between x_{1} and a lower order degree mass. Finally, we
investigate the effect of the inflexible antagonists selected based on
different centrality metrics in helping one opinion to compete with another in
the inflexible antagonists opinion model. Interestingly, we find that selecting
the inflexible antagonists based on the leverage, the B_{n}, or the degree is
more effective in opinion-competition than using other centrality metrics in
all types of networks. This observation is supported by our previous
observations, i.e., that there is a strong linear correlation between the
degree and the B_{n}, as well as a high centrality similarity between the
leverage and the degree.Comment: 20 page
Deformation effects in Ni nuclei produced in Si+Si at 112 MeV
Velocity and energy spectra of the light charged particles (protons and
-particles) emitted in the Si(E = 112 MeV) + Si
reaction have been measured at the Strasbourg VIVITRON Tandem facility. The
ICARE charged particle multidetector array was used to obtain exclusive spectra
of the light particles in the angular range 15 - 150 degree and to determine
the angular correlations of these particles with respect to the emission angles
of the evaporation residues. The experimental data are analysed in the
framework of the statistical model. The exclusive energy spectra of
-particles emitted from the Si + Si compound system are
generally well reproduced by Monte Carlo calculations using spin-dependent
level densities. This spin dependence approach suggests the onset of large
deformations at high spin. A re-analysis of previous -particle data
from the Si + Si compound system, using the same spin-dependent
parametrization, is also presented in the framework of a general discussion of
the occurrence of large deformation effects in the A ~ 60 mass region.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figure
F-18-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography Imaging-Assisted Management of Patients With Severe Left Ventricular Dysfunction and Suspected Coronary Disease A Randomized, Controlled Trial (PARR-2)
ObjectivesWe conducted a randomized trial to assess the effectiveness of F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)-assisted management in patients with severe ventricular dysfunction and suspected coronary disease.BackgroundSuch patients may benefit from revascularization, but have significant perioperative morbidity and mortality. F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose PET can detect viable myocardium that might recover after revascularization.MethodsIncluded were patients with severe left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and suspected coronary disease being considered for revascularization, heart failure, or transplantation work-ups or in whom PET was considered potentially useful. Patients were stratified according to recent angiography or not, then randomized to management assisted by FDG PET (n = 218) or standard care (n = 212). The primary outcome was the composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction, or recurrent hospital stay for cardiac cause, within 1 year.ResultsAt 1 year, the cumulative proportion of patients who had experienced the composite event was 30% (PET arm) versus 36% (standard arm) (relative risk 0.82, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.59 to 1.14; p = 0.16). The hazard ratio (HR) for the composite outcome, PET versus standard care, was 0.78 (95% CI 0.58 to 1.1; p = 0.15); for patients that adhered to PET recommendations for revascularization, revascularization work-up, or neither, HR = 0.62 (95% CI 0.42 to 0.93; p = 0.019); in those without recent angiography, for cardiac death, HR = 0.4 (95% CI 0.17 to 0.96; p = 0.035).ConclusionsThis study did not demonstrate a significant reduction in cardiac events in patients with LV dysfunction and suspected coronary disease for FDG PET-assisted management versus standard care. In those who adhered to PET recommendations and in patients without recent angiography, significant benefits were observed. The utility of FDG PET is best realized in this subpopulation and when adherence to recommendations can be achieved
Asteroseismology of red giants & galactic archaeology
Red-giant stars are low- to intermediate-mass (~M)
stars that have exhausted hydrogen in the core. These extended, cool and hence
red stars are key targets for stellar evolution studies as well as galactic
studies for several reasons: a) many stars go through a red-giant phase; b) red
giants are intrinsically bright; c) large stellar internal structure changes as
well as changes in surface chemical abundances take place over relatively short
time; d) red-giant stars exhibit global intrinsic oscillations. Due to their
large number and intrinsic brightness it is possible to observe many of these
stars up to large distances. Furthermore, the global intrinsic oscillations
provide a means to discern red-giant stars in the pre-helium core burning from
the ones in the helium core burning phase and provide an estimate of stellar
ages, a key ingredient for galactic studies. In this lecture I will first
discuss some physical phenomena that play a role in red-giant stars and several
phases of red-giant evolution. Then, I will provide some details about
asteroseismology -- the study of the internal structure of stars through their
intrinsic oscillations -- of red-giant stars. I will conclude by discussing
galactic archaeology -- the study of the formation and evolution of the Milky
Way by reconstructing its past from its current constituents -- and the role
red-giant stars can play in that.Comment: Lecture presented at the IVth Azores International Advanced School in
Space Sciences on "Asteroseismology and Exoplanets: Listening to the Stars
and Searching for New Worlds" (arXiv:1709.00645), which took place in Horta,
Azores Islands, Portugal in July 201
Shrinking a large dataset to identify variables associated with increased risk of Plasmodium falciparum infection in Western Kenya
Large datasets are often not amenable to analysis using traditional single-step approaches. Here, our general objective was to apply imputation techniques, principal component analysis (PCA), elastic net and generalized linear models to a large dataset in a systematic approach to extract the most meaningful predictors for a health outcome. We extracted predictors for Plasmodium falciparum infection, from a large covariate dataset while facing limited numbers of observations, using data from the People, Animals, and their Zoonoses (PAZ) project to demonstrate these techniques: data collected from 415 homesteads in western Kenya, contained over 1500 variables that describe the health, environment, and social factors of the humans, livestock, and the homesteads in which they reside. The wide, sparse dataset was simplified to 42 predictors of P. falciparum malaria infection and wealth rankings were produced for all homesteads. The 42 predictors make biological sense and are supported by previous studies. This systematic data-mining approach we used would make many large datasets more manageable and informative for decision-making processes and health policy prioritization
Global Search for New Physics with 2.0/fb at CDF
Data collected in Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron are searched for
indications of new electroweak-scale physics. Rather than focusing on
particular new physics scenarios, CDF data are analyzed for discrepancies with
the standard model prediction. A model-independent approach (Vista) considers
gross features of the data, and is sensitive to new large cross-section
physics. Further sensitivity to new physics is provided by two additional
algorithms: a Bump Hunter searches invariant mass distributions for "bumps"
that could indicate resonant production of new particles; and the Sleuth
procedure scans for data excesses at large summed transverse momentum. This
combined global search for new physics in 2.0/fb of ppbar collisions at
sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV reveals no indication of physics beyond the standard model.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures. Final version which appeared in Physical Review D
Rapid Communication
Observation of Orbitally Excited B_s Mesons
We report the first observation of two narrow resonances consistent with
states of orbitally excited (L=1) B_s mesons using 1 fb^{-1} of ppbar
collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV collected with the CDF II detector at the
Fermilab Tevatron. We use two-body decays into K^- and B^+ mesons reconstructed
as B^+ \to J/\psi K^+, J/\psi \to \mu^+ \mu^- or B^+ \to \bar{D}^0 \pi^+,
\bar{D}^0 \to K^+ \pi^-. We deduce the masses of the two states to be m(B_{s1})
= 5829.4 +- 0.7 MeV/c^2 and m(B_{s2}^*) = 5839.7 +- 0.7 MeV/c^2.Comment: Version accepted and published by Phys. Rev. Let
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