Finite Temperature Casimir Effect in the Presence of Extra Dimensions

We consider the finite temperature Casimir force acting on two parallel plates in a closed cylinder with the same cross section of arbitrary shape in the presence of extra dimensions. Dirichlet boundary conditions are imposed on one plate and fractional Neumann conditions with order between zero (Dirichlet) and one (Neumann) are imposed on the other plate. Formulas for the Casimir force show that it is always attractive for Dirichlet boundary conditions, and is always repulsive when the fractional order is larger than 1/2. For some fractional orders less than 1/2, the Casimir force can be either attractive or repulsive depending on the size of the internal manifold and temperature.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of 9th Conference on Quantum Field Theory under the Influence of External Conditions (QFEXT 09): Devoted to the Centenary of H. B. G. Casimir, Norman, Oklahoma, 21-25 Sep 200

Optimal Attack against Cyber-Physical Control Systems with Reactive Attack Mitigation

This paper studies the performance and resilience of a cyber-physical control system (CPCS) with attack detection and reactive attack mitigation. It addresses the problem of deriving an optimal sequence of false data injection attacks that maximizes the state estimation error of the system. The results provide basic understanding about the limit of the attack impact. The design of the optimal attack is based on a Markov decision process (MDP) formulation, which is solved efficiently using the value iteration method. Using the proposed framework, we quantify the effect of false positives and mis-detections on the system performance, which can help the joint design of the attack detection and mitigation. To demonstrate the use of the proposed framework in a real-world CPCS, we consider the voltage control system of power grids, and run extensive simulations using PowerWorld, a high-fidelity power system simulator, to validate our analysis. The results show that by carefully designing the attack sequence using our proposed approach, the attacker can cause a large deviation of the bus voltages from the desired setpoint. Further, the results verify the optimality of the derived attack sequence and show that, to cause maximum impact, the attacker must carefully craft his attack to strike a balance between the attack magnitude and stealthiness, due to the simultaneous presence of attack detection and mitigation

Modeling and Detecting False Data Injection Attacks against Railway Traction Power Systems

Modern urban railways extensively use computerized sensing and control technologies to achieve safe, reliable, and well-timed operations. However, the use of these technologies may provide a convenient leverage to cyber-attackers who have bypassed the air gaps and aim at causing safety incidents and service disruptions. In this paper, we study false data injection (FDI) attacks against railways' traction power systems (TPSes). Specifically, we analyze two types of FDI attacks on the train-borne voltage, current, and position sensor measurements - which we call efficiency attack and safety attack -- that (i) maximize the system's total power consumption and (ii) mislead trains' local voltages to exceed given safety-critical thresholds, respectively. To counteract, we develop a global attack detection (GAD) system that serializes a bad data detector and a novel secondary attack detector designed based on unique TPS characteristics. With intact position data of trains, our detection system can effectively detect the FDI attacks on trains' voltage and current measurements even if the attacker has full and accurate knowledge of the TPS, attack detection, and real-time system state. In particular, the GAD system features an adaptive mechanism that ensures low false positive and negative rates in detecting the attacks under noisy system measurements. Extensive simulations driven by realistic running profiles of trains verify that a TPS setup is vulnerable to the FDI attacks, but these attacks can be detected effectively by the proposed GAD while ensuring a low false positive rate.Comment: IEEE/IFIP DSN-2016 and ACM Trans. on Cyber-Physical System

Non-degenerate solutions of universal Whitham hierarchy

The notion of non-degenerate solutions for the dispersionless Toda hierarchy is generalized to the universal Whitham hierarchy of genus zero with $M+1$ marked points. These solutions are characterized by a Riemann-Hilbert problem (generalized string equations) with respect to two-dimensional canonical transformations, and may be thought of as a kind of general solutions of the hierarchy. The Riemann-Hilbert problem contains $M$ arbitrary functions $H_a(z_0,z_a)$, $a = 1,...,M$, which play the role of generating functions of two-dimensional canonical transformations. The solution of the Riemann-Hilbert problem is described by period maps on the space of $(M+1)$-tuples $(z_\alpha(p) : \alpha = 0,1,...,M)$ of conformal maps from $M$ disks of the Riemann sphere and their complements to the Riemann sphere. The period maps are defined by an infinite number of contour integrals that generalize the notion of harmonic moments. The $F$-function (free energy) of these solutions is also shown to have a contour integral representation.Comment: latex2e, using amsmath, amssym and amsthm packages, 32 pages, no figur

Transcriptional factor PU.1 regulates decidual C1q expression in early pregnancy in human

"Copyright: © 2015 Madhukaran, Kishore, Jamil, Teo, Choolani and Lu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms."C1q is the first recognition subcomponent of the complement classical pathway, which in addition to being synthesized in the liver, is also expressed by macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs). Trophoblast invasion during early placentation results in accumulation of debris that triggers the complement system. Hence, both early and late components of the classical pathway are widely distributed in the placenta and decidua. In addition, C1q has recently been shown to significantly contribute to feto-maternal tolerance, trophoblast migration, and spiral artery remodeling, although the exact mechanism remains unknown. Pregnancy in mice, genetically deficient in C1q, mirrors symptoms similar to that of human preeclampsia. Thus, regulated complement activation has been proposed as an essential requirement for normal successful pregnancy. Little is known about the molecular pathways that regulate C1q expression in pregnancy. PU.1, an Ets-family transcription factor, is required for the development of hematopoietic myeloid lineage immune cells, and its expression is tissue-specific. Recently, PU.1 has been shown to regulate C1q gene expression in DCs and macrophages. Here, we have examined if PU.1 transcription factor regulates decidual C1q expression. We used immune-histochemical analysis, PCR, and immunostaining to localize and study the gene expression of PU.1 transcription factor in early human decidua. PU.1 was highly expressed at gene and protein level in early human decidual cells including trophoblast and stromal cells. Surprisingly, nuclear as well as cytoplasmic PU.1 expression was observed. Decidual cells with predominantly nuclear PU.1 expression had higher C1q expression. It is likely that nuclear and cytoplasmic PU.1 localization has a role to play in early pregnancy via regulating C1q expression in the decidua during implantation

Casimir effect of electromagnetic field in Randall-Sundrum spacetime

We study the finite temperature Casimir effect on a pair of parallel perfectly conducting plates in Randall-Sundrum model without using scalar field analogy. Two different ways of interpreting perfectly conducting conditions are discussed. The conventional way that uses perfectly conducting condition induced from 5D leads to three discrete mode corrections. This is very different from the result obtained from imposing 4D perfectly conducting conditions on the 4D massless and massive vector fields obtained by decomposing the 5D electromagnetic field. The latter only contains two discrete mode corrections, but it has a continuum mode correction that depends on the thicknesses of the plates. It is shown that under both boundary conditions, the corrections to the Casimir force make the Casimir force more attractive. The correction under 4D perfectly conducting condition is always smaller than the correction under the 5D induced perfectly conducting condition. These statements are true at any temperature.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure

Role stress of local Japanese staff in Japanese companies in Australia

This paper reports the findings from a qualitative study which investigates the level of work attitude and role stress (role ambiguity and role conflict) experienced by local hired Japanese staff in Japanese companies in Australia. The findings revealed that work attitudes of local hired Japanese staff were similar to those of employees in Japan. Role stress experiences of local hired Japanese staff refer to dissatisfaction with both Japanese expatriate staff and non-Japanese local staff. Three sources of their role stress experiences were also identified. These were lack of English language competence, source of recruitment, and cultural background. Each source is related to a particular type of role stress

Social-Interactive Writing for English Language Learners

This action research investigated the effects of the Social-Interactive Writing for English Language Learners (SWELL) method on the social interaction and cognitive writing processes of a pair of elementary school Mandarin-speaking English language learners (ELLs) in California. In the study, the researcher modified Topping’s paired-writing method, a highly structured process-writing approach, and designed a new model called the SWELL method to teach the pair of ELLs. Complex social and cognitive behaviors of participants were found in the study. The teacher’s constant modeling of strategies to promote a positive attitude in the SWELL method played a crucial role. Use of L1 between partners was also found to be important, since it helped promote more in-depth discussions during the interaction. Furthermore, contrary to Vygotsky ’s (1934/2000) idea of pairing an expert with a novice to promote effective learning, this study indicated that pairing intermediate-level novice ELLs also led to constructive social collaboration and high-level cognitive thinking skills

Finite Temperature Casimir Effect and Dispersion in the Presence of Compactified Extra Dimensions

Finite temperature Casimir theory of the Dirichlet scalar field is developed, assuming that there is a conventional Casimir setup in physical space with two infinitely large plates separated by a gap R and in addition an arbitrary number q of extra compacified dimensions. As a generalization of earlier theory, we assume in the first part of the paper that there is a scalar 'refractive index' N filling the whole of the physical space region. After presenting general expressions for free energy and Casimir forces we focus on the low temperature case, as this is of main physical interest both for force measurements and also for issues related to entropy and the Nernst theorem. Thereafter, in the second part we analyze dispersive properties, assuming for simplicity q=1, by taking into account dispersion associated with the first Matsubara frequency only. The medium-induced contribution to the free energy, and pressure, is calculated at low temperatures.Comment: 25 pages, one figure. Minor changes in the discussion. Version to appear in Physica Script