Applications of Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy for Forensic Analysis

Blood stains, which are among the traces encountered most frequently at crime scenes, are important for potential extraction and amplification of DNA for suspect identification, as well for spatter pattern analysis to reveal a sequence of events. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) was used in detection of blood stains and age estimation because of signature absorbances in the mid-infrared region at 3300 cm-1 (Amide A), 2800-3000 cm-1 (Amide B), ~1650 cm-1 (Amide I), ~1540 cm-1 (Amide II) ,and 1200-1350 cm-1 (Amide III). Position and intensity shifts for amide peaks were observed due to aging changes occurring as a result of the denaturation of blood proteins and water absorption/desorption. Partial least square (PLS) regression was used in this work to combine these changes in a multivariate calibration for blood age estimation. Calibration experiments over several months at 30°C under a variety of humidity and substrates enable prediction of blood stain age under different environmental conditions. Amide peak intensity changes in the spectrum can be related to blood concentration. Multivariate calibrations of IR spectra of blood dilutions on four types of fabric (acrylic, nylon, polyester, and cotton) were built using PLS. Gap derivatives (GDs) were applied as a preprocessing technique to optimize the performance of calibration models. Detection limits of 0.028 μg/cm2 for acrylic, 0.020 μg/cm2 for nylon, 0.017 μg/cm2 for polyester, and 0.0027 μg/cm2 for cotton were found

Counting Independent Sets and Colorings on Random Regular Bipartite Graphs

We give a fully polynomial-time approximation scheme (FPTAS) to count the number of independent sets on almost every Delta-regular bipartite graph if Delta >= 53. In the weighted case, for all sufficiently large integers Delta and weight parameters lambda = Omega~ (1/(Delta)), we also obtain an FPTAS on almost every Delta-regular bipartite graph. Our technique is based on the recent work of Jenssen, Keevash and Perkins (SODA, 2019) and we also apply it to confirm an open question raised there: For all q >= 3 and sufficiently large integers Delta=Delta(q), there is an FPTAS to count the number of q-colorings on almost every Delta-regular bipartite graph

A Decentralized Trust Management System for Intelligent Transportation Environments

Commercialized 5G technology will provide reliable and efficient connectivity of motor vehicles that could support the dissemination of information under an intelligent transportation system. However, such service still suffers from risks or threats due to malicious content producers. The traditional public key infrastructure (PKI) cannot restrain such untrusted but legitimate publishers. Therefore, a trust-based service management mechanism is required to secure information dissemination. The issue of how to achieve a trust management model becomes a key problem in the situation. This paper proposes a novel prototype of the decentralized trust management system (DTMS) based on blockchain technologies. Compared with the conventional and centralized trust management system, DTMS adopts a decentralized consensus-based trust evaluation model and a blockchain-based trust storage system, which provide a transparent evaluation procedure and irreversible storage of trust credits. Moreover, the proposed trust model improves blockchain efficiency by only allowing trusted nodes participating in the validation and consensus process. Additionally, the designed system creatively applies a trusted execution environment (TEE) to secure the trust evaluation process together with an incentive model that is used to stimulate more participation and penalize malicious behaviours. Finally, to evaluate our new design prototype, both numerical analysis and practical experiments are implemented for performance evaluation

Research of the Impact of Firm’s Network on the Growth of B2B2C E-commerce Firm

This paper does a brief introduction on B2B2C e-commerce, network structure, network relationship and the growth of e-commerce firm. Then it sets a theoretical framework and uses case study to explore the impact of firm’s network on the growth of B2B2C e-commerce firms involving retail, travel and shoes industries. The result of case studies indicates that firm’s network structure and firm’s growth, firm’s network relationship and firm’s growth, firm’s network capabilities and firm’s growth all have clear positive correlations. Then this paper puts forward relevant hypotheses and does pretest to ensure the effectiveness of questionnaire. Finally, it discusses the limitations and points out future research direction

Cooperative optimal path planning for herding problems

In this thesis we study a new type of pursuit-evasion game, which we call the herding problem. Unlike typical pursuit evasion games where the pursuer aims to catch or intercept the evader, the goal of the pursuer in this game is to drive the evader to a certain location or region in the x-y plane. This herding model is proposed and represented using dynamic equations. The model is implemented in an effort to understand how two pursuers work cooperatively to drive multiple evaders to the desired destination following weighted time-optimal and effort-optimal control paths. Simulation of this herding problem is accomplished through dynamic programming by utilizing the SNOPT software in the MATLAB environment. The numerical solution gives us the optimal path for all agents and the corresponding controls as well as the relative distance and angle variables. The results show that the pursuers can work cooperatively to drive multiple evaders to the goal