Efficient and Provably Secure Key Agreement for Modern Smart Metering Communications

Security in modern smart metering communications and in smart grid networks has been an area of interest recently. In this field, identity-based mutual authentication including credential privacy without active involvement of a trusted third party is an important building block for smart grid technology. Recently, several schemes have been proposed for the smart grid with various security features (e.g., mutual authentication and key agreement). Moreover, these schemes are said to offer session key security under the widely accepted Canetti-Krawczyk (CK) security model. Instead, we argue that all of them are still vulnerable under the CK model. To remedy the problem, we present a new provably secure key agreement model for smart metering communications. The proposed model preserves the security features and provides more resistance against a denial of service attack. Moreover, our scheme is pairing-free, resulting in highly efficient computational and communication efforts.</jats:p

Factor copula models for item response data

Factor or conditional independence models based on copulas are proposed for multivariate discrete data such as item responses. The factor copula models have interpretations of latent maxima/minima (in comparison with latent means) and can lead to more probability in the joint upper or lower tail compared with factor models based on the discretized multivariate normal distribution (or multidimensional normal ogive model). Details on maximum likelihood estimation of parameters for the factor copula model are given, as well as analysis of the behavior of the log-likelihood. Our general methodology is illustrated with several item response data sets, and it is shown that there is a substantial improvement on existing models both conceptually and in fit to data

Enhanced end-to-end security through symmetric-key cryptography in wearable medical sensor networks

Computer Science

In-depth energy analysis of security algorithms and protocols for the Internet of Things

Computer Science

Do we still need animals? Surveying the role of animal-free models in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease research

The use of animals in neuroscience and biomedical research remains controversial. Policy is built around the “3R” principle of “Refining, Reducing and Replacing” animal experiments, and across the globe, different initiatives stimulate the use of animal-free methods. Based on an extensive literature screen to map the development and adoption of animal-free methods in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease research, we find that at least two in three examined studies rely on animals or on animal-derived models. Among the animal-free studies, the relative contribution of innovative models that may replace animal experiments is limited. We argue that the distinction between animal research and alternative models presents a false dichotomy, as the role and scientific value of both animal and animal-free approaches are intertwined. Calls to halt all animal experiments appear premature, as insufficient non-animal-based alternatives are available and their development lags behind. In light of this, we highlight the need for objective, unprejudiced monitoring, and more robust performance indicators of animal-free approaches

Anonymous Secure Framework in Connected Smart Home Environments

The smart home is an environment where heterogeneous electronic devices and appliances are networked together to provide smart services in an ubiquitous manner to the individuals. As the homes become smarter, more complex and technology dependent, the need for an adequate security mechanism with minimum individual’s intervention is growing. The recent serious security attacks have shown how the Internetenabled smart homes can be turned into very dangerous spots for various ill intentions, and thus lead the privacy concerns for the individuals. For instance, an eavesdropper is able to derive the identity of a particular device/appliance via public channels that can be used to infer in the life pattern of an individual within the home area network. This paper proposes an anonymous secure framework (ASF) in connected smart home environments, using solely lightweight operations. The proposed framework in this paper provides efficient authentication and key agreement, and enables devices (identity and data) anonymity and unlinkability. One-time session key progression regularly renews the session key for the smart devices and dilutes the risk of using a compromised session key in the ASF. It is demonstrated that computation complexity of the proposed framework is low as compared to the existing schemes, while security has been significantly improved

A Smart Bluetooth-based Ad Hoc Management System for Appliances in Home Environments

The number of home devices integrating new technologies is continuously increasing. These advances allow us to improve our daily routines. In addition, the improvement in network infrastructure and the development of smart phones and mobile devices allow us access from any place to any of our systems over the Internet. Bearing in mind this idea, we have developed a low-cost ad hoc protocol based on Bluetooth technology that allows us to control all our home appliances and monitor the power consumption of our homes. Our proposal is based on an Android application installed on a mobile device which acts as server. The application allows users to program the various appliances. It is also able to check the status of the appliance, as well as controlling the power consumption of the house and its cost. The system is equipped with a smart algorithm able to manage all appliances and decide which ones should work as a function of various criteria such as time of day or power consumption. Finally, the system is able to detect faults in water and electricity supply for acting accordingly. All data received and sent by the server are stored in a database which the system can check and compare to make their own decisions.Sendra, S.; Laborda, A.; Díaz Santos, JR.; Lloret, J. (2015). A Smart Bluetooth-based Ad Hoc Management System for Appliances in Home Environments. Springer Verlag (Germany): LNCS. 8487:128-141. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-07425-2_10S1281418487Garcia, M., Sendra, S., Lloret, J., Canovas, A.: Saving energy and improving communications using cooperative group-based Wireless Sensor Networks. Telecommunication Systems 52(4), 2489–2502 (2013)Liu, Y., Zhou, G.: Technologies and Applications of Internet of Things. In: Proceedings of 2012 Fifth International Conference on Intelligent Computation Technology and Automation (ICICTA), Zhangjiajie, China, January 12-14, pp. 197–200 (2012)Aiello, M.: The Role of Web Services at Home. In: Proceedings of the Advanced International Conference on Telecommunications and International Conference on Internet and Web Applications and Services (AICT-ICIW 2006), Guadeloupe, France, February 23-25 (2006)Mowafi, M.Y., Awad, F.H., Al-Batati, M.A.: Opportunistic Network Coding for Real-Time Transmission over Wireless Networks. Network Protocols and Algorithms 5(1), 1–19 (2013)Gangadhar, G., Nayak, S., Puttamadappa, C.: Intelligent Refrigerator with monitoring capability through internet. International Journal of Computer Applications. Special Issue on “Wireless Information Networks & Business Information System 2(7), 65–68 (2011)Soucek, S., Russ, G., Tamarit, C.: The Smart Kitchen Project—An Application of Fieldbus Technology to Domotics. In: Proceedings of 2nd International Workshop on Networked Appliances (IWNA 2000), New Brunswick, NJ, USA, November 30-December 1 (2000)Zhang, W., Tan, G.-Z., Ding, N.: Traffic Information Detection Based on Scattered Sensor Data: Model and Algorithms. Adhoc & Sensor Wireless Networks 18(3-4), 225–240 (2013)Ranjit, J.S., Shin, S.: A Modified IEEE 802.15. 4 Superframe Structure for Guaranteed Emergency Handling in Wireless Body Area Network. Network Protocols & Algorithms 5(2), 1–15 (2013)Braeken, A., Singelee, D.: Efficient and Location-Private Communication Protocols for WBSNs. Adhoc & Sensor Wireless Networks 19(3-4), 305–326 (2013)Augusto, J.C., McCullagh, P., McClelland, V., Walkden, J.A.: Enhanced healthcare provision through assisted decision-making in a smart home environment. In: Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Artificial Intelligence Techniques for Ambient Intelligence (AITAmI 2007), Hyderabad, India, January 6-7 (2007)Zhang, L., Zhao, Z., Li, D., Liu, Q., Cui, L.: Wildlife Monitoring Using Heterogeneous Wireless Communication Network. Adhoc & Sensor Wireless Networks 18(3-4), 159–179 (2013)Viani, F., Robol, F., Polo, A., Rocca, P., Oliveri, G., Massa, A.: Wireless Architectures for Heterogeneous Sensing in Smart Home Applications: Concepts and Real Implementation. Proceedings of the IEEE 101(11), 2381–2396 (2013)Lloret, J., Macías, E., Suárez, A., Lacuesta, R.: Ubiquitous Monitoring of Electrical Household Appliances. Sensors 12(11), 15159–15191 (2012)Kamilaris, A., Trifa, V., Pitsillides, A.: The smart home meets the Web of Things. International Journal of Ad Hoc and Ubiquitous Computing 7(3), 145–154 (2011)Kamilaris, A., Trifa, V., Pitsillides, A.: An Application Framework for Web-Based Smart Homes. In: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Telecommunications, ICT 2011, Ayia Napa, Cyprus, May 8-11, pp. 134–139 (2011)IEEE Std 802.15.1-2002 – IEEE Standard for Information technology – Telecommunications and information exchange between systems – Local and metropolitan area networks – Specific requirements Part 15.1: Wireless Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications for Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs)KNX international Site, http://www.knx.org/knx-en/index.php (last access: February 1, 2014)LonWorks Technology. In: ECHELON web site, http://www.echelon.com/technology/lonworks/ (last access: February 1, 2014)X10 protocol. In: X10 web site, http://x10-lang.org/ (last access: February 1, 2014)Rohini Basak, R., Sardar, B.: Security in Network Mobility (NEMO): Issues, Solutions, Classification, Evaluation, and Future Research Directions. Network Protocols and Algorithms 5(2), 87–111 (2013

A multi-center psychometric evaluation of the Severity Indices of Personality Problems 118 (SIPP-118):Do we really need all those facets?

PURPOSE: The Severity Indices of Personality Problems 118 (SIPP-118) is a self-report questionnaire that aims to measure core components of (mal)adaptive personality functioning that can change over time. In this study, we aimed to assess the facet strength of the 16 facets across three large clinical samples.METHODS: Data from Norwegian and Dutch psychiatric patients were analyzed in this international multi-center study (N1 = 2814, N2 = 4751, N3 = 2217). Bi-factor modeling was used to assess to what degree the SIPP items tap into an overall general factor. The incremental value (distinctiveness) of the facets was studied using proportional reduction in mean squared error (PRMSE) based statistics.RESULTS: The estimated model showed adequate fit. The explained common variance (ECV) attributable to the general factor equaled 50% for all three samples. All but two facets (stable self-image and frustration tolerance) showed sufficient levels of distinctiveness. The findings were observed to be comparable across the three samples.CONCLUSION: Our findings showed that the general factor was relatively weak, and the facets had a clear incremental value.</p

A probabilistic threshold model: Analyzing semantic categorization data with the Rasch model

According to the Threshold Theory (Hampton, 1995, 2007) semantic categorization decisions come about through the placement of a threshold criterion along a dimension that represents items' similarity to the category representation. The adequacy of this theory is assessed by applying a formalization of the theory, known as the Rasch model (Rasch, 1960; Thissen & Steinberg, 1986), to categorization data for eight natural language categories and subjecting it to a formal test. In validating the model special care is given to its ability to account for inter- and intra-individual differences in categorization and their relationship with item typicality. Extensions of the Rasch model that can be used to uncover the nature of category representations and the sources of categorization differences are discussed

Epigenetic modifications associated with maternal anxiety during pregnancy and children's behavioral measures

Epigenetic changes are associated with altered behavior and neuropsychiatric disorders and they modify the trajectory of aging. Maternal anxiety during pregnancy is a common environmental challenge for the fetus, causing changes in DNA methylation. Here, we determined the mediating role of DNA methylation and the moderating role of offspring sex on the association between maternal anxiety and children’s behavioral measures. In 83 mother–child dyads, maternal anxiety was assessed in each trimester of pregnancy when the child was four years of age. Children’s behavioral measures and children’s buccal DNA methylation levels (NR3C1, IGF2/H19 ICR, and LINE1) were examined. Higher maternal anxiety during the third trimester was associated with more methylation levels of the NR3C1. Moderating effects of sex on the association between maternal anxiety and methylation were found for IGF2/H19 and LINE1 CpGs. Mediation analysis showed that methylation of NR3C1 could buffer the effects of maternal anxiety on children’s behavioral measures, but this effect did not remain significant after controlling for covariates. In conclusion, our data support an association between maternal anxiety during pregnancy and DNA methylation. The results also underscore the importance of sex differences and timing effects. However, DNA methylation as underlying mechanism of the effect of maternal anxiety during pregnancy on offspring’s behavioral measures was not supported