The Meeting of Acquaintances: A Cost-efficient Authentication Scheme for Light-weight Objects with Transient Trust Level and Plurality Approach

Wireless sensor networks consist of a large number of distributed sensor nodes so that potential risks are becoming more and more unpredictable. The new entrants pose the potential risks when they move into the secure zone. To build a door wall that provides safe and secured for the system, many recent research works applied the initial authentication process. However, the majority of the previous articles only focused on the Central Authority (CA) since this leads to an increase in the computation cost and energy consumption for the specific cases on the Internet of Things (IoT). Hence, in this article, we will lessen the importance of these third parties through proposing an enhanced authentication mechanism that includes key management and evaluation based on the past interactions to assist the objects joining a secured area without any nearby CA. We refer to a mobility dataset from CRAWDAD collected at the University Politehnica of Bucharest and rebuild into a new random dataset larger than the old one. The new one is an input for a simulated authenticating algorithm to observe the communication cost and resource usage of devices. Our proposal helps the authenticating flexible, being strict with unknown devices into the secured zone. The threshold of maximum friends can modify based on the optimization of the symmetric-key algorithm to diminish communication costs (our experimental results compare to previous schemes less than 2000 bits) and raise flexibility in resource-constrained environments.Comment: 27 page

Pairing effect on the giant dipole resonance width at low temperature

The width of the giant dipole resonance (GDR) at finite temperature T in Sn-120 is calculated within the Phonon Damping Model including the neutron thermal pairing gap determined from the modified BCS theory. It is shown that the effect of thermal pairing causes a smaller GDR width at T below 2 MeV as compared to the one obtained neglecting pairing. This improves significantly the agreement between theory and experiment including the most recent data point at T = 1 MeV.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures to be published in Physical Review

Learning a local-variable model of aromatic and conjugated systems

A collection of new approaches to building and training neural networks, collectively referred to as deep learning, are attracting attention in theoretical chemistry. Several groups aim to replace computationally expensive <i>ab initio</i> quantum mechanics calculations with learned estimators. This raises questions about the representability of complex quantum chemical systems with neural networks. Can local-variable models efficiently approximate nonlocal quantum chemical features? Here, we find that convolutional architectures, those that only aggregate information locally, cannot efficiently represent aromaticity and conjugation in large systems. They cannot represent long-range nonlocality known to be important in quantum chemistry. This study uses aromatic and conjugated systems computed from molecule graphs, though reproducing quantum simulations is the ultimate goal. This task, by definition, is both computable and known to be important to chemistry. The failure of convolutional architectures on this focused task calls into question their use in modeling quantum mechanics. To remedy this heretofore unrecognized deficiency, we introduce a new architecture that propagates information back and forth in waves of nonlinear computation. This architecture is still a local-variable model, and it is both computationally and representationally efficient, processing molecules in sublinear time with far fewer parameters than convolutional networks. Wave-like propagation models aromatic and conjugated systems with high accuracy, and even models the impact of small structural changes on large molecules. This new architecture demonstrates that some nonlocal features of quantum chemistry can be efficiently represented in local variable models

Stability analysis of event-triggered anytime control with multiple control laws

To deal with time-varying processor availability and lossy communication channels in embedded and networked control systems, one can employ an event-triggered sequence-based anytime control (E-SAC) algorithm. The main idea of E-SAC is, when computing resources and measurements are available, to compute a sequence of tentative control inputs and store them in a buffer for potential future use. State-dependent Random-time Drift (SRD) approach is often used to analyse and establish stability properties of such E-SAC algorithms. However, using SRD, the analysis quickly becomes combinatoric and hence difficult to extend to more sophisticated E-SAC. In this technical note, we develop a general model and a new stability analysis for E-SAC based on Markov jump systems. Using the new stability analysis, stochastic stability conditions of existing E-SAC are also recovered. In addition, the proposed technique systematically extends to a more sophisticated E-SAC scheme for which, until now, no analytical expression had been obtained.Comment: Accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Automatic Contro

Chinese Firms’ Political Connection, Ownership, and Financing Constraints

We empirically examine some listed Chinese firms’ political connection, ownership, and financing constraints. Politically-connected firms display no financing constraints whereas firms without connection experience significant constraints. Non-connected family-controlled firms bear greater constraints than non-connected state-owned firms.Political connection; investments; financing constraints; Chinese firms

Overlapping Coalition Formation for Efficient Data Fusion in Multi-Sensor Networks

This paper develops new algorithms for coalition formation within multi-sensor networks tasked with performing wide-area surveillance. Specifically, we cast this application as an instance of coalition formation, with overlapping coalitions. We show that within this application area sub-additive coalition valuations are typical, and we thus use this structural property of the problem to we derive two novel algorithms (an approximate greedy one that operates in polynomial time and has a calculated bound to the optimum, and an optimal branch-and-bound one) to find the optimal coalition structure in this instance. We empirically evaluate the performance of these algorithms within a generic model of a multi-sensor network performing wide area surveillance. These results show that the polynomial algorithm typically generated solutions much closer the optimal than the theoretical bound, and prove the effectiveness of our pruning procedure

Child labour in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Child labour is a complex challenge facing many countries around the world, including Vietnam. Spurred by the development of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), it has been a topic of increasing interest for governments and researchers, especially over the past two decades. The focus of many studies on child labour in Vietnam has tended to be urban, particularly as it intersects with the tourism and manufacturing sectors (ILO 2014), street children and child labour (Huong 2016), and the relationship between child labour and child trafficking, human rights and child labour, and the impact of child labour on health and education (Bélanger 2014, Kiss et al 2015, Le and Homel 2015, Bandyopadhyay et al., 2021). Edmonds and colleagues (see for example, Edmonds and Pavcnik (2002b), Edmonds and Turk (2002), Edmonds and Pavcnik (2005)) have also conducted multiple studies on child labour and its correlation with economic development, and the causes, consequences and policies to tackle it. However, less attention has been given to the ongoing problem of child labour in rural areas in Vietnam (exceptions including O’Donnell et. al., 2005 and Trinh, 2020). Three rural provinces in the Mekong Delta (MD), An Giang, Soc Trang and Kien Giang, are the focus of this study. The thesis systematically re-sequences the complex causes of child labour through the voices of caregivers and authorities. An overview picture of the causes of child labour in rural areas has been presented which has made it easier for policymakers to devise strategies and targets for 251 eliminating child labour. There are no hazardous forms of exploitation found in the study through the voices of the representatives – (grand)parents, but child labour exists many risks for human resources because of the lack of professional training. Child labour is a challenge to child development in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Concerned parties have been aware of the impacts of child labour on the region. However, this knowledge is general. Therefore, an in-depth child labour impact evaluation focusing on the intergenerational cycle of poverty, education, health, and remedial policies needs to be implemented. In addition, raising awareness of child labour must play a principal role in improving the effectiveness of programs for children. The implementation of child labour policies in the long term requires legal bases and support from donation programs

Financial liberalization and financing constraints: some evidence from panel data of listed Chinese firms

This paper examines the impact of recent financial liberalization in China on the financing constraints and investment of publicly-listed Chinese firms. Two continuous indices are constructed to measure the evolution and intensity of financial reforms: a financial liberalization index and a capital control index. Dynamic panel GMM method is used to estimate firms’ financing constraints in an Euler-equation investment model. The results indicate that while smaller firms face significant financing constraints than larger firms, financial liberalization has raised the financing constraints for the latter and failed to relieve the constraints for the former. It appears financial reforms in China have subjected larger firms to greater market discipline but the reforms probably have not been profound enough to benefit smaller firms.Financial liberalization; investments; financing constraints; Chinese firms