HIDDEN MARKOV MODELS FOR SOFTWARE PIRACY DETECTION

The unauthorized copying of software is often referred to as software piracy. Soft- ware piracy causes billions of dollars of annual losses for companies and governments worldwide. In this project, we analyze a method for detecting software piracy. A meta- morphic generator is used to create morphed copies of a base piece of software. A hidden Markov Model is trained on the opcode sequences extracted from these mor- phed copies. The trained model is then used to score suspect software to determine its similarity to the base software. A high score indicates that the suspect software may be a modified version of the base software and, therefore, further investigation is warranted. In contrast, a low score indicates that the suspect software differs sig- nificantly from the base software. We show that our approach is robust, in the sense that the base software must be extensively modified before it is not detected

Educational policy, policy appropriation and Grameen Bank higher education financial aid policy process

The paper talks about higher educational polices and their process of policy appropriations, policy as practices, policy as symbolic, policy as rituals, policy as myths, policy backward- mapping and policy-forward mapping, multi-stage policy implementation process, street-bureaucrats planners, and policy reform process. It critically looks at pros-and-corns of different educational policy theories and their applications in education, and the higher education student financial aid different policies, strategies and products and their impact on the college students. The paper also narrates the higher educational policies and methods of need-based, merit-based, means-test-based grants allocation and loan disbursement and their impact on student academic achievements. Moreover, it discusses the policy process model that has both agendas and multiple streams that consider looking at policy designing problems, solutions of the problems and their usefulness to SES students. Additionally, the paper narrates the Grameen Bank higher education student loan policy making process, although there is no higher education student financial aid services are not exist in Bangladesh. Literature reviews, conversations with higher education students, contextual analysis, and the author personal working experience incorporate here. The study finds for policy improvement, policy analysis is vital because policy analysis can explores usefulness of the policy for public well being and for effectiveness of the policy appropriation.Center for Social Economy Learning and Workplace, University of Toronto. -- York Center for Asia Research, York University. -- Indiana University Bloomington

Information technology in construction: How to realise the benefits?

Advancement in the utilisation of computers has, in recent years, become a major, even dominating research and development target in the architecture, engineering and construction industry. However, in empirical investigations, no major benefits accruingfrom construction IT have been found. Why do the many IT applications, which when separately analysed seem so well justified, fail to produce positive impacts when the totality of the construction project is analysed? The objective of this chapter is to find the explanation for this paradox and to provide initial guidelines as to what should be done to correct the situation

Openness and economic performance in sub-Saharan Africa : evidence from time-series cross-country analysis

In a cross-country study for 1967-87, the author tests whether the finding that increased openness improves performance holds true for sub-Saharan Africa as a subgroup among developing countries. Econometric analysis - based on the augmented production function that includes labor, capital stock, and a measure of openness - shows that openness exerts a significant positive impact on economic performance of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The relationship is especially strong in fixed-effect estimates that use annual panel data with country dummies to capture unobserved country-specific differences. The author finds the evidence of a positive link between openness and performance surprisingly robust to different measures of openness, to different periods, and to the inclusion of other policy variables. All four measures of openness, for example, are significant for 1967-87. For the shorter period, 1980-87, three are significant. Also, the size and significance of the openness coefficients do not change when one controls for macroeconomic policy.TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Achieving Shared Growth,Inequality

Effect of ambient on the resistance fluctuations of graphene

In this letter we present the results of systematic experimental investigations of the effect of different chemical environments on the low frequency resistance fluctuations of single layer graphene field effect transistors (SLG-FET). The shape of the power spectral density of noise was found to be determined by the energetics of the adsorption-desorption of molecules from the graphene surface making it the dominant source of noise in these devices. We also demonstrate a method of quantitatively determining the adsorption energies of chemicals on graphene surface based on noise measurements. We find that the magnitude of noise is extremely sensitive to the nature and amount of the chemical species present. We propose that a chemical sensor based on the measurement of low frequency resistance fluctuations of single layer graphene field effect transistor devices will have extremely high sensitivity, very high specificity, high fidelity and fast response times

Organized intra-atrial thrombus in growing premature infant

This article reports interesting echocardiographic images of the atrial septum in two growing premature infants related to the previous use of umbilical venous lines in the neonatal period. Complications related to central venous lines are well documented but when they are identified in follow up after several months, their relevance is difficult to establish. Atrial septal findings of organized clot in these asymptomatic infants needs to be correlated with details of neonatal care.peer-reviewe

The Expansionist View of Systematic Testimonial Injustice: South Asian Context

In this paper, I offer an expansionist view of the Frickerian central case of testimonial injustice, citing examples from the South Asian context. To defend this expansionist position, I provide an argument in three parts. First, I argue that credibility deficit and credibility excess are entangled with each other in such a way that often, one produces the other. Secondly, I contend that we should not say that systematic testimonial injustice is a consequence of credibility deficit only because of the entanglement between them. I also contend that for being the central case of testimonial injustice, identity prejudice should not be necessarily negative; it can be positive as well. Propounding a twofold condition of the status of a knower, the last part claims that testimonial injustice occurs when one of the two conditions remains unmet

Rural Women’s Access to Credit and Extension: A Strategy for Change

Although still ‘invisible’ to policy-makers, women’s involvement in agricultural and livestock production is empirically established through national surveys and intensive studies. The labour force participation rates for rural women in 1990-91 varied ranged between 57 percent (Agricultural Census) and 43 percent (Pakistan Integrated Household Survey). Evidence from micro studies also shows that women are active participants in the farm and livestock sectors [Freedman and Wai (1988); Masood (1988); Ali et al. (1976); Haque (1986); Khan and Bilquees (1976)]. W hile rural women’s contribution to agricultural and livestock production is well-documented, they have little or no access to productive inputs to enhance their economic participation in these sectors. Evidence based on national level data indicates that women’s participation in agricultural activities is constrained by the lack of land and other assets [Sathar and Desai (1994)]. Contrary to the general view, women belonging to households that own land or other assets have a higher labour force participation rate than landless women. While landless women are more likely to work as agricultural labourers, however, the demand for wage employment is seasonal, limited to a few activities and certain regions, and their lack of assets to work with excludes any possibility of self-employment. Findings of village level research indicate a wide gap between the technology used by rural women and the more efficient practices in livestock production, which is attributed to their lack of contact with extension services and to their lack of resources to adopt more efficient methods of livestock care.