SeVuc: A study on the Security Vulnerabilities of Capsule Networks against adversarial attacks

Capsule Networks (CapsNets) preserve the hierarchical spatial relationships between objects, and thereby bear the potential to surpass the performance of traditional Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) in performing tasks like image classification. This makes CapsNets suitable for the smart cyber-physical systems (CPS), where a large amount of training data may not be available. A large body of work has explored adversarial examples for CNNs, but their effectiveness on CapsNets has not yet been studied systematically. In our work, we perform an analysis to study the vulnerabilities in CapsNets to adversarial attacks. These perturbations, added to the test inputs, are small and imperceptible to humans, but can fool the network to mispredict. We propose a greedy algorithm to automatically generate imperceptible adversarial examples in a black-box attack scenario. We show that this kind of attacks, when applied to the German Traffic Sign Recognition Benchmark and CIFAR10 datasets, mislead CapsNets in making a correct classification, which can be catastrophic for smart CPS, like autonomous vehicles. Moreover, we apply the same kind of adversarial attacks to a 5-layer CNN (LeNet), to a 9-layer CNN (VGGNet), and to a 20-layer CNN (ResNet), and analyze the outcome, compared to the CapsNets, to study their different behaviors under the adversarial attacks

Empirical Evidence on Enhanced Mutation Rates of 19 RM-YSTRs for Differentiating Paternal Lineages.

Rapidly mutating Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (RM Y STRs) with mutation rates ≥ 10-2 per locus per generation are valuable for differentiating amongst male paternal relatives where standard Y STRs with mutation rates of ≤10-3 per locus per generation may not. Although the 13 RM Y STRs commonly found in commercial assays provide higher levels of paternal lineage differentiation than conventional Y STRs, there are many male paternal relatives that still cannot be differentiated. This can be improved by increasing the number of Y STRs or choosing those with high mutation rates. We present a RM Y STR multiplex comprising 19 loci with high mutation rates and its developmental validation (repeatability, sensitivity and male specificity). The multiplex was found to be robust, reproducible, specific and sensitive enough to generate DNA profiles from samples with inhibitors. It was also able to detect all contributor alleles of mixtures in ratios up to 9:1. We provide preliminary evidence for the ability of the multiplex to discriminate between male paternal relatives by analyzing large numbers of male relative pairs (536) separated by one to seven meioses. A total of 96 mutations were observed in 162 meioses of father-son pairs, and other closely related male pairs were able to be differentiated after 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 meiosis in 44%, 69%, 68%, 85%, 0%, 100% and 100% of cases, respectively. The multiplex offers a noticeable enhancement in the ability to differentiate paternally related males compared with the 13 RM Y STR set. We envision the future application of our 19 RM Yplex in criminal cases for the exclusion of male relatives possessing matching standard Y STR profiles and in familial searching with unknown suspects. It represents a step towards the complete individualization of closely related males

Literature review on life cycle assessment of transportation alternative fuels

Data availability: No data was used for the research described in the article.Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Environmental concerns, such as global warming and human health damage, are intensifying, and the transportation sector significantly contributes to carbon and harmful emissions. This review examines the life cycle assessment (LCA) of alternative fuels (AF), evaluating current research on fuel types, LCA framework development, life cycle inventory (LCI), and impact selection. The objectives of this paper are: (1) to compare various AF LCA frameworks and develop a comprehensive framework for the transportation sector; (2) to identify emission hotspots of different AFs through simulations and real-world cases; (3) to review AF LCA research; (4) to extract valuable information for potential future research directions. The analysis reveals that all stages, except for hydrogen use, have an environmental impact. LCA boundaries and LCIs vary considerably depending on the raw materials, production processes, and products involved, leading to different emission hotspots. Due to knowledge or data limitations, some stages remain uncalculated in the current study, emphasizing the need for further refinement of the AF LCI. Future research should also explore the various impacts of widespread adoption of alternative fuels in transportation, encompassing social, economic, and environmental aspects. Lastly, the review provides structured recommendations for future research directions

Population genetic portrait of Pakistani Lahore-Christians based on 32 STR loci.

Phylogenetic relationship and the population structure of 500 individuals from the Christian community of Lahore, Pakistan, were examined based on 15 autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) using the AmpFℓSTR Identifiler Plus PCR Amplification Kit and our previously published Y-filer kit data (17 Y-STRs) of same samples. A total of 147 alleles were observed in 15 loci and allele 11 at the TPOX locus was the most frequent with frequency value (0.464). The data revealed that the Christian population has unique genetic characteristics with respect to a few unusual alleles and their frequencies relative to the other Pakistani population. Significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were found at two loci (D13S317, D18S51) after Boneferroni's correction (p ≤ 0.003). The combined power of discrimination, combined power of exclusion and cumulative probability of matching were 0.999999999999999978430815060354, 0.999995039393942 and 2.15692 × 10-17, respectively. On the bases of genetic distances, PCA, phylogenetic and structure analysis Lahore-Christians appeared genetically more associated to south Asian particularly Indian populations like Tamil, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh than rest of global populations

Safety, tolerability, and nocebo phenomena during transcranial magnetic stimulation: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of placebo‐controlled clinical trials

Background The methodology used for the application of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is such that it may induce a placebo effect. Respectively, adverse events (AEs) can occur when using a placebo, a phenomenon called nocebo. The primary aim of our meta‐analysis is to establish the nocebo phenomena during TMS. Safety and tolerability of TMS were also studied. Methods After a systematic Medline search for TMS randomized controlled trials (RCTs), we assessed the number of patients reporting at least one AE and the number of discontinuations because of AE in active and sham TMS groups. Results Data were extracted from 93 RCTs. The overall pooled estimate of active TMS and placebo treated patients who discontinued treatment because of AEs was 2.5% (95% CI 1.9%‐3.2%) and 2.7% (95% CI 2.0%‐3.5%), respectively. The pooled estimate of active TMS and placebo treated patients experiencing at least one AE was 29.3% (95% CI 19.0%‐22.6%) and 13.6% (95% CI 11.6%‐15.8%), respectively, suggesting that the odds of experiencing an AE is 2.60 times higher (95% CI 1.75‐3.86) in the active treatment group compared to placebo (p < 0.00001). The most common AE was headache, followed by dizziness. Secondary meta‐analyses in depression and psychotic disorders showed that the odds of experiencing an AE is 3.98 times higher (95% CI 2.14‐7.40) and 2.93 times higher (95% CI 1.41‐6.07), respectively, in the active treatment groups compared to placebo. Conclusions TMS is a safe and well‐tolerated intervention. Nocebo phenomena do occur during TMS treatment and should be acknowledged during clinical trial design and daily clinical practice

Compact Electronically Reconfigurable WiMAX Band- Notched Ultra-wideband MIMO Antenna

A low-profile electronically reconfigurable WiMAX band-notched dual port multiple-input multipleoutput (MIMO) antenna design for ultra-wideband application has been presented. The two symmetrical MIMO antenna elements proposed in this work exhibit a good impedance match (VSWR ≤ 2) over frequency band of 3 to 12 GHz, while offering high isolation. The decoupling structure is used to enhance the isolation level above 25 dB over the entire UWB spectrum. The reconfigurable band notch characteristic in MIMO design is achieved by inserting PIN diodes along the filtering Ω-shaped slotted structure in main radiators. Notch appears for WiMAX 3.5 GHz (3.2 - 3.8 GHz) frequency band by switching the PIN diode to ‘ON’ state. The proposed antenna is fabricated and measured, the results suggest its appropriateness for UWB applications where WiMAX band notch characteristics may be desired on-demand

A Compact Single Layer Reflectarray Antenna Based on Circular Delay-Lines for X-band Applications

This paper presents a compact single layer reflectarray antenna based on a diagonally notched square patch and a pair of circular delay lines, for X-band applications. The length and width of circular delay-lines are varied and optimized to attain a linear phase range of more than 600º. The effect of incident angle in TE and TM modes at 0º, 15º and 30º is studied, which offers stable angular phase range. The hybrid Finite Element Boundary Integral (FEBI) method is used for simulation of the whole reflectarray system comprising of 27 × 27 elements and being fabricated on a low cost FR-4 laminate. The measured gain of 24.5 dBi with aperture efficiency of 49.5% is achieved at 10 GHz. The proposed design provides the measured 1-dB gain bandwidth of 12.5% and 3-dB gain bandwidth of 34%. The simulated and measured side-lobe-levels and cross polarizations are less than –25 dB and –40 dB respectively

Hybrid Weighted Least Square Multi-Verse Optimizer (WLS–MVO) Framework for Real-Time Estimation of Harmonics in Non-Linear Loads

Data Availability Statement: Not applicable.Copyright © 2023 by the authors. The electric power quality has become a serious concern for electric utilities and end users owing to its undesirable effects on system capabilities and performance. Harmonic levels on power systems have been pronounced to a greater extent with the continuous growth in the application of solid-state and reactive power compensatory devices. Harmonics are the key constituents that are mainly responsible for power quality deterioration. Power system harmonics need to be correctly estimated and filtered to increase power quality. This research work focuses on accurate estimation of power system harmonics with the proposed hybrid weighted least-square multi-verse optimizer (WLS–MVO) based framework. Multi-verse optimizer replicates the phenomenon of the formation of new universes as described by multi-verse theory to solve complex real-world optimization problems. The proposed WLS–MVO framework is tested and validated by estimating the harmonics present in multiple test signals with different noise levels. Amplitudes and phases of harmonics present in the polluted signal were estimated, and the framework computational time was compared with the previously developed technique’s results which are reported in the literature. There was 80% reduction in computational time and 82% improvement in terms of accuracy in estimating harmonics using WLS–MVO as compared to previously developed techniques. The performance of the developed framework is further validated by estimating the harmonics present in the real-time voltage and current waveforms obtained from axial flux permanent magnet generator (AFPMSG), uninterruptible power supply (UPS), and light-emitting diode (LED). The purposed technique technique outperforms the already-developed techniques, in terms of accuracy and computational time.This research received no external funding