Biometric identity-based cryptography for e-Government environment

Government information is a vital asset that must be kept in a trusted environment and efficiently managed by authorised parties. Even though e-Government provides a number of advantages, it also introduces a range of new security risks. Sharing confidential and top-secret information in a secure manner among government sectors tend to be the main element that government agencies look for. Thus, developing an effective methodology is essential and it is a key factor for e-Government success. The proposed e-Government scheme in this paper is a combination of identity-based encryption and biometric technology. This new scheme can effectively improve the security in authentication systems, which provides a reliable identity with a high degree of assurance. In addition, this paper demonstrates the feasibility of using Finite-state machines as a formal method to analyse the proposed protocols

Decay of Z into Three Pseudoscalar Bosons

We consider the decay of the $Z$ boson into three pseudoscalar bosons in a general two-Higgs-doublet model. Assuming $m_A$ to be very small, and that of the two physical neutral scalar bosons $h_1$ and $h_2$, $A$ only couples to $Z$ through $h_1$, we find the $Z \to A A A$ branching fraction to be negligible for moderate values of $\tan \beta \equiv v_2/v_1$, if there is no $\lambda_5 (\Phi_1^\dagger \Phi_2)^2 + h.c.$ term in the Higgs potential; otherwise there is no absolute bound but very large quartic couplings (beyond the validity of perturbation theory) are needed for it to be observable.Comment: 8 pages including 1 fi

Criticality and Continuity of Explosive Site Percolation in Random Networks

This Letter studies the critical point as well as the discontinuity of a class of explosive site percolation in Erd\"{o}s and R\'{e}nyi (ER) random network. The class of the percolation is implemented by introducing a best-of-m rule. Two major results are found: i). For any specific $m$, the critical percolation point scales with the average degree of the network while its exponent associated with $m$ is bounded by -1 and $\sim-0.5$. ii). Discontinuous percolation could occur on sparse networks if and only if $m$ approaches infinite. These results not only generalize some conclusions of ordinary percolation but also provide new insights to the network robustness.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Operating theatre photography for orthopaedics and aesthetic surgery.

The aim of this paper is to examine the author's personal experience and practice in operating theatre photography. The ways of working are personal to the author but hopefully will help others in undertaking this type of work

Reexamining the "finite-size" effects in isobaric yield ratios using a statistical abrasion-ablation model

The "finite-size" effects in the isobaric yield ratio (IYR), which are shown in the standard grand-canonical and canonical statistical ensembles (SGC/CSE) method, is claimed to prevent obtaining the actual values of physical parameters. The conclusion of SGC/CSE maybe questionable for neutron-rich nucleus induced reaction. To investigate whether the IYR has "finite-size" effects, the IYR for the mirror nuclei [IYR(m)] are reexamined using a modified statistical abrasion-ablation (SAA) model. It is found when the projectile is not so neutron-rich, the IYR(m) depends on the isospin of projectile, but the size dependence can not be excluded. In reactions induced by the very neutron-rich projectiles, contrary results to those of the SGC/CSE models are obtained, i.e., the dependence of the IYR(m) on the size and the isospin of the projectile is weakened and disappears both in the SAA and the experimental results.Comment: 5 pages and 4 figure

Intracellular Regulatory Networks are close to Monotone Systems

Several meso-scale biological intracellular regulatory networks that have specified directionality of interactions have been recently assembled from experimental literature. Directed networks where links are characterized as positive or negative can be converted to systems of differential equations and analyzed as dynamical systems. Such analyses have shown that networks containing only sign-consistent loops, such as positive feed-forward and feedback loops function as monotone systems that display well-ordered behavior. Perturbations to monotone systems have unambiguous global effects and a predictability characteristic that confers advantages for robustness and adaptability. We find that three intracellular regulatory networks: bacterial and yeast transcriptional networks and a mammalian signaling network contain far more sign-consistent feedback and feed-forward loops than expected for shuffled networks. Inconsistent loops with negative links can be more easily removed from real regulatory networks as compared to shuffled networks. This topological feature in real networks emerges from the presence of hubs that are enriched for either negative or positive links, and is not due to a preference for double negative links in paths. These observations indicate that intracellular regulatory networks may be close to monotone systems and that this network topology contributes to the dynamic stability