Cryptanalysis of Hsiang‐Shih's authentication scheme for multi‐server architecture

From user point of view, password‐based remote user authentication technique is one of the most convenient and easy‐to‐use mechanisms to provide necessary security on system access. As the number of computer crimes in modern cyberspace has increased dramatically, the robustness of password‐based authentication schemes has been investigated by industries and organizations in recent years. In this paper, a well‐designed password‐based authentication protocol for multi‐server communication environment, introduced by Hsiang and Shih, is evaluated. Our security analysis indicates that their scheme is insecure against session key disclosure, server spoofing attack, and replay attack and behavior denial. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of sintering atmosphere on the microstructure and water durability of SnO–MgO–P<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>5</Subscript> glass

Effects of sintering atmosphere (Ar, air, and O₂) on the sinterability and crystallization at 380–470 °C of 60SnO, 10MgO, 30P₂O₅ (mol%) glass powder, and the water durability of the sintered glass were investigated. Increasing the oxygen partial pressure (P_\textO2 ) (P_{{{\text{O}}_{2} }} ) in the sintering atmosphere enhanced the oxidation tendency of Sn²⁺ to Sn⁴⁺ near the surface region of the glass particles. Therefore, the glass viscosity was increased, resulting in the increase in both the temperature of densification and the temperature at which crystalline phases developed. Phase assemblage and the amounts of crystalline phases were also affected by P_\textO2 . P_{{{\text{O}}_{2} }} . The water durability of the sintered glasses is discussed in terms of the above microstructural parameters.     

Surface states related the bias stability of amorphous In–Ga–Zn–O thin film transistors under different ambient gasses

This paper investigates the origin of the bias stability under ambient gas (oxygen, moisture and vacuum) of In–Ga–Zn–O thin film transistors with different annealing temperatures. In Zn-based TFTs, the electrical characteristic of device is a strongly function with the ambient gas, the simultaneous gas ambient and bias stresses are applied on devices annealed in atmosphere ambient to study this issue. The result shows the device which is annealed at temperature up to 330 °C has worst reliability. We suppose that the sensitivity of gas ambient depend the defect state, which is associated to the annealing temperature, of surface in a-IGZO.     

Effects of Ti and TiO2 on Combustion Synthesis of (Ti,V)2AlC/Al2O3 Solid Solution Composites

(Ti,V)₂AlC/Al₂O₃ solid solution composites were prepared by solid state combustion simultaneously incorporating reduction reactions of V₂O₅ and TiO₂/V₂O₅ with aluminum. Two reaction systems composed of Ti–V₂O₅–Al–Al₄C₃ and TiO₂–V₂O₅–Al–Al₄C₃ powder mixtures were studied. Combustion exothermicity was enhanced by increasing V₂O₅ and Al, which not only caused an increase in the combustion temperature and reaction front velocity, but also facilitated evolution of the (Ti,V)₂AlC phase. Between two reaction systems, the Ti-containing samples were more energetic and produced (Ti_1–xV_x)₂AlC/Al₂O₃ composites with x = 0.2–0.8. The degree of element substitution was reduced for the samples adopting TiO₂, which yielded Al₂O₃-added (Ti_1–yV_y)₂AlC with y = 0.4–0.8.     

Promotion of the electrocatalytic activity of a bimetallic platinum-ruthenium catalyst by repetitive redox treatments for direct methanol fuel cell

Pt-Ru/C catalyst (12 wt%) was prepared by the incipient wetness impregnation method followed by a redox heat-treatment. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results revealed uniformly distributed metallic crystallites of Pt-Ru alloy nanoparticles (d_PtRu = 2.1 ± 1.0 nm). The effect of redox treatments of the impregnated catalysts on methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) was examined by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The MOR activity of the PtRu/C was significantly improved after each oxidation step of the redox treatment cycles. The enhanced catalytic activity was found to be quite stable in chronoamperometry (CA) measurements. CV, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results strongly suggested that the improved catalytic activity was due to the formation of a stable c-RuO_x (x = 2-3) domain during the oxidation treatments. A bifunctional based mechanism was proposed for the MOR on the oxidized PtRu/C catalysts. Formation of Ru-OH species on the surface of c-RuO_x domains was suggested as stale sites for the oxidation of carbon monoxide adsorbed on the Pt catalytic sites.     

Analysis of spectrum distribution and optical losses under Fresnel lenses

During late 1970s and early 1980s, Fresnel lenses have received more attention in the field of solar energy application. This paper briefly examines the Fresnel lens development since 1970s and investigates the losses inherent in the linear Fresnel lenses. The research develops the formulation that helps to quantify the linear lens’ transmittance loss and prism-tip scattering loss and then derive a realistic model to simulate the measured data. In addition, the research has identified an elliptical-based lens that comes closest to the condition of minimum deviation. Such lens closely duplicates the curvature needed for maximum transmission. The researcher applies different design wavelengths to study the contribution of each wavelength interval on the receiving plane.     

Electrodynamically actuated on-chip flow cytometry with low shear stress for electro-osmosis based sorting using low conductive medium

In the proposed paper, we demonstrate on-chip electrodynamically driven actuator flow cytometry, based on negative dielectrophoretic (nDEP) focus and alternating current electro-osmotic flow (ACEOF) sorting technique. This single chip can perform three different functions such as focusing, transportation of beads/cells to detection site and reloading the unsorted ones with two distinctive phenomena. AC EOF is achieved by the design of the asymmetric electrode pair’s array and nDEP is used to focus the beads/cells in-line. The design, simulation and experimental results of the proposed microchip are reported in this paper. The simulation and experimental results reveal well defined stable region for nDEP and ACEOF driving force. The potential severe shear stress damage caused by the sheath flow in conventional flow cytometry is eliminated. In addition, to explore the influence of conductivity of the medium, we have used low conductive formulated medium with conductivity of 81.4 μS/cm. The voltage and the frequency required to manipulate the particles decreased comparatively with the use of this medium.     

1‐Arylsulfonyl‐5‐(N‐hydroxyacrylamide)indolines Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Are Potent Cytokine Release Suppressors

A series of 1‐arylsulfonyl‐5‐(N‐hydroxyacrylamide)indolines ( 7 – 15 ) has been developed; the compounds exhibited potent histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitory activities. Notably, almost all of this series exhibited better HDAC‐inhibitory and antiproliferative activities than 3‐(1‐benzenesulfonyl‐1H‐indol‐5‐yl)‐N‐hydroxyacrylamide ( 6 ), as reported in a previous study. Among these compounds, 3‐[1‐(4‐methoxybenzenesulfonyl)‐2,3‐dihydro‐1H‐indol‐5‐yl]‐N‐hydroxyacrylamide ( 9 ) showed a two‐ to tenfold increase in activity compared to SAHA ( 1 ) in the suppression of lipopolysaccharide‐induced cytokine production. Compound 9 also caused a marked reduction in carrageenan‐induced acute inflammation in a rat model. Taken together, these data indicated that 1‐arylsulfonyl‐5‐(N‐hydroxyacrylamide)indolines HDAC inhibitors exhibit potent anti‐inflammatory activity.     

Patterning of Protein/Quantum Dot Hybrid Bionanostructures

Here we demonstrate patterning of protein/quantum dot hybrid bionanostructures via electrostatic assembly of engineered negatively charged fluorescent protein with positively charged CdSe/ZnS QD patterns formed through e-beam lithography and post-patterning modification with cationic ligands.     

Consistent data operations for multi-databases in extended possibility-based data models

This paper considers the data operation for multi-databases in an extended possibility-based data model. Owing to the complexity of the data model considered, inconsistent redundancy of tuples may occur when database relations being operated are associated with different resemblance relations on a given domain. This work first demonstrates the inconsistency problem, and then presents the notions of consistency constraints for multi-database design. Under the constraints, the extended possibility-based databases using different resemblance relations can preserve consistent redundancy.