The Architecture of Connectivity: A Key to Network Vulnerability,Complexity and Resilience

This paper highlights the relevance of connectivity and its architecture as a general conceptual framework which underlies and integrates the concepts of network vulnerability, complexity, and resilience. In particular, it will be pointed out that connectivity architecture can be considered an explicit key element for network vulnerability and shock propagation. While the relevance of the various connectivity configurations is not clearly emphasised in the dynamic complexity models of the space-economy, it appears to play a primary role in network analysis. In this regard, the emerging recognition of connectivity architecture in relation to hubs ? and hierarchies of hubs ? in a complex network will help the enhancement of network resilience. The paper develops as follows. First, the notion of network vulnerability, which refers not only to the phenomenon of shocks, but also to the propagation of shocks in a network, will be examined. Here it appears that modelling vulnerability and shock propagation, also jointly with cascading disaster models, is strongly based on connectivity issues. The question is: How can conventional (complex) system dynamic modelling, as well as network modelling, take into account these shocks and connectivity dynamics from the methodological viewpoint? A review in this respect shows how connectivity is a ‘hidden’ element in these complexity models, for example, in chaos or (dynamic) competition models, where interaction parameter values might lead to vulnerable domains and chaotic behaviour. On the contrary, connectivity and its various topologies have a distinct, primary role in network analysis. The issue of network resilience appears therefore to be the ‘response’ to vulnerability and chaos, calling for robustness and stability of the network in the presence of shocks and disruptions. Resilience analysis refers to the speed at which a network returns to its equilibrium after a shock, as well as to the perturbations/shocks that can be absorbed before the network is induced into some other equilibrium (adaptivity). Connectivity is relevant here, but not often considered in spatial economics. In order to reach a unified methodological framework, attention will finally be paid to a complementary analysis of the (dynamic) concepts of vulnerability and resilience. In this light, chaos models/properties might be seen in a positive perspective, since small changes can lead to uncertain and unstable effects, but also, thanks to connectivity, to new equilibria which are not necessarily negative. Thus, the architecture of connectivity, in its interdisciplinary insights, can be considered as a fundamental (and analytical) approach for identifying vulnerability and resilience patterns in complex networks.

     

Quantum leader election

A group of n individuals \(A_{1},\ldots A_{n}\) who do not trust each other and are located far away from each other, want to select a leader. This is the leader election problem, a natural extension of the coin flipping problem to n players. We want a protocol which will guarantee that an honest player will have at least \(\frac{1}{n}-\epsilon \) chance of winning (\(\forall \epsilon >0\)), regardless of what the other players do (whether they are honest, cheating alone or in groups). It is known to be impossible classically. This work gives a simple algorithm that does it, based on the weak coin flipping protocol with arbitrarily small bias derived by Mochon (Quantum weak coin flipping with arbitrarily small bias, arXiv:0711.4114, 2000) in 2007, and recently published and simplified in Aharonov et al. (SIAM J Comput, 2016). A protocol with linear number of coin flipping rounds is quite simple to achieve; we further provide an improvement to logarithmic number of coin flipping rounds. This is a much improved journal version of a preprint posted in 2009; the first protocol with linear number of rounds was achieved independently also by Aharon and Silman (New J Phys 12:033027, 2010) around the same time.     

Structure-preserving smoothing of biomedical images

Smoothing of biomedical images should preserve gray-level transitions between adjacent tissues, while restoring contours consistent with anatomical structures. Anisotropic diffusion operators are based on image appearance discontinuities (either local or contextual) and might fail at weak inter-tissue transitions. Meanwhile, the output of block-wise and morphological operations is prone to present a block structure due to the shape and size of the considered pixel neighborhood.In this contribution, we use differential geometry concepts to define a diffusion operator that restricts to image consistent level-sets. In this manner, the final state is a non-uniform intensity image presenting homogeneous inter-tissue transitions along anatomical structures, while smoothing intra-structure texture. Experiments on different types of medical images (magnetic resonance, computerized tomography) illustrate its benefit on a further process (such as segmentation) of images.     

Sex differences in vascular dysfunction and cardiovascular outcomes: The cardiac,endothelial function,and arterial stiffness in ESRD (CERES) study

Introduction: Recent studies suggest that women with end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) may have higher rates of mortality than men, but it is unknown whether sex differences in vascular function explain this disparity. The cardiac, endothelial function, and arterial stiffness in ESRD (CERES) study is an ongoing, prospective observational study designed to investigate vascular function, myocardial injury, and cardiovascular outcomes in ESRD. Methods: Among 200 CERES participants (34% women), we evaluated arterial wave reflections as augmentation index normalized to a heart rate of 75 (AIx75), arterial stiffness as pulse wave velocity, and macro‐ and microvascular endothelial dysfunction as flow‐mediated dilation and velocity time integral (VTI). Over a median of 14 months, participants were followed for the composite outcome of cardiovascular hospitalization or all‐cause death. Findings : Women had higher arterial wave reflection (Mean, SD AIx75 30% ± 9% for women vs. 21% ± 10% for men; P < 0.001) and worse microvascular function (VTI 55 ± 30 cm for women vs. 70 ± 27 cm for men; P = 0.007). After multivariable adjustment, female sex remained associated with a 0.5‐SD higher AIx75 (95% CI [0.01, 0.9]) and 0.3‐SD lower VTI (95%CI [0.1, 0.7]). Women experienced higher adjusted rates of the composite outcome (HR 2.5; 95%CI [1.1, 5.6]; P = 0.03), and further adjustment for arterial wave reflection attenuated this risk. Discussion: Vascular dysfunction may partly explain the association of female sex with higher cardiovascular risk and mortality in patients with ESRD. Further studies are needed to explore whether sex differences in vascular function predict long‐term outcomes, and whether hormonal or inflammatory factors explain these associations.     

Why you shouldn't study security [security education]

A colleague recently mentioned that his son was looking for a PhD program and was considering security as a topic. The immediate reaction from the security researchers present was something to this effect: "No, don't. There are so many other, more interesting things in the world." This might sound like a group of disappointed people, but as far as I know, we all thoroughly enjoy working in the field and by no means regret it as a career choice.     

A Centralized MAC Protocol for QoS Support in UWB-Based Wireless Networks

In this paper we introduce a novel MAC protocol that provides Quality of Service (QoS) support for multimedia traffic in UWB-based wireless local area networks. The proposed protocol allocates transmission opportunities to QoS and best effort traffic using a set of scheduling and resource control algorithms. The algorithms account for the UWB characteristics such as the co-existence of multiple simultaneous transmissions as well as the possibility of dynamically assigning the nodes' transmission rate and power. The simulation results show that the proposed protocol can provide QoS support while optimizing resource utilization. Yuechun Chu received her B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from Shanghai University, China, in 1996 and M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from University of Science and Technology of China in 1999. She is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in the department of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research interests include MAC protocol design for UWB-based networks, wireless multimedia applications, and architectures and protocols for wireless networks with QoS guarantees. Aura Ganz is currently an Associate Professor and Director of the Multimedia Networks Laboratory at the ECE Department, University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She has experience in topics related to multimedia wireless networks, optical networks and ubiquitous computing. The research results are validated by a combination of analytical, simulation and prototyping tools. She has published a book “Multimedia Wireless Networks: Technologies, Standards and QoS” (Prentice Hall) and authored over one hundred and fifty peer reviewed publications. Dr. Ganz received her BSc, MSc and Ph.D degrees in Computer Science from the Technion in Israel.     

Changes in pollution indicators in Lake Victoria,Kenya and their implications for lake and catchment management

Monitoring of aquatic pollution is important for ascertaining the relationship between fisheries and the general ecosystem health of a lake. This study evaluated the use of changes in pollution indicators in Lake Victoria, Kenya, as a decision support tool for fisheries management and productivity. Principal component analysis (PCA; R² ≥ 0.5, P < 0.05) of physical and chemical parameters delineated sampling sites into ecological cluster zones consisting of the inner gulf (C1), mid‐gulf (C2) and open lake (C3). Test results for lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) levels in the Nile perch tissues were found to be compliant with EU standards. The inner and mid‐gulfs of the Winam Gulf had high levels of total (1818.8 ± 102–1937.78 ± 94 cfu 100 mL^?1) and faecal (390 ± 21 cfu 100 mL^?1) coliforms attributable to urban sewage and industrial effluents exceeded WHO standards. Similarly, Winam Gulf was more polluted than the open lake, with higher total phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations, turbidity levels and electrical conductivity. Low phytoplankton biovolume and a low number of macroinvertebrates genera, and high zooplankton densities and pollution‐tolerant catfishes (e.g., Schilbe victoriae; Clarias gariepinus) were observed in Winam Gulf. Faecal coliforms and dissolved oxygen influenced the abundance of tolerant fish species (e.g., S. victoriae) in the lake. This study indicated a declining trend of ecological integrity in the Winam Gulf, compared with the open waters of Lake Victoria. An integrated management approach directed to minimizing pollution levels, especially in the Winam Gulf, is recommended to enhance fishery production.     

Security protocol for IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network

As Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) are rapidly deployed to expand the field of wireless products, the provision of authentication and privacy of the information transfer will be mandatory. These functions need to take into account the inherent limitations of the WLAN medium such as limited bandwidth, noisy wireless channel and limited computational power. Moreover, some of the IEEE 802.11 WLAN characteristics such as the use of a point coordinator and the polling based Point Coordination Function (PCF) have also to be considered in this design. In this paper, we introduce a security protocol for the IEEE 802.11 PCF that provides privacy and authentication, and is designed to reduce security overheads while taking into account the WLAN characteristics. We prove this protocol using the original and modified BAN logic.     

Use of FEA for Design of Posttensioning Anchor Head

This paper deals with the development process of a multistrand wedge anchor head mechanism. Generally, this development process involves a number of different experimental tests but, while informative and necessary, these tests cannot provide valuable information such as internal strain distributions, stress concentrations, or percentage of the anchorage yielded volume. To answer these questions, an efficient numerical finite element model has been developed and validated which includes nonlinearities such as: large strain; plasticity; and contact between interfaces. First, this paper presents a comparison between numerical and experimental results of VSL International CS 6-31 anchorage mechanism under standard loading conditions. Based on the good agreement between results, the numerical model was then used to assess the anchorage behavior under more severe loading conditions and improved mechanical characteristics. Through anchorage deflection, von Mises stresses as well as equivalent plastic strains, it is shown that the anchor areas most severely stressed are concentrated along its peripheral wedge cavities and that, while suitable for typical loadings, the VSL anchorage is not acceptable for the more severe loading conditions examined. Finally, this paper underlines the proposed numerical model usefulness with regard to the development of new post-tensioned anchorages by providing information not otherwise available.