ESIV: an end-to-end secure internet voting system

Nowadays, with the growing popularity of e-Government services, security of client platforms and violation of citizen e-rights are of great concerns. Since Internet-voting protocols have no control over voter-side platforms, bribery/coercion and breaching vote’s privacy and voter’s anonymity are feasible. In fact, the voter-side platform (voter’s PC) is easily vulnerable to malicious software (cyber-attacks) and can totally breach security of the entire voting protocol. We have proposed ESIV: an end-to-end secure internet-voting system that highly guarantees: voter and server-side platform’s security, verifiability, fairness, resistance to bribery/coercion and voting authorities collusion besides simultaneous election support while preserving eligibility, anonymity, privacy and trust. In addition, we utilize Java Card 3 technology as an independent secure web-server which is connected directly to network in order to send/receive HTTP(S) requests using high-speed interfaces. This technology brings about independence from utilizing any trusted device at voter-side and provides end-to-end security. Finally, an implementation of ESIV is presented and ESIV security features are evaluated.     

Experimental investigation the effect of nanoparticles on micellization behavior of a surfactant: Application to EOR

Chemical stimulation such as surfactant flooding in petroleum reservoirs makes efforts to produce remained oil and improve sweep efficiency by means of different phenomena such as lowering interfacial tension and wettability alteration of reservoir rock. Implementing concentration of surfactant through surfactant flooding is one of the big challenges while interfacial tension between surfactant solution and oil after certain concentration involves little changes such as critical micelle concentration (CMC). This article highlights the effect of nanosilica on CMC of Zyziphus Spina Christi, as sugar-based surfactant, in aqueous solutions for enhanced oil recovery and reservoir stimulation purposes. A conductivity approach was selected to assess the CMC of the introduced surfactant in aqueous solution at 25°C. The influence of nanosilica concentrations on CMC variation of introduced surfactant is considered. It is found that CMC of introduced surfactant decreased while the concentration of the nanosilica increased. Results from this study can aim in optimum condition selection of surfactant flooding as an enhanced oil recovery ends.     

Interaction of the Grb10 adapter protein with the Raf1 and MEK1 kinases

Grb10 and its close homologues Grb7 and Grb14, belong to a family of adapter proteins characterized by a proline-rich region, a central PH domain, and a carboxyl-terminal Src homology 2 (SH2) domain. Their interaction with a variety of activated tyrosine kinase receptors is well documented, but their actual function remains a mystery. The Grb10 SH2 domain was isolated from a two-hybrid screen using the MEK1 kinase as a bait. We show that this unusual SH2 domain interacts, in a phosphotyrosine-independent manner, with both the Raf1 and MEK1 kinases. Mutation of the MEK1 Thr-386 residue, which is phosphorylated by mitogen-activated protein kinase in vitro, reduces binding to Grb10 in a two-hybrid assay. Interaction of Grb10 with Raf1 is constitutive, while interaction between Grb10 and MEK1 needs insulin treatment of the cells and follows mitogen-activated protein kinase activation. Random mutagenesis of the SH2 domain demonstrated that the Arg-betaB5 and Asp-EF2 residues are necessary for binding to the epidermal growth factor and insulin receptors as well as to the two kinases. In addition, we show that a mutation in Ser-betaB7 affects binding only to the receptors, while a mutation in Thr-betaC5 abrogates binding only to MEK1. Finally, transfection of Grb10 genes with specific mutations in their SH2 domains induces apoptosis in HTC-IR and COS-7 cells. These effects can be competed by co-expression of the wild type protein, suggesting that these mutants act by sequestering necessary signaling components.     

Toward novel designs of reversible ternary 6:2 Compressor using efficient reversible ternary full-adders

Integrated circuits always face with two major challenges including heat caused by energy losses and the area occupied. In recent years, different strategies have been presented to reduce these two major challenges. The implementations of circuits in a reversible manner as well as the use of multiple-valued logic are among the most successful strategies. Reversible circuits reduce energy loss and ultimately eliminate the problem of overheating in circuits. Preferring multiple-valued logic over binary logic can also greatly reduce area occupied of circuits. When switching from binary logic to multiple-valued logic, the dominant thought in binary logic is the basis of designing computational circuits in multiple-valued logic, and disregards the capabilities of multiple-valued logic. This can cause a minimal use of multiple-valued logic capabilities, increase complexity and delay in the multiple-valued computational circuits. In this paper, we first introduce an efficient reversible ternary half-adder. Afterward, using the reversible ternary half-adder, we introduce two reversible versions of traditional and comprehensive reversible ternary full-adders. Finally, using the introduced reversible ternary full-adders, we propose two novel designs of reversible ternary 6:2 Compressor. The results of the comparisons show that although the proposed circuits are similar to or better than previous corresponding designs in terms of criteria number of constant input and number of garbage outputs, they are superior in criterion quantum cost.

     

Preparation and characterization of solid dispersions of piroxicam with hydrophilic carriers

The objective of this study was to improve the dissolution rate of a poor water soluble drug, piroxicam, by solid dispersion technique. Solid dispersions were prepared by three different methods depending on the type of carrier. The dissolution rate of piroxicam was markedly increased in solid dispersion of myrj 52, Eudragit^® E100 and mannitol. Solubility studies revealed a marked increase in the solubility of piroxicam with an increase in myrj 52 and Eudragit^® E100 concentrations. Data from the X-ray diffraction and FT-IR spectroscopy showed that piroxicam was amorphous in the solid dispersions prepared with dextrin and Eudragit^® E100.     

Identification of salt-inducible peptide with putative kinase activity in halophilic bacterium Virgibacillus halodenitrificans

Strain XII, a moderately halophilic bacterium, expressed a peptide in response to saline media. This peptide was designated as salt-inducible factor (Sif-A). The purpose of this study is to describe Sif-A, which might be involved in the osmoresistance mechanism of strain XII. The complete sequence of sif-A was determined using PCR. sif-A codes for a polypeptide of 20.518 kDa. The polypeptide has a putative signal peptide of 27 amino acids (2.667 kDa) preceding the mature protein (17.869 kDa). Motif analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence indicated that there is a p-loop NTPase domain on the C-terminal of the peptide, which might correlate with its function. The sequence of the 16S rRNA gene was analyzed phylogenetically to classify strain XII. This organism was found to have the closest association with Virgibacillus halodenitrificans, which was proven by its phenotypic characteristics.     

Performance Evaluation of a Two-Stage Entrained-Flow Coal Gasifier Using Numerical Simulation

An advanced air-blown two-stage entrained-flow coal Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) gasifier is numerically studied under actual conditions. The simulation results are verified first with actually measured data of an industrial MHI gasifier. Then, the effects of different parameters such as the sizes of pulverized coal particles, devolatilization parameters, and operating pressure on the gasifier performance are investigated. The results indicate that as the coal particle size increases, the syngas temperature at the gasifier exit rises while the reactivity of the coal particle decreases. Reducing the operating pressure can have a negative effect on the gasifier throughput while the opposite trend is observed for higher operating pressure.     

Failure Analysis of Howell-Bunger Valve Using Finite Element Method

Fixed-cone (Howell-Bunger) valves have been in wide use for many years for flow control. These valves may face different types of damages and failures due to vibrational stresses during operation. In this study, a number of modal analyses of a Howell-Bunger (DN: 1000 mm) valve were conducted using the Finite Element Method (FEM), and its natural frequencies with vibrational mode shapes in five cases including fully opened, 20-, 40-, and 80%-opening conditions were determined; subsequently, the dimensionless coefficient “Mercer” was obtained for the valve. The result showed that the operating point of the valve is the flow rate of 16 m³/s and valve opening degree of 40%; in this case, due to reinforcement resulting from moving shell, the structure strength against vibration increases, and as a result, natural frequency increases as well.     

Preparation and Characterization of Solid Dispersions of Piroxicam with Hydrophilic Carriers

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to improve the dissolution rate of a poor water soluble drug, piroxicam, by solid dispersion technique. Solid dispersions were prepared by three different methods depending on the type of carrier. The dissolution rate of piroxicam was markedly increased in solid dispersion of myrj 52, Eudragit® E100 and mannitol. Solubility studies revealed a marked increase in the solubility of piroxicam with an increase in myrj 52 and Eudragit® E100 concentrations. Data from the X-ray diffraction and FT-IR spectroscopy showed that piroxicam was amorphous in the solid dispersions prepared with dextrin and Eudragit® E100.     

Exergetic sustainability evaluation and optimization of an irreversible Brayton cycle performance

Owing to the energy demands and global warming issue, employing more effective power cycles has become a responsibility. This paper presents a thermodynamical study of an irreversible Brayton cycle with the aim of optimizing the performance of the Brayton cycle. Moreover, four different schemes in the process of multi-objective optimization were suggested, and the outcomes of each scheme are assessed separately. The power output, the concepts of entropy generation, the energy, the exergy output, and the exergy efficiencies for the irreversible Brayton cycle are considered in the analysis. In the first scheme, in order to maximize the exergy output, the ecological function and the ecological coefficient of performance, a multi-objective optimization algorithm (MOEA) is used. In the second scheme, three objective functions including the exergetic performance criteria, the ecological coefficient of performance, and the ecological function are maximized at the same time by employing MOEA. In the third scenario, in order to maximize the exergy output, the exergetic performance criteria and the ecological coefficient of performance, a MOEA is performed. In the last scheme, three objective functions containing the exergetic performance criteria, the ecological coefficient of performance, and the exergy-based ecological function are maximized at the same time by employing multi-objective optimization algorithms. All the strategies are implemented via multi-objective evolutionary algorithms based on the NSGAII method. Finally, to govern the final outcome in each scheme, three well-known decision makers were employed.