Reliable and fully distributed trust model for mobile ad hoc networks

A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a wireless communication network which does not rely on a pre-existing infrastructure or any centralized management. Securing the exchanges in MANETs is compulsory to guarantee a widespread development of services for this kind of networks. The deployment of any security policy requires the definition of a trust model that defines who trusts who and how. Our work aims to provide a fully distributed trust model for mobile ad hoc networks. In this paper, we propose a fully distributed public key certificate management system based on trust graphs and threshold cryptography. It permits users to issue public key certificates, and to perform authentication via certificates' chains without any centralized management or trusted authorities. Moreover, thanks to the use of threshold cryptography; our system resists against false public keys certification. We perform an overall evaluation of our proposed approach through simulations. The results indicate out performance of our approach while providing effective security.     

Intrusion detection and tolerance: A global scheme

Protecting implemented security mechanisms and trusting their output (e.g. log files) when the host, under which they are deployed, is compromised, is among the major challenges that have to be faced. To fulfil this need, recent advances in security have considered the design of storage-based intrusion detection system, which detect intrusions by looking at the low-level disk requests patterns. However, these systems neither tolerate intrusions, nor do they distinguish whether the disk requests are generated by legitimate or malicious processes; and consequently, they generate a lot of false negative and positive alerts. In this paper, we present a Cooperative Intrusion Detection and Tolerance System, called CIDTS, which takes advantage of the information that are available at the network, host operating system, and storage level to better detect intrusion attempts in their early stages, even when the host is compromised. To allow cooperation, the disk communication interface that transports requests between the storage level and the host level is extended to forward information about the processes that generate the request. The paper also provides intrusion tolerance capabilities and provides techniques to support investigation activities. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transmutation capabilities of the CERN Energy Amplifier System

Progress in particle accelerator technology makes it possible to use a proton accelerator to produce energy and to destroy nuclear waste efficiently. Energy Amplifier (EA) systems consist of a sub-critical fast neutron core driven by a proton accelerator. If well designed, they prevent any possible criticality accidents. It has been proposed to take advantage of this sub-criticality in order to use certain types of fuel with poor neutronic properties (for instance those with very small delayed neutron fractions). In this respect, they are particularly attractive for destroying, through fission, transuranic elements produced by present nuclear reactors. EA's could also transform efficiently and at minimal cost long-lived fission fragments using the concept of Adiabatic Resonance Crossing (ARC), an innovative method tested at CERN with the TARC experiment.     

Reply to the comments on "Local Overfitting Control via Leverages" in "Jacobian Conditioning Analysis for Model Validation" by I. Rivals and L. Personnaz

"Jacobian Conditioning Analysis for Model Validation" by Rivals and Personnaz in this issue is a comment on Monari and Dreyfus (2002). In this reply, we disprove their claims. We point to flawed reasoning in the theoretical comments and to errors and inconsistencies in the numerical examples. Our replies are substantiated by seven counterexamples, inspired by actual data, which show that the comments on the accuracy of the computation of the leverages are unsupported and that following the approach they advocate leads to discarding valid models or validating overfitted models.     

Viscosity,Swelling and Starch Leaching During the Early Stages of Pasting of Normal and Waxy Rice Starch Suspensions Containing Different Milk Protein Ingredients

The effects of three milk protein ingredients, sodium caseinate (NaCAS), whey protein isolate (WPI) and skim milk powder (SMP), on the swelling and leaching behaviour of normal and waxy rice starch solutions, during the early stages of pasting, were investigated. It was found that the swelling onset temperature for both starches was increased by NaCAS and SMP but was not affected by WPI. Furthermore, onset temperature determined by the swelling measurements was lower than the onset temperature determined from viscosity measurements. However, the calculated viscometric onset temperature, using the Maron‐Pierce equation and the results of the swelling measurements, was found to be in very good agreement with the measured viscometric onset temperature. This study also showed that the quantity of leached polysaccharides during the early stages of starch pasting was very small, indicating that significant leaching of polysaccharides during pasting primarily occurs after the break‐up of the sheared starch granules.     

Numerical Simulation of Taylor–Couette Flows with Rotating Outer Wall Using a Hybrid Spectral/Finite Element Method

Theoretical Foundations of Chemical Engineering - Taylor–Couette flow between independently rotating cylinders with a relatively small aspect ratio Γ = 2.4 has been investigated...     

Assessing architectural color preference after Le Corbusier's 1931 Salubra keyboards: A cross cultural analysis

Color preference for the interior of a bedroom of Le Corbusier's Swiss Pavilion was studied using 1931 Salubra color keyboards in a cross-cultural analysis. Results indicate that students from architecture and interior design slightly dislike or are indifferent to Le Corbusier color combinations and prefer pale and low saturated colors for interior architecture. The least preferred colors belong to green and brown hues. Scarce significant gender differences are found that follow a stereotyped tendency, with females preferring pinks, light blues and light greens, while males vivid oranges and Vermilions. Near Easterners are significantly more likely to green colors, while Western Europeans to dark greys. These data indicate that not only hue, but also value and saturation are important color features to inform preference for interior architecture.     

Hygrothermal behavior modeling of the hygroscopic envelopes of buildings: A dynamic co-simulation approach

High levels of humidity in buildings lead to building pathologies. Moisture also has an impact on the indoor air quality and the hygrothermal comfort of the building’s occupants. To better assess these pathologies, it is necessary to take into account the heat and moisture transfer between the building envelope and its indoor ambience. In this work, a new methodology was developed to predict the overall behavior of buildings, which combines two simulation tools: COMSOL Multiphysics© and TRNSYS. The first software is used for the modeling of heat, air and moisture transfer in multilayer porous walls (HAM model: Heat, Air and Moisture transfer), and the second is used to simulate the hygrothermal behavior of the building (BES model: Building Energy Simulation). The combined software applications dynamically solve the mass and energy conservation equations of the two physical models. The HAM-BES coupling efficiency was verified. In this paper, the use of a coupled (HAM-BES) co-simulation for the prediction of the hygrothermal behavior of building envelopes is discussed. Furthermore, the effect of the 2D HAM modeling on relative humidity variations within the building ambience is shown. The results confirm the importance of the HAM modeling in the envelope on the hygrothermal behavior and energy demand of buildings.     

Computational intelligence techniques for HVAC systems: A review

Buildings are responsible for 40% of global energy use and contribute towards 30% of the total CO2 emissions. The drive to reduce energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions from buildings has acted as a catalyst in the development of advanced computational methods for energy efficient design, management and control of buildings and systems. Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are the major source of energy consumption in buildings and ideal candidates for substantial reductions in energy demand. Significant advances have been made in the past decades on the application of computational intelligence (CI) techniques for HVAC design, control, management, optimization, and fault detection and diagnosis. This article presents a comprehensive and critical review on the theory and applications of CI techniques for prediction, optimization, control and diagnosis of HVAC systems. The analysis of trends reveals that the minimisation of energy consumption was the key optimization objective in the reviewed research, closely followed by the optimization of thermal comfort, indoor air quality and occupant preferences. Hardcoded Matlab program was the most widely used simulation tool, followed by TRNSYS, EnergyPlus, DOE-2, HVACSim+ and ESP-r. Metaheuristic algorithms were the preferred CI method for solving HVAC related problems and in particular genetic algorithms were applied in most of the studies. Despite the low number of studies focussing on multi-agent systems (MAS), as compared to the other CI techniques, interest in the technique is increasing due to their ability of dividing and conquering an HVAC optimization problem with enhanced overall performance. The paper also identifies prospective future advancements and research directions.     

Latex influence on the mechanical behavior and durability of cementitious materials

The results of an experimental program conducted on latex-modified mortars are presented in this article. These mortars have become of growing interest in the field of construction. They were used as superplasticizers, or water reducers, for finishing work applications and for repairs, coatings, and waterproofing. This study is about using two polymers (latex), i.e. styrene–butadiene rubber and styrene–acrylic, in order to assess their performance in replacing cement in mortars. A series of mortar mixtures, containing 0, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20% of solid polymer latex (by weight), were prepared and tested in the fresh and hardened states. The test parameters include the fluidity, compressive and flexural strengths, porosity accessible to water, adhesion to clay bricks, and cementitious substrates. The experimental results showed that substituting cement into modified mortars improves their fluidity and adhesion. In the case of clay substrates, a cohesive failure occurs within the substrate layer beyond 10% of substitution, while the rupture takes place at the interface for all formulations tested on cementitious substrates. It was also noted that the flexural tensile strength improved beyond 60 days. However, the compressive strength of polymer mortars decreased with the substitution rate of cement, for all maturities considered. However, for porosity accessible to water, the results follow a linear function, with an inflection at 5% of latex substitution.