Spoofing detection in IEEE 802.15.4 networks based on received signal strength

The shared medium used in wireless networks makes them vulnerable to spoofing attacks, in which an adversary masquerades as one or more legitimate nodes to disturb normal operation of the network. In this paper we present a novel spoofing detection method for static IEEE 802.15.4 networks based on spatial correlation property of received signal strength (RSS). While most existing RSS based techniques directly process RSS values of the received frames and rely on multiple traffic air monitors (AMs) to provide an acceptable detection performance, we extract features of RSS streams to reduce data redundancy and provide a more distinguishable representation of the data. Our algorithm employs two features of RSS streams, summation of detailed coefficients (SDCs) in discrete Haar wavelet transform (DHWT) of the RSS streams and the ratio of out-of-bound frames. We show that in a typical scenario, a single AM with SDC as detection parameter, can theoretically outperform a system with 12 AMs which directly applies RSS values as detection parameter. Using ratio of out-of-bound frames facilitates detection of high rate attacks. In addition, we suggest adaptive learning of legitimate RSS values which enhances the robustness of the attack detector against environmental changes. Using both magnitude and frequency related features, we achieved high detection performance with a single AM; this enables development of preventive measures for spoofing attacks. The performance of our approach was evaluated through an IEEE 802.15.4 testbed in an office environment. Experimental results along with theoretical analysis show that the proposed method outperforms the existing RSS-based spoofing detection solutions. Using a single AM, we were able to attain 94.75% detection rate (DR) with 0.56% false positive rate (FPR). For 4 AMs, the results improved to 99% DR and 0% FPR.     

Highly Elastic Micropatterned Hydrogel for Engineering Functional Cardiac Tissue

Heart failure is a major international health issue. Myocardial mass loss and lack of contractility are precursors to heart failure. Surgical demand for effective myocardial repair is tempered by a paucity of appropriate biological materials. These materials should conveniently replicate natural human tissue components, convey persistent elasticity, promote cell attachment, growth and conformability to direct cell orientation and functional performance. Here, microfabrication techniques are applied to recombinant human tropoelastin, the resilience‐imparting protein found in all elastic human tissues, to generate photocrosslinked biological materials containing well‐defined micropatterns. These highly elastic substrates are then used to engineer biomimetic cardiac tissue constructs. The micropatterned hydrogels, produced through photocrosslinking of methacrylated tropoelastin (MeTro), promote the attachment, spreading, alignment, function, and intercellular communication of cardiomyocytes by providing an elastic mechanical support that mimics their dynamic mechanical properties in vivo. The fabricated MeTro hydrogels also support the synchronous beating of cardiomyocytes in response to electrical field stimulation. These novel engineered micropatterned elastic gels are designed to be amenable to 3D modular assembly and establish a versatile, adaptable foundation for the modeling and regeneration of functional cardiac tissue with potential for application to other elastic tissues.     

Oxidative desulfurization of model and real oil samples using Mo supported on hierarchical alumina-silica: Process optimization by Box-Behnken experimental design

The catalytic performance of Mo supported on hierarchical alumina-silica (Si/Al=15) with Mo loadings of 3, 6 and 15 wt% was investigated for the oxidative desulfurization (ODS) of model and real oil samples. Hierarchical alumina-silica (hAl-Si) was synthesized by economical and ecofriendly silicate-1 seed-induced route using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as mesoporogen. The effect of CTAB on the structure of catalyst was studied by characterization techniques. The results revealed that 6%Mo/hAl-Si had the highest sulfur removal compared to the other catalyst loadings. The effect of operating parameters was evaluated using Box-Behnken experimental design. The optimal desulfurization conditions with the 6%Mo/hAl-Si catalyst were determined at oxidation temperature of 67℃, oxidation time of 42 min, H₂O₂/S molar ratio of 8 and catalyst dosage of 0.008 g·ml^-1 for achieving a conversion of 95%. Under optimal conditions, different sulfur-containing compounds with initial concentration of 1000 ppm, Dibenzothiophene (DBT), Benzothiophene (BT) and Thiophen (Th), showed the catalytic oxidation reactivity in the order of DBT > BT > Th. According to the regeneration experiments, the 6%Mo/hAl-Si catalyst was reused 4 times with a little reduction in the performance. Also, the total sulfur content of gasoline and diesel after ODS process reached 156.6 and 4592.2 ppm, respectively.     

Imprinted microspheres and nanoparticles with diclofenac sodium: effect of solvent on the morphology and recognition properties

To achieve suitable properties for specific applications, we synthesized diclofenac sodium (Ds) imprinted polymer beads with controllable size in the range of around 145 nm to 3 µm in diameter by the precipitation polymerization method using methacrylic acid as functional monomer, trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate as crosslinker and azobisisobutyronitrile as initiator. We analyzed the effect of the porogenic solvent on the morphology and recognition of particles. SEM analysis showed some dissimilarity in appearance of the imprinted polymers. The specific surface areas were 246 m² g^–1 and 260 m² g^–1 for imprinted polymers prepared in a mixture of tetrahydrofuran/acetonitrile (MIP1) and tetrahydrofuran/toluene (MIP2) respectively, which were in good agreement with the binding capacities of 150.4 mg g^–1 for MIP1 and 280.4 mg g^–1 for MIP2, but the imprinted nanoparticles with a specific selectivity factor of 1.5 had a better recognition property to Ds than the analog template meclofenamate sodium monohydrate (Ms) and also faster rebinding kinetics or greater accessibility of Ds. Finally the imprinted microspheres were successfully applied as a solid phase extraction sorbent for the extraction of Ds from human urine with limits of detection and quantification of 0.085 mg L^–1 and 0.227 mg L^–1, respectively. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry     

In vitro evaluation of biopolymer networks based on crosslinked cellulose with various diamines

In this study, we investigated some hydrogels based on natural, biodegradable, and biocompatible polysaccharides and cellulose, as sustained release carriers and evaluated their controlled drug release. The crosslinking of bromoacetylated cellulose with various aliphatic and aromatic diamines, such as ethylene diamine, hexamethylene diamine, and paraphenylene diamine, were carried out in N,N‐dimethylformamide in the presence of triethylamine as a base. On the other hand, the synthesized hydrogels were characterized with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and CHN elemental analysis. Also, the equilibrium swelling behavior of the hydrogels in water was calculated, and this indicated their sustained expansion. The loading of ceftizoxime antibiotic was carried out on the prepared hydrogels, and the in vitro and drug‐release behaviors were investigated in three different media (HCl solution at pH 3 and bicarbonate buffer solutions at pH 6 and 8). Finally, the release profiles of ceftizoxime from the hydrogels and their loading capacities were determined by ultraviolet–visible absorption measurements at λ_max 295 nm. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42568.     

A visible-light-active BiFeO<Subscript>3</Subscript>/ZnS nanocomposite for photocatalytic conversion of greenhouse gases

Given the changes in environmental conditions in the world, photocatalytic conversion of greenhouse gases is of great interest today. Our aim was to increase the photocatalytic efficiency of BiFeO₃/ZnS (p-n heterojunction photocatalyst) by varying the molar ratio of ZnS to perovskite structure of BiFeO₃ using hydrothermal synthesis. The results of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), FT-IR spectroscopy showed the small crystal size and suitable distribution of ZnS particles on the BiFeO₃ structure. The results of UV-visible, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy analyses showed the good behavior of p-n heterostructure in absorption of visible light and lowering electron-hole recombination. The best visible light photocatalytic efficiency of CO₂ reduction, 24.8%, was obtained by an equimolar ratio of BiFeO₃/ZnS.     

An Efficient Eco-Friendly Synthesis of Pyran Annulated Heterocyclic Systems under Conventional Heating and Microwave Irradiation in Solvent-Free Conditions

1,4-Diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) has been used as an efficient and reusable solid base catalyst for the rapid and green synthesis of pyran annulated heterocyclic ring systems by the condensation reaction of various activated CH-acids and tetracyanoethylene under conventional heating and microwave irradiation in solvent-free conditions. Excellent yield, very short reaction time (2–5 min), operatinal simplity, easy work-up procedure, avoidance of hazardous or toxic catalysts, and organic solvents are the main advantages of this green methodology which makes it more economic than the other conventional methods.     

Numerical simulation of 2-D laminar flow subjected to the Lorentz force effect in a channel with backward-facing step

This paper presents the numerical solutions of a two-dimensional laminar flow over a backward-facing step in the presence of the Lorentz body force. The Navier-Stokes equations in a vorticity-stream function formulation are numerically solved using a uniform grid mesh of 2001 × 51 points. A second-order central difference approximation is used for spatial derivatives. The solutions progress in time with a fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. The unsteady backward-facing step flow solution is computed for Reynolds numbers 100 to 800. The size and genesis of the recirculating regions are dramatically affected by applying the Lorentz force. The results demonstrate that using an appropriate configuration for applying the Lorentz force can make it an essential tool for controlling the flow in channels with a backward-facing step.     

Data generative machine learning model for the assessment of outdoor thermal and wind comfort in a northern urban environment

Predicting comfort levels in cities is challenging due to the many metric assessment. To overcome these challenges, much research is being done in the computing community to develop methods capable of generating outdoor comfort data. Machine Learning (ML) provides many opportunities to discover patterns in large datasets such as urban data. This paper proposes a data-driven approach to build a predictive and data-generative model to assess outdoor thermal comfort. The model benefits from the results of a study, which analyses Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) urban simulation to determine the thermal and wind comfort in Tallinn, Estonia. The ML model was built based on classification, and it uses an opaque ML model. The results were evaluated by applying different metrics and show us that the approach allows the implementation of a data-generative ML model to generate reliable data on outdoor comfort that can be used by urban stakeholders, planners, and researchers.