Assessment of otolith function using cervical and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials in individuals with motion sickness

The involvement of otolith organs in motion sickness has long been debated; however, equivocal findings exist in literature. The present study thus aimed at evaluating the otolith functioning in individuals with motion sickness. Cervical and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials were recorded from 30 individuals with motion sickness, 30 professional drivers and 30 healthy individuals. The results revealed no significant difference in latencies and amplitudes between the groups (p>0.05). Nonetheless, thresholds were significantly elevated and inter-aural asymmetry ratio significantly higher in motion sickness susceptible group (p < 0.001) for both the potentials. All the individuals in the motion sickness group had high asymmetry ratio at least on one of the two potentials. Thus, reduced response and/or asymmetric otolithic function seem the likely reasons behind motion sickness susceptibility.     

NP-Click: a productive software development approach for network processors

Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design is too risky and prohibitively expensive for many applications. This trend, combined with increasing silicon capability on a die, is fueling the emergence of application-specific programmable architectures. This focus on architecture design for network processors has made programming them an arduous task. Current network processors require in-depth knowledge of the architecture just to begin programming the device. However, for network processors to succeed, programmers must efficiently implement high-performance applications on them. Writing high-performance code for modern network processors is difficult because of their complexity. NP-Click is a simple programming model that permits programmers to reap the benefits of a domain specific language while still allowing for target-specific optimizations. Results for the Intel IXP1200 indicate that NP-Click delivers a large productivity gain at a slight performance expense.     

Comparative High-Temperature Corrosion Behavior of Ni-20Cr Coatings on T22 Boiler Steel Produced by HVOF, D-Gun, and Cold Spraying

To protect materials from surface degradations such as wear, corrosion, and thermal flux, a wide variety of materials can be deposited on the materials by several spraying processes. This paper examines and compares the microstructure and high-temperature corrosion of Ni-20Cr coatings deposited on T22 boiler steel by high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF), detonation gun spray, and cold spraying techniques. The coatings’ microstructural features were characterized by means of XRD and FE-SEM/EDS analyses. Based upon the results of mass gain, XRD, and FE-SEM/EDS analyses it may be concluded that the Ni-20Cr coating sprayed by all the three techniques was effective in reducing the corrosion rate of the steel. Among the three coatings, D-gun spray coating proved to be better than HVOF-spray and cold-spray coatings.     

GRA Based Network Selection in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks

4G wireless networks will integrate heterogeneous technologies such as Wireless LAN and third generation (3G) cellular networks and have the capability to offer various services at any time as per user requirements, anywhere with seamless interoperability at affordable cost. One important challenge in such a heterogeneous wireless environment is to enable network selection mechanisms in order to keep the mobile users always best connected anywhere and at any time. In this paper, a multi-criteria access network selection algorithm is proposed in Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access–Wireless Fidelity environment, in order to facilitate the provision of high quality services and at the same time to satisfy different types of user service level agreements. Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and grey relational analysis (GRA) methods are applying for optimal access network selection. The proposed methodology combines the AHP to decide the relative weights of criteria set according to network’s performance, as well as the GRA to rank the network alternatives. The advantages of the GRA method are that the results are based on the original data, the calculations are simple and straightforward, and finally it is one of the best methods to make decision under heterogeneous wireless network environment.     

Enhanced classification loss functions and regularization loss function (ECLFaRLF) algorithm for bowel cancer feature classification

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Bowel cancer is one of the most common cancers as stated in the bowel cancer cases statistics. The proposed technique is to recognize the pattern of tissue...     

A defense framework against malware and vulnerability exploits

Current anti-malware tools have proved to be insufficient in combating ever-evolving malware attacks and vulnerability exploits due to inevitable vulnerabilities present in the complex software used today. In addition, the performance penalty incurred by anti-malware tools is magnified when security approaches designed for desktops are migrated to modern mobile devices, such as tablets and laptops, due to their relatively limited processing capabilities and battery capacities. In this paper, we propose a fine-grained anomaly detection defense framework that offers a cost-efficient way to detect malicious behavior and prevent vulnerability exploits in resource-constrained computing platforms. In this framework, a trusted third party (e.g., the publisher) first tests a new application by running it in a heavily monitored testing environment that emulates the target system and extracts a behavioral model from its execution paths. Extensive security policies are enforced during this process. In case of a violation, the program is denied release to the user. If the application passes the tests, the user can download the behavioral model along with the tested application binary. At run-time, the application is monitored against the behavioral model. In the unlikely event that a new execution path is encountered, conservative but lightweight security policies are applied. To reduce overhead at the user end, the behavioral model may be further reduced by the publisher through static analysis. We have implemented the defense framework using a netbook with the Intel Atom processor and evaluated it with a suite of 51 real-world Linux viruses and malware. Experiments demonstrate that our tool achieves a very high coverage (98 %) of considered malware and security threats. The four antivirus tools we compare our tool against were found to have poor virus coverage, especially of obfuscated viruses. By removing safe standard library blocks from the behavioral model, we reduce the model size by 8.4 \(\times \) and the user’s run-time overhead by 23 %.     

A Novel Multi-Objective Protection Coordination Scheme for a Microgrid with Optimal Deployment of Dual-Setting ROCOV Based Relays

Relay coordination is crucial in electrical power systems to protect against malfunctions and damage caused by unexpected events like short circuits. To address the challenge associated with the reverse direction of fault current, dual-setting (DS) directional over-current relays have evolved but failed to provide proper coordination during changes of load, generation, and network. In the meantime, with the increasing number of DS relays, the total relay operating time tends to saturate. Therefore, this paper proposes a protection scheme based on the optimal deployment of conventional and dual-setting rate of change of voltage (DS-ROCOV) relays in distribution systems. This holds true for varying network topologies and is unaffected by variations in load and generation. The objective of the proposed scheme is to ensure reliable and efficient protection against faults in distribution systems by minimizing the overall operating time with the optimal number of DS-ROCOV relays. The proposed protection scheme''s performance is evaluated for different coordination time interval values as well as in different microgrid scenarios. This paper outlines the design and implementation of the proposed protection scheme which is validated on the modified IEEE 14-bus system using simulations in Matlab/Simulink.     

Oxidation Behaviour of HVOF Sprayed NiCrAlY and NiCrAlY-20SiC Coatings on T-91 Boiler Tube Steel

Protection of Metals and Physical Chemistry of Surfaces - In present study, the high temperature oxidation behavior of HVOF sprayed NiCrAlY alloy coating and NiCrAlY–20SiC composite coating...