PRIVACY LEAKAGE IN HEALTH SOCIAL NETWORKS

Members of health social networks may be susceptible to privacy leaks by the amount of information they leave behind. The threat to privacy increases when members of these networks reuse their pseudonyms in other social networks. The risk of re‐identifying users from such networks requires quantitative estimates to evaluate its magnitude. The estimates will enable managers and members of health social communities to take corrective measures. We introduce a new re‐identification attack, the social network attack, that takes advantage of the fact that users reuse their pseudonyms. To demonstrate the attack, we establish links between MedHelp and Twitter (two popular social networks) based on matching pseudonyms. We used Bayesian networks to model the re‐identification risk and used stylometric techniques to identify the strength of the links. On the basis of our model 7‐11. 8% of the MedHelp members in the sample population who reused their pseudonyms in Twitter were re‐identifiable compared with 1% who did not. The risk estimates were measured at the 5% risk threshold. Our model was able to re‐identify users with a sensitivity of 41% and specificity of 96%. The potential for re‐identification increases as more data is accumulated from these profiles, which makes the threat of re‐identification more serious.     

Molecular solutions for minimum and exact cover problems in the tile assembly model

The tile assembly model is a novel biological computing model where information is encoded in DNA tiles. It is an efficient way to solve NP-complete problems due to its scalability and parallelism. In this paper, we apply the tile assembly model to solve the minimum and exact set cover problems, which are well-known NP-complete problems. To solve the minimum set cover problem, we design a MinSetCover system composed of three parts, i.e., the seed configuration subsystem, the nondeterministic choice subsystem, and the detection subsystem. Moreover, we improve the MinSetCover system and propose a MinExactSetCover system for solving the problem of exact cover by 3-sets. Finally we analyze the computation complexity and perform a simulation experiment to verify the effectiveness and correctness of the proposed systems.     

Particle-Substrate Collisions, Particle Rebound and Removal

Recent progress in particle capture and rebound and its effect on the adhesion force is reviewed in this paper. Particles rebound when the incident velocity is greater than a characteristic critical velocity. Lower impaction velocity particles experience elastic and plastic deformation. Recent models for particle rebound and capture are discussed and evaluated in terms of their restrictive assumptions and results. Recent experimental data of particle rebound and capture is also discussed, as is the hydrodynamic removal of captured particles. The removal of particles occurs when the applied hydrodynamic removal force overcomes the adhesion force. The effect of adhesion-induced deformation on the removal of particles is introduced and discussed.     

Natural convection mass transfer at conical surfaces

Rates of natural convection mass transfer were determined at vertical cones by measuring the limiting current of the cathodic deposition of copper from acidified copper sulphate solution. Variables studied were cone position (upward or downward apex), apex angle of the cone and copper sulphate concentration. For vertical cones with upward pointing apex the data were represented in the range 4.9×10¹⁰<(Sc Gr)<9×10¹¹ by the equation: $$Sh = 0.128 (Sc Gr)^{0.33}$$ For vertical cones with downward pointing apex the data fit the equation: $$Sh = 0.877 (Sc Gr)^{0.25}$$      

Design of a Commercial Hybrid VTOL UAV System

For the last four decades Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) have been extensively used for military operations that include tracking, surveillance, active engagement with weapons and airborne data acquisition. UAVs are also in demand commercially due to their advantages in comparison to manned vehicles. These advantages include lower manufacturing and operating costs, flexibility in configuration depending on customer request and not risking the pilot on demanding missions. Even though civilian UAVs currently constitute 3 % of the UAV market, it is estimated that their numbers will reach up to 10 % of the UAV market within the next 5 years. Most of the civilian UAV applications require UAVs that are capable of doing a wide range of different and complementary operations within a composite mission. These operations include taking off and landing from limited runway space, while traversing the operation region in considerable cruise speed for mobile tracking applications. This is in addition to being able traverse in low cruise speeds or being able to hover for stationary measurement and tracking. All of these complementary and but different operational capabilities point to a hybrid unmanned vehicle concept, namely the Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) UAVs. In addition, the desired UAV system needs to be cost-efficient while providing easy payload conversion for different civilian applications. In this paper, we review the preliminary design process of such a capable civilian UAV system, namely the TURAC VTOL UAV. TURAC UAV is aimed to have both vertical take-off and landing and Conventional Take-off and Landing (CTOL) capability. TURAC interchangeable payload pod and detachable wing (with potential different size variants) provides capability to perform different mission types, including long endurance and high cruise speed operations. In addition, the TURAC concept is to have two different variants. The TURAC A variant is an eco-friendly and low-noise fully electrical platform which includes 2 tilt electric motors in the front, and a fixed electric motor and ducted fan in the rear, where as the TURAC B variant is envisioned to use high energy density fuel cells for extended hovering time. In this paper, we provide the TURAC UAV’s iterative design and trade-off studies which also include detailed aerodynamic and structural configuration analysis. For the aerodynamic analysis, an in-house software including graphical user interface has been developed to calculate the aerodynamic forces and moments by using the Vortex Lattice Method (VLM). Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) studies are performed to determine the aerodynamic effects for various configurations For structural analysis, a Finite Element Model (FEM) of the TURAC has been prepared and its modal analysis is carried out. Maximum displacements and maximal principal stresses are calculated and used for streamlining a weight efficient fuselage design. Prototypes have been built to show success of the design at both hover and forward flight regime. In this paper, we also provide the flight management and autopilot architecture of the TURAC. The testing of the controller performance has been initiated with the prototype of TURAC. Current work focuses on the building of the full fight test prototype of the TURAC UAV and aerodynamic modeling of the transition flight.     

Dynamic watermarking scheme for quantum images based on Hadamard transform

In this paper, a novel watermarking scheme for quantum images based on Hadamard transform is proposed. In the new scheme, a unitary transform controlled by a classical binary key is implemented on quantum image. Then, we utilize a dynamic vector, instead of a fixed parameter as in other previous schemes, to control the embedding process. The dynamic embedding vector is decided by both the carrier quantum image and the watermark image, which is only known by the authorized owner. The proposed scheme is analyzed from visual quality, computational complexity, and payload capacity. Analysis and results show that the proposed scheme has better visual quality under a higher embedding capacity and lower complexity compared with other schemes proposed recently.     

Thermal decomposition behavior of γ‐irradiated poly(vinyl acetate)/poly(methyl methacrylate) miscible blends

Miscible polymer blends based on various ratios of poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) were prepared in film form by the solution casting technique using benzene as a common solvent. The thermal decomposition behavior of these blends and their individual homopolymers before and after γ‐irradiation at various doses (50–250 kGy) was investigated. The thermogravimetric analysis technique was utilized to determine the temperatures at which the maximum value of the rate of reaction (T_max) occurs and the kinetic parameters of the thermal decomposition. The rate of reaction curves of the individual homopolymers or their blends before or after γ‐ irradiation displayed similar trends in which the T_max corresponding to all polymers was found to exist in the same position but with different values. These findings and the visual observations of the blend solutions and the transparency of the films gave support to the complete miscibility of these blends. Three transitions were observed along the reaction rate versus temperature curves; the first was around 100–200°C with no defined T_max, which may arise from the evaporation of the solvent. The second T_max was in the 340–380°C range, which depended on the polymer blend and the γ‐irradiation condition. A third transition was seen in the rate of reaction curves only for pure PVAc and its blends with PMMA with ratios up to 50%, regardless of γ‐ irradiation. We concluded that γ‐irradiation improved the thermal stability of PVAc/PMMA blends, even though the PMMA polymer was degradable by γ irradiation. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99: 1773–1780, 2006     

Piezoresistivity in Polymer-Ceramic Composites

Composite materials composed of randomly dispersed semiconducting ceramic particles in an insulating polymer matrix show a pronounced change in resistivity with pressure. Different amounts of iron oxide (Fe₃O₄) powder and antimony-doped tin oxide (SnO₂:Sb) powder were dispersed in an epoxy polymer matrix to form pressure-sensitive composites. In each family of materials, an insulator-to-semiconductor transition is observed in agreement with percolation theory. Composites within a certain range of filler content showed substantial piezoresistive effect under both uniaxial and hydrostatic pressure in which sensitivity is controlled by the choice of filler material and the volume fraction. The effect of temperature on the piezoresistance effect was also examined. Piezoresistors made from Fe₃O₄ composites showed larger temperature changes than those filled with Sb-doped SnO₂.