Behavioral Attestation for Web Services using access policies

Service Oriented Architecture with underlying technologies like web services and web service orchestration opens new vistas for integration among business processes operating in heterogeneous environments. However, such dynamic collaborations require a highly secure environment at each respective business partner site. Existing web services standards address the issue of security only on the service provider platform. The partner platforms to which sensitive information is released have till now been neglected. Remote Attestation is a relatively new field of research which enables an authorized party to verify that a trusted environment actually exists on a partner platform. To incorporate this novel concept in to the web services realm, a new mechanism called WS-Attestation has been proposed. This mechanism provides a structural paradigm upon which more fine-grained solutions can be built. In this paper, we present a novel framework, Behavioral Attestation for Web Services, in which XACML is built on top of WS-Attestation in order to enable more flexible remote attestation at the web services level. We propose a new type of XACML policy called XACML behavior policy, which defines the expected behavior of a partner platform. Existing web service standards are used to incorporate remote attestation at the web services level and a prototype is presented, which implements XACML behavior policy using low-level attestation techniques.     

Human-centered design of a wearable kinesthetic haptic device for surgical teleoperation

Artificial Life and Robotics - This paper describes the design and performance evaluation of a flexible wearable haptic device that aims to realize full kinesthetic haptic feedback for application...     

Thermophysical Properties of Porous Sandstones: Measurements and Comparative Study of Some Representative Thermal Conductivity Models

The thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of porous consolidated sandstones have been measured simultaneously by the transient-plane source (TPS) technique in the temperature range from 280 to 330 K at ambient pressure using air as the saturant. The porosity and density parameters are measured using standard American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) methods at 307 ± 1 K. Data are presented for five types of samples ranging in porosity from 8 to 17 vol. %, taken from various positions above the baseline. The thermal conductivity and constituents of the minerals vary with porosity as well as with the position of the sample from the baseline. The thermal conductivity data are discussed in the framework of simple mixing laws and empirical models. Simple correlations between the effective density and porosity, and between the effective thermal conductivity and porosity, are also established     

Foliar Application of Silicon Enhances Growth,Flower Yield,Quality and Postharvest Life of Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) under Saline Conditions by Improving Antioxidant Defense Mechanism

Silicon - Tuberose is native to Mexico and then reached Europe and spread other parts of the world. In Pakistan, tuberose stalks come in the market during late summer and autumn when only few...     

Performance enhancement and energy reduction using hybrid cryogenic distillation networks for purification of natural gas with high CO2 content

A novel concept of hybrid cryogenic distillation network has been explored which maximizes the benefits of both desublimation or solid-vapor based separation as well as distillation or vapor-liquid equilibrium based separation during the separation of carbon dioxide from methane or natural gas. Process network synthesis has been performed for four case studies with high carbon dioxide (72 mole%) and medium carbon dioxide (50 mole%) natural gas feed streams. The benefits of optimal locations for cryogenic packed beds were investigated. A conventional cryogenic network consisting of multiple distillation columns with butane as additive for extractive distillation was also studied and presented in this paper. Process modeling of cryogenic distillation network with MESH equations was attempted using an integrated dual loop (C+3) convergence and the results were compared with Aspen Plus simulator for benchmarking. The prediction of solidification region was employed using experimental data from literature to avoid solidification regions in the column. The proposed hybrid cryogenic distillation network showed promising potential for energy and size reduction.     

Structural and magnetic properties of erbium doped nanocrystalline Li–Ni ferrites

A series of nanocrystalline Li_0.25Ni_0.5Fe_2.25−xEr_xO₄ (x=0.00, 0.02, 0.06, 0.08, and 0.10) ferrite powders, having a cubic spinel crystal structure and a low value of coercivity, was synthesized by the sol–gel auto-combustion route. The structure, morphology and magnetic properties of the prepared nanoferrites were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and the magnetic property measurement system (MPMS). A well-defined single phase spinel structure is confirmed in all the samples by X-ray diffraction analysis. The lattice parameters of the samples increase slightly with increasing the erbium content. The crystallite size of the Er-doped samples is smaller than that of pure Li–Ni ferrite, and decrease regularly in the range of 36.0–14.5 nm. It has been observed that the magnetic properties of these ferrites are strongly influenced by the added erbium content. The magnetic measurements indicate that saturation magnetization (M_s) and coercivity (H_c) decrease gradually with the increase of Er content in the lattice.     

Iron oxide supported sulfated TiO2 nanotube catalysts for NO reduction with propane

Sulfated TiO₂ nanotubes and a series of iron oxide loaded sulfated TiO₂ nanotubes catalysts with different iron oxide loadings (1 wt%, 3 wt%, 5 wt% and 7 wt%) were prepared and calcined at 400 °C. The physico-chemical properties of the catalysts were studied by using XRD, N₂-physisorption, Raman spectroscopy, SEM-EDX, TEM, XPS, and pyridine adsorption using FTIR and H₂-TPR techniques. It was observed that iron oxide was highly dispersed on the sulfated TiO₂ nanotube support due to its strong interaction. The activity of these catalysts in the catalytic removal of NO with propane was also studied in the temperature range of 300–500 °C. Highest activity (90% NO conversion) was observed with 5 wt% iron oxide supported on sulfated TiO₂ catalyst at 450 °C. Selective catalytic reduction of NO activity of the catalysts was correlated with iron oxide loading, reducibility, and the Brönsted and Lewis acid sites of the catalysts. The catalyst also showed good stability under studied reaction conditions that no deactivation was observed during the 50 h of reaction.