An Innovative but Low-Cost E-Payment Mechanism and its Extension to E-Ticketing and E-Identity Document Applications

2013 ◽  
Vol 284-287 ◽  
pp. 3335-3339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor K.Y. Chan
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Public Communication ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Technical Improvement ◽  
Payment Mechanism ◽  
Identity Document ◽  
Secure Authentication ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Payment Mechanisms

Despite the advent of e-payment decades ago, the cashless society is still a prediction of pundits, in particular, in the retail or business-to-customer sector. No doubt, there are countless financial, political, economic, and social considerations as to the possibility of e-payment’s utilization to a larger extent than has occurred so far, but it is undeniable that there may still be ample room for technical improvement to virtually all existing e-payment mechanisms for catalyzing further popularization. Based on the literature on crucial factors determining particular e-payment mechanisms achieving critical mass, this article, given its applied and industrial rather than theoretical nature, summarizes the weaknesses of major existing e-payment mechanisms, deduces the key technical dilemmas underlying such weaknesses, and finally proposes an innovative but low-cost e-payment mechanism (now a patent pending of the author) to surmount such dilemmas by means of the enhancement and generalization of existing mobile phone tickets or otherwise. In particular, overcoming such dilemmas involves the provision of highly secure authentication and non-repudiation that are implementable over public communication transmission media and/or networks at no expense of payment success rates, operational ease and efficiency, hardware and software independence, and interoperability and portability. This article also illustrates the way to extend the proposed mechanism to such applications as e-ticketing and e-identity documents.

scholarly journals Do Institutional Transplants Succeed? Regulating Raiffeisen Cooperatives in South India, 1930–1960

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Maanik Nath
Keyword(s):  
South India ◽  
Financial Regulation ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Credit Market ◽  
Rural Credit ◽  
Market State ◽  
The Government ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Rural Credit Market

The government in British-ruled India established cooperative banks to compete with private moneylenders in the rural credit market. State officials expected greater competition to increase the supply of low-cost credit, thereby expanding investment potential for the rural poor. Cooperatives did increase credit supply but captured a small share of the credit market and reported net losses throughout the late colonial and early postcolonial period. The article asks why this experiment did not succeed and offers two explanations. First, low savings restricted the role of social capital and mutual supervision as methods of financial regulation in the cooperative sector. Second, a political-economic ideology that privileged equity over efficiency made for weak administrative regulation.

Voice In Ear

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Yang Gao ◽  
Yincheng Jin ◽  
Jagmohan Chauhan ◽  
Seokmin Choi ◽  
Jiyang Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
User Authentication ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
The Body ◽  
Ear Canal ◽  
Replay Attacks ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
The Right ◽  
Sound Conduction ◽  
Enrollment Data ◽  
Secure Authentication

With the rapid growth of wearable computing and increasing demand for mobile authentication scenarios, voiceprint-based authentication has become one of the prevalent technologies and has already presented tremendous potentials to the public. However, it is vulnerable to voice spoofing attacks (e.g., replay attacks and synthetic voice attacks). To address this threat, we propose a new biometric authentication approach, named EarPrint, which aims to extend voiceprint and build a hidden and secure user authentication scheme on earphones. EarPrint builds on the speaking-induced body sound transmission from the throat to the ear canal, i.e., different users will have different body sound conduction patterns on both sides of ears. As the first exploratory study, extensive experiments on 23 subjects show the EarPrint is robust against ambient noises and body motions. EarPrint achieves an Equal Error Rate (EER) of 3.64% with 75 seconds enrollment data. We also evaluate the resilience of EarPrint against replay attacks. A major contribution of EarPrint is that it leverages two-level uniqueness, including the body sound conduction from the throat to the ear canal and the body asymmetry between the left and the right ears, taking advantage of earphones' paring form-factor. Compared with other mobile and wearable biometric modalities, EarPrint is a low-cost, accurate, and secure authentication solution for earphone users.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Effect of Payment Mechanism on Exploitation of Polymetallic Nodules in the Area

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 221
Author(s):  
Yan Li ◽  
Chang Liu ◽  
Sihan Su ◽  
Mengdan Li ◽  
Shaojun Liu
Keyword(s):  
Deep Sea ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Rate Of Return ◽  
Internal Rate Of Return ◽  
Financial Model ◽  
Payment Mechanism ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Internal Rate ◽  
Payment Mechanisms

The international seabed area (i.e., the “Area”) is rich in mineral resources. According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the relevant implemented agreements, in 2012, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) began to develop the regulations for the exploitation of mineral resources in the Area. The most important part of the regulations involves determining the distribution of benefits from the exploitation of mineral resources in the Area between the ISA and the contractors. The establishment of a financial model to evaluate the economic benefits and compare the distribution scheme was the basic method relied on in the current study of payment mechanism. According to the characteristics of the exploitation project of mineral resources in the Area, the discounted cash flow method was selected to construct the financial model. Taking China’s deep-sea mineral resources development project in the Area as the background, the main parameters of the model were determined. A comparative study of similar financial models with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and other foreign countries was carried out, in addition to a sensitivity analysis of parameters. On the basis of the assurance that the contractor’s internal rate of return was not lower than the level of the land mining enterprise, the financial model was used to calculate the internal rate of return and the revenue of royalty under different payment mechanisms and rates. The advantages and disadvantages of different payment mechanisms in the exploitation of mineral resources in the area were analyzed. Lastly, the possible impacts of deep-sea polymetallic nodule mining on Terrestrial metal markets were highlighted.

scholarly journals Evolution of Wireless Sensor Network for Air Quality Measurements

Electronics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Arroyo ◽  
Jesús Lozano ◽  
José Suárez
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Sensor Network ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Sampling System ◽  
Air Quality Measurements ◽  
Zigbee Protocol ◽  
Benzene Toluene

This study addresses the development of a wireless gas sensor network with low cost, small size, and low consumption nodes for environmental applications and air quality detection. Throughout the article, the evolution of the design and development of the system is presented, describing four designed prototypes. The final proposed prototype node has the capacity to connect up to four metal oxide (MOX) gas sensors, and has high autonomy thanks to the use of solar panels, as well as having an indirect sampling system and a small size. ZigBee protocol is used to transmit data wirelessly to a self-developed data cloud. The discrimination capacity of the device was checked with the volatile organic compounds benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX). An improvement of the system was achieved to obtain optimal success rates in the classification stage with the final prototype. Data processing was carried out using techniques of pattern recognition and artificial intelligence, such as radial basis networks and principal component analysis (PCA).

scholarly journals More and Faster: Simultaneously Improving Reaction Coverage and Computational Cost in Automated Reaction Prediction Tasks

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiyuan Zhao ◽  
Brett Savoie
Keyword(s):  
Transition State ◽  
Domain Knowledge ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Computational Cost ◽  
Chemical Degradation ◽  
Reaction Pathways ◽  
Reaction Networks ◽  
Complex Reaction ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Reaction Prediction

<div> <div> <div> <p>Automated reaction prediction has the potential to elucidate complex reaction networks for applications ranging from combustion to materials degradation. Although substantial progress has been made in predicting specific reaction pathways and resolving mechanisms, the computational cost and inconsistent reaction coverage of automated prediction are still obstacles to exploring deep reaction networks without using heuristics. Here we show that cost can be reduced and reaction coverage can be increased simultaneously by relatively straight- forward modifications of the reaction enumeration, geometry initialization, and transition state convergence algorithms that are common to many emerging prediction methodologies. These changes are implemented in the context of Yet Another Reaction Program (YARP), our reaction prediction package, for which we report a head-to-head comparison with prevailing methods for two benchmark reaction prediction tasks. In all cases, we observe near perfect recapitulation of established reaction pathways and products by YARP, without the use of heuristics or other domain knowledge to guide reaction selection. In addition, YARP also discovers many new kinetically relevant pathways and products reported here for the first time. This is achieved while simultaneously reducing the cost of reaction characterization nearly 100-fold and increasing transition state success rates and intended rates over 2-fold and 10-fold, respectively, compared with recent benchmarks. This combination of ultra-low cost and high reaction-coverage creates opportunities to explore the reactivity of larger sys- tems and more complex reaction networks for applications like chemical degradation, where approaches based on domain heuristics fail. </p> </div> </div> </div>

scholarly journals Are saltflats suitable supplementary nesting habitats for Malaysian Plovers Charadrius peronii threatened by beach habitat loss in Thailand?

2007 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maï Yasué ◽  
Allison Patterson ◽  
Philip Dearden
Keyword(s):  
Hatching Success ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Sandy Beaches ◽  
Beach Erosion ◽  
Breeding Habitat ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
Aquaculture Ponds ◽  
Resort Development

AbstractResort development and coastal beach erosion have led to declines in beach breeding habitat for the near-threatened Malaysian Plover (Charadrius peronii) in the Gulf of Thailand. Semi-natural saltflats may provide supplementary nesting areas. We compared the environmental conditions, incubation behaviour and nesting success of plovers breeding on sandy beaches and saltflats in Thailand. In total we monitored 21 and nine nesting attempts in 2004 (beaches and saltflats, respectively) and 26 and 22 nesting attempts in 2005. Despite higher air temperatures in the saltflats (P < 0.0001), we detected no significant differences in nest attendance (P = 0.542 and P = 0.885 for 2004 and 2005, respectively), number of incubator changes between parents (P = 0.776 and P = 0.823) or number of parental nest departures (P = 0.087 and P = 0.712) during 120 incubation observations on 55 nests. There was also no difference in hatching success between beaches in 2004 (beach = 0.65, saltflat = 0.55; P = 0.692, n = 26) and 2005 (beach = 0.46, saltflat = 0.35; P = 0.539, n = 41). These results suggest that saltflats may provide nesting habitat for Malaysian Plovers and could help enhance overall hatching success rates by reducing nesting densities on beaches. Although there are few remaining intact saltflats in coastal Thailand, there are currently vast areas of abandoned tiger prawn aquaculture ponds that could be rehabilitated into saltflats at relatively low cost. Given the large area of disused aquaculture ponds throughout Thailand and South-East Asia and the substantial human pressure on coastal habitats, there could be considerable conservation benefits to the restoration of aquaculture ponds.

scholarly journals Subureteral Injection with Small-Size Dextranomer/Hyaluronic Acid Copolymer: Is It Really Efficient?

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iyimser Üre ◽  
Serhat Gürocak ◽  
Özgür Tan ◽  
Amirali Farahvash ◽  
Cem Senol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hyaluronic Acid ◽  
Success Rate ◽  
Vesicoureteral Reflux ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Clinical Results ◽  
Voiding Cystourethrogram ◽  
Complication Rates ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Acid Copolymer ◽  
Urinary Infections

The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical results of patients with vesicoureteral reflux, which were treated with subureteral injection of small-size (80–120 μm) dextranomer/hyaluronic acid copolymer (Dx/HA). Data of 75 children (105 renal units) who underwent STING procedure with small-size Dx/HA for the treatment of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) in our clinic between 2008 and 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. Preoperative reflux grade and side, injection indication, postoperative urinary infections and urinary symptoms, voiding cystourethrogram, and renal scintigraphy results were evaluated. The success rate of the procedure was 100% in patients with grades 1 and 2 reflux, 91% in patients with grade 3 reflux, and 82.6% in patients with grade 4. Overall success rate of the treated patients was 97%. Endoscopic subureteric injection with Dx/HA procedure has become a reasonable minimally invasive alternative technique to open surgery, long-term antibiotic prophylaxis, and surveillance modalities in treatment of VUR in terms of easy application, low costs and complication rates, and high success rates. Injection material composed of small-size dextranomer microspheres seems superior to normal size Dx/HA, together with offering similar success with low cost.

scholarly journals Good winds are expected!

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (36) ◽  
pp. 95-96
Author(s):  
Carlos Renato Zacharias
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Therapeutic Option ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Biological Action ◽  
Highly Active ◽  
High Dilutions ◽  
Sharing Responsibility ◽  
New Research ◽  
Academic Geography

Probably by cultural and historical reasons, Western Europe occupied the center of homeopathy research stage. It was in Western Europe that Hahnemann initially established the grounds of homeopathy, and also were Western European the researchers who have been trying to characterize the scientific bases behind high dilutions biological action ever since. Europe witnessed all phases of homeopathy development, its growth and also its decline, its time of glory as well as its many crises. Ideological divergences – sometimes grounded on irresponsible attitudes by homeopaths themselves, sometimes arising from skeptics pride and prejudice – gave rise to political and social movements against homeopathy. In spite of this, clinical and experimental evidences kept homeopathy alive as an important therapeutic option able to reunite low cost and efficacy provided its conceptual basis and limitations are observed. ... More than ever, HD research appears as an emergent and highly active field! And much work still needs to be done. The academic geography of HD research is changing. It is not a matter of replacing old by new research centers. As a fact, HD research is expanding its boundaries, its scientific community has started sharing responsibility and joining efforts. As any other scientific field, also HD research is building a critical mass, which is a sine qua non requirement for research to attain the quality demanded by contemporary science. New winds are blowing and they will surprise those little prepared or unexpecting.

scholarly journals Improved Authenticated Key Agreement Scheme for Fog-Driven IoT Healthcare System

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Tsu-Yang Wu ◽  
Tao Wang ◽  
Yu-Qi Lee ◽  
Weimin Zheng ◽  
Saru Kumari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Key Agreement ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Fog Computing ◽  
Security Analysis ◽  
Transportation Systems ◽  
Security Evaluation ◽  
Medical Systems ◽  
Session Key ◽  
Authentication And Key Agreement ◽  
Secure Authentication

The Internet of things (IoT) has been widely used for various applications including medical and transportation systems, among others. Smart medical systems have become the most effective and practical solutions to provide users with low-cost, noninvasive, and long-term continuous health monitoring. Recently, Jia et al. proposed an authentication and key agreement scheme for smart medical systems based on fog computing and indicated that it is safe and can withstand a variety of known attacks. Nevertheless, we found that it consists of several flaws, including known session-specific temporary information attacks and lack of per-verification. The opponent can readily recover the session key and user identity. In this paper, we propose a secure authentication and key agreement scheme, which compensates for the imperfections of the previously proposed. For a security evaluation of the proposed authentication scheme, informal security analysis and the Burrows–Abadi–Needham (BAN) logic analysis are implemented. In addition, the ProVerif tool is used to normalize the security verification of the scheme. Finally, the performance comparisons with the former schemes show that the proposed scheme is more applicable and secure.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document