Determining the Image Base of ARM Firmware by Matching Function Addresses

Firmware is software embedded in a device and acts as the most fundamental work of a system. Disassembly is a necessary step to understand the operational mechanism or detect the vulnerabilities of the firmware. When disassembling a firmware, it should first obtain the processor type of running environment and the image base of firmware. In general, the processor type can be obtained by tearing down the device or consulting the product manual. However, at present, there is still no automated tool that can be used to obtain the image base of all types of firmware. In this paper, we focus on firmware in ARM and propose an automated method to determine the image base address. Firstly, by studying the storage rule and loading mode of the function address, we can obtain the function offset and the function address loaded by LDR instruction, respectively. Then, with this information, we propose an algorithm, named Determining image Base by Matching Function Addresses (DBMFA), to determine the image base. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method can successfully determine the image base of firmware which uses LDR instruction to load function address.

Bi-directional ribosome scanning controls the stringency of start codon selection

The fidelity of start codon recognition by ribosomes is paramount during protein synthesis. The current knowledge of eukaryotic translation initiation implies unidirectional 5ʹ→3ʹ migration of the pre-initiation complex (PIC) along the 5ʹ UTR. In probing translation initiation from ultra-short 5ʹ UTR, we report that an AUG triplet near the 5ʹ end can be selected via PIC backsliding. Bi-directional ribosome scanning is supported by competitive selection of closely spaced AUG codons and recognition of two initiation sites flanking an internal ribosome entry site. Transcriptome-wide PIC profiling reveals footprints with an oscillation pattern near the 5ʹ end and start codons. Depleting the RNA helicase eIF4A leads to reduced PIC oscillations and impaired selection of 5ʹ end start codons. Enhancing the ATPase activity of eIF4A promotes nonlinear PIC scanning and stimulates upstream translation initiation. The helicase-mediated PIC conformational switch may provide an operational mechanism that unifies ribosome recruitment, scanning, and start codon selection.

Developing and Implementing Mother-tongue Education Policy in Minority Speech Communities in Nepal: Issues and Challenges

This paper examines some major issues and challenges in developing and implementing mother-tongue education policy in minority speech communities in Nepal. It also suggests some strategies based on field studies for meeting those challenges. In minority speech communities, constituting more than 55% of total population and speaking around 70 languages, despite attempts made by governmental and non-governmental agencies, multilingual education has not yet become accessible it is mainly due to the lack of operational mechanism in education policy. Till today, thousands of children of non-Nepali speaking communities are compelled to be instructed in Nepali and use the textbooks written in Nepali. This has resulted in class repetition, high dropout and very low quality at primary levels. The case studies made in Western Tamang and Rajbansi have explored a number of challenges as well as some way-outs for effective implementation of mother-tongue education policy in such communities. First and foremost, the roles of mother tongue, Nepali and English have not yet been fully justified. In most of the minority speech communities, there is only sentimental attitude towards their mother tongue. Most of the MLE programmes have been commenced without conducting need assessment (Regmi, 2019). There is a lack of appropriate textbooks and reading materials incorporating local cultures and life crucial knowledge embodied in language. Due to the lack of trained and motivated teachers, programmes so far implemented are also facing the problem of quality maintenance. Thus, a promising and inclusive multilingual education policy should be developed and implemented for maintaining the sustainability of MLE programmes in minority speech communities in Nepal.

E-Wallet: A Study On Contracts Involved Within Its Operational Mechanism

The use of digital wallet or also known as e-wallet is widely spreading across world and specifically among Muslim in Malaysia without people actually knowing and understanding the operational mechanism of an e-wallet. Research has shown that the advancements in term of technology that are brought by e-wallet claimed to give a lot of benefits and advantages towards its users. E-wallet have the ability to make transactions easier, faster and quicker than before. The use of e-wallet also creates improvements in payments, portability, and cashless transaction. This study aims to identify the concept of e-wallet in term of its definition, operational mechanism and the contracts that are involved within e-wallet. The main instrument used for data collection was journals, library research and Internet. The construction of the instrument is the result of modification of the instruments that have been used by previous researchers and researchers’ own design based on the objectives to be achieved. The result shows the right concept of an e-wallet based on its definition as electronic money is a payment instrument that contains monetary value that is paid in advance by the user to the e-money issuer. The user of e-money can make payments for purchases of items and services to vendors who offer the e-money as payment. Besides, writer also finds the contracts involved within an e-wallet namely, wadi’ah contract and qardh contract. The results indicate that e-wallet operational mechanism is not contradict and in accordance to Sharia, hence allowed and permissible. However, further research is needed to identify other factors that could strengthen the effectiveness of this study.

INDIA GAS EXCHANGE TODAY’S REALITY AND PATH AHEAD

This research aims to study structure, functioning and operational mechanism of India’s first gas exchange i.e. Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) which is a subsidiary of Indian Energy Exchange (IEX). Exploratory research is used to study and investigate conceptual framework and operational mechanism of IGX. The results of the study show that IEX has unveiled the nation’s first automated natural gas exchange trading platform called IGX for well organized and hefty Gas market and to stimulate gas trading in the country. IGX would lead India towards Gas Based Economy by designing and providing robust solution for natural gas trading and access. So far as price mechanism at IGX is concerned, it is dynamic and market driven which is based on Double-sided closed auction with uniform price mechanism. IGX plays an extremely important and fundamental role towards capitalizing a free market for gas. Clearing and Settlement system at IGX is structured and transparent. As IGX is purely electronic trading platform for natural gas which is considered as barometer of the India’s progressive policy as it integrates the entire energy value chain from gas production.

Religion in China’s Public Diplomacy: Transition and Institutionalization

In recognition of religion’s growing role in social life, the Chinese government places ample political trust in religions and encourages religious organizations and leaders to be more deeply involved in Beijing’s public diplomacy. Having completed the transition from prudence to activism, China’s religious public diplomacy now takes many forms, from hosting high-profile international religious forums and participation in international religious organizations to engaging in exchanges of visit and multiple religious dialogues. Beijing has secured an institutionalized role for religion in public diplomacy through a string of legislative actions and policy measures, for example, erecting a legal and policy framework, putting in place a robust multiparty operational mechanism, formulating a well-defined list of targets, and granting religious groups greater autonomy and flexibility. Beijing’s religious public diplomacy also faces significant risks and competition, which will affect its effectiveness and outcomes. Going forward, religious public diplomacy should put more emphasis on its spiritual dimension, build more internationalized organizing platforms, expand its engagement targets, and improve risk control and prevention mechanisms. Moreover, Beijing should increase the institutional stability and creativity for its faith diplomacy and encourage the five state-sanctioned religions and folk beliefs to play a larger role, with a view to consolidating national identity and religious identity among the Chinese people.

Research on Mechanism Materials of Innovation Performance of Makerspaces

The researches of existing makerspaces mainly focus on external factors (policies, resources, etc.) or internal subjects (operating subjects, makers, etc.), but pay little attention to the sustainability and self-running ability of makerspaces themself. In view of this, through theoretical research, this paper combs four operational mechanisms of makerspaces, including platform service, resource aggregation, network connection and endogenous cultural guarantee, and thesemechanisms are regarded as the key materials for the innovation output of makerspaces.By empirical analysis to verify the impact of each operational mechanism on the innovation performance, we explore feasible designs of mechanism that is conducive to the sustainable innovation of makerspaces. The result shows that autonomy of service selection, formal network connection and fault-tolerant culture have significant positive effects on the innovation performance of makerspaces, but it will change with the development stage of makerspaces.

Research on Modern Marine Environmental Governance in China: Subject Identification, Structural Characteristics, and Operational Mechanisms

Under the guidance of modern environmental governance concepts, there have been profound changes in the subject, structure, and operational mechanism of the modern marine environmental governance in China. This paper first classifies the subjects of modern marine environmental governance in China, as well as their relationships; analyses the structural characteristics from the three levels of rights, society, and region; explores the operational mechanism; and builds the framework of the modern marine environmental governance system in China. Both the central and local governments act as the leaders of the modern marine environmental governance system in China, and there have been many new changes in their relationships. On the one hand, the interest and goals of the central and local governments have gradually converged under the pressure system. On the other hand, local governments follow the principles of comprehensive governance regarding the coastline and collaborative cooperation is gradually beginning to occur. Different governance subjects are interrelated and intertwined to form a complete modern marine environmental governance structure, which includes the following three levels: the governmental power structure; the social structure, which involves collaboration between multiple entities; and the regional structure, which involves land-sea coordination in environmental governance. These structures each play their parts in the overall process of the marine environmental governance’s institutional arrangements, process coordination, and feedback adjustments and ultimately constitute a dynamic and complete modern marine environmental governance operational system.

Design of Multifunctional Janus Metasurface Based on Subwavelength Grating

In this paper, a Janus metasurface is designed by breaking the structural symmetry based on the polarization selection property of subwavelength grating. The structure comprises three layers: a top layer having a metallic nanostructure, a dielectric spacer, and a bottom layer having subwavelength grating. For a forward incidence, the metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structure operates as a gap plasmonic cavity if the linearly polarized (LP) component is parallel to the grating wires. It also acts as a high-efficiency dual-layer grating polarizer for the orthogonal LP component. For the backward incidence, the high reflectance of the grating blocks the function of the gap plasmonic cavity, leading to its pure functioning as a polarizer. A bifunctional Janus metasurface for 45 degrees beam deflector and polarizer, with a transmission of 0.87 and extinction ratio of 3840, is designed at 1.55 μm and is investigated to prove the validity of the proposed strategy. Moreover, the proposed metasurface can be cascaded to achieve more flexible functions since these functions are independent in terms of operational mechanism and structural parameters. A trifunctional Janus metasurface that acts as a focusing lens, as a reflector, and as a polarizer is designed based on this strategy. The proposed metasurface and the design strategy provide convenience and flexibility in the design of multifunctional, miniaturized, and integrated optical components for polarization-related analysis and for detection systems.