Kinect-based automatic spatial registration framework for neurosurgical navigation

As image-guided navigation plays an important the pre-operative images with the intra-operative patient role in neurosurgery, the spatial registration mapping position becomes crucial for a high accurate surgi- cal output. Conventional landmark-based registration requires expensive and time-consuming logistic support. Surface-based registration is a plausible alternative due to its simplicity and efficacy. In this paper, we propose a comprehensive framework for surface-based registration in neurosurgical navigation, where Kinect is used to auto- matically acquire patient＇s facial surface in a real time manner. Coherent point drift （CPD） algorithm is employed to register the facial surface with pre-operative images （e.g., computed tomography （CT） or magnetic resonance imaging （MRI）） using a coarse-to-fine scheme. The spatial registration results of 6 volunteers demonstrate that the proposed framework has potential for clinical use.     

Target tracking in standoff jammer using unscented Kalman filter and particle fiter with negative information

To handle the problem of target tracking in the presence of standoff jamming （SO J）, a Gaussian sum unscented Kalman filter （GSUKF） and a Gaussian sum particle filter （GSPF） using negative information （scans or dwells with no measurements） are implemented separately in this paper. The Gaussian sum likelihood which is derived from a sensor model accounting for both the positive and the negative information is used. GSUKF is implemented by fusing the state estimate of two or three UKF filters with proper weights which are explicitly derived in this paper. Other than GSUKF, the Gaussian sum likelihood is directly used in the weight update of the GSPF. Their performances are evaluated by comparison with the Gaussian sum extended Kalman filter （GSEKF） implementation. Simulation results show that GSPF outperforms the other filters in terms of track loss and track accuracy at the cost of large computation complexity. GSUKF and GSEKF have comparable performance; the superiority of one over another is scenario dependent.     

A standard cell-based leakage power analysis attack countermeasure using symmetric dual-rail logic

Leakage power analysis （LPA） attacks aim at finding the secret key of a cryptographic device from measurements of its static （leakage） power. This novel power analysis attacks take advantage of the dependence of the leakage power of complementary metal oxide semiconductor （CMOS） integrated circuits on the data they process. This paper proposes symmetric dual-rail logic （SDRL）, a standard cell LPA attack countermeasure that theoretically resists the LPA attacks. The technique combines standard building blocks to make new compound standard cells, which are close to constant leakage power consumption. Experiment results show SDRL is a promising approach to implelnent an LPA-resistant crypto processor.     

Limit analysis for reinforced concrete rectangular members under bending,shear and torsion

The ultimate strength of reinforced concrete （RC） rectangular members subjected to combined bending, shear and torsion is obtained from the limit analysis proposed in the present paper. Based on a warped failure surface determined by external loads, and a reasonable assumed stress distribution balancing external loads but not violating the yield condition, the bending-shear-torsion interaction can be derived from equilibrimn conditions. According to the definition of lower-bound theorem in limit analysis, the calculated ultimate loads will be carried safely by the structure. The present method is a simple approach to obtain carrying capacities for RC elements under complex external loads. After comparing with the test results, a good agreement has been observed. The present method can be extended to explain the failure mechanism of RC members subjected to axial loads, and it is possible to develop a simple unified theory of RC members for engineering.     

Central pattern generator based gait control for planar quadruped robots

In this paper, a gait control scheme is presented for planar quadruped robots based on a biologic concept, namely central pattern generator （CPG）. A CPG is modeled as a group of the coupled nonlinear oscillators with an interaction weighting matrix which determines the gait patterns. The CPG model, mapping functions and a proportional-differential （PD） joint controller compose the basic gait generator. By using the duty factor of gait patterns as a tonic signal, the activity of the CPG model can be modulated, and as a result, a smooth transition between different gait patterns is achieved. Moreover, by tuning the parameters of the CPG model and mapping functions, the proposed basic gait generator can realize adaptive workspace trajectories for the robot to suit different terrains. Simulation results illustrate and validate the effectiveness of the proposed gait controllers.     

Serum renalase inversely related to heart rate variability in dialysis patients

Heart rate variability （HRV） is a noninvasive technique for autonomic nerve activity assessment and an indirect index of adrenergic cardiovascular drive. Renalase is the only known enzyme degrading circulatory catecholamines, participating in regulations of the cardiovascular and sympathetic nervous systems. This study aims at the relation between serum renalase and HRV indexes in dialysis patients. There were 14 hemodialysis （HD） cases, 16 continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis （PD） cases, and 16 healthy volunteers enrolled in this study. All the subjects underwent 24 h Holter testing by using a dynamic electocardiogram monitor system to determine HRV parameters, and serum renalase levels were measured. The standard deviation of normal to normal R-R intervals （SDNN, a measure of beat-to-beat variability）, root mean square successive difference （RMSSD）, and the proportion derived by dividing NN50 （the number of interval differences of successive normal to normal intervals greater than 50 ms） by the total number of NN intervals （pNN50） were determined to assess HRV. Both HD and PD patients presented increased maximum heart rate （Max-HR）, minimum heart rate （Min-HR） and average heart rate （Ave-HR）, and presented decreased SDNN, RMSSD and pNN50 relative to healthy controls. Serum levels of renalase were highly negatively correlated with Ave-HR （correlation coefficient r = -0.68, probability P 〈 0.01）, while positively correlated with SDNN （r = 0.64, P 〈 0.01） in both the HD and PD groups. Serum level of renalase was positively correlated with 24 h urine volume （r = 0.73, P 〈 0.01） in PD patients. Renalase might be reciprocally related to HRV and inversely related to Ave-HR in dialysis patients, which will help to probe into renalase＇s physiology and may pave the way to explore renalase replacement therapy in patients with end stage renal disease （ESRD）.     

Secure and efficient digital rights management mechanisms with privacy protection

In the Internet or cloud computing environments, service providers provide more and more content services. Users can use these convenient content services in daily life. The major data of the user are maintained by the service providers except that some personal privacy data are stored at the client device. An attacker may try to invade the systems, and it will cause the damage of users and service providers. Also, users may lose their mobile devices and then it may cause the data disclosure problem. As a result, the data and privacy protection of users become an important issue in these environments. Besides, since many mobile devices are used in these environments, secure authentication and data protection methods must be efficient in these low resource environments. In this paper, we propose an efficient and privacy protection digital rights management （DRM） scheme that users can verify the valid service servers and the service servers can ensure the legal users. Since the key delegation center of the third party has the robust security protection, our proposed scheme stores the encrypted secret keys in the key delegation center. This approach not only can reduce the storage space of the user devices, but also can recover the encrypted secret keys in the key delegation center when a user loses her/his devices for solving the device losing problem.     

Improving the stab-resistance performance of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene fabric intercalated with nano-silica-fluid

High performance fibers impregnated by shear thickening fluids （STFs） have been recognized as a kind of latent stab-resistant materials. In our work, the rheological properties of various nano-silica particles in different carriers were first investigated, some of which showed the typical characteristic of shear thickening phenomena. And then, the effects of add-on and surface hydrophilicity of silica particles, the type and concentration of the carriers were discussed in detail. It was found that the systems of hydrophilic silica in ethylene glycol, butylenes glycol and polyethylene glycol （PEG） demonstrated shear thickening; moreover, the reversibility of rheological behaviors of hydrophilic silica-PEG300 suspensions indicated energy dissipation existed within a circulation of shear stress. Furthermore, the detail mechanism of STF based nano-silica particles was explored and a process diagram was presented. Finally, the stab-resistance and morphology of cutting edge of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene （UHMWPE） fabric impregnated STF composites were investigated and the results were analyzed. The higher silica add-on was benefit to the improvement of the stab resistance of the composites.     

Simulation platform for the underwater snake-like robot swimming based on Kane’s dynamic model and central pattern generator

A systematic method for swimming control of the underwater snake-like robot is still lacking. We construct a simulation platform of the underwater snake-like robot swimming based on Kane＇s dynamic model and central pattern generator （CPG）. The partial velocity is deduced. The forces which contribute to dynamics are determined by Kane＇s approach. Hydrodynamic coefficients are determined by experiments. Then, we design a CPG-based control architecture implemented as the system of coupled nonlinear oscillators. The CPG, like its biological counterpart, can produce coordinated patterns of rhythmic activity while being modulated by simple control parameters. The relations between the CPG parameters and the speed of the underwater snake-like robot swimming are investigated. Swimming in a straight line, turning, and switching between swimming modes are implemented in our simulation platform to prove the feasibility of the proposed simulation platform. The results show that the simulation platform can imitate different swimming modes of the underwater snake-like robot.     

Analysis of epimetamorphic rock slopes using soft computing

This article adopts three soft computing techniques including support vector machine （SVM）, least square support vector machine （LSSVM） and relevance vector machine （RVM） for prediction of status of epimetemorphic rock slope. The input variables of SVM, LSSVM and RVM are bulk density, height, inclination, cohesion and internal friction angle. There are 53 datasets which have been used to develop the SVM, LSSVM and RVM models. The developed SVM, LSSVM and RVM give equations for prediction of status of epimetemorphic rock slope. The performance of SVM, LSSVM and RVM is 100%. A comparative study has been presented between the developed SVM, LSSVM and RVM. The results confirm that the developed SVM, LSSVM and RVM are effective tools for prediction of status of epimetemorphic rock slope.