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Interpersonal touch plays a crucial role in human communication, development, and wellness. Mediated interpersonal touch (MIT), a technology to distance or virtually simulated interpersonal touch, has received significant attention to counteract the negative consequences of touch deprivation. Studies investigating the effectiveness of MIT have primarily focused on self-reporting or behavioral correlates. It is largely unknown how MIT affects neural processes such as interbrain functional connectivity during human interactions. Given how users exchange haptic information simultaneously during interpersonal touch, interbrain functional connectivity provides a more ecologically valid way of studying the neural correlates associated with MIT. In this study, a palm squeeze task is designed to examine interbrain synchrony associated with MIT using EEG-based hyperscanning methodology. The phase locking value (PLV) index is used to measure interbrain synchrony. Results demonstrate that MIT elicits a significant increase in alpha interbrain synchronization between participants' brains. Especially, there was a significant difference in the alpha PLV indices between no MIT and MIT conditions in the early stage (130-470 ms) of the interaction period (t-test, p < 0.05). Given the role that alpha interbrain synchrony plays during social interaction, a significant increase in PLV index during MIT interaction seems to indicate an effect of social coordination. The findings and limitations of this study are further discussed, and perspectives on future research are provided.

IntroductionThermal feedback technologies have been explored in human-computer interaction to provide secondary information and enhance the overall user experience. Unlike fast-response haptic modalities such as vibration and force feedback, the human brain's processes associated with thermal feedback are not fully understood.MethodsIn this study, we utilize electroencephalography (EEG) brain imaging to systematically examine the neural correlates associated with a wide range of thermal stimuli, including 9, 15, 32, and 42°C, during active touch at the fingertip. A custom experimental setup is developed to provide thermal stimulation at the desirable temperature levels. A total of 30 participants are recruited to experience the four levels of thermal stimulation by actively touching a thermal stimulation unit with the index finger while recording brain activities via EEG. Time-frequency analysis and power spectral density (PSD) of the EEG data are utilized to analyze the delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma frequency bands.ResultsThe results show that the delta, theta, and alpha PSDs of 9 and 15°C stimuli are significantly higher than the PSDs of 32 and 42°C in the right frontal area during the early stage of the stimulation, from 282 ms up to 1,108 ms (One-way ANOVA test, Holm-Bonferroni correction, p < 0.05). No significant differences in PSDs are found between 9 and 15°C thermal stimuli or between 32 and 42°C thermal stimuli.DiscussionThe findings of this study inform the development of thermal feedback system in human-computer interaction.

Introduction: Handwriting is a complex task that requires coordination of motor, sensory, cognitive, memory, and linguistic skills to master. The extent these processes are involved depends on the complexity of the handwriting task. Evaluating the difficulty of a handwriting task is a challenging problem since it relies on subjective judgment of experts.Methods: In this paper, we propose a machine learning approach for evaluating the difficulty level of handwriting tasks. We propose two convolutional neural network (CNN) models for single- and multilabel classification where single-label classification is based on the mean of expert evaluation while the multilabel classification predicts the distribution of experts’ assessment. The models are trained with a dataset containing 117 spatio-temporal features from the stylus and hand kinematics, which are recorded for all letters of the Arabic alphabet.Results: While single- and multilabel classification models achieve decent accuracy (96% and 88% respectively) using all features, the hand kinematics features do not significantly influence the performance of the models.Discussion: The proposed models are capable of extracting meaningful features from the handwriting samples and predicting their difficulty levels accurately. The proposed approach has the potential to be used to personalize handwriting learning tools and provide automatic evaluation of the quality of handwriting.

Climatic conditions intricately influence agriculture, impacting optimal crop growth and reproduction through environmental factors. This study introduces a technological solution leveraging the Internet of Things (IoT), with Raspberry Pi 3 as the central controller. The system systematically collects crucial data on temperature, humidity, and soil moisture, ensuring the quality of crops. Subsequently, this information is used to formulate systematic crop watering plans. By efficiently using Raspberry Pi, the system regulates and monitors crops, contributing to water conservation by directing it precisely to the crops. This technology offers a practical and efficient approach to crop management, especially during challenging agricultural periods.

The ubiquity of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has prompted security concerns, particularly in the face of evolving botnet attacks. This paper investigates the impact of botnet attacks on IoT devices and proposes a network-based detection and prevention system employing signature and anomaly-based mechanisms. Notably, our methodology extends beyond traditional detection, focusing on proactively impeding bot creation. Leveraging a Linux-based distributed system, Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tools, and custom rules, our approach encompasses distinct phases Preprocessing, Network Security Monitoring, Rule-based IDS System, and Analysis. Experimental results with diverse PCAP files demonstrate the efficacy of custom rules, significantly enhancing alert counts for various security aspects, including network trojan detection and privacy violations. The significant finding is the substantial increase in alert counts after the integration of custom rules, exemplified in the 1.1 GB PCAP file scenario. Network trojan detection surged from 585 to 988, emphasizing the heightened efficacy of rule-based measures. Privacy breaches and bad traffic alerts also experienced significant increments, showcasing the system’s improved sensitivity and responsiveness. This finding reinforces the pivotal role of custom rules in fortifying IoT network security comprehensively.

While text passwords are still a pervasive authentication tool, their inadequacies are well recognized. Poorly chosen and weak passwords are the main reason behind security breaches. Multiple authentication techniques such as biometric, token-based, and knowledge-based authentication have been developed to overcome data leaks. However, acceptance of these authenticating techniques is complicated, and users find them hard to use. Microbusinesses, defined as having less than two employees, usually have very limited resources including budget, information security expertise and updated computer systems to fulfil the security requirements. Many microbusiness owners use the same information technology as in the home but for more sophisticated commercial reasons. An effective and easy way for microbusinesses to add an extra protection layer to their systems and passwords is through the use of password managers. This paper examines the useability and ease of use of the password manager software. We extended the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and tested the mediating role of self-efficacy on TAM's relationship with computer security usage. A sample of 420 microbusiness owners was taken to test the relationships among the variables through an online web-based survey. The results confirmed that self-efficacy plays a vital role in the user acceptance of password managers and reported its mediating role between perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and computer security usage.

Cloud computing has become a leading technology for IT infrastructure, with many companies migrating their services to cloud servers in recent years. As cloud services continue to expand, the issue of cloud monitoring has become increasingly important. One important metric to monitor is CPU steal time, which measures the amount of time a virtual CPU waits for the actual CPU. In this study, we focus on the impact of CPU steal time on virtual machine performance and the potential problems that can arise. We implement our work using an OpenStack-based cloud environment and investigate intrusive and non-intrusive monitoring methods. Our analysis provides insights into the importance of CPU steal time monitoring and its impact on cloud performance.

The internet of things (IoT) is a complex system that includes multiple technologies and services. However, its heterogeneity can result in quality-of-service (QoS) issues, which may lead to security challenges. Software-defined network (SDN) provides unique solutions to handle heterogeneity issues in large-scale IoT networks. Combining SDN with IoT networks has great potential for addressing extreme heterogeneity issues in IoT networks. Numerous researchers are investigating various techniques to resolve heterogeneity issues in IoT networks by integrating SDN. Our study focuses on the SDN-IoT domain to improve QoS by addressing heterogeneity. Heterogeneity in SDN-IoT networks can increase the response time of controllers. We propose a framework that can alleviate heterogeneity while maintaining QoS in SDN-IoT networks. The framework converts m heterogeneous controllers into n homogeneous groups based on their response time. First, we examine the impact of the controller’s bandwidth and find that the system throughput decreases when the controller’s bandwidth is lowered. Next, we implement a simple strategy that considers both the bandwidth and service time when selecting the peer controller. Our results show some improvement in the framework, indicating its potential to alleviate heterogeneity while maintaining QoS and other metrics.

Network function virtualization (NFV) is a rapidly growing technology that enables the virtualization of traditional network hardware components, offering benefits such as cost reduction, increased flexibility, and efficient resource utilization. Moreover, NFV plays a crucial role in sensor and IoT networks by ensuring optimal resource usage and effective network management. However, adopting NFV in these networks also brings security challenges that must promptly and effectively address. This survey paper focuses on exploring the security challenges associated with NFV. It proposes the utilization of anomaly detection techniques as a means to mitigate the potential risks of cyber attacks. The research evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of various machine learning-based algorithms for detecting network-based anomalies in NFV networks. By providing insights into the most efficient algorithm for timely and effective anomaly detection in NFV networks, this study aims to assist network administrators and security professionals in enhancing the security of NFV deployments, thus safeguarding the integrity and performance of sensors and IoT systems.

Cryptocurrency has revolutionized the economic system of the world. It provides a new and innovative means of exchange that has speedily invaded the financial market trends and changed the traditional cash world. However, consumers have low acceptability for blockchain-based cryptocurrency due to increasing online scams and the absence of a regulatory framework. There is also a misconception about its usage on many platforms, which has created a clear gap in the literature to address this issue. Therefore, the current study intends to investigate the effect of technology awareness on the behavioral intention of crypto users through perceived factors (usefulness, ease of use, risk). It also empirically examines the moderating role of government support on these indirect paths. The underlying framework is investigated by surveying 333 respondents from the Z generation. Results revealed that perceived factors (usefulness, ease of use, risk) mediate the relationship between technology awareness and behavioral intention. Furthermore, government support strengthens the indirect relationship of technology awareness on behavioral intention through technology acceptance determinants, such that the effect of technology awareness on behavioral intention through perceived factors (usefulness, ease of use, risk) is more assertive when government support is high. The findings will provide a new dimension to different financial bodies implementing monetary policy and highlight the need to adopt innovative digital technologies in Pakistan.

Kubernetes is an orchestration tool that runs and manages container-based workloads. It works as a collection of different virtual or physical servers that support multiple storage capacities, provide network functionalities, and keep all containerized applications active in a desired state. It also provides an increasing fleet of different facilities, known as microservices. However, Kubernetes’ scalability has led to a complex network structure with an increased attack vector. Attackers can launch a Denial of service (DoS) attack against servers/machines in Kubernetes by producing fake traffic load, for instance. DoS or Distributed Denial of service (DDoS) attacks are malicious attempts to disrupt a targeted service by flooding the target’s service with network packets. Constant observation of the network traffic is extremely important for the early detection of such attacks. Extended Berkeley Packet Filter (eBPF) and eXpress Datapath (XDP) are advanced technologies in the Linux kernel that perform high-speed packet processing. In the case of Kubernetes, eBPF and XDP can be used to protect against DDoS attacks by enabling fast and efficient network security policies. For example, XDP can be used to filter out traffic that is not authorized to access the Kubernetes cluster, while eBPF can be used to monitor network traffic for signs of DDoS attacks, such as excessive traffic from a single source. In this research, we utilize eBPF and XDP to build a detection and observation mechanism to filter out malicious content and mitigate a Denial of Service attack on Kubernetes.

Abstract Background Whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) are phloem sap-sucking pests that because of their broad host range and ability to transmit viruses damage crop plants worldwide. B. tabaci are now known to be a complex of cryptic species that differ from each other in many characteristics such as mode of interaction with viruses, invasiveness, and resistance to insecticides. Asia II 1 is an indigenous species found on the Indian sub-continent and south-east Asia while the species named as Middle East Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1), likely originated from the Middle-East and has spread worldwide in recent decades. The purpose of this study is to find genomic differences between these two species. Results Sequencing of the nuclear genome of Asia II 1 with Illumina HiSeq and MiSeq generated 198.90 million reads that covers 88% of the reference genome. The sequence comparison with MEAM1 identified 2,327,972 SNPs and 202,479 INDELs. In Total, 1294 genes were detected with high impact variants. The functional analysis revealed that some of the genes are involved in virus transmission including 4 genes in Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) transmission, 96 in Tomato crinivirus (ToCV) transmission, and 14 genes in insecticide resistance. Conclusions These genetic differences between Asia II 1 and MEAM1 may underlie the major biological differences between the two species such as virus transmission, insecticide resistance, and range of host plants. The present study provides new genomic data and information resources for Asia II 1 that will not only contribute to the species delimitation of whitefly, but also help in conceiving future research studies to develop more targeted management strategies against whitefly.