Ensuring Secure Platooning of Constrained Intelligent and Connected Vehicles Against Byzantine Attacks:A Distributed MPC Framework

This study investigates resilient platoon control for constrained intelligent and connected vehicles(ICVs)against F-local Byzantine attacks.We introduce a resilient distributed model-predictive platooning control framework for such ICVs.This framework seamlessly integrates the predesigned optimal control with distributed model predictive control(DMPC)optimization and introduces a unique distributed attack detector to ensure the reliability of the transmitted information among vehicles.Notably,our strategy uses previously broadcasted information and a specialized convex set,termed the“resilience set”,to identify unreliable data.This approach significantly eases graph robustness prerequisites,requiring only an(F+1)-robust graph,in contrast to the established mean sequence reduced algorithms,which require a minimum(2F+1)-robust graph.Additionally,we introduce a verification algorithm to restore trust in vehicles under minor attacks,further reducing communication network robustness.Our analysis demonstrates the recursive feasibility of the DMPC optimization.Furthermore,the proposed method achieves exceptional control performance by minimizing the discrepancies between the DMPC control inputs and predesigned platoon control inputs,while ensuring constraint compliance and cybersecurity.Simulation results verify the effectiveness of our theoretical findings.

Approximately Bi-Similar Symbolic Model for Discretetime Interconnected Switched System

Dear Editor,This letter concerns the development of approximately bi-similar symbolic models for a discrete-time interconnected switched system(DT-ISS).The DT-ISS under consideration is formed by connecting multiple switched systems known as component switched systems(CSSs).Although the problem of constructing approximately bi-similar symbolic models for DT-ISS has been addressed in some literature,the previous works have relied on the assumption that all the subsystems of CSSs are incrementally input-state stable.

FADSF:A Data Sharing Model for Intelligent Connected Vehicles Based on Blockchain Technology

With the development of technology,the connected vehicle has been upgraded from a traditional transport vehicle to an information terminal and energy storage terminal.The data of ICV(intelligent connected vehicles)is the key to organically maximizing their efficiency.However,in the context of increasingly strict global data security supervision and compliance,numerous problems,including complex types of connected vehicle data,poor data collaboration between the IT(information technology)domain and OT(operation technology)domain,different data format standards,lack of shared trust sources,difficulty in ensuring the quality of shared data,lack of data control rights,as well as difficulty in defining data ownership,make vehicle data sharing face a lot of problems,and data islands are widespread.This study proposes FADSF(Fuzzy Anonymous Data Share Frame),an automobile data sharing scheme based on blockchain.The data holder publishes the shared data information and forms the corresponding label storage on the blockchain.The data demander browses the data directory information to select and purchase data assets and verify them.The data demander selects and purchases data assets and verifies them by browsing the data directory information.Meanwhile,this paper designs a data structure Data Discrimination Bloom Filter(DDBF),making complaints about illegal data.When the number of data complaints reaches the threshold,the audit traceability contract is triggered to punish the illegal data publisher,aiming to improve the data quality and maintain a good data sharing ecology.In this paper,based on Ethereum,the above scheme is tested to demonstrate its feasibility,efficiency and security.

MSADCN:Multi-Scale Attentional Densely Connected Network for Automated Bone Age Assessment

Bone age assessment(BAA)helps doctors determine how a child’s bones grow and develop in clinical medicine.Traditional BAA methods rely on clinician expertise,leading to time-consuming predictions and inaccurate results.Most deep learning-based BAA methods feed the extracted critical points of images into the network by providing additional annotations.This operation is costly and subjective.To address these problems,we propose a multi-scale attentional densely connected network(MSADCN)in this paper.MSADCN constructs a multi-scale dense connectivity mechanism,which can avoid overfitting,obtain the local features effectively and prevent gradient vanishing even in limited training data.First,MSADCN designs multi-scale structures in the densely connected network to extract fine-grained features at different scales.Then,coordinate attention is embedded to focus on critical features and automatically locate the regions of interest(ROI)without additional annotation.In addition,to improve the model’s generalization,transfer learning is applied to train the proposed MSADCN on the public dataset IMDB-WIKI,and the obtained pre-trained weights are loaded onto the Radiological Society of North America(RSNA)dataset.Finally,label distribution learning(LDL)and expectation regression techniques are introduced into our model to exploit the correlation between hand bone images of different ages,which can obtain stable age estimates.Extensive experiments confirm that our model can converge more efficiently and obtain a mean absolute error(MAE)of 4.64 months,outperforming some state-of-the-art BAA methods.

Evaluating the Robustness of MDSS Maintenance Forecasts Using Connected Vehicle Data

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) adopted the Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) for user-defined plowing segments in the winter of 2008-2009. Since then, many new data sources, including connected vehicle data, enhanced weather data, and fleet telematics, have been integrated into INDOT winter operations activities. The objective of this study was to use these new data sources to conduct a systematic evaluation of the robustness of the MDSS forecasts. During the 2023-2024 winter season, 26 unique MDSS forecast data attributes were collected at 0, 1, 3, 6, 12 and 23-hour intervals from the observed storm time for 6 roadway segments during 13 individual storms. In total, over 888,000 MDSS data points were archived for this evaluation. This study developed novel visualizations to compare MDSS forecasts to multiple other independent data sources, including connected vehicle data, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather data, road friction data and snowplow telematics. Three Indiana storms, with varying characteristics and severity, were analyzed in detailed case studies. Those storms occurred on January 6th, 2024, January 13th, 2024 and February 16th, 2024. Incorporating these visualizations into winter weather after-action reports increases the robustness of post-storm performance analysis and allows road weather stakeholders to better understand the capabilities of MDSS. The results of this analysis will provide a framework for future MDSS evaluations and implementations as well as training tools for winter operation stakeholders in Indiana and beyond.

Application of Connected Truck Data to Evaluate Spatiotemporal Impact of Rest Area Closures on Ramp Parking

Ensuring adequate access to truck parking is critical to the safe and efficient movement of freight traffic. There are strict federal guidelines for commercial truck driver rest periods. Rest areas and private truck stops are the only places for the trucks to stop legally and safely. In locations without sufficient parking areas, trucks often park on interstate ramps, which create safety risks for other interstate motorists. Historically, agencies have employed costly and time intensive manual counting methods, camera surveillance, and driver surveys to assess truck parking. Connected truck data, available in near real-time, offers an efficient alternative to practitioners to assess truck parking patterns and identify areas where there may be insufficient safe parking spaces. This paper presents a case study of interstate I-70 in east central Indiana and documents the observed spatiotemporal impacts of a rest area closure on truck parking on nearby interstate ramps. Results showed that there was a 28% increase in parking on ramps during the rest area closure. Analysis also found that ramps closest to the rest area were most impacted by the closure, seeing a rise in truck parking sessions as high as 2.7 times. Parking duration on the ramps during rest area closure also increased drastically. Although it was expected that this would result in increased parking by trucks on adjacent ramps, this before, during, after scenario provided an ideal scenario to evaluate the robustness of these techniques to assess changing parking characteristics of long-haul commercial trucks. The data analytics and visualization tools presented in this study are scalable nationwide and will aid stakeholders in informed data-driven decision making when allocating resources towards improving the nations commercial vehicle parking infrastructure.

Study on the Measures of Connectedness Between Herds

Pig breeding is generally conducted among many herds, so EBV comparisons across populationsare necessary. Genetic connectedness is required for reliable between-farm animal EBV comparisons.Five quantitative overall connectedness measures among populations have been proposed so far,coefficient of connectedness(γ*), coefficient of determination (CD) and overall indices ofprecision, connectedness rating, number of direct genetic links between subpopulations due tocommon sires and dams (GLt), and average genetic covariance (AGC) are reviewed and theirproperties are discussed in this paper. It is recommended to use AGC at present for measuringgenetic connectedness between herds.

Effect of Genetic Connectedness on the Selection Results of Breeding Pigs

Two pig populations were simulated with Monte Carlo method; each consisted of 5 boars and 50 sows per generation. Genetic connectedness between herds was established by randomly selecting 1 or 2 boars from one population to mate sows of the other population. Breeding pigs were selected within populations according to animal model BLUP. The benefits of genetic connectedness between herds were examined. The results showed that, the average coefficients of inbreeding decreased, while the cumulative selection responses of populations increased, and the higher response occurred randomly in the two populations at generation 5 with the increase of the genetic connectedness between herds. Selection response was affected by genetic connectedness and trait heritability, the lower heritability and higher connectedness, the better selection results. When the number of exchanged litters between populations per generation was 6 litters, the selection results reached a reflection point; if the number of exchanged litters between populations increased further from this point, neither the increase of the cumulative selection responses nor the decrease of coefficients of inbreeding was significant.

Fast interactive segmentation algorithm of image sequences based on relative fuzzy connectedness

A fast interactive segmentation algorithm of image-sequences based on relative fuzzy connectedness is presented. In comparison with the original algorithm, the proposed one, with the same accuracy, accelerates the segmentation speed by three times for single image. Meanwhile, this fast segmentation algorithm is extended from single object to multiple objects and from single-image to image-sequences. Thus the segmentation of multiple objects from complex hackground and batch segmentation of image-sequences can be achieved. In addition, a post-processing scheme is incorporated in this algorithm, which extracts smooth edge with one-pixel-width for each segmented object. The experimental results illustrate that the proposed algorithm can obtain the object regions of interest from medical image or image-sequences as well as man-made images quickly and reliably with only a little interaction.

Connectedness of Cone-efficient Solution Set for Cone-quasiconvex Multiobjective Programming in Hausdorff Topological Vector Spaces

This paper deals with the connectedness of the cone-efficient solution set for vector optimization in locally convex Hausdorff topological vector spaces. The connectedness of the cone-efficient solution set is proved for multiobjective programming defined by a continuous one-to-one cone-quasiconvex mapping on a compact convex set of alternatives. During the proof, the generalized saddle theorem plays a key role.

Liquidity connectedness in cryptocurrency market

We examine the dynamics of liquidity connectedness in the cryptocurrency market.We use the connectedness models of Diebold and Yilmaz(Int J Forecast 28(1):57–66,2012)and Baruník and Křehlík(J Financ Econom 16(2):271–296,2018)on a sample of six major cryptocurrencies,namely,Bitcoin(BTC),Litecoin(LTC),Ethereum(ETH),Ripple(XRP),Monero(XMR),and Dash.Our static analysis reveals a moderate liquidity connectedness among our sample cryptocurrencies,whereas BTC and LTC play a significant role in connectedness magnitude.A distinct liquidity cluster is observed for BTC,LTC,and XRP,and ETH,XMR,and Dash also form another distinct liquidity cluster.The frequency domain analysis reveals that liquidity connectedness is more pronounced in the short-run time horizon than the medium-and long-run time horizons.In the short run,BTC,LTC,and XRP are the leading contributor to liquidity shocks,whereas,in the long run,ETH assumes this role.Compared with the medium term,a tight liquidity clustering is found in the short and long terms.The time-varying analysis indicates that liquidity connectedness in the cryptocurrency market increases over time,pointing to the possible effect of rising demand and higher acceptability for this unique asset.Furthermore,more pronounced liquidity connectedness patterns are observed over the short and long run,reinforcing that liquidity connectedness in the cryptocurrency market is a phenomenon dependent on the time–frequency connectedness.

Dynamic connectedness between stock markets in the presence of the COVID‑19 pandemic:does economic policy uncertainty matter?

This study investigates the dynamic connectedness between stock indices and the effect of economic policy uncertainty(EPU)in eight countries where COVID-19 was most widespread(China,Italy,France,Germany,Spain,Russia,the US,and the UK)by implementing the time-varying VAR(TVP-VAR)model for daily data over the period spanning from 01/01/2015 to 05/18/2020.Results showed that stock markets were highly connected during the entire period,but the dynamic spillovers reached unprecedented heights during the COVID-19 pandemic in the first quarter of 2020.Moreover,we found that the European stock markets(except Italy)transmitted more spillovers to all other stock markets than they received,primarily during the COVID-19 outbreak.Further analysis using a nonlinear framework showed that the dynamic connectedness was more pronounced for negative than for positive returns.Also,findings showed that the direction of the EPU effect on net connectedness changed during the pandemic onset,indicating that information spillovers from a given market may signal either good or bad news for other markets,depending on the prevailing economic situation.These results have important implications for individual investors,portfolio managers,policymakers,investment banks,and central banks.

Time–frequency co-movement and risk connectedness among cryptocurrencies:new evidence from the higher-order moments before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Analyzing comovements and connectedness is critical for providing significant implications for crypto-portfolio risk management.However,most existing research focuses on the lower-order moment nexus(i.e.the return and volatility interactions).For the first time,this study investigates the higher-order moment comovements and risk connectedness among cryptocurrencies before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in both the time and frequency domains.We combine the realized moment measures and wavelet coherence,and the newly proposed time-varying parameter vector autoregression-based frequency connectedness approach(Chatziantoniou et al.in Integration and risk transmission in the market for crude oil a time-varying parameter frequency connectedness approach.Technical report,University of Pretoria,Department of Economics,2021)using intraday high-frequency data.The empirical results demonstrate that the comovement of realized volatility between BTC and other cryp-tocurrencies is stronger than that of the realized skewness,realized kurtosis,and signed jump variation.The comovements among cryptocurrencies are both time-dependent and frequency-dependent.Besides the volatility spillovers,the risk spillovers of high-order moments and jumps are also significant,although their magnitudes vary with moments,making them moment-dependent as well and are lower than volatility connectedness.Frequency connectedness demonstrates that the risk connectedness is mainly transmitted in the short term(1–7 days).Furthermore,the total dynamic connectedness of all realized moments is time-varying and has been significantly affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.Several practical implications are drawn for crypto investors,portfolio managers,regulators,and policymakers in optimizing their investment and risk management tactics.

Importance of “connectedness” between herds for effective across herd genetic evaluation

“Connectedness” is an essential component of genetic evaluations. The degree of connectedness affects the accuracy of comparing estimated breeding values (EBVs) from one herd or contemporary group to the other. It can be measured through Connectedness Rating (CR) which is based on variances and covariance among the estimates of contemporary group effects. A computing algorithm and a computer program for estimating CR is available. The minimum required level of connectedness depends upon the size of the contemporary groups, the level of accuracy and the residual variance. About 48% CR is required to detect differences between EBVs that are greater than 20% of the standard deviation in the trait, for group sizes of about 100 animals. Higher levels are necessary for smaller group sizes and for more accurate comparisons. Breeders participating in a common genetic evaluation program should therefore exchange their superior genetics and possibly use some common testing facilities for meaningful estimates of breeding values. Maintaining a good connectedness level will make the genetic evaluation program more useful for selection of superior breeding animals and achieving faster rate of genetic progress.

Comparison of Estimated Genetic Connectedness among Three Herds of Chinese Holstein Cattle

Estimating genetic connectedness among herds is important for the accuracy of dairy cattle genetic evaluation. When selecting between animals raised in different herds, the accuracy of their genetic evaluations can be influenced by the degree of connectedness among these herds. In this study, two methods were used to measure genetic connectedness, CR （genetic connectedness rating ） and GLt （total number of direct genetic links between group）, among herds from Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin. Genetic connectedness between the herds from Beijing and Tianjin was 23.95%, between Beijing and Shanghai was 17. 10%, and between Shanghai and Tianjin it was 14.28%. Genetic connectedness between herds from Beijing and Tianjin was the highest and that between Shanghai and Tianjin was the lowest. The correlation coefficient for the two methods was 0. 808. Some suggestions for improved genetic evaluation of dairy cattle were also discussed.

A Note on the Connectedness of the Invertible Group of a Nest Algebra

The connectedness of the invertibles question for arbitrary nest has been reduced to the case of the lower triangular operators with respect to a fixed orthonormal basis en for n 1. For each f ∈ H∞, let Tf be the Toeplitz operator. In this paper we prove that Tf can be connected to the identity through a path in the invertible group of the lower triangular operators if f satisfies certain conditions.

An efficient microreactor with continuous serially connected micromixers for the synthesis of superparamagnetic magnetite nanoparticles

A new microreactor with continuous serially connected micromixers(CSCM)was tailored for the coprecipitation process to synthesize Fe_(3)O_(4) nanoparticles.Numerical simulation reveals that the two types of CSCM microchannels(V-typed and U-typed)proposed in this work exhibited markedly better mixing performances than the Zigzag and capillary microchannels due to the promotion of Dean vortices.Complete mixing was achieved in the V-typed microchannel in 2.7 s at an inlet Reynolds number of 27.Fe_(3)O_(4) nanoparticles synthesized in a planar glass microreactor with the V-typed microchannel,possessing an average size of 9.3 nm and exhibiting superparamagnetism,had obviously better dispersity and uniformity and higher crystallinity than those obtained in the capillary microreactor.The new CSCM microreactor developed in this work can act as a potent device to intensify the synthesis of similar inorganic nanoparticles via multistep chemical precipitation processes.

Resilient and Safe Platooning Control of Connected Automated Vehicles Against Intermittent Denial-of-Service Attacks

Connected automated vehicles(CAVs)serve as a promising enabler for future intelligent transportation systems because of their capabilities in improving traffic efficiency and driving safety,and reducing fuel consumption and vehicle emissions.A fundamental issue in CAVs is platooning control that empowers a convoy of CAVs to be cooperatively maneuvered with desired longitudinal spacings and identical velocities on roads.This paper addresses the issue of resilient and safe platooning control of CAVs subject to intermittent denial-of-service(DoS)attacks that disrupt vehicle-to-vehicle communications.First,a heterogeneous and uncertain vehicle longitudinal dynamic model is presented to accommodate a variety of uncertainties,including diverse vehicle masses and engine inertial delays,unknown and nonlinear resistance forces,and a dynamic platoon leader.Then,a resilient and safe distributed longitudinal platooning control law is constructed with an aim to preserve simultaneous individual vehicle stability,attack resilience,platoon safety and scalability.Furthermore,a numerically efficient offline design algorithm for determining the desired platoon control law is developed,under which the platoon resilience against DoS attacks can be maximized but the anticipated stability,safety and scalability requirements remain preserved.Finally,extensive numerical experiments are provided to substantiate the efficacy of the proposed platooning method.

Is There an Association between Social Connectedness, Social Identity, Alcohol Consumption and Mental Health among Young University Students?

Social connectedness has been identified as a protective factor for a range of health issues however the literature is not conclusive. The high prevalence of hazardous alcohol consumption and mental health problems among university students along with the potential for the university as a setting for health promotion prompted this study. The study aims to explore the association between levels of alcohol consumption, mental health, social connectedness and social identity among university students. Online data were collected from a random sample of university undergraduate students (n = 2506) aged 18 - 24 years old. Outcomes were measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, Social Connectedness Scale, Social Identity Scale and measures of paid employment and study (hours), and participation in sports and other clubs. The majority of students had consumed alcohol in the last 12 months (87%). Of these students 38% reported to drink at hazardous levels (AUDIT ≥ 8). When all factors were considered: gender, living arrangements, being a domestic student, hours spent at work, participation in university and community sport, higher levels of psychological distress, higher levels of social connectedness, and lower levels of social identity were significant predictors of hazardous alcohol consumption. The finding highlights the need for the inclusion of integrated, multi-strategy health promotion interventions on campus. Further exploration of the associations between social connectedness and social identity as influences of health behaviors will better inform the development of targeted strategies for specific groups.

On the Behavior of Connectedness Properties in Isotonic Spaces under Perfect Mappings

The topological study of connectedness is heavily geometric or visual. Connectedness and connectedness-like properties play an important role in most topological characterization theorems, as well as in the study of obstructions to the extension of functions. In this paper, the behaviour of these properties in the realm of closure spaces is investigated using the class of perfect mappings. A perfect mapping is a type of map under which the image generally inherits the properties of the mapped space. It turns out that the general behaviour of connectedness properties in topological spaces extends to the class of isotone space.