A New variant of the McEliece cryptosystem based on the Smith form of convolutional codes

In this article, the authors propose a new version of the McEliece cryptosystem based on the Smith form of convolutional codes. They use the Smith form to hide a part of the code in the public matrix, and they leave the other part secret. The secret part will then be used for decryption. They hide this part by multiplying it on the left by a random matrix, and they add a random matrix which has a few conditions. Their scheme has a small public key size compared to the original McEliece scheme and resists the unique decoding attack against convolutional structure presented at the conference PQCrypto 2013 by Landais and Tillich. Further, the exhaustive search attack is infeasible on their system.     

Pincer Type Ditertiary Aminomethylphosphine–Pd(II) Complexes Supported on Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube: Catalytic Properties in Heck C–C Coupling Reactions

Pincer type aminomethylphosphine–Pd(II) complexes supported on multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) have been synthesized and characterized using X-Ray diffraction spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, thermal analysis, energy dispersive X-Ray, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and ultraviolet–visible spectrometry techniques. The novel complexes were tried as catalysts in Heck C–C coupling reactions. The crystallite size and lattice strain of the MWCNT based compounds were calculated by the Scherrer’s equation. The optical parameters of the MWCNT based structures were analyzed and the band gap enhanced from 4.42 to 4.98 eV. Different solvents (toluene, 1,4-diooxane, DMF and NMP) and bases (Et₃N, Na₂CO₃, NaOAc and K₂CO₃) were tried at different temperatures (80, 100 and 110 °C) in the cross-coupling of bromobenzene with styrene. The optimum yield was found in the presence of K₂CO₃, 110 °C in 1,4-dioxane solvent system.     

INTRODUCTION OF DYNAMICS TO AN APPROACH FOR BATCH PROCESS MONITORING USING INDEPENDENT COMPONENT ANALYSIS

Use of independent component analysis (ICA) in developing statistical monitoring charts for batch processes has been reported previously. This article extends the previous work by introducing time lag shifts to include process dynamics in the ICA model. Comparison of the dynamic ICA-based method with other batch process monitoring approaches based on static ICA, static principal component analysis (PCA), and dynamic PCA is made for an industrial batch polymerization reactor and a simulated fed-batch penicillin fermentation process. For both case studies, it was found that the dynamic ICA approach detected faults earlier than other approaches, with less ambiguity, and was the only approach that detected all the faults.     

Enhanced catalytic activity of monodispersed AgPd alloy nanoparticles assembled on mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride for the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane under sunlight

We address the composition-controlled synthesis of monodispersed AgPd alloy nanoparticles (NPs),their assembly for the first time on mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (mpg-C3N4),and the unprecedented catalysis of mpg-C3N4@AgPd in the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane (AB) at room temperature.Monodispersed AgPd alloy NPs were synthesized using a high-temperature organic-phase surfactant-assisted protocol comprising the co-reduction of silver(Ⅰ) acetate and palladium(Ⅱ) acetylacetonate in the presence of oleylamine,oleic acid,and 1-octadecene.This protocol allowed the synthesis of four different compositions of AgPd alloy NPs.The AgPd alloy NPs were then assembled on mpg-C3N4,reduced graphene oxide,and Ketjenblack using a liquid-phase self-assembly method.Among the three supports tested,the mpg-C3N4@AgPd catalysts provided the best activity because of the Mott-Schottky effect,which was driven by the favorable work function difference between mpg-C3N4 and the metal NPs.Moreover,the activity of the mpg-C3N4@AgPd catalyst was further enhanced by an acetic acid treatment (AAt),and a record initial turnover frequency of 94.1 mol(hydrogen)·mol(catalyst)-1·min-1 was obtained.Furthermore,the mpg-C3N4@Ag42Pd58-AAt catalyst also showed moderate durability for the hydrolysis of AB.This study also includes a wealth of kinetic data for the mpg-C3N4@AgPd-catalyzed hydrolysis of AB.     

Economic incentives to use fertilizer on maize under differing agro-ecological conditions in Burkina Faso

Increasing agricultural productivity while protecting natural resources depends on proper understanding of farmers’ incentives to use intensification strategies, including fertilizer. Using a large-scale household dataset collected in rural Burkina Faso, we examined how the response of maize yield to fertilizer, and thus the economic incentives for its use, varied according to agro-ecological conditions. We employed a Control Function Approach with Correlated Random Effects in order to test and control for endogeneity of fertilizer use, measuring agro-ecological conditions at several scales. We investigated the profitability of fertilizer use with value-cost ratios. We found that productivity and marginal effects of fertilizer differ significantly according to agro-ecological conditions. Micro-variation appeared to be more critical than the definition of agro-ecological zone. Burkinabe soils are severely degraded and would benefit from greater application of fertilizer. However, at full market prices, fertilizer use was unprofitable. Though it was profitable with subsidized prices, transaction costs diminish the benefits of the subsidy. Profitability of fertilizer use with maize varied across agro-ecological conditions, even for field plots located in the same agro-ecological zone. Our results confirm that policy makers need to be cautious when generalizing across regions or drawing policy recommendations from a single agro-ecological zone because crop responses and economic incentives vary widely.     

Statistical prioritization for software product line testing: an experience report

Software product lines (SPLs) are families of software systems sharing common assets and exhibiting variabilities specific to each product member of the family. Commonalities and variabilities are often represented as features organized in a feature model. Due to combinatorial explosion of the number of products induced by possible features combinations, exhaustive testing of SPLs is intractable. Therefore, sampling and prioritization techniques have been proposed to generate sorted lists of products based on coverage criteria or weights assigned to features. Solely based on the feature model, these techniques do not take into account behavioural usage of such products as a source of prioritization. In this paper, we assess the feasibility of integrating usage models into the testing process to derive statistical testing approaches for SPLs. Usage models are given as Markov chains, enabling prioritization of probable/rare behaviours. We used featured transition systems, compactly modelling variability and behaviour for SPLs, to determine which products are realizing prioritized behaviours. Statistical prioritization can achieve a significant reduction in the state space, and modelling efforts can be rewarded by better automation. In particular, we used MaTeLo, a statistical test cases generation suite developed at ALL4TEC. We assess feasibility criteria on two systems: Claroline, a configurable course management system, and Sferion?, an embedded system providing helicopter landing assistance.     

Characteristics of heat transfer and fluid flow in a channel with single-row plates array oblique to flow direction for photovoltaic/thermal system

This study has been carried out to investigate the characteristics of convective heat transfer and fluid flow for a single row of oblique plates array to the flow direction inside a channel. The flow inside the channel is laminar and the plates array have spanwise distance between the plates and heated by radiation. This configuration has been designed to be used for Photovoltaic/Thermal system (PV/T) applications. The theoretical results are validated with measured values, and a good agreement prevailed. The results show that an increase in the plate oblique angle (γ) in the range from 0 to 15 degrees, leads to an increase in the Nusselt number (Nu) up to a maximum value and then decreases. The oblique angle at the maximum value of Nu depends on the flow Reynolds Number (Re), and (?_w/?_pl), where (?_w/?_pl) is defined as the ratio of the plates’ spacing at zero oblique angle to the plate length. Furthermore, increasing (?_w/?_pl) results in a significant increase in the heat transfer coefficient depending on the values of Re, and plate oblique angle (γ). In addition, increasing (γ) from 0 to 15 degrees results in a decrease in the friction factor up to a certain value, after which the friction value approaches a constant value depending on Re value and (?_w/?_pl). It was found that for any value of the plate oblique angle (γ), the friction factor decreases with the increase of the values of (?_w/?_pl) and Re, respectively.     

Service Quality Gaps Analysis at SCECO-East, Saudi Arabia

This research examines the Saudi Consolidated Electric Company in the Eastern Province, a typical service provider in Saudi Arabia in which service quality is of primary importance. Four gaps have an impact on the consumer's evaluation of service quality: consumer expectation-management perception, service quality specification, service performance, and external communication. The study revealed that Gap 3 (service performance) is more critical than the others in affecting perceived service quality, making service delivery the main area of improvement. Frontline staff also agree that Gap 4 contributed to the problem (i.e., when delivery does not match the company's promises) but to a lesser degree than Gap 3.