Algebraic analysis of small scale LEX-BES

This paper examines the algebraic cryptanalysis of small scale variants of the LEX-BES. LEX-BES is a stream cipher based on the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) block cipher. LEX is a generic method proposed for constructing a stream cipher from a block cipher, initially introduced by Biryukov at eSTREAM, the ECRYPT Stream Cipher project in 2005. The Big Encryption System (BES) is a block cipher introduced at CRYPTO 2002 which facilitates the algebraic analysis of the AES block cipher. In this paper, experiments were conducted to find solution of the equation system describing small scale LEX-BES using Gröbner Basis computations. This follows a similar approach to the work by Cid, Murphy and Robshaw at FSE 2005 that investigated algebraic cryptanalysis on small scale variants of the BES. The difference between LEX-BES and BES is that due to the way the keystream is extracted, the number of unknowns in LEX-BES equations is fewer than the number in BES. As far as the author knows, this attempt is the first at creating solvable equation systems for stream ciphers based on the LEX method using Gröbner Basis computations.

The intention to notice : the collection, the tour and ordinary landscapes

The Intention to Notice: the collection, the tour and ordinary landscapes is concerned with how ordinary landscapes and places are enabled and conserved through making itineraries that are framed around the ephemera encountered by chance, and the practices that make possible the endurance of these material traces. Through observing and then examining the material and temporal aspects of a variety of sites/places, the museum and the expanded garden are identified as spaces where the expression of contemporary political, ecological and social attitudes to cultural landscapes can be realised through a curatorial approach to design, to effect minimal intervention. Three notions are proposed to encourage investigation into contemporary cultural landscapes: To traverse slowly to allow space for speculations framed by the topographies and artefacts encountered; to [re]make/[re]write cultural landscapes as discursive landscapes that provoke the intention to notice; and to reveal and conserve the fabric of everyday places. A series of walking, recording and making projects undertaken across a variety of cultural landscapes in remote South Australia, Melbourne, Sydney, London, Los Angeles, Chandigarh, Padova and Istanbul, investigate how communities of practice are facilitated through the invitation to notice and intervene in ordinary landscapes, informed by the theory and practice of postproduction and the reticent auteur. This community of practice approach draws upon chance encounters and it seeks to encourage creative investigation into places. The Intention to Notice is a practice of facilitating that also leads to recording traces and events; large and small, material and immaterial, that encourages both conjecture and archive. Most importantly, there is an open-ended invitation to commit and exchange through design interaction.

Accounting information systems in a centrally planned economy : the case of the General Company for Pipelines (GCP)

The paper has a twofold purpose. First it highlights the importance of accounting information in the economic development of developing countries, with a particular focus on the nation of Libya. Secondly, using the case of Libya's General Company for Pipelines (GCP), it demonstrates that the use of accounting information to achieve economic development goals is determined to a large extent by the political/ideological setting in which it is generated. The study is based on a literature review and archival research, reinforced by a qualitative case study comprised of interviews, attendance at meetings and a study of internal documents. A study of The General Company for Pipelines (GCP) revealed that frequent politically driven changes in the structure and number of popular congresses and committees severely limited the use of accounting information, relegating it to a formal role. In consequence, accounting information had litle effect on stimulating economic development in Libya. This study focuses on one case study which does limit generalisability. However, it also suggests fruitful research areas considering the historic factors which have determined the accounting role in developing and planned economies. By providing insights about social factors which have determined the use of accounting in a planned economy, this study has implications for similar economies as they move towards a more globalised mode of operations which enhance the role of accounting in meeting economic development needs. If devleoping countries are to harness the potential of accounting aid in the achievement of their development plans, the social and political setting in which accounting has been conducted needs to be understood.

A two-step mutual authentication protocol based on randomized hash-lock for small RFID networks

RFID has been widely used in today's commercial and supply chain industry, due to the significant advantages it offers and the relatively low production cost. However, this ubiquitous technology has inherent problems in security and privacy. This calls for the development of simple, efficient and cost effective mechanisms against a variety of security threats. This paper proposes a two-step authentication protocol based on the randomized hash-lock scheme proposed by S. Weis in 2003. By introducing additional measures during the authentication process, this new protocol proves to enhance the security of RFID significantly, and protects the passive tags from almost all major attacks, including tag cloning, replay, full-disclosure, tracking, and eavesdropping. Furthermore, no significant changes to the tags is required to implement this protocol, and the low complexity level of the randomized hash-lock algorithm is retained.

Workplace design in the knowledge economy : a case of the NetWorkPlace™©

This thesis explores a way to inform the architectural design process for contemporary workplace environments. It reports on both theoretical and practical outcomes through an exclusively Australian case study of a network enterprise comprised of collaborative, yet independent business entities. The internet revolution, substantial economic and cultural shifts, and an increased emphasis on lifestyle considerations have prompted a radical re-ordering of organisational relationships and the associated structures, processes, and places of doing business. The social milieu of the information age and the knowledge economy is characterised by an almost instantaneous flow of information and capital. This has culminated in a phenomenon termed by Manuel Castells as the network society, where physical locations are joined together by continuous communication and virtual connectivity. A new spatial logic encompassing redefined concepts of space and distance, and requiring a comprehensive shift in the approach to designing workplace environments for today’s adaptive, collaborative organisations in a dynamic business world, provides the backdrop for this research. Within the duality of space and an augmentation of the traditional notions of place, organisational and institutional structures pose new challenges for the design professions. The literature revealed that there has always been a mono-organisational focus in relation to workplace design strategies. The phenomenon of inter-organisational collaboration has enabled the identification of a gap in the knowledge relative to workplace design. This new context generated the formulation of a unique research construct, the NetWorkPlace™©, which captures the complexity of contemporary employment structures embracing both physical and virtual work environments and practices, and provided the basis for investigating the factors that are shaping and defining interactions within and across networked organisational settings. The methodological orientation and the methods employed follow a qualitative approach and an abductively driven strategy comprising two distinct components, a cross-sectional study of the whole of the network and a longitudinal study, focusing on a single discrete workplace site. The complexity of the context encountered dictated that a multi-dimensional investigative framework was required to be devised. The adoption of a pluralist ontology and the reconfiguration of approaches from traditional paradigms into a collaborative, trans-disciplinary, multi-method epistemology provided an explicit and replicatable method of investigation. The identification and introduction of the NetWorkPlace™© phenomenon, by necessity, spans a number of traditional disciplinary boundaries. Results confirm that in this context, architectural research, and by extension architectural practice, must engage with what other disciplines have to offer. The research concludes that no single disciplinary approach to either research or practice in this area of design can suffice. Pierre Bourdieau’s philosophy of ‘practice’ provides a framework within which the governance and technology structures, together with the mechanisms enabling the production of social order in this context, can be understood. This is achieved by applying the concepts of position and positioning to the corporate power dynamics, and integrating the conflict found to exist between enterprise standard and ferally conceived technology systems. By extending existing theory and conceptions of ‘place’ and the ‘person-environment relationship’, relevant understandings of the tensions created between Castells’ notions of the space of place and the space of flows are established. The trans-disciplinary approach adopted, and underpinned by a robust academic and practical framework, illustrates the potential for expanding the range and richness of understanding applicable to design in this context. The outcome informs workplace design by extending theoretical horizons, and by the development of a comprehensive investigative process comprising a suite of models and techniques for both architectural and interior design research and practice, collectively entitled the NetWorkPlace™© Application Framework. This work contributes to the body of knowledge within the design disciplines in substantive, theoretical, and methodological terms, whilst potentially also influencing future organisational network theories, management practices, and information and communication technology applications. The NetWorkPlace™© as reported in this thesis, constitutes a multi-dimensional concept having the capacity to deal with the fluidity and ambiguity characteristic of the network context, as both a topic of research and the way of going about it.

Industrial design in endoscopy : the development of a tissue and organ extractor

Throughout history, developments in medicine have aimed to improve patient quality of life, and reduce the trauma associated with surgical treatment. Surgical access to internal organs and bodily structures has been traditionally via large incisions. Endoscopic surgery presents a technique for surgical access via small (1 Omm) incisions by utilising a scope and camera for visualisation of the operative site. Endoscopy presents enormous benefits for patients in terms of lower post operative discomfort, and reduced recovery and hospitalisation time. Since the first gall bladder extraction operation was performed in France in 1987, endoscopic surgery has been embraced by the international medical community. With the adoption of the new technique, new problems never previously encountered in open surgery, were revealed. One such problem is that the removal of large tissue specimens and organs is restricted by the small incision size. Instruments have been developed to address this problem however none of the devices provide a totally satisfactory solution. They have a number of critical weaknesses: -The size of the access incision has to be enlarged, thereby compromising the entire endoscopic approach to surgery. - The physical quality of the specimen extracted is very poor and is not suitable to conduct the necessary post operative pathological examinations. -The safety of both the patient and the physician is jeopardised. The problem of tissue and organ extraction at endoscopy is investigated and addressed. In addition to background information covering endoscopic surgery, this thesis describes the entire approach to the design problem, and the steps taken before arriving at the final solution. This thesis contributes to the body of knowledge associated with the development of endoscopic surgical instruments. A new product capable of extracting large tissue specimens and organs in endoscopy is the final outcome of the research.

How nonprofit boards monitor, judge and influence organisational performance

The law and popular opinion expect boards of directors will actively monitor their organisations. Further, public opinion is that boards should have a positive impact on organisational performance. However, the processes of board monitoring and judgment are poorly understood, and board influence on organisational performance needs to be better understood. This thesis responds to the repeated calls to open the ‘black box’ linking board practices and organisational performance by investigating the processual behaviours of boards. The work of four boards1 of micro and small-sized nonprofit organisations were studied for periods of at least one year, using a processual research approach, drawing on observations of board meetings, interviews with directors, and the documents of the boards. The research shows that director turnover, the difficulty recruiting and engaging directors, and the administration of reporting, had strong impacts upon board monitoring, judging and/or influence. In addition, board monitoring of organisational performance was adversely affected by directors’ limited awareness of their legal responsibilities and directors’ limited financial literacy. Directors on average found all sources of information about their organisation’s work useful. Board judgments about the financial aspects of organisational performance were regulated by the routines of financial reporting. However, there were no comparable routines facilitating judgments about non-financial performance, and such judgments tended to be limited to specific aspects of performance and were ad hoc, largely in response to new information or the repackaging of existing information in a new form. The thesis argues that Weick’s theory of sensemaking offers insight into the way boards went about the task of understanding organisational performance. Board influence on organisational performance was demonstrated in the areas of: compliance; instrumental influence through service and through discussion and decision-making; and by symbolic, legitimating and protective means. The degree of instrumental influence achieved by boards depended on director competency, access to networks of influence, and understandings of board roles, and by the agency demonstrated by directors. The thesis concludes that there is a crowding out effect whereby CEO competence and capability limits board influence. The thesis also suggests that there is a second ‘agency problem’, a problem of director volition. The research potentially has profound implications for the work of nonprofit boards. Rather than purporting to establish a general theory of board governance, the thesis embraces calls to build situation-specific mini-theories about board behaviour.