A new dynamic accumulator for batch updates

A dynamic accumulator is an algorithm, which gathers together a large set of elements into a constant-size value such that for a given element accumulated, there is a witness confirming that the element was indeed included into the value, with a property that accumulated elements can be dynamically added and deleted into/from the original set such that the cost of an addition or deletion operation is independent of the number of accumulated elements. Although the first accumulator was presented ten years ago, there is still no standard formal definition of accumulators. In this paper, we generalize formal definitions for accumulators, formulate a security game for dynamic accumulators so-called Chosen Element Attack (CEA), and propose a new dynamic accumulator for batch updates based on the Paillier cryptosystem. Our construction makes a batch of update operations at unit cost. We prove its security under the extended strong RSA (es-RSA) assumption

Smart material interfaces : a new form of physical interaction

Smart Material Interface (SMI) is the latest generation of user interface that makes use of engineered materials and leverages their special properties. SMIs are capable of changing their physical properties such as shape, size and color, and can be controlled under certain (external) conditions. We provide an example of such an SMI in the form of a prototype of a vacuum cleaner. The prototype uses schematic electrochromic polymer at the suction nozzle of the vacuum cleaner, which changes its color depending on the dust level on a floor. We emphasize on the new affordances and communication language supported by SMIs, which challenges the current metaphors of user interfaces in the field of HCI.

New criterion for the stability of a human body in floodwaters

The authors must be congratulated for their original and important study. The flooding of urbanised areas constitutes a hazard to the population and infrastructure. Floods through inundated urban environments have been studied only recently and few considered the potential impact of flowing waters on pedestrians...

Wasting Time? Art, Science and New Experience. Examining the Artwork, Know more (House of Commons)

Today the future is travelling rapidly towards us, shaped by all that which we have historically thrown into it. Much of what we have designed for our world over the ages, and much of what we continue to embrace in the pursuit of mainstream economic, cultural and social imperatives, embodies unacknowledged ‘time debts’. Every decision we make today has the potential to ‘give time to’, or take ‘time away’ from that future. This idea that ‘everything‘ inherently embodies ‘future time left’ is underlined by design futurist Tony Fry when he describes how we so often ‘waste’ or ‘take away’ ‘future time’. “In our endeavours to sustain ourselves in the short term we collectively act in destructive ways towards the very things we and all other beings fundamentally depend upon”

A multi-genome analysis approach enables tracking of the invasion of a single Russian wheat aphid (Diuraphis noxia) clone throughout the New World

This study investigated the population genetics, demographic history and pathway of invasion of the Russian wheat aphid (RWA) from its native range in Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe to South Africa and the Americas. We screened microsatellite markers, mitochondrial DNA and endosymbiont genes in 504 RWA clones from nineteen populations worldwide. Following pathway analyses of microsatellite and endosymbiont data, we postulate that Turkey and Syria were the most likely sources of invasion to Kenya and South Africa, respectively. Furthermore, we found that one clone transferred between South Africa and the Americas was most likely responsible for the New World invasion. Finally, endosymbiont DNA was found to be a high resolution population genetic marker, extremely useful for studies of invasion over a relatively short evolutionary history time frame. This study has provided valuable insights into the factors that may have facilitated the recent global invasion by this damaging pest.

A molecular phylogeny of the checkered beetles and a description of Epiclininae a new subfamily (Coleoptera: Cleroidea: Cleridae)

We provide the first molecular phylogeny of the clerid lineage (Coleoptera: Cleridae, Thanerocleridae) within the superfamily Cleroidea to examine the two most recently-proposed hypotheses of higher-level classification. Phylogenetic relationships of checkered beetles were inferred from approximately ~5,000nt of both nuclear and mitochondrial rDNA (28S, 16S, and 12S) and the mitochondrial protein-coding gene COI. A worldwide sample of ~70 genera representing almost a quarter of generic diversity of the clerid lineage was included and phylogenies were reconstructed using Bayesian and Maximum Likelihood approaches. Results support the monophyly of many proposed subfamilies but were not entirely congruent with either current classification system. The subfamilial relationships within the Cleridae are resolved with support for three main lineages. Tillinae are supported as the sister group to all other subfamilies within the Cleridae, whereas Thaneroclerinae, Korynetinae and a new subfamily formally described here, Epiclininae subf. n, form a sister group to Clerinae + Hydnocerinae.