Knapsack sets for cryptography

The basic goal of this study is to extend old and propose new ways to generate knapsack sets suitable for use in public key cryptography. The knapsack problem and its cryptographic use are reviewed in the introductory chapter. Terminology is based on common cryptographic vocabulary. For example, solving the knapsack problem (which is here a subset sum problem) is termed decipherment. Chapter 1 also reviews the most famous knapsack cryptosystem, the Merkle Hellman system. It is based on a superincreasing knapsack and uses modular multiplication as a trapdoor transformation. The insecurity caused by these two properties exemplifies the two general categories of attacks against knapsack systems. These categories provide the motivation for Chapters 2 and 4. Chapter 2 discusses the density of a knapsack and the dangers of having a low density. Chapter 3 interrupts for a while the more abstract treatment by showing examples of small injective knapsacks and extrapolating conjectures on some characteristics of knapsacks of larger size, especially their density and number. The most common trapdoor technique, modular multiplication, is likely to cause insecurity, but as argued in Chapter 4, it is difficult to find any other simple trapdoor techniques. This discussion also provides a basis for the introduction of various categories of non injectivity in Chapter 5. Besides general ideas of non injectivity of knapsack systems, Chapter 5 introduces and evaluates several ways to construct such systems, most notably the "exceptional blocks" in superincreasing knapsacks and the usage of "too small" a modulus in the modular multiplication as a trapdoor technique. The author believes that non injectivity is the most promising direction for development of knapsack cryptosystema. Chapter 6 modifies two well known knapsack schemes, the Merkle Hellman multiplicative trapdoor knapsack and the Graham Shamir knapsack. The main interest is in aspects other than non injectivity, although that is also exploited. In the end of the chapter, constructions proposed by Desmedt et. al. are presented to serve as a comparison for the developments of the subsequent three chapters. Chapter 7 provides a general framework for the iterative construction of injective knapsacks from smaller knapsacks, together with a simple example, the "three elements" system. In Chapters 8 and 9 the general framework is put into practice in two different ways. Modularly injective small knapsacks are used in Chapter 9 to construct a large knapsack, which is called the congruential knapsack. The addends of a subset sum can be found by decrementing the sum iteratively by using each of the small knapsacks and their moduli in turn. The construction is also generalized to the non injective case, which can lead to especially good results in the density, without complicating the deciphering process too much. Chapter 9 presents three related ways to realize the general framework of Chapter 7. The main idea is to join iteratively small knapsacks, each element of which would satisfy the superincreasing condition. As a whole, none of these systems need become superincreasing, though the development of density is not better than that. The new knapsack systems are injective but they can be deciphered with the same searching method as the non injective knapsacks with the "exceptional blocks" in Chapter 5. The final Chapter 10 first reviews the Chor Rivest knapsack system, which has withstood all cryptanalytic attacks. A couple of modifications to the use of this system are presented in order to further increase the security or make the construction easier. The latter goal is attempted by reducing the size of the Chor Rivest knapsack embedded in the modified system. '

ROLOC. Transformation chromatic stripes

[cat] Roloc es basa en la codificació cromàtica d'imatges. Roloc analitza una imatge i, a partir d'uns colors predeterminats per l'usuari, la reconverteix en franges de diferents mides segons la seva proporció cromàtica. D'aquesta manera tota imatge es reordena en franges verticals de colors plans.

The Problem of Invasive Species in River Ecosystems

Invasive nonnative species are a major problem in river ecosystems, and have large ecological and economic costs. Few ecosystems can resist invasions. The species that tend to invade most readily are those that humans. Introduce the most, and the ecosystems they invade are those with the most human activity. Most invasions are irreversible, and control is expensive, so efforts should be focused on prevention of future invasions

The Transformation of Practical Teaching Focusing on Dialogic Learning

This study investigates the transformation of practical teaching in a Catalan school, connected to the design, implementation and development of project-based learning, and focusing on dialogic learning to investigate its limits and possibilities. Qualitative and design-based research (DBR) methods are applied. These methods are based on empirical educational research with the theory-driven of learning environments. DBR is proposed and applied using practical guidance for the teachers of the school. It can be associated with the current proposals for Embedding Social Sciences and Humanities in the Horizon 2020 Societal Challenges. This position statement defends the social sciences and the humanities as the most fundamental and important ideas to face all societal challenges. The results of this study show that before the training process, teachers apply dialogic learning in specific moments (for example, when they speak about the weekend); however, during the process and after the process, they work systematically with dialogic learning through the PEPT: they start and finish every activity with a individual and group reflection about their own processes, favouring motivation, reasoning and the implication of all the participants. These results prove that progressive transformations of teaching practice benefit cooperative work in class

Transformation of a Rural Landscape in the Eastern Pyrenees Between 1953 and 2000

In the mid-20th century, the southern parts of the Madres and Mont Coronat massif (Eastern Pyrenees, France) were characterized by a Mediterranean landscape shaped by human activity. Long-term use of these mountains for crops, livestock, and forestry led to an increase in grassland areas at the expense of forest. However, socioeconomic transformation (abandonment of agriculture and a decrease in the rural population) in recent decades has caused profound changes in this massif. Interpretation of aerial photographs (1953, 1969, 1988, and 2000) made it possible to detect and analyze the changes produced in the study area (6787 ha) during this period. In 1953 most of the massif landscape consisted of grasslands (38%) and open forests (18%), with some areas of dense forest (15%). By 2000, dense forest cover had doubled in size (31%), and grassland had decreased considerably (by 73% of the initial area). Since 1953, the study area has become more homogeneous, with a few local exceptions. The results of this study suggest that socioeconomic factors might be the main cause of landscape transformations in this period of approximately 50 years.

Muutosilmiöt soodakattilakeossa

Soodakattilan sulakeon epästationaarinen käyttäytyminen sekä keon pitkä jäähtymisaika alasajon jälkeen ovat aiheuttaneet ongelmia kattilan taloudellisessa käytettävyydessä. Keon käyttäytymisestä on luotu CFD-malleja, joiden tavoitteena on havainnollistaa keon lämpötilajakaumaa ja rakennetta. Mallien ongelmana on se, että niissä huomioidaan vain keon aktiivinen pintakerros. Keon sisäosan rakennetta ja siinä tapahtuvia prosesseja ei toistaiseksi tunneta kunnolla luotettavan, koko keon kattavan mallin luomiseen. Tässä työssä tutkittiin sulakeon käytön aikana havaittuja muutosilmiöitä, jotka vaikuttavat keon rakenteeseen ja ominaisuuksiin sekä tutkittiin ilmiöiden taustalla olevia tekijöitä. Näitä tekijöitä ovat keon sisässä tapahtuvat kemialliset ja fyysiset prosessit, jotka aiheuttavat muutoksia niin lämpöteknisesti kuin fyysisesti sekä ulkoapäin tulevat tekijät, jotka aiheutuvat ajotilanteiden seurauksena tapahtuvista muutoksista. Työn kokeellisena osana luotiin sulakeon jäähtymismalli käyttäen 1-dimensionaalista ADL-mallia. Mallin pohjana käytettiin StoraEnso Oy:ltä Oulun soodakattilan sulakeosta saatua mittausraporttia. ADL-mallin avulla luotiin keon jäähtymiskäyrät lämpötilan ja syvyyden funktiona. Saadut käyrät täsmäsivät hyvin mittausraportin tuloksiin. Mallin avulla keolle saatiin muodostettua energiatase, jonka tuloksena keosta 12 tunnin aikana poistuva lämpövirta pinnalla oli noin 9.8kW/m2 ja pinnan lämmönsiirtokerroin 58.3W/m²°C. Pohjan poistuvaksi lämpövirraksi saatiin 14.1kW/m2 ja lämmönsiirtokertoimeksi 75.4W/m²°C. Termiseksi diffuusiokertoimeksi saatiin 3.9•10-7m²/s.

Families of periodic horseshoe orbits in the restricted three-body problem

We compute families of symmetric periodic horseshoe orbits in the restricted three-body problem. Both the planar and three-dimensional cases are considered and several families are found.We describe how these families are organized as well as the behavior along and among the families of parameters such as the Jacobi constant or the eccentricity. We also determine the stability properties of individual orbits along the families. Interestingly, we find stable horseshoe-shaped orbit up to the quite high inclination of 17◦

Socio-Cultural Transformation and the Promotion of Learning

The main premise of Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory is that to promotelearning, and thus development, educators must intervene in, and change, the students’ socio-cultural context. Vygotsky’s theory, however, has been misinterpreted and the opposite approach has been accepted: the teaching is adapted, according to the context. The result is widespread failure in schools. This article reclaims the true transformative meaning of Vygotskian theory and shows how successful schools in several countries implement various actions to transform their social and cultural environment. Data is presented from six casestudies of successful schools conducted in five European countries. The analysis showsthat these actions improve instrumental learning and, consequently, cognitive development. All these efforts focus on teaching methods that aim to increase the amount that students learn

Intestinal microbiota in the adenoma progression to colorectal cancer: a cross-sectional study

Background: Colorectal cancer is a major health problem worldwide and many efforts have been done to delineate risk factors and develop screening strategies to reduce its incidence and mortality. Colorectal adenomas have been clearly considered preneoplastic lesions due to their potential malignant transformation via the adenoma-carcinoma sequence. Over the last years, intestinal microbiota has been studied in several diseases and it has been hypothesized that colonic microbiota could influence colorectal cancer pathogenesisObjective: The goal of this study is to analyse whether there is an association between the fecal microbiota profiling and the presence and progression of colorectal adenomas, detected in population undergoing colonoscopy, to better understand the role of intestinal microbiota in colorectal carcinogenesisDesign: A cross-sectional study in the Gastroenterology Department at Hospital Universitari Doctor Josep Trueta in Girona, in a period of time of two yearsParticipants: General population undergoing screening or diagnostic colonoscopy in the Digestive Endoscopy UnitOutcomes: Identification and characterization of intestinal microbiota in stool samples from healthy patients and patients with low and high risk colorectal adenomas

The Problematic Internet Entertainment Use Scale for Adolescents: Prevalence of Problem Internet Use in Spanish High School Students

Many researchers and professionals have reported nonsubstance addiction to online entertainments in adolescents. However, very few scales have been designed to assess problem Internet use in this population, in spite of their high exposure and obvious vulnerability. The aim of this study was to review the currently available scales for assessing problematic Internet use and to validate a new scale of this kind for use, specifically in this age group, the Problematic Internet Entertainment Use Scale for Adolescents. The research was carried out in Spain in a gender-balanced sample of 1131 high school students aged between 12 and 18 years. Psychometric analyses showed the scale to be unidimensional, with excellent internal consistency (Cronbach"s alpha of 0.92), good construct validity, and positive associations with alternative measures of maladaptive Internet use. This selfadministered scale can rapidly measure the presence of symptoms of behavioral addiction to online videogames and social networking sites, as well as their degree of severity. The results estimate the prevalence of this problematic behavior in Spanish adolescents to be around 5 percent.

Bifurcation of relative equilibria of the (1+3)-body problem

We study the relative equilibria of the limit case of the pla- nar Newtonian 4{body problem when three masses tend to zero, the so-called (1 + 3){body problem. Depending on the values of the in- nitesimal masses the number of relative equilibria varies from ten to fourteen. Always six of these relative equilibria are convex and the oth- ers are concave. Each convex relative equilibrium of the (1 + 3){body problem can be continued to a unique family of relative equilibria of the general 4{body problem when three of the masses are su ciently small and every convex relative equilibrium for these masses belongs to one of these six families.

Proceso de transformación de las concepciones del profesorado sobre la resolución de problemas matemáticos

The aim of this study is to analyze the transformation of Primary School teachers’ conceptions about mathematical problem solving. We performed a study with 18 teachers from three public schools: in each class (from 1º to 6º) there were two interventions, and we were interviewed teachers before and after them. The results have show identified changes in: 1) teacher’s expectations about students’ abilities; classroom management; perception of diversity; mathematical strategies used by students; communication in the classroom; causes of the problems encountered; and relevance process of problem solving in mathematics teaching. The transformation of teachers’ conceptions is due to the following factors: a) awareness of the practice; b) systematic reflection; c) the contrast between different ways to work solving problems in math class

Experimental analysis of optimization techniques on the road passenger transportation problem

Analyzing the state of the art in a given field in order to tackle a new problem is always a mandatory task. Literature provides surveys based on summaries of previous studies, which are often based on theoretical descriptions of the methods. An engineer, however, requires some evidence from experimental evaluations in order to make the appropriate decision when selecting a technique for a problem. This is what we have done in this paper: experimentally analyzed a set of representative state-of-the-art techniques in the problem we are dealing with, namely, the road passenger transportation problem. This is an optimization problem in which drivers should be assigned to transport services, fulfilling some constraints and minimizing some function cost. The experimental results have provided us with good knowledge of the properties of several methods, such as modeling expressiveness, anytime behavior, computational time, memory requirements, parameters, and free downloadable tools. Based on our experience, we are able to choose a technique to solve our problem. We hope that this analysis is also helpful for other engineers facing a similar problem

Espacios olvidados, lugares diferenciados: transformación social del espacio urbano en Bogotá (1850- 1880) = Forgotten Spaces, distinct places: Social transformation of urban space in Bogotá (1850-1880)

The purpose of this article is linked to some forms of recovery of social and urban spaces fallen into oblivion that are evident in the social transformation of urban space in Bogotá between 1850 and 1880.The following paper presents the preliminary results of the research entitled practices and social uses of water in Bogotá (1850-1888). The text links in first discussions about the understanding of the city as a drawing in space, moving to describe, the growth of the city, integrating its historical, social and cultural structuring

'Situaciones problema' y desarrollo de la competencia motriz en educación física escolar: cuestiones didácticas = Problem situations and developing motor competence in Physical Education at school: didactic questions

From the areas of motor learning and the teaching of Physical Education we promote coherent methodological orientationswith the present curricular guide that are focused in such a way so that the student is able to act independently. In thissense we may consider the problem situations as a good example for methodological proposals. So as to determine its useand adequateness for Physical Education it is conveniente to analyse the characteristics of the motor tasks that areproposed as well as the features of the teaching intervention in such a way as to ease the adquisition and development ofthe motor competence of the students