Classification of the Deletion Correcting Capabilities of Reed–Solomon Codes of Dimension Over Prime Fields

Deletion correction codes have been used for transmission synchronization and, more recently, tracing pirated media. A generalized Reed-Solomon (GRS) code, denoted by GRSk(l,q,alpha,v), is a code of length l over GF(q) with qk codewords. These codes have an efficient decoding algorithm and have been widely used for error correction and detection. It was recently demonstrated that GRS codes are also capable of correcting deletions. We consider a subclass of GRS codes with dimension k=2 and q prime, and study them with respect to deletion correcting capability. We give transformations that either preserve the code or maintain its deletion correction capability. We use this to define equivalent codes; and then use exhaustive and selective computer searches to find inequivalent codes with the highest deletion correcting capabilities. We show that, for the class under consideration, up to l-3 deletions may be corrected. We also show that for lles36 there exist codes with q2 codewords such that receiving only 3 out of t transmitted symbols of a codeword is enough to recover the codeword, thus meeting the bound specified above. We also specify some nice codes which are associated with the smallest field possible for codes of a given length and deletion correcting capability. Some of the identified codes are unique, with respect to the defined equivalence

Universal homophonic coding

Redundancy in plaintext is a fertile source of attack in any encryption system. Compression before encryption reduces the redundancy in the plaintext, but this does not make a cipher more secure. The cipher text is still susceptible to known-plaintext and chosen-plaintext attacks. The aim of homophonic coding is to convert a plaintext source into a random sequence by randomly mapping each source symbol into one of a set of homophones. Each homophone is then encoded by a source coder after which it can be encrypted with a cryptographic system. The security of homophonic coding falls into the class of unconditionally secure ciphers. The main advantage of homophonic coding over pure source coding is that it provides security both against known-plaintext and chosen-plaintext attacks, whereas source coding merely protects against a ciphertext-only attack. The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the implementation of an adaptive homophonic coder based on an arithmetic coder. This type of homophonic coding is termed universal, as it is not dependent on the source statistics.Computer ScienceM.Sc. (Computer Science

Some Necessary Modifications in the Application of the Husserlian Method in the Phenomenology of Religion

The method of phenomenology has been applied successfully in many research fields, but not in the case of the investigation of religion. The application in this field has been inconsistent and inconclusive. This dissertation investigates the reason for this and seeks to discover how the method might be more fruitfully applied

Security of Ubiquitous Computing Systems

The chapters in this open access book arise out of the EU Cost Action project Cryptacus, the objective of which was to improve and adapt existent cryptanalysis methodologies and tools to the ubiquitous computing framework. The cryptanalysis implemented lies along four axes: cryptographic models, cryptanalysis of building blocks, hardware and software security engineering, and security assessment of real-world systems. The authors are top-class researchers in security and cryptography, and the contributions are of value to researchers and practitioners in these domains. This book is open access under a CC BY license

Levinas, Messianism and parody

Levinas has come to be seen as one of the principle representatives in contemporary thought of a certain philosophically articulated concept of 'messianism'. On the one hand, the appeal by philosophy to messianism is conceived by many as a 'turn' within postmodern thought broadly conceived towards a theology and ethics. On the other hand, there is the closely related consensus that Levinas‘ messianism is an expression of a certain 'correlation' between 'philosophy' and 'Judaism', a correlation in which Judaism becomes the suppressed voice of conscience of the latter. We revisit some of the consensuses upon which these related understandings are based. Firstly, we consider whether the heterogeneity of Levinas‘ different articulations of the messianic dimension should be emphasized, a heterogeneity which defies simple classification. Secondly, we consider whether Levinas‘ thought can properly be called messianic as such: we emphasize the functional character of messianism in Levinas, and how messianism is structurally re-ordered according to the function it takes on. We explore namely the manner in which messianic discourse in Levinas is implicated in the construction of a certain humanism, and how it is called upon to negotiate the obstacles which such a construction faces. Re-ordered according to this regime, we consider whether what unites the various expressions of messianism in Levinas is not the articulation of a discourse which progressively realizes its non-eschatological status. We frame this thesis in terms of what we call the 'parody' of messianism, a notion we derive from Nietzsche. This complicates any notion of a 'turn' within postmodernism; and yet it can be shown to be an intensification of a certain tendency at work already within normative Judaism

Security of Ubiquitous Computing Systems

The chapters in this open access book arise out of the EU Cost Action project Cryptacus, the objective of which was to improve and adapt existent cryptanalysis methodologies and tools to the ubiquitous computing framework. The cryptanalysis implemented lies along four axes: cryptographic models, cryptanalysis of building blocks, hardware and software security engineering, and security assessment of real-world systems. The authors are top-class researchers in security and cryptography, and the contributions are of value to researchers and practitioners in these domains. This book is open access under a CC BY license

Literary Equivocation: Women Playwrights and the Early Modern “Closet”

In general, “closet dramas,” because they have been falsely considered failed stage plays, have received minimal scholarly attention. This dissertation situates itself as a re-evaluation of female authors’ manuscript and printed plays: Elizabeth Cary’s Mariam, Jane Cavendish and Elizabeth (Cavendish) Brackley’s The Concealed Fancies, Margaret Cavendish’s The Convent of Pleasure and Anne Finches’ Aristomenes, Or The Royal Shepherd. These plays use the coded rhetorical tool of literary equivocation to conceal yet reveal subversive political information which would attract the attention of the censor if acted upon the stage

Irony and ambiguity in Beethoven's string quartets

This thesis explores the view that many of the difficulties and apparent eccentricities of Beethoven's Late Quartets (particularly Op. 130, 132, 133 and 135) may be understood in terms of irony, in the sense that it appears in the philosophical and aesthetic writings of the early German Romantics. A chain of influence is demonstrated between Beethoven and Friedrich Schlegel's philosophy of Romantic irony, through significant inter -personal relationships as well as through Beethoven's exposure to Schlegel's written works. This connection provides a firm hermeneutic basis for considering the composer's work in terms of irony.The A minor Quartet Op. 132 is given as an example of Beethoven's Romantic irony, and considered in terms of the constitutive elements of Schlegel's Romantic irony - Paradox, Parabasis and Self -consciousness. However, this thesis also demonstrates that the irony within the Late Quartets goes beyond the confines of Romantic irony. The paradoxical structures of the Cavatina and Grosse Fuge are considered as examples of "general" or "existential" irony -a form closely related to Schlegelian irony. Moreover, the replacement finale of the Op. 130 quartet is shown to constitute a striking instance of satire: a bitter ironic comment upon the musical conservatism of Beethoven's critics.This thesis therefore explores the philosophical background and the nature of irony itself, relating all of its forms to one underlying structure and to one fundamental process. This process - "objectification" - is derived from the work of Mikhail Bakhtin, and forms the theoretical basis for the structural approach of the analyses of irony within the thesis. The thesis also considers the relationship between irony and related phenomena such as wit and humour. It suggests that the differences between these concepts correspond to those between Beethoven's Romantic irony and the wit and humour of his predecessors.Finally, the relationship between irony and ambiguity is also considered. Ambiguity is frequently elided with irony within theoretical writing on irony; indeed the terms "irony" and "ambiguity" are often used synonymously. Since ambiguity is a significant element of the harmonic and formal practices within the Quartets this elision is important: if ambiguity and irony are elided then each instance of ambiguity may be considered ironic - a reductio ad absurdum. This work distinguishes ambiguity and irony as separate phenomena, approaching this division through the semiotic concepts of "immanence" and "manifestation ". I argue that ambiguity occurs as a particular effect of the immanent level of discourse, whilst irony occurs entirely within the manifest level. In addition to this difference in function, different structures are demonstrated for these phenomena. This distinction is applied to the third movement of the Op. 130 Quartet, which is considered as a confrontation of Classical aesthetics with the equivocal and ambiguou