Achievable Schemes and Performance Bounds for Centralized and Distributed Index Coding

Index coding studies the efficient broadcast problem where a server broadcasts multiple messages to a group of receivers with side information. Through exploiting the receiver side information, the amount of required communication from the server can be significantly reduced. Thanks to its basic yet highly nontrivial model, index coding has been recognized as a canonical problem in network information theory, which is fundamentally connected with many other problems such as network coding, distributed storage, coded computation, and coded caching. In this thesis, we study the index coding problem both in its classic setting where the messages are stored at a centralized server, and also in a more general and practical setting where different subsets of messages are stored at multiple servers. In both scenarios the ultimate goal is to establish the capacity region, which contains all the communication rates simultaneously achievable for all the messages. While finding the index coding capacity region remains open in general, we characterize it through developing various inner and outer bounds. The inner bounds we propose on the capacity region are achievable rate regions, each associated with a concrete coding scheme. Our proposed coding schemes are built upon a two-layer random coding scheme referred to as composite coding, introduced by Arbabjolfaei et al. in 2013 for the classic centralized index coding problem. We first propose a series of simplifications for the composite coding scheme, and then enhance it through utilizing more flexible fractional allocation of the broadcast channel capacity. We also show that one can strictly improve composite coding by adding one more layer of random coding into the coding scheme. For the multi-server scenario, we generalize composite coding to a distributed version. The outer bounds characterize the fundamental performance limits enforced by the problem setup that hold generally for any valid coding scheme. The performance bounds we propose are based on Shannon-type inequalities. For the centralized index coding problem, we define a series of interfering message structures based on the receiver side information. Such structures lead to nontrivial generalizations of the alignment chain model in the literature, based upon which we propose a series of novel iterative performance bounds. For the multi-server scenario, our main result is a general outer bound built upon the polymatroidal axioms of the entropy function. This outer bound utilizes general groupings of servers of different levels of granularity, allowing a natural tradeoff between tightness and computational complexity. The security aspect of the index coding problem is also studied, for which a number of achievability and performance bounds on the optimal secure communication rate are established. To conclude this thesis, we investigate a privacy-preserving data publishing problem, whose model is inspired by index coding, and characterize its optimal privacy-utility tradeoff

The rise of East and Southeast Asians tourists in Europe: the case of Vienna

Travelers from Asia have become a potential alternative for some of the traditional European tourist markets that have stagnated due to the economic crisis. The remarkable recovery of the Japanese market, the exponential growth of Chinese and Korean markets in addition to the high spending power of Thai and Chinese tourists have painted a highly positive scenario for the tourism industry in Vienna. This paper utilizes Vienna as a case study to explore the rise of Asian tourists in Europe. Tourism statistics, media reports and materials of destination marketing organization were analyzed for evaluation of the trends and growth of Asian outbound market to Vienna. The current study contributes to the tourism industry of Austria by highlighting the fragmentations in tourist consumption patterns of tourists from East and Southeast Asia

Proceedings of the International Conference on Genetic Improvement of Sorghum and Pearl Millet

In 1971, an international symposium, Sorghum in the Seventies , organized by the All India Coordinated Sorghum Improvement Project with support from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the Rockefeller Foundation was held in Hyderabad, India. The symposium reviewed the current knowledge base of the scientific, production and nutritional aspects of sorghum as a crop and as a human food. In 1981, ICRISAT, INTSORMIL, and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) sponsored Sorghum in the Eighties , an international symposium at ICRISAT Center in India, to review the achievements accomplished in sorghum research during the preceding 10 years. They reviewed sorghum\u27s role as an important cereal food, feed, construction material, and fuel in the developed and developing countries. In 1994, after discussion among INTSORMIL and ICRISAT scientists, it was recognized that an international meeting on the genetic improvement of grain sorghum and pearl millet was needed and would be strongly supported by the international sorghum and millet research community. Those discussions led to the September 1996 International Conference on Genetic Improvement of Sorghum and Pearl Millet. Grain sorghum and pearl millet are major food grains in the semiarid tropics of Africa, India, and South America. Sorghum ranks fifth among the world\u27s cereals, following wheat, maize, rice, and barley. F AO includes all millets together in its production estimates. Current estimates indicate that annual world sorghum production is approximately 61 million metric tons and world millet production is approximately 20 million metric tons. The inaugural speaker of this 1996 conference, Dr. Leland House, indicated global population is projected to increase to nine billion people by the year 2030 and is projected to increase most rapidly in the developing world. This will create a growing demand for food, as well as potential new market opportunities for food products developed from these basic grains

Reputational Privacy and the Internet: A Matter for Law?

Reputation - we all have one. We do not completely comprehend its workings and are mostly unaware of its import until it is gone. When we lose it, our traditional laws of defamation, privacy, and breach of confidence rarely deliver the vindication and respite we seek due, primarily, to legal systems that cobble new media methods of personal injury onto pre-Internet laws. This dissertation conducts an exploratory study of the relevance of law to loss of individual reputation perpetuated on the Internet. It deals with three interrelated concepts: reputation, privacy, and memory. They are related in that the increasing lack of privacy involved in our online activities has had particularly powerful reputational effects, heightened by the Internet’s duplicative memory. The study is framed within three research questions: 1) how well do existing legal mechanisms address loss of reputation and informational privacy in the new media environment; 2) can new legal or extra-legal solutions fill any gaps; and 3) how is the role of law pertaining to reputation affected by the human-computer interoperability emerging as the Internet of Things? Through a review of international and domestic legislation, case law, and policy initiatives, this dissertation explores the extent of control held by the individual over her reputational privacy. Two emerging regulatory models are studied for improvements they offer over current legal responses: the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, and American Do Not Track policies. Underscoring this inquiry are the challenges posed by the Internet’s unique architecture and the fact that the trove of references to reputation in international treaties is not making its way into domestic jurisprudence or daily life. This dissertation examines whether online communications might be developing a new form of digital speech requiring new legal responses and new gradients of personal harm; it also proposes extra-legal solutions to the paradox that our reputational needs demand an overt sociality while our desire for privacy has us shunning the limelight. As we embark on the Web 3.0 era of human-machine interoperability and the Internet of Things, our expectations of the role of law become increasingly important

Crop Genomics: Present and Future

The Center of Excellence in Genomics (CEG) at ICRISAT, while working with partners from around the world, has achieved a unique milestone in assembling draft genomes and large-scale re-sequencing of several important crops. CEG has also been at the forefront in genome sequence analysis and utilizing this information in crop improvement. ICRISAT is building on the work done by CEG as we embark with partners on a ‘Systems Biology’ framework to work across diverse disciplines to achieve nutritional security in service of realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)..

Molecular mechanisms in trophoblastic cells after LIF-stimulation with special regard to microRNAs: microRNAs in trophoblast cells

Human beings are not very fertile and the main reason seems to be dysregulation during the blastocyst implantation. This process is controlled by several molecules and their dysregulation can result in miscarries, pre-eclampsia or choriocarcinoma. One of those molecules is LIF. In this thesis, two review articles summarized LIF production, LIF-induced effects in trophoblastic cells, and the information about the potential clinical applications of LIF. The second part includes original articles focused on the activation and cross-talk of the JAK/STAT and MAPK cascades. It was demonstrated that ERK1/2 plays an important role in the proliferation of trophoblast cells. Likewise, a cross-talk between ERK1/2 and STAT3 was defined: ERK1/2 is not responsible for the STAT3 ser727 phosphorylation, but it has a negative effect on the translocation of STAT3 into the nucleus, which results in a decrease of trophoblast invasiveness

Security and trust in cloud computing and IoT through applying obfuscation, diversification, and trusted computing technologies

Cloud computing and Internet of Things (IoT) are very widely spread and commonly used technologies nowadays. The advanced services offered by cloud computing have made it a highly demanded technology. Enterprises and businesses are more and more relying on the cloud to deliver services to their customers. The prevalent use of cloud means that more data is stored outside the organization’s premises, which raises concerns about the security and privacy of the stored and processed data. This highlights the significance of effective security practices to secure the cloud infrastructure. The number of IoT devices is growing rapidly and the technology is being employed in a wide range of sectors including smart healthcare, industry automation, and smart environments. These devices collect and exchange a great deal of information, some of which may contain critical and personal data of the users of the device. Hence, it is highly significant to protect the collected and shared data over the network; notwithstanding, the studies signify that attacks on these devices are increasing, while a high percentage of IoT devices lack proper security measures to protect the devices, the data, and the privacy of the users. In this dissertation, we study the security of cloud computing and IoT and propose software-based security approaches supported by the hardware-based technologies to provide robust measures for enhancing the security of these environments. To achieve this goal, we use obfuscation and diversification as the potential software security techniques. Code obfuscation protects the software from malicious reverse engineering and diversification mitigates the risk of large-scale exploits. We study trusted computing and Trusted Execution Environments (TEE) as the hardware-based security solutions. Trusted Platform Module (TPM) provides security and trust through a hardware root of trust, and assures the integrity of a platform. We also study Intel SGX which is a TEE solution that guarantees the integrity and confidentiality of the code and data loaded onto its protected container, enclave. More precisely, through obfuscation and diversification of the operating systems and APIs of the IoT devices, we secure them at the application level, and by obfuscation and diversification of the communication protocols, we protect the communication of data between them at the network level. For securing the cloud computing, we employ obfuscation and diversification techniques for securing the cloud computing software at the client-side. For an enhanced level of security, we employ hardware-based security solutions, TPM and SGX. These solutions, in addition to security, ensure layered trust in various layers from hardware to the application. As the result of this PhD research, this dissertation addresses a number of security risks targeting IoT and cloud computing through the delivered publications and presents a brief outlook on the future research directions.Pilvilaskenta ja esineiden internet ovat nykyään hyvin tavallisia ja laajasti sovellettuja tekniikkoja. Pilvilaskennan pitkälle kehittyneet palvelut ovat tehneet siitä hyvin kysytyn teknologian. Yritykset enenevässä määrin nojaavat pilviteknologiaan toteuttaessaan palveluita asiakkailleen. Vallitsevassa pilviteknologian soveltamistilanteessa yritykset ulkoistavat tietojensa käsittelyä yrityksen ulkopuolelle, minkä voidaan nähdä nostavan esiin huolia taltioitavan ja käsiteltävän tiedon turvallisuudesta ja yksityisyydestä. Tämä korostaa tehokkaiden turvallisuusratkaisujen merkitystä osana pilvi-infrastruktuurin turvaamista. Esineiden internet -laitteiden lukumäärä on nopeasti kasvanut. Teknologiana sitä sovelletaan laajasti monilla sektoreilla, kuten älykkäässä terveydenhuollossa, teollisuusautomaatiossa ja älytiloissa. Sellaiset laitteet keräävät ja välittävät suuria määriä informaatiota, joka voi sisältää laitteiden käyttäjien kannalta kriittistä ja yksityistä tietoa. Tästä syystä johtuen on erittäin merkityksellistä suojata verkon yli kerättävää ja jaettavaa tietoa. Monet tutkimukset osoittavat esineiden internet -laitteisiin kohdistuvien tietoturvahyökkäysten määrän olevan nousussa, ja samaan aikaan suuri osuus näistä laitteista ei omaa kunnollisia teknisiä ominaisuuksia itse laitteiden tai niiden käyttäjien yksityisen tiedon suojaamiseksi. Tässä väitöskirjassa tutkitaan pilvilaskennan sekä esineiden internetin tietoturvaa ja esitetään ohjelmistopohjaisia tietoturvalähestymistapoja turvautumalla osittain laitteistopohjaisiin teknologioihin. Esitetyt lähestymistavat tarjoavat vankkoja keinoja tietoturvallisuuden kohentamiseksi näissä konteksteissa. Tämän saavuttamiseksi työssä sovelletaan obfuskaatiota ja diversifiointia potentiaalisiana ohjelmistopohjaisina tietoturvatekniikkoina. Suoritettavan koodin obfuskointi suojaa pahantahtoiselta ohjelmiston takaisinmallinnukselta ja diversifiointi torjuu tietoturva-aukkojen laaja-alaisen hyödyntämisen riskiä. Väitöskirjatyössä tutkitaan luotettua laskentaa ja luotettavan laskennan suoritusalustoja laitteistopohjaisina tietoturvaratkaisuina. TPM (Trusted Platform Module) tarjoaa turvallisuutta ja luottamuksellisuutta rakentuen laitteistopohjaiseen luottamukseen. Pyrkimyksenä on taata suoritusalustan eheys. Työssä tutkitaan myös Intel SGX:ää yhtenä luotettavan suorituksen suoritusalustana, joka takaa suoritettavan koodin ja datan eheyden sekä luottamuksellisuuden pohjautuen suojatun säiliön, saarekkeen, tekniseen toteutukseen. Tarkemmin ilmaistuna työssä turvataan käyttöjärjestelmä- ja sovellusrajapintatasojen obfuskaation ja diversifioinnin kautta esineiden internet -laitteiden ohjelmistokerrosta. Soveltamalla samoja tekniikoita protokollakerrokseen, työssä suojataan laitteiden välistä tiedonvaihtoa verkkotasolla. Pilvilaskennan turvaamiseksi työssä sovelletaan obfuskaatio ja diversifiointitekniikoita asiakaspuolen ohjelmistoratkaisuihin. Vankemman tietoturvallisuuden saavuttamiseksi työssä hyödynnetään laitteistopohjaisia TPM- ja SGX-ratkaisuja. Tietoturvallisuuden lisäksi nämä ratkaisut tarjoavat monikerroksisen luottamuksen rakentuen laitteistotasolta ohjelmistokerrokseen asti. Tämän väitöskirjatutkimustyön tuloksena, osajulkaisuiden kautta, vastataan moniin esineiden internet -laitteisiin ja pilvilaskentaan kohdistuviin tietoturvauhkiin. Työssä esitetään myös näkemyksiä jatkotutkimusaiheista

The Peanut Genome

This book presents the current state of the art in peanut genomics, focusing particularly on the latest genomic findings, tools and strategies employed in genome sequencing, transcriptomes and analysis, availability of public and private genomic resources, and ways to maximize the use of this information in peanut breeding programs. Further, it demonstrates how advances in plant genomics can be used to improve crop breeding. The peanut or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L. Millsp) is a globally important grain legume and oilseed crop, cultivated in over 100 countries and consumed in the form of roasted seeds, oil and confectionary in nearly every country on Earth. The peanut contributes towards achieving food and nutritional security, in addition to financial security through income generation; as such, it is also vital to the livelihood of the poor in the developing world. There have been significant advances in peanut research, especially in the last five years, including sequencing the genome of both diploid progenitors, and the availability of tremendous transcriptome resources, large-scale genomic variations that can be used as genetic markers, genetic populations (bi- and multiparent populations and germplasm sets), marker-trait associations and molecular breeding products. The immediate availability of the genome sequence for tetraploid cultivated peanuts is the most essential genomic resource for achieving a deeper understanding of peanut traits and their use in breeding programs