A musical way of representing criptographic keys

Motivated by the existing problem with the current cryptographic key representation methods, which try to represent a bunch of meaningless letters and numbers, a new representation method has been developed. Taking as reference "The Drunken Bishop" method, our method is based on the reproduction of a melody as a representation of the key. Instead of drawing the path of the bishop, we have created a chessboard composed of musical notes, creating a melody as the bishop moves. This melody is deterministic, as it doesn't change depending on the execution, a necessary feature when representing cryptographic keys. Two different methods have been developed in order to compare them with the previous methods and evaluate whether this new representation fits within the framework under study. Also, as a use-case example, the selected method has been implemented into the SSH protocol.Motivat pel problema existent amb els mètodes actuals de representació de claus criptogràfiques, que intenten representar un munt de lletres i números sense sentit, s'ha desenvolupat un nou mètode de representació. Prenent com a referència el mètode "The Drunken Bishop", el nostre mètode es basa en la reproducció d'una melodia com a representació de la tonalitat. En lloc de dibuixar el camí del bisbe, hem creat un tauler d'escacs compost per notes musicals, creant una melodia a mesura que el bisbe es mou. Aquesta melodia és determinista, ja que no canvia en funció de l'execució, característica necessària a l'hora de representar claus criptogràfiques. S'han desenvolupat dos mètodes diferents per comparar-los amb els anteriors i avaluar si aquesta nova representació s'adapta al marc que s'estudia. A més, com a exemple d'ús, el mètode seleccionat s'ha implementat al protocol SSH.Motivado por el problema existente con los métodos actuales de representación de claves criptográficas, que intentan representar un montón de letras y números sin sentido, se ha desarrollado un nuevo método de representación. Tomando como referencia el método The Drunken Bishop, nuestro método se basa en la reproducción de una melodía como representación de la tonalidad. En lugar de dibujar el camino del alfíl, hemos creado un tablero de ajedrez compuesto por notas musicales, creando una melodía a medida que el alfíl se mueve. Esta melodía es determinista, puesto que no cambia en función de la ejecución, característica necesaria a la hora de representar claves criptográficas. Se han desarrollado dos métodos distintos para compararlos con los anteriores y evaluar si esta nueva representación se adapta al marco que se estudia. Además, como ejemplo de uso, el método seleccionado se ha implementado en el protocolo SSH

Advancements in Quantum Statistical Mechanics: Modeling Hydrogen Diffusion in sII Clathrate Hydrates

Hydrogen clathrates have garnered increased interest as economically safe materials for hydrogen storage, but understanding the gas diffusion process continues to be unresolved. This is attributed to limited experimental evidence elucidating cage occupancy, insufficient descriptions of the molecular interactions, and conflicting theoretical evidence for rates of diffusion. Given the encapsulation of hydrogen gas in confined cages coupled with the low temperatures needed to study the frameworks, a quantum description of the molecules is required. In this thesis, a fully quantum statistical-mechanical study of hydrogen gas diffusion in the structure type II (sII) clathrate hydrate is presented using molecular simulation. To address many of the above concerns, this dissertation details new techniques in quantum statistical mechanics. The complex molecular environment is described by a machine-learned potential energy surface based on high-level quantum calculations. Quantum rate theory, using exact quantum statistics and approximate quantum dynamics, is applied in calculating diffusion rates. Finally, chemical potentials and free energy barriers of varying cage occupancies are determined using enhanced sampling path integral methodologies

The Surface Potential of the Water–Vapor Interface from Classical Simulations

The electrochemical surface potential across the water–vapor interface provides a measure of the orientation of water molecules at the interface. However, the large discrepancies between surface potentials calculated from <i>ab initio</i> (AI) and classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations indicate that what is being calculated may be relevant to different test probes. Although a method for extracting the electrochemical surface potential from AIMD simulations has been given, methods for MD simulations have not been clarified. Here, two methods for extracting the surface potential relevant to electrochemical measurements from MD simulations are presented. This potential is shown to be almost entirely due to the dipole contribution. In addition, the molecular origin of the dipole contribution is explored by using different potential energy functions for water. The results here show that the dipole contribution arises mainly from distortions in the hydration shell of the full hydrogen bonded waters on the liquid side of the interface, which is determined by the charge distribution of the water model. Disturbingly, the potential varies by 0.4 eV depending on the model. Although there is still no consensus on what that charge distribution should be, recent results indicate that it contains both a large quadrupole and negative charge out of the molecular plane, i.e., three-dimensional (3D) charge. Water models with 3D charge give the least distortion of the hydration shell and the best agreement with experimental surface potentials, although there is still uncertainty in the experimental values

Energy crops and bioenergy for rescuing deserting coastal area by desalination: feasibility study

The proposed innovative approach identifies a new application for biomass. Bioenergy is used to drive a desalination unit which produces water for irrigating energy crops. Biomass is cultivated on artificial soil made by a mixture of local soil and organic compost from MSW (Municipal Solid Wastes). This agro-energy farm scheme aims at rescuing arid lands near to the sea. The study defines a techno-economic compromise among energy crops, biomass generator, desalination unit and irrigation system, considering an arid area (10 ha) of Tenerife as reference case study. A small experimental activity (100 m2) has also been performed on site. A Sweet Sorghum cultivation, a bioenergy generator, a reverse osmosis plant and drip irrigation system have been chosen. The main result of the study is that the possibility of retaining some 14–20% surplus (in terms of biomass or energy or water) exists. The system is energetically feasible: rescued land can be doubled in approximately 4 yr. This approach is applicable to many Mediterranean coastal areas, as well as other similar situations elsewhere

Effects of Microcomplexity on Hydrophobic Hydration in Amphiphiles

Hydrophobic hydration is critical in biology as well as many industrial processes. Here, computer simulations of ethanol/water mixtures show that a three-stage mechanism of dehydration of ethanol explains the anomalous concentration dependence of the thermodynamic partial molar volumes, as well as recent data from neutron diffraction and Raman scattering. Moreover, the simulations show that the breakdown of hydrophobic hydration shells, whose structure is determined by the unique molecular properties of water, is caused by the microcomplexity of the environment and may be representative of early events in protein folding and structure stabilization in aqueous solutions