Quantum cryptography: a practical information security perspective

Quantum Key Exchange (QKE, also known as Quantum Key Distribution or QKD) allows communicating parties to securely establish cryptographic keys. It is a well-established fact that all QKE protocols require that the parties have access to an authentic channel. Without this authenticated link, QKE is vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks. Overlooking this fact results in exaggerated claims and/or false expectations about the potential impact of QKE. In this paper we present a systematic comparison of QKE with traditional key establishment protocols in realistic secure communication systems.Comment: 5 pages, new title, published version, minor changes onl

A comparative study of benchmarking approaches for non-domestic buildings: Part 1 – Top-down approach

Benchmarking plays an important role in improving energy efficiency of non-domestic buildings. A review of energy benchmarks that underpin the UK’s Display Energy Certificate (DEC) scheme have prompted necessities to explore the benefits and limitations of using various methods to derive energy benchmarks. The existing methods were reviewed and grouped into top-down and bottom-up approaches based on the granularity of the data used. In the study, two top-down methods, descriptive statistics and artificial neural networks (ANN), were explored for the purpose of benchmarking energy performances of schools. The results were used to understand the benefits of using these benchmarks for assessing energy efficiency of buildings and the limitations that affect the robustness of the derived benchmarks. Compared to the bottom-up approach, top-down approaches were found to be beneficial in gaining insight into how peers perform. The relative rather than absolute feedback on energy efficiency meant that peer pressure was a motivator for improvement. On the other hand, there were limitations with regard to the extent to which the energy efficiency of a building could be accurately assessed using the top-down benchmarks. Moreover, difficulties in acquiring adequate data were identified as a key limitation to using the top-down approach for benchmarking non-domestic buildings. The study suggested that there are benefits in rolling out of DECs to private sector buildings and that there is a need to explore more complex methods to provide more accurate indication of energy efficiency in non-domestic buildings

Bulk commodities and the Liverpool and London markets of the mid-19th century

We study British prices and the degree of commodity market integration between Liverpool, the bulk commodity port of mid-19th century, and London. A new wholesale commodity price index is presented for Liverpool and this is compared with the Klovland-Sauerbeck index. Next, we examine the relationship between Liverpool and London markets in specific bulk commodities. Our data consist of price indices for identically described goods in both Liverpool and London: three commodity groups (metal products, wood products, and processed foods), and the specific commodities of wheat and flour. Tests for cointegration reveal convergence among the six price pairs. We also find that the markets were highly integrated in the short-run because three of the commodity group pairs (processed foods, wheat, and flour) shared common features or cycles. A common cycle implies that transitory price shocks in Liverpool had the same impact on prices in London and vice versa. The importance of the London and Liverpool common cycle to a shock is brief. Its shock explains less than 20 percent of the variation in the relevant price levels after twelve months, on average.

Control of weeds in processing peas

GROWERS of processing peas face many problems not the least of which is the control of weeds. Crops which are to be harvested for canning or freezing must be practically weed free if good returns are to be obtained. A summary of the results of trials carried out in 1962 to test recent developments in the chemical war against weeds in crops of processing peas

Collaboration Between Fraternal Organizations and Colleges and Universities in Addressing Student Conduct Issues

In fall 2011, Kim Novak, a risk management consultant and Larry Wiese, then president of the Fraternity Executives Association (FEA) and Executive Director of Kappa Alpha Order approached the author about writing a White Paper that examined collaboration between staff from inter/national fraternity headquarters, chapter alumni leadership and administrators at colleges and universities in addressing student conduct by members of a chapter. The White Paper was presented at the FEA annual meeting in July 2012. The content of this article remains largely unchanged from the original White Paper and is published with permission from FEA

Control of eucalypt regrowth

EUCALYPT regrowth has presented a problem to farmers throughout the State for many years. Some species are checked by heavy grazing although, in the main, this method is far from satisfactory

How important are wild oats?

WILD OATS tend to grow best on heavy, fertile land. They can be a particular problem in wheat crops where soils of this type predominate. Trials have shown that wild oat competition is more important in a high yielding wheat crop than it is in a low yielding one. The extent of this competition is described in this article

Watch out for Afghan thistle

ALTHOUGH known throughout the cereal and sheep districts of Western Australia as Afghan thistle, this plant is not really a thistle at all. It belongs to the large botanical family of the Solonaceae and is closely related to the garden vegetables tomato and potato

Watch out for wild oats

SINCE the publication of the results of trials with Carbyne* on wild oats in cereal crops several enquiries have been received from farmers whose crops have been heavily infested with the weed