Dodrant-Homomorphic Encryption for Cloud Databases using Table Lookup

Users of large commercial databases increasingly want to outsource their database operations to a cloud service providers, but guaranteeing the privacy of data in an outsourced database has become the major obstacle to this move. Encrypting all data solves the privacy issue, but makes many operations on the data impossible in the cloud, unless the service provider has the capacity to decrypt data temporarily. Homomorphic encryption would solve this issue, but despite great and on-going progress, it is still far from being operationally feasible. In 2015, we presented what we now call dodrant-homomorphic encryption, a method that encrypts numeric values deterministically using the additively homomorphic Paillier encryption and uses table lookup in order to implement multiplications. We discuss here the security implications of determinism and discuss options to avoid these pitfalls

Stuttgart – a Livable City: The global Agenda 2030 at a local level Baseline study depicting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The United Nations adopted the Agenda 2030 in 2015. This was a basis for the transition to a world in which economic efficiency, ecological compatibility and social justice can be in accord with one another. The Agenda 2030 addresses all states (“every country is a developing country”) at an international, national and, just as much, at a regional and local level. An essential component of Agenda 2030 are the 17 goals for a sustainable development (Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs). To achieve the goals of Agenda 2030 the focus is on partnerships between various actors from administration, politics, business and civil society. In the further development of the Sustainable Development Strategy for Germany in 2017 the Federal Government oriented itself systematically towards the Agenda 2030 with the 17 SDGs. Many other German states also developed strategies geared towards the SDGs. In Baden-Württemberg the Advisory Council of the State Government prepared a proposal as to how the SDGs could be integrated into the state-specific guidelines for sustainable development. The municipalities, having a close relationship with the residents, play a particular role when it comes to implementing Agenda 2030. To map out the status of sustainable development on a quantitative basis of SDGs and at a local level, seven organisations started a nationwide project in 2017 “SDG indicators for municipalities” – proposals for SDGs at a local level: Association of German Cities, German County Association, German Association of Towns and Municipalities, German Institute for Urban Studies (Difu), Federal Institute for Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Research, Service Agency Communities in One World of Engagement Global and the Bertelsmann Foundation. As one of the first municipalities in Germany the State Capital Stuttgart took on the challenging task of pilot-testing the “SDG indicators for municipalities” from June to October 2018. A second phase between July and September 2019 saw the update of the data. The baseline study was carried out in cooperation with the Bertelsmann Foundation and Difu. The SDG baseline study for the State Capital Stuttgart has two main objectives: first, to analyse the current status of the city on the basis of data in place as regards social, ecological and economic sustainability and to improve the possibilities of a target-oriented, strategic development of the city’s measures; second, with this SDG baseline study to make a methodological contribution to a target-oriented strategic, further development of SDG indicators for an appropriate and effective design for the SDG baseline-studies in municipalities. The different starting conditions make a comparison of cities neither possible nor envisaged – however, the municipalities will receive a toolbox so they can gauge their own development. A qualitative depiction of selected programmes and measures of the State Capital Stuttgart complements the quantitative baseline study. These descriptions give an impression of the spectrum of the measures which can be taken with a view to sustainability. This should also address the issue in other cities and communities. Stuttgart sees itself here as an impulse-giver, but also as a learner, in a national and international network of local actors. The SDGs offer a comprehensive target system for sustainability and, at the same time, they point out possible conflicts of interests. The implementation of strategic objectives requires continuous monitoring. The participative, cross-divisional process of the baseline study shows that the tried and tested SDG indicators for municipalities are a suitable instrument to be quantitatively supportive in realising the existing objectives and approaches of the State Capital Stuttgart for social, ecological and economic sustainability. It was constructive to discuss the SDG indicators methodologically on a cross-sectoral basis, and to select and expand on issues to do justice to the distinctiveness of a municipality. This way, the cross-divisional knowledge management and the understanding of the correlations between the individual sustainability measures could be strengthened. All divisions and departments of the City of Stuttgart worked with enormous commitment on this report. Based on SDG indicators, this baseline study has for the first time developed a cross-sectoral instrument for a regular, all-embracing monitoring of correlations of social, economic and ecological sustainability. This forms an important basis for future recommendations and an effective action on the part of politics, administration and urban society which will help to serve the further development of municipal objectives and measures of implementing the SDGs in the State Capital Stuttgart. The present executive summary provides an overview of the methodological approach, a compilation of the selected indicators as well as the main results with regards to the process and further development of SDG- indicators

Prediction of dynamic pairwise wake vortex separations for approach and landing

Design and performance of the Wake Vortex Prediction and Monitoring System WSVBS are described. The WSVBS has been developed to tactically increase airport capacity for approach and landing on single runways as well as closely-spaced parallel runways. It is thought to dynamically adjust aircraft separations dependent on weather conditions and the resulting wake vortex behavior without compro-mis>ing safety. Dedicated meteorological instrumentation and short-term numerical terminal weather prediction provide the input to the prediction of wake-vortex behavior and respective safety areas. LIDAR monitors the correctness of WSVBS predictions in the most critical gates at low altitude. The WSVBS is integrated in the arrival manager AMAN of DLR. Performance tests of the WSVBS have been accomplished at Frankfurt airport in winter 2006/07 and at Munich Airport in summer 2010. Aircraft separations for landings on single runways have been compared employing the concepts of either heavy-medium weight class combinations or dynamic pairwise separations where individual aircraft type pairings are considered. For the very conservative baseline setup of the WSVBS the potential capacity gains of dynamic pairwise operations for single runways appear to be very small. On the other hand, the consideration of individual aircraft types and their respective wake characteristics may almost double the fraction of time when radar separation could be applied

A Reaction‐Induced Localization of Spin Density Enables Thermal C−H Bond Activation of Methane by Pristine FeC4+

The reactivity of the cationic metal‐carbon cluster FeC4+ towards methane has been studied experimentally using Fourier‐transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry and computationally by high‐level quantum chemical calculations. At room temperature, FeC4H+ is formed as the main ionic product, and the experimental findings are substantiated by labeling experiments. According to extensive quantum chemical calculations, the C−H bond activation step proceeds through a radical‐based hydrogen‐atom transfer (HAT) mechanism. This finding is quite unexpected because the initial spin density at the terminal carbon atom of FeC4+, which serves as the hydrogen acceptor site, is low. However, in the course of forming an encounter complex, an electron from the doubly occupied sp‐orbital of the terminal carbon atom of FeC4+ migrates to the singly occupied π*‐orbital; the latter is delocalized over the entire carbon chain. Thus, a highly localized spin density is generated in situ at the terminal carbon atom. Consequently, homolytic C−H bond activation occurs without the obligation to pay a considerable energy penalty that is usually required for HAT involving closed‐shell acceptor sites. The mechanistic insights provided by this combined experimental/computational study extend the understanding of methane activation by transition‐metal carbides and add a new facet to the dizzying mechanistic landscape of hydrogen‐atom transfer.DFG, 53182490, EXC 314: Unifying Concepts in CatalysisTU Berlin, Open-Access-Mittel - 201

Tagungsbericht "Laugh so you don’t Cry? Contemporary Encounters of the Tragic and the Comic" : University of Delhi, 1.‐3. März 2012

[D]ieser Veranstaltungstyp [wurde] 1996 etabliert […] und die komparatistisch angelegte Konferenz der Abteilung 2012 [wird] nunmehr zum 17. Mal in Folge ausgerichtet […]. Über den Kreis der 15 Referenten hinaus war sie mit etwa 120 aktiv mitdiskutierenden Teilnehmern gut besucht. Thematisch orientiert sich die Konferenz jeweils an einem Semesterkurs, den die Studierenden der am Department angebotenen Master‐Studiengänge (Deutsch, Französisch, Spanisch, Italienisch) durchlaufen

Regulatory T Cells

Immunologic self-tolerance is critically dependent on the induction but also on the downregulation of immune responses. Though ignored and neglected for many years, suppressor T cells, now renamed regulatory T cells (Tregs), play an important role in the negative regulation of immune responses. Several subsets of Tregs have been described. Naturally occurring CD4+CD25+ Tregs are important in the prevention of autoimmune diseases. Type 1 Tregs, another subtype of Treg that is inducible, exert their suppressive activity primarily via the release of IL-10. Detailed knowledge about the phenotype and mode of action of these cells will significantly increase our understanding of the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases and will also help to identify new therapeutic strategies