bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Approach of Implementing a Virtual Hotel Organization Using Web Services Technology
Authors: Ştefanache Cristina-Maria  , Simon Anda-Mina  , Nagy Ilona-Mariana  , Sitar-Tăut Dan-Andrei
Published: February 2025

In the context of Globalization, the “World Economy” is going through a full scale changing process, while adapting to the newly imposed conditions. The “New Economy” has been developing new standards in the need to overcome the barriers in crossing the line from small business to large organizations, both in management and informational systems. Databases are essential tools for obtaining information, vital in the decision making process. In monolith organizations, managing and retrieving information through queries does not represent a challenge anymore; however larger structures deal with difficulties due to data distribution, autonomy and heterogeneity. The latter need adequate data processing and decision making systems, capable of offering essential information rapidly and cost efficient. By integration in the new structure of preexistent systems, the communication between and within the organization must ensure the premises of economic growth and profit increase. Web services represent the next stage of evolution for e-business – the visualization of systems from the perspective that “everything is a service”, manipulation and dynamic discovery by using messaging through a network. To ensure efficient and rapid communication, the present tendency is to provide mobile solutions, available with the latest technology, capable of ensuring similar functionalities as the classic applications. Their main advantages are mobility, remote access, and the growth of the market segment of each organization. The goal of the paper is achievement of interoperability in heterogeneous systems, by taking the necessary steps to get the integration. The basic idea was developing a useful and economically efficient application that comes in support of small companies by offering the possibility of participating in a larger organizational structure and of maximizing their profits by doing so.
A wearable system for Tele-monitoring and Tele-assistance of patients with integration of solutions from chronobiology for prediction of illness
Authors: Valera Antonio J. Jara  , Izquierdo Miguel A. Zamora  , Skarmeta Antonio F. Gómez
Published: February 2025

The aged population and life expectancy has been increasing worldwide in the last years and this continues to increase. This poses a series of challenges to satisfy the care of elder people, to assure their quality of life and treatment of illness. Unfortunately, the current infrastructure is not sufficient to meet the emerging demand, so many of these people continue living in their homes. In this context, we propose a tele-assistance solution to satisfy that demand.
Ontology access patterns for pervasive computing environments
Authors: Villanueva F.J.  , Villa D.  , Barba J.  , Rincón F.  , Moya F.  , López J.C.
Published: February 2025

Lately, the use of ontologies for semantic description in pervasive systems has been researched and applied in numerous projects. The characteristic of this type of representation for data, services, interfaces, etc. allows the interaction between entities in a pervasive environment and then the development of advanced services. However, pervasive systems include a high number of mobile devices that have to access to several ontology-based information repositories with different representations, interfaces, etc. This fact limits the interaction capacity of mobile devices which have not been designed taking this interaction into account. In this paper we define an access extension for ontology-based pervasive systems that can be automatically generated. Based on the general structure of such systems and on the characteristics of the applications specifically developed to interact with them, we have derived several patterns in order to ease the information lookup and to allow a basic interaction with the system. In this way, we define a set of access patterns based in common structures and interactions. These patterns work in a similar way that design patterns do in software engineering. They are designed independently of the specific ontology implementation and representation. Finally, we present a tool that automatically generates a specific implementation of the defined patterns and we describe a prototype that uses this extension by means of Web Services.
Reputation Building for Electronic Marketplaces
Authors: Delina Radoslav
Published: February 2025

Reputation mechanisms are considered as trust-building processes which are highly relevant in e-commerce marketplaces. The different forms of reputation building mechanisms have different level of significance and necessity for trust building. The paper presents results from pilot research, where the significance and necessity of particular trust building mechanisms esp. reputation building services for electronic marketplace was analyzed. Together, the possibilities of service model are discussed.
Multiple Risk Assessment for Various Natural Hazards for Georgia
Authors: Chelidze T.  , Tsereteli N.  , Tsereteli E.  , Kaldani L.  , Dolidze J.  , Varazanashvili O.  , Svanadze D.
Published: February 2025

The critical importance of accurate mapping and assessment of natural hazards and risks is discussed, which hazards and risks relate not only to seismic events but also to floods and avalanches, and their consequences. Accurate mapping is crucial in the early warning process and there is evidence of considerable discrepancies in previous mapping efforts. These discrepancies can have major economic effects on, for example, investment potential and insurance factors. Thus, hazards must be more accurately defined and risk assessments must be based on multi-risk calculation methods.
Emergency Planning for Tailings Dams
Authors: Coldewey Wilhelm G.
Published: February 2025

Tailings dams present a tremendous risk to the environment and the human health. For this reason emergency planning for all installations of tailings storage facilities are necessary. Recommendations for measurements concerning the safety of tailings dams are given.
Mining Dump Rehabilitation: the Potential Role of Bigeminate-legged Millipeds (Diplopoda) and Artificial Mixed-Soil Habitats
Authors: Pakhomov O.  , Kulbachko Y.  , Didur O.  , Loza I.
Published: February 2025

The paper is devoted to research on the interaction of artificial soil blends which may be used for soil rehabilitation of mining dumps and soil saprophages (Diplopoda). The mutual influence of mining spoil/rock, chernozem soil and litter of Robinia pseudoacacia L. on Diplopoda biomass and carbon dioxide emission of artificial soil blends has been studied. Mathematical models that describe the dependence of vegetable-eating milliped's biomass and carbon dioxide emission changing upon experimental factors (blends composition) are presented. A significant decrease of body mass of the millipeds inhabiting mining gobs, and an increase in response to the addition of Robinia pseudoacacia L. leaf litter to the soil blend, were found. Experiments testified that biological activity of soil blends increases in the presence of invertebrate saprophages. The experimental results show that this will help enhance the quality of the overall soil media and so reduce the potential polluting effects from surface run-off from mining spoil and reduce erosion risks.
Contaminated Sites – Risk Management in Austria
Authors: Jobstmann Heide
Published: February 2025

Groundwater is by far the most frequent receptor at risk from contaminated sites. Between 1989, when the Law for Cleanup of Contaminated Sites (ALSAG) was implemented in Austria, and 2006 the remediation of contaminated sites enabled a qualitative amelioration of groundwater bodies of about 46 million m3. Remediation targets cannot always be met. Ecologically practicable solutions have to be adapted to the site conditions given.
Radio-Ecological Monitoring in Moldovan Agricultural Industry as a Factor for Forecasting, Evaluating and Mitigating the Impacts of Radiological Pollution of Agricultural Land
Authors: Nedealkov Semion
Published: February 2025

In the article, the assessment of the nuclear environment on the territory of the Republic of Moldova before and after the Chernobyl accident is presented. The results of research on Sr-90, Cs-137 nuclide migration in the soil surface, the factors and parameters causing their accumulation and transfer to the yield of the main agricultural crops are shown. On that basis, the methodical approaches to the assessment, forecasting and regulation levels of contamination of plants and soils are described. The need for a radiological monitoring and its application as a means of nuclear product quality management, and the optimization of protective measures for the diminution of consequences in the agricultural sphere from nuclear contamination of agricultural land, is defined.
GIS Application for the Assessment of Seismic Damage to Buildings
Authors: Zaicenco Anton  , Alkaz Vasile
Published: February 2025

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have been found to be very useful in seismic hazard and risk assessment studies. GIS can be used to integrate vast amounts of data geographically, take the spatial distribution of phenomena into consideration and communicate the results graphically, performing analysis of complex mathematical models. The central part of Chisinau (6.3 km2site), capital of the Republic of Moldova, has been the case study in a project aimed at the assessment of vulnerability of buildings to seismic impact. The city is exposed to Vrancea earthquakes experiencing PGA ≅ 300 cm/s2for recurrence interval T = 475 yr [6]. Collection, classification and digitization into ArcView GIS format of the main characteristics of the subsoil, such as mean shear wave velocity, natural period of vibration and amplification factor, compilation of database for the existing structures, as well as construction of Digital Terrain Model (DTM), were performed. The final product is the GIS database and software module for purposes of evaluation of seismic damage to buildings. The incorporation of the amplification capacity of the soil through the direct utilization of the transfer function constructed on the base of geotechnical data, allows fast assessment of scenario seismic events and mapping of parameters of the ground motion (PGA, EPA, etc.). The existence of moderate-magnitude and blast records for the studied site, as well as databases of building damage, allow validation of the accepted techniques and methodologies for ground motion and damage simulations.
Actuarial Risk Management Through Geological Risk-Geoinformation Systems (RiskGIS)
Authors: Rudolph T.
Published: February 2025

Actuarial geo-information systems are mainly used for the spatial analysis of surface data sets. But geological, hydrogeological as well as hydrological aspects should be considered in the calculation of premiums in the insurance industry. A first deployment method for these geo-scientific subsurface information is shown in this paper.
Operation of Automatic Water Monitoring Systems for Emergency Planning
Authors: Anke Stephan  , Blohm Werner  , Lechelt Michael
Published: February 2025

Time and again, shipping accidents and major incidents at industrial establishments have demonstrated how quickly serious water pollution can occur, with effects such as fish mortality and other harmful impacts on the aquatic habitat. In order to minimise the consequences of such incidents, continuous water monitoring is indispensable in the interests of early identification and timely counter-measures. This is all the more essential in an industrial conurbation like Hamburg. Here the water quality measuring network, with a current total of ten measuring stations, has been operating on all important bodies of water since 1988. In addition to averting danger, continuous water monitoring makes a contribution to prevention (detection of illegal discharges) and to observing short-term and long-term changes in water quality.
The Environmental Benefits from the Treatment of Waste Water and Slime Derived from Crude Water preconditioning at S.C. CET Iaşi S.A.
Authors: Rotariu Mugurel  , Ivana Dorin  , Tofan Lavinia  , Rotariu Monica  , Toma Ovidiu
Published: February 2025

Pre-conditioning of crude water at S.C. CET Iasi S.A. is affected with lime and FeSO4, the result consisting of a semi-liquid substance (slime). The slime is temporarily stored in tanks and is transported by truck to the CET Iasi II Holboca slag and ash storage centre. The transportation and storage conditions, as well as the need for environment protection, led to a new approach being adopted. A new installation for slime transport from the temporary storage tanks to the drying installation was created; the result consists of a solid product that is easy to transport and store.
Designing ICT for the over 80s
Authors: Waterworth Eva Lindh  , Waterworth John A.
Published: February 2025

Many older people (over 80 years) are excluded from the use of new information and communication technology (ICT) because of the prevalence of mild to moderate memory problems in this group. This is a factor which contributes to the tendency for them to become socially isolated and mentally under-stimulated and inactive, a situation which may exacerbate dementia and associated cognitive impairment. To understand any group of users, the design team needs to get to know them. Spending time with members of this particular group, and especially observing and participating in their normal social activities, provides many unexpected insights on which to base design decisions. Older people with mild to moderate cognitive impairment often cannot learn new skills, or at least cannot retain them. However, longstanding knowledge generally remains. For this reason, a design based around an interaction metaphor from earlier technology can prove effective. We introduce the MAMA (Mobile Augmented Memory Aid) project, aimed at older users with mild to moderate cognitive impairment. We describe the hardware and software prototypes that have resulted so far. We go on to present five design principles developed during the project, and suggest that these may serve as a general approach to designing technology for older people. We indicate future work and how our approach can be applied more generally.
User Needs and User Requirements of People with Dementia: Multimedia Application for Entertainment
Authors: Mäki Outi  , Topo Päivi
Published: February 2025

The aim of this paper is to investigate how universal design principles can be applied to design for people with memory problems or dementia. We present design of a multimedia product for entertainment as an example of how user requirements of people with dementia were taken into account in the design process and how the decisions taken during the design process were associated to universal design principles. According to an assessment study the multimedia product called Picture Gramophone succeeded in meeting the needs of people with dementia when they were visiting dementia day care centre. We conclude that universal design principles are useful when designing technology and environment for people with memory problems or dementia but they need to be combined with dementia specific knowledge. Involvement of people with dementia is essential when designing such products.
Involving People with Dementia in the Design Process – Examples of Iterative Design
Authors: Orpwood Roger
Published: February 2025

This chapter reflects on some of the lessons that we have learnt over the last few years exploring the design of assistive technology for people with dementia. The key message is the importance of involving people with dementia and their carers in the design process. Such user engagement is crucial in order to highlight their needs, and to guide the design and development process to ensure effective equipment evolves. The chapter discusses some of the issues that arise when working with people with dementia in this way. It goes on to show how the engineering design process needs to be adapted, both to ensure effective designs, and to ensure that user engagement doesn't lead to ethical problems. The chapter also considers specific design techniques which have been found to be very useful such as Wizard-of-Oz testing, the use of carer emulation, as well as techniques that can help the design of devices that are very intuitive to operate. The impact of emotional memory on design solutions, and the desire to empower users through the use of technology, are also both discussed. Several examples from our own work are provided to illustrate all these discussions. The chapter concludes with an encouragement to other designers, that their skills have an important role to play in assisting people with dementia.
Bi- and Multilingual Electronic Dictionaries: Their Design and Application to Low- and Middle-Density Languages
Authors: Derzhanski Ivan A.
Published: February 2025

This paper covers the fundamentals of the design, implementation and use of bi- and multilingual electronic dictionaries. I also touch upon the Bulgarian experience, past and present, in creating electronic dictionaries, as well as specialised tools for their development, within several international projects.
Computational Morphology for Lesser-studied Languages
Authors: Oflazer Kemal
Published: February 2025

Many language processing tasks such as parsing or surface generation need to either extract and process the information encoded in the words or need to synthesize words from available semantic and syntactic information. This chapter presents an overview of the main concepts in building morphological processors for natural languages, based on the finite state approach – the state-of-the-art mature paradigm for describing and implementing such systems.
Low-Density Language Strategies for Persian and Armenian
Authors: Megerdoomian Karine
Published: February 2025

This paper presents research on the feasibility and development of methods for the rapid creation of stopgap language technology resources for low-density languages. The focus is on two broad strategies: (i) related language bootstrapping can be used to port existing technology from a resource-rich language to its associated lower-density variant; and (ii) clever use of linguistic knowledge can be employed to scale down the need for large amount of training or development data. Based on Persian and Armenian languages, the paper illustrates several methods that can be implemented in each instance in the goal of reducing human effort and avoiding the scarce data issue faced by statistical systems.
Treebanking in VIT: from Phrase Structure to Dependency Representation
Authors: Delmonte Rodolfo
Published: February 2025

In this chapter, we are dealing with treebanks and their applications. We describe VIT (Venice Italian Treebank), focusing on the syntactic-semantic features of the treebank that are partly dependent on the adopted tagset, partly on the reference linguistic theory, and, lastly – as in every treebank – on the chosen language: Italian. By discussing examples taken from treebanks available in other languages, we show the theoretical and practical differences and motivations that underlie our approach. Finally, we discuss the quantitative analysis of the data of our treebank and compare them to other treebanks. In general, we try to substantiate the claim that treebanking grammars or parsers strongly depend on the chosen treebank; and eventually this process seems to depend both on factors such as the adopted linguistic framework for structural description and, ultimately, the described language.
Under Paid, Under Sexed and on the Way Out? The Past, Present and Future of US Basing in Europe
Authors: Duke Simon
Published: February 2025

US military bases in contemporary Europe differ from those of the Cold War, largely due to the environment in which they operate. Yet there remains a strong legacy in terms of the location and disposition of the bases stemming from the Cold War. This is in part due to the heavy investments undertaken by the US in established main operating bases in Europe, but also because the European allies continue to offer one of the most stable politically permissive locations for long-term basing arrangements. The US is currently undergoing a force transformation in order to address a wide variety of threats and overseas military bases continue to be fundamental to force projection, many of which remain in Europe. Yet, for the host nations the bases no longer unquestionably serve the economic or political interests of the hosts nations as they once did. The implication of this is that the political ramifications of where forces are being projected to (and how they are used) have become the focus of attention, and of opposition.
US Bases in Spain since 1953
Authors: Sanz Rosa Pardo
Published: February 2025

The military presence of the US in Spain dates back to 1953. With the agreements signed that year, Spain left its traditional policy of neutrality to align with the Western bloc. Since then, military bases have been at the core of Spanish-US relations, and have had a decisive influence upon the Spanish population's perception of the great American power.
Principles of program termination
Authors: Cook Byron
Published: February 2025

In this paper we introduce the basic concepts behind the problem of proving program termination, including well-founded relations, well-ordered sets, and ranking functions. We also connect the notion of termination of computer programs with that of well-founded relations. This paper introduces no original concepts, nor does it propose solutions towards the the problem of automating termination proofs. It does, however, provide a foundation from which the reader can peruse the more advanced literature on the topic.
Graphical Models of Separation Logic
Authors: Hoare C.A.R.  , Wehrman Ian  , O'Hearn Peter W.
Published: February 2025

Labelled graphs are used to model control and data flow among events occurring in the execution of a (possibly concurrent) program. Data flow is a unifying concept that covers both access to memory and communication along channels; it covers many variations including weakly consistent memory, re-ordered execution, and communication channels that are multiplexed, buffered, or otherwise unreliable. Nevertheless, the laws of Hoare and Jones correctness reasoning remain valid when interpreted in this general model. The key is use of the same language and logic for the specification of programs as for description of the behavior of programs. We make no attempt to lift the level of abstraction above that of the atomic events involved in program execution.
Specification and Verification of Object-Oriented Software
Authors: Leino K. Rustan M.
Published: February 2025

The specification of object-oriented and other pointer-based programs must be able to describe the structure of the program's dynamically allocated data as well as some abstract view of what the code implements. The verification of such programs can be done by generating logical verification conditions from the program and its specifications and then analyzing the verification conditions by a mechanical theorem prover.
A Mechanically Checked Proof of the Correctness of the Boyer-Moore Fast String Searching Algorithm
Authors: Moore J. Strother  , Martinez Matt
Published: February 2025

We describe a mechanically checked proof that the Boyer-Moore fast string searching algorithm is correct. This is done by expressing both the fast algorithm and the naïve (obviously correct) algorithm as functions in applicative Common Lisp and proving them equivalent with the ACL2 theorem prover. The algorithm verified differs from the original Boyer-Moore algorithm in one key way: the original algorithm preprocessed the pattern into two arrays and skipped forward by the maximum of the skip distances recorded in those arrays; the algorithm verified uses one array that combines the two original arrays (and awhose size is the product of that of the original arrays). The algorithm here skips at least as far as the original Boyer-Moore algorithm and often skips further, though we do not prove that mechanically. A key fact about the original algorithm is that preprocessing can be done in time linear in the length of the pattern, |pat|, and the size of the alphabet, |α|. Our implementation of the preprocessing here is unconcerned with efficiency and has complexity |α|×|pat|2. Our mechanically checked proof includes a proof that our preprocessing is correct. We briefly describe a proof (shown in detail elsewhere) that an imperatively coded version of the fast algorithm implements the algorithm verified here.
An Introduction to Separation Logic
Authors: Reynolds John C.
Published: February 2025

Separation logic, originally developed by O'Hearn and Reynolds, is an extension of Hoare logic originally intended for reasoning about programs that use shared mutable data structures. It was based on the concept of separating conjuction, which permits the concise expression of aliasing constraints.
Investment of Binationals in Morocco: Opportunities, Constraints and Perspectives
Authors: Ezzouak Mohamed
Published: February 2025

The social profile of the Moroccan community abroad considerably changed these last decades. Of an essentially labor, male, illiterate population native from rural parts of Morocco, we have a multicard community today: first generation, binationals, women, children, manager, executives, civil servants, workers, artists,... It is in this new dynamics that must be understood the transformation of the financial streams between Morocco and host countries.
L'ouverture du Maghreb passe aussi par la culture
Authors: Benlyazid Farida
Published: February 2025

La culture est l'expression de la dignité de l'humain, et la culture imposée est ressentie comme une agression qui débouche sur le repli identitaire. En cette période de globalisation, c'est l'ouverture du Monde qui passe par la culture et non seulement celle du Maghreb. L'ignorance est mère de tous les maux, elle incite à la peur de l'autre, au rejet et à la haine.
Radical Islamism's Development in France. Security, Social and Economic Consequences
Authors: Denece Eric
Published: February 2025

The influence of radical Islamist groups is a growing threat to French business. According to a report commissioned by several retail and courrier companies, the Islamists' strategy is to “take control of Muslims within the workforce” and then “challenge the rules in order to impose Islamic values”.
Advantages and Constraints of Bearing Two Cultures
Authors: Bounechada Mohamed
Published: February 2025

Being a French Algerian Berber with a british culture implies a perfect knowledge of one's self. Mohamed Bounechada describes his experience in Europe.
Are the North Africans Aliens?
Authors: Ksikes Driss
Published: February 2025

Who are the North African? Some Extra-terrestrials who look for a common identity? Is the dreamed “Maghreb” a reality? Driss Ksikes goes through this theory and draw up here their picture, ironic and pertinent at the same time. He sets out a disputed and constrating statement of the North African belonging concept.
The Ethnic Perceptions of the Other
Authors: Parfitt Tudor
Published: February 2025

The West keeps trying to understand what's on the other side of the Mediterranean. The notion that someone not sharing your cultural and ethnic background is seen as the Other is not recent. Our perception of the Other, especially the Muslim, passes through the media, which role is crucial in the formation of ethnic perceptions of the Other. Recent years have witnessed the publication of numerous academic books dedicated to that topic.
Can the North African Diaspora Be Inspired by the Asian Models?
Authors: Ghiles Francis
Published: February 2025

Why does the Chinese diaspora invest heavily in China, while North Africans working outside their countries do not? Could the North African diaspora, in particular, draw inspiration from Chinese and Indian diaspora whose role of promoting economic liberalization in their countries of origin has been so important in a generation? The point is that the economic role of the North African diasporas is minor, the bulk of remittances by migrant workers being spent to purchase consumer goods. The role of the diaspora has taken exceptional magnitude in China, in the measure of the very strong growth of the economy of the country: it is estimated that two thirds of the foreign direct investments are from the diaspora. Even if such a phenomenon is unlikely to be repeated in North Africa with such a scale, could it affect the pace of economic growth in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria?
S'inspirer des expériences positives des binationaux pour établir une stratégie
Authors: Bouod Hassan
Published: February 2025

L'auteur s'inspire de son expérience personnelle, en tant que binational franco-marocain, et professionnelle, en tant que dirigeant d'entreprise, pour suggérer des solutions qui permettront aux binationaux d'être visibles dans la société et d'être des acteurs du développement dans leurs pays d'origine. Selon lui, cela passe par le développement de réseaux structurés et étendus.
Terrorist Attacks as a Social Problem
Authors: De Tombe Dorothea Jacquelin
Published: February 2025

In this article terrorism is reflected from a social science point of view. Terrorism is seen as a complex societal problem that must be analyzed according to the theory of societal complexity. The Compram methodology is based on the theory of societal complexity (DeTombe, 1994) and is advised by the OECD to handle complex societal issues on global safety. This methodology gives directions to analyze the situation, to find causes, to find interventions, to prepare and guide negotiations and to evaluate results afterwards. In acting on terrorism several phases can be distinguished. The most important phase is the prevention phase: not to have terrorist attacks at all. This can be done by focusing on the causes of terrorism. Shifting the main human power and money to the phase of prevention will, in the end, help to mitigate terrorist attacks. There are many causes for terrorism. Some of these will be discussed like the relation between power and idealism, between fundamentalism, identity and religion, and between poverty and immigration. An example of trying to influence one of the causes of terrorism is implemented in a project in Turkey of increasing the level of living. The theory of societal complexity dictates that before finding interventions the problem has to be defined and the causes have to be analyzed. Otherwise only effects are handled and the problem will stay the same. Looking at the way governments in Western Europe and the USA react to threats of terrorism, it seems that threats of terrorism are used to abuse the rights of civilians. Analyzing the ‘war on terrorism’ of the Bush jr. administration seems to support this statement. This results in a double threat for the people, that of terrorist attacks and that of their own government.
Understanding the Roots of Terrorism: An Evaluation of Its Origins and Future
Authors: Çitlioğlu Ercan
Published: February 2025

Terror is a concept that dates back to the emergence of mankind yet is mistakenly associated with certain cultures, societies and groups by not only the major powers of our day but also by scholars as well. New developments in the global order associated with issues such as energy security, the environment, ethnic conflicts and the depletion of common goods such as water resources are expected to have a significant effect on the proliferation of terrorism. As acts of terror increase, the need to better understand the roots of terrorism emerges. This paper seeks to address the history of terrorism, its similarities to and differences from another form of aggression, war, similar to terror in many ways, especially throughout history. The major powers of our day are also guilty of discharging terror-like violence throughout their histories with the developing world, even though the presence of a law of war exists. Although terror is different from war in many respects, their similarities, especially when the history of the modernized world is concerned, are important to analyze. There is no scientific proof that one culture or ethnic group is more susceptible to carrying out terrorist acts, however, terrorism can become a real alternative for those societies and people that feel exploited and degraded by other states or groups. The ultimate argument of the paper is that without addressing the underlying structural reasons that have led to the emergence and widespread use of terror by marginalized groups, it will be impossible to eradicate terrorism.
The Universal Legal Regime against Terrorism – the Role of the United Nations
Authors: Ahnfeldt-Mollerup Ulrik
Published: February 2025

This article describes the universal legal regime against terrorism and explains the role of the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in advancing this regime. The main Security Council instruments described are the 12 international conventions, 3 protocols and 1 amendment relating to the fight against terrorism. An overview of the level of ratification of these instruments is provided.
A Framework for Stream Ciphers Based on Pseudorandomness, Randomness and Coding
Authors: Mihaljević Miodrag J.
Published: February 2025

This paper yields a generic framework for design of stream ciphers based on a joint employment of pseudo-randomness, randomness and coding, and its two particular settings called SCF-E and SCF-W: The first one is based on a simple homophonic encoding via random bits embedding; The second one employs the wire-tap channel coding. In the both schemes decoding complexities with and without secret key are extremely different providing the origin for the security. The developed frameworks have potential of providing that complexity of recovering secret key in the known plaintext attacking scenario is close to the complexity of recovering the secret key via the exhaustive search. The proposed design approach can be considered as a trade-off between the increased security and decreased communications efficiency which in a number of scenarios appears as a suitable one.
On the Studies Related to Linear Codes in Generalized Construction of Resilient Functions with Very High Nonlinearity
Authors: Maitra Subhamoy
Published: February 2025

Here we briefly survey the state of the art results related to nonlinearity of resilient Boolean functions. We mainly study the existing constructions based on coding theoretic techniques.
Coded Modulation and the Arrival of Signcryption
Authors: Zheng Yuliang
Published: February 2025

Digital communications engineers strive to transmit data in a more efficient and reliable manner, while cryptographers endeavor to offer both data confidentiality and integrity. In the 1970's and 1980's, researchers in digital communications successfully developed techniques for multi-level coded modulation that simultaneously allow the correct of transmissions errors and the demodulation of signals upon the arrival at the receiver. Reminiscent of coded modulation, signcryption is a cryptographic technique developed to “hit two birds in one stone”, namely to provide both data confidentiality and origin unforgeability with reduced overhead. In this article the author recounts his unique experience in witnessing the evolution and perfection of coded modulation techniques, and more important, how the experience inspired him to embark on the journey of searching for efficient techniques for combining public key encryption and digital signatures; the author also attempts to illuminate future directions for efficient, hybrid cryptographic techniques.
Algebraic Immunity of Boolean Power Functions with Kasami and Niho Exponents
Authors: Andics Agnes
Published: February 2025

Algebraic attacks are efficient if one can express the cipher as a system of multivariate algebraic equations whose solution gives the secret key. The complexity of the attack depends on the degree of these equations. For any n-variable Boolean function, it is always possible to find a Boolean function g ≠ 0 with degree at mostsuch that f*g has degree at most. For being resistant against algebraic attack, the function f used in a stream cipher should not have low degree multiples g ≠ 0, for which the degree of f*g falls much below
Some Comments on Bossert-Mahr-Heilig Scheme
Authors: Borissov Yuri L.  , Manev Nikolai L.
Published: February 2025

In 1993, Bossert, Mahr and Heilig proposed a cryptographic scheme based on error-correcting codes that provides simultaneously error correction and message authentication. They also sketched out an idea how the proposed scheme to be analyzed. Elaborating on this idea, we reveal an weakness in a concrete implementation which can be exploited by active intruder to launch an attack with considerable probability of success. Countermeasures against this probabilistic attack are given.
Self-Dual Codes with Some Applications to Cryptography
Authors: Bouyuklieva Stefka
Published: February 2025

The purpose of this paper is to present some topics of the theory of self-dual codes with interesting open problems. Moreover, an idea how to use self-dual codes to construct secret-sharing schemes is given.
Secret Sharing and Error Correcting
Authors: Nikova Svetla  , Nikov Ventzislav
Published: February 2025

The goal of this paper is to present a survey on certain recent developments in the theory of unconditional Multi Party Computation (MPC) and Secret Sharing Schemes (SSS) related to Error Correcting Codes.
Authentication Codes from Error-Correcting Codes; An Overview
Authors: van Tilborg Henk
Published: February 2025

The purpose of an authentication code is to give proof that a message is authentic, i.e. it was not sent by an imposter and it has not been altered on its way to the receiver. Secrecy could also be an issue here, but in many cases the receiver just wants to be sure that the message is genuine.
Coding Theory and Hash Function Design
Authors: Indesteege Sebastiaan  , Preneel Bart
Published: February 2025

We illustrate how coding theory was applied in the design of the cryptographic hash function LANE [8]. The generic structure of the LANE compression function could potentially be vulnerable to a class of meet-in-the-middle attacks. While difficult to avoid at first sight, restating the problem in the domain of error correcting codes naturally leads to a simple and elegant solution. This ensures that these attacks do not apply to LANE.
Reconsidering Homeland Security Policy: Recognizing the Role of Emergency Management in Promoting Terrorism Resistance and Resilience
Authors: McEntire David A.
Published: February 2025

The following chapter argues that emergency management must be seen as a valued participant in homeland security policy. It acknowledges that intelligence, military and law enforcement officials are vital for efforts to prevent terrorism. It then defines emergency management, and discusses terminology that is related to both terrorism and other types of disasters. The chapter concludes with a discussion about the benefits of involving emergency management in homeland security.
Origins of Terrorism: An Alternative Way for Political Expression
Authors: Case Erik  , Sahliyeh Emile
Published: February 2025

Structural approaches to analyzing the roots of terrorism have identified state level variables (for example, repression and state capacity) as possible causes of terrorism. We argue that these structural features represent limitations on non-violent political expression, thus increasing the utility of using violent political tactics, namely terrorism. Our study expands upon existing empirical research to include both domestic and transnational terrorism, as well as conceptualizing economic freedom as a form of political expression. We present summary statistics that add support to our argument.
Collaborative Crisis Management: Comparative Perspectives on Crisis Management in the European Countries, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, and Turkey
Authors: Kapucu Naim  , Unlu Ali  , Sahin Bahadir
Published: February 2025

Crisis management (CM) systems today are gaining more importance than ever before because of the increasing number of natural and manmade crises. However, there is not a unique worldwide CM policy; the systems are different in every single country as exemplified by even developed European Union member countries that apply different systems. Defining the characteristics of four EU countries may give an idea in understanding the various public administration perspectives and their effects on CM systems. This paper explains the crisis management systems in Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Turkey and also provides relevant CM case analyses from those countries.
Building Terrorism Resistant Communities (BTRC): The Problem and the Way Out
Authors: Sıddık  , Ekici  , Muş Ekrem
Published: February 2025

This study points out two important problems related to protecting our communities from terrorism and introduces a community based protection method to develop Terrorism Resistant Communities. A comparative content analysis method is used to determine the characteristics of existing community based security programs. For this purpose, programs relative to three countries (U.S., the U.K. and Turkey) are examined. The minimum qualifications for building terrorism resistant communities are identified and recommended in the findings.
Cooperation of Law Enforcement and the Public in Combating Terrorism in Ukraine
Authors: Osyka Igor
Published: February 2025

The author analyzes legislative frameworks and discusses problems of applying legislative provisions to countering terrorism in Ukraine. In particular, various forms and methods of cooperation between authorized law enforcement agencies and public/private businesses are considered, followed by recommendations. The analysis and discussions are based on a comparison of the Ukrainian, European and USA experiences and practices.
Words Make Worlds: What We Talk About When We Talk About Terrorism
Authors: Smith Angus
Published: February 2025

This paper addresses the problem of language – specifically, the language that we use to define and describe certain types of terrorist activity – and how incorrect use of such language can compound the problem. It also uses language – specifically interpretations of the concept of jihad – as a backdrop to a discussion of radicalization, its linkages to extremist action, and possible mitigating strategies. This paper is intended to stimulate discussion around the need for a common language to describe terrorism adequately, along with a comprehensive understanding of the process of radicalization and the manner in which we may intervene.
Instrumental Express Control of Toxic Substances in the Environment and Ways for its Rapid Decontamination as a Barrier for the Action of Bioterrorists
Authors: Starodub Nickolaj F.
Published: February 2025

Biosensors for the express control of the total toxicity of environmental objects, revealing of group toxic elements and individual toxins among them are presented. Among the individual toxins, primary attention is paid to mycotoxins, in particular, fumasine, atrazine and T2. T2 is considered as a potential specimen for bioterrorists' activities. Ways to decontaminate polluted environmental objects from different types of low molecular weight toxins are presented. More especially, the possibility of using some calyx [4] resorcinol arenas for specific binding of the number of mycotoxins and pesticides is discussed. This possibility is analyzed from two points of view: the application of calix [4] resorcinol arenas for the removal of toxic substances and the creation of the artificial sensitive layer of sensors revealed by the instrumental analytical devices in the express and on line regime. Both approaches provide practices demanded for the prevention of non-desirable consequences from bioterrorists' activities.
Flexible Response: First Response to Chemical and Biological Terrorist Threats
Authors: Bagley Martin
Published: February 2025

Flexible response to chemical and biological terrorist threats relies on the ability of first responders to conduct missions in five areas: situation assessment, operations coordination, logistics, health and human services and decontamination. First responders also need to balance this act with the law enforcement investigation required for the criminal act of chemical and biological terrorism. This chapter gives an overview of chemical and biological weapons, the response strategies necessary in case of their usage or attempted usage and the preparedness required, including planning and training, both at the national and international level.
Dealing With the Threat Posed By Non-State Armed Groups Aspiring to Weapons of Mass Destruction
Authors: Kibaroğlu Mustafa
Published: February 2025

Since the end of the Cold War the international system has seen the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Although most non-state armed groups (NSAGs) are unlikely to attempt to access WMD, a certain subset of NSAGs – terrorists – may find such an attack appealing. This chapter outlines the threat posed by NSAGs who aspire to use WMD and considers the possible responses to such an act.
Theta functions and algebraic curves with automorphisms
Authors: Shaska T.  , Wijesiri G.S.
Published: February 2025

Let χ be an irreducible, smooth, projective curve of genus g ≥ 2 defined over the complex field C. Then there is a covering π : χ → P1, where P1denotes the projective line. The problem of expressing branch points of the covering π in terms of the transcendentals (period matrix, thetanulls, e.g.) is classical. It goes back to Riemann, Jacobi, Picard and Rosenhein. Many mathematicians, including Picard and Thomae, have offered partial treatments for this problem. In this work, we address the problem for cyclic curves of genus 2, 3, and 4 and find relations among theta functions for curves with automorphisms. We consider curves of genus g > 1 admitting an automorphism σ such that χσhas genus zero and σ generates a normal subgroup of the automorphism group Aut(χ) of χ.
Vector Bundles in Error-Correcting for Geometric Goppa Codes
Authors: Previato Emma
Published: February 2025

In this series of three lectures delivered at the NATO Advanced Institute in Vlora, Albania, April 28-May 9, 2008, we present new error-correcting algorithms for geometric Goppa codes, based on rank-2 vector bundles over an algebraic curve. We review the construction of moduli spaces of vector bundles and relevant stratifications and give examples for the Klein curve. We propose questions of algebraic geometry that could be answered using coding theory and vice versa.
Portable System for Eddy Current Inspection Using Multifrequency Method
Authors: Chady Tomasz  , Baniukiewicz Piotr  , Sikora Ryszard
Published: February 2025

This paper describes a portable eddy current testing system. The authors take into consideration an application of digital signal processor for acquiring signals and performing their further analysis. This work is a continuation of previously published paper concerning the MFEC and the MF-FME systems. The system is dedicated for working with excitation frequencies up to 10 kHz. The DSP board handles all operations related to signal analysis such as filtering and extracting frequency components.
Discovering the Home
Authors: Dooley James  , Callaghan Vic  , Hagras Hani  , Bull Phil
Published: February 2025

This paper discusses the requirements of future Home Area Networks (HAN) with respect to resource discovery. We discuss existing methods and provide some experimental data that shows them to be unsuitable for future HANs. In response, we present a new protocol called “Entity Resolution Protocol” (ERP) and experimental data which shows that it significantly outperforms the other methods discussed.