Memoryless near-collisions via coding theory

We investigate generic methods to find near-collisions in cryptographic hash functions. We introduce a new generic approach based on methods to find cycles in the space of codewords of a code with low covering radius. We give an analysis of our approach and demonstrate it on the SHA-3 candidate TIB3.     

LiFePO<Subscript>4</Subscript> synthesized via melt synthesis using low-cost iron precursors

LiFePO₄/C material has been prepared using fast-melt synthesis method followed by grinding and carbon coating. The low-cost iron ore concentrate (IOC) and purified iron ore concentrate (IOP) were used as iron precursors in the melt process to reduce significantly the cost of LiFePO₄/C. The same product was also synthesized using pure Fe₂O₃ under similar conditions as reference. The physical-chemical and electrochemical properties of samples were investigated. The X-ray Diffraction (XRD) results confirm the formation of an olivine structure of LiFePO₄ with a minor amount of Li₃PO₄ and Li₄P₂O₇ impurities for all the samples but no Fe₂P. The power performances of LiFePO₄/C using low-cost iron precursors were close to the sample using pure Fe₂O₃ precursor although capacity in mAh g^?1 is somewhat lower. With the inherent presence of silicon and other metals species, multi-substitution may take place when using IOC as source of iron leading to a Li(Fe_1-yM_y)(P_1-xSi_x)O₄ general composition. Multi-substitution, however, allows a better cycling stability. Therefore, these iron precursors present a promising option in this field to reduce the cost of a large-scale synthesis of LiFePO₄/C for Li-ion batteries application.     

Native and polymeric β-cyclodextrins in performance improvement of chitosan films aimed for buccal delivery of poorly soluble drugs

β-Cyclodextrin (βCD) and its soluble polymeric derivative (EPIβCD) were used to improve the effectiveness of chitosan-based bucco-adhesive film formulations containing bupivacaine hydrochloride and triclosan as poorly-soluble model drugs. The film formulations were characterized in terms of swelling, mucoadhesion and in vitro drug release, while possible interactions between the components were investigated by DSC and FTIR analyses. For both drugs EPIβCD showed a higher solubilizing efficiency than βCD; however cyclodextrin effectiveness in improving the release rate from film formulations was influenced by their different interactions with chitosan. Free βCD acted as a channelling agent, favouring the film swelling, while EPIβCD due to interaction with chitosan caused an opposite effect. βCD was the optimal partner for bupivacaine-loaded films in terms of film swelling, mucoadhesion and drug release. Contrariwise, EPIβCD was the best partner for triclosan-loaded films, allowing the highest drug release rate increase, due to its higher solubilizing ability with respect to βCD. Addition of the suitable cyclodextrin enabled formulation of buccal films with suitable drug release properties.     

Solutions of the Strominger System via Stable Bundles on Calabi-Yau Threefolds

We prove that a given Calabi-Yau threefold with a stable holomorphic vector bundle can be perturbed to a solution of the Strominger system provided that the second Chern class of the vector bundle is equal to the second Chern class of the tangent bundle. If the Calabi-Yau threefold has strict SU(3) holonomy then the equations of motion derived from the heterotic string effective action are also satisfied by the solutions we obtain.