Ownership-specified network DEA models

To our knowledge, all network DEA models proposed in the literature so far either implicitly or explicitly assume that all entities comprised of a network (system) are owned by a single owner, i.e., a centralized system. As a result, those models are not applicable to performance evaluation for a wide variety of distributed and hybrid systems in practice. Therefore, this study aims to show the importance of taking into account the ownership structure of networks (systems) in constructing effective network DEA models, and accordingly develops three ownership-specified (centralized, distributed and hybrid) network DEA models in terms of both input- and output-orientation. A numerical example is used to validate the critical importance of the ownership with entities and thus networks in both network DEA methodologies and applications.     

An epsilon-based measure of efficiency in DEA – A third pole of technical efficiency

In DEA, we have two measures of technical efficiency with different characteristics: radial and non-radial. In this paper we compile them into a composite model called “epsilon-based measure (EBM).” For this purpose we introduce two parameters which connect radial and non-radial models. These two parameters are obtained from the newly defined affinity index between inputs or outputs along with principal component analysis on the affinity matrix. Thus, EBM takes into account diversity of input/output data and their relative importance for measuring technical efficiency.     

Phomactins K–M,three novel phomactin-type diterpenes from a marine-derived fungus

Three novel diterpenes, phomactins K–M (1–3), were isolated from the cultures of an unidentified marine-derived fungus. The structures of 1–3 were elucidated from spectroscopic data (NMR, MS, IR), and the absolute configurations of 1, 2, and the relative configuration of 3 were determined by X-ray diffraction analysis.     

Surfactant gel adsorption of platinum(II), (IV) and palladium(II) as chloro-complexes and kinetic separation of palladium from platinum using EDTA.

A micellar solution of cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) can separate into two phases due to a temperature change or to the addition of salts. Platinum(II), (IV) and palladium(II) reacted with chloride ions to form stable anionic complexes of PtCl4(2-), PtCl6(2-) and PdCl4(2-), respectively, and were adsorbed onto the CPC gel phase. The CPC phase plays the role of an ion-exchange adsorbent for the anionic complexes. By such a procedure, the precious metals of platinum and palladium could be separated from base metals such as copper, zinc and iron. The kinetic separation was performed by a ligand exchange reaction of the palladium(II) chloro-complex with EDTA at 60 degrees C. The anionic palladium(II)-EDTA complex could not bind the opposite charged CP+ and was desorbed from the CPC phase. In the aqueous phase, the recovery of palladium(II) by the double-desorption was 101.1 +/- 1.2%. The platinum(II) and (IV) chloro-complexes were stable for at least 30 min and remained in the CPC phase.     

Upper Limit of Nitrogen Content in Carbon Materials

Nitrogen‐doped carbon materials (NDCs) play an important role in various fields. A great deal of effort has been devoted to obtaining carbon materials with a high nitrogen content; however, much is still unknown about the structure of the nitrogen‐doped materials and the maximum nitrogen content possible for such compounds. Here, we demonstrate an interesting relationship between the N/C molar ratio and the N content of NDCs. The upper limit for the nitrogen content of NDCs that might be achieved was estimated and found to strongly depend on the carbonization temperature (14.32 wt % at 1000 °C and 21.66 wt % at 900 °C), irrespective of the precursor or preparation conditions. Simulations suggest that, especially in the carbon architectures obtained at high temperatures, nitrogen atoms are always located on separate hexagon moieties in a graphitic configuration, thereby yielding a critical N/C molar ratio very close to the value estimated from the experimental results.     

Anonymous and leakage resilient IBE and IPE

We construct identity-based encryption and inner product encryption schemes under the decision linear assumption. Their private user keys are leakage-resilient in several scenarios. In particular,

• In the bounded memory leakage model (Akavia et al., TCC, vol. 5444, pp. 474–495, 2009), our basic schemes reach the maximum-possible leakage rate \(1-o(1)\).
• In the continual memory leakage model (Brakerski et al., Overcoming the hole in the bucket: public-key cryptography resilient to continual memory leakage, 2010; Dodis et al., Cryptography against continuous memory attacks, 2010), variants of the above schemes enjoy leakage rate at least \(\frac{1}{2} -o(1)\). Among the results, we improve upon the work of Brakerski et al. by presenting adaptively secure IBE schemes.

In addition, we prove that our IBE schemes are anonymous under the DLIN assumption, so that ciphertexts leaks no information on the corresponding identities. Similarly, attributes in IPE are proved computationally hidden in the corresponding ciphertexts.

     

How to make a linear network code (strongly) secure

A linear network code is called k-secure if it is secure even if an adversary eavesdrops at most k edges. In this paper, we show an efficient deterministic construction algorithm of a linear transformation T that transforms an (insecure) linear network code to a k-secure one for any k, and extend this algorithm to strong k-security for any k . Our algorithms run in polynomial time if k is a constant, and these time complexities are explicitly presented. We also present a concrete size of \(|\mathsf{F}|\) for strong k-security, where \(\mathsf{F}\) is the underling finite field.     

Past-present-future Intertemporal DEA models

It has been well recognized that to thoroughly evaluate a firm’s performance, the evaluator must assess not only its past and present records but also future potential. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no data envelopment analysis (DEA)-type models proposed in the literature that simultaneously take past, present and, especially, future performance indicators into account. Hence, this research aims at developing a new type of DEA model referred to as Intertemporal DEA models that can be used to fully measure a firm’s efficiency by explicitly considering its key inputs and outputs involving the past-present-future time span. In this research, the proposed Intertemporal DEA models are applied to the performance evaluation of high-tech Integrated Circuit design companies in Taiwan to demonstrate their advantages over other DEA models that ignore intertemporal efficiency.     

Halichonines A, B, and C, novel sesquiterpene alkaloids from the marine sponge Halichondria okadai Kadota

Novel sesquiterpene alkaloids, halichonines A (1), B (2), and C (3), were identified from the marine sponge Halichondria okadai Kadota. By spectroscopic analyses and synthesis, their structures were revealed to include a 6,6-bicyclic ring system and two prenylated amine moieties. In addition, 2 induced apoptosis in HL60 human leukemia cells.