ALBERT

Description: Information, Vol. 9, Pages 160: Using the Logistic Coupled Map for Public Key Cryptography under a Distributed Dynamics Encryption Scheme Information doi: 10.3390/info9070160 Authors: Hugo Solís-Sánchez E. Gabriela Barrantes Nowadays, there is a high necessity to create new and robust cryptosystems. Dynamical systems have promised to develop crypto-systems due to the close relationship between them and the cryptographic requirements. Distributed dynamic encryption (DDE) represents the first mathematical method to generate a public-key cryptosystem based on chaotic dynamics. However, it has been described that the DDE proposal has a weak point in the decryption process related to efficiency and practicality. In this work, we adapted the DDE to a low-dimensional chaotic system to evaluate the weakness and security of the adaption in a realistic example. Specifically, we used a non-symmetric logistic coupled map, which is known to have multiple chaotic attractors improving the shortcomings related to the simple logistic map that manifests its inadequacy for cryptographic applications. We found a full implementation with acceptable computational cost and speed for DDE, which it is essential because it provides a key cryptographic requirement for chaos-based cryptosystems.

Description: Information, Vol. 8, Pages 97: Review of Recent Type-2 Fuzzy Image Processing Applications Information doi: 10.3390/info8030097 Authors: Oscar Castillo Mauricio Sanchez Claudia Gonzalez Gabriela Martinez This paper presents a literature review of applications using type-2 fuzzy systems in the area of image processing. Over the last years, there has been a significant increase in research on higher-order forms of fuzzy logic; in particular, the use of interval type-2 fuzzy sets and general type-2 fuzzy sets. The idea of making use of higher orders, or types, of fuzzy logic is to capture and represent uncertainty that is more complex. This paper is focused on image processing systems, which includes image segmentation, image filtering, image classification and edge detection. Various applications are presented where general type-2 fuzzy sets, interval type-2 fuzzy sets, and interval-value fuzzy sets are used; some are compared with the traditional type-1 fuzzy sets and others methodologies that exist in the literature for these areas in image processing. In all accounts, it is shown that type-2 fuzzy sets outperform both traditional image processing techniques as well as techniques using type-1 fuzzy sets, and provide the ability to handle uncertainty when the image is corrupted by noise.

Description: Information, Vol. 9, Pages 27: A Comparative Study of Web Content Management Systems Information doi: 10.3390/info9020027 Authors: Jose-Manuel Martinez-Caro Antonio-Jose Aledo-Hernandez Antonio Guillen-Perez Ramon Sanchez-Iborra Maria-Dolores Cano Web Content Management Systems (WCMS) play an increasingly important role in the Internet’s evolution. They are software platforms that facilitate the implementation of a web site or an e-commerce and are gaining popularity due to its flexibility and ease of use. In this work, we explain from a tutorial perspective how to manage WCMS and what can be achieved by using them. With this aim, we select the most popular open-source WCMS; namely, Joomla!, WordPress, and Drupal. Then, we implement three websites that are equal in terms of requirements, visual aspect, and functionality, one for each WCMS. Through a qualitative comparative analysis, we show the advantages and drawbacks of each solution, and the complexity associated. On the other hand, security concerns can arise if WCMS are not appropriately used. Due to the key position that they occupy in today’s Internet, we perform a basic security analysis of the three implement websites in the second part of this work. Specifically, we explain vulnerabilities, security enhancements, which errors should not be done, and which WCMS is initially safer.

Description: Nowadays, there is a high necessity to create new and robust cryptosystems. Dynamical systems have promised to develop crypto-systems due to the close relationship between them and the cryptographic requirements. Distributed dynamic encryption (DDE) represents the first mathematical method to generate a public-key cryptosystem based on chaotic dynamics. However, it has been described that the DDE proposal has a weak point in the decryption process related to efficiency and practicality. In this work, we adapted the DDE to a low-dimensional chaotic system to evaluate the weakness and security of the adaption in a realistic example. Specifically, we used a non-symmetric logistic coupled map, which is known to have multiple chaotic attractors improving the shortcomings related to the simple logistic map that manifests its inadequacy for cryptographic applications. We found a full implementation with acceptable computational cost and speed for DDE, which it is essential because it provides a key cryptographic requirement for chaos-based cryptosystems.

Description: The intrinsic characteristics of humanities research require technological support and software assistance that also necessarily goes through the analysis of textual narratives. When these narratives become increasingly complex, pragmatics analysis (i.e., at discourse or argumentation levels) assisted by software is a great ally in the digital humanities. In recent years, solutions have been developed from the information visualization domain to support discourse analysis or argumentation analysis of textual sources via software, with applications in political speeches, debates, online forums, but also in written narratives, literature or historical sources. This paper presents a wide and interdisciplinary systematic literature review (SLR), both in software-related areas and humanities areas, on the information visualization and the software solutions adopted to support pragmatics textual analysis. As a result of this review, this paper detects weaknesses in existing works on the field, especially related to solutions’ availability, pragmatic framework dependence and lack of information sharing and reuse software mechanisms. The paper also provides some software guidelines for improving the detected weaknesses, exemplifying some guidelines in practice through their implementation in a new web tool, Viscourse. Viscourse is conceived as a complementary tool to assist textual analysis and to facilitate the reuse of informational pieces from discourse and argumentation text analysis tasks.

Description: Information, Vol. 8, Pages 131: The Current Role of Image Compression Standards in Medical Imaging Information doi: 10.3390/info8040131 Authors: Feng Liu Miguel Hernandez-Cabronero Victor Sanchez Michael Marcellin Ali Bilgin With the increasing utilization of medical imaging in clinical practice and the growing dimensions of data volumes generated by various medical imaging modalities, the distribution, storage, and management of digital medical image data sets requires data compression. Over the past few decades, several image compression standards have been proposed by international standardization organizations. This paper discusses the current status of these image compression standards in medical imaging applications together with some of the legal and regulatory issues surrounding the use of compression in medical settings.