ODIN: Obfuscation-based privacy-preserving consensus algorithm for Decentralized Information fusion in smart device Networks

The large spread of sensors and smart devices in urban infrastructures are motivating research in the area of the Internet of Things (IoT) to develop new services and improve citizens’ quality of life. Sensors and smart devices generate large amounts of measurement data from sensing the environment, which is used to enable services such as control of power consumption or traffic density. To deal with such a large amount of information and provide accurate measurements, service providers can adopt information fusion, which given the decentralized nature of urban deployments can be performed by means of consensus algorithms. These algorithms allow distributed agents to (iteratively) compute linear functions on the exchanged data, and take decisions based on the outcome, without the need for the support of a central entity. However, the use of consensus algorithms raises several security concerns, especially when private or security critical information is involved in the computation. In this article we propose ODIN, a novel algorithm allowing information fusion over encrypted data. ODIN is a privacy-preserving extension of the popular consensus gossip algorithm, which prevents distributed agents from having direct access to the data while they iteratively reach consensus; agents cannot access even the final consensus value but can only retrieve partial information (e.g., a binary decision). ODIN uses efficient additive obfuscation and proxy re-encryption during the update steps and garbled circuits to make final decisions on the obfuscated consensus. We discuss the security of our proposal and show its practicability and efficiency on real-world resource-constrained devices, developing a prototype implementation for Raspberry Pi devices

ODIN: Obfuscation-based privacy-preserving consensus algorithm for Decentralized Information fusion in smart device Networks

The large spread of sensors and smart devices in urban infrastructures are motivating research in the area of the Internet of Things (IoT) to develop new services and improve citizens’ quality of life. Sensors and smart devices generate large amounts of measurement data from sensing the environment, which is used to enable services such as control of power consumption or traffic density. To deal with such a large amount of information and provide accurate measurements, service providers can adopt information fusion, which given the decentralized nature of urban deployments can be performed by means of consensus algorithms. These algorithms allow distributed agents to (iteratively) compute linear functions on the exchanged data, and take decisions based on the outcome, without the need for the support of a central entity. However, the use of consensus algorithms raises several security concerns, especially when private or security critical information is involved in the computation. In this article we propose ODIN, a novel algorithm allowing information fusion over encrypted data. ODIN is a privacy-preserving extension of the popular consensus gossip algorithm, which prevents distributed agents from having direct access to the data while they iteratively reach consensus; agents cannot access even the final consensus value but can only retrieve partial information (e.g., a binary decision). ODIN uses efficient additive obfuscation and proxy re-encryption during the update steps and garbled circuits to make final decisions on the obfuscated consensus. We discuss the security of our proposal and show its practicability and efficiency on real-world resource-constrained devices, developing a prototype implementation for Raspberry Pi devices

Static stretching of the hamstring muscle for injury prevention in football codes: a systematic review

Purpose: Hamstring injuries are common among football players. There is still disagreement regarding prevention. The aim of this review is to determine whether static stretching reduces hamstring injuries in football codes. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted on the online databases PubMed, PEDro, Cochrane, Web of Science, Bisp and Clinical Trial register. Study results were presented descriptively and the quality of the studies assessed were based on Cochrane’s ‘risk of bias’ tool. Results: The review identified 35 studies, including four analysis studies. These studies show deficiencies in the quality of study designs. Conclusion: The study protocols are varied in terms of the length of intervention and follow-up. No RCT studies are available, however, RCT studies should be conducted in the near future

On Quasi-Interpretations, Blind Abstractions and Implicit Complexity

Quasi-interpretations are a technique to guarantee complexity bounds on first-order functional programs: with termination orderings they give in particular a sufficient condition for a program to be executable in polynomial time, called here the P-criterion. We study properties of the programs satisfying the P-criterion, in order to better understand its intensional expressive power. Given a program on binary lists, its blind abstraction is the nondeterministic program obtained by replacing lists by their lengths (natural numbers). A program is blindly polynomial if its blind abstraction terminates in polynomial time. We show that all programs satisfying a variant of the P-criterion are in fact blindly polynomial. Then we give two extensions of the P-criterion: one by relaxing the termination ordering condition, and the other one (the bounded value property) giving a necessary and sufficient condition for a program to be polynomial time executable, with memoisation.Comment: 18 page

The Acute Effects of Cupping Therapy on Hamstring Range of Motion Compared to Sham

Context: Flexibility is an important aspect of physical performance and when deficient can result in an increased opportunity for injury. Cupping therapy is an ancient technique that has recently seen a growth in popularity in Western Orthopedic medicine as a soft tissue mobilization technique. Most cupping therapy research explores the use of cupping therapy for treating headache, herpes zoster, asthma, cough, and other non-orthopedic pathologies. Cupping therapy has had positive results on an injured population for increasing flexibility. Objective: To identify if cupping therapy applied passively for 10 minutes results in an increase in flexibility, and to identify if there is a placebo effect with the sham cupping treatment. Design: Double-blinded randomized repeated measures trial. Setting: laboratory. Participants: 40 semi-active participants were recruited (age: 23.52 ± 3.50 years, height: 171.89 ± 9.23 cm, mass: 72.864 ± 14.90 kg) with hamstring range of motion less than 80 degrees. Exclusion criteria included previous cupping therapy experience, allergies to adhesive, any lower extremity injury in the past 6 months, previous cupping experience and cupping therapy contraindications: pregnancy, sunburn, rash, contusions. Methods: Participants reported to the Sports Injury Research Clinic on three occasions, on the first occasion participants completed informed consent and questionnaire, followed by the secondary investigator performing the pre-treatment measurement, then the primary investigator performed one of three randomly assigned treatment options, cupping, sham, and control. Treatment was for 10 minutes with the patient laying prone and relaxed. Then the participant underwent range of motion testing post treatment, and after 10 minutes of laying relaxed. Participants returned on two other occasions with at least one week in between to perform the other treatment conditions. Main Outcome Measurements: Hamstring range of motion to measure flexibility, measured three times, pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 10 minutes post-treatment. An active straight leg raise was performed 4 times for each measurement with the average of the last 2 was taken as the measurement. A 3x3x2 ANOVA in SPSS was utilized for data analysis. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between cupping and control conditions (p=0.004). Cupping had a significantly higher range of motion at pre-treatment (p=0.032), post-treatment (p=0.017), and 10-minutes (p=0.006). There was no significant difference in the interaction between Condition, Time, and Sex (p=0.263). There was no significant interaction between Condition and Sex (p=0.230), Time and Condition (p=0.443), and Time and Sex (p=0.064). Conclusion: Cupping therapy applied to a healthy individual for 10 minutes does not create an increase in hamstring flexibility. Word Count: 410 word

Short-term efficacy of physical interventions in osteoarthritic knee pain. A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised placebo-controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Treatment efficacy of physical agents in osteoarthritis of the knee (OAK) pain has been largely unknown, and this systematic review was aimed at assessing their short-term efficacies for pain relief. METHODS: Systematic review with meta-analysis of efficacy within 1-4 weeks and at follow up at 1-12 weeks after the end of treatment. RESULTS: 36 randomised placebo-controlled trials (RCTs) were identified with 2434 patients where 1391 patients received active treatment. 33 trials satisfied three or more out of five methodological criteria (Jadad scale). The patient sample had a mean age of 65.1 years and mean baseline pain of 62.9 mm on a 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS). Within 4 weeks of the commencement of treatment manual acupuncture, static magnets and ultrasound therapies did not offer statistically significant short-term pain relief over placebo. Pulsed electromagnetic fields offered a small reduction in pain of 6.9 mm [95% CI: 2.2 to 11.6] (n = 487). Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS, including interferential currents), electro-acupuncture (EA) and low level laser therapy (LLLT) offered clinically relevant pain relieving effects of 18.8 mm [95% CI: 9.6 to 28.1] (n = 414), 21.9 mm [95% CI: 17.3 to 26.5] (n = 73) and 17.7 mm [95% CI: 8.1 to 27.3] (n = 343) on VAS respectively versus placebo control. In a subgroup analysis of trials with assumed optimal doses, short-term efficacy increased to 22.2 mm [95% CI: 18.1 to 26.3] for TENS, and 24.2 mm [95% CI: 17.3 to 31.3] for LLLT on VAS. Follow-up data up to 12 weeks were sparse, but positive effects seemed to persist for at least 4 weeks after the course of LLLT, EA and TENS treatment was stopped. CONCLUSION: TENS, EA and LLLT administered with optimal doses in an intensive 2-4 week treatment regimen, seem to offer clinically relevant short-term pain relief for OAK

The effectiveness of manual stretching in the treatment of plantar heel pain: a systematic review

Background: Plantar heel pain is a commonly occurring foot complaint. Stretching is frequently utilised as a treatment, yet a systematic review focusing only on its effectiveness has not been published. This review aimed to assess the effectiveness of stretching on pain and function in people with plantar heel pain. Methods: Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, and The Cochrane Library were searched from inception to July 2010. Studies fulfilling the inclusion criteria were independently assessed, and their quality evaluated using the modified PEDro scale. Results: Six studies including 365 symptomatic participants were included. Two compared stretching with a control, one study compared stretching to an alternative intervention, one study compared stretching to both alternative and control interventions, and two compared different stretching techniques and durations. Quality rating on the modified Pedro scale varied from two to eight out of a maximum of ten points. The methodologies and interventions varied significantly between studies, making meta-analysis inappropriate. Most participants improved over the course of the studies, but when stretching was compared to alternative or control interventions, the changes only reached statistical significance in one study that used a combination of calf muscle stretches and plantar fascia stretches in their stretching programme. Another study comparing different stretching techniques, showed a statistically significant reduction in some aspects of pain in favour of plantar fascia stretching over calf stretches in the short term. Conclusions: There were too few studies to assess whether stretching is effective compared to control or other interventions, for either pain or function. However, there is some evidence that plantar fascia stretching may be more effective than Achilles tendon stretching alone in the short-term. Appropriately powered randomised controlled trials, utilizing validated outcome measures, blinded assessors and long-term follow up are needed to assess the efficacy of stretching