Use of endocommensal molluscan ciliated protozoa as indicators of water quality and pollution in Illinois waters

Fifteen species of unionid bivalves from seventeen localities in Central Illinois were carefully examined for ciliate protozoan infections. Many ciliates appeared occasionally, but the thigmotrich ciliates Conchophthirus and Heterocinetopsis unionidarum appeared abundantly and consistently. New observations on the morphology of Conchophthirus and their ultimate effect upon speciation within the genus are to be developed further by the junior author. H. unionidarum was found abundantly at one location. Although Conchophthirus and Heterocinetopsis were the only thigmotrichs uncovered in this study, the isolation of Heterocinetopsis suggests that other thigmotrich ciliates may also be found in Illinois. The ciliates Conchophthirus and Heterocinetopsis were tested for their ability to react as very delicate indicators of water quality. This was accomplished by planting infected bivalves in areas of known pollution in the Salt Fork Vermilion River dra.ina.ge system. At intervals after planting, individuals were recovered and carefully examined for the relative abundance of Conchophthirus and Heterocinetopsis. The preliminary results suggest that Heterocinetopsis may be the most critical indicator of biological pollution currently available for Illinois waters.U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological SurveyOpe

Breaking the Bluetooth Pairing – The Fixed Coordinate Invalid Curve Attack

Bluetooth is a widely deployed standard for wireless communications between mobile devices. It uses authenticated Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman for its key exchange. In this paper we show that the authentication provided by the Bluetooth pairing protocols is insufficient and does not provide the promised MitM protection. We present a new attack that modifies the y-coordinates of the public keys (while preserving the x-coordinates). The attack compromises the encryption keys of all of the current Bluetooth authenticated pairing protocols, provided both paired devices are vulnerable. Specifically, it successfully compromises the encryption keys of 50% of the Bluetooth pairing attempts, while in the other 50% the pairing of the victims is terminated. The affected vendors have been informed and patched their products accordingly, and the Bluetooth specification had been modified to address the new attack. We named our new attack the “Fixed Coordinate Invalid Curve Attack”. Unlike the well known “Invalid Curve Attack” of Biehl et. al. which recovers the private key by sending multiple specially crafted points to the victim, our attack is a MitM attack which modifies the public keys in a way that lets the attacker deduce the shared secret

Practical realisation and elimination of an ECC-related software bug attack

We analyse and exploit implementation features in OpenSSL version 0.9.8g which permit an attack against ECDH-based functionality. The attack, although more general, can recover the entire (static) private key from an associated SSL server via $633$ adaptive queries when the NIST curve P-256 is used. One can view it as a software-oriented analogue of the bug attack concept due to Biham et al. and, consequently, as the first bug attack to be successfully applied against a real-world system. In addition to the attack and a posteriori countermeasures, we show that formal verification, while rarely used at present, is a viable means of detecting the features which the attack hinges on. Based on the security implications of the attack and the extra justification posed by the possibility of intentionally incorrect implementations in collaborative software development, we conclude that applying and extending the coverage of formal verification to augment existing test strategies for OpenSSL-like software should be deemed a worthwhile, long-term challenge.This work has been supported in part by EPSRC via grant EP/H001689/1 and by project SMART, funded by ENIAC Joint Undertaking (GA 120224)

Full-length genome sequence of Ntaya virus

Presentation of pyrosequencing data and phylogenetic analysis for the full genome of Ntaya virus, type virus of the Ntaya virus group of the Flaviviridae isolated in Cameroon in 1966

Taming the many EdDSAs

This paper analyses security of concrete instantiations of EdDSA by identifying exploitable inconsistencies between standardization recommendations and Ed25519 implementations. We mainly focus on current ambiguity regarding signature verification equations, binding and malleability guarantees, and incompatibilities between randomized batch and single verification. We give a formulation of Ed25519 signature scheme that achieves the highest level of security, explaining how each step of the algorithm links with the formal security properties. We develop optimizations to allow for more efficient secure implementations. Finally, we designed a set of edge-case test-vectors and run them by some of the most popular Ed25519 libraries. The results allowed to understand the security level of those implementations and showed that most libraries do not comply with the latest standardization recommendations. The methodology allows to test compatibility of different Ed25519 implementations which is of practical importance for consensus-driven applications

Achievement of target gain larger than unity in an inertial fusion experiment.

On December 5, 2022, an indirect drive fusion implosion on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) achieved a target gain G_{target} of 1.5. This is the first laboratory demonstration of exceeding "scientific breakeven" (or G_{target}>1) where 2.05 MJ of 351 nm laser light produced 3.1 MJ of total fusion yield, a result which significantly exceeds the Lawson criterion for fusion ignition as reported in a previous NIF implosion [H. Abu-Shawareb et al. (Indirect Drive ICF Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 075001 (2022)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.129.075001]. This achievement is the culmination of more than five decades of research and gives proof that laboratory fusion, based on fundamental physics principles, is possible. This Letter reports on the target, laser, design, and experimental advancements that led to this result

The change in the activity of biochemical inflammation markers of oral liquid at pain dysfunction of tmj and their correction with inhibitors of cog-2

Проблема диагностики и лечения пациентов с зубочелюстными аномалиями, осложненными заболеваниями височнонижнечелюстного сустава, в настоящее время весьма актуальна. Это связано с отсутствием целенаправленной комплексной тактики лечения данной патологии. Проведенное биохимическое исследование ротовой жидкости пациентов с болевой дисфункцией височнонижнечелюстного сустава продемонстрировало способность мовалиса эффективно снижать уровень основных маркеров воспаления в полости рта. Полученные результаты подтверждают высокую противовоспалительную эффективность "Мовалиса" ("Мелоксикама"), связанную с ингибированием циклооксигеназы-2 и выработки медиаторов воспаления простагландинов.Проблема діагностики і лікування пацієнтів із зубощелепними аномаліями, ускладненими захворюваннями скроневонижньощелепного суглобу, в даний час вельми актуальна. Це пов'язано з відсутністю цілеспрямованої комплексної тактики лікування даної патології. Проведене біохімічне дослідження ротової рідини пацієнтів з больовою дисфункцією скронево-нижньощелепного суглобу продемонструвало здатність мовалісу ефективно знижувати рівень основних маркерів запалення в порожнині рота. Отримані результати підтверджують високу протизапальну ефективність "Мовалісу" ("Мелоксикама"), пов'язану з інгібірованням циклооксигенази-2 і виробленням медіаторів запалення простагландинів.The problem of diagnostics and treatment of the patients with dentoalveolar anomalies, complicated with the diseases of temporomandibular joint, is very topical at present. This fact is connected to the absence of task-specific complex tactics of the treatment of the given pathology. According to the data of WHO during 2008, the frequency of the diseases of TMJ in patients of 35-45 years old is more than 75 %, and the prevalence is from 20 to 80 %. Dysfunction of TMJ is found in 80 % of the pathology of joint in whole

Is prolonged infusion of piperacillin/tazobactam and meropenem in critically ill patients associated with improved pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic and patient outcomes? An observation from the Defining Antibiotic Levels in Intensive care unit patients (DALI) cohort

Objectives:We utilized the database of the Defining Antibiotic Levels in Intensive care unit patients (DALI) study to statistically compare the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic and clinical outcomes between prolonged-infusion and intermittent-bolus dosing of piperacillin/tazobactam and meropenem in critically ill patients using inclusion criteria similar to those used in previous prospective studies.Methods: This was a post hoc analysis of a prospective, multicentre pharmacokinetic point-prevalence study (DALI), which recruited a large cohort of critically ill patients from 68 ICUs across 10 countries.Results: Of the 211 patients receiving piperacillin/tazobactam and meropenem in the DALI study, 182 met inclusion criteria. Overall, 89.0% (162/182) of patients achieved the most conservative target of 50% fT(> MIC) (time over which unbound or free drug concentration remains above the MIC). Decreasing creatinine clearance and the use of prolonged infusion significantly increased the PTA for most pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic targets. In the subgroup of patients who had respiratory infection, patients receiving beta-lactams via prolonged infusion demonstrated significantly better 30 day survival when compared with intermittent-bolus patients [86.2% (25/29) versus 56.7% (17/30); P=0.012]. Additionally, in patients with a SOFA score of >= 9, administration by prolonged infusion compared with intermittent-bolus dosing demonstrated significantly better clinical cure [73.3% (11/15) versus 35.0% (7/20); P=0.035] and survival rates [73.3% (11/15) versus 25.0% (5/20); P=0.025].Conclusions: Analysis of this large dataset has provided additional data on the niche benefits of administration of piperacillin/tazobactam and meropenem by prolonged infusion in critically ill patients, particularly for patients with respiratory infections