Efficient BIKE Hardware Design with Constant-Time Decoder

BIKE (Bit-flipping Key Encapsulation) is a promising candidate running in the NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization process. It is a code-based cryptosystem that enjoys a simple definition, well-understood underlying security, and interesting performance. The most critical step in this cryptosystem consists of correcting errors in a QC-MDPC linear code. The BIKE team proposed variants of the Bit-Flipping Decoder for this step for Round 1 and 2 of the standardization process. In this paper, we propose an alternative decoder which is more friendly to hardware implementations, leading to a latency-area performance comparable to the literature while introducing power side channel resilience. We also show that our design can accelerate all key generation, encapsulation and decapsulation operations using very few common logic building blocks

Rare case of autonomic instability of the lower limb presenting as painless Complex Regional Pain Syndrome type I following hip surgery: two case reports

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>According to the International Association for the Study of Pain criteria of 1994, pain is a diagnostic requirement for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome type I. However, other authors have suggested that patients can rarely present with the sensory and vascular symptoms of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome without pain. This entity has not been reported following hip surgery in the English medical literature.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present two cases of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome-like symptoms following hip surgery and with the total absence of pain. The first case was a 29-year-old Caucasian woman who had a reattachment of the greater trochanter following non-union of an intertrochanteric osteotomy of the hip. Five weeks later, the patient presented with features of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome but with the absence of pain. The second patient was a 20-year-old Caucasian woman who had undergone an open debridement and repair of a torn acetabular labrum. Ten days later, the patient presented with features suggestive of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome which was again painless. Both patients were non-weight bearing at presentation and the symptoms resolved following recommencement of weight bearing.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The authors believe these symptoms are manifestations of vascular changes to the lower limb as a result of non-weight bearing status. Painless Complex Regional Pain Syndrome-like symptoms may occur in patients who are kept non-weight bearing following hip surgery. However, vascular insufficiency and deep venous thrombosis must be excluded before this diagnosis is made. If the clinical situation permits, early weight bearing may relieve symptoms. Orthopaedic and vascular surgeons should be aware of this entity when a postoperative patient presents to them with the above clinical picture. This is also relevant to general practitioners who are likely to see the patients in the postoperative period.</p

Anonymous Attestation for IoT

Internet of Things (IoT) have seen tremendous growth and are being deployed pervasively in areas such as home, surveillance, health-care and transportation. These devices collect and process sensitive data with respect to user\u27s privacy. Protecting the privacy of the user is an essential aspect of security, and anonymous attestation of IoT devices are critical to enable privacy-preserving mechanisms. Enhanced Privacy ID (EPID) is an industry-standard cryptographic scheme that offers anonymous attestation. It is based on group signature scheme constructed from bilinear pairings, and provides anonymity and sophisticated revocation capabilities (private-key based revocation and signature-based revocation). Despite the interesting privacy-preserving features, EPID operations are very computational and memory intensive. In this paper, we present a small footprint anonymous attestation solution based on EPID that can meet the stringent resource requirements of IoT devices. A specific modular-reduction technique targeting the EPID prime number has been developed resulting in 50% latency reduction compared to conventional reduction techniques. Furthermore, we developed a multi-exponentiation technique that significantly reduces the runtime memory requirements. Our proposed design can be implemented as SW-only, or it can utilize an integrated Elliptic Curve and Galois Field HW accelerator. The EPID SW stack has a small object code footprint of 22kB. We developed a prototype on a 32-bit microcontroller that computes EPID signature generation in 17.9s at 32MHz

A Role for Phosphatidic Acid in the Formation of “Supersized” Lipid Droplets

Lipid droplets (LDs) are important cellular organelles that govern the storage and turnover of lipids. Little is known about how the size of LDs is controlled, although LDs of diverse sizes have been observed in different tissues and under different (patho)physiological conditions. Recent studies have indicated that the size of LDs may influence adipogenesis, the rate of lipolysis and the oxidation of fatty acids. Here, a genome-wide screen identifies ten yeast mutants producing “supersized” LDs that are up to 50 times the volume of those in wild-type cells. The mutated genes include: FLD1, which encodes a homologue of mammalian seipin; five genes (CDS1, INO2, INO4, CHO2, and OPI3) that are known to regulate phospholipid metabolism; two genes (CKB1 and CKB2) encoding subunits of the casein kinase 2; and two genes (MRPS35 and RTC2) of unknown function. Biochemical and genetic analyses reveal that a common feature of these mutants is an increase in the level of cellular phosphatidic acid (PA). Results from in vivo and in vitro analyses indicate that PA may facilitate the coalescence of contacting LDs, resulting in the formation of “supersized” LDs. In summary, our results provide important insights into how the size of LDs is determined and identify novel gene products that regulate phospholipid metabolism

The roles of immune cells in bone healing; what we know, do not know and future perspectives

Key events occurring during the bone healing include well-orchestrated and complex interactions between immune cells, multipotential stromal cells (MSCs), osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Through three overlapping phases of this physiological process, innate and adaptive immune cells, cytokines and chemokines have a significant role to play. The aim of the escalating immune response is to achieve an osseous healing in the shortest time and with the least complications facilitating the restoration of function. The uninterrupted progression of these biological events in conjunction with a favourable mechanical environment (stable fracture fixation) remains the hallmark of successful fracture healing. When failure occurs, either the biological environment or the mechanical one could have been disrupted. Not infrequently both may be compromised. Consequently, regenerative treatments involving the use of bone autograft, allograft or synthetic matrices supplemented with MSCs are increasingly used. A better understanding of the bone biology and osteoimmunology can help to improve these evolving cell-therapy based strategies. Herein, an up to date status of the role of immune cells during the different phases of bone healing is presented. Additionally, the known and yet to know events about immune cell interactions with MSCs and osteoblasts and osteoclasts and the therapeutic implications are being discussed

The Minimal Proteome in the Reduced Mitochondrion of the Parasitic Protist Giardia intestinalis

The mitosomes of Giardia intestinalis are thought to be mitochondria highly-reduced in response to the oxygen-poor niche. We performed a quantitative proteomic assessment of Giardia mitosomes to increase understanding of the function and evolutionary origin of these enigmatic organelles. Mitosome-enriched fractions were obtained from cell homogenate using Optiprep gradient centrifugation. To distinguish mitosomal proteins from contamination, we used a quantitative shot-gun strategy based on isobaric tagging of peptides with iTRAQ and tandem mass spectrometry. Altogether, 638 proteins were identified in mitosome-enriched fractions. Of these, 139 proteins had iTRAQ ratio similar to that of the six known mitosomal markers. Proteins were selected for expression in Giardia to verify their cellular localizations and the mitosomal localization of 20 proteins was confirmed. These proteins include nine components of the FeS cluster assembly machinery, a novel diflavo-protein with NADPH reductase activity, a novel VAMP-associated protein, and a key component of the outer membrane protein translocase. None of the novel mitosomal proteins was predicted by previous genome analyses. The small proteome of the Giardia mitosome reflects the reduction in mitochondrial metabolism, which is limited to the FeS cluster assembly pathway, and a simplicity in the protein import pathway required for organelle biogenesis

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies multiple longevity genes

Publisher's version (útgefin grein).Human longevity is heritable, but genome-wide association (GWA) studies have had limited success. Here, we perform two meta-analyses of GWA studies of a rigorous longevity phenotype definition including 11,262/3484 cases surviving at or beyond the age corresponding to the 90th/99th survival percentile, respectively, and 25,483 controls whose age at death or at last contact was at or below the age corresponding to the 60th survival percentile. Consistent with previous reports, rs429358 (apolipoprotein E (ApoE) ε4) is associated with lower odds of surviving to the 90th and 99th percentile age, while rs7412 (ApoE ε2) shows the opposite. Moreover, rs7676745, located near GPR78, associates with lower odds of surviving to the 90th percentile age. Gene-level association analysis reveals a role for tissue-specific expression of multiple genes in longevity. Finally, genetic correlation of the longevity GWA results with that of several disease-related phenotypes points to a shared genetic architecture between health and longevity.Alexander von Humboldt-StiftungPeer Reviewe

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies multiple longevity genes

Human longevity is heritable, but genome-wide association (GWA) studies have had limited success. Here, we perform two meta-analyses of GWA studies of a rigorous longevity phenotype definition including 11,262/3484 cases surviving at or beyond the age corresponding to the 90th/99th survival percentile, respectively, and 25,483 controls whose age at death or at last contact was at or below the age corresponding to the 60th survival percentile. Consistent with previous reports, rs429358 (apolipoprotein E (ApoE) ε4) is associated with lower odds of surviving to the 90th and 99th percentile age, while rs7412 (ApoE ε2) shows the opposite. Moreover, rs7676745, located near GPR78, associates with lower odds of surviving to the 90th percentile age. Gene-level association analysis reveals a role for tissue-specific expression of multiple genes in longevity. Finally, genetic correlation of the longevity GWA results with that of several disease-related phenotypes points to a shared genetic architecture between health and longevity

Abstracts from the 8th International Conference on cGMP Generators, Effectors and Therapeutic Implications

This work was supported by a restricted research grant of Bayer AG