A graphical simulator for the cryptanalysis of block ciphers

We have designed and implemented a graphical simulator for the use of students in the Master of Applied Science (information security) program at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. During this process, a lot of practical experience was gained which aids future designers who address similar problems, especially if the design aims include the realistic simulation, in a reasonable time, of a process, cryptanalysis - which often takes many days or weeks of computation by powerful computers

Chemopreventive Herbal Anti-Oxidants: Current Status and Future Perspectives

Cancer chemoprevention is fast becoming a lucrative approach for controlling cancer. Carcinogenesis being a complex multi-step, multi-factorial process, a number of chemopreventive interventions can be employed. These strategies are generally directed against two broad events of carcinogenesis viz., initiation and promotion/progression. Anti-initiation interventions principally involve inhibition of carcinogen activation, scavenging of free radicals and reactive carcinogen metabolites along with enhanced detoxification of carcinogens by modulating cellular metabolism. Anti-promotion strategies involve attenuation of enhanced cellular proliferation along with induction of cellular apoptosis and differentiation. Dietary agents or herbal anti-oxidants due to low toxicity and relative safety are promising chemopreventive agents. These agents after emerging successful through a series of in vitro and in vivo assays enter clinical trials. Many dietary compounds have emerged as promising chemopreventive agents in empirical experiments. However, in clinical trials these compounds have met with limited success. This emphasizes the need for further detailed research on the mechanisms of observed chemoprevention and choice, dose, duration and bioavailability of chemopreventive agent used. Complex issues such as choice and nutritional status of target population, genetic variation, gene-environment interactions and relevance of biomarkers analyzed also warrant further research and analyses

Evaluation of outcome following clamp assisted mini open reduction and internal fixation with intramedullary nailing of subtrochanteric femoral fractures

Background: Subtrochanteric fractures of the proximal femur have been defined as the fractures extending from lesser trochanter distally for 5 cm. These fractures usually occur in two age distributions. In the elderly osteopenic population resulting from trivial trauma as fall from standing height or in the younger ones as a result of high energy trauma. Incidence has been on the rise and they comprise about 7 to 10% hip fractures and could lead quickly to large amount of blood loss and other complications.Methods: This is a multicentric prospective prognostic study level 1 consisting of 25 patients admitted in government civil hospital, Ahmedabad during April 2013 to May 2015 having high subtrochanteric femur fractures treated by clamp assisted reduction and intramedullary nailing. Out of these, 20 patients (80%) came for final follow up with average follow up of 11.5 months and evaluated for union, complication and functional outcome.Results: In our study final outcome is assessed based on hip outcome score (modified) based on which 85% had excellent outcome, 10% had good outcome and 5% had fair outcome with none of the patient having poor outcome.Conclusions: We found that clamp-assisted reduction and intramedullary nail fixation provides excellent reduction quality, high rate of fracture union, with no apparent increase in complications in subtrochanteric fractures of the femur.

Directly observed antiretroviral therapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials.

BACKGROUND: Directly observed therapy has been recommended to improve adherence for patients with HIV infection who are on highly active antiretroviral therapy, but the benefit and cost-effectiveness of this approach has not been established conclusively. We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised trials of directly observed versus self-administered antiretroviral treatment. METHODS: We did duplicate searches of databases (from inception to July 27, 2009), searchable websites of major HIV conferences (up to July, 2009), and lay publications and websites (March-July, 2009) to identify randomised trials assessing directly observed therapy to promote adherence to antiretroviral therapy in adults. Our primary outcome was virological suppression at study completion. We calculated relative risks (95% CIs), and pooled estimates using a random-effects method. FINDINGS: 12 studies met our inclusion criteria; four of these were done in groups that were judged to be at high risk of poor adherence (drug users and homeless people). Ten studies reported on the primary outcome (n=1862 participants); we calculated a pooled relative risk of 1.04 (95% CI 0.91-1.20, p=0.55), and noted moderate heterogeneity between the studies (I(2)= 53.8%, 95% CI 0-75.7, p=0.0247) for directly observed versus self-administered treatment. INTERPRETATION: Directly observed antiretroviral therapy seems to offer no benefit over self-administered treatment, which calls into question the use of such an approach to support adherence in the general patient population. FUNDING: None

Health profile of adolescent girls visiting obstetrics and gynecology department of tertiary care hospital

Background: Gynecological problems of adolescents occupy a special space in the spectrum of gynecological disorders of all ages. In this study, an attempt has been made to review the health profile of adolescent girls visiting department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of a tertiary care hospital.Methods: This observational study was conducted at a tertiary care teaching hospital during June 2014 to May 2016. Data was collected after due permission.Results: Adolescent girls having gynecological problems were 2.3%. Mean age of menarche was 12.5 years. Anemia was present in 89(62.7%). About 72(50.7%) adolescent girls were having abnormal body mass index (BMI). Majority of girls 136(95.8%) had menstrual problems. Leucorrhoea, Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), ovarian mass, urinary problems, breast problems, injury to genital tract and sexual assault were present in 42(29.6%), 24(16.9%), 20(14.1%), 13(9.2%), 12(8.5%), 4(2.8%) and 1(0.7%) respectively.Conclusions: A very small proportion of adolescent girls came to the hospital for health-related issues. Anemia was present in more than half of adolescent girls and almost half of adolescent girls were having abnormal BMI. Majority of adolescent girls had menstrual problems. Health education regarding normal physiology, various gynecological problems, importance of nutrition and exercise for adolescents is necessary

Modelling two-phase flow and transport effects of multi-component fuels

Three novel multicomponent fuel spray droplet evaporation models are developed by employing the theory of continuous thermodynamics(CT) with the aim of applying them in the design and analysis of various energy conversion devices such as, aircraft jet engines, liquid-fuel rocket engines, diesel engines, and industrial furnaces. The CT methodology seeks to represent complex mixtures - for example,aviation kerosene or JP8 that typically comprise blends of a large number of chemical compounds by using probability distribution functions (PDFs). The components of JP8, which is constituted by the homologous series of paraffin, naphthene, and aromatic hydrocarbons; are each represented by the Pearson-Shultz type three-parameter gamma PDF, where the three (shape, scale, and origin) parameters characterise changes in the mixture composition. The phase transition of the liquid droplet due to evaporation is modelled using both low-pressure (LP) and high-pressure (HP) vapour-liquid equilibrium (VLE) models employing various mixing and combining rules by applying a general cubic equation of state (CEOS). Interestingly enough, the phase transition of the liquid fuel into vapour mixture is characterised by a change in the PDF scale parameter alone. Once the description of the fuel mixture is complete, the traditional species and energy transport equations both for the liquid and vapour phases respectively, are re-written using the composition PDF moments under Lagrangian and Eulerian frameworks. In order to solve the governing equations for the three droplet evaporation models, which characteristically involve phase change and a moving interface, a novel fully Adaptive Method Of Lines using B-Spline Collocation (AMOLBSC) is developed. The models are tested at various pressures, temperatures and convective conditions, including at a lean, premixed, prevaporised (LPP) combustor operating condition. In general, the computational results at an ambient pressure close to atmospheric showed good to excellent agreement against available experimental data in the literature. However, for ambient conditions with elevated-high pressures and temperatures only models that employ the HP formulation gave reliable results. In particular, when the liquid is at or near its critical pressure and temperature it is characterised by faster vaporisation and shorter droplet lifetime, including some evidence of liquid mass diffusion. The liquid model that incorporates the effects of liquid core circulation using semiempirical approximation and adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) technique is the most accurate and computationally efficient, although further work is required to establish its ranges of applicability.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Winding number and non-BPS bound states of walls in nonlinear sigma models

Non-supersymmetric multi-wall configurations are generically unstable. It is proposed that the stabilization in compact space can be achieved by introducing a winding number into the model. A BPS-like bound is studied for the energy of configuration with nonvanishing winding number. Winding number is implemented in an ${\cal N}=1$ supersymmetric nonlinear sigma model with two chiral scalar fields and a bound states of BPS and anti-BPS walls is found to exist in noncompact spaces. Even in compactified space $S^1$, this nontrivial bound state persists above a critical radius of the compact dimension.Comment: 20pages, 14 figures, minor misprint corrections, figures added, explanation of winding number adde

Climate change and postglacial human dispersals in southeast Asia

Modern humans have been living in Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) for at least 50,000 years. Largely because of the influence of linguistic studies, however, which have a shallow time depth, the attention of archaeologists and geneticists has usually been focused on the last 6,000 years--in particular, on a proposed Neolithic dispersal from China and Taiwan. Here we use complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genome sequencing to spotlight some earlier processes that clearly had a major role in the demographic history of the region but have hitherto been unrecognized. We show that haplogroup E, an important component of mtDNA diversity in the region, evolved in situ over the last 35,000 years and expanded dramatically throughout ISEA around the beginning of the Holocene, at the time when the ancient continent of Sundaland was being broken up into the present-day archipelago by rising sea levels. It reached Taiwan and Near Oceania more recently, within the last approximately 8,000 years. This suggests that global warming and sea-level rises at the end of the Ice Age, 15,000-7,000 years ago, were the main forces shaping modern human diversity in the region

The power of peers: An effectiveness evaluation of a cluster-controlled trial of group antenatal care in rural Nepal

Background: Reducing the maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births globally is one of the Sustainable Development Goals. Approximately 830 women die from pregnancy-or childbirth-related complications every day. Almost 99% of these deaths occur in developing countries. Increasing antenatal care quality and completion, and institutional delivery are key strategies to reduce maternal mortality, however there are many implementation challenges in rural and resource-limited settings. In Nepal, 43% of deliveries do not take place in an institution and 31% of women have insufficient antenatal care. Context-specific and evidence-based strategies are needed to improve antenatal care completion and institutional birth. We present an assessment of effectiveness outcomes for an adaptation of a group antenatal care model delivered by community health workers and midwives in close collaboration with government staff in rural Nepal. Methods: The study was conducted in Achham, Nepal, via a public private partnership between the Nepali non-profit, Nyaya Health Nepal, and the Ministry of Health and Population, with financial and technical assistance from the American non-profit, Possible. We implemented group antenatal care as a prospective non-randomized, cluster-controlled, type I hybrid effectiveness-implementation study in six village clusters. The implementation approach allowed for iterative improvement in design by making changes to improve the quality of the intervention. We evaluated effectiveness through a difference in difference analysis of institutional birth rates between groups prior to implementation of the intervention and 1 year after implementation. Additionally, we assessed the change in knowledge of key danger signs and the acceptability of the group model compared with individual visits in a nested cohort of women receiving home visit care and home visit care plus group antenatal care. Using a directed content and thematic approach, we analyzed qualitative interviews to identify major themes related to implementation. Results: At baseline, there were 457 recently-delivered women in the six village clusters receiving home visit care and 214 in the seven village clusters receiving home visit care plus group antenatal care. At endline, there were 336 and 201, respectively. The difference in difference analysis did not show a significant change in institutional birth rates nor antenatal care visit completion rates between the groups. There was, however, a significant increase in both institutional birth and antenatal care completion in each group from baseline to endline. We enrolled a nested cohort of 52 participants receiving home visit care and 62 participants receiving home visit care plus group antenatal care. There was high acceptability of the group antenatal care intervention and home visit care, with no significant differences between groups. A significantly higher percentage of women who participated in group antenatal care found their visits to be 'very enjoyable' (83.9% vs 59.6%, p = 0.0056). In the nested cohort, knowledge of key danger signs during pregnancy significantly improved from baseline to endline in the intervention clusters only (2 to 31%, p < 0.001), while knowledge of key danger signs related to labor and childbirth, the postpartum period, and the newborn did not in either intervention or control groups. Qualitative analysis revealed that women found that the groups provided an opportunity for learning and discussion, and the groups were a source of social support and empowerment. They also reported an improvement in services available at their village clinic. Providers noted the importance of the community health workers in identifying pregnant women in the community and linking them to the village clinics. Challenges in birth planning were brought up by both participants and providers. Conclusion: While there was no significant change in institutional birth and antenatal care completion at the population level between groups, there was an increase of these outcomes in both groups. This may be secondary to the primary importance of community health worker involvement in both of these groups. Knowledge of key pregnancy danger signs was significantly improved in the home visit plus group antenatal care cohort compared with the home visit care only group. This initial study of Nyaya Health Nepal's adapted group care model demonstrates the potential for impacting women's antenatal care experience and should be studied over a longer period as an intervention embedded within a community health worker program. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02330887, registered 01/05/2015, retroactively registered

Quantifying the legacy of the Chinese Neolithic on the maternal genetic heritage of Taiwan and Island Southeast Asia

There has been a long-standing debate concerning the extent to which the spread of Neolithic ceramics and Malay-Polynesian languages in Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) were coupled to an agriculturally driven demic dispersal out of Taiwan 4000 years ago (4 ka). We previously addressed this question using founder analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control-region sequences to identify major lineage clusters most likely to have dispersed from Taiwan into ISEA, proposing that the dispersal had a relatively minor impact on the extant genetic structure of ISEA, and that the role of agriculture in the expansion of the Austronesian languages was therefore likely to have been correspondingly minor. Here we test these conclusions by sequencing whole mtDNAs from across Taiwan and ISEA, using their higher chronological precision to resolve the overall proportion that participated in the “out-of-Taiwan” mid-Holocene dispersal as opposed to earlier, postglacial expansions in the Early Holocene. We show that, in total, about 20 % of mtDNA lineages in the modern ISEA pool result from the “out-of-Taiwan” dispersal, with most of the remainder signifying earlier processes, mainly due to sea-level rises after the Last Glacial Maximum. Notably, we show that every one of these founder clusters previously entered Taiwan from China, 6–7 ka, where rice-farming originated, and remained distinct from the indigenous Taiwanese population until after the subsequent dispersal into ISEA