18 Seconds to Key Exchange: Limitations of Supersingular Isogeny Diffie-Hellman on Embedded Devices

The quantum secure supersingular isogeny Diffie-Hellman (SIDH) key exchange is a promising candidate in NIST\u27s on-going post-quantum standardization process. The evaluation of various implementation characteristics is part of this standardization process, and includes the assessment of the applicability on constrained devices. When compared to other post-quantum algorithms, SIDH appears to be well-suited for the implementation on those constrained devices due to its small key sizes. On the other hand, SIDH is computationally complex, which presumably results in long computation times. Since there are no published results to test this assumption, we present speed-optimized implementations for two small microcontrollers and set a first benchmark that can be of relevance for the standardization process. We use state-of-the art field arithmetic algorithms and optimize them in assembly. However, an ephemeral key exchange still requires more than 18 seconds on a 32-bit Cortex-M4 and more than 11 minutes on a 16-bit MSP430. Those results show that even with an improvement by a factor of 4, SIDH is in-fact impractical for small embedded devices, regardless of further possible improvements in the implementation. On a positive note, we also analyzed the implementation security of SIDH and found that appropriate DPA countermeasures can be implemented with little overhead

Evaluating the incidence of hydrological processes during site formation through orientation analysis. A case study of the middle Palaeolithic Lakeland site of Neumark-Nord 2 (Germany)

Lacustrine localitieswere attractive environments for Palaeolithic hominins, since they provide a large and broad spectrumof resources. Moreover, they are excellent archives that allowfor high-resolution environmental, chronological and archaeological analyses. However, these deposits are often subject to complex formation and postdepositional factors, including water-related processes. Evaluating the influence of hydrological processes in site formation is thus essential to more accurately reconstruct the duration, intensity and types of hominin behaviour within these environments. In this paperwe present the orientation analysis of archaeological material from the Last Interglacial site Neumark-Nord 2, Germany. Orientation analysis was done using GIS to calculate the orientation of artefact from digital plans of the excavation surface, which were subsequently tested using circular statistics. The results of the orientation analysis are compared with a hydrological model to check the relation between preferred orientations and reconstructed areas of water flow and accumulation. Results suggest that low-energy hydrological processes could have affected certain areas of the find-bearing deposits at Neumark-Nord 2 but, overall, there is no evidence for either high-energy hydrological processes or a significant movement of parts of the archaeological assemblage.The project “Interglacial landscapes and Neanderthal adaptations in the Neumark-Nord region (Saxony-Anhalt)” is funded by the Deutsche Forchungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (GA 683/9-1)

Plasmonic Hepatitis B Biosensor for the Analysis of Clinical Saliva

A biosensor for the detection of hepatitis B antibodies in clinical saliva was developed. Compared to conventional analysis of blood serum, it offers the advantage of noninvasive collection of samples. Detection of biomarkers in saliva imposes two major challenges associated with the low analyte concentration and increased surface fouling. The detection of minute amounts of hepatitis B antibodies was performed by plasmonically amplified fluorescence sandwich immunoassay. To have access to specific detection, we prevented the nonspecific adsorption of biomolecules present in saliva by brushes of poly[(N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide)-co-(carboxybetaine methacrylamide)] grafted from the gold sensor surface and post modified with hepatitis B surface antigen. Obtained results were validated against the response measured with ELISA at a certified laboratory using serum from the same patients. © 201

Plasmonic Hepatitis B Biosensor for the Analysis of Clinical Saliva

A biosensor for the detection of hepatitis B antibodies in clinical saliva was developed. Compared to conventional analysis of blood serum, it offers the advantage of noninvasive collection of samples. Detection of biomarkers in saliva imposes two major challenges associated with the low analyte concentration and increased surface fouling. The detection of minute amounts of hepatitis B antibodies was performed by plasmonically amplified fluorescence sandwich immunoassay. To have access to specific detection, we prevented the nonspecific adsorption of biomolecules present in saliva by brushes of poly[(N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide)-co-(carboxybetaine methacrylamide)] grafted from the gold sensor surface and post modified with hepatitis B surface antigen. Obtained results were validated against the response measured with ELISA at a certified laboratory using serum from the same patients. © 201

ACOTES project: Advanced compiler technologies for embedded streaming

Streaming applications are built of data-driven, computational components, consuming and producing unbounded data streams. Streaming oriented systems have become dominant in a wide range of domains, including embedded applications and DSPs. However, programming efficiently for streaming architectures is a challenging task, having to carefully partition the computation and map it to processes in a way that best matches the underlying streaming architecture, taking into account the distributed resources (memory, processing, real-time requirements) and communication overheads (processing and delay). These challenges have led to a number of suggested solutions, whose goal is to improve the programmer’s productivity in developing applications that process massive streams of data on programmable, parallel embedded architectures. StreamIt is one such example. Another more recent approach is that developed by the ACOTES project (Advanced Compiler Technologies for Embedded Streaming). The ACOTES approach for streaming applications consists of compiler-assisted mapping of streaming tasks to highly parallel systems in order to maximize cost-effectiveness, both in terms of energy and in terms of design effort. The analysis and transformation techniques automate large parts of the partitioning and mapping process, based on the properties of the application domain, on the quantitative information about the target systems, and on programmer directives. This paper presents the outcomes of the ACOTES project, a 3-year collaborative work of industrial (NXP, ST, IBM, Silicon Hive, NOKIA) and academic (UPC, INRIA, MINES ParisTech) partners, and advocates the use of Advanced Compiler Technologies that we developed to support Embedded Streaming.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Fires at Neumark-Nord 2, Germany: An analysis of fire proxies from a Last Interglacial Middle Palaeolithic basin site

Few sites with evidence for fire use are known from the Last Interglacial in Europe. Hearth features are rarely preserved, probably as a result of post-depositional processes. The small postglacial basins (<300 m in diameter) that dominate the sedimentary context of the Eemian record in Europe are high-resolution environmental archives often containing charcoal particles. This case study presents the macroscopic charcoal record of the Neumark-Nord 2 basin, Germany, and the correlation of this record with the distinct find levels of the basin margin that also contain thermally altered archaeological material. Increased charcoal quantities are shown to correspond to phases of hominin presence-a pattern that fits best with recurrent anthropogenic fires within the watershed. This research shows the potential of small basin localities in the reconstruction of local fire histories, where clear archaeological features like hearths are missing

Two Late Pleistocene human femora from Trinil, Indonesia: Implications for body size and behavior in Southeast Asia

Late Pleistocene hominin postcranial specimens from Southeast Asia are relatively rare. Here we describe and place into temporal and geographic context two partial femora from the site of Trinil, Indonesia, which are dated stratigraphically and via Uranium-series direct dating to ca. 37–32 ka. The specimens, designated Trinil 9 and 10, include most of the diaphysis, with Trinil 9 being much better preserved. Microcomputed tomography is used to determine cross-sectional diaphyseal properties, with an emphasis on midshaft anteroposterior to mediolateral bending rigidity (Ix/Iy), which has been shown to relate to both body shape and activity level in modern humans. The body mass of Trinil 9 is estimated from cortical area and reconstructed length using new equations based on a Pleistocene reference sample. Comparisons are carried out with a large sample of Pleistocene and Holocene East Asian, African, and European/West Asian femora. Our results show that Trinil 9 has a high Ix/Iy ratio, most consistent with a relatively narrow-bodied male from a mobile hunting-gathering population. It has an estimated body mass of 55.4 kg and a stature of 156 cm, which are small relative to Late Pleistocene males worldwide, but larger than the penecontemporaneous Deep Skull femur from Niah Cave, Malaysia, which is very likely female. This suggests the presence of small-bodied active hunter-gatherers in Southeast Asia during the later Late Pleistocene. Trinil 9 also contrasts strongly in morphology with earlier partial femora from Trinil dating to the late Early-early Middle Pleistocene (Femora II–V), and to a lesser extent with the well-known complete Femur I, most likely dating to the terminal Middle-early Late Pleistocene. Temporal changes in morphology among femoral specimens from Trinil parallel those observed in Homo throughout the Old World during the Pleistocene and document these differences within a single site

Effect of the down-regulation of the high Grain Protein Content (GPC) genes on the wheat transcriptome during monocarpic senescence

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Increasing the nutrient concentration of wheat grains is important to ameliorate nutritional deficiencies in many parts of the world. Proteins and nutrients in the wheat grain are largely derived from the remobilization of degraded leaf molecules during monocarpic senescence. The down-regulation of the NAC transcription factor <it>Grain Protein Content </it>(<it>GPC</it>) in transgenic wheat plants delays senescence (>3 weeks) and reduces the concentration of protein, Zn and Fe in the grain (>30%), linking senescence and nutrient remobilization.</p> <p>Based on the early and rapid up-regulation of <it>GPC </it>in wheat flag leaves after anthesis, we hypothesized that this transcription factor is an early regulator of monocarpic senescence. To test this hypothesis, we used high-throughput mRNA-seq technologies to characterize the effect of the <it>GPC </it>down-regulation on the wheat flag-leaf transcriptome 12 days after anthesis. At this early stage of senescence <it>GPC </it>transcript levels are significantly lower in transgenic GPC-RNAi plants than in the wild type, but there are still no visible phenotypic differences between genotypes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We generated 1.4 million 454 reads from early senescing flag leaves (average ~350 nt) and assembled 1.2 million into 30,497 contigs that were used as a reference to map 145 million Illumina reads from three wild type and four GPC-RNAi plants. Following normalization and statistical testing, we identified a set of 691 genes differentially regulated by <it>GPC </it>(431 ≥ 2-fold change). Transcript level ratios between transgenic and wild type plants showed a high correlation (<it>R </it>= 0.83) between qRT-PCR and Illumina results, providing independent validation of the mRNA-seq approach. A set of differentially expressed genes were analyzed across an early senescence time-course.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Monocarpic senescence is an active process characterized by large-scale changes in gene expression which begins considerably before the appearance of visual symptoms of senescence. The mRNA-seq approach used here was able to detect small differences in transcript levels during the early stages of senescence. This resulted in an extensive list of <it>GPC</it>-regulated genes, which includes transporters, hormone regulated genes, and transcription factors. These <it>GPC</it>-regulated genes, particularly those up-regulated during senescence, provide valuable entry points to dissect the early stages of monocarpic senescence and nutrient remobilization in wheat.</p

Revised age and stratigraphy of the classic Homo erectus-bearing succession at Trinil (Java, Indonesia)

Obtaining accurate age control for fossils found on Java (Indonesia) has been and remains challenging due to geochronologic and stratigraphic uncertainties. In the 1890s, Dubois excavated numerous faunal fossils—including the first remains of Homo erectus—in sediments exposed along the Solo River at Trinil. Since then, various, and often contradictory age estimates have been proposed for the Trinil site and its fossils. However, the age of the fossil-bearing layers and the fossil assemblage remains inconclusive. This study constructs a chronostratigraphic framework for the Trinil site by documenting new stratigraphic sections and test pits, and by applying 40Ar/39Ar, paleomagnetic, and luminescence (pIRIR290) dating methods. Our study identifies two distinct, highly fossiliferous channel fills at the Trinil site. The stratigraphically lower Bone-Bearing Channel 1 (BBC-1) dates to 830–773 ka, while Bone-Bearing Channel 2 (BBC-2) is substantially younger with a maximum age of 450 ± 110 ka and an inferred minimum age of 430 ± 50 ka. Furthermore, significantly younger T2 terrace deposits are present at similar low elevations as BBC-1 and BBC-2. Our results demonstrate the presence of Early and Middle Pleistocene, and potentially even late Middle to Late Pleistocene fossiliferous sediments within the historical excavation area, suggesting that Dubois excavated fossils from at least three highly fossiliferous units with different ages. Moreover, evidence for reworking suggests that material found in the fossil-rich strata may originate from older deposits, introducing an additional source of temporal heterogeneity in the Trinil fossil assemblage. This challenges the current assumption that the Trinil H.K. fauna –which includes Homo erectus-is a homogeneous biostratigraphic unit. Furthermore, this scenario might explain why the Trinil skullcap collected by Dubois is tentatively grouped with Homo erectus fossils from Early Pleistocene sediments at Sangiran, while Trinil Femur I shares affinities with hominin fossils of Late Pleistocene age