Attribute Based Pseudonyms : Anonymous and Linkable Scoped Credentials

Attribute-based credentials (ABCs) provide an efficient way to transfer custody of personal and private data to the final user, while minimizing the risk of sensitive data revelation and thus granting anonymity. Nevertheless, this method cannot detect whether one attribute has been used more than once without compromising anonymity when the emitter and consumer collude with one another. The protocol proposed in this article deals with this issue by using a modification of ZSS pairing-based short signatures over elliptic curves and Verheul's self-blinded credentials scheme. Each user can generate an identifier (pseudonym) that is unique and verifiable by everyone in a given scope, without compromising anonymity. However, the identifier cannot be reused in the same scope, since such reuse would be detected

Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation Outcome Measure

Objective: The objective of this paper is to assess the reliability and validity of the Spanish translation of the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation – Outcome Measure, a 34-item selfreport questionnaire that measures the client’s status in the domains of Subjective well-being, Problems/Symptoms, Life functioning, and Risk. Method: Six hundred and forty-four adult participants were included in two samples: the clinical sample (n=192) from different mental health and primary care centers; and the nonclinical sample (n=452), which included a student and a community sample. Results: The questionnaire showed good acceptability and internal consistency, appropriate test–retest reliability, and acceptable convergent validity. Strong differentiation between clinical and nonclinical samples was found. As expected, the Risk domain had different characteristics than other domains, but all findings were comparable with the UK referential data. Cutoff scores were calculated for clinical significant change assessment. Conclusion: The Spanish version of the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation – Outcome Measure showed acceptable psychometric properties, providing support for using the questionnaire for monitoring the progress of Spanish-speaking psychotherapy clients

Photoproduction total cross section and shower development

The total photoproduction cross section at ultra-high energies is obtained using a model based on QCD minijets and soft-gluon resummation and the ansatz that infrared gluons limit the rise of total cross sections. This cross section is introduced into the Monte Carlo system AIRES to simulate extended air-showers initiated by cosmic ray photons. The impact of the new photoproduction cross section on common shower observables, especially those related to muon production, is compared with previous results

Gene-environment interaction analysis of redox-related metals and genetic variants with plasma metabolic patterns in a general population from Spain: The Hortega Study

Background: Limited studies have evaluated the joint influence of redox-related metals and genetic variation on metabolic pathways. We analyzed the association of 11 metals with metabolic patterns, and the interacting role of candidate genetic variants, in 1145 participants from the Hortega Study, a population-based sample from Spain. Methods: Urine antimony (Sb), arsenic, barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), molybdenum (Mo) and vanadium (V), and plasma copper (Cu), selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn) were measured by ICP-MS and AAS, respectively. We summarized 54 plasma metabolites, measured with targeted NMR, by estimating metabolic principal components (mPC). Redox-related SNPs (N = 291) were measured by oligo-ligation assay. Results: In our study, the association with metabolic principal component (mPC) 1 (reflecting non-essential and essential amino acids, including branched chain, and bacterial co-metabolism versus fatty acids and VLDL subclasses) was positive for Se and Zn, but inverse for Cu, arsenobetaine-corrected arsenic (As) and Sb. The association with mPC2 (reflecting essential amino acids, including aromatic, and bacterial co-metabolism) was inverse for Se, Zn and Cd. The association with mPC3 (reflecting LDL subclasses) was positive for Cu, Se and Zn, but inverse for Co. The association for mPC4 (reflecting HDL subclasses) was positive for Sb, but inverse for plasma Zn. These associations were mainly driven by Cu and Sb for mPC1; Se, Zn and Cd for mPC2; Co, Se and Zn for mPC3; and Zn for mPC4. The most SNP-metal interacting genes were NOX1, GSR, GCLC, AGT and REN. Co and Zn showed the highest number of interactions with genetic variants associated to enriched endocrine, cardiovascular and neurological pathways. Conclusions: Exposures to Co, Cu, Se, Zn, As, Cd and Sb were associated with several metabolic patterns involved in chronic disease. Carriers of redox-related variants may have differential susceptibility to metabolic alterations associated to excessive exposure to metals.This work was supported by the Strategic Action for Research in Health sciences [CP12/03080, PI15/00071, PI10/0082, PI13/01848, PI14/00874, PI16/01402, PI21/00506 and PI11/00726], CIBER Fisio patología Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN) (CIBER-02-08-2009, CB06/03 and CB12/03/30,016), the State Agency for Research (PID2019-108973RB- C21 and C22), the Valencia Government (GRUPOS 03/101; PROMETEO/2009/029 and ACOMP/2013/039, IDI FEDER/2021/072 and GRISOLIAP/2021/119), the Castilla-Leon Government (GRS/279/A/08) and European Network of Excellence Ingenious Hypercare (EPSS-037093) from the European Commission. The Strategic Action for Research in Health sciences, CIBERDEM and CIBEROBN are initiatives from Carlos III Health Institute Madrid and cofunded with European Funds for Regional Development (FEDER). The State Agency for Research and Carlos III Health Institute belong to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. ADR received the support of a fellowship from “la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434) (fellowship code “LCF/BQ/DR19/11740016”). MGP received the support of a fellowship from “la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434, fellowship code LCFLCF/BQ/DI18/11660001). The funding bodies had no role in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript.S

Mitochondrial DNA disturbances and deregulated expression of oxidative phosphorylation and mitochondrial fusion proteins in sporadic inclusion body myositis

Sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM) is one of the most common myopathies in elderly people. Mitochondrial abnormalities at the histological level are present in these patients. We hypothesize that mitochondrial dysfunction may play a role in disease aetiology. We took the following measurements of muscle and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 30 sIBM patients and 38 age-and gender-paired controls: mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletions, amount of mtDNA and mtRNA, mitochondrial protein synthesis, mitochondrial respiratory chain (MRC) complex I and IV enzymatic activity, mitochondrial mass, oxidative stress and mitochondrial dynamics (mitofusin 2 and optic atrophy 1 levels). Depletion of mtDNA was present in muscle from sIBM patients and PBMCs showed deregulated expression of mitochondrial proteins in oxidative phosphorylation. MRC complex IV/citrate synthase activity was significantly decreased in both tissues and mitochondrial dynamics were affected in muscle. Depletion of mtDNA was significantly more severe in patients with mtDNA deletions, which also presented deregulation of mitochondrial fusion proteins. Imbalance in mitochondrial dynamics in muscle was associated with increased mitochondrial genetic disturbances (both depletion and deletions), demonstrating that proper mitochondrial turnover is essential for mitochondrial homoeostasis and muscle function in these patients

Efficacy of a dilemma-focused intervention for unipolar depression : study protocol for a multicenter randomized controlled trial

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly citedDepression is one of the more severe and serious health problems because of its morbidity, disabling effects and for its societal and economic burden. Despite the variety of existing pharmacological and psychological treatments, most of the cases evolve with only partial remission, relapse and recurrence. Cognitive models have contributed significantly to the understanding of unipolar depression and its psychological treatment. However, success is only partial and many authors affirm the need to improve those models and also the treatment programs derived from them. One of the issues that requires further elaboration is the difficulty these patients experience in responding to treatment and in maintaining therapeutic gains across time without relapse or recurrence. Our research group has been working on the notion of cognitive conflict viewed as personal dilemmas according to personal construct theory. We use a novel method for identifying those conflicts using the repertory grid technique (RGT). Preliminary results with depressive patients show that about 90% of them have one or more of those conflicts. This fact might explain the blockage and the difficult progress of these patients, especially the more severe and/or chronic. These results justify the need for specific interventions focused on the resolution of these internal conflicts. This study aims to empirically test the hypothesis that an intervention focused on the dilemma(s) specifically detected for each patient will enhance the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for depressionPeer reviewe

The Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment: A Harbinger For "New Physics"

QED, Hadronic, and Electroweak Standard Model contributions to the muon anomalous magnetic moment, a_mu = (g_mu-2)/2, and their theoretical uncertainties are scrutinized. The status and implications of the recently reported 2.6 sigma experiment vs.theory deviation a_mu^{exp}-a_mu^{SM} = 426(165) times 10^{-11} are discussed. Possible explanations due to supersymmetric loop effects with m_{SUSY} \simeq 55 sqrt{tan beta} GeV, radiative mass mechanisms at the 1--2 TeV scale and other ``New Physics'' scenarios are examined.Comment: 24 page

Pre-exposure prophylaxis with hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 : a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial

Background: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a promising strategy to break COVID-19 transmission. Although hydroxychloroquine was evaluated for treatment and post-exposure prophylaxis, it is not evaluated for COVID-19 PrEP yet. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of PrEP with hydroxychloroquine against placebo in healthcare workers at high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection during an epidemic period. Methods: We conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial in three hospitals in Barcelona, Spain. From 350 adult healthcare workers screened, we included 269 participants with no active or past SARS-CoV-2 infection (determined by a negative nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 PCR and a negative serology against SARS-CoV-2). Participants allocated in the intervention arm (PrEP) received 400 mg of hydroxychloroquine daily for the first four consecutive days and subsequently, 400 mg weekly during the study period. Participants in the control group followed the same treatment schedule with placebo tablets. Results: 52.8% (142/269) of participants were in the hydroxychloroquine arm and 47.2% (127/269) in the placebo arm. Given the national epidemic incidence decay, only one participant in each group was diagnosed with COVID-19. The trial was stopped due to futility and our study design was deemed underpowered to evaluate any benefit regarding PrEP efficacy. Both groups showed a similar proportion of participants experiencing at least one adverse event (AE) (p=0.548). No serious AEs were reported. Almost all AEs (96.4%, 106/110) were mild. Only mild gastrointestinal symptoms were significantly higher in the hydroxychloroquine arm compared to the placebo arm (27.4% (39/142) vs 15.7% (20/127), p=0.041). Conclusions: Although the efficacy of PrEP with hydroxychloroquine for preventing COVID-19 could not be evaluated, our study showed that PrEP with hydroxychloroquine at low doses is safe. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.govNCT04331834. Registered on April 2, 2020