Efficient Ephemeral Elliptic Curve Cryptographic Keys

We show how any pair of authenticated users can on-the-fly agree on an elliptic curve group that is unique to their communication session, unpredictable to outside observers, and secure against known attacks. Our proposal is suitable for deployment on constrained devices such as smartphones, allowing them to efficiently generate ephemeral parameters that are unique to any single cryptographic application such as symmetric key agreement. For such applications it thus offers an alternative to long term usage of standardized or otherwise pre-generated elliptic curve parameters, obtaining security against cryptographic attacks aimed at other users, and eliminating the need to trust elliptic curves generated by third parties

Regulation of MicroRNA Biogenesis: A miRiad of mechanisms

microRNAs are small, non-coding RNAs that influence diverse biological functions through the repression of target genes during normal development and pathological responses. Widespread use of microRNA arrays to profile microRNA expression has indicated that the levels of many microRNAs are altered during development and disease. These findings have prompted a great deal of investigation into the mechanism and function of microRNA-mediated repression. However, the mechanisms which govern the regulation of microRNA biogenesis and activity are just beginning to be uncovered. Following transcription, mature microRNA are generated through a series of coordinated processing events mediated by large protein complexes. It is increasingly clear that microRNA biogenesis does not proceed in a 'one-size-fits-all' manner. Rather, individual classes of microRNAs are differentially regulated through the association of regulatory factors with the core microRNA biogenesis machinery. Here, we review the regulation of microRNA biogenesis and activity, with particular focus on mechanisms of post-transcriptional control. Further understanding of the regulation of microRNA biogenesis and activity will undoubtedly provide important insights into normal development as well as pathological conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancer

Majority coset decoding

A majority coset decoding (MCD) procedure that can be applied to an arbitrary geometric code is discussed. In general, the basic algorithm for decoding of algebraic-geometric codes does not correct up to the designed minimum distance. In MCD, a reduction step is added to the basic algorithm. In case the basic algorithm fails, a majority scheme is used to obtain an additional syndrome for the error vector. Thus a strictly smaller cost containing the error vector is obtained. In this way, the basic algorithm is applied to a decreasing chain of cosets and after finitely many steps the coset will be small enough for successful application of the basic algorithm