Acoustic Integrity Codes: Secure Device Pairing Using Short-Range Acoustic Communication

Secure Device Pairing (SDP) relies on an out-of-band channel to authenticate devices. This requires a common hardware interface, which limits the use of existing SDP systems. We propose to use short-range acoustic communication for the initial pairing. Audio hardware is commonly available on existing off-the-shelf devices and can be accessed from user space without requiring firmware or hardware modifications. We improve upon previous approaches by designing Acoustic Integrity Codes (AICs): a modulation scheme that provides message authentication on the acoustic physical layer. We analyze their security and demonstrate that we can defend against signal cancellation attacks by designing signals with low autocorrelation. Our system can detect overshadowing attacks using a ternary decision function with a threshold. In our evaluation of this SDP scheme's security and robustness, we achieve a bit error ratio below 0.1% for a net bit rate of 100 bps with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 14 dB. Using our open-source proof-of-concept implementation on Android smartphones, we demonstrate pairing between different smartphone models.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures. Published at ACM WiSec 2020 (13th ACM Conference on Security and Privacy in Wireless and Mobile Networks). Updated reference

The hGFAP-driven conditional TSPO knockout is protective in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis.

The mitochondrial translocator protein (TSPO) has been implicated in CNS diseases. Here, we sought to determine the specific role of TSPO in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the most studied animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS). To fundamentally elucidate the functions of TSPO, we first developed a viable TSPO knockout mouse. A conditional TSPO knockout mouse was generated by utilizing the Cre-Lox system. We generated a TSPO floxed mouse, and then crossed this mouse with a Cre recombinase expressing mouse driven by the human glial fibrillary acidic protein (hGFAP) promoter. The resultant mouse was a neural linage line specific TSPO knockout. The loss of TSPO in the CNS did not result in overt developmental defects or phenotypes. The TSPO-/- mouse showed a decrease in GFAP expression, correlating with a decrease in astrogliosis in response to neural injury during EAE. This decrease in astrogliosis was also witnessed in the lessening of severity of EAE clinical scoring, indicating an in vivo functional role for TSPO in suppressing EAE. The TSPO-/- mouse could be a useful tool in better understanding the role of TSPO in CNS disease, and our results implicate TSPO as a potential therapeutic target in MS

Macroscopic Elastic Properties of Textured ZrN--AlN Polycrystalline Aggregates: From Ab initio Calculations to Grain-Scale Interactions

Despite the fast development of computational materials modelling, theoretical description of macroscopic elastic properties of textured polycrystalline aggregates starting from basic principles remains a challenging task. In this communication we use a supercell-based approach to obtain the elastic properties of random solid solution cubic ZrAlN system as a function of the metallic sublattice composition and texture descriptors. The employed special quasi-random structures are optimised not only with respect to short range order parameters, but also to make the three cubic directions $[1\,0\,0]$, $[0\,1\,0]$, and $[0\,0\,1]$ as similar as possible. In this way, only a small spread of elastic constants tensor components is achieved and an optimum trade-off between modelling of chemical disorder and computational limits regarding the supercell size is achieved. The single crystal elastic constants are shown to vary smoothly with composition, yielding $x\approx0.4$-0.5 an alloy constitution with an almost isotropic response. Consequently, polycrystals with this composition are suggested to have Young's modulus independent on the actual microstructure. This is indeed confirmed by explicit calculations of polycrystal elastic properties, both within the isotropic aggregate limit, as well as with fibre textures with various orientations and sharpness. It turns out, that for low AlN mole fractions, the spread of the possible Young's moduli data caused by the texture variation can be larger than 100 GPa. Consequently, our discussion of Young's modulus data of cubic ZrAlN contains also the evaluation of the texture typical for thin films.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, 3 table

Towards predictive modelling of near-edge structures in electron energy loss spectra of AlN based ternary alloys

Although electron energy loss near edge structure analysis provides a tool for experimentally probing unoccupied density of states, a detailed comparison with simulations is necessary in order to understand the origin of individual peaks. This paper presents a density functional theory based technique for predicting the N K-edge for ternary (quasi-binary) nitrogen alloys by adopting a core hole approach, a methodology that has been successful for binary nitride compounds. It is demonstrated that using the spectra of binary compounds for optimising the core hole charge ($0.35\,\mathrm{e}$ for cubic Ti$_{1-x}$Al$_x$N and $0.45\,\mathrm{e}$ for wurtzite Al$_x$Ga$_{1-x}$N), the predicted spectra evolutions of the ternary alloys agree well with the experiments. The spectral features are subsequently discussed in terms of the electronic structure and bonding of the alloys.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, 1 tabl

Susceptibility of Bifidobacteria of Animal Origin to Selected Antimicrobial Agents

Strains of the genus Bifidobacterium are frequently used as probiotics, for which the absence of acquired antimicrobial resistance has become an important safety criterion. This clarifies the need for antibiotic susceptibility data for bifidobacteria. Based on a recently published standard for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of bifidobacteria with broth microdilution method, the range of susceptibility to selected antibiotics in 117 animal bifidobacterial strains was examined. Narrow unimodal MIC distributions either situated at the low-end (chloramphenicol, linezolid, and quinupristin/dalfopristin) or high-end (kanamycin, neomycin) concentration range could be detected. In contrast, the MIC distribution of trimethoprim was multimodal. Data derived from this study can be used as a basis for reviewing or verifying present microbiological breakpoints suggested by regulatory agencies to assess the safety of these micro-organisms intended for the use in probiotics

World caf\ue9 method to engage smart energy-district project partners in assessing urban co-benefits

Urban energy-district projects introduce outstanding technological innovation in buildings and energy systems increasing sustainability in city neighborhoods. Such projects generate additional co-benefits for the city beyond changes in physical elements and development of social and institutional relationships (e.g. local employment, environmental quality, public health, property values, innovation attitude, etc.). Since exceeding main declared goals or not always clearly foreseen in the early project phase, these co-benefits are often not properly understood and considered. However, only their explicit recognition will make possible their inclusion in the assessment of the whole project\u2019s performance. From these considerations, this study faces the issue of engaging project partners in assessing co-benefits in order to consider a broad spectrum of relevant, positive effects in the evaluation process. Group knowledge and group thinking of this complex topic are investigated through the world caf\ue9 method, providing an atmosphere of trust and open discussions among participants. This empirical work lays the foundations to go beyond the mere economic measure as the sole criterion for assessing project effects, also including changes in end-user behavior and intangible asset

Uporaba lokalnih sojeva bakterije Lactococcus lactis kao starter kultura u proizvodnji tradicionalnih crnogorskih sireva

The aim of this study is to characterise and examine the biochemical properties of 40 Lactococcus lactis strains isolated from indigenous Montenegrin dairy products in order to explore their potential to be used as starter cultures for producing typical Montenegrin cheese, such as ‘bijeli sir’, ‘masni sir’ and ‘njeguški sir’. Their safety regarding the production of biogenic amines, the presence of antimicrobial resistance and the antibacterial activity against relevant pathogens and spoilage microorganisms has also been tested. Based on the characterisation, all strains belong to L. lactis ssp. lactis. Out of these 40 strains, 23 displayed rapid acidification ability and proteolysis. However, none of the strains exhibited the ability of lipid degradation. Most of the strains were not associated with any health risk investigated. Summing up, a large percentage (27.5 %) of the tested strains showed good properties. These strains should be further examined for their possible application as specific starter cultures in the production of indigenous cheese in MontenegroSvrha je ovoga rada bila okarakterizirati i ispitati biokemijska svojstva 40 sojeva bakterije Lactococcus lactis, izoliranih iz autohtonih crnogorskih mliječnih proizvoda, te istražiti mogućnost njihove uporabe kao starter kultura u proizvodnji tipičnih crnogorskih sireva, kao što su bijeli sir, masni sir i njeguški sir. Također je ispitana sigurnost primjene tih sojeva, tj. sposobnost proizvodnje biogenih amina, antimikrobna rezistencija i sposobnost suzbijanja rasta važnih patogenih mikroorganizama i uzročnika kvarenja hrane. Karakterizacijom je utvrđeno da svih 40 sojeva pripadaju podvrsti L. lactis ssp. lactis. Njih 23 imala su sposobnost brzog zakiseljavanja i proteolize. Međutim, niti jedan soj nije pokazao sposobnost razgradnje lipida. Većina sojeva nije predstavljala nikakav rizik za zdravlje. Velik postotak sojeva (27,5 %) pokazao je dobra proizvodna svojstva, pa treba dodatno ispitati mogućnost njihove uporabe kao specifičnih starter kultura u proizvodnji autohtonih crnogorskih sireva