3. Launching the New Enterprise

As the academic year of 1945-46 approached, the intensity of activity in preparation for actually opening the school in the fall term became overwhelming. Incredible though it may seem, Ives and Day were able in a period of a few weeks to assemble the nucleus of a faculty, several of whom formed a continuing source of counsel and advice both during the school’s formative years and thereafter. Includes: The First Dean and the School’s Dedication; A Participant’s View of the Early Years; Ives Moves On; Several Views of Martin P. Catherwood; The Founders

Transcript secure signatures based on modular lattices

We introduce a class of lattice-based digital signature schemes based on modular properties of the coordinates of lattice vectors. We also suggest a method of making such schemes transcript secure via a rejection sampling technique of Lyubashevsky (2009). A particular instantiation of this approach is given, using NTRU lattices. Although the scheme is not supported by a formal security reduction, we present arguments for its security and derive concrete parameters (first version) based on the performance of state-of-the-art lattice reduction and enumeration tech- niques. In the revision, we re-evaluate the security of first version of the parameter sets, under the hybrid approach of lattice reduction attack the meet-in-the-middle attack. We present new sets of parameters that are robust against this attack, as well as all previous known attacks

Choosing Parameters for NTRUEncrypt

We describe a methods for generating parameter sets and calculating security estimates for NTRUEncrypt. Analyses are provided for the standardized product-form parameter sets from IEEE 1363.1-2008 and for the NTRU Challenge parameter sets

DA-Encrypt: Homomorphic Encryption via Non-Archimedean Diophantine Approximation --- Preliminary Report

We give a theoretical description of a new homomorphic encryption scheme DA-Encrypt that is based on (non-archimedean) Diophantine Approximation

A portable sensor for cell optical density measurement in microfluidic chips

This paper presents the development of a smartphone-controlled wireless device for cell optical density sensing in microfluidic chips. The footprint of the device is very compact relative to a classical laboratory spectrophotometer, making it a portable device. The cell optical density sensing device consists of an embedded microcontroller, optical sensing components, and a wireless transceiver performing cell optical density measurements in disposable microfluidic chips fabricated from poly(methylmethacrylate) polymers. The device is controlled by an Android application allowing for true portability and the possibility of remote or field operation of the device. The use of microfluidic chips as the sample carrier for optical density detection instead of a plastic cuvette allows users the flexibility to explore and/or conduct a variety of micro-scale chemical analysis using the device which would be difficult in a cuvette-based system. The function of the device is validated through a series of off-line and online optical density measurements using Saccharomyces cerevisae yeast cultures. The device is low cost, small enough to fit in most laboratory flow hood cabinets, and can be easily integrated into miniature bioreactor systems. Moreover, wireless communication enables the user to operate the device using smartphones or rapidly transfer the measured data to an online repository for analysis or storage

A 44-year-old man with eye, kidney, and brain dysfunction

Retinal vasculopathy with cerebral leukodystrophy (RVCL) is a rare, autosomal dominant condition caused by mutations of the three-prime repair exonuclease-1 (TREX1). The phenotypic expressions range from isolated retinal involvement to varying degrees of retinopathy, cerebral infarction with calcium depositions, nephropathy, and hepatopathy. We report a case of RVCL caused by a novel TREX1 mutation. This patient’s multisystem presentation, retinal involvement interpreted as “retinal vasculitis”, and improvement of neuroimaging abnormalities with dexamethasone led to the accepted diagnosis of a rheumatologic disorder resembling Behçet’s disease. Clinicians should consider RVCL in any patient with retinal capillary obliterations associated with tumefactive brain lesions or nephropathy

Trial protocol OPPTIMUM : does progesterone prophylaxis for the prevention of preterm labour improve outcome?

Background Preterm birth is a global problem, with a prevalence of 8 to 12% depending on location. Several large trials and systematic reviews have shown progestogens to be effective in preventing or delaying preterm birth in selected high risk women with a singleton pregnancy (including those with a short cervix or previous preterm birth). Although an improvement in short term neonatal outcomes has been shown in some trials these have not consistently been confirmed in meta-analyses. Additionally data on longer term outcomes is limited to a single trial where no difference in outcomes was demonstrated at four years of age of the child, despite those in the “progesterone” group having a lower incidence of preterm birth. Methods/Design The OPPTIMUM study is a double blind randomized placebo controlled trial to determine whether progesterone prophylaxis to prevent preterm birth has long term neonatal or infant benefit. Specifically it will study whether, in women with singleton pregnancy and at high risk of preterm labour, prophylactic vaginal natural progesterone, 200 mg daily from 22 – 34 weeks gestation, compared to placebo, improves obstetric outcome by lengthening pregnancy thus reducing the incidence of preterm delivery (before 34 weeks), improves neonatal outcome by reducing a composite of death and major morbidity, and leads to improved childhood cognitive and neurosensory outcomes at two years of age. Recruitment began in 2009 and is scheduled to close in Spring 2013. As of May 2012, over 800 women had been randomized in 60 sites. Discussion OPPTIMUM will provide further evidence on the effectiveness of vaginal progesterone for prevention of preterm birth and improvement of neonatal outcomes in selected groups of women with singleton pregnancy at high risk of preterm birth. Additionally it will determine whether any reduction in the incidence of preterm birth is accompanied by improved childhood outcome

Amenability of groups and GG-sets

This text surveys classical and recent results in the field of amenability of groups, from a combinatorial standpoint. It has served as the support of courses at the University of G\"ottingen and the \'Ecole Normale Sup\'erieure. The goals of the text are (1) to be as self-contained as possible, so as to serve as a good introduction for newcomers to the field; (2) to stress the use of combinatorial tools, in collaboration with functional analysis, probability etc., with discrete groups in focus; (3) to consider from the beginning the more general notion of amenable actions; (4) to describe recent classes of examples, and in particular groups acting on Cantor sets and topological full groups