Real-time cheat-free gaming on the basis of time-stamp service

A cheat-proof protocol for real-time gaming is proposed under the assumption that time-stamp servers issue serially numbered time stamps honestly and are available near every player, i.e., they exist everywhere in the Internet. With this protocol, each player sends its action to the other player and also sends its hash to the nearest time-stamp server. The time-stamp server sends the signed hash with the time and a serial number back to the player. The actions are checked to verify that they are compatible with the hashes, and the signed hashes are checked to verify that they have the correct time and the serial numbers are contiguous. The only latency in this protocol is the travel time of the packet from one player to another. In comparison with other existing protocols, we confirm that the proposed protocol is as fast as and more secure than the fair synchronization protocol, the fastest existing protoco

Dose-response relationship between sports activity and musculoskeletal pain in adolescents.

Physical activity has multiple health benefits but may also increase the risk of developing musculoskeletal pain (MSP). However, the relationship between physical activity and MSP has not been well characterized. This study examined the dose-response relationship between sports activity and MSP among adolescents. Two school-based serial surveys were conducted 1 year apart in adolescents aged 12 to 18 years in Unnan, Japan. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 2403 students. Associations between time spent in organized sports activity and MSP were analyzed cross-sectionally (n = 2403) and longitudinally (n = 374, students free of pain and in seventh or 10th grade at baseline) with repeated-measures Poisson regression and restricted cubic splines, with adjustment for potential confounders. The prevalence of overall pain, defined as having pain recently at least several times a week in at least one part of the body, was 27.4%. In the cross-sectional analysis, sports activity was significantly associated with pain prevalence. Each additional 1 h/wk of sports activity was associated with a 3% higher probability of having pain (prevalence ratio = 1.03, 95% confidence interval = 1.02-1.04). Similar trends were found across causes (traumatic and nontraumatic pain) and anatomic locations (upper limbs, lower back, and lower limbs). In longitudinal analysis, the risk ratio for developing pain at 1-year follow-up per 1 h/wk increase in baseline sports activity was 1.03 (95% confidence interval = 1.02-1.05). Spline models indicated a linear association (P < 0.001) but not a nonlinear association (P ≥ 0.45). The more the adolescents played sports, the more likely they were to have and develop pain.This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. MK is supported by a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad. FI is supported by the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit (MC_UU_12015/1; MC_UU_12015/5).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Wolters Kluwer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.000000000000052

Single core hardware module to implement encryption in TECB mode

The growth of the Internet as a vehicle for secure communication has resulted in Data Encryption Standard (DES) no longer capable of providing high-level security for data protection. Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES) is a symmetric block cipher with 192 bits key proposed to further enhance DES. Many applications crave for the speed of a hardware encryption implementation while trying to preserve the flexibility and low cost of a software implementation. This project used single core module to implement encryption in Triple DES Electronic Code Book (TECB) mode, which was modeled using hardware description language VHDL. The architecture was mapped in Altera EPF10K100EFC484-1 and EP20K200EFC672-1X for performance investigations and resulted in achieving encryption rate of 102.56 Mbps, area utilization of 2111 logic cells (25%) and a higher maximum operating frequency of 78.59 MHz by implementing on the larger FPGA device EP20K200EFC672-1X. It also suggested that 3DES hardware was 2.4 times faster than its software counterpart

Significant Correlation between Chromosomal Aberration and Nuclear Morphology in Urothelial Carcinoma

We aimed to identify whether there is any correlation between chromosomal/genetic changes, nuclear morphology and the histological grade of urothelial carcinomas of the urinary bladder. Morphometry and multicolour fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) techniques were applied to 250 cells in five low-grade cases and 350 cells in seven high-grade cases of urothelial carcinoma. Compared with low-grade carcinomas, most high-grade cases showed larger and more variable nuclear size, more frequent polysomy of centromere enumeration probes (CEPs) 3, 7 and 17, and the loss of the 9p21 locus. The number of CEP signals in cells was increased as the nuclear area of the cells became larger. Cells with gains in two or more types of CEP had significantly larger nuclei than cells with normal FISH signal patterns. In conclusion, the present study indicates that there was a correlation between nuclear morphology and chromosomal/genetic changes which were related to histological grading. Thus, we show that differences in the chromosomal/genetic aberrations present in low- and high-grade tumours can affect not only nuclear morphology but also the histopathological and clinical behaviour of urothelial carcinomas

Study of the spatial distribution of the Langmuir wave amplitude in the turbulent plasma using electron beam shadowgraph technique

New diagnostic, "electron-beam-shadowgraph", is examined for taking the spatial distribution of transient fields in a plasma. It is applied to the unmagnetized plasma, which is perturbed by an intense relativistic electron beam (IREB). Strong deflection is observed with duration of about 1 μs just after the IREB injection. The shadowgraph image is characterized by presence of aggregate holes. The size of the hole is changed with the plasma density, and corresponds to the 15 - 60 Debye lengths. Important agreements are observed between the experiment and the strong Langmuir turbulence theory. © 2002 AIP

Five-year quality of life assessment after carbon ion radiotherapy for prostate cancer

The aim of this study was to prospectively assess 5-year health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients treated with carbon ion radiotherapy (C-ion RT) for clinically localized prostate cancer. A total of 417 patients received carbon ion radiotherapy at a total dose of 63–66 Gray-equivalents (GyE) in 20 fractions over 5 weeks, and neoadjuvant and adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) were administered for intermediate and high-risk patients. A HRQOL assessment was performed at five time points (immediately before the initiation of C-ion RT, immediately after, and at 12, 36 and 60 months after completion of C-ion RT) using Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) questionnaires. FACT-G and FACT-P scores were significantly decreased; however, the absolute change after 60 months was minimal. The transient decreases in the Trial Outcome Index (TOI) score returned to their baseline levels. Use of ADT, presence of adverse events, and biochemical failure were related to lower scores. Scores of subdomains of FACT instruments indicated characteristic changes. The pattern of HRQOL change after C-ion RT was similar to that of other modalities. Further controlled studies focusing on a HRQOL in patients with prostate cancer are warranted

Associations of COVID-19 symptoms with omicron subvariants BA.2 and BA.5, host status, and clinical outcomes in Japan: a registry-based observational study

Background Previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination, coupled with the rapid evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants, have modified COVID-19 clinical manifestations. We aimed to characterise the clinical symptoms of COVID-19 individuals in omicron BA.2 and BA.5 Japanese pandemic periods to identify omicron and subvariant associations between symptoms, immune status, and clinical outcomes. Methods In this registry-based observational study, individuals registered in Sapporo’s web-based COVID-19 information system entered 12 pre-selected symptoms, days since symptom onset, vaccination history, SARS-CoV-2 infection history, and background. Eligibility criteria included symptomatic individuals who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (PCR or antigen test), and individuals who were not tested for SARS-CoV-2 but developed new symptoms after a household member tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Symptom prevalence, variables associated with symptoms, and symptoms associated with progression to severe disease were analysed. Findings Data were collected and analysed between April 25 and Sept 25, 2022. For 157 861 omicron-infected symptomatic individuals, cough was the most common symptom (99 032 [62·7%] patients), followed by sore throat (95 838 [60·7%] patients), nasal discharge (69 968 [44·3%] patients), and fever (61 218 [38·8%] patients). Omicron BA.5 infection was associated with a higher prevalence of systemic symptoms than BA.2 in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals (adjusted odds ratio [OR] for fever: 2·18 [95% CI 2·12–2·25]). Omicron breakthrough-infected individuals with three or more vaccinations or previous infection were less likely to exhibit systemic symptoms (fever 0·50 [0·49–0·51]), but more likely to exhibit upper respiratory symptoms (sore throat 1·33 [1·29–1·36]; nasal discharge 1·84 [1·80–1·89]). Infected older individuals (≥65 years) had lower odds for all symptoms. However, when symptoms were manifest, systemic symptoms were associated with increased odds for severe disease (dyspnoea 3·01 [1·84–4·91]; fever 2·93 [1·89–4·52]), whereas upper respiratory symptoms were associated with decreased odds (sore throat 0·38 [0·24–0·63]; nasal discharge 0·48 [0·28–0·81]). Interpretation Host immunological status, omicron subvariant, and age were associated with a spectrum of COVID-19 symptoms and outcomes. BA.5 produced a higher systemic symptom prevalence than BA.2. Vaccination and previous infection reduced systemic symptom prevalence and improved outcomes but increased upper respiratory tract symptom prevalence. Systemic, but not upper respiratory, symptoms in older people heralded severe disease. Our findings could serve as a practical guide to use COVID-19 symptoms to appropriately modify health-care strategies and predict clinical outcomes for older patients with omicron infections