A High-performance ECC Processor over Curve448 based on a Novel Variant of the Karatsuba Formula for Asymmetric Digit Multiplier

In this paper, we present a high-performance architecture for elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) over Curve448, which to the best of our knowledge, is the fastest implementation of ECC point multiplication over Curve448 to date. Firstly, we introduce a novel variant of the Karatsuba formula for asymmetric digit multiplier, suitable for typical DSP primitive with asymmetric input. It reduces the number of required DSPs compared to previous work and preserves the performance via full parallelization and pipelining. We then construct a 244-bit pipelined multiplier and interleaved fast reduction algorithm, yielding a total of 12 stages of pipelined modular multiplication with four stages of input delay. Additionally, we present an efficient Montgomery ladder scheduling with no additional register is required. The implementation on the Xilinx 7-series FPGA: Virtex-7, Kintex-7, Artix-7, and Zynq 7020 yields execution times of 0.12, 0.13, 0.24, and 0.24 ms, respectively. It increases the throughput by 242% compared to the best previous work on Zynq 7020 and by 858% compared to the best previous work on Virtex-7. Furthermore, the proposed architecture optimizes nearly 63% efficiency improvement in terms of Area×Time tradeoff. Lastly, we extend our architecture with well-known side-channel protections such as scalar blinding, base-point randomization, and continuous randomization

Current Situation and Issue of Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance

Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance (IACI) has a history of about 50 yr, and is the oldest social insurance system in Korea. After more than 20 times of revision improvements in benefits, its contents and claim systems have been upgraded. It became the protector of injured workers and their families, and at the same time became the system which could cope with both financial burden of employers and their responsibilities. However, there are some issues to be reformed to upgrade the IACI: 1) the problems in the approval system of occupational diseases, 2) quality improvement of workers' compensation medical care, 3) vocational rehabilitation and return to work, 4) workers' compensation premiums and out-of-pocket money of injured workers, 5) issues in application of IACI. Growth of IACI cannot be achieved by an effort of an individual. Efforts by workers, owners, and government, in addition to physicians and welfare professionals toward the same goal are required for the next level improvement of IACI

Strategic white matter hyperintensity locations associated with post-stroke cognitive impairment:A multicenter study in 1568 stroke patients

Background: Post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) occurs in up to 50% of stroke survivors. Presence of pre-existing vascular brain injury, in particular the extent of white matter hyperintensities (WMH), is associated with worse cognitive outcome after stroke, but the role of WMH location in this association is unclear.Aims: We determined if WMH in strategic white matter tracts explain cognitive performance after stroke.Methods: Individual patient data from nine ischemic stroke cohorts with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were harmonized through the Meta VCI Map consortium. The association between WMH volumes in strategic tracts and domain-specific cognitive functioning (attention and executive functioning, information processing speed, language and verbal memory) was assessed using linear mixed models and lasso regression. We used a hypothesis-driven design, primarily addressing four white matter tracts known to be strategic in memory clinic patients: the left and right anterior thalamic radiation, forceps major, and left inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus.Results: The total study sample consisted of 1568 patients (39.9% female, mean age = 67.3 years). Total WMH volume was strongly related to cognitive performance on all four cognitive domains. WMH volume in the left anterior thalamic radiation was significantly associated with cognitive performance on attention and executive functioning and information processing speed and WMH volume in the forceps major with information processing speed. The multivariable lasso regression showed that these associations were independent of age, sex, education, and total infarct volume and had larger coefficients than total WMH volume.Conclusion: These results show tract-specific relations between WMH volume and cognitive performance after ischemic stroke, independent of total WMH volume. This implies that the concept of strategic lesions in PSCI extends beyond acute infarcts and also involves pre-existing WMH.Data access statement: The Meta VCI Map consortium is dedicated to data sharing, following our guidelines

Strategic white matter hyperintensity locations associated with post-stroke cognitive impairment:A multicenter study in 1568 stroke patients

Background: Post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) occurs in up to 50% of stroke survivors. Presence of pre-existing vascular brain injury, in particular the extent of white matter hyperintensities (WMH), is associated with worse cognitive outcome after stroke, but the role of WMH location in this association is unclear.Aims: We determined if WMH in strategic white matter tracts explain cognitive performance after stroke.Methods: Individual patient data from nine ischemic stroke cohorts with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were harmonized through the Meta VCI Map consortium. The association between WMH volumes in strategic tracts and domain-specific cognitive functioning (attention and executive functioning, information processing speed, language and verbal memory) was assessed using linear mixed models and lasso regression. We used a hypothesis-driven design, primarily addressing four white matter tracts known to be strategic in memory clinic patients: the left and right anterior thalamic radiation, forceps major, and left inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus.Results: The total study sample consisted of 1568 patients (39.9% female, mean age = 67.3 years). Total WMH volume was strongly related to cognitive performance on all four cognitive domains. WMH volume in the left anterior thalamic radiation was significantly associated with cognitive performance on attention and executive functioning and information processing speed and WMH volume in the forceps major with information processing speed. The multivariable lasso regression showed that these associations were independent of age, sex, education, and total infarct volume and had larger coefficients than total WMH volume.Conclusion: These results show tract-specific relations between WMH volume and cognitive performance after ischemic stroke, independent of total WMH volume. This implies that the concept of strategic lesions in PSCI extends beyond acute infarcts and also involves pre-existing WMH.Data access statement: The Meta VCI Map consortium is dedicated to data sharing, following our guidelines

Sex Differences in Poststroke Cognitive Impairment: A Multicenter Study in 2343 Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke

BACKGROUND: Poststroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) occurs in about half of stroke survivors. Cumulative evidence indicates that functional outcomes of stroke are worse in women than men. Yet it is unknown whether the occurrence and characteristics of PSCI differ between men and women. METHODS: Individual patient data from 9 cohorts of patients with ischemic stroke were harmonized and pooled through the Meta-VCI-Map consortium (n=2343, 38% women). We included patients with visible symptomatic infarcts on computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging and cognitive assessment within 15 months after stroke. PSCI was defined as impairment in ≥1 cognitive domains on neuropsychological assessment. Logistic regression analyses were performed to compare men to women, adjusted for study cohort, to obtain odds ratios for PSCI and individual cognitive domains. We also explored sensitivity and specificity of cognitive screening tools for detecting PSCI, according to sex (Mini-Mental State Examination, 4 cohorts, n=1814; Montreal Cognitive Assessment, 3 cohorts, n=278). RESULTS: PSCI was found in 51% of both women and men. Men had a lower risk of impairment of attention and executive functioning (men: odds ratio, 0.76 [95% CI, 0.61-0.96]), and language (men: odds ratio, 0.67 [95% CI, 0.45-0.85]), but a higher risk of verbal memory impairment (men: odds ratio, 1.43 [95% CI, 1.17-1.75]). The sensitivity of Mini-Mental State Examination (<25) for PSCI was higher for women (0.53) than for men (0.27; P=0.02), with a lower specificity for women (0.80) than men (0.96; P=0.01). Sensitivity and specificity of Montreal Cognitive Assessment (<26.) for PSCI was comparable between women and men (0.91 versus 0.86; P=0.62 and 0.29 versus 0.28; P=0.86, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Sex was not associated with PSCI occurrence but affected domains differed between men and women. The latter may explain why sensitivity of the Mini-Mental State Examination for detecting PSCI was higher in women with a lower specificity compared with men. These sex differences need to be considered when screening for and diagnosing PSCI in clinical practice

Sex Differences in Poststroke Cognitive Impairment : A Multicenter Study in 2343 Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke

Funding Information: Dr Exalto is supported by Alzheimer Nederland WE.03-2019-15 and Netherlands CardioVascular Research Initiative: the Dutch Heart Foundation (CVON 2018-28 & 2012-06). The Meta-VCI Map consortium is supported by Vici Grant 918.16.616 from The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) to Dr Biessels. Harmonization analyses were supported by a Rudolf Magnus Young Talent Fellowship from the University Medical Center Utrecht Brain Center to Dr Biesbroek. The CASPER cohort was supported by Maastricht University, Health Foundation Limburg, and Stichting Adriana van Rinsum-Ponsen. The CROMIS-2 cohort was funded by the UK Stroke Association and the British Heart Foundation (grant number TSA BHF 2009/01). The CU-STRIDE cohort was supported by the Health and Health Services Research Fund of the Food and Health Bureau of the Government of Hong Kong (grant number 0708041), the Lui Che Woo Institute of Innovative Medicine, and Therese Pei Fong Chow Research Center for Prevention of Dementia. The GRECogVASC cohort was funded by Amiens University Hospital and by a grant from the French Ministry of Health (grant number DGOS R1/2013/144). The MSS-2 cohort is funded by the Wellcome Trust (grant number WT088134/Z/09/A to Dr Wardlaw) and the Row Fogo Charitable Trust. The PROCRAS cohort was funded via ZonMW as part of the TopZorg project in 2015 (grant number 842003011). The CODECS cohort (ongoing) is supported by a grant from Stichting Coolsingel (grant number 514). The Bundang VCI and Hallym VCI cohort groups do not wish to report any relevant funding sources. At the time of contribution, Dr Hamilton was funded by the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and was supported by the Wellcome Trust through the Translational Neuroscience PhD program at the University of Edinburgh. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. All rights reserved.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

TBil_STAT.doc

Association between serum bilirubin level and cerebral atherosclerosis or small vessel disease

Ground Stability Analysis in Non-Open-Cut Tunneling Method Using Small-Diameter Steel Pipe Piles

The non-open-cut method is used for constructing tunnels under existing roads without blocking traffic. Various non-open-cut methods use pipe roofs made of medium- and large-diameter steel pipe piles. However, the risk of ground settlement or heave is involved during the application of such piles. Therefore, research is conducted through model tests and numerical analysis on the non-open-cut method to investigate these problems using small-diameter piles. The progress of tunnel construction is divided into two repetitive steps. The first step (Stage 1) involves pulling back the pressure panel, and the second step involves propelling the precast structure (Stage 2). The behaviors of the pipe piles and ground displacement are analyzed according to the cover depth, tunnel size, existence and nonexistence of the shoe structure, and progress of tunnel construction. Small-diameter piles reduce the displacement during both stages. With a decrease in cover depth, the stress acting on the pile decreases during Stage 1 and increases during Stage 2. The presence of the shoe structure reduces the stress on the pile during both stages. The ground behavior based on the construction progress indicates that the ground settlement increases during Stage 1; however, no correlation is observed during Stage 2 at low depth

Image Distortion and Rectification Calibration Algorithms and Validation Technique for a Stereo Camera

This paper focuses on the calibration problem using stereo camera images. Currently, advanced vehicle systems such as smart cars and mobile robots require accurate and reliable vision in order to detect obstacles and special marks around. Such modern vehicles can be equipped with sensors and cameras together or separately. In this study, we propose new methodologies of stereo camera calibration based on the correction of distortion and image rectification. Once the calibration is complete, the validation of the corrections is presented followed by an evaluation of the calibration process. Usually, the validation section is not jointly considered with the calibration in other studies. However, the mass production of cameras widely uses the validation techniques in calibrations owned by manufacturing businesses. Here, we aim to present a single process for the calibration and validation of stereo cameras. The experiment results showed the disparity maps in comparison with another study and proved that the proposed calibration methods can be efficient