Nuovo DRM Paradiso: formal specification and verification of a DRM

We present a DRM-preserving content redistribution scheme, based on the NPGCT scheme, that provides fairness in unsupervised exchanges. The proposed scheme is formally specified, verified and shown to achieve its design goals. The NPGCT mechanism of detection and revocation of circumvented devices is also reexamined her

étudiants à la médiathèque de Tréfilerie à Saint-Étienne (Les)

The concept of an Ephemerizer system has been introduced in earlier works as a mechanism to ensure that a file deleted from the persistent storage remains unrecoverable. The principle involved storing the data in an encrypted form in the user’s machine and the key to decrypt the data in a physically separate machine. However the schemes proposed so far do not provide support for fine-grained user settings on the lifetime of the data nor support any mechanism to check the integrity of the system that is using the secret data. In addition we report the presence of a vulnerability in one version of the proposed scheme that can be exploited by an attacker to nullify the ephemeral nature of the keys. We propose and discuss in detail an alternate Identity Based cryptosystem powered scheme that overcomes the identified limitations of the original system

Increased dissolution rates of tranilast solid dispersions extruded with inorganic excipients

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of Neusilin® (NEU) a synthetic magnesium aluminometasilicate as inorganic drug carrier co-processed with the hydrophilic surfactants Labrasol and Labrafil to develop Tranilast (TLT) based solid dispersions using continuous melt extrusion (HME) processing. Twin – screw extrusion was optimized to develop various TLT/excipient/surfactant formulations followed by continuous capsule filling in the absence of any downstream equipment. Physicochemical characterisation showed the existence of TLT in partially crystalline state in the porous network of inorganic NEU for all extruded formulations. Furthermore, the in line NIR studies revealed a possible intermolecular H–bonding formation between the drug and carrier resulting in the increase of dissolution of TLT. The capsules containing TLT extruded solid dispersions showed enhanced dissolution rates and compared with the marketed Rizaben® product

Population genomic structure and adaptation in the zoonotic malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi

Malaria cases due to the zoonotic parasite P. knowlesi are being increasingly reported throughout Southeast Asia and in travelers returning from the region. To test for evidence of signatures of selection or unusual population structure in this parasite, we surveyed genome sequence diversity in 48 clinical isolates recently sampled from Malaysian Borneo and 5 lines maintained in laboratory rhesus macaques after isolation in the 1960s from Peninsular Malaysia and the Philippines. Overall genome-wide nucleotide diversity (π = 6.03 x 10-3) was much higher than has been seen in worldwide samples of either of the major endemic malaria parasite species P. falciparum and P. vivax. A remarkable substructure is revealed within P. knowlesi, consisting of two major sympatric clusters of the clinical isolates, and a third cluster comprising the laboratory isolates. There was deep differentiation between the two clusters of clinical isolates (mean genome-wide FST = 0.21, with 9,293 SNPs having fixed differences of FST = 1.0). This showed marked heterogeneity across the genome, mean FST values of different chromosomes ranging from 0.08 to 0.34, with further significant variation across regions within several chromosomes. Analysis of the largest cluster (Cluster 1, 38 isolates) indicated long-term population growth, with negatively skewed allele frequency distributions (genome-wide average Tajima’s D = -1.35). Against this background there was evidence of balancing selection on particular genes, including the circumsporozoite protein (csp gene had the top value of Tajima’s D = 1.57), and scans of haplotype homozygosity implicate several genomic regions to be under recent positive selection

Shared genetic variants suggest common pathways in allergy and autoimmune diseases.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between allergy and autoimmune disorders is complex and poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: To investigate commonalities in genetic loci and pathways between allergy and autoimmune diseases to elucidate shared disease mechanisms. METHODS: We meta-analyzed two GWAS on self-reported allergy and sensitization comprising a total of 62,330 individuals. These results were used to calculate enrichment for SNPs previously associated with autoimmune diseases. Furthermore, we probed for enrichment within genetic pathways and of transcription factor binding sites, and characterized commonalities in the variant burden on tissue-specific regulatory sites by calculating the enrichment of allergy SNPs falling in gene regulatory regions in various cells using Encode Roadmap DHS data, and compared the allergy data with all known diseases. RESULTS: Among 290 loci previously associated with 16 autoimmune diseases, we found a significant enrichment of loci also associated with allergy (p=1.4e-17) encompassing 29 loci at a false discovery rate<0.05. Such enrichment seemed to be a general characteristic for all autoimmune diseases. Among the common loci, 48% had the same direction of effect for allergy and autoimmune diseases. Additionally, we observed an enrichment of allergy SNPs falling within immune pathways and regions of chromatin accessible in immune cells that was also represented in autoimmune diseases, but not in other diseases. CONCLUSION: We identified shared susceptibility loci and commonalities in pathways between allergy and autoimmune diseases, suggesting shared diseases mechanisms. Further studies of these shared genetic mechanisms might help understanding the complex relationship between these diseases, including the parallel increase in disease prevalence