Towards Fast and Scalable Private Inference

Privacy and security have rapidly emerged as first order design constraints. Users now demand more protection over who can see their data (confidentiality) as well as how it is used (control). Here, existing cryptographic techniques for security fall short: they secure data when stored or communicated but must decrypt it for computation. Fortunately, a new paradigm of computing exists, which we refer to as privacy-preserving computation (PPC). Emerging PPC technologies can be leveraged for secure outsourced computation or to enable two parties to compute without revealing either users' secret data. Despite their phenomenal potential to revolutionize user protection in the digital age, the realization has been limited due to exorbitant computational, communication, and storage overheads. This paper reviews recent efforts on addressing various PPC overheads using private inference (PI) in neural network as a motivating application. First, the problem and various technologies, including homomorphic encryption (HE), secret sharing (SS), garbled circuits (GCs), and oblivious transfer (OT), are introduced. Next, a characterization of their overheads when used to implement PI is covered. The characterization motivates the need for both GCs and HE accelerators. Then two solutions are presented: HAAC for accelerating GCs and RPU for accelerating HE. To conclude, results and effects are shown with a discussion on what future work is needed to overcome the remaining overheads of PI.Comment: Appear in the 20th ACM International Conference on Computing Frontier

Hausdorff dimension of critical fluctuations in abelian gauge theories

The geometric properties of the critical fluctuations in abelian gauge theories such as the Ginzburg-Landau model are analyzed in zero background field. Using a dual description, we obtain scaling relations between exponents of geometric and thermodynamic nature. In particular we connect the anomalous scaling dimension $\eta$ of the dual matter field to the Hausdorff dimension $D_H$ of the critical fluctuations, {\it which are fractal objects}. The connection between the values of $\eta$ and $D_H$, and the possibility of having a thermodynamic transition in finite background field, is discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication in PR

The Goldbeter-Koshland switch in the first-order region and its response to dynamic disorder

In their classical work (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 1981, 78:6840-6844), Goldbeter and Koshland mathematically analyzed a reversible covalent modification system which is highly sensitive to the concentration of effectors. Its signal-response curve appears sigmoidal, constituting a biochemical switch. However, the switch behavior only emerges in the "zero-order region", i.e. when the signal molecule concentration is much lower than that of the substrate it modifies. In this work we showed that the switching behavior can also occur under comparable concentrations of signals and substrates, provided that the signal molecules catalyze the modification reaction in cooperation. We also studied the effect of dynamic disorders on the proposed biochemical switch, in which the enzymatic reaction rates, instead of constant, appear as stochastic functions of time. We showed that the system is robust to dynamic disorder at bulk concentration. But if the dynamic disorder is quasi-static, large fluctuations of the switch response behavior may be observed at low concentrations. Such fluctuation is relevant to many biological functions. It can be reduced by either increasing the conformation interconversion rate of the protein, or correlating the enzymatic reaction rates in the network.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures, accepted by PLOS ON

CT Findings of Atypical Adenomatous Hyperplasia in the Lung

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyze the computed tomographic (CT) findings of atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH) in the lung. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The CT findings of AAHs in eight patients were retrospectively reviewed. The CT findings of each AAH lesion were evaluated for multiplicity, location, shape, size and internal density of the lesion, the interface between the normal lung and the lesion, the internal features within the lesion and any change of the lesion on the follow-up CT scans (range: 33 to 540 days; average: 145.3 days). RESULTS: The eight patients consisted of three men and five women (age range: 43-71 years). Six of eight patients were asymptomatic. Four of them (50%) had synchronous malignancies in the lung: adenocarcinoma of the lung (n = 3), and metastatic squamous cell carcinoma from the uterus (n = 1). We could identify and evaluate eleven AAH nodules in seven patients on the CT scans. Three patients had multiple AAHs. Seven of the 11 lesions (64%) were located in the upper lobe. All the AAHs showed a well-defined oval or round shape and pure ground-glass opacity (GGO) without any solid component (size: 3.9x3 mm to 19x17 mm; internal attenuation: -467 to -785 HU). All the AAHs showed no change of their size and internal density on the follow-up CT scans. CONCLUSION: Atypical adenomatous hyperplasia is often associated with malignancy. This tumor is shown on CT as persistent well-defined oval or round nodular GGOs without solid components, and it does not change on the follow-up CT.This study is supported by KISTEP, Ministry of Science and Technology, Korea

Brain MRI and biological diagnosis in five Tunisians MLD patients

Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) is a recessive autosomal disease which is characterized by an accumulation of sulfatides in the central and peripheral nervous system. It is due to the enzyme deficiency of the sulfatide sulfatase i.e. arylsulfatase A (ASA). we studied 5/200 cases of MLD and clearly distinguished three clinical forms. One of them presented the juvenile form; two presented the late infantile form; and two other presented the adult form. The Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of these patients showed a diffuse, bilateral and symmetrical demyelination. The biochemical diagnosis of MLD patients evidencing the low activity of ASA and sulfatide accumulation

Infections after Living Donor Liver Transplantation in Children

The aim of this study was to evaluate the infectious complications after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) in children. We enrolled 95 children (38 boys and 57 girls) who underwent LDLT from 1994 to 2004. The median age was 22 months (range, 6 months to 15 yr). We retrospectively investigated the proven episodes of bacterial, viral, and fungal infection. There occurred 150 infections in 67 (70%) of 95 patients (1.49 infections/patient); 74 in 43 patients were bacterial, 2 in 2 were fungal, and 74 in 42 were viral. The most common sites of bacterial infection were the bloodstream (33%) and abdomen (25%). Most of the bacterial infections occurred within the first month after LDLT. Bacterial and fungal infections did not result in any deaths. The most common causes of viral infection were Epstein-Barr virus in 37 patients and cytomegalovirus in 18. Seven of the 14 deaths after LDLT were associated with viral infection. Our study suggests that infection is one of the important causes of morbidity and mortality after LDLT. Especially careful monitoring and management of viral infections is crucial for improving the outcome of LDLT in children

Gamma rays from annihilations at the galactic center in a physical dark matter distribution

We discuss the \u3b3-ray signal to be expected from dark matter (DM) annihilations at the Galactic center. We describe the DM distribution in the Galactic halo, based on the Jeans equation for self-gravitating, anisotropic equilibria. In solving the Jeans equation, we adopted the specific correlation between the density \u3c1(r) and the velocity dispersion \u3c3^2_r(r) expressed by the powerlaw behavior of the DM \u201centropy\u201d K 61 \u3c3_r^2/\u3c12/3 1d r^\u3b1 with \u3b1 48 1.25-1.3. Indicated (among others) by several recent N-body simulations, this correlation is privileged by the form of the radial pressure term in the Jeans equation, and it yields a main-body profile consistent with the classic self-similar development of DM halos. In addition, we required the Jeans solutions to satisfy regular boundary conditions both at the center (finite pressure, round gravitational potential) and on the outskirts (finite overall mass). With these building blocks, we derived physical solutions, dubbed \u201c\u3b1-profiles\u201d. We find the one with \u3b1 = 1.25, suitable for the Galaxy halo, to be intrinsically flatter at the center than the empirical NFW formula, yet steeper than the empirical Einasto profile. On scales of 10-1 deg it yields annihilation fluxes lower by a factor 5 than the former, yet higher by a factor 10 than the latter. Such fluxes will eventually fall within the reach of the Fermi satellite. We show the effectiveness of the \u3b1-profile in relieving the astrophysical uncertainties related to the macroscopic DM distribution, and discuss its expected performance as a tool instrumental in interpreting the upcoming \u3b3-ray data in terms of DM annihilation

Assessment and Implication of Prognostic Imbalance in Randomized Controlled Trials with a Binary Outcome – A Simulation Study

Chance imbalance in baseline prognosis of a randomized controlled trial can lead to over or underestimation of treatment effects, particularly in trials with small sample sizes. Our study aimed to (1) evaluate the probability of imbalance in a binary prognostic factor (PF) between two treatment arms, (2) investigate the impact of prognostic imbalance on the estimation of a treatment effect, and (3) examine the effect of sample size (n) in relation to the first two objectives.We simulated data from parallel-group trials evaluating a binary outcome by varying the risk of the outcome, effect of the treatment, power and prevalence of the PF, and n. Logistic regression models with and without adjustment for the PF were compared in terms of bias, standard error, coverage of confidence interval and statistical power.For a PF with a prevalence of 0.5, the probability of a difference in the frequency of the PF≥5% reaches 0.42 with 125/arm. Ignoring a strong PF (relative risk = 5) leads to underestimating the strength of a moderate treatment effect, and the underestimate is independent of n when n is >50/arm. Adjusting for such PF increases statistical power. If the PF is weak (RR = 2), adjustment makes little difference in statistical inference. Conditional on a 5% imbalance of a powerful PF, adjustment reduces the likelihood of large bias. If an absolute measure of imbalance ≥5% is deemed important, including 1000 patients/arm provides sufficient protection against such an imbalance. Two thousand patients/arm may provide an adequate control against large random deviations in treatment effect estimation in the presence of a powerful PF.The probability of prognostic imbalance in small trials can be substantial. Covariate adjustment improves estimation accuracy and statistical power, and hence should be performed when strong PFs are observed

Association of LMP/TAP Gene Polymorphisms with Tuberculosis Susceptibility in Li Population in China

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious disease affected by multiple genetic and environmental factors. Several association studies have suggested that cellular immune response is vital for controlling and preventing of tuberculosis infection. Low molecular weight polypeptides (LMPs) and transporters with antigen processing (TAPs) are the main molecules in the processing and presentation pathway for intracellular antigens. This study was performed to elucidate whether these antigen-processing genes (LMP/TAP) polymorphisms could be associated with the risk of tuberculosis infection in China. Methodology/Principal Findings: We recruited 205 active pulmonary tuberculosis patients and 217 normal controls from Li population for this study. Four polymorphisms of LMP/TAP genes were determined by PCR-RFLP assay and haplotypes were constructed by software PHASE 1.0. Of the total four polymorphisms, genotype frequencies of LMP7 AA homozygote and CA heterozygote were significantly greater among cases compared to controls, with odds ratio of 3.77 (95 % CI: 1.60–8.89; P = 0.002) and 2.97 (95 % CI: 1.80–4.90; P,0.0001), respectively. The genotypes of TAP1-2 GG homozygote and AG heterozygote were more frequent in subjects with TB than in controls, with odds ratio of 3.94 (95 % CI: 1.82–8.53; P = 0.001) and 2.87 (95 % CI: 1.75–4.71; P,0.0001), respectively. Similarly, we found that haplotype B which carried LMP7 and TAP1-2 variations significantly increased the susceptibility to TB (OR = 3.674, 95 % CI: 2.254–5.988; P,0.0001). Moreover, it i