Homomorphic encryption and some black box attacks

This paper is a compressed summary of some principal definitions and concepts in the approach to the black box algebra being developed by the authors. We suggest that black box algebra could be useful in cryptanalysis of homomorphic encryption schemes, and that homomorphic encryption is an area of research where cryptography and black box algebra may benefit from exchange of ideas

Design and integration of WAAM technology and in situ monitoring system in a gantry machine

Wire arc additive manufacturing, WAAM, is a popular wire-feed additive manufacturing technology that creates components through the deposition of material layer-by-layer. WAAM has become a promising alternative to conventional machining due to its high deposition rate, environmental friendliness and cost-competitiveness. In this research work, an adaptation of a gantry machine with in-situ monitoring and a control system has been carried out, in order to expose the ability of the WAAM technology to fabricate complex-shaped parts. The retrofitting of the machine has been done in several layers called respectively hardware, control and software layers. For the validation of the implemented system, a stainless steel 316L demonstrator has been manufactured, and the required stages have been employed, including part design (CAD), process parameters selection, tool-path definition (CAM) and part manufacturing. This study has shown the feasibility of the adapted machine for additive manufacturing as a controlled process.The authors acknowledge the European Commission for support from project AMAZE (FP7-2012-NMP-ICT-FoF, project 313781) and the Basque Government for support from project EUSK-ADDI (Etorgai 2014)

Growth and Immune Response of Pond-Reared Giant Freshwater Prawn Macrobrachium osenbergii Post Larvae Fed Diets Containing Chlorella vulgaris

A 70-day feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Chlorella vulgaris supplementation in diets of giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) post larvae. Resistance of the prawns against Aeromonas hydrophila and several immune parameters (total hemocyte count and prophenoloxidase activity) were also assessed in the study. Iso-nitrogenous, iso-lipidic, and iso-caloric prawn feeds were prepared utilizing a fishmeal based positive control diet (F0) and four dietary treatments with C. vulgaris inclusion levels of 2 (F2), 4 (F4), 6 (F6), and 8 (F8) %. Post larvae of M. rosenbergii were stocked randomly (mean initial body weight of 0.39 ± 0.38 g) in fifteen net cages (8.1 m × 8.9 m with an average depth of 1 m) in an earthen pond for the assessment of growth parameters. Overall growth indices for prawn fed Chlorella containing diets were enhanced in comparison to the control treatment. Prawn fed diets with Chlorella showed significantly higher (P \u3c 0.05) prophenol oxidase activity, total hemocyte counts, and survival rates post bacterial infection. These findings demonstrated that inclusion of 4%, 6%, and 8% C. vulgaris in prawn diets provided optimal growth rates and improved immunity of the post larvae

Highway to heaven: mammary gland development and differentiation

In recent years, the mammary gland epithelium has been shown to be a mixture of differentiated cell populations in a hierarchical relationship with their stem and progenitor cells. However, the mechanisms that regulate their cellular differentiation processes are still unclear. The identification of genes that govern stem and progenitor cell expansion, or that determine daughter cell fate, will be of crucial interest for understanding breast cancer diversity and, ultimately, improving treatment. Two recent analyses have identified some of the key genes that regulate these processes, lighting up the highway to normal mammary gland development

Demonstrating the Source of Inherent Instability in NiFe LDH Based OER Electrocatalysts

Nickel iron layered double hydroxides are known to be one of the most highly active catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline conditions. The high electrocatalytic activity of the material however cannot be sustained within the active voltage window on timescales consistent with commercial requirements. The goal of this work is to identify and prove the source of inherent catalyst instability by tracking changes in the material during OER activity. By combining in situ and ex situ Raman analyses we elucidate long term effects on the catalyst performance from a changing crystallographic phase. In particular, we attribute electrochemically stimulated compositional degradation at active sites as the principal cause of the sharp loss of activity from NiFe LDHs shortly after the alkaline cell is turned on. EDX, XPS, and EELS analyses performed after OER also reveal noticeable leaching of Fe metals compared to Ni, principally from highly active edge sites. In addition, post cycle analysis identified a ferrihydrite by product formed from the leached Fe. Density functional theory calculations shed light on the thermodynamic driving force for the leaching of Fe metals and propose a dissolution pathway which involves [FeO4]2 amp; 8722; removal at relevant OER potential

Abnormal Distribution and Function of Circulating Monocytes and Enhanced Bacterial Translocation in Major Depressive Disorder

Introduction: Major depressive disorder (MDD) patients experience a systemic inflammatory stage. Monocytes play an important role in innate inflammatory responses and may be modulated by bacterial translocation. Our aim was to investigate the subset distribution and function of circulating monocytes, levels of proinflammatory cytokines, gut barrier damage, and bacterial translocation in MDD patients. Methods: Twenty-two MDD patients without concomitant diseases and 14 sex- and age-matched healthy controls were studied. The levels of circulating CD14++CD16- (classical), CD14++CD16++ (intermediate) and CD14- CD16++ (nonclassical) monocytes and the intracytoplasmic tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and IL-10 expression in the presence or absence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation were analyzed by polychromatic flow cytometry. The serum TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-10 levels were measured by Luminex. LPS-binding protein (LBP), intestinal fatty acidbinding protein (I-FABP), and zonulin were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: MDD patients had a significant increase in the frequency of intermediate monocytes and a significant decrease in the frequency of classical monocytes compared to those in the healthy controls. MDD patients had a significantly increased percentage of classical monocytes that expressed IL-1β, intermediate monocytes that expressed IL-1β and IL6 and nonclassical monocytes that expressed IL-1β, and decreased levels of nonclassical monocytes that expressed IL6 compared to those in the healthy controls. MDD patients had significantly increased levels of circulating TNF-α, IL-1β, LBP, and I-FABP compared to those in the healthy controls. MDD patients with high LBP levels had a significant reduction in the number of circulating monocytes compared to that in the normal-LBP MDD patients, which can be mainly ascribed to a decrease in the number of intermediate and nonclassical monocytes. Conclusions: We have demonstrated that compared to the healthy controls, MDD patients show a marked alteration in circulating monocytes, with an expansion of the intermediate subset with increased frequency of IL-1β and IL-6 producing cells. These patients also exhibited a systemic proinflammatory state, which was characterized by the enhanced serum TNF-α and IL-1β levels compared to those in the healthy controls. Furthermore, MDD patients showed increased LBP and I-FABP levels compared to those in healthy controls, indicating increased bacterial translocation and gut barrier damage

Zero-Knowledge Arguments for Matrix-Vector Relations and Lattice-Based Group Encryption

International audienceGroup encryption (GE) is the natural encryption analogue of group signatures in that it allows verifiably encrypting messages for some anonymous member of a group while providing evidence that the receiver is a properly certified group member. Should the need arise, an opening authority is capable of identifying the receiver of any ciphertext. As introduced by Kiayias, Tsiounis and Yung (Asiacrypt'07), GE is motivated by applications in the context of oblivious retriever storage systems, anonymous third parties and hierarchical group signatures. This paper provides the first realization of group encryption under lattice assumptions. Our construction is proved secure in the standard model (assuming interaction in the proving phase) under the Learning-With-Errors (LWE) and Short-Integer-Solution (SIS) assumptions. As a crucial component of our system, we describe a new zero-knowledge argument system allowing to demonstrate that a given ciphertext is a valid encryption under some hidden but certified public key, which incurs to prove quadratic statements about LWE relations. Specifically, our protocol allows arguing knowledge of witnesses consisting of X ∈ Z m×n q , s ∈ Z n q and a small-norm e ∈ Z m which underlie a public vector b = X · s + e ∈ Z m q while simultaneously proving that the matrix X ∈ Z m×n q has been correctly certified. We believe our proof system to be useful in other applications involving zero-knowledge proofs in the lattice setting