Forward Private Searchable Symmetric Encryption with Optimized I/O Efficiency

Recently, several practical attacks raised serious concerns over the security of searchable encryption. The attacks have brought emphasis on forward privacy, which is the key concept behind solutions to the adaptive leakage-exploiting attacks, and will very likely to become mandatory in the design of new searchable encryption schemes. For a long time, forward privacy implies inefficiency and thus most existing searchable encryption schemes do not support it. Very recently, Bost (CCS 2016) showed that forward privacy can be obtained without inducing a large communication overhead. However, Bost's scheme is constructed with a relatively inefficient public key cryptographic primitive, and has a poor I/O performance. Both of the deficiencies significantly hinder the practical efficiency of the scheme, and prevent it from scaling to large data settings. To address the problems, we first present FAST, which achieves forward privacy and the same communication efficiency as Bost's scheme, but uses only symmetric cryptographic primitives. We then present FASTIO, which retains all good properties of FAST, and further improves I/O efficiency. We implemented the two schemes and compared their performance with Bost's scheme. The experiment results show that both our schemes are highly efficient, and FASTIO achieves a much better scalability due to its optimized I/O

A Numerical Analysis Research on Earlier Behavior of Molten Droplet Covered with Vapor Film at the Stage of Triggering and Propagation in Steam Explosion

When the molten fuel with high temperature falls into the cavity water, it will be dispersed into droplets which are covered with vapor films due to the rapid heat transfer with phase transition. This situation cannot be simply described by liquid-liquid or gas-liquid systems. And there are no sufficient experimental studies on the behavior of droplet covered with vapor film because of the rapid reaction and the difficulty in capture of the film configuration. In this paper, a multiphase code with the volume of fluid (VOF) method is used to simulate the earlier behavior of droplet when vapor film exits. The earlier behavior is defined as behavior of the droplet before its disintegration. Thermal effect and pure hydrodynamic effect are, respectively, considered. The simulation results indicate that the film thickness and material density have significant effect on the earlier behavior of droplet. The situation assumed in Ciccarelli and Frost’s model (1994) is observed in current simulation of earlier thermal droplet behavior. The effect of triggering pressure pulse on earlier hydrodynamic behavior is also discussed and it indicates that vapor film has little effect on the hydrodynamic droplet deformation when the intensity of the pressure pulse is very high

Role of martensitic transformation sequences on deformation-induced martensitic transformation at high strain rates: a quasi in-situ study

For the mechanical behavior of steels with metastable austenite, it was widely accepted that high strain rates could weaken deformation-induced martensitic transformation (DIMT) and reduce work-hardening behavior. This limits the application of these steels for energy-absorption applications, e.g., impact conditions. However, the mechanism of strain-rate dependent DIMT is still not well understood and it greatly limited the further alloy desig

Enriched oxygen improves age-related cognitive impairment through enhancing autophagy

Age-related cognitive impairment represents a significant health concern, with the understanding of its underlying mechanisms and potential interventions being of paramount importance. This study aimed to investigate the effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) on cognitive function and neuronal integrity in aged (22-month-old) C57BL/6 mice. Male mice were exposed to HBOT for 2 weeks, and spatial learning and memory abilities were assessed using the Morris water maze. We employed transcriptome sequencing and Gene Ontology (GO) term enrichment analysis to examine the effects of HBOT on gene expression profiles, with particular attention given to synapse-related genes. Our data indicated a significant upregulation of postsynapse organization, synapse organization, and axonogenesis GO terms, likely contributing to improved cognitive performance. Moreover, the hyperphosphorylation of tau, a hallmark of many neurodegenerative diseases, was significantly reduced in the HBO-treated group, both in vivo and in vitro. Transmission electron microscopy revealed significant ultrastructural alterations in the hippocampus of the HBOT group, including an increase in the number of synapses and the size of the active zone, a reduction in demyelinated lesions, and a decreased number of “PANTHOS.” Furthermore, Western blot analyses confirmed the upregulation of PSD95, BDNF, and Syn proteins, suggesting enhanced synaptic plasticity and neurotrophic support. Moreover, HBOT increased autophagy, as evidenced by the elevated levels of Beclin-1 and LC3 proteins and the reduced level of p62 protein. Finally, we demonstrated that HBOT activated the AMPK-mTOR signaling pathway, a critical regulator of autophagy. Notably, our findings provide novel insights into the mechanisms by which HBOT ameliorates age-related cognitive impairment, suggesting the potential therapeutic value of this approach

Self-monitoring and self-delivery of self-assembled fluorescent nanoparticles in cancer therapy

Purpose: Due to the shortcomings of nanocarriers, the development of carrier-free nanodelivery systems has attracted more and more attention in cancer treatment. However, there are few studies on carrier-free nanosystems that can simultaneously achieve monitoring functions. Here a multifunctional carrier-free nanosystem loaded with curcumin and irinotecan hydrochloride was established for the treatment and monitoring of gastric cancer. Methods: In this study, an irinotecan hydrochloride-curcumin nanosystem in the early stage (the system is named SICN) was prepared. Based on the fluorescence of curcumin, flow cytometry, laser confocal microscopy, and zebrafish fluorescence imaging were used to study the monitoring function of SICN in vivo and in vitro. In addition, HGC-27 human gastric cancer cells were used to study SICN cytotoxicity. Results: Flow cytometry and zebrafish fluorescence imaging monitoring results showed that the uptake of SICN was significantly higher than free curcumin, and the excretion rate was lower. SICN had higher accumulation and retention in cells and zebrafish. Laser confocal microscopy monitoring results showed that SICN was internalized into HGC-27 cells through multiple pathways, including macropinocytosis, caveolin, and clathrin-mediated and clathrin-independent endocytosis, and distributed intracellularly throughout the whole cytoplasm, including lysosomes and Golgi apparatus. In vitro cell experiments showed that SICN nanoparticles were more toxic than single components, and HGC-27 cells had more absorption and higher toxicity to nanoparticles under slightly acidic conditions. Conclusion: SICN is a promising carrier-free nanoparticle, and the combination of two single-component therapies can exert a synergistic antitumor effect. When exposed to a tumor acidic environment, SICN showed stronger cytotoxicity due to charge conversion. More importantly, the nanoparticles' self-monitoring function has been developed, opening up new ideas for combined tumor therapy.National Natural Science Foundation of China Youth Science Fund Project [81903777]; Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech RepublicMinistry of Education, Youth & Sports - Czech Republic [RP/CPS/2020/002]; Sichuan Province Science and Technology Basic Condition Platform Project [2019JDPT0032]; Xinglin Scholars Discipline Talent Research Promotion Plan [CXTD2018012]; Open Research Fund of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Key Laboratory of Systematic Research of Distinctive Chinese Medicine Resources in Southwest China [2020XSGG014]RP/ CPS/2020/002; 2020XSGG014; 2019JDPT0032; CXTD2018012; National Outstanding Youth Science Fund Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China, IUSS: 81903777; Ministerstvo Školství, Mládeže a Tělovýchovy, MŠM