Social authentication for mobile phones

In this thesis we present a scheme for automating authentication based on social factors using mobile phones. We test its feasibility by running simulations on an existing dataset. We implement two protocols one based on public key infrastructure and the other on hash chains. Then we consider possible threat scenarios.Web applications such as online banking, online shopping carts, and so on, depend on the user authenticating himself securely. Traditionally this involves a username and password and if more security is required an electronic token is used in addition to this password. Other than these two "factors" there is also biometrics, such as fingerprints, retinal scans and voice recognition. Thus the traditional systems use some combination of these three factors: something you know (passwords), something you have (tokens) and something you are (biometrics).Recently it has been suggested that a fourth factor: someone you know also be part of the authentication process . This technique has been applied to the problem of emergency authentication, as a replacement for challenge questions or calls to a help-desk. The idea is that the user uses a token and pin to authenticate himself. If the user forgets his token, he can ask a friend who has their token to grant him a temporary password. Thus fourth factor or social authentication is based on the process of vouching. In this method a user asks a friend to vouch for them, that is the friend must recognize the user and then issue some proof of this recognition, which the user then uses to log in to the service. In , this vouching was done explicitly, with the user contacting a friend and literally asking for a vouching code. In this thesis we will use users' cellphones to automate this process.Whenever a user calls a friend, a token will be issued "vouching" for this contact. These tokens if obtained in sufficient numbers can then be used to prove that a user is who he says he is. In addition to this fourth factor we will make use of other means of authentication. These include a PIN (personal identification number) that must be entered when validating the "vouching" tokens, possibly fingerprint recognition and outputs from other biometric sensors, such as a wrist watch with heart-rate monitor, or shoe with built-in pedometer. In this case we may want two out of three or four of these to match before authenticating the user.Dans cette thèse nous présentons un système d'automatisation de l'authentification basée sur des facteurs sociaux, utilisant des téléphones mobiles. Nous vérifions sa faisabilité en exécutant des simulations sur un ensemble de données disponible. Nous mettons en œvre deux protocoles l'une basée sur l'infrastructure à clé publiques et l'autre sur les chaînes de hachage. Ensuite, nous considérons les menaces possible.Les applications Web telles que les services bancaires en ligne, les paniers d'achat en ligne, etc, dépendent de l'authentification de l'utilisateur en toute sécurité. Traditionnellement, ceci néssecite un nom d'utilisateur et un mot de passe et si plus de sécurité est requis un jeton de sécurité est utilisé en plus de ce mot de passe. Hormis ces deux «facteurs» il y a aussi la biométrie, comme les empreintes digitales, empreintes rétiniennes et la reconnaissance vocale. Donc les systèmes traditionnels utilisent une combinaison de ces trois facteurs: quelque chose vous savez (mots de passe), quelque chose que vous avez (jetons) et quelque chose que vous êtes (biométrie).Récemment, il a été suggéré qu'une quatrième facteur: quelqu'un vous connaissez fases aussi partie du processus d'authentification. Cette technique a été appliquée au problème de l'authentification d'urgence, comme un remplacement pour les questions de défi ou les appels à un centre d'assistance. L'idée est que l'utilisateur utilise un jeton électronique et un NIP pour s'authentifier. Si l'utilisateur oublie son jeton, il peut demander à un ami qui a son jeton de lui accorder un mot de passe temporaire. Ainsi le quatrième facteur ou authentification sociale est fondée sur un processus d'attestation. Dans cette méthode, un utilisateur demande à un ami à se porter garant pour lui, cet ami doit reconnaître l'utilisateur et lui livrer une preuve de cette reconnaissance, que l'utilisateur utilise ensuite pour se connecter au service. En ce cas l'attestation a été fait de manière explicite, l'utilisateur devant contacter un ami et demander code temporaire verbalement. Dans cette thèse, nous utiliserons des téléphones cellulaires afin d'automatiser ce processus.Chaque fois qu'un utilisateur appelle un ami, un «jeton» sera publié comme «attestation» de ce contact. Ces jetons si ils sont obtenus en nombre suffisants peuvent alors être utilisés pour prouver que l'utilisateur est bien celui qu'il prétend être. En plus de ce quatrième facteur on fera appel à d'autres moyens d'authentification. Il s'agit notamment du code NIP (Numero d'Identification Personnelle) qui doit être entré lors de la validation avec les jetons d'attestation et possiblement la reconnaissance d'empreintes digitales et d'autres signaux en provenance de capteurs biométriques, comme une montre avec cardio-fréquencemètre, ou des chaussures avec podomètre intégré. Dans ce cas, nous voulons vérifier deux sur trois ou deux sur quatre de ces derniers avant l'authentification de l'utilisateur

Effect of Wild Mustard (Sinapis arvensis) Interference on Yield of Canola (Brassica napus) and Weed Population Dynamic at Different Nitrogen levels

This research was carried out as a split plot experiment based on a randomized complete block design with three replications at Agricultural Faculty of Bu-Ali Sina University, during 2008-2009. Experimental treatments were amounts of nitrogen fertilizer at four levels (100, 150, 200 and 250 kgN.ha-1) and five wild mustard densities (0, 4, 8, 16 and 32 plants.m-2). Nitrogen fertilizer increased canola biological and economic yield. In whole nitrogen levels, increasing of wild mustard density and dry matter reduced biological and economic yield of canola. Also, in whole evaluated densities, wild mustard dry matter enhanced by more of nitrogen application. By increasing nitrogen up to 200 Kg N ha-1, the initial slop of biological and grain yield loss of canola reduced in compared with plant density and dry matter of wild mustard. Wild mustard seed production variation in response to its plant density and dry matter showed a non-linear trend and enhancing of nitrogen application increased initial slope of wild mustard seed production. By increasing wild mustard plant density in each of four nitrogen levels, population growth rate of weed was reduced and there wasn’t very difference between 200 and 250 Kg N ha-1. Dry matter of weed than its plant density was a better indicator to estimate reduction of biological and grain yield of canola and wild mustard seed production. According to obtained results, 200 Kg N ha-1 is recommended for Hamedan and similar regions

Immunoinformatic design of a COVID-19 subunit vaccine using entire structural immunogenic epitopes of SARS-CoV-2

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute pneumonic disease, with no prophylactic or specific therapeutical solution. Effective and rapid countermeasure against the spread of the disease’s associated virus, SARS-CoV-2, requires to incorporate the computational approach. In this study, we employed various immunoinformatics tools to design a multi-epitope vaccine polypeptide with the highest potential for activating the human immune system against SARS-CoV-2. The initial epitope set was extracted from the whole set of viral structural proteins. Potential non-toxic and non-allergenic T-cell and B-cell binding and cytokine inducing epitopes were then identified through a priori prediction. Selected epitopes were bound to each other with appropriate linkers, followed by appending a suitable adjuvant to increase the immunogenicity of the vaccine polypeptide. Molecular modelling of the 3D structure of the vaccine construct, docking, molecular dynamics simulations and free energy calculations confirmed that the vaccine peptide had high affinity for Toll-like receptor 3 binding, and that the vaccine-receptor complex was highly stable. As our vaccine polypeptide design captures the advantages of structural epitopes and simultaneously integrates precautions to avoid relevant side effects, it is suggested to be promising for elicitation of an effective and safe immune response against SARS-CoV-2 in vivo

Fundamental relations and identities of fuzzy hyperalgebras

Inspired by fuzzy hyperalgebras and fuzzy polynomial function (term function), some homomorphism properties of fundamental relation on fuzzy hyperalgebras are conveyed. The obtained relations of fuzzy hyperalgebra are utilized for certain applications, i.e., biological phenomena and genetics along with some elucidatory examples presenting various aspects of fuzzy hyperalgebras. Then, by considering the definition of identities (weak and strong) as a class of fuzzy polynomial function, the smallest equivalence relation (fundamental relation) is obtained which is an important tool for fuzzy hyperalgebraic systems. Through the characterization of these equivalence relations of a fuzzy hyperalgebra, we assign the smallest equivalence relation αi1i2∗ on a fuzzy hyperalgebra via identities where the factor hyperalgebra is a universal algebra. We extend and improve the identities on fuzzy hyperalgebras and characterize the smallest equivalence relation αJ∗ on the set of strong identities

In silico characterization of fructosyl peptide oxidase properties from Eupenicillium terrenum

Fructosyl peptide oxidase (FPOX) enzyme from Eupenicillium terrenum has a high potential to be applied as a diagnostic enzyme. The aim of the present study is the characterization of FPOX from E. terrenum using different bioinformatics tools. The computational prediction of the RNA and protein secondary structures of FPOX, solubility profile in Escherichia coli, stability, domains, and functional properties were performed. In the FPOX protein, six motifs were detected. The d-amino acid oxidase motif was found as the most important motif that is a FAD-dependent oxidoreductase. The cysteines including 97, 154, 234, 280, and 360 showed a lower score than −10 that have a low possibility for participitation in the formation of the SS bond. The 56.52% of FPOX amino acids are nonpolar. Random coils are dominant in the FPOX sequence, followed by alpha-helix and extended strand. The fpox gene is capable of generating a stable RNA secondary structure (−423.90 kcal/mol) in E. coli. FPOX has a large number of hydrophobic amino acids. FPOX showed a low solubility in E. coli which has several aggregation-prone sites in its 3-D structure. According to the scores, the best mutation candidate for increasing solubility was the conversion of methionine 302 to arginine. The melting temperature of FPOX based on its amino acid sequence was 55°C to 65°C. The amounts of thermodynamic parameters for the FPOX enzyme were −137.4 kcal/mol, −3.59 kcal/(mol K), and −6.8 kcal/mol for standard folding enthalpy, heat capacity, and folding free energy, respectively. In conclusion, the in silico study of proteins can provide a valuable method for better understanding the protein properties and functions for use in our purposes. CONFLICT OF INTEREST The authors declare that they have no competing interests

The development of anticyclic citrullinated peptide (anti‐CCP) antibody following severe COVID‐19

Abstract Objectives The dysregulated immune response is one of the cardinal features of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). This study was conducted to clarify the occurrence of autoantibodies (AABs) associated with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs) in hospitalized patients with a moderate, severe, and critical form of COVID‐19. Methods The serum samples obtained from 176 hospitalized COVID‐19 patients were investigated in this study, including patients with moderate (N = 90), severe (N = 50), and critical (N = 36) forms of COVID‐19. Also, the serum samples collected from healthy subjects before the COVID‐19 pandemic were used as controls (N = 176). The antinuclear antibodies (ANAs), antidouble‐stranded DNA (anti‐dsDNA), cytoplasmic‐anti neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (c‐ANCA), perinuclear ANCA (p‐ANCA), antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLs), and anticyclic citrullinated peptide (anti‐CCP) occurrence was evaluated using a solid‐phase enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results The results showed that the occurrence of ANAs, anti‐dsDNA, anti‐CCP, c‐ANCA, and p‐ANCA was significantly higher in the COVID‐19 patients compared to serum obtained from healthy subjects (p < .0001, p < .0001, p < .0001, p < .05, and p < .001, respectively). The positive number of anti‐CCP tests increased significantly in severe COVID‐19 compared to the moderate group (p < .01). Conclusion Our study further supports the development of autoantibodies related to systemic autoimmune rheumatologic diseases. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study with a large sample size that reported the occurrence of anti‐CCP in a severe form of COVID‐19

Difference in the Cytomegalovirus-related Clinical Laboratory Findings Between Patients With Bone Marrow and Kidney Transplantations

Background: Despite close monitoring of transplant patients, Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection has remained one of the most critical problems in transplantation. This study investigates the relationship between CMV viral load and clinical laboratory findings in transplant recipients. Materials And Methods: A total of 34 transplant recipients comprising 15 Kidney Transplant (KT) recipients and 19 Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) recipients admitted to the Imam Reza Hospital in Kermanshah Province, Iran, were enrolled in this study. The CMV viral load was quantified by the real-time PCR technique. Results: The CMV viral load in KT recipients was significantly higher than in BMT recipients (P=0.03), and there was a positive association between the level of virus and the level of cyclosporine in the blood of patients (r=0.51, P=0.02). Besides, CMV viral load was positively correlated with WBC (r=0.32, P=0.04), urea (r=0.47, P=0.002), creatinine (r=0.39, P=0.01), aspartate aminotransferase (r=0.33, P=0.04), and lactate dehydrogenase (r=0.4, P=0.01). Also, it was negatively associated with albumin (r=-0.61, P<0.001), sodium (r=-0.4, P=0.01), and calcium levels (r=-0.46, P=0.003). There were also significant differences between KT and BMT recipients regarding the CMV-related clinical laboratory findings of urea (P=0.02), creatinine (P=0.001), uric acid (P=0.005), direct bilirubin (P=0.04), albumin (P=0.04), platelet (P<0.001), and sodium (P=0.04) levels. Conclusion: Based on present data, we conclude that despite careful monitoring of patients, infection with CMV is still one of the most important problems associated with organ transplantation, which is directly related to many laboratory findings

Bovine Sex Determining Region Y: Cloning, Optimized Expression, and Purification

<p>Sex determining region Y gene (SRY) is located on Y chromosome and encodes a protein with 229 amino acids. In this study, ORF region of SRY with a length of 690 bp was synthesized using PCR and ligated to pET28a (+), then transformed in E.coli DH5α. E.coli BL21 (DE3) strain was chosen to express recombinant bovine SRY protein. A set of optimization steps was taken including different concentrations of IPTG, glucose, and temperatures at differed incubation times after the induction. Results showed that temperature points and different concentrations of IPTG and glucose had a significant effect (p < 0.01) on total protein and recombinant bovine SRY. After purification, various temperatures and concentrations of IPTG showed meaningful effects (p < 0.01) on the solubility of expressed recombinant SRY. Highest soluble rSRY protein amount was achieved where 0.5 mM IPTG and 0.5% glucose was used at 20°C during induction. In the absence of glucose, the highest amount of soluble recombinant SRY levels were achieved at the concentrations of 0.8 mM of IPTG at 28°C, 20°C, and 1.5 mM IPTG at 37°C during induction for 16, 24, and 8 hours, respectively. Regarding the results obtained in this study, it could be stated that by decreasing temperature and inducer concentration, soluble bovine SRY protein expression increases.</p