VeraSel: Verifiable Random Selection for Mixnets Construction

The security and performance of Mixnets depends on the trustworthiness of the Mixnodes in the network. The challenge is to limit the adversary's influence on which Mixnodes operate in the network. A trusted party (such as the Mixnet operator) may ensure this, however, it is a single point of failure in the event of corruption or coercion. Therefore, we study the problem of how to select a subset of Mixnodes in a distributed way for Mixnet construction. We present VeraSel, a scheme that enables Mixnodes to be chosen according to their weights in a distributed, unbiased, and verifiable fashion using Verifiable Random Functions (VRFs). It is shown that VeraSel enables any party to learn and verify which nodes has been selected based on the commitments and proofs generated by each Mixnode with VRF

Stopping Silent Sneaks: Defending against Malicious Mixes with Topological Engineering

Mixnets provide strong meta-data privacy and recent academic research and industrial projects have made strides in making them more secure, performance, and scalable. In this paper, we focus our work on stratified Mixnets -- a popular design with real-world adoption -- and identify that there still exist heretofore inadequately explored practical aspects such as: relay sampling and topology placement, network churn, and risks due to real-world usage patterns. We show that, due to the lack of incorporating these aspects, Mixnets of this type are far more susceptible to user deanonymization than expected. In order to reason and resolve these issues, we model Mixnets as a three-stage ``Sample-Placement-Forward'' pipeline, and using the results of our evaluation propose a novel Mixnet design, Bow-Tie. Bow-Tie mitigates user deanonymization through a novel adaption of Tor's guard design with an engineered guard layer and client guard-logic for stratified mixnets. We show that Bow-Tie has significantly higher user anonymity in the dynamic setting, where the Mixnet is used over a period of time, and is no worse in the static setting, where the user only sends a single message. We show the necessity of both the guard layer and client guard-logic in tandem as well as their individual effect when incorporated into other reference designs. Ultimately, Bow-Tie is a significant step towards addressing the gap between the design of Mixnets and practical deployment and wider adoption because it directly addresses real-world user and Mixnet operator concerns

Identification of avian Mycoplasma species in commercial broilers and layers with respiratory symptoms in Balochistan

Among many avian mycoplasmas, only the Mycoplasmas gallisepticum (MG) and Mycoplasmas synoviae (MS) are responsible for causing respiratory disease in commercial poultry. This study reported for the very first time the serological occurrence of M. gallisepticum and M. synoviae in blood samples (n = 600) from sixty flocks (n = 42 broiler and n = 18 layer flocks) with respiratory symptoms in Quetta, Pishin and Kuchlak districts of Balochistan, Pakistan. Sera were tested for MG and MS antibody responses by serum plate agglutination (SPA) test and by enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) Synbiotics kit. It was found that M. gallisepticum antibodies in broiler flocks detected by SPA and by ELISA tests were 10.47 and 19.76%, whereas M. synoviae were 7.86 and 11.19%, respectively. In layer flocks the MG and MS antibodies detected by SPA and ELISA were 19.44, 31.66 and 8.8, 25%, respectively. The overall antibodies of MG and MS in both broiler and layer flocks tested by SPA and ELISA was found to be 13.16, 23.33 and 8.16, 15.33%, respectively. In broiler and layer flocks the presence of antibodies against both M. gallisepticum and M. synoviae were found in tested flocks with respiratory symptoms. Further studies on prevalence and diagnosis of both the M. gallisepticum and M. synoviae in causing respiratory disease in commercial broilers and layers in Balochistan are required.Key words: Mycoplasma, broilers, serum plate agglutination, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

Managing menopause in women living with HIV: A survey of primary care practitioners.

Objective One in three women living with HIV (WLHIV) in the UK is aged 45-56, and therefore of potentially menopausal age. Little is known about the management of menopause in WLHIV in primary care. We aim to describe current knowledge and practice in the management of menopause in WLWH among primary care practitioners (PCPs). Methods A questionnaire-based study of 88 PCPs attending two sexual and reproductive health conferences. Results Almost all respondents (n = 87, 99%) routinely managed women with menopause-related symptoms; however, only 18 (20%) reported having managed menopause in WLHIV. Over 95% (n = 85) reported being confident in managing menopause in general, whereas less than half (n = 40) reported confidence in managing menopause in WLHIV ( p < 0.001). The majority of respondents (n = 84) felt that menopause should be routinely managed in primary care, whereas just over half thought that menopause in WLHIV should be managed in primary care (n = 50, p < 0.001). Almost all respondents (n = 85) reported concerns about managing menopause in WLHIV. Conclusion PCPs reported limited experience of and low levels of confidence in managing menopause-related symptoms in WLHIV. Nearly all PCPs had concerns about managing menopause-related symptoms in WLHIV, many stating that this should be managed outside primary care. Development of national guidance and specialised training, coupled with good liaison between HIV services and PCPs, may improve confidence in this area

The monetary policy during shocks: an analysis of large Asian economies’ response to COVID-19

The economies all over the world that have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic have recently started to devise different strategies to mitigate its consequences. Therefore, in order to dwell deeper into the measures taken by the policy makers around the world, this paper specifically analyzes how the monetary policies have been devised, in response to COVID-19. For this purpose, this paper has taken into consideration a panel of 8 Asian economies that have been affected the most acutely by the virus, have faced multiple lockdowns, and have also experienced other economic restraints, due to this very phenomenon. In order to compare the possible monetary policy options, and their outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper refers to the global recession shock, as a valid point of reference. In addition to this, in order to gain access to the empirical evidence, the ARDL methodology has been applied on the quarterly data from 2005Q3 to 2020Q3. The results of the study have indicated that various plans have been taken into consideration, so as to lessen the consequences of these shocks that have trickled down into the respective economies of these countries. That is to put forth that, in the incidence of global recession, the monetary authorities have resorted to a less prudent stance. Whereas, more flexibility, through a persistent decrease in the policy rate has been observed since the pandemic first hit the world. In this regard, our results imply that a successful, efficient and effective response to the economic consequences of COVID-19, would ideally entail a set of remedial policies and structural reforms

Super Efficient Neural Network for Compression Artifacts Reduction and Super Resolution

Video quality can suffer from limited internet speed while being streamed by users. Compression artifacts start to appear when the bitrate decreases to match the available bandwidth. Existing algorithms either focus on removing the compression artifacts at the same video resolution, or on upscaling the video resolution but not removing the artifacts. Super resolution-only approaches will amplify the artifacts along with the details by default. We propose a lightweight convolutional neural network (CNN)-based algorithm which simultaneously performs artifacts reduction and super resolution (ARSR) by enhancing the feature extraction layers and designing a custom training dataset. The output of this neural network is evaluated for test streams compressed at low bitrates using variable bitrate (VBR) encoding. The output video quality shows a 4-6 increase in video multi-method assessment fusion (VMAF) score compared to traditional interpolation upscaling approaches such as Lanczos or Bicubic

Sustainable digital economy and trade adjusted carbon emissions: Evidence from China's provincial data

The importance of the digital economy and trade adjusted emissions is of great importance to study, especially in case of China. Since China is the leading exporter of the world and achieving high economic growth consecutively for the last 2-3 decades, this study, unlike past studies, evaluates the importance of digital economy, exports, imports and gross domestic product on trade adjusted carbon emissions for China. This is the only study that incorporates the importance of digital economy on trade adjusted carbon emissions for provincial data of China. This study determines whether the digital economy is a viable source of green economy. Research and development will simply replace a physical resource, flows through energy and transportation networks? This question is answered by using updated data, especially for digital economy. This study uses panel data for the Chinese provinces to investigate the impact of the digital economy in limiting CO2 emissions, taking into account GDP, exports and imports as control variables. Using method of moments quantile regression, we find a negative impact of digital economy and exports on consumption-based carbon emissions. Moreover, we find that GDP, and imports amplify consumption-based carbon emissions. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

DNA ploidy analyses in 218 consecutive Pakistani breast cancer patients: does it add anything?

An analysis was made to evaluate the significance of DNA ploidy in the biology and prognosis of breast carcinoma. This was done by estimating the correlation of DNA ploidy with other established prognostic markers of breast cancer, namely tumor size, tumor grade, lymph node metastasis and S-phase fraction. From 1995 up to year 2000 ploidy analysis was performed on 218 consecutive cases of infiltrating breast carcinoma by flow cytometry using formalin fixed paraffin embedded material. From the laboratory record, data regarding other pathological variables was retrieved. No correlation could be found between DNA ploidy and tumor grade, nor could there be found a correlation with tumor size. For lymph node metastasis there was a significant difference between the proportion of aneuploids and diploids having metastasis in more than 4 lymph nodes. However, no significant difference was found in axillary lymph node positive and negative groups when number of positive lymph nodes was not taken into account. The mean value of S-phase fraction for the aneuploids and the diploids was also insignificantly different. In conclusion DNA ploidy alone did not add much to predict tumor behaviour in terms of known pathologic variables

Analysis of Metal Content of Samples of Gloriosa Superba L (Colchicaceae) Collected from Two Different Locations in Pakistan

Purpose: To determine the metallic content of different parts of Gloriosa superba collected from two different locations in Pakistan, and also to assess their nutritious values and toxic levels.Methods: The plant material and soil were collected from two different locations - polluted and unpolluted. Wet digestion method was used for the preparation of samples (whole plant and soil) followed by analysis using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer (for micronutrients) and flame photometry (for macronutrients).Results: Of the detected micronutrients, high concentrations of Zn, Fe and Mn were noted for samples collected from both areas. These values were within permissible limits. Samples collected from the polluted area contained Cu (7.5 &#8211; 13.0 ppm), Cr (1.4 &#8722; 1.9 ppm) and Ni (0.3 &#8722; 2.0 ppm), all of which exceeded acceptable limits; the same nutrients were mostly within acceptable limits for samples collected from the unpolluted area. Significant presence of macronutrients - Ca, Na and K - were observed in samples obtained from both areas.Conclusion: Proper validation of medicinal plants used for therapeutic purposes should be mandatory on safety grounds to protect consumers from contaminants.Keywords: Gloriosa superba, Micronutrients, Macronutrients, Toxicity, Metal ions, Medicinal plant