Quantum Oblivious LWE Sampling and Insecurity of Standard Model Lattice-Based SNARKs

The Learning With Errors ($\mathsf{LWE}$) problem asks to find $\mathbf{s}$ from an input of the form $(\mathbf{A}, \mathbf{b} = \mathbf{A}\mathbf{s}+\mathbf{e}) \in (\mathbb{Z}/q\mathbb{Z})^{m \times n} \times (\mathbb{Z}/q\mathbb{Z})^{m}$, for a vector $\mathbf{e}$ that has small-magnitude entries. In this work, we do not focus on solving $\mathsf{LWE}$ but on the task of sampling instances. As these are extremely sparse in their range, it may seem plausible that the only way to proceed is to first create $\mathbf{s}$ and $\mathbf{e}$ and then set $\mathbf{b} = \mathbf{A}\mathbf{s}+\mathbf{e}$. In particular, such an instance sampler knows the solution. This raises the question whether it is possible to obliviously sample $(\mathbf{A}, \mathbf{A}\mathbf{s}+\mathbf{e})$, namely, without knowing the underlying $\mathbf{s}$. A variant of the assumption that oblivious $\mathsf{LWE}$ sampling is hard has been used in a series of works constructing Succinct Non-interactive Arguments of Knowledge (SNARKs) in the standard model. As the assumption is related to $\mathsf{LWE}$, these SNARKs have been conjectured to be secure in the presence of quantum adversaries. Our main result is a quantum polynomial-time algorithm that samples well-distributed $\mathsf{LWE}$ instances while provably not knowing the solution, under the assumption that $\mathsf{LWE}$ is hard. Moreover, the approach works for a vast range of $\mathsf{LWE}$ parametrizations, including those used in the above-mentioned SNARKs

New and old GFR equations: a European perspective

peer reviewedABSTRACT Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is estimated in clinical practice from equations based on the serum concentration of endogenous biomarkers and demographic data. The 2009 creatinine-based Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation (CKD-EPI2009) was recommended worldwide until 2021, when it was recalibrated to remove the African-American race factor. The CKD-EPI2009 and CKD-EPIcr2021 equations overestimate GFR of adults aged 18–30 years, with a strong overestimation in estimated GFR (eGFR) at age 18 years. CKD-EPICr2021 does not perform better than CKD-EPI2009 in US population, overestimating GFR in non-Black subjects, and underestimating it in Black subjects with the same magnitude. CKD-EPICr2021 performed worse than the CKD-EPI2009 in White Europeans, and provides no or limited performance gains in Black European and Black African populations. The European Kidney Function Consortium (EKFC) equation, which incorporates median normal value of serum creatinine in healthy population, overcomes the limitations of the CKD-EPI equations: it provides a continuity of eGFR at the transition between pediatric and adult care, and performs reasonably well in diverse populations, assuming dedicated scaling of serum creatinine (Q) values is used. The new EKFC equation based on cystatin C (EKFCCC) shares the same mathematical construction, namely, it incorporates the median cystatin C value in the general population, which is independent of sex and ethnicity. EKFCCC is therefore a sex-free and race-free equation, which performs better than the CKD-EPI equation based on cystatin C. Despite advances in the field of GFR estimation, no equation is perfectly accurate, and GFR measurement by exogenous tracer clearance is still required in specific populations and/or specific clinical situations

Performance of creatinine-based equations to estimate glomerular filtration rate in White and Black populations in Europe, Brazil and Africa.

peer reviewed("[en] BACKGROUND: A new Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation without the race variable has been recently proposed (CKD-EPIAS). This equation has neither been validated outside USA nor compared with the new European Kidney Function Consortium (EKFC) and Lund-Malmö Revised (LMREV) equations, developed in European cohorts. METHODS: Standardized creatinine and measured glomerular filtration rate (GFR) from the European EKFC cohorts (n = 13 856 including 6031 individuals in the external validation cohort), from France (n = 4429, including 964 Black Europeans), from Brazil (n = 100) and from Africa (n = 508) were used to test the performances of the equations. A matched analysis between White Europeans and Black Africans or Black Europeans was performed. RESULTS: In White Europeans (n = 9496), both the EKFC and LMREV equations outperformed CKD-EPIAS (bias of -0.6 and -3.2, respectively versus 5.0 mL/min/1.73 m², and accuracy within 30% of 86.9 and 87.4, respectively, versus 80.9%). In Black Europeans and Black Africans, the best performance was observed with the EKFC equation using a specific Q-value (= concentration of serum creatinine in healthy males and females). These results were confirmed in matched analyses, which showed that serum creatinine concentrations were different in White Europeans, Black Europeans and Black Africans for the same measured GFR, age, sex and body mass index. Creatinine differences were more relevant in males. CONCLUSION: In a European and African cohort, the performances of CKD-EPIAS remain suboptimal. The EKFC equation, using usual or dedicated population-specific Q-values, presents the best performance in the whole age range in the European and African populations included in this study.","[en] ",""

Statistical physics of vaccination

Historically, infectious diseases caused considerable damage to human societies, and they continue to do so today. To help reduce their impact, mathematical models of disease transmission have been studied to help understand disease dynamics and inform prevention strategies. Vaccination–one of the most important preventive measures of modern times–is of great interest both theoretically and empirically. And in contrast to traditional approaches, recent research increasingly explores the pivotal implications of individual behavior and heterogeneous contact patterns in populations. Our report reviews the developmental arc of theoretical epidemiology with emphasis on vaccination, as it led from classical models assuming homogeneously mixing (mean-field) populations and ignoring human behavior, to recent models that account for behavioral feedback and/or population spatial/social structure. Many of the methods used originated in statistical physics, such as lattice and network models, and their associated analytical frameworks. Similarly, the feedback loop between vaccinating behavior and disease propagation forms a coupled nonlinear system with analogs in physics. We also review the new paradigm of digital epidemiology, wherein sources of digital data such as online social media are mined for high-resolution information on epidemiologically relevant individual behavior. Armed with the tools and concepts of statistical physics, and further assisted by new sources of digital data, models that capture nonlinear interactions between behavior and disease dynamics offer a novel way of modeling real-world phenomena, and can help improve health outcomes. We conclude the review by discussing open problems in the field and promising directions for future research

Hyperparathyroïdie post transplantation rénale : déterminants et conséquences sur la fonction du greffon et le métabolisme osseux

Les troubles phospho-calciques post transplantation rénale (TR) sont fréquents et enrapport avec une hyperparathyroïdie (HPT) autonomisée développée au stade d’IRCterminale. L’objet de ce travail consiste en l’analyse rétrospective des déterminants etdes conséquences de l’HPT sur la fonction rénale et le métabolisme osseux, 3 et 12 moisaprès TR. Les patients ayant une élévation de la PTH 2aire à une carence en vitamine D ouune IRC sévère étaient exclus.A M3, 39 patients avaient une relation Ca/PTH normale (groupe Nx), et 35 présentaientune HPT autonomisée (groupe HPT), confirmant l’importante prévalence du trouble. Lesfacteurs explicatifs de ce trouble étaient la prise de cinacalcet avant TR et une durée dedialyse supérieure à 6 mois. A M12 le DFG mesuré dans le groupe HPT était de 20 %inférieur à celui du groupe Nx (44,4 ± 14,6 vs 53,8 ± 16,9 ml/min/1.73m2; p = 0,01). Enanalyse multivariée, l’HPT autonomisée était, avec le rejet, le seul facteur expliquant unDFG 65 pg/ml), non classés dans lesgroupes HPT et Nx, présentant à M3 une HPT 2aire à calcémie normale basse avechypocalciurie, sans carence en vitamine D, suggérant un transfert intra osseux decalcium. Ce tableau d’os avide spontané a été confirmé par l’évolution anti-parallèle de lacalcémie et de la PTH à M12, ainsi que par l’augmentation moyenne importante de ladensité minérale osseuse. Cette forme d’HPT secondaire n’avait jamais été décrite aprèsTR. Une étude à plus large échelle est nécessaire pour en déterminer les causes, saprévalence exacte, seule ou associée à d’autres troubles parathyroïdiens, et sesconséquences sur le phénotype osseux à long terme

New developments and future prospects in the field of glomerular filtration rate estimation.

peer reviewedGlomerular filtration rate (GFR) is estimated from equations based on serum or plasma concentrations of endogenous markers (creatinine and/or cystatin C), and demographic data (age, sex, ± ethnicity). These equations are accurate at the population level, but often inaccurate at the individual level. The creatinine-based Chronic Kidney Disease-Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation published in 2009 (CKD-EPIcr-2009), and the CKD-EPI equation published in 2012 based on creatinine and cystatin C, were recalibrated in 2021 to remove their dedicated race correction factors for black American subjects. All creatinine-based CKD-EPI equations overestimate true GFR in subjects younger than 30 years. The Full Age Spectrum (FAS) equation, applicable across the entire age spectrum (pediatrics to old age), solved this problem, but remained suboptimal at low GFR values. The European Kidney Function Consortium (EKFC) equation published in 2021 was an improvement of the FAS equation, which also includes the Q factor (median creatinine in the general population). EKFC is applicable across the age spectrum and is efficient at low and normal GFR values. The new creatinine-based CKD-EPI equation (CKD-EPIcr-2021) underestimates GFR in Black Americans and overestimates it in non-Black Americans. In European and African subjects, CKD-EPIcr-2021 overestimates true GFR and should not be adopted. The EKFC equation, which performs well in this population, also performs well in European Black subjects and in African subjects, provided dedicated Q factors are used.Le débit de filtration glomérulaire (DFG) est estimé à partir d’équations prenant en compte la concentration sérique ou plasmatique de marqueurs endogènes (créatinine et/ou cystatine C) et des données démographiques (âge, sexe, ± origine ethnique). Ces équations sont justes à l’échelle populationnelle, mais fréquemment inexactes à l’échelle individuelle. L’équation Chronic Kidney Disease-Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI), basée sur la créatinine, publiée en 2009 (CKD-EPIcr-2009), et l’équation CKD-EPI de 2012, basée sur la créatinine et la cystatine C, ont été recalibrées en 2021 afin d’éliminer leurs facteurs correctifs ethniques dédiés aux sujets Noirs américains. Toutes les équations CKD-EPI basées sur la créatinine surévaluent le DFG réel chez les sujets de moins de 30 ans. L’équation Full Age Spectrum (FAS), applicable sur tout le spectre d’âge (de la pédiatrie au grand âge), résolvait ce problème, mais restait suboptimale aux valeurs basses de DFG. L’équation European Kidney Function Consortium (EKFC) publiée en 2021 est une amélioration de l’équation FAS, qui inclut également le facteur Q (créatinine médiane en population générale). Elle est applicable sur tout le spectre d’âge, et performante aux valeurs basses et normales de DFG. La nouvelle équation CKD-EPI basée sur la créatinine (CKD-EPIcr-2021) sous-évalue le DFG chez les sujets Noirs américains et le surévalue chez les non-Noirs américains. Chez les sujets européens et africains, CKD-EPIcr-2021 surévalue le DFG réel et ne doit pas être adoptée. L’équation EKFC, qui est performante dans cette population, l’est aussi chez les sujets européens Noirs et les Africains, à condition d’utiliser des facteurs Q dédiés

ModFalcon: Compact Signatures Based On Module-NTRU Lattices

International audienceLattices lead to promising practical post-quantum digital signatures, combining asymptotic efficiency with strong theoretical security guarantees. However, tuning their parameters into practical instantiations is a delicate task. On the one hand, NIST round~2 candidates based on Lyubashevsky's design (such as dilithium and qtesla) allow several tradeoffs between security and efficiency, but at the expense of a large bandwidth consumption. On the other hand, the hash-and-sign falcon signature is much more compact and is still very efficient, but it allows only two security levels, with large compactness and security gaps between them. We introduce a new family of signature schemes based on the falcon design, which relies on module lattices. Our concrete instantiation enjoys the compactness and efficiency of falcon, and allows an intermediate security level. It leads to the most compact lattice-based signature achieving a quantum security above 128 bits

Diagnostic standard: assessing glomerular filtration rate.

peer reviewedCreatinine-based estimated GFR (eGFR) is imprecise at individual level, due to non-GFR-related serum creatinine determinants, including atypical muscle mass. Cystatin C has the advantage of being independent on muscle mass, a feature that led to the development of race- and sex-free equations. Yet, cystatin C-based equations do not perform better than creatinine-based equations to estimate GFR, unless both variables are included together. The new race-free Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology (CKD-EPI) equation, had slight opposite biases between Black and Non-Black subjects in USA, but performs poorer than that the previous version in European populations. The European Kidney Function Consortium (EKFC) equation developed in 2021 can be used both in children and adults, is more accurate in young and old adults, and is applicable to non-white European populations, by rescaling the Q factor, i.e. population median creatinine, in a potentially universal way. A sex- and race-free cystatin C-based EKFC, with the same mathematical design, has also be defined. New developments in the field of GFR estimation would be standardization of cystatin C assays, development of creatinine-based eGFR equations that would incorporate muscle mass data, implementation of new endogenous biomarkers, and the use of artificial intelligence. Standardization of different GFR measurement methods would also be a future challenge, as well as new technologies for measuring GFR. Future research is also needed on discrepancies between cystatin C and creatinine, which is associated with high risk of adverse events: standardize the definition of discrepancy, and understand its determinants

Creatinine clearance after cimetidine administration in a new short procedure: comparison with plasma and renal clearances of iohexol

Abstract Background Creatinine clearance after cimetidine administration (Cim-CreatClr) was once proposed as a method of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) measurement, but has been largely abandoned. We investigated whether a new short procedure for Cim-CreatClr determination could be considered an appropriate method for GFR measurement. Methods A 150-min protocol involving oral cimetidine administration was developed to determine Cim-CreatClr. In total, 168 patients underwent simultaneous assessments of creatinine clearance before and after cimetidine administration [basal creatinine clearance (Basal-CreatClr) and Cim-CreatClr, respectively], renal iohexol clearance and plasma iohexol clearance (R-iohexClr and P-iohexClr, respectively). We compared the agreement between the various methods of GFR measurement, using Bland–Altman plots to determine biases, precisions (standard deviation of the biases) and accuracy (proportions of GFR values falling within 10, 15 and 30% of the mean: P10, P15 and P30, respectively). Results After cimetidine administration, Basal-CreatClr decreased by 19.8% [95% reference limits of agreement (95% LoA): −2.2 to 41.7%]. The bias between Cim-CreatClr and P-iohexClr was −0.6% (95% LoA −26.8 to 28%); the precision was 14.0%; P10, P15 and P30 were 57.1% [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 49.3 to 64.7%], 73.2% (95% CI 65.8 to 79.7%) and 97.0% (95% CI 93.2 to 99.0%), respectively. Due to the positive bias (16.7%; 95% LoA −3.6 to 36.9%) of Cim-CreatClr relative to R-iohexClr, accuracy of Cim-CreatClr relative to R-iohexClr was poor despite a good precision (10.3%). Conclusions Our study shows a high level of agreement between Cim-CreatClr and P-iohexClr. These results suggest that this short Cim-CreatClr procedure is a valid method for GFR measurement, which might be useful, in particular, in situations in which P-iohexClr is not suitable or not available