Low-Weight Primes for Lightweight Elliptic Curve Cryptography on 8-bit AVR Processors

Small 8-bit RISC processors and micro-controllers based on the AVR instruction set architecture are widely used in the embedded domain with applications ranging from smartcards over control systems to wireless sensor nodes. Many of these applications require asymmetric encryption or authentication, which has spurred a body of research into implementation aspects of Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) on the AVR platform. In this paper, we study the suitability of a special class of finite fields, the so-called Optimal Prime Fields (OPFs), for a "lightweight" implementation of ECC with a view towards high performance and security. An OPF is a finite field Fp defined by a prime of the form p = u*2^k + v, whereby both u and v are "small" (in relation to 2^k) so that they fit into one or two registers of an AVR processor. OPFs have a low Hamming weight, which allows for a very efficient implementation of the modular reduction since only the non-zero words of p need to be processed. We describe a special variant of Montgomery multiplication for OPFs that does not execute any input-dependent conditional statements (e.g. branch instructions) and is, hence, resistant against certain side-channel attacks. When executed on an Atmel ATmega processor, a multiplication in a 160-bit OPF takes just 3237 cycles, which compares favorably with other implementations of 160-bit modular multiplication on an 8-bit processor. We also describe a performance-optimized and a security-optimized implementation of elliptic curve scalar multiplication over OPFs. The former uses a GLV curve and executes in 4.19M cycles (over a 160-bit OPF), while the latter is based on a Montgomery curve and has an execution time of approximately 5.93M cycles. Both results improve the state-of-the-art in lightweight ECC on 8-bit processors

Sketch-a-Net: A Deep Neural Network that Beats Humans

This Project received support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement #640891, and the Royal Society and Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Joint Grant #IE141387 and #61511130081. We gratefully acknowledge the support of NVIDIA Corporation for the donation of the GPUs used for this research

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Application of textile waste derived biochars onto cotton fabric for improved performance and functional properties

This study investigated the use of textile waste based biochars as fabric additives to improve the clothing performance and impart functional properties to textile materials. For this purpose, cotton, cotton/polyester and acrylic textile wastes were carbonized at low temperature and derived biochars were applied onto cotton fabrics by conventional printing method Moisture transfer, drying properties, water vapor and air permeability and odor adsorption capability of biochar printed fabrics were investigated by using of several methods. Biochar finishing provided a slight hydrophobic effect on the printed face of the cotton fabrics; therefore, a double-face textile structure could be obtained in terms of hydrophilic/hydrophobic behavior. With this feature, it was revealed that the addition of biochars improved the moisture transfer, accelerated the drying and increased the water vapor permeability. In addition, the obtained data showed that cotton/polyester fabric derived biochar printed fabrics had odor masking properties. As a result, it was shown that odor masking functional textile materials with high thermophysiological comfort can be produced by the recycling of textile wastes into biochar and application onto textile fabrics. © 2019 Elsevier Lt

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The Leu34Phe proCART mutation leads to cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) deficiency: A possible cause for obesity in humans

Cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript ( CART) is an anorexigenic neuropeptide synthesized in the hypothalamus. A Leu34Phe missense mutation in proCART has been found in an obese family in humans. Here we show that humans bearing the Leu34Phe mutation in proCART have severely diminished levels of bioactive CART, but elevated amounts of partially processed proCART in their serum. Expression of wildtype proCART in AtT-20 cells showed that it was sorted to the regulated secretory pathway, a necessity for proper processing bioactive CART. However, expressed Leu34Phe proCART was missorted, poorly processed, and secreted constitutively. The defective intracellular sorting of Leu34Phe proCART would account for the reduced levels of bioactive CART in affected humans. These results suggest that the obesity observed in humans bearing the Leu34Phe mutation could be due to a putative deficiency in hypothalamic bioactive CART

Impact of pre-stent implantation plaque burden on the development of stent restenosis [Stent implantasyonu öncesindeki plak yükünün stent restenozuna olan etkisi]

Aim: In this study we have used quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) and the Image J program in order to investigate the influence of plaque area, as identified prior to stent implantation, on the development of stent restenosis. Material and Method: 5180 coronary angiography procedures were performed between March 2008 and July 2011. Of these, 227 presented with in-stent restenosis. After application of the exclusion criteria, 164 intracor-onary stents implanted in 121 patients were retrospectively investigated. These stents were divided into two groups depending upon the clinical status of the patient: (a) those who developed in-stent restenosis (n: 77, 47%), and (b) those who failed to develop in-stent restenosis (n: 87, 53%). Narrowing by 50% or more, as identified during coronary angiography performed at least six months after the stent implantation, was considered as positive for development of in-stent restenosis. Plaque area measurement in the patients was performed using quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) and the Image J program. Results: Plaque area measurement when performed quantitatively revealed no statistically significant difference between the groups (p>0.05). However, significant difference in area was observed when Image J was used (p0.05) was not significant. There was a relationship among the development of restenosis and hypertension, non-usage of statin therapy, HDL level, poor lesion type, and plaque area as measured with Image J. Discussion: Hypertension, non-usage statin therapy, low levels of HDL, poor lesion type, and larger plaque areas as measured with the Image J program were identified as important indicators for development of in-stent restenosis. © Derman Medical Publishing. All rights reserved

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