Secure Deniable Authenticated Key Establishment for Internet Protocols

In 2003, Boyd et al. have proposed two deniable authenticated key establishment protocols for Internet Key Exchange (IKE). However, both schemes have been broken by Chou et al. in 2005 due to their susceptibility to key-compromise impersonation (KCI) attack. In this paper, we put forward the improved variants of both Boyd et al.\u27s schemes in order to defeat the KCI attack. On top of justifying our improvements, we further present a detailed security analysis to ensure that the desired security attributes: deniability and authenticity remain preserved

Identification of peripheral inflammatory markers between normal control and Alzheimer's disease

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Multiple pathogenic factors may contribute to the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Peripheral blood markers have been used to assess biochemical changes associated with AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and involved in their pathophysiology.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Plasma samples and clinical data were obtained from participants in the Ansan Geriatric Study (AGE study). Plasma concentrations of four candidate biomarkers were measured in the normal control (NC), MCI, and AD group: interleukin-8 (IL-8), IL-10, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α).</p> <p>Body mass index (BMI), MMSE (Mini Mental State Examination), CDR(Clinical Dementia Rating) score and homocystein level were recorded with social and demographic information.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Total of 59 subjects were randomly selected for this analysis [NC (n = 21), MCI(n = 20) and AD(n = 18)]. In demographic data, educational year was correlated with the diagnosis states (<b><it>p </it></b>< 0.0001). No significant differences in cardiovascular disease, BMI and use of NSAIDs were found in MCI or AD group compared with NC group, respectively. The involvement of inflammatory illness or conditions in subjects, WBC count, fibrinogen and homocystein of the three groups, but no significant differences were found in each groups. The plasma IL-8 level was lower in MCI and AD patients compared with the normal control group (respectively, <it>p </it>< 0.0001). The MCI and AD patients had similar MCP-1, IL-10, and TNF-α level.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study suggests the existence of an independent and negative relationship between plasma IL-8 levels and functional status in MCI and AD patients.</p

Amino-Acid-Substituted Perylene Diimide as the Organic Cathode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries

One of the most effective cost reduction and green engineering projects is to introduce organic compounds to electrode materials instead of expensive inorganic-based materials. In this work, derivatives of perylene diimide substituted with amino acids (PDI_AAs) showed the characteristics of redox-active organic compounds and were, therefore, used as cathode materials of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Among the as-synthesized PDI_AAs, the L-alanine-substituted PDI (PDI_A) showed the most improved cycling performances of 86 mAhg−1 over 150 cycles with retention of 95% at 50 mAg−1. Furthermore, at a high current density of 500 mAg−1, PDI_A exhibited a long-term cycling performance of 47 mAhg−1 (retention to 98%) over 5000 cycles. In addition, ex situ attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR FT-IR) analysis of electrodes at various charging states showed the mechanism of the charge-discharge process of PDI_A

Additional file 1: Table S1. of About relationship between business text patterns and financial performance in corporate data

Revenue of the US listed companies classified to SIC 7370 and 7373. (DOCX 22 kb

Aramid Nanofiber Templated In Situ SNAr Polymerization for Maximizing the Performance of All-Organic Nanocomposites

The performance limits of conventional super engineering plastics with inorganic nanofillers are surpassed by all-organic nanocomposites prepared via in situ SNAr polymerization of polysulfone (PSU) in the presence of a highly dispersed aramid nanofiber (ANF) solution. The latter is directly used, bypassing the energy-consuming, nanostructure-damaging workup process. Using only a 0.15 wt % nanofiller, the all-organic nanocomposite shows an ultimate tensile strength 1.6x higher and 3.4X tougher than neat PSU and its blending counterpart due to the mutually interactive filler and maximally homogenized matrix. The exceptional toughness of the ANF/PSU nanocomposite originates from the grafted PSU on the surface of ANF; it drives stress-delocalized deformation, as revealed by stress-absorbable viscoelastic behavior and ductile elongation of materials. This material is a promising candidate for use as a filler-interactive, high-performance nanocomposite