Proofless Verifiable Computation from Integer Factoring

VC schemes provide a mechanism for verifying the output of a remotely executed program. These are used to support computing paradigms wherein a computationally restricted client, the Verifier, wishes to delegate work to a more powerful but untrusted server, the Prover. The Verifier wishes to detect any incorrect results, be they accidental or malicious. The current state-of-the-art is only close-to-practical, usually because of a computationally demanding setup which must be amortised across repeat executions. We present a VC scheme for verifying the output of arithmetic circuits with a small one-time setup, KGen, independent of the size of the circuit being verified, and a insignificantly small constant program specific setup, ProbGen. To our knowledge our VC scheme is the first built from the hardness of integer factoring, a standard cryptographic assumption. Our scheme has the added novelty that the proofs are simply the raw output of the target computation, and the Prover is in effect blind to the fact they are taking part in a VC scheme at all. Compared to related work our scheme comes at the cost of a more expensive, but still efficient, verification step. Verification is always practical, and the Prover workload is unchanged from unverified outsourced computation. Although our scheme has worse asymptotic performance than the state-of-the-art it is particularly well suited for verifying one-shot programs and the output of large integer polynomial evaluation

Secret Swapping: Two Party Fair Exchange

Consider two participants who wish to each reveal some secret information to each other, but both will only reveal their secret if there is a guarantee that the other will do so too. Conventionally, whoever sends their secret first makes themselves vulnerable to the possibility that the other party will cheat and won’t send their secret in reply. Fair Exchange (FE) protocols are a class of cryptographic construction which allow an exchange like this to occur without either party making themselves vulnerable. It is widely believed that a trusted third party arbitrator is required to intervene in the case of a dispute. We present a FE protocol that allows two parties to exchange secrets, safe in the knowledge that either both secrets will be exchanged, or neither will; without the involvement of a third party. This construction requires that the parties run online interactive processes, with reasonable timeliness requirements on the messages. In this work we provide a scheme for swapping arbitrarily sized secrets with security that reduces to the strength of an underlying symmetric authenticated encryption scheme

Physical Games for Learning

The goal of this project is to teach elementary mathematics and number sense through the use of a cyber-watch or smartphone. The device enables an alternate learning style fueled by the use of interactive games and other technologies. The hope is to augment the learning process for students that do not learn well in a traditional classroom by providing a fun and engaging learning style. Blending wireless wearable technology, educational games, mathematics, and real time reporting could very well lead to accelerated learning. The outcome of this project is a novel infrastructure, which allows for the creation of a myriad of interactive embodied learning experiences for students of all ages

Designing prenatal care for low-income, black patients in urban settings using human centered design

Objective: Black and low-income pregnant patients face significant inequities in health care access and outcomes in the United States. Yet, these patients’ voices have been largely absent from designing improved prenatal care models. Our objective was to use Human Centered Design to examine patients’ and health care workers’ experiences with prenatal care delivery in a largely low-income, Black population, to inform future care innovations to improve access, quality, and outcomes. Study Design: Using snowball sampling, we conducted Human Centered Design-informed interviews with low-income, Black patients and health care workers in a large, urban setting. Interview questions addressed the first two Human Centered Design phases: 1) observation: understanding the problem from the end-user’s perspective, and 2) ideation: generating novel potential solutions. We assessed these questions for the three key components of prenatal care: medical care, anticipatory guidance, and psychosocial support. Results: Nineteen patients and 19 health care workers were interviewed. All patients were Black, and the majority had public insurance (17/19, 89.5%). Health care workers included doctors, midwives, breastfeeding counselors, doulas, and social workers. Participants affirmed the three goals of prenatal care. Participants reported failures of current prenatal care delivery and potential solutions for each of the three goals (medical care, anticipatory guidance, and psychosocial support) and two overarching categories: maternity care professionals and care structure. Participants reported in an ideal model, patients would have strong relationships with their maternity care professional who would be at the center of all prenatal care services. Additionally, care would be tailored to individual patients and use care navigators, flexible models, and colocation of services, to reduce barriers. Conclusion: Current prenatal care delivery fails to meet low-income, Black patients’ needs. Ideal prenatal care delivery includes more comprehensive, integrated services tailored to patients’ medical needs and preferences

Synthesis of Diarylthiobarbituric acid Chromophores with Enhanced Second-order Optical Nonlinearities and Thermal Stability

In summary, the compounds reported here demonstrate that it is possible to design chromophores that simultaneously exhibit large nonlinearity and good thermal stability. Furthermore, with the synthesis of bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)thiobarbituric acid, we believe that it should be possible to covalently incorporate these and other rather nonlinear chromophores into poled polymers at high concentrations. Experiments to test this hypothesis are in progress

Experiences With Prenatal Care Delivery Reported by Black Patients With Low Income and by Health Care Workers in the US: A Qualitative Study

IMPORTANCE: Black pregnant people with low income face inequities in health care access and outcomes in the US, yet their voices have been largely absent from redesigning prenatal care. OBJECTIVE: To examine patients\u27 and health care workers\u27 experiences with prenatal care delivery in a largely low-income Black population to inform care innovations to improve care coordination, access, quality, and outcomes. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: For this qualitative study, human-centered design-informed interviews were conducted at prenatal care clinics with 19 low-income Black patients who were currently pregnant or up to 1 year post partum and 19 health care workers (eg, physicians, nurses, and community health workers) in Detroit, Michigan, between October 14, 2019, and February 7, 2020. Questions focused on 2 human-centered design phases: observation (understanding problems from the end user\u27s perspective) and ideation (generating novel potential solutions). Questions targeted participants\u27 experiences with the 3 goals of prenatal care: medical care, anticipatory guidance, and social support. An eclectic analytic strategy, including inductive thematic analysis and matrix coding, was used to identify promising strategies for prenatal care redesign. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Preferences for prenatal care redesign. RESULTS: Nineteen Black patients (mean [SD] age, 28.4 [5.9] years; 19 [100%] female; and 17 [89.5%] with public insurance) and 17 of 19 health care workers (mean [SD] age, 47.9 [15.7] years; 15 female [88.2%]; and 13 [76.5%] Black) completed the surveys. A range of health care workers were included (eg, physicians, doulas, and social workers). Although all affirmed the 3 prenatal care goals, participants reported failures and potential solutions for each area of prenatal care delivery. Themes also emerged in 2 cross-cutting areas: practitioners and care infrastructure. Participants reported that, ideally, care structure would enable strong ongoing relationships between patients and practitioners. Practitioners would coordinate all prenatal services, not just medical care. Finally, care would be tailored to individual patients by using care navigators, flexible models, and colocation of services to reduce barriers. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this qualitative study of low-income, Black pregnant people in Detroit, Michigan, and the health care workers who care for them, prenatal care delivery failed to meet many patients\u27 needs. Participants reported that an ideal care delivery model would include comprehensive, integrated services across the health care system, expanding beyond medical care to also include patients\u27 social needs and preferences

All-organic and organic-silicon photonic ring micro-resonators

Organic electro-optic materials offer exceptional processability (both from solution and the gas phase) that permit fabrication of flexible and conformal device structures and the integration of organic materials with a wide range of disparate materials. In addition, organic electro-optical materials have fundamental response times that are in the terahertz region, and useable electro-optic coefficients that are approaching 300 pm/V (at telecommunication wavelengths). In addition to fabrication by traditional lithographic methods, multiple devices on a single wafer have been fabricated by soft and nano-imprint lithography. In this presentation, we review the fabrication and performance evaluation of a number of all-organic and organic-silicon photonic ring microresonator devices. Both electrical and thermal tuning of devices, including both single and multiple ring micro-resonators, are demonstrated

Risco nutricional e fatores associados em pacientes hospitalizados pelo Sistema Único de Saúde: comparação entre os sexos

Introdução: a desnutrição representa um problema clínico-nutricional frequente em pacientes hospitalizados, sendo que a detecção precoce do risco nutricional torna-se fundamental, pois possibilita à equipe multidisciplinar o início imediato de uma conduta dietética adequada, minimizando o sinergismo entre a desnutrição e os demais fatores clínicos. Objetivo: determinar o risco nutricional, associando com o estado nutricional, estilo de vida e variáveis clínicas de hospitalização de pacientes internados pelo SUS, comparando tais condições entre os sexos. Metodologia: trata-se de estudo transversal. Para avaliação do risco nutricional dos pacientes hospitalizados foi utilizado o protocolo de triagem nutricional Nutricional Risk Screening (NRS) 2002, além disso foram coletados dados antropométricos, clínicos, sociodemográficos e dietéticos para comparação com o risco nutricional. Resultados: a amostra foi composta por 100 pacientes, sendo 50% adultos e 50% idosos, com média de idade de 56,11±19 anos, sendo a maioria do sexo masculino (51%). O risco nutricional esteve presente em 34% dos pacientes avaliados, sendo 58,8% no sexo feminino e 41,2% no sexo masculino. Não houve diferença das demais variáveis quando comparadas entre os sexos (p>0,05). A maior prevalência de risco observada foi em idosos (27%). Conclusão: o risco nutricional obteve maior prevalência nos pacientes idosos, porém não houve diferença entre os sexos. Sabe-se que a presença de comorbidades e uma inadequada aceitação da dieta por parte dos mesmos pode levar a uma piora significativa do estado nutricional