Magnon Broadening Effects in Double Layered Manganite La_1.2 Sr_1.8 Mn_2 O_7

Magnon linewidth of La_1.2 Sr_1.8 Mn_2 O_7 near the Brillouin zone boundary is investigated from both theoretical and experimental points of view. Abrupt magnon broadening is ascribed to a strong magnon-phonon coupling. Magnon broadening observed in cubic perovskite manganites is also discussed.Comment: 4 pages + 1 jpeg figur

Symbol emergence as interpersonal cross-situational learning: the emergence of lexical knowledge with combinatoriality

We present a computational model for a symbol emergence system that enables the emergence of lexical knowledge with combinatoriality among agents through a Metropolis-Hastings naming game and cross-situational learning. Many computational models have been proposed to investigate combinatoriality in emergent communication and symbol emergence in cognitive and developmental robotics. However, existing models do not sufficiently address category formation based on sensory-motor information and semiotic communication through the exchange of word sequences within a single integrated model. Our proposed model facilitates the emergence of lexical knowledge with combinatoriality by performing category formation using multimodal sensory-motor information and enabling semiotic communication through the exchange of word sequences among agents in a unified model. Furthermore, the model enables an agent to predict sensory-motor information for unobserved situations by combining words associated with categories in each modality. We conducted two experiments with two humanoid robots in a simulated environment to evaluate our proposed model. The results demonstrated that the agents can acquire lexical knowledge with combinatoriality through interpersonal cross-situational learning based on the Metropolis-Hastings naming game and cross-situational learning. Furthermore, our results indicate that the lexical knowledge developed using our proposed model exhibits generalization performance for novel situations through interpersonal cross-modal inference

High-Throughput Semi-Honest Secure Three-Party Computation with an Honest Majority

In this paper, we describe a new information-theoretic protocol (and a computationally-secure variant) for secure {\em three}-party computation with an honest majority. The protocol has very minimal computation and communication; for Boolean circuits, each party sends only a single bit for every AND gate (and nothing is sent for XOR gates). Our protocol is (simulation-based) secure in the presence of semi-honest adversaries, and achieves privacy in the client/server model in the presence of malicious adversaries. On a cluster of three 20-core servers with a 10Gbps connection, the implementation of our protocol carries out over \textit{1.3 million} AES computations per second, which involves processing over \textit{7 billion gates per second}. In addition, we developed a Kerberos extension that replaces the ticket-granting-ticket encryption on the Key Distribution Center (KDC) in MIT-Kerberos with our protocol, using keys/ passwords that are shared between the servers. This enables the use of Kerberos while protecting passwords. Our implementation is able to support a login storm of over 35,000 logins per second, which suffices even for very large organizations. Our work demonstrates that high-throughput secure computation is possible on standard hardware

Generalizing the SPDZ Compiler For Other Protocols

Protocols for secure multiparty computation (MPC) enable a set of mutually distrusting parties to compute an arbitrary function of their inputs while preserving basic security properties like \emph{privacy} and \emph{correctness}. The study of MPC was initiated in the 1980s where it was shown that any function can be securely computed, thus demonstrating the power of this notion. However, these proofs of feasibility were theoretical in nature and it is only recently that MPC protocols started to become efficient enough for use in practice. Today, we have protocols that can carry out large and complex computations in very reasonable time (and can even be very fast, depending on the computation and the setting). Despite this amazing progress, there is still a major obstacle to the adoption and use of MPC due to the huge expertise needed to design a specific MPC execution. In particular, the function to be computed needs to be represented as an appropriate Boolean or arithmetic circuit, and this requires very specific expertise. In order to overcome this, there has been considerable work on compilation of code to (typically) Boolean circuits. One work in this direction takes a different approach, and this is the SPDZ compiler (not to be confused with the SPDZ protocol) that takes high-level Python code and provides an MPC run-time environment for securely executing that code. The SPDZ compiler can deal with arithmetic and non-arithmetic operations and is extremely powerful. However, until now, the SPDZ compiler could only be used for the specific SPDZ family of protocols, making its general applicability and usefulness very limited. In this paper, we extend the SPDZ compiler so that it can work with general underlying protocols. Our SPDZ extensions were made in mind to enable the use of SPDZ for arbitrary protocols and to make it easy for others to integrate existing and new protocols. We integrated three different types of protocols, an honest-majority protocol for computing arithmetic circuits over a field (for any number of parties), a three-party honest majority protocol for computing arithmetic circuits over the ring of integers $\Z_{2^n}$, and the multiparty BMR protocol for computing Boolean circuits. We show that a single high-level SPDZ-Python program can be executed using all of these underlying protocols (as well as the original SPDZ protocol), thereby making SPDZ a true general run-time MPC environment. In order to be able to handle both arithmetic and non-arithmetic operations, the SPDZ compiler relies on conversions from field elements to bits and back. However, these conversions do not apply to ring elements (in particular, they require element division), and we therefore introduce new bit decomposition and recomposition protocols for the ring over integers with replicated secret sharing. These conversions are of independent interest and utilize the structure of $\Z_{2^n}$ (which is much more amenable to bit decomposition than prime-order fields), and are thus much more efficient than all previous methods. We demonstrate our compiler extensions by running a complex SQL query and a decision tree evaluation over all protocols

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

Ghrelin attenuates imiquimod‐induced psoriasiform skin inflammation in mice

Abstract Objectives The endogenous peptide ghrelin, which is produced in the stomach, plays a pivotal role in secretion of growth hormone, regulation of energy metabolism, and cardiovascular protection; however, its anti‐inflammatory action has recently gained immense attention, as this peptide is presumed to be effective in patients with heart failure and chronic lung diseases. In dermatology, psoriasis acts as a typical chronic intractable disease, which may be severe, and although biologic agents have been recommended and used for its treatment in recent years, their application is not clear. We administered ghrelin to IMQ‐induced psoriasis‐like mouse model and examined the anti‐inflammatory effect of ghrelin. Methods In the present study, we induced psoriasiform skin inflammation via the continuous application of imiquimod cream on the backs of BALB/c mice and examined the gross and histopathological effect of the subcutaneous administration of ghrelin on psoriasiform skin inflammation. Results It was confirmed that the administration of ghrelin improved various scores, including erythema, scales, and epidermal thickening scores, in mice with psoriasiform skin inflammation. Conclusions The results suggest that ghrelin may be effective in treating psoriasis, including cases involving intractable skin lesions that are resistant to conventional therapies