Privacy Protection in Distributed Fingerprint-based Authentication

Biometric authentication is getting increasingly popular due to the convenience of using unique individual traits, such as fingerprints, palm veins, irises. Especially fingerprints are widely used nowadays due to the availability and low cost of fingerprint scanners. To avoid identity theft or impersonation, fingerprint data is typically stored locally, e.g., in a trusted hardware module, in a single device that is used for user enrollment and authentication. Local storage, however, limits the ability to implement distributed applications, in which users can enroll their fingerprint once and use it to access multiple physical locations and mobile applications afterwards. In this paper, we present a distributed authentication system that stores fingerprint data in a server or cloud infrastructure in a privacy-preserving way. Multiple devices can be connected and perform user enrollment or verification. To secure the privacy and integrity of sensitive data, we employ a cryptographic construct called fuzzy vault. We highlight challenges in implementing fuzzy vault-based authentication, for which we propose and compare alternative solutions. We conduct a security analysis of our biometric cryptosystem, and as a proof of concept, we build an authentication system for access control using resource-constrained devices (Raspberry Pis) connected to fingerprint scanners and the Microsoft Azure cloud environment. Furthermore, we evaluate the fingerprint matching algorithm against the well-known FVC2006 database and show that it can achieve comparable accuracy to widely-used matching techniques that are not designed for privacy, while remaining efficient with an authentication time of few seconds.Comment: This is an extended version of the paper with the same title which has been accepted for publication at the Workshop on Privacy in the Electronic Society (WPES 2019

Hydroponic Common-Bean Performance under Reduced N-Supply Level and Rhizobia Application

This study aims to explore the possibility of a reduced application of inorganic nitrogen (N) fertiliser on the yield, yield qualities, and biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) of the hydroponic common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), without compromising plant performance, by utilizing the inherent ability of this plant to symbiotically fix N-2. Until the flowering stage, plants were supplied with a nutrient solution containing N-concentrations of either a, 100%, conventional standard-practice, 13.8 mM; b, 75% of the standard, 10.35 mM; or c, 50% of the standard, 6.9 mM. During the subsequent reproductive stage, inorganic-N treatments b and c were decreased to 25% of the standard, and the standard (100% level) N-application was not altered. The three different inorganic-N supply treatments were combined with two different rhizobia strains, and a control (no-inoculation) treatment, in a two-factorial experiment. The rhizobia strains applied were either the indigenous strain Rhizobium sophoriradicis PVTN21 or the commercially supplied Rhizobium tropici CIAT 899. Results showed that the 50-25% mineral-N application regime led to significant increases in nodulation, BNF, and fresh-pod yield, compared to the other treatment, with a reduced inorganic-N supply. On the other hand, the 75-25% mineral-N regime applied during the vegetative stage restricted nodulation and BNF, thus incurring significant yield losses. Both rhizobia strains stimulated nodulation and BNF. However, the BNF capacity they facilitated was suppressed as the inorganic-N input increased. In addition, strain PVTN21 was superior to CIAT 899-as 50-25% N-treated plants inoculated with the former showed a yield loss of 11%, compared to the 100%-N-treated plants. In conclusion, N-use efficiency optimises BNF, reduces mineral-N-input dependency, and therefore may reduce any consequential negative environmental consequences of mineral-N over-application

Comprehensive Molecular Analysis of NSCLC; Clinicopathological Associations

Background Selection of NSCLC patients for targeted therapy is currently based upon the presence of sensitizing mutations in EGFR and EML4/ALK translocations. The heterogeneity of molecular alterations in lung cancer has led to the ongoing discovery of potential biomarkers and targets in order to improve survival. Aim This study aimed to detect alterations in EGFR, KRAS, BRAF, PIK3CA, MET-gene copy number and ALK rearrangements in a large cohort of 956 NSCLC patients of Hellenic origin using highly sensitive techniques and correlations with clinicopathological characteristics. Results Mutations were detected in EGFR 10.6%(101 out of 956 samples), KRAS 26.5% (191 out of 720 samples), BRAF 2.5% (12 out of 471 samples), PIK3CA 3.8% (7 out of 184 samples), MET gene amplification was detected in 18% (31 out of 170) and ALK rearrangements in 3.7% (4 out of 107 samples). EGFR mutations were detected in exon 19 (61.4% of mutant cases), exon 21 p.Leu858Arg (19.8%), exon 20 (15.8%), exon 18 (2.9%) and were correlated with gender histology, smoking status and TTF1 staining. p.Thr790Met mutant cases (3.9%) displayed concurrent mutations in exons 19 or 21. Negative TTF-1 staining showed strong negative predictive value for the presence of EGFR mutations. KRAS mutations were associated with histology, the most common mutation being p.Gly12Cys (38%). Discussion In conclusion, only 89 patients were eligible for EGFR-TKIs and ALK inhibitors therapy, whereas 257 patients showed other alterations, highlighting the necessity for a detailed molecular profiling potentially leading to more efficient individualized therapies for NSCLC patients

Comprehensive Molecular Analysis of NSCLC; Clinicopathological Associations.

Selection of NSCLC patients for targeted therapy is currently based upon the presence of sensitizing mutations in EGFR and EML4/ALK translocations. The heterogeneity of molecular alterations in lung cancer has led to the ongoing discovery of potential biomarkers and targets in order to improve survival.This study aimed to detect alterations in EGFR, KRAS, BRAF, PIK3CA, MET-gene copy number and ALK rearrangements in a large cohort of 956 NSCLC patients of Hellenic origin using highly sensitive techniques and correlations with clinicopathological characteristics.Mutations were detected in EGFR 10.6% (101 out of 956 samples), KRAS 26.5% (191 out of 720 samples), BRAF 2.5% (12 out of 471 samples), PIK3CA 3.8% (7 out of 184 samples), MET gene amplification was detected in 18% (31 out of 170) and ALK rearrangements in 3.7% (4 out of 107 samples). EGFR mutations were detected in exon 19 (61.4% of mutant cases), exon 21 p.Leu858Arg (19.8%), exon 20 (15.8%), exon 18 (2.9%) and were correlated with gender histology, smoking status and TTF1 staining. p.Thr790Met mutant cases (3.9%) displayed concurrent mutations in exons 19 or 21. Negative TTF-1 staining showed strong negative predictive value for the presence of EGFR mutations. KRAS mutations were associated with histology, the most common mutation being p.Gly12Cys (38%).In conclusion, only 89 patients were eligible for EGFR -TKIs and ALK inhibitors therapy, whereas 257 patients showed other alterations, highlighting the necessity for a detailed molecular profiling potentially leading to more efficient individualized therapies for NSCLC patients

New Chloramphenicol Derivatives from the Viewpoint of Anticancer and Antimicrobial Activity

Over the last years, we have been focused on chloramphenicol conjugates that combine in their structure chloramphenicol base with natural polyamines, spermine, spermidine and putrescine, and their modifications. Conjugate 3, with spermidine (SPD) as a natural polyamine linked to chloramphenicol base, showed the best antibacterial and anticancer properties. Using 3 as a prototype, we here explored the influence of the antibacterial and anticancer activity of additional benzyl groups on N1 amino moiety together with modifications of the alkyl length of the aminobutyl fragment of SPD. Our data demonstrate that the novel modifications did not further improve the antibacterial activity of the prototype. However, one of the novel conjugates (4) showed anticancer activity without affecting bacterial growth, thus emerging as a promising anticancer agent, with no adverse effects on bacterial microflora when taken orally

DOL-BIP-Critical: a tool chain for rigorous design and implementation of mixed-criticality multi-core systems

International audienceMixed-criticality systems are promoted in industry due to their potential to reduce size, weight, power, and cost. Nonetheless, deploying mixed-criticality applications on commercial multi-core platforms remains a highly challenging problem. To name a few reasons: (i) Industrial mixed-criticality applications are usually complex reactive applications, which cannot be specified by traditional, e.g., dataflow-based, models of computation. Appropriate mixed-criticality models of computation built upon Vestal's assumptions are missing; (ii) Scheduling such applications on multicores with shared resources, such as memory buses, requires that any timing interference among applications of different criticality is bounded in order to guarantee-the necessary for certification-temporal isolation and to enable incre-mental design; (iii) The implementation of isolation-preserving mixed-criticality schedulers is itself subject to certification. Hence, it needs to be not only efficient, but also provably correct. This paper proposes, for the first time, a complete design flow covering all aspects from specification, using a novel mixed-criticality aware model of computation (DOL-Critical), to correct-by-construction implementation, using the principle 'what you verify is what you generate' which is based on a novel variant of task automata (BIP). We demonstrate the applicability of our design flow with an industrial avionic test case on the state-of-the-art Kalray MPPA R-256