Ring Signature from Bonsai Tree: How to Preserve the Long-Term Anonymity

Signer-anonymity is the central feature of ring signatures, which enable a user to sign messages on behalf of an arbitrary set of users, called the ring, without revealing exactly which member of the ring actually generated the signature. Strong and long-term signer-anonymity is a reassuring guarantee for users who are hesitant to leak a secret, especially if the consequences of identification are dire in certain scenarios such as whistleblowing. The notion of \textit{unconditional anonymity}, which protects signer-anonymity even against an infinitely powerful adversary, is considered for ring signatures that aim to achieve long-term signer-anonymity. However, the existing lattice-based works that consider the unconditional anonymity notion did not strictly capture the security requirements imposed in practice, this leads to a realistic attack on signer-anonymity. In this paper, we present a realistic attack on the unconditional anonymity of ring signatures, and formalize the unconditional anonymity model to strictly capture it. We then propose a lattice-based ring signature construction with unconditional anonymity by leveraging bonsai tree mechanism. Finally, we prove the security in the standard model and demonstrate the unconditional anonymity through both theoretical proof and practical experiments

Post-Quantum Secure Deterministic Wallet: Stateless, Hot/Cold Setting, and More Secure

Since the invention of Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies have gained huge popularity. Crypto wallet, as the tool to store and manage the cryptographic keys, is the primary entrance for the public to access cryptocurrency funds. Deterministic wallet is an advanced wallet mech- anism that has been proposed to achieve some appealing virtues, such as low-maintenance, easy backup and recovery, supporting functionali- ties required by cryptocurrencies, and so on. But deterministic wallets still have a long way to be practical in quantum world, and there are also some gaps in the classic world, since there are the following prob- lems waiting to be solved. Firstly, the relying on the state, i.e., stateful. The stateful deterministic wallet scheme must internally maintain and keep refreshing synchronously a state which makes the implementation in practice become more complex. And once one of the states is leaked, thereafter the security notion of unlinkability is cannot be guaranteed (referred to as the weak security notion of forward unlinkability). The second problem is vulnerable. There are security shortfalls in previous works, they suffer a vulnerability when a minor fault happens (say, one derived key is compromised somehow), then the damage is not limited to the leaked derived key, instead, it spreads to the master key and the whole system collapses. Thirdly, the falling short in supporting hot/cold setting. The hot/cold setting is a widely adopted method to effectively reduce the exposure chance of secret keys and hence improving the se- curity of the deterministic wallet system. The last problem is the relying on the weak security notion of unforgeability, in which the adversary is only allowed to query and forge the signatures w.r.t. the public keys that were assigned by the challenger. In this work, we present a new deterministic wallet scheme in quantum world, which is stateless, supports hot/cold setting, satisfiies stronger security notions, and is more efficient. In particular, we reformalize the syntax and security models for deterministic wallets, capturing the func- tionality and security requirements imposed by the practice in cryptocur- rency. Then we propose a deterministic wallet construction and prove its security in the quantum random oracle model. Finally, we show our wal- let scheme is more practicable by analyzing an instantiation of our wallet scheme based on the signature scheme Falcon

Robust Multiple-View Geometry Estimation Based on GMM

Given three partially overlapping views of the scene from which a set of point or line correspondences have been extracted, 3D structure and camera motion parameters can be represented by the trifocal tensor, which is the key to many problems of computer vision on three views. Unlike in conventional typical methods, the residual value is the only rule to eliminate outliers with large value, we build a Gaussian mixture model assuming that the residuals corresponding to the inliers come from Gaussian distributions different from that of the residuals of outliers. Then Bayesian rule of minimal risk is employed to classify all the correspondences using the parameters computed from GMM. Experiments with both synthetic data and real images show that our method is more robust and precise than other typical methods because it can efficiently detect and delete the bad corresponding points, which include both bad locations and false matches

Computer-assisted polyp matching between optical colonoscopy and CT colonography: a phantom study

Potentially precancerous polyps detected with CT colonography (CTC) need to be removed subsequently, using an optical colonoscope (OC). Due to large colonic deformations induced by the colonoscope, even very experienced colonoscopists find it difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the colonoscope tip in relation to polyps reported on CTC. This can cause unduly prolonged OC examinations that are stressful for the patient, colonoscopist and supporting staff. We developed a method, based on monocular 3D reconstruction from OC images, that automatically matches polyps observed in OC with polyps reported on prior CTC. A matching cost is computed, using rigid point-based registration between surface point clouds extracted from both modalities. A 3D printed and painted phantom of a 25 cm long transverse colon segment was used to validate the method on two medium sized polyps. Results indicate that the matching cost is smaller at the correct corresponding polyp between OC and CTC: the value is 3.9 times higher at the incorrect polyp, comparing the correct match between polyps to the incorrect match. Furthermore, we evaluate the matching of the reconstructed polyp from OC with other colonic endoluminal surface structures such as haustral folds and show that there is a minimum at the correct polyp from CTC. Automated matching between polyps observed at OC and prior CTC would facilitate the biopsy or removal of true-positive pathology or exclusion of false-positive CTC findings, and would reduce colonoscopy false-negative (missed) polyps. Ultimately, such a method might reduce healthcare costs, patient inconvenience and discomfort.Comment: This paper was presented at the SPIE Medical Imaging 2014 conferenc

Lattice-Based Linkable Ring Signature in the Standard Model

Ring signatures enable a user to sign messages on behalf of an arbitrary set of users, called the ring. The anonymity property guarantees that the signature does not reveal which member of the ring signed the message. The notion of linkable ring signatures (LRS) is an extension of the concept of ring signatures such that there is a public way of determining whether two signatures have been produced by the same signer. Lattice-based LRS is an important and active research line since lattice-based cryptography has attracted more attention due to its distinctive features, especially the quantum-resistant. However, all the existing lattice-based LRS relied on random oracle heuristics, i.e., no lattice-based LRS in the standard model has been introduced so far. In this paper, we present a lattice-based LRS scheme in the standard model. Toward our goal, we present a lattice basis extending algorithm which is the key ingredient in our construction, that may be of indepen- dent interes

Characteristics of Knowledge Cooperation Network in a Design-driven Domain: A Social Network Analysis

The research is financed by: Social Science Funding Project of Jilin Province (No. 2017B141), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2016M590251), China Postdoctoral Science Special Fund (No.2018T110242). Abstract The field of scientific research is currently moving from an individual and single-discipline to a more cooperative discipline that combines various researchers and their capabilities. This study uses network analysis to explore the current situation and development trend characteristics of knowledge cooperation in the design field of Decoration. We construct large-scale networks using empirical data of sampled coauthored papers from 2008 to 2016. The main aims of this paper are: (a) to disclose different patterns of networking relationships among coauthored research works in the journal of Decoration and (b), to understand the mutual interaction of knowledge cooperation across regions and units in China’s field of design. The study found that the depth of knowledge cooperation in the field of design in China needed to be improved, the knowledge cooperation network also had a small-world effect, and the network community gradually emerged. In addition, the Chinese design field had made major advances in international cooperation, cross-regional cooperation, and diversification in the forms of research works. These findings could be used to recognize interdisciplinary and intra-disciplinary networks where research collaboration is supported and encouraged. However, there were still problems such as imbalanced levels of knowledge output among the groups. Keywords: design field; knowledge cooperation; social network analysis; decoration; small-world effec

Investigating the Hotspot and Evolution Path in the Field of Art Design: A Social Network Analysis Approach

With the purpose of finding out the development trend of Chinese art design discipline, a key network in the field of art design was constructed using social network analysis method to perform an in-depth investigation of the evolution path of China’s research hotspots in art design. This paper employs the Netdraw and the Bicomb software to extract high-frequency key themes and to draw the key themes co-occurrence social network in the field of art design, respectively. The key themes in the field of art design were classified and summarized into three stages from 2003 to 2007, 2008 to 2010 and from 2011 to 2016. The results showed a diversified research direction of China’s art design, and many fields such as traditional art, environmental art, and information art design were beginning to receive great attention. However, teaching and innovation have been the focus of attention in the field of art design. In addition, the correlation between research directions in the field of Chinese art design is gradually increasing and the key network shows a special small-world effect. But, there was yet to be any significant alliance among the research topics. Keywords: Art design; Social network analysis; Research hotspot; Evolution pat

Selenium deficiency impairs host innate immune response and induces susceptibility to Listeria monocytogenes infection

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Susceptibility or resistance to infection with <it>Listeria monocytogenes </it>correlates with Selenium (Se) deficiency in response to infection.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Se-deficient mouse models of listeriosis were used to study the innate immune response during the course of <it>L. monocytogenes </it>infection. Blood samples from mouse models were used for Se status. The concentration of MDA, SOD, GPx and CAT in blood has revealed that lower Se level exist in Se-deficient mice. Intestine, mesenteric lymph node, liver, spleen and brain from each mouse were to study the bacterial burden in organs. The analysis of cell types of spleen from Se-deficient mice revealed that the ability of the host to elicit a rapid recruitment and activation of systemic innate immune response to infection was to a certain extent compromised under conditions of Se deficiency. The cytokine levels in the serum and cytokine expression levels in the livers from Se-deficient mice revealed that the innate immune response of Se-deficient mice was impaired throughout the course of infection. These results suggest that innate immune response is altered by Se deficiency after infection with <it>L. monocytogenes</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In conclusion, induced susceptibility of host resistance is associated with an impaired innate immune response following infection with <it>L. monocytogenes </it>in C57BL/6 Se-deficient mice.</p

The C/EBP Homologous Protein (CHOP) Transcription Factor Functions in Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Induced Apoptosis and Microbial Infection

Apoptosis is a form of cell death by which the body maintains the homeostasis of the internal environment. Apoptosis is an initiative cell death process that is controlled by genes and is mainly divided into endogenous pathways (mitochondrial pathway), exogenous pathways (death receptor pathway), and apoptotic pathways induced by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. The homeostasis imbalance in ER results in ER stress. Under specific conditions, ER stress can be beneficial to the body; however, if ER protein homeostasis is not restored, the prolonged activation of the unfolded protein response may initiate apoptotic cell death via the up-regulation of the C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP). CHOP plays an important role in ER stress-induced apoptosis and this review focuses on its multifunctional roles in that process, as well as its role in apoptosis during microbial infection. We summarize the upstream and downstream pathways of CHOP in ER stress induced apoptosis. We also focus on the newest discoveries in the functions of CHOP-induced apoptosis during microbial infection, including DNA and RNA viruses and some species of bacteria. Understanding how CHOP functions during microbial infection will assist with the development of antimicrobial therapies