Vector Boolean Functions: applications in symmetric cryptography

Esta tesis establece los fundamentos teóricos y diseña una colección abierta de clases C++ denominada VBF (Vector Boolean Functions) para analizar funciones booleanas vectoriales (funciones que asocian un vector booleano a otro vector booleano) desde una perspectiva criptográfica. Esta nueva implementación emplea la librería NTL de Victor Shoup, incorporando nuevos módulos que complementan a las funciones de NTL, adecuándolas para el análisis criptográfico. La clase fundamental que representa una función booleana vectorial se puede inicializar de manera muy flexible mediante diferentes estructuras de datas tales como la Tabla de verdad, la Representación de traza y la Forma algebraica normal entre otras. De esta manera VBF permite evaluar los criterios criptográficos más relevantes de los algoritmos de cifra en bloque y de stream, así como funciones hash: por ejemplo, proporciona la no-linealidad, la distancia lineal, el grado algebraico, las estructuras lineales, la distribución de frecuencias de los valores absolutos del espectro Walsh o del espectro de autocorrelación, entre otros criterios. Adicionalmente, VBF puede llevar a cabo operaciones entre funciones booleanas vectoriales tales como la comprobación de igualdad, la composición, la inversión, la suma, la suma directa, el bricklayering (aplicación paralela de funciones booleanas vectoriales como la empleada en el algoritmo de cifra Rijndael), y la adición de funciones coordenada. La tesis también muestra el empleo de la librería VBF en dos aplicaciones prácticas. Por un lado, se han analizado las características más relevantes de los sistemas de cifra en bloque. Por otro lado, combinando VBF con algoritmos de optimización, se han diseñado funciones booleanas cuyas propiedades criptográficas son las mejores conocidas hasta la fecha. ABSTRACT This thesis develops the theoretical foundations and designs an open collection of C++ classes, called VBF, designed for analyzing vector Boolean functions (functions that map a Boolean vector to another Boolean vector) from a cryptographic perspective. This new implementation uses the NTL library from Victor Shoup, adding new modules which complement the existing ones making VBF better suited for cryptography. The fundamental class representing a vector Boolean function can be initialized in a flexible way via several alternative types of data structures such as Truth Table, Trace Representation, Algebraic Normal Form (ANF) among others. This way, VBF allows the evaluation of the most relevant cryptographic criteria for block and stream ciphers as well as for hash functions: for instance, it provides the nonlinearity, the linearity distance, the algebraic degree, the linear structures, the frequency distribution of the absolute values of the Walsh Spectrum or the Autocorrelation Spectrum, among others. In addition, VBF can perform operations such as equality testing, composition, inversion, sum, direct sum, bricklayering (parallel application of vector Boolean functions as employed in Rijndael cipher), and adding coordinate functions of two vector Boolean functions. This thesis also illustrates the use of VBF in two practical applications. On the one hand, the most relevant properties of the existing block ciphers have been analysed. On the other hand, by combining VBF with optimization algorithms, new Boolean functions have been designed which have the best known cryptographic properties up-to-date

Algorithm 959: VBF: A Library of C plus plus Classes for Vector Boolean Functions in Cryptography

VBF is a collection of C++ classes designed for analyzing vector Boolean functions (functions that map a Boolean vector to another Boolean vector) from a cryptographic perspective. This implementation uses the NTL library from Victor Shoup, adding new modules that call NTL functions and complement the existing ones, making it better suited to cryptography. The class representing a vector Boolean function can be initialized by several alternative types of data structures such as Truth Table, Trace Representation, and Algebraic Normal Form (ANF), among others. The most relevant cryptographic criteria for both block and stream ciphers as well as for hash functions can be evaluated with VBF: it obtains the nonlinearity, linearity distance, algebraic degree, linear structures, and frequency distribution of the absolute values of the Walsh Spectrum or the Autocorrelation Spectrum, among others. In addition, operations such as equality testing, composition, inversion, sum, direct sum, bricklayering (parallel application of vector Boolean functions as employed in Rijndael cipher), and adding coordinate functions of two vector Boolean functions are presented. Finally, three real applications of the library are described: the first one analyzes the KASUMI block cipher, the second one analyzes the Mini-AES cipher, and the third one finds Boolean functions with very high nonlinearity, a key property for robustness against linear attacks

Genetic structure in the paternal lineages of South East Spain revealed by the analysis of 17 Y-STRs

Supplementary information accompanies this paper at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-41580-9.The content of this article is part of the Ph.D. thesis of María Saiz which was conducted at the University of Granada under the doctoral programme “Biomedicine”. The authors thank all of the participants who donated buccal swabs and all those who helped in the sample collection—namely, María Luisa Aceituno Villalva, Leticia Olga Rubio Lamia, and Verónica Delgado López. In addition, the authors want to thank Xiomara Gálvez for the technical assistance in the laboratory.The genetic data of 17 Y chromosome short tandem repeats in 146 unrelated donor residents in the provinces of Granada, Málaga, and Almería (GMA) were analyzed to determine the genetic legacy of the male inhabitants of the former Kingdom of Granada. A total of 139 unique haplotypes were identified. Observed allele frequencies and haplogroup frequencies were also analyzed. By AMOVA and STRUCTURE analysis, the populations of the 3 provinces could be treated genetically as a single population. The most frequent haplogroup was R1b1b2 (58.22%). By network analysis of all individuals, we observed a distribution according to haplogroup assignment. To improve the characterization of GMA population, it was compared with those of North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, and southern Europe. In our analysis of allele frequencies and genetic distances, the GMA population lay within the Spanish population group. Further, in the STRUCTURE analysis, there was no African component in the GMA population, confirming that, based on our genetic markers, the GMA population does not reflect any male genetic influence of the North African people. The presence of African haplogroups in the GMA population is irrelevant when their frequency is compared with those in other European populations

EL ADN ANTIGUO UNA HERRAMIENTA PARA DESCIFRAR LA HISTORIA

The evolution of biomolecular techniques, as the PCR; has improved the quality of genetic analysis in f ields like forensic science and biomedicine. To these days, it is possible to obtain DNA  from  extinguished  species;  called  ancient  DNA  (aDNA).  The  analysis  of  aDNA  has been really helpful in  anthropology and forensic sciences. Some important historical cases have been elucidated through these techniques  as the identif ication of remains of Christopher Columbus  and  the  Romanov  dynasty.  The  main  aim  of  this  paper  is  to  introduce  in  detail ancient  DNA,  its applications  and  the  main  advantages  and  disadvantages  of working  with this type of DNA.Gracias a la evolución de las técnicas biomoleculares  como la PCR, campos como la medicina forense y la biomedicina han mejorado la calidad de los análisis genéticos. Actualmente, incluso es posible obtener ADN de especies  ya extinguidas;  este tipo de ADN se llama ADN antiguo (aDNA).  El  análisis del aDNA ha sido de gran ayuda en la antropología  y la ciencia forense. Importantes casos históricos han sido resueltos gracias a este tipo de técnicas como la identif icación  de los restos  óseos  de  Cristóbal  Colón  y la dinastía  Romanov  entre  otros. El principal objetivo de este artículo es hacer una  introducción detallada del aDNA, sus aplicaciones  y  las  principales  ventajas  e  inconvenientes  que  se  encuentran  al  trabajar  con este tipo de ADN

11Li Breakup on 208Pb at Energies Around the Coulomb Barrier

The inclusive breakup for the 11Li+208Pb reaction at energies around the Coulomb barrier has been measured for the first time. A sizable yield of 9Li following the 11Li dissociation has been observed, even at energies well below the Coulomb barrier. Using the first-order semiclassical perturbation theory of Coulomb excitation it is shown that the breakup probability data measured at small angles can be used to extract effective breakup energy as well as the slope of B(E1) distribution close to the threshold. Four-body continuum-discretized coupled-channels calculations, including both nuclear and Coulomb couplings between the target and projectile to all orders, reproduce the measured inclusive breakup cross sections and support the presence of a dipole resonance in the 11Li continuum at low excitation energy.Consolider Ingenio 2010 Program CPAN CSD2007- 00042Proyectos Nacionales Españoles FPA2009-08848 FPA2009-07387 FPA2010-22131-C02-01 FPA2009-076

Simultaneous analysis of the elastic scattering and breakup channel for the reaction 11 Li + 208 Pb at energies near the Coulomb barrier

We present a detailed analysis of the elastic scattering and breakup channel for the reaction of Li11 on Pb208 at incident laboratory energies of 24.3 and 29.8 MeV, measured at the radioactive ion beam facility of TRIUMF, in Vancouver, Canada. A large yield of Li9 fragments was detected by four charged particle telescopes in a wide angular range. The experimental angular and energy distributions of these Li9 fragments have been compared to coupled-reaction-channel and continuum-discretized coupled-channel calculations. The large production of Li9 fragments at small angles can be explained by considering a direct breakup mechanism, while at medium-large angles a competition between direct breakup and neutron transfer to the continuum of the Pb208 target was observed.Proyecto Nacional (España) PA2009-08848 PA2009-07387 PA2010-22131-C02-01 FPA2009-07653 FPA2012-32443Programa Consolider-Ingenio 2010 (España) CSD2007-0004

11Li structural information from inclusive break-up measurements

IWM-EC 2014 – International Workshop on Multi facets of EoS and ClusteringStructure information of 11Li halo nucleus has been obtained from the inclusive break-up measurements of the 11Li+208Pb reactions at energies around the Coulomb barrier (Elab = 24.3 and 29.8 MeV). The effective break-up energy and the slope of B(E1) distribution close to the threshold have been extracted from the experimental dat

Type 2 Diabetes-Related Variants Influence the Risk of Developing Prostate Cancer: A Population-Based Case-Control Study and Meta-Analysis

This study was supported by grants from the FIBAO foundation (Granada, Spain) and from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI12/02688, PI17/02256 and PI20/01845; Madrid, Spain).In this study, we have evaluated whether 57 genome-wide association studies (GWAS)-identified common variants for type 2 diabetes (T2D) influence the risk of developing prostate cancer (PCa) in a population of 304 Caucasian PCa patients and 686 controls. The association of selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with the risk of PCa was validated through meta-analysis of our data with those from the UKBiobank and FinnGen cohorts, but also previously published genetic studies. We also evaluated whether T2D SNPs associated with PCa risk could influence host immune responses by analysing their correlation with absolute numbers of 91 blood-derived cell populations and circulating levels of 103 immunological proteins and 7 steroid hormones. We also investigated the correlation of the most interesting SNPs with cytokine levels after in vitro stimulation of whole blood, peripheral mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and monocyte-derived macrophages with LPS, PHA, Pam3Cys, and Staphylococcus Aureus. The meta-analysis of our data with those from six large cohorts confirmed that each copy of the FTOrs9939609A, HNF1B(rs7501939T), HNF1B(rs75721T), HNF1B(rs4430796G), and JAZF1(rs10486567A) alleles significantly decreased risk of developing PCa (p = 3.70 x 10(-5), p = 9.39 x 10(-54), p = 5.04 x 10(-54), p = 1.19 x 10(-71), and p = 1.66 x 10(-18), respectively). Although it was not statistically significant after correction for multiple testing, we also found that the NOTCH2(rs10923931T) and RBMS1(rs7593730) SNPs associated with the risk of developing PCa (p = 8.49 x 10(-4) and 0.004). Interestingly, we found that the protective effect attributed to the HFN1B locus could be mediated by the SULT1A1 protein (p = 0.00030), an arylsulfotransferase that catalyzes the sulfate conjugation of many hormones, neurotransmitters, drugs, and xenobiotic compounds. In addition to these results, eQTL analysis revealed that the HNF1B(rs7501939), HNF1B(rs757210), HNF1B(rs4430796), NOTCH2(rs10923931), and RBMS1(rs7593730) SNPs influence the risk of PCa through the modulation of mRNA levels of their respective genes in whole blood and/or liver. These results confirm that functional TD2-related variants influence the risk of developing PCa, but also highlight the need of additional experiments to validate our functional results in a tumoral tissue context.FIBAO foundation (Granada, Spain)Instituto de Salud Carlos III PI12/02688 PI17/02256 PI20/0184

Elastic scattering of 9Li on 208Pb at energies around the Coulomb barrier

We have studied the dynamical effects of the halo structure of 11Li on the scattering on heavy targets at energies around the Coulomb barrier. This experiment was performed at ISAC-II at TRIUMF with a world record in production of the post-accelerated 11Li beam. As part of this study we report here on the first measurement of the elastic cross section of the core nucleus, i.e. 9Li on 208Pb, at energies around the Coulomb barrier. A preliminary optical model analysis has been performed in order to extract a global optical potential to describe the measured angular distributions