Key-Recovery Attacks on <Emphasis FontCategory="SansSerif">ASASA</Emphasis>

The \(\mathsf {ASASA}\) construction is a new design scheme introduced at Asiacrypt 2014 by Biryukov, Bouillaguet and Khovratovich. Its versatility was illustrated by building two public-key encryption schemes, a secret-key scheme, as well as super S-box subcomponents of a white-box scheme. However, one of the two public-key cryptosystems was recently broken at Crypto 2015 by Gilbert, Plût and Treger. As our main contribution, we propose a new algebraic key-recovery attack able to break at once the secret-key scheme as well as the remaining public-key scheme, in time complexity \(2^{63}\) and \(2^{39}\), respectively (the security parameter is 128 bits in both cases). Furthermore, we present a second attack of independent interest on the same public-key scheme, which heuristically reduces the problem of breaking the scheme to an \(\mathsf {LPN}\) instance with tractable parameters. This allows key recovery in time complexity \(2^{56}\). Finally, as a side result, we outline a very efficient heuristic attack on the white-box scheme, which breaks instances claiming 64 bits of security under one minute on a laptop computer.     

Peptidase and proteinase activity ofLactococcus lactis, Lactobacillus casei andLactobacillus plantarum

The proteolytic system of several non-commercial strains of lactococci and lactobacilli that were isolated directly from traditional-Spanish, semi-hard, goats' milk cheese was studied. The aminopeptidase, X-prolyldipeptidyl aminopeptidase, dipeptidase and proteinase activity of these new strains was measured for the cytoplasmic, cell-wall/membrane and spontaneously released fractions. The aminopeptidase activity was exclusively intracellular and higher forLactobacillus casei subsp.casei than forLactococcus lactis subsp.lactis. Lactobacillus plantarum showed higher dipeptidase activity thanL. casei. The highest level of proteinase activity was recorded for the cell-wallmembrane fraction ofLactococcus lactis subsp.lactis IFPL 359, and was higher on -casein than on _s-casein for all the strains studied. These results suggest some different contribution of these strains to the proteolysis of cheese during ripening and they seem to complement each other when used together in the starter culture.

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Peptidase- und Proteinase-Aktivität vonLactococcus lactis, Lactobacillus casei undLactobacillus plantarum

Zusammenfassung Das proteolytische System von mehreren nicht kommerziellenLactococcus- undLactobacillus-Stämmen wurde direkt vom traditionellen spanischen halbfesten Ziegenmilchkäse isoliert und untersucht. Die Aktivität von Aminopeptidase, X-Prolyldipeptidylaminopeptidase, Dipeptidase and Proteinase dieser neuen Stämme wurde in cytoplasmatischen, Zellwand-Membran- und spontan freigesetzten Fraktionen gemessen. Die Aminopeptidase-Aktivität erfolgte ausschließlich intracellular und war höher fürLactobacillus casei subsp. casei als fürLactococcus lactis subsp.lactis. Lactobacillus plantarum zeigte höhere Dipeptidase Aktivität alsL. casei. Die höchsten Werte für die Proteinase-Aktivität wurden für die Zellwand-Membran-Fraktion vonLactococcus lactis subsp.lactis IFPL359 gemessen. Für alle untersuchten Stämme war die Aktivität höher bei -Casein als bei _s-Casein. Dieses Ergebnis weist auf den unterschiedlichen Einfluß dieser Stämme bei der Proteolyse von Käse während der Reifung hin. Die Stämme scheinen sich gegenseitig zu ergänzen, wenn sie gemeinsam in Starterkulturen verwendet werden.

     

Peptidase and proteinase activity ofLactococcus lactis,Lactobacillus casei andLactobacillus plantarum

The proteolytic system of several non-commercial strains of lactococci and lactobacilli that were isolated directly from traditional-Spanish, semi-hard, goats' milk cheese was studied. The aminopeptidase, X-prolyldipeptidyl aminopeptidase, dipeptidase and proteinase activity of these new strains was measured for the cytoplasmic, cell-wall/membrane and spontaneously released fractions. The aminopeptidase activity was exclusively intracellular and higher forLactobacillus casei subsp.casei than forLactococcus lactis subsp.lactis. Lactobacillus plantarum showed higher dipeptidase activity thanL. casei. The highest level of proteinase activity was recorded for the cell-wallmembrane fraction ofLactococcus lactis subsp.lactis IFPL 359, and was higher on β-casein than on α_s-casein for all the strains studied. These results suggest some different contribution of these strains to the proteolysis of cheese during ripening and they seem to complement each other when used together in the starter culture.     

Chemical composition of melia volkensii gurke: An unrealised browse potential for semi-arid agroforestry systems

Results of chemical analyses of some nutritional characteristics of Melia volkensii browse, important for large wild and domestic herbivores in East Africa, are presented. Seeds, fruit pulp, leaves and twigs had high levels of crude protein, crude fat, minerals and fibre. Newly coppiced shoots (leaves and twigs), old shoots, fruit pulp and seed contained 230, 190, 130 and 320 g kg^-1 dry weight crude protein, respectively. The essential amino acid profile compared well with the FAO scoring pattern. Tyrosine was the first limiting amino acid in the coppice leaves and twigs, lysine in the cotyledons, and threonine and lysine in the endosperm. The concentrations of crude fat in the seed, fruit pulp, coppice shoots and old shoots were 480, 100, 80 and 50 g kg^-1, respectively. The fatty acids in the cotyledon and endosperm were mainly palmitic (110 and 109 g kg^-1, respectively), oleic (327 and 252 g kg^-1, respectively) and linoleic (487 and 573 g kg^-1, respectively). The levels of P, Na, K, Ca, Mg and the Ca/P ratio per kg dry weight were on average higher than the optimum recommended for ruminants. These results demonstrate that M volkensii browse, especially coppice leaves and twigs, have a high index for nutrient content, and the planting of this species should be promoted in the semi-arid areas to supplement senescent grasses and cereal crop residues.     

Volatile constituents of palm wine and palm sap

Palm wine and pasteurised palm sap volatiles were collected, concentrated on a Tenax GC and analysed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Eighty-two components were identified: 47 esters, 9 alcohols, 5 acids, 6 carbonyls, 2 acetals, 4 terpenes and 9 hydrocarbons. These had all been found previously in conventional wines. Odour evaluation of the separated palm wine components as they eluted suggested that no one compound is responsible for the characteristic palm wine odour. The acetates of higher alcohols and the ethyl esters of straight-chain aliphatic C₆-C₁₀ acids seemed to be important and may play a big role in imparting the fruity nuances of characteristic palm wine odour. Their association with alcohols seemed also to be necessary for the expression of typical palm wine odour. The qualitative difference between palm sap aroma and palm wine aroma appeared to be due mainly to the presence of these esters and alcohols in palm wine and their apparent absence from palm sap, as well as to the presence of some low-boiling esters and alcohols in palm sap and their apparent absence from palm wine.     

A 30-mW 8-b 125-MS/s pipelined ADC in 0.13-μm CMOS

An 8-b pipelined ADC constructed in 0.13-μm CMOS is described. This ADC uses a dual-supply technique to yield 8-b performance at a sampling rate of 125 MS/s while consuming 30 mW from 1.8-V and 1.2-V supplies. Active area is 0.4 mm². Numerous challenges associated with this choice of process technology were overcome, such as limited dynamic range, copper metallization and the effects of gate oxide leakage.     

JPEG Pleno: Providing representation interoperability for holographic applications and devices

Guaranteeing interoperability between devices and applications is the core role of standards organizations. Since its first JPEG standard in 1992, the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) has published several image coding standards that have been successful in a plethora of imaging markets. Recently, these markets have become subject to potentially disruptive innovations owing to the rise of new imaging modalities such as light fields, point clouds, and holography. These so‐called plenoptic modalities hold the promise of facilitating a more efficient and complete representation of 3D scenes when compared to classic 2D modalities. However, due to the heterogeneity of plenoptic products that will hit the market, serious interoperability concerns have arisen. In this paper, we particularly focus on the holographic modality and outline how the JPEG committee has addressed these tremendous challenges. We discuss the main use cases and provide a preliminary list of requirements. In addition, based on the discussion of real‐valued and complex data representations, we elaborate on potential coding technologies that range from approaches utilizing classical 2D coding technologies to holographic content‐aware coding solutions. Finally, we address the problem of visual quality assessment of holographic data covering both visual quality metrics and subjective assessment methodologies.     

Theranostic USPIO‐Loaded Microbubbles for Mediating and Monitoring Blood‐Brain Barrier Permeation

Efficient and safe drug delivery across the blood‐brain barrier (BBB) remains one of the major challenges of biomedical and (nano‐) pharmaceutical research. Here, it is demonstrated that poly(butyl cyanoacrylate)‐based microbubbles (MB), carrying ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) nanoparticles within their shell, can be used to mediate and monitor BBB permeation. Upon exposure to transcranial ultrasound pulses, USPIO‐MB are destroyed, resulting in acoustic forces inducing vessel permeability. At the same time, USPIO are released from the MB shell, they extravasate across the permeabilized BBB and they accumulate in extravascular brain tissue, thereby providing non‐invasive R ₂*‐based magnetic resonance imaging information on the extent of BBB opening. Quantitative changes in R ₂* relaxometry are in good agreement with 2D and 3D microscopy results on the extravascular deposition of the macromolecular model drug fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)‐dextran into the brain. Such theranostic materials and methods are considered to be useful for mediating and monitoring drug delivery across the BBB and for enabling safe and efficient treatment of CNS disorders.     

金属沾污对超薄栅氧(2. 5nm)特性的影响

采用可控的金属沾污程序 ,最大金属表面浓度控制在 10 1 2 cm- 2数量级 ,来模拟清洗工艺最大可能金属沾污表面浓度 .利用斜坡电流应力和栅注入方式测量本征电荷击穿来评估超薄栅氧特性和金属沾污效应 .研究了金属锆和钽沾污对超薄栅氧完整性的影响 .实验结果表明金属锆沾污对超薄栅氧完整性具有最严重危害 ;金属钽沾污的栅氧发生早期击穿现象 ,而金属铝沾污对超薄栅氧完整性没有明显影响 .     

Analysis and Test of Resistive-Open Defects in SRAM Pre-Charge Circuits

In this paper, we present an exhaustive study on the influence of resistive-open defects in pre-charge circuits of SRAM memories. In SRAM memories, the pre-charge circuits operate the pre-charge and equalization at a certain voltage level, in general Vdd, of all the couples of bit lines of the memory array. This action is essential in order to ensure correct read operations. We have analyzed the impact of resistive-opens placed in different locations of these circuits. Each defect studied in this paper disturbs the pre-charge circuit in a different way and for different resistive ranges, but the produced effect on the normal memory action is always the perturbation of the read operations. This faulty behavior can be modeled by Un-Restored Write Faults (URWFs) and Un-Restored Read Faults (URRFs), because there is an incorrect pre-charge/equalization of the bit lines after a write or read operation that disturbs the following read operation. In the last part of the paper, we demonstrate that the test of URWFs is more effective in terms of resistive defect detection than that of URRFs and we list the necessary test conditions to detect them.