Threshold cryptography based on Asmuth-Bloom secret sharing

In this paper, we investigate how threshold cryptography can be conducted with the Asmuth-Bloom secret sharing scheme and present three novel function sharing schemes for RSA, ElGamal and Paillier cryptosystems. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first provably secure threshold cryptosystems realized using the Asmuth-Bloom secret sharing. Proposed schemes are comparable in performance to earlier proposals in threshold cryptography.     

Direct Instantaneous Torque Control in Direct Drive Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors—a New Approach

In this paper, a novel direct instantaneous torque control scheme for a direct drive (DD) permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) is presented. A hybrid control structure combining the internal model principle and the variable structure control (VSC) approach is proposed. First, a variable structure torque controller is adopted to regulate the torque angle increment according to the torque feedback error. Second, the appropriate control voltage vector is determined using the reference stator flux vector and the estimated dynamic back electromotive force (EMF) vector, as an internal model, in a deadbeat control manner. Subsequently, better disturbance rejection can be obtained with the proposed cascaded control structure. To robustly obtain the instantaneous torque and flux information, a robust adaptive motor model is proposed. The Lyapunov stability theory is used to analyze the stability of the augmented robust adaptive motor model and to give a guideline for tuning model parameters. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of the proposed instantaneous torque control scheme.     

A 3.3-V single power supply 16-Mb nonvolatile virtual DRAM using aNAND flash memory technology

A 3.3-V 16-Mb nonvolatile memory having operation virtually identical to DRAM with package pin compatibility has been developed. Read and write operations are fully DRAM compatible except for a longer RAS precharge time after write. Fast random access time of 63 ns with the NAND flash memory cell is achieved by using a hierarchical row decoder scheme and a unique folded bit-line architecture which also allows bit-by-bit program verify and inhibit operation. Fast page mode with a column address access time of 21 ns is achieved by sensing and latching 4 k cells simultaneously. To allow byte alterability, nonvolatile restore operation with self-contained erase is developed. Self-contained erase is word-line based, and increased cell disturb due to the word-line based erase is relaxed by adding a boosted bit-line scheme to a conventional self-boosting technique. The device is fabricated in a 0.5-μm triple-well, p-substrate CMOS process using two-metal and three-poly interconnect layers. A resulting die size is 86.6 mm², and the effective cell size including the overhead of string select transistors is 2.0 μm²     

EFFECT OF CRACKING REACTIONS KINETICS ON THE MODEL PREDICTIONS OF AN INDUSTRIAL FLUID CATALYTIC CRACKING UNIT

Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is one of the most complex processes in the petroleum industry. The large degree of uncertainty in the kinetics of the cracking reactions and catalyst deactivation by coke deposition in the riser reactor are among several factors that contribute to the process complexity. The model developed by the authors (Ali and Rohani, 1995) is used lo investigate the effect of the three-lumped kinetic scheme (Weekman and Nace, 1970) and the four-lumped scheme (Lee ct ah, 1989) on the model predictability and reliability. The effect of changes in the catalyst circulation rate, gas oil feed rate, and oxygen feed concentration on various process variables is compared. It is shown that the three-lumped kinetic scheme, despite its extensive use in the literature (McFarlane et ah, 1993; Elnashaie and Elshishini, 1993; Theologos and Markatos, 1993; Arandes and de Lasa, 1992; Lopez-lsunza and Ruiz-Martinez, 1991), leads to erroneous results and should not be used in the dynamic simulation of the FCC units,     

Synthesis of artificial neural networks by transconductors only

Hardware implementation of artificial neural networks has been attracting great attention recently. In this work, the analog VLSI implementation of artificial neural networks by using only transconductors is presented. The signal flow graph approach is used in synthesis. The neural flow graph is defined. Synthesis of various neural network configurations by means of neural flow graph is described. The approach presented in this work is technology independent. This approach can be applied to new neural network topologies to be proposed or used with transconductors designed in future technologies.     

Conduction block in vasculitic neuropathy

Vasculitis involving peripheral nerves usually presents as an acute asymmetrical axonal neuropathy. We report a 67-year-old man with a symmetrical subacute neuropathy in which nerve conduction studies showed prominent conduction block, a finding indicative of demyelination. Sural nerve biopsy showed a vasculitic neuropathy with invasion of blood vessel walls by inflammatory cells and a mixture of nerve fiber loss and demyelination. The demyelination in this case was presumably a consequence of subinfarctive nerve ischemia.     

A basic program for calculating subsurface water temperatures using chemical geothermometers-implication to geothermal reservoir estimation

GEOTHERM is a computer program written in BASIC language to estimate geothermal reservoir temperature using the well-known chemical gèothermometers. The empirical equations used in the program were obtained from the literature. Three different chemical geothermometers are included in the program: Na-K, Na-K-Ca, and silica geothermometers; this gives the user the opportunity not only to select the most reliable geothermometer in estimating subsurface temperature, but also to select the type of geothermometer according to available data. A sample input file of geothermal waters obtained from Iceland has been tested, so as to show the applicability and usefulness of the program.     

A comparison between reliability analyses based primarily on disjointness or statistical independence: The case of the generalized indra network

A switching expression is readily convertible to a reliability expression if (a) all ORed terms are disjoint, and (b) all ANDed sums are statistically independent. The usual approach of system reliability analysis makes a primary use of (a) and a secondary use of (b). An alternative approach reverses the roles of (a) and (b). Symbolic reliability expressions for the source-to-terminal reliability of a generalized Indra network (GIN) with nonidentical components are derived by the two approaches. For this particular case, the second approach leads to a shorter, more elegant derivation and simpler novel results. Typical plots of the GIN reliability functions are presented and their properties are discussed.     

Screening for diabetic retinopathy: the utility of nonmydriatic retinal photography in Egyptian adults

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Drug resistance has become a major cause of treatment failure in patients with acute leukemia. P-glycoprotein (Pgp), which is associated with the multidrug resistance (MDR) phenotype, has been reported to be an important predictor of treatment outcome. The aim of this study was to analyze the value of Pgp expression in bone marrow or peripheral blood as a predictor of the response to remission induction chemotherapy as well as the duration of remission in patients with de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML). DESIGN AND METHODS: We examined the expression of Pgp in 82 patients with de novo AML using an immunocytochemical assay with the C219 monoclonal antibody. RESULTS: Twenty-seven of the 82 patients (33%) were C219-positive in from 1% to 100% of their cells. Thirteen cases (16%) showed a positive reaction in more than 50% of the leukemic cells. Only hyperleukocytosis was significantly associated with higher expression of Pgp. Although 8 of the 13 cases (62%) with more than 50% of cells having Pgp expression were CD34-positive, this association was not statistically significant. A univariate analysis of resistance to induction therapy showed a significantly higher resistance rate in patients with increased Pgp expression (P = 0.01) as well as in those patients with decreased reactivity to myeloperoxidase. The multivariate analysis revealed the independent prognostic value of Pgp expression. C219 reactivity did not have an influence on remission duration. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that P-glycoprotein expression is a reliable marker of resistance to induction treatment in patients with de novo AML.