Ultra Low-Latency Block Cipher uLBC

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in low-latency ciphers. Since the first low-latency block cipher PRINCE was proposed at ASIACRYPT 2012, many low-latency primitives sprung up, such as Midori, MANTIS, QARMA and SPEEDY. Some ciphers, like SPEEDY and Orthros, introduce bit permutations to achieve reduced delay. However, this approach poses a challenge in evaluating the resistance against some cryptanalysis, especially differential and linear attacks. SPEEDY-7-192, was fully broken by Boura et.al. using differential attack, for example. In this paper, we manage to propose a novel low-latency block cipher, which guarantees security against differential and linear attacks. Revisiting the permutation technique used in Orthros, we investigate the selection of nibble permutations and propose a method for selecting them systematically rather than relying on random search. Our new nibble permutation method ensures the existence of impossible differential and differential trails for up to 8 rounds, while the nibble permutations for both branches of Orthros may lead to a 9-round impossible differential trail. Furthermore, we introduce a new approach for constructing low-latency coordinate functions for 4-bit S-boxes, which involves a more precise delay computation compared to traditional methods based solely on circuit depth. The new low-latency primitive uLBC we propose, is a family of 128-bit block ciphers, with three different versions of key length, respectively 128-bit and 256-bit key, as well as a 384-bit tweakey version with variable-length key. According to the key length, named uLBC-128, uLBC-256 and uLBC-384t. Our analysis shows that uLBC-128 exhibits lower latency and area requirements compared to ciphers such as QARMA9-128 and Midori128. On performance, uLBC-128 has excellent AT performance, the best performance except SPEEDY-6, and even the best performance in UMC 55nm in our experiments. </p

Mutations of genes in synthesis of the carotenoid precursors of ABA lead to pre-harvest sprouting and photo-oxidation in rice

Pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) or vivipary in cereals is an important agronomic trait that results in significant economic loss. A considerable number of mutations that cause PHS have been identified in several species. However, relatively few viviparous mutants in rice (Oryza sativa L.) have been reported. To explore the mechanism of PHS in rice, we carried out an extensive genetic screening and identified 12 PHS mutants (phs). Based on their phenotypes, these phs mutants were classified into three groups. Here we characterize in detail one of these groups, which contains mutations in genes encoding major enzymes of the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway, including phytoene desaturase (OsPDS), ζ-carotene desaturase (OsZDS), carotenoid isomerase (OsCRTISO) and lycopene β-cyclase (β-OsLCY), which are essential for the biosynthesis of carotenoid precursors of ABA. As expected, the amount of ABA was reduced in all four phs mutants compared with that in the wild type. Chlorophyll fluorescence analysis revealed the occurrence of photoinhibition in the photosystem and decreased capacity for eliminating excess energy by thermal dissipation. The greatly increased activities of reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging enzymes, and reduced photosystem (PS) II core proteins CP43, CP47 and D1 in leaves of the Oscrtiso/phs3-1 mutant and OsLCY RNAi transgenic rice indicated that photo-oxidative damage occurred in PS II, consistent with the accumulation of ROS in these plants. These results suggest that the impairment of carotenoid biosynthesis causes photo-oxidation and ABA-deficiency phenotypes, of which the latter is a major factor controlling the PHS trait in rice

The Global Distribution of Cirrus Clouds Reflectance Based on MODIS Level-3 Data

Cirrus clouds are crucially important to weather, climate and earth energy balance studies. The distribution of cirrus reflectance with latitude and season is an interesting topic in atmospheric sciences. The monthly mean Level-3 MODIS cirrus reflectance is used to analyze the global distribution of cirrus clouds, which covers a period from 1 March 2000 to 28 February 2018. The latitude, from 90&deg; S to 90&deg; N, is divided into 36 latitude zones with 5&deg; interval. Data in each latitude zone are analyzed. The research results show that the slopes of cirrus reflectance variation in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere are &minus;1.253 &times; 10&minus;4/year and &ndash;1.297 &times; 10&minus;4/year, respectively. The yearly-average cirrus reflectance reveals strong negative correlation with time in the Northern Hemisphere, i.e., the correlation coefficient is &minus;0.761. Then the statistical analysis of cirrus reflectance is performed in different seasons, the results show that cirrus reflectance varies obviously with seasonal change. Additionally, for the [30&deg;, 90&deg;] latitude regions, cirrus reflectance reaches the minimum in summer and the maximum in winter in the Southern and Northern Hemisphere

Confined alkali metal ions in two-dimensional aluminum phosphate promoted activity for the condensation of lactic acid to 2,3-pentanedione

The intercalated alkali metal ions can efficiently mediate the acidity–basicity of the catalysts, significantly promoting the activity for LA condensation to 2,3-pentanedione.</p

CO₂ utilization by dry reforming of CH₄ over mesoporous Ni/KIT-6 catalyst

Abstract The mesoporous Ni/KIT-6 catalysts with different composition were prepared by altering reduction temperatures. In addition, their physicochemical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction, in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller techniques. The results shown that the specific surface area, composition and metallic Ni crystallinity of the Ni/KIT-6 catalyst were significantly affected by reduction temperatures. The catalytic performances of the prepared Ni/KIT-6 catalysts were evaluated via the CO2 reforming of CH4 into syngas and followed the order: RT0 &lt; RT250 &lt; RT300 &lt; RT350 &lt; RT400 &lt; RT450 ≈ RT500. The specific surface area, pore volume, pore diameter, and Ni0 content of the most representative RT450 catalyst among of them were 646.7 m2 g−1, 0.92 cm3 g−1, 6.5 nm, and 30.9%, respectively. The CH4 and CO2 conversions of RT450 catalyst reached to 69.0 and 39.4% under a reaction temperature of 600 °C, respectively. The CO selectivity was greater than 49% and the RT450 catalyst had good stability.</jats:p

The Variations of Outgoing Longwave Radiation in East Asia and Its Influencing Factors

Outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) data are one of the key factors in studying the radiation balance of the earth&ndash;atmosphere system in East Asia. It is of great significance to explore the influence factors on OLR. This paper processes the data of nearly 19 years, from September 2002 to February 2022, and conducts in-depth research using the exponential smoothing method, empirical orthogonal decomposition (EOF), correlation analysis, and other methods. We found that the spatial distribution of OLR is zonal symmetry and gradually decreases with the increase of latitude. Using EOF analysis, it is found that the total variance contribution of the first four decomposed spatial features exceeds 70%, and the overall change trend of the four-time coefficients in the past 19 years all show a downward trend. OLR is positively correlated with total column water vapor (TCWV), air temperature (AT), and cloud top temperature (CTT), but negatively correlated with cloud top pressure (CTP). OLR has a similar spatial correlation distribution with TCWV and AT, while the spatial correlation between OLR and CTP is opposite to the first two parameters. In most parts of East Asia, the spatial correlation with CTT exceeds 0.8. The change in OLR value is affected by various meteorological parameters. In East Asia, the positive correlation between 30&deg; N and 60&deg; N is significantly affected by TCWV, AT, and CTT; and the negative correlation is more significantly affected by CTP. At 0&ndash;25&deg; N, the positive correlation is significantly affected by CTP and CTT, while the negative correlation is significantly affected by TCWV and AT