More is Less: Perfectly Secure Oblivious Algorithms in the Multi-Server Setting

The problem of Oblivious RAM (ORAM) has traditionally been studied in a single-server setting, but more recently the multi-server setting has also been considered. Yet it is still unclear whether the multi-server setting has any inherent advantages, e.g., whether the multi-server setting can be used to achieve stronger security goals or provably better efficiency than is possible in the single-server case. In this work, we construct a perfectly secure 3-server ORAM scheme that outperforms the best known single-server scheme by a logarithmic factor. In the process, we also show, for the first time, that there exist specific algorithms for which multiple servers can overcome known lower bounds in the single-server setting.Comment: 36 pages, Accepted in Asiacrypt 201

Shrinking Lung Syndrome in a Young Female: A Rare Pulmonary Manifestation of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Shrinking lung syndrome (SLS) is a rare pulmonary complication of autoimmune conditions. It has been sparsely described in the literature and its pathophysiology remains unclear. SLS is typically reported in patients with a history of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who present with shortness of breath and chest pain associated with breathing. Chest imaging demonstrates no alveolar, interstitial, or pleural abnormalities. Pulmonary function tests (PFTs) are characterized by a restrictive pattern with reduced lung volumes. SLS is a diagnosis of exclusion and there are no validated criteria for the diagnosis. Evaluation requires extensive testing to rule out alternative causes of dyspnea and pleuritic chest pain. In this report, we present a case of SLS in a young African American woman

Freezing of rabbit semen after the addition of glycerol and dimethylsulfoxide in the extender

Κατά τη διεξαγωγή αυτής της έρευνας, καταψύχθηκε σπέρμα 10 κουνελιών μετά από την αραίωση του σε δυο διαφορετικά αραιωτικά μέσα, τα Α και Β. Το αραιωτικό Α αποτελούνταν από Tris-buffer στο οποίο προστέθηκε κρόκος αυγοΰ σε ποσοστό 20% και γλυκερόλη σε ποσοστό 3%, ενώ το αραιωτικό Β είχε την ίδια σύνθεση με το Α αλλά επιπλέον και dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). Με το σπέρμα που παρουσίασε την υψηλότερη κινητικότητα σπερματοζωαρίων μετά την κατάψυξη / απόψυξη του και στα δυο αραιωτικά, διενεργήθηκε τεχνητή σπερματέγχυση σε δυο αντίστοιχες ομάδες (Ι και Π) των 20 κουνελών. Η μέση κινητικότητα των σπερματοζωαρίων του νωπού σπέρματος (77%) μειώθηκε σημαντικά (Ρ< 0.05) μετά την κατάψυξη του τόσο στο αραιωτικό Α (47%) όσο και στο αραιωτικό Β (54%). Η κινητικότητα των κατεψυγμένων / αποψυγμένων σπερματοζωαρίων στο αραιωτικό Β ήταν σημαντικά υψηλότερη (Ρ< 0.05) από εκείνη που είχαν στο αραιωτικό Α. Το ποσοστό τοκετών των ζώων της ομάδας II (60%) παρουσίασε αύξηση σε σχέση με εκείνο των ζώων της ομάδας Ι (50%), αλλά αυτή δεν ήταν σημαντική (Ρ>0.05). Επίσης, δεν παρατηρήθηκε σημαντική διαφορά (Ρ> 0.05) μεταξύ των μέσων όρων του μεγέθους των τοκετοομάδων της ομάδας Ι (6,8±1,7) και της ομάδας II(7,0±1,9). Τα συμπεράσματα αυτής της έρευνας συνοψίζονται στο ότι η κατάψυξη σπέρματος κουνελιού σε αραιωτικόπου περιέχει συνδυασμό των κρυοπροστατευτικών ουσιών DMSO και γλυκερόλης σε αναλογία 3% από το καθένα, έχει ως αποτέλεσμα τη σημαντική βελτίωση της κινητικότητας του κατεψυγμένου / αποψυγμένου σπέρματος, ενώ δεν έχει σημαντική επίδραση στη γονιμότητα του οΰτε και στο μέγεθος των τοκετοομάδων.In this study, semen from 10 rabbits was frozen after it was diluted in two different extenders, A and B. Extender A consisted of Tris-buffer in which 20% of egg yolk and 3% of glycerol were added, while extender Β had the same composition, plus 3% of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). The semen of the buck exhibiting the best post-thaw motility in the two extenders, was used for the insemination of two corresponding groups (I and II) of 20 does each. The average sperm motility of fresh semen (77%) was significantly reduced (P<0.05) after it was frozen in the extender A (47%) and Β (54%). The post-thaw sperm motility in extender Β was significantly higher (P<0.05) than that in extender A. The percentage of the animals that gave birth in group II (60%) was increased compared to that of the animals in group I (50%), but not significantly (P>0.05). Also, no significant difference (P>0.05) was observed between the average litter size of group I (6,8±1,7) and group II (7,0±1,9). Thereafter, it is concluded that freezing rabbit semen in an extender that contains a combination of the cryoprotective agents glycerol and DMSO, in the proportion of 3% and 3%, respectively, results in a significant improvement of post-thaw sperm motility, while it doesn't affect significantly its fertility value neither the size of the litters

Visual Analytics Dashboard Promises to Improve Hypertension Guideline Implementation

BACKGROUND: Primary care management of hypertension under new guidelines incorporates assessment of cardiovascular disease risk and commonly requires review of electronic health record (EHR) data. Visual analytics can streamline the review of complex data and may lessen the burden clinicians face using the EHR. This study sought to assess the utility of a visual analytics dashboard in addition to EHR in managing hypertension in a primary care setting. METHODS: Primary care physicians within an urban, academic internal medicine clinic were tasked with performing two simulated patient encounters for HTN management: the first using standard EHR, and the second using EHR paired with a visual dashboard. The dashboard included graphical blood pressure trends with guideline-directed targets, calculated ASCVD risk score, and relevant medications. Guideline-appropriate antihypertensive prescribing, correct target blood pressure goal, and total encounter time were assessed. RESULTS: We evaluated 70 case simulations. Use of the dashboard with the EHR compared to use of the EHR alone was associated with greater adherence to prescribing guidelines (95% vs. 62%, p\u3c0.001) and more correct identification of BP target (95% vs. 57%, p\u3c0.01). Total encounter time fell an average of 121 seconds (95% CI 69 - 157 seconds, p\u3c0.001) in encounters that used the dashboard combined with the EHR. CONCLUSIONS: The integration of a hypertension-specific visual analytics dashboard with EHR demonstrates the potential to reduce time and improve hypertension guideline implementation. Further widespread testing in clinical practice is warranted

Perfectly Secure Oblivious RAM with Sublinear Bandwidth Overhead

Oblivious RAM (ORAM) has established itself as a fundamental cryptographic building block. Understanding which bandwidth overheads are possible under which assumptions has been the topic of a vast amount of previous works. In this work, we focus on perfectly secure ORAM and we present the first construction with sublinear bandwidth overhead in the worst-case. All prior constructions with perfect security require linear communication overhead in the worst-case and only achieve sublinear bandwidth overheads in the amortized sense. We present a fundamentally new approach for construction ORAM and our results significantly advance our understanding of what is possible with perfect security. Our main construction, Lookahead ORAM, is perfectly secure, has a worst-case bandwidth overhead of $\mathcal{O}(\sqrt{n})$, and a total storage cost of $\mathcal{O}(n)$ on the server-side, where $n$ is the maximum number of stored data elements. In terms of concrete server-side storage costs, our construction has the smallest storage overhead among all perfectly and statistically secure ORAMs and is only a factor 3 worse than the most storage efficient computationally secure ORAM. Assuming a client-side position map, our construction is the first, among all ORAMs with worst-case sublinear overhead, that allows for a $\mathcal{O}(1)$ online bandwidth overhead without server-side computation. Along the way, we construct a conceptually extremely simple statistically secure ORAM with a worst-case bandwidth overhead of $\mathcal{O}(\sqrt{n}\frac{\log{n}}{\log{\log{n}}})$, which may be of independent interest

Central Bank Communication in the Financial Crisis: Evidence from a Survey of Financial Market Participants

In this paper, we study whether central bank communication has a positive effect on market participants' perception of central banks' (i) credibility, (ii) unorthodox measures, and (iii) independence. We utilise a survey of more than 500 financial market participants from around the world who answered questions in reference to the Bank of England (BoE), the Bank of Japan (BoJ), the European Central Bank (ECB), and the Federal Reserve (Fed). We find that market participants believe that the Fed communicates best, followed by the BoE, ECB, and BoJ. Similar rankings are found on the issues of credibility, satisfaction with unconventional monetary policy, and possible deterioration in independence. Using ordered probit models, we show that central bank communication has a positive effect on how central banks are perceived and understood, as it enhances credibility, increases satisfaction with unorthodox measures, and fosters perceived independence of central banks

Solid variant of aneurysmal bone cyst of the heel: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>An aneurysmal bone cyst is a benign but often rapidly expanding osteolytic multi-cystic osseous lesion that occurs as a primary, secondary, intra-osseous, extra-osseous, solid or conventional lesion. It frequently coexists with other benign and malignant bone tumors. Although it is considered to be reactive in nature, there is evidence that some aneurysmal bone cysts are true neoplasms. The solid variant of aneurysmal bone cyst is a rare subtype of aneurysmal bone cyst with a preponderance of solid to cystic elements. Such a case affecting the heel, an unusual site, is reported.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 26-year-old Caucasian man presented with pain and swelling in his left lower extremity. A plain radiograph demonstrated an intra-osseous, solitary, eccentric mass in the front portion of the left heel. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans showed that the lesion appeared to be sub-cortical, solid with a small cystic portion without the characteristic fluid-fluid level detection but with distinct internal septation. Bone images containing fluid-fluid levels are usually produced by aneurysmal bone cysts. The fluid-fluid level due to bleeding within the tumor followed by layering of the blood components based density differences, but it was not seen in our case. An intra-lesional excision was performed. Microscopic examination revealed fibrous septa with spindle cell fibroblastic proliferation, capillaries and extensive areas of mature osteoid and reactive woven bone formation rimmed by osteoblasts. The spindle cells had low mitotic activity, and atypical forms were absent. The histological features of the lesion were consistent with the solid variant of an aneurysmal bone cyst.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Solid aneurysmal bone cysts have been of great interest to pathologists because they may be mistaken for malignant tumors, mainly in cases of giant cell tumors or osteosarcomas, because of cellularity and variable mitotic activity. It is rather obvious that the correlation of clinical, radiological and histological findings is necessary for the differential diagnosis. The eventual diagnosis is based on microscopic evidence and is made when a predominance of solid to cystic elements is found. The present case is of great interest because of the nature of the neoplasm and the extremely unusual location in which it developed. Pathologists must be alert for such a diagnosis.</p