Search Results (235)

MD-Hill-SPN is the first Hill-based construction to combine a multi-tier diffusion mix layer, a memory-hard KDF, and a simultaneous multi-metric empirical evaluation. Two independent runs of the full metric suite yield: (a) full plaintext avalanche from round 1 (mean 63.97–64.67 of 128 bits, ideal 64); (b) the differential-probability sampling floor of 2 × 10⁻⁵ reached at round 4 (50,000 of 50,000 output differences distinct, both sessions); (c) algebraic-degree lower-bound saturation at the maximum observable value from round 1; (d) linear-bias indistinguishable from random (combined exceedance 4.40%, below the 4.55% noise floor); and (e) branch numbers at the Singleton (MDS) bound for every tier (B = 5 for 4 × 4, B = 9 for 8 × 8, B = 17 for 16 × 16), computed exhaustively over weight-1 inputs. MD-Hill-SPN therefore moves beyond theoretical construction to a construction that passes a defined empirical evaluation suite: avalanche, differential sampling, linear-bias probing, algebraic-degree lower bounds, and MDS branch numbers under single-key, known-plaintext conditions with fixed parameters, an evaluation no prior Hill cipher variant has reported in full. Full article

Nosema bombycis, the causal agent of silkworm pébrine disease, causes substantial economic losses to sericulturists annually. Previously, 19 serpin genes (NbSPNs) were identified in this parasite, but most of their functions remain unidentified yet. Here, we provide a functional and cellular characterization of NbSPN4 and NbSPN5. Bioinformatics tools predicted four cis-regulatory motifs in the promoter region of NbSPN genes. A yeast signal sequence trap (YSST) assay confirmed the computationally predicted N-terminal signal peptide for NbSPN4 but not for NbSPN5. Immunofluorescence assay revealed that NbSPN4 was localized to the nucleus and NbSPN5 to the cytoplasm of infected host BmE cells. Recombinant NbSPN4/5 proteins significantly inhibited host hemolymph melanization and phenoloxidase activity in vitro, demonstrating their immune-regulatory roles. These findings provide essential insights into the roles of NbSPNs in host–pathogen interactions during N. bombycis infection. Full article

Lightweight devices are becoming a crucial part of networked systems, including Internet of Things environments. These devices usually have constraints, such as limited computational power, which have directed researchers to develop lightweight crypto algorithms to secure the data generated by these devices. Therefore, an efficient but secure crypto algorithm for these devices is required. In this paper, we thoroughly evaluate well-known SPN-based algorithms, namely AES, LED, PRESENT, ASCON-128, and ASCON-128a, based on the success rates of statistical randomness tests, including the Frequency, Runs, Discrete Fourier Transform, and Cumulative Sum tests. With these tests, the assessment measures the algorithms’ ability to produce unpredictable text. To ensure thorough evaluation, the experiments included approximately 19,000 image files of varying sizes up to 2560 KB. The extensive experimental results show that the ASCON family achieved high success rates above 98% in all tests, particularly for small file sizes, while AES achieved higher success rates for larger file sizes, and LED showed limited performance for the varied file sizes. The results confirm that ASCON-128 and ASCON-128a offer the needed trade-off between computation and randomness validation. Based on this evaluation, we propose an adaptive encryption framework based on file size, data classification, and device computational power. Full article

As Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) transition towards automated ecosystems, the deployment of advanced wireless charging technologies becomes a critical infrastructure requirement. Central to the management of these networks is the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP), which ensures interoperability across diverse hardware vendors. However, the reliance on digital communication for power transfer introduces significant cybersecurity vulnerabilities. This paper presents a methodology for evaluating the impact of cyber-threats on urban transport services, with a specific focus on the communication layers that support these Advanced Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) environments. Utilising Stochastic Petri net (SPN) ontology, we model the operational states of an Electric Vehicle (EV) service—including the activation and the arrival phases—to quantify how protocol-level vulnerabilities affect service reliability. We introduce an Extended Vulnerability List (EVL) and analyse two distinct scenarios: a public transport service and a weather forecasting integration. Our results demonstrate that as wireless charging moves towards standardization, the security of the OCPP-based backbone is a fundamental necessity for preventing service disruption. The proposed assessment framework provides a roadmap for securing the next generation of dynamic wireless charging infrastructures against evolving cyber-physical threats. Full article

Non-exhaust emissions represent a growing share of traffic-related particulate matter and are increasingly addressed by regulatory frameworks. This study presents a comparison of two brake emission test cycles, the California Brake Dynamometer Cycle (CBDC) and Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure Braking Cycle (WLTP-BC), the latter being formally embedded in current regulations. Firstly, we present a detailed comparison of WLTP-BC and CBDC in terms of parameters that are shown to affect or may affect braking control and particle emissions (braking torque, vehicle speed, acceleration, friction work, disc temperature, etc.). Secondly, we present a way to evaluate test system torque control quality, supplementing the friction work-based method present in United Nations Regulation (UNR) No. 179, and quantitatively assess the control quality between the cycles. CBDC was found to be the more challenging cycle to execute. However, the testbench control architecture was found to be sufficient to execute it with high fidelity. Thirdly, we present the emission results obtained from the cycles, both per kilometre driven, as well as per friction work done. We argue that the latter is better for comparing the emission results obtained from cycles with different braking profiles. Driving the CBDC resulted in higher particle mass (PM) emissions but similar particle number (PN) emissions. In light of this dataset, friction work seems to be a better predictor for PN than for PM. While this study encompasses only a single friction pair, and more tests with different brakes would be required to generalize the findings, the results highlight the importance of cycle selection in emission research, both in terms of quantifying the emissions and demands for the test system. Full article

Brake wear is a major contributor to non-exhaust particulate emissions, and standardized measurement methods are currently being extended from light-duty (LD) to heavy-duty (HD) vehicles. However, differences in brake geometry and operating conditions may influence particle transport and sampling representativeness in HD brake emission test systems. This study investigates the influence of brake caliper position on particle emissions and mixing uniformity in an HD brake emission test setup. Experiments were conducted using a dynamometer-based system with four sampling probes distributed across the sampling plane. Emissions of particulate mass (PM10, PM2.5) and particle number (solid and total particle number emissions for particles >10 nm) were measured for two caliper orientations (horizontal and vertical). Mixing quality was assessed by comparing probe-specific emission results to the plane-averaged value. The results show that the vertical orientation was associated with 34% higher PM10 and 40% higher PM2.5 emissions on average, a significant increase. Particle number emissions also increased on average, but the differences were small relative to test repeatability. The more pronounced effect on PM suggests that the caliper position mainly influences the transport and losses of larger particles, which contribute more to PM. In contrast, the uniformity of particle concentration across the sampling plane was similar for both configurations, with deviations comparable to those reported for LD systems. These findings should be considered in the interpretation of results obtained with any similar test systems, comparisons between such systems, and literary reviews. Full article

Background: Solid pseudopapillary neoplasms of the pancreas (SPN-P) are rare, low-grade malignancies primarily affecting young women. While surgical resection is definitive, the optimal balance between oncological radicality and functional preservation remains a clinical challenge. This study evaluates tailored surgical strategies utilizing minimally invasive and parenchyma-preserving techniques. Patients and Methods: We conducted a multi-institutional retrospective analysis of SPN-P cases treated between March 2020 and May 2023. Out of 167 pancreatic resections, five paradigmatic cases were identified. We analyzed the decision-making process for preoperative staging (CT/MRI/EUS-FNB), surgical approach (open, laparoscopic, or robotic), and the implementation of parenchyma-preserving versus formal resections. Results: The cohort included four females and one male (mean age 40.6 years; range 13–73). Surgical approaches were tailored to tumor location and patient characteristics: two patients underwent pancreatoduodenectomy (one laparotomic, one laparoscopic), two underwent distal pancreatectomy (one robotic, one laparoscopic), and one pediatric patient underwent laparoscopic parenchyma-preserving central pancreatectomy. R0 resection was achieved in all cases. No Grade B/C postoperative pancreatic fistulas (POPF) or complications Clavien-Dindo ≥III occurred. At a mean follow-up (FU) of 38.4 months (range 20–58), the disease-free survival rate was 100%. One patient developed new-onset diabetes mellitus following distal pancreatectomy. Conclusions: A tailored surgical approach—integrating robotic, laparoscopic, and parenchyma-preserving techniques—may enable excellent oncological outcomes while minimizing morbidity. For SPN-P, the choice of procedure should prioritize the preservation of pancreatic function, particularly in young patients, without compromising surgical margins. Full article

Background: Pancreatic tumors in pediatric and adolescent patients are rare, and guidance on prognostication and management is limited. Methods: Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database (2004–2021), we analyzed clinicopathological characteristics, treatment patterns, and survival outcomes in patients younger than 20 years with pancreatic tumors. Analyses integrated conventional survival models with machine learning approaches to identify key predictors. Results: The cohort included 203 patients, of whom 108 (53.2%) had solid pseudopapillary neoplasms (SPNs), 59 (29.1%) neuroendocrine neoplasms, 16 (7.9%) pancreatoblastomas, 5 (2.5%) adenocarcinoma variants, 4 (2.0%) acinar cell carcinomas, and 11 (5.4%) other rare histologies. Most patients had localized disease (61.1%) and underwent surgical resection (85.2%). Estimated 5-year and 10-year overall survival rates were 87.8% and 84.0%, respectively. Survival differed significantly by histology, stage, and surgery status (all log-rank p < 0.001). In multivariable analysis, SPN histology was associated with lower mortality (hazard ratio (HR) 0.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.01–0.13; p < 0.001), whereas distant disease was associated with markedly higher mortality (HR 21.49, 95% CI 7.52–133.41; p < 0.001). Surgical resection was independently associated with lower mortality (HR 0.13, 95% CI 0.02–0.29; p = 0.003). Among patients with known 5-year status, the Random Forest and Gradient Boosting models achieved cross-validated area under the curve values of 0.935 ± 0.060 and 0.886 ± 0.093, respectively; stage and surgery were the dominant predictors in both models. Conclusions: Surgery remains the cornerstone of management for pediatric pancreatic tumors, and advanced analytic approaches may enhance risk stratification in this rare population. Full article

Stain variability in digital pathology affects both cross-center diagnostic consistency and the robustness of downstream computational analysis. In this work, we formulate stain normalization as a variational inverse problem and derive a Screened Poisson Normalization (SPN) model from the steady-state reaction–diffusion mechanism underlying histological staining. In the CIE $L^{*}{a}^{*}{b}^{*}$ space, the model couples a gradient-domain fidelity term with a chromatic anchoring term, yielding a screened Poisson equation that preserves tissue morphology while enforcing color consistency. We prove that the corresponding variational problem is well-posed in $H^1\left(\mathsf{\Omega }\right)$ and stable with respect to perturbations of the input data. We further show that the screening term induces an intrinsic localization length ${𝓁}_c\sim {\lambda }_c^{-1/2}$, so that boundary perturbations decay exponentially away from tile interfaces. Based on this locality, we develop a non-overlapping tiled DCT-based spectral solver for gigapixel whole-slide images, enabling consistent tile-wise stain normalization and seamless whole-slide reassembly without heuristic boundary blending. Experiments on multi-scanner, multi-protocol, and archival-fading pathology datasets show that SPN achieves stable stain normalization with competitive chromatic alignment and strong preservation of diagnostically relevant microstructure, particularly in full-slide and tiled reconstruction settings. Supplementary experiments on synthetic pathology-like images further support the robustness of SPN under controlled color perturbations and indicate good generalization across diverse staining variations. Full article

The lack of reliable diagnostic tools and relapse monitoring for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) constitutes a major obstacle to global tuberculosis (TB) control. This highlights an urgent need for robust animal models and predictive biomarkers. To address this, we report the successful establishment of a rapid murine model of recapitulating the active, latent, and relapse phases of TB within a compressed ten-week timeframe—hence termed the rapid multi-stage TB murine model. In this model, mice were first intravenously infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, followed by a four-week isoniazid (INH) regimen starting at two weeks post-infection. By week six, pulmonary bacterial loads in most mice dropped below the detection limit, signifying the establishment of latency. Reactivation was subsequently triggered by a four-week administration of anti-TNF-α (Tumor Necrosis Factor-α) monoclonal antibody. Leveraging this reproducible and time-efficient model, we performed transcriptomic profiling of peripheral blood and identified a distinct sixteen-gene signature (including Ets2, Fam111a, Fosl2, Gadd45b, Nfkbid, Rgs1, Bhlhe40, Il1r2, Clec2d, Kmo, Lynx1, Papd4, Trim34a, Wrb, Nlrp12, Spns1) that dynamically tracks disease progression. Collectively, these findings not only provide a valuable and efficient preclinical tool but also deliver transformable candidate biomarkers with immediate potential to guide the development of novel diagnostic strategies for LTBI surveillance and management. Full article

Two new species of the genus Encarsia Förster (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), E. cinnamomi Wang & Huang, sp.n. and E. ophiopogonis Wang & Huang, sp.n., are described and illustrated from Fujian, China. The mitochondrial genomes of these two new species and E. diaspidicola are sequenced (14,049 bp, 14,746 bp and 14,849 bp, respectively), both showing a strong A + T bias (84.1%, 84.7% and 84.8% respectively). We infer the phylogenies of several Encarsia species of Aphelinidae and other family of Chalcidoidea based on PCG123 datasets using Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum likelihood (ML) methods. ML and BI analysis both support Aphelinidae formed a sister group to Torymidae. Full article

This study tackles the challenge of data scarcity in medical AI, focusing on Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) diagnosis from Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Computed Tomography (CT) images. We introduce MedScanGAN, a conditional Generative Adversarial Network designed to generate high-fidelity synthetic PET and CT images of Solitary Pulmonary Nodules (SPNs) to enhance computer-aided diagnosis systems. The framework incorporates advanced architectural features, including residual blocks, spectral normalization, and stabilized training strategies. MedScanGAN produces realistic images—particularly for PET representations—capable of plausibly misleading medical professionals. More importantly, when used to augment training datasets for established deep learning models such as YOLOv8, VGG-16, ResNet, and MobileNet, the synthetic data significantly improves NSCLC classification performance. Accuracy gains of up to +5.8 absolute percentage points were observed, with YOLOv8 achieving the best results at 94.14% accuracy, 93.12% specificity, and 95.33% sensitivity using the augmented dataset. The conditional generation mechanism enables the targeted synthesis of underrepresented classes, effectively addressing class imbalance. Overall, this work demonstrates both state-of-the-art medical image synthesis and its practical value in improving real-world diagnostic systems, bridging generative AI research and clinical pulmonary oncology. Full article

Background: While research shows childhood cancer survivors experience elevated subsequent primary neoplasm (SPN) and premature mortality risks, few studies have included contemporary survivors. Methods: This study quantifies the risk of SPNs and mortality among modern survivors of childhood cancer. Utilizing a retrospective, population-based cohort of individuals diagnosed with cancer before the age of 18 in Alberta, Canada (2001–2018), we evaluated their risks of SPNs and mortality compared to the general population in Alberta, overall and after 5-year survival, using standardized mortality and incidence ratios, and absolute excess risks per 10,000 person-years. Results: Among 2581 survivors, including 1385 5-year survivors, 50 individuals developed at least one SPNs and 408 deaths were observed, with 21 SPNs and 38 deaths occurring after 5-year survival. The SPN incidence was 13.3- (95% CI: 9.8–17.5) and 10.0-fold (95% CI: 6.2–15.2) higher than expected overall and in 5-year survivors, respectively, with risks varying depending on the treatment received. For mortality, survivors experienced 62.5-fold (95% CI: 56.5–68.8) higher mortality than expected overall, equating to 233.9 (95% CI: 210.8–257.0) excess deaths per 10,000 person-years, with corresponding risks among 5-year survivors at 10.9 (95% CI: 7.7–15.0) and 43.8 (95% CI: 28.4–59.1), respectively. The excess deaths were predominantly due to recurrence/progression (89.9% overall, 66.4% in 5-year survivors), with SPNs and non-neoplastic causes contributing more excess deaths with increasing follow-up time. Risks for mortality included treatment and cancer type. Conclusions: Contemporary childhood cancer survivors in Alberta experience substantial excess SPNs and mortality, highlighting the need for long-term surveillance and tailored risk mitigation interventions. Full article

Bloodstream infections (BSI) carry high mortality, but traditional blood culture is too slow for urgent clinical needs. This study aims to develop a rapid point-of-care testing assay based on one-tube multiplex nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (OM-NPCR-POCT) for early diagnosis of three pathogens in bloodstream infection patients: Escherichia coli (ECO), Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPN), and Streptococcus pneumoniae (SPN). The analytical sensitivity of the one-tube multiplex nested PCR (OM-NPCR) was evaluated using recombinant bacterial plasmids. The analytical sensitivity of the OM-NPCR-POCT assay was assessed using simulated samples. The clinical performance was evaluated in 90 clinical blood samples, with results compared to conventional quantitative PCR (qPCR). Finally, the agreement between the two detection methods was assessed via Kappa analysis. The limits of detection (LODs), calculated from serial dilution experiments, were 4, 2, and 1 copies/μL for plasmids ECO, KPN, and SPN, respectively. The OM-NPCR-POCT assay achieved LODs of 20, 10, and 10 CFU/mL for ECO, KPN, and SPN in simulated samples, with a total testing time of approximately 2 h. The clinical evaluation of OM-NPCR-POCT demonstrates consistency with conventional qPCR while exhibiting higher sensitivity. This method has potential as a rapid diagnostic tool for early bloodstream infection detection. Full article

The rapid growth of digital communication has heightened the need for the secure transfer of sensitive image data. This is due to the increasing threats posed by cyberattacks and unauthorized access. Traditional encryption methods, while effective for text and binary data, often face significant challenges when applied to images, due to their larger size and complex structure. These characteristics make it difficult to provide a robust security solution. In this paper, we present a fast and efficient hybrid image encryption and steganography algorithm that leverages a substitution–permutation network (SPN), a chaotic logistic map (CLM), and least-significant-bit (LSB) substitution. This approach aims to improve data security and confidentiality while maintaining low computational complexity. The chaotic map generates random sequences for substitution and permutation, ensuring high unpredictability. The SPN framework improves the confusion and diffusion properties of the encryption process. The LSB substitution method hides the encrypted data values within the pixels of the cover image. We evaluate the security and efficiency of the proposed algorithm using various statistical tests, including measurement of the mean square error (MSE) and peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and pixel difference histogram (PDH) analysis. The results indicate that our algorithm outperforms many existing methods in terms of speed and efficiency, making it suitable for real-time hybrid encryption and steganography applications. Full article