Search Results (1,084)

Symmetry is crucial in lattice cryptography, where secure signatures rely on structural invariants over polynomial rings. This paper conducts a rigorous security and correctness analysis on Falcon-M, a lightweight signature scheme. We first demonstrate a fundamental correctness failure through an explicit experimental instantiation of the scheme: because the signing algorithm is algebraically decoupled from the secret key, no honestly generated signature was accepted in our tested experiments. Furthermore, we reveal that removing the NTRU trapdoor breaks the essential computational asymmetry, causing the verification equation to degenerate into a publicly solvable linear system. Consequently, for invertible public keys, an adversary can execute a direct universal forgery attack purely from public data via pointwise algebraic inversion in the frequency domain with $\mathcal{O}\left(n\log n\right)$ time complexity. For non-invertible keys, we further identify a practical existential forgery utilizing a localized salt-search. Ultimately, these practical cryptanalytic results mathematically invalidate the claimed security under the analyzed instantiation. Full article

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries represent one of the most common and disruptive conditions in sport. Effective return-to-play (RTP) monitoring requires multidimensional approaches capturing physical, psychological, and sport-specific components rather than reliance on isolated benchmarks. This study aimed to longitudinally examine the RTP process of a female varsity basketball athlete following ACL reconstruction, using a framework integrating physical performance (capacity), biomechanical sport-specific (capability), and psychological (confidence) components relative to pre-injury benchmarks. Data collection included countermovement jump testing with force plates, on-court inertial measurement unit (IMU) monitoring of limb-loading, and psychological questionnaires, analyzed relative to the athlete’s pre-injury baseline, with post-surgical change interpreted against that individualized reference using minimal detectable change thresholds. Pre-injury monitoring indicated stable movement profiles with minor fluctuations. Following ACL reconstruction, jump height recovered within seven weeks of RTP initiation, but notable inter-limb asymmetries persisted in force plate and IMU measures despite high confidence scores. Symmetry improved over time, yet variability in on-court loading remained after clinical clearance. These findings highlight the value of integrated, multidimensional monitoring to detect residual deficits that may be overlooked by traditional outcome-based assessments. This study demonstrates that integrating athlete-specific biomechanical, psychological, and sport-specific assessments relative to pre-injury baselines can support RTP decision-making to enhance individualized recovery trajectories in female athletes. Full article

Indoor 3D referring segmentation aims to identify and segment the target object in a point cloud according to a natural language expression. Although recent advances in multimodal feature fusion have markedly improved this task, existing methods do not jointly model the structural regularities commonly observed in indoor objects, such as approximate symmetry and repetitive local patterns, in conjunction with the directional constraints conveyed by referring expressions. In this work, we formulate symmetry-aware representation as the extraction of direction-consistent structural responses from both forward and backward traversals of the same spatially ordered sequence while preserving direction-sensitive variations introduced by occlusion, point cloud incompleteness, and cluttered scene layouts. Based on this formulation, we propose PCMTRefer, a symmetry-aware text-guided Point Mamba framework for indoor 3D referring segmentation. The input point cloud is first partitioned using an octree and arranged into a spatially coherent sequence via Z-order (Morton) ordering. A bidirectional state-space encoder then aggregates complementary context from both traversal directions, yielding richer representations of regular boundaries, repetitive structures, and approximately bilateral object geometries. In parallel, an asymmetric text-to-point guidance module injects semantic cues—object categories, attributes, and spatial relationships—into point-wise features, while a Background-Relaxation Token offers an auxiliary matching channel for non-target background regions. A Gumbel-Softmax-based semantic primitive learning module further extracts discriminative cues from referring expressions and integrates language semantics with point-level geometric features through a multi-scale decoder. Experimental results on the ScanRefer benchmark show that PCMTRefer achieves an Overall Acc@0.25 of 58.56%, an Overall Acc@0.5 of 54.19%, and an mIoU of 49.97%. Multi-seed validation further confirms the statistical stability of these results, with standard deviations of less than 0.2% across three independent runs. Full article

In the context of product diversification and personalized requirement, deeply exploring the unstructured characteristics of online reviews and conducting differentiated analyses empowered by big data can enhance the precision of differentiated product design. However, although traditional research has recognized the asymmetry between satisfaction and dissatisfaction when analyzing online reviews, insufficient attention has been paid to the asymmetry of emotional causes, resulting in deviations in product design and limitations in satisfaction improvement. Accordingly, this study takes intelligent In-Vehicle Infotainment Systems (IVISs) of New Electric Vehicles (NEVs) as a case, employs fine grained structural deconstruction methods and natural language analysis to analyze factors influencing satisfaction, examines the types of cause symmetry, proposes a cause asymmetry analysis framework, and conducts differentiated product design strategy analysis for IVISs from the perspective of cause asymmetry. The findings indicate that both symmetry and asymmetry exist between the factors causing user satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Symmetry mainly involves single technical or functional indicators, and their causes exhibit linear symmetric characteristics. Asymmetry manifests in four forms, specifically embodied asymmetry, pluralistic asymmetry, interval asymmetry, and contradictory asymmetry. Based on different symmetry characteristics, this study integrates the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ) method to propose targeted product design strategies to better satisfy users’ differentiated requirements. The results of this study not only provide a digital intelligence path of requirement identification, differentiated design, and innovative iteration for optimizing intelligent IVISs of NEVs, but its universal methodology also offers a powerful tool for broader intelligent interaction product innovation. Full article

Background/Objectives: Previous studies have shown that excess body weight influences plantar pressure. However, the specific impact of Body Mass Index (BMI) on dynamic pressure distribution during different phases of walking, as well as its effect on load symmetry between the feet, requires further investigation. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of varying BMI categories on dynamic plantar pressure, spatiotemporal gait parameters, and load symmetry. Methods: A retrospective analysis of pre-existing records from 300 adults (2017–2025) classified as normal weight, overweight, and obese was conducted. Dynamic plantar pressure, contact time, and gait speed across four stance phases were assessed using baropodometric platforms. Bilateral differences were evaluated via the symmetry index (SI). Results: Overweight and obese individuals exhibited higher plantar pressures and prolonged contact times, particularly during the forefoot contact phase (FFCP) ($p$ < 0.001). Gait speed decreased inversely with BMI across all phases. Despite these kinematic adaptations, BMI-related load asymmetry occurred only during the initial contact phase (ICP) ($p$ < 0.001), restoring stability in subsequent phases. Conclusions: Excess body mass is associated with targeted mechanical overload of the forefoot rather than uniform stress across the foot. To manage inertia and maintain symmetry, individuals with high BMI may adopt spatiotemporal strategies that reduce speed and extend double support, potentially prioritizing stability over propulsive efficiency. These findings suggest that orthotic interventions for individuals with high BMI may benefit from prioritizing forefoot offloading, although prospective studies are needed. Full article

Unidirectional guided resonances (UGRs) provide a compact route to highly directional radiation without metallic reflectors, but their realization usually relies on precise structural tuning and is often restricted to isolated points in momentum or parameter space. Here, we propose a Ge₂Sb₂Se₄Te₁ (GSST)-based phase-change metasurface that enables nonvolatile spectral tuning of UGR-like resonances by controlling the momentum-space evolution of paired circular-polarization singularities. Instead of relying on an exact C-point merging condition at a single phase state, the proposed structure controls the approach and departure of a symmetry-related C-point pair relative to the $k_y=0$ line, with the closest sampled approach occurring near an intermediate crystallization state. This near-merging evolution selectively suppresses air-side radiation, giving rise to continuously tunable UGR-like resonances with persistent high directionality. At the high-directionality operating point selected for each of the crystallization states considered, the eigenwavelength shifts by $202.2\mathrm{nm}$, exceeding three times the largest eigenmode linewidth. Meanwhile, the downward-to-upward radiation asymmetry ratio $\eta$ consistently exceeds ${10}^2$ over the investigated phase states and reaches approximately $2.4\times {10}^4$ near the optimal crystallization state. A self-consistent fixed-angle analysis further shows that a fixed substrate-side direction of ${16.52}^{\circ }$, equivalent to ${22.93}^{\circ }$ in air, retains $119.6\le \eta \le 191.3$ throughout all 11 states considered while preserving a $186.6\mathrm{nm}$ tuning range. Despite increased crystalline-state absorption, the intrinsic substrate-side modal branching fraction remains at least $75.7\%$. These results establish a nonvolatile strategy for combining spectrally resolvable tuning, persistent directional radiation, and substantial dominant-side modal out-coupling in a single phase-change metasurface. Full article

Magnetically actuated soft robots enable untethered operation in confined and complex environments; however, achieving controllable directional locomotion in structurally symmetric systems remains a fundamental challenge due to intrinsic force cancellation under uniform fields. Here, we present a modular strategy that integrates assembled programmable magnetization with energy-biased symmetry-breaking joints to overcome this limitation. By embedding hard-magnetic NdFeB microparticles into an Ecoflex matrix, discrete magnetic units with programmable magnetization are fabricated and assembled into higher-order architectures. We show that asymmetric film constraints prescribe joint polarity and bias strain-energy distribution during actuation, producing distinct deformation modes (folding versus bending) under identical magnetic inputs. This energy asymmetry breaks the balanced response of symmetric structures, enabling net directional motion under spatially uniform magnetic fields. Based on this principle, a segmented crawler achieves a maximum speed of 5.42 mm s⁻¹ under a half-wave magnetic field, while a quadruped robot realizes programmable multi-directional locomotion (±X, ±Y) via dual-field coupling, reaching a maximum speed of 3.125 mm s⁻¹. These results demonstrate that modular magnetization and joint-mediated energy bias can cooperatively generate controllable directional locomotion through mechanically encoded symmetry breaking. This work provides a scalable design framework for programmable magnetic soft robots under spatially uniform magnetic fields. Full article

Background: Lower limb prosthesis users commonly exhibit gait asymmetry that may increase metabolic demand. Gait asymmetry, therefore, is frequently targeted in rehabilitation to improve walking efficiency. This review aimed to investigate whether interventions that improve gait asymmetry reduce metabolic demand in unilateral lower limb prosthesis users. Methods: A search of relevant English-language articles was conducted using PubMed and CINAHL, yielding a total of 1067 records. Following title, abstract, and full-text screening, 10 studies met eligibility requirements and were included in the qualitative synthesis. Data extraction focused on participant characteristics, gait asymmetry measures, metabolic outcomes, and intervention characteristics. Results: Four main intervention categories were identified: advanced prosthetic knees and ankles, prosthetic mass manipulation, feedback-based gait interventions, and exercise-based training. Across studies, changes in gait symmetry were not consistently associated with reductions in metabolic demand. Interventions targeting ankle function showed the most consistent reductions in metabolic demand, particularly during demanding walking tasks. In contrast, distal prosthetic mass addition consistently increased metabolic demand and worsened gait symmetry. Conclusion: Current evidence does not support a consistent or direct relationship between gait symmetry and metabolic demand in lower limb prosthesis users. Gait asymmetry may not be inherently metabolically disadvantageous and may represent an energetically optimal adaptation. Full article

Background/Objectives: Aging is associated with physiological changes that impair thermoregulation and may increase vulnerability to thermal stress. Body composition, particularly adiposity and skeletal muscle mass, may influence skin temperature distribution and thermographic asymmetry; however, evidence in older adults remains limited. This study aimed to characterize thermographic asymmetry patterns in older adults and examine their association with body composition parameters potentially influencing thermoregulatory function during aging. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 127 community-dwelling older adults from Burgos, Spain. Body composition was assessed using multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (InBody S10), including the body fat percentage (PBF), appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (ASMI), phase angle, and extracellular water-to-total body water ratio (ECW/TBW). Infrared thermography was performed using an FLIR E6390 thermal camera (FLIR Systems Inc., Wilsonville, OR, USA), and thermographic images were analyzed with ThermoHuman software version 3.0. Variables included global temperature, trunk thermal asymmetry, upper-limb thermal asymmetry, mean absolute thermal asymmetry, the Thermal Recovery Index (TRI), and the Symmetry Assessment Parameter (SAP). Sex differences, Spearman correlations, and multiple linear regression analyses were performed. Results: Women presented significantly higher body fat percentage and greater thermographic asymmetry than men (p < 0.05). Body fat percentage was positively associated with upper-limb thermal asymmetry (ρ = 0.229, p = 0.015), mean absolute thermal asymmetry (ρ = 0.280, p = 0.003), TRI (ρ = 0.250, p = 0.008), and SAP (ρ = 0.276, p = 0.003). In contrast, the ASMI, phase angle, and ECW/TBW ratio showed no significant associations with thermographic asymmetry indices. In the adjusted regression analysis, body fat percentage showed a statistically significant coefficient for mean absolute thermal asymmetry; however, the overall model was not statistically significant and explained only 5% of the variance (R² = 0.050, p = 0.144). Conclusions: Body fat percentage showed modest associations with several thermographic asymmetry parameters, whereas skeletal muscle mass showed limited relationships with thermographic outcomes. Given the weak magnitude of the correlations and the limited explanatory capacity of the regression model, these findings should be considered exploratory. Body composition may represent one of several factors associated with thermographic variability in older adults. Full article

Symmetry and asymmetry play an important role in image processing and computer vision, particularly when visual structures are corrupted by irregular and spatially heterogeneous degradation. In cultural heritage restoration, ancient murals often contain locally symmetric patterns, repeated decorative motifs, balanced compositions, and style-sensitive contours, while long-term aging introduces asymmetric damage such as cracks, pigment fading, flaking, and partial content loss. Restoring such images therefore requires models that can recover structural regularity from asymmetric degradation while preserving culturally meaningful visual details. In this paper, we propose a symmetry-aware progressive generative framework for non-invasive digital restoration of Dunhuang murals. The proposed model is implemented as a Cauchy–Schwarz-regularized cascading variational autoencoder, which decomposes restoration into three coarse-to-fine stages: global structural recovery, semantic and chromatic refinement, and fine-detail enhancement. To support this progressive process, the latent dimensionality is gradually expanded across stages, enabling the model to move from compact structural abstraction to detail-aware representation learning. Moreover, a Cauchy–Schwarz-divergence-based regularization strategy is introduced to align the aggregated posterior with a mixture-of-Gaussians prior, providing a tractable mechanism for modeling the multi-modal latent structure of mural images. Experiments on the MuralDH benchmark under irregular-mask, crack-like, and mixed degradation settings show that the proposed method achieves competitive restoration quality compared with representative inpainting and diffusion-based baselines, while requiring substantially lower inference cost. Qualitative results further demonstrate improved contour continuity, chromatic coherence, and texture preservation. These results suggest that symmetry-aware progressive generative modeling is a promising tool for sustainable, non-invasive cultural heritage restoration. Full article

Exchange-listed medical data products create information and pricing asymmetry because sellers, buyers, and governance reviewers do not observe the same product boundaries, scenario permissions, processing depth, or compliance costs. This study proposes SM-DPF, an auditable pricing reference framework that makes these asymmetric conditions explicit through a reproducible three-layer chain: a public investment anchor, a locked structural scoring model, and a proposed future market learning governance interface that is not implemented or evaluated in the present study. Using 23 de-identified transaction-descriptive records from a single exchange context across insurance claims, model pretraining, and pharmaceutical R&D, the pricing reference outputs y_0,i show in-sample diagnostic consistency with de-identified transaction prices y_i, with an overall mean absolute percentage error of 4.82% and median absolute percentage error of 4.55%. The same 23 records informed the initial scenario-response calibration and the subsequent diagnostics; the reported errors and correlations are, therefore, in-sample diagnostics only. SM-DPF is a governance-oriented reference tool for transparent listing decisions and audit replay with no transaction price prediction claim. Full article

Idiopathic scoliosis (IS) is a three-dimensional spinal deformity often associated with secondary postural deviations (pelvic asymmetry, altered kyphosis/lordosis, and postural imbalance), which may negatively affect psychological well-being and quality of life (QoL). Physiotherapy interventions designed specifically for scoliosis, known as Physiotherapy scoliosis-specific exercises (PSSE), have shown effectiveness in improving primary structural outcomes such as Cobb angle (CA) and angle of trunk rotation (ATR); however, their influence on secondary postural deviations is still unclear. This scoping review aimed to summarize current evidence of PSSE on secondary postural deviations in children, adolescents, and young adults with mild to moderate IS: Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, searches were conducted in PEDro, PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar for studies published in the last 10 years. Eligible studies were appraised using study design-specific quality assessment tools. Randomized controlled trials (RCT) were evaluated using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database Scale (PEDro), the retrospective cohort study was assessed using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS), and the prospective observational study was evaluated using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Checklist. Outcomes included pelvic asymmetry, spinal deviations, mobility, trunk symmetry/morphology, balance, proprioception, sensorimotor control, and QoL. Six studies involving 230 participants with mild-to-moderate IS were included. PSSE was associated with improvements in CA, ATR, postural alignment, spinal mobility, and QoL. Adjunctive interventions, including manual therapy (MT), proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF), and hippotherapy, generally produced greater improvements in postural symmetry, pelvic alignment, proprioception, and sensorimotor control than PSSE alone. PSSE appears to improve structural, postural, and functional outcomes in individuals with IS, with adjunctive interventions potentially enhancing these effects. However, current evidence is limited by heterogeneity, highlighting the need for high-quality RCTs with standardized protocols and long-term follow-up. Full article

Background and Objectives: Nostril aperture symmetry is an important component of nasal base aesthetics after rhinoplasty. However, nostril retainers are commonly used in reconstructive nasal surgery; their role after primary aesthetic rhinoplasty remains insufficiently defined. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of early postoperative nostril retainer use on nostril aperture symmetry after primary rhinoplasty using ImageJ-based morphometric measurements. Materials and Methods: This prospective, non-randomized comparative observational study included 52 patients who underwent primary open structural rhinoplasty. A total of 26 patients used a nostril retainer postoperatively, whereas 26 patients did not. Standardized basal-view photographs were obtained at postoperative week 1 and postoperative month 3. Right and left nostril aperture area, height, and width were measured using ImageJ software version 1.54 g after individual calibration with a millimetric ruler. Changes in symmetry indices from week 1 to month 3 were compared between groups. Results: Baseline week-1 symmetry indices were comparable between groups. The increase in area symmetry index from postoperative week 1 to month 3 was significantly greater in the nostril retainer group than in the control group (3.08 ± 4.99 vs. −1.00 ± 4.86; mean difference: 4.08; 95% CI: 1.34–6.82; p = 0.004). Changes in height symmetry index and width symmetry index did not differ significantly between groups. Conclusions: Early postoperative nostril retainer use was associated with improved nostril area symmetry after primary rhinoplasty. This benefit may be better reflected in global area-based symmetry than in isolated height or width measurements. Nostril retainers may represent a simple, noninvasive adjunct for selected patients at risk of early postoperative nostril asymmetry. Full article

Sport-related concussion (SRC) rehabilitation has advanced toward active, multidomain management, yet recovery may still be judged largely through symptom resolution and broad clinical indicators that may not fully capture persistent functional deficits. Emerging evidence suggests subtle disturbances in postural control, gait, and sensorimotor coordination may persist beyond apparent clinical recovery, raising the possibility that unresolved asymmetries represent an underrecognized dimension of dysfunction. This Viewpoint proposes symmetry restoration as a potential rehabilitative construct in SRC management and explores how biofeedback-guided approaches may provide a conceptual framework for identifying, monitoring, and retraining symmetry-related deficits. Drawing from concussion research, motor control theory, rehabilitation science, and biofeedback applications, this article discusses postural and movement asymmetries as possible markers of incomplete recovery, examines visual, wearable, neuromuscular, and auditory biofeedback strategies as potential mechanisms for symmetry-informed rehabilitation, and outlines clinical implications and future research priorities. Rather than proposing symmetry as a stand-alone determinant of recovery, this Viewpoint advances the conceptual proposition that symmetry-oriented approach may complement existing multidomain models by serving as an additional layer of functional assessment alongside symptom reporting, neurocognitive evaluation, vestibular and oculomotor examination, exertional testing, and routine clinical assessment. Within this framework, symmetry-related measures are envisioned not as independent clearance criteria, but as potentially informative indicators of residual sensorimotor function that may help guide rehabilitation progression and contribute to more functionally informed return-to-sport decision making through adjunctive measures such as center-of-pressure behavior, center-of-mass displacement, gait symmetry, stance and swing time asymmetry, limb-loading patterns, interlimb coordination, and muscle activation symmetry. Full article

Brain lateralization is a biological asymmetry in which a bilaterally organized nervous system develops direction-specific functional organization. This hypothesis distinguishes gravity-driven physical symmetry reduction from informational symmetry breaking. Gravity provides a stable vertical reference, yet matched leftward and rightward tilts become biologically relevant only when noisy vestibular population responses carry decodable tilt-sign information. At fixed unsigned tilt magnitude, the criterion is nonzero conditional mutual information between binary tilt sign and vestibular population response; for equal sign priors, this is equivalent to Jensen–Shannon divergence between sign-conditioned response distributions. Shannon entropy describes within-condition response spread, Fisher information describes local continuous-angle precision, and noise-aware representational distance describes PIVC-centered state separation. The otolith-to-perceptual pathway is formulated as a constrained effective state-space transformation from vestibular population responses through an intermediate brainstem–cerebellar state to distributed parieto-insular vestibular cortex (PIVC)-centered cortical states and perceived self-orientation. The framework predicts sign-specific vestibular and PIVC information for matched tilts, reduced or reorganized sign information in bilateral vestibulopathy, and covariance among cortical geometry, orientation-estimation reliability, and orientation-dependent behavior. Auditory and visual spatial transformations provide computational precedents rather than anatomical homology. The model offers a testable sensorimotor scaffold without determining a fixed hemispheric sign. Full article