Search Results (638)

In this work, the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of CuO nanoparticles (CuO NPs) were studied experimentally using the pulsed laser ablation (PLA) technique. A nanosecond Nd: YAG laser was employed as the ablation excitation source to create CuO NPs in distilled water. Various CuO NPs samples were prepared at ablation periods of 20, 30, and 40 min. Utilizing HR-TEM, the structure of the synthesized CuO NPs samples was verified. In addition, a UV–VIS spectrophotometer was used to investigate the linear features of the samples. The Z-scan technique was utilized to explore the NLO properties of CuO NPs samples, including the nonlinear absorption coefficient ($\beta$) and nonlinear refractive index ($n_2$). An experimental study on the NLO features was conducted at a variety of excitation wavelengths (750–850 nm), average excitation powers (0.8–1.2 W), and CuO NPs sample concentrations and sizes. The reverse saturable absorption (RSA) behavior of all CuO NPs samples differed with the excitation wavelength and average excitation power. In addition, the CuO NPs samples demonstrated excellent optical limiters at various excitation wavelengths, with limitations dependent on the size and concentration of CuO NPs. Full article

Soil bacterial communities play a crucial role in the functioning of estuarine wetlands. Investigating the structure and function of these communities across various wetland types, along with the key factors influencing them, is essential for understanding the relationship between bacteria and wetland ecosystems. The Liaohe Estuary Wetland formed this study’s research area, and soil samples from four distinct wetland types were utilized: suaeda wetlands, reed wetlands, pond returning wetlands, and tidal flat wetlands. The structure and function of the soil bacterial communities were examined using Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing technology in conjunction with the PICRUSt analysis method. The results indicate that different wetland types significantly affect the physical and chemical properties of soil, as well as the structure and function of bacterial communities. The abundance and diversity of soil bacterial communities were highest in the suaeda wetland and lowest in the tidal flat wetland. The dominant bacterial phyla identified were Proteobacteria and Bacteroidota. Furthermore, the dominant bacterial genera identified included RSA9, SZUA_442, and SP4260. The primary functional pathways associated with the bacterial communities involved the biosynthesis of valine, leucine, and isoleucine, as well as lipoic acid metabolism, which are crucial for the carbon and nitrogen cycles. This study enhances our understanding of the mutual feedback between river estuary wetland ecosystems and environmental changes, providing a theoretical foundation for the protection and management of wetlands. Full article

Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) is widely used for secure communications, because it can provide the same level of security as RSA with a much smaller key size. In constrained environments, it is important to consider efficiency, in terms of execution time and hardware costs. Modular inversion is a key time-consuming calculation used in ECC. Its hardware implementation requires extensive hardware resources, such as lookup tables and registers. We investigate the state-of-the-art modular inversion algorithms, and evaluate the performance and cost of the algorithms and their hardware implementations. We then propose a high-radix modular inversion algorithm aimed at reducing the execution time and hardware costs. We present a detailed radix-8 hardware implementation based on 256-bit primes in Verilog HDL and compare its cost performance to other implementations. Our implementation on the Altera Cyclone V FPGA chip used 1227 ALMs (adaptive logic modules) and 1037 registers. The modular inversion calculation took 3.67 ms. The AT (area–time) factor was 8.30, outperforming the other implementations. We also present an implementation of ECC using the proposed radix-8 modular inversion algorithm. The implementation results also showed that our modular inversion algorithm was more efficient in area–time than the other algorithms. Full article

A time-lock puzzle encapsulates a secret message such that the receiver needs to perform a sequential computation, which takes a specified amount of time, to recover the message. Time-lock puzzles can be used in various scenarios, such as sealed-bid auctions, fair contract signing, and so on. The time required to generate a time-lock puzzle and the time needed to solve it are asymmetric, making the verification of a time-lock puzzle crucial. Before solving the puzzle, the solver needs to verify the validity of the puzzle to avoid computing invalid time-lock puzzles. After the puzzle has been solved, it is essential for a third party to confirm the correctness of the solution. This paper proposes a framework for time-lock puzzles, providing both pre-verification and post-verification functionalities, and outlines the security requirements of this framework. Furthermore, we present a practical construction based on iterated squaring in the RSA group and analyze the security of the specific construction. Finally, we implement this construction in Python and demonstrate its efficiency in different settings when implemented in practice. Full article

Objective: Although the indications for reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA) are expanding, an improvement in muscle strength in each patient following RSA remains unclear. The objective was to investigate whether or not improvement in muscle strength for shoulder elevation in patients who underwent RSA was influenced by pre- or postoperative deltoid muscle stiffness measured using shear wave elastography (SWE). Methods: Sixty-five patients who underwent RSA over a 12-month follow-up period were included. Patient characteristics and clinical and radiologic measurements were recorded. Preoperatively and at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after surgery, deltoid muscle stiffness and muscle strength for scapular-plane abduction were sequentially measured using SWE and a portable dynamometer. In each quarterly period (3–6, 6–9, and 9–12 months), patients were assessed for an improvement in muscle strength and separated into two groups: improved and non-improved. To assess the risk of lack of improvement in each quarterly period, the variables were compared between the groups. Results: Improvement in muscle strength was observed in 52 patients (80%) at 3–6 months, 46 patients (71%) at 6–9 months, and 39 patients (60%) at 9–12 months. Notably, SWE measurements at the beginning of each period showed significantly greater values in the non-improved group than in the improved group during the subsequent quarterly period. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis suggested that SWE values >45.1–50.0 kPa might be associated with a lack of muscle strength improvement over 3 months with 73–87% specificity and 73–85% sensitivity. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that increased deltoid muscle stiffness negatively correlated with an improvement in muscle strength following RSA. According to our results, a postoperative assessment with SWE may be useful for not only improving muscle strength after RSA but also facilitating postoperative improvement by preventing excessive stiffness in the deltoid muscle. Full article

Soil salinization, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, is one of the major abiotic stresses that affect plant growth. To mediate and boost plant tolerance against this abiotic stress, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) symbiosis is commonly thought to be an effective tool. So, the main purpose of this study was to estimate the role of AMF (applied as a consortium of Claroideoglomus etunicatum, Funneliformis mosseae, Rhizophagus fasciculatum, and R. intraradices species) symbiosis in mitigating deleterious salt stress effects on the growth parameters (shoot length (SL), root length (RL), shoot dry weight (SDW), root dry weight (RDW), root surface area (RSA), total root length (TRL), root volume (RV), root diameter (RD), number of nodes and leaves) of Cenchrus ciliaris L. plants through improved accumulations of photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll _a, chlorophyll _b, total chlorophyll), proline and phenolic compounds. The results of this experiment revealed that the roots of C. ciliaris plants were colonized by AMF under all the applied salinity levels (0, 75, 150, 225, and 300 mM NaCl). However, the rate of colonization was negatively affected by increasing salinity as depicted by the varied colonization structures (mycelium, vesicles, arbuscules and spores) which were highest under non-saline conditions. This association of AMF induced an increase in the growth parameters of the plant which were reduced by salinity stress. The improved shoot/root indices are likely due to enhanced photosynthetic activities as the AMF-treated plants showed increased accumulation of pigments (chlorophyll _a, chlorophyll _b and total chlorophyll), under saline as well as non-saline conditions, compared to non-AMF (N-AMF) plants. Furthermore, the AMF-treated plants also exhibited enhanced accumulation of proline and phenolic compounds. These accumulated metabolites act as protective measures under salinity stress, hence explaining the improved photosynthetic and growth parameters of the plants. These results suggest that AMF could be a good tool for the restoration of salt-affected habitats. However, more research is needed to check the true efficacy of different AMF inoculants under field conditions. Full article

In 2022, Cotan and Teşeleanu presented a variant of the RSA cryptosystem where the modulus is of the form $N=pq$, and the private and the public exponents satisfy $ed\equiv 1(\mathrm{mod}{\psi }_n\left(N\right))$ with $n\ge 2$, and ${\psi }_n\left(N\right)=\frac{\left(p^n-1\right)\left(q^n-1\right)}{(p-1)(q-1)}$. This variant of RSA was recently cryptanalyzed by Nitaj, Adenan, and Ariffin at Africacrypt 2024. In this paper, we push further the cryptanalysis of the scheme of Cotan and Teşeleanu by presenting a method to solve the equation $xH\left(y\right)+c\equiv 0(\mathrm{mod}e)$ where c is a constant that is independent of x and y. This enables us to propose more attacks on the scheme, including a partial key exposure attack, an attack when the most significant bits of one of the prime factors are known, and an attack when the least significant bits of one of the prime factors are known. Full article

This study aimed to compare two female field hockey teams of different competitive levels by analyzing kinematic variables in repeated sprint ability (RSA) tests and the force-velocity profile (FVP). Twenty-five female hockey players representing the elite and subelite levels from the same club volunteered to participate. The RSA protocol included six 30 m maximal sprints with a 30 s recovery. Kinematic variables, such as sprint time, step frequency, and step length, were analyzed for each sprint. Additionally, players performed counter-movement jumps (CMJs) and CMJs with 50% body weight (CMJ50s) to calculate the FV50 using the Bosco Index. The elite players showed better (≈2%; p < 0.05) fatigue indexes in sprint time (0–30 m and 0–10 m sections), step length (0–10 m, 10–20 m, and 20–30 m sections), and step frequency (20–30 m section) during the RSA test, as well as greater values (>10%; p < 0.05) in the CMJ50 and FV50 tests. In addition, these RSA (sprint time, step frequency, and step length) and jumping (CMJ, CMJ50, and FV50) variables showed a moderate, significant, or very significant relationship with each other. Therefore, it seems that both strength and speed capacities can be used either in conjunction or as a complementary approach to enhance the overall RSA performance. Full article

In the absence of comparative real estate data in the market segment of the property to be estimated, the appraiser may resort to income capitalization to estimate the market value. Often, however, the choice of which rate to apply is affected by subjective and arbitrary assessments. The estimation result can therefore be inaccurate and rather unclear. However, the Remote Segments Approach (RSA), through appropriate adjustments on the original values, prices, and incomes detected in the remote segments, makes it possible to arrive at an appraisal result consistent with estimative logic and real estate valuation standards. The proposed application illustrates the estimation of the market value of a specialized fruit orchard of avocado, which is to be considered new in relation to other fruit species already present in the reference area. The adjustments required by the RSA are solved with the General Appraisal System (GAS), defining the difference matrix based on relevant characters common to all segments considered. The application is carried out by comparing the segment in which the orchard being estimated falls (subject) with other remote market segments in which prices and incomes constituted by other tree crops are collected. The market value of the subject is derived by making adjustments to the prices and incomes observed in the remote segments of comparison with a comparison function constructed through relevant characters common to the segments considered. The comparison function makes it possible to arrive at the determination of the capitalization rate to be used in estimating the value of the fruit orchard by income approach. While it is based on the comparison of segments, the approach followed allows for a value judgment consistent with the estimation comparison and capable of providing a solution less conditioned by the appraiser’s expertise in the presence of particularly pronounced limiting conditions. Full article

When missing reliable comparables, estimating inappropriately is a high risk in the use of both market-oriented and income approach methods. Therefore, it is useful to identify effective alternatives in accordance with the estimation method to arrive at the estimated value in the absence of comparables. This paper examines the use of the asking price for estimating the market value of a fruit tree orchard, missing comparable data of similar assets. The analysis was conducted by considering two different scenarios. In the first, asking prices from the same segment of the land to be estimated were used in two market-oriented appraisal methods: the General Appraisal System (GAS) and the Nearest Neighbors Appraisal Technique (NNAT). In both these approaches, market prices were replaced with detected asking prices. The second scenario was based on the use of the Remote Segments Approach (RSA). The comparison was conducted between the market segment of the fruit orchard to be valued and other comparison market segments, consisting of three other species of fruit trees, grown in the same area where the fruit orchard to be estimated is located. The results showed that in the first scenario, the estimated value appeared to be unreliable and excessively high compared to actual market conditions. Using the segment comparison method, which applies asking prices for the purpose of determining the capitalization rate, produced more reliable results. The appraisal also appeared more objective, transparent, and consistent with valuation standards. In the presence of similar limiting conditions, RSA can be an effective support to the activity of the appraiser in the valuation process of agricultural land. Full article

Hemp seed oil cake, a by-product of hemp seed oil extraction, is characterized by its high protein content and bioactive components, making it a valuable resource for the development of functional products through enzymatic hydrolysis. Hemp seed oil itself is renowned for its rich content of essential fatty acids, vitamins, and antioxidants, contributing to its widespread use in health and wellness products. Consequently, the residual cake presents significant potential for the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries as a source of high-quality protein ingredients. The optimization of enzymatic hydrolysis conditions is crucial for maximizing the efficiency and quality of the resulting protein hydrolysates. This study aims to optimize the hydrolysis process of hemp seed oil cake with bromelain, focusing on three key factors: enzyme concentration (E/S ratio), temperature, and time, to achieve hydrolysates with superior antioxidant activity. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was applied using a Box–Behnken design to model and optimize the hydrolysis conditions. The experimental design involved three levels for each factor: 1%, 2%, and 3% for bromelain concentration; 20 °C, 30 °C, and 40 °C for temperature; and 60, 120, and 180 min for hydrolysis duration, resulting in 21 experimental runs. The antioxidant activity was assessed via DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging assays (%RSA), and the derived regression models were statistically analyzed and validated. The findings indicate that the optimal conditions for obtaining protein hydrolysates with the highest antioxidant activity are a bromelain concentration of 3.0%, a temperature of 40 °C, and a hydrolysis time of 60 min. Full article

The nitrogen (N) use efficiency (NUE) in the roots of seedlings is beneficial for increasing crop yield. Creating marker-assisted selection for wheat root traits can assist wheat breeders in choosing robust roots to maximize nutrient uptake. Exploring and identifying the effect of different N supply conditions on root system architecture (RSA) is of great significance for breeding N efficient wheat varieties. In this study, a total of 243 wheat varieties native to the Yellow and Huai Valley regions of China were utilized for genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Furthermore, a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population of 123 lines derived from the cross between Avocet and Chilero was utilized for linkage examination. A hydroponic seedling experiment using a 96-well tray was conducted in the lab with two treatments: normal N (NN) and low N (LN). Five RSA traits, including the relative number of root tips (RNRT), relative total root length (RTRL), relative total root surface area (RTRS), relative total root volume (RTRV), and relative average root diameter (RARD), were investigated. GWAS and linkage analysis were performed by integrating data from the wheat 660 k single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip and diversity arrays technology (DArT) to identify genetic loci associated with RSA. The results showed that, based on the ratio of RSA-related traits under two N supply conditions, a total of 497 SNP markers, which are significantly associated with RSA-related traits, were detected at 148 genetic loci by GWAS. A total of 10 QTL loci related to RSA were discovered and identified by linkage mapping. Combining two gene localization methods, three colocalized intervals were found: AX-95160997/QRtrl.haust-3D, AX-109592379/QRnrt.haust-5A, and AX-110924288/QRtrl.haust-7D/QRtrs.haust-7D. According to the physical location of the colocalization of these two sites, between 39.61 and 43.74 Mb, 649.97 and 661.55 Mb, and 592.44 and 605.36 Mb are called qRtrl-3D, qRnrt-5A, and qRtrl-7D. This study has the potential to enhance the effectiveness of selecting root traits in wheat breeding programs, offering valuable insights into the genetic underpinnings of NUE in wheat. These results could help in breeding wheat varieties with higher NUE by implementing focused breeding strategies. Full article

In the context of the internet of things, and particularly within distributed measurement systems that are subject to high privacy risks, it is essential to emphasize the need for increasingly effective privacy protections. The idea presented in this work involves managing critical traffic through an architectural proposal aimed at solving the problem of communications between nodes by optimizing both the confidentiality to be guaranteed to the payload and the transmission speed. Specifically, data such as a typical sensor on/off signal could be sent via a standard encrypted channel, while a sensitive aggregate could be transmitted through a dedicated private channel. Additionally, this work emphasizes the critical importance of optimizing message sizes to 5 k-bytes (small payload messages) for transmission over the reserve channel, enhancing both privacy and system responsiveness, a mandatory requirement in distributed measurement systems. By focusing on small, encrypted payloads, the study facilitates secure, timely updates and summaries of network conditions, maintaining the integrity and privacy of communications in even the most challenging and privacy-sensitive environments. This study provides a comprehensive performance analysis of IoT networks using Dark Net technologies and MQTT protocols, with a focus on privacy and anonymity. It highlights the trade-offs between enhanced security and performance, noting increased latency, reduced bandwidth, and network instability when using TOR, particularly with cipher suites like AES256-GCM-SHA384 and DHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305. The research emphasizes the need for further exploration of alternative protocols like LWM2M in secure IoT environments and calls for optimization to balance privacy with performance in Dark-Net-based IoT deployments. Full article

Water management is critical for wheat production under extreme drought conditions, and the mechanisms by which root dynamics and soil water utilization affect wheat yield are uncertain. This study was conducted in 2023–2024 under a mesophilic semi-arid climate with a two-factor partitioned experimental design, aiming to assess the response of different irrigation amounts in winter wheat crops on root growth and development, soil water utilization, and yields in different soil horizons. The results showed that variety and irrigation volume had significant effects on the spatial and temporal distribution of root and yield components, with irrigation volume having the greatest effect on yield. Compared with CK, deficit-regulated irrigation significantly promoted root penetration to deeper layers and delayed root senescence. DRWD, RLD, RSA, and RV decreased gradually with increasing soil depth, and the peaks of RLD, RSA, and RV appeared at the tassel to flowering stage, respectively; and under deficit-regulated irrigation, the contribution of the A2W4 treatment to stable yield was greater. Therefore, A2W4 is an effective water-saving irrigation method to improve grain yield and water-use efficiency under deficit-regulated irrigation. Full article

The advancements in quantum computing and the potential for polynomial-time solutions to traditional public key cryptography (i.e., Rivest–Shamir–Adleman (RSA) and elliptic-curve cryptography (ECC)) using Shor’s algorithm pose a serious threat to the security of pre-quantum blockchain technologies. This paper proposes an efficient quantum-safe blockchain that incorporates new quantum-safe consensus algorithms. We integrate post-quantum signature schemes into the blockchain’s transaction signing and verification processes to enhance resistance against quantum attacks. Specifically, we employ the Falcon signature scheme, which was selected during the NIST post-quantum cryptography (PQC) standardization process. Although the integration of the post-quantum signature scheme results in a reduction in the blockchain’s transactions per second (TPSs), we introduce efficient approaches to mitigate this performance degradation. Our proposed post-quantum delegated proof of luck (PQ-DPoL) combines a proof of luck (PoL) mechanism with a delegated approach, ensuring quantum resistance, energy efficiency, and fairness in block generation. Experimental results demonstrate that while post-quantum cryptographic algorithms like Falcon introduce larger signature sizes and slower processing times, the PQ-DPoL algorithm effectively balances security and performance, providing a viable solution for secure blockchain operations in a post-quantum era. Full article