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In this letter, a novel secret merchant‐4 (SM4) cryptographic circuit implementation is proposed against higher order power analysis attacks (PAAs). Four different random number generators (RNGs) are embedded into the SM4 architecture for breaking the correlation between the processed data and monitored power dissipation against PAAs. Firstly, fake keys are created by the first RNG to scramble the critical information related with the actual secret key. Furthermore, the second RNG controls the implementations of substitution boxes (Sboxes) with composite fields or look‐up tables randomly while the third RNG randomizes the substitution locations with respect to these Sboxes. Ultimately, the fourth RNG randomly swaps the behaviors of the fake SM4 and true SM4 to further break the critical correlation. Under the assistance of the four embedded RNGs, the proposed SM4 cryptographic architecture is capable of resisting against fourth‐order PAAs effectively with a 300 Mbps throughput and 165,354 μm2 area after synthesizing in the TSMC 90 nm process design kits (PDK). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractA motion generation method for a planar four-bar mechanism without prescribed timing is proposed in this article. A characteristic of coupler points is found: for the coupler points of a four-bar mechanism in a standard installation position rotated by the corresponding input angle clockwise around the origin of the Cartesian coordinate system xOy, the generated points lie on the feature coupler circles. Next, based on this, the design process is divided into three steps. In the first step, the relative input angles, the relative coupler angles and five geometric parameters of the desired four-bar mechanism are optimized. In the second step, the basic dimensional types and initial input angle are determined, and then, the input angles are obtained. In the third step, the real size of the desired linkage mechanism is calculated. Because the dimension of the design variables in each step is exceptionally small, the motion synthesis method can yield design solutions with high precision in a short time. Six comparison examples are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method. In addition, the method is used to design a robot for lower limb rehabilitation for application to the human foot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive emissions of carbon dioxide have led to the greenhouse effect and global warming. Reducing carbon dioxide into high-value-added chemicals through solar energy is a promising approach. Herein, a g-C3N4/TiO2 heterojunction photocatalyst with efficient electron transfer is designed for photocatalytic CO2 reduction. The CH4 (18.32 µmol·h−1·g−1) and CO (25.35 µmol·h−1·g−1) evolution rates of g-C3N4/TiO2 are higher than those of g-C3N4 and TiO2. The enhanced photocatalytic CO2 reduction performance is attributed to the efficient charge carrier transfer in the g-C3N4/TiO2 heterojunction. The electron transfer route was verified by in situ irradiated X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The photocatalytic CO2 reduction mechanism on g-C3N4/TiO2 was investigated by in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS). This work provides a strategy for designing a polymer/metallic oxide heterojunction with efficient electron transfer for enhanced photocatalytic CO2 reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat stress, as a negative factor, severely threatens the quality and production of bottle gourd, which prefers to grow in a warm environment. To understand which genes are involved in the resistance to heat stress in bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl.), we analyzed the characteristics of two genetic bottle gourd varieties, "Mei feng"-MF (heat resistant) and "Lv long"-LL (heat sensitive). Under heat stress, MF plants exhibited a higher survival rate, lower relative electrolytic leakage, and decreased stomatal aperture compared with LL. In addition, RNA-Seq was carried out on the two varieties under normal conditions and heat stress. The results revealed a total of 1485 up-regulated and 946 down-regulated genes under normal conditions, while 602 genes were up-regulated and 1212 genes were down-regulated under heat stress. Among these genes, several differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in the MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) signaling pathway and members of bHLH (basic helix-loop-helix) transcription factors showed significant up- or down-regulation after heat stress. Next, to validate these findings, we conducted quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis, which confirmed the expression patterns of the genes detected through RNA-Seq. Collectively, the DEGs between the two contrasting cultivars identified in our study provide novel insight into excavating helpful candidate genes associated with heat tolerance in bottle gourd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The role of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has been studied in several systematic reviews (SRs), but no definitive conclusions have been drawn due to the wide variation in the quality and outcomes of the studies. And there are no studies to assess the quality of relevant published SRs. This overview aims to determine the effectiveness of PR in patients with IPF and to summarize and critically evaluate the risk of bias, methodological, and evidence quality of SRs on this related topic. Methods: With no language restrictions, eight databases were searched from inception to March 10, 2023. The literature search, screening, and data extraction were carried out separately by two reviewers. We assessed the risk of bias using the ROBIS tool, the reporting quality using PRISMA statements, the methodological quality using AMSTAR-2, and the evidence quality using Grades of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE). Results: Seven SRs from 2018–2023 (including 1836 participants) on PR for the treatment of IPF were selected, all of which included patients with a definitive diagnosis of IPF. After strict evaluation by the ROBIS tool and AMSTAR-2 tool, 42.86% of the SRs had a high risk of bias and 85.71% of the SRs had critically low methodological quality in this overview. PR might be effective for patients with IPF on exercise capacity, quality of life, and pulmonary function-related outcomes, but we did not find high quality evidence to confirm the effectiveness. Conclusion: PR may appear to be an effective and safe treatment for patients with IPF, but the results of this overview should be interpreted dialectically and with caution. Further high-quality, rigorous studies are urgently needed to draw definitive conclusions and provide scientific evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, a high‐speed and low‐latency Ron Rivest‐4 (RC4) encryption algorithm is designed based on SMIC 14 nm process. Since the key issue of limiting the throughput of RC4 encryption algorithm is the swapping operation of S‐box, this proposed design is capable of achieving four swapping operations of S‐box within a clock cycle by utilizing fully combinational logic designs and advanced computations. All 256 swapping operations of key scheduling algorithm (KSA) can be done in 64 clock cycles. Moreover, the novel design greatly improves the encryption efficiency of RC4 since each clock cycle offers 4 bytes of key stream. The whole area can be further optimized by reusing the existing modules, and a lightweight countermeasure is embedded into the RC4 design to break the correlation between the processed data and power dissipation against differential power analysis (DPA) attacks. Finally, the whole design is assessed by the SMIC 14 nm process design kits (PDK). The corresponding clock frequency, throughput, area, and latency, respectively, are achieved as 1 GHz, 32 Gbps, 51,596 μm2, and 74 clock cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents two types of new deployable mechanisms based on the motion characteristics of the four-bar slider–crank mechanism (FBSCM): the prism mechanism with constant cross-section and the round deployable mechanism. A new basic planar deployable unit based on the path-generating characteristics of the FBSCM is proposed. The method of building a deployable mast unit with one DOF from the new planar deployable mechanism is given. The prism mechanism with constant cross-section of one DOF is constructed, and the magnification ratio is analyzed. Moreover, the deployable unit with a negative Poisson's ratio for building the round deployable mechanism based on the properties of functional output of the FBSCM is proposed. The structure of the round deployable mechanism is described, and the parameter model with multilevel deployment is calculated and validated with cases given; the DOF of the round deployable mechanism is one. Last, the static analysis of the round deployable mechanism is studied by simulation; by locking 6 guide rails, the structure is found to have a balanced bearing capacity, and the bearing performance is improved compared with locking only one guide rail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]