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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic constitutes a global health emergency. Currently, there are no completely effective therapeutic medications for the management of this outbreak. The cytokine storm is a hyperinflammatory medical condition due to excessive and uncontrolled release of pro-inflammatory cytokines in patients suffering from severe COVID-19, leading to the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and even mortality. Understanding the pathophysiology of COVID-19 can be helpful for the treatment of patients. Evidence suggests that the levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin (IL)-1 and IL-6 are dramatically different between mild and severe patients, so they may be important contributors to the cytokine storm. Several serum markers can be predictors for the cytokine storm. This review discusses the cytokines involved in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, focusing on interferons (IFNs) and ILs, and whether they can be used in COVID-19 treatment. Moreover, we highlight several microRNAs that are involved in these cytokines and their role in the cytokine storm caused by COVID-19.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most prevalent neurological disability of young adults. Anti-inflammatory drugs have relative effects on MS. The anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects of Zingiber officinale (ginger) have been proven in some experimental and clinical investigations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of ginger extract on preventing myelin degradation in a rat model of MS.Forty nine male Wistar rats were used in this study and divided into four control groups: the normal group, cuprizone-induced group, sham group (cuprizone [CPZ] + sodium carboxymethyl cellulose [NaCMC]), standard control group (fingolimod + cuprizone), including three experimental groups of CPZ, each receiving three different doses of ginger extract: 150, 300, and 600mg/kg /kg/day.Ginger extract of 600 mg/kg prevented corpus callosum from demyelination; however, a significant difference was observed in the fingolimod group (p0.05). Difference in the CPZ group was quite significant (p0.05).Treatment with ginger inhibited demyelination and alleviated remyelination of corpus callosum in rats. Therefore, it could serve as a therapeutic agent in the MS.

The pandemic outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has created health challenges in all parts of the world. Understanding the entry mechanism of this virus into host cells is essential for effective treatment of COVID-19 disease. This virus can bind to various cell surface molecules or receptors, such as angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), to gain cell entry. Respiratory failure and pulmonary edema are the most important causes of mortality from COVID-19 infections. Cytokines, especially proinflammatory cytokines, are the main mediators of these complications. For normal respiratory function, a healthy air–blood barrier and sufficient blood flow to the lungs are required. In this review, we first discuss airway epithelial cells, airway stem cells, and the expression of COVID-19 receptors in the airway epithelium. Then, we discuss the suggested molecular mechanisms of endothelial dysfunction and blood vessel damage in COVID-19. Coagulopathy can be caused by platelet activation leading to clots, which restrict blood flow to the lungs and lead to respiratory failure. Finally, we present an overview of the effects of immune and non-immune cells and cytokines in COVID-19-related respiratory failure.

Background: Implantation requires intimate crosstalk between the embryo and uterus for a successful establishment of pregnancy. Type 2 diabetes mellitus may lead to implantation failure. The effect of diabetes and its therapeutic drugs on implantation is still largely unclear. Objective: To assess the endometrial expression changes of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), at the time of implantation in diabetic rats following treatment with Metformin and Pioglitazone. Materials and Methods: Twenty-eight 6-8-wk-old Wistar female rats weighing 200- 250 gr were divided into four groups (n = 7/each). Type 2 diabetes was induced and Metformin and Pioglitazone were applied for 4 wk. The expression of VEGFA and LIF was measured by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot. Results: The relative expression of VEGFA transcript was higher in the diabetic (p = 0.02) and Metformin-treated (p = 0.04) rats compared to the control group. Furthermore, the VEGFA transcript level significantly reduced in Pioglitazone-treated diabetic rats (p = 0.03). LIF expression was elevated in the Metformin- and the Pioglitazone-treated rats and reduced in the diabetic group in comparison with the control group. Compared to the diabetic rats, the expression of LIF was significantly elevated in the Metformin- (p = 0.01) and Pioglitazone-treated (p = 0.03) groups. Conclusion: The expressions of LIF and VEGFA were altered in diabetic rats during implantation which may be associated with diabetic-related infertility. Pioglitazone is able to restore the VEGFA and LIF expressions to their baseline levels more efficiently than Metformin. Key words: Embryo implantation, Leukemia inhibitory factor, Vascular endothelial growth factor A, Metformin, Pioglitazone, Rats.

Background: Diabetes is caused by a breakdown in insulin production or its malfunction in the body. So far, many studies have been done on its treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the histological changes in endocrine part of the pancreas of diabetic rats treated with Rosa damascena extract. Methods: In this experimental study, 100 male rats were divided into 10 groups of control, untreated diabetic, gavage stress, insulin treatment, three healthy groups receiving different doses of extract, and three diabetic groups receiving different doses of extract (300, 600, and 900 mg/kg). Finally, pancreatic tissue was removed and immunohistochemically stained with hematoxylin-eosin to count pancreatic beta cells number, and to calculate islets of Langerhans. Statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA test, and P < 0.050 was considered as statistically significant. Findings: Rosa damascena extract at 900 mg/kg, significantly increased the area of the islets of Langerhans in diabetic rats compared to the diabetic control group (P = 0.021). This dose of extract also increased the percentage of beta cells in the islets of Langerhans compared to the diabetic control group (P = 0.017). Conclusion: According to the results, using rose extract can improve tissue changes in the pancreas. This extract can probably be considered as a suitable research potential in future studies.

The present study is designed to assess the impact of Phoenix dactylifera (P.d) leaf extract on plasma glucose concentration, diabetic parameters, and the number of β-cells in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. In this study, diabetes was induced in male Wistar rats via intraperitoneal administration of STZ (55 mg/kg). In this study, 49 rats were divided into seven groups randomly (n = 7 per group). Our three treatment groups for 42 days were given 250 mg/kg of P.d extract, 500 mg/kg of P.d extract, and 5 mg/kg glibenclamide orally, respectively. Then, the animals were anesthetized and blood samples were obtained from puncturing the retro-orbital sinus at the initial and end of the experiment and finally sacrificed. Fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels and serum biochemical parameters including malondialdehyde (MDA), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and insulin level were measured. Pancreatic tissue was identified by immunohistochemistry and morphometric analysis which was used to evaluate β-cells. Statistical analysis was done by applying SPSS statistical software; ANOVA and Tukey’s test were used to assess data in the control and treatment groups. Blood glucose significantly decreased after daily oral administration of P.d in diabetic rats (P

Breast cancer (BC) is an important cause of female cancer-related death. It has recently been demonstrated that metabolic disorders including lipid metabolism are a hallmark of cancer cells. Lipin-1 is an enzyme that displays phosphatidate phosphatase activity and regulates the rate-limiting step in the pathway of triglycerides and phospholipids synthesis. The objective of this study was to evaluate lipin-1 expression, its prognostic significance, and its correlation with p53 tumor suppressor in patients with BC. In this study, 55 pairs of fresh samples of BC and adjacent noncancerous tissue were used to analyze lipin-1, using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining. The expression of other clinicopathological variables and p53 was also examined using IHC technique. The cell migration was studied in MCF-7 and MDA-MB231 cells following the inhibition of lipin-1 by propranolol. Our results show that the relative expression of lipin-1 messenger RNA was significantly higher in BC tissues compared with the adjacent normal tissue and its inhibition reduced cell migration in cancer cells. This upregulation was negatively correlated with histological grade of tumor and p53 status (p = .001 and p = .034) respectively and positively correlated with the tumor size (p = .006). Our results also seem to indicate that the high lipin-1 expression is related to a good prognosis in patients with BC. The expression of lipin-1 may be considered as a novel independent prognostic factor. The inhibition of lipin-1 may also have therapeutic significance for patients with BC. The correlation between lipin-1 and p53 confirms the role of p53 in the regulation of lipid metabolism in cancer cells.

Background and purpose: Breast cancer (BC) is one of the major causes of female cancer-related death. It has recently been demonstrated that metabolic reprogramming including alteration in lipid metabolism is indicated in various types of cancer. The enzymes of the acyl-coenzyme A synthetase long-chain family (ACSLs) are responsible for converting fatty acids to their corresponding fatty acyl-coenzyme A esters which are essential for some lipid metabolism pathways. ACSL4 is one of the isoforms of ACSLs and has a marked preference for arachidonic and eicosapentaenoic acids. The objective of this study was to evaluate ACSL4 expression, its prognostic significance, and its correlation with p53 tumor suppressor in BC patients. Experimental approach: In this study 55 pairs of fresh samples of BC and adjacent non-cancerous tissue were used to analyze ACSL4 expression, using real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining. The expression of other studied variables was also examined using the IHC technique. Findings / Results: ACSL4 expression was significantly higher in BC tissues compared to the adjacent normal tissue. This upregulation was negatively correlated with Ki-67 and age, and positively correlated with p53 status. The correlation between ACSL4 and p53 may indicate the role of p53 in the regulation of lipid metabolism in cancer cells, in addition to its role in the regulation of ferroptosis cell death. Conclusion and implications: Our results indicated that the expression of ACSL4 may be considered as a prognostic indicator and potential therapeutic target in BC. However, further studies are needed to confirm the significance of these findings.

Crypto agility refers to the ability of an entity to replace existing crypto primitives, algorithms, or protocols with a new alternative quickly, inexpensively, with no or acceptable risk exposure. These changes may be driven by regulatory action, advances in computing, or newly discovered vulnerabilities. Yet everyday operational needs may put crypto agility considerations on the back burner when deploying technology, designing processes, or developing products/services. Consequently, changes are often performed in an ad hoc manner. Transition from one crypto solution to another can then take a long time and expose organizations to unnecessary security risk. This paper presents a framework to analyze and evaluate the risk that results from the lack of crypto agility. The proposed framework can be used by organizations to determine an appropriate mitigation strategy commensurate with their risk tolerance. We demonstrate the application of this framework with a case study of quantum computing and related threats to cryptography in the context of TLS for Internet of Things.

In current Android architecture, users have to decide whether an app is safe to use or not. Expert users can make savvy decisions to avoid unnecessary privacy breach. However, the majority of normal users are not technically capable or do not care to consider privacy implications to make safe decisions. To assist the technically incapable crowd, we propose DroidNet, an Android permission control framework based on crowdsourcing. At its core, DroidNet runs new apps under probation mode without granting their permission requests up-front. It provides recommendations on whether to accept or reject the permission requests based on decisions from peer expert users. To seek expert users, we propose an expertise ranking algorithm using a transitional Bayesian inference model. The recommendation is based on the aggregated expert responses and its confidence level. Our simulation and real user experimental results demonstrate that DroidNet provides accurate recommendations and cover the majority of app requests given a small coverage from a small set of initial experts.

High-profile and often destructive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks continue to be one of the top security concerns as the DDoS attacks volumes are increasing constantly. Among them, the SYN Flood attack is the most common type. Conventional DDoS defense solutions may not be preferable, since they demand highly capable hardware resources, which induce high cost and long deployment cycle. The emerging of network function virtualization (NFV) technology introduces new opportunities to decrease the amount of proprietary hardware that is needed to launch and operate network services. In this paper, we propose a DDoS defense mechanism named CoFence, which facilitates a “domain-helps-domain” collaboration network among NFV-based domain networks. CoFence allows domain networks to help each other in handling large volume of DDoS attacks through resource sharing. Specifically, we design a dynamic resource allocation mechanism for domains so that the resource allocation is fair, efficient, and incentive-compatible. The resource sharing mechanism is modeled as a multi-leader-follower Stackelberg game. In this game, all domains have a degree of control to maximize their own utility. The resource supplier domains determine the amount of resource to each requesting peer based on optimizing a reciprocal-based utility function. On the other hand, the resource requesting domains decide the level of demand to send to the resource supplier domains in order to reach sufficient support. Our simulation results demonstrate that the designed resource allocation game is effective, incentive compatible, fair, and reciprocal under its Nash equilibrium.

Curcumin is known as a natural dietary polyphenol which is extracted from Curcuma longa L. It has been shown that curcumin has a variety of pharmacological effects such as antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and anti-microbial activities. Anti-cancer effects of curcumin are due to targeting of a wide range of cellular and molecular pathways involved in cancer pathogenesis including NF-kB, MAPK, PTEN, P53, and microRNAs (miRNA) network. Multiple lines of evidence have indicated that curcumin exerts its therapeutic effects via regulating miRNA expression (e.g., miR-1, miR-7, miR-9, miR-34a, miR-181, miR-21, and miR-19) which could lead to the regulation of underlying cellular and molecular pathways involved in cancer pathogenesis. Exosomes are one of the important classes of biological vehicles which could be released from various types of cells such as cancer cells and stem cells and could change the behavior of recipient cells. It has been shown that treatment of cancer cells with different dose of curcumin leads to the release of exosomes containing curcumin. These exosomes could induce anti-cancer properties in recipient cells and reduce tumor growth. Hence, exosomes containing curcumin could be applied as powerful tools for cancer treatment. Here, we highlighted various miRNAs which could be affected by curcumin in various types of cancer. Moreover, we highlight exosomes containing curcumin as suitable therapeutic tools in cancer therapy.

The development of new blood vessels from a pre-existing vasculature (also known as angiogenesis) is required for many physiological processes including embryogenesis and post-natal growth. However, pathological angiogenesis is also a hallmark of cancer and many ischaemic and inflammatory diseases. The pro-angiogenic members of the VEGF family (vascular endothelial growth factor family), VEGF-A, VEGF-B, VEGF-C, VEGF-D and placental growth factor (PlGF), and the related receptors, VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3 have a central and decisive role in angiogenesis. Indeed, they are the targets for anti-angiogenic drugs currently approved. Green tea (from the Camellia sinensis plant) is one of the most popular beverages in the world. It is able to inhibit angiogenesis by different mechanisms such as microRNAs (miRNAs). Green tea and its polyphenolic substances (like catechins) show chemo-preventive and chemotherapeutic features in various types of cancer and experimental models for human cancers. The tea catechins, including (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), have multiple effects on the cellular proteome and signalome. Note that the polyphenolic compounds from green tea are able to change the miRNA expression profile associated with angiogenesis in various cancer types. This review focuses on the ability of the green tea constituents to suppress angiogenesis signaling and it summarizes the mechanisms by which EGCG might inhibit the VEGF family. We also highlighted the miRNAs affected by green tea which are involved in anti-angiogenesis.

With Android devices users are allowed to install third-party applications from various open markets. This raises security and privacy concerns since the third-party applications may be malicious. Unfortunately, the increasing sophistication and diversity of the malicious Android applications render the conventional defenses techniques ineffective, which results in a large number of malicious applications to remain undetected. In this paper we present XDroid, an Android application and resource risk assessment framework based on the Hidden Markov Model (HMM). In our approach, we first map the applications' behaviors into an observation set, and we attach timestamps to some observations in the set. We show that our novel use of temporal behavior tracking can significantly improve the malware detection accuracy, and that the HMM can generate security alerts when suspicious behaviors are detected. Furthermore, we introduce an online learning model to integrate the input from users and provide adaptive risk assessment. We evaluate our model through a set of experiments on the DREBIN benchmark malware dataset. Our evaluation results demonstrate that the proposed model can accurately assess the risk levels of malicious applications and provide adaptive risk assessment based on user input.

Curcumin, a hydrophobic polyphenol, is the principal constituent extracted from dried rhizomes of Curcuma longa L. (turmeric). Curcumin is known as a strong anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agent that has different pharmacological effects. In addition, several studies have demonstrated that curcumin is safe even at dosages as high as 8g per day; however, instability at physiological pH, low solubility in water and rapid metabolism results in a low oral bioavailability of curcumin. The phytosomal formulation of curcumin (a complex of curcumin with phosphatidylcholine) has been shown to improve curcumin bioavailability. Existence of phospholipids in phytosomes leads to specific physicochemical properties such as amphiphilic nature that allows dispersion in both hydrophilic and lipophilic media. The efficacy and safety of curcumin phytosomes have been shown against several human diseases including cancer, osteoarthritis, diabetic microangiopathy and retinopathy, and inflammatory diseases. This review focuses on the pharmacokinetics as well as pharmacological and clinical effects of phytosomal curcumin.

Background: Diabetes, a major metabolic disorder, seems to affect the fertility rates of women in various ways. Due to the uncertainty of the effects of diabetes along with superovulation treatment on the infertility, we investigate the effects of ovulation induction treatment as therapeutic approach on the expression of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) as two main factors which are involved in the implantation in the streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetic rats. Materials and Methods: Type 1 diabetes was induced by injections of STZ in Wistar rats. The animals were kept in diabetic conditions for 4 weeks, while some were treated with insulin for treatment. After treatment, the ovulation was induced by human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG) and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). The rats were then sacrificed and the expression of LIF and VEGFA was checked by immunohistochemistry staining method, and the relative expression of LIF and VEGFA was measured by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting methods. Results: It was observed that diabetes and insulin treatment for diabetes altered the expression of Lif and VEGFA in both mRNA and protein levels. However, superovulation treatment seems to ameliorate this alternation for both factors. Conclusion: According to our results, diabetes and insulin therapy could alter the expression of Lif and VEGFA genes and proteins that are effective in endometrial receptivity and implantation process. It seems in diabetic cases, the effect of hCG and hMG therapy by itself could regulate the level of expression and presence of these two genes and proteins.

Background MicroRNAs (miRNAs) form a special class of RNAs regulating endometrial functions like cell proliferation, differentiation, angiogenesis, and blastocyst implantation. In addition to providing suitable conditions for embryo development, angiogenesis is a prerequisite to natural pregnancy. The family of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors are the main physiological and pathological angiogenesis regulators in the endometrium. In the past, research has demonstrated alteration of angiogenesis and subsequent endometrial receptivity in the stimulated and luteal phase support cycles, when compared with natural cycles. Objective The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of ovarian stimulation and exogenous progesterone on the density of CD31-positive cell (Endothelial cell), VEGF protein, and miR-17-5p expression in the mouse endometrium immediately before implantation. Methods We employed ovarian stimulated and luteal phase support mice models induced by HMG/HCG and progesterone. The endometrial CD31-positive cell density was determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining, the level of VEGF protein by IHC and western blot analysis, and finally the miR‐17-5p expression was determined by the real-time PCR method. Results The density of endothelial cell, VEGF protein, and miR‐17-5p expression increased in all of the experimental mice when compared to the control group, with the maximum increase having been seen in the group that had received progesterone after ovarian stimulation. Conclusion This research indicates that ovarian stimulation and exogenous progesterone lead to an increase in the number of endothelial cells by upregulating the VEGF protein. Moreover, except for miR‐17-5p, other microRNAs and molecules are presumably involved in angiogenic pathways, thereby requiring more studies.

Angiogenesis, where vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is critically involved, is an important factor in endometrial receptivity. Angio-miRNAs form a special class of microRNAs (miRNAs) that target angiogenic genes and regulate angiogenesis. Various studies have shown that ovarian stimulation and exogenous progesterone affect endometrial vascular density. The present research aimed to assess the impact of HMG/HCG and progesterone on miR-16-5p, VEGF protein expression, and angiogenesis in the mouse endometrium during the preimplantation period. Forty adult female mice were divided into four groups: 1) control, 2) ovarian stimulation (HMG and 48 h after HCG IP), 3) progesterone (progesterone IP for 3 days), 4) ovarian stimulation + progesterone (HMG and 48 h after HCG IP) + (progesterone IP for 3 days) groups.The mice were sacrificed 96 h following HCG administration. miR-16-5p, VEGF protein expression, and CD31-positive cell (Endothelial cell) density were specified.The results showed that endothelial cell density,VEGF protein, and miR-16-5p expression increased in all treatment groups, with the maximum increase belonging to the ovarian stimulation + progesterone group. This study provides evidence that ovarian stimulation and progesterone administration enhance endometrial angiogenesis through VEGF protein upregulation. Furthermore, except for miR-16-5p, other miRNAs and molecules appear to be involved in angiogenic pathways, thereby requiring further studies.

In current Android architecture design, users have to decide whether an app is safe to use or not. Expert users can make savvy decisions to prevent unnecessary privacy breach. However, inexperienced users may not be able to decide correctly. To assist inexperienced users to make a right permission granting decisions, we propose RecDroid. RecDroid is a crowdsourcing recommendation framework that facilitates a user-help-user environment regarding smartphone permission control. In this framework, the responses from expert users are aggregated and recommended to other users. We implement our prototype on Android platform and evaluated the system through simulation and real user study.

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks remain one of the top threats to enterprise networks and ISPs nowadays. It can cause tremendous damage by bringing down online websites or services. Existing DDoS defense solutions either brings high cost such as upgrading existing firewall or IPS, or bring excessive traffic delay by using third-party cloud-based DDoS filtering services. In this work, we propose a DDoS defense framework that utilizes Network Function Virtualization (NFV) architecture to provide low cost and highly flexible solutions for enterprises. In particular, the system uses virtual network agents to perform attack traffic filtering before they are forwarded to the target server. Agents are created on demand to verify the authenticity of the source of packets, and drop spoofed packets in order protect the target server. Furthermore, we design a scalable and flexible dispatcher to forward packets to corresponding agents for processing. A bucket-based forwarding mechanism is used to improve the scalability of the dispatcher through batching forwarding. The dispatcher can also adapt to agent addition and removal. Our simulation results demonstrate that the dispatcher can effectively serve a large volume of traffic with low dropping rate. The system can successfully mitigate SYN flood attack by introducing minimal performance degradation to legitimate traffic.

Ultrastructural changes on the apical surface of the luminal epithelium of the uterus are known as pinopodes. Their morphology in species and in special species is associated with different results about size, duration, and percentage of surface area covered by pinopodes. The content of pinopodes is different in rodents and humans. In mice and rats pinopodes have many vacuoles and no organelle that extends to the actin stalk above the microvilli. Human pinopodes do not have a large vacuole and contain the golgi complex, a rough endoplasmic reticulum, secretory vesicles, and mitochondria that extend from the entire cell surface. It has been suggested that pinopodes are good markers of endometrial receptivity and implantation window. There are several molecular markers related to the presence of pinopodes, including integrins, leukemia inhibiting factor (LIF), l-selectin, HOXA10, glutaredoxin, glycodelinA, heparin-binding epidermal growth factor, mucins, and microRNAs (miRNAs). Multiple lines of evidence have indicated that miRNAs could affect the expression of LIF and pinopodes in the endometrium and these molecules play key roles in implantation window processes. Here, we have summarized the morphology and function of pinopodes. Moreover, we have highlighted several molecules in relation to pinopodes that could be used as biomarkers.

Metastasis is known to be one of the important factors associated with cancer-related deaths worldwide. Several cellular and molecular targets are involved in the metastasis process. Among these targets, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play central roles in promoting cancer metastasis. MMPs could contribute toward tumor growth, angiogenesis, migration, and invasion via degradation of the extracellular matrix and activation of pre-pro-growth factors. Therefore, identification of various cellular and molecular pathways that affect MMPs could contribute toward a better understanding of the metastatic pathways involved in various tumors. Micro-RNAs are important targets that could affect MMPs. Multiple lines of evidence have indicated that deregulation of various micro-RNAs, including miR-9, Let-7, miR-10b, and miR-15b, affects metastasis of tumor cells via targeting MMPs.

BACKGROUND Thyroid cancer is a common endocrine malignancy whose incidence has increased in recent years. Several internal and external risk factors are involved in the development of this cancer, such as infectious agents. Evidence supporting the role of viral infection as an etiology for the invasiveness of thyroid cancer is increasing. The aim of this study was to determine the presence of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and the association between viral gene products and thyroid tumor development. METHODS Fifty-seven thyroid cancer specimens were collected from the same number of patients as well as 18 samples from healthy controls. The presence of the EBV genome and the genotyping was examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Also, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and real-time PCR were used to measure the expression levels of viral and cellular genes. RESULTS The EBV DNA was detected in 71.9% of the samples, and it was also found that the presence of the EBV was associated with increasing development of thyroid tumor. CONCLUSION Our results demonstrated that EBV infection may play a role in the development of thyroid tumor.

Background: Angiogenesis plays a major role in endometrial receptivity and thickening of the endometrium immediately before implantation. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the antiangiogenic properties of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) from green tea in angiogenesis of endometrium. Materials and Methods: In this study, forty adult female NMARI mice randomly divided into four groups. Control group received vehicle; human menopausal gonadotropin/human chorionic gonadotropin (HMG/HCG) group received 7.5 IU HMG intraperitoneal (IP) and 48 h later 7.5 IU HCG was injected (IP) for ovarian stimulation; HMG/HCG + EGCG group received HMG and HCG in the same manner as the previous group and also received 5 mg/kg EGCG at 0, 24, 48, and 72 h after injection of HMG; and the group EGCG received 5 mg/kg EGCG. A male mouse was kept with two female animals in the same cage for mating. Mice were dissected 96 h after administration of HMG (immediately before implantation) and tissue processing was carried out for the uterine specimens. CD31-positive cells were counted by use of histological and immunohistochemical methods. Results: Angiogenesis in EGCG-treated group was less than that of control and gonadotropin group (P < 0.05). The number of endothelial cells was counted by CD31 marker under a light microscope and showed significant differences between all groups (P < 0.05). Conclusion: EGCG significantly inhibited the angiogenesis in endometrium (in natural cycles) through antiangiogenic effects.

The increasing popularity of Android phones and its open app market system have caused the proliferation of malicious Android apps. The increasing sophistication and diversity of the malicious Android apps render the conventional malware detection techniques ineffective, which results in a large number of malicious applications remaining undetected. This calls for more effective techniques for detection and classification of Android malware. Hence, in this paper, we present an Android malicious application detection framework based on the Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Active Learning technologies. In our approach, we extract applications' activities while in execution and map them into a feature set, we then attach timestamps to some features in the set. We show that our novel use of time-dependent behavior tracking can significantly improve the malware detection accuracy. In particular, we build an active learning model using Expected error reduction query strategy to integrate new informative instances of Android malware and retrain the model to be able to do adaptive online learning. We evaluate our model through a set of experiments on the DREBIN benchmark malware dataset. Our evaluation results show that the proposed approach can accurately detect malicious applications and improve updatability against new malware.

مقدمه: برخی مطالعات بیانگر تأثیر افزایش غیر طبیعی آهن و کلسترول در مغز در پاتوژنز بیماری‌های نورودژنراتیو همچون آلزایمر می‌باشد، اما مطالعات انجام گرفته در این زمینه اندک و نتایج آن‌ها با یکدیگر متناقض است. از آن جایی که شیوع این بیماری‌ها، به ویژه آلزایمر در حال افزایش می‌باشد، مطالعه‌ی حاضر با هدف تعیین تأثیر آهن و رژیم غذایی پر کلسترول بر آپوپتوز در شکنج دندانه‌دار از تشکیلات هایپوکامپ به انجام رسید. روش‌ها: رت‌های نر نیوزلندی به گروه‌های شاهد، آهن (رژیم mg/kg 50)، گروه کلسترول (رژیم حاوی کلسترول 2 درصد) و گروه کلسترول و آهن تقسیم شدند. سطح سرمی کلسترول، LDL (Low-density lipoprotein) و HDL (High-density lipoprotein) قبل و بعد از رژیم 6 هفته‌ای بررسی و اندازه‌گیری شد و سپس میزان آپوپتوز سلول‌های عصبی در تشکیلات هایپوکامپ آن‌ها با استفاده از رنگ‌آمیزی ایمونوهیستوشیمیایی TUNEL test (Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase biotin–dUTP nick end labeling) مورد بررسی قرار گرفت. یافته‌ها: پس از استفاده از رژیم غذایی پرکلسترول، سطح سرمی کلسترول، LDL و HDL در گروه‌های دریافت کننده‌ی کلسترول به طور معنی‌داری افزایش یافت (05/0 > P). همچنین، آپوپتوز سلول‌های عصبی در شکاف دندانه‌دار هیپوکامپ در گروه دریافت کننده‌ی رژیم پرکلسترول در مقایسه با گروه شاهد افزایش معنی‌داری داشت (05/0 > P). استفاده از آهن به تنهایی یا همراه با کلسترول، تأثیری بر میزان آپوپتوز سلول‌های عصبی نداشت. نتیجه‌گیری: نتایج مطالعه نشان داد که تجویز رژیم غذایی پر کلسترول بر سطح آپوپتوز سلولی تأثیر معنی‌دار دارد؛ به طوری که تجویز رژیم حاوی کلسترول تنها و رژیم آهن و کلسترول، سطح آپوپتوز سلولی را افزایش می‌دهد. اما تجویز آهن، تأثیر قابل ملاحظه و معنی‌داری در افزایش یا کاهش آپوپتوز ندارد.

Background: Notch is a signaling molecule which plays a role in angiogenesis and γ-secretase is required for processing of Notch. In this study, we investigated the effect of γ-secretase inhibitor (DAPT) on tumor angiogenesis in diet-induced obese mice. Methods: 18 mice were divided into three groups; control, obese (diet-induced) and obese+DAPT. After 15 weeks, the obese mice were subjected for tumor induction of CT26 colon adenocarcinoma cells (5 x 105 cells). When the tumor size reached approximately 350 ± 50 mm3, half of the obese animals received DAPT (10mg/kg/day) subcutaneously. Blood samples were taken after 14 days and the tumors harvested for immunohistochemical staining and capillary density were reported as CD31 positive cells/mm2. Results: The obese animals had higher serum leptin and NO concentrations, while, serum VEGF and VEGFR-1 concentrations were not different compare to control group. Administration of DAPT in obese mice significantly reduced serum VEGFR-1 and leptin concentrations and increased serum NO level (p < 0.05). Capillary density in the tumors of obese animals was not different compare to control groups. DAPT administration could not alter capillary density in the tumors. Conclusion: Administration of DAPT in obese mice altered serum angiogenic factors, however, it could not modulate tumor angiogenesis in diet-induced obese mice (Fig. 4, Ref. 26). Text in PDF www.elis.sk.

مقدمه: گیرنده‌های فعال کننده‌ی تکثیر پروکسی‌زوم‌ها (PPARs یا Peroxisome proliferator–activated receptors) گروهی از گیرنده‌های هسته‌ای وابسته به لیگاند می‌باشند كه به عنوان عوامل نسخه‌برداری عمل می‌کنند و در انسان دارای 3 ایزوفرم شناخته شده‌ی β/δ، γ و α هستند. مشخص شده است که PPARs اثرات متعددی بر سیستم قلبی- عروقی دارند. هدف از این مطالعه، بررسی اثر محرک‌های مختلف گیرنده‌ی فعال کننده‌ی پرولیفراسیون پروکسی‌‌زوم بر بازسازی قلبی (Cardiac remodeling) در رت‌های سالم و مبتلا به دیابت بود. روش‌ها: 60 موش صحرایی نر به دو دسته‌ی کلی مبتلا و غیر مبتلا به دیابت تقسیم شدند. حیوانات مبتلا و غیر مبتلا به دیابت به 5 زیر گروه‌ شاهد دریافت کننده‌ی حلال دارو؛ حیوانات دریافت کننده‌ی فنوفیبرات mg/kg/day 100 (آگونیست PPAR آلفا)؛ حیوانات دریافت کننده‌ی رزیگلیتازون (Rosiglitazone) mg/kg/day 8 (آگونیست PPAR گاما)؛ حیوانات دریافت کننده‌ی 742GWO mg/kg/day 1 (آگونیست PPAR بتا/دلتا)؛ حیوانات دریافت کننده‌ی بزافیبرات mg/kg/day 400 (آگونیست Pan PPAR) تقسیم شدند. طول مدت درمان 21 روز بود. در پایان آزمایش، بطن چپ رت‌ها خارج شد و نمونه‌ها با Picro-Sirius Red جهت بررسی محتوای کلاژنی رنگ‌آمیزی گردید. یافته‌ها: محتوای کلاژن (Collagen content) در بطن چپ گروه مبتلا به دیابت بسیار بیشتر از گروه سالم (غیر مبتلا به دیابت) بود و این تفاوت، معنی‌دار بود (27/1 ± 00/9 درصد در مقابل 13/1 ± 00/5 درصد) و تجویز محرک‌های مختلف PPAR نتوانست تغییر معنی‌داری در فیبروز انترستیسیال نه در گروه سالم و نه در گروه مبتلا به دیابت ایجاد نماید (050/0 < P). نتیجه‌گیری: به نظر می‌رسد محرکین مختلف PPARها اثری بر بازسازی قلبی در رت‌های سالم و مبتلا به دیابت ندارند. اثرات دیگر این داروها بر سیستم قلبی- عروقی باید مورد توجه و بررسی قرار گیرد.

مقدمه: آندومتریوم رحم نقش مهمی در روند لانه‌گزینی ایفا می‌کند. این لایه از رحم، در روند مراحل چرخه‌ی قاعدگی تحت تأثیر تغییرات قرار می‌‌گیرد. با توجه به تأثیر پذیری آندومتریوم از عوامل مهار کننده و تحریک کننده، هدف از این مطالعه مقایسه‌ی ضخامت آندومتریوم در موش‌های تحریک شده برای تخمک‌گذاری و به دنبال مصرف سیلدنافیل سیترات در مرحله‌ی قبل از لانه‌گزینی بلاستوسیست بود. روش‌ها: تعداد 30 موش ماده‌ی بالغ نژاد سوری با استفاده از روش نمونه‌گیری تصادفی در سه گروه شاهد، گنادوتروپین و گنادوتروپین + سیلدنافیل سیترات طراحی شدند. به دو گروه مورد، ابتدا به میزان IU 5/7 HMG (Human menopausal gonadotropin) و سپس به همین میزان HCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin) نیز تزریق شد. جهت انجام فرایند لقاح، هر دو موش ماده با یک موش نر در یک قفس قرار داده شدند. در گروه گنادوتروپین + سیلدنافیل سیترات، میزان mg/kg 3 سیلدنافیل سیترات به فواصل 24، 48 و 72 ساعت پس از تزریق HMG تزریق گردید. مدت 96 ساعت بعد، موش‌ها در همه‌ی گروه‌ها با استفاده از روش جابه‌جایی مهره‌های گردنی قربانی شدند. نمونه‌های رحمی آن‌ها تحت پاساژ بافتی قرار گرفت و برای مطالعه با میکروسکوپ نوری آماده شد. یافته‌ها: بر اساس بررسی با میکروسکوپ نوری و با استفاده از نرم‌افزار 2/3 Motic Image Plus، ضخامت آندومتریوم در گروه شاهد mµ 35/13 ± 05/358 و در گروه گنادوتروپین mµ 46/12 ± 84/389 بود که از نظر آماری تفاوت معنی‌داری مشاهده نشد. این ضخامت در گنادوتروپین + سیلدنافیل سیترات mµ 10/12 ± 81/316 بود که با گروه گنادوتروپین نیز تفاوت معنی‌داری نداشت. همچنین ضخامت آندومتریوم در بین تمامی گروه‌ها نیز تفاوت معنی‌داری نشان نداد. نتیجه‌گیری: استفاده از تحریک تخمدان و به دنبال آن استفاده از سیلدنافیل سیترات، نتوانست تغییر قابل توجهی در ضخامت آندومتریوم داشته باشد.

Cancer is one of main health public problems worldwide. Several factors are involved in beginning and development of cancer. Genetic and internal/external environmental factors can be as important agents that effect on emerging and development of several cancers. Diet and nutrition may be as one of important factors in prevention or treatment of various cancers. A large number studies indicated that suitable dietary patterns may help to cancer prevention or could inhibit development of tumor in cancer patients. Moreover, a large numbers studies indicated that a variety of dietary compounds such as curcumin, green tea, folat, selenium, and soy isoflavones show a wide range anti-cancer properties. It has been showed that these compounds via targeting a sequence of cellular and molecular pathways could be used as suitable options for cancer chemoprevention and cancer therapy. Recently, dietary microRNAs and exosomes have been emerged as attractive players in cancer prevention and cancer therapy. These molecules could change behavior of cancer cells via targeting various cellular and molecular pathways involved in cancer pathogenesis. Hence, the utilization of dietary compounds which are associated with powerful molecules such as microRNAs and exosomes and put them in dietary patterns could contribute to prevention or treatment of various cancers. Here, we summarized various studies that assessed effect of dietary patterns on cancer prevention shortly. Moreover, we highlighted the utilization of dietary compounds, dietary microRNAs, and dietary exosomes and their cellular and molecular pathways in cancer chemoprevention.

In current Android systems, the application recommendation function is an important feature that users can use to find a similar application to replace a targeted one. The current recommendation system provided through Google and the Google Play store presumably recommends applications similar to a target application while accounting for the popularity of each application. However, it does not take the security features of each application or users preferences into consideration when doing so. In this paper, we propose DroidVisor, an Android tool that provides users with fine-grained and customizable application recommendations. Compared to the Google store recommendation function, DroidVisor does not only use the similarity to a preselected target application, but also considers other metrics such as popularity, security, and usability. More specifically, DroidVisor provides an interface for users to configure the weight of each metric and a recommendation algorithm that generates a list of recommended applications based on the combined scores. We evaluate our proposed criteria and the quality of recommendation through use case studies. Finally, we present our findings through a discussion of accuracy as well as possible ways to improve our recommendation results.

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) is one of the most common but destructive kind of cyberattacks. The DDoS attack traffic vastly includes the SYN packets. To handle excessive DDoS traffic without large impact on the benign traffic, it is important to allocate sufficient resource for the defense. With the support from Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technology, this can be done in a significantly lower lower cost, with higher flexibility. In this work, we propose a DDoS defense mechanism based on Network Function Virtualization platform, which is capable to balance with the attack load. Our proposed mechanism uses dynamic network agents to intercept packets when the system experiences DDoS attack. In particular, we focus on the mechanism that deploys virtual agents dynamically according to the attack strength. The corresponding load-balancing algorithm dynamically determines the number of agents to allocate for defending the attack traffic. Our simulation results demonstrate that the mechanism can successfully defeat the DDoS attacks with different attack intensities, while it incurs minimal performance degradation on the benign traffic and keeps the increase in the server's response time sufficiently low compared to that of a successful DDoS attack.

In recent decades, infertility is one of the health problems worldwide. One of the most crucial events in reproductive period is implantation window (IW). In the time after IW period, the embryo cannot connect to the endometrium; therefore the most critical issue for successful implantation is timely entrance of embryo to the uterine cavity during the IW. Implantation failure is responsible for many cases of infertility and is the most important limiting factor for achieving a successful outcome using the assisted reproductive techniques (ART). The aim of this study was to investigate the receptivity of the endometrium and factors affecting it with emphasizing on the role of angiogenesis. Interaction between the embryo and the endometrium is affected by molecular interactions among cytokines, growth factors, hormones, and cell adhesion molecules, causing endometrial receptivity. Also, angiogenesis is a process that has an important role in human implantation. Estrogen and progesterone hormones are two important regulation keys in angiogenesis and implantation process. It is expected that effective and stimulating drugs of angiogenesis can improve the characteristics of endometrial receptivity and prevent implantation failure in ART. It is hoped that with recent advances in the field of molecular medicine, improvement of angiogenesis in human endometrium and prevention of the implantation failure be achieved. Here, we summarized various factors could affect on endometrial receptivity and the role of them on angiogenesis. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 4141-4151, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Inflammasomes are intracellular complexes involved in the innate immunity that convert proIL-1β and proIL-18 to mature forms and initiate pyroptosis via cleaving procaspase-1. The most well-known inflammasome is NLRP3. Several studies have indicated a decisive and important role of NLRP3 inflammasome, IL-1β, IL-18, and pyroptosis in atherosclerosis. Modern hypotheses introduce atherosclerosis as an inflammatory/lipid-based disease and NLRP3 inflammasome has been considered as a link between lipid metabolism and inflammation because crystalline cholesterol and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) (two abundant components in atherosclerotic plaques) activate NLRP3 inflammasome. In addition, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and lysosome rupture, which are implicated in inflammasome activation, have been discussed as important events in atherosclerosis. In spite of these clues, some studies have reported that NLRP3 inflammasome has no significant effect in atherogenesis. Our review reveals that some molecules such as JNK-1 and ASK-1 (upstream regulators of inflammasome activation) can reduce atherosclerosis through inducing apoptosis in macrophages. Notably, NLRP3 inflammasome can also cause apoptosis in macrophages, suggesting that NLRP3 inflammasome may mediate JNK-induced apoptosis, and the apoptotic function of NLRP3 inflammasome may be a reason for the conflicting results reported. The present review shows that the role of NLRP3 in atherogenesis can be significant. Here, the molecular pathways of NLRP3 inflammasome activation and the implications of this activation in atherosclerosis are explained.

مقدمه: آندومتریوم انسان، بافتی پویا است که در طی چرخه‌ی قاعدگی تحت تأثیر هورمون‌های تخمدانی قرار می‌گیرد. این لایه مسؤول اصلی لانه‌گزینی موفق جنین می‌باشد. عوامل اصلی زیادی در این موفقیت تأثیرگذار هستند. یکی از مهم‌ترین عوامل آن، ضخامت آندومتریوم می‌باشد. هدف از این مطالعه، بررسی ضخامت آندومتریوم تحت تأثیر هورمون‌های تحریک کننده‌ی تخمک‌گذاری و پروژسترون بود. روش‌ها: در این مطالعه، تعداد 30 سر موش بالغ ماده از نژاد سوری بر اساس نمونه‌گیری تصادفی به سه گروه شاهد، گنادوتروپین و گنادوتروپین + پروژسترون تقسیم شدند. به هر دو گروه مورد، ابتدا HMG (Human menopausal gonadotropin) و سپس HCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin) به میزان I.U 5/7 تزریق شد. جهت انجام فرایند جفت‌گیری، هر دو موش ماده با یک موش نر در داخل یک قفس نگهداری شدند. به گروه گنادوتروپین + پروژسترون، میزان mg/kg 1 با فواصل 24، 48 و 72 ساعت پس از تزریق HMG، پروژسترون تزریق گردید. با گذشت 96 ساعت بعد، موش‌ها با استفاده از روش جابه‌جایی مهره‌های گردنی قربانی شده و نمونه‌های رحمی جهت پاساژ بافتی تهیه شد و با استفاده از نرم‌افزار 2/3Motic image plus ضخامت آندومتر اندازه‌گیری شد. یافته‌ها: بر اساس بررسی‌های انجام شده با میکروسکوپ نوری و استفاده از نرم‌افزار 2/3 Motic image plus، ضخامت آندومتریوم بر حسب mµ در گروه شاهد 35/15 ± 05/358، در گروه گنادوتروپین 46/12 ± 84/389 و در گروه گنادوتروپین + پروژسترون 03/13 ± 64/381 بود. تفاوت معنی‌داری بین گروه شاهد و گنادوتروپین و بین گروه شاهد و گروه گنادوتروپین + پروژسترون نیز مشاهده نشد. همچنین در مقایسه‌ی سه گروه با هم، ضخامت آندومتر در هر 3 گروه با هم تفاوت معنی‌داری را نشان نداد (050/0 > P). نتیجه‌گیری: القای تخمدان و به دنبال آن استفاده از پروژسترون نتوانست تغییر قابل توجهی در ضخامت آندومتریوم رحم موش‌های تحریک شده به وسیله‌ی هورمون‌های محرک تخمک‌گذاری ایجاد نماید.

Atherosclerosis is a progressive and multifactorial disease which occurs under the influence of various risk factors including endothelial dysfunction (ED), oxidative stress, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation. In contract to the initial hypotheses on the usefulness of vitamin E supplementation for cardiovascular disease prevention, large outcome trials showed consumption of vitamin E has no obvious effect on cardiovascular disease and, in some cases, it may even increase the rate of mortality. This seemingly unexpected finding may be due to the opposite effects of vitamin E compounds. Vitamin E is a group of compounds which have different and even opposing effects, yet in most of the studies, the exact consumed component of vitamin E is not determined. It appears that the combined consumption of gamma-tocopherol, vitamin C, D, and tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) may be extremely effective in both preventing atherogenesis and suppressing plaque development. In this regard, one of main issues is effect of vitamins E and D deficiency on microRNAs network in atherosclerosis. Various studies have indicated that miRNAs have key roles in atherosclerosis pathogenesis. The deficiency of vitamins E and D could provide a deregulation for miRNAs network and these events could lead to progression of atherosclerosis. Here, we highlighted a variety of mechanisms involve in the progression of atherosclerosis and effects of vitamins D and E on these mechanisms. Moreover, we summarized miRNAs involve in atherosclerosis and their regulation by vitamins E and D deficiency. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 2968-2976, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The igneous rocks, some geological specifics, and also the very melt inclusions in Late Cenozoic rhyolites were studied in the long-lived Miocene (N1, ca. 20 Ma) - Late Quaternary (Q3?) Bazman volcano, eastern Iran. Unusual low temperature (ca. 690o C) silicate melt inclusions in quartz (Qtz) with a High/very High water content (from average 6.9 to 8.2 (up to 9.0 as a limit) wt% H2O) in the acid rocks were defined by independent methods for the first time. Whole-rock chemistry of the melts studied is similar to ones in subduction-related acid melts from different regions. Rhyolites studied sometimes have higher concentration of ore elements, similar to ones in even basites. Ore inheritance from economic porphyry – PCD (Cu-Au +- Mo) Paleogene (mainly Eocene - Pg2) mineralization and deposits in the region is proposed. Geological anomaly of the whole region is proposed by a complex analysis. This anomaly is maybe responsible for anomalous magmatism due to a known tomography data (since Paleocene (Pg1), as minimum), tectonics, metallogeny (including economic one), and maybe - hydrocarbons (HC, oil - gas) activity.

Alzheimer's disease is associated to impairments of learning and memory. Because studies demonstrated that erythropoietin has positive effects on central nervous system, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of erythropoietin on spatial learning and memory in a well defined model for Alzheimer's disease. Rat model of Alzheimer's was created by injecting streptozotocin in lateral ventricles of the brain. Two weeks later, the rats were assessed through passive avoidance learning test to confirm the induction of Alzheimer's. After that, they received erythropoietin (5000IU/kg) every other day, for two weeks and then spatial learning and memory were assessed by a 5-day protocol of Morris water maze test in them. The results showed that streptozotocin severely damaged learning and memory in rats. Erythropoietin had no significant effect in the control rats; however, it significantly improved learning and memory in rats with Alzheimer's disease, as the task performance of the rats treated with erythropoietin was like the control group. The results suggest that erythropoietin can be considered as an effective treatment for neurodegenerative damages.

In this study, we investigated the effects of genistein, daidzein, and soy protein on paraoxonase and arylesterase activity, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and lipid profiles of arthritic rats in vivo and the results were compared with that of dexamethasone. Seventy-two female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into six groups: healthy control, animals with collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), CIA-soy protein (7 g/kg)-treated rats, CIA-genistein (20 mg/kg)-treated animals, CIA-daidzein (20 mg/kg)-treated rats, and CIA-dexamethasone (1 mg/kg)-treated rats. Rheumatoid arthritis was induced using collagen type II and the treatments were carried out by daily gavages feedings for 50 days. The paraoxonase activity in serum was measured spectrophotometrically using paraoxon and phenylacetate as substrates. Serum MDA and lipids levels were determined using enzymatic colorimetric methods. Arthritis-induced decreases in paraoxonase and arylesterase activity was restored after treatment with soy protein and isoflavones (P.05). MDA concentrations were lower after treatment with all tested compounds. However, only soy protein could partially improve the lipid profile.

In this paper, presents an optimized combinational logic based Rijndael S-Box implementation for the SubByte transformation(S-box) in the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm on FPGA. S-box dominated the hardware complexity of the AES cryptographic module thus we implement its mathematic equations based on optimized and combinational logic circuits until dynamic power consumption reduced. The complete data path of the S- box algorithm is simulated as a net list of AND, OR, NOT and XOR logic gates, also for increase in speed and maximum operation frequency used 4-stage pipeline in proposed method. The proposed implemented combinational logic based S-box have been successfully synthesized and implemented using Xilinx ISE V7.1 and Virtex IV FPGA to target device Xc4vf100. Power is analized using Xilinx XPower analyzer and achieved power consumption is 29 mW in clock frequency of 100 MHz. The results from the Place and Route report indicate that maximum clock frequency is 209.617 MHz.

This paper presents, complete step by step description design and implementation of a high speed technique for character segmentation of license plate based on thresholding algorithm. Because of vertical edges in the plate, fast Sobel edge detection has been used for extracting location of license plate, after stage edge detection the image is segmented by thresholding algorithm and the color of characters is changed to white and the color of background is black. Then, boundary's pixels of license plate are scanned and their color is changed to black pixels. Afterward the image is scanned vertically and if the number of black pixels in a column is equal to the width of plate or a little few, then the pixels of that column is changed to white pixel, until create white columns between characters, in continue we change pixels around license plate to white pixels. Finally characters are segmented cleanly. We test proposed character segmentation algorithm for stage recognition of number by code that we design. Results of experimentation on different images demonstrate ability of proposed algorithm. The accuracy of proposed character segmentation is 99% and average time of character segmentation is 15ms with thresholding algorithm code and 0.7ms only segmentation character code that is very small in comparison with other algorithms.

Android devices provide opportunities for users to install third-party applications through various online markets. This brings security and privacy concerns to the users since third-party applications may pose serious threats. The exponential growth and diversity of these applications render conventional defenses ineffective, thus, Android smartphones often remain unprotected from novel malware. In this work, we present XDroid, an Android app and resource risk assessment framework using hidden Markov model. In this framework, we first map the applications' behaviors into an observation set, and we introduce a novel approach to attach timestamp to some observations to improve the accuracy of the model. We show that our HMM can be utilized to generates risk alerts to users when suspicious behaviors are found. Furthermore, an online learning model is introduced to enable the integration of the input from users and provide adaptive risk assessment to meet user's preferences. We evaluate our model through a set of experiments on a benchmark malware dataset DREBIN. Our experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model can assess malicious apps risk-levels with high accuracy. It also provide adaptive risk assessment based on input from users.

With the exponential growth of the Internet use, cyber-threats are emerging rapidly. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is one of the most common but damaging kinds of cyberattacks. A DDoS attack to a server typically prevents clients from receiving service by making the server overwhelmed with many invalid service requests. It is always a challenging problem to protect a system from DDoS attacks as it is not trivial to distinguish between an attack packet and a legitimate one. In this work, we have proposed VFence -- a defense mechanism against DDoS attack that leverages the capability of the Network Function Virtualization (NFV) architecture. NFV is the technology of virtualizing network functions in virtual machines on commodity servers and it allows a flexible and dynamic implementation of the network functions. Our proposed mechanism uses network agents to intercept packets when the system is potentially under attack, to verify their authenticity, and to keep the server safe by dropping illegitimate packets. Since the attack intensity often varies, our NFV-based defense framework deploys agents dynamically to balance the attack load. Our simulation results demonstrate that the mechanism can successfully defeat the DDoS attacks by having all legitimate requests served, and the increase in the server's response time is insignificant compared to that of a successful DDoS attack.

RecDroid is a smartphone permission management system which provides users with a fine-grained real-time app permission control and a recommendation system regarding whether to grant the permission or not based on expert users' responses in the network. However, in such a system, malware owners may create multiple bot users to misguide the recommendation system by providing untruthful responses on the malicious app. Threshold-based detection method can detect malicious users which are dishonest on many apps, but it cannot detect malicious users that target on some specific apps. In this work, we present a clustering-based method called BotTracer to finding groups of bot users controlled by the same masters, which can be used to detect bot users with high reputation scores. The key part of the proposed method is to map the users into a graph based on their similarity and apply a clustering algorithm to group users together. We evaluate our method using a set of simulated users' profiles, including malicious users and regular ones. Our experimental results demonstrate high accuracy in terms of detecting malicious users. Finally, we discuss several clustering features and their impact on the clustering results.

In current Android architecture, users have to decide whether an app is safe to use or not. Technical-savvy users can make correct decisions to avoid unnecessary privacy breach. However, most users may have difficulty to make correct decisions. DroidNet is an Android permission recommendation framework based on crowdsourcing. In this framework, DroidNet runs new apps under probation mode without granting their permission requests up-front. It provides recommendations on whether to accept or reject the permission requests based on decisions from peer expert users. To seek expert users, we propose an expertise rating algorithm using transitional Bayesian inference model. The recommendation is based on the aggregated expert responses and its confidence level. Our evaluation results demonstrate that given sufficient number of experts in the network, DroidNet can provide accurate recommendations and cover majority of app requests given a small coverage from a small set of initial experts.

This study was aimed to evaluate the preventive effect of diosgenin and exercise on tissue antioxidant status in isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarction (MI) in male Wistar rats. Levels of lipid peroxides, reduced glutathione (GSH), and the activities of glutathione-dependent antioxidant enzymes (glutathione peroxidise and glutathione reductase) and antiperoxidative enzymes (catalase and superoxide dismutase) in the plasma and the heart tissue of experimental groups of rats were determined. Pretreatment with diosgenin and exercise exerted an antioxidant effect against isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarction by blocking the induction of lipid peroxidation. A tendency to prevent the isoproterenol-induced alterations in the level of GSH, in the activities of glutathione-dependent antioxidant enzymes and antiperoxidative enzymes was also observed. Histopathological findings of the myocardial tissue showed a protective role for combination of diosgenin and exercise in isoproterenol (ISO)-treated rats. Thus, the present study reveals that preconditioning with diosgenin and exercise exerts cardioprotective effect against ISO-induced MI due to its free radical scavenging and antioxidant effects, which maintains the tissue defense system against myocardial damage.