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A trusted platform module is identified by its endorsement key, while it uses an attestation key to provide attestation services, for example, signing a set of platform configuration registers, providing a timestamp or certifying another of its keys. This paper addresses the problem of how a certificate authority binds the endorsement and attestation keys together. This is necessary for the authority to be able to reliably certify the attestation key. This key binding also enables the authority to revoke the attestation key should the endorsement key be compromised. We study all of the existing solutions and show that they either do not solve the problem or cannot be implemented with a real trusted platform module (or both). We propose a new solution which addresses this problem. We develop a security model for our solution and provide a rigorous security proof under this model. We have also implemented the solution using a real trusted platform module, and our implementation results show that this solution is feasible and efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two-degree-of-freedom (2DOF) vibration isolation structure with an integrated geometric nonlinear inerter (NI) device is proposed. The device is integrated into an inertial nonlinear energy sink (INES), and its vibration suppression performance is examined by the Runge-Kutta (RK) method and verified by the harmonic balance method (HBM). The new isolator is compared with a traditional vibration isolator. The results show a significant improvement in the vibration suppression performance. To investigate the effects of the excitation amplitude and initial condition on the dynamics of the system, a series of transmissibility-frequency response analyses are performed based on the displacement transmissibility. The energy flow of the system is analyzed, and numerous calculations reveal a series of ideal values for the energy sink in the NI-INES system. This study provides new insights for the design of vibration isolators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A redactable consortium blockchain (RCB) can build a trust layer for industrial internet of things (IIoT) so as to enable IIoT to resist certain powerful attacks resulting in improper block content. The redactability is particularly important for blockchains applied in IIoT with valuable or sensitive activities such as financial IoT or energy-trading IoT. Huang et al. proposed a threshold chameleon hash (TCH) scheme and then constructed an accountable-and-sanitizable chameleon signature scheme based on TCH. These two primitives are further used as fundamental modules to build an RCB, which empowers IIoT devices to operate the blockchain in a controllable way. However, our paper shows that Huang et al. 's RCB suffers from a security problem that weakens the crucial redactability. Specifically, we find out that if a transaction in a given block is legally redacted by all authorized sensors who collectively hold the private redacting key, anyone (without any private information) can further redact this redacted transaction and delete any transaction within this redacted block and, meanwhile, any sensor user with a private signing (not redacting) key can insert a forged transaction into this redacted block. We further address this threat by replacing the TCH module in Huang et al. 's RCB with our designed TCH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To explore the effects of self-care plus forecasting nursing on the treatment outcomes and emotions in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients undergoing radiotherapy. Methods. Eighty nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients after radiotherapy admitted to our hospital from February 2020 to August 2021 were selected. The patients were allocated into an observation group (n = 40) and an experimental group (n = 40) according to different nursing protocols. The observation group received traditional nursing intervention, whereas the experimental group received self-care plus forecasting nursing intervention. The levels of the indexes (quality of life, score on the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), score on the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), and adverse reaction) were compared between the two groups. Results. The score of the experimental group for the quality of life was significantly higher than that of the observation group (P < 0.05); the SAS and SDS scores of the experimental group after nursing intervention were significantly lower than those of the observation group (P < 0.05); the incidence of adverse reactions in the experimental group during radiotherapy was significantly lower than that of the observation group (P < 0.05). Conclusion. The self-care plus forecasting nursing intervention is effective in postradiotherapy patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The technique is proved effective to improve the quality of life, reduce anxiety and depression, and decrease the incidence of adverse reactions in patients during treatment. These features make the technique worthy of a wider clinical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modeling high-spatial dimensional (high-D) distributed parameter systems (DPSs) is very difficult because of the spatially distributed characteristic and complex spatiotemporal coupling. In this article, a new framework based on high-order singular vector decomposition (HOSVD) is proposed to model a high-D DPS. A modified HOSVD is designed for separation of time and multiple spatial variables. It can well preserve the spatially distributed nature of the high-D DPS. It also considers the interaction across different spatial modes, which is an important part of spatiotemporal coupling in the high-D DPS. Experiments of a two-spatial dimensional thermal curing process are used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. An average prediction error near 1% of the curing temperature can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On-orbit real-time image processing is of increasing demands due to requirements for quick-response missions. Image destriping is usually an important pre-processing step to improve image quality in practice. The unidirectional variational models have shown impressive destriping performance. However, they are not easy for real-time implementation for high-computation complexity and there are few attempts for hardware implementation. This article is the first hardware implementation of variational image destriping algorithm, which achieves high throughput for large-swath remote-sensing images. In this article, a fully pipelined hardware architecture is proposed. First, the involved iteration loop is unrolled and a coarse-grained parallelism is obtained. Second, for each deployed iteration computation blocks (ICBs), a dedicated timing arrangement is designed to alleviate the bottleneck caused by the data dependency within each ICB, obtaining a fine-grained parallelism. Moreover, to further optimize the critical path, an approximate simplification scheme is proposed, saving the resource usage and reducing computing delay. The proposed architecture is implemented and verified on a XILINX 6vcx240t field programmable gate array (FPGA); it achieves a maximum frame rate up to 41.9 frames/s with delay of only tens of row cycles for 8-bit ${{2048}} \times {{2048}}$ images. It performs all the processing on the pixels in raster scan order on- the-fly as they are being transmitted from camera payload, which significantly facilitates on- orbit real-time processing of large-swath remote-sensing images with high data rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The remaining useful life (RUL) prediction of Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is of great importance to the health management of electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. However, fluctuation and nonlinearity occur during battery degradation, resulting in difficulties in both model adaptability and RUL prediction accuracy. To face the challenge, we propose a sequence decomposition and deep learning integrated prognostic approach for the RUL prediction of LIBs. Complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition and principal component analysis are applied to separate the local fluctuations and the global degradation trend from the battery aging data. The long short-term memory neural network combined with fully connected layers is designed as a transfer learning model. The hyperparameter optimization and finetuning strategy of the model is developed based on offline training data. In addition, to further realize the reasonable and effective LIB second-life applications, the RUL corresponding to different failure thresholds is predicted. The performance of the proposed integrated approach in degradation modeling and RUL prediction is evaluated on three publicly available LIB datasets with different degradation characteristics, as well as compared with other prediction algorithms under the same conditions. The illustrative results demonstrate that the proposed approach can achieve accurate, adaptive, and robust prediction for both capacity trajectory and RUL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce Password Authenticated Searchable Encryption (PASE), a novel searchable encryption scheme where a single human-memorizable password can be used to outsource (encrypted) data with associated keywords to a group of servers and later retrieve this data through the encrypted keyword search procedure. PASE ensures that only the legitimate user who knows the initially registered password can perform these operations. In particular, PASE guarantees that no single server can mount an offline attack on the user's password or learn any information about the encrypted keywords. The concept behind PASE protocols extends previous concepts behind searchable encryption by removing the requirement on the client to store high-entropy keys, thus making the protocol device-agnostic on the user side. In this paper, we model the functionality of PASE along with two security requirements (indistinguishability against chosen keyword attacks and authentication) and propose an efficient direct construction in a two-server setting those security we prove in the standard model under the Decisional Diffie–Hellman assumption. Our constructions support outsourcing and retrieval procedures based on multiple keywords and allow users to change their passwords without any need for the re-encryption of the outsourced data. Our theoretical efficiency comparisons and experimental performance and scalability measurements show that the proposed scheme is practical and offers high performance in relation to computations and communications on the user side. The practicality of our PASE scheme is further demonstrated through its implementation within a JavaScript-based web application that can readily be executed on any (mobile) browser and remains practical for commodity user devices such as laptops and smartphones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Testudinis Carapax et Plastrum (TCP, Guijia) and Trionycis Carapax (TC, Biejia), which made from the shell of Chinemys reevesii (CR) and Pelodiscus sinensis (PS), were two kinds of widely used animal-derived Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Some cheap substitutes such as the carapace and plastron of Trachemys scripta (TS), Mauremys sinensis (MS), or Apalone ferox (AF) shells obtained from restaurants are sometimes used, which expose the public health to a high risk and cause unfair competitions in the market. Objective: The objective of the study was to develop a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach to simultaneously differentiate five Chelonia species and identify adulteration of two natural products. Materials and Methods: Five novel species-specific primers were designed for CR, TS, MS, PS, and AF, followed by optimization of PCR conditions and validation for specificity and sensitivity. Then, a deliberate mixture was analyzed to verify the capability of adulteration detection. Finally, it was used to examine commercial products. Results: The developed method proved to be highly specific and detection limit was 1 ng for all the species tested. Particularly, it was still applicable and reliable when processed products or deliberate adulteration were examined. Two batches of commercial raw TCP products were identified to be counterfeited by TS using the newly proposed approach. Conclusion: The newly proposed multiplex PCR method showed sufficient merits to be readily employed as a regular means to authenticate edible and medicinal TCM products made of TCP and TC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: CRISPR/CAS9 systems, which can be utilized in vitro biological experiments, have recently captured much attention for their important roles and benefits. However, full realization of the potential of CRISPR/CAS9 approaches requires addressing many challenges and side effects. The expression of genes and potential side effects of CRISPR/CAS9 in human cells remains to be elucidated. The aim of our study was to explore the effect of CRISPR/CAS9 on gene expression in 293T cells. Methods: A Cas9-expressing PX458 plasmid and Cas9-deactivated PX458-T2A plasmid were used to study the role of CRISPR/CAS9 on regulating gene expression in 293T cells. Gene expression in 293T cells after transfection of the PX458 plasmid or PX458-T2A plasmid was detected by RNA sequencing and correlative statistical analysis. Differential gene expression in both PX458 transfected 293T cells and PX458-T2A transfected 293T cells compared with normal 293T cells was detected using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT qPCR). The mRNA and protein levels were measured using reverse transcription PCR and Western blot. Co-IP assay combined with shotgun LC-MS/MS were used to investigate the differences of NGFR-interaction proteins between PX458 transfected 293T cells and PX458-T2A transfected 293T cells. Results: In this study, we observed that PX458 plasmid transfection and Cas9 expression can affect the expression of different genes, including FOSB (FBJ murine osteosarcoma viral oncogene homolog B), IL-11 (Interleukin-11), MMP1 (matrix metalloproteinase), CYP2D6 (CytochromeP4502D6), and NGFR (matrix metalloproteinase 1). Downregulation of NGFR after PX458 transfection was confirmed by RT qPCR and western blot analysis. NGFR expression was significantly lower in PX458 transfected 293T cells than in normal 293T cells and PX458-T2A transfected 293T cells. The co-IP dilutions analyzed by shotgun LC-MS/MS showed a total of 183 proteins interact with NGFR in PX458 transfected 293T cells while 221 proteins interact with NGFR were identified in PX458-T2A transfected 293T cells using the MASCOT engine. Conclusions: Cas9 expression by transfection of the PX458 plasmid was negatively correlated with the NGFR mRNA level and NGFR protein expression in 293T cells, while PX458-T2A, in which Cas9 is deactivated, did not affect NGFR expression. The decrease in NGFR expression also affects the amount of proteins that interact with NGFR. These results suggest that the effect of Cas9 on NGFR expression and the expression of other genes should be noticed when developing cell-based studies and therapies utilizing CRISPR/CAS9 systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Asini Corii Colla (ACC; donkey-hide glue) and Taurus Corii Colla (TCC; bovine-hide glue) are popular healthcare food supplements as well as well-recognized medicine in Traditional Chinese medicine clinics. Due to large demand of them and limited resources of their animal origins, the skin of other animals are often used to make their fake or adulterated products. Objective: In this study, we aimed to develop a species-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach to detect deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fragments of ACC and TCC for rapid authentication purpose. Materials and Methods: Four sets of novel species-specific primer were designed, and PCR conditions were optimized for the PCR assay, which was further validated for specificity and sensitivity. Then, deliberate mixture was analyzed to further verify the capability of adulteration detection by the developed PCR method. Finally, it was used to assess the authenticity of commercial products. Results: Four primers' sets were specific for amplification of extracted mitochondrial DNA of donkey, bovine, swine, and horse when the annealing temperature was 59°C, 59°C, 63°C, and 65°C, and 40 thermal cycles was performed. Under this optimized PCR conditions, 1 ng/μL of horse DNA template has been detected in the sensitivity test, with 0.1 ng/μL for donkey, bovine, and swine. The assay was capable of detecting spiked species at 10% level in premixed ACC or TCC samples. Conclusion: The newly developed PCR-based technology was specific and sensitive, and it was a convenient approach for the authentication of commercial ACC and TCC products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ni layer is widely utilized in Bi 2 Te 3 -based thermoelectric generators (TEGs) as a diffusion barrier layer. However, its influences on the contact resistance of the solder joints and the power generation properties of the TEGs are still unclear, which are of great importance in practical applications. In this study, Bi 2 Te 3 -based thermoelectric (TE) modules with Ni (NiTM) and without Ni (TM) layer were fabricated by using Sn 96.5 Ag 3 Cu 0.5 (SAC305) solder. Experimental results showed that Ni layer could effectively reduce 32% of contact resistances in P-type and N-type solder joints. P-type solder joint with Ni avoided voids forming on the border of the Bi 0.5 Sb 1.5 Te 3 and SAC305 by suppressing severe Te and Sb elements diffusion. In N-type solder joint, since Ni inhibited the formation of Bi-Te self-diffusion barrier layer, no cracks generated at the interface between Bi 2 Te 2.5 Se 0.5 and SAC305. In terms of power generation abilities, the inherently superior performance of TE legs was maintained due to effective suppression of element diffusion. When the temperature difference was 161 °C, the open circuit voltage of NiTM exhibited an enhancement of 13% compared with that of TM. The lower contact resistance and higher open circuit voltage resulted in a much higher maximum output power (an enhancement of 90%) in NiTM. • The effects of Ni layer on contact resistance of Bi 2 Te 3 -based module were studied. • Cracks generated at the interface of Bi 2 Te 2.5 Se 0.5 and SAC305 were avoided by Ni layer. • Voids formed on the border of Bi 0.5 Sb 1.5 Te 3 and SAC305 were suppressed by Ni layer. • The changes of intermetallic compounds brought by Ni layer were investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate early prediction of Li-ion battery aging facilitates new product optimization and application management. Here, a joint modeling scheme is proposed. It is dedicated to decoupling cell-to-cell variability and cycle-by-cycle nonlinear aging in Li-ion batteries, enabling accurate cycle life and capacity trajectory predictions. An aging end-point early predictor is established based on the multiple output Gaussian process (MOGP). It enables better performance by sharing knowledge across outputs, including cycle life and life capacity. For degradation trajectory prediction, an aging process trajectory predictor is constructed based on the 'prompt-learning' paradigm neural network, and the life capacity from MOGP is used as the prompt input. Moreover, a Bayesian search strategy is proposed to obtain optimal feature combinations, and feature alignment is used to narrow the gap between source and target domains. The proposed scheme is developed on the source domain with 41 cells and tested on three special target domains with 128 cells. As a result, the predicted error of cycle life can be within 7.87%, and that of the capacity trajectory can be within 6.53%. The prediction results prove its high adaptability and effectiveness. The achievements will promote high-dimensional parameter design and optimization, accelerating battery development and reducing testing costs. [Display omitted] • Accurate prediction is achieved for both LIB cycle life and aging trajectory. • An aging end-point early predictor is built using the multi-output Gaussian process. • A prompt-learning paradigm joint model is used for degradation trajectory prediction. • Optimization strategies are proposed for feature combination and alignment. • Effectiveness is demonstrated on 169 commercial cells for 80 protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In cryptography, a ring signature is anonymous as it hides the signer's identity among other users. When generating the signature, the users are arranged as a ring. Compared with group signatures, a ring signature scheme needs no group manager or special setup and supports flexibility of group choice. However, the anonymity provided by ring signatures can be used to conceal a malicious signer and put other ring members under suspicion. At the other extreme, it does not allow the actual signer to prove their identity and gain recognition for their actions. A deniable ring signature is designed to overcome these disadvantages. It can initially protect the signer, but if necessary, it enables other ring members to deny their involvement, and allows the real signer to prove who made the signed action. Many real-world applications can benefit from such signatures. Inspired by the requirement for them to remain viable in the post-quantum age, this work proposes a new non-interactive deniable ring signature scheme based on lattice assumptions. Our scheme is proved to be anonymous, traceable and non-frameable under quantum attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear receptor subfamily 4 group A member 1 (NR4A1; also termed Nur77/TR3/NGFIB), a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily, is expressed as an early response gene to regulate the expression of multiple target genes. Nur77 has the typical structure of a nuclear receptor, including an N-terminal domain, a DNA binding domain, and a ligand-binding domain. The expression and localization of Nur77 are closely associated with its roles in cell proliferation and apoptosis. Nur77 was first identified as an orphan receptor, the endogenous ligand of which has not yet been identified; however, an increasing number of compounds targeting Nur77 have been reported to have beneficial effects in the treatment of cancer and other diseases. This review provides a brief overview of the identification, structure, expression and localization, transcriptional role and non-genomic function of Nur77, and summarizes the ligands that have been shown to interact with Nur77, including cytosporone B, cisplatin, TMPA, PDNPA, CCE9, THPN, Z-ligustilide, celastrol and bisindole methane compounds, which may potentially be used to treat cancer in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By use of the self-consistent-field Xα scattered-wave (SCF-Xα-SW) method, the electronic structure was calculated for two models of γ-Fe[SUB12]-B[SUB2]-V cluster as well as the γ-Fe[SUB13] cluster for contrast. Results are presented for total energy, energy levels, density of states, and one-electron properties. Comparisons are made between two models of γ-Fe[SUB12]-B[SUB2]-V cluster, and between γ-Fe[SUB12]-B[SUB2]-V and γ-Fe[SUB13] clusters. The analyses are of the effect of the boron-vacancy (B-V-B) complex on the physical properties of γ-Fe. The calculations indicate that there is a strong interaction between boron and host atoms. Thus the B-V-B complex is favorable for thermal stability. Comparison of the average energy of an atom between the γ-Fe[SUB12]-B[SUB2]-V and α-Fe[SUB8]-B[SUB2]-V clusters shows that a B-V-B complex may restrain the nucleation of ferrite in austenite transformation and thereby is beneficial to the hardenability on quenching of austenitic steel. The results also indicate a strong binding between B atoms and vacancies, which is favorable for the creep-rupture life of austenitic steel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glioma stem cells (GSCs) are thought to be responsible for the initiation and progression of glioblastoma (GBM). GBM presents highly invasive growth with a very high recurrence rate, so it has become a clinical problem to be solved urgently. RNAseq demonstrates that thrombospondin 1 (THBS1) acts not only in the angiogenic core of glioma but also with a high degree of invasiveness and infiltration. Nevertheless, defects in the signaling pathway research lead to a poor prognosis in glioma patients. To investigate the relevant molecular mechanism and signal pathway of glioma stem cell behavior mediated by THBS1 , U251 astroglioma cells and GSCs were taken as model cells for in vitro experiments. The biological effects of THBS1 on glioma proliferation, migration, and adhesion were evaluated using Cell Counting Kit-8(CCK8) assays, EdU incorporation assays, migration assays, Transwell assays, Western blotting, and RNAseq. We found that the knockout of the THBS1 gene by CRISPR/Cas9 promoted proliferation and migration in U251 cells and GSCs, as well as influencing cell cycle progression by regulating the TNF/MAPK/NF-κB and TGF-β/Smad signaling pathways. Moreover, U251 cells and GSCs showed different responses to THBS1 knockout, suggesting specific and potential targets for GSCs in signaling pathways mediated by THBS1. • U251 astroglioma cells and GSCs were taken as model cells for in vitro experiments. • Knockout of the THBS1 gene by CRISPR/Cas9 promoted proliferation and migration in U251 cells and GSCs. • THBS1 gene influencing cell cycle progression by regulating the TNF/MAPK/NF-κB and TGF-β/Smad signaling pathways. • U251 cells and GSCs showed different responses to THBS1 knockout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel dual-transformer-based asymmetrical dual-bridge (DT-ADB) converter with secondary-side phase-shift control strategy is proposed. The primary side of the DT-ADB converter is a fully active full bridge, and the secondary side is a semiactive bridge comprising of one active leg and two passive legs. The current and power of the two transformers in the converter are shared automatically by adopting primary-side-series and secondary-side-parallel configuration, and the turns ratio of the transformer is reduced by employing two transformers. The high-frequency-link inductor is reduced because the voltage applied on the inductor is reduced compared to previous converters, and hence the efficiency and power density can be improved. Zero-voltage turn-on of all the active switches and zero-current turn-off of all the diodes are achieved in a wide operation range. Furthermore, the turn-off losses of the secondary-side active switches are reduced because only half of the output current flows through the switches. Moreover, the proposed topology offers several other advantages including continuous output current and smaller output filter requirement. The operation principle is analyzed and experimental results are provided to verify the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A vibration-based energy harvester is essentially a resonator working in a limited frequency range. To increase the working frequency range is a challenging problem. This paper reveals a novel possibility for enhancing energy harvesting via internal resonance. An internal resonance energy harvester is proposed. The excitation is successively assumed as the Gaussian white noise, the colored noise defined by a second-order filter, the narrow-band noise, and exponentially correlated noise. The corresponding averaged root-mean-square output voltages are computed. Numerical results demonstrate that the internal resonance increases the operating bandwidth and the output voltage. Graphical Abstract: Averaged root-mean-square voltage via standard deviation of white noise for five designs [Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outer synchronization of irregular coupled complex networks is investigated with nonidentical topological structures. The switching gain is estimated by an adaptive technique, and a sliding mode controller is designed to satisfy the sliding condition. The outer synchronization between two irregular coupled complex networks with different initial conditions is implemented via the designed controllers with the corresponding parameter update laws. The chaos synchronization of two small-world networks consisting of N uncertain identical Lorenz systems is achieved to demonstrate the applications of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Swarm robotics is the study of how a large number of relatively simple robots can be designed so that a desired collective behaviour emerges from the local interactions among robots and between the robots and their environment. While many aspects of a swarm may be modelled as various types of ad hoc networks, and accordingly many aspects of security of the swarm may be achieved by conventional means, here we will focus on swarm emergent behaviour as something that most distinguishes swarm robotics from ad hoc networks. We discuss the challenges emergent behaviour poses on communications security, and by classifying a swarm by types of robots, types of communication channels, and types of adversaries, we examine what classes may be secured by traditional methods and focus on aspects that are most relevant to allowing emergent behaviour. We will examine how this can be secured by ensuring that communication is secure. We propose a simple solution using hash chains, and by modelling swarm communications using a series of random graphs, we show that this allows us to identify rogue robots with a high probability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we focus on the bifurcation analysis of a multi-stable nonlinear oscillator. This oscillator exhibits multiple equilibrium configurations depending on the parameter of a mechanical model. It is shown that the equilibrium curve undergoes multiple fold bifurcations, a supercritical pitchfork bifurcation, multiple discontinuous bifurcations, and multiple hysteresis bifurcations. Additionally, multiple solutions and different forms of bifurcation are observed for certain parameter values. Moreover, different response orbits under different initial conditions are emphasized by adopting the generalized cell mapping method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Retinoid X receptor-alpha (RXRα), an intriguing and unique drug target, can serve as an intracellular target mediating the anticancer effects of certain nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including sulindac. We report the synthesis and characterization of two sulindac analogs, K-8008 and K-8012, which exert improved anticancer activities over sulindac in a RXRα-dependent manner. The analogs inhibit the interaction of the N-terminally truncated RXRα (tRXRα) with the p85α subunit of PI3K, leading to suppression of AKT activation and induction of apoptosis. Crystal structures of the RXRα ligand-binding domain (LBD) with K-8008 or K-8012 reveal that both compounds bind to tetrameric RXRα LBD at a site different from the classical ligand-binding pocket. Thus, these results identify K-8008 and K-8012 as tRXRα modulators and define a binding mechanism for regulating the nongenomic action of tRXRα. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A convenient and highly efficient synthesis of mono-, di-, and tri-O-mannosylated Fmoc-Ser and Thr is described. The short synthetic route and high overall yield highlight the synthetic utility of this unified approach. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: RXRα represents an intriguing and unique target for pharmacologic interventions. We recently showed that Sulindac and a designed analog could bind to RXRα and modulate its biological activity, including inhibition of the interaction of an N-terminally truncated RXRα (tRXRα) with the p85α regulatory subunit of phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase (PI3K). Here we report the synthesis, testing and SAR of a series of novel analogs of Sulindac as potential modulators for inhibiting tRXRα-dependent AKT activation. A new compound 30 was identified to have improved biological activity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Polyacrylonitrile-based carbon fibers were electrochemically oxidized under a wide variety of current densities, and then surface changes in the morphological structures and the chemical compositions were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Finally, the effects of carbon fiber surface chemistry on the interfacial properties of carbon fiber reinforced composites were researched. The results showed that surface contaminants generated during the production process were removed and the relative contents of oxygen and nitrogen elements increased by 322% and 432%, respectively, after the electrochemical oxidation. Increases in the O/C and N/C ratios resulted in the increase in the interlaminar shear strength values of composites. However, much higher O/C and N/C ratios led to decline in the interlaminar shear strength values. Carboxyl groups were responsible for strong interactions between carbon fiber surfaces and the epoxy resin. When the current densities were more than 5 A/m2, the interfacial bonding between carbon fibers and the epoxy resin became weak and the interlaminar shear strength values also decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mixture toxicity is an important issue for the risk assessment of environmental pollutants, for which an extensive amount of data are necessary in evaluating their potential adverse health effects. However, it is very hard to decipher the interaction between compounds due to limited techniques. Contamination of heavy metals and organophosphoric insecticides under the environmental and biological settings poses substantial health risk to humans. Although previous studies demonstrated the co-occurrence of cadmium (Cd) and chlorpyrifos (CPF) in environmental medium and food chains, their interaction and potentially synergistic toxicity remain elusive thus far. Here we integrated the approaches of thin-layer chromatography and 1H NMR to study the interaction between Cd2+ and CPF in inducing hepatoxicity. A novel interaction was identified between Cd2+ and CPF, which might be the bonding between Cd2+ and nitrogen atom in the pyridine ring of CPF, or the chelation formation between one Cd2+ and two CPF molecules. The Cd-CPF complex was conferred with distinct biological fate and toxicological performances from its parental components. We further demonstrated that the joint hepatoxicity of Cd ion and CPF was chiefly due to the Cd-CPF complex-facilitated intracellular transport associated with oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main contributions of this paper are twofold. On the one hand, the twin Diffie-Hellman (twin DH) problem proposed by Cash et al. is extended to the n-Diffie-Hellman ( n-DH) problem for an arbitrary integer n, and this new problem is shown to be at least as hard as the ordinary DH problem. Like the twin DH problem, the n-DH problem remains hard even in the presence of a decision oracle that recognizes solution to the problem. On the other hand, observe that the double-size key in the Cash et al. twin DH-based encryption scheme can be replaced by two separated keys each for one entity that results in a 2-party encryption scheme which holds the same security feature as the original scheme but removes the key redundancy. This idea is further extended to an n-party case, which is also known as n-out-of- n encryption. As examples, a variant of ElGamal encryption and a variant of Boneh-Franklin IBE have been presented; both of them have proved to be chosen ciphertext attack secure under the computational DH assumption and the computational bilinear Diffie-Hellman assumption, respectively, in the random oracle model. The two schemes are efficient, due partially to the size of their ciphertext, which is independent to the value n. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: NO2 is a well-known indoor and outdoor pollutant that may cause adverse health problems. Recently, accumulating but extremely limited evidences show that NO2 possibly express neurotoxicity and is responsible for various neurological disorders. In the present study, neurological hazard of NO2 and possible mechanisms were determined in rat pallium following a repetitive inhalation exposure with various concentrations (5, 10 and 20mg/m3). After 7-day exposure (6h/day), observable adverse effects were induced encompassing decreased ratio of brain to body weight, mild brain pathology, increased neuronal apoptosis, altered antioxidants (Cu/Zn-SOD, Mn-SOD, GPx and NO) activity and increasing formation of PCO. NO2 inhalation also induced augment of oncogenes (c-fos, c-jun) levels, and deregulation of apoptosis-related genes (p53, bax and bcl-2) expression. With all above data, the present report provided essential information for the characterization of the neurotoxic hazard of NO2 and related mechanisms, which is required in response to the general concern about the vulnerability of the neurological system to it. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: With the catalysis of CuI/3,4,7,8-tetramethyl-1,10-phenanthroline, various ketones smoothly underwent the intramolecular O-vinylation with vinyl bromides leading to the efficient synthesis of the corresponding multisubstituted furans. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Direct Anonymous Attestation (DAA) is a cryptographic mechanism that enables remote authentication of a user while preserving privacy under the user’s control. The DAA scheme developed by Brickell, Camenisch, and Chen has been adopted by the Trust Computing Group for remote anonymous attestation of Trusted Platform Module, which is a small hardware device with limited storage space and communication capability. In this paper, we provide two contributions to DAA. We first introduce simplified security notions of DAA including the formal definitions of user controlled anonymity and traceability. We then propose a new DAA scheme from elliptic curve cryptography and bilinear maps. The lengths of private keys and signatures in our scheme are much shorter than the lengths in the original DAA scheme, with a similar level of security and computational complexity. Our scheme builds upon the Camenisch–Lysyanskaya signature scheme and is efficient and provably secure in the random oracle model under the LRSW (stands for Lysyanskaya, Rivest, Sahai and Wolf) assumption and the decisional Bilinear Diffie–Hellman assumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the first-principles self-consistent discrete variational method based on density functional theory, we investigated the effect of light impurities C and N on the electronic structure of kink on the [100](010) edge dislocation (ED) in bcc iron. Our energetic calculations show that the light impurities have a strong segregation tendency to enter the kink. The results of the charge distribution and the local density of states indicate that the strong bonds between the impurity atoms and the neighboring Fe atoms are formed due to the hybridizations of impurity atoms 2p states and Fe 3d4s4p states. The introduction of light impurities can stabilize the kink system, and impedes the sideward motion of the kink in the (100](010) ED. This is, the light impurities induce a strong pinning effect on the [100](010) ED and may result in the solid solute hardening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the molecular dynamics method, we have constructed two kink models corresponding to the (100){010} and (100){011} edge dislocations (EDs) in body centred cubic (bcc) Fe. It is found that the geometric structure of a kink depends on the type of edge dislocation and the structural energies of the atoms sites in the dislocation core region. The formation energies, migration energies and widths of the kinks in different types of EDs are calculated. The results show that formation and migration of the kink in the (100){010} edge dislocation are difficult. The (100){011} edge dislocation moves primarily through kink nucleation, rather than kink migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An optimal motion planning scheme using wavelet approximation is proposed for an underactuated spacecraft. The motion planning of an underactuated spacecraft can be formulated as an optimal control of a drift-free system. A cost functional is used to incorporate the control energy and the final state errors. The motion planning is to determine control inputs to minimize the cost functional. Using the method of wavelet, one can transform an infinite-dimensional optimal control problem to a finite-dimensional one and use Gauss-Newton algorithm to solve it for a feasible trajectory which satisfies nonholonomic constraints. The proposed scheme has been applied to a rigid spacecraft with two momentum wheels. The numerical simulation results indicate that optimal control with wavelet approximation is an effective approach to steering an underactuated spacecraft system from the initial configuration to the final configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We theoretically study the optical bistability assisted by multipole polarizations in a semiconductor quantum dot (SQD)/metal nanoparticle (MNP) hybrid molecule. We map out bistability phase diagrams within the parameter subspace spanned by (the pumping intensity Ipu, interparticle distance, d) under dipole and multipole approximations. It is shown that the Ipu-correlated bistable region will be broadened greatly in the strong exciton–plasmon coupling regime, and the corresponding lower (upper) bistable threshold is enlarged significantly due to multipole polarization (N = 10) in comparison to that in the dipole approximation (N = 1). However, under the same conditions, the d-correlated bistable region is shrunk at high pump intensities. Our contribution not only offers a better understanding of exciton–plasmon coupling systems but also expands the application of SQD/MNP hybrid molecules in the field of optical bistable nanodevices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objectives: Proteinuria is a common complication after the application of bevacizumab therapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, and severe proteinuria can lead to discontinuation of the drug. There is a lack of sophisticated means to predict bevacizumab-induced proteinuria, so the present study aims to predict bevacizumab-induced proteinuria using peripheral venous blood samples. Methods: A total of 122 subjects were enrolled and underwent pre-treatment plasma markers, and we followed them for six months with proteinuria as the endpoint event. We then analyzed the clinical features and plasma markers for grade ≥ 2 proteinuria occurrence using machine learning to construct a model with predictive utility. Results: One hundred sixteen subjects were included in the statistical analysis. We found that high baseline systolic blood pressure, low baseline HGF, high baseline ET1, high baseline MMP2, and high baseline ACE1 were risk factors for the development of grade ≥ 2 proteinuria in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who received bevacizumab. Then, we constructed a support vector machine model with a sensitivity of 0.889, a specificity of 0.918, a precision of 0.615, and an F1 score of 0.727. Conclusion: We constructed a machine learning model for predicting grade ≥ 2 bevacizumab-induced proteinuria, which may provide proteinuria risk assessment for applying bevacizumab in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the relationships between changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration throughout the geological and features of plant anatomy. Response of plant stomatal parameters to changing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations; Implications on plant primary productivity.

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editor discusses various reports in the issue on the topics including the dynamic multi-cast key distribution (DMKD) protocol, the information security and the integrity analysis of authenticated encryption focused on stream ciphers.

A system whose energy is not conserved is called nonconservative. To investigate if there exists a conserved quantity that has the same dimension as energy and is positively definite, the author analyzed the bending vibration of an axially moving beam with geometric nonlinearity. Based on the governing equation, the energy was proven to be not conserved in the case where the beam has two simply supported or fixed ends. A definitely positive quantity with the energy dimension was defined. The quantity was verified to remain a constant during the motion. The investigation indicates that an energy-like conserved quantity may exist in a nonlinear nonconservative continuous system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Multi-domain cognitive improvements were found following low-intensity rTMS. • The majority of cognitive improvements sustained at 6 months. • Cognitive improvements were not correlated with psychotic improvement. Cognitive impairments are a core symptom of schizophrenia. Although low-intensity repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) also has cognitive improving effect like the commonly used high-intensity rTMS, it has not been applied in schizophrenia yet. To fill this gap, inpatients with schizophrenia were randomized to receive 20 sessions of daily adjunctive active low-intensity rTMS in 4 weeks, or sham treatment. At baseline, 4 weeks, and 6 months, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used to assess psychotic symptom severity, while the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) and the Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT) were used to assess cognitive functions. Compared to the sixty-nine patients receiving sham treatment, those fifty-nine patients receiving active rTMS performed better in all cognitive domains at post-treatment with small to large effect sizes. This superiority of active rTMS over sham treatment remained significant at 6-month follow-up, with small to large effect sizes, except for visuospatial function and delayed memory. The reduction in PANSS scores were not correlated with cognitive improvements. Our findings provide evidence for using low-intensity rTMS to ameliorate cognitive impairments in schizophrenia. More research are needed to determine the optimal intensity for each domain of cognitive functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the practical environment, it is very common for the simultaneous occurrence of base excitation and crosswind. Scavenging the combined energy of vibration and wind with a single energy harvesting structure is fascinating. For this purpose, the effects of the wind speed and random excitation level are investigated with the stochastic averaging method (SAM) based on the energy envelope. The results of the analytical prediction are verified with the Monte-Carlo method (MCM). The numerical simulation shows that the introduction of wind can reduce the critical excitation level for triggering an inter-well jump and make a bi-stable energy harvester (BEH) realize the performance enhancement for a weak base excitation. However, as the strength of the wind increases to a particular level, the influence of the random base excitation on the dynamic responses is weakened, and the system exhibits a periodic galloping response. A comparison between a BEH and a linear energy harvester (LEH) indicates that the BEH demonstrates inferior performance for high-speed wind. Relevant experiments are conducted to investigate the validity of the theoretical prediction and numerical simulation. The experimental findings also show that strong random excitation is favorable for the BEH in the range of low wind speeds. However, as the speed of the incoming wind is up to a particular level, the disadvantage of the BEH becomes clear and evident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With its complex nonlinear dynamic behavior, the tristable system has shown excellent performance in areas such as energy harvesting and vibration suppression, and has attracted a lot of attention. In this paper, an asymmetric tristable design is proposed to improve the vibration suppression efficiency of nonlinear energy sinks (NESs) for the first time. The proposed asymmetric tristable NES (ATNES) is composed of a pair of oblique springs and a vertical spring. Then, the three stable states, symmetric and asymmetric, can be achieved by the adjustment of the distance and stiffness asymmetry of the oblique springs. The governing equations of a linear oscillator (LO) coupled with the ATNES are derived. The approximate analytical solution to the coupled system is obtained by the harmonic balance method (HBM) and verified numerically. The vibration suppression efficiency of three types of ATNES is compared. The results show that the asymmetric design can improve the efficiency of vibration reduction through comparing the chaotic motion of the NES oscillator between asymmetric steady states. In addition, compared with the symmetrical tristable NES (TNES), the ATNES can effectively control smaller structural vibrations. In other words, the ATNES can effectively solve the threshold problem of TNES failure to weak excitation. Therefore, this paper reveals the vibration reduction mechanism of the ATNES, and provides a pathway to expand the effective excitation amplitude range of the NES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interval model updating (IMU) methods have been widely used in uncertain model updating due to their low requirements for sample data. However, the surrogate model in IMU methods mostly adopts the one-time construction method. This makes the accuracy of the surrogate model highly dependent on the experience of users and affects the accuracy of IMU methods. Therefore, an improved IMU method via the adaptive Kriging models is proposed. This method transforms the objective function of the IMU problem into two deterministic global optimization problems about the upper bound and the interval diameter through universal grey numbers. These optimization problems are addressed through the adaptive Kriging models and the particle swarm optimization (PSO) method to quantify the uncertain parameters, and the IMU is accomplished. During the construction of these adaptive Kriging models, the sample space is gridded according to sensitivity information. Local sampling is then performed in key subspaces based on the maximum mean square error (MMSE) criterion. The interval division coefficient and random sampling coefficient are adaptively adjusted without human interference until the model meets accuracy requirements. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by a numerical example of a three-degree-of-freedom mass-spring system and an experimental example of a butted cylindrical shell. The results show that the updated results of the interval model are in good agreement with the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-static-low-dynamic-stiffness (HSLDS) vibration isolators with buckling beams have been widely used to isolate external vibrations. An active adjustable device composed of proportion integration (PI) active controllers and piezoelectric actuators is proposed for improving the negative stiffness stroke of buckling beams. A nonlinear output frequency response function is used to analyze the effect of the vibration reduction. The prototype of the active HSLDS device is built, and the verification experiment is conducted. The results show that compared with the traditional HSLDS vibration isolator, the active HSLDS device can broaden the isolation frequency bandwidth, and effectively reduce the resonant amplitude by adjusting the active control parameters. The maximum vibration reduction rate of the active HSLDS vibration isolator can attain 89.9%, and the resonant frequency can be reduced from 31.08 Hz to 13.28 Hz. Therefore, this paper devotes to providing a new design scheme for enhanced HSLDS vibration isolators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the generalized Hamilton's principle, the nonlinear governing equation of an axially functionally graded (AFG) pipe is established. The non-trivial equilibrium configuration is superposed by the modal functions of a simply supported beam. Via the direct multi-scale method, the response and stability boundary to the pulsating fluid velocity are solved analytically and verified by the differential quadrature element method (DQEM). The influence of Young's modulus gradient on the parametric resonance is investigated in the subcritical and supercritical regions. In general, the pipe in the supercritical region is more sensitive to the pulsating excitation. The nonlinearity changes from hard to soft, and the non-trivial equilibrium configuration introduces more frequency components to the vibration. Besides, the increasing Young's modulus gradient improves the critical pulsating flow velocity of the parametric resonance, and further enhances the stability of the system. In addition, when the temperature increases along the axial direction, reducing the gradient parameter can enhance the response asymmetry. This work further complements the theoretical analysis of pipes conveying pulsating fluid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editors discuss various reports within the issue on topics including the metrics for improvement of security protocols, the track authentication protocol standards and the standard for key management techniques.