Edge Computing Task Scheduling with Joint Blockchain and Task Caching in Industrial Internet

Deploying task caching at edge servers has become an effectiveway to handle compute-intensive and latency-sensitive tasks on the industrialinternet. However, how to select the task scheduling location to reduce taskdelay and cost while ensuring the data security and reliable communicationof edge computing remains a challenge. To solve this problem, this paperestablishes a task scheduling model with joint blockchain and task cachingin the industrial internet and designs a novel blockchain-assisted cachingmechanism to enhance system security. In this paper, the task schedulingproblem, which couples the task scheduling decision, task caching decision,and blockchain reward, is formulated as the minimum weighted cost problemunder delay constraints. This is a mixed integer nonlinear problem, which isproved to be nonconvex and NP-hard. To solve the optimal solution, thispaper proposes a task scheduling strategy algorithm based on an improvedgenetic algorithm (IGA-TSPA) by improving the genetic algorithm initializationand mutation operations to reduce the size of the initial solutionspace and enhance the optimal solution convergence speed. In addition,an Improved Least Frequently Used algorithm is proposed to improve thecontent hit rate. Simulation results show that IGA-TSPA has a faster optimalsolution-solving ability and shorter running time compared with the existingedge computing scheduling algorithms. The established task scheduling modelnot only saves 62.19% of system overhead consumption in comparison withlocal computing but also has great significance in protecting data security,reducing task processing delay, and reducing system cost.

Practical and privacy-preserving geo-social-based POI recommendation

With the rapid development of location-based services and online social networks,POI recommendation services considering geographic and social factors have received extensive attention.Meanwhile,the vigorous development of cloud computing has prompted service providers to outsource data to the cloud to provide POI recommendation services.However,there is a degree of distrust of the cloud by service providers.To protect digital assets,service providers encrypt data before outsourcing it.However,encryption reduces data availability,making it more challenging to provide POI recommendation services in outsourcing scenarios.Some privacy-preserving schemes for geo-social-based POI recommendation have been presented,but they have some limitations in supporting group query,considering both geographic and social factors,and query accuracy,making these schemes impractical.To solve this issue,we propose two practical and privacy-preserving geo-social-based POI recommendation schemes for single user and group users,which are named GSPR-S and GSPR-G.Specifically,we first utilize the quad tree to organize geographic data and the MinHash method to index social data.Then,we apply BGV fully homomorphic encryption to design some private algorithms,including a private max/min operation algorithm,a private rectangular set operation algorithm,and a private rectangular overlapping detection algorithm.After that,we use these algorithms as building blocks in our schemes for efficiency improvement.According to security analysis,our schemes are proven to be secure against the honest-but-curious cloud servers,and experimental results show that our schemes have good performance.

KIF2C:a novel link between Wnt/β-catenin and mTORCI signaling in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is the most common primary liver malignancy and is the fourth-leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide.HCC is refractory to many standard cancer treatments and the prognosis is often poor,highlighting a pressing need to identify biomarkers of aggressiveness and potential targets for future treatments.Kinesin family member 2C(KIF2C)is reported to be highly expressed in several human tumors.Nevertheless,the molecular mechanisms underlying the role of KIF2C in tumor development and progression have not been investigated.In this study,we found that KIF2C expression was significantly upregulated in HCC,and that KIF2C up-regulation was associated with a poor prognosis.Utilizing both gain and loss of function assays,we showed that KIF2C promoted HCC cell proliferation,migration,invasion,and metastasis both in vitro and in vivo.Mechanistically,we identified TBC1D7 as a binding partner of KIF2C,and this interaction disrupts the formation of the TSC complex,resulting in the enhancement of mammalian target of rapamycin complexl(mTORCI)signal transduction.Additionally,we found that KIF2C is a direct target of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway,and acts as a key factor in mediating the crosstalk between Wnt/β-catenin and mTORCI signaling.Thus,the results of our study establish a link between Wnt/β-catenin and mTORCI signaling,which highlights the potential of KIF2C as a therapeutic target for the treatment of HCC.

ARTICLE OPEN Mutant KRAS triggers functional reprogramming of tumor-associated macrophages in colorectal cancer

Oncogenic KRAS has been previously identified to act in a cell-intrinsic manner to modulate multiple biological functions of colorectal cancer(CRC).Here,we demonstrate a cell-extrinsic role of KRAS,where KRAS engages with the tumor microenvironment by functional reprogramming of tumor-associated macrophages(TAMs).In human CRC specimens,mutant KRAS positively correlates with the presence of TAMs.Mutationally activated KRAS in tumor cells reprograms macrophages to a TAM-like phenotype via a combination effect of tumor-derived CSF2 and lactate.In turn,KRAS-reprogrammed macrophages were shown to not only promote tumor progression but also induce the resistance of tumor cells to cetuximab therapy.Mechanistically,KRAS drives the production of CSF2 and lactate in tumor cells by stabilizing hypoxia-inducible factor-la(HIF-1a),a transcription factor that controls the expression of CSF2 and glycolytic genes.Mutant KRAS increased the production of reactive oxygen species,an inhibitor of prolyl hydroxylase activity which decreases HIF-1a hydroxylation,leading to enhanced HIF-1a stabilization.This cell-extrinsic mechanism awards KRAS a critical role in engineering a permissive microenvironment to promote tumor malignancy,and may present new insights on potential therapeutic defense strategies against mutant KRAS tumors.