ERAD: Enhanced Ransomware Attack Defense System for Healthcare Organizations

Digital integration within healthcare systems exacerbates their vulnerability to sophisticated ransomware threats, leading to severe operational disruptions and data breaches. Current defenses are typically categorized into active and passive measures that struggle to achieve comprehensive threat mitigation and often lack real-time response effectiveness. This paper presents an innovative ransomware defense system, ERAD, designed for healthcare environments that apply the MITRE ATT&CK Matrix to coordinate dynamic, stage-specific countermeasures throughout the ransomware attack lifecycle. By systematically identifying and addressing threats based on indicators of compromise (IOCs), the proposed system proactively disrupts the attack chain before serious damage occurs. Validation is provided through a detailed analysis of a system deployment against LockBit 3.0 ransomware, illustrating significant enhancements in mitigating the impact of the attack, reducing the cost of recovery, and strengthening the cybersecurity framework of healthcare organizations, but also applicable to other non-health sectors of the business world.

Effects of Long-Term Fertilization on Different Nitrogen Forms in Paddy along Soil Depth Gradient

The combined application of organic fertilizer and chemical fertilizer is an effective measure to increase nutrient content of soil plough layer, which must have a profound impact on the deep soil nutrients, especially the contents of nitrogen forms. The purpose of this study was to explore the characteristics of soil nitrogen forms in plough layer and along depth gradient in different fertilization treatments, so as to evaluate the soil quality in spatial dimension, further providing a theoretical basis for scientific fertilization and improvement of paddy soil fertility. Here, a 34-year field experiment was conducted with three treatments: without any fertilizer (CK), pure chemical fertilizer (NPK) and chemical fertilizer combined with organic fertilizer (NPKM). We analyzed the content of nitrogen forms in 0 - 100 cm soil depth and their ratios to total nitrogen (TN), and discussed the correlation between nitrogen forms contents and pH, CEC. Results showed that, compared with CK, both NPK and NPKM significantly increased the contents of nitrogen forms in topsoil (soil layer of 0 - 20 cm), especially nitrate nitrogen (NO3--N) content increased by 70% (NPK) and 111% (NPKM), respectively. Although the contents of different nitrogen forms decreased gradually along soil depth gradient, NPKS slowed down the decline rate of TN and alkali-hydrolysable nitrogen (AN) in 0 - 60 cm soil layer, compared to CK. Compared to NPK, NPKM significantly increased the NO3--N/TN ratio in 0 - 20 cm soil layer, but also decreased the content of -N in 20 - 40 cm, which was beneficial to reduce the risk of nitrogen leaching caused by nitrate leaching into deep layer. The increase of soil pH in NPKM treatment obviously alleviated the problem of soil acidification caused by long-term application of chemical fertilizer. Correlation analysis showed that there was a significant positive correlation between soil nitrogen forms and cation exchange capacity (CEC), but no significant correlation with soil pH. In conclusion, NPKM ensured the nutrients of soil plough layer (0 - 20 cm), also reduced the risk of nitrogen infiltration and nitrogen loss, thus ensuring the fertility of soil profile.

Research progress of in-situ gelling ophthalmic drug delivery system

Blindness and vision impairment are the most devastating global health problems resulting in a substantial economic and social burden.Delivery of drug to particular parts of the anterior or posterior segment has been a major challenge due to various protective barriers and elimination mechanisms associated with the unique anatomical and physiological nature of the ocular system.Drug administration to the eye by conventional delivery systems results in poor ocular bioavailability(<5%).The designing of a novel approach for a safe,simple,and effective ocular drug delivery is a major concern and requires innovative strategies to combat the problem.Over the past decades,several novel approaches involving different strategies have been developed to improve the ocular delivery system.Among these,the ophthalmic in-situ gel has attained a great attention over the past few years.This review discussed and summarized the recent and the promising research progress of in-situ gelling in ocular drug delivery system.

Re-scaling and adaptive stochastic resonance as a tool for weak GNSS signal acquisition

Weak global navigation satellite system（GNSS） signal acquisition has been a limitation for high sensitivity GPS receivers. This paper modifies the traditional acquisition algorithms and proposes a new weak GNSS signal acquisition method using re-scaling and adaptive stochastic resonance（SR）. The adoption of classical SR is limited to low-frequency and periodic signals. Given that GNSS signal frequency is high and that the periodic feature of the GNSS signal is affected by the Doppler frequency shift, classical SR methods cannot be directly used to acquire GNSS signals. Therefore, the re-scaling technique is used in our study to expand its usage to high-frequency signals and adaptive control technique is used to gradually determine the Doppler shift effect in GNSS signal buried in strong noises. The effectiveness of our proposed method was verified by the simulations on GPS L1 signals. The simulation results indicate that the new algorithm based on SR can reach-181 d BW sensitivity with a very short data length of 1 ms.

Reduced nitrogen application rate with dense planting improves rice grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency: A case study in east China

Dense planting could be a feasible method for reducing nitrogen(N) application rates without compromising rice grain yield in northeast and central China. It is still unclear whether reduced N application with dense planting(RNDP) can achieve higher rice yield and N use efficiency(NUE) in Jiangsu, east China. Three japonica inbred rice(JI) and three indica hybrid rice(IH) cultivars were grown in a field experiment. Their grain yield, NUE, and related traits were compared under two cultivation treatments:conventional high-yielding practice(CHYP) and RNDP. JI showed similar yields under the two treatments,while IH showed lower yield under RNDP than under CHYP, and the partial factor productivity of N and N use efficiency for grain yield increased(P < 0.05) in both JI and IH under RNDP. Compared with CHYP,RNDP reduced spikelets per panicle but increased panicles per m2 and filled-kernel percentage of JI and IH, and JI's kernel weight was increased(P < 0.05) under RNDP. Shoot biomass weight and nonstructural carbohydrate(NSC) content in the stem at heading and maturity of JI and IH were reduced under RNDP, while harvest index and NSC remobilization reserve were increased(P < 0.05) under RNDP, especially for JI. Our results suggest that RNDP could achieve a higher rice grain yield and NUE, particularly for JI, a dominant rice cultivar type in Jiangsu. For JI, the increased panicles per m2, sink-filling efficiency, harvest index, and NSC remobilization after heading under RNDP contributed to a grain yield similar to that under CHYP.

Heterozygous lipoprotein lipase knockout mice exhibit impaired hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell compartment

Background : Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) maintain the hematopoietic system homeostasis through self- renewal and multilineage differentiation potential. HSC are regulated by the microenvironment, cytokine signaling, and transcription factors. Recent results have shown that lipid pathways play a key role in the regulation of HSC quiescence, proliferation, and division. However, the mechanism by which lipid metabolism regulates HSC proliferation and differentiation remains to be clarified. Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) is an essential enzyme in the anabolism and catabolism of very low- density lipoprotein, chylomicrons, and triglyceride- rich lipoproteins. Methods : The percentage of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells and immune cells were determined by fluorescence- activated cell sorting (FACS). The function and the mechanism of HSCs were analyzed by cell colony forming assay and qPCR analysis. The changes in LPL^(+/−) HSC microenvironment were detected by transplantation as- says using red fluorescent protein (RFP) transgenic mice. Results : To explore the function of LPL in HSC regulation, heterozygous LPL- knockout mice (LPL^(+/−)) were established and analyzed by FACS. LPL^(+/−) mice displayed decreased hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell compartments. In vitro single- cell clono- genic assays and cell-cycle assays using FACS promoted the cell cycle and increased proliferation ability. qPCR analysis showed the expression of p57^(KIP2) and p21^(WAF1)/ ^(CIP1) in LPL^(+/−) mice was upregulated. Conclusions : LPL^(+/−) mice exhibited HSC compartment impairment due to promotion of HSC proliferation, without any effects on the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment.

The Fluorescence Immunochromatographic Strips for Natamycin and Its Application in Food Safety Detection

A fluorescence immunochromatographic strip was developed in this study for natamycin detection in food. The results showed that the best amount of labeled antibody was 10 μg, for every 50 μl of fluorescent microspheres with a 2.5%(w/v) concentration. This labeled antibody was diluted for 10 times, and the diluted solution was dispensed into conjugate pad at the amount of 3 μl/cm. The concentrations of natamycin labeled BSA for test line and goat anti-mouse IgG for control line were 2.0 and 1 mg/ml, respectively, which performed best. With the best conditions, the limit of detection was 1 ng/ml, the linearity ranged from 2 to 100 ng/ml, the recovery was about 80% to 120%, and the CV was below 23%.

Cocktail hepatocarcinoma therapy by a super-assembled nano-pill targeting XPO1 and ATR synergistically

Intensive cancer treatment with drug combination is widely exploited in the clinic but suffers from inconsistent pharmacokinetics among different therapeutic agents.To overcome it,the emerging nanomedicine offers an unparalleled opportunity for encapsulating multiple drugs in a nano-carrier.Herein,a two-step super-assembled strategy was performed to unify the pharmacokinetics of a peptide and a small molecular compound.In this proof-of-concept study,the bioinformatics analysis firstly revealed the potential synergies towards hepatoma therapy for the associative inhibition of exportin 1(XPO1)and ataxia telangiectasia mutated-Rad3-related(ATR),and then a super-assembled nano-pill(gold nano drug carrier loaded AZD6738 and 97110 amino acids of apoptin(AP)(AA@G))was constructed through camouflaging AZD6738(ATR small-molecule inhibitor)-binding human serum albumin onto the AP-Au supramolecular nanoparticle.As expected,both in vitro and in vivo experiment results verified that the AA@G possessed extraordinary biocompatibility and enhanced therapeutic effect through inducing cell cycle arrest,promoting DNA damage and inhibiting DNA repair of hepatoma cell.This work not only provides a co-delivery strategy for intensive liver cancer treatment with the clinical translational potential,but develops a common approach to unify the pharmacokinetics of peptide and small-molecular compounds,thereby extending the scope of drugs for developing the advanced combination therapy.

Carboxymethylation of the polysaccharide from the fermentation broth of Marasmius androsaceus and its antidepressant mechanisms

To investigate the structure-activity relationship of polysaccharide and obtain a better antidepressant polysaccharide,the antidepressant-like activity of a carboxymethyl polysaccharide(C-MEPS2)subjected to submerged fermentation was systematically studied.PC12-H cell and Kunming mice were used to investigate the differences and their mechanism in the antidepressant effects of C-MEPS2 and MEPS2.Cell experiments have showed that C-MEPS2 has a better antidepressant effect than MEPS2.C-MEPS2 could exert antidepressant effects related to catecholamine synthesis with specifi c sites of TH,D2DR,and P-CAMKII.In addition,C-MEPS2 could repair the Res-induced damage in PC12-H cell,stabilize the mitochondrial membrane potential and regulate intracellular Ca^(2+) concentration,thus reducing cell apoptosis caused by RES.Antagonists common dosing experiments on animals further proved that CMEPS2 could signifi cantly improve the antidepressant effect of derivatives without affecting the antidepressant mechanism of MEPS2.It is speculated that it may be related to carboxymethylated modifi cation.

Production of reactive oxygen species by PuRBOHF is critical for stone cell development in pear fruit

The production of reactive oxygen species(ROS)by NADPH oxidase,which is also referred to as respiratory burst oxidase homolog(RBOH),affects several processes in plants.However,the role of RBOHs in cell wall lignification is not well understood.In this study,we show that PuRBOHF,an RBOH isoform,plays an important role in secondary wall formation in pear stone cells.ROS were closely associated with lignin deposition and stone cell formation according to microscopy data.In addition,according to the results of an in situ hybridization analysis,the stage-specific expression of PuRBOHF was higher in stone cells than in cells of other flesh tissues.Inhibitors of RBOH activity suppressed ROS accumulation and stone cell lignification in pear fruit.Moreover,transient overexpression of PuRBOHF caused significant changes in the amount of ROS and lignin that accumulated in pear fruit and flesh calli.We further showed that PuMYB169 regulates PuRBOHF expression,while PuRBOHF-derived ROS induces the transcription of PuPOD2 and PuLAC2.The findings of this study indicate that PuRBOHF-mediated ROS production,which is regulated by a lignin-related transcriptional network,is essential for monolignol polymerization and stone cell formation in pear fruit.

Two-dimensional Sb cluster superlattice on Si substrate fabricated by a two-step method

Nanoclusters consisting of a few atoms have attracted a lot of research interests due to their exotic size-dependent properties. Here, well-ordered two-dimensional Sb cluster superlattice was fabricated on Si substrate by a two-step method and characterized by scanning tunneling microscopy. High resolution scanning tunneling microscope measurements revealed the fine structures of the Sb clusters, which consist of several Sb atoms ranging from 2 to 7. Furthermore, the electronic structure of the nanocluster displays the quantized energy-level which is due to the single-electron tunneling effects. We believe that the fabrication of Sb cluster superlattice broadens the species of the cluster superlattice and provides a promising candidate to further explore the novel physical and chemical properties of the semimetal nanocluster.

Construction of Innovative Rural Sci-tech Service System in China

At the background of structural regulation of agriculture and industrialized development of rural areas,systematic thought and constructive recommendations are put forward on building innovative rural sci-tech service system in China from following 5 aspects. (1) In organizational system,rural sci-tech service associations should become nonprofit organizations that have independent legal entities. (2) In service object,it should take farmers as subject,new rural economic organizations as carrier,agricultural leading enterprises as handle,little village officials as joint,sci-tech special commissioner as link,and agricultural brokers as medium. (3) In information resources,it should enhance practicality construction and sharing. (4) In service methods and reform measures,it should combine information technology,expert technical consulting service,and sci-tech model base. (5) In policy support and input mechanism,it should follow the principle of diversification,set up government special funds,and formulate preferential policies to attract sci-tech talents to join in rural sci-tech services,and protect legal rights and interests of sci-tech personnel in rural sci-tech services.

Black-phosphorus-based junctions and their optoelectronic device applications

Black phosphorus(BP)has attracted significant attention owing to its unique structure and preeminent photoelectric properties,which can be utilized to create novel junctions.Based on different BP-based junctions,versatile optoelectronic devices have been fabricated and investigated in recent years,providing a fertile library for the characteristics of BP-based junctions and their optoelectronic applications.This review summarizes diverse BP-based junctions and their optoelectronic device applications.We firstly introduce the structure and properties of BP.Then,we emphatically describe the formation,properties,and optoelectronic device applications of the BP-based junctions including heterojunctions of BP and other two-dimensional(2D)semiconductors,BP p–n homojunctions,and BP/metal Schottky junctions.Finally,the challenge and prospect of the development and application of BP-based junctions are discussed.This timely review gives a snapshot of recent research breakthroughs in BP-based junctions and optoelectronic devices based on them,which is expected to provide a comprehensive vision for the potential of BP in the optoelectronic field.

Deep learning for drug-drug interaction prediction:A comprehensive review

The prediction of drug-drug interactions(DDIs)is a crucial task for drug safety research,and identifying potential DDIs helps us to explore the mechanism behind combinatorial therapy.Traditional wet chemical experiments for DDI are cumbersome and time-consuming,and are too small in scale,limiting the efficiency of DDI predictions.Therefore,it is particularly crucial to develop improved computational methods for detecting drug interactions.With the development of deep learning,several computational models based on deep learning have been proposed for DDI prediction.In this review,we summarized the high-quality DDI prediction methods based on deep learning in recent years,and divided them into four categories:neural network-based methods,graph neural network-based methods,knowledge graph-based methods,and multimodal-based methods.Furthermore,we discuss the challenges of existing methods and future potential perspectives.This review reveals that deep learning can significantly improve DDI prediction performance compared to traditional machine learning.Deep learning models can scale to large-scale datasets and accept multiple data types as input,thus making DDI predictions more efficient and accurate.

Microbial aerosol characteristics in highly polluted and nearpristine environments featuring different climatic conditions

There is an increasing interest in understanding ambient bioaerosols due to their roles both in health and in climate. Here, we deployed an Ultraviolet Aerodynamic Particle Sizer to monitor viable(fluorescent) bioaerosol concentration levels at city centers(highly polluted) and their corresponding suburbs(near pristine)(total 40 locations) in 11 provinces featuring different climate zones in China between July 16 and 28, 2013. The concentration levels of viable bioaerosol particles(Bio PM) of [0.5 lm were measured, and corresponding percentages of Bio PM%(biological fraction of total PM) and Bio PM2.5%(biological fraction of PM2.5) in particulate matter(PM)and Bio PM, respectively, were determined. For some key cities, indoor viable bioaerosol levels were also obtained.In addition, bacterial structures of the air samples collected across these monitoring locations were studied using pyrosequencing. Bio PM concentration levels ranged from2.1 9 104 to 2.4 9 105/m3 for city centers [Bio PM% =6.4 %(±6.3 %)] and 0.5 9 104 to 4.7 9 105/m3 for suburbs [Bio PM% = 10 %(±8.7 %)]. Distinctive bioaerosol size distribution patterns were observed for different climate zones, e.g., some had fluorescence peaks at 3 lm, while the majority had peaks at 1 lm. Ambient bacterial aerosol community structures were also found different for different geophysical locations. Results suggest that there was a poor overall relationship between PM and Bio PM across 40 monitoring locations(R2= 0.081, two-tailed P value =0.07435). Generally, city centers had higher PM concentrations than suburbs, but not Bio PM and Bio PM%. Indoor bioaerosol levels were found at least tenfold higher than those corresponding outdoors. Bacillus was observed to dominate the bacterial aerosol community in the air sample.

The Amygdala Responds Rapidly to Flashes Linked to Direct Retinal Innervation:A Flash-evoked Potential Study Across Cortical and Subcortical Visual Pathways

Rapid detection and response to visual threats are critical for survival in animals.The amygdala(AMY)is hypothesized to be involved in this process,but how it interacts with the visual system to do this remains unclear.By recording flash-evoked potentials simultaneously from the superior colliculus(SC),lateral posterior nucleus of the thalamus,AMY,lateral geniculate nucleus(LGN)and visual cortex,which belong to the cortical and subcortical pathways for visual fear processing,we investigated the temporal relationship between these regions in visual processing in rats.A quick flash-evoked potential(FEP)component was identified in the AMY.This emerged as early as in the LGN and was approximately 25 ms prior to the earliest component recorded in the SC,which was assumed to be an important area in visual fear.This quick P1 component in the AMY was not affected by restraint stress or corticosterone injection,but was diminished by RU38486,a glucocorticoid receptor blocker.By injecting a monosynaptic retrograde AAV tracer into the AMY,we found that it received a direct projection from the retina.These results confirm the existence of a direct connection from the retina to the AMY,that the latency in the AMY to flashes is equivalent to that in the sensory thalamus,and that the response is modulated by glucocorticoids.

Cell-derived biomimetic nanoparticles as a novel drug delivery system for atherosclerosis:predecessors and perspectives

Atherosclerosis is a key mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease,which is associated with high morbidity and mortality.In the field of precision medicine for the treatment of atherosclerosis,nanoparticle(NP)-mediated drug delivery systems have great potential,owing to their ability to release treatment locally.Cell-derived biomimetic NPs have attracted extensive attention at present due to their excellent targeting to atherosclerotic inflammatory sites,low immunogenicity and long blood circulation time.Here,we review the utility of cell-derived biomimetic NPs,including whole cells,cell membranes and extracellular vesicles,in the treatment of atherosclerosis.

Empirical formula for β^--decay half-lives of r-process nuclei

Experimental data ofβ--decay half-lives of nuclei with atomic number between 20 and 190 are investigated.A systematic formula has been proposed to calculateβ^--decay half-lives of neutron-rich nuclei,with a particular consideration on shell and pair effects,the decay energy Q as well as the nucleon numbers(Z,N).Although the formula has relatively few parameters,it reproduces the experimentalβ^--decay half-lives of neutron-rich nuclei very well.The predicted half-lives for the r-process relevant nuclei obtained with the current formula serve as reliable input in the r-process model calculations.

Strong optical nonlinearities of self-assembled polymorphic microstructures of phenylethynyl functionalized fluorenones

Highly efficient nonlinear optical（NLO） materials with well-defined architectures in the wavelength and subwavelength length scales are of particular importance for next generation of integrated photonic circuits. Fluorenone analogues have been demonstrated to be promising candidates as building blocks for assembly of organic NLO materials thanks to their synergistic supramolecular interactions and brilliant optical properties. Here we have studied the polymorphs of a phenylethynyl functionalized fluorenone derivative, and their controlled self-assembly for microstructures with different morphologies. These polymorphic microcrystals exhibit very distinctive NLO properties, highly related to their supramolecular and electronic structures.

Quantum Torus Lie Algebra in the q-Deformed Kadomtsev-Pe tv iashvili Sys tern

Based on the symmetry of the Q-deformed Kadomtsev-Petviashvili(q-KP)hierarchy,which is a q-deformation of the KP hierarchy,we construct the quantum torus symmetry of the q-KP hierarchy,which further leads to the quantum torus constraint of its tau function.Moreover,we generalize the system to a multi-component q-KP hierarchy that also has the well-known ghost symmetry.