Stable Isotopic Signatures of NO3 in Waste Water Effluent and Los Angeles River

A metropolitan city such as Los Angeles (LA) is an ideal study site with a very high population density, and it houses at least 3 treatment plants where sewage is treated preliminarily and then progressing to tertiary treatment before discharging into the LA River. We will gain a better understanding of the water quality in the LA River and the nitrate load in the watershed system by examining the influence of waste water treatment plants (WWTPs). The goal of this study is to pinpoint the exact source of nitrate in the LA River using the isotope signatures. We have selected sampling locations both upstream and downstream of the WWTP. This serves to monitor nitrate levels, aiding in the assessment of treatment plant effectiveness, pinpointing nitrate pollution sources, and ensuring compliance with environmental regulations. The research explores the isotopic composition of NO3 in relation to atmospheric nitrogen and Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water, shedding light on the contributions from various sources such as manure, sewage, soil organic nitrogen, and nitrogen fertilizers. Specifically, there is a change in the δ15NAir value between the dry and wet seasons. The isotope values in the Tillman WWTP sample changed between dry and wet seasons. Notably, the presence of nitrate originating from manure and sewage is consistent across seasons, emphasizing the significant impact of anthropogenic and agricultural activities on water quality. This investigation contributes to the broader understanding of nitrogen cycling in urban water bodies, particularly in the context of wastewater effluent discharge. The findings hold implications for water quality management and highlight the need for targeted interventions to mitigate the impact of nitrogen-containing compounds on aquatic ecosystems. Overall, the study provides a valuable framework for future research and environmental stewardship efforts aimed at preserving the health and sustainability of urban water resources. This data informs decisions regarding additional treatment or mitigation actions to safeguard downstream water quality and ecosystem health.

Source localization based on field signatures:Laboratory ultrasonic validation

Location awareness in wireless networks is essential for emergency services,navigation,gaming,and many other applications.This article presents a method for source localization based on measuring the amplitude-phase distribution of the field at the base station.The existing scatterers in the target area create unique scattered field interference at each source location.The unique field interference at each source location results in a unique field signature at the base station which is used for source localization.In the proposed method,the target area is divided into a grid with a step of less than half the wavelength.Each grid node is characterized by its field signature at the base station.Field signatures corresponding to all nodes are normalized and stored in the base station as fingerprints for source localization.The normalization of the field signatures avoids the need for time synchronization between the base station and the source.When a source transmits signals,the generated field signature at the base station is normalized and then correlated with the stored fingerprints.The maximum correlation value is given by the node to which the source is the closest.Numerical simulations and results of experiments on ultrasonic waves in the air show that the ultrasonic source is correctly localized using broadband field signatures with one base station and without time synchronization.The proposed method is potentially applicable for indoor localization and navigation of mobile robots.

Identification and validation of novel prognostic fatty acid metabolic gene signatures in colon adenocarcinoma through systematic approaches

Colorectal cancer(CRC)belongs to the class of significantly malignant tumors found in humans.Recently,dysregulated fatty acid metabolism(FAM)has been a topic of attention due to its modulation in cancer,specifically CRC.However,the regulatory FAM pathways in CRC require comprehensive elucidation.Methods:The clinical and gene expression data of 175 fatty acid metabolic genes(FAMGs)linked with colon adenocarcinoma(COAD)and normal cornerstone genes were gathered through The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)-COAD corroborating with the Molecular Signature Database v7.2(MSigDB).Initially,crucial prognostic genes were selected by uni-and multi-variate Cox proportional regression analyses;then,depending upon these identified signature genes and clinical variables,a nomogram was generated.Lastly,to assess tumor immune characteristics,concomitant evaluation of tumor immune evasion/risk scoring were elucidated.Results:A 8-gene signature,including ACBD4,ACOX1,CD36,CPT2,ELOVL3,ELOVL6,ENO3,and SUCLG2,was generated,and depending upon this,CRC patients were categorized within high-risk(H-R)and low-risk(L-R)cohorts.Furthermore,risk and age-based nomograms indicated moderate discrimination and good calibration.The data confirmed that the 8-gene model efficiently predicted CRC patients’prognosis.Moreover,according to the conjoint analysis of tumor immune evasion and the risk scorings,the H-R cohort had an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment,which caused a substandard prognosis.Conclusion:This investigation established a FAMGs-based prognostic model with substantially high predictive value,providing the possibility for improved individualized treatment for CRC individuals.

Quantum circuit-based proxy blind signatures:A novel approach and experimental evaluation on the IBM quantum cloud platform

This paper presents a novel approach to proxy blind signatures in the realm of quantum circuits,aiming to enhance security while safeguarding sensitive information.The main objective of this research is to introduce a quantum proxy blind signature(QPBS)protocol that utilizes quantum logical gates and quantum measurement techniques.The QPBS protocol is constructed by the initial phase,proximal blinding message phase,remote authorization and signature phase,remote validation,and de-blinding phase.This innovative design ensures a secure mechanism for signing documents without revealing the content to the proxy signer,providing practical security authentication in a quantum environment under the assumption that the CNOT gates are securely implemented.Unlike existing approaches,our proposed QPBS protocol eliminates the need for quantum entanglement preparation,thus simplifying the implementation process.To assess the effectiveness and robustness of the QPBS protocol,we conduct comprehensive simulation studies in both ideal and noisy quantum environments on the IBM quantum cloud platform.The results demonstrate the superior performance of the QPBS algorithm,highlighting its resilience against repudiation and forgeability,which are key security concerns in the realm of proxy blind signatures.Furthermore,we have established authentic security thresholds(82.102%)in the presence of real noise,thereby emphasizing the practicality of our proposed solution.

Genomic signatures of selection,local adaptation and production type characterisation of East Adriatic sheep breeds

Background The importance of sheep breeding in the Mediterranean part of the eastern Adriatic has a long tradition since its arrival during the Neolithic migrations.Sheep production system is extensive and generally carried out in traditional systems without intensive systematic breeding programmes for high uniform trait production(carcass,wool and milk yield).Therefore,eight indigenous Croatian sheep breeds from eastern Adriatic treated here as metapopulation(EAS),are generally considered as multipurpose breeds(milk,meat and wool),not specialised for a particular type of production,but known for their robustness and resistance to certain environmental conditions.Our objective was to identify genomic regions and genes that exhibit patterns of positive selection signatures,decipher their biological and productive functionality,and provide a"genomic"characterization of EAS adaptation and determine its production type.Results We identified positive selection signatures in EAS using several methods based on reduced local variation,linkage disequilibrium and site frequency spectrum(eROHi,iHS,nSL and CLR).Our analyses identified numerous genomic regions and genes(e.g.,desmosomal cadherin and desmoglein gene families)associated with environmental adaptation and economically important traits.Most candidate genes were related to meat/production and health/immune response traits,while some of the candidate genes discovered were important for domestication and evolutionary processes(e.g.,HOXa gene family and FSIP2).These results were also confirmed by GO and QTL enrichment analysis.Conclusions Our results contribute to a better understanding of the unique adaptive genetic architecture of EAS and define its productive type,ultimately providing a new opportunity for future breeding programmes.At the same time,the numerous genes identified will improve our understanding of ruminant(sheep)robustness and resistance in the harsh and specific Mediterranean environment.

Urgent need for prognostic markers for hepatocellular carcinoma in the light of genomic instability and non-coding RNA signatures

In this editorial,we comment on an original article by Duan et al.Despite ad-vancements in the diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC),the identification of suitable prognostic factors remains challenging.In their paper,Duan et al identified long non-coding RNAs(LncRNAs)to quantify ge-nomic instability(GI)by combining LncRNA expression and somatic mutation profiles.They confirmed that the GI-derived LncRNA signature(GI-LncSig)could be an independent prognostic factor with the area under the curve of 0.773.Fur-thermore,the authors stated that GI-LncSig may have a better predictive perfor-mance than TP53 mutation status alone.However,studies exploring genetic markers for predicting the prognosis of HCC are crucial for identifying thera-peutic targets and enhancing diagnostic and treatment strategies to mitigate the global burden of liver cancer.

Molecular cascades and cell type-specific signatures in ASD revealed by single-cell genomics

Genomic profiling in postmortem brain from autistic individuals has consistently revealed convergent molecular changes.What drives these changes and how they relate to genetic susceptibility in this complex condition are not well understood.We performed deep single-nucleus RNA sequencing(snRNA-seq)to examine cell composition and transcriptomics,identifying dysregulation of cell type-specific gene regulatory networks(GRNs)in autism spectrum disorder(ASD).

A New ID-Based Proxy Multi-Signature Scheme from Bilinear Pairings

ID-based public key cryptosystem can be a good alternative for certifieate-based public key setting. This paper provides an efficient ID-based proxy multi signature scheme from pairings. In the random oracle model, we prove that our new scheme is secure against existential delegation forgery with the assumption that Hess＇s scheme-1 is existential unforgeable, and that our new scheme is secure against existential proxy multi-signature forgery under the hardness assumption of the computational Diffie-Hellman problem.

Proxy signature scheme for ID-based original signers and certificate-based proxy signers

To realize delegation between different users in a mixed cryptosystem,a proxy signature scheme for ID-based original signers and certificated-based proxy signers（PSS-ID-CER）is defined.Using the bilinear properties of the pairings and the characters of key generations of certificate-based cryptosystems and ID-based cryptosystems,a construction for such a scheme is also presented.To prove the security of the proposed scheme,a general security model for this scheme under adaptive chosen-PKG,chosen-ID,chosen-delegation,chosen-ProxySigner-public-key,chosen-proxy-key and chosen-message attack is defined.The proposed scheme is provably secure under the random oracle model and the hardness assumption of computational Diffie-Hellman problem.

Morphodynamic signatures derived from daily surface elevation dynamics can explain the morphodynamic development of tidal flats

Understanding the sensitivity of tidal flats to environmental changes is challenging.Currently,most studies rely on process-based models to systematically explain the morphodynamic evolution of tidal flats.In this study,we proposed an alternative empirical approach to explore tidal flat dynamics using statistical indices based on long-term time series of daily surface elevation development.Surface elevation dynamic(SED)indices focus on the magnitude and period of surface elevation changes,while morphodynamic signature(MDS)indices relate sediment dynamics to environmental drivers.The statistical analyses were applied to an intervention site in the Netherlands to determine the effect of recently constructed groynes on the tidal flat.Using these analyses,we were able to(1)detect a reduction in the daily SED and(2)determine that the changes in the daily SED were predominantly caused by the reduction in wave impact between the groynes rather than the reduction in tidal currents.Overall,the presented results showed that the combination of novel statistical indices provides new insights into the trajectories of tidal flats,ecosystem functioning,and sensitivity to physical drivers(wind and tides).Finally,we suggested how the SED and MDS indices may help to explore the future trajectories and climate resilience of intertidal habitats.

A New ID-Based Proxy Blind Signature Scheme

An identity-based proxy blind signature scheme from bilinear pairings isintroduced, which combines the advantages of proxy signature and blind signature. Furthermore, ourscheme can prevent the original signer from generating the proxy blind signature, thus the profitsof the proxy signer are guaranteed. We introduce bilinear pairings to minimize computationaloverhead and to improve the related performance of our scheme. In addition, the proxy blindsignature presented is non-repudiable and it fulfills perfectly the security requirements of a proxyblind signature.

Efficient ID-Based Proxy Blind Signature Scheme

In a proxy blind signature scheme, the proxy signer is allowed to generate a blind signature on behalf of the original signer. The proxy blind signature scheme is useful in several applications such as e-voting and e-payment. In this paper, we propose an identity-based proxy blind signature scheme which combines the advantages of proxy signature and of blind signature. Our scheme fulfills peffecdy the security requirements of a proxy blind signature. Comparing the previous scheme, our scheme needs less computational overhead and is more efficient.

Another ID-Based Proxy Signature Scheme and Its Extension

So fur, the security of many proxy signatures has seldom been considered in a formal way and most of them cannot satisfy nonepudiation. In this work, a novel ID-based （Identity-based） proxy signature scheme is proposed by combining the proxy signature with ID-based public cryptography, and they formalize the notion of security for ID-based proxy signature schemes. And show that the security of the proposed scheme is secure. Compured with other proxy signature schemes, it does not need a secure channel. Thus, it is particularly suitable for the unreliable network computation environment. Finally, they extend proposed scheme to a proxy multi-signature which has the following advantages （1） the size of proxy multi- signature is independent of the number of delegating users; （2） the computation cost of proxy multi-signature only need two Weil paring.

An Efficient Provable Secure ID-Based Proxy Signature Scheme Based on CDH Assumption

Identity-based proxy signature enables an entity to delegate its signing rights to another entity in identity-based cryptosystem settings. However, few existing scheme has been proved secure in a formalized model, or acquired optimized performance. To achieve the goals of both proven security and high efficiency, this paper proposed an efficient identity-based proxy signature scheme. The scheme is constructed from bilinear pairing and proved secure in the random oracle model, using the oracle replay attack technique introduced by Pointehval and Stern. The analysis shows that the scheme needs less computation costs and has a shorter signature than the other schemes.

A new improved ID-based proxy ring signature scheme from bilinear pairings

Ring signature and proxy signature are of vital importance to secure electronic commerce. Recently, the bilinear pairing such as Well pairing or Tate pairing on elliptic curves and hyperelliptic curves is playing an important role in security solutions. Several ID-based signature schemes have been put forward, many of which are based on bilinear pairings. In key management and moderate security demand scenarios, ID-based public key cryptosystem is more preferable than other public key infrastructure based systems. In this paper, an improved ID-based proxy ring signature scheme from bilinear pairings is proposed which combines the advantages of proxy signature and of ring signatures. Our scheme can guarantee the profits of the proxy signer via preventing the original signer form generating the proxy ring signature. Furthermore, bilinear pairings are introduced to minimize the computation overhead and to improve the related performance of our scheme. In contrast with Zhang＇s scheme, our scheme is a computational efficiency improvement for signature verification because the computational cost of bilinear pairings required is reduced from O（n） to O（ 1 ）. In addition, the proxy ring signature presented in this paper can perfectly satisfy all the security requirements of proxy ring signature, i. e. signer-ambiguity, non-forgeability, verification, non-deniability and distinguishability.

NEW ID-BASED GROUP SIGNATURE FROM PAIRINGS

We argue that traditional identity-based systems from pairings seem unsuitable for designing group signature schemes due to the problem of key escrow. In this paper we first propose new ID-based public key systems without trusted PKG (Private Key Generator) from bilinear pairings. In our new ID-based systems, if the dishonest PKG impersonates an honest user to communicate with others, the user can provide a proof of treachery of the PKG afterwards, which is similar to certificate-based systems. Therefore, our systems reach the Girault’s trusted level 3. We then propose a group signature scheme under the new ID-based systems, the security and performance of which rely on the new systems. The size of the group public key and the length of the signature are independent on the numbers of the group.

Population genomics reveals demographic history and selection signatures of hazelnut (Corylus)

Hazelnut(Corylus spp.)is known as one of the four famous tree nuts in the world due to its pleasant taste and nutritional benefits.However,hazelnut promotion worldwide is increasingly challenged by global climate change,limiting its production to a few regions.Focusing on the eurytopic Section Phyllochlamys,we conducted whole-genome resequencing of 125 diverse accessions from five geo-ecological zones in Eurasia to elucidate the genomic basis of adaptation and improvement.Population structure inference outlined five distinct genetic lineages corresponding to climate conditions and breeding background,and highlighted the differentiation between European and Asian lineages.Demographic dynamics and ecological niche modeling revealed that Pleistocene climatic oscillations dominantly shaped the extant genetic patterns,and multiple environmental factors have contributed to the lineage divergence.Whole-genome scans identified 279,111,and 164 selective sweeps that underlie local adaptation in Corylus heterophylla,Corylus kweichowensis,and Corylus yunnanensis,respectively.Relevant positively selected genes were mainly involved in regulating signaling pathways,growth and development,and stress resistance.The improvement signatures of hybrid hazelnut were concentrated in 312 and 316 selected genes,when compared to C.heterophylla and Corylus avellana,respectively,including those that regulate protein polymerization,photosynthesis,and response to water deprivation.Among these loci,22 candidate genes were highly associated with the regulation of biological quality.Our study provides insights into evolutionary processes and the molecular basis of how sibling species adapt to contrasting environments,and offers valuable resources for future climate-resilient breeding.

A NEW EFFICIENT ID-BASED PROXY BLIND SIGNATURE SCHEME

In a proxy blind signature scheme,the proxy signer is allowed to generate a blind signature on behalf of the original signer. The proxy blind signature scheme is useful in several applications such as e-voting,e-payment,etc. Recently,Zheng,et al. presented an IDentity(ID) -based proxy blind sig-nature. In this paper,a new efficient ID-based proxy blind signature scheme from bilinear pairings is proposed,which can satisfy the security properties of both the proxy signatures and the blind signature schemes. Analysis of the scheme efficiency shows that the new scheme is more efficient than Zheng,et al.'s scheme. The proposed scheme is more practical in the real world.

Whole-genome resequencing reveals recent signatures of selection in five populations of largemouth bass(Micropterus salmoides)

Largemouth bass(Micropterus salmoides) is an economically important fish species in North America, Europe, and China. Various genetic improvement programs and domestication processes have modified its genome sequence through selective pressure, leaving nucleotide signals that can be detected at the genomic level. In this study,we sequenced 149 largemouth bass fish, including protospecies(imported from the US) and improved breeds(four domestic breeding populations from China). We detected genomic regions harboring certain genes associated with improved traits, which may be useful molecular markers for practical domestication, breeding, and selection. Subsequent analyses of genetic diversity and population structure revealed that the improved breeds have undergone more rigorous genetic changes. Through selective signal analysis, we identified hundreds of putative selective sweep regions in each largemouth bass line. Interestingly, we predicted 103 putative candidate genes potentially subjected to selection,including several associated with growth(psst1 and grb10), early development(klf9, sp4, and sp8), and immune traits(pkn2, sept2, bcl6, and ripk2). These candidate genes represent potential genomic landmarks that could be used to improve important traits of biological and commercial interest. In summary, this study provides a genome-wide map of genetic variations and selection footprints in largemouth bass, which may benefit genetic studies and accelerate genetic improvement of this economically important fish.

Improved ID-Based Signature Scheme Solving Key Escrow

Key escrow is an inherent disadvantage for traditional ID-based cryptosystem, i.e., the dishonest private key generator (PKG) can forge the signature of any user, meanwhile, the user can deny the signature actually signed by him/herself. To avoid the keyescrow problem, an ID-based signature scheme was presented without trusted PKG. The exact proof of security was presented to demonstrate that our scheme is secure against existential forgery on adaptively chosen message and ID attacks assuming the complexity of computational Diffie-Hellman (CDH) problem. Compared with other signature schemes, the proposed scheme is more efficient.