Designing a Secure and Scalable Data Sharing Mechanism Using Decentralized Identifiers(DID)

Centralized storage and identity identification methods pose many risks,including hacker attacks,data misuse,and single points of failure.Additionally,existing centralized identity management methods face interoperability issues and rely on a single identity provider,leaving users without control over their identities.Therefore,this paper proposes a mechanism for identity identification and data sharing based on decentralized identifiers.The scheme utilizes blockchain technology to store the identifiers and data hashed on the chain to ensure permanent identity recognition and data integrity.Data is stored on InterPlanetary File System(IPFS)to avoid the risk of single points of failure and to enhance data persistence and availability.At the same time,compliance with World Wide Web Consortium(W3C)standards for decentralized identifiers and verifiable credentials increases the mechanism’s scalability and interoperability.

Occupational physical activity, all-cause, cardiovascular disease, and cancer mortality in 349,248 adults: Prospective and longitudinal analyses of the MJ Cohort

Background:Evidence on the health benefits of occupational physical activity(OPA)is inconclusive.We examined the associations of baseline OPA and OPA changes with all-cause,cardiovascular disease(CVD),and cancer mortality and survival times.Methods:This study included prospective and longitudinal data from the MJ Cohort,comprising adults over 18 years recruited in 1998-2016,349,248 adults(177,314 women)with baseline OPA,of whom 105,715(52,503 women)had 2 OPA measures at 6.3±4.2 years(mean±SD)apart.Exposures were baseline OPA,OPA changes,and baseline leisure-time physical activity.Results:Over a mean mortality follow-up of 16.2±5.5 years for men and 16.4±5.4 years for women,11,696 deaths(2033 of CVD and 4631 of cancer causes)in men and 8980 deaths(1475 of CVD and 3689 of cancer causes)in women occurred.Combined moderately heavy/heavy baseline OPA was beneficially associated with all-cause mortality in men(multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio(HR)=0.93,95%confidence interval(95%CI):0.89-0.98 compared to light OPA)and women(HR=0.86,95%CI:0.79-0.93).Over a mean mortality follow-up of 12.5±4.6 years for men and 12.6±4.6 years for women,OPA decreases in men were detrimentally associated(HR=1.16,95%CI:1.01-1.33)with all-cause mortality,while OPA increases in women were beneficially(HR=0.83,95%CI:0.70-0.97)associated with the same outcome.Baseline or changes in OPA showed no associations with CVD or cancer mortality.Conclusion:Higher baseline OPA was beneficially associated with all-cause mortality risk in both men and women.Our longitudinal OPA analyses partly confirmed the prospective findings,with some discordance between sex groups.

Does <i>Culicoides</i>spp. (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) Not Suck Human Blood in Riparian Habitat of a National Park

Is the wild animal conservation result in Taiwan good enough to provide the blood resources for the blood sucking insect and cause the insect behavior changed? Based on the bimonthly investigation of Culicoides sp. in Wuling area, Sheipar National Park, by both human bait method and light trap method, we found that there were totally 13,191 individuals trapped by light trap and collected but no one single Culicoides sp. trapped by human bait during the study period of Wuling Long Term Ecological Research (WLTER) in 2012. Two of the three sites were recorded and reported as the midge attacked the ranger and tourists of Sheipa National Park in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Along with the study of WLTER some wild animals encounter more often than before, especially the bird population in the riparian ecosystem of the mountain river Chi Chia Wan Stream. On the other end, Culicoides sp. preferred to the blood of birds and amphibians as well as mammals according to the article review. So, the effectiveness of blood resource from wild animals may cause the behavior of blood sucking insect like as Culicoides sp. shifted to or returned back to the original and the favorite blood resource.

Artificial intelligence system for the detection of Barrett’s esophagus

BACKGROUND Barrett’s esophagus(BE),which has increased in prevalence worldwide,is a precursor for esophageal adenocarcinoma.Although there is a gap in the detection rates between endoscopic BE and histological BE in current research,we trained our artificial intelligence(AI)system with images of endoscopic BE and tested the system with images of histological BE.AIM To assess whether an AI system can aid in the detection of BE in our setting.METHODS Endoscopic narrow-band imaging(NBI)was collected from Chung Shan Medical University Hospital and Changhua Christian Hospital,resulting in 724 cases,with 86 patients having pathological results.Three senior endoscopists,who were instructing physicians of the Digestive Endoscopy Society of Taiwan,independently annotated the images in the development set to determine whether each image was classified as an endoscopic BE.The test set consisted of 160 endoscopic images of 86 cases with histological results.RESULTS Six pre-trained models were compared,and EfficientNetV2B2(accuracy[ACC]:0.8)was selected as the backbone architecture for further evaluation due to better ACC results.In the final test,the AI system correctly identified 66 of 70 cases of BE and 85 of 90 cases without BE,resulting in an ACC of 94.37%.CONCLUSION Our AI system,which was trained by NBI of endoscopic BE,can adequately predict endoscopic images of histological BE.The ACC,sensitivity,and specificity are 94.37%,94.29%,and 94.44%,respectively.

Exploring the mechanisms of magnolol in the treatment of periodontitis by integrating network pharmacology and molecular docking

Background:Magnolol,a bioactive extract of the Chinese herb Magnolia officinalis has a protective effect against periodontitis.This study is aimed to explore the mechanisms involved in the functioning of magnolol against periodontitis and provide a basis for further research.Methods:Network pharmacology analysis was performed based on the identification of related targets from public databases.The Protein-protein interaction(PPI)network was constructed to visualize the significance between the targets of magnolol and periodontitis.Subsequently,Gene ontology(GO)and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)analysis were performed to predict the functions and the signal regulatory pathways involved in the action of magnolol against periodontitis.The“functiontarget-pathway”networks were constructed to analyze the core targets and pathways of magnolol against periodontitis.Molecular docking was used to verify the interaction of magnolol and core targets.Results:A total of 58 active targets of magnolol and 644 periodontitis-related targets were collected from public databases.A total of 25 targets of magnolol against periodontitis were identified based on the Venn diagram.GO analysis showed that magnolol has a role in the response to oxidative stress,nicotine,and lipopolysaccharide.KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that the mechanism of magnolol against periodontitis was mainly related to the tumor necrosis factor(TNF),phosphoinositide 3-kinase(PI3K/Akt),and mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK)signaling pathways.Combined with PPI network and molecular docking results,the core targets of magnolol against periodontitis included AKT1,MAPK8,MAPK14,TNF,and TP53.Conclusion:To summarize,the anti-periodontitis mechanisms of magnolol are potentially through regulating the TNF,PI3K/Akt,and MAPK signaling pathways.

Quantum Oblivious Transfer with Reusable Bell State

In cryptography,oblivious transfer(OT)is an important multiparty cryptographic primitive and protocol,that is suitable for many upperlayer applications,such as secure computation,remote coin-flipping,electrical contract signing and exchanging secrets simultaneously.However,some nogo theorems have been established,indicating that one-out-of-two quantum oblivious transfer(QOT)protocols with unconditional security are impossible.Fortunately,some one-out-of-two QOT protocols using the concept of Crepeau’s reduction have been demonstrated not to conform to Lo’s no-go theorem,but these protocols require more quantum resources to generate classical keys using all-or-nothing QOT to construct one-out-of-two QOT.This paper proposes a novel and efficient one-out-of-two QOT which uses quantum resources directly instead of wasting unnecessary resources to generate classical keys.The proposed protocol is not covered by Lo’s no-go theorem,and it is able to check the sender’s loyalty and avoid the attack from the receiver.Moreover,the entangled state of the proposed protocol is reusable,so it can provide more services for the participants when necessary.Compared with otherQOT protocols,the proposed protocol is more secure,efficient,and flexible,which not only can prevent external and internal attacks,but also reduce the required resources and resource distribution time.

Medicinal plant activity on Helicobacter pylori related diseases

More than 50%of the world population is infected with Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori).The bacterium highly links to peptic ulcer diseases and duodenal ulcer,which was classified as a groupⅠcarcinogen in 1994 by the WHO.The pathogenesis of H.pylori is contributed by its virulence factors including urease,flagella,vacuolating cytotoxin A(VacA),cytotoxin-associated gene antigen(Cag A),and others.Of those virulence factors,VacA and CagA play the key roles.Infection with H.pylori vacA-positive strains can lead to vacuolation and apoptosis,whereas infection with cagA-positive strains might result in severe gastric inflammation and gastric cancer.Numerous medicinal plants have been reported for their anti-H.pylori activity,and the relevant active compounds including polyphenols,flavonoids,quinones,coumarins,terpenoids,and alkaloids have been studied.The anti-H.pylori action mechanisms,including inhibition of enzymatic(urease,DNA gyrase,dihydrofolate reductase,N-acetyltransferase,and myeloperoxidase)and adhesive activities,high redox potential,and hydrophilic/hydrophobic natures of compounds,have also been discussed in detail.H.pylori-induced gastric inflammation may progress to superficial gastritis,atrophic gastritis,and finally gastric cancer.Many natural products have anti-H.pylori-induced inflammation activity and the relevant mechanisms include suppression of nuclear factor-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway activation and inhibition of oxidative stress.Anti-H.pylori induced gastric inflammatory effects of plant products,including quercetin,apigenin,carotenoids-rich algae,tea product,garlic extract,apple peel polyphenol,and finger-root extract,have been documented.In conclusion,many medicinal plant products possess anti-H.pylori activity as well as an anti-H.pylori-induced gastric inflammatory effect.Those plant products have showed great potential as pharmaceutical candidates for H.pylori eradication and H.pylori induced related gastric disease prevention.

Applications of carbonic acid solution for developing conversion coatings on Mg alloy

Works on exploring an environmentally clean method for producing an Mg,Al-hydrotalcite(Mg6Al2(OH) 16CO3·4H2O) layer and/or calcium carbonate(CaCO3) layer on Mg alloy in a carbonic acid solution system(aqueous HCO3-/CO3 2-or Ca 2+ /HCO3-) at 50℃ were reviewed.Conversion treatment for the Mg,Al-hydrotalcite conversion coating was as follows.Mg alloy was treated first in acidic HCO3-/CO3 2-aqueous for precursor layer formation on Mg alloy surface and then in alkaline HCO3-/CO3 2-aqueous to form a crystallized Mg,Al-hydrotalcite coating.Duration of an Mg,Al-hydrotalcite coating on Mg alloy surface was reduced from 12 h to 4 h by the conversion treatment.On the other hand,for reducing the formation time of CaCO3 coating on Mg alloy,the aqueous Ca 2+ /HCO3-with a saturated Ca 2+ content was employed for developing a CaCO3 coating on Mg alloy.A dense CaCO3 coating could yield on Mg alloy surface in 2 h.Corrosion rate(corrosion current density,Jcorr) of the Mg,Al-hydrotalcite-coated sample and CaCO3-coated AZ91D sample was 7-10μA/cm 2,roughly two orders less than the Jcorr of the as-diecast sample(about 200μA/cm 2) . No corrosion spot on the Mg,Al-hydrotalcite-coated sample and CaCO3-coated sample was observed after 72 h and 192 h salt spray test,respectively.

Lower serum folate is associated with development and invasiveness of gastric cancer

AIM: To evaluate the associations of serum folate levelwith development, invasiveness and patient survival of gastric cancer. METHODS: In this nested case-control study, patients with newly diagnosed gastric cancer undergoing gastrectomy were enrolled, and patients receiving chemotherapy prior to surgery, with other concurrent malignancy, or of the aboriginal and alien populations were excluded. In total, 155 gastric cancer patients and 149 healthy controls were enrolled for determination of serum folate levels and their correlation with gastric cancer. Using the median value of serum folate computed among the overall population as the cutoff value, the associations between serum folate and gastric cancer in all cases and different age and gender subgroups were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression analysis. In the patient cohort of gastric cancer, receiver-operating characteristic analyses were performed to calculate the best cutoff values of serum folate, and the associations between serum folate levels and clinicopathological features were further analyzed by multivariate regression analysis. Survival analyses were conducted using the Cox proportional hazards model.RESULTS: The mean serum folate level was significantly lower in gastric cancer patients than that in controls(3.71 ± 0.30 ng/mL vs 8.00 ± 0.54 ng/mL, P < 0.01), and folate levels were consistently lower in gastric cancer patients regardless of age and gender(all P < 0.01). Using the median serum folate value as the cutoff value, low serum folate was significantly associated with gastric cancer risk in the whole population(OR = 19.77, 95%CI: 10.54-37.06, P < 0.001) and all strata(age < 60 years OR = 17.39, 95%CI: 7.28-41.54, age ≥ 60 years(OR = 21.67, 95%CI: 8.27-56.80), males(OR = 17.95, 95%CI: 7.93-40.62), and females(OR = 20.95, 95%CI: 7.66-57.31); all P < 0.001. In the patient cohort of gastric cancer, the respective cutoff values showed that low serum folate levels were significantly associated with serosal invasion(OR = 2.54, 95%CI: 1.23-5.23), lymphatic invasion(OR = 2.23, 95%CI: 1.17-4.26), and liver metastasis(OR =6.67, 95%CI: 1.28-34.91) of gastric cancer(all P < 0.05). Serum folate level below 1.90 ng/mL was associated with poor patient survival(HR = 1.84, 95%CI: 1.04-3.27, P < 0.05) in univariate analysis.CONCLUSION: Lower serum folate levels were significantly associated with gastric cancer development and invasive phenotypes. The role of folate depletion in gastric cancer invasion warrants further study.

A study of jacking force for a curved pipejacking

For a pipejacking, the jacking force is critical to balance the resistance force and to move the pipe string forwards. The driving mechanism of a curved pipejacking is more complicated than a straight-line pipejacking, and its jacking force is also more difficult to be determined. The paper theoretically studies the jacking force of a curved pipejacking by considering the static equilibrium of earth pressure, resistance at cutting face, friction at pipe surface, and the driving force behind the pipe string. The derived theoretical formula can be used to estimate the driving forces of a straight-line or a curved pipejacking. Case study was performed by applying the theoretical and empirical formulae. After calibration, the corrected formula is more accurate and more applicable.

Optimization of micropatterned poly(lactic-coglycolic acid) films for enhancing dorsal root ganglion cell orientation and extension

Nerve conduits have been a viable alternative to the ‘gold standard’ autograft for treating small peripheral nerve gap injuries. However, they often produce inadequate functional recovery outcomes and are ineffective in large gap injuries. Ridge/groove surface micropatterning has been shown to promote neural cell orientation and guide growth. However, optimization of the ratio of ridge/groove parameters to promote orientation and extension for dorsal root ganglion （DRG） cells on poly（lactic-co-glycolic acid） （PLGA） films has not been previously conducted. Photolithography and micro-molding were used to define various combinations of ridge/groove dimensions on PLGA films. The DRG cells obtained from chicken embryos were cultured on micropatterned PLGA films for cell orientation and migration evaluation.Biodegradation of the films occurred during the test period, however, this did not cause deformation or distortion of the micropatterns. Results from the DRG cell orientation test suggest that when the ridge/groove ratio equals 1 （ridge/groove width parameters are equal, i.e., 10 μm/10 μm （even））, the degree of alignment depends on the size of the ridges and grooves, when the ratio is smaller than 1 （groove controlled） the alignment increases as the ridge size decreases, and when the ratio is larger than 1 （ridge controlled）, the alignment is reduced as the width of the grooves decreases. The migration rate and neurite extension of DRG neurons were greatest on 10 μm/10 μm and 30 μm/30 μm micropatterned PLGA films. Based on the data, the 10 μm/10 μm and 30 μm/30 μm micropatterned PLGA films are the optimized ridge/groove surface patterns for the construction of nerve repair devices.

Characteristics and interpretation of the seismic signal of a field-scale landslide dam failure experiment

Outburst floods caused by breaches of landslide dams may cause serious damages and loss of lives in downstream areas; for this reason the study of the dynamic of the process is of particular interest for hazard and risk assessment. In this paper we report a field-scale landslide dam failure experiment conducted in Nantou County, in the central of Taiwan.The seismic signal generated during the dam failure was monitored using a broadband seismometer and the signal was used to study the dam failure process.We used the short-time Fourier transform(STFT) to obtain the time–frequency characteristics of the signal and analyzed the correlation between the power spectrum density(PSD) of the signal and the water level. The results indicate that the seismic signal generated during the process consisted of three components: a low-frequency band(0–1.5 Hz), an intermediate-frequency band(1.5–10 Hz) and a highfrequency band(10–45 Hz). We obtained the characteristics of each frequency band and the variations of the signal in various stages of the landslide dam failure process. We determined the cause for the signal changes in each frequency band and its relationship with the dam failure process. The PSD sediment flux estimation model was used to interpret the causes of variations in the signal energy before the dam failure and the clockwise hysteresis during the failure. Our results show that the seismic signal reflects the physical characteristics of the landslide dam failure process. The method and equipment used in this study may be used to monitor landslide dams and providing early warnings for dam failures.

Update on a tumor-associated NADH oxidase in gastric cancer cell growth

Gastric cancer is one of the most common human malignancies, and its prevalence has been shown to be well-correlated with cancer-related deaths worldwide. Regrettably, the poor prognosis of this disease is mainly due to its late diagnosis at advanced stages after the cancer has already metastasized. Recent research has emphasized the identification of cancer biomarkers in the hope of diagnosing cancer early and designing targeted therapies to reverse cancer progression. One member of a family of growth-related nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide(NADH or hydroquinone) oxidases is tumor-associated NADH oxidase(t NOX; ENOX2). Unlike its counterpart CNOX(ENOX1), identified in normal rat liver plasma membranes and shown to be stimulated by growth factors and hormones, t NOX activity purified from rat hepatoma cells is constitutively active. Its activity is detectable in the sera of cancer patients but not in those of healthy volunteers, suggesting its clinical relevance. Interestingly, t NOX expression was shown to be present in an array of cancer cell lines. More importantly, inhibition of t NOX was well correlated with reduced cancer cell growth and induction of apoptosis. RNA interference targeting t NOX expression in cancer cells effectively restored non-cancerous phenotypes, further supporting the vital role of t NOX in cancer cells. Here, we review the regulatory role of t NOX in gastric cancer cell growth.

A New Study on Combustion Behavior of Pine Sawdust Characterized by the Weibull Distribution

An isothermal operation is implemented by employing a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) for simulating the thermal decomposition behavior of 58μm pine sawdust in air atmosphere.An independent parallel reaction model is adopted in this study to describe the thermal decomposition mechanism.The Weibull distribution function is used to record and analyze the weight loss during isothermal decomposition at different temperatures(500,600,700,and 800°C).The total weight loss of the pine sawdust is assumed as a linear combination of individual weight loss from three components,including the char and two volatile matters.The plot of the thermal decomposition rate curve leads to kinetic parameters such as the reaction rate constants and the reaction order.The results show that the Weibull distribution function successfully represents decomposition curves of three components,and fits the experimental data very well.Therefore,this study provides a simple way to evaluate the decomposition rate of biomass combustion in a real combustor.

A practical and dynamic key management scheme for a user hierarchy

In this paper, we propose a practical and dynamic key management scheme based on the Rabin public key system and a set of matrices with canonical matrix multiplication to solve the access control problem in an arbitrary partially ordered user hierarchy. The advantage is in ensuring that the security class in the higher level can derive any of its successor’s secret keys directly and efficiently and show it is dynamic while a new security class is added into or a class is removed from the hierarchy. Even the ex-member problem can be solved efficiently. Moreover, any user can freely change its own key for some security reasons.

Recent advances in the managements of type 2 diabetes mellitus and natural hypoglycemic substances

Diabetes has become a global concern at present,among which type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)accounts for approximately 90%-95%of patients.T2DM is a type of metabolic disorder syndrome that results from a genetic defect,and it is based on insulin resistance and an insulin secretion disorder.The occurrence of T2DM is usually the outcome of both genetic and environmental factors and their interactions.The etiology and pathogenesis of diabetes have not been fully elucidated,and no radical therapeutic cure has been found.Patients with T2DM suffer from complications such as the development of a chronic hyperglycemic condition and even serious metabolic disorders and organ damage in the body and depression and dementia,in addition to other chronic complications.Many studies have suggested that diet is crucial in the development of diabetes and the control of blood glucose.Natural substances have the characteristics of low toxicity and few side effects and may be key to the development of diabetic health products and preventive treatments.This paper reviews the etiology,pathogenesis,risks,treatments and diets related to T2DM to summarize the types of recently available natural products,from both local and foreign sources,for lowering blood glucose at home and their application in supplementary hypoglycemic foods.The key findings and conclusions suggest that there are various known T2DM-inducing factors,including genetic and environmental factors and three types of hybrid factors.

Modeling and Adaptive Control of an Omni-Mecanum-Wheeled Robot

The complete dynamics model of a four-Mecanum-wheeled robot considering mass eccentricity and friction uncertainty is derived using the Lagrange’s equation. Then based on the dynamics model, a nonlinear stable adaptive control law is derived using the backstepping method via Lyapunov stability theory. In order to compensate for the model uncertainty, a nonlinear damping term is included in the control law, and the parameter update law with σ-modification is considered for the uncertainty estimation. Computer simulations are conducted to illustrate the suggested control approach.

Evaluations and Selections for High Isoflavone Black Soybean Mutants Induced by NaN₃Treatment

Sodium azide (NaN3) (2 mM) was used to induce mutation in black soybean variety CRWD for improvement of isoflavone content. The individual selections were made in M6, M7 and M8 generations, respectively. Both high levels of isoflavones and medium seed size traits were used as selection criteria. Across three growth seasons, the selected five NaN3-induced mutants accumulated more total isoflavones (average increases of 5% to 25%) than their wild type variety CRWD. Four mutants yielded more (average increases of 17% to 25%) than CRWD. Both mutants SA-M-03 (yellow cotyledon) and SA-M-05 (green cotyledon) are rich in isoflavones and may be useful in food and other applications.