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Quantum key distribution (QKD) networks are expected to enable information-theoretical secure (ITS) communication over a large-scale network. Most researches on relay-based QKD network assume that all relays are completely trustworthy, but the assumption is unrealistic in a complex network. The current study only analyzes the case of passive attacks by untrusted relays (e.g. eavesdropping). However, active attacks by untrusted relays (e.g. spoofing or interfering with the cooperation between honest nodes) are more serious threats and should not be ignored. Taking both passive and active attacks into account, we propose the ITSBFT-QKD networks to defend against untrusted nodes and achieve end-to-end key distribution. In end-to-end key distribution, multiple participating nodes are required to establish trust relationships and cooperate with each other. To prevent attackers from breaking trust relationship and gaining an unreasonable advantage, we incorporate a byzantine consensus scheme to establish and transmit trust relationships in a global QKD network perspective. Moreover, since the security of traditional consensus schemes is lower than the security requirement of QKD networks, we devise a byzantine fault tolerance (BFT) signature scheme to ensure the information-theoretic security of consensus. It provides a new way to construct signature schemes with point-to-point QKD keys in the presence of untrusted relays or nodes. The security of our scheme is analyzed thoroughly from multiple aspects. Our scheme can accommodate up to $ MIN\left( C-1,\lfloor \frac{N-1}{3} \rfloor \right) $ untrusted nodes, where $C$ is the node connectivity of the network and $N$ is the number of nodes in the network. Our scheme provides the highest level of security in currently relay-based QKD networks and will significantly promote the application of QKD networks., Comment: 13 pages,7 figures

The construct of SiO2@CaO2@DOX@P53–HA and its therapeutical mechanism in cancer cell.

Quantum key distribution (QKD) can provide fundamentally proven security for secure communication. Toward application, the secret key rate (SKR) is a key figure of merit for any QKD system. So far, the SKR has been limited to about a few megabit-per-second. Here we report a QKD system that is able to generate key at a record high SKR of 115.8 Mb/s over 10-km standard fibre, and to distribute key over up to 328 km of ultra-low-loss fibre. This attributes to a multi-pixel superconducting nanowire single-photon detector with ultrahigh counting rate, an integrated transmitter that can stably encode polarization states with low error, a fast post-processing algorithm for generating key in real time and the high system clock-rate operation. The results demonstrate the feasibility of practical high-rate QKD with photonic techniques, thus opening its possibility for widespread applications.

It has been well demonstrated that melatonin plays an important protective role in photosynthesis of plants under various environmental stresses, while the detailed mechanisms by which melatonin protects photosystem II (PSII) under environmental stress are still unclear. In the study, the effects of melatonin on photosynthetic efficiency, energy dissipation, PSII protein composition, and reversible phosphorylation of thylakoid proteins were investigated in wheat plants under osmotic stress. The results showed that osmotic stress significantly reduced pigment content, photochemical efficiency of PSII, oxygen-evolving activity, and dissipation of excess excitation energy, while 25 μM melatonin applications greatly alleviated their decline under osmotic stress. Western blot data of PSII proteins revealed that melatonin upregulated the levels of D1, Lhcb5, Lhcb6, PsbQ, and PsbS proteins in wheat exposed to osmotic stress. In addition, thylakoid membrane proteins were strongly phosphorylated in wheat under osmotic stress with or without melatonin. Furthermore, the results from PSII protein dephosphorylation showed that exogenous melatonin promoted the dephosphorylation of LCHII, CP43, and D1 under osmotic stress. Therefore, our findings suggest that melatonin can provide an effective protection for the photosynthetic apparatus by the regulation of PSII proteins and the reversible phosphorylation of thylakoid proteins under drought stress.

Quantum key distribution (QKD) networks is expected to provide information-theoretical secured (ITS) communication over long distances. QKD networks based trusted relay architecture are now the most widely used scheme in practice. However, it is an unrealistic assumption that all relays are fully trustable in complex networks. In the past, only a few studies have theoretically analyzed the case of passive eavesdropping attack by dishonest relays and corresponding defense method. However, we have found that active attacks by dishonest relays can be more threatening. With the consideration of passive and active attacks, we treat dishonest relays as Byzantine nodes and analyzes the upper limit of Byzantine nodes that the QKD network can accommodate. In this paper, we propose an ITS Byzantine-fault tolerance (BFT) QKD network scheme to achieve end-to-end key distribution based on point-to-point QKD links. To ensure consistency and provide BFT ability in the QKD network, we design an ITSBFT-consensus protocol for this network scheme. To ensure the information-theoretic security of consensus, we design a temporary signature scheme based on point-to-point QKD link keys. To prevent Byzantine nodes from disrupting the execution process of key distribution, we design an end-to-end key distribution scheme combined with consensus. We theoretically analyze proposed ITSBFT-QKD network scheme from four aspects: QKD key distribution security, temporary signature security, consensus security, and leader election fairness. The simulation result proved the feasibility and demonstrate the performance., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

Private set intersection (PSI) is a hot topic in cryptography and has a wide range of applications such as privacy preserving personal properties matching and data mining. Many PSI protocols have been presented, which discussed the efficiency and formal security. However, there are few PSI protocols for the cloud computing environments, where the cloud server offers effective computations and storage capabilities to clients and performs the PSI computations for clients. In this paper, we propose an efficient PSI protocol for the cloud computing environments, which is based on homomorphic encryption, pseudorandom function, set polynomial representation, and point-value form of polynomials. Our PSI protocol enjoys the following advantages: (a) our protocol gives a natural secure data storage; (b) normal channels are suitable to our protocol; (c) the communication and computation complexity are linear to the dataset size; (d) our protocol provides a formal detailed simulated-based security proof; (e) our protocol is a scalable protocol that could be extended to multiple clients conveniently, and a formal simulated-based security proof is provided in details.

Introduction: Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which is characterized by abnormal deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques and impaired neurogenesis and cognition, still lacks an optimally effective therapeutic agent for its management, and mounting evidence has shown that inflammatory processes are implicated in AD. Sophocarpine has been reported to exert inflammation-regulating effects in various diseases. However, whether sophocarpine can exert anti-neuroinflammatory and neuroprotective effects in AD remains unclear. This study investigated whether sophocarpine could ameliorate the pathological features and potential mechanisms in a mouse AD model. Methods: APP/PS1 mice were treated with sophocarpine for 8 weeks. We quantified the effects of sophocarpine treatment on cognitive performance using a behavioral test. Brain Aβ deposits and neurogenesis were evaluated using immunofluorescence staining. We also assessed the morphology and inflammatory changes induced by sophocarpine administration and its expression in the hippocampus. Results: Administration of sophocarpine significantly alleviated cognitive impairment and reduced neural loss. APP/PS1 mice treated with sophocarpine showed reduced Aβ plaque deposits and enhanced neurogenesis. Sophocarpine markedly decreased the expression of inflammation markers and inhibited microglial activation. Conclusions: Sophocarpine could potentially alleviate cognitive impairment and brain damage in APP/PS1 mice with its neuroprotective effects via modulation of the inflammatory pathway.

The low-voltage distribution network field wiring is very complicated and there are many changes in the relationship between households and changes, which brings great difficulties to the topology identification and line loss management of the transformer area. This paper proposed an intelligence low-voltage power system based on edge computing in order to improve the automation level of low-voltage distribution area, and to solve problems such as identification inaccuracy of topological relations in the low-voltage distribution area at present and singleness of condition monitoring parameters in station area, etc. The terminal is implanted with two edge calculation models based on artificial intelligence technology, which can realize topology identification and state parameters monitoring. The multistate parameter monitoring and decision analysis provides functions of event monitoring and early warning of abnormal state for the low voltage distribution system. In the topology identification analysis, the Markov random field was applied to establish the mathematical model of non-oriented graph and the joint probability distribution to describe the correlation between the nodes in the distribution network, thus realizing topology-relation identification of nodes in respective layers of the distribution area. On this basis, taking a low-voltage station as an example, a case analysis was undertaken. It was verified via the effectiveness and accuracy of the intelligence low-voltage station, which lays a foundation for research of the intelligent and fine management of the low voltage station system.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder causing dementia worldwide, and is mainly characterized by aggregated β-amyloid (Aβ). Increasing evidence has shown that plant extracts have the potential to delay AD development. The plant sterol β-Sitosterol has a potential role in inhibiting the production of platelet Aβ, suggesting that it may be useful for AD prevention. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effect and mechanism of β-Sitosterol on deficits in learning and memory in amyloid protein precursor/presenilin 1 (APP/PS1) double transgenic mice. APP/PS1 mice were treated with β-Sitosterol for four weeks, from the age of seven months. Brain Aβ metabolism was evaluated using ELISA and Western blotting. We found that β-Sitosterol treatment can improve spatial learning and recognition memory ability, and reduce plaque load in APP/PS1 mice. β-Sitosterol treatment helped reverse dendritic spine loss in APP/PS1 mice and reversed the decreased hippocampal neuron miniature excitatory postsynaptic current frequency. Our research helps to explain and support the neuroprotective effect of β-Sitosterol, which may offer a novel pharmaceutical agent for the treatment of AD. Taken together, these findings suggest that β-Sitosterol ameliorates memory and learning impairment in APP/PS1 mice and possibly decreases Aβ deposition.

Antibiotics are commonly used in swine feed to treat and prevent disease, as well as to promote growth. Antibiotics released into the environment via wastewater could accelerate the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes in the surrounding environment. In this study, we quantified the occurrence of sulfonamides, sulfonamide-resistant microorganisms and resistance genes in the wastewater from a swine farm in northern Taiwan and its surrounding natural water bodies and soils. Sulfonamide levels were similar in the receiving downstream and upstream river water. However, the prevalence of sulfonamide-resistant bacteria and resistance genes, as analyzed by cultivation-dependent and -independent molecular approaches, was significantly greater in the downstream compared to the upstream river water samples. Barcoded-pyrosequencing revealed a highly diverse bacterial community structure in each sample. However, the sequence identity of the sulfonamide resistance gene sul1 in the wastewater and downstream environment samples was nearly identical (99–100%). The sul1 gene, which is genetically linked to class 1 integrons, was dominant in the downstream water bodies and soils. In conclusion, the increased prevalence of sulfonamide resistance genes in the wastewater from a swine farm, independent of the persistent presence of sulfonamides, could be a potential source of resistant gene pools in the surrounding environment.

C9H10CeO11, triclinic, P1̄ (no. 2), a = 6.9100(14) Å, b = 9.1700(18) Å, c = 10.720(2) Å, α = 69.53(3)°, β = 83.56(3)°, γ = 87.01(3)°, V = 632.3(2) Å3, Z = 2, R gt(F) = 0.0265, wR ref(F 2) = 0.0487, T = 298(2) K.

Through experiments and model simulation, this paper had a comprehensive study on the viscosity reduction of oil by CO2. The result indicates that the reduction of viscosity by CO2 is an important factor on improving the oil recovery. For different oil samples of a certain reservoir, the curves of the relative viscosity with CO2 concentration can be regressed to get a single curve, which can be used to estimate the viscosity of any unknown oil-CO2 mixture in the reservoir. Relatived to the existing models of viscosity, the advanced LBC2 model has better precision, especially for high temperature condition.

Through experiments and model simulation, this paper had a comprehensive study on the determination and prediction of the bubble point pressure(BPP) for the CO2-oil system. The result indicates that The reservoir fluid and CO2 can normally reach the one-contact miscible state above the CO2 concentration of 60 mol%. For different oil samples of a certain reservoir, the curves of the relative BPP can be regressed to get a single curve. These curves can be used to estimate the BPP of any unknown oil-CO2 mixture in the reservoir. The calculation result of the advanced PREOS is accord with the experiment result, which is better model simulation.

This paper focuses on the influence and mechanism of H2 in the eptaxial growth of ZnO using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition method. Studies show that hydrogen has a significant influence on the structure and properties of ZnO films. Hydrogen produces a mainly negative impact on crystal quality, surface structure, and optical properties of ZnO films when tert-butanol (t-BuOH) is used as the O sources. Raman scattering shows that hydrogen has a very good effect on the suppression of carbon contamination. When nitrous oxide is used as the O sources, the surface of ZnO films becomes smooth, and the crystal quality and optical property are improved. It is shown that hydrogen can play a positive role when N2O is used as O source. In this paper we highly estimate hydrogen's ability of reducing the surface growth energy, improving the migration of the surface atoms and the corrosion effect on the surface. Studies show that the optimization of hydrogen has a significant effect during the epitaxial growth of ZnO using the MOCVD method.