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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a worldwide public health problem. Interventions to delay or prevent the onset of RA have attracted much attention in recent years, and researchers are now exploring various prevention strategies. At present, there is still no unified consensus for RA prevention, but targeting therapeutic windows and implementing interventions for at-risk individuals are extremely important. Due to the limited number of clinical trials on pharmacologic interventions, further studies are needed to explore and establish optimal intervention regimens and effective measures to prevent progression to RA. In this review, we introduce the RA disease process and risk factors, and present research on the use of both Western and Chinese medicine from clinical perspectives regarding RA prevention. Furthermore, we describe several complete and ongoing clinical studies on the use of Chinese herbal formulae for the prevention of RA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The substitution box (S-box) is one of the extremely important components in the design of block cipher. An excellent S-box is necessary for the block cipher algorithm, and its cipher strength directly affects the security of the cipher algorithm. The differential uniformity of the S-box generated by the chaotic system is 10 or 12, which cannot effectively resist differential cryptanalysis. Aiming at the high differential uniformity of the S-box constructed by the chaotic system, a novel efficient S-box construction scheme based on a new chaotic map and permutation is proposed in this paper. In this scheme, the chaotic matrix is generated by a new chaotic map, and then is replaced by permutation sequences to generate S-boxes. Comparative analysis shows that the generated S-boxes have high nonlinearity, low differential uniformity, and satisfy SAC and BIC criteria, which can improve the ability of the algorithm to resist differential cipher attacks and linear cryptographic analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To promote the application of time-resolved fluorescence in oxidation determination of edible vegetable oil, fluorescence lifetime of chlorophyll α in oxidized edible vegetable oils was recorded and analyzed by simulated microenvironment experiments and spectral methods. It was showed that fluorescence lifetime of chlorophyll α decreased with the increase of polarity in the early stage of oxidation, and increased with the increase of viscosity in the later stage of oxidation. Conjugation effect and hydrogen bonding existed in the microenvironment of oxidized edible vegetable oil were considered to be the factors leading to the increase of fluorescence lifetime. The change mechanism of fluorescence lifetime in oxidized edible vegetable oil was supplied, which was considered to be strong support for the application of time-resolved fluorescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cryptophytes are ancestral photosynthetic organisms evolved from red algae through secondary endosymbiosis. They have developed alloxanthin-chlorophyll a/c2-binding proteins (ACPs) as light-harvesting complexes (LHCs). The distinctive properties of cryptophytes contribute to efficient oxygenic photosynthesis and underscore the evolutionary relationships of red-lineage plastids. Here we present the cryo-electron microscopy structure of the Photosystem II (PSII)–ACPII supercomplex from the cryptophyte Chroomonas placoidea. The structure includes a PSII dimer and twelve ACPII monomers forming four linear trimers. These trimers structurally resemble red algae LHCs and cryptophyte ACPI trimers that associate with Photosystem I (PSI), suggesting their close evolutionary links. We also determine a Chl a-binding subunit, Psb-γ, essential for stabilizing PSII–ACPII association. Furthermore, computational calculation provides insights into the excitation energy transfer pathways. Our study lays a solid structural foundation for understanding the light-energy capture and transfer in cryptophyte PSII–ACPII, evolutionary variations in PSII–LHCII, and the origin of red-lineage LHCIIs. Cryptophytes are ancestral photosynthetic organisms. Here the authors report the cryo-EM structure of the PSII–ACPII from the cryptophyte Chroomonas placoidea, showing that cryptophyte PSII–ACPII consists of a PSII dimer and twelve ACPII monomers that are organised into four linear trimers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet of vehicles (IoV) technology connects various types of vehicles through the Internet of Things to achieve mutual communication and data sharing, thereby promoting the development of intelligent transportation systems. Present data sharing in IoV mainly relies on complicated centralized certificate management and modern public-key cryptosystems, which are insecure and inefficient because the rapid development of quantum computing has put the security of modern public-key cryptosystems under serious threat. Considering the potential quantum adversaries, this paper proposes a quantum blockchain-based data sharing scheme called quantum blockchain for IoV (QBIoV) to realize secure and efficient data sharing in IoV. Specifically, QBIoV discards vulnerable modern cryptographic components, such as classical hash functions, public key signatures, and voting protocols, and innovatively introduces quantum replacement items, such as a quantum hash function (QHF), a quantum public key signature, and a quantum binary voting (QBV) protocol, to eliminate potential quantum cyberspace attack hazards. Furthermore, QBIoV improves the conventional proof of authority (PoA) consensus algorithm and introduces a more secure and fair consensus mechanism called quantum proof of authority (QPoA). QPoA enhances the efficiency of the blockchain system, enabling the secure and efficient sharing of data in IoV. Additionally, a security analysis of QBIoV is conducted, demonstrating that QBIoV is secure against both classic and quantum adversaries, with performance comparisons proving that QBIoV outperforms peer work regarding resource efficiency. In conclusion, this paper provides an effective solution for enhancing data security protection in IoV, assisting in designing blockchain systems in the post-quantum era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies were devoted to investigating cerebral functional changes after acute cerebellar infarction (CI). The purpose of this study was to examine the brain functional dynamics of CI using electroencephalographic (EEG) microstate analysis. And the possible heterogenicity in neural dynamics between CI with vertigo and CI with dizziness was explored. Thirty-four CI patients and 37 age- and gender-matched healthy controls(HC) were included in the study. Each included subject underwent a 19-channel video EEG examination. Five 10-s resting-state EEG epochs were extracted after data preprocessing. Then, microstate analysis and source localization were performed using the LORETA-KEY tool. Microstate parameters such as duration, coverage, occurrence, and transition probability are all extracted. The current study showed that the duration, coverage, and occurrence of microstate(Ms) B significantly increased in CI patients, but the duration and coverage of MsA and MsD decreased. Compared CI with vertigo to dizziness, finding a decreased trend in the coverage of MsD and the transition from MsA and MsB to MsD. Taken together, our study sheds new light on the dynamics of cerebral function after CI, mainly reflecting increased activity in functional networks involved in MsB and decreased activity in functional networks involved in MsA and MsD. Vertigo and dizziness post-CI may be suggested by cerebral functional dynamics. Further longitudinal studies are needed to validate and explore the alterations in brain dynamics to what extent depict the clinical traits and their potential applications in the recovery of CI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Symbiodinium are the photosynthetic endosymbionts for corals and play a vital role in supplying their coral hosts with photosynthetic products, forming the nutritional foundation for high-yield coral reef ecosystems. Here, we determine the cryo-electron microscopy structure of Symbiodinium photosystem I (PSI) supercomplex with a PSI core composed of 13 subunits including 2 previously unidentified subunits, PsaT and PsaU, as well as 13 peridinin-Chl a/c-binding light-harvesting antenna proteins (AcpPCIs). The PSI–AcpPCI supercomplex exhibits distinctive structural features compared to their red lineage counterparts, including extended termini of PsaD/E/I/J/L/M/R and AcpPCI-1/3/5/7/8/11 subunits, conformational changes in the surface loops of PsaA and PsaB subunits, facilitating the association between the PSI core and peripheral antennae. Structural analysis and computational calculation of excitation energy transfer rates unravel specific pigment networks in Symbiodinium PSI–AcpPCI for efficient excitation energy transfer. Overall, this study provides a structural basis for deciphering the mechanisms governing light harvesting and energy transfer in Symbiodinium PSI–AcpPCI supercomplexes adapted to their symbiotic ecosystem, as well as insights into the evolutionary diversity of PSI–LHCI among various photosynthetic organisms. Here the authors determine the cryoEM structure of Symbiodinium photosystem I, revealing a distinct architecture and pigment network of this light-harvesting supercomplex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The causal agent of rice bacterial leaf blight (BLB) is Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), which causes serious damage to rice, leading to yield reduction or even crop failure. Brevibacillus laterosporus SN19-1 is a biocontrol strain obtained by long-term screening in our laboratory, which has a good antagonistic effect on a variety of plant pathogenic bacteria. In this study, we investigated the efficacy and bacterial inhibition of B. laterosporus SN19-1 against BLB to lay the theoretical foundation and research technology for the development of SN19-1 as a biopesticide of BLB. It was found that SN19-1 has the ability to fix nitrogen, detoxify organic phosphorus, and produce cellulase, protease, and siderophores, as well as IAA. In a greenhouse pot experiment, the control efficiency of SN19-1 against BLB was as high as 90.92%. Further investigation of the inhibitory mechanism of SN19-1 on Xoo found that the biofilm formation ability of Xoo was inhibited and the pathogenicity was weakened after the action of SN19-1 sterile supernatant on Xoo. The activities of enzymes related to respiration and the energy metabolism of Xoo were significantly inhibited, while the level of intracellular reactive oxygen species was greatly increased. Scanning electron microscopy observations showed folds on the surface of Xoo. A significant increase in cell membrane permeability and outer membrane permeability and a decrease in cell membrane fluidity resulted in the extravasation of intracellular substances and cell death. The results of this study highlight the role of B. laterosporus SN19-1 against the pathogen of BLB and help elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in humans, which is prone to recurrence and metastasis and has a poor prognosis. The occurrence and progression of HCC are closely related to immune elimination, immune homeostasis, and immune escape of the immune system. In recent years, immunotherapy, represented by immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), has shown powerful anti-tumor capabilities in HCC patients. However, there are still some HCC patients who cannot benefit from ICIs treatment due to their innate or acquired drug resistance. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to explore the possible mechanisms of resistance to ICIs in HCC and to use them as a target to design strategies to reverse resistance, to overcome drug resistance in HCC and to improve the prognosis of patients. This article summarizes the possible primary (tumor microenvironment alteration, and signaling pathways, etc.) and acquired (immune checkpoint upregulation) resistance mechanisms in patients with HCC treated with ICIs, and based on this, discusses the status and effectiveness of combination drug strategy to reverse drug resistance, to provide a reference for subsequent related studies and decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rare Metals is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Exploration is a crucial component of reinforcement learning. Although many works employ random noise to explore, few have employed exploration based on action gradients. The common use of random noise exploration methods has several weaknesses; for instance, they encounter the problem of dimension disaster. In contrast, action gradient-based methods only use first-order information, thus utilizing information poorly. To address this gap, we introduce a novel reinforcement learning framework that employs an exploration teacher to teach an agent to explore. This framework uses both first-order and second-order information of the action gradient. Additionally, the attention prediction method in our framework aims to address the problem of Q-value overestimation. Based on our new framework and the TD3 algorithm, we propose an off-policy deterministic actor-critic algorithm, named more Effective and Efficient Exploration via more Refined Gradient Information (3E-RGI). Our 3E-RGI algorithm uses a new stage-wise updating method to increase training efficiency. We compare 3E-RGI with five other off-policy algorithms on six DMControl suite environments. The experiment shows that our algorithm outperforms current reinforcement learning algorithms in various continuous control problems from the DMControl suite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an orderly identity-based quantum multi-signature scheme exploring the concept of locally indistinguishable orthogonal product states. In the developed scheme, the classic message is converted into a quantum bit string with indistinguishable orthogonal product states that cannot be precisely distinguished by local operations and classical communication (LOCC). The private key generator (PKG) generates keys by the signer's ID and shares them with the signers, which are used in sequence permutation. Moreover, the verifier Bob generates keys shared with the signers, and the latter sign the message with both keys and their ID. Given that a signature verifier can verify the signature with ID, the proposed scheme has the advantages of the classic identity-based signature scheme. Additionally, it avoids the PKG decoding message from the signature, ensuring the security of non-reputation and unforgeability. Moreover, our method does not require long-term quantum memory, making it more secure and efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protecting human health from fine particulate matter (PM) pollution is the ambitious goal of clean air actions, but current control strategies largely ignore the role of source-specific PM toxicity. Here, we proposed health-oriented control strategies by integrating the unequal toxic potencies of the most polluting industrial PMs. Iron and steel industry (ISI)-emitted PM2.5 exhibit about one order of magnitude higher toxic potency than those of cement and power industries. Compared with the current mass-based control strategy (prioritizing implementation of ultralow emission standards in the power sector), the proposed health-oriented control strategy (priority control of the ISI sector) could generate 5.4 times higher reduction in population-weighted toxic potency-adjusted PM2.5 exposure among polluting industries in China. Furthermore, the marginal abatement cost per unit of toxic potency-adjusted mass of ISI-emitted PM2.5 is only a quarter of that of the other two sectors under ultralow emission scenarios. We highlight that a health-oriented air pollution control strategy is urgently required to achieve cost-effective reductions in particulate exposure risks. Health-oriented emissions reduction in China focusing on the iron and steel industry can reduce costs by 1.56 billion dollars while lowering the population-weighted toxic potency-adjusted exposure risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study determined the surface electromyography (sEMG) characteristics of healthy Chinese adults during swallowing to provide a reference for the clinical differential diagnosis of swallowing and dysphagia. sEMG was performed on 187 healthy adults to obtain quantitative information on normal pharyngeal swallowing. The evaluated parameters included the timing and amplitude of sEMG activity in the submental and infrahyoid muscles. A normative database was constructed for the timing and amplitude of muscle activity during pharyngeal swallowing. Results indicated that the duration of sEMG activity was related to the age of the patient; the duration gradually increasing with age. Similarly, the duration of the sEMG activity was associated with the type of swallowing. The duration of the sEMG activity was similar for dry and wet swallowing but was significantly different for excessive swallowing. The mean amplitude of sEMG activity for the submental and infrahyoid muscles was not significantly associated with patient age. A significant correlation between the mean amplitude of sEMG activity and the types of normal swallowing was observed in infrahyoid, but not in submental muscle activity. This study is the first report on the establishment of a normative database for the duration and amplitude of muscle activity based on sEMG analysis of pharyngeal swallowing in healthy Chinese adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Server logs are always essential in website maintenance. The services maintained may encounter various problems, and the logs generated by the server are the core data for locating the problem. However, existing log storage systems are susceptible to single points of failure, which can lead to potential log leakage. Meanwhile, external adversaries can tamper with logs to avoid tracking, and administrators can also tamper with logs to evade responsibility. In order to solve these tough shortcomings effectively, introducing blockchain networks seems to be an appropriate solution due to their immutability and decentralized nature. Traditional blockchains lack scalability in storing large files, but this can be tackled by storing log data in the interplanetary file system (IPFS). In this paper, we propose a log data storage scheme combined with blockchain networks and the IPFS technique. First, we utilize the IPFS to store extensive file log data and combine blockchain systems to realize decentralized log data storage in a secure manner. Second, to optimize the query efficiency of log data, we propose two improved Merkle tree methods, providing rapid queries of log data with a timestamp as query keywords (only one-third of the BBT in range query time). Finally, our comprehensive experimental results show that the two proposed methods have better log retrieval efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pathogen isolation and identification were performed on Actinidia arguta 'Longcheng No. 2' occurring bacterial canker from Liaoning Province, China. The pathogenic bacteria were identified as Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa) by the analysis of morphology,16S rRNA and gyrB sequence, which were identified as Psa biovar 2 by Psa-specific primer sequence analysis. The pathogenicity tests were carried out with the isolate 'R12' and type strain 'M228' (biovar 3) as a control; the results showed that the phloem of green stems in A. arguta 'Kuilv' could be infect rapidly by R12, and milky mucus flowed from wounds, then the phloem turned black-brown, but it had strong resistance to Psa M228. In order to evaluate the resistance on Psa R12, 54 A. arguta germplasm resources were infected by artificial inoculation of stems, with A. deliciosa cv. 'Hongyang' and A. chinensis cv. 'Xuxiang', as control plant material, and their resistance levels were classified according to the disease index. The 54 tested materials exhibited differences in resistance to Psa R12, but no immune materials were found. In general, the germplasms were divided into five disease resistance categories, including 2 accessions with high resistance 'Jianfengkuilv' and 'TL20013', accounted for 3.70% of all the inoculated accessions; there were 11 resistant accessions, 15 tolerant accessions, 21 susceptible accessions, 5 highly susceptible accessions among them, accounted for 20.37%, 27.78%, 38.89% and 9.26%, respectively. In this study, the screening of disease-resistant germplasms could lay a foundation for further research on gene mapping, resistance mechanisms and breeding-resistant varieties of A. arguta to Psa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon deposition on nickel-based anodes is a key problem for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) using hydrocarbon fuels. One of the solutions is doping with other elements. In this work, DFT calculations were used to systematically study the processes of continuous CH4 dehydrogenation, carbon formation, and carbon elimination on Ni(111) surfaces doped with different amounts of Cu. The Cu doping concentrations on the Ni surface are set as 0, 1/9, 4/9, 5/9, 8/9, and 1 ml, namely Ni(111), NiCu1, NiCu4, NiCu5, NiCu8, and Cu9. The adsorption energies and adsorption sites of the important substances were obtained by calculation. In addition, the kinetics and thermodynamics of the main reactions and potential carbon removal pathways are discussed. Prior studies have shown that the introduction of Cu weakens the interaction between the Ni-based surface and the absorber, thereby enhancing the activity of various species on the surface of Ni-based catalysts. Second, the methane cracking path on the Ni-based surface is CH4 → CH3 → CH2 → CH, and the paths on the other five surfaces are the same. We found that the addition of Cu can weaken the adsorption of C, inhibit the activity of CH4 dehydrogenation, and promote the binding of C to the intermediate medium on the Ni-based surface, thus improving the ability of carbon deposition resistance. Finally, based on our DFT calculations, several potential carbon removal pathways are discussed in detail, and it is believed that the problem of carbon removal on SOFC anodes should focus on the oxidation of CH while preventing its direct cracking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metric learning plays an essential role in image analysis and classification, and it has attracted more and more attention. In this paper, we propose a quantum adversarial metric learning (QAML) model based on the triplet loss function, where samples are embedded into the high-dimensional Hilbert space and the optimal metric is obtained by minimizing the triplet loss function. The QAML model employs entanglement and interference to build superposition states for triplet samples so that only one parameterized quantum circuit is needed to calculate sample distances, which reduces the demand for quantum resources. Considering the QAML model is fragile to adversarial attacks, an adversarial sample generation strategy is designed based on the quantum gradient ascent method, effectively improving the robustness against the functional adversarial attack. Simulation results show that the QAML model can effectively distinguish samples of MNIST and Iris datasets and has higher ϵ-robustness accuracy over the general quantum metric learning. The QAML model is a fundamental research problem of machine learning. As a subroutine of classification and clustering tasks, the QAML model opens an avenue for exploring quantum advantages in machine learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semi-quantum protocols serve as a bridge between quantum users and "classical" users with limited quantum capabilities, providing support for application scenarios that cannot afford the excessively high cost of quantum resources. In this paper, we present a semi-quantum key distribution (SQKD) protocol based on Bell states and single particles, which is designed for key distribution between different types of users. The protocol enables simultaneous key distribution between quantum and classical users, as well as key establishment between two classical users. The security analysis demonstrates that the protocol can reach the same level of security as the full quantum protocol. Furthermore, we extrapolate the proposed protocol to other semi-quantum protocols, such as semi-quantum key agreement and semi-quantum private comparison protocols. Compared with previous similar ones, our SQKD protocol and its extended versions can fulfill the requirements of their respective counterparts individually. Therefore, our SQKD protocol has the potential for broader applications in practical scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CYP2C19*2 gene carriers and non-carriers are closely related to the dosage of clopidogrel. To correctly guide the use of clopidogrel and promote individualized therapy, an ultra-sensitive electrochemical biosensor was developed for the detection of CYP2C19*2 gene. The heterogeneous α-Fe2O3/Fe3O4 nanosheets were prepared via the hydrothermal-calcination process, and the preparation parameters were optimized. The average diameter and thickness of the nanosheets were approximately 150 nm and 53 nm, respectively; and the saturation magnetization was 80.2 emu/g. The α-Fe2O3/Fe3O4@Au nanosheets were prepared by sodium borohydride reduction method, and self-assembled to the electrode surface with magnetic field. Ultra-sensitive detection of CYP2C19*2 gene was realized through the recognition ability of strong single base mismatching of peptide nucleic acid and signal amplification effect of magnetic α-Fe2O3/Fe3O4@Au nanosheets. Under optimal detection conditions, the current had a good linear correlation with the negative logarithm of CYP2C19*2 gene concentration in the range 1 pM—1 nM, and the detection limit was 0.64 pM (S/N = 3). Meanwhile, the electrochemical signals of target DNA and incomplete complementary DNA were detected. The constructed biosensor exhibited good selectivity, reproducibility, and stability, providing a promising strategy for the detection of other gene mutations by electrochemical biosensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mediated semi-quantum key distribution (M-SQKD) allows two "semi-quantum" or "classical" users to establish a secret key with the help of a third party (TP), in which TP has full quantum power and possibly adversarial. It is the basis of the multi-party semi-quantum cryptography protocol for securing the private data of classical users. In this work, we propose a M-SQKD protocol based on circular transport structure and prove the protocol is unconditional security. Even in the worst case (i.e., TP is untrusted), the protocol's noise tolerance is also close to the BB84 protocol. The results show that our protocol can reach the similar level of security as the full quantum protocol. Besides, due to the scalability of the circular transport structure, our protocol is easily extended to multi-party scenarios, which offers an approach to realizing multiple "classical" users' key distribution. Therefore, it can be used to protect the private data of multiple classical users and may have potential application scenarios in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Central South University is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

With the advent of the era of big data, privacy computing analyzes and calculates data on the premise of protecting data privacy, to achieve data 'available and invisible'. As an important branch of secure multi-party computation, the geometric problem can solve practical problems in the military, national defense, finance, life, and other fields, and has important research significance. In this paper, we study the similarity problem of geometric graphics. First, this paper proposes the adjacency matrix vector coding method of isomorphic graphics, and use the Paillier variant encryption cryptography to solve the problem of isomorphic graphics confidentiality under the semi-honest model. Using cryptography tools such as elliptic curve cryptosystem, zero-knowledge proof, and cut-choose method, this paper designs a graphic similarity security decision protocol that can resist malicious adversary attacks. The analysis shows that the protocol has high computational efficiency and has wide application value in terrain matching, mechanical parts, biomolecules, face recognition, and other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a four-participant scheme for the asymmetric circular controlled quantum states transmission. David is the controller, Alice, Bob and Charlie can complete the transmission of single-qubit, two-qubit and three-qubit states respectively. The scheme is discussed in ideal and noisy environments respectively. In an ideal environment, we first construct a quantum channel by using quantum gate operations. Secondly, the senders and controller choose an appropriate measurement basis to measure their own particles, and the receiver can use appropriate unitary operations to restore the quantum state according to the measurement results. All the measurement results and corresponding recovery operations are given. In the noise environment, we calculate the fidelities of the output states in the amplitude damping and phase damping noise environments, and observe the effect of noise according to the different values of the quantum state coefficient and noise factor. Finally, through the analysis of the scheme performance, it can be seen that our scheme has obvious advantages in quantum state transmission, including increasing the number of quantum state particles transmitted, reducing the consumption of classical communication and higher communication efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The changes in resting-state functional networks and their correlations with clinical traits remain to be clarified in migraine. Here we aim to investigate the brain spatio-temporal dynamics of resting-state networks and their possible correlations with the clinical traits in migraine. Methods: Twenty Four migraine patients without aura and 26 healthy controls (HC) were enrolled. Each included subject underwent a resting-state EEG and echo planar imaging examination. The disability of migraine patients was evaluated by Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS). After data acquisition, EEG microstates (Ms) combining functional connectivity (FC) analysis based on Schafer 400-seven network atlas were performed. Then, the correlation between obtained parameters and clinical traits was investigated. Results: Compared with HC group, the brain temporal dynamics depicted by microstates showed significantly increased activity in functional networks involving MsB and decreased activity in functional networks involving MsD; The spatial dynamics were featured by decreased intra-network FC within the executive control network(ECN) and inter-network FC between dorsal attention network (DAN) and ECN (P < 0.05); Moreover, correlation analysis showed that the MIDAS score was positively correlated with the coverage and duration of MsC, and negatively correlated with the occurrence of MsA; The FC within default mode network (DMN), and the inter-FC of ECN- visual network (VN), ECN- limbic network, VN-limbic network was negatively correlated with MIDAS. However, the FC of DMN-ECN was positively correlated with MIDAS; Furthermore, significant interactions between the temporal and spatial dynamics were also obtained. Conclusions: Our study confirmed the notion that altered spatio-temporal dynamics exist in migraine patients during resting-state. And the temporal dynamics, the spatial changes and the clinical traits such as migraine disability interact with each other. The spatio-temporal dynamics obtained from EEG microstate and fMRI FC analyses may be potential biomarkers for migraine and with a huge potential to change future clinical practice in migraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-dimensional quantum error correction codes (QECCs) are widely used to enhance the security and coding capabilities of the entire quantum systems. While these codes show promise in achieving reliable quantum computing by executing a set of universal quantum gates, quantum gate faults present a challenge for implementing universal quantum computing. The ability to perform universal quantum gates in a fault-tolerant manner is required. In this paper, we propose a fault-tolerant error correction scheme which allows the entire correction process to proceed smoothly, even in the presence of quantum gate faults. Firstly, by equipping the syndrome-extracted circuit with a flag qudit, it is possible to parallel the error detection of coding blocks with the fault detection of quantum gates to detect noise and correlated errors. Then, by giving a feasible permutation of quantum gates, the syndromes can identify the error type and location. We interpret the permutation with an example of Hamming code [ [ 13 , 7 , 3 ] ] 3 , a three-dimensional QECC, using only two ancillary qudits. Finally, the results show that our scheme is valid for any quantum Hamming code. The overhead of qudits required in our scheme is independent of the weight and quantity of stabilizer generators, and only two ancillary qudits are involved. Consequently, our scheme is very promising for achieving a low logical error rate in a fault-tolerant manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the opportunistic infections (OIs) of HIV/AIDS to understand the spectrum, mortality, and frequency of multiple coinfected OIs among HIV/AIDS patients in southern China, where OIs are severe. We carried out a retrospective cohort study of hospitalized HIV-infected individuals at the Fourth People's Hospital of Nanning, Guangxi, China, from Jan. 2011 to May. 2019. The chi-square test was used to analyze cross-infection; the Kaplan‒Meier analysis was used to compare mortality. A total of 12,612 HIV-infected patients were admitted to this cohort study. Among them, 8982 (71.2%) developed one or more OIs. The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 9.0%. Among the patients, 35.6% coinfected one OI, and 64.4% coinfected more than two OIs simultaneously. Almost half of the patients (60.6%) had CD4 + T-cell counts < 200 cells/μL. Pneumonia (39.8%), tuberculosis (35.3%), and candidiasis (28.8%) were the most common OIs. Coinfected cryptococcal meningitis and dermatitis are the most common combined OIs. The rate of anaemia (17.0%) was highest among those common HIV-associated complications. Multiple OIs are commonly found in hospitalized HIV/AIDS patients in southwestern China, which highlights the need for improved diagnosis and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In practical application, many scenarios need to protect user identity and privacy, and multiple parties are required to participate in transaction audits, but the existing signature schemes are often inefficient and weak blind. Therefore, this paper proposes a new multi-proxy blind signature scheme based on block blind coding. It can not only resist forgery attacks, deny attacks, and intercept retransmission attacks, but also has stronger anonymity and higher efficiency. For instance, we design a securities trading model based on this signature scheme; through the analysis of the safety and efficiency, the scheme features unforgeability and non-deniability, and the efficiency can reach 50%. This signature scheme applies to the transaction or process management, which needs to protect user privacy and multi-party audit during processing, so it has strong practicability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Talaromyces marneffei (formerly Penicillium marneffei) is an important thermally dimorphic fungus endemic which is characterized by one of the most frequent opportunistic infections in HIV/AIDS patients, mainly prevalent in Southeast Asia, southern China, and northeastern India. Cotrimoxazole(CTX) inhibits folic acid synthesis which is important for the survival of many bacteria, protozoa, and fungi, thereby commonly used to prevent several opportunistic infections among HIV/AIDS patients. In addition to preventing other HIV-associated opportunistic infections, CTX prophylaxis are considered to have the potential to prevent T. marneffei infection in HIV/AIDS patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). However, the effect of cotrimoxazole towards T. marneffei fungus in vitro remains unclear. Methods: Human THP-1 macrophages were used as cell model in vitro to explore the effect and mechanism of cotrimoxazole resistance towards T. marneffei. Cell viability assay and drug sensitivity colony forming units (CFU) experiments were conducted to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of cotrimoxazole inside and outside THP-1 macrophages respectively. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Elisa) was used to measure the concentration of Dihydropteroic acid synthetase (DHPS), Dihydrofolate synthetase (DHFS) and Dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) between T. marneffei adding TMP/SMX and without adding TMP/SMX group respectively. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR(qPCR) was performed to detect the mRNA expression levels in Dectin-1 mediated signaling pathway and downstream inflammatory cytokines including IL-6, IL-10, IL-23A, CXCL8 and TNF-α released by T. marneffei-infected macrophages between adding TMP/SMX and without adding TMP/SMX group respectively. Results: Cotrimoxazole can inhibit the proliferation of T. marneffei within safe concentration inside and outside THP-1 macrophages. Drug susceptibility results showed the minimal inhibit concentration(MIC) of 1:5 TMP/SMX was ranging from 14/70 to 68/340 μg/ml. The MIC of SMX was ranging from 100 to 360 μg/ml. The MIC of TMP was ranging from 240 to 400 μg/ml outside macrophages. The MIC of TMP/SMX was ranging from 36/180 to 68/340 μg/ml. The MIC of SMX was ranging from 340 to 360 μg/ml. The MIC of TMP was ranging from 320 to 400 μg/ml inside macrophages. The synergistic interaction of 1:5 TMP/SMX was more effective in inhibiting T. marneffei than separate SMX and TMP. DHPS, DHFS and DHFR can be inhibited by cotrimoxazole within safe and effective concentration. Dectin-1 expression is increased following T. marneffei infection, leading to the increase of IL-6, IL-10, IL-23A and the decrease of CXCL8 and TNF-α. Conversely, cotrimoxazole decrease the levels of Dectin-1, IL-6, IL-10, IL-23A and increase the levels of CXCL8 and TNF-α, thereby enhancing the intracellular killing-T. marneffei capacity of macrophages. Conclusions: Our findings indicated that cotrimoxazole directly inhibited T. marneffei growth by blocking DHPS, DHFS and DHFR and indirectly inhibited T. marneffei growth perhaps by regulating the Dectin-1 signaling pathway, which may effectively interfere with the defense ability of the host against T. marneffei infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of quantum networks, cyclic quantum information transmission provides a good solution for multi-party quantum communication. In this paper, by integrating the ideas of remote preparation with quantum teleportation, a neoteric multi-party controlled cyclic hybrid quantum communication protocol with n (n ≥ 3) observers is designed. In the protocol, by sharing an entangled quantum channel, each of these observers can simultaneously send two completely disparate arbitrary single-qubit quantum states to her adjacent observers under the assistance of the controller. It can realize bidirectional and cyclic transmission of any single-qubit states between observers. The observers only need to employ simple measurements and basic local unitary operations to implement the communication task, and our scheme can achieve a unit success probability. Furthermore, we provide a four-party controlled cyclic hybrid quantum communication scheme with three observers, and we also take into account the two kinds of important decoherent noises (amplitude damping and phase damping noises) that affect the proposed four-party communication protocol. Finally, by calculating the fidelity, it is discovered that the fidelity of the output state has something to do with the parameters of the initial states as well as the noise decoherence rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To strengthen the face-centered-cubic (FCC) type CoCrFeNi high-entropy alloy (HEA) by in-situ reinforced phase, (CoCrFeNi)100−x(NbB2)x (x=0, 2, 4, 6, 8, at.%) alloys were prepared. Phase constitution, microstructure, tensile mechanical properties of the alloys were studied, and the mechanisms were discussed. Results show that the microstructure of all the reinforced alloys consists of the matrix FCC phase, Laves phase, and (Cr3Fe)Bx phase. The eutectic structure and (Cr3Fe)Bx phases are formed in the interdendritic region, and the eutectic structure is composed of Laves and FCC phases. When x increases from 0 to 8, i.e., with increase of Nb and B elements, the volume fraction of Laves and (Cr3Fe)Bx phases increases gradually from 0 to 5.84% and 8.3%, respectively. Tensile testing results show that the ultimate strength of the alloys increases gradually from 409 MPa to 658 MPa, while the fracture strain decreases from 75% to 1.6%. Fracture analysis shows that the crack originates from the (Cr3Fe)Bx phase. The CoCrFeNi alloys are mainly strengthened by the second phase (Laves phase and boride phase). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Huntingtin-associated protein 1 (HAP1) is the first identified protein whose function is affected by its abnormal interaction with mutant huntingtin (mHTT), which causes Huntington disease. However, the expression patterns of Hap1 and Htt in the rodent brain are not correlated. Here we found that the primate HAP1, unlike the rodent Hap1, is correlatively expressed with HTT in the primate brains. CRISPR/Cas9 targeting revealed that HAP1 deficiency in the developing human neurons did not affect neuronal differentiation and gene expression as seen in the mouse neurons. However, deletion of HAP1 exacerbated neurotoxicity of mutant HTT in the organotypic brain slices of adult monkeys. These findings demonstrate differential HAP1 expression and function in the mouse and primate brains, and suggest that interaction of HAP1 with mutant HTT may be involved in mutant HTT-mediated neurotoxicity in adult primate neurons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxidative degradation of chitin, initiated by lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs), contributes to microbial bioconversion of crystalline chitin, the second most abundant biopolymer in nature. However, our knowledge of oxidative chitin utilization pathways, beyond LPMOs, is very limited. Here, we describe a complete pathway for oxidative chitin degradation and its regulation in a marine bacterium, Pseudoalteromonas prydzensis. The pathway starts with LPMO-mediated extracellular breakdown of chitin into C1-oxidized chitooligosaccharides, which carry a terminal 2-(acetylamino)−2-deoxy-D-gluconic acid (GlcNAc1A). Transmembrane transport of oxidized chitooligosaccharides is followed by their hydrolysis in the periplasm, releasing GlcNAc1A, which is catabolized in the cytoplasm. This pathway differs from the known hydrolytic chitin utilization pathway in enzymes, transporters and regulators. In particular, GlcNAc1A is converted to 2-keto-3-deoxygluconate 6-phosphate, acetate and NH3 via a series of reactions resembling the degradation of D-amino acids rather than other monosaccharides. Furthermore, genomic and metagenomic analyses suggest that the chitin oxidative utilization pathway may be prevalent in marine Gammaproteobacteria. Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases contribute to microbial degradation of chitin, but how the resulting oxidized chitooligosaccharides are utilized by microbes is unclear. Here, the authors describe a complete pathway for oxidative chitin utilization in marine bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an obvious demand for blockchain to break the "data island" by crossing chains. Notary signature is one of the common cross-chain methods, and its security depends on the security of the signature algorithm. However, with the development of quantum computing, classical authentication of blockchain based on mathematical cryptography algorithms is not secure enough to prevent quantum attacks. Designing a signature algorithm to ensure the security of blockchain transactions in the post-quantum era is a problem to be solved at present. In the existing quantum signature algorithms, there are some problems, such as the arbitrators are not completely trusted, the quantum measurement loss is not traceable, and the transaction efficiency is low. Hence, our main work is as follows: (i) A cross-chain transaction model is proposed, which includes a quantum multi-signature notary mechanism and an assets quantum-freeze algorithm. (ii) The quantum multi-signature scheme can not only prevent forgery and denial, but also trace back malicious notaries. Moreover, it has the advantages of low storage overhead, decentralization, and high efficiency. (iii) Quantum freeze scheme can prevent messages from being tampered with when the system allocates transferred data or assets to the connector after transaction verification. It effectively improves system transaction security and ensures privacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Members of the marine Roseobacter group are ubiquitous in global oceans, but their cold-adaptive strategies have barely been studied. Here, as represented by Loktanella salsilacus strains enriched in polar regions, we firstly characterized the metabolic features of a cold-adapted Roseobacter by multi-omics, enzyme activities, and carbon utilization procedures. Unlike in most cold-adapted microorganisms, the TCA cycle is enhanced by accumulating more enzyme molecules, whereas genes for thiosulfate oxidation, sulfate reduction, nitrate reduction, and urea metabolism are all expressed at lower abundance when L. salsilacus was growing at 5 °C in comparison with higher temperatures. Moreover, a carbon-source competition experiment has evidenced the preferential use of glucose rather than sucrose at low temperature. This selective utilization is likely to be controlled by the carbon source uptake and transformation steps, which also reflects an economic calculation balancing energy production and functional plasticity. These findings provide a mechanistic understanding of how a Roseobacter member and possibly others as well counteract polar constraints. The metabolic adaptation of Loktanella salsilacus strains to cold involves an increase of enzymes involved in the TCA cycle and preferential use of glucose rather than sucrose at low temperature, providing insights into how Roseobacter adapts in polar regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the real world, 3D point cloud data is generally obtained by LiDAR scanning. However, objects in the real world are occluded from each other, which will cause the point cloud scanned by LiDAR to be partially missing. In this paper, we improve PF-Net (a learning-based point cloud completion network), which is better to obtain the feature of the point cloud. Specifically, our improved network is an encoder-decoder-discriminator structure, which can directly take the missing point cloud data as input without additional preprocessing. In the encoder, we use the ALL-MLP (ALL-Multi Layer Perceptron) method to extract features from the point cloud. It combines the features obtained by each convolution in the feature extraction process, and finally sends it to the decoder. The decoder generates a prediction for the missing part of the point cloud, and the discriminator feeds back the generated result to the decoder to produce a more realistic effect. Our experiments show that the improved network has better accuracy in most categories than the state-of-the-art methods, and generates a relatively complete point cloud with achieving the purpose of complementing missing point cloud data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder. The associations between the cerebellum and clinical traits remain unclear. We performed amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) analysis to explore the associations between spontaneous brain activity and clinical traits. 361 juvenile ASD patients were included from the ABIDEII database. In the ASD group, the mean ALFF values of cerebellum 4 5 were correlated with SRS awareness and communication. The mean ALFF values of cerebellum 6 and vermis 4 5 were both positively correlated with SRS total, awareness, communication, and motivation. In contrast, the mean ALFF values of vermis 1 2 were negatively correlated with SRS total, awareness, and mannerisms. Our study suggests a role of the cerebellum in functional impairments in ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic and rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain SM 2104T, was isolated from a deep-sea sediment sample collected from the Southwest Indian Ocean. Strain SM 2104T grew at 10–37 °C (optimum at 25 °C), and with 1.0–9.0% (w/v, optimum with 2–4%) NaCl. It hydrolyzed starch, tween 80 and gelatin but did not reduced nitrate to nitrite. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain SM 2104T was affiliated with the genus Alteromonas, sharing the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities with type strains of Alteromonas flava (97.5%) and Alteromonas facilis (97.4%) and forming a distinct clade together with the two Alteromonas species. The digital DNA–DNA hybridization and average nucleotide identity values between strain SM 2104 T and type strains of Alteromonas flava and Alteromonas facilis were below 14.5%, and 71.0%, respectively. The major fatty acids of strain SM 2104T were summed feature 3 (C16:1ω6c/C16:1ω7c), C16:0 and summed feature 8 (C18:1ω7c/C18:1ω6c). The major polar lipids of strain SM 2104T were phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol and the only respiratory quinone of strain SM 2104T was ubiquinone-8. The genomic DNA G + C content of strain SM 2104T was 48.0%. On the basis of the phylogenetic, phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genomic analyses presented in this study, strain SM 2104T is considered to represent a novel species within the genus Alteromonas, for which the name Alteromonas oceansediminis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SM 2104T (= CCTCC AB 2021121T = KCTC 82867T). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) is an important marine anti-stress compound, with key roles in global nutrient cycling, chemotaxis and, potentially, climate regulation. Recently, diverse marine Actinobacteria, α- and γ-proteobacteria were shown to initiate DMSP synthesis via the methionine (Met) S-methyltransferase enzyme (MmtN), generating S-methyl-Met (SMM). Here we characterize a roseobacterial MmtN, providing structural and mechanistic insights into this DMSP synthesis enzyme. We propose that MmtN uses the proximity and desolvation mechanism for Met S-methylation with two adjacent MmtN monomers comprising the Met binding site. We also identify diverse functional MmtN enzymes in potentially symbiotic archaeal Candidatus Woesearchaeota and Candidate Phyla Radiation (CPR) bacteria, and the animalcule Adineta steineri, not anticipated to produce SMM and/or DMSP. These diverse MmtN enzymes, alongside the larger plant MMT enzyme with an N-terminus homologous to MmtN, likely utilize the same proximity and desolvation mechanism. This study provides important insights into the catalytic mechanism of SMM and/or DMSP production, and proposes roles for these compounds in secondary metabolite production, and SMM cycling in diverse organisms and environments. S-methyl methionine (SMM) is a key molecule in production of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), an important marine anti-stress compound, with roles in global nutrient cycling. Here, the authors determine the mechanism of SMM synthesis and uncover unexpected roles for SMM in archaea, CPR bacteria and animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semi-quantum private comparison(SQPC) is the quantum method to compare the secrets’ equality for two distrustful classical participants without knowing the their accurate information. The four-particle cluster state is more robust against decoherence than any other four-particle state. In this paper, the novel entanglement swapping construction by the four-particle cluster state and Bell state can perform this SQPC protocol well. With the pre-shared secret key sequence, the two distrustful users can obtain promising results without leaking any information to the semi-honest third party (TP). Then, the security analyses indicate that this SQPC protocol is secure against the outside and participant attacks, and more efficient than the similar literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-motile, and rod-shaped bacterial strains, designated SM1352T and A20T, were isolated from intertidal sediments collected from King George Island, Antarctic. They shared 99.8% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with each other and had the highest sequence similarity of 98.1% to type strain of Aureibaculum marinum but < 93.4% sequence similarity to those of other known bacterial species. The genomes of strains SM1352T and A20T consisted of 5,108,092 bp and 4,772,071 bp, respectively, with the G + C contents both being 32.0%. They respectively encoded 4360 (including 37 tRNAs and 6 rRNAs) and 4032 (including 36 tRNAs and 5 rRNAs) genes. In the phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene and single-copy orthologous clusters (OCs), both strains clustered with Aureibaculum marinum and together formed a separate branch within the family Flavobacteriaceae. The ANI and DDH values between the two strains and Aureibaculum marinum BH-SD17T were all below the thresholds for species delineation. The major cellular fatty acids (> 10%) of the two strains included iso-C15:0, iso-C15:1 G, iso-C17:0 3-OH. Their polar lipids predominantly included phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified aminophospholipid, one unidentified aminolipid, and two unidentified lipids. Genomic comparison revealed that both strains possessed much more glycoside hydrolases and sulfatase-rich polysaccharide utilization loci (PULs) than Aureibaculum marinum BH-SD17T. Based on the above polyphasic evidences, strains SM1352T and A20T represent two novel species within the genus Aureibaculum, for which the names Aureibaculum luteum sp. nov. and Aureibaculum flavum sp. nov. are proposed. The type strains are SM1352T (= CCTCC AB 2014243 T = JCM 30335 T) and A20T (= CCTCC AB 2020370 T = KCTC 82503 T), respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide, accounting for an annual estimated 1.8 million incident cases. With the increasing number of colonoscopies being performed, colorectal biopsies make up a large proportion of any histopathology laboratory workload. We trained and validated a unique artificial intelligence (AI) deep learning model as an assistive tool to screen for colonic malignancies in colorectal specimens, in order to improve cancer detection and classification; enabling busy pathologists to focus on higher order decision-making tasks. The study cohort consists of Whole Slide Images (WSI) obtained from 294 colorectal specimens. Qritive's unique composite algorithm comprises both a deep learning model based on a Faster Region Based Convolutional Neural Network (Faster-RCNN) architecture for instance segmentation with a ResNet-101 feature extraction backbone that provides glandular segmentation, and a classical machine learning classifier. The initial training used pathologists' annotations on a cohort of 66,191 image tiles extracted from 39 WSIs. A subsequent application of a classical machine learning-based slide classifier sorted the WSIs into 'low risk' (benign, inflammation) and 'high risk' (dysplasia, malignancy) categories. We further trained the composite AI-model's performance on a larger cohort of 105 resections WSIs and then validated our findings on a cohort of 150 biopsies WSIs against the classifications of two independently blinded pathologists. We evaluated the area under the receiver-operator characteristic curve (AUC) and other performance metrics. The AI model achieved an AUC of 0.917 in the validation cohort, with excellent sensitivity (97.4%) in detection of high risk features of dysplasia and malignancy. We demonstrate an unique composite AI-model incorporating both a glandular segmentation deep learning model and a classical machine learning classifier, with excellent sensitivity in picking up high risk colorectal features. As such, AI plays a role as a potential screening tool in assisting busy pathologists by outlining the dysplastic and malignant glands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semi-quantum private comparison, which authorizes two classical participants to compare the equality of their private information with the cooperation of a semi-honest third party without unveiling privacy. The W-state is more robust against the loss of any single qubit than the GHZ state. In this paper, an efficient and secure semi-quantum private comparison protocol based on W-state is proposed for the first time. The qubit efficiency comparison shows the proposed protocol is more efficient than the similar literature. Moreover, the security of the devised protocol concerning various kinds of outside attack and inside attack is discussed. The security analysis demonstrates that outside eavesdropper, inside dishonest participant and semi-honest third party cannot obtain any private information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collagenases of Vibrio species, many of which are pathogens, have been regarded as an important virulence factor. However, there is little information on the structure and collagenolytic mechanism of Vibrio collagenase. Here, we report the crystal structure of the collagenase module (CM) of Vibrio collagenase VhaC and the conformation of VhaC in solution. Structural and biochemical analyses and molecular dynamics studies reveal that triple-helical collagen is initially recognized by the activator domain, followed by subsequent cleavage by the peptidase domain along with the closing movement of CM. This is different from the peptidolytic mode or the proposed collagenolysis of Clostridium collagenase. We propose a model for the integrated collagenolytic mechanism of VhaC, integrating the functions of VhaC accessory domains and its collagen degradation pattern. This study provides insight into the mechanism of bacterial collagenolysis and helps in structure-based drug design targeting of the Vibrio collagenase. The collagenolytic mechanism of Vibrio collagenase, a virulence factor, remains unclear. Here, the authors report the structure of Vibrio collagenase VhaC and propose the mechanism for collagen recognition and degradation, providing new insight into bacterial collagenolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a cyclic preparation scheme is proposed. In our scheme, Alice, Bob and Charlie can cyclic prepare two-qubit state with the control of David. Firstly, the quantum channel can be constructed by using H, Z and CNOT operations. And we give the circuit diagram of the construction of the quantum channel and the processing of the scheme. Secondly, the participants perform a single-qubit measurement and three two-qubit measurements through appropriate measurement bases. Moreover, the prepared state can be recovered deterministically and all recovery operations are given. Thirdly, we consider our scheme in two noisy environments (amplitude-damping and phase-damping noisy environment). The fidelities of output states are calculated and the effect factors are discussed. Finally, we give some discussions with other schemes. Our scheme has better communication efficiency because it improves the number of quantum state particles transmitted without increasing the classical communication consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis is an autoimmune synaptic encephalitis likely mediated by neuronal surface antibody. Clinically, it is characterized by a variety of neurological and psychiatric symptoms, predominantly affecting young women. Recurrent anti-NMDAR cases combined with double-antibody positive during pregnancy have not been reported. We report a 19-year-old pregnant woman with recurrent anti-NMDAR encephalitis and double-antibody positive. Through our case report and a review of the literature, we hope to heighten an awareness of anti-NMDAR encephalitis, particularly in a pregnant setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The four-qubit cluster state has a more robust entanglement property than other four-particle states. Empowered by the 4-qubit cluster state and Bell state entanglement, two quantum secret sharing (QSS) protocols are proposed in this paper. The first protocol is with the quantum users who can perform Bell measurement. The second protocol is with classical users who only can perform Z basis measurement and is also known as semi-quantum secret sharing (SQSS). Moreover, the security analysis shows the proposed QSS and SQSS protocols can achieve full security and resist some common eavesdropping attacks, such as interception attack, measure-resend attack, entanglement-measure attack, and Trojan horse attack. Meanwhile, the efficiency comparison shows that the proposed protocols are also efficient than other similar protocols with relate to the qubit efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semi-quantum private comparison protocol permits two classical participants to compare the equality of their private information with the help of a semi-honest third party without disclosing privacy. An innovative semi-quantum private comparison protocol based on maximally entangled Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger-type states has been discussed. The proposed protocol is efficient and without the pre-shared keys. Next, the security analysis guarantees the presented protocol is asymptotically secure against the outsider and the insider attacks. Moreover, the qubit efficiency of the presented protocol is 3.125%. The efficiency comparison shows that it improves the efficiency by 125% for the literature without pre-shared keys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a convolution neural network (CNN) based prediction method for concrete diaphragm wall (CDW) deflections. CNN algorithm is modified for processing the CDW deformation data collected from in-situ measurement in both time and space dimensions, and capable of making dynamic prediction based on the extracted spatiotemporal features of wall deflection. The proposed method is validated through investigating a project of deep excavation in Suzhou, China. The predicted results show excellent agreement with field measurement and yield mean absolute errors of 0.86 mm and 1.55 mm for nowcasting and forecasting tasks, respectively. Three prevailing algorithms in time series prediction, namely, back propagation neural network, long short-term memory and autoregressive integrated moving average, are conducted for comparison. The results illustrate that the CNN outperforms the other algorithms in terms of accuracy and execution time. Therefore, the proposed CNN model is the most suitable for CDW deflection prediction, and can provide reasonable references for construction safety management on site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]