Search

That certain preconceptual paternal exposures reprogram the developmental phenotypic plasticity in future generation(s) has conceptualized the "paternal programming of offspring health" hypothesis. This transgenerational effect is transmitted primarily through sperm epigenetic mechanisms—DNA methylation, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) and associated RNA modifications, and histone modifications—and potentially through non-sperm-specific mechanisms—seminal plasma and circulating factors—that create 'imprinted' memory of ancestral information. The epigenetic landscape in sperm is highly responsive to environmental cues, due to, in part, the soma-to-germline communication mediated by epididymosomes. While human epidemiological studies and experimental animal studies have provided solid evidences in support of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, how ancestral information is memorized as epigenetic codes for germline transmission is poorly understood. Particular elusive is what the downstream effector pathways that decode those epigenetic codes into persistent phenotypes. In this review, we discuss the paternal reprogramming of offspring phenotype and the possible underlying epigenetic mechanisms. Cracking these epigenetic mechanisms will lead to a better appreciation of "Paternal Origins of Health and Disease" and guide innovation of intervention algorithms to achieve 'healthier' outcomes in future generations. All this will revolutionize our understanding of human disease etiology. Highlight: Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance defines phenotypic plasticity in future generations. Paternally acquired phenotype is primarily transmitted through sperm epigenetic mechanisms. Epigenetic information in sperm is highly responsive to environmental cues. Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance revolutionizes our understanding of human disease etiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cast thin sections of tight oil reservoirs contain important parameters such as rock mineral composition and content, porosity, permeability and stratigraphic characteristics, which are of great significance for reservoir evaluation. The use of deep learning technology for intelligent identification of thin section images is a development trend of mineral identification. However, the difficulty of making cast thin sections, the complexity of the making process and the high cost of thin section annotation have led to a lack of cast thin section images, which cannot meet the training requirements of deep learning image recognition models. In order to increase the sample size and improve the training effect of deep learning model, we proposed a generation and annotation method of thin section images of tight oil reservoir based on deep learning, by taking Fuyu reservoir in Sanzhao Sag as the target area. Firstly, the Augmentor strategy space was used to preliminarily augment the original images while preserving the original image features to meet the requirements of the model. Secondly, the category attention mechanism was added to the original StyleGAN network to avoid the influence of the uneven number of components in thin sections on the quality of the generated images. Then, the SALM annotation module was designed to achieve semi-automatic annotation of the generated images. Finally, experiments on image sharpness, distortion, standard accuracy and annotation efficiency were designed to verify the advantages of the method in image quality and annotation efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Existing evidence exhibits that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a potential consequence of Parkinson's disease (PD) or a contributor to PD progression. This investigation aimed to detect potential critical genes and molecular mechanisms underlying interactions between PD and OSA through bioinformatics analyses. Methods: The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database was employed to obtain the expression profiles GSE20163 and GSE135917. The identification of common genes connected to PD and OSA was performed utilizing weighted gene co-expression network analysis and the R 4.0.4 program. The Cytoscape program was utilized to generate a network of protein-protein interactions (PPI), and the CytoHubba plugin was utilized to detect hub genes. Subsequently, functional enrichment analyses of the hub genes were conducted. Markers with increased diagnostic values for PD and OSA were confirmed using the GEO datasets GSE8397 and GSE38792. Results: Typically, 57 genes that are common were identified in PD and OSA. Among these common genes, the top 10 hub genes in the PPI network were chosen. The verified datasets confirmed the presence of three important genes: CADPS, CHGA, and SCG3. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that these hub genes mostly participate in GABAergic synapses. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that CADPS, CHGA, and SCG3 are key genes involved in molecular mechanisms underlying interactions between OSA and PD. Functional enrichment of hub genes indicated a link between GABAergic synapses and the shared pathogenesis of PD and OSA. These candidate genes and corresponding pathways offer novel insights regarding biological targets that underlie the transcriptional connection between OSA and PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, UNET (Ronneberger et al. 2015) and its derivative models have been widely used in medical image segmentation with more superficial structures and excellent segmentation results. Due to the lack of modeling for the overall characteristics of the target, the division tasks of minor marks will produce some discrete noise points, resulting in a decline in model accuracy and application effects. We propose a multi-tasking medical image analysis model UoloNet, a YOLO-based (Redmon et al. 2016; Shafiee et al. 2017) object detection branch is added based on UNET. The shared learning of the two tasks through semantic segmentation and object detection has promoted the model’s mastery of the overall characteristics of the target. In the reasoning stage, merging the two functions of object detection and semantic segmentation can effectively remove discrete noise points in the division and enhance the accuracy of semantic segmentation. In the future, the object detection task will be the problem of excessive convergence of semantic segmentation tasks. The model uses CIOU (Zheng et al. 2020) losses instead of IOU losses in YOLO, which further improves the model’s overall accuracy. The effectiveness of the proposed model is verified both in the MRI dataset SEHPI, which we posted and in the public dataset LITS (Christ 2017). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: The ClACO gene encoding 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase enabled highly efficient 15N uptake in watermelon. Nitrogen is one of the most essential nutrient elements that play a pivotal role in regulating plant growth and development for crop productivity. Elucidating the genetic basis of high nitrogen uptake is the key to improve nitrogen use efficiency for sustainable agricultural productivity. Whereas previous researches on nitrogen absorption process are mainly focused on a few model plants or crops. To date, the causal genes that determine the efficient nitrogen uptake of watermelon have not been mapped and remains largely unknown. Here, we fine-mapped the 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase (ClACO) gene associated with nitrogen uptake efficiency in watermelon via bulked segregant analysis (BSA). The variations in the ClACO gene led to the changes of gene expression levels between two watermelon accessions with different nitrogen uptake efficiencies. Intriguingly, in terms of the transcript abundance of ClACO, it was concomitant with significant differences in ethylene evolutions in roots and root architectures between the two accessions and among the different genotypic offsprings of the recombinant BC2F1(ZJU132)-18. These findings suggest that ethylene as a negative regulator altered nitrogen uptake efficiency in watermelon by controlling root development. In conclusion, our current study will provide valuable target gene for precise breeding of ‘green’ watermelon varieties with high-nitrogen uptake efficiencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The blind millionaires’ problem is an expansion of the millionaires’ problem, comparing the secrets belonging to two different sets. When each set has only one participant, it corresponds to the original millionaires’ problem. In this paper, we propose a new solution to quantum blind millionaires’ (QBM) problem based on d-level n-particle entangled states | χ ⟩ n for the first time. In our solution, the summation of the secrets held by the participants from two sets can be compared successfully; here, each participant may have one or multiple secrets. Specially two different cases for overall and local comparison are discussed, respectively. During the QBM solution for overall comparison, it can be seen that the summation of all the secrets in each set can compare its value with the other set. Accordingly, during the QBM solution for local comparison, any one participant in one set can compare his secret with the summation of all the secrets in the other set. Moreover, the security analysis shows that the present solutions can prevent secrets leakage even if participants collude. Finally, the efficiency and some further discussions of our solutions are also proposed. As a new attempt, we hope these work may make positive effects to the development of quantum secure multiparty computation in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Allium genus is cultivated globally as vegetables, condiments, or medicinal plants and is characterized by large genomes and strong pungency. However, the genome evolution and genomic basis underlying their unique flavor formation remain poorly understood. Herein, we report an 11.27-Gb chromosome-scale genome assembly for bunching onion (A. fistulosum). The uneven bursts of long-terminal repeats contribute to diversity in genome constituents, and dispersed duplication events largely account for gene expansion in Allium genomes. The extensive duplication and differentiation of alliinase and lachrymatory factor synthase manifest as important evolutionary events during flavor formation in Allium crops. Furthermore, differential selective preference for flavor-related genes likely lead to the variations in isoalliin content in bunching onions. Moreover, we reveal that China is the origin and domestication center for bunching onions. Our findings provide insights into Allium genome evolution, flavor formation and domestication history and enable future genome-assisted breeding of important traits in these crops. Genome evolution of Allium genus and genomic basis underlying the pungency flavor formation remain poorly understood. Here, the authors assemble the genome of bunching onion and conduct population genetics analyses to reveal Allium genome evolution, flavor formation and domestication history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Gene mining in a C. lanatus × C. amarus population revealed one gene, ACS7, linked to primary root elongation in watermelon. Watermelon is a xerophytic crop characterized by a long primary root and robust lateral roots. Therefore, watermelon serves as an excellent model for studying root elongation and development. However, the genetic mechanism underlying the primary root elongation in watermelon remains unknown. Herein, through bulk segregant analysis we identified a genetic locus, qPRL.Chr03, controlling primary root length (PRL) using two different watermelon species (Citrullus lanatus and Citrullus amarus) that differ in their root architecture. Fine mapping revealed that xaa-Pro dipeptidase and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase 7 (ACS7) are candidate regulators of the primary root growth. Allelic variation in the delimited region among 193 watermelon accessions indicated that the long-root alleles might only exist in C. amarus. Interestingly, the discrepancy in PRL among the C. amarus accessions was clearly associated with a nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphism variant within the ACS7 gene. The ACS7 expression and ethylene levels in the primary root tips suggested that ethylene is a negative regulator of root elongation in watermelon, as supported by the application of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC, the ethylene precursor) or 2-aminoethoxyvinyl glycine (AVG, an ACS inhibitor). To the best of our knowledge, these findings provide the first description of the genetic basis of root elongation in watermelon. The detected markers of the ACS7 gene will facilitate marker-assisted selection for the PRL trait to improve water and nutrient use efficacy in watermelon and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oil concentration is a key parameter of great significance to evaluate the oilfield re-injection water (it generally shortened to re-injection water). However, the detection of the oil concentration for the re-injection water is limited due to the lack of the rapid and efficient detection technology for the evaluation of the organics concentration. The present study proposed a rapid analytical method for oil concentration of the re-injection water based on its optical properties, which has been similarly used in rapid detection of materials content, such as gas mixture and water steam quality. The transmittance spectra of the re-injection water were measured by the ultraviolet and visible (UV–Vis) spectrometer, and the effect on the spectra by the oil concentration was also investigated. A fitting relationship between the optical properties and the oil concentration was established. The results showed that the oil concentration has a great impact on the transmittance spectra of the re-injection water. The accuracy of fitting relationship between the optical properties and the oil concentration developed by the double-thickness inversion model and spectroscopy method is good, in which the minimum fitting error is 1.57% and the best fitting accuracy is 99.96%. The oil concentration also plays an important role in the optical properties of re-injection water, which greatly influence on the fitting accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water quality deterioration of drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs) caused by water source switching has been reported previously. However, systematic investigation of the biostability of DWDS under water source switching is limited. Aged pipes, including three commonly used pipe materials dug out from a practical DWDS, were used to systematically investigate the biofilm stability mechanism of DWDS under water source switching to quality-improved water. An increase in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentration in the bulk water during the initial stage of the switching period was observed, indicating the risk of biofilm release through aged pipe surfaces after water source switching. Sloughing of biofilms might contribute to temporary instability. From day 35, the ATP concentration in the polyethylene (PE) and plastic stainless steel composite (PS) pipes were maintained at approximately 2.40 and 2.56 ng/L, respectively. In contrast, the ATP concentration in the ductile iron (DI) pipes was higher, at approximately 3.43 ng/L from day 42. The water quality variation could cause areas of the biofilm to slough and reduce the biomass of biofilm, causing partial alteration of the microbial community. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing–based functional prediction revealed that the biofilm could increase the abundance of chlorine-resistant bacteria attributed to the increase in Pseudomonas and Methylobacterium after switching to quality-improved water. Moreover, the profiles of specific pathways linked to human diseases, antibiotic resistance, and antibiotic biosynthesis revealed that the safety of the biofilm could improve after switching to quality-improved water. Key points: • The PE and PS biofilm showed improved resistance to water quality perturbation. • Greater number of Methylobacterium was found in the biofilm after water source switching. • 3.16S gene–based metagenomics prediction revealed that the safety of the biofilm under water source switching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A skin lesion is a part of the skin that has abnormal growth on body parts. Early detection of the lesion is necessary, especially malignant melanoma, which is the deadliest form of skin cancer. It can be more readily treated successfully if detected and classified accurately in its early stages. At present, most of the existing skin lesion image classification methods only use deep learning. However, medical domain features are not well integrated into deep learning methods. In this paper, for skin diseases in Asians, a two-phase classification method for skin lesion images is proposed to solve the above problems. First, a classification framework integrated with medical domain knowledge, deep learning, and a refined strategy is proposed. Then, a skin-dependent feature is introduced to efficiently distinguish malignant melanoma. An extension theory-based method is presented to detect the existence of this feature. Finally, a classification method based on deep learning (YoDyCK: YOLOv3 optimized by Dynamic Convolution Kernel) is proposed to classify them into three classes: pigmented nevi, nail matrix nevi and malignant melanomas. We conducted a variety of experiments to evaluate the performance of the proposed method in skin lesion images. Compared with three state-of-the-art methods, our method significantly improves the classification accuracy of skin diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anonymous entanglement refers to the construction of entangled channel between two parties among the quantum network, while keeping the identities of these two parties unknown to other parties. A recent work of [A. Unnikrishnan et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 240501 (2019)] proposed the first anonymous entanglement protocol in the presence of malicious parties and untrusted source. However, the correctness of the original protocol will be threatened, considering that the generated entangled channel can be destroyed by malicious parties without being detected. In this paper, we propose an improved protocol, which ensures the anonymity of the parties and the correctness of shared entanglement channel simultaneously. Furthermore, we consider the noisy measurement in the security analysis, which makes our protocol practical and rigorous. Based on the security analysis, genuine multipartite entanglement could be certified in the untrusted quantum network with our protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Health Organization has recognized that testicular function is temperature dependent. Testicular heat exposure caused by occupational factors, lifestyle, and clinical diseases can lead to different degrees of reproductive problems. The aim of this study was to reveal the transcriptional regulatory network and its potential crucial roles in mediating the effects of testicular heat exposure. Testicular tissue was collected from a group of mice subjected to scrotal heat exposure as well as a control group. RNA was isolated from both groups and used for high-throughput sequencing. Using differential transcriptome expression analysis, 172 circRNAs, 279 miRNAs, 465 lncRNAs, and 2721 mRNAs were identified as significantly differentially expressed in mouse testicular tissue after heat exposure compared with the control group. Through Gene Ontology (GO) term and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses, differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs were found to have potentially important functions in meiotic cell cycle (GO:0051321), cytoplasm (GO:0005737), membrane raft (GO:0045121), MAPK signaling (mmu04010), purine metabolism (mmu00230), and homologous recombination (mmu03440). Some of the most upregulated and downregulated lncRNAs and circRNAs were predicted to be associated with numerous miRNAs and mRNAs through competing endogenous RNA regulatory network analysis, which were validated with molecular biology experiments. This research provides high-throughput sequencing data of a testicular heat exposure model and lays the foundation for further study on circRNAs, miRNAs, and lncRNAs that are involved in male reproductive diseases related to elevated testicular temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of a variety of organic pollutants has complicated wastewater treatment; thus, the search for sustainable and effective treatment technology has drawn significant attention. In recent years, bulk nanobubbles, which have extraordinary properties differing from those of microbubbles, including high stability and long residence times in water, large specific surface areas, high gas transfer efficiency and interface potential, and the capability to generate free radicals, have shown attractive technological advantages and promising application prospects for wastewater treatment. In this review, the basic characteristics of bulk nanobubbles are summarized in detail, and recent findings related to their implementation pathways and mechanisms in organic wastewater treatment are systematically discussed, which includes improving the air flotation process, increasing water aeration to promote aerobic biological technologies including biological activated carbon, activated sludge, and membrane bioreactors, and generating active free radicals that oxidise organic compounds. Finally, the current technological difficulties of bulk nanobubbles are analysed, and future focus areas for research on bulk nanobubble technology are also proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existence of taste and odour (T&O) in drinking water is one of the principal causes of consumer complaints and is commonly related to algae growth. Numerous studies have confirmed the existence of algal blooms emerging specifically in low-temperature periods, herein referred to as "cold algae"; these include chrysophytes, cryptophytes, dinoflagellates and diatoms. In addition, the adaption mechanisms of these "cold algae" involve high flexibility in their nutrient intake and to the hydrological characteristics of the waters and their high contents of intracellular polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Like algae proliferating in higher temperature waters, cold algae can also produce offensive odours. The potential dominant T&O compounds of low-temperature algae probably include saturated/unsaturated aldehydes and even some terpenoids. Among these, the polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUAs), the derivatives of polyunsaturated fatty acids, are the dominant T&O compounds and are probably synthesized during cell rupture. It was found that, for cold algae, low temperature may have a favourable effect on the generation of algae-induced T&O compounds. Furthermore, to better understand the internal mechanisms of algal T&O production, the stress response theory is introduced, which provides ideas for T&O control in raw water and in water treatment. Finally, implications for T&O management are given based on this review. Key points: • Like algae proliferating in higher temperature waters, cold algae can produce offensive odours. • Low temperatures may have a favourable effect on the generation of algae-induced T&O compounds. • The stress response theory can help to better understand the internal mechanisms of algal T&O production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chlorine-based compounds have been used as a disinfectant in drinking water treatment plants for decades because of their excellent sterilisation efficiency and low cost. However, the formation of disinfection by-products during chlorination is a cause for concern. Peracetic acid (PAA) is a strong oxidant with a redox potential higher than that of chlorine and does not form harmful disinfection by-products. It is thus a potential alternative for chlorine-based disinfectants. However, PAA decomposes rapidly in water at a rate that is highly affected by many factors, such as organic compounds and pH. The aim of this study is to investigate the stability of PAA during drinking water disinfection. To accomplish this, we studied methods for rapid detection of residual PAA and PAA decay in drinking water. Residual PAA was detected in water by the spectrophotometry-total chlorine reagent (SPTCR) method with a PAA concentration range of 0.090–10 mg/L (R2 = 0.9943). Decay tests of PAA in drinking water and other sources of water showed that the decay process conformed to the first-order kinetic model with fast and slow reactions. Among four factors, pH was the key factor in the decay process because an alkaline environment significantly promotes the decomposition of PAA. In addition, total organic carbon (TOC), conductivity, and initial PAA concentration also affected PAA decay. Experimental and statistical analyses suggested that these factors affected PAA decay in the following descending order of influence: TOC, initial PAA concentration, and conductivity. In real water matrices, the PAA decay rate increased with increasing initial PAA concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anonymous ranking allows each user to perfectly know the position of his/her private datum in the ascending or descending sequence of all ranking data, while anonymous selection focuses on particular items. Both of them disclose each user's input and hide the accurate link between users and ranking data. Mature solutions of anonymous ranking and selection are usually crucial components of solving complex problems and are also extensively applied to many fields in daily life, such as auctions and commercial enterprises. In this paper, we propose two protocols of quantum anonymous ranking and selection with verifiability, in which each user can verify whether his/her ranking datum has been modified in a manner without detection and obtain the corresponding output with the property of anonymity. Furthermore, we demonstrate in detail that our protocols achieve security against outside eavesdroppers and inside malicious users under ideal or practical environment assumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we first build a mobile cloud platform that users can upload multi-focus images or download full-focus images through the 5G network. Then we design a method named Region Mosaicking on Contrast Pyramid (RMCP) for image fusion on the cloud platform. In the RMCP method, we apply the Sum-Modified-Laplacian to measure the focus of the multi-focus image, and use the density-based region growth algorithm to segment the focus region mask for each image. Finally, the mask is decomposed into a mask pyramid to monitor the mosaic region of the contrast pyramid. The experimental results show that RMCP based on 5G network outperforms other methods. In addition, RMCP is suitable for mobile devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid and credible evaluations of the microbial stability of a drinking water distribution system (DWDS) are of great significance for ensuring the safety of drinking water and predicting microbial pollution. Conventional biostability assessment methods mainly focus on bacterial regrowth or evaluation of the level of nutrients that support bacterial regrowth. However, such methods are time-consuming and have many limitations. An adenosine triphosphate (ATP) assay can rapidly measure all active microorganisms and is known to be a useful method to assess the microbial activity of drinking water. The measurement of ATP has been used for more than a decade in the field of drinking water research. This article reviews the application of an ATP luminescence-based method to assess the biostability of drinking water and discusses the feasibility of ATP measurement as a parameter for quickly evaluating this criterion. ATP measurement will help researchers and water managers better monitor the biological stability of drinking water from the source to the consumer's tap. This review covers the: (1) principle and application of the ATP measurement in drinking water quality assessment; (2) comparison of the merits and demerits of several methods for evaluating the biostability of drinking water; (3) discussions on using ATP measurement in evaluating biostability; and (4) improvements in the use of ATP measurement in evaluating biostability. At the end of this review, recommendations were given for better application of the ATP measurement as a parameter for monitoring the microbial quality of drinking water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2,4,6-Trichloroanisole (TCA) is an odorous compound that is often detected in tap water and is difficult to be removed via water treatment. In this study, the transformation efficiency of TCA in the presence of persulfate (PS) activated by iron (Fe2+, Fe0, and Fe3+) was investigated for the first time. The effects of the activator dosage, oxidant dosage, pH, dosing method, chelating agents, humic acid, and temperature were evaluated. The degradation rate of TCA increased with increasing PS dosages (0.12–0.48 mM) and initial Fe2+ concentrations (0.12–0.96 mM), while it decreased with higher Fe2+ concentrations. Fe2+/PS and Fe0/PS systems achieved their best TCA removal efficiency at pH 7 and 2.5, respectively. According to the results of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), the contribution of SO4−• to TCA degradation was much higher than that of •OH. Gradual addition of Fe2+ improved TCA degradation compared to single addition. Citric acid (CA) promoted TCA degradation under Fe2+/PS at the beginning of the reaction, but inhibited it after 10 min. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) improved the TCA removal rate with an EDTA/Fe2+ molar ratio of 0.5:1, while it decreased it at higher EDTA/Fe2+ molar ratios. Oxalic acid (OA) negatively affected TCA degradation with increasing OA/Fe2+ molar ratios. Among all of the chelating agents, only CA increased TCA degradation by Fe0/PS. Humic acid promoted TCA degradation by Fe2+/PS at the proper dosage (1 mg/L). Under our specific conditions and over the temperature ranging from 10 to 25 °C, no change was observed in the reaction kinetics. It was found that 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) was the only detected oxidation product. The presence of an Fe2+-Fe3+ redox cycle in iron-activated PS systems was confirmed by TCA degradation under the Fe3+/PS system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important for water utilities to provide esthetically acceptable drinking water to the public, because our consumers always initially judge the quality of the tap water by its color, taste, and odor (T&O). Microorganisms in drinking water contribute largely to T&O production and drinking water distribution systems (DWDS) are known to harbor biofilms and microorganisms in bulk water, even in the presence of a disinfectant. These microbes include T&O-causing bacteria, fungi, and algae, which may lead to unwanted effects on the organoleptic quality of distributed water. Importantly, the understanding of types of these microbes and their T&O compound-producing mechanisms is needed to prevent T&O formation during drinking water distribution. Additionally, new disinfection strategies and operation methods of DWDS are also needed for better control of T&O problems in drinking water. This review covers: (1) the microbial species which can produce T&O compounds in DWDS; (2) typical T&O compounds in DWDS and their formation mechanisms by microorganisms; (3) several common factors in DWDS which can influence the growth and T&O generation of microbes; and (4) several strategies to control biofilm and T&O compound formation in DWDS. At the end of this review, recommendations were given based on the conclusion of this review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose certain different design ideas on a novel topic in quantum cryptography - quantum operation sharing (QOS). Following these unique ideas, three QOS schemes, the 'HIEC' (The scheme whose messages are hidden in the entanglement correlation), 'HIAO' (The scheme whose messages are hidden with the assistant operations) and 'HIMB' (The scheme whose messages are hidden in the selected measurement basis), have been presented to share the single-qubit operations determinately on target states in a remote node. These schemes only require Bell states as quantum resources. Therefore, they can be directly applied in quantum networks, since Bell states are considered the basic quantum channels in quantum networks. Furthermore, after analyse on the security and resource consumptions, the task of QOS can be achieved securely and effectively in these schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the MINimum-length- $$k$$ -Disjoint-Paths (MIN- $$k$$ -DP) problem: in a sensor network, given two nodes $$s$$ and $$t$$ , a positive integer $$k$$ , finding $$k$$ (node) disjoint paths connecting $$s$$ and $$t$$ with minimum total length. An efficient distributed algorithm named Optimally-Finding-Disjoint-Paths (OFDP) is proposed for this problem. OFDP guarantees correctness and optimality, i.e., (1) it will find $$k$$ disjoint paths if there exist $$k$$ disjoint paths in the network or the maximum number of disjoint paths otherwise; (2) the disjoint paths it outputs do have minimum total length. To the best of our knowledge, OFDP is the first distributed algorithm that can solve the MIN- $$k$$ -DP problem with correctness and optimality guarantee. Compared with the existing centralized algorithms which also guarantee correctness and optimality, OFDP is shown to be much more efficient by simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arbitrated quantum signature (AQS) is a cryptographic scenario in which the sender (signer), Alice, generates the signature of a message and then a receiver (verifier), Bob, can verify the signature with the help of a trusted arbitrator, Trent. In this paper, we point out there exist some security weaknesses in two AQS protocols. Our analysis shows Alice can successfully disavow any of her signatures by a simple attack in the first protocol. Furthermore, we study the security weaknesses of the second protocol from the aspects of forgery and disavowal. Some potential improvements of this kind of protocols are given. We also design a new method to authenticate a signature or a message, which makes AQS protocols immune to Alice's disavowal attack and Bob's forgery attack effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, Yuan et al. summarized some previous analysis of quantum secret sharing task and designed a multiparty quantum secret sharing protocol based on the continuous variable operations (CVO) with the ideas of dense coding and ping-pong technique (YMQSS). However, our research shows that the YMQSS protocol is unable to complete the quantum secret sharing task securely if the particular participant, Bob, is dishonest. In order to show that, we describe the following two attack strategies: one is that Bob can get the accurate shared secrets himself and leave the other sharers get his forged ones; the other one is that Bob can conspire with another sharer Bob ( i≠0) to get Alice's secrets without anyone's help. Finally, our discussions and conclusions are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The security of the recent quantum multi-signature protocol based on teleportation is analyzed. We show that there are some security vulnerabilities in the protocol. The detailed attack strategies are described from the aspect of participant attack. We also point out that the protocol is not secure against external attack. Finally, we give some possible countermeasures to improve the protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The streamflow over the Yellow River basin is simulated by using the high-resolution Regional Integrated Environmental Model System (RIEMS), and an off-line Large-scale Routing Model (LRM). The RIEMS was designed and has been developed by the Global Change System for Analysis, Research and Training Regional Center for Temperate East Asia (START/TEA) since 1991 and has a good capability to simulate the regional climate of East Asia. The LRM is based on the assumption of linearity and time invariance and can calculate the horizontal travel of water. The RIEMS-LRM allows the direct comparison of predicted and observed streamflow data for large-scale rivers. The application of the RIEMS-LRM to the upper reaches of the Yellow River verifies that the coupled model system has the capability to simulate the streamflow over a large-scale river. Furthermore, the paper discusses the reasons leading to simulation errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1 School of Life Science, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, Anhui, China 2 NHC Key Laboratory of Male Reproduction and Genetics (Family Planning Research Institute of Guangdong Province), Guangzhou, Guangdong, China This is being corrected in this publication. Reason: Affiliation and the affiliation number incorrectly listed in PDF version and in the html version. [Extracted from the article]