25 years of epidermal stem cell research.

This is a chronicle of concepts in the field of epidermal stem cell biology and a historic look at their development over time. The past 25 years have seen the evolution of epidermal stem cell science, from first fundamental studies to a sophisticated science. The study of epithelial stem cell biology was aided by the ability to visualize the distribution of stem cells and their progeny through lineage analysis studies. The excellent progress we have made in understanding epidermal stem cell biology is discussed in this article. The challenges we still face in understanding epidermal stem cells include defining molecular markers for stem and progenitor sub-populations, determining the locations and contributions of the different stem cell niches, and mapping regulatory pathways of epidermal stem cell proliferation and differentiation. However, our rapidly evolving understanding of epidermal stem cells has many potential uses that promise to translate into improved patient therapy

Defining Epidermal Basal Cell States during Skin Homeostasis and Wound Healing Using Single-Cell Transcriptomics.

Our knowledge of transcriptional heterogeneities in epithelial stem and progenitor cell compartments is limited. Epidermal basal cells sustain cutaneous tissue maintenance and drive wound healing. Previous studies have probed basal cell heterogeneity in stem and progenitor potential, but a comprehensive dissection of basal cell dynamics during differentiation is lacking. Using single-cell RNA sequencing coupled with RNAScope and fluorescence lifetime imaging, we identify three non-proliferative and one proliferative basal cell state in homeostatic skin that differ in metabolic preference and become spatially partitioned during wound re-epithelialization. Pseudotemporal trajectory and RNA velocity analyses predict a quasi-linear differentiation hierarchy where basal cells progress from Col17a1Hi/Trp63Hi state to early-response state, proliferate at the juncture of these two states, or become growth arrested before differentiating into spinous cells. Wound healing induces plasticity manifested by dynamic basal-spinous interconversions at multiple basal transcriptional states. Our study provides a systematic view of epidermal cellular dynamics, supporting a revised "hierarchical-lineage" model of homeostasis

Coarse Grained Computations for a Micellar System

We establish, through coarse-grained computation, a connection between traditional, continuum numerical algorithms (initial value problems as well as fixed point algorithms) and atomistic simulations of the Larson model of micelle formation. The procedure hinges on the (expected) evolution of a few slow, coarse-grained mesoscopic observables of the MC simulation, and on (computational) time scale separation between these and the remaining "slaved", fast variables. Short bursts of appropriately initialized atomistic simulation are used to estimate the (coarse-grained, deterministic) local dynamics of the evolution of the observables. These estimates are then in turn used to accelerate the evolution to computational stationarity through traditional continuum algorithms (forward Euler integration, Newton-Raphson fixed point computation). This "equation-free" framework, bypassing the derivation of explicit, closed equations for the observables (e.g. equations of state) may provide a computational bridge between direct atomistic / stochastic simulation and the analysis of its macroscopic, system-level consequences

Efficient threshold self-healing key distribution with sponsorization for infrastructureless wireless networks

Self-healing key distribution schemes are particularly useful when there is no network infrastructure or such infrastructure has been destroyed. A self-healing mechanism can allow group users to recover lost session keys and is therefore quite suitable for establishing group keys over an unreliable network, especially for infrastructureless wireless networks, where broadcast messages loss may occur frequently. An efficient threshold self-healing key distribution scheme with favorable properties is proposed in this paper. The distance between two broadcasts used to recover the lost one is alterable according to network conditions. This alterable property can be used to shorten the length of the broadcast messages. The second property is that any more than threshold-value users can sponsor a new user to join the group for the subsequent sessions without any interaction with the group manager. Furthermore, the storage overhead of the self-healing key distribution at each group user is a polynomial over a finite field, which will not increase with the number of sessions. In addition, if a smaller group of users up to a threshold-value were revoked, the personal keys for non-revoked users can be reused

Key management for wireless sensor network security

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have attracted great attention not only in industry but also in academia due to their enormous application potential and unique security challenges. A typical sensor network can be seen as a combination of a number of low-cost sensor nodes which have very limited computation and communication capability, memory space, and energy supply. The nodes are self-organized into a network to sense or monitor surrounding information in an unattended environment, while the self-organization property makes the networks vulnerable to various attacks.Many cryptographic mechanisms that solve network security problems rely directly on secure and efficient key management making key management a fundamental research topic in the field of WSNs security. Although key management for WSNs has been studied over the last years, the majority of the literature has focused on some assumed vulnerabilities along with corresponding countermeasures. Specific application, which is an important factor in determining the feasibility of the scheme, has been overlooked to a large extent in the existing literature.This thesis is an effort to develop a key management framework and specific schemes for WSNs by which different types of keys can be established and also can be distributed in a self-healing manner; explicit/ implicit authentication can be integrated according to the security requirements of expected applications. The proposed solutions would provide reliable and robust security infrastructure for facilitating secure communications in WSNs.There are five main parts in the thesis. In Part I, we begin with an introduction to the research background, problems definition and overview of existing solutions. From Part II to Part IV, we propose specific solutions, including purely Symmetric Key Cryptography based solutions, purely Public Key Cryptography based solutions, and a hybrid solution. While there is always a trade-off between security and performance, analysis and experimental results prove that each proposed solution can achieve the expected security aims with acceptable overheads for some specific applications. Finally, we recapitulate the main contribution of our work and identify future research directions in Part V

Proceeding: 3rd Java International Nursing Conference 2015 “Harmony of Caring and Healing Inquiry for Holistic Nursing Practice; Enhancing Quality of Care”, Semarang, 20-21 August 2015

This is the proceeding of the 3rd Java International Nursing Conference 2015 organized by School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, Diponegoro University, in collaboration with STIKES Kendal. The conference was held on 20-21 August 2015 in Semarang, Indonesia. The conference aims to enable educators, students, practitioners and researchers from nursing, medicine, midwifery and other health sciences to disseminate and discuss evidence of nursing education, research, and practices to improve the quality of care. This conference also provides participants opportunities to develop their professional networks, learn from other colleagues and meet leading personalities in nursing and health sciences. The 3rd JINC 2015 was comprised of keynote lectures and concurrent submitted oral presentations and poster sessions. The following themes have been chosen to be the focus of the conference: (a) Multicenter Science: Physiology, Biology, Chemistry, etc. in Holistic Nursing Practice, (b) Complementary Therapy in Nursing and Complementary, Alternative Medicine: Alternative Medicine (Herbal Medicine), Complementary Therapy (Cupping, Acupuncture, Yoga, Aromatherapy, Music Therapy, etc.), (c) Application of Inter-professional Collaboration and Education: Education Development in Holistic Nursing, Competencies of Holistic Nursing, Learning Methods and Assessments, and (d) Application of Holistic Nursing: Leadership & Management, Entrepreneurship in Holistic Nursing, Application of Holistic Nursing in Clinical and Community Settings