Asymptotic Behaviour and Extinction of Delay Lotka-Volterra Model with Jump-Diffusion

This paper studies the effect of jump-diffusion random environmental perturbations on the asymptotic behaviour and extinction of Lotka-Volterra population dynamics with delays. The contributions of this paper lie in the following: (a) to consider delay stochastic differential equation with jumps, we introduce a proper initial data space, in which the initial data may be discontinuous function with downward jumps; (b) we show that the delay stochastic differential equation with jumps associated with our model has a unique global positive solution and give sufficient conditions that ensure stochastically ultimate boundedness, moment average boundedness in time, and asymptotic polynomial growth of our model; (c) the sufficient conditions for the extinction of the system are obtained, which generalized the former results and showed that the sufficiently large random jump magnitudes and intensity (average rate of jump events arrival) may lead to extinction of the population

An Efficient Protocol for the Commit-Prove-Fair-Open functionality

In TCC 2006, Garay et al. introduced the notion of commit-prove-fair-open functionality in order to achieve what they called resource fairness of secure multi-party computation(MPC) with corrupted majority. The protocol realizing this notion of fairness follows the gradual release approach and, further, it can be proven secure in the simulation paradigm and enjoys composition properties. In this paper, we show a more efficient resource-fair protocol of FCPFO based on a new variant of Garay et al. time-lines and simplified Camenisch-Shoup(sCS) commitment,whose communication and computation complexity are less than 1/5 of Garay et al. construction. In addition, our new protocol allows commitment to value 0, which is not possible in the plain Garay et al. construction

A novel Group Key Transfer Protocol

Group key transfer protocols depend on a mutually trusted key generation center (KGC) to transport the group key to all group members secretly. This approach requires that a trusted sever be set up, and it incurs communication overhead costs. In addition, the existing group key transfer protocols based on secret sharing all use threshold schemes that need to compute a -degree interpolating polynomial to encrypt and decrypt the secret group key, then it increases the computational complexity of system. In this paper, we first present a novel group key transfer protocol without an online KGC, which is based on DH key agreement and a perfect linear secret sharing scheme (LSSS). The confidentiality of the group key transfer phase of this protocol is information theoretically secure, which is ensured by this LSSS. Furthermore, this protocol can resist potential attacks and also reduce the overhead of system implementation. Goals and security threats of our proposed group key transfer protocol will be analyzed in detail

Improved production of a recombinant lipase expressed in and its application for conversion of microalgae oil to biodiesel

Part 2: Trust and PrivacyInternational audienceTrust and privacy have been widely studied as key issues and success factors for e-commerce. The advent of m-commerce calls for revisiting these concepts and re-examining their antecedents in the mobile context. This paper attempts a comparative approach to the issues of trust and privacy in e-commerce and m-commerce. It investigates how trust and privacy are differentiated with the shift from the context of e-commerce to the context of m-commerce. Our analysis is supported by the results of an exploratory qualitative study in m-commerce

A Case report: Synovial sarcoma of the mediastinum in an 18-year-old teenager

Synovial sarcomas (SSs) are a rare group of malignant tumors originating from pluripotential mesenchymal cells, which commonly occur as the primary tumor in the soft tissues near the articular surface, tendons, and articular synovium. Herein, we report a rare case of mediastinal SS in an 18-year-old teenager who initially presented with cough as the primary symptom. In this case, plain chest CT and contrast-enhanced CT clearly revealed the lesion presenting as a round-like and uneven density mass in the mediastinum with heterogeneous enhancement, which compressed the trachea and invaded the adjacent vessels. Based on the results of immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), combined with the differential diagnosis with other types of tumors in the mediastinum on imaging, we were able to diagnose the tumor as an SS located in the mediastinum. Subsequent resection of the lesion coupled with chemotherapy and immunotherapy led to an improvement in the patient’s symptoms

Correlation of DNA load, genotyping, and clinical phenotype of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in children

IntroductionThis study aimed to investigate the correlation between Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP)-DNA load in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of children with MP pneumonia (MPP) and its subtypes, relevant laboratory data, imaging, extrapulmonary complications in infected children, and its clinical significance in evaluating the disease.MethodsChildren hospitalized with MPP at Tianjin Children's Hospital between December 2017 and December 2020 were selected for the study, excluding those with mixed viral, bacterial, and fungal infections. Children were divided into low- and high-load groups according to the MP DNA load in BALF using real-time quantitative fluorescence polymerase chain reaction (PCR). After a successful MP culture, positive specimens were subjected to PCR-Restriction fragment length polymorphism and Multiple-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis typing. Basic data, clinical information, laboratory data, and radiological results were collected from all children included in the study.ResultsThe PI-I type dominated the different load groups. Children in the low-load group had more wheezing and shortness of breath; however, children in the high-load group had a higher length of hospitalization, maximum fever temperature, higher chills/chilliness, incidence of abdominal pain, and higher C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels. Children in the high-load group were more likely to have imaging changes such as pleural effusion, and the incidence of respiratory infections and extrapulmonary complications was higher than that of those in the low-load group. We applied Spearman's correlation analysis to clarify the relationship between MP DNA load and the clinical severity of MPP. We found that MP DNA load was positively correlated with length of hospitalization, maximum fever temperature, CRP, PCT, Interleukin-6 (IL-6), and AST levels, and negatively correlated with fever and cough durations, white blood cell count (WBC), and proportion of monocytes (MONO). The degree of correlation was as follows: length of hospitalization > IL-6 > cough duration > AST > fever duration > PCT > WBC > proportion of MONO > maximum fever temperature > CRP levels.ConclusionsMP DNA load was not correlated with MP typing but was significantly correlated with the children's clinical phenotype. Therefore, the MP DNA load helps in the early diagnosis of infection and can better predict disease regression

Dynamic changes in gut microbiota during pregnancy among Chinese women and influencing factors: A prospective cohort study

Gut microbiota (GM) dynamics during pregnancy vary among different populations and are affected by many factors, such as living environments and diet. This study aims to observe and evaluate the changes in the structure and function of the GM from the first to the third trimester of pregnancy in Chinese women, and to explore the main factors affecting the changes in intestinal microecology. Fifty-five Chinese pregnant women were recruited for this study and their fecal samples were collected during the first (P1), second (P2), and third trimesters (P3) of pregnancy. We exploited metagenomic sequencing to compare the composition and function of the GM in different pregnancy periods. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that there were differences in the composition of the GM among P1, P2, and P3, as indicated by the increase in α-diversity and β-diversity of the GM and the differences in the relative abundances of distinct bacterial phyla. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) was the main factor (P < 0.05) that affected the changes in GM at various stages of pregnancy. There were also disparities in the structure of the GM between the GDM group and non-GDM group in the P1, P2, and P3. The GDM group exhibited increased abundances in Ruminococcus_gnavus, Akkermansia_muciniphila, Alistipes_shahii, Blautia_obeum, and Roseburia_intestinalis; while, the abundances of Bacteroides coprocola, Bacteroides plebeius, Erysipelatoclostridium ramosum, and Prevotella copri were increased in the non-GDM group. Three of the four species enriched in the non-GDM group manifestied significantly negative correlations with the insulin-signaling pathway and lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis (r ≤ −0.3, adjusted P < 0.05). In the GDM group, Bacteroides vulgatus and Ruminococcus gnavus were significantly and positively correlated with insulin signaling pathway and lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis (r ≤ −0.3, adjusted P < 0.05) among the species enriched from early pregnancy. Virtually all of the species enriched in P2 and P3 were positively correlated with steroid hormone biosynthesis. These results suggest a potential role for the GM in the development of GDM, enabling the potential prevention of GDM by targeting the GM

Plasmodium falciparum populations from northeastern Myanmar display high levels of genetic diversity at multiple antigenic loci

Levels of genetic diversity of the malaria parasites and multiclonal infections are correlated with transmission intensity. In order to monitor the effect of strengthened malaria control efforts in recent years at the China-Myanmar border area, we followed the temporal dynamics of genetic diversity of three polymorphic antigenic markers msp1, msp2, and glurp in the Plasmodium falciparum populations. Despite reduced malaria prevalence in the region, parasite populations exhibited high levels of genetic diversity. Genotyping 258 clinical samples collected in four years detected a total of 22 PCR size alleles. Multiclonal infections were detected in 45.7% of the patient samples, giving a minimum multiplicity of infection of 1.41. The majority of alleles experienced significant temporal fluctuations through the years. Haplotype diversity based on the three-locus genotypes ranged from the lowest in 2009 at 0.33 to the highest in 2010 at 0.80. Sequencing of msp1 fragments from 36 random samples of five allele size groups detected 13 different sequences, revealing an additional layer of genetic complexity. This study suggests that despite reduced prevalence of malaria infections in this region, the parasite population size and transmission intensity remained high enough to allow effective genetic recombination of the parasites and continued maintenance of genetic diversity