BPDTE: Batch Private Decision Tree Evaluation via Amortized Efficient Private Comparison

Machine learning as a service requires the client to trust the server and provide its own private information to use this service. Usually, clients may worry that their private data is being collected by server without effective supervision, and the server also aims to ensure proper management of the user data to foster the advancement of its services. In this work, we focus on private decision tree evaluation (PDTE) which can alleviates such privacy concerns associated with classification tasks using decision tree. After the evaluation, except for some hyperparameters, the client only receives the classification results from the server, while the server learns nothing. Firstly, we propose three amortized efficient private comparison algorithms: TECMP, RDCMP, and CDCMP, which are based on the leveled homomorphic encryption. They are non-interactive, high precision (up to 26624-bit), many-to-many, and output expressive, achieving an amortized cost of less than 1 ms under 32-bit, which is an order of magnitude faster than the state-of-the-art. Secondly, we propose three batch PDTE schemes using this private comparison: TECMP-PDTE, RDCMP-PDTE, and CDCMP-PDTE. Due to the batch operations, we utilized a clear rows relation (CRR) algorithm, which obfuscates the position and classification results of the different row data. Finally, in decision tree exceeding 1000 nodes under 16-bit each, the amortized runtime of TECMP-PDTE and RDCMP-PDTE both more than 56$\times$ faster than state-of-the-art, while the TECMP-PDTE with CRR still achieves 14$\times$ speedup. Even in a single row and a tree of fewer than 100 nodes with 64-bit, the TECMP-PDTE maintains a comparable performance with the current work

Effect of Pre-dispersing Metakaolin in Water on the Properties, Hydration, and Metakaolin Distribution in Mortar

The effects of pre-dispersing metakaolin (MK) in water on the properties and hydration of mortar and distribution of MK particles in mortar were characterized by analytical techniques. Zeta-potential of MK-water dispersion significantly decreased with the increase of pH of solution, resulting in a stable dispersion at pH of 8 with zeta-potential of −40 mV. The bulk density of MK-water slurry rapidly increased with water/MK ratio due to the surface tension force of water and filling of spaces by water, resulting in a maximum bulk density of 665.2 kg/m3 at water/MK ratio of 1.0. Comparing to that of powder MK, pre-dispersing MK in water did not alter hydration products, slightly improved compressive strength, and pore structure, but further reduced shrinkage and significantly improved the uniformed distribution of MK particles in mortar

Decreased level of recent thymic emigrants in CD4+ and CD8+T cells from CML patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>T-cell immunodeficiency is a common feature in cancer patients, which may relate to initiation and development of tumor. Based on our previous finding, to further characterize the immune status, T cell proliferative history was analyzed in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Quantitative analysis of δRec-ψJα signal joint T cell receptor excision circles (sjTRECs) was performed in PBMCs, CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+T cells by real-time PCR, and the analysis of 23 <it>TRBV-D1 </it>sjTRECs was performed by semi-nested PCR. Forty eight CML cases in chronic phase (CML-CP) were selected for this study and 17 healthy individuals served as controls.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The levels of δRec-ψJα sjTRECs in PBMCs, CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ T cells were significantly decreased in CML patients, compared with control groups. Moreover, the numbers of detectable <it>TRBV </it>subfamily sjTRECs, as well as the frequency of particular <it>TRBV-BD</it>1 sjTRECs in patients with CML were significantly lower than those from healthy individuals.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We observed decreased levels of recent thymic emigrants in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells that may underlay the persistent immunodeficiency in CML patients.</p

Boron neutron capture therapy induces apoptosis of glioma cells through Bcl-2/Bax

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is an alternative treatment modality for patients with glioma. The aim of this study was to determine whether induction of apoptosis contributes to the main therapeutic efficacy of BNCT and to compare the relative biological effect (RBE) of BNCT, γ-ray and reactor neutron irradiation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The neutron beam was obtained from the Xi'an Pulsed Reactor (XAPR) and γ-rays were obtained from [⁶⁰Co] γ source of the Fourth Military Medical University (FMMU) in China. Human glioma cells (the U87, U251, and SHG44 cell lines) were irradiated by neutron beams at the XAPR or [⁶⁰Co] γ-rays at the FMMU with different protocols: Group A included control nonirradiated cells; Group B included cells treated with 4 Gy of [⁶⁰Co] γ-rays; Group C included cells treated with 8 Gy of [⁶⁰Co] γ-rays; Group D included cells treated with 4 Gy BPA (p-borono-phenylalanine)-BNCT; Group E included cells treated with 8 Gy BPA-BNCT; Group F included cells irradiated in the reactor for the same treatment period as used for Group D; Group G included cells irradiated in the reactor for the same treatment period as used for Group E; Group H included cells irradiated with 4 Gy in the reactor; and Group I included cells irradiated with 8 Gy in the reactor. Cell survival was determined using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium (MTT) cytotoxicity assay. The morphology of cells was detected by Hoechst33342 staining and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The apoptosis rate was detected by flow cytometer (FCM). The level of Bcl-2 and Bax protein was measured by western blot analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Proliferation of U87, U251, and SHG44 cells was much more strongly inhibited by BPA-BNCT than by irradiation with [⁶⁰Co] γ-rays (<it>P </it>< 0.01). Nuclear condensation was determined using both a fluorescence technique and electron microscopy in all cell lines treated with BPA-BNCT. Furthermore, the cellular apoptotic rates in Group D and Group E treated with BPA-BNCT were significantly higher than those in Group B and Group C irradiated by [⁶⁰Co] γ-rays (<it>P </it>< 0.01). The clonogenicity of glioma cells was reduced by BPA-BNCT compared with cells treated in the reactor (Group F, G, H, I), and with the control cells (<it>P </it>< 0.01). Upon BPA-BNCT treatment, the Bax level increased in glioma cells, whereas Bcl-2 expression decreased.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Compared with ��-ray and reactor neutron irradiation, a higher RBE can be achieved upon treatment of glioma cells with BNCT. Glioma cell apoptosis induced by BNCT may be related to activation of Bax and downregulation of Bcl-2.</p

Theoretical modeling of the effect of noncondensables on critical flow flashing in subcooled liquids

Ph.D.S. Mostafa Ghiaasiaa

First Principle Study on Atomic Scale Structures of Cathode in Aluminium-ion Battery Using Various van der Waals Corrections

There is still controversy on the atomistic configuration of aluminium-ion batteries (AIB) cathode when using first principle calculation based on density functional theory (DFT). We examined the relevant cathodic structures of Al/graphite battery by employing several van der Waals (vdW) corrections. Among them, DFT-TS method was determined to be a better dispersion correction in correctly rendering structural features already found through experiment investigations. The systematic comparison paved the way to the choice of vdW parameters in first principle calculation of graphitic electrode

Research on the evaluation of green suppliers of high energy-consuming enterprises--based on rough number-grey correlation TOPSIS method

With the Goal-Establishment of “carbon compliance” and “carbon neutrality”, enterprises should upgrade “green development” to a strategic position and implement it through all aspects of business operations. Green supplier selection is the initial phase of supply chain management, therefore a green supplier evaluation system is needed to achieve green development. Based on a literature analysis, We selected 45 metrics as candidates for evaluating suppliers. Then through expert interviews, some indicators were revised and supplemented, and finally a green supplier evaluation index system for high energy-consuming enterprises was constructed. A unique aspect of this paper is the introduction of rough number theory into the supplier evaluation process to improve the indicator assignment and the grey correlation TOPSIS method, which optimizes the processing of uncertain semantic information in the evaluation process. The rough number-grey correlation TOPSIS supplier evaluation model developed in this paper has been verified to be applicable and stable in case studies and successfully implemented

New Method for the Solidification of High-Concentration Radioactive Borate Solution by Cement-Based Materials

Cement is widely used for the solidification of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste materials. Radioactive borate solution with a high concentration of boron is one of the main radioactive wastes produced in nuclear stations. It is difficult to solidify this solution by using cement because borate has a great inhibitory effect on the cement hydration process. In this study, the hydration kinetics, strength, durability, phase assemblage, and transportation and transformation of the silicon of the paste that blended Portland cement with 5 M borate solution were investigated. After the addition of sodium hydroxide and sodium metasilicate to the paste, the cement hydration process was restarted, and the 28-days strength of samples met the requirements of the Chinese standard. The mechanism of overcoming the retardation of cement hydration by the borate solution was attributed to the formation of calcium metaborate, ettringite, portlandite, and calcium silicate hydrate with the restarting of cement hydration, without the formation of ulexite

Carbon-Based CsPbBr₃ Perovskite Solar Cells: All-Ambient Processes and High Thermal Stability

The device instability has been an important issue for hybrid organic–inorganic halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs). This work intends to address this issue by exploiting inorganic perovskite (CsPbBr₃) as light absorber, accompanied by replacing organic hole transport materials (HTM) and the metal electrode with a carbon electrode. All the fabrication processes (including those for CsPbBr₃ and the carbon electrode) in the PSCs are conducted in ambient atmosphere. Through a systematical optimization on the fabrication processes of CsPbBr₃ film, carbon-based PSCs (C-PSCs) obtained the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of about 5.0%, a relatively high value for inorganic perovskite-based PSCs. More importantly, after storage for 250 h at 80 °C, only 11.7% loss in PCE is observed for CsPbBr₃ C-PSCs, significantly lower than that for popular CH₃NH₃PbI₃ C-PSCs (59.0%) and other reported PSCs, which indicated a promising thermal stability of CsPbBr₃ C-PSCs