Cored Dark Matter halos in the Cosmic Neutrino Background

We study the impact of the interaction between DM and the cosmic neutrino background on the evolution of galactic dark matter halos. The energy transfer from the neutrinos to the dark matter can heat the center of the galaxy and make it cored. This effect is efficient for the small galaxies such as the satellite galaxies of the Milky Way and we can put conservative constraint on the non-relativistic elastic scattering cross section as $\sigma_{\chi\nu}\lesssim 10^{-31} {\rm cm}^2$ for 0.1 keV dark matter and 0.1 eV neutrino.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Middle-aged women’s experiences of physical activity for managing menopausal symptoms: a phenomenological study

Purpose The purpose of this study was to comprehensively understand and describe the meaning of physical activity for managing menopausal symptoms in middle-aged women. Methods This study targeted middle-aged women with menopausal symptoms who participated in regular exercise at least three times a week for more than 12 weeks. Nine participants were individually interviewed via in-depth face-to-face interviews, and participatory observation was also employed. Colaizzi’s phenomenological qualitative research method was applied for analysis. Results Participants were asked, “What does it means to participate in physical activity at this time of your life?” Fourteen codes, six themes, and three theme clusters were derived for the meaning of physical activity for managing menopausal symptoms in these middle-aged women. The six themes were “reviving the exhausted body and mind,” “being free from the yoke of pain,” “being settled in life,” “finding oneself and becoming altruistic,” “striving while anticipating change,” and “equipping the body and mind.” The three theme clusters were “overcoming my past pain,” “taking the initiative for today’s life,” and “moving towards new change.” Conclusion The narratives revealed that physical activity allowed women to overcome menopausal symptoms, the burden of relationships, and stress, thereby enabling them to make positive changes in their lives and have expectations for the future. Thus, physical activity was a positive force in a healthy menopausal transition for women with menopausal symptoms. The findings of this study can be used to encourage physical activity in peri-menopausal women and to develop physical activity programs for managing menopausal symptoms

Immune-Checkpoint Inhibitors-Induced Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: From Its Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Practice

With the increasing use of immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), such as anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) and anti-programmed cell death-1 (PD-1), for the treatment of malignancies, cases of ICI-induced type 1 diabetes mellitus (ICI-T1DM) have been reported globally. This review focuses on the features and pathogenesis of this disease. T1DM is an immune-related adverse event that occurs following the administration of anti-PD-1 or anti-programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) alone or in combination with anti-CTLA-4. More than half of the reported cases presented as abrupt-onset diabetic ketoacidosis. The primary mechanism of ICI-T1DM is T-cell stimulation, which results from the loss of interaction between PD-1 and PD-L1 in pancreatic islet. The similarities and differences between ICI-T1DM and classical T1DM may provide insights into this disease entity. ICI-T1DM is a rare but often life-threatening medical emergency that healthcare professionals and patients need to be aware of. Early detection of and screening for this disease is imperative. At present, the only known treatment for ICI-T1DM is insulin injection. Further research into the mechanisms and risk factors associated with ICI-T1DM development may contribute to a better understanding of this disease entity and the identification of possible preventive strategies

An Active and Soft Hydrogel Actuator to Stimulate Live Cell Clusters by Self-folding

The hydrogels are widely used in various applications, and their successful uses depend on controlling the mechanical properties. In this study, we present an advanced strategy to develop hydrogel actuator designed to stimulate live cell clusters by self-folding. The hydrogel actuator consisting of two layers with different expansion ratios were fabricated to have various curvatures in self-folding. The expansion ratio of the hydrogel tuned with the molecular weight and concentration of gel-forming polymers, and temperature-sensitive molecules in a controlled manner. As a result, the hydrogel actuator could stimulate live cell clusters by compression and tension repeatedly, in response to temperature. The cell clusters were compressed in the 0.7-fold decreases of the radius of curvature with 1.0 mm in room temperature, as compared to that of 1.4 mm in 37 degrees C. Interestingly, the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-2 (IGFBP-2) in MCF-7 tumor cells exposed by mechanical stimulation was expressed more than in those without stimulation. Overall, this new strategy to prepare the active and soft hydrogel actuator would be actively used in tissue engineering, drug delivery, and micro-scale actuators

Bone-added osteotome sinus floor elevation with simultaneous placement of non-submerged sand blasted with large grit and acid etched implants: a 5-year radiographic evaluation

PURPOSE: Implant survival rates using a bone-added osteotome sinus floor elevation (BAOSFE) procedure with simultaneous placement of a non-submerged sand blasted with large grit and acid etched (SLA) implant are well documented at sites where native bone height is less than 5 mm. This study evaluated the clinical results of non-submerged SLA Straumann implants placed at the time of the BAOSFE procedure at sites where native bone height was less than 4 mm. Changes in graft height after the BAOSFE procedure were also assessed using radiographs for 5 years after the implant procedure. METHODS: The BAOSFE procedure was performed on 4 patients with atrophic posterior maxillas with simultaneous placement of 7 non-submerged SLA implants. At least 7 standardized radiographs were obtained from each patient as follows: before surgery, immediately after implant placement, 6 months after surgery, every year for the next 3 years, and after more than 5 years had passed. Clinical and radiographic examinations were performed at every visit. Radiographic changes in graft height were calculated with respect to the implant's known length and the original sinus height. RESULTS: All implants were stable functionally, as well as clinically and radiographically, during the follow-up. Most of the radiographic reduction in the grafted bone height occurred in the first 2 years; reduction after 2 years was slight. CONCLUSIONS: The simultaneous placement of non-submerged SLA implants using the BAOSFE procedure is a feasible treatment option for patients with severe atrophic posterior maxillas. However, the grafted bone height is reduced during the healing period, and patients must be selected with care.ope

Environmental Factors and Natural Resource Stock: Atlantic Herring Case

Herring is an important stock as bait for lobster fisheries and a component of the food web of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. However, herring is very vulnerable to environmental variables such as temperature, food supply, and to the type of sediment on the bottom floor. Egg and larval stage herring are hypothesized to be very sensitive to low temperatures. This paper will analyze the correlation between temperature and two year-old recruitment stock, using satellite sea surface temperature (SST) data and stock size data from Northeast Fishery Science Center. Temperature is measured for specific areas that are defined as Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) designated habitat for Atlantic herring eggs. The preliminary results suggest that including environmental factors is necessary to understand the cycle of fluctuating stock and is a necessary variable in the production model for a fishery.Keywords: Atlantic herring, variable stock, sea surface temperature (SST), Essential Fish Habitat (EFH)

Improved Universal Thresholdizer from Threshold Fully Homomorphic Encryption

The Universal Thresholdizer (CRYPTO\u2718) is a cryptographic scheme that facilitates the transformation of any cryptosystem into a threshold cryptosystem, making it a versatile tool for threshold cryptography. For instance, this primitive enables the black-box construction of a one-round threshold signature scheme based on the Learning with Error problem, as well as a one-round threshold chosen ciphertext attack-secure public key encryption, by being combined with non-threshold schemes. The compiler is constructed in a modular fashion and includes a compact threshold fully homomorphic encryption, a non-interactive zero-knowledge proof with preprocessing, and a non-interactive commitment. An instantiation of the Universal Thresholdizer can be achieved through the construction of a compact threshold fully homomorphic encryption. Currently, there are two threshold fully homomorphic encryptions based on linear secret sharing, with one using Shamir\u27s secret sharing and the other using the $\{0,1\}$-linear secret sharing scheme ($\{0,1\}$-LSSS). The former fails to achieve compactness as the size of its ciphertext is $O(N\log N)$, where $N$ is the number of participants in the distributed system. Meanwhile, the latter provides compactness, with a ciphertext size of $O(\log N)$, but requires $O(N^{4.3})$ share keys on each party, leading to high communication costs. In this paper, we propose a communication-efficient Universal Thresholdizer by revisiting the threshold fully homomorphic encryption. Our scheme reduces the number of share keys required on each party to $O(N^{2+o(1)})$ while preserving the ciphertext size of $O(\log N)$. To achieve this, we introduce a new linear secret sharing scheme called TreeSSS, which requires a smaller number of shared keys and satisfies compactness. As a result, the Threshold Fully Homomorphic Encryption underlying our linear secret sharing scheme has fewer shared keys during the setup algorithm and reduced communication costs during the partial decryption algorithm. Moreover, the construction of a Universal Thresholdizer can be achieved through the use of TreeSSS, as it reduces the number of shared keys compared to previous constructions. Additionally, TreeSSS may be of independent interest, as it improves the efficiency in terms of communication costs when used to replace $\{0,1\}$-LSSS

Alpha-tocopherol exerts protective function against the mucotoxicity of particulate matter in amphibian and human goblet cells

Exposure to particulate matter (PM) in ambient air is known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disorders and mortality. The cytotoxicity of PM is mainly due to the abnormal increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which damage cellular components such as DNA, RNA, and proteins. The correlation between PM exposure and human disorders, including mortality, is based on long-term exposure. In this study we have investigated acute responses of mucus-secreting goblet cells upon exposure to PM derived from a heavy diesel engine. To this end, we employed the mucociliary epithelium of amphibian embryos and human Calu-3 cells to examine PM mucotoxicity. Our data suggest that acute exposure to PM significantly impairs mucus secretion and results in the accumulation of mucus vesicles in the cytoplasm of goblet cells. RNA-seq analysis revealed that acute responses to PM exposure significantly altered gene expression patterns; however, known regulators of mucus production and the secretory pathway were not significantly altered. Interestingly, pretreatment with alpha-tocopherol nearly recovered the hyposecretion of mucus from both amphibian and human goblet cells. We believe this study demonstrates the mucotoxicity of PM and the protective function of alpha-tocopherol on mucotoxicity caused by acute PM exposure from heavy diesel engines