Gear: Enable Efficient Container Storage and Deployment with a New Image Format

International audienceContainers have been widely used in various cloud platforms as they enable agile and elastic application deployment through their process-based virtualization and layered image system. However, different layers of a container image may contain substantial duplicate and unnecessary data, which slows down its deployment due to long image downloading time and increased burden on the image registry. To accelerate the deployment and reduce the size of the registry, we propose a new image format, named Gear image, that consists of two parts: a Gear index describing the structure of the image’s file system and a set of files that are required when running an application. The Gear index is represented as a single-layer image compatible with the existing deployment framework. Containers can be launched by pulling a Gear index and on demand retrieving files pointed to by the index. Furthermore, the Gear image enables a file-level sharing mechanism, which helps remove duplicate data in the registry and avoid repeated downloading of identical files by a client. We implement a prototype of the container framework, named Gear, supporting the new image format. Evaluation shows that Gear saves 54% storage capacity in the registry, speeds up container startup by up to 5X, and reduces 84% bandwidth demands

Protectin conjugates in tissue regeneration 1 alleviates sepsis-induced acute lung injury by inhibiting ferroptosis

Background: Acute lung injury (ALI) is a common and serious complication of sepsis with high mortality. Ferroptosis, categorized as programmed cell death, contributes to the development of lung injury. Protectin conjugates in tissue regeneration 1 (PCTR1) is an endogenous lipid mediator that exerts protective effects against multiorgan injury. However, the role of PCTR1 in the ferroptosis of sepsis-related ALI remains unknown. Methods: A pulmonary epithelial cell line and a mouse model of ALI stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were established in vitro and in vivo. Ferroptosis biomarkers, including ferrous (Fe2+), glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA) and 4-Hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), were assessed by relevant assay kits. Glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) and prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2) protein levels were determined by western blotting. Lipid peroxides were examined by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. Cell viability was determined by a CCK-8 assay kit. The ultrastructure of mitochondria was observed with transmission electron microscopy. Morphology and inflammatory cytokine levels predicted the severity of lung injury. Afterward, related inhibitors were used to explore the potential mechanism by which PCTR1 regulates ferroptosis. Results: PCTR1 treatment protected mice from LPS-induced lung injury, which was consistent with the effect of the ferroptosis inhibitor ferrostatin-1. PCTR1 treatment decreased Fe2+, PTGS2 and lipid reactive oxygen species (ROS) contents, increased GSH and GPX4 levels and ameliorated mitochondrial ultrastructural injury. Administration of LPS or the ferroptosis agonist RSL3 resulted in reduced cell viability, which was rescued by PCTR1. Mechanistically, inhibition of the PCTR1 receptor lipoxin A4 (ALX), protein kinase A (PKA) and transcription factor cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) partly decreased PCTR1 upregulated GPX4 expression and a CREB inhibitor blocked the effects ofPCTR1 on ferroptosis inhibition and lung protection. Conclusion: This study suggests that PCTR1 suppresses LPS-induced ferroptosis via the ALX/PKA/CREB signaling pathway, which may offer promising therapeutic prospects in sepsis-related ALI

Inhibition the ubiquitination of ENaC and Na,K-ATPase with erythropoietin promotes alveolar fluid clearance in sepsis-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome

Sepsis-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) causes significant fatalities worldwide and lacks pharmacological intervention. Alveolar fluid clearance (AFC) plays a pivotal role in the remission of ARDS and is markedly impaired in the pathogenesis of ARDS. Here, we demonstrated that erythropoietin could effectively ameliorate lung injury manifestations and lethality, restore lung function and promote AFC in a rat model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ARDS. Moreover, it was proven that EPO-induced restoration of AFC occurs through triggering the total protein expression of ENaC and Na,K-ATPase channels, enhancing their protein abundance in the membrane, and suppressing their ubiquitination for degeneration. Mechanistically, the data indicated the possible involvement of EPOR/JAK2/STAT3/SGK1/Nedd4–2 signaling in this process, and the pharmacological inhibition of the pathway markedly eliminated the stimulating effects of EPO on ENaC and Na,K-ATPase, and subsequently reversed the augmentation of AFC by EPO. Consistently, in vitro studies of alveolar epithelial cells paralleled with that EPO upregulated the expression of ENaC and Na,K-ATPase, and patch-clamp studies further demonstrated that EPO substantially strengthened sodium ion currents. Collectively, EPO could effectively promote AFC by improving ENaC and Na,K-ATPase protein expression and abundance in the membrane, dependent on inhibition of ENaC and Na,K-ATPase ubiquitination, and resulting in diminishing LPS-associated lung injuries

Scattering Field Enhanced Biosensing Based on Sub-wavelength Split-ring Plasmonic Cavity With High Q-factor

Plasmonic structures are widely used in modern biosensor design. various plasmonic resonant cavities could efficiently achieve a high Q-factor, improving the local field intensity to enhance photoluminescence or SERS (Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering) of small molecules. Also, the combination between virus-like particles and plasmonic structures could significantly influence the scattering spectrum and field, which is utilized as a method for biological particle detection. In this paper, we designed one kind of gold plasmonic cavity with the shape of a split-ring. An edge gap and a bonus center bulge are introduced in the split-ring structure. Our simulation is based on Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method. Polarization Indirect Microscopic Imaging (PIMI) technique is used here to detect far-field mode distribution under the resonant wavelength. The simulation results demonstrate resonant peaks in the visible spectrum at about 600 nm with a Q-factor reaches to 74. Localized hot spots are generated by an edge dipole mode and a cavity hexapole mode at resonant wavelength, which is according to dark points in the PIMI sinδ image. Also, the split-ring cavity shows a sensitivity when combined with biological particles. The scattering distribution is evidently changed as a result of energy exchange between particles and split-ring cavity, indicating a promising possibility for biosensing

Sub-wavelength visualization of near-field scattering mode of plasmonic nano-cavity in the far-field

Spatial visualization of mode distribution of light scattering from plasmonic nanostructures is of vital importance for understanding the scattering mechanism and applications based on these plasmonic nanostructures. A long unanswered question in how the spatial information of scattered light from a single plasmonic nanostructure can be recovered in the far-field, under the constraints of the diffraction limit of the detection or imaging optical system. In this paper, we reported a theoretical model on retrieving local spatial information of scattered light by plasmonic nanostructures in a far-field optical imaging system. In the far-field parametric sin δ images, singularity points corresponding to near-field hot spots of the edge mode and the gap mode were resolved for gold ring and split rings with subwavelength diameters and feature sizes. The experimental results were verified with Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulation in the near-field and far-field, for the edge mode and the gap mode at 566 nm and 534 nm, respectively. In sin δ image of split-ring, two singularity points associated with near-field hot spots were visualized and resolved with the characteristic size of 90 and 100 nm, which is far below the diffraction limit. The reported results indicate the feasibility of characterizing the spatial distribution of scattering light in the far-field and with sub-wavelength resolution for single plasmonic nanostructures with sub-wavelength feature sizes

Label-free sensing below the sub-diffraction limit of virus-like particles by wide-field photon state parametric imaging of a gold nanodot array

A parallel four-quadrant sensing method utilizing a specially designed gold nanodot array is created for sensing virus-like particles with sub-diffraction limit size (~100 nm) in a wide-field image. Direct label-free sensing of virus using multiple four-quadrant sensing channel in parallel in a wide-field view enables the possibility of high-throughput onsite screening of virus