ParBFT: Faster Asynchronous BFT Consensus with a Parallel Optimistic Path

To reduce latency and communication overhead of asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) consensus, an optimistic path is often added, with Ditto and BDT as state-of-the-art representatives. These protocols first attempt to run an optimistic path that is typically adapted from partially-synchronous BFT and promises good performance in good situations. If the optimistic path fails to make progress, these protocols switch to a pessimistic path after a timeout, to guarantee liveness in an asynchronous network. This design crucially relies on an accurate estimation of the network delay Δ to set the timeout parameter correctly. A wrong estimation of Δ can lead to either premature or delayed switching to the pessimistic path, hurting the protocol\u27s efficiency in both cases. To address the above issue, we propose ParBFT, which employs a parallel optimistic path. As long as the leader of the optimistic path is non-faulty, ParBFT ensures low latency without requiring an accurate estimation of the network delay. We propose two variants of ParBFT, namely ParBFT1 and ParBFT2, with a trade-off between latency and communication. ParBFT1 simultaneously launches the two paths, achieves lower latency under a faulty leader, but has a quadratic message complexity even in good situations. ParBFT2 reduces the message complexity in good situations by delaying the pessimistic path, at the cost of a higher latency under a faulty leader. Experimental results demonstrate that ParBFT outperforms Ditto or BDT. In particular, when the network condition is bad, ParBFT can reach consensus through the optimistic path, while Ditto and BDT suffer from path switching and have to make progress using the pessimistic path

A polymorph of diaqua­bis(pyrazine-2-carboxyl­ato-κ2 N 1,O)copper(II)

The title compound, [Cu(C5H3N2O2)2(H2O)2], is a new polymorph of the previously reported compound [Klein et al. (1982 ▶). Inorg. Chem. 21, 1891–1897]. The CuII atom, lying on an inversion center, is coordinated by two N atoms and two O atoms from two pyrazine-2-carboxyl­ate ligands and by two water mol­ecules in a distorted octa­hedral geometry with the water mol­ecules occupying the axial sites. Inter­molecular O—H⋯O, O—H⋯N and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds connect the complex mol­ecules into a two-dimensional layer parallel to (10), whereas the previously reported polymorph exhibits a three-dimensional hydrogen-bonded network

Chromatographic determination of siphonodin content: A rapid and simple strategy for discriminating between Hemsleya omeiensis and other sources of Xuedan

Purpose: To develop a rapid and simple siphonodin content-based high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method to distinguish Hemsleya omeiensis from other sources of xuedan. Methods: Siphonodin was isolated from Hemsleya omeiensis and identified by x-ray crystallographic analysis. An optimized HPLC method was applied for the determination of siphonodin contents of H. omeiensis, H. dolichocarpa and H. gigantha. Results: Siphonodin was successfully separated by the optimized HPLC method in < 10 min, and the results of validation showed that the HPLC method was stable and very accurate for the quantification of siphonodin. The mean content of siphonodin in 10 batches of H. omeiensis was 3.78 mg/g, but the compound was not detectable in H. dolichocarpa and H. gigantha using the developed HPLC method. Conclusion: These results indicate that the developed HPLC method is suitable for distinguishing H. omeiensis from other sources of xuedan

Movable Fiber-Integrated Hybrid Plasmonic Waveguide on Metal Film

A waveguide structure consisting of a tapered nanofiber on a metal film is proposed and analyzed to support highly localized hybrid plasmonic modes. The hybrid plasmonic mode can be efficiently excited through the in-line tapered fiber based on adiabatic conversion and collected by the same fiber, which is very convenient in the experiment. Due to the ultrasmall mode area of plasmonic mode, the local electromagnetic field is greatly enhanced in this movable waveguide, which is potential for enhanced coherence light emitter interactions, such as waveguide quantum electrodynamics, single emitter spectrum and nonlinear optics

catena-Poly[[dichloridozinc(II)]-μ-1,1′-(butane-1,4-di­yl)diimidazole-κ2 N 3:N 3′]

The title compound, [ZnCl2(C10H14N4)]n, is a coordination polymer consisting of zigzag chains propagating in [001], in which the metal cation exhibits a distorted tetrahedral ZnCl2N2 coordination. Adjacent chains are linked by inter­molecular C—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional supra­molecular network

Estrogen Enhances the Expression of the Multidrug Transporter Gene ABCG2-Increasing Drug Resistance of Breast Cancer Cells through Estrogen Receptors.

BACKGROUND: Multidrug resistance is a major obstacle in the successful therapy of breast cancer. Studies have proved that this kind of drug resistance happens in both human cancers and cultured cancer cell lines. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of drug resistance is important for the reasonable design and use of new treatment strategies to effectively confront cancers. RESULTS: In our study, ATP-binding cassette sub-family G member 2 (ABCG2), adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthase and cytochrome c oxidase subunit VIc (COX6C) were over-expressed more in the MCF-7/MX cell line than in the normal MCF7 cell line. Therefore, we believe that these three genes increase the tolerance of MCF7 to mitoxantrone (MX). The data showed that the high expression of COX6C made MCF-7/MX have more stable on mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) expression than normal MCF7 cells under hypoxic conditions. The accumulation of MX was greater in the ATP-depleted treatment MCF7/MX cells than in normal MCF7/MX cells. Furthermore, E2 increased the tolerance of MCF7 cells to MX through inducing the expression of ABCG2. However, E2 could not increase the expression of ABCG2 after the inhibition of estrogen receptor α (ERα) in MCF7 cells. According to the above data, under the E2 treatment, MDA-MB231, which lacks ER, had a higher sensitivity to MX than MCF7 cells. CONCLUSIONS: E2 induced the expression of ABCG2 through ERα and the over-expressed ABCG2 made MCF7 more tolerant to MX. Moreover, the over-expressed ATP synthase and COX6c affected mitochondrial genes and function causing the over-expressed ABCG2 cells pumped out MX in a concentration gradient from the cell matrix. Finally lead to chemoresistance

2004 Roster

2004 Women\u27s Softball Roster, George Fox College

Anti-depressant effect of Paeonia lactiflora Pall extract in rats

Purpose: To explore the effect of Paeonia lactiflora Pall. extract on depression in rats.Methods: Various doses (150, 300 and 600 mg/kg) of Paeonia lactiflora Pall. extract (PLPE) were orally administered to three groups of rats of 10 each, respectively, suffering from depression for 14 days. Fluoxetine was used as positive control. Tail suspension, forced swimming and monoamine oxidase (MAO) tests were carried out on the rats.Results: A dose-dependent reduction in rat immobility was observed. The effect of PLPE at the highest dose (600 mg/kg) was more potent than that of the reference antidepressant, fluoxetine. PLPE, at a dose ≥ 150 mg/kg significantly inhibited MAO A activity in rat whole brain in a dose-dependent manner (p < 0.01); however, only oral administration of PLPE at a dose of 600 mg/kg produced observable MAO B inhibitory activity in rat brain (p < 0.01). Only fluoxetine showed a tendency to inhibit both MAO A and B activities in animal brain. Neither PLPE nor fluoxetine, at the doses tested, produced significant effects on locomotor activity.Conclusion: The results suggest that Paeonia lactiflora Pall is a potential agent for the treatment of depression in humans.Keywords: Paeonia lactiflora, Depression, Tail suspension test, Forced swimming tes