983 research outputs found
Architectural support for enhancing security in clusters
Cluster computing has emerged as a common approach for providing more comput-
ing and data resources in industry as well as in academia. However, since cluster
computer developers have paid more attention to performance and cost e±ciency
than to security, numerous security loopholes in cluster servers come to the forefront.
Clusters usually rely on ¯rewalls for their security, but the ¯rewalls cannot prevent
all security attacks; therefore, cluster systems should be designed to be robust to
security attacks intrinsically.
In this research, we propose architectural supports for enhancing security of clus-
ter systems with marginal performance overhead. This research proceeds in a bottom-
up fashion starting from enforcing each cluster component's security to building an
integrated secure cluster. First, we propose secure cluster interconnects providing con-
¯dentiality, authentication, and availability. Second, a security accelerating network
interface card architecture is proposed to enable low performance overhead encryption
and authentication. Third, to enhance security in an individual cluster node, we pro-
pose a secure design for shared-memory multiprocessors (SMP) architecture, which
is deployed in many clusters. The secure SMP architecture will provide con¯dential
communication between processors. This will remove the vulnerability of eavesdrop-
ping attacks in a cluster node. Finally, to put all proposed schemes together, we
propose a security/performance trade-o® model which can precisely predict performance of an integrated secure cluster
BAY 11-7082 Is a Broad-Spectrum Inhibitor with Anti-Inflammatory Activity against Multiple Targets
BAY 11-7082 (BAY) is an inhibitor of κB kinase (IKK) that has pharmacological activities that include anticancer, neuroprotective, and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, BAY-pharmacological target pathways were further characterized to determine how this compound simultaneously suppresses various responses. Primary and cancerous (RAW264.7 cells) macrophages were activated by lipopolysaccharide, a ligand of toll-like receptor 4. As reported previously, BAY strongly suppressed the production of nitric oxide, prostaglandin E2, and tumor necrosis factor-α and reduced the translocation of p65, major subunit of nuclear factor-κB, and its upstream signaling events such as phosphorylation of IκBα, IKK, and Akt. In addition, BAY also suppressed the translocation and activation of activator protein-1, interferon regulatory factor-3, and signal transducer and activator of transcription-1 by inhibiting the phosphorylation or activation of extracellular signal-related kinase, p38, TANK-binding protein, and Janus kinase-2. These data strongly suggest that BAY is an inhibitor with multiple targets and could serve as a lead compound in developing strong anti-inflammatory drugs with multiple targets in inflammatory responses
A "master" in base unpairing during isomerization of a promoter upon RNA polymerase binding
Isomerization of a closed to open complex of a promoter upon RNA polymerase binding involves base unpairing at the -10 region. After potassium permanganate sensitivity of unpaired thymine residues, we studied base unpairing at the -10 region during isomerization upon RNA polymerase binding at the P1 and P3 promoters of the gal operon. Substitution of adenine by 2-amino purine (2-AP) at the invariable A·T base pair at the -11 position of P1 and P3 prevented unpairing not only at that position but also at the other downstream positions, suggesting a "master" role of the adenine base at -11 of the template strand in overall base unpairing. 2-AP at -11 did not inhibit the formation of RNA polymerase·promoter complex and subsequent isomerization of the polymerase. Substitution of adenine by 2-AP at several other positions did not affect thymine unpairing. Changing the position of the amino group from C6 in adenine to C2 in 2-AP is mutational only at the master switch position, -11
Impact factor of Korean Journal of Pediatrics on Korean Medical Citation Index and Science Citation Index of Web of Science
PurposeThe total number of times a paper is cited, also known as the impact factor (IF) of a medical journal, is widely implied in evaluating the quality of a research paper. We evaluated the citation index data as an IF of Korean J Pediatr in Korean Medical Citation Index (KoMCI) and JCI of Web of Science.MethodsWe calculated the IF of Korean J Pediatr at KoMCI supervised by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. And we estimated the IF of Korean J Pediatr by the JCI of Web of Science although it was never officially reported.ResultsThe IF of Korean J Pediatr on KoMCI has increased from 0.100 in the year 2000, to 0.205 in 2008, and 0.326 in 2009. Although the IF of Korean J Pediatr was 0.006 in 2005, 0.018 in 2006, 0.028 in 2008, 0.066 in 2009, and 0.018 in 2010 according to the JCI of Web of Science, the number of citations are steadily increasing.ConclusionUnderstanding and realizing the current status will be a stepping stone for further improvement. The next objective of the Korean J Pediatr is to become registered in the SCI or SCIE. Increasing the IF according to the JCI of Web of Science is crucial in order to achieve this goal
Drosophila Porin/VDAC Affects Mitochondrial Morphology
Voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) has been suggested to be a mediator of mitochondrial-dependent cell death induced by Ca2+ overload, oxidative stress and Bax-Bid activation. To confirm this hypothesis in vivo, we generated and characterized Drosophila VDAC (porin) mutants and found that Porin is not required for mitochondrial apoptosis, which is consistent with the previous mouse studies. We also reported a novel physiological role of Porin. Loss of porin resulted in locomotive defects and male sterility. Intriguingly, porin mutants exhibited elongated mitochondria in indirect flight muscle, whereas Porin overexpression produced fragmented mitochondria. Through genetic analysis with the components of mitochondrial fission and fusion, we found that the elongated mitochondria phenotype in porin mutants were suppressed by increased mitochondrial fission, but enhanced by increased mitochondrial fusion. Furthermore, increased mitochondrial fission by Drp1 expression suppressed the flight defects in the porin mutants. Collectively, our study showed that loss of Drosophila Porin results in mitochondrial morphological defects and suggested that the defective mitochondrial function by Porin deficiency affects the mitochondrial remodeling process
Chaperone-like protein DAY plays critical roles in photomorphogenesis.
Photomorphogenesis, light-mediated development, is an essential feature of all terrestrial plants. While chloroplast development and brassinosteroid (BR) signaling are known players in photomorphogenesis, proteins that regulate both pathways have yet to be identified. Here we report that DE-ETIOLATION IN THE DARK AND YELLOWING IN THE LIGHT (DAY), a membrane protein containing DnaJ-like domain, plays a dual-role in photomorphogenesis by stabilizing the BR receptor, BRI1, as well as a key enzyme in chlorophyll biosynthesis, POR. DAY localizes to both the endomembrane and chloroplasts via its first transmembrane domain and chloroplast transit peptide, respectively, and interacts with BRI1 and POR in their respective subcellular compartments. Using genetic analysis, we show that DAY acts independently on BR signaling and chlorophyll biogenesis. Collectively, this work uncovers DAY as a factor that simultaneously regulates BR signaling and chloroplast development, revealing a key regulator of photomorphogenesis that acts across cell compartments
Fictional Worlds, Real Connections: Developing Community Storytelling Social Chatbots through LLMs
We address the integration of storytelling and Large Language Models (LLMs)
to develop engaging and believable Social Chatbots (SCs) in community settings.
Motivated by the potential of fictional characters to enhance social
interactions, we introduce Storytelling Social Chatbots (SSCs) and the concept
of story engineering to transform fictional game characters into "live" social
entities within player communities. Our story engineering process includes
three steps: (1) Character and story creation, defining the SC's personality
and worldview, (2) Presenting Live Stories to the Community, allowing the SC to
recount challenges and seek suggestions, and (3) Communication with community
members, enabling interaction between the SC and users. We employed the LLM
GPT-3 to drive our SSC prototypes, "David" and "Catherine," and evaluated their
performance in an online gaming community, "DE (Alias)," on Discord. Our
mixed-method analysis, based on questionnaires (N=15) and interviews (N=8) with
community members, reveals that storytelling significantly enhances the
engagement and believability of SCs in community settings
Perceptions of health status, physical fitness, and participation in physical activity among adolescents before and after COVID-19: analysis of 2019‑2021 data from the Republic of Korea national sports survey
Research has examined the detrimental effects of the coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) pandemic on health and physical fitness in adolescents; however,
studies comparing these parameters before and after the COVID-19 outbreak have
been scarce. Therefore, this study investigated differences in perceived health
status, perceived physical fitness, and participation in physical activity among
adolescents in the Republic of Korea before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. We
chose a sample of data from 2102 adolescents aged 14–19, collected as part of a
national survey by the Republic of Korea Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism
from 2019 to 2021. We focused on five items from the survey related to health
awareness and physical activity. Although perceived health status was lower in
2021 than in 2019 or 2020, there were no differences in perceived physical
fitness during the three years of the study. Regular participation in physical
activity was less common in 2020 than in 2019 or 2021. The proportion of
adolescents reporting sufficient rest and sleep was lower in 2021 than in 2020.
In addition, fewer adolescents reported eating regular meals and engaging in
nutritional supplementation in 2021 than in 2019 and 2020. Rates of abstinence
from alcohol and smoking cessation were higher in 2021 than in 2019 or 2020. For
all three years, adolescents reported the following as the primary reasons for
engaging in regular physical activity (in order): “maintenance of mental
health”, “maintenance of physical health”, “help in daily life”, and
“reduction of medical expenses”. In preparation for the post-COVID-19 era,
these results highlight the need to prepare measures and countermeasures to
promote health and physical activity among adolescents in the Republic of Korea
Deep Learning-based Synthetic High-Resolution In-Depth Imaging Using an Attachable Dual-element Endoscopic Ultrasound Probe
Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) imaging has a trade-off between resolution and
penetration depth. By considering the in-vivo characteristics of human organs,
it is necessary to provide clinicians with appropriate hardware specifications
for precise diagnosis. Recently, super-resolution (SR) ultrasound imaging
studies, including the SR task in deep learning fields, have been reported for
enhancing ultrasound images. However, most of those studies did not consider
ultrasound imaging natures, but rather they were conventional SR techniques
based on downsampling of ultrasound images. In this study, we propose a novel
deep learning-based high-resolution in-depth imaging probe capable of offering
low- and high-frequency ultrasound image pairs. We developed an attachable
dual-element EUS probe with customized low- and high-frequency ultrasound
transducers under small hardware constraints. We also designed a special geared
structure to enable the same image plane. The proposed system was evaluated
with a wire phantom and a tissue-mimicking phantom. After the evaluation, 442
ultrasound image pairs from the tissue-mimicking phantom were acquired. We then
applied several deep learning models to obtain synthetic high-resolution
in-depth images, thus demonstrating the feasibility of our approach for
clinical unmet needs. Furthermore, we quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed
the results to find a suitable deep-learning model for our task. The obtained
results demonstrate that our proposed dual-element EUS probe with an
image-to-image translation network has the potential to provide synthetic
high-frequency ultrasound images deep inside tissues.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
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