Coupled Coincidence Points for Mixed Monotone Random Operators in Partially Ordered Metric Spaces

The aim of this work is to prove some coupled random coincidence theorems for a pair of compatible mixed monotone random operators satisfying weak contractive conditions. These results are some random versions and extensions of results of Karapınar et al. (2012). Our results generalize the results of Shatanawi and Mustafa (2012)

Enhanced Biometrics-based Remote User Authentication Scheme Using Smart Cards

Authentication and key exchange are fundamental techniques for enabling secure communication over mobile networks. In order to reduce implementation complexity and achieve computation efficiency, design issues for efficient and secure biometrics-based remote user authentication scheme have been extensively investigated by research community in these years. Recently, two well-designed biometrics-based authentication schemes using smart cards are introduced by Li and Hwang and Li et al., respectively. Li and Hwang proposed an efficient biometrics-based remote user authentication scheme using smart card and Li et al. proposed an improvement. The authors of both schemes claimed that their protocol delivers important security features and system functionalities, such as without synchronized clock, freely changes password, mutual authentication, as well as low computation costs. However, these two schemes still have much space for security enhancement. In this paper, we first demonstrate a series of vulnerabilities on these two schemes. Then, an enhanced scheme with corresponding remedies is proposed to eliminate all identified security flaws in both schemes

Effect of 5/6 Nephrectomized Rat Serum on Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition In Vitro

Objective: To investigate whether the 5/6 nephrectomized (5/6Nx) rats’ 12-week serum could lead to tubular epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and its molecular mechanism, so as to probe the potential stimulation from circulation in chronic progressive kidney disease. Methods: A total of 24 Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into two groups: sham operation group (sham group) and 5/6Nx group. Rats were killed 12 weeks after surgery to obtain 5/6Nx rats’ 12-week serum. Then we detected the expression of E-cadherin in renal tubular epithelial cells of the remaining kidney and we investigated whether the 12th week serum of 5/6Nx rats could cause HK-2 (human kidney proximal tubular cell line) cells to transdifferentiate into fibroblasts. Results: Our data confirmed that E-cadherin expression decreased significantly in the remaining kidney at 12 weeks, and the 5/6Nx rats’ 12-week serum could suppress E-cadherin protein and mRNA expression (p < 0.05). We also found that the 5/6Nx rats’ 12-week serum could upreg-ulate ZEB1, β-catenin, and wnt3 protein expression (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that the 5/6Nx rats’ 12-week serum could suppress the expression of E-cadherin in HK-2 cells. It was partially through modulating the increase of ZEB1. The loss of E-cadherin could lead β-catenin to localize to the cytoplasm and nucleus, and feed into the Wnt signaling pathway. It means that the pathogenic serum in chronic kidney disease (CKD) plays an important role in the loss of renal function and turns to be a new avenue of research with potential clinical implications

A Brief Guide: Code for Spontaneous Expressions and Micro-Expressions in Videos

Facial&nbsp;expressions&nbsp;are an important way&nbsp;for&nbsp;humans to perceive emotions. The advent of facial action&nbsp;coding&nbsp;systems has enabled the quantification of facial&nbsp;expressions. Moreover, a large amount of annotated data facilitates the performance of deep learning&nbsp;for&nbsp;the spotting and recognition of&nbsp;expressions&nbsp;or micro-expressions. However, the study of&nbsp;video-based&nbsp;expressions&nbsp;or micro-expressions&nbsp;requires coders to have expertise while also familiar with action unit (AU)&nbsp;coding. This paper systematically sorts out the relationship between facial muscles and AU to make more people understand AU&nbsp;coding&nbsp;from the principle.&nbsp;For&nbsp;this purpose, we have made a&nbsp;brief&nbsp;guide&nbsp;to get started as quickly as possible&nbsp;for&nbsp;the beginner to&nbsp;code.</p