Secure Geographic Routing in Ad Hoc and Wireless Sensor Networks

Security in sensor networks is one of the most relevant research topics in resource constrained wireless devices and networks. Several attacks can be suffered in ad hoc and wireless sensor networks (WSN), which are highly susceptible to attacks, due to the limited resources of the nodes. In this paper, we propose innovative and lightweight localization techniques that allow for intrusion identification and isolation schemes and provide accurate location information. This information is used by our routing protocol which additionally incorporates a distributed trust model to prevent several routing attacks to the network. We finally evaluate our algorithms for accurate localization and for secure routing which have been implemented and tested in real ad hoc and wireless sensor networks

Architectures for Future Media Internet

Among the major reasons for the success of the Internet have been the simple networking architecture and the IP interoperation layer. However, the traffic model has recently changed. More and more applications (e.g. peerto-peer, content delivery networks) target on the content that they deliver rather than on the addresses of the servers who (originally) published/hosted that content. This trend has motivated a number of content-oriented networking studies. In this paper we summarize some the most important approache

CD40/CD40 ligand interactions and TNFα treatment reduce activity of P105 promoter of the human papilloma virus-18 in vitro

Background: Cervical carcinoma cells including those infected with the oncogenic human papilloma virus (HPV) and several cervical carcinoma cell lines show a strong expression of the CD40 receptor, unlike benign cervical epithelial cells infected with HPV. The functional relevance of this up-regulated expression in the tumor is not fully understood. Nevertheless, it might offer a unique possibility to target those malignant cells due to the antiviral and antitumoral effects of the CD40/CD40 ligand (CD40L) interactions. Aim: In vitro assessment of the effect of CD40L on HPV 18-P105 promoter activity and the subsequent release of IL-6 by the promoter transfected HeLaCD₄₀ cells, which express CD40 constitutively. Material and Methods: Transfection of HeLaCD₄₀ cells was achieved by electroporation after optimizing the parameters by the pCMV-β-Gal vector and β-Gal stain. Transfected HeLaCD₄₀ cells were challenged with BHKCD40L and TNFα, in addition to BHKwt and medium alone as controls. HPV18P105 promoter activity was demonstrated by luciferase reporter gene assay while IL-6 was assessed by ELISA. Results: CD40/ CD40L interactions and TNFα treatment significantly reduced HPV18-P105 promoter activity (56.0 ± 10.2% and 64.1 ± 9.1% vs. control, respectively; p < 0.001). Likewise, IL-6, which is a sensitive cytokine of CD40 activation, was significantly increased in HeLaCD₄₀ cells in the same experiments (2.7 fold after stimulation with BHKCD₄₀L and 5.2 fold after stimulation with TNFα vs. control; p < 0.01 and p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusion: It is likely that the CD40/CD40L interactions and TNFα are effective against cervical carcinomas by repressing transcriptional activity of HPV promoter. This can result in new adjuvant treatments

Production Scheduling Requirements to Smart Manufacturing

The production scheduling has attracted a lot of researchers for many years, however most of the approaches are not targeted to deal with real manufacturing environments, and those that are, are very particular for the case study. It is crucial to consider important features related with the factories, such as products and machines characteristics and unexpected disturbances, but also information such as when the parts arrive to the factory and when should be delivered. So, the purpose of this paper is to identify some important characteristics that have been considered independently in a lot of studies and that should be considered together to develop a generic scheduling framework to be used in a real manufacturing environment.authorsversionpublishe

CD40/CD40 LIGAND INTERACTIONS AND TNFα TREATMENT REDUCE ACTIVITY OF P105 PROMOTER OF THE HUMAN PAPILLOMA VIRUS-18 IN VITRO

Background: Cervical carcinoma cells including those infected with the oncogenic human papilloma virus (HPV) and several cervical carcinoma cell lines show a strong expression of the CD40 receptor, unlike benign cervical epithelial cells infected with HPV. The functional relevance of this up-regulated expression in the tumor is not fully understood. Nevertheless, it might offer a unique possibility to target those malignant cells due to the antiviral and antitumoral effects of the CD40/CD40 ligand (CD40L) interactions. Aim: In vitro assessment of the effect of CD40L on HPV 18-P105 promoter activity and the subsequent release of IL-6 by the promoter transfected HeLaCD₄₀ cells, which express CD40 constitutively. Material and Methods: Transfection of HeLaCD₄₀ cells was achieved by electroporation after optimizing the parameters by the pCMV-β-Gal vector and β-Gal stain. Transfected HeLaCD₄₀ cells were challenged with BHKCD40L and TNFα, in addition to BHKwt and medium alone as controls. HPV18P105 promoter activity was demonstrated by luciferase reporter gene assay while IL-6 was assessed by ELISA. Results: CD40/ CD40L interactions and TNFα treatment significantly reduced HPV18-P105 promoter activity (56.0 ± 10.2% and 64.1 ± 9.1% vs. control, respectively; p < 0.001). Likewise, IL-6, which is a sensitive cytokine of CD40 activation, was significantly increased in HeLaCD₄₀ cells in the same experiments (2.7 fold after stimulation with BHKCD₄₀L and 5.2 fold after stimulation with TNFα vs. control; p < 0.01 and p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusion: It is likely that the CD40/CD40L interactions and TNFα are effective against cervical carcinomas by repressing transcriptional activity of HPV promoter. This can result in new adjuvant treatments

Lack of association between endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene polymorphisms and risk of premature coronary artery disease in the Greek population

Objective - Genetic polymorphisms in the gene for endothelial nitric oxide synthase have been considered as potential risk factors for the development of coronary artery disease in some populations. Methods - We studied two polymorphisms of the NOS3 gene, the VNTR in intron 4 (4VNTR) and the Glu298Asp polymorphism in exon 7, in relation to the existence of premature coronary artery disease and the occurrence of myocardial infarction. A total number of 370 individuals of the Greek population was examined by PCR-RFLP method. The patient group consisted of 209 subjects, aged less than 58 years presenting symptomatic coronary artery disease, documented by coronary angiography. Results - The frequencies for bb, ab and aa genotypes of 4VNTR polymorphism were 0.67, 0.29, 0.04, respectively, for the patient group and 0.73, 0.24, 0.03 for the control group. The frequencies for GG (Glu/ Glu), GT (Glu/Asp), TT (Asp/Asp) of the Glu298Asp polymorphism were 0.52, 0.41, 0.07, respectively, in patients compared to 0.47, 0.46, 0.07, in control subjects. Statistical analysis indicated that there are no significant differences in the frequencies of the genotypes between patients and control subjects for both polymorphisms. The combined analysis of the two polymorphisms indicated no synergistic effect of the a and T alleles on coronary artery disease. Conclusions - We have found no evidence for association between the a allele of the 4VNTR polymorphism, or the T allele of Glu298Asp polymorphism and the risk for premature coronary artery disease or occurrence of myocardial infarction. Furthermore, no synergistic contribution of these polymorphisms to the development of premature coronary artery disease has been observed