Centralized and Cooperative Transmission of Secure Multiple Unicasts using Network Coding

We introduce a method for securely delivering a set of messages to a group of clients over a broadcast erasure channel where each client is interested in a distinct message. Each client is able to obtain its own message but not the others'. In the proposed method the messages are combined together using a special variant of random linear network coding. Each client is provided with a private set of decoding coefficients to decode its own message. Our method provides security for the transmission sessions against computational brute-force attacks and also weakly security in information theoretic sense. As the broadcast channel is assumed to be erroneous, the missing coded packets should be recovered in some way. We consider two different scenarios. In the first scenario the missing packets are retransmitted by the base station (centralized). In the second scenario the clients cooperate with each other by exchanging packets (decentralized). In both scenarios, network coding techniques are exploited to increase the total throughput. For the case of centralized retransmissions we provide an analytical approximation for the throughput performance of instantly decodable network coded (IDNC) retransmissions as well as numerical experiments. For the decentralized scenario, we propose a new IDNC based retransmission method where its performance is evaluated via simulations and analytical approximation. Application of this method is not limited to our special problem and can be generalized to a new class of problems introduced in this paper as the cooperative index coding problem

A New Combination of RAKE Receiver and Adaptive Antenna Array Beamformer for Multiuser Detection in WCDMA Systems

The aim of this paper is to combine smart antenna beamforming and RAKE receiver in wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA). The proposed method combines spatial diversity as well as temporal diversity to improve the performance and overcome both interferences and multipath fading. This investigation has focused on one of the new proposed blind beamforming algorithms. It is based on constrained constant modulus (CCM) algorithm which is used for deriving a recursive-least-squares (RLS-) type optimization algorithm. We illustrate the comparison of bit error rate (BER) of the proposed receiver with simple correlator and also 1D-RAKE receiver in multiuser detection (MUD) WCDMA. The simulation results show that the proposed 2D-RAKE receiver offers lower BER rather than conventional ones, that is, it is an effective solution for decreasing the effect of interference and increasing the capacity, in a joint state

DNA damage and repair proteins in cellular response to sulfur mustard in Iranian veterans more than two decades after exposure

Delayed effects of sulfur mustard (SM) exposure on the levels of five important damage/repair proteins were investigated in 40 SM-exposed veterans of Iran-Iraq war and 35 unexposed controls. A major DNA damage biomarker protein – phosphorylated H2AX – along with four DNA repair proteins in cell response to the genome damage MRE11, NBS1, RAD51, and XPA were evaluated in blood lymphocytes from the veterans and controls using western blotting. Mean levels of XPA, MRE11, RAD51 and NBS1 were lower in SM-exposed patients and the decrease in NBS1 was significant. Even though the raised level of phosphor-H2AX in SM-poisoned group compared to the controls was not significant it was consistent with DNA damage findings confirming the severity of damage to the DNA after exposure to SM. There were correlations between the values of RAD51 and NBS1 proteins as well as XPA and MRE11 proteins. More than two decades after exposure to SM, there is still evidences of DNA damage as well as impaired repair mechanisms in cells of exposed individuals. Such disorders in cellular level may contribute to long term health problems of the SM veterans

Comparative study of measuring body temperature by mercury and digital thermometer‏

Background and Aim: Mercury is a dangerous substance for human health and mercury thermometers are major pollutant for environment. Using less dangerous and less expensive devices like digital thermometer can be an alternative for mercury thermometers. The aim of this study was to compare the body temperature measurement by mercury and digital thermometer. Material and Method: In this descriptive- analytical study, 542 patients (331 Female and 211 Males) were selected through convenience sampling. Data was gathered by demographic information form. Body temperature was measured simultaneously by digital and mercury thermometer while each thermometer was placed axillary, and after 5 minutes they were read by a nurse. Results: The mean temperature measured by mercury and digital thermometer was 36.48±0.84 and 36.51±0.87, respectively. There was no statistical significant difference between measurement by mercury and digital thermometer. For detecting fever, digital thermometer had 85.4% and 95.7% sensitivity and specificity respectively. Positive and negative predictive value for digital thermomentr were 81.1% and 96.8%, respectively. Conclusion: Regarding low sensitivity of digital thermometer, it can be concluded that mercury thermometer is still suitable device to detect fever

A pairwise residue contact area-based mean force potential for discrimination of native protein structure

Abstract Background Considering energy function to detect a correct protein fold from incorrect ones is very important for protein structure prediction and protein folding. Knowledge-based mean force potentials are certainly the most popular type of interaction function for protein threading. They are derived from statistical analyses of interacting groups in experimentally determined protein structures. These potentials are developed at the atom or the amino acid level. Based on orientation dependent contact area, a new type of knowledge-based mean force potential has been developed. Results We developed a new approach to calculate a knowledge-based potential of mean-force, using pairwise residue contact area. To test the performance of our approach, we performed it on several decoy sets to measure its ability to discriminate native structure from decoys. This potential has been able to distinguish native structures from the decoys in the most cases. Further, the calculated Z-scores were quite high for all protein datasets. Conclusions This knowledge-based potential of mean force can be used in protein structure prediction, fold recognition, comparative modelling and molecular recognition. The program is available at http://www.bioinf.cs.ipm.ac.ir/softwares/surfield</p

Effects of 5-Year Interventions on Cardiovascular Risk Factors of Factories and Offies Employees of Isfahan and Najafabad: Worksite Intervention Project-Isfahan Healthy Heart Program

<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p> <p><strong>BACKGROUND:</strong> Effects of 5-year interventions of Worksite Intervention Project from Isfahan Healthy Heart Program on cardiovascular risk factors of factories and offices employees were studied in Isfahan and Najafabad (intervention area) compared to Arak (control area).</p> <p><strong>METHODS:</strong> We had especial interventions for nutrition, physical activity and smoking as well as hypertension and obesity screening systems in all offices and factories, and other risk factors screening systems whenever possible.</p> <p>Before and after the interventions, questionnaires containing demographic and other required data were completed for the two populations; height, weight and blood pressure (BP) were measured and a fasting and 2h blood sample was taken for the measurement of blood sugar (BS) and lipid levels..</p> <p><strong>RESULTS:</strong> The prevalence of<strong> </strong>Hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia and central obesity decreased, but low HDL increased in office staff (P &lt; 0.01). Waist circumference, HDL and total cholesterol mean values decreased, and diastolic BP and fasting and 2h BS increased among the intervention group. In factory workers, the prevalence of &nbsp;hypertriglyceridemia and central obesity decreased, while low HDL prevalence &nbsp;increased in intervention group (P &lt; 0.001). Mean values of waist circumference, HDL, total cholesterol, and triglyceride decreased significantly (P &lt; 0.001), while diastolic BP and fasting BS increased.</p> <p><strong>CONCLUSION</strong>: It seems that Worksite Intervention Project has a protective effect on CVD risk factors in factories and offices employees. So, the modifiable project can be used as an applicable tool for health improvement in worksites which creates tangible changes in employees&rsquo; lifestyle.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Key words</strong>: Risk Factors, Cardiovascular Disease, Workplace, Intervention</p

A tale of two symmetrical tails: Structural and functional characteristics of palindromes in proteins

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It has been previously shown that palindromic sequences are frequently observed in proteins. However, our knowledge about their evolutionary origin and their possible importance is incomplete.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this work, we tried to revisit this relatively neglected phenomenon. Several questions are addressed in this work. (1) It is known that there is a large chance of finding a palindrome in low complexity sequences (i.e. sequences with extreme amino acid usage bias). What is the role of sequence complexity in the evolution of palindromic sequences in proteins? (2) Do palindromes coincide with conserved protein sequences? If yes, what are the functions of these conserved segments? (3) In case of conserved palindromes, is it always the case that the whole conserved pattern is also symmetrical? (4) Do palindromic protein sequences form regular secondary structures? (5) Does sequence similarity of the two "sides" of a palindrome imply structural similarity? For the first question, we showed that the complexity of palindromic peptides is significantly lower than randomly generated palindromes. Therefore, one can say that palindromes occur frequently in low complexity protein segments, without necessarily having a defined function or forming a special structure. Nevertheless, this does not rule out the possibility of finding palindromes which play some roles in protein structure and function. In fact, we found several palindromes that overlap with conserved protein Blocks of different functions. However, in many cases we failed to find any symmetry in the conserved regions of corresponding Blocks. Furthermore, to answer the last two questions, the structural characteristics of palindromes were studied. It is shown that palindromes may have a great propensity to form α-helical structures. Finally, we demonstrated that the two sides of a palindrome generally do not show significant structural similarities.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We suggest that the puzzling abundance of palindromic sequences in proteins is mainly due to their frequent concurrence with low-complexity protein regions, rather than a global role in the protein function. In addition, palindromic sequences show a relatively high tendency to form helices, which might play an important role in the evolution of proteins that contain palindromes. Moreover, reverse similarity in peptides does not necessarily imply significant structural similarity. This observation rules out the importance of palindromes for forming symmetrical structures. Although palindromes frequently overlap with conserved Blocks, we suggest that palindromes overlap with Blocks only by coincidence, rather than being involved with a certain structural fold or protein domain.</p

Production Data Analysis in a Gas-Condensate Field: Methodology, Challenges, and Uncertainties

ABSTRACT

Global, regional, and national burden of stroke and its risk factors, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Regularly updated data on stroke and its pathological types, including data on their incidence, prevalence, mortality, disability, risk factors, and epidemiological trends, are important for evidence-based stroke care planning and resource allocation. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) aims to provide a standardised and comprehensive measurement of these metrics at global, regional, and national levels. Methods We applied GBD 2019 analytical tools to calculate stroke incidence, prevalence, mortality, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and the population attributable fraction (PAF) of DALYs (with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals [UIs]) associated with 19 risk factors, for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. These estimates were provided for ischaemic stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage, subarachnoid haemorrhage, and all strokes combined, and stratified by sex, age group, and World Bank country income level. Findings In 2019, there were 12·2 million (95% UI 11·0–13·6) incident cases of stroke, 101 million (93·2–111) prevalent cases of stroke, 143 million (133–153) DALYs due to stroke, and 6·55 million (6·00–7·02) deaths from stroke. Globally, stroke remained the second-leading cause of death (11·6% [10·8–12·2] of total deaths) and the third-leading cause of death and disability combined (5·7% [5·1–6·2] of total DALYs) in 2019. From 1990 to 2019, the absolute number of incident strokes increased by 70·0% (67·0–73·0), prevalent strokes increased by 85·0% (83·0–88·0), deaths from stroke increased by 43·0% (31·0–55·0), and DALYs due to stroke increased by 32·0% (22·0–42·0). During the same period, age-standardised rates of stroke incidence decreased by 17·0% (15·0–18·0), mortality decreased by 36·0% (31·0–42·0), prevalence decreased by 6·0% (5·0–7·0), and DALYs decreased by 36·0% (31·0–42·0). However, among people younger than 70 years, prevalence rates increased by 22·0% (21·0–24·0) and incidence rates increased by 15·0% (12·0–18·0). In 2019, the age-standardised stroke-related mortality rate was 3·6 (3·5–3·8) times higher in the World Bank low-income group than in the World Bank high-income group, and the age-standardised stroke-related DALY rate was 3·7 (3·5–3·9) times higher in the low-income group than the high-income group. Ischaemic stroke constituted 62·4% of all incident strokes in 2019 (7·63 million [6·57–8·96]), while intracerebral haemorrhage constituted 27·9% (3·41 million [2·97–3·91]) and subarachnoid haemorrhage constituted 9·7% (1·18 million [1·01–1·39]). In 2019, the five leading risk factors for stroke were high systolic blood pressure (contributing to 79·6 million [67·7–90·8] DALYs or 55·5% [48·2–62·0] of total stroke DALYs), high body-mass index (34·9 million [22·3–48·6] DALYs or 24·3% [15·7–33·2]), high fasting plasma glucose (28·9 million [19·8–41·5] DALYs or 20·2% [13·8–29·1]), ambient particulate matter pollution (28·7 million [23·4–33·4] DALYs or 20·1% [16·6–23·0]), and smoking (25·3 million [22·6–28·2] DALYs or 17·6% [16·4–19·0]). Interpretation The annual number of strokes and deaths due to stroke increased substantially from 1990 to 2019, despite substantial reductions in age-standardised rates, particularly among people older than 70 years. The highest age-standardised stroke-related mortality and DALY rates were in the World Bank low-income group. The fastest-growing risk factor for stroke between 1990 and 2019 was high body-mass index. Without urgent implementation of effective primary prevention strategies, the stroke burden will probably continue to grow across the world, particularly in low-income countries.publishedVersio

Global, regional, and national burden of stroke and its risk factors, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Regularly updated data on stroke and its pathological types, including data on their incidence, prevalence, mortality, disability, risk factors, and epidemiological trends, are important for evidence-based stroke care planning and resource allocation. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) aims to provide a standardised and comprehensive measurement of these metrics at global, regional, and national levels. Methods We applied GBD 2019 analytical tools to calculate stroke incidence, prevalence, mortality, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and the population attributable fraction (PAF) of DALYs (with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals UIs]) associated with 19 risk factors, for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. These estimates were provided for ischaemic stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage, subarachnoid haemorrhage, and all strokes combined, and stratified by sex, age group, and World Bank country income level. Findings In 2019, there were 12.2 million (95% UI 11.0-13.6) incident cases of stroke, 101 million (93.2-111) prevalent cases of stroke, 143 million (133-153) DALYs due to stroke, and 6.55 million (6.00-7.02) deaths from stroke. Globally, stroke remained the second-leading cause of death (11.6% 10.8-12.2] of total deaths) and the third-leading cause of death and disability combined (5.7% 5.1-6.2] of total DALYs) in 2019. From 1990 to 2019, the absolute number of incident strokes increased by 70.0% (67.0-73.0), prevalent strokes increased by 85.0% (83.0-88.0), deaths from stroke increased by 43.0% (31.0-55.0), and DALYs due to stroke increased by 32.0% (22.0-42.0). During the same period, age-standardised rates of stroke incidence decreased by 17.0% (15.0-18.0), mortality decreased by 36.0% (31.0-42.0), prevalence decreased by 6.0% (5.0-7.0), and DALYs decreased by 36.0% (31.0-42.0). However, among people younger than 70 years, prevalence rates increased by 22.0% (21.0-24.0) and incidence rates increased by 15.0% (12.0-18.0). In 2019, the age-standardised stroke-related mortality rate was 3.6 (3.5-3.8) times higher in the World Bank low-income group than in the World Bank high-income group, and the age-standardised stroke-related DALY rate was 3.7 (3.5-3.9) times higher in the low-income group than the high-income group. Ischaemic stroke constituted 62.4% of all incident strokes in 2019 (7.63 million 6.57-8.96]), while intracerebral haemorrhage constituted 27.9% (3.41 million 2.97-3.91]) and subarachnoid haemorrhage constituted 9.7% (1.18 million 1.01-1.39]). In 2019, the five leading risk factors for stroke were high systolic blood pressure (contributing to 79.6 million 67.7-90.8] DALYs or 55.5% 48.2-62.0] of total stroke DALYs), high body-mass index (34.9 million 22.3-48.6] DALYs or 24.3% 15.7-33.2]), high fasting plasma glucose (28.9 million 19.8-41.5] DALYs or 20.2% 13.8-29.1]), ambient particulate matter pollution (28.7 million 23.4-33.4] DALYs or 20.1% 16.6-23.0]), and smoking (25.3 million 22.6-28.2] DALYs or 17.6% 16.4-19.0]). Interpretation The annual number of strokes and deaths due to stroke increased substantially from 1990 to 2019, despite substantial reductions in age-standardised rates, particularly among people older than 70 years. The highest age-standardised stroke-related mortality and DALY rates were in the World Bank low-income group. The fastest-growing risk factor for stroke between 1990 and 2019 was high body-mass index. Without urgent implementation of effective primary prevention strategies, the stroke burden will probably continue to grow across the world, particularly in low-income countries