Secure and Reliable IPTV Multimedia Transmission Using Forward Error Correction

With the wide deployment of Internet Protocol (IP) infrastructure and rapid development of digital technologies, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) has emerged as one of the major multimedia access techniques. A general IPTV transmission system employs both encryption and forward error correction (FEC) to provide the authorized subscriber with a high-quality perceptual experience. This two-layer processing, however, complicates the system design in terms of computational cost and management cost. In this paper, we propose a novel FEC scheme to ensure the secure and reliable transmission for IPTV multimedia content and services. The proposed secure FEC utilizes the characteristics of FEC including the FEC-encoded redundancies and the limitation of error correction capacity to protect the multimedia packets against the malicious attacks and data transmission errors/losses. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed scheme obtains similar performance compared with the joint encryption and FEC scheme

Morphological and Molecular Defects in Human Three-Dimensional Retinal Organoid Model of X-Linked Juvenile Retinoschisis

X-linked juvenile retinoschisis (XLRS), linked to mutations in the RS1 gene, is a degenerative retinopathy with a retinal splitting phenotype. We generated human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) from patients to study XLRS in a 3D retinal organoid in vitro differentiation system. This model recapitulates key features of XLRS including retinal splitting, defective retinoschisin production, outer-segment defects, abnormal paxillin turnover, and impaired ER-Golgi transportation. RS1 mutation also affects the development of photoreceptor sensory cilia and results in altered expression of other retinopathy-associated genes. CRISPR/Cas9 correction of the disease-associated C625T mutation normalizes the splitting phenotype, outer-segment defects, paxillin dynamics, ciliary marker expression, and transcriptome profiles. Likewise, mutating RS1 in control hiPSCs produces the disease-associated phenotypes. Finally, we show that the C625T mutation can be repaired precisely and efficiently using a base-editing approach. Taken together, our data establish 3D organoids as a valid disease model

Mechanical Characterization of Rabbit Pulmonary Vein Sleeves in In Vitro Intact Ring Preparation

BackgroundPulmonary vein (PV) sleeves, composed of cardiomyocytes, play certain roles in arrhythmogenesis. In the literature, it has been frequently reported that PV sleeves possess intrinsic spontaneous pacemaking activity and triggered activity in normal dogs and rabbits. In contrast, other research groups presented totally opposite findings which showed absence of such pacemakers in dogs, rabbits and rats. The present study was designed to clarify this puzzle and contradiction.MethodsA novel methodology using in vitro experimentation was used to examine the electromechanical activity of whole segments of PV sleeves. The ring preparation was composed of a small piece of left atrial (LA) free wall, PV ostium and sleeve from rabbits. A circumferential contraction of the PV sleeve was measured when the preparation was electrically driven from the LA free wall. Mechanical force of the ring preparation was measured using a force transducer. The action potentials were recorded using conventional intracellular recording technique in strip preparation.ResultsIn 15 rabbits, no spontaneous pacemaking activity or triggered activity was found in the in vitro ring preparation of PV sleeve. The circumferential contraction of PV sleeves was external calcium-dependent. Frequency-force relation displayed a negative staircase at 0.1–0.5 Hz and a positive staircase at 1–5 Hz. Post-rest potentiation was prominent between 15 s and 120 s. Intracellular action potential recording did not display any automaticity or triggered activity in PV sleeves.ConclusionIn an intact ring preparation of rabbit PV sleeves, intrinsic spontaneous pacemaking activity or triggered activity was not found

Taiwan Oscillation Network

The Taiwan Oscillation Network (TON) is a ground-based network to measure solar intensity oscillations to study the internal structure of the Sun. K-line full-disk images of 1000 pixels diameter are taken at a rate of one image per minute. Such data would provide information onp-modes withl as high as 1000. The TON will consist of six identical telescope systems at proper longitudes around the world. Three telescope systems have been installed at Teide Observatory (Tenerife), Huairou Solar Observing Station (near Beijing), and Big Bear Solar Observatory (California). The telescopes at these three sites have been taking data simultaneously since October of 1994. Anl – v diagram derived from 512 images is included to show the quality of the data

Clinical parameters associated with absence of endocervical/transformation zone component in conventional cervical Papanicolaou smears

AbstractObjectiveTo study clinical factors predicting the absence of endocervical/transformation zone (EC/TZ) components of conventional cervical Papanicolaou (Pap) smears.Materials and methodsThe medical charts of patients who received Pap smears between March 2006 and August 2006 in the hospital were reviewed. The results of their Pap smears were retrieved while their demographic and clinical information were obtained from the medical charts. After excluding 378 cases with incomplete demographic data and 1397 cases with a history of pelvic irradiation, pelvic malignancy, and hysterectomy, 5662 cases were enrolled for data analysis. The relationship between clinical parameters and the absence of EC/TZ component was analyzed by Pearson Chi-square tests with Yates continuity correction and binary logistic regression tests.ResultsThe incidence of satisfactory but absence of EC/TZ component was 8.7% (491/5662). Pregnancy increased the absence of EC/TZ component [odds ratio (OR}: 2.84, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.14–3.77, p<0.0001]. Postpartum status and endocervical polyps decreased incidence (OR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.38–0.98, p = 0.043 and OR: 0.33, 95% CI: 0.25–0.44, p<0.0001, respectively).ConclusionsPregnancy is the only clinical factor associated with increased incidence of absence of EC/TZ cells. For these pregnant women undergoing a Pap smear, a more effective strategy may be needed to get a satisfactory smear with adequate EC/TZ components

A novel randomly textured phosphor structure for highly efficient white light-emitting diodes

We have successfully demonstrated the enhanced luminous flux and lumen efficiency in white light-emitting diodes by the randomly textured phosphor structure. The textured phosphor structure was fabricated by a simple imprinting technique, which does not need an expensive dry-etching machine or a complex patterned definition. The textured phosphor structure increases luminous flux by 5.4% and 2.5% at a driving current of 120 mA, compared with the flat phosphor and half-spherical lens structures, respectively. The increment was due to the scattering of textured surface and also the phosphor particles, leading to the enhancement of utilization efficiency of blue light. Furthermore, the textured phosphor structure has a larger view angle at the full width at half maximum (87°) than the reference LEDs

Molecular signature of clinical severity in recovering patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)

BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a recent epidemic human disease, is caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV). First reported in Asia, SARS quickly spread worldwide through international travelling. As of July 2003, the World Health Organization reported a total of 8,437 people afflicted with SARS with a 9.6% mortality rate. Although immunopathological damages may account for the severity of respiratory distress, little is known about how the genome-wide gene expression of the host changes under the attack of SARS-CoV. RESULTS: Based on changes in gene expression of peripheral blood, we identified 52 signature genes that accurately discriminated acute SARS patients from non-SARS controls. While a general suppression of gene expression predominated in SARS-infected blood, several genes including those involved in innate immunity, such as defensins and eosinophil-derived neurotoxin, were upregulated. Instead of employing clustering methods, we ranked the severity of recovering SARS patients by generalized associate plots (GAP) according to the expression profiles of 52 signature genes. Through this method, we discovered a smooth transition pattern of severity from normal controls to acute SARS patients. The rank of SARS severity was significantly correlated with the recovery period (in days) and with the clinical pulmonary infection score. CONCLUSION: The use of the GAP approach has proved useful in analyzing the complexity and continuity of biological systems. The severity rank derived from the global expression profile of significantly regulated genes in patients may be useful for further elucidating the pathophysiology of their disease