Event-based security control for discrete-time stochastic systems

This study is concerned with the event-based security control problem for a class of discrete-time stochastic systems with multiplicative noises subject to both randomly occurring denial-of-service (DoS) attacks and randomly occurring deception attacks. An event-triggered mechanism is adopted with hope to reduce the communication burden, where the measurement signal is transmitted only when a certain triggering condition is violated. A novel attack model is proposed to reflect the randomly occurring behaviours of the DoS attacks as well as the deception attacks within a unified framework via two sets of Bernoulli distributed white sequences with known conditional probabilities. A new concept of mean-square security domain is put forward to quantify the security degree. The authors aim to design an output feedback controller such that the closed-loop system achieves the desired security. By using the stochastic analysis techniques, some sufficient conditions are established to guarantee the desired security requirement and the control gain is obtained by solving some linear matrix inequalities with nonlinear constraints. A simulation example is utilised to illustrate the usefulness of the proposed controller design scheme.This work was supported in part by Royal Society of the UK, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants 61329301, 61573246 and 61374039, the Shanghai Rising-Star Programme of China under Grant 16QA1403000, the Program for Capability Construction of Shanghai Provincial Universities under Grant 15550502500 and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany

Distrofia simpático reflexa no pé e tornozelo

The etiology of the reflex sympathetic distrophy (RSD) is unknown but the most acceptable theory is that it is a sympathetic nervous system dysfunction. The clinicai findings are characterized by neuropathic pain, vasomotor and sudomotor disturbances and trophic skin changes that are increased in the latter stages. Diagnoses is made by clinicai history, physical examination, x-ray, bone scan, thermography. The treatment is based on physical agents, such as hidrotheraphy and therapeutic exercises. When necessary medications which interferes in the pain modulating system, as tricyclic antidepressant and neuroleptics are used. The aim of this study.i~ to show the results of the treatment of 13 pqtie[1ts with RSD that underwent to physical agents and drug therapy when necessary.A etiologia da distrofia simpático reflexa (DSR) é desconhecida, porém a teoria mais aceita é a de uma disfunção do Sistema Nervoso Simpático. Os achados clínicos caracterizam-se por dor neuropática, distúrbios nasomotores e sudomotores e alterações tróficas da pele que aumentam em estágios mais avançados. O diagnóstico é feito através da história clínica, exame físico, radiografias, cintilografia óssea e termografia. O tratamento baseia-se em meios físicos, como hidroterapia e exercícios terapêuticos. Quando há necessidade são utilizados medicamentos que interferem no sistema modulador da dor como os antidepressivos tricíclicos e os neurolépticos. O objetivo deste estudo é o de apresentar os resultados do tratamento de 13 pacientes com DSR que foram submetidos a meios físicos e terapia medicamentosa quando necessário

Fucoidan-degrading fungal strains: screening, morphometric evaluation, and influence of medium composition

Ten different fungal strains from the genus Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Mucor were screened for fucoidan hydrolyzing ability aiming to find microorganisms able to produce sulfated fucan-degrading enzymes. Screening was carried out by measuring the strains kinetic and morphometric behavior over plate assays using Laminaria japonica fucoidan as only carbon source, testing three nitrogen sources (urea, peptone, and sodium nitrate). The selected fungal strains were subsequently used in submerged fermentations, which were performed for (1) selection of the strains able to growth over fucoidan medium and (2) media selection, testing the synergy of fucoidan with other sugars for inducing high enzyme titles. Radial expansion and hyphae parameters were observed for Aspergillus niger PSH, Mucor sp. 3P, and Penicillium purpurogenum GH2 grown only over fucoidan-urea medium. A. niger PSH showed the maximum enzymatic activity values, which were significantly different (p<0.05) from those achieved by the other selected fungi. Sucrose addition to fucoidan media proportioned the highest fucoidanase activity values for this fungal strain. This research allowed establishing optimal conditions for metabolites synthesis by fungal stains able to act toward fucoidan ramified matrix.Mexican Science and Technology Council (CONACYT

S. <i>mansoni</i> Schistosomula Antigens Induce Th1/Proinflammatory Cytokine Responses

Larvae of Schistosoma (schistosomula) are highly susceptible to host immune responses and are attractive prophylactic vaccine targets, although cellular immune responses against schistosomula antigens in endemic human populations are not well characterized. We collected blood and stool from 54 Schistosoma mansoni-infected Ugandans, isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells and stimulated them for 24 hours with schistosome adult worm and soluble egg antigens (AWA and SEA), along with schistosomula recombinant proteins rSmKK7, Lymphocyte Antigen 6 isoforms (rSmLy6A and rSmLy6B), tetraspanin isoforms (rSmTSP6 and rSmTSP7). Cytokines, chemokines and growth factors were measured in the culture supernatants using a multiplex luminex assay, and infection intensity was determined before and at 1 year after praziquantel (PZQ) treatment using the Kato-Katz method. Cellular responses were grouped and the relationship between groups of correlated cellular responses and infection intensity before and after PZQ treatment was investigated. AWA and SEA induced mainly Th2 responses. In contrast, rSmLy6B, rSmTSP6 and rSmTSP7 induced Th1/pro-inflammatory responses. While recombinant antigens rSmKK7 and rSmLy6A did not induce a Th1/pro-inflammatory response, they had an association with pre-treatment infection intensity after adjusting for age and sex. Testing more schistosomula antigens using this approach could provide immune-epidemiology identifiers necessary for prioritizing next generation schistosomiasis vaccine candidates

Quantitative promoter methylation analysis of multiple cancer-related genes in renal cell tumors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Aberrant promoter hypermethylation of cancer-associated genes occurs frequently during carcinogenesis and may serve as a cancer biomarker. In this study we aimed at defining a quantitative gene promoter methylation panel that might identify the most prevalent types of renal cell tumors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A panel of 18 gene promoters was assessed by quantitative methylation-specific PCR (QMSP) in 85 primarily resected renal tumors representing the four major histologic subtypes (52 clear cell (ccRCC), 13 papillary (pRCC), 10 chromophobe (chRCC), and 10 oncocytomas) and 62 paired normal tissue samples. After genomic DNA isolation and sodium bisulfite modification, methylation levels were determined and correlated with standard clinicopathological parameters.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Significant differences in methylation levels among the four subtypes of renal tumors were found for <it>CDH1 </it>(<it>p </it>= 0.0007), <it>PTGS2 </it>(<it>p </it>= 0.002), and <it>RASSF1A </it>(<it>p </it>= 0.0001). <it>CDH1 </it>hypermethylation levels were significantly higher in ccRCC compared to chRCC and oncocytoma (<it>p </it>= 0.00016 and <it>p </it>= 0.0034, respectively), whereas <it>PTGS2 </it>methylation levels were significantly higher in ccRCC compared to pRCC (<it>p </it>= 0.004). <it>RASSF1A </it>methylation levels were significantly higher in pRCC than in normal tissue (<it>p </it>= 0.035). In pRCC, <it>CDH1 </it>and <it>RASSF1A </it>methylation levels were inversely correlated with tumor stage (<it>p </it>= 0.031) and nuclear grade (<it>p </it>= 0.022), respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The major subtypes of renal epithelial neoplasms display differential aberrant <it>CDH1</it>, <it>PTGS2</it>, and <it>RASSF1A </it>promoter methylation levels. This gene panel might contribute to a more accurate discrimination among common renal tumors, improving preoperative assessment and therapeutic decision-making in patients harboring suspicious renal masses.</p