Local generation of hydrogen for enhanced photothermal therapy.

By delivering the concept of clean hydrogen energy and green catalysis to the biomedical field, engineering of hydrogen-generating nanomaterials for treatment of major diseases holds great promise. Leveraging virtue of versatile abilities of Pd hydride nanomaterials in high/stable hydrogen storage, self-catalytic hydrogenation, near-infrared (NIR) light absorption and photothermal conversion, here we utilize the cubic PdH0.2 nanocrystals for tumour-targeted and photoacoustic imaging (PAI)-guided hydrogenothermal therapy of cancer. The synthesized PdH0.2 nanocrystals have exhibited high intratumoural accumulation capability, clear NIR-controlled hydrogen release behaviours, NIR-enhanced self-catalysis bio-reductivity, high NIR-photothermal effect and PAI performance. With these unique properties of PdH0.2 nanocrystals, synergetic hydrogenothermal therapy with limited systematic toxicity has been achieved by tumour-targeted delivery and PAI-guided NIR-controlled release of bio-reductive hydrogen as well as generation of heat. This hydrogenothermal approach has presented a cancer-selective strategy for synergistic cancer treatment

Advanced surface color quality assessment in paper-based full-color 3d printing

Color 3D printing allows for 3D-printed parts to represent 3D objects more realistically, but its surface color quality evaluation lacks comprehensive objective verification considering printing materials. In this study, a unique test model was designed and printed using eco-friendly and vivid paper-based full-color 3D printing as an example. By measuring the chromaticity, roughness, glossiness, and whiteness properties of 3D-printed surfaces and by acquiring images of their main viewing surfaces, this work skillfully explores the correlation between the color representation of a paper-based 3D-printed coloring layer and its attached underneath blank layer. Quantitative analysis was performed using ΔE*ab, feature similarity index measure of color image (FSIMc), and improved color-image-difference (iCID) values. The experimental results show that a color difference on color-printed surfaces exhibits a high linear correlation trend with its FSIMc metric and iCID metric. The qualitative analysis of microscopic imaging and the quantitative analysis of the above three surface properties corroborate the prediction of the linear correlation between color difference and image-based metrics. This study can provide inspiration for the development of computational coloring materials for additive manufacturing

AROW: A V2X-based Automated Right-of-Way Algorithm for Distributed Cooperative Intersection Management

Safe and efficient intersection management is critical for an improved driving experience. As per several studies, an increasing number of crashes and fatalities occur every year at intersections. Most crashes are a consequence of a lack of situational awareness and ambiguity over intersection crossing priority. In this regard, research in Cooperative Intersection Management (CIM) is considered highly significant since it can utilize Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication among Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs). CAVs can transceive basic and/or advanced safety information, thereby improving situational awareness at intersections. Although numerous studies have been performed on CIM, most of them are reliant on the presence of a Road-Side Unit (RSU) that can act as a centralized intersection manager and assign intersection crossing priorities. In the absence of RSU, there are some distributed CIM methods that only rely on communication among CAVs for situational awareness, however, none of them are specifically focused towards Stop Controlled-Intersection (SCI) with the aim of mitigating ambiguity among CAVs. Thus, we propose an Automated Right-of-Way (AROW) algorithm based on distributed CIM that is capable of reducing ambiguity and handling any level of noncompliance by CAVs. The algorithm is validated with extensive experiments for its functionality and robustness, and it outperforms the current solutions

DSRC Versus LTE-V2X: Empirical Performance Analysis of Direct Vehicular Communication Technologies

Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication systems have an eminence potential to improve road safety and optimize traffic flow by broadcasting Basic Safety Messages (BSMs). Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) and LTE Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) are two candidate technologies to enable V2V communication. DSRC relies on the IEEE 802.11p standard for its PHY and MAC layer while LTE-V2X is based on 3GPP’s Release 14 and operates in a distributed manner in the absence of cellular infrastructure. There has been considerable debate over the relative advantages and disadvantages of DSRC and LTE-V2X, aiming to answer the fundamental question of which technology is most effective in real-world scenarios for various road safety and traffic efficiency applications. In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey of these two technologies (i.e., DSRC and LTE-V2X) and related works. More specifically, we study the PHY and MAC layer of both technologies in the survey study and compare the PHY layer performance using a variety of field tests. First, we provide a summary of each technology and highlight the limitations of each in supporting V2X applications. Then, we examine their performance based on different metrics

Low-latency Hardware Architecture for VDF Evaluation in Class Groups

The verifiable delay function (VDF), as a kind of cryptographic primitives, has recently been adopted quite often in decentralized systems. Highly correlated to the security of VDFs, the fastest implementation for VDF evaluation is generally desired to be publicly known. In this paper, for the first time, we propose a low-latency hardware implementation for the complete VDF evaluation in the class group by joint exploiting optimizations. On one side, we reduce the required computational cycles by decreasing the hardware-unfriendly divisions and increase the parallelism of computations by reducing the data dependency. On the other side, well-optimized low-latency architectures for large-number divisions, multiplications, and additions are developed, respectively, while those operations are generally very hard to be accelerated. Based on these basic operators, we devise the architecture for the complete VDF evaluation with possibly minimal pipeline stalls. Finally, the proposed design is coded and synthesized under the TSMC 28-nm CMOS technology. The experimental results show that our design can achieve a speedup of 3.6x compared to the optimal C++ implementation for the VDF evaluation over an advanced CPU. Moreover, compared to the state-of-the-art hardware implementation for the squaring, a key step of VDF, we achieve about 2x speedup

A High-Speed Architecture for the Reduction in VDF Based on a Class Group

Due to the enormous energy consuming involved in the proof of work (POW) process, the resource-efficient blockchain system is urged to be released. The verifiable delay function (VDF), being slow to compute and easy to verify, is believed to be the kernel function of the next-generation blockchain system. In general, the reduction over a class group, involving many complex operations, such as the large-number division and multiplication operations, takes a large portion in the VDF. In this paper, for the first time, we propose a highspeed architecture for the reduction by incorporating algorithmic transformations and architectural optimizations. Firstly, based on the fastest reduction algorithm, we present a modified version to make it more hardware-friendly by introducing a novel transformation method that can efficiently remove the largenumber divisions. Secondly, highly parallelized and pipelined architectures are devised respectively for the large-number multiplication and addition operations to reduce the latency and the critical path. Thirdly, a compact state machine is developed to enable maximum overlapping in time for computations. The experiment results show that when computing 209715 reduction steps with the input width of 2048 bits, the proposed design only takes 137.652ms running on an Altera Stratix-10 FPGA at 100MHz frequency, while the original algorithm needs 3278ms when operating over an i7-6850K CPU at 3.6GHz frequency. Thus we have obtained a drastic speedup of nearly 24x over an advanced CPU

Low-Latency Design and Implementation of the Squaring in Class Groups for Verifiable Delay Function Using Redundant Representation

A verifiable delay function (VDF) is a function whose evaluation requires running a prescribed number of sequential steps over a group while the result can be efficiently verified. As a kind of cryptographic primitives, VDFs have been adopted in rapidly growing applications for decentralized systems. For the security of VDFs in practical applications, it is widely agreed that the fastest implementation for the VDF evaluation, sequential squarings in a group of unknown order, should be publicly provided. To this end, we propose a possible minimum latency hardware implementation for the squaring in class groups by algorithmic and architectural level co-optimization. Firstly, low-latency architectures for large-number division, multiplication, and addition are devised using redundant representation, respectively. Secondly, we present two hardware-friendly algorithms which avoid time-consuming divisions involved in calculations related to the extended greatest common divisor (XGCD) and design the corresponding low-latency architectures. Besides, we schedule and reuse these computation modules to achieve good resource utilization by using compact instruction control. Finally, we code and synthesize the proposed design under the TSMC 28nm CMOS technology. The experimental results show that our design can achieve a speedup of 3.6x compared to the state-of-the-art implementation of the squaring in the class group. Moreover, compared to the optimal C++ implementation over an advanced CPU, our implementation is 9.1x faster

Screening for CCNF Mutations in a Chinese Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Cohort

Previous research has identified CCNF mutations in familial (FALS) and sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (SALS), as well as in frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The aim of our study was to measure the frequency of CCNF mutations in a Chinese population. In total, 78 FALS patients, 581 SALS patients and 584 controls were included. We found 19 missense mutations, nine synonymous mutations and two intron variants. According to the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) standards and guidelines for the interpretation of sequence variants, eight variants were judged to be pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants. The frequency of such variants was 2.56% in FALS and 1.03% in SALS. In conclusion, CCNF mutations are common in FALS and SALS patients of Chinese origin, and further study is still needed

Exercise protects vascular function by countering senescent cells in older adults

Blood vessels are key conduits for the transport of blood and circulating factors. Abnormalities in blood vessels promote cardiovascular disease (CVD), which has become the most common disease as human lifespans extend. Aging itself is not pathogenic; however, the decline of physiological and biological function owing to aging has been linked to CVD. Although aging is a complex phenomenon that has not been comprehensively investigated, there is accumulating evidence that cellular senescence aggravates various pathological changes associated with aging. Emerging evidence shows that approaches that suppress or eliminate cellular senescence preserve vascular function in aging-related CVD. However, most pharmacological therapies for treating age-related CVD are inefficient. Therefore, effective approaches to treat CVD are urgently required. The benefits of exercise for the cardiovascular system have been well documented in basic research and clinical studies; however, the mechanisms and optimal frequency of exercise for promoting cardiovascular health remain unknown. Accordingly, in this review, we have discussed the changes in senescent endothelial cells (ECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) that occur in the progress of CVD and the roles of physical activity in CVD prevention and treatment