Cryptanalysis of an Identity-Based Provable Data Possession Protocol with Compressed Cloud Storage

This letter addresses some security issues of an identity-based provable data possession protocol with compressed cloud storage (published in IEEE TIFS, doi:10.1109/TIFS.2022. 3159152). Some serious flaws are identified and an attack to the protocol is designed. This attack is able to recover the ephemeral secret keys from two encrypted blocks with high probability to reveal the original plaintext file completely. Moreover, an adversary can impersonate a data owner to outsource any file to the cloud in a malicious way. The main ingredients of the attack is some classical number theoretic results

Effects of plastic debris on the biofilm bacterial communities in lake water

Increasing discharge of plastic debris into aquatic ecosystems and the worsening ecological risks have received growing attention. Once released, plastic debris could serve as a new substrate for microbes in waters. The complex relationship between plastics and biofilms has aroused great interest. To confirm the hypothesis that the presence of plastic in water affects the composition of biofilm in natural state, in situ biofilm culture experiments were conducted in a lake for 40 days. The diversity of biofilm attached on natural (cobble stones (CS) and wood) and plastic substrates (Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)) were compared, and the community structure and composition were also analyzed. Results from high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA showed that the diversity and species richness of biofilm bacterial communities on natural substrate (observed species of 1353~1945, Simpson index of 0.977~0.989 and Shannon–Wiener diversity index of 7.42~8.60) were much higher than those on plastic substrates (observed species of 900~1146, Simpson index of 0.914~0.975 and Shannon–Wiener diversity index of 5.47~6.99). The NMDS analyses were used to confirm the taxonomic significance between different samples, and Anosim (p = 0.001, R = 0.892) and Adonis (p = 0.001, R = 808, F = 11.19) demonstrated that this classification was statistically rigorous. Different dominant bacterial communities were found on plastic and natural substrates. Alphaproteobacterial, Betaproteobacteria and Synechococcophycideae dominated on the plastic substrate, while Gammaproteobacteria, Phycisphaerae and Planctomycetia played the main role on the natural substrates. The bacterial community structure of the two substrates also showed significant difference which is consistent with previous studies using other polymer types. Our results shed light on the fact that plastic debris can serve as a new habitat for biofilm colonization, unlike natural substrates, pathogens and plastic-degrading microorganisms selectively attached to plastic substrates, which affected the bacterial community structure and composition in aquatic environment. This study provided a new insight into understanding the potential impacts of plastics serving as a new habitat for microbial communities in freshwater environments. Future research should focus on the potential impacts of plastic-attached biofilms in various aquatic environments and the whole life cycle of plastics (i.e., from plastic fragments to microplastics) and also microbial flock characteristics using microbial plastics in the natural environment should also be addressed

Genome sequencing and analysis of the paclitaxelproducing endophytic fungus \u3cem\u3ePenicillium aurantiogriseum\u3c/em\u3e NRRL 62431

Background Paclitaxel (Taxol™) is an important anticancer drug with a unique mode of action. The biosynthesis of paclitaxel had been considered restricted to the Taxus species until it was discovered in Taxomyces andreanae, an endophytic fungus of T. brevifolia. Subsequently, paclitaxel was found in hazel (Corylus avellana L.) and in several other endophytic fungi. The distribution of paclitaxel in plants and endophytic fungi and the reported sequence homology of key genes in paclitaxel biosynthesis between plant and fungi species raises the question about whether the origin of this pathway in these two physically associated groups could have been facilitated by horizontal gene transfer. Results The ability of the endophytic fungus of hazel Penicillium aurantiogriseum NRRL 62431 to independently synthesize paclitaxel was established by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance. The genome of Penicillium aurantiogriseum NRRL 62431 was sequenced and gene candidates that may be involved in paclitaxel biosynthesis were identified by comparison with the 13 known paclitaxel biosynthetic genes in Taxus. We found that paclitaxel biosynthetic gene candidates in P. aurantiogriseum NRRL 62431 have evolved independently and that horizontal gene transfer between this endophytic fungus and its plant host is unlikely. Conclusions Our findings shed new light on how paclitaxel-producing endophytic fungi synthesize paclitaxel, and will facilitate metabolic engineering for the industrial production of paclitaxel from fungi

Wpływ wsparcia piersi i szybkości chodu na trójwymiarowe przemieszczenie piersi u kobiet z małymi piersiami

This paper investigated three-dimensional breast displacement under different breast suport conditions and gait speeds for women with small breasts. The breast coordinates of fifteen female participants with small breasts (sizes ranging from A to C) were recorded during treadmill walking and running tests under two different sports bra conditions and a no bra condition. The results showed that although vertical breast displacement was always the greatest in each condition, mediolateral breast displacement was significantly greater than anteroposterior breast displacement. Mediolateral breast displacement was not effectively reduced in the two sports bra conditions compared to the no bra condition. It is recommended that sports bra designed for women with small breasts should aim to limit mediolateral breast displacement instead of anteroposterior breast displacement, on the premise of controlling vertical breast displacement. The findings also suggest that the effectiveness of sports bras at reducing side-to-side breast movement requires further optimisation.W pracy zbadano trójwymiarowe przemieszczenie piersi przy różnych warunkach podtrzymywania piersi i szybkości chodu u kobiet z małymi piersiami. Współrzędne piersi piętnastu uczestniczek z małymi piersiami (rozmiary od A do C) rejestrowano podczas testów chodu na bieżni i biegania w stanikach sportowych i bez. Wyniki pokazały, że chociaż pionowe przemieszczenie piersi było zawsze największe w każdym stanie, środkowo-boczne przemieszczenie piersi było znacznie większe, niż przemieszczenie piersi przednio-tylne. Stwierdzono, że biustonosz sportowy nie zmniejszył skutecznie przemieszczenia biustu w bok w porównaniu ze stanem bez stanika. Zaleca się, aby stanik sportowy przeznaczony dla kobiet z małym biustem miał na celu ograniczenie środkowo-bocznego przemieszczenia piersi zamiast przesunięcia piersi w przód i tył, z założeniem kontrolowania pionowego przemieszczenia piersi. Odkrycia sugerują również, że skuteczność staników sportowych w ograniczaniu ruchów piersi na boki wymaga dalszej optymalizacji

Relationships of Alpha-SMA-Positive Fibroblasts and SDF-1-Positive Tumor Cells with Neoangiogenesis in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the most prevalent malignant tumors with poor prognosis in Southern China and Southeast Asia. Angiogenesis-related molecules can be promising therapeutic targets in NPC. To investigate the relationships of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and chemokine-related molecules with neoangiogenesis, we compared immunohistochemical analyses of alpha-smooth-muscle actin (α-SMA), stroma-derived factor-1 (SDF-1), and its receptor CXCR4 in primary NPC specimens and chronic nasopharyngitis tissues. In addition, we examined the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A), and CD133- and VEGF- receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) double positive cells, as endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). We also assessed CD34-positive microvessels. Significantly higher expression of α-SMA was observed in fibroblasts in NPC stroma. The immunoreactive intensities of SDF-1 and CXCR4 were significantly higher in NPC cells. CXCR4-positive cells and CD133/VEGFR-2- double positive cells were observed in the stroma surrounding cancer nests, and VEGF was detected in both cancer and stromal cells. Microvessel density was significantly higher in the stroma of NPC tissues compared to chronic nasopharyngitis tissues. Our data suggest that CAFs and NPC tumor cells may enhance neoangiogenesis in a VEGF- and SDF-1-dependent manner by recruiting EPCs from the bone marrow into tumor stroma

Data on the detail information of influence of substrate temperature on the film morphology and photovoltaic performance of non-fullerene organic solar cells

This data contains additional data related to the article “Influence of Substrate Temperature on the Film Morphology and Photovoltaic Performance of Non-fullerene Organic Solar Cells” (Jicheng Zhang et al., In press) [1]. Data include measurement and characterization instruments and condition, detail condition to fabricate norfullerene solar cell devices, hole-only and electron-only devices. Detail condition about how to control the film morphology of devices via tuning the temperature of substrates was also displayed. More information and more convincing data about the change of film morphology for active layers fabricated from different temperature, which is attached to the research article of “Influence of Substrate Temperature on the Film Morphology and Photovoltaic Performance of Non-fullerene Organic Solar Cells” was given

Quantitative Trait Locus Analysis for Deep-Sowing Germination Ability in the Maize IBM Syn10 DH Population

Deep-sowing is an effective measure to ensure seeds absorbing water from deep soil layer and emerging normally in arid and semiarid regions. However, existing varieties demonstrate poor germination ability in deep soil layer and some key quantitative trait loci (QTL) or genes related to deep-sowing germination ability remain to be identified and analyzed. In this study, a high-resolution genetic map based on 280 lines of the intermated B73 × Mo17 (IBM) Syn10 doubled haploid (DH) population which comprised 6618 bin markers was used for the QTL analysis of deep-sowing germination related traits. The results showed significant differences in germination related traits under deep-sowing condition (12.5 cm) and standard-germination condition (2 cm) between two parental lines. In total, 8, 11, 13, 15, and 18 QTL for germination rate, seedling length, mesocotyl length, plumule length, and coleoptile length were detected for the two sowing conditions, respectively. These QTL explained 2.51–7.8% of the phenotypic variance with LOD scores ranging from 2.52 to 7.13. Additionally, 32 overlapping QTL formed 11 QTL clusters on all chromosomes except for chromosome 8, indicating the minor effect genes have a pleiotropic role in regulating various traits. Furthermore, we identified six candidate genes related to deep-sowing germination ability, which were co-located in the cluster regions. The results provide a basis for molecular marker assisted breeding and functional study in deep-sowing germination ability of maize