A Consensus Algorithm Based on Risk Assessment Model for Permissioned Blockchain

Blockchain technology enables stakeholders to conduct trusted data sharing and exchange without a trusted centralized institution. These features make blockchain applications attractive to enhance trustworthiness in very different contexts. Due to unique design concepts and outstanding performance, blockchain has become a popular research topic in industry and academia in recent years. Every participant is anonymous in a permissionless blockchain represented by cryptocurrency applications such as Bitcoin. In this situation, some special incentive mechanisms are applied to permissionless blockchain, such as mined native cryptocurrency to solve the trust issues of permissionless blockchain. In many use cases, permissionless blockchain has bottlenecks in transaction throughput performance, which restricts further application in the real world. A permissioned blockchain can reach a consensus among a group of entities that do not establish an entire trust relationship. Unlike permissionless blockchains, the participants must be identified in permissioned blockchains. By relying on the traditional crash fault-tolerant consensus protocols, permissioned blockchains can achieve high transaction throughput and low latency without sacrificing security. However, how to balance the security and consensus efficiency is still the issue that needs to be solved urgently in permissioned blockchains. As the core module of blockchain technology, the consensus algorithm plays a vital role in the performance of the blockchain system. Thus, this paper proposes a new consensus algorithm for permissioned blockchain, the Risk Assessment-based Consensus protocol (RAC), combined with the decentralized design concept and the risk-node assessment mechanism to address the unbalance issues of performance in speed, scalability, and security.Comment: 32 pages, 11 figure

Effect of Flammulina velutipes on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of Cantonese sausages

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (April 2019) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyThe effects of fresh and dried Flammulina velutipes (FFV and DFV) on quality and sensory characteristics of Cantonese sausages were investigated. Sausage samples were prepared by adding 0% (control), 2.5% FFV, 2.5% and 5.0% DFV, respectively, and their nutritional compositions, free amino acid profiles, lipid and protein oxidation, color and texture properties were determined. Addition of F. velutipes significantly decreased fat content while increased free amino acid contents of Cantonese sausages. Total free amino acid contents of 2.5% FFV, 2.5% DFV and 5.0% DFV incorporation were 2.8-, 2.4- and 3.5-fold as compared to control, respectively. Lipid and protein oxidation of Cantonese sausages were effectively inhibited by the addition of F. velutipes. Both FFV and DFV addition decreased hardness and chewiness while showed different effect on yellowness of samples. DFV added at 2.5% exhibited the best overall sensory acceptance. Therefore, appropriate addition of F. velutipes may be an effective way to improve meat product quality and function

Research on accurate stereo portrait generation algorithm of scientific research team

In order to smoothly promote the establishment of scientific research projects, accurately identify the excellent scientific research team, and intuitively and comprehensively describe the scientific research team, it is of great significance for the scientific research management department to comprehensively understand and objectively evaluate the scientific research team. At present, the research work on the construction of accurate three-dimensional portrait of scientific research team is relatively less. In view of the practical demand of scientific research management department, this paper proposes an accurate stereo portrait generation algorithm of scientific research team. The algorithm includes three modules: research team identification, research topic extraction and research team portrait generation. Firstly, the leader of the scientific research team is identified based on the iterative middle centrality ranking method, and the members of the scientific research team are identified through the 2-faction and snowball methods, so as to realize the identification of the scientific research team. Then, considering the statistical information of words and the co-occurrence features of words in the research team, the research topics of the research team are extracted to improve the accuracy of research topic extraction. Finally, the research team portrait generation module generates the accurate three-dimensional portrait of the research team through the generation of the research team profile, the construction of the research cooperation relationship, and the construction of the research team topic cloud. The research team is identified on the data set of scientific research achievements, and the accurate three-dimensional portraits of the research team are generated and visualized. Experiments verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm

The Calcilytic Drug Calhex-231 Ameliorates Vascular Hyporesponsiveness in Traumatic Hemorrhagic Shock by Inhibiting Oxidative Stress and miR-208a-Mediated Mitochondrial Fission

Background. The calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) plays a fundamental role in extracellular calcium homeostasis in humans. Surprisingly, CaSR is also expressed in nonhomeostatic tissues and is involved in regulating diverse cellular functions. The objective of this study was to determine if Calhex-231 (Cal), a negative modulator of CaSR, may be beneficial in the treatment of traumatic hemorrhagic shock (THS) by improving cardiovascular function and investigated the mechanisms. Methods. Rats that had been subjected to THS and hypoxia-treated vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) were used in this study. The effects of Cal on cardiovascular function, animal survival, hemodynamics, and vital organ function in THS rats and the relationship to oxidative stress, mitochondrial fusion-fission, and microRNA (miR-208a) were investigated. Results. Cal significantly improved hemodynamics, elevated blood pressure, increased vital organ blood perfusion and local oxygen supply, and markedly improved the survival outcomes of THS rats. Furthermore, Cal significantly improved vascular reactivity after THS in vivo and in vitro. Cal also restored the THS-induced decrease in myosin light chain (MLC) phosphorylation (the key element for VSMC contraction). Inhibition of MLC phosphorylation antagonized the Cal-induced restoration of vascular reactivity following THS. Cal suppressed oxidative stress in THS rats and hypoxic-VSMCs. Meanwhile, THS induced expression of mitochondrial fission proteins Drp1 and Fis1 and decreased expression of mitochondrial fusion protein Mfn1 in vascular tissues. Cal reduced expression of Drp1 and Fis1. In hypoxic-VSMCs, Cal inhibited mitochondrial fragmentation and preserved mitochondrial morphology. In addition, miR-208a mimic decreased Fis1 expression, and miR-208a inhibitor prevented Cal-induced Fis1 downregulation in hypoxic-VSMCs. Conclusion. Calhex-231 exhibits outstanding potential for effective therapy of traumatic hemorrhagic shock, and the beneficial effects result from its protection of vascular function via inhibition of oxidative stress and miR-208a-mediated mitochondrial fission

Homodimer-mediated phosphorylation of C/EBPα-p42 S16 modulates acute myeloid leukaemia differentiation through liquid-liquid phase separation

Abstract CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα) regulates myeloid differentiation, and its dysregulation contributes to acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) progress. Clarifying its functional implementation mechanism is of great significance for its further clinical application. Here, we show that C/EBPα regulates AML cell differentiation through liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), which can be disrupted by C/EBPα-p30. Considering that C/EBPα-p30 inhibits the functions of C/EBPα through the LZ region, a small peptide TAT-LZ that could instantaneously interfere with the homodimerization of C/EBPα-p42 was constructed, and dynamic inhibition of C/EBPα phase separation was observed, demonstrating the importance of C/EBPα-p42 homodimers for its LLPS. Mechanistically, homodimerization of C/EBPα-p42 mediated its phosphorylation at the novel phosphorylation site S16, which promoted LLPS and subsequent AML cell differentiation. Finally, decreasing the endogenous C/EBPα-p30/C/EBPα-p42 ratio rescued the phase separation of C/EBPα in AML cells, which provided a new insight for the treatment of the AML

Is depression a disconnection syndrome? Meta-analysis of diffusion tensor imaging studies in patients with MDD

Background: Many studies using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) have demonstrated impaired white matter integrity in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), with significant results found in diverse brain regions. We sought to identify whether there are consistent changes of regional white matter integrity in patients with MDD, as shown by decreased fractional anisotropy in DTI. Method: A systematic search strategy was used to identify relevant whole brain voxel-based DTI studies of patients with MDD in relation to comparison groups. Relevant databases were searched for studies published between January 1994 and February 2011 using combinations of the terms "DTI" or "diffusion tensor;" "whole brain" or "voxel-based;" and "depress*." Using the studies that met our inclusion criteria, we performed a meta-analysis of the coordinates of decreased fractional anisotropy using the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) method, which detects 3-dimensional conjunctions of coordinates from multiple studies, weighted by sample size. We then used DTIquery software for fibre tracking to locate the fascicles involved in each region. Results: We included 11 studies with a combined sample of 231 patients with MDD and 261 comparison participants, providing 50 coordinates of decreased fractional anisotropy. Our meta-analysis identified 4 consistent locations of decreased fractional anisotropy in patients with MDD: white matter in the right frontal lobe, right fusiform gyrus, left frontal lobe and right occipital lobe. Fibre tracking showed that the main fascicles involved were the right inferior longitudinal fasciculus, right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, right posterior thalamic radiation and interhemispheric fibres running through the genu and body of the corpus callosum. Limitations: The number of studies included was relatively small, and the DTI data acquisition and analysis techniques were heterogeneous. The ALE method cannot handle studies with no significant group differences. Conclusion: Voxel-based analysis of DTI studies of patients with MDD consistently identified decreased fractional anisotropy in the white matter fascicles connecting the prefrontal cortex within cortical (frontal, temporal and occipital lobes) and subcortical areas (amygdala and hippocampus). This is strong evidence for the involvement of these neural circuits in the pathology of MDD