Development of abuse of administrative power to eliminate or restrict competition in the anti-monopoly law of the People’s Republic of China and the impact of article 106 of EU competition law and free movement rules

The Chinese Anti-monopoly Law (AML) entered into force on August 1, 2008 and abuse of administrative power to eliminate or restrict competition is prohibited and dealt in Chapter Five of this law. Abuse of administrative power is one of the most significant ways to eliminate or restrict competition in China. Great concerns had been focused on the rules of abuse of administrative power before the AML was promulgated. However, its progress in practice is slow and experiences difficulties after this law took effect. Little research has been undertaken outside of China on abuse of administrative power to eliminate or restrict competition due to the specific background and situation pertaining in China. Concerning to abuse of administrative power, the AML have close relationships with EU competition law and free movement rules. This thesis aims to provide a critical comparison between the AML, Article 106 TFEU of EU competition law and free movement rules, and draws on the EU’s experience as a source of criticism and guidance in relation to the application of abuse of administrative power to eliminate or restrict competition in the AML. This study first provides a background introduction on the development of the AML and abuse of administrative power to eliminate or restrict competition and analyses the complicated causes of abuse of administrative power in competition through three areas: the history of China’s economic system, economic theory and legislation. The main comparative and critical research are held in Chapters Four and Five which examine the relationships between abuse of administrative power in the AML, Article 106 TFEU and EU free movement rules respectively. In Chapter Six a case study is taken in telecommunications sector. The application of abuse of administrative power provisions of the AML in telecommunications sector is examined through three areas: market access, interconnection and universal services. This thesis concludes by noting that (1) abuse of administrative power to eliminate or restrict competition provisions in the AML should be revised on the content of these provisions and their exemption rules; (2) a dual-structure of controlling abuse of administrative power based on monopolistic conduct and free circulation is held in the AML; (3) the inapplicability of abuse of administrative power provisions in these telecommunications issues requires a revise for abuse of administrative power in the AML

Secure and Verifiable Data Collaboration with Low-Cost Zero-Knowledge Proofs

Organizations are increasingly recognizing the value of data collaboration for data analytics purposes. Yet, stringent data protection laws prohibit the direct exchange of raw data. To facilitate data collaboration, federated Learning (FL) emerges as a viable solution, which enables multiple clients to collaboratively train a machine learning (ML) model under the supervision of a central server while ensuring the confidentiality of their raw data. However, existing studies have unveiled two main risks: (i) the potential for the server to infer sensitive information from the client's uploaded updates (i.e., model gradients), compromising client input privacy, and (ii) the risk of malicious clients uploading malformed updates to poison the FL model, compromising input integrity. Recent works utilize secure aggregation with zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) to guarantee input privacy and integrity in FL. Nevertheless, they suffer from extremely low efficiency and, thus, are impractical for real deployment. In this paper, we propose a novel and highly efficient solution RiseFL for secure and verifiable data collaboration, ensuring input privacy and integrity simultaneously.Firstly, we devise a probabilistic integrity check method that significantly reduces the cost of ZKP generation and verification. Secondly, we design a hybrid commitment scheme to satisfy Byzantine robustness with improved performance. Thirdly, we theoretically prove the security guarantee of the proposed solution. Extensive experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets suggest that our solution is effective and is highly efficient in both client computation and communication. For instance, RiseFL is up to 28x, 53x and 164x faster than three state-of-the-art baselines ACORN, RoFL and EIFFeL for the client computation

Ablation of EYS in zebrafish causes mislocalisation of outer segment proteins, F-actin disruption and cone-rod dystrophy

Mutations in EYS are associated with autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa (arRP) and autosomal recessive cone-rod dystrophy (arCRD) however, the function of EYS and the molecular mechanisms of how these mutations cause retinal degeneration are still unclear. Because EYS is absent in mouse and rat, and the structure of the retina differs substantially between humans and Drosophila, we utilised zebrafish as a model organism to study the function of EYS in the retina. We constructed an EYS-knockout zebrafish-line by TALEN technology which showed visual impairment at an early age, while the histological and immunofluorescence assays indicated the presence of progressive retinal degeneration with a cone predominately affected pattern. These phenotypes recapitulate the clinical manifestations of arCRD patients. Furthermore, the EYS(−/−) zebrafish also showed mislocalisation of certain outer segment proteins (rhodopsin, opn1lw, opn1sw1, GNB3 and PRPH2), and disruption of actin filaments in photoreceptors. Protein mislocalisation may, therefore, disrupt the function of cones and rods in these zebrafish and cause photoreceptor death. Collectively, these results point to a novel role for EYS in maintaining the morphological structure of F-actin and in protein transport, loss of this function might be the trigger for the resultant cellular events that ultimately lead to photoreceptor death

Study of Xuanhuang Pill in protecting against alcohol liver disease using ultra-performance liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry and network pharmacology

IntroductionXuanhuang Pill (XHP) is a traditional Chinese medicine oral formula composed of 10 herbs. This study aims to verify the hepatoprotective activity of XHP and explain its possible mechanism.MethodsThe hepatoprotective activity of XHP was evaluated by constructing a mouse model of alcoholic liver disease, and the mechanism of XHP was preliminarily explained by utilizing ultra-performance liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF/MS), proteomics and network pharmacology.ResultsThe current study demonstrated that treatment with XHP ameliorated acute alcohol-induced liver injury in mice by significantly reducing alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels and triglycerides (TGs) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content. Remarkably, treatment also increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and glutathione (GSH) content. UPLC-QTOF/MS, 199 compounds were identified as within the make-up of the XHP. Network pharmacology analysis showed that 103 targets regulated by 163 chemical components may play an important role in the protective liver effect mediated by XHP. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis suggest that the HIF-1, FoxO, PI3K-Akt, insulin, and thyroid hormone signaling pathways are key modulators of XHP’s effects. Finally, eight key targets including Mapk1, Mapk3, Akt1, Map2k1, Pik3ca, Pik3cg, Raf1, and Prkca were verified by molecular docking and proteomics analysis, which provide insight into the hepatoprotective effect observed with XHP treatment.ConclusionIn summary, these results improved upon knowledge of the chemical composition and the potential mechanisms of hepatoprotective action of oral XHP treatment, providing foundational support for this formulation as a viable therapeutic option for alcoholic liver disease

Proteomics and network pharmacology of Ganshu Nuodan capsules in the prevention of alcoholic liver disease

IntroductionGanshu Nuodan is a liver-protecting dietary supplement composed of Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum) spore powder, Pueraria montana (Lour.) Merr. (P. montana), Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (S. miltiorrhiza) and Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bunge. (A. membranaceus). However, its pharmacodynamic material basis and mechanism of action remain unknown.MethodsA mouse model of acute alcohol liver disease (ALD) induced by intragastric administration of 50% alcohol was used to evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of Ganshu Nuodan. The chemical constituents of Ganshu Nuodan were comprehensively identified by UPLC-QTOF/MS, and then its pharmacodynamic material basis and potential mechanism of action were explored by proteomics and network pharmacology.ResultsGanshu Nuodan could ameliorate acute ALD, which is mainly manifested in the significant reduction of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in serum and malondialdehyde (MDA) content in liver and the remarkably increase of glutathione (GSH) content and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in liver. Totally 76 chemical constituents were identified from Ganshu Nuodan by UPLC-QTOF/MS, including 21 quinones, 18 flavonoids, 11 organic acids, 7 terpenoids, 5 ketones, 4 sterols, 3 coumarins and 7 others. Three key signaling pathways were identified via proteomics studies, namely Arachidonic acid metabolism, Retinol metabolism, and HIF-1 signaling pathway respectively. Combined with network pharmacology and molecular docking, six key targets were subsequently obtained, including Ephx2, Lta4h, Map2k1, Stat3, Mtor and Dgat1. Finally, these six key targets and their related components were verified by molecular docking, which could explain the material basis of the hepatoprotective effect of Ganshu Nuodan.ConclusionGanshu Nuodan can protect acute alcohol-induced liver injury in mice by inhibiting oxidative stress, lipid accumulation and apoptosis. Our study provides a scientific basis for the hepatoprotective effect of Ganshu Nuodan in acute ALD mice and supports its traditional application

REGULARIZATION AT EASE FOR DEEP LEARNING APPLICATIONS

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (SOC

Extraction optimization, structure features, and bioactivities of two polysaccharides from Corydalis decumbens

Two polysaccharides (CPS1 and CPW2) from Corydalis decumbens were obtained to develop insights into natural medical resources. Optimal extraction conditions of total sugars were researched using the method of response surface methodology, polysaccharides were purified using a combination of ethanol precipitation and anion-exchange chromatography, and structure features were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Congo-red assay. The bioactivities were estimated in terms of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Total sugars were extracted with an experimental yield of 32.74% under optimum conditions. CPS1 and CPW2 were purified with yields of 12.01% and 8.23%, respectively. CPS1 was a unique polysaccharide with a molecular weight (Mw) of 360 kDa and consisted of glucose, galactose, mannose, and arabinose in a ratio of 4.9:2.0:1:1.9, and CPW2 was composed of glucose with the Mw of 550 kDa. CPS1 possessed a four-helix conformation, and CPW2 was identified as a linear molecule without branched and entangled chains. The mRNA expressions of TNF-α (71.80%), IL-1β (56.55%), IL-6 (43.98%), and COX-2 (91.88%) in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells were significantly inhibited by 75 μg/mL CPS1 (P < 0.0001), while CPW2 showed lower inhibitory effects than CPS1. Compared with CPW2, CPS1 showed stronger scavenging abilities for hydroxyl (EC50 = 520.46 μg/mL), ABTS (EC50 = 533.99 μg/mL), and superoxide (EC50 = 1512.06 μg/mL) radicals. CPS1 with four-helix conformation exhibited more outstanding bioactivities than CPW2 without entangled chains

Fig 1 -

Effects of liquid-solid ratio (A), extraction time (B), and extraction temperature (C) on the yields of total sugars from C. decumbens.</p