TOWARDS REDESIGNING WEB BROWSERS WITH SECURITY PRINCIPLES

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Software-Defined Networking for Smart Grid Resilience: Opportunities and Challenges

Software-defined networking (SDN) is an emerging networking paradigm that provides unprecedented flexibility in dynamically reconfiguring an IP network. It enables various applications, such as network management, quality of service (QoS) optimization, and system resilience enhancement. Pilot studies have investigated the possibilities of applying SDN on smart grid communications, while the specific benefits and risks that SDN may bring to the resilience of smart grids against accidental failures and malicious attacks remain largely unexplored. Without a systematic understanding of these issues and convincing validations of proposed solutions, the power industry will be unlikely to embrace SDN, since resilience is always a key consideration for critical infrastructures like power grids. In this position paper, we aim to provide an initial understanding of these issues, by investigating (1) how SDN can enhance the resilience of typical smart grids to malicious attacks, (2) additional risks introduced by SDN and how to manage them, and (3) how to validate and evaluate SDN-based resilience solutions. Our goal is also to trigger more profound discussions on applying SDN to smart grids and inspire innovative SDN-based solutions for enhancing smart grid resilience.Agency for Science, Technology and Research; National Science Foundation (OCI-1032889); Department of Energy (DE-OE0000097)Ope

The Digital Economy and Carbon Productivity: Evidence at China’s City Level

Based on the panel data of 285 prefecture-level cities in China, this paper empirically tests the impact of digital economic development on carbon productivity by using a two-way fixed effect model, intermediary mechanism model and threshold mechanism model. The results show that: (1) the digital economy can significantly improve carbon productivity, and this conclusion is still valid after a series of robustness tests. (2) An intermediary mechanism test found that technological innovation, reducing energy consumption intensity and improving urban productivity are the three primary paths through which the digital economy significantly improves carbon productivity. (3) A threshold mechanism test found that the promotion effect of the digital economy on carbon productivity is also affected by the degree of marketization and the level of human capital, showing a single threshold effect and a U-shaped trend. (4) The impact of the digital economy on carbon productivity has regional heterogeneity, urban agglomeration heterogeneity, and resource-based city heterogeneity. This study provides substantial empirical evidence for the relevant authorities to formulate green development policies from the perspective of digital economy development

The Digital Economy and Carbon Productivity: Evidence at China’s City Level

Based on the panel data of 285 prefecture-level cities in China, this paper empirically tests the impact of digital economic development on carbon productivity by using a two-way fixed effect model, intermediary mechanism model and threshold mechanism model. The results show that: (1) the digital economy can significantly improve carbon productivity, and this conclusion is still valid after a series of robustness tests. (2) An intermediary mechanism test found that technological innovation, reducing energy consumption intensity and improving urban productivity are the three primary paths through which the digital economy significantly improves carbon productivity. (3) A threshold mechanism test found that the promotion effect of the digital economy on carbon productivity is also affected by the degree of marketization and the level of human capital, showing a single threshold effect and a U-shaped trend. (4) The impact of the digital economy on carbon productivity has regional heterogeneity, urban agglomeration heterogeneity, and resource-based city heterogeneity. This study provides substantial empirical evidence for the relevant authorities to formulate green development policies from the perspective of digital economy development

Longitudinal observation of subretinal fibrosis in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease

Abstract Background Subretinal fibrosis (SRF) is a vision-threatening complication of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease (VKH). It has long been recognized as a sequela of chronic inflammation. The developmental process of SRF, however, has not been described. The purpose of this study is to provide longitudinal observations of SRF in VKH. Methods Retrospective chart review of 10 VKH patients referred to our group between January 2008 and September 2015 at acute uveitic stage with SRF at presentation or who developed SRF during follow up. Results Ten patients (6 males and 4 females) with a median age of 39.0 (range, 23 to 58) years old were included. The median disease duration at presentation and median duration of follow up were 25.5 (range 5 to 60) days and 32.5 (range 13 to 61) months respectively. At presentation, all patients except one had been inappropriately treated with glucocorticosteroid (insufficiently dosed or tapered too fast) for longer than 2 weeks. Despite large dose oral glucocorticosteroid (1 mg/kg/d prednisone or equivalent) with slow tapering in combination with at least one immunomodulatory agent (cyclosporin A, cyclophosphamide or azathioprine) after presentation, all patients developed bilateral SRF within the first 4 months of disease course and 7 patients within the first 2 months. In 8 patients, shape-change/migration and progressive proliferation/pigmentation of SRF was observed over a period of several months after its formation, and then became quiescent but may further underwent depigmentation or pigmentation. SRF involved macula in 12 eyes (7 patients) and caused treatment resistant macular detachment and severe visual impairment in 6 eyes (4 patients). At the last visit, eyes with macular involvement were more common to had worse final best corrected visual acuity (≤20/50) than those without (9/12 vs. 0/8, p = 0.001). Conclusions SRF usually develop early in the disease course in VKH patients who are not adequately controlled; it usually undergoes a highly dynamic process within the subretinal space and may involve the macula and resulted in poor final visual outcome

Comprehensive analysis of P2Y family genes expression, immune characteristics, and prognosis in pan-cancer

Background: P2Y receptors are a family of G protein-coupled receptor genes that have an important function in cancer development and metastasis. However, systematic studies have not been conducted on human tumors. This study attempted to explore the role of P2Y family genes (P2Ys) in pan-cancer. Methods: Gene expression and clinical data were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Alas dataset. Gene differential expression, mutation, prognosis, tumor microenvironment (TME) (containing immune cells infiltration, Estimate/immune/stromal scores, immune checkpoints, immune and molecular subtypes, DNA repair genes and methyltransferase), clinical correlation, protein-protein interaction network and functional enrichment analysis were performed. In addition, experiments such as western blots were performed for validation. Results: Eight P2Ys were differentially expressed in most tumor and normal tissues, and their abnormal expression in a variety of cancers could significantly reduce the survival rate of patients. Expression levels of P2Ys, especially P2Y6, P2Y12, P2Y13, P2Y14, were correlated significantly with immune cells, immune checkpoint genes, immune and molecular subtypes and Estimate/immune/stromal scores in a variety of cancers such as uveal melanoma, liver hepatocellular carcinoma, stomach adenocarcinoma, colorectal cancer (CRC), prostate adenocarcinoma, breast invasive carcinoma and uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (all p < 0.05). P2Ys play an important role in TME and are involved in immune regulation. In addition, enrichment analysis and western blots showed that the levels of P2Y2 and P2Y6 expression regulate the Akt/GSK-3β/β-catenin pathway in CRC, thereby affecting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Conclusion: P2Ys may be used as potential pan-cancer biomarkers in prognosis and immunology. They may also be new targets for tumor immunotherapy, which has wide clinical implications

Prevalence of Pathological Germline Mutations of <em>hMLH1</em> and <em>hMSH2</em> Genes in Colorectal Cancer

<div><p>Abstract</p><p>The prevalence of pathological germline mutations in colorectal cancer has been widely studied, as germline mutations in the DNA mismatch repair genes <i>hMLH1</i> and <i>hMSH2</i> confer a high risk of colorectal cancer. However, because the sample size and population of previous studies are very different from each other, the conclusions still remain controversial. In this paper, Databases such as PubMed were applied to search for related papers. The data were imported into Comprehensive Meta-Analysis V2, which was used to estimate the weighted prevalence of <i>hMLH1</i> and <i>hMSH2</i> pathological mutations and compare the differences of prevalence among different family histories, ethnicities and related factors. This study collected and utilized data from 102 papers. In the Amsterdam-criteria positive group, the prevalence of pathological germline mutations of the <i>hMLH1</i> and <i>hMSH2</i> genes was 28.55% (95%CI 26.04%–31.19%) and 19.41% (95%CI 15.88%–23.51%), respectively, and the prevalence of germline mutations in <i>hMLH1</i>/<i>hMSH2</i> was 15.44%/10.02%, 20.43%/13.26% and 15.43%/11.70% in Asian, American multiethnic and European/Australian populations, respectively. Substitution mutations accounted for the largest proportion of germline mutations (<i>hMLH1</i>: 52.34%, <i>hMSH</i>2: 43.25%). The total prevalence of mutations of <i>hMLH1</i> and <i>hMSH2</i> in Amsterdam-criteria positive, Amsterdam-criteria negative and sporadic colorectal cancers was around 45%, 25% and 15%, respectively, and there were no obvious differences in the prevalence of germline mutations among different ethnicities.</p> </div