Liver Damage in Patients with HCV/HIV Coinfection Is Linked to HIV-Related Oxidative Stress

HIV infection aggravates the progression of liver damage in HCV-coinfected patients, with the underlying pathogenesis being multifactorial. Although high level of oxidative stress has been observed frequently in patients infected with HIV or HCV, the status of oxidative stress in HIV/HCV coinfection and its contribution to HCV liver damage have not been determined. This study involved 363 HBsAg-negative, anti-HCV-positive former blood donors recruited from a village in central China in July 2005; of these, 140 were positive for HIV. Of these 363 subjects, 282 were successfully followed up through July 2009. HIV/HCV-coinfected subjects had higher rates of end-stage liver disease-related death than those monoinfected with HCV. Liver ultrasound manifestations were poor in HIV-positive than in HIV-negative individuals, in both chronic HCV carriers and those with resolved HCV. Serum concentrations of total glutathione (tGSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), GSSG, and reduced GSH were higher in HIV-positive than HIV-negative subjects. GSSG concentrations were higher in HIV-infected subjects with abnormal ALT/AST levels than in those with normal ALT/AST levels and were associated with poorer liver ultrasound manifestations. These finding indicated that HIV infection accelerated HCV-associated liver damage in HIV/HCV-coinfected individuals. Increased oxidative stress, induced primarily by HIV coinfection, may contribute to aggravated liver damage

Optimization of Three-dimensional Face Recognition Algorithms in Financial Identity Authentication

Identity authentication is one of the most basic components in the computer network world. It is the key technology of information security. It plays an important role in the protection of system and data security. Biometric recognition technology provides a reliable and convenient way for identity authentication. Compared with other biometric recognition technologies, face recognition has become a hot research topic because of its convenience, friendliness and easy acceptance. With the maturity and progress of face recognition technology, its commercial application has become more and more widespread. Internet finance, e-commerce and other asset-related areas have begun to try to use face recognition technology as a means of authentication, so people’s security needs for face recognition systems are also increasing. However, as a biometric recognition system, face recognition system still has inherent security vulnerabilities and faces security threats such as template attack and counterfeit attack. In view of this, this paper studies the application of threedimensional face recognition algorithm in the field of financial identity authentication. On the basis of feature extraction of face information using neural network algorithm, K-L transform is applied to image high-dimensional vector mapping to make face recognition clearer. Thus, the image loss can be reduced

Observation of strong attenuation within the photonic band gap of multiconnected networks

We theoretically and experimentally study a photonic band gap (PBG) material made of coaxial cables. The coaxial cables are waveguides for the electromagnetic waves and provide paths for direct wave interference within the material. Using multiconnected coaxial cables to form a unit cell, we realize PBGs via (i) direct interference between the waveguides within each cell and (ii) scattering among different cells. We systematically investigate the transmission of EM waves in our PBG materials and discuss the mechanism of band gap formation. We observe experimentally for the first time the wide band gap with strong attenuation caused by direct destructive interference

The next widespread bamboo flowering poses a massive risk to the giant panda

The IUCN Red List has downgraded several species from “endangered” to “vulnerable” that still have largely unknown extinction risks. We consider one of those downgraded species, the giant panda, a bamboo specialist. Massive bamboo flowering could be a natural disaster for giant pandas. Using scenario analysis, we explored possible impacts of the next bamboo flowering in the Qinling and Minshan Mountains that are home to most giant pandas. Our results showed that the Qinling Mountains could experience large-scale bamboo flowering leading to a high risk of widespread food shortages for the giant pandas by 2020. The Minshan Mountains could similarly experience a large-scale bamboo flowering with a high risk for giant pandas between 2020 and 2030 without suitable alternative habitat in the surrounding areas. These scenarios highlight thus-far unforeseen dangers of conserving giant pandas in a fragmented habitat. We recommend advance measures to protect giant panda from severe population crashes when flowering happens. This study also suggests the need to anticipate and manage long-term risks to other downgraded species

The impacts of extreme marine weather and marine scientific and technological innovation on marine economic development: Evidence form China’s coastal regions

The extreme marine weather is a very vital factor and has important implications for of marine economic development. However, there is a lack of systematic and quantitative analyses of its impact on the marine economic development. Here, we study the impacts of extreme marine weather on marine economic development of 11 coastal regions in China, using the dynamic panel model. We found that extreme marine weather exerts a significant negative impact on the marine economic development. The marine scientific and technological innovation promotes marine economic development in a prominent manner. The marine scientific and technological innovation slows down the unfavorable impact of extreme marine weather on the marine economy. After considering different industries for marine economic development and heterogeneity, we found that extreme marine weather and marine scientific and technological innovation have a great impact on marine economic development in the tertiary industry and the areas with high development concerning marine economy level, while deliver a small impact on the marine economic development in the primary industry and the areas low development level. This paper empirically studies the relationship between the two variables of marine extreme weather and marine science and technology innovation and its impact on marine economic development, enriches the research perspective of extreme weather on marine economic development, and provides new method evidence for improving the level of marine scientific and technological innovation and promoting the development of marine economy

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure fl ux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defi ned as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (inmost higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium ) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the fi eld understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation it is imperative to delete or knock down more than one autophagy-related gene. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways so not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field

Anonymous Methods Based on Multi-Attribute Clustering and Generalization Constraints

The dissemination and sharing of data sheets in IoT applications presents privacy and security challenges that can be addressed using the k-anonymization algorithm. However, this method needs improvement, for example, in areas related to its overgeneralization and its insufficient attribute diversity constraints during the anonymization process. To address these issues, this study proposes a multi-attribute clustering and generalization constraints (k,l)-anonymization method that can be applied to multidimensional data tables. The algorithm first used a greedy strategy to rank the attributes by width first, derived the division into dimensions to construct a multidimensional generalization hierarchy, and then selected the attributes with the most significant width values as the priority generalization attributes. Next, the k-nearest neighbor (KNN) clustering method was introduced to determine the initial clustering center by the width-first results, divide the quasi-identifier attributes into KNN clusters according to a distance metric, and generalize the quasi-identifier attributes in the equivalence class using a hierarchical generalization structure. Then, the proposed method re-evaluated the attributes to be generalized before each generalization operation. Finally, the algorithm employed an improved frequency–diversity constraint to generalize sensitive attributes in order to ensure that there were at least l records that were mutually dissimilar and closest in the equivalence class. While limiting the frequency threshold for the occurrence of sensitive attributes, the sensitive attribute values remained similar within the group, thus achieving protection of anonymity for all the attributes

Factors Influencing the Coupling of the Development of Rural Urbanization and Rural Finance: Evidence from Rural China

This study empirically analyzes factors influencing the coupling and coordinated development of rural urbanization and rural finance. For this purpose, the study employs the coupling degree model and develops a panel quantile model to estimate the coupling degree and coupling coordination degree of rural urbanization and rural finance. Accordingly, the study presents panel data comprising 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in China from 2010 to 2019. The empirical results reveal that the coupling degree of rural urbanization and rural finance is relatively low in most study areas. This result suggests that rural urbanization and rural financial development in most provinces in China have not exhibited coordinated development. Further, the results reveal that urban population density negatively affects the coupling and coordination degree of rural urbanization and rural finance. Moreover, the effects of urban population density are more significant in areas with a low coupling coordination degree compared with those with a higher coupling coordination degree. An increase in the quantile gradually decreases the effect of the proportion of educational expenditure to GDP on the degree of rural urbanization and rural financial coupling coordination. However, the effect of financial development efficiency increases accordingly. The per capita GDP, per capita fiscal expenditure, and per capita built-up area significantly affect all the quantiles, indicating a positive correlation. This correlation can promote the coupling and coordinated development of rural urbanization and rural finance. In areas with a low coupling coordination degree, the financial development scale significantly positively affects the coupling coordination degree of rural urbanization and rural finance. In areas with a high coupling coordination degree, the financial development scale significantly negatively correlates with the coupling coordination degree. In addition, a positive correlation exists between the financial development structure and the coupling coordination degree of rural urbanization and rural finance