A Secure Hybrid Duplex Relay System with Joint Optimization of Finite Blocklength and Power

As mission-critical Internet of Things (MC-IoT) is expected to carry important and private information, its high quality of service (QoS) and high physical layer (PHY) security are indispensable. Nevertheless, most existing PHY security related work is built on the assumption of infinite blocklength, which is not applicable to finite blocklength (FBL) transmission, a typical scenario in MC-IoT such as factory automation. In this paper, we address the PHY security issue of a hybrid duplex relay aided MC-IoT system with FBL. Closed-form expressions for statistical secrecy throughput of full-duplex (FD) and half-duplex (HD) relay systems are derived, respectively, which are verified by numerical results. Based on the closed-form secrecy throughput, joint optimization of blocklength and transmission powers at source and relay is conducted for FD and HD relay systems, respectively. A hybrid duplex relaying scheme is also proposed by selecting the duplex mode with a higher achievable secrecy throughput. Numerical results show that, together with the hybrid relaying scheme, the proposed relay system with joint power allocation and blocklength adaptation, relay mode selection achieves much higher secrecy throughput over the conventional sole FD or HD mode relaying systems. Also, it is revealed that increasing blocklength or transmitting power may not always lead to a higher secrecy throughput and energy efficiency (EE)

Regulations of the key mediators in inflammation and atherosclerosis by Aspirin in human macrophages

Although its role to prevent secondary cardiovascular complications has been well established, how acetyl salicylic acid (ASA, aspirin) regulates certain key molecules in the atherogenesis is still not known. Considering the role of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) to destabilize the atherosclerotic plaques, the roles of the scavenger receptor class BI (SR-BI) and ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) to promote cholesterol efflux in the foam cells at the plaques, and the role of NF-κB in the overall inflammation related to the atherosclerosis, we addressed whether these molecules are all related to a common mechanism that may be regulated by acetyl salicylic acid. We investigated the effect of ASA to regulate the expressions and activities of these molecules in THP-1 macrophages. Our results showed that ASA inhibited MMP-9 mRNA expression, and caused the decrease in the MMP-9 activities from the cell culture supernatants. In addition, it inhibited the nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65 subunit, thus the activity of this inflammatory molecule. On the contrary, acetyl salicylic acid induced the expressions of ABCA1 and SR-BI, two molecules known to reduce the progression of atherosclerosis, at both mRNA and protein levels. It also stimulated the cholesterol efflux out of macrophages. These data suggest that acetyl salicylic acid may alleviate symptoms of atherosclerosis by two potential mechanisms: maintaining the plaque stability via inhibiting activities of inflammatory molecules MMP-9 and NF-κB, and increasing the cholesterol efflux through inducing expressions of ABCA1 and SR-BI

Use of MicroRNA Let-7 to Control the Replication Specificity of Oncolytic Adenovirus in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

Highly selective therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains an unmet medical need. In present study, we found that the tumor suppressor microRNA, let-7 was significantly downregulated in a proportion of primary HCC tissues (12 of 33, 36.4%) and HCC cell lines. In line with this finding, we have engineered a chimeric Ad5/11 fiber oncolytic adenovirus, SG7011let7T, by introducing eight copies of let-7 target sites (let7T) into the 3′ untranslated region of E1A, a key gene associated with adenoviral replication. The results showed that the E1A expression (both RNA and protein levels) of the SG7011let7T was tightly regulated according to the endogenous expression level of the let-7. As contrasted with the wild-type adenovirus and the control virus, the replication of SG7011let7T was distinctly inhibited in normal liver cells lines (i.e. L-02 and WRL-68) expressing high level of let-7 (>300 folds), whereas was almost not impaired in HCC cells (i.e. Hep3B and PLC/PRF/5) with low level of let-7. Consequently, the cytotoxicity of SG7011let7T to normal liver cells was successfully decreased while was almost not attenuated in HCC cells in vitro. The antitumor ability of SG7011let7T in vivo was maintained in mice with Hep3B xenograft tumor, whereas was greatly decreased against the SMMC-7721 xenograft tumor expressing a high level of let-7 similar with L-02 when compared to the wild-type adenovirus. These results suggested that SG7011let7T may be a promising anticancer agent or vector to mediate the expression of therapeutic gene, broadly applicable in the treatment for HCC and other cancers where the let-7 gene is downregulated

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data