An Enhanced Privacy-Aware Authentication Scheme for Distributed Mobile Cloud Computing Services

( Ling Xiong ),( Daiyuan Peng ),( Tu Peng ),( Hongbin Liang ) 한국인터넷정보학회 2017 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.11 No.12

With the fast growth of mobile services, Mobile Cloud Computing(MCC) has gained a great deal of attention from researchers in the academic and industrial field. User authentication and privacy are significant issues in MCC environment. Recently, Tsai and Lo proposed a privacy-aware authentication scheme for distributed MCC services, which claimed to support mutual authentication and user anonymity. However, Irshad et.al. pointed out this scheme cannot achieve desired security goals and improved it. Unfortunately, this paper shall show that security features of Irshad et.al.’s scheme are achieved at the price of multiple time-consuming operations, such as three bilinear pairing operations, one map-to-point hash function operation, etc. Besides, it still suffers from two minor design flaws, including incapability of achieving three-factor security and no user revocation and re-registration. To address these issues, an enhanced and provably secure authentication scheme for distributed MCC services will be designed in this work. The proposed scheme can meet all desirable security requirements and is able to resist against various kinds of attacks. Moreover, compared with previously proposed schemes, the proposed scheme provides more security features while achieving lower computation and communication costs.

Inhibitory effect of raspberry ketone on α-glucosidase: Docking simulation integrating inhibition kinetics

Xiong, Shang-Ling,Yue, Li-Mei,Lim, Gyu Tae,Yang, Jun-Mo,Lee, Jinhyuk,Park, Yong-Doo Elsevier 2018 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES Vol.113 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Inhibition of α-glucosidase is directly associated with treatment of type 2 diabetes. In this regard, we conducted enzyme kinetics integrated with computational docking simulation to assess the inhibitory effect of raspberry ketone (RK) on α-glucosidase. RK bound to the active site of α-glucosidase and interacted with several key residues such as ASP68, TYR71, HIS111, PHE157, PHE158, PHE177, GLN181, ASP214, THR215, ASP349, ASP408, and ARG439, as detected by protein-ligand docking simulation. Subsequently, we confirmed the action of RK on α-glucosidase as the non-competitive type of inhibition in a reversible and rapidly binding manner. The relevant kinetic parameters were <I>IC</I> <SUB>50</SUB> =6.17±0.46mM and <I>K</I> <SUB> <I>i</I> </SUB> =7.939±0.211mM. Regarding the structure-activity relationship, the higher concentration of RK induced slight modulation of the shape of the active site as monitored by hydrophobic exposure. The tertiary conformational change was linked to RK inhibition, and mostly involved regional changes of the active site. Our study provides insight into the functional role of RK due to its structural property of a hydroxyphenyl ring that interacts with the active site of α-glucosidase. We suggest that similar hydroxyphenyl ring compounds targeting the key residues of the active site might be potential α-glucosidase inhibitors.</P>

The inhibitory effect of pyrogallol on tyrosinase activity and structure: Integration study of inhibition kinetics with molecular dynamics simulation

Xiong, Shang-Ling,Lim, Gyu Tae,Yin, Shang-Jun,Lee, Jinhyuk,Si, Yue-Xiu,Yang, Jun-Mo,Park, Yong-Doo,Qian, Guo-Ying Elsevier 2019 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES Vol.121 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Pyrogallol is naturally found in aquatic plant and has been proposed as a substrate of tyrosinase. In this study, we evaluated the dual effect of pyrogallol on tyrosinase as an inhibitor in the presence of L‑DOPA simultaneously via integrating methods of enzyme kinetics and computational molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Pyrogallol was found to be a reversible inhibitor of tyrosinase in the presence of L‑DOPA and its induced mechanism was the parabolic non-competitive inhibition type (<I>IC</I> <SUB>50</SUB> = 0.772 ± 0.003 mM and <I>K</I> <SUB>i</SUB> = 0.529 ± 0.022 mM). Kinetic measurements by real-time interval assay showed that pyrogallol induced rapid inactivation process composing with slight activations at the low dose. Spectrofluorimetry studies showed that pyrogallol mainly induced regional changes in the active site of tyrosinase accompanying with hydrophobic disruption at high dose. The computational MD simulations further revealed that pyrogallol could interact with several residues near the tyrosinase active site pocket such as HIS61, HIS85, HIS259, ASN260, HIS263, VAL283, and ALA296. Our study provides insight into the mechanism by which hydroxyl group composing pyrogallol inhibit tyrosinase and pyrogallol is a potential natural anti-pigmentation agent.</P>

Comparative RNA-seq analysis and ceRNA network of genistein-treated GT1-7 neurons

Xiong Jingyuan,Tian Ye,Ma Guochen,Ling Aru,Shan Shufang,Cheng Guo 대한독성 유전단백체 학회 2023 Molecular & cellular toxicology Vol.19 No.3

Background Genistein is an isofl avone and phytoestrogen originated from soybean and soy products. Due to the close structural and functional proximity towards 17β-estradiol, genistein has been suggested to infl uence endocrine and reproductive systems. Previous studies showed that genistein could aff ect hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal (HPG) axis and impact gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion in hypothalamic GT1-7 neurons. However, the underlying mechanism remains mostly unknown. Objectives Comparative transcriptomic analyses of mRNAs, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) were performed in genistein-treated GT1-7 cells by high-throughput RNA sequencing. Competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks were constructed based on potential interactions in lncRNAs, miRNAs and mRNAs. Results Compared to the control, 1134, 1126 and 30 diff erentially expressed mRNA, lncRNA and miRNAs were identifi ed. The most signifi cantly upregulated mRNA was growth-regulating estrogen receptor binding 1 ( Greb1 ), possibly related to the increased levels of estrogen receptors ( Esr1 and Esr2 ). Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses demonstrated that genistein interfered with cell cycle, metabolic processes, as well as GnRH and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways in GT1-7 cells. CeRNA networks predicted that prostatic cancer-related miRNA mmu-miR-212-5p and its targeted genes Phf2 and Aldh3b1 might be associated with the regulation of genisteininduced GnRH secretion in GT1-7 cells, and 27 lncRNAs could completely interact with mmu-miR-212-5p and downregulate the transcription of target genes. Conclusion Results from the study could provide potential targets of both mRNA and non-coding RNAs for further studies to explore the endocrine-interfering eff ects of genistein.

Pokemon Inhibits Transforming Growth Factor β-Smad4-Related Cell Proliferation Arrest in Breast Cancer through Specificity Protein 1

Ling Chen,Jing Zhong,Jiang-Hua Liu,Duan-Fang Liao,Ying-Ying Shen,Xiao-Lin Zhong,Xiao Xiao,Wen-Jun Ding,Xiu-Da Peng,Wei Xiong,Xu-Yu Zu 한국유방암학회 2019 Journal of breast cancer Vol.22 No.1

Purpose: Pokemon, also known as ZBTB7A, belongs to the POZ and Krüppel (POK) family of transcription repressors and is implicated in tumor progression as a key proto-oncogene. This present study aimed at determining the mechanism by which Pokemon inhibits transforming growth factor β (TGFβ)-Smad4 pathway-dependent proliferation arrest of breast cancer cells via specificity protein 1 (SP1). Methods: Over-expressing plasmid or small interfering RNA (siRNA) transfection was used to regulate Pokemon levels. The EdU incorporation assay, MTS assay, and clone formation were used to identify the inhibitory effect of Pokemon siRNA on cell proliferation. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assay confirmed that Pokemon deletion inhibited the expression of proliferation-associated genes. The dual-luciferase reporter assay, electrophoretic mobility shift assay, and co-immunoprecipitation assay were used to analyze binding between Pokemon, Smad4, and SP1. Results: Pokemon deletion induced proliferation arrest of breast cancer cells and inhibited the expression of proliferation-associated genes, especially Smad4. Pokemon bound with SP1 to interdict Smad4 promoter activity. Information on clinical samples was obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas data, in which the Pokemon mRNA levels showed a negative correlation with Smad4 levels in different subtypes of breast cancer in two independent datasets. Conclusion: We demonstrated that Pokemon binds to SP1 to down-regulate Smad4 expression, thereby promoting proliferation of breast cancer cells. This suggests that Pokemon is a potential TGFβ-signaling participant in breast cancer progression.

Hierarchical Parameter Estimation for the Frequency Response Based on the Dynamical Window Data

Ling Xu,Weili Xiong,Ahmed Alsaedi,Tasawar Hayat 제어·로봇·시스템학회 2018 International Journal of Control, Automation, and Vol.16 No.4

This paper studies the problem of parameter estimation for frequency response signals. For a linear system, the frequency response is a sine signal with the same frequency as the input sine signal. When a multifrequency sine signal is applied to a system, the system response also is a multi-frequency sine signal. The signal modeling for multi-frequency sine signals is very difficult due to the highly nonlinear relations between the characteristic parameters and the model output. In order to obtain the parameter estimates of the multi-frequency sine signal, the signal modeling methods based on statistical identification are proposed by means of the dynamical window discrete measured data. By constructing a criterion function with respect to the model parameters to be estimated, a hierarchical multi-innovation stochastic gradient estimation method is derived through parameter decomposition. Moreover, the forgetting factor and the convergence factor are introduced to improve the performance of the algorithm. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

The use of a simple flow cytometry method for rapid detection of spores in probiotic Bacillus licheniformis-containing tablets

Xiao-Ling Zheng,Zhi-Qiang Xiong,Jie-Qun Wu 한국식품과학회 2017 Food Science and Biotechnology Vol.26 No.1

Detection of the number of vegetative cells and endospores is necessary for quality control during the production of orally administered probiotic Bacillus licheniformis-containing tablets (BCT). However, there is no standard method for the rapid detection of vegetative cells and endospores in China. In this study, a simple flow cytometry (FCM) method was used to monitor the population dynamics of BCT. Using a specific fluorescent stain, SYBR green I, flow cytometric analysis could easily differentiate two morphological states of B. licheniformis. Compared with plate count assay (PCA) for determining the number of vegetative cells and endospores, the percentage of endospores determined by FCM was ~10% higher than that by PCA. Advantages of the FCM method over conventional methods include lower labor work, shorter detection time, and higher accuracy. Therefore, this simple FCM method could be a practical tool for monitoring quality control during the production of probiotic BCT

Expression Profiles of Class A Rice Heat Shock Transcription Factor Genes Under Abiotic Stresses

Ai-Ling Liu,Jie Zou,Xian-Wen Zhang,Xiao-Yun Zhou,Wen-Fang Wang,Xing-Yao Xiong,Li-Yun Chen,Xin-Bo Chen 한국식물학회 2010 Journal of Plant Biology Vol.53 No.2

Expression profiles of 12 class A rice heat shock transcription factor genes (OsHsfAs) were analyzed by semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The OsHsfA genes exhibited tissue-specific expressions under normal condition. OsHsfA1a, A2d, and A9 were predominantly expressed in young spike. Expression responses of the 12 OsHsfAs under abiotic stresses were analyzed in the shoots of rice seedling. Most OsHsfA genes responded quickly to heat stress except for OsHsfA1a, A3,and A9 which were almost unaffected. In particular,OsHsfA2a expression in response to heat stress was highest among the heat shock factors examined. However, the majority of the increased OsHsfAs expression responses to salt, polyethylene glycol (PEG), and cold treatments primarily occurred during the later stages (3 to 24 h) of stress exposure. Furthermore, most of OsHsfA gene expressions were little affected and only a few (OsHsfA3, A4d, A7,and A9) genes had slow responses to cold treatment. The results indicate that the transcript levels of OsHsfAs during heat stress exposure were distinct from those of plants subjected to salt, PEG, and cold stresses, suggesting that there might be different regulatory networks between heat and non-heat stress.

Steel and FRP double-tube confined RAC columns under compression: Comparative study and stress-strain model

Ming-Xiang Xiong,Guangming Chen,Yue-Ling Long,Hairui Cui,Yaoming Liu 국제구조공학회 2022 Steel and Composite Structures, An International J Vol.43 No.2

Recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) is rarely used in load-carrying structural members. To widen its structural application, the compressive behavior of a promising type of composite column, steel-fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) doubletube confined RAC column, has been experimentally and analytically investigated in this study. The objectives are the different performance of such columns from their counterparts using natural aggregate concrete (NAC) and the different mechanisms of the double-tube and single-tube confined concrete. The single-tube confined concrete refers to that in concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns and concrete-filled FRP tubular (CFFT) columns. The test results showed that the use of recycled coarse aggregates (RCA) affected the axial load-strain response in terms of deformation capacity but such effect could be eliminated with the increasing confinement. The composite effect can be triggered by the double confinement of the steel and carbon FRP (CFRP) tubes but not by the steel and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) FRP tubes. The proposed analysis-oriented stress-strain model is capable to capture the load-deformation history of such steel-FRP double-tube confined concrete columns under axial compression.

Self-Rated Health Status and Risk of Incident Stroke in 0.5 Million Chinese Adults: The China Kadoorie Biobank Study

Wenhong Dong,Xiong-Fei Pan,Canqing Yu,Jun Lv,Yu Guo,Zheng Bian,Ling Yang,Yiping Chen,Tangchun Wu,Zhengming Chen,An Pan,Liming Li 대한뇌졸중학회 2018 Journal of stroke Vol.20 No.2

Background and purpose Self-rated health (SRH) is a consistent and strong predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in various populations. However, the associations between SRH measures and risk of first-ever or recurrent stroke were rarely explored. We thus aim to prospectively investigate the associations between SRH measures and risk of total and subtypes of stroke in Chinese population. Methods A total of 494,113 participants from the China Kadoorie Biobank without prior heart diseases or cancer (486,541 without stroke and 7,572 with stroke) were followed from baseline (2004 to 2008) until December 31, 2013. General and age-comparative SRH were obtained from baseline questionnaires. First-ever stroke or recurrent events were ascertained through linkage to disease registry system and health insurance data. Results We identified 27,662 first-ever stroke and 2,909 recurrent events during an average of 7.0 years of follow-up. Compared with excellent general SRH, the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for first-ever stroke associated with good, fair, and poor general SRH were 1.04 (1.00 to 1.08), 1.19 (1.15 to 1.23), and 1.49 (1.42 to 1.56) in the multivariate model, respectively. Compared with better age-comparative SRH, the HRs (95% CIs) of same and worse age-comparative SRH were 1.13 (1.10 to 1.17) and 1.51 (1.45 to 1.58), respectively. The relations of SRH measures with ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, and recurrent stroke were similar to that with total first-ever stroke. However, the magnitude of associations was much stronger for fatal stroke than for non-fatal stroke. Conclusions This large-scale prospective cohort suggests that self-perceived health status is associated with incident stroke, regardless of stroke subtype.