Bounding the inefficiency of the C-logit stochastic user equilibrium assignment

Compared with standard logit-based stochastic user equilibrium assignment model, the C-logit model describes route choice behavior in a more realistic way by considering the overlapping effect between routes. This paper investigates the inefficiency upper bounds of this model against the deterministic system optimum and the C-logit stochastic system optimum in terms of the total network travel time. It is found that the commonality factor of overlapping routes significantly affects the inefficiency bound, besides link congestion degree, total demand and the number of feasible routes. If the commonality factor is not considered, the efficiency loss resulting from selfishly stochastic travel behavior will be to large extent underestimated.     

铝制沐浴水热回收器的初步设计

对一种新型的铝制沐浴水热回收器进行初步设计。该沐浴水热回收器具有成本低,回收效率高等优点。介绍其工作原理,并以某三口之家为例,计算该热回收器的节能效益。结合沐浴水余热使用情况不合理的现状,讨论其发展前景。     

Carbon nanotubes as anti-bacterial agents

Multidrug-resistant bacterial infections that have evolved via natural selection have increased alarmingly at a global level. Thus, there is a strong need for the development of novel antibiotics for the treatment of these infections. Functionalized carbon nanotubes through their unique properties hold great promise in the fight against multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. This new family of nanovectors for therapeutic delivery proved to be innovative and efficient for the transport and cellular translocation of therapeutic molecules. The current review examines the latest progress in the antibacterial activity of carbon nanotubes and their composites.     

Cobalt doped titanate nanotubes: Synthesis and properties

Cobalt oxide doped titanate nanotubes are synthesized with a simple hydrothermal treatment of mixed Co_3O_4 and TiO_2 powders. The formed tubular nanostructure, chemical composition,and the elemental distribution are analyzed using TEM, BET, FTIR, XRD, and XPS. The electrocatalytic activity towards oxygen evolution reactions and photodegradation against Rhodamine B are investigated. It has been found out that the oxygen evolutions starts at 0.8 V and reaches 0.98 mA ·cm~(–1) at 1.4 V vs. SCE. For photodegradation of Rhodamine B, the concentration decreased to 24% after 1 h irradiation using the sample with a mass percentage of 5% cobalt. The results demonstrate that the cobalt oxide doped titanate nanotubes are good candidates as electrocatalysts and photocatalytic materials.     

Secure pairing with wearable devices by using ambient sound and light

Wearable devices usually work together with smart phones. To ensure only legitimate smart phones can read the data, they must conduct pairing to establish a shared key. Traditional pairing methods require that the pairing devices have a keyboard or screen for user interaction. However, due to the size limitation, keyboards or screens are hard to be installed in the wearable devices. To solve this problem, we propose a novel pairing method by using ambient sound and light. In this new scheme, any pairing request from smart phone will trigger wearable device vibration. Only after users press the confirm key on the device can the pairing process continues. Then pairing devices collect ambient sound and light at the predetermined time and establish a shared key by using the Diffie-Hellman protocol. To protect against potential man-in-the-middle attacks in the key establishment process, an improved interlock protocol with sound and light comparison is conducted to authenticate the key. If both the sound and light collected by the pairing devices are similar enough, the key is accepted. Otherwise, it is rejected. Compared with current context based pairing methods, our scheme does not impose strict synchronization on devices to collect ambient context data. Moreover, our scheme need not collect and exchange contextual information for multiple times to resist offline brute force attacks. The experimental results and security analysis prove the effectiveness of our scheme.     

Tyrosine 842 in the activation loop is required for full transformation by the oncogenic mutant FLT3-ITD

The type III receptor tyrosine kinase FLT3 is frequently mutated in acute myeloid leukemia. Oncogenic FLT3 mutants display constitutive activity leading to aberrant cell proliferation and survival. Phosphorylation on several critical tyrosine residues is known to be essential for FLT3 signaling. Among these tyrosine residues, Y842 is located in the so-called activation loop. The position of this tyrosine residue is well conserved in all receptor tyrosine kinases. It has been reported that phosphorylation of the activation loop tyrosine is critical for catalytic activity for some but not all receptor tyrosine kinases. The role of Y842 residue in FLT3 signaling has not yet been studied. In this report, we show that Y842 is not important for FLT3 activation or ubiquitination but plays a critical role in regulating signaling downstream of the receptor as well as controlling receptor stability. We found that mutation of Y842 in the FLT3-ITD oncogenic mutant background reduced cell viability and increased apoptosis. Furthermore, the introduction of the Y842 mutation in the FLT3-ITD background led to a dramatic reduction in in vitro colony forming capacity. Additionally, mice injected with cells expressing FLT3-ITD/Y842F displayed a significant delay in tumor formation, compared to FLT3-ITD expressing cells. Microarray analysis comparing gene expression regulated by FLT3-ITD versus FLT3-ITD/Y842F demonstrated that mutation of Y842 causes suppression of anti-apoptotic genes. Furthermore, we showed that cells expressing FLT3-ITD/Y842F display impaired activity of the RAS/ERK pathway due to reduced interaction between FLT3 and SHP2 leading to reduced SHP2 activation. Thus, we suggest that Y842 is critical for FLT3-mediated RAS/ERK signaling and cellular transformation.     

本科教学中逻辑性课程《纳米材料》的主线设计探索

《纳米材料》课程主要讲解纳米材料的结构与性能之间关系的概念与理论,这种定位决定了纳米材料课应采用逻辑教学法.在这种方法下需找到课程逻辑起点,然后沿着起点设计出一条课程主线,建立课程理论体系,从而合理承接培养方案中的课程群.在《纳米材料》中,纳米结构就是逻辑起点,主线就是"结构与性能"的关系.故该门课程应按"结构和性能"这条主线展开.对现行纳米材料课程内容进行分析,大部分内容均可用主线串联起来.该方法为类似的逻辑性课程教学方法改革以及在课程章节内容之间建立逻辑关联提供借鉴.