Toll‐like receptors (TLRs) are transmembrane components that sense danger signals, like damage‐ and pathogen‐associated molecular pattern molecules, as receptors, and maintain homeostasis in tissues. ...They are mainly involved in immune system activation through a variety of mediators, which either carry out (1) elimination of pathogenic threats and redressing homeostatic imbalances or (2) contribution to the initiation and worsening of pathological conditions, including cancers. Under physiological conditions, TLRs coordinate the innate and adaptive immunity, and inhibit autoimmune disorders. In pathological conditions, such as cancer, they can present both tumor and receptor‐specific roles. Although the roles of individual TLRs in various cancers have been described, the effects of targeting TLRs to treat cancer and prevent metastasis are still controversial. A growing body of literature has suggested contribution of both activators and inhibitors of TLR signaling pathway for cancer treatment, dependent on several context‐specific factors. In short, TLRs can play dual roles with contradictory outcomes in neoplastic conditions. This hampers the development of TLR‐based therapeutic interventions. A better understanding of the interwoven TLR pathways in cancerous microenvironment is necessary to design TLR‐based therapies. In this review, we consider the molecular mechanisms of TLRs signaling and their involvement in tumor progression. Therapeutic modalities targeting TLRs for cancer treatment are discussed as well.
The recent surge in the number of machines, appliances, and services connected to the Internet demands secure processing and transmission of sensory data. Authentication plays a crucial role in a ...typical security model used in the Internet of Things (IoT), and it protects data communications from various attacks, such as impersonation and denial of service, by verifying and allowing legitimate users to access the IoT resources. However, recent authentication literature has not addressed the need for developing a scalable and efficient authentication method in this field. This paper proposes a secure and anonymous ticket-based authentication method for the IoT. The proposed method protects the network from various security and privacy threats such as data alternation and denial of service while also offering mutual authentication and sensor anonymity. Our security and performance evaluations confirm the improvement.
A wireless sensor network (WSN) is a collection of sensor nodes that dynamically self-organize themselves into a wireless network without the utilization of any preexisting infrastructure. One of the ...major problems in WSNs is the energy consumption, whereby the network lifetime is dependent on this factor. In this paper, we propose an optimal routing protocol for WSN inspired by the foraging behavior of ants. The ants try to find existing paths between the source and base station. Furthermore, we have combined this behavior of ants with fuzzy logic in order for the ants to make the best decision. In other words, the fuzzy logic is applied to make the use of these paths optimal. Our algorithm uses the principles of the fuzzy ant colony optimization routing (FACOR) to develop a suitable problem solution. The performance of our routing algorithm is evaluated by Network Simulator 2 (NS2). The simulation results show that our algorithm optimizes the energy consumption amount, decreases the number of routing request packets, and increases the network lifetime in comparison with the original AODV.
Understanding the cause of structural damage and loss caused by surface faulting rupture requires research on the fault rupture-foundation interaction and geotechnical mitigation methods. The present ...study investigated the interaction of reverse-faulting surface rupture and a foundation system comprising a mat foundation and micropiles. The effects of the micropiles on the rotation of the foundation and rupture propagation was examined for different interaction mechanisms. The results suggested that the response was sensitive to the position of the foundation micropiles. It was found that the position of the foundation-micropile system relative to the rupture determined the type of interaction between the soil, rupture, micropiles, and foundation, which is significant for development of geotechnical mitigation methods.
Background: The restorative effect of classical music was assessed on the cyclophosphamide-induced animal model of premature ovarian failure (POF). Methods: Mozart's piano classical music (K.448) was ...used for up to 4 and 8 weeks. Rats were exposed to music 6 h every day using a stereo system with a volume of 65-70 dB. Sera and ovarian tissue samples were collected for the evaluation of FSH, LH, and E.sub.2 and histopathological examination. At the same time points, samples were taken from the hypothalamus and hippocampus to monitor the expression of Ntrk2, Crh, and Pomc using real-time PCR. Mating trial was performed to evaluate the fertility status of POF rats. Results: Histopathological examination revealed a significant increase (p < 0.05) in the numbers of morphologically normal follicles at all the developmental stages in POF rats after music therapy compared to the POF group (p < 0.05). Music therapy decreased FSH and LH levels to near-to-normal levels conidied with elevation of E.sub.2 (p < 0.05). Ntrk2, Crh, and Pomc expressions were down-regulated in POF rats. Music therapy increasaed the expression of Ntrk2 in the hypothalamus of POF rats (p < 0.05). In contrast, Crh and Pomc failed to reach the detection limit before intervention and four weeks after the intervention however, these genes were expressed eight weeks after music therapy. Fertility status was increased (p < 0.05) in terms of litter size in POF rats after being exposed to music compared to the non-treated POF control group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Results showed that music can exert therapeutic effects on POF rats via the alteration of sex-related hormones. Keywords: Premature ovarian failure, Music therapy, Sex-related hormones, Brain activity, Ovarian rejuvenation
Electrically conductive nanofibers were fabricated from elastic polyurethane (PU) and PU/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) nanocomposite by electrospinning method. The nanocomposites were ...electrospun at various MWCNTs loading. Electron microscopy was used to investigate nanofibers morphology and dispersion of MWCNTs in the electrospun nanofibers. The results showed that the presence of the MWCNTs promoted the creation of fibrous structures in comparison with the PU without MWCNTs. On the other hand, increasing the MWCNTs content resulted in a slight increase in the average fiber diameter. TEM micrographs and mechanical properties of the electrospun mats indicated that the homogeneous dispersion of MWCNTs throughout PU matrix is responsible for the considerable enhancement of mechanical properties of the nanofiber mats. Electrical behavior of the conductive mats was also studied, in view of possible sensor applications. Cyclic experiments were conducted to establish whether the electrical properties were reversible, which is an important requirement for sensor materials.
Proxy Mobile IPv6 is a network-based localized mobility management protocol that supports mobility without mobile nodes' participation in mobility signaling. The details of user authentication ...procedure are not specified in this standard, hence, many authentication schemes have been proposed for this standard. In 2013, Chuang et al., proposed an authentication method for PMIPv6, called SPAM. However, Chuang et al.'s Scheme protects the network against some security attacks, but it is still vulnerable to impersonation and password guessing attacks. In addition, we discuss other security drawbacks such as lack of revocation procedure in case of loss or stolen device, and anonymity issues of the Chuang et al.'s scheme. We further propose an enhanced authentication method to mitigate the security issues of SPAM method and evaluate our scheme using BAN logic.
Cloud computing is a new generation of technology which is designed to provide the commercial necessities, solve the IT management issues, and run the appropriate applications. Another entry on the ...list of cloud functions which has been handled internally is Identity Access Management (IAM). Companies encounter IAM as security challenges while adopting more technologies became apparent. Trust Multi-tenancy and trusted computing based on a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) are great technologies for solving the trust and security concerns in the cloud identity environment. Single sign-on (SSO) and OpenID have been released to solve security and privacy problems for cloud identity. This paper proposes the use of trusted computing, Federated Identity Management, and OpenID Web SSO to solve identity theft in the cloud. Besides, this proposed model has been simulated in .Net environment. Security analyzing, simulation, and BLP confidential model are three ways to evaluate and analyze our proposed model.
Offering substantial features, PMSG (permanent magnet synchronous generator) based WECS (wind energy conversion system) is definitely one of the most reliable and efficient ways of extracting ...electrical power from the wind. Like other WECSs, PMSG-based WECS (PMSG_WECS) encompasses two main control loops, each equipped with PI (proportional integral) controller, to control speed and currents of the system. This work develops a virtually adaptive PI controller to enhance the performance of both main control loops of a PMSG_WECS. A WNN (wavelet neural network) is proposed to be added to each closed control loop in series with PI controller. Due to having a cascade connection, the transfer function of the WNN, which is a pure gain in each time step, is multiplied by PI gains. Therefore, the value of transfer function of the WNN, and consequently, both parameters of PI controller can be changed in each time step by online training of the WNN, resulting in a virtually adaptive PI controller. The performance of the proposed controller in improving efficacy of both current and speed control loops is evaluated by simulation studies and is also compared to that of PI controller, WNNC (wavelet neural network controller), and QNNC (quantum neural network controller).
•To propose a virtually adaptive PI controller to be used in a PMSG_WECS.•Both parameters of PI controller can be changed in each time step.•The proposed controller can be used as both current or speed controller.•The plant data is not required for offline training of proposed current controller.
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