Understanding the asymmetric perceptions of smartphone security from security feature perspective: A comparative study

Smartphones are being used and relied on by people more than ever before. The open connectivity brings with it great convenience and leads to a variety of risks that cannot be overlooked. Smartphone vendors, security policy designers, and security application providers have put a variety of practical efforts to secure smartphones, and researchers have conducted extensive research on threat sources, security techniques, and user security behaviors. Regrettably, smartphone users do not pay enough attention to mobile security, making many efforts futile. This study identifies this gap between technology affordance and user requirements, and attempts to investigate the asymmetric perceptions toward security features between developers and users, between users and users, as well as between different security features. These asymmetric perceptions include perceptions of quality, perceptions of importance, and perceptions of satisfaction. After scoping the range of smartphone security features, this study conducts an improved Kano-based method and exhaustively analyzes the 245 collected samples using correspondence analysis and importance satisfaction analysis. The 14 security features of the smartphone are divided into four Kano quality types and the perceived quality differences between developers and users are compared. Correspondence analysis is utilized to capture the relationship between the perceived importance of security features across different groups of respondents, and results of importance-satisfaction analysis provide the basis for the developmental path and resource reallocation strategy of security features. This article offers new insights for researchers as well as practitioners of smartphone security.     

磁性硅铁载铜吸附Hg0动力学机制及密度泛函研究

采用粉末冶金法将纳米单质铜(Cu⁰)、硅铁(FeSi)、四氧化三铁硅涂层(Fe₃O₄@SiO₂)混合煅烧并制备出新型磁性硅铁载铜吸附剂MagFeSi-Cu⁰。实验研究不同烟气温度下MagFeSi-Cu⁰的汞吸附能力基础上,结合颗粒内扩散模型、准二阶动力学模型、Elovich模型及Bangham模型分析了MagFeSi-Cu⁰吸附Hg⁰过程的主要控制步骤。在此基础上,依据密度泛函理论(DFT)研究了不同反应温度下FeSi表面Cu⁰原子与Hg⁰原子的汞齐作用机制。研究结果表明,Bangham模型的拟合值与MagFeSi-Cu⁰汞吸附实验值拟合度最高,MagFeSi-Cu⁰表面痕量Hg⁰吸附由汞的外扩散和表面铜汞齐吸附共同控制;通过密度泛函计算,发现Cu⁰颗粒表面Cu-Hg齐吸附能为-0.534 eV,当烟气温度从80℃上升至200℃时,Hg⁰原子与单质Cu原子的吸附自由能从-22.47 kJ/mol下降至-13.96 kJ/mol,这些结果为深入了解Hg⁰在Cu(111)表面的反应机理提供了理论基础。     

Mitochondrial and Autophagic Regulation of Adult Neurogenesis in the Healthy and Diseased Brain

Adult neurogenesis is a highly regulated process during which new neurons are generated from neural stem cells in two discrete regions of the adult brain: the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricle and the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus in the hippocampus. Defects of adult hippocampal neurogenesis have been linked to cognitive decline and dysfunction during natural aging and in neurodegenerative diseases, as well as psychological stress-induced mood disorders. Understanding the mechanisms and pathways that regulate adult neurogenesis is crucial to improving preventative measures and therapies for these conditions. Accumulating evidence shows that mitochondria directly regulate various steps and phases of adult neurogenesis. This review summarizes recent findings on how mitochondrial metabolism, dynamics, and reactive oxygen species control several aspects of adult neural stem cell function and their differentiation to newborn neurons. It also discusses the importance of autophagy for adult neurogenesis, and how mitochondrial and autophagic dysfunction may contribute to cognitive defects and stress-induced mood disorders by compromising adult neurogenesis. Finally, I suggest possible ways to target mitochondrial function as a strategy for stem cell-based interventions and treatments for cognitive and mood disorders.     

Exploring Molecular Contacts of MUC1 at CIN85 Binding Interface to Address Future Drug Design Efforts

The modulation of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) by small molecules represents a valuable strategy for pharmacological intervention in several human diseases. In this context, computer-aided drug discovery techniques offer useful resources to predict the network of interactions governing the recognition process between protein partners, thus furnishing relevant information for the design of novel PPI modulators. In this work, we focused our attention on the MUC1-CIN85 complex as a crucial PPI controlling cancer progression and metastasis. MUC1 is a transmembrane glycoprotein whose extracellular domain contains a variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs) regions that are highly glycosylated in normal cells and under-glycosylated in cancer. The hypo-glycosylation fosters the exposure of the backbone to new interactions with other proteins, such as CIN85, that alter the intracellular signalling in tumour cells. Herein, different computational approaches were combined to investigate the molecular recognition pattern of MUC1-CIN85 PPI thus unveiling new structural information useful for the design of MUC1-CIN85 PPI inhibitors as potential anti-metastatic agents.     

Reconstructed Water Oxidation Electrocatalysts: The Impact of Surface Dynamics on Intrinsic Activities

Electroreduction of small molecules such as H₂O, CO₂, and N₂ for producing clean fuels or valuable chemicals provides a sustainable approach to meet the increasing global energy demands and to alleviate the concern on climate change resulting from fossil fuel consumption. On the path to implement this purpose, however, several scientific hurdles remain, one of which is the low energy efficiency due to the sluggish kinetics of the paired oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In response, it is highly desirable to synthesize high-performance and cost-effective OER electrocatalysts. Recent advances have witnessed surface reconstruction engineering as a salient tool to significantly improve the catalytic performance of OER electrocatalysts. In this review, recent progress on the reconstructed OER electrocatalysts and future opportunities are discussed. A brief introduction of the fundamentals of OER and the experimental approaches for generating and characterizing the reconstructed active sites in OER nanocatalysts are given first, followed by an expanded discussion of recent advances on the reconstructed OER electrocatalysts with improved activities, with a particular emphasis on understanding the correlation between surface dynamics and activities. Finally, a prospect for clean future energy communities harnessing surface reconstruction-promoted electrochemical water oxidation will be provided.     

堆本体抗震试验动力相似关系推导与验证

为确保堆本体抗震试验中流体对流效应、脉冲效应和堆本体结构响应的准确性，需保证重力、流体与固体惯性力、结构弹性力和结构应变的相似性。本文从固体结构的振动方程、不可压牛顿流体的动力学方程、流固交界面的边界条件和环形柱体域内液体线性晃动的动力学公式出发，基于控制方程的量纲分析法，推导了考虑液体晃动效应的堆本体地震响应动力相似关系。基于上述相似关系建立了堆容器堆内构件和堆容器内自由液面流体域的缩尺模型，通过有限体积法分析堆容器堆内构件原型和缩尺模型中液体的晃动固有频率、晃动波高、压力以及液体晃动对堆容器支承裙的倾覆力矩。结果表明本文动力相似关系具有合理性和准确性，可用于堆本体缩尺模型的抗震试验研究。     

Sofosbuvir Selects for Drug-Resistant Amino Acid Variants in the Zika Virus RNA-Dependent RNA-Polymerase Complex In Vitro

The nucleotide analog sofosbuvir, licensed for the treatment of hepatitis C, recently revealed activity against the Zika virus (ZIKV) in vitro and in animal models. However, the ZIKV genetic barrier to sofosbuvir has not yet been characterized. In this study, in vitro selection experiments were performed in infected human hepatoma cell lines. Increasing drug pressure significantly delayed viral breakthrough (p = 0.029). A double mutant in the NS5 gene (V360L/V607I) emerged in 3 independent experiments at 40–80 µM sofosbuvir resulting in a 3.9 ± 0.9-fold half- maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) shift with respect to the wild type (WT) virus. A triple mutant (C269Y/V360L/V607I), detected in one experiment at 80 µM, conferred a 6.8-fold IC₅₀ shift with respect to the WT. Molecular dynamics simulations confirmed that the double mutant V360L/V607I impacts the binding mode of sofosbuvir, supporting its role in sofosbuvir resistance. Due to the distance from the catalytic site and to the lack of reliable structural data, the contribution of C269Y was not investigated in silico. By a combination of sequence analysis, phenotypic susceptibility testing, and molecular modeling, we characterized a double ZIKV NS5 mutant with decreased sofosbuvir susceptibility. These data add important information to the profile of sofosbuvir as a possible lead for anti-ZIKV drug development.     

Sizing of multi-stage Op Amps by combining design equations with the gm/ID method

Analog integrated circuit design has as integral parts both analytical reasoning and numerical validation in the process from topology construction to sizing. Given a circuit topology, different circuit sizing results can be obtained from different processes of sizing inference. Sizing methods by simulation-based numerical searching have been a continuously studied subject. However, almost all approaches in this category require an overwhelming number of circuit simulations to arrive at an optimized sizing result. On the other hand, many published manual sizing methods by using the conventional device equations also require repeated SPICE simulations to correct the equation-based sizing results. This paper proposes a systematic gm/ID-based initial sizing method specifically customized for designing multiple-stage operational amplifiers (Op Amps). A main feature of the proposal is to use circuit-level design equations as constraints on the gm/ID table lookup method to substantially reduce the uncertainty in the sizing calculations. As a result, a significant amount of SPICE based correction work can be reduced to complete an initial sizing. The proposed sizing procedure includes a few regular sizing rules customized to the configuration of multi-stage Op Amps. We validate the proposed sizing method by application to several multi-stage Op Amp examples with a capacitive load or Miller compensation. Simulations have justified that the produced initial sizing results can achieve most of the prespecified design targets.     

Water vapor volatilization and oxidation induced surface cracking of environmental barrier coating systems: A numerical approach

A numerical model is developed for surface crack propagation in brittle ceramic coatings, aiming at the intrinsic failure of rare-earth silicate environmental barrier coating systems (EBCs) under combustion conditions in advanced gas turbines. The main features of progressive degradation of EBCs in such conditions are captured, including selective silica vaporization in the top coat due to exposure to water vapor, diffusion path-dependent bond coat oxidation, as well as crack propagation during cyclic thermal loading. In light of these features, user-defined subroutines are implemented in finite element analysis, where surface crack growth is simulated by node separation. Numerical results are validated by existing experimental data, in terms of monosilicate layer thickening, thermal oxide growth, and fracture behaviors. The experimentally observed quasi-linear oxidation in the early stage is also elucidated. Furthermore, it is suggested that surface crack undergoes rapid propagation in the late stage of extended thermal cycling in water vapor and leads to catastrophic failure, driven by both thermal mismatch and oxide growth stresses. The latter is identified as the dominant mechanism of penetration. Based on detailed analyses of failure mechanisms, the optimization strategy of EBCs composition is proposed, balancing the trade-off between mechanical compliance and erosion resistance.     

电商平台产品共同购买网络的影响因素研究

共同购买网络的推荐系统应用越加广泛，仅基于网络内生结构变量研究其共同购买链接的经济意义已有局限，故加入网络口碑这一外生变量，进行更全面的分析。采用了社会网络方法中指数随机图模型进行建模，主要围绕产品销售量、产品入度、差评率和评论数4个方面因素，探究其对共同购买网络中共同购买链接形成的影响。结果显示，销售量、产品入度和评论数对共同购买链接形成的影响呈正比关系，而差评率则会显著地降低产品共同购买的几率。该指数随机图构建出的共同购买网络为在线电商平台管理网络口碑和推荐系统优化设计提供有益参考。