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Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) or formerly known as early mortality syndrome (EMS) is an emerging disease that has caused significant economic losses to the aquaculture industry. The primary causative agent of AHPND is Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a Gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium that has gained plasmids encoding the fatal binary toxins Pir A/Pir B that cause rapid death of the infected shrimp. In this review, the current research studies and information about AHPND in shrimps have been presented. Molecular diagnostic tools and potential treatments regarding AHPND were also included. This review also includes relevant findings which may serve as guidelines that can help for further investigation and studies on AHPND or other shrimp diseases.

Background The plasmodium interspersed repeats ( pir ) multigene family is found across malaria parasite genomes, first discovered in the human-infecting species Plasmodium vivax , where they were initially named the vir s. Their function remains unknown, although studies have suggested a role in virulence of the asexual blood stages. Sub-families of the P. vivax pir/vir s have been identified, and are found in isolates from across the world, however their transcription at different localities and in different stages of the life cycle have not been quantified. Multiple transcriptomic studies of the parasite have been conducted, but many map the pir reads to existing reference genomes (as part of standard bioinformatic practice), which may miss members of the multigene family due to its inherent variability. This obscures our understanding of how the pir sub-families in P. vivax may be contributing to human/vector infection. Results To overcome the issue of hidden pir diversity from utilising a reference genome, we employed de novo transcriptome assembly to construct the pir ‘reference’ of different parasite isolates from published and novel RNAseq datasets. For this purpose, a pipeline was written in Nextflow, and first tested on data from the rodent-infecting P. c. chabaudi parasite to ascertain its efficacy on a sample with a full, genome-based set of pir gene sequences. The pipeline assembled hundreds of pir s from the studies included. By performing BLAST sequence identity comparisons with reference genome pir s (including P. vivax and related species) we found a clustered network of transcripts which corresponded well with prior sub-family annotations, albeit requiring some updated nomenclature. Mapping the RNAseq datasets to the de novo transcriptome references revealed that the transcription of these updated pir gene sub-families is generally consistent across the different geographical regions. From this transcriptional quantification, a time course of mosquito bloodmeals (after feeding on an infected patient) highlighted the first evidence of ookinete stage pir transcription in a human-infective malaria parasite. Conclusions De novo transcriptome assembly is a valuable tool for understanding highly variable multigene families from Plasmodium spp ., and with pipeline software these can be applied more easily and at scale. Despite a global distribution, P. vivax has a conserved pir sub-family structure—both in terms of genome copy number and transcription. We suggest that this indicates important roles of the distinct sub-families, or a genetic mechanism maintaining their preservation. Furthermore, a burst of pir transcription in the mosquito stages of development is the first glint of ookinete pir expression for a human-infective malaria parasite, suggesting a role for the gene family at a new stage of the lifecycle.

Since 2009, an emergent shrimp disease, acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND), has been causing global losses to the shrimp farming industry. The causative agent of AHPND is a specific strain of Vibrio parahaemolyticus . We present evidence here that the opportunistic V. parahaemolyticus becomes highly virulent by acquiring a unique AHPND-associated plasmid. This virulence plasmid, which encodes a binary toxin [ V. parahaemolyticus Photorhabdus insect-related toxins (PirA vp and PirB vp )] that induces cell death, is stably inherited via a postsegregational killing system and disseminated by conjugative transfer. The cytotoxicity of the PirA vp /PirB vp system is analogous to the structurally similar insecticidal pore-forming Cry toxin. These findings will significantly increase our understanding of this emerging disease, which is essential for developing anti-AHPND measures. Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) is a severe, newly emergent penaeid shrimp disease caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus that has already led to tremendous losses in the cultured shrimp industry. Until now, its disease-causing mechanism has remained unclear. Here we show that an AHPND-causing strain of V. parahaemolyticus contains a 70-kbp plasmid (pVA1) with a postsegregational killing system, and that the ability to cause disease is abolished by the natural absence or experimental deletion of the plasmid-encoded homologs of the Photorhabdus insect-related (Pir) toxins PirA and PirB. We determined the crystal structure of the V. parahaemolyticus PirA and PirB (PirA vp and PirB vp ) proteins and found that the overall structural topology of PirA vp /PirB vp is very similar to that of the Bacillus Cry insecticidal toxin-like proteins, despite the low sequence identity (<10%). This structural similarity suggests that the putative PirAB vp heterodimer might emulate the functional domains of the Cry protein, and in particular its pore-forming activity. The gene organization of pVA1 further suggested that pirAB vp may be lost or acquired by horizontal gene transfer via transposition or homologous recombination.

Blockchain technology is designed to improve the security features and information access of a transaction in a connected Internet of Things platform. The private information retrieval from the transactions using blockchain improves the quality of experience through systematic assessments. However, the information retrieval from the fore-gone transaction does not result in maximum profit due to time and sequence of transactions. This article introduces a dilated transaction access and retrieval method. The proposed method identifies the transaction history based on the non-replicated identity and recursive organization of the block. A non-recurrent binary searching process assists information access and retrieval randomly. The random process increases the time, and therefore, a transaction-time constraint is used to limit the number of random searches. In this method, multi-random searches are initiated in a branched manner for identifying the block. Pursued by this access, the relevance based retrieval is performed to improve the correctness of transaction assessment.

Indoor occupants’ positions are significant for smart home service systems, which usually consist of robot service(s), appliance control and other intelligent applications. In this paper, an innovative localization method is proposed for tracking humans’ position in indoor environments based on passive infrared (PIR) sensors using an accessibility map and an A-star algorithm, aiming at providing intelligent services. First the accessibility map reflecting the visiting habits of the occupants is established through the integral training with indoor environments and other prior knowledge. Then the PIR sensors, which placement depends on the training results in the accessibility map, get the rough location information. For more precise positioning, the A-start algorithm is used to refine the localization, fused with the accessibility map and the PIR sensor data. Experiments were conducted in a mock apartment testbed. The ground truth data was obtained from an Opti-track system. The results demonstrate that the proposed method is able to track persons in a smart home environment and provide a solution for home robot localization.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), characterized by the absence or low expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2), is the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer. TNBC accounts for about 15% of breast cancer cases in the U.S., and is known for high relapse rates and poor overall survival (OS). Chemo-resistant TNBC is a genetically diverse, highly heterogeneous, and rapidly evolving disease that challenges our ability to individualize treatment for incomplete responders and relapsed patients. Currently, the frontline standard chemotherapy, composed of anthracyclines, alkylating agents, and taxanes, is commonly used to treat high-risk and locally advanced TNBC. Several FDA-approved drugs that target programmed cell death protein-1 (Keytruda) and programmed death ligand-1 (Tecentriq), poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP), and/or antibody drug conjugates (Trodelvy) have shown promise in improving clinical outcomes for a subset of TNBC. These inhibitors that target key genetic mutations and specific molecular signaling pathways that drive malignant tumor growth have been used as single agents and/or in combination with standard chemotherapy regimens. Here, we review the current TNBC treatment options, unmet clinical needs, and actionable drug targets, including epidermal growth factor (EGFR), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), androgen receptor (AR), estrogen receptor beta (ERβ), phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and protein kinase B (PKB or AKT) activation in TNBC. Supported by strong evidence in developmental, evolutionary, and cancer biology, we propose that the K-RAS/SIAH pathway activation is a major tumor driver, and SIAH is a new drug target, a therapy-responsive prognostic biomarker, and a major tumor vulnerability in TNBC. Since persistent K-RAS/SIAH/EGFR pathway activation endows TNBC tumor cells with chemo-resistance, aggressive dissemination, and early relapse, we hope to design an anti-SIAH-centered anti-K-RAS/EGFR targeted therapy as a novel therapeutic strategy to control and eradicate incurable TNBC in the future.

Polymeric foams are one of the most efficient thermal insulation materials because of the extra low thermal conductivity blowing agent gases trapped inside of the closed porous structures. Thermal conductivity is one of the most exclusive properties of foamed polyisocyanurate (PIR) materials. The blowing agent gases are selected based upon their characteristics of low thermal conductivity and slow diffusion rates through the foam polymers. The atmospheric gases have a greater thermal conductivity and are typically much smaller molecules with much faster diffusion rates through the foam. PIR gains much of its thermal resistance value from the blowing agents, often a pentane gas mixture, which is trapped in the foam cells. Pentane isomers are commonly used in Europe in manufacturing rigid insulating polyurethane foams. Since the thermal conductivities of the pentanes (between 0.010 and 0.014 W/(m⋅K)) fall significantly below that of air, polyurethane insulation panels may achieve thermal conductivity as low as 0.024 W/(m⋅K). This paper analyses results of the thermal conductivity study and measurements according to two different parameters: the initial value of thermal conductivity and the rate of aging, i.e., the rate of increase in thermal conductivity over time. The initial thermal conductivity value is influenced by the thermal conductivity of the gas inside the cell and the average diameter of the cell.

We consider the private information retrieval (PIR) problem from decentralized uncoded caching databases. There are two phases in our problem setting, a caching phase, and a retrieval phase. In the caching phase, a data center containing all the K files, where each file is of size L bits, and several databases with storage size constraint μ K L bits exist in the system. Each database independently chooses μ K L bits out of the total K L bits from the data center to cache through the same probability distribution in a decentralized manner. In the retrieval phase, a user (retriever) accesses N databases in addition to the data center, and wishes to retrieve a desired file privately. We characterize the optimal normalized download cost to be D * = ∑ n = 1 N + 1 N n − 1 μ n − 1 ( 1 − μ ) N + 1 − n 1 + 1 n + ⋯ + 1 n K − 1. We show that uniform and random caching scheme which is originally proposed for decentralized coded caching by Maddah-Ali and Niesen, along with Sun and Jafar retrieval scheme which is originally proposed for PIR from replicated databases surprisingly results in the lowest normalized download cost. This is the decentralized counterpart of the recent result of Attia, Kumar, and Tandon for the centralized case. The converse proof contains several ingredients such as interference lower bound, induction lemma, replacing queries and answering string random variables with the content of distributed databases, the nature of decentralized uncoded caching databases, and bit marginalization of joint caching distributions.

Buildings are rapidly becoming more digitized, largely due to developments in the internet of things (IoT). This provides both opportunities and challenges. One of the central challenges in the process of digitizing buildings is the ability to monitor these buildings’ status effectively. This monitoring is essential for services that rely on information about the presence and activities of individuals within different areas of these buildings. Occupancy information (including people counting, occupancy detection, location tracking, and activity detection) plays a vital role in the management of smart buildings. In this article, we primarily focus on the use of passive infrared (PIR) sensors for gathering occupancy information. PIR sensors are among the most widely used sensors for this purpose due to their consideration of privacy concerns, cost-effectiveness, and low processing complexity compared to other sensors. Despite numerous literature reviews in the field of occupancy information, there is currently no literature review dedicated to occupancy information derived specifically from PIR sensors. Therefore, this review analyzes articles that specifically explore the application of PIR sensors for obtaining occupancy information. It provides a comprehensive literature review of PIR sensor technology from 2015 to 2023, focusing on applications in people counting, activity detection, and localization (tracking and location). It consolidates findings from articles that have explored and enhanced the capabilities of PIR sensors in these interconnected domains. This review thoroughly examines the application of various techniques, machine learning algorithms, and configurations for PIR sensors in indoor building environments, emphasizing not only the data processing aspects but also their advantages, limitations, and efficacy in producing accurate occupancy information. These developments are crucial for improving building management systems in terms of energy efficiency, security, and user comfort, among other operational aspects. The article seeks to offer a thorough analysis of the present state and potential future advancements of PIR sensor technology in efficiently monitoring and understanding occupancy information by classifying and analyzing improvements in these domains.

In this paper, we present a new perspective of single server private information retrieval (PIR) schemes by using the notion of linear error-correcting codes. Many of the known single server schemes are based on taking linear combinations between database elements and the query elements. Using the theory of linear codes, we develop a generic framework that formalizes all such PIR schemes. This generic framework provides an appropriate setup to analyze the security of such PIR schemes. In fact, we describe some known PIR schemes with respect to this code-based framework, and present the weaknesses of the broken PIR schemes in a unified point of view.