Effect of Oxidizing Agent on the Synthesis of ZnO Nanoparticles for Inverted Phosphorescent Organic Light-Emitting Devices without Multiple Interlayers.

Inverted organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) have been aggressively developed because of their superiorities such as their high stability, low driving voltage, and low drop of brightness in display applications. The injection of electrons is a critical issue in inverted OLEDs because the ITO cathode has an overly high work function in injecting electrons into the emission layer from the cathode. We synthesized hexagonal wurtzite ZnO nanoparticles using different oxidizing agents for an efficient injection of electrons in the inverted OLEDs. Potassium hydroxide (KOH) and tetramethylammonium hydroxide pentahydrate (TMAH) were used as oxidizing agents for synthesizing ZnO nanoparticles. The band gap, surface defects, surface morphology, surface roughness, and electrical resistivity of the nanoparticles were investigated. The inverted devices with phosphorescent molecules were prepared using the synthesized nanoparticles. The inverted devices with ZnO nanoparticles using TMAH exhibited a lower driving voltage, lower leakage current, and higher maximum external quantum efficiency. The devices with TMAH-based ZnO nanoparticles exhibited the maximum external quantum efficiency of 19.1%.

Deep-Learning-Based Cryptanalysis of Lightweight Block Ciphers Revisited.

With the development of artificial intelligence, deep-learning-based cryptanalysis has been actively studied. There are many cryptanalysis techniques. Among them, cryptanalysis was performed to recover the secret key used for cryptography encryption using known plaintext. In this paper, we propose a cryptanalysis method based on state-of-art deep learning technologies (e.g., residual connections and gated linear units) for lightweight block ciphers (e.g., S-DES, S-AES, and S-SPECK). The number of parameters required for training is significantly reduced by 93.16%, and the average of bit accuracy probability increased by about 5.3% compared with previous the-state-of-art work. In addition, cryptanalysis for S-AES and S-SPECK was possible with up to 12-bit and 6-bit keys, respectively. Through this experiment, we confirmed that the-state-of-art deep-learning-based key recovery techniques for modern cryptography algorithms with the full round and the full key are practically infeasible.

Quantum Neural Network Based Distinguisher on SPECK-32/64.

As IoT technology develops, many sensor devices are being used in our life. To protect such sensor data, lightweight block cipher techniques such as SPECK-32 are applied. However, attack techniques for these lightweight ciphers are also being studied. Block ciphers have differential characteristics, which are probabilistically predictable, so deep learning has been utilized to solve this problem. Since Gohr's work at Crypto2019, many studies on deep-learning-based distinguishers have been conducted. Currently, as quantum computers are developed, quantum neural network technology is developing. Quantum neural networks can also learn and make predictions on data, just like classical neural networks. However, current quantum computers are constrained by many factors (e.g., the scale and execution time of available quantum computers), making it difficult for quantum neural networks to outperform classical neural networks. Quantum computers have higher performance and computational speed than classical computers, but this cannot be achieved in the current quantum computing environment. Nevertheless, it is very important to find areas where quantum neural networks work for technology development in the future. In this paper, we propose the first quantum neural network based distinguisher for the block cipher SPECK-32 in an NISQ. Our quantum neural distinguisher successfully operated for up to 5 rounds even under constrained conditions. As a result of our experiment, the classical neural distinguisher achieved an accuracy of 0.93, but our quantum neural distinguisher achieved an accuracy of 0.53 due to limitations in data, time, and parameters. Due to the constrained environment, it cannot exceed the performance of classical neural networks, but it can operate as a distinguisher because it has obtained an accuracy of 0.51 or higher. In addition, we performed an in-depth analysis of the quantum neural network's various factors that affect the performance of the quantum neural distinguisher. As a result, it was confirmed that the embedding method, the number of the qubit, and quantum layers, etc., have an effect. It turns out that if a high-capacity network is needed, we have to properly tune properly to take into account the connectivity and complexity of the circuit, not just by adding quantum resources. In the future, if more quantum resources, data, and time become available, it is expected that an approach to achieve better performance can be designed by considering the various factors presented in this paper.

Effects of resistant starch on anti-obesity status and nutrient digestibility in dogs.

This study investigated the effects of corn resistant starch (RS) on the anti-obesity properties, nutrient digestibility, and blood parameters in healthy beagles. Four spayed and six castrated beagle dogs were divided into a control group (CON) with a diet comprising rice and chicken meal and a treatment group (TRT) with a diet comprising corn with an increased RS content by heating-cooling and chicken meal. All dogs in the CON and TRT groups were fed a 1.2-fold higher energy diet than the daily recommended energy requirement for 16 weeks. Throughout the study period, the body weight of dogs in CON increased, whereas no change in body weight was observed in TRT, resulting in a significant difference in body weight between the two groups at the end of the experiment. Moreover, a significant reduction in the apparent total tract digestibility was observed upon the analysis of dry matter, nitrogen-free extract, and organic matter in TRT compared with that in CON. The complete blood cell composition and biochemical parameters were within the reference range in both groups. A significant increase in the concentration of serum adiponectin was found in TRT at the end of the experiment. These results suggest that the corn RS may be beneficial for weight management owing to its reduced nutrient digestibility.

Quantum Binary Field Multiplication with Optimized Toffoli Depth and Extension to Quantum Inversion.

The Shor's algorithm can find solutions to the discrete logarithm problem on binary elliptic curves in polynomial time. A major challenge in implementing Shor's algorithm is the overhead of representing and performing arithmetic on binary elliptic curves using quantum circuits. Multiplication of binary fields is one of the critical operations in the context of elliptic curve arithmetic, and it is especially costly in the quantum setting. Our goal in this paper is to optimize quantum multiplication in the binary field. In the past, efforts to optimize quantum multiplication have centred on reducing the Toffoli gate count or qubits required. However, despite the fact that circuit depth is an important metric for indicating the performance of a quantum circuit, previous studies have lacked sufficient consideration for reducing circuit depth. Our approach to optimizing quantum multiplication differs from previous work in that we aim at reducing the Toffoli depth and full depth. To optimize quantum multiplication, we adopt the Karatsuba multiplication method which is based on the divide-and-conquer approach. In summary, we present an optimized quantum multiplication that has a Toffoli depth of one. Additionally, the full depth of the quantum circuit is also reduced thanks to our Toffoli depth optimization strategy. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method, we evaluate its performance using various metrics such as the qubit count, quantum gates, and circuit depth, as well as the qubits-depth product. These metrics provide insight into the resource requirements and complexity of the method. Our work achieves the lowest Toffoli depth, full depth, and the best trade-off performance for quantum multiplication. Further, our multiplication is more effective when not used in stand-alone cases. We show this effectiveness by using our multiplication to the Itoh-Tsujii algorithm-based inversion of F(x8+x4+x3+x+1).

Influence of Bile Salts and Pancreatin on Dog Food during Static In Vitro Simulation to Mimic In Vivo Digestion.

The addition of pancreatin and bile salts in different concentrations during in vitro digestion causes changes in the digestibility of crude protein (CP), fat, and dry matter (DM). The effects of bile salts and pancreatin on the digestibility of ether extract (EE), CP, and DM in developing a static in vitro digestion model for dogs were assessed using different concentrations of pancreatin (0, 1, 2.5, 5, and 10 g/L digestive solution) and bile salts (0, 2.5, 6.25, 12.5, and 25 g/L digestive solution). The data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance. Digestibility of EE increased with the addition of bile salts (p < 0.05), whereas that of CP decreased with ≤0.25 g (1.0 g/L digestive solution) pancreatin. The digestibility of DM decreased significantly in all groups supplemented with ≥3.125 g (12.5 g/L digestive solution) bile salts and 0.25−2.5 g (1−10 g/L digestive solution) pancreatin and was the lowest with 6.25 g (25 g/L digestive solution) of bile salts (p < 0.05). These findings could facilitate the development of effective static in vitro digestion models for dogs.

Gut microbiota profiling in aged dogs after feeding pet food contained Hericium erinaceus.

Health concern of dogs is the most important issue for pet owners. People who have companied the dogs long-term provide the utmost cares for their well-being and healthy life. Recently, it was revealed that the population and types of gut microbiota affect the metabolism and immunity of the host. However, there is little information on the gut microbiome of dogs. Hericium erinaceus (H. erinaceus; HE) is one of the well-known medicinal mushrooms and has multiple bioactive components including polyphenol, ß-glucan, polysaccharides, ergothioneine, hericerin, erinacines, etc. Here we tested a pet food that contained H. erinaceus for improvement in the gut microbiota environment of aged dogs. A total of 18 dogs, each 11 years old, were utilized. For sixteen weeks, the dogs were fed with 0.4 g of H. erinaceus (HE-L), or 0.8 g (HE-H), or without H. erinaceus (CON) per body weight (kg) with daily diets (n = 6 per group). Taxonomic analysis was performed using metagenomics to investigate the difference in the gut microbiome. Resulting from principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) to confirm the distance difference between the groups, there was a significant difference between HE-H and CON due to weighted Unique fraction metric (Unifrac) distance (p = 0.047), but HE-L did not have a statistical difference compared to that of CON. Additionally, the result of Linear discriminate analysis of effect size (LEfSe) showed that phylum Bacteroidetes in HE-H and its order Bacteroidales increased, compared to that of CON, Additionally, phylum Firmicutes in HE-H, and its genera (Streptococcus, Tyzzerella) were reduced. Furthermore, at the family level, Campylobacteraceae and its genus Campylobacter in HE-H was decreased compared to that of CON. Summarily, our data demonstrated that the intake of H. erinaceus can regulate the gut microbial community in aged dogs, and an adequate supply of HE on pet diets would possibly improve immunity and anti-obesity on gut-microbiota in dogs.

CDr10b inhibits the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase induced by lipopolysaccharide.

The pathophysiological processes of inflammation can lead to a host of diseases, such as periodontitis, atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and even cancer. The dysregulated inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) activation play important roles in the development of certain inflammatory diseases. Here, we investigated the effects of CDr10b which is originally developed for a microglia staining probe on inflammation, by modulating NF-κB activation and iNOS and COX-2 expression induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in murine macrophages. The CDr10b suppressed NF-κB activation and iNOS and COX-2 expression induced by LPS. All the results suggest that CDr10b is a promising novel agent for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Effects of dietary supplementation of inosine monophosphate on growth performance, innate immunity and disease resistance of olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus).

This study was investigated to examine the effects of dietary inosine monophosphate (IMP) supplementation on growth performance, feed utilization, innate immunity, hematological parameters and disease resistance of juvenile olive flounder. Five experimental diets were formulated to contain IMP at levels of 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4 and 1.0%. All diets were maintained isonitrogenous (48% crude protein) and isocaloric (20.7 MJ/kg diet). Triplicate groups of olive flounder (initial body weight, 7.5 ± 0.02 g) were fed one of the experimental diets to apparent satiation (twice a day) for 14 weeks. Final body weight of fish fed 0.1-0.2% IMP were significantly higher than that of fish fed the 1.0% IMP. Groups of fish fed 0.2 or 0.4% IMP diet had significantly higher myeloperoxidase and lysozyme activities than fish fed the control diet. However, nitro-blue-tetrazolium and superoxide dismutase activities were not significantly different among all treatments. In the challenge test against Streptococcus iniae, cumulative mortality of fish fed IMP supplemented diets was significantly lower (15%, 4%, 4% and 9% for 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.4% and 1.0% IMP, respectively) than that of fish fed the control group (87%). The results suggest that IMP supplementation of 0.46-1.84 g into a kg of fish meal based diet (0.1-0.4% IMP product) can enhance innate immunity and disease resistance of olive flounder.

Synthesis and cytotoxicity of new aromatic ceramide analogs with alkylsulfonamido chains.

A series of D-erythro ceramide analogues, N-(2S, 3R, 4E)-1, 3-dihydroxy-5-phenyl pent-4-en-2-yl alkyl sulfonamides, were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxic activities against five human tumor cell lines. The aromatic sulfon amido ceramide analogue (10f) showed more potent cytotoxic activity than that of the B13, indicating that a sulfonamide group appears to serve as a bioisostere of an amide in drug design. Variations in the alkyl sulfonyl chain length significantly influenced the cytotoxic activity of the sulfonamido ceramide analogues, but the introduction of a para halogen on the phenyl ring of aromatic ceramide analogues had no affect on the activity.

Synthesis and cytotoxicity of new 3-alkyl-1-(1-methyl-2-phenylethyl)ureas related to ceramide.

A series of new 3-alkyl-1-(1-methyl-2-phenylethyl)ureas related to ceramide was synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxic activity against five human tumor cell lines. The urea analogue (2b) of B13 showed comparable or slightly more potent cytotoxic activity as compared to B13, indicating that urea does appear to serve as a bioisostere of amide.