ReactiveFnJ: A Choreographed Model for Fork-Join Workflow in Serverless Computing

Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) is an event-based reactive programming model where functions run in ephemeral stateless containers for short duration. For building complex serverless applications, function composition is crucial to coordinate and synchronize the workflow of an application. Some serverless orchestration systems exist, but they are in their primitive state and do not provide inherent support for non-trivial workflows like, Fork-Join. To address this gap, we propose a fully serverless and scalable design model ReactiveFnJ for Fork-Join workflow. The intent of this work is to illustrate a design which is completely choreographed, reactive, asynchronous, and represents a dynamic composition model for serverless applications. Our design uses two innovative patterns, namely, Relay Composition and Master-Worker Composition to solve execution time-out challenges. As a Proof-of-Concept (PoC), the prototypical implementation of Split-Sort-Merge use case, based on Fork-Join workflow is discussed and evaluated. The ReactiveFnJ handles embarrassingly parallel computations, and its design does not depend on any external orchestration services, messaging services, and queue services. ReactiveFnJ facilitates in designing fully automated pipelines for distributed data processing systems, satisfying the Serverless Trilemma in true essence. A file of any size can be processed using our effective and extensible design without facing execution time-out challenges. The proposed model is generic and can be applied to a wide range of serverless applications that are based on the Fork-Join workflow pattern. It fosters the choreographed serverless composition for complex workflows. The proposed design model is useful for software engineers and developers in industry and commercial organizations, total solution vendors and academic researchers.

TAMI-46. FRIEND AND FOE: RADIATION THERAPY INCREASES GLIOBLASTOMA IMMUNE EVASION VIA EVS

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary malignant brain tumor and despite optimal treatment, long-term survival is extremely rare. Radiation therapy (RT) leads to successful initial tumor regression but recurrence is inevitable. Previous studies have shown that ionizing radiation leads to a change of immune-related markers on tumor cells. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membranous structures secreted by nearly every cell and have been shown drive GBM progression by acting as multifunctional signaling complexes. Here, we show that radiation of GBM cells leads to an altered EV secretion/uptake dynamic, composition, and protein content. Furthermore, we show that EVs secreted by radiated GBM cells modulate the innate (microglia/macrophages) as well as adaptive (T-cells) immune response in the tumor microenvironment. We dissected a novel mechanism by which GBM evades the immune system via EVs following RT, pointing towards novel therapeutic strategies to prevent GBM recurrence.

Dynamic Surveillance of Mosquitoes and Their Viromes in Wuhan During 2020

Objective: Mosquitoes are medically important arthropod vectors that harbor a variety of viruses. Geography and climate are known to be associated with variations in mosquito density, species and viromes. Our study investigated the dynamic changes in mosquito populations, species compositions and viromes in a regularly disinfected environment in Wuhan, China, during 2020. Methods: Traps were set in different mosquito habitats, including an urban residential area, two hospitals, a scenic area and a pig farm in a rural region between April and October of 2020. The collected mosquitoes were subjected to morphological identification, RT-qPCR and metagenomic sequencing. Results: A total of 2345 adult mosquitoes were collected. Culex mosquitoes were dominant in both urban regions (90.32%, 1538/1703) and the pig farm (54.98%, 353/642). In RT-qPCR screening, the prevalence of Banna virus was 15% and 3% in mosquitoes from the urban area and the pig farm, respectively, whereas no Japanese encephalitis virus was detected. Culex viromes showed dynamic changes during the collection period. Several mosquito-specific viruses, such as Culex flavivirus, Alphamesonivirus 1, Hubei mosquito virus 2 and Hubei mosquito virus 4, showed seasonal changes and unimodal increases or declines. Other mosquito-specific viruses, such as Wuhan mosquito virus 6, Hubei virga-like virus 2 and Zhejiang mosquito virus 3, were stable in all collected Culex and are potential members of the core viromes. Conclusion: This study improves understanding of the dynamic composition of mosquito species and the viromes that they carry, and provides useful information for guiding mosquito control and mosquito-borne disease prevention strategies.

Dynamic surveillance of mosquitoes and their viromes in Wuhan during 2020.

Mosquitoes are medically important arthropod vectors and harbor a great variety of viruses. The population density, species and virome of mosquitoes varies according to geography and climate. To investigate the dynamic changes in the species composition and diversity of mosquitoes and their viromes in Wuhan, China, a total of 2,345 adult mosquitoes collected from different habitats including an urban residential area, two hospitals, a scenic area, and a pig farm in a rural region from April to October 2020 were subjected to morphological identification, RT-qPCR and metagenomic sequencing. The results indicated that the dominant presence of Culex mosquitoes was observed in both urban regions (90.32%, 1538/1703) and the pig farm (54.98%, 353/642). Viromes of Culex showed dynamic changes during the collection time. Several viruses, such as Culex flavivirus, Alphamesonivirus 1, Hubei mosquito virus 2 and Hubei mosquito virus 4, had seasonal changes and unimodal increases or declines. Other viruses, such as Wuhan mosquito virus 6, Hubei virga-like virus 2 and Zhejiang mosquito virus 3, were stable in all collected Culex and should be potential members of "core viromes". This study improves the understanding of the dynamic composition of mosquitoes and the viromes they carry and provides useful information for informing mosquito control and mosquito-borne disease prevention strategies.

Therapeutic Targets and Tumor Microenvironment in Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a genetically, anatomically, and transcriptionally heterogeneous disease. The prognosis for a CRC patient depends on the stage of the tumor at diagnosis and widely differs accordingly. The tumor microenvironment (TME) in CRC is an important factor affecting targeted cancer therapy. The TME has a dynamic composition including various cell types, such as cancer-associated fibroblasts, tumor-associated macrophages, regulatory T cells, and myeloid-derived suppressor cells, as well as extracellular factors that surround cancer cells and have functional and structural roles under physiological and pathological conditions. Moreover, the TME can limit the efficacy of therapeutic agents through high interstitial pressure, fibrosis, and the degradation of the therapeutic agents by enzymatic activity. For this reason, the TME is a fertile ground for the discovery of new drugs. The aim of this narrative review is to present current knowledge and future perspectives regarding the TME composition based on strategies for patients with CRC.

Dynamic composition components based on machine learning: architecture design and process

<p>The dynamic composition of components is an emerging concept that aims to allow a new application to be constructed based on a user’s request. Three main ingredients must be used to achieve the dynamic composition of components: goal, scenario, and context-awareness. These three ingredients must be completed by artificial intelligence (AI) techniques that help process discovery and storage. This paper presents framework architecture for the dynamic composition of components that can extract expressed goals, deduce implicit ones using AI. The goal will be combined with pertinent contextual data, to compose the relevant components that meet the real requirements of the user. The core element of our proposed architecture is the composer component that (i) negotiate user goal, (ii) load the associated scenarios and choose the most suitable one based on user goal and profile, (iii) get binding information of scenario’s actions, (iv) compose the loaded actions, and (v) store the new component as a tree of actions enabled by contextual or process constraint. In our e-learning proven of concept, we consider five components: composer component, reader component, formatter component, matcher component, and executor component. These five components stipulate that a course is the combination of existing/scrapped chapters that have been adapted to a user profile in terms of language, level of difficulty, and prerequisite. The founding result shows that AI is not only an element that enhances system performance in terms of timing response but a crucial ingredient that guides the dynamic composition of components.</p><div style="display: none;"> </div>

Extracellular vesicles, lipids, and lipoproteins in early pregnant sheep

In sheep, pregnancy establishment encompasses conceptus elongation, implantation, and placentation. These events are regulated by factors present within the uterine luminal fluid (ULF) from the endometrial epithelium and the conceptus itself that affect proliferation, migration, attachment, and adhesion of the conceptus trophectoderm. As the peri-implantation period is especially susceptible to pregnancy loss, it is essential to understand the various components and functional roles of substances within the ULF. The central hypothesis of this dissertation is that lipids and lipid associated macromolecules are components of the ULF and mediate endometrial-embryonic crosstalk and regulate conceptus development. This work sought to identify, characterize, and/or determine the roles of: (1) extracellular vesicles (EVs); (2) lipids and metabolites; (3) prostaglandins (PGs); and (4) apolipoproteins present within the ULF of ewes during early gestation. Collectively, the present studies established that: (1) EVs increase within the ULF during the estrous cycle but are depleted in the uterine lumen of pregnant ewes due to uptake by the elongating conceptus; (2) the lipid and protein cargo of uterine EVs is diverse and altered by pregnancy; (3) uterine EVs regulate cellular processes in the conceptus trophectoderm and endometrium including cell proliferation and secretions; (4) various lipids (specifically phospholipids, ceramides, and triglycerides) and metabolites are elevated in the ULF of pregnant ewes; (5) the conceptus lipidome and metabolome is distinct from the ULF and endometrium suggesting selective uptake of ULF substances; (6) the production of PGs by PTGS2 in the conceptus is not required for conceptus elongation; (7) the secretion of APOA1 by the conceptus does not mobilize endometrial lipids into the ULF and is not required for early pregnancy development or survival. Collectively, these studies highlight the complex and dynamic composition of the ULF and support the overall hypothesis that lipids and lipid-associated macromolecules are critical components of the ULF that mediate conceptus-endometrial crosstalk and regulate important developmental processes in the conceptus. Future investigation and expansion of these findings will fill crucial gaps in our knowledge of early pregnancy events and may provide biomarkers or help develop therapies to improve pregnancy outcomes and reproductive efficiency in agricultural species.

Post-translational Control of RNA-Binding Proteins and Disease-Related Dysregulation

Cell signaling mechanisms modulate gene expression in response to internal and external stimuli. Cellular adaptation requires a precise and coordinated regulation of the transcription and translation processes. The post-transcriptional control of mRNA metabolism is mediated by the so-called RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), which assemble with specific transcripts forming messenger ribonucleoprotein particles of highly dynamic composition. RBPs constitute a class of trans-acting regulatory proteins with affinity for certain consensus elements present in mRNA molecules. However, these regulators are subjected to post-translational modifications (PTMs) that constantly adjust their activity to maintain cell homeostasis. PTMs can dramatically change the subcellular localization, the binding affinity for RNA and protein partners, and the turnover rate of RBPs. Moreover, the ability of many RBPs to undergo phase transition and/or their recruitment to previously formed membrane-less organelles, such as stress granules, is also regulated by specific PTMs. Interestingly, the dysregulation of PTMs in RBPs has been associated with the pathophysiology of many different diseases. Abnormal PTM patterns can lead to the distortion of the physiological role of RBPs due to mislocalization, loss or gain of function, and/or accelerated or disrupted degradation. This Mini Review offers a broad overview of the post-translational regulation of selected RBPs and the involvement of their dysregulation in neurodegenerative disorders, cancer and other pathologies.

Correction to: Customisable assistive plans as dynamic composition of services with normed-QoS

A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-021-02978-4

Анализ ошибок в употреблении модального наречия “反正”(fǎnzhèng) студентами-иностранцами (на английском языке)

"反正" is a Chinese modal adverb with high frequency and complex usage, which is a difficult point for Chinese learners to acquire. In this paper, we take the Chinese HSK Dynamic Composition Corpus and Jinan University Interlanguage Corpus as the research object, investigate the application of "反正" in the teaching of Chinese as a second language, analyze the types and causes of learners' errors, and put forward suggestions on the compilation and instructional design of teaching materials involving modal adverb "反正". Лексическая единица “反正” fǎnzhèng — это высокочастотное модальное наречие, сложное по особенностям употребления и представляющее значительную трудность для изучающих китайский язык как иностранный. В статье в качестве объекта исследования анализируются данные Китайского динамического лексического корпуса сочинений HSK, а также Межъязыкового лексического корпуса Цзинаньского университета. Автор исследует особенности использования наречия “反正” fǎnzhèng в письменной речи иностранцев, изучающих китайский язык, анализирует типы и причины ошибок в употреблении этой лексической единицы и предлагает способы составления и организации учебных материалов, связанных с обучением употреблению этого частотного модального наречия.