40 research outputs found
Toward secure content security policy deployment
No full textIncludes bibliographical references.2024 Spring.Content Security Policy (CSP) is a standardized leading technique for protecting webpages against attacks such as Cross Site Scripting (XSS). As a powerful technique successfully adopted by all major web browsers, CSP provides web application developers with the capability to comprehensively define the policy regarding the permissible resources (e.g., scripts) and behaviors (e.g., form submissions) on each webpage. A CSP is composed of a set of directives, and each directive is typically composed of a directive name with a set of directive values. To effectively protect a webpage, a CSP should be carefully designed according to resources and behaviors on the protected webpage. However, it is often hard to properly deploy CSPs on webpages, and the deployed CSPs often contain security issues or errors. Therefore, helping developers properly deploy CSPs on their websites is important to the enhancement of web security.
This dissertation concentrates on promoting the proper deployment of CSPs by investigating the protection capability of deployed CSPs, analyzing CSP deployment issues, and exploring the feasibility of adopting secure CSP solutions on websites. We first investigated the security levels of the deployed CSPs from the directive coverage and secure use perspectives by taking an unsupervised clustering approach which can automatically categorize very diverse and complex CSPs. Next, we focused on investigating CSP deployment issues related to third-party scripts (i.e., JavaScript code or script files) among different websites by conducting a measurement study. We analyzed the usage of third-party scripts on websites based on the collected CSP violations triggered by the accesses of resources used on websites under our inserted CSP. Furthermore, we evaluated the feasibility of taking Google's secure CSP approach on websites. The evaluation is based on CSP violations that are triggered under the four inserted CSPs of the secure CSP approach. A large-scale web measurement usually relies on a crawler. We also studied two browser-based crawler implementation approaches in the context of the Google Chrome browser and further built a Google Chrome extension named WebMea as a baseline Google Chrome extension that can measure multiple types of web data
Alcoholism detection in magnetic resonance imaging by Haar wavelet transform and back propagation neural network
No full textIdentification of a novel potential antitumor activity of gossypol as an APE1/Ref-1 inhibitor
No full textChengyuan Qian, Mengxia Li, Jiangdong Sui, Tao Ren, Zheng Li, Liang Zhang, Liwei Zhou, Yi Cheng, Dong WangCancer Center, Daping Hospital and Research Institute of Surgery, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, People's Republic of ChinaAbstract: The human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1/redox enhancing factor-1 (APE1/Ref-1), an essential multifunctional protein involved in the repair of oxidative deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage and transcriptional regulation, is often overexpressed in tumor tissues and cancer cells. Moreover, APE1/Ref-1 (APE1) overexpression has been linked to chemoresistance in human tumors. Thus, inhibiting APE1 function in cancer cells is considered a promising strategy to overcome resistance to therapeutic agents. Gossypol is a Bcl-2 homology 3 (BH3)-mimetic agent and is able to bind to the BH3 domain of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) family members. Other studies demonstrated that Bcl-2 directly interacted with APE1 via its BH domains. Using apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonuclease assays, we found that gossypol inhibits the repair activity of APE1. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays and dual luciferase assays showed that gossypol could also inhibit the redox function of APE1. Using dual polarization interferometry technology, we show that gossypol can directly interact with APE1. Furthermore, addition of gossypol, in conjunction with APE1 overexpression, leads to cancer cell death. The addition of gossypol also enhances the cell killing effect of the laboratory alkylating agent methyl methanesulfonate and the clinical agent cisplatin (DDP). Administration of gossypol significantly inhibited the growth of xenografts. Furthermore, the combined treatment of gossypol and DDP resulted in a statistically higher antitumor activity compared with DDP alone in vivo. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that gossypol effectively inhibits the repair and redox activity of APE1 through a direct interaction.Keywords: cancer, oxidative DNA damage, BH3-mimeti
Evaluating website security: a study on content security policy implementation
No full textContent Security Policies (CSPs) are vital defenses against cross-site scripting (XSS) and unauthorized web resource manipulation. This study investigates CSP implementation across the top 100 websites listed in TRANCO, focusing on resilience to external manipulation. Our analysis reveals that over 50% of domains lack adequate protection against XSS attacks, despite CSP implementation. Vulnerabilities include the misuse of 'unsafe-inline' directives and reliance on white-listing-based policies over nonce-based alternatives. These findings highlight the need for a comprehensive CSP approach, prioritizing script and web control. Strategies to enhance website security, such as stricter CSP configurations, are discussed, emphasizing nonce-based strategies and comprehensive directive coverage
Sequential treatment with AT-101 enhances cisplatin chemosensitivity in human non-small cell lung cancer cells through inhibition of apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1-activated IL-6/STAT3 signaling pathway
No full textTao Ren,1,2,* Jinlu Shan,1,* Yi Qing,1 Chengyuan Qian,1 Qing Li,1 Guoshou Lu,1 Mengxia Li,1 Chongyi Li,1 Yu Peng,1 Hao Luo,1 Shiheng Zhang,1 Weiwei Zhang,1 Dong Wang,1 Shu-Feng Zhou3 1Cancer Center, Daping Hospital and Research Institute of Surgery, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China; 2Oncology Department, The Affiliated Hospital, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: AT-101, known as R-(–)-gossypol, is a potent anticancer agent, but its chemosensitizing effects remain elusive. The present study aimed to examine whether AT-101 could increase the sensitivity of non-small cell lung cancer A549 cells to cisplatin (CDDP) and the underlying mechanisms. We evaluated the efficacy of the sequential treatment with AT-101 and CDDP using both in vitro and in vivo models. Our results showed that as compared to AT-101 or CDDP monotherapy, or AT-101 plus CDDP concurrent treatment, the sequential treatment significantly inhibited cell proliferation and migration and induced tumor cell death. Moreover, the efficacy of the sequential treatment was also confirmed in a mouse A549 xenograft model. Our study revealed that AT-101 inhibited the reduced status of apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) and attenuated APE1-mediated IL-6/STAT3 signaling activation by decreasing IL-6 protein expression; suppressing the STAT3–DNA binding; and reducing the expression of the downstream antiapoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL. In conclusion, AT-101 enhances the sensitivity of A549 cells to CDDP in vitro and in vivo through the inhibition of APE1-mediated IL-6/STAT3 signaling activation, providing a rationale for the combined use of AT-101 and CDDP in non-small cell lung cancer chemotherapy. Keywords: AT101, NSCLC, cisplatin, chemosensitivity, APE1, STAT3, nude mice, apoptosi
Lost expression of ADAMTS5 protein associates with progression and poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma
No full textChongyi Li,1,2 Yanli Xiong,1 Xueqin Yang,1 Lin’ang Wang,1 Shiheng Zhang,1 Nan Dai,1 Mengxia Li,1 Tao Ren,1 Yuxin Yang,1 Shu-Feng Zhou,3 Lixia Gan,2 Dong Wang11Cancer Center, Daping Hospital and Research Institute of Surgery, 2Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USAAbstract: Altered expression of ADAMTS5 is associated with human carcinogenesis and tumor progression. However, the role of ADAMTS5 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is unclear. This study analyzed ADAMTS5 expression in HCC tissues and tested for association with clinicopathological and survival data from HCC patients and then explored the role of ADAMTS5 in HCC cells in vitro. Paraffin blocks from 48 HCC patients were used to detect ADAMTS5 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and microvessel density (MVD). A normal liver cell line and HCC cell lines were used to detect ADAMTS5 expression and for ADAMTS5 manipulation. ADAMTS5 cDNA was stably transfected into HCC cells and ADAMTS5 expression assessed by Western blot analysis. Tumor cell-conditioned growth medium was used to assess human umbilical vein endothelial cell migration and Matrigel tube formation. Xenograft assay was performed to determine the role of ADAMTS5 in vivo. The data showed that the expression of ADAMTS5 was reduced in HCC, which was inversely associated with VEGF expression, MVD, and tumor size and associated with poor overall survival of HCC patients. Lentivirus-mediated ADAMTS5 expression significantly inhibited tumor angiogenesis by downregulating in vitro expression of VEGF and inhibiting migration and tube formations, and also inhibited tumor growth and VEGF expression and reduced MVD in vivo in a mouse xenograft model. Taken together, these results suggest that ADAMTS5 plays a role in suppression of HCC progression, which could be further studied as a promising novel therapeutic target and a potential prognostic marker in HCC.Keywords: A disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs 5, tumor angiogenesis, tumor cell xenograf
Small-molecule BH3 mimetic and pan-Bcl-2 inhibitor AT-101 enhances the antitumor efficacy of cisplatin through inhibition of APE1 repair and redox activity in non-small-cell lung cancer
No full textTao Ren,1–3,* Jinlu Shan,1,* Mengxia Li,1 Yi Qing,1 Chengyuan Qian,4 Guangjie Wang,5 Qing Li,1,3 Guoshou Lu,1 Chongyi Li,1 Yu Peng,1 Hao Luo,1 Shiheng Zhang,1 Yuxing Yang,1 Yi Cheng,1 Dong Wang,1 Shu-Feng Zhou31Cancer Center, Daping Hospital and Research Institute of Surgery, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 2Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Hospital, North Sichuan Medical College, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA; 4Department of Oncology, The 97 Hospital of PLA, Jiangsu, 5Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Center, Military District General Hospital of Chengdu Military Region, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workAbstract: AT-101 is a BH3 mimetic and pan-Bcl-2 inhibitor that has shown potent anticancer activity in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in murine models, but failed to show clinical efficacy when used in combination with docetaxel in NSCLC patients. Our recent study has demonstrated that AT-101 enhanced the antitumor effect of cisplatin (CDDP) in a murine model of NSCLC via inhibition of the interleukin-6/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) pathway. This study explored the underlying mechanisms for the enhanced anticancer activity of CDDP by AT-101. Our results show that, when compared with monotherapy, AT-101 significantly enhanced the inhibitory effects of CDDP on proliferation and migration of A549 cells and on tube formation and migration in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. AT-101 promoted the proapoptotic activity of CDDP in A549 cells. AT-101 also enhanced the inhibitory effect of CDDP on DNA repair and redox activities of apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) in A549 cells. In tumor tissues from nude mice treated with AT-101 plus CDDP or monotherapy, the combination therapy resulted in greater inhibition of angiogenesis and tumor cell proliferation than the monotherapy. These results suggest that AT-101 can enhance the antitumor activity of CDDP in NSCLC via inhibition of APE1 DNA repair and redox activities and by angiogenesis and induction of apoptosis, but other mechanisms cannot be excluded. We are now conducting a Phase II trial to examine the clinical efficacy and safety profile of combined use of AT-101 plus CDDP in advanced NSCLC patients.Keywords: AT-101, cisplatin, non-small-cell lung cancer, apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1, angiogenesis, tumor 
Relational Model of Accidents and Vessel Traffic Using AIS Data and GIS: A Case Study of the Western Port of Shenzhen City
No full textFollowing the growth in global trade activities, vessel traffic has increased dramatically in some busy waterways and ports. However, such increments have made it more complex to manage the regional vessel traffic, which can increase the risk of an accident in the area. To model and analyze the relationship between vessel traffic and maritime traffic, this paper proposes a gridded geography information system (GIS)-based relation analysis model using the historical automatic identification system (AIS) data and accident records over a 10-year-span. Firstly, the extent of the hazards posed by a maritime accident in terms of hull loss, fatality, and direct economic loss is quantified using set pair analysis. Consequently, the hazardous degree posed by an accident is obtained. The relative consequence of the regional hazard (RCORH) is then estimated by summing up all the relative hazardous degrees of accidents that have occurred in a certain gridded area. Secondly, the vessel traffic in the gridded areas is analyzed using characteristics such as speed, heading variance, and traffic volume as indicators. Based on the analysis of both the maritime traffic accidents and the vessel traffic, the spatial relationships are analyzed with an overlay between the RCORH and vessel traffic data of each grid, as well as a regression analysis. In a case study of the Western port of Shenzhen City, China, the methodology proves to be effective for vessel traffic management and traffic engineering design
Path planning for autonomous ships: A hybrid approach based on improved apf and modified vo methods
No full textIn this research, a hybrid approach for path planning of autonomous ships that generates both global and local paths, respectively, is proposed. The global path is obtained via an improved artificial potential field (APF) method, which makes up for the shortcoming that the typical APF method easily falls into a local minimum. A modified velocity obstacle (VO) method that incorpo-rates the closest point of approach (CPA) model and the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS), based on the typical VO method, can be used to get the local path. The contribution of this research is two-fold: (1) improvement of the typical APF and VO methods, making up for previous shortcomings, and integrated COLREGS rules and good seamanship, making the paths obtained more in line with navigation practice; (2) the research included global and local path planning, considering both the safety and maneuverability of the ship in the process of avoiding collision, and studied the whole process of avoiding collision in a relatively entirely way. A case study was then conducted to test the proposed approach in different situations. The results indicate that the proposed approach can find both global and local paths to avoid the target ship.</p
