ALBERT

Description: Future Internet, Vol. 9, Pages 85: Blockchain-Empowered Fair Computational Resource Sharing System in the D2D Network Future Internet doi: 10.3390/fi9040085 Authors: Zhen Hong Zehua Wang Wei Cai Victor Leung Device-to-device (D2D) communication is becoming an increasingly important technology in future networks with the climbing demand for local services. For instance, resource sharing in the D2D network features ubiquitous availability, flexibility, low latency and low cost. However, these features also bring along challenges when building a satisfactory resource sharing system in the D2D network. Specifically, user mobility is one of the top concerns for designing a cooperative D2D computational resource sharing system since mutual communication may not be stably available due to user mobility. A previous endeavour has demonstrated and proven how connectivity can be incorporated into cooperative task scheduling among users in the D2D network to effectively lower average task execution time. There are doubts about whether this type of task scheduling scheme, though effective, presents fairness among users. In other words, it can be unfair for users who contribute many computational resources while receiving little when in need. In this paper, we propose a novel blockchain-based credit system that can be incorporated into the connectivity-aware task scheduling scheme to enforce fairness among users in the D2D network. Users’ computational task cooperation will be recorded on the public blockchain ledger in the system as transactions, and each user’s credit balance can be easily accessible from the ledger. A supernode at the base station is responsible for scheduling cooperative computational tasks based on user mobility and user credit balance. We investigated the performance of the credit system, and simulation results showed that with a minor sacrifice of average task execution time, the level of fairness can obtain a major enhancement.

Description: Two of the biggest hurdles in the deployment of chemotherapeutics against glioma is a poor drug concentration at the tumor site and serious side effects to normal tissues. Nanocarriers delivering different drugs are considered to be one of the most promising alternatives. In this study, a dual delivery system (methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(ε-caprolactone) (MPEG-PCL)) loaded with α-mangostin (α-m) and doxorubicin (Dox) was decorated and constructed by self-assembly to determine its ability to treat glioma. Molecular dynamics simulations showed that MPEG-PCL could provide ideal interaction positions for both α-m and Dox, indicating that the two drugs could be loaded into MPEG-PCL. Based on the in vitro results, MPEG-PCL loaded with α-m and Dox (α-m-Dox/M) with a size of 25.68 nm and a potential of −1.51 mV was demonstrated to significantly inhibit the growth and promote apoptosis in Gl261, C6 and U87 cells, and the effects of the combination were better than each compound alone. The mechanisms involved in the suppression of glioma cell growth were blockage of the cell cycle in S phase by inhibition of CDK2/cyclin E1 and promotion of apoptosis through the Bcl-2/Bax pathway. The synergetic effects of α-m-Dox/M effectively inhibited tumor growth and prolonged survival time without toxicity in mouse glioma models by inducing glioma apoptosis, inhibiting glioma proliferation and limiting tumor angiogenesis. In conclusion, a codelivery system was synthesized to deliver α-m and Dox to the glioma, thereby suppressing the development of glioma by the mechanisms of cell cycle arrest and cellular apoptosis, which demonstrated the potential of this system to improve the chemotherapy response of glioma.