The erythroid differentiation regulator 1 (Erdr1), which is a novel and highly conserved factor, was recently reported to be negatively regulated by IL-18 and to play a crucial role as an antimetastatic factor. IL-18 is a proinflammatory cytokine that functions as an angiogenic mediator in inflammation. Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder that is characterized by abnormal inflammation and vascular hyperactivity of the facial skin. To determine whether Erdr1 contributes to the regulation of the chronic inflammatory process in the development of rosacea, an immunohistochemical analysis was performed in healthy donors and patients with rosacea. In this study, we showed that Erdr1 was downregulated, whereas IL-18 was upregulated, in patients with rosacea, which led us to question the role of Erdr1 in this disorder. Moreover, a rosacea-like BALB/c mouse model was used to determine the role of Erdr1 in rosacea in vivo. LL-37 injection induced typical rosacea features, including erythema, telangiectasia and inflammation. Treatment with recombinant Erdr1 (rErdr1) resulted in a significant reduction of erythema, inflammatory cell infiltration (including CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells), and microvessel density with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Taken together, our findings suggest that rErdr1 may be involved in attenuating the inflammation and angiogenesis associated with the pathogenesis of rosacea. Thus, these results provide new insight into the mechanism involved in this condition and indicate that rErdr1 could be a potential target for therapeutic intervention of rosacea.

In this paper the Gallant-Lambert-Vanstone method is reexamined for speeding up scalar multiplication. Using the theory of µ-Euclidian algorithm, we provide a rigorous method to reduce the theoretical bound for the decomposition of an integer k in the endomorphism ring of an elliptic curve. We then compare the two different methods for decomposition through computational implementations.

A clue of double decryption mechanism was introduced at Eurocrypt '02 by Cramer and Shoup, and it was revisited at Asiacrypt '03 by Bresson, Catalano and Pointcheval. Previous double decryption schemes are designed based on Z n 2 where n = pq for two primes, p and q. Note that, they use the Paillier's scheme as a primitive scheme to design a double decryption mechanism. In this paper, we propose an efficient public key scheme with double decryption mechanism based on Z p 2 q. Our scheme is more efficient than the previous schemes. Moreover, we review the previous schemes in a privacy point of view and propose a privacy enhanced double decryption scheme.

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Washed-cells or cell-free preparations of Streptomyces mitakaensis, the producing organism of mikamycins A and B, were found to inactivate mikamycin B by hydrolyzing its lactonic linkage. The reaction product was identified as mikamycin B acid. An enzyme catalyzing this reaction was named mikamycin B lactonase and its property was investigated by using intact cells. Some intensive studies on the inactivation mechanisms of clinically important antibiotics such as penicillin1), chloramphenicol2) and aminoglycosidic antibiotics3,4) have been reported.