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The 70-kDa heat shock proteins (Hsp70s) are chaperone proteins involved in protein folding processes. Truncated Hsp70 (Hsp70T) refers to the variant lacking a conserved C-terminal motif, which is crucial for co-chaperone interactions or protein retention. Despite their significance, the characteristics of Hsp70Ts in plants remain largely unexplored. In this study, we performed a comprehensive genome-wide analysis of 192 sequenced plant and green algae genomes to investigate the distribution and features of Hsp70Ts. Our findings unveil the widespread occurrence of Hsp70Ts across all four Hsp70 forms, including cytosolic, endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondrial, and chloroplast Hsp70s, with cytosolic Hsp70T being the most prevalent and abundant subtype. Cytosolic Hsp70T is characterized by two distinct lineages, referred to as T1 and T2. Among the investigated plant and green algae species, T1 genes were identified in approximately 60% of cases, showcasing a variable gene count ranging from one to several dozens. In contrast, T2 genes were prevalent across the majority of plant genomes, usually occurring in fewer than five gene copies per species. Sequence analysis highlights that the putative T1 proteins exhibit higher similarity to full-length cytosolic Hsp70s in comparison to T2 proteins. Intriguingly, the T2 lineage demonstrates a higher level of conservation within their protein sequences, whereas the T1 lineage presents a diverse range in the C-terminal and SBDα region, leading to categorization into four distinct subtypes. Furthermore, we have observed that T1-rich species characterized by the possession of 15 or more T1 genes exhibit an expansion of T1 genes into tandem gene clusters. The T1 gene clusters identified within the Laurales order display synteny with clusters found in a species of the Chloranthales order and another species within basal angiosperms, suggesting a conserved evolutionary relationship of T1 gene clusters among these plants. Additionally, T2 genes demonstrate distinct expression patterns in seeds and under heat stress, implying their potential roles in seed development and stress response.

Extreme weather events cause stream overflow and lead to urban inundation. In this study, a decentralized flood monitoring system is proposed to provide water level predictions in streams three hours ahead. The customized sensor in the system measures the water levels and implements edge computing to produce future water levels. It is very different from traditional centralized monitoring systems and considered an innovation in the field. In edge computing, traditional physics-based algorithms are not computationally efficient if microprocessors are used in sensors. A correlation analysis was performed to identify key factors that influence the variations in the water level forecasts. For example, the second-order difference in the water level is considered to represent the acceleration or deacceleration of a water level rise. According to different input factors, three artificial neural network (ANN) models were developed. Four streams or canals were selected to test and evaluate the performance of the models. One case was used for model training and testing, and the others were used for model validation. The results demonstrated that the ANN model with the second-order water level difference as an input factor outperformed the other ANN models in terms of RMSE. The customized microprocessor-based sensor with an embedded ANN algorithm can be adopted to improve edge computing capabilities and support emergency response and decision making.

POEMS syndrome, a paraneoplastic disorder, caused by plasma cell dyscrasia, is characterized by polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, M-protein, and skin changes. Calciphylaxis is a vasculopathy of subcutaneous arteries with calcification and skin ulceration, most commonly associated with end-stage renal disease. Calciphylaxis occurring in patients with POEMS syndrome is very rare; only 8 cases have been reported to date. We report the 9th case. A middle-aged woman with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy and monoclonal plasma cell proliferative disorder with IgA gammopathy presented with a 3-month history of multiple painful violaceous plaques with gangrenous necrosis and ulceration on the abdomen and extremities. The skin lesions worsened after surgical debridement and fasciotomy but improved with weekly intravenous bortezomib combined with thalidomide and dexamethasone for POEMS syndrome. The present case illustrates that effective control of the disease activity of POEMS syndrome may improve the surgical outcome of extensive skin necrosis in POEMS syndrome-associated calciphylaxis.

In this study, we report systematic investigations of the membership of galaxies inside a cluster using a machine learning (ML) neural network. By directly assigning the membership, rather than estimating the galaxy redshift as an intermediate step, we optimize the network structure to determine the membership classification. The cluster membership is determined by the Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) neural network trained using various observed photometric and morphological parameters of galaxies measured from I and V band images taken with the Subaru Suprime-Cam of 16 clusters at redshift ∼0.15–0.3. This dataset enables MLP to be applied to cluster galaxies in a wide range of cluster-centric distances, well into a field, and a wide range of galaxy magnitudes, into a regime of dwarf galaxies. We find: (1) With only two bands, our MLP model can achieve relatively high overall performance, obtaining high scores simultaneously in both the purity and the completeness of the classification; (2) The performance of MLP can be improved by including non-SED (Spectral Energy Distribution) parameters; (3) Faint galaxies are harder to assign their memberships even using our MLP model, though the performance is more robust than other photometric methods. ML can effectively combine various conventional methods of finding cluster membership, making it inherit advantages of each method. The overall good performance of the ML membership is vital to cluster studies in the era of faint and data-intensive galaxy survey in which the complete spectroscopic observation is out of reach.

BackgroundReal-world clinical data on psoriasis patients receiving different biological agents is needed, especially in Asian populations.ObjectivesOur aim is to compare and analyze the efficacy and safety profile of four biological agents (etanercept, adalimumab, ustekinumab and secukinumab) in a real-world setting in Taiwan.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of all patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) ≥ 10) who received etanercept, adalimumab, ustekinumab or secukinumab between January 2011 and December 2018 in a tertiary hospital in Taiwan.ResultsA total of 119 treatment episodes in 75 patients were included in this study. Ustekinumab was used in 49 treatment episodes, followed by secukinumab in 46 treatment episodes, adalimumab in 14 treatment episodes and etanercept in 10 treatment episodes. The proportion of the biologic-naïve was highest in etanercept (100%) and lowest in secukinumab (23.9%). The PASI-75, -90 and -100 were the highest in secukinumab (91.3%, 82.6%, 41.3%, respectively), followed by ustekinumab (79.6%, 44.9%, 16.3%), adalimumab (64.3%, 28.6%, 7.1%) and etanercept (50.0%, 30.0%, 0%). The rate of adverse events that required treatment was highest for secukinumab (15.2%), followed by adalimumab (14.3%), ustekinumab (8.2%), and etanercept (0%), including 4 cases of infections, 2 cases of cardiovascular diseases and 4 cases of cancers.ConclusionsThis real world data showed differential efficacy and safety of the four biological agents.

The amphipod (Hyalella azteca) and zebrafish (Brachydanio rerio) embryos were used for toxicological sediment porewater testing. Porewaters from 35 sampling stations of eight streams in southern Taiwan were screened for toxic effects and their relationship with 6 metal and 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Concentration analysis results showed that the following PAHs, naphththalene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, dibenz(a,h)anthracene, acenaphthalene, and the heavy metal cadmium were not detected in 35 sampling stations. The highest detection rate of 94.1% was caused by the PAHs fluoranthene and pyrene. The highest detection rate of the metal zinc was 88.6% of 35 analyzed samples. The majority of samples (88%) were classified as level tier 1 according to USEPA national sediment inventory. This indicates the probability of adverse effects on aquatic life or human health. The results of a zebrafish embryo test showed that heart rate and survival were significantly reduced with all porewater samples. Therefore, fish exposed to contaminated river conditions may be affected in their cardiovascular functions. Looking at correlations between toxic effects of metals and PAHs, we found that phenanthrene, anthracene, pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene, chrysene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, and benzo(a)pyrene were low, while fluorene was highly correlated with toxic effects of metals.

Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) is an excessive immune reaction to a pre-existing infection following the initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. Molluscum contagiosum-associated IRIS is rare. We report a new case and review the five other reported cases. Our patient, a 40-year-old Taiwanese male with HIV infection, presented with inflamed papules and pustules over the neck and arms occurring 1 month into HAART with recovering of CD4 cell counts. Histopathology showed molluscum contagiosum with a dense diffuse mixed inflammatory infiltrate with abundant eosinophils. The skin lesions resolved spontaneously within 3 months under continuous HAART.