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Distilled soju, a Korean traditional alcoholic beverage, is produced by fermenting rice with a variety of microorganisms including molds, yeasts, and lactic acid-producing bacteria, followed by distillation. Our study sought to improve the quality of distilled soju through co-fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Wickerhamomyces anomalus, known for producing volatile aromatic compounds during the early stages of fermentation. Analysis of volatile aromatic compounds in co-fermented distilled soju revealed a substantial increase in compounds with boiling points below 200 °C. Among them, ethyl hexanoate, isobutanol, and isoamyl alcohol were identified as the major volatile aromatic compounds based on Log2 fold change analyses of the volatile aromatic compound pattern. In sensory evaluation, co-fermented distilled soju received higher scores in terms of odor and overall preference. Therefore, incorporating W. anomalus may improve the quality of distilled soju.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is one of the most prevalent, chronic and persistent inflammatory skin diseases closely associated with intestinal microbiota. To evaluate the effect of D-galactose intake on AD, we orally administered D-galactose to BALB/c mice whose ears and skin were treated with 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB). D-galactose alleviated DNCB-induced AD-like phenotypes such as redness, scaling/dryness and excoriation. Ear thickness was also decreased by D-galactose administration. Histopathological analysis revealed decreased epidermal thickening, infiltration of immune cells, especially mast cells, in the dermis. Total levels of serum IgE representing the immunological response of AD were decreased by D-galactose administration. Microbiota analysis showed that D-galactose administration restored gut microbiota profiles, which were altered in AD mice, characterized by increased abundance of Bacteroidetes and decreased abundance of Firmicutes. The increased abundance of Bacteroides and the decreased abundance of Prevotella and Ruminococcus were reversed by D-galactose treatment, following improvement of AD. Our results suggest the possible use of D-galactose as a prebiotic to alleviate AD by altering gut microbiota.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an intestinal chronic inflammatory disease, and its incidence is steadily increasing. IBD is closely related to the intestinal microbiota, and probiotics are known to be a potential therapeutic agent for IBD. In our study, we evaluated the protective effect of Lactobacillus sakei CVL-001, isolated from Baechu kimchi, on dextran sulfated sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in mice. The oral administration of L. sakei CVL-001 according to the experimental schedule alleviated weight loss and disease activity in the mice with colitis. Furthermore, the length and histopathology of the colon improved. The expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-1β genes decreased in the colons of mice that were administered L. sakei CVL-001, whereas that of IL-10 increased. The expressions of genes coding for E-cadherin, claudin3, occludin, and mucin were also restored. In co-housed conditions, L. sakei CVL-001 administration did not improve disease activity, colon length, and histopathology. Microbiota analysis revealed that L. sakei CVL-001 administration increased the abundance of microbiota and altered Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, and decreased Proteobacteria. In conclusion, L. sakei CVL-001 administration protects mice from DSS-induced colitis by regulating immune response and intestinal integrity via gut microbiota modulation.

Mycobacterium abscessus (MAB) is one of the rapidly growing, multidrug-resistant non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) causing various diseases including pulmonary disorder. Although it has been known that type I interferons (IFNs) contribute to host defense against bacterial infections, the role of type I IFNs against MAB infection is still unclear. In the present study, we show that rIFN-β treatment reduced the intracellular growth of MAB in macrophages. Deficiency of IFN-α/β receptor (IFNAR) led to the reduction of nitric oxide (NO) production in MAB-infected macrophages. Consistently, rIFN-β treatment enhanced the expression of iNOS gene and protein, and NO production in response to MAB. We also found that NO is essential for the intracellular growth control of MAB within macrophages in an inhibitor assay using iNOS-deficient cells. In addition, pretreatment of rIFN-β before MAB infection in mice increased production of NO in the lungs at day 1 after infection and promoted the bacterial clearance at day 5. However, when alveolar macrophages were depleted by treatment of clodronate liposome, rIFN-β did not promote the bacterial clearance in the lungs. Moreover, we found that a cytosolic receptor nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain 2 (NOD2) is required for MAB-induced TANK binding kinase 1 (TBK1) phosphorylation and IFN-β gene expression in macrophages. Finally, increase in the bacterial loads caused by reduction of NO levels was reversed by rIFN-β treatment in the lungs of NOD2-deficient mice. Collectively, our findings suggest that type I IFNs act as an intermediator of NOD2-induced NO production in macrophages and thus contribute to host defense against MAB infection.

The concept of an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) has recently emerged as a promising solution for improving the coverage and energy/spectral efficiency of future wireless communication systems. However, as the number of reflecting elements in an IRS increase, the beam training protocol in IRS-assisted millimeter-wave (mmWave) cellular systems requires a large beam training time because it needs to find the best beam pairs for the link between the base station (BS) and the IRS, as well as the link between the IRS and the mobile station (MS). In this paper, a fast beam training technique for IRS-assisted mmWave cellular systems with a uniform rectangular array is proposed for detecting the best beam pairs of BS-IRS and IRS-MS links simultaneously. Two different types of beam training signals (BTSs) are proposed to distinguish simultaneously transmitted beams from the BSs in multi-cell multi-beam environments: the Zadoff–Chu sequence based BTS (ZC-BTS) and m-sequence based BTS (m-BTS). The correlation properties of ZC-BTSs and m-BTSs are analyzed in multi-cell multi-beam environments. In addition, the effect of symbol time offset on the ZC-BTS and m-BTS is analyzed. Finally, simulation results reveal that the proposed technique can significantly reduce the beam training time for IRS-assisted mmWave cellular systems.

The processing time for beam training in millimeter-wave (mmWave) cellular systems can be significantly reduced by a code division multiplexing (CDM)-based technique, where multiple beams are transmitted simultaneously with their corresponding Tx beam IDs (BIDs) in the preamble. However, mmWave cellular systems with CDM-based preambles require a large number of cell IDs (CIDs) and BIDs, and a high computational complexity for CID and BID (CBID) searches. In this paper, a new preamble design technique that can increase the number of CBIDs significantly is proposed, using a preamble sequence constructed by a combination of two Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequences. An efficient technique for the CBID detection is also described for the proposed preamble. It is shown by simulations using a simple model of an mmWave cellular system that the proposed technique can obtain a significant reduction in the complexity of the CBID detection without a noticeable performance degradation, compared to the previous technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives This study was conducted to determine the proper hand position on the sternum for external chest compression to generate a maximal haemodynamic effect during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Methods 114 patients with cardiac arrest who underwent chest CT after successful resuscitation from January 2006 to August 2009 were included in the study. To evaluate the area of the cardiac chambers subjected to external chest compression, the area of each cardiac chamber under the sternum was measured using cross-sectional CT at three different locations: the internipple line (A), sternoxiphoid junction (C), and halfway between the two points (B). Results The widest total heart area, total ventricular area and left ventricular area (LVA) were observed most frequently at point C (58%, 85% and 78% of all cases, respectively). Few cases (six in total heart area, one in total ventricular area and one in LVA) were observed as the widest at point A. Predicted compressed areas of the right and left ventricle were wider at point C than at points A or B (right ventricular area: 366±536 mm2 at point A, 961±653 mm2 at point B and 1383±689 mm2 at point C, p<0.001; LVA: 65±236 mm2 at point A, 365±506 mm2 at point B and 1099±817 mm2 at point C, p<0.001). Conclusions Only a small proportion of the ventricle is subjected to external chest compression when CPR is performed according to the current guidelines. Compression of the sternum at the sternoxiphoid junction might be more effective to compress the ventricles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile robot localizations have been extensively studied, and various algorithms for multiple-robot localization have been developed. However, existing methods for multiple-robot localization often exhibit poor performance under harsh conditions, such as missing measurements and sudden appearance of obstacles. To overcome this problem, this paper proposes a novel method for multiple-robot localization in wireless sensor networks. The proposed method is theoretically based on the finite memory estimation and utilizes relative distance and angle measurements between robots. Thus, the proposed method is referred to as distributed finite memory estimation from relative measurements (DFMERM). Due to the finite memory structure, the DFMERM has inherent robustness against computational and modeling errors. Moreover, the novel distributed localization method using relative measurements shows the robustness against missing measurements. Robust DFMERM localization performance is experimentally demonstrated using multiple mobile robots under the harsh conditions.

With the increasing importance of services in the manufacturing industry, manufacturers have been providing customers with packages that combine products and services. Such a product–service combination trend is often referred to as “servitization” and/or “product–service system,” and its impact on firm performance has been studied over decades. Although firms can improve their performance through service and product innovation, uncertainty in services may cause them to experience potential risks. Notwithstanding the risk associated with undertaking both product and service innovation together vis-à-vis the increase in resource and effort utilization, several studies have focused on performance itself without considering the change in inputs. Thus, this study measures innovation efficiency, which represents the ratio of innovation outputs to inputs, and verifies the difference in innovation efficiency among three different innovation types: 1) both product and service innovation, 2) product innovation only, and 3) service innovation only. The differences in innovation performance, which is measured by the sales of innovative products and utilized as an output factor in estimating efficiency, are also verified to compare the results with the difference in innovation efficiency by innovation type, and the changes in inputs are inferred. This study demonstrates that firms performing both product and service innovation tend to achieve higher innovation performance than others, albeit lower innovation efficiency. Based on the results, this study suggests an appropriate innovation strategy for firm managers, depending on firms’ innovation objectives and input availability.

This paper proposes a downlink synchronization and cell identity (CID) estimation technique for cellular systems based on orthogonal time-frequency space (OTFS). In the proposed technique, each base station (BS) transmits one detection preamble (DP) and two OTFS symbols (pilot and secondary-CID (SCID) signal (SS)). The DP based on a linear frequency-modulated (LFM) waveform, called proposed-LFM (pLFM), carries the primary-CID (PCID) for symbol timing (ST) synchronization, whereas the SS based on the Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequence mapped in the delay-Doppler domain carries the SCID. The pLFM is obtained by discretizing the LFM waveform, increasing the frequency sweeping parameter beyond the limit of the operational bandwidth, and incorporating the PCID into the LFM waveform. The autocorrelation and cross-correlation functions of the pLFM are analyzed to examine its correlation properties under the influence of a high Doppler shift. To reduce the undesirable correlation properties (side peak and time ambiguity), a receiver processing (RP) scheme is developed for the pLFM. It is found that the pLFM with RP is suitable for the DP design because it can provide an accurate ST in high-mobility scenarios. In addition, the influence of OTFS modulation on the ZC sequence is derived and a low-complexity detection algorithm based on message passing is applied to detect SCID at the user equipment. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed downlink synchronization and CID estimation techniques are suitable for OTFS-based cellular systems in high-Doppler environments.

Due to short wavelength and weak diffraction ability, millimeter-wave (mmWave) signals are highly susceptible to blockage, which results in significant degradation in received signal power. As a possible solution for overcoming the blockage problem in millimeter-wave communication systems, the deployment of a relay station (RS) has been considered in recent years. In this paper, we discuss the problems to be considered in a relay-assisted mmWave cellular system based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing. We describe a frame structure and a pilot-based training method to achieve efficient RS selection during blockage. In addition, a method designed to overcome the inter-symbol interference problem caused by different symbol time offsets of pilot signals received from adjacent RSs in the relay-assisted mmWave cellular system is discussed. Then, we propose two different types of pilot sequences that allow a mobile station to distinguish among the pilot sources in multi-cell multi-relay environments: pilot signals based on the Zadoff-Chu sequence (PS1) and pilot signals based on the m-sequence (PS2). The correlation property of PS2 is derived and compared with that of PS1 and another sequence (Gold sequence). Simulations are performed using a blockage model to verify the properties, constraints, and advantages and disadvantages of the proposed pilot sequences in RS-assisted mmWave cellular systems.

Beam training in millimeter-wave (mmWave) cellular systems requires a long processing time that is proportional to the product of the number of transmitting and receiving beams. In this paper, we propose a beam training technique that can significantly reduce the beam training time in mmWave cellular systems, using a retrodirective directional array (RDA). In the proposed technique, the beam sweeping operations required at the base station (BS) and mobile station (MS) are significantly reduced owing to the use of the RDA, which automatically returns a signal in the direction along which it originated. A preamble sequence design technique for beam training is proposed to identify the BS, MS, and beams simultaneously transmitted from the BS/MS, using the Zadoff-Chu sequence. The ambiguity condition and detection algorithms are derived so that we can uniquely identify the parameters for beam alignment in asynchronous environments with symbol timing offset (STO) and carrier frequency offset (CFO). Simulations show that the proposed algorithm can correctly detect the parameters for beam alignment in mmWave cellular systems with RDA in asynchronous environments. Moreover, the proposed technique can significantly reduce the period required for beam training, compared with the conventional techniques.

Primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) is an aggressive B cell lymphoma that is etiologically linked to Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). Despite standard multi-chemotherapy treatment, PEL continues to cause high mortality. Thus, new strategies to control PEL are needed urgently. Here, we show that a phosphodegron motif within the KSHV protein, latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA), specifically interacts with E3 ubiquitin ligase FBW7, thereby competitively inhibiting the binding of the anti-apoptotic protein MCL-1 to FBW7. Consequently, LANA-FBW7 interaction enhances the stability of MCL-1 by preventing its proteasome-mediated degradation, which inhibits caspase-3-mediated apoptosis in PEL cells. Importantly, MCL-1 inhibitors markedly suppress colony formation on soft agar and tumor growth of KSHV+PEL/BCBL-1 in a xenograft mouse model. These results strongly support the conclusion that high levels of MCL-1 expression enable the oncogenesis of PEL cells and thus, MCL-1 could be a potential drug target for KSHV-associated PEL. This work also unravels a mechanism by which an oncogenic virus perturbs a key component of the ubiquitination pathway to induce tumorigenesis.

A new variant of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.351 lineage (first found in South Africa) has been raising global concern due to its harboring of multiple mutations in the spike that potentially increase transmissibility and yield resistance to neutralizing antibodies. We here tested infectivity and neutralization efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudoviruses bearing particular mutations of the receptor-binding domain (RBD) derived either from the Wuhan strains (referred to as D614G or with other sites) or the B.1.351 lineage (referred to as N501Y, K417N, and E484K). The three different pseudoviruses B.1.351 lineage related significantly increased infectivity compared with other mutants that indicated Wuhan strains. Interestingly, K417N and E484K mutations dramatically enhanced cell–cell fusion than N501Y even though their infectivity were similar, suggesting that K417N and E484K mutations harboring SARS-CoV-2 variant might be more transmissible than N501Y mutation containing SARS-CoV-2 variant. We also investigated the efficacy of two different monoclonal antibodies, Casirivimab and Imdevimab that neutralized SARS-CoV-2, against several kinds of pseudoviruses which indicated Wuhan or B.1.351 lineage. Remarkably, Imdevimab effectively neutralized B.1.351 lineage pseudoviruses containing N501Y, K417N, and E484K mutations, while Casirivimab partially affected them. Overall, our results underscore the importance of B.1.351 lineage SARS-CoV-2 in the viral spread and its implication for antibody efficacy.