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Government agencies provide huge amount of subsidies to support the rehabilitation transportation service over the past decade in eastern Taiwan; however, low demand request fulfillment rate, limited medical and transportation resources, long travel distances, and an extremely high percentage of dead mileages are still the main challenges faced by rehabilitation transportation service providers. This study applies the market design theory to match the rehabilitation buses with the requests of patients, so as to improve resource utilization efficiency in rural areas. The developed market design mechanisms aim to allocate resources to those who need them most in a matching manner, by using the deferred acceptance algorithm and the top trading cycle approach. The model is initialized with the requests of those who choose the rehabilitation bus based on their desired boarding time slots. On the other hand, the service providers of the rehabilitation bus would determine patients’ schedule based on their disability level, willingness to share the ride, number of fulfilled appointments during this month, and the travel distance of this trip as the order of preference. Since the current vehicle dispatching rule is to reserve seats of a rehabilitation bus on the “first-come-first-served” basis, and it cannot fully satisfy patients need. In accordance with the historical data, 63 of 72 demand requests could successfully reserve the seats. In the “first-come, first-served” mode, 48 requests obtained the first-ranking shift (i.e., their desired time slots), and the sum of their disability level score is 155. In the market design matching mode, 57 requests obtained the first-ranking shift, and the sum of their disability level score is 170, which demonstrates that the proposed market design matching mechanism outperforms than the conventional rules.

A H2O-promoted and (NH4)2CO3-enabled deiodoamination and defluoroiminization reaction of fluoroalkyl alkenes has been developed under transition-metal-free conditions. Structurally important fluoroalkylated 1,5-diazapentadienes were obtained in excellent Z-selectivity with good functional group tolerance. The versatility of the method was illustrated in the synthesis of valuable organofluorides from the obtained products. Compared to traditional synthetic methods, several apparent limitations, including distillation for purification, multistep manipulation, harsh reaction conditions, moisture exclusion, and the use of toxic/sensitive reagents, could be avoided. The key to the success of the reaction is the use of (NH4)2CO3 as a commercially available, inexpensive, low-toxic, and efficient NH2/NH source and water as a C(sp3)–F bond cleavage promoter. Moreover, the distinctive fluorine effects of perfluoroalkyl substituents on substrates are also vital for enhancing the reaction efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although anti-rheumatoid arthritis (RA) 33 antibodies have been reported to be present in various connective tissue diseases (CTDs), the clinical significance of anti-RA33 in CTDs is still obscure. This study was performed to explore the clinical significance of anti-RA33 in CTDs, especially systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). A total of 565 patients with positive anti-nuclear antibodies who had been tested for anti-RA33 were included in this study and were further classified into RA33-positive and RA33-negative groups. The association between anti-RA33 and the clinical features of CTDs was examined. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to explore the diagnostic value of anti-RA33 in SLE and SLE-related organ involvement. The results showed that SLE was the most common disease in CTD patients positive for anti-RA33 (48.8%). Compared with the RA33-negative group, higher proportions of SLE-associated antibodies and SLE patients with a high disease activity as well as lower levels of serum complement components were observed in the RA33-positive group (all p < 0.05). Furthermore, CTD patients with positive anti-RA33 were more likely to suffer from mucocutaneous and hematological involvement as well as interstitial lung disease (all p < 0.05). ROC analysis revealed an area under the curve value of 0.634 (95% confidence interval: 0.587–0.681) for anti-RA33 in the diagnosis of SLE, with a specificity and sensitivity of 92.9% and 13.5%, respectively. Taken together, this study reveals a significant association between anti-RA33 and the clinical features of CTDs, especially SLE, indicating a potential clinical significance of anti-RA33 in the management of SLE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proteins with DNA-binding preference to the consensus DNA sequence (A/T) GATA (A/G) belong to a GATA transcription factor family, with a wide array of biological processes in plants. Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is an important food crop with high production of starch in storage roots. Little was however known about cassava GATA domain-containing genes (MeGATA s). Thirty-six MeGATA s, MeGATA1 to MeGATA36 , were found in this study. Some MeGATA s showed a collinear relationship with orthologous genes of Arabidopsis , poplar and potato, rice, maize and sorghum. Eight MeGATA -encoded proteins (MeGATAs) analysed were all localized in the nucleus. Some MeGATAs had potentials of binding ligands and/or enzyme activity. One pair of tandem-duplicated MeGATA17–MeGATA18 and 30 pairs of whole genome-duplicated MeGATA s were found. Fourteen MeGATA s showed low or no expression in the tissues. Nine analysed MeGATA s showed expression responses to abiotic stresses and exogenous phytohormones. Three groups of MeGATA protein interactions were found. Fifty-three miRNAs which can target 18 MeGATA s were identified. Eight MeGATAs were found to target other 292 cassava genes, which were directed to radial pattern formation and phyllome development by gene ontology enrichment, and autophagy by Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment. These data suggest that MeGATA s are functional generalists in interactions between cassava growth and development, abiotic stresses and starch metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) is a heterogeneous group of inherited neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive lower limb spasticity. Recent studies revealed that biallelic variants in RNF170 gene cause autosomal recessive complicated HSP with infancy onset. Here, we report an adolescent‐onset HSP patient from a consanguineous Chinese family, with lower extremity stiffness, spastic gait, and unstable straight‐line walking as the main manifestations. Whole‐exome sequencing identifies a novel RNF170 mutation c.190C>T (p.R64*), which co‐segregates with the disease in this pedigree. Functional analysis, including quantitative real‐time PCR (RT‐qPCR) and Western blot, indicates that both the mRNA and protein levels of mutant RNF170 are significantly reduced, which confirms the loss‐of‐function mechanism. Our study expands the spectrum of RNF170‐associated HSP, while the RNF170 protein‐involved degradation of the inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate receptor in neurodegenerative motor neuron disorders deserves further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]