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A frequency reconfigurable antenna with a cavity-backed annular that can switch multiple bands is proposed. The compact size of the antenna allows its structure to be integrated into the housing of a smartwatch. This model is a circular watch with a cylindrical housing. The annular structure has seven controlled grounding branches, which can be adjusted to vary the current distribution by different grounding combinations to produce 18 resonant frequencies. The frequency reconfigurable antenna design for the smartwatch was simulated and measured for each of the 18 resonant bands. The frequency reconfigurable antenna design of this smartwatch was investigated in the simulation and measurement sections for each of the 18 resonant bands, and both results were very similar. The frequency bands cover 2.0-2.36, 2.52-3.14, 3.29-3.47, 3.84-6.42, and 7.22-7.41 GHz, all bands with reflection coefficients below −10 dB. The antenna can work in the 5G NR and IoT bands. The simulations and measurements of antenna gain and radiation efficiency at each resonance point are consistent, with most antennas achieving more than 3 dBi gain and more than 70% of radiation efficiency, showing good performance. This article also analyzes the antenna design structure, operation mechanism, and evaluation of electromagnetic energy absorption. The proposed antenna has reasonable gain, significant bandwidth, and efficient direction performance.

This paper proposes a wearable reconfigurable antenna which can be operated in sub-6GHz, V-band and D-band. In the sub-6GHz band, the dual loop antennas are combined with a diode switch to achieve multi-mode switching. In the V-band, a controllable beam from 0 to 360 degrees is achieved by using six combined Vivaldi antennas with a diode switch to switch between beam directions. The diamond-shaped monopole antenna designed for the D-band achieves extremely high transmission rates at close range and has upward-facing directional radiation. The antennas are available in the sub-6 GHz bands such as 2–2.4, 2.9–3, 4.3–4.7, 5.75–6.05, and 6.6–6.9 GHz. The antenna design in the V-band can cover 19.78% (41-50 GHz) of the fractional bandwidth with a reflection coefficient below the −10 dB standard. In the D-band diamond monopole antenna, the reflection coefficient can reach −10dB standard covering 16.25% (139.6–164.3GHz) of the fractional bandwidth, and with directional radiation, the maximum radiation can reach 12dBi.

This paper presents a planar slot structure antenna array with a simple structure of a substrate-integrated waveguide for D-band communication bands. This antenna achieves wideband and high gain characteristics. The antenna is fed by a power divider in the corporate structure and a transition structure is designed from the WR-6.5 metal waveguide to the SIW. To improve bandwidth, a cavity is added to the transition structure to provide multiple propagation modes. The proposed antenna is designed incrementally, from a $2\times 6$ antenna array to a $4\times 6$ antenna structure. After verifying with simulations and measurements, the designed $4\times 6$ antenna array has a frequency coverage of 130-131, 135-136, and 138.7-142 GHz and an average radiation gain of about 15 dBi. The proposed antennas are considered ideal for the D-band communication system. Therefore, the proposed antenna is compact, easy to integrate in RF circuits, and high gain, which makes it suitable for development and application in D-band communications.

The vehicle license plate detection plays a key role in Intelligent Transportation Systems. Detecting license plates, such as cars, trucks, and vans, is useful for law enforcement, surveillance, and toll booth operations. How to detect license plates quickly and accurately is crucial for license plate recognition. However, the uneven light condition or the oblique shooting angle of the license plate to be detected changes dramatically in real-world complex capture scenarios and the detection difficulty increases. At the same time, distance, lighting, angle, and other requirements are quite high, which seriously affects the detection performance. Therefore, an improved YOLOv7 integrating the parameter-free attention module SimAM for license plate detection was proposed, namely YOLO-SLD. Without modifying the original ELAN architecture, which is the key component of YOLOv7, a SimAM mechanism was added at the end of the ELAN to better extract license plate features and increase computational efficiency. More importantly, the SimAM module does not require any parameters to be added to the original YOLOv7 network, reducing model computation, and simplifying the calculation process. The performance of the detection model with different attention mechanisms was tested on the CCPD dataset for the first time and the proposed method was proven to be effective. The experimental result shows that the YOLO-SLD model has higher detection accuracy and is more lightweight with mAP at 0.5 with the overall improvement in accuracy from 98.44% of the original YOLOv7 model to 98.91%, an increase of 0.47% in accuracy. The accuracy of the CCPD test subset in dark and light images has improved from 93.5% to 96.7%, an increase of 3.2% in accuracy. The parameter size of the model is reduced by 1.2 million parameters compared to the original YOLOv7 model. Its performance is better than the other prevalent license plate detection algorithms.

This paper proposes a multi-band coupled-fed antenna (MBCFA) design for 4G LTE, Sub-6G, and WLAN frequencies, suitable for electronic devices with different sizes and fully metallic backplates. The MBCFA structure can be replicated on the fully metallic backplates of laptops, tablets, or smartphones to form a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) antenna system. Each MBCFA at different positions on laptops and tablets exhibits similar resonance characteristics, highlighting its high robustness and stability. The proposed MBCFA is manufactured using low-cost FR4 material. The overall size of MBCFA is 70 mm $\times12.5$ mm and an FR4 thickness of 0.8 mm, the measured reflection losses within the -6dB range are 740–990 MHz (250 MHz bandwidth), 1380–2640 MHz (1260 MHz bandwidth), and 4250–7330 MHz (3080 MHz bandwidth). The MBCFA’s isolation levels in the 4G LTE frequency band are below -16 dB, while the remaining frequency bands have isolation levels below -20 dB. The maximum antenna gain is approximately 5 dBi, and the optimal antenna efficiency is 60%. The Equivalent Coupling Coefficient (ECC) for all frequency bands is below 0.5. Given the excellent antenna characteristics described above, the proposed multi-band coupled-fed antenna is an outstanding candidate for laptop, tablet, and smartphone antennas.

This paper proposes a design of a multilayer controlled beam horn antenna for the D-band. The multilayer design can achieve easy to control, low cost, and compact structure. The designed structure achieves the effect of a conventional horn antenna by stacking multiple layers and realizes the effect of beam switching by modifying the multi-layer plate structure. The widest bandwidth can be obtained when stacking 4 layers of boards, covering 24.7% (110-141GHz) of the bandwidth with a simulation gain of approximately 13.5dBi. By replacing the third plate structure, beam switching of ±30 degrees can be achieved, and the gain after beam switching can also reach 11.5 dBi.

The paper proposes a four-directional beamforming switched antenna system based on Butler matrix for 28 GHz mmWave. It is made up of a 90-degree coupler, a crossover, and a 45-degree phase shifter. A $4\times 4$ Butler matrix is combined with a 28 GHz patch antenna to form a Butler network antenna. Four directions of the radiation beam can be changed when the input position is changed. From the simulation and measurement results, the measured reflection coefficients cover 27.9-29.3 GHz at all four ports with a standard reflection coefficient of -10 dB and four different angles of 15°, -46°, +44° and -13° for switching beam direction. The antenna’s compact size of $39.1\times 45.6\,\,{\mathrm {mm}}^{2}$ ( $3.65\lambda _{0}\times 4.26\lambda _{0}$ ) makes it ideal for use in millimeter wave bands for 5G NR n258, and n261 applications, while also providing a high gain of 11.5 dBi.

RPThe wheel condition monitoring when the train in operation is significant task to prevent the occurrence of unexpected event. In this study, the piezoelectric sensors were installed on the railway track to collect the dynamic voltage-and-strain signals when the train wheels pressed them. These one-dimensional time series signals were transformed to the two-dimensional Recurrence Plots (RP) images as an input data sets for two deep learning models, Xception and EfficientNet-B7. The binary classification, Normal or Faulty as the diagnostical output to indicate the health state of the train wheels in that time. Five metrics were selected to evaluate the performance of two models, namely Accuracy, Precision, Recall, Miss Rate, and AUC. The results show that both models perform the high accuracy of 91.1% to the wheel condition classification. Furthermore, EfficientNet-B7 shows better performance in Recall, Miss-rate, and AUC metrics than those of Xception to express the premium ability in defective wheel identification, which is crucial for this application. Therefore, the efficientNet-B7 is selected as a favorable machine learning classifier for the fault diagnosis of rolling stock wheels. It is significant contribution to train wheel condition monitoring and health management since it provides the effective diagnostic information for maintenance decision to decrease the occurrence of unexpected event.

This article presents a planar Vivaldi array antenna based on a power divider structure. A half-loop defected ground structure (DGS) is performed to decrease the mutual coupling between antennas in the bottom layer of the substrate. The proposed Vivaldi antenna has a 1×8 power divided microstrip line structure and performs well in antenna gain and beam directivity. To validate the design, the proposed high-gain planar Vivaldi array antenna was manufactured, and the measured results were very similar to the simulated one. The size of the proposed antenna is 67×44 mm2, the application band is 25–27.3 GHz, and the measured peak gain is 12.6 dBi. The antenna is simulated with an electromagnetic power density (PD) of 28.5 W/m2 at 1 cm2 and 7.27 W/m2 at 4 cm2, which are in compliance with the FCC regulations. Therefore, this antenna is suitable for wearable devices and is applied to n257, n258, and n261.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused tremendous morbidity and mortality worldwide. The large number of post-COVID survivors has drawn attention to the management of post-COVID condition, known as long COVID. This review examines current knowledge of long COVID, regarding its epidemiology, mechanism, and clinical presentations in both adults and children. We also review the rehabilitation principles, modules, and effects, and share Taiwan's efforts to provide a top-down, nationwide care framework for long COVID patients. Dyspnea, chronic cough, and fatigue are the most commonly reported symptoms in the first 6 months after infection, but cognitive impairment and psychological symptoms may persist beyond this time. Several possible mechanisms behind these symptoms were proposed, but remained unconfirmed. These symptoms negatively impact individuals' function, activities, participation and quality of life. Rehabilitation is a key element of management to achieve functional improvement. Early management should start with comprehensive evaluation and identification of red flags. Exercise-based therapy, an essential part of management of long COVID, can be conducted with different modules, including telerehabilitation. Post-exertional symptom exacerbation and orthostatic hypotension should be carefully monitored during exercise. Randomized control trials with a large sample size are needed to determine the optimal timing, dosage, and modules.

Ultrasound (US)-triggered microbubbles (MBs) drug delivery is a promising tool for noninvasive and localized therapy. Several studies have shown the potential of drug-loaded MBs to boost the delivery of therapeutic substances to target tissue effectively. Nevertheless, little is known about the surface payload distribution affecting the cavitation activity and drug release behavior of the drug-loaded MBs. In this study, we designed a common chemodrug (Doxorubicin, Dox)-loaded MB (Dox-MBs) and regulated the payload distribution as uniform or cluster onto the outer surface of MBs. The Dox distribution on the MB shells was assessed by confocal fluorescence microscopic imaging. The acoustic properties of the Dox-MBs with different Dox distributions were evaluated by their acoustic stability and cavitation activities. The payload release and the fragments from Dox-MBs in response to different US parameters were measured and visualized by column chromatography and cryo-electron microscopy, respectively. By amalgamating these methodologies, we found that stable cavitation was sufficient for triggering uniform-loaded MBs to release their payload, but stable cavitation and inertial cavitation were required for cluster-loaded MBs. The released substances included free Dox and Dox-containing micelle/liposome; their portions depended on the payload distribution, acoustic pressure, cycle number, and sonication duration. Furthermore, we also revealed that the Dox-containing micelle/liposome in cluster-loaded MBs had the potential for multiple drug releases upon US sonication. This study compared uniform-loaded MBs and cluster-loaded MBs to enhance our comprehension of drug-loaded MBs mediated drug delivery.

We investigated whether the upper limb muscle stiffness quantified by the acoustic radiation force impulse shear wave elastography (ARFI/SWE) is a potential biomarker for age-related muscle alteration and functional decline in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). 37 patients with DMD and 30 typically developing controls (TDC) were grouped by age (3–8, 9–11, and 12–18 years). ARFI/SWE measured the biceps and deltoid muscle's shear wave velocities (SWVs). Performance of Upper Limb Module (PUL 1.2 module) assessed muscle function in DMD patients. Mann Whitney test compared muscle SWVs between DMD and TDC, stratified by three age groups. We used analysis of variance with Bonferroni correction to compare muscle SWVs between DMD and TDC and correlated muscle SWVs with PUL results in the DMD group. Results showed that the SWVs of biceps differentiated DMD patients from TDC across age groups. Younger DMD patients (3–8 years) exhibited higher SWVs (p = 0.013), but older DMD patients (12–18 years) showed lower SWVS (p = 0.028) than same-aged TDC. DMD patients had decreasing biceps SWVs with age (p

Abstract Background Promoting physical activity (PA) in different populations experiencing sleep disturbance may increase population PA levels and improve sleep. This scoping review aimed to examine the effect of various PA intervention strategies on sleep across different populations, identify key sleep outcomes, and analyze knowledge gaps by mapping the relevant literature. Methods For this study, we systematically searched articles published till March 2022 from PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) regarding the effect of physical activity on sleep. Two authors extracted key data and descriptively analyzed the data. Thematic analysis was used to categorize the results into themes by all authors. Arksey and O’Malley’s scoping review framework was used to present the findings. Results Twenty-one randomized controlled trials out of 3052 studies were finally included with 3677 participants (2852 females (78%)). Five trials were conducted in healthy working-age adults with sleep disturbance but without the diagnosis of insomnia, five in healthy older adults, two in perinatal women, four in patients with cancer, three in mental illness related subjects, and another two in other disease-related areas. PA interventions were diverse, including walking, resistance training, aerobic exercise, housework, water exercise, basketball, smartphone/tablet "apps", web, online videos or wearable actigraphy, and self-determined exercise. Three major themes were identified: (1) Sleep environment may be important to address prior to instituting PA interventions, (2) All types of PA were effective for improving sleep in all populations studied, (3) Self-tolerated PA is safe for improving sleep in the elderly and in co-morbid or perinatal populations. Conclusions PA is effective and safe for improving sleep in both healthy and co-morbid populations with sleep disturbance by increasing daily activity levels using a variety of strategies, even low intensity, such as housekeeping, sit-to-stand repetitions, along with encouraging PA through web pages, videos, and self-goal setting apps. In addition, this scoping review identifies the need for further therapeutic research and future exploration in populations with sleep initiation or sleep maintenance disturbance.

Objective: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), particularly its exudative form, is a primary cause of vision impairment in older adults. As diabetes becomes increasingly prevalent in aging, it is crucial to explore the potential relationship between diabetic retinopathy (DR) and AMD. This study aimed to assess the risk of developing overall, non-exudative, and exudative AMD in individuals with DR compared to those without retinopathy (non-DR) based on a nationwide population study in Taiwan. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database (NHIRD) (2000–2013). A total of 3413 patients were placed in the study group (DR) and 13,652 in the control group (non-DR) for analysis. Kaplan–Meier analysis and the Cox proportional hazards model were used to calculate the hazard ratios (HRs) and adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) for the development of AMD, adjusting for confounding factors, such as age, sex, and comorbid conditions. Results: Kaplan–Meier survival analysis indicated a significantly higher cumulative incidence of AMD in the DR group compared to the non-DR group (log-rank test, p < 0.001). Adjusted analyses revealed that individuals with DR faced a greater risk of overall AMD, with an aHR of 3.50 (95% CI = 3.10–3.95). For senile (unspecified) AMD, the aHR was 3.45 (95% CI = 3.04–3.92); for non-exudative senile AMD, it was 2.92 (95% CI = 2.08–4.09); and for exudative AMD, the aHR was 3.92 (95% CI = 2.51–6.14). Conclusion: DR is a significant risk factor for both overall, senile, exudative, and non-exudative AMD, even after adjusting for demographic and comorbid conditions. DR patients tend to have a higher prevalence of vascular comorbidities; however, our findings indicate that the ocular pathologies inherent to DR might have a more significant impact on the progression to AMD. Early detection and appropriate treatment of AMD is critically important among DR patients.

This paper proposes a multi-band antenna suitable for LTE and 5G NR frequency bands. The multi-band antenna is designed on a 60-mm $\times12.5$ -mm FR4 substrate without requiring passive components. The multi-band antenna uses a coupled-feed structure to reach the LTE900 frequency band, while the rest of the working frequency bands are implemented using a monopole antenna. multi-band antennas are implemented on electronic devices like smartphones, tablets, and laptops to form Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) systems. Each multi-band antenna maintains consistency in measurement and simulation, with isolation below −10 dB, showcasing its robustness. The MIMO antenna system’s envelope cross-correlation remains below 0.5 across various devices, indicating stable performance. The above characteristics validate the multi-band antenna’s applicability to diverse-sized portable electronics. Furthermore, Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), assessing radiation’s impact on humans, is considered. Simulations of SAR for different MIMO antenna systems near the head, hand, or leg consistently meet safety standards, ensuring that MIMO antenna systems pose no radiation threat to human health.

Circulating exosomes derived from polymicrobial sepsis contain various non-coding RNAs and proteins. Isobaric tags for a relative or absolute quantitation proteomic analysis of the exosomal content revealed 70 dysregulated proteins in the circulating exosomes from septic mice. Next-generation sequencing was used to profile the long non-coding RNA expression in primary cultured macrophages treated with exosomes obtained from the blood of septic C57BL/6 mice, and it was discovered that the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB)/miR-17-92a-1 cluster host gene (MIR17HG) pathways were activated in the macrophages. The inhibition of MIR17HG expression by RNA interference resulted in significantly decreased cell viability. RNA pull-down assays of MIR17HG revealed that ten protein targets bind to MIR17HG. Interaction networks of proteins pulled down by MIR17HG were constructed using GeneMANIA, and their functions were mainly involved in ribonucleoprotein granules, type I interferons, the regulation of organelle assembly, the biosynthesis of acetyl coenzyme A, as a signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) protein phosphorylation, and mRNA splicing. Furthermore, RNA interference inhibited MIR17HG expression, resulting in significantly decreased cell survival. In conclusion, this work discovered considerable MIR17HG overexpression in macrophages treated with circulating exosomes from sepsis-affected animals. This study’s findings assist us in comprehending the role of exosomes in modulating inflammatory responses and mediating pathogenic pathways in macrophages during sepsis.

Abstract Background Soluble programmed death-1 (sPD-1) is a novel immune markers and possibly predictive of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) outcome. However, results were inconsistent by different ELISA kits. This study aims to compare the characteristics and correlations with other markers for sPD-1 measured by MyBioSource (MB) and R&D (RD) kits. Methods A total of 254 untreated CHB patients from three sites were assayed with sPD-1 by MB and RD kits at the same time. Spearman’s correlations between the kits, and those with viral markers and ALT levels were calculated. Multivariate linear regression analysis was applied for independent factors associated with the sPD-1 levels. Results There’s no correlation between sPD-1 level using MB and RD assays. sPD-1 by MB correlated profoundly with HBsAg (r = 0.8311, P

Environmental, social, and governance issues have gained significant prominence recently, particularly with a growing emphasis on environmental protection. In the realm of heightened environmental concerns, unmanned aerial vehicles have emerged as pivotal assets in addressing transportation challenges with a sustainable perspective. This study focuses on enhancing unmanned aerial vehicles’ object detection proficiency within the realm of sustainable transportation. The proposed method refines the YOLOv7 E-ELAN model, tailored explicitly for traffic scenarios. Leveraging strides in deep learning and computer vision, the adapted model demonstrates enhancements in mean average precision, outperforming the original on the VisDrone2019 dataset. This approach, encompassing model component enhancements and refined loss functions, establishes an efficacious strategy for precise unmanned aerial vehicles object detection. This endeavor aligns seamlessly with environmental, social, and governance principles. Moreover, it contributes to the 11th Sustainable Development Goal by fostering secure urban spaces. As unmanned aerial vehicles have become integral to public safety and surveillance, enhancing detection algorithms cultivates safer environments for residents. Sustainable transport encompasses curbing traffic congestion and optimizing transportation systems, where unmanned aerial vehicle-based detection plays a pivotal role in managing traffic flow, thereby supporting extended Sustainable Development Goal 11 objectives. The efficient utilization of unmanned aerial vehicles in public transit significantly aids in reducing carbon footprints, corresponding to the “Environmental Sustainability” facet of Environmental, Social, and Governance principles.

Summary: Glycoprotein processing along a complex highly compartmentalized pathway is a hallmark of eukaryotic cells. We followed the kinetics of intracellular, site-specific glycan processing of a model protein with five distinct N-glycosylation sites and deduced a mathematical model of the secretory pathway that describes a complex set of processing reactions localized in defined intracellular compartments such as the endoplasmic reticulum the Golgi, or the lysosome. The model was able to accommodate site-specific N-glycan processing and we identified phosphorylated glycan structures of the mannose-6-phosphate pathway responsible for the lysosomal sorting of the glycoprotein. Importantly, our model protein can take different routes of the cellular secretory pathway, resulting in an increased glycan complexity of the secreted protein.

Smart design of household appliances can level up the energy efficiency and promote environmental responsibility. It is important to analyze the power losses in each component to assist product design, however, only the total power can be measured at the output of induction cooking system. Through electromagnetic simulation, the component power losses and energy distribution inside the system can be evaluated. In this work, a multidisciplinary methodology has been developed to perform thermal analysis of water boiling on the induction cooking system. For experimental part, the temperature of coil, pot, and water are monitored. For numerical part, CEM is applied to calculate the power distribution caused by the eddy current while CFD solves the flow field and heat transfer of boiling water inside a pot with induction cooker. The CEM based power distribution then is used as energy source in CFD model. The heat transfer efficiency of this induction cooking system is 88.2%The numerical simulation results demonstrate good agreement with experiments. Comparing with experiments, the maximum errors of the bottom pot temperature and coil temperature are 6.3%and 7.9% respectively. This multiphysics framework offers a better understanding of induction cooking related dynamics which greatly benefits the practical industry applications.

A PEEK button is developed to improve the tendon-to-bone compression area. In total, 18 goats were divided into 12-week, 4-week, and 0-week groups. All underwent bilateral detachment of the infraspinatus tendon. In the 12-week group, 6 were fixed with a 0.8–1 mm-thick PEEK augment (A-12, Augmented), and 6 were fixed with the double-row technique (DR-12). Overall, 6 infraspinatus were fixed with PEEK augment (A-4) and without PEEK augment (DR-4) in the 4-week group. The same condition was performed in the 0-week groups (A-0 and DR-0). Mechanical testing, immunohistochemistry assessment, cell responses, tissue alternation, surgical impact, remodeling, and the expression of type I, II, and III collagen of the native tendon-to-bone insertion and new footprint areas were evaluated. The average maximum load in the A-12 group (393.75 (84.40) N) was significantly larger than in the TOE-12 group (229.17 (43.94) N) (p < 0.001). Cell responses and tissue alternations in the 4-week group were slight. The new footprint area of the A-4 group had better fibrocartilage maturation and more type III collagen expression than in DR-4 group. This result proved the novel device is safe and provides superior load-displacement to the double-row technique. There is a trend toward better fibrocartilage maturation and more collagen III secretions in the PEEK augmentation group.

Ballet dancers are thought to be at higher risk of lower extremity injury. This objective of this study was to describe the self-reported incidence, location, and factors associated with lower extremity injury in collegiate ballet dancers. Two hundred and forty-nine female ballet dancers responded to a questionnaire that addressed their injury event/location, dance behavior over the past 2 years, and overall dance history. Behaviors assessed included the following: types and number of shoes worn (pointé shoes/ballet slippers), wear time, training time (session frequency and duration), use of warm-up/cool-down, and use of a strengthening program and lower extremity accessory. Overall dance history included age of the onset of training, total years of experience, and number of dance styles. Backward multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine the extent to which variables measured were associated with injury. Ankle injury was the most prevalent injury. Years of wearing pointé shoes (adjusted odds ratio = 1.21, p = 0.01) and days/weeks in pointé shoes (adjusted odds ratio = 1.26, p = 0.04) were associated with an increased risk of injury; while additional strengthening (adjusted odds ratio = 0.39, p = 0.02) and use of lower extremity accessories during classes/rehearsals (adjusted odds ratio = 0.64, p = 0.01) were protective associations. These findings suggested that the use of pointé shoes, lower extremity accessories, and additional exercise should specifically be recorded during evaluation of injured ballet dancers; and must be considered potential factors to modify during rehabilitation.

Established bacterial glycoengineering platforms limit access to protein and glycan substrates. Here the authors design a cytoplasmic protein glycosylation system, Glycoli, to generate a variety of multivalent glycostructures.

Rotary swaging is a process usually applied to reduce the entire or local diameter and size of rods and tubes. In this study, the effects of the rotary swaging process and subsequent softening heat treatments, namely full annealing and solid-solution treatment, are investigated. The results show that rotary swaging refines grain size, decreases the eutectic phase fraction, enhances mechanical strength, and decreases mechanical elongation. Solid-solution treatment enhances work hardening ability and improves uniform elongation, and is thus more suitable for enhancing the formability of rotary-swaged alloys. The factors that affect microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties are discussed. Keywords: Rotary swaging, 2024 alloy, Solid-solution treatment, Work hardening, Formability

Due to various engineering applications, spontaneous bubble movement on the heated surface has brought huge attention. This work numerically studied the bubble migration driven by the thermo-capillary force under the temperature gradients perpendicular to the gravity direction. This problem is constructed in a two-dimensional domain, and the volume of fluid (VOF) method is adopted to capture the properties of the bubble interface between the vapor and the liquid. One still vapor bubble is initially positioned at the center of the liquid domain, and the temperature gradient is applied to two side walls. The results show that the bubble with a size greater than the capillary length can only oscillate near the initial position even with a larger temperature gradient. The deformation of the bubble such as spheroid and spherical cap can be found around this regime. However, the movement of the bubble with a size smaller than the capillary length is significant under a higher temperature gradient, and it remains a spherical shape. The coefficient of thermo-capillary force (CTh) is defined within this work, and it is found that a larger Weber number (We) accomplishes a larger CTh. This work may provide more precise guidance for smart bubble manipulation and critical heat flux estimation for future nuclear reactor design.

In the past few years, with the development of information technology and the focus on information security, many studies have gradually been aimed at data hiding technology. The embedding and extraction algorithms are mainly used by the technology to hide the data that requires secret transmission into a multimedia carrier so that the data transmission cannot be realized to achieve secure communication. Among them, reversible data hiding (RDH) is a technology for the applications that demand the secret data extraction as well as the original carrier recovery without distortion, such as remote medical diagnosis or military secret transmission. In this work, we hypothesize that the RDH performance can be enhanced by a more accurate pixel value predictor. We propose a new RDH scheme of prediction-error expansion (PEE) based on a multilayer perceptron, which is an extensively used artificial neural network in plenty of applications. The scheme utilizes the correlation between image pixel values and their adjacent pixels to obtain a well-trained multilayer perceptron so that we are capable of achieving more accurate pixel prediction results. Our data mapping method based on the three-dimensional prediction-error histogram modification uses all eight octants in the three-dimensional space for secret data embedding. The experimental results of our RDH scheme show that the embedding capacity greatly increases and the image quality is still well maintained.

Background/Aims: Huntington’s disease (HD) is a heritable neurodegenerative disorder, and there is no cure for HD to date. A type of fibroblast growth factor (FGF), FGF9, has been reported to play prosurvival roles in other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. However, the effects of FGF9 on HD is still unknown. With many similarities in the cellular and pathological mechanisms that eventually cause cell death in neurodegenerative diseases, we hypothesize that FGF9 might provide neuroprotective functions in HD. Methods: In this study, STHdhQ7/Q7 (WT) and STHdhQ111/Q111 (HD) striatal knock-in cell lines were used to evaluate the neuroprotective effects of FGF9. Cell proliferation, cell death and neuroprotective markers were determined via the MTT assay, propidium iodide staining and Western blotting, respectively. The signaling pathways regulated by FGF9 were demonstrated using Western blotting. Additionally, HD transgenic mouse models were used to further confirm the neuroprotective effects of FGF9 via ELISA, Western blotting and immunostaining. Results: Results show that FGF9 not only enhances cell proliferation, but also alleviates cell death as cells under starvation stress. In addition, FGF9 significantly upregulates glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and an anti-apoptotic marker, Bcl-xL, and decreases the expression level of an apoptotic marker, cleaved caspase 3. Furthermore, FGF9 functions through ERK, AKT and JNK pathways. Especially, ERK pathway plays a critical role to influence the effects of FGF9 toward cell survival and GDNF production. Conclusions: These results not only show the neuroprotective effects of FGF9, but also clarify the critical mechanisms in HD cells, further providing an insight for the therapeutic potential of FGF9 in HD.

Previous studies have reported substantial improvement of microbubble (MB)-mediated drug delivery with ultrasound when drugs are loaded onto the MB shell compared with a physical mixture. However, drug loading may affect shell properties that determine the acoustic responsiveness of MBs, producing unpredictable outcomes. The aim of this study is to reveal how the surface loaded drug (doxorubicin, DOX) affects the acoustic properties of MBs. A suitable formulation of MBs for DOX loading was first identified by regulating the proportion of two lipid materials (1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DSPC) and 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-rac-glycerol sodium salt (DSPG)) with distinct electrostatic properties. We found that the DOX loading capacity of MBs was determined by the proportion of DSPG, since there was an electrostatic interaction with DOX. The DOX payload reduced the lipid fluidity of MBs, although this effect was dependent on the spatial uniformity of DOX on the MB shell surface. Loading DOX onto MBs enhanced acoustic stability 1.5-fold, decreased the resonance frequency from 12–14 MHz to 5–7 MHz, and reduced stable cavitation dose by 1.5-fold, but did not affect the stable cavitation threshold (300 kPa). Our study demonstrated that the DOX reduces lipid fluidity and decreases the elasticity of the MB shell, thereby influencing the acoustic properties of MBs.

Abstract Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most common debilitating muscular disorder. Developing a noninvasive measure for monitoring the progression of this disease is critical. The present study tested the effectiveness of using ultrasound Nakagami imaging to evaluate the severity of the dystrophic process. A total of 47 participants (40 with DMD and 7 healthy controls) were recruited. Patients were classified into stage 1 (presymptomatic and ambulatory), stage 2 (early nonambulatory), and stage 3 (late nonambulatory). All participants underwent ultrasound examinations on the rectus femoris, tibialis anterior, and gastrocnemius. The results revealed that the ultrasound Nakagami parameter correlated positively with functional severity in the patients with DMD. The median Nakagami parameter of the gastrocnemius muscle increased from 0.50 to 0.85, corresponding to the largest dynamic range between normal and stage 3. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of diagnosing walking function were 85.52%, 76.31%, and 94.73%, respectively. The Nakagami parameter of the rectus femoris and gastrocnemius muscles correlated negatively with the 6-minute walking distance in the ambulatory patients. Therefore, changes in the Nakagami parameter for the gastrocnemius muscle are suitable for monitoring disease progression in ambulatory patients and for predicting ambulation loss. Ultrasound Nakagami imaging shows potential for evaluating patients with DMD.

An environmentally friendly biorefinery process for producing biodiesel from chicken wastes was performed for this study. Low acid value (0.13±0.01 mg KOH/g) chicken oil was obtained by preparing chicken wastes with moderate heating and filtration processes that minimized damage to the lipids and thus facilitated subsequent reactions. Methanol-lipids in a molar ratio of 6:1 and a methanol-ethanol-lipids mixture in a molar ratio of 3:3:1 were both reacted with 1% KOH catalyst for transesterfication. Furthermore, ethanol-lipids in a molar ration of 6:1 were analogously transesterified with 1% sodium ethoxide. The amounts of biodiesel were 771.54 mg/mL±15.28, 722.98 mg/mL±37.38, and 714.86 mg/ mL±29.99 from methanol, eth-anol, and a mixture of methanol/ethanol (3:3), respectively, after transesterification. The total amount of ethyl ester was comparable with the total amount of methyl ester. In addition, ethanol is a renewable resource and a biorefinery concept can be contributed for biodiesel production. Further-more, transesterification of chicken oil with a mixture of methanol/ethanol (3:3) only needed a relatively short reaction time of an hour. Densities, viscosities, sulphur contents, acid values, and flash points of all esters were within the specifications of CNS 15072 and EN 14214. The transesterification system for chicken oil in ethanol and mixed methanol/ethanol (3:3) demonstrated in this study is a potential candidate for biodiesel production.

This study investigated the signaling mechanism underlying the anti-adhesive effect of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) on retinal pigment epithelial ARPE-19 cells. Adhesion kinetics with or without ATRA treatment were profiled by adhesion assay. Surface coating with type IV collagen, fibronectin, laminin, but not type I collagen, significantly enhanced adhesion and spreading of ARPE-19 cells, while ATRA at subtoxic doses (ranging from 10–7 to 10–6 M) profoundly suppressed the extracellular matrix-enhanced adhesion ability. Cell attachment on FN activated PI3K/Akt and MAPK cascades, whereas ATRA pretreatment blunted the early phosphorylation of Akt and MAPK signaling mediators including p38 MAPK, JNK1/2, and ERK1/2. Mechanistically, signaling blockade with selective kinase inhibitors demonstrated that all MAPK pathways were involved in the anti-adhesive effect of ATRA, whereas the PI3K inhibitor treatment significantly potentiated the ATRA-suppressed RPE cell adhesion. Moreover, ATRA treatment did not affect intracellular F-actin distribution, but remarkably reduced focal adhesion kinase (FAK) expression and its nuclear localization during ARPE-19 cell attachment. In conclusion, ATRA suppresses the adhering ability of ARPE-19 cells at least in part through MAPK and FAK pathways. Signaling blockade with PI3K inhibitor could be regarded as an alternative modality for treating proliferative vitreoretinopathy.

ObjectiveTo establish the composition of bacteria in mice following cecum ligation and puncture (CLP) through metagenomic analysis and investigate the role of TLRs on the composition of bacteria.MethodsTotal DNA extraction was done from the ascites, blood, and fecal samples from C57BL/6 mice sacrificed at 0, 4, 8, and 16 h, as well as from Tlr2-/-, Tlr4-/-, Tlr5-/-, and NF-κB-/-mice sacrificed at 16 h following CLP. Amplification of the V3-V4 regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA genes by PCR and the Illumina MiSeq sequencer was used for deep sequencing. Hierarchical clustering of the isolates was performed with Ward's method using Euclidean distances. The relative abundance according to operational taxonomic unit (OTU) number or taxa was used to compare the richness among subgroups in the experiments.ResultsThere were 18 taxa that had significantly different abundances among the different samples of the C57BL/6 mice at 16 h following CLP. Various dynamic changes in the infectious bacteria inside the peritoneal cavity after CLP were found. While knockout of Tlr5 and NF-κB impaired the ability of bacterial clearance inside the peritoneal cavity for some kinds of bacteria found in the C57BL/6 mice, the knockout of Tlr4 enhanced clearance for other kinds of bacteria, and they presented excessive abundance in the peritoneal cavity despite their scarce abundance in the stool.ConclusionNF-κB and TLRs are involved in bacterial clearance and in the expression pattern of the bacterial abundance inside the peritoneal cavity during polymicrobial infection.

As the miniaturization of the size of semiconductor components, the silicon-based transistor has reached its material limitations, so that researching the new materials (silicon-germanium compound) to replace silicon is more important. The ion implantation technology is conducted to discuss the activation issue of p-type dopants, due to silicon-germanium epitaxial layer has the stress effect to enhance the carrier mobility, it is in a conflict of high-temperature annealing. In order to maintain the stress of the epitaxial silicon germanium layer and achieve the activation level of the carrier at the same time, this paper explores a new annealing method - microwave annealing (MWA) with the low thermal budget. In this study, we have investigated that using one-step microwave annealing energy in 3P (1P = 600W), which can make boron implanted into 30% Ge content of silicon germanium layer has the lowest sheet resistance (170 ohm/sq), the best epitaxial layer quality and the better residual stress index (1.48%). However, using two-step microwave annealing energy in 3P+1P over 100s, it can further achieve higher activation level for Si0.7Ge0.3: B sample without stress relaxation. (Sheet resistance as low as 134.6 ohm/sq, Hall measurement mobility of 302.7 cm2/Vs.).

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) results in loss of ambulation and premature death. Ultrasound provides real-time, safe, and cost-effective routine examinations. Deep learning allows the automatic generation of useful features for classification. This study utilized deep learning of ultrasound imaging for classifying patients with DMD based on their ambulatory function. A total of 85 individuals (including ambulatory and nonambulatory subjects) underwent ultrasound examinations of the gastrocnemius for deep learning of image data using LeNet, AlexNet, VGG-16, VGG-16TL, VGG-19, and VGG-19TL models (the notation TL indicates fine-tuning pretrained models). Gradient-weighted class activation mapping (Grad-CAM) was used to visualize features recognized by the models. The classification performance was evaluated using the confusion matrix and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The results show that each deep learning model endows muscle ultrasound imaging with the ability to enable DMD evaluations. The Grad-CAMs indicated that boundary visibility, muscular texture clarity, and posterior shadowing are relevant sonographic features recognized by the models for evaluating ambulatory function. Of the proposed models, VGG-19 provided satisfying classification performance (the area under the ROC curve: 0.98; accuracy: 94.18%) and feature recognition in terms of physical characteristics. Deep learning of muscle ultrasound is a potential strategy for DMD characterization.

In this paper, we propose a driving system consisting of an autonomous and manual system for a four-wheel independent steering and four-wheel independent driving (4WIS4WID) vehicle. The autonomous driving system consists of three applications, lane following, reverse parking, and parallel parking, and is based on machine vision and fuzzy control theory. The vehicle implements these functions by using four webcams to detect lines on the ground and by using related control technologies to command all the server motors. The webcams are installed on all sides of the 4WIS4WID vehicle for all around viewing, but the vehicle still has many blind spots and the view is not wide enough. In additon, a parking space cannot be viewed completely in one image. Therefore, the integrating judgements of vision with the fuzzy control methods is necessary to make sure that the 4WIS4WID vehicle can perform the correct motions. By using the proposed fuzzy rules, the 4WIS4WID vehicle can change its velocity in a timely way under any condition and can successfully move in a narrow and curved lane. Moreover, the manual driving system is designed based on the traditional driving system, so that people can easily adapt to it. In order to verify the feasibility of these applications for the 4WIS4WID vehicle, an indoor real-time experiment is conducted.

Information entropy of ultrasound imaging recently receives much attention in the diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). DMD is the most common muscular disorder; patients lose their ambulation in the later stages of the disease. Ultrasound imaging enables routine examinations and the follow-up of patients with DMD. Conventionally, the probability distribution of the received backscattered echo signals can be described using statistical models for ultrasound parametric imaging to characterize muscle tissue. Small-window entropy imaging is an efficient nonmodel-based approach to analyzing the backscattered statistical properties. This study explored the feasibility of using ultrasound small-window entropy imaging in evaluating the severity of DMD. A total of 85 participants were recruited. For each patient, ultrasound scans of the gastrocnemius were performed to acquire raw image data for B-mode and small-window entropy imaging, which were compared with clinical diagnoses of DMD by using the receiver operating characteristic curve. The results indicated that entropy imaging can visualize changes in the information uncertainty of ultrasound backscattered signals. The median with interquartile range (IQR) of the entropy value was 4.99 (IQR: 4.98–5.00) for the control group, 5.04 (IQR: 5.01–5.05) for stage 1 patients, 5.07 (IQR: 5.06–5.07) for stage 2 patients, and 5.07 (IQR: 5.06–5.07) for stage 3 patients. The diagnostic accuracies were 89.41%, 87.06%, and 72.94% for ≥stage 1, ≥stage 2, and ≥stage 3, respectively. Comparisons with previous studies revealed that the small-window entropy imaging technique exhibits higher diagnostic performance than conventional methods. Its further development is recommended for potential use in clinical evaluations and the follow-up of patients with DMD.

Proteinase inhibitors are ubiquitous proteins that block the active center or interact allosterically with proteinases and are involved in plant physiological processes and defense responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. The CmSPI gene identified from Cucumis metuliferus encodes a serine type PI (8 kDa) that belongs to potato I type family. To evaluate the effect of silencing CmSPI gene on Papaya ringspot virus resistance, RNA interference (RNAi) with an inter-space hairpin RNA (ihpRNA) construct was introduced into a PRSV-resistant C. metuliferus line. CmSPI was down-regulated in CmSPI RNAi transgenic lines in which synchronously PRSV symptoms were evident at 21 day post inoculation. Alternatively, heterogeneous expression of CmSPI in Nicotiana benthamiana was also conducted and showed that CmSPI can provide resistance to Potato virus Y, another member of Potyvirus, in transgenic N. benthamiana lines. This study demonstrated that CmSPI plays an important role in resistant function against potyviruses in C. metuliferus and N. benthamiana.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3), known as Machado-Joseph disease, is an autosomal dominant disease caused by an abnormal expansion of polyglutamine in ATXN3 gene, leading to neurodegeneration in SCA3 patients. Similar to other neurodegenerative diseases, the dysfunction of mitochondria is observed to cause neuronal death in SCA3 patients. Based on previous studies, proteolytic cleavage of mutant ATXN3 is found to produce truncated C-terminal fragments in SCA3 models. However, whether these truncated mutant fragments disturb mitochondrial functions and result in pathological death is still unclear. Here, we used neuroblastoma cell and transgenic mouse models to examine the effects of truncated mutant ATXN3 on mitochondria functions. In different models, we observed truncated mutant ATXN3 accelerated the formation of aggregates, which translocated into the nucleus to form intranuclear aggregates. In addition, truncated mutant ATXN3 caused more mitochondrial fission, and decreased the expression of mitochondrial fusion markers, including Mfn-1 and Mfn-2. Furthermore, truncated mutant ATXN3 decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential, increased reactive oxygen species and finally increased cell death rate. In transgenic mouse models, truncated mutant ATXN3 also led to more mitochondrial dysfunction, neurodegeneration and cell death in the cerebellums. This study supports the toxic fragment hypothesis in SCA3, and also provides evidence that truncated mutant ATXN3 is severer than full-length mutant one in vitro and in vivo.

Function generators are vital tools for many industrial applications. Sinusoidal oscillators are the essential units of function generators and investigating their performance is therefore necessary. The Barkhausen criterion is widely applied in designing sinusoidal oscillators because of its simplicity. The authors exploit a crucial necessary and sufficient oscillation criterion for Wien Bridge and Colpitts oscillators based on Simple Chen's Electric Unifying Approach. Their approach resolves the shortcoming of the traditional Barkhausen criterion, namely that it entails only a necessary condition. They propose a simple oscillation determining criterion that uses a stable sine-wave oscillator with an adjustable oscillation frequency. The derived oscillation criterion establishes a precise condition for the existence of oscillatory behaviour and does not require the fixed value used in the traditional Barkhausen criterion. To demonstrate its applicability, the proposed approach for the Wien Bridge and Colpitts oscillators is applied to implement a function generator.

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is a mucosal respiratory pathogen causing contagious porcine pleuropneumonia. Pathogenesis studies have demonstrated a major role for the capsule, exotoxins and outer membrane proteins. Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae can also glycosylate proteins, using a cytoplasmic N-linked glycosylating enzyme designated NGT, but its transcriptional arrangement and role in virulence remains unknown. We investigated the NGT locus and demonstrated that the putative transcriptional unit consists of rimO, ngt and a glycosyltransferase termed agt. From this information we used the A. pleuropneumoniae glycosylation locus to decorate an acceptor protein, within Escherichia coli, with a hexose polymer that reacted with an anti-dextran antibody. Mass spectrometry analysis of a truncated protein revealed that this operon could add up to 29 repeat units to the appropriate sequon. We demonstrated the importance of NGT in virulence, by creating deletion mutants and testing them in a novel respiratory cell line adhesion model. This study demonstrates the importance of the NGT glycosylation system for pathogenesis and its potential biotechnological application for glycoengineering.

The use of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) strains with high insecticidal activity is essential for the preparation of bioinsecticide. In this study, for 60 Bt strains isolated in Taiwan, their genotypes and the correlation of some cry genes as well as the expression levels of cry1 genes, with their insecticidal activities against Plutella xylostella, were investigated. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) results revealed that the genotypes of these Bt strains are highly diversified. Also, a considerable number of the Bt strains isolated in Taiwan were found to have high insecticidal activities. Since strains that showed individual combined patterns of PFGE and RAPD exhibited distinct insecticidal activities against P. xylostella, thus, these genotypes may be useful for the identification of the new Bt strains and those which have been used in bioinsecticides. In addition, although the presence of cry2Aa1 may have a greater effect on the insecticidal activity of Bt strains in bioassay than other cry genes, only high expression level of cry1 genes plays a key role to determine the insecticidal activity of Bt strains. In conclusion, both RAPD and PFGE are effective in the differentiation of Bt strains. The presence of cry2Aa1 and, especially, the expression level of cry1 genes are useful for the prediction of the insecticidal activities of Bt strains against P. xylostella.

This study established a seakeeping program to evaluate the motion responses of a high speed semi-planing craft and to develop a database for future route planning. A series 62 mono-hull was chosen for the test cases, comparing seakeeping performances with full-scale on-board measurements. The statistical results were obtained using spectral analysis, which combines the International Towing Tank Conference (ITTC) spectrum with the response amplitude operator (RAO) responses of each wave heading for a given sailing speed. The speed polar diagram was made to illustrate five degree-of-freedom (DOF) motion responses between sailing speeds and wave heading angles in a particular sea state. Although the craft has different trim angles at high speeds (because of dynamic lift) under various loading and draft conditions, this study only investigated the trim angles of 0° (even keel), 1° by the stern, and 2° by the stern, to understand the difference between their seakeeping performances. The results in this study provide a useful guideline for evaluating operational regulations and safety for high speed semi-planing crafts in the future.

Hydrothermal vents represent a unique habitat in the marine ecosystem characterized with high water temperature and toxic acidic chemistry. Vents are distributed at depths ranging from a few meters to several thousand meters. The biological communities of shallow-water vents have, however, been insufficiently studied in most biogeographic areas. We attempted to characterize the macrofauna and macroflora community inhabiting the shallow-water vents off Kueishan Island, Taiwan, to identify the main abiotic factors shaping the community structure and the species distribution. We determined that positively buoyant vent fluid exhibits a more pronounced negative impact to species on the surface water than on the bottom layer. Species richness increased with horizontal distance from the vent, and continuing for a distance of 2000 m, indicating that the vent fluid may exert a negative impact over several kilometers. The community structure off Kueishan Island displayed numerous transitions along the horizontal gradient, which were broadly congruent with changes in environmental conditions. Combination of variation in Ca2+, Cl-, temperature, pH and depth were revealed to show the strongest correlation with the change in benthic community structure, suggesting multiple factors of vent fluid were influencing the associated fauna. Only the vent crabs of Kueishan Island may have an obligated relationship with vents and inhabit the vent mouths because other fauna found nearby are opportunistic taxa that are more tolerant to acidic and toxic environments.

The emergence of multidrug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a great challenge in controlling gonorrhea. This study was conducted to survey the prevalence of molecular mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance among 45 clinical isolates of N. gonorrhoeae collected at a university hospital in Southern Taiwan during 1999-2004. Methods: Mutations in mtrR loci and quinolone-resistance-determining regions (QRDRs) were examined by gene sequencing. Polymerase chain reactions with specific primers were performed to detect ermA, ermB, ermC, and ermF. Serogroups and serovars were determined by commercial kits. Results: The percentage of multidrug resistance, that is, resistance to penicillin, tetracycline, erythromycin, and ciprofloxacin, among the 45 isolates was 40%. Ceftriaxone and spectinomycin were active against all isolates in vitro. The frequency of mutations in the QRDR and mtrR promoter was 82.2% and 93.3%, respectively. Eighty-two percent of the isolates carried mutations both in the QRDR and mtrR loci. Of nine mutation profiles with QRDR mutations (n =37), gyrA-Ser91Phe/gyrA-Asp95Gly/parC-Ser87Arg was the most common type (56.8%). Acquired genes for rRNA methylase were detected in 11 isolates (10 ermB and 1 ermA). Twenty-seven serovars were identified and all belonged to serogroup B, which suggested that multiple clones of N. gonorrhoeae were circulating in the community in the Tainan area. Conclusion: The high prevalence of multidrug resistance caused by varied resistance mechanisms in N. gonorrhoeae limits the drug choice. Ongoing surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and discovery of new effective antibiotic therapy are warranted in endemic areas.

A modified strain-induced melting activation (SIMA) process is shown to improve high-temperature formability. The microstructural characteristics of the spheroidized grains of SIMA-processed alloys affect high-temperature formability. The effects of hot extrusion parameters and chemical composition on the evolution of spheroidized grains were investigated using several 6xxx series aluminum alloys subjected to a modified SIMA process. The results show that 6066 aluminum alloy is the most suitable alloy for the SIMA process, as it contains sufficient Mg, Si, Cu, and Mn. Adequate amounts of Mg, Si, and Cu lead to a high liquid fraction, and a sufficient addition of Mn inhibits grain growth. Proper hot extrusion parameters are essential, because initial fine and uniform recrystallized grains lead to fine and uniform globules. The phases at the global grain boundaries of 6066 aluminum alloy are eutectic phases of Al and Si, Al and Mg2Si, and Al and Al2Cu, as analyzed using transmission electron microscopy.

One species of the genus Galacantha A. Milne-Edwards, 1880, and 20 species of Munidopsis Whiteaves, 1874, including two new species, are reported from the deep-waters off Taiwan. Munidopsis echinata n. sp. closely resembles M. colombiana Pequegnat and Pequegnat, 1971 from the Caribbean Sea, but differs in lacking an antennal spine on the carapace and having a much longer antennal peduncle. Munidopsis tuberosa n. sp. appears close to M. granosicorium Williams and Baba, 1990 from the northeast Pacific, but the configuration of the carapace and rostrum separates these two species. Altogether 31 species of Munidopsis are now recorded from Taiwan, indicating a particularly rich deep-sea fauna of the island.

Background. This study aims to investigate the effect of feeding low-fat diet (LFD) to diet-induced obesity (DIO) mice lacking TLR5 (TLR5−/−), which have a tendency to develop glucose intolerance with increased adiposity, compared to that in C57BL/6 mice. Results. TLR5−/− and C57BL/6 male mice were divided into three subgroups: (1) control, mice were fed a standard AIN-76A (fat: 11.5 kcal%) diet for 12 weeks; (2) DIO, mice were fed a 58 kcal% high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks; and (3) diet, mice were fed a HFD for 8 weeks to induce obesity and then switched to a 10.5 kcal% LFD for 4 weeks. The glucose intolerance in DIO TLR5−/− mice was more significant than that in DIO C57BL/6 mice and was not attenuated by a switch to the LFD. Weight-reduction with LFD had significantly decreased the epididymal fat mass in C57BL/6 mice but not in TLR5−/− mice. In addition, the LFD-fed TLR5−/− mice showed significantly higher expression of ghrelin in the serum and resistin in the epididymal fat than that in C57BL/6 mice. Conclusions. This study demonstrated that TLR5 gene knockout impairs some effects of weight-reduction in DIO.

BACKGROUND: Prospective data on the association between ischemic stroke and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in the young are sparse. The purpose of this population-based, age- and sex-matched longitudinal follow-up study was to investigate the risk of developing ischemic stroke in young patients with AS. METHODS: A total of 4562 patients aged 18- to 45-year-old with at least two ambulatory visits in 2001 with a principal diagnosis of AS were enrolled in the AS group. The non-AS group consisted of 22810 age- and sex-matched, randomly sampled subjects without AS. The two-year ischemic stroke-free survival rate for each group were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to estimate the hazard ratio of ischemic stroke after adjusting for demographic and clinical covariates. RESULTS: During follow-up, 21 patients in the AS group and 53 in the non-AS group developed ischemic stroke. The ischemic stroke-free survival rate over the 2 year follow-up was lower in the AS group than the non-AS group (p = 0.0021). The crude hazard ratio of ischemic stroke for the AS group was 1.98 (95% CI, 1.20-3.29; p = 0.0079) and the adjusted hazard ratio after controlling for demographic and comorbid medical disorders was 1.93 (95% CI, 1.16-3.20; p = 0.0110). CONCLUSION: Our study showed an increased risk of developing ischemic stroke in young patients with AS.

The Galβ1-4Gal epitope is rarely found in mammals, and the natural antibody against Galβ1-4Gal is rich in human. In contrast, we have previously demonstrated the presence of Galβ1-4Gal in pigeon and ostrich, and the absence of this epitope in chicken. Here, to further investigate the expression of this glycan among birds, egg white glycoproteins and egg yolk IgG from nine species of birds, namely, chicken, duck, emu, guineafowl, ostrich, peafowl, pigeon, quail, and turkey, were analyzed by western blot using an anti-(Galβ1-4Gal) antibody. The results indicated that some egg white glycoproteins from emu, ostrich, and quail, and heavy chains of IgG from all of the birds, except chicken and quail, were stained with the antibody. The presence of Galβ1-4Gal on N-glycans of IgGs from guineafowl, peafowl, and turkey were confirmed by mass spectrometry (MS), MS/MS, and MS(n) analyses. In quail, the presence of Galβ1-4Gal was confirmed by detecting the activities of UDP-galactose: β-galactoside β1,4-galactosyltransferase (β4GalT(Gal)) in various tissues, and by detecting Galβ1-4Gal by western blotting. In contrast, bamboo partridge, which is a close relative of chicken, did not show any detectable activities of β4GalT(Gal) or Galβ1-4Gal on glycoproteins. Because quail, peafowl, turkey, chicken, and bamboo partridge belong to the same family, i.e., Phasianidae, expression of Galβ1-4Gal was most likely differentiated within this family. Considering that Galβ1-4Gal is also expressed in ostrich, emu, and pigeon, which are phylogenetically distant relatives within modern birds, Galβ1-4Gal expression appears to be widely distributed among birds, but might have been abolished in the ancestors of chicken and bamboo partridge.