From the viewpoint of service level agreements (SLAs), Internet service providers and customers are gradually focusing on transmission accuracy. The Internet service provider should provide the ...specific bandwidth and individual accuracy rate requirement by their SLAs to each customer. This paper mainly evaluates the system reliability that a stochastic computer network can fulfill all requirements at all sinks. An efficient algorithm is proposed to generate the lower boundary points, minimal capacity vectors satisfying the demand and accuracy rate requirement for all sinks. The system reliability can be computed in terms of such points by applying recursive sum of disjoint products.
The endophytic fungus Harpophora oryzae is a beneficial endosymbiont isolated from wild rice. H. oryzae can not only promote rice growth and biomass accumulation but also protect rice roots from ...invasion by its close relative Magnaporthe oryzae. Autophagy is a highly evolutionary conserved process from lower to higher eukaryotic organisms, and is involved in the maintenance of normal cell differentiation and development. In this study, we isolated a gene (HoATG5) which encodes an essential protein required for autophagy from the beneficial endophyte fungus H. oryzae. Using targeted gene replacement, a ΔHoATG5 mutant was generated and used to investigate the biological functions of autophagy in H. oryzae. We found that the autophagic process was blocked in the HoATG5 deletion mutant. The mutant showed increased vegetative growth and sporulation, and was sensitive to nutrient starvation. The ΔHoATG5 mutant lost its ability to penetrate and infect the wounded barley leaves. These results provide new knowledge to elaborate the molecular machinery of autophagy in endophytic fungi.
A new method for constructing interpolating Loop subdivision surfaces is presented. The new method is an extension of the progressive interpolation technique for B-splines. Given a triangular mesh
M
..., the idea is to iteratively upgrade the vertices of
M
to generate a new control mesh
such that limit surface of
would interpolate
M
. It can be shown that the iterative process is convergent for Loop subdivision surfaces. Hence, the method is well-defined. The new method has the advantages of both a local method and a global method, i.e., it can handle meshes of any size and any topology while generating smooth interpolating subdivision surfaces that faithfully resemble the shape of the given meshes. The meshes considered here can be open or closed.
Objective:
Despite studies reporting a possible association between malignant otitis externa (MOE) and diabetes, there are no large-scale population-based empirical studies. This nationwide, ...population-based case-control study explored the association of MOE occurrence with previously diagnosed diabetes.
Methods:
Data were retrieved from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database, 753 patients with MOE (cases) and 2 259 propensity score-matched patients without MOE (controls). Multiple logistic regressions were conducted to examine the association of MOE with previously diagnosed diabetes.
Results:
In total, 728 (24.2%) out of 3 012 sample patients had diabetes prior to the index date. Chi-square test revealed a significant difference in diabetes prevalence among cases and controls (54.8% vs 13.9%, p < 0.001). Simple logistic regression showed the odds ratio for prior diabetes among cases versus controls was 7.50 (95% CI, 6.22~9.03). The adjusted odds ratio of prior diabetes for cases versus controls was 10.07 (95% CI, 8.15~12.44) after adjusting for patient demographics and medical co-morbidities.
Conclusions:
This study found an association between MOE and diabetes. One clinical practice implication of our study is that when a patient with diabetes complains of otalgia or otorrhea, and physical examination shows swelling of the ear canal or granulation growth, physicians should consider the possibility of MOE.
In this study, an Industry 4.0 framework-based decision support system (DSS) was developed using a combination of wireless network and RFID identification technology to manage a production line in a ...traditional dental manufacturing lab. The motivation was to prevent mistakes from manual recording, to remotely monitor the working hours of employees in manufacturing processes via internet, and to evaluate the rationality of the employee’s working hours. In the DSS, four network nodes were established to track four important manufacturing processes of digital dentistry. In each of these processes, the time spent by the dental technician was recorded by scanning their ID cards. All information was simultaneously uploaded to a databank in the cloud and analyzed by the computer software MATLAB. These programs evaluated the rationality of employees’ working hours in each of the monitored processes, which can help managers to follow up or improve the process efficiency.
Purpose
Few studies have explored population-based incidence rates of microtia using nationwide data. The aim of this study was to analyze the 10-year secular trends in the incidence of microtia ...and/or anotia in Taiwan from 2008 to 2017 using nationwide population-based data.
Methods
Patient data were retrieved from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Dataset, after identifying 1152 children aged ≤ 1 year with a first-time diagnosis of microtia or anotia between January 2008 and December 2017. The annual microtia–anotia incidence rate was the sum of new microtia–anotia cases in a year divided by total infant population in the year. Furthermore, we used the annual percent change (APC) to study the secular trend in microtia–anotia incidence rate.
Results
The annual incidence rate of microtia–anotia averaged across the 10-year period was 57.7 per 100,000 infants (standard deviation = 8.6). The annual incidence rates of microtia and anotia were 53.3 and 4.4 per 100,000 infants, respectively, during this period. Furthermore, female infants had a higher incidence than males (63.3 vs. 52.4 per 100,000). The incidence of microtia–anotia gradually decreased between 2008 and 2017 with an APC of − 5.64% (95% CI − 9.31 ~ − 1.18%,
p
= 0.004). Since 2011, females had a significantly higher annual incidence rate of microtia–anotia than males.
Conclusions
The incidence of microtia–anotia was 57.7 per 100,000 infants in Taiwan, which declined during the study period 2008–2017. The female-to-male incidence ratio was 1.21:1.
In this study, 0.65(K0.5Bi0.5)TiO3–0.35BaTiO3 (KBT–BT3) ceramics were synthesized using two different methods: a conventional calcination process (CC-process) and a two-step calcination process that ...combined hydrothermal and CC processes (HT–CC-process). The effects of the differently synthesizing processes on the physical and dielectric properties of the KBT–BT3 ceramics were recorded and analyzed. Two secondary phases, BaBi4Ti4O15 and K4Ti3O8, were observed in the XRD patterns of the CC-process KBT–BT3 ceramics. The formations of BaBi4Ti4O15 and K4Ti3O8 compounds made the CC-process KBT–BT3 ceramics having poor dielectric properties. When the HT–CC-process was used and the KBT–BT3 ceramics were sintered at 1050–1100°C, the secondary phases were not observed and only the (K0.5Bi0.5, Ba)TiO3 phase was observed in the XRD patterns. As same sintering temperature was used, the dielectric constants of the HT–CC-process KBT–BT3 ceramics were higher than those of the CC-process KBT–BT3 ceramics. Electromechanical coupling factors, such as the planar coupling factor (kp), thickness coupling factor (kt), and longitudinal coupling factor (k33), were also used to explain the effect of the different synthesizing processes on the properties of the KBT–BT3 ceramics.
ABSTRACT
This study aims to identify peptides with angiotensin‐I converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity in hydrolysate from chicken leg bone protein hydrolyzed with alcalase for 4 h (A4H). The ...hydrolysate has demonstrated potent in vitro ACE inhibitory activity, and has been shown to attenuate the development of hypertension and cardiovascular hypertrophy in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). A4H is competitive for ACE and was separated using high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a gel filtration column (Superdex Peptide HR 10/30). The results show that A4H is a mixed non‐competitive inhibitor. Eighteen fractions were detected after separation of A4H, and most of them showed ACE inhibitory activity. Five fractions with strong ACE inhibitory activities (above 50%) were labeled from A to E. In addition, there were 10 peptides, consisting of 5–10 amino acid residues that were identified from fraction D that exhibited the strongest ACE inhibitory activity. Three of the identified peptides corresponded to peptides derived from collagen type I and chicken muscular protein. It is revealed that A4H has several peptides that possess ACE inhibitory activities.
Ecological niches in the rhizosphere and phyllosphere of grasses capable of sustaining endophytes have been extensively studied. In contrast, little information regarding the identity and functions ...of endophytic fungi in stems is available. In this study, we investigated the taxonomic affinities, diversity, and host specificities of culturable endophytes in stems of wild rice
(Oryza granulata)
in China. Seventy-four isolates were recovered. Low recovery rate (11.7%) indicated that there were relatively few sites for fungal infection. Identification using morphology, morphospecies sorting, and molecular techniques resulted in classification into 50 taxa, 36 of which were recovered only once. Nucleotide sequence similarity analysis indicated that 30% of the total taxa recovered were highly divergent from known species and thus may represent lineages new to science. Most of the taxa were classified as members of the classes Sordariomycetes or Dothideomycetes (mainly in Pleosporales). The presence of
Arthrinium
and Magnaporthaceae species, most often associated with poaceous plants, suggested a degree of host specificity. A polyphasic approach was employed to identify two
Muscodor
taxa based on (i) ITS and
RPB2
phylogenies, (ii) volatile compounds produced, and (iii) an
in vitro
bioassay of antifungal activity. This to our knowledge is only the second report regarding the isolation of
Muscodor
spp. in China. Therefore, we hypothesize that wild plants represent a huge reservoir of unknown fungi. The prevalence, novelty, and species-specificity of unique isolates necessitate a reevaluation of their contribution to ecosystem function and fungal biodiversity.
Background Anastomosis of the nerve especially at narrow surgical field and presence of surgical tension is not easily accessible. DuraSeal demonstrates strong adhesive power without producing ...neurotoxicity. Herein, we evaluate the possibility of DuraSeal as a substitute in the repair of sciatic nerve gap injury. Materials and Methods The nerve gap model was constructed by excising the sciatic nerve (5 mm in length) in Sprague Dawley rats leaving a 5 mm nerve defect between nerve stumps. Animals were categorized into four groups: Group I: no treatment; Group II: 4 stitches suture; Group III: nerve approximation fixed by tissue glue; Group IV: nerve approximation fixed by DuraSeal. The motor function assessment included the CatWalk and SFI as well as electrophysiological studies. Nerve continuity and regeneration was examined at 1 and 8 wk after injury. The inflammatory cells, Schwann cell apoptosis, and Schwann cell proliferation were also investigated 1 wk after injury. Results The achievement of nerve continuity and myelination by DuraSeal approached that of suture demonstrated by crystal violet and Luxol Fast Blue staining at 1 and 8 wk, respectively. Motor function and electrophysiological parameters were restored in DuraSeal and suture group. Early expression of neurofilament and bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) was also observed in these two groups. There was no statistically significant difference in deposits of macrophages and neutrophil cells or cell apoptosis among these four groups. Conclusions DuraSeal achieved the same nerve regeneration compared with that of suture and produced better regeneration than that of the tissue glue or without any treatment. The accomplishment of nerve regeneration and continuity without causing neurotoxicity justifies using DuraSeal as a ligature in the anastomosis of nerve gap injury.
PDF
