Ideally, the throughput of a Multipath TCP (MPTCP) connection should be as high as that of multiple disjoint single-path TCP flows. In reality, the throughput of MPTCP is far lower than expected. In ...this paper, we conduct an extensive simulation-based study on this phenomenon, and the results indicate that a subflow experiencing high delay and loss severely affects the performance of other subflows, thus becoming the bottleneck of the MPTCP connection and significantly degrading the aggregate goodput. To tackle this problem, we propose Fountain code-based Multipath TCP (FMTCP), which effectively mitigates the negative impact of the heterogeneity of different paths. FMTCP takes advantage of the random nature of the fountain code to flexibly transmit encoded symbols from the same or different data blocks over different subflows. Moreover, we design a data allocation algorithm based on the expected packet arriving time and decoding demand to coordinate the transmissions of different subflows. Quantitative analyses are provided to show the benefit of FMTCP. We also evaluate the performance of FMTCP through ns-2 simulations and demonstrate that FMTCP outperforms IETF-MPTCP, a typical MPTCP approach, when the paths have diverse loss and delay in terms of higher total goodput, lower delay, and jitter. In addition, FMTCP achieves high stability under abrupt changes of path quality.
Parental agency of their children's language learning is often determined by their perceptions of the significance of the language in both family and society levels. Based on a larger ethnography ...conducted in Sydney from 2017 to 2020, this study investigates the language ideologies of Chinese immigrant parents from the People's Republic of China in the recent decades, regarding the maintenance of their children's Chinese heritage language(s). Drawing on the concept of language as pride and profit shifting between communities across time and space, this study reveals that Chinese parents primarily emphasize the economic benefits associated with Chinese languages when it comes to preserving their heritage language(s). While the significance of cultural pride and identity remains evident, there is a notable shift where the concept of pride is merging with that of profit concerning the importance of Chinese heritage language. However, the commodification of Chinese and identity, privileging "national" mandarin while marginalizing "regional" others, impedes the transmission of diverse Chinese heritage languages other than Mandarin. Simultaneously, the value-laden calculation of language prioritizes the "most" prestigious English, often at the expense of "heritage" Mandarin, regardless of its acknowledged economic potential. The findings illustrate how language ideologies and practices within the Chinese diaspora are shaped by power conflicts between English and Mandarin Chinese, hierarchical distinctions between Mandarin and non-Mandarin Chinese, and subtle stratification within regional Chinese languages. The research underscores the challenges faced by minority communities in preserving their heritage languages, particularly those with limited economic capital or political influence.
In recent years, the haze has caused serious troubles to people's lives, with the continuous increase of PM2.5 emissions. The accurate prediction of PM2.5 is very crucial for policy makers to make ...predictive measures. Due to the nonlinearity of the PM2.5 time series, it is difficult to predict accurately. Despite some studies about PM2.5 being proposed, the problem of the LSTM (long short-term memory) gradient disappearance and random selection of wavelet orders and layers isn't still solved. In this study, a novel model based on WT (wavelet transform)-SAE (stacked autoencoder)-LSTM is proposed. Firstly, six study sites from China are taken as examples and WT is used to decompose PM2.5 time series into several low-and high- frequency components based on different samples. Secondly, the decomposed components are predicted based on SAE-LSTM. Finally, the predicted results are reconstructed in view of all low-and high-frequency components and the predicted results are obtained. The results imply that: (1) the forecasting performance of SAE-LSTM is better than that of other models (e.g., BP (back propagation)) used for comparison; (2) for six different PM 2.5 samples, four orders five layers, five orders six layers, five orders seven layers, three orders six layers, five orders seven layers, and five orders six layers are the most appropriate. The conclusion that such a novel model may help to enhance the accuracy of PM 2.5 prediction can be drawn.
Developing an ideal wound dressing material which could accelerate wound closure and achieve scarless wound healing was the ultimate goal of numerous researchers. In this study, biomimetic silk ...fibroin (SF)/polycaprolactone (PCL) matrices were fabricated via co-electrospinning and positively charged chitosan (CS) and negatively charged type I collagen (COL) were deposited on the nanofibrous mats through electrostatic layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembly technique. Scanning electron microscopy images indicate that the average fiber diameter of SF/PCL nanofibers became larger and more and more irregular protuberances were observed on their surfaces with the LBL process. Besides, the chemical structure and composition investigation further verified the successful deposition of CS/COL. Additionally, tensile strength and water contact angle tests showed the LBL modified mats had enhanced mechanical properties and good hydrophilicity. Moreover, LBL structured mats acquired excellent antibacterial activity and better ability to promote cell attachment, growth and proliferation. Ultimately, in vivo wound healing assay in rat models revealed that LBL structured mats could reduce the wound closure time, increase collagen production and mitigate excessive scar formation through TGF-β/Smad signaling pathways, which demonstrated the potential application of the nanofibrous mats in skin regeneration.
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•Chitosan/collagen was coated on Silk fibroin/Polycaprolactone nanofibrous mats.•The modified mats achieved excellent antibacterial activity and cytocompatibility.•The modified mats accelerated skin wound healing and mitigated scar formation.•The modified mats regulated Transforming Growth Factor-β/Smad signaling pathways.
Recent research pays much attention to the correlations between structural properties of porous substrate and the separation performance of polyamide (PA) thin film composite (TFC) membrane prepared ...by interfacial polymerization (IP). However, there are limited studies focused on seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) membrane preparation and optimization. This study reveals profound impacts of substrate surface properties on the separation properties of SWRO membranes, by using different substrates including commercial ultrafiltration (UF) membrane, lab-scale casted polysulfone (PSF) substrate and pilot-scale casted PSF substrates. We demonstrate that the membrane substrates casted using pilot-scale machine led to better SWRO performance than hydrophilic UF membrane or lab-scale casted substrate; and very different SWRO membranes could be made from pilot-scale substrates casted using the same polymer dope solution. These results showed that a high-performance SWRO membrane relies on appropriate substrate possessing the surface properties of relatively hydrophobic, small surface pore size (20-35 nm) and high surface porosity, which directly affect the supply and transport rate of amine for the IP reaction. Our best SWRO membrane exhibits an excellent NaCl rejection of 99.5% together with high water permeance of 1.72 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 under seawater desalination conditions. This work helps pave the way for substrate selection for SWRO membrane fabrication, narrowing the gap between lab-made and commercial SWRO membranes.
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•Substrates with tuned surface properties were used to tailor SWRO membrane performance.•PSF substrates casted by a pilot-scale machine exhibited better SWRO performance.•The best-performing membrane demonstrated water permeance of 1.72 Lm−2h−1bar−1 and rejection of 99.5%.•Hydrophobic substrate of small surface pore size and high surface porosity was important for making excellent SWRO membrane.
Fasting and especially intermittent fasting have been shown to be an effective intervention in many diseases, such as obesity and diabetes. The fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) has recently been found to ...ameliorate metabolic disorders. To investigate the effect of a new type of low-protein low-carbohydrate FMD on diabetes, we tested an FMD in
mice, a genetic model of type 2 diabetes. The diet was administered every other week for a total of 8 weeks. The intermittent FMD normalized blood glucose levels in
mice, with significant improvements in insulin sensitivity and β cell function. The FMD also reduced hepatic steatosis in the mice. Deterioration of pancreatic islets and the loss of β cells in the diabetic mice were prevented by the FMD. The expression of β cell progenitor marker Ngn3 was increased by the FMD. In addition, the FMD led to the reconstruction of gut microbiota. Intermittent application of the FMD increased the genera of
and
while reducing
and
The changes in these bacteria were also correlated with the fasting blood glucose levels of the mice. Furthermore, intermittent FMD was able to reduce fasting blood glucose level and increase β cells in STZ-induced type 1 diabetic mouse model. In conclusion, our study provides evidence that the intermittent application of an FMD is able to effectively intervene in the progression of diabetes in mice.
Background
Bruxism was usually considered as a contraindication for oral implanting. The causal relationship between bruxism and dental implant failure was remained controversial in existing ...literatures.
Purpose
This meta‐analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between them.
Materials and Methods
This review conducted an electronic systematic literature search in MEDLINE (PubMed) and EmBase in Novermber 2013 without time and language restrictions. Meanwhile, a hand searching for all the relevant references of included studies was also conducted. Study information extraction and methodological quality assessments were accomplished by two reviewers independently. A discussion ensued if any disagreement occurred, and unresolved issues were solved by consulting a third reviewer. Methodological quality was assessed by using the Newcastle‐Ottawa Scale tool. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was pooled to estimate the relative effect of bruxism on dental implant failures. Fixed effects model was used initially; if the heterogeneity was high, random effects model was chosen for meta‐analysis. Statistical analyses were carried out by using Review Manager 5.1.
Results
In this meta‐analysis review, extracted data were classified into two groups based on different units. Units were based on the number of prostheses (group A) and the number of patients (group B). In group A, the total pooled OR of bruxers versus nonbruxers for all subgroups was 4.72 (95% CI: 2.66–8.36, p = .07). In group B, the total pooled OR of bruxers versus nonbruxers for all subgroups was 3.83 (95% CI: 2.12–6.94, p = .22).
Conclusions
This meta‐analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship between bruxism and dental implant failure. In contrast to nonbruxers, prostheses in bruxers had a higher failure rate. It suggests that bruxism is a contributing factor of causing the occurrence of dental implant technical/biological complications and plays a role in dental implant failure.
Genome wide association studies (GWAS) on residual feed intake (RFI) and its component traits including daily dry matter intake (DMI), average daily gain (ADG), and metabolic body weight (MWT) were ...conducted in a population of 7573 animals from multiple beef cattle breeds based on 7,853,211 imputed whole genome sequence variants. The GWAS results were used to elucidate genetic architectures of the feed efficiency related traits in beef cattle.
The DNA variant allele substitution effects approximated a bell-shaped distribution for all the traits while the distribution of additive genetic variances explained by single DNA variants followed a scaled inverse chi-squared distribution to a greater extent. With a threshold of P-value < 1.00E-05, 16, 72, 88, and 116 lead DNA variants on multiple chromosomes were significantly associated with RFI, DMI, ADG, and MWT, respectively. In addition, lead DNA variants with potentially large pleiotropic effects on DMI, ADG, and MWT were found on chromosomes 6, 14 and 20. On average, missense, 3'UTR, 5'UTR, and other regulatory region variants exhibited larger allele substitution effects in comparison to other functional classes. Intergenic and intron variants captured smaller proportions of additive genetic variance per DNA variant. Instead 3'UTR and synonymous variants explained a greater amount of genetic variance per DNA variant for all the traits examined while missense, 5'UTR and other regulatory region variants accounted for relatively more additive genetic variance per sequence variant for RFI and ADG, respectively. In total, 25 to 27 enriched cellular and molecular functions were identified with lipid metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism being the most significant for the feed efficiency traits.
RFI is controlled by many DNA variants with relatively small effects whereas DMI, ADG, and MWT are influenced by a few DNA variants with large effects and many DNA variants with small effects. Nucleotide polymorphisms in regulatory region and synonymous functional classes play a more important role per sequence variant in determining variation of the feed efficiency traits. The genetic architecture as revealed by the GWAS of the imputed 7,853,211 DNA variants will improve our understanding on the genetic control of feed efficiency traits in beef cattle.
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