Emodin, a Naturally Occurring Anthraquinone Derivative, Ameliorates Dyslipidemia by Activating AMP-Activated Protein Kinase in High-Fat-Diet-Fed Rats

The aim of this study was to investigate the antiobesity and antihyperlipidaemic effects of emodin on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese rats, and on the regulation of the expression of the genes involved in lipid metabolism to elucidate the mechanisms. After being fed HFD for two weeks, Wistar rats were dosed orally with emodin (40 and 80 mg kg−1) or pioglitazone (20 mg kg−1), once daily for eight weeks. Emodin (80 mg kg−1 per day) displayed similar characteristics to pioglitazone (20 mg kg−1 per day) in reducing body weight gain, plasma lipid levels as well as coronary artery risk index and atherogenic index of HFD-fed rats. Emodin also caused dose related reductions in the hepatic triglyceride and cholesterol contents and lowered hepatic lipid droplets accumulation in HFD-fed rats. Emodin and pioglitazone enhanced the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and its primary downstream targeting enzyme, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, up-regulated gene expression of carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1, and down-regulated sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 and fatty acid synthase protein levels in hepatocytes of HFD-fed rats. Our findings suggest emodin could attenuate lipid accumulation by decreasing lipogenesis and increasing mitochondrial fatty acid β-oxidation mediated by activation of the AMPK signaling pathway

Speech Enhancement Guided by Contextual Articulatory Information

Previous studies have confirmed the effectiveness of leveraging articulatory information to attain improved speech enhancement (SE) performance. By augmenting the original acoustic features with the place/manner of articulatory features, the SE process can be guided to consider the articulatory properties of the input speech when performing enhancement. Hence, we believe that the contextual information of articulatory attributes should include useful information and can further benefit SE in different languages. In this study, we propose an SE system that improves its performance through optimizing the contextual articulatory information in enhanced speech for both English and Mandarin. We optimize the contextual articulatory information through joint-train the SE model with an end-to-end automatic speech recognition (E2E ASR) model, predicting the sequence of broad phone classes (BPC) instead of the word sequences. Meanwhile, two training strategies are developed to train the SE system based on the BPC-based ASR: multitask-learning and deep-feature training strategies. Experimental results on the TIMIT and TMHINT dataset confirm that the contextual articulatory information facilitates an SE system in achieving better results than the traditional Acoustic Model(AM). Moreover, in contrast to another SE system that is trained with monophonic ASR, the BPC-based ASR (providing contextual articulatory information) can improve the SE performance more effectively under different signal-to-noise ratios(SNR).Comment: Will be submitted to TASL

Internationalization propensity in family-controlled public firms in emerging markets: The effects of family ownership, governance, and top management team heterogeneity

Internationalization propensity is a growing issue faced by family firms. This study contributes to the family business literature by developing a conceptual framework that can identify the family and managerial determinants that affect the extensiveness of internationalization. Drawing on the socioemotional wealth and upper echelon perspectives, it empirically examines the association among family heterogeneity (i.e., family participation is heterogeneous in terms of ownership and governance oversight), top management team (TMT) heterogeneity (i.e., the TMT’s background is heterogeneous in terms of its overseas education and industry experience), and internationalization propensity in publicly traded enterprises. The analysis of data collected from 105 public firms in Taiwan shows that active family participation in ownership and governance oversight and TMT overseas industry experience heterogeneity are significantly and positively associated with internationalization propensity. However, family ownership is found to be significantly but negatively associated with internationalization propensity. We finally discuss the implications of the presented findings for practitioners and organizational theorists

Numerical Analysis on Color Preference and Visual Comfort from Eye Tracking Technique

Color preferences in engineering are very important, and there exists relationship between color preference and visual comfort. In this study, there are thirty university students who participated in the experiment, supplemented by pre- and posttest questionnaires, which lasted about an hour. The main purpose of this study is to explore the visual effects of different color assignment with subjective color preferences via eye tracking technology. Eye-movement data through a nonlinear analysis detect slight differences in color preferences and visual comfort, suggesting effective physiological indicators as extensive future research discussed. Results found that the average pupil size of eye-movement indicators can effectively reflect the differences of color preferences and visual comfort. This study more confirmed that the subjective feeling will make people have misjudgment

Using Sidereal Rotation Period Expressions to Calculate the Sun’s Rotation Period through Observation of Sunspots

We utilize sidereal rotation period expressions to calculate the sun’s rotation period via sunspot observation. From the well-known astronomical sites, we collected sunspot diagrams for 14 months, from January 2013 to February 2014, to analyze, compare, and implement statistical research. In addition to acquiring the average angular rate of the movement of sunspots, we found that even the same number of sunspots moved at different angular rates, and generally the life of larger sunspots is longer than 10 days. Therefore the larger sunspots moved around the back of the sun, and a handful of relatively smaller sunspots disappeared within a few days. The results show that the solar rotation period varied with the latitude. However, if we take the average of the sunspots at high and low latitudes, we find that the calculated value is very close to the accredited values

Maximizing Science Outreach on Facebook: An Analysis of Scientists’ Communication Strategies in Taiwan

The internet, and especially social media platforms, offer scientists new opportunities to connect with a broader public. While many studies have focused on science communication on Twitter, surprisingly few have analyzed how scientists use Facebook, even though it is an essential platform for the general public in many countries. A possible explanation for this lack of research is that scientists keep their Facebook profiles separate from their work life and are more active on Twitter in their professional roles. Our study challenges this assumption by focusing on Taiwan as a peculiar case. Due to the local culture, Twitter is less popular there, and scientists are more active on Facebook, even in their professional roles. In our study, we analyzed 35 public pages of scientists on Facebook and assessed the factors explaining the reach of their communication using content analysis in combination with a multilevel model that allowed us to test predictors on the page level, such as the number of fans, in combination with predictors on the post level, such as the complexity of the language used. Our study shows that Facebook can play an influential role in science outreach. To effectively communicate with the audience on Facebook, it is best to use strategies that appeal to new and existing followers. Posts that address current issues and include opinions are likely to be shared widely, while humor or personal self-disclosure is likely to engage the existing audience. Our study contributes to the current debate about alternatives to Twitter in science communication

A novel randomly textured phosphor structure for highly efficient white light-emitting diodes

We have successfully demonstrated the enhanced luminous flux and lumen efficiency in white light-emitting diodes by the randomly textured phosphor structure. The textured phosphor structure was fabricated by a simple imprinting technique, which does not need an expensive dry-etching machine or a complex patterned definition. The textured phosphor structure increases luminous flux by 5.4% and 2.5% at a driving current of 120 mA, compared with the flat phosphor and half-spherical lens structures, respectively. The increment was due to the scattering of textured surface and also the phosphor particles, leading to the enhancement of utilization efficiency of blue light. Furthermore, the textured phosphor structure has a larger view angle at the full width at half maximum (87°) than the reference LEDs

Intellectual Property Rights and Skills Accumulation: A North-South Model of FDI and Outsourcing

ABSTRACT This study investigates the effects of stronger intellectual property rights (IPR) protection in the South on innovation, skills choice, wage inequality and patterns of production based on a North-South general-equilibrium model with foreign direct investment (FDI) and international outsourcing. We find that stronger IPR protection in the South raises the extent of outsourcing and reduces the extent of FDI. This raises the proportion of Southerners being unskilled and mitigates wage inequality in the South. In the North, stronger Southern IPR protection raises the proportion of Northerners being skilled and wage inequality. The increased welfare due to the lower average price of goods may be offset by damage caused by lower average income. The effects of international specialization, R&D cost and Northern population are also examined