PB: A Product-Bitmatrix Construction to Reduce the Complexity of XOR Operations of PM-MSR and PM-MBR Codes over GF2w

Edge computing, as an emerging computing paradigm, aims to reduce network bandwidth transmission overhead while storing and processing data on edge nodes. However, the storage strategies required for edge nodes are different from those for existing data centers. Erasure code (EC) strategies have been applied in some decentralized storage systems to ensure the privacy and security of data storage. Product-matrix (PM) regenerating codes (RGCs) as a state-of-the-art EC family are designed to minimize the repair bandwidth overhead or minimize the storage overhead. Nevertheless, the high complexity of the PM framework contains more finite-domain multiplication operations than classical ECs, which heavily consumes computational resources at the edge nodes. In this paper, a theoretical derivation of each step of the PM minimum storage regeneration (PM-MSR) and PM minimum bandwidth regeneration (PM-MBR) codes is performed and the XOR complexity over finite fields is analyzed. On this basis, a new construct called product bitmatrix (PB) is designed to reduce the complexity of XOR operations in the PM framework, and two heuristics are used to further reduce the XOR numbers of the PB-MSR and PB-MBR codes, respectively. The evaluation results show that the PB construction significantly reduces the XOR number compared to the PM-MSR, PM-MBR, Reed–Solomon (RS), and Cauchy RS codes while retaining optimal performance and reliability

CBase-EC: Achieving Optimal Throughput-Storage Efficiency Trade-Off Using Erasure Codes

Many distributed database systems that guarantee high concurrency and scalability adopt read-write separation architecture. Simultaneously, these systems need to store massive amounts of data daily, requiring different mechanisms for storing and accessing data, such as hot and cold data access strategies. Unlike distributed storage systems, the distributed database splits a table into sub-tables or shards, and the request frequency of each sub-table is not the same within a specific time. Therefore, it is not only necessary to design hot-to-cold approaches to reduce storage overhead, but also cold-to-hot methods to ensure high concurrency of those systems. We present a new redundant strategy named CBase-EC, using erasure codes to trade the performances of transaction processing and storage efficiency for CBase database systems developed for financial scenarios of the Bank. Two algorithms are proposed: the hot-cold tablets (shards) recognition algorithm and the hot-cold dynamic conversion algorithm. Then we adopt two optimization approaches to improve CBase-EC performance. In the experiment, we compare CBase-EC with three-replicas in CBase. The experimental results show that although the transaction processing performance declined by no more than 6%, the storage efficiency increased by 18.4%

Knowledge and Attitudes regarding Temporomandibular Disorders among Postgraduate Dental Students and Practicing Dentists in Western China: A Questionnaire-Based Observational Investigation

Background. It is necessary for dental students and dentists to apply their temporomandibular disorders (TMDs)-related knowledge to clinical practice. The current study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and awareness of postgraduate dental students and practicing dentists regarding etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of TMD in western China and thus provide suggestions on TMD curricula design to get postgraduate students and dentists better prepared for TMD diagnosis and treatment. Methods. This observational and descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among postgraduate students and practicing dentists in western China. Twenty-five reorganized knowledge questions in four domains were selected from the published literature and were evaluated with answer options from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree,” and “I don’t know.” “Consensus” is defined as more than 50% of respondents in a group agree or disagree with a statement. Chi-square tests were performed for comparisons between the two groups. Results. A total of 132 postgraduate dental students and 123 dentists completed the questionnaire. Around 75% of postgraduate students and 85% of dentists claimed that they have never participated in systematic training in TMD. Nine statements in etiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of TMD had different consensus between the two groups. And the dentist group tended to agree more with 12 statements in the questionnaire. Conclusions. The majority of Chinese dentists and dental students have not taken any TMD courses and possess limited knowledge of TMD. Curriculum reform for predoctoral education, postgraduate education, and continuing education is needed to augment knowledge and skills for TMD diagnosis and treatment

Effect of cooking and in vitro digestion on the peptide profile of chicken breast muscle and antioxidant and alcohol dehydrogenase stabilization activity

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of cooking and simulated gastrointestinal digestion on the antioxidant and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) stabilization activity of peptides extracted from chicken breast muscle. Results showed that cooking would not affect peptide bioactivity, whereas further digestion using gastrointestinal enzymes could lead to significant changes, producing an increase in ORAC (112.5 to 682.0 uM TE/g) and ABTS radical scavenging activities (164.0 to 848.9 uM TE/g), whereas a decrease in DPPH radical scavenging (from 36.1% to 4.4%), ferric-reducing power (OD 700 from 0.50 to 0.15) and ADH stabilization activities (from 44.1% to 20.5%) was observed. The peptidomic analysis resulted in the identification and relative quantitation of 777 peptides from 76 different parent proteins and evidenced that peptides derived from titin and collagen were mainly responsible for the differences detected in the peptide profile. The decrease of DPPH radical scavenging, ferric reducing power, and ADH stabilization activity may result from the release of inactive peptides containing oxidized residues, mainly from collagen, leading to the loss of efficacy of active sequences. The results confirmed the importance of collagen derived peptides on the antioxidant and ADH stabilization activity observed in chicken breast as well as the negative impact of oxidation on the bioactivity of generated peptides after simulated gastrointestinal digestion. Nevertheless, further work would be needed to confirm the peptide sequences responsible for the observed bioactivity.This work was supported by Grant AGL2017-89381-R and FEDER funds from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31701539 and No.31871746), and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. 2017A030313127). Ramón y Cajal postdoctoral contract by LM and the China Scholarship Council (CSC) research program for C. X. are also acknowledged.Peer reviewe

Isolation and identification of alcohol dehydrogenase stabilizing peptides from Alcalase digested chicken breast hydrolysates

The effect of chicken hydrolysates (CHs) on alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) stability was investigated, together with further bioactivity-oriented isolation and identification of CHs. A total of 82 peptides were identified using mass spectrometry in tandem after consecutive separation by size-exclusion chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography. The identified peptides were then subjected to in silico gastrointestinal digestion and 154 peptides were generated. The potential bioactivity, safety and applicability of the peptides were assessed using multiple predictive programs. A total of 21 among the 154 peptides were predicted to be potentially active with applicability. Four peptides (DPQYPPGPPAF, QKPVL, KPC, and APGH) obtained after in silico digestion were synthesized and validated their activity. Results showed that DPQYPPGPPAF, KPC, and APGH could stabilize ADH in a dose-dependent manner. This study further indicated that chicken hydrolysate could be a novel functional food ingredient in facilitating alcohol metabolism and protection against alcoholic liver injury.This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31701539 and 31871746) and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. 2017A030313127). Grant AGL2017-89381-R and FEDER funds from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, and Ramón y Cajal postdoctoral contract by L.M. are acknowledged. We also thank the China Scholarship Council (CSC) research program for providing funding for C.X.Peer reviewe

The Beneficial Effects of Two Polysaccharide Fractions from <i>Sargassum fusiform</i> against Diabetes Mellitus Accompanied by Dyslipidemia in Rats and Their Underlying Mechanisms

The current study aimed to assess the anti-diabetic effects and potential mechanisms of two Sargassum fusiform polysaccharide fractions (SFPs, named SFP-1 and SFP-2). The carbohydrate-loading experiment revealed that SFP-2 could control postprandial hyperglycemia by inhibiting the activity of digestive enzymes in rats. The analysis of diabetic symptoms and serum profiles indicated that SFPs could mitigate diabetes accompanied by dyslipidemia, and SFP-2 showed better regulatory effects on body weight, food intake and the levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and free fatty acid (FFA) in diabetic rats. Intestinal bacterial analysis showed that SFP treatment could reshape the gut flora of diabetic rats, and SFP-2 possessed a greater regulatory effect on the growth of Lactobacillus and Blautia than SFP-1. RT-qPCR analysis revealed that SFPs could regulate the genes involved in the absorption and utilization of blood glucose, hepatic glucose production and lipid metabolism, and the effects of SFP-2 on the relative expressions of Protein kinase B (Akt), Glucose-6-phosphatase (G-6-Pase), Glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2), AMP-activated protein kinase-α (AMPKα), Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and Cholesterol 7-alpha hydroxylase (CYP7A1) were greater than SFP-1. All above results indicated that SFPs could be exploited as functional foods or pharmaceutical supplements for the treatment of diabetes and its complications

In vitro and in silico analysis of potential antioxidant peptides obtained from chicken hydrolysate produced using Alcalase

Chicken hydrolysates (CHs) have been reported to protect mice against alcoholic liver injury possibly through oxidative stress reduction. In this study, the antioxidant activity of CHs was studied. Results showed that CHs exhibited significant antioxidant activity (around 600 and 400 μM TEAC/g in ORAC and ABTS assay, respectively) and could resist simulated gastrointestinal digestion. A total of 22 peptides were identified after antioxidant activity-oriented isolation using size-exclusion chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography. Further in silico analysis and the validation of antioxidant activity revealed that novel peptides (RWGG and YYCQ) exhibited strong antioxidant activity. The most active peptide YYCQ displayed a TEAC value of 3.54 and 4.28 μM TEAC/μM in ORAC and ABTS assay, respectively. These peptides could contribute to reduce oxidative stress and protect against alcohol-induced liver injury. However, further studies understanding the bioactivity of such peptides in vivo are necessary before further applying them as functional food ingredient.This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32101896 and No. 31871746), Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province (2021B0707060001), and Self-innovation Research Funding Project of Hanjiang Laboratory (HJL202010B002). Grant AGL2017-89381-R funded by MCIN/ AEI /10.13039/501100011033 by “ERDF A way of making Europe” is acknowledged and grant RYC-2016-19635 (L.M.) funded by MCIN/AEI /10.13039/501100011033 and “ESF Investing in your future” is also acknowledged.Peer reviewe

Chicken-derived tripeptide KPC (Lys-Pro-Cys) stabilizes alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) through peptide-enzyme interaction

Alcohol hydydrogenase (ADH) is a key enzyme that influences alcohol metabolism in vivo. Our previous study showed that chicken-derived tripeptide KPC could stabilize ADH in a dose-dependant manner. In this study, possible mechanism underlying how KPC could stabilize ADH was further investigated. Fluorescence quenching data showed that KPC induced a dynamic fluorescence quenching with a quenching rate constant value of 1.074 × 1010 M−1s−1, indicating a conformational change. Circular dichroism further suggested a possible transformation from α-helix (14.03%–13.90%) to random coil (31.98–33.04%) in ADH structure as affected by KPC (5 mmol/L). Molecular docking analysis predicted that KPC may bind to ADH through hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bonds. Validation of ADH stabilizing activity of fragment peptides and amino acids from KPC implied the vital role of Cys residue to the bio-activity of KPC. These results indicated that KPC may stabilize ADH through peptide-enzyme interactions, and protect ADH against oxidative modification. Besides, a favorable absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) profile of KPC was obtained using in silico assays. Overall, this study provided a comprehensive understanding on the interaction mechanism between KPC and ADH, and illustrated the potential applicability of KPC as drug or functional food ingredient.This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32101896 and No. 31871746), Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province (2021B0707060001), the Self-innovation Research Funding Project of Hanjiang Laboratory (HJL202010B002, HJL202101B001, HJL202101B004,and HJL202101B005), and the Chaozhou Science and Technology Project (2020PT01).Peer reviewe

Effect of Bergamot and Laoxianghuang Polysaccharides on Gut Microbiota Derived from Patients with Hyperlipidemia: An Integrative Analysis of Microbiome and Metabolome during In Vitro Fermentation

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of bergamot polysaccharide (BP) and Laoxianghuang polysaccharides (LPs, fermented bergamot) on the microbiome and metabolome during the in vitro fermentation of gut microbiota from patients with hyperlipidemia. Results indicated that both BP and LPs were able to increase the production of acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid. However, only LPs could decrease the content of isobutyric acid and isovaleric acid, which are detrimental to gut health. A 16S rRNA analysis showed that both BP and LPs could reduce the proportion of Fusobacterium, whereas they increased the Bacteroides content in hyperlipidemia. Untargeted UPLC-MS/MS metabolomic profiling found six bio-markers that were significantly changed after BP and LPs intervention, and four of the down-regulated metabolites were long-chain fatty acids associated with vascular diseases. These findings provide new evidence that BP and LPs have the potential to regulate imbalances in the gut microbiota in patients with hyperlipidemia and ameliorate its metabolic abnormalities

Musculus senhousei as a promising source of bioactive peptides protecting against alcohol-induced liver injury

Alcohol-induced liver injury has become a leading risk for human health, however, effective strategies for the prevention or treatment are still lacking. Hence, the present study explored the potential of Musculus senhousei as a source of hepatoprotective peptides against alcoholic liver injury using in vitro, in vivo and in silico methods. Results indicated that Musculus senhousei peptides (MSP, extracted by simulated gastrointestinal digestion of cooked mussel) exhibited notable antioxidant (ABTS and DPPH assays) and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) stabilizing activity in vitro. The ingestion of MSP markedly alleviated alcohol-induced liver injury in mice, as indicated by the decrease of serum transaminases (AST and ALT). In line with in vitro assays, significantly increased hepatic ADH activity and activated antioxidative defense system (GSH, SOD, GSH-Px and CAT) were observed, whereas the oxidative stress (MDA) was decreased. Peptidomic analysis revealed over 6000 peptides with favorable amino acid compositions, and a total of 20 potentially novel peptides with bioactivity and bioavailability were excavated among 746 of the most influential peptides using an in silico strategy. Peptides (i.e. WLPMKL, WLWLPA, RLC and RCL) were further synthesized and validated in vitro to be bioactive. These findings suggest that Musculus senhousei can be an ideal source of bioactive peptides for the prevention of alcoholic liver injury.This work was supported by the Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province (2022B0202030001 and 2021B0707060001), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32101896) and Self-innovation Research Funding Project of Hanjiang Laboratory (HJL202010B002).Peer reviewe