Synchronization of Unified Chaotic Systems Using Sliding Mode Controller

This paper presents a method for synchronizing the unified chaotic systems via a sliding mode controller (SMC). The unified chaotic system and problem formulation are described. Two identical unified chaotic systems can be synchronized using the SMC technique. The switching surface and its controller design are developed in detail. Simulation results show the feasibility of a chaotic secure communication system based on the synchronization of the Lorenz circuits via the proposed SMC

Anserine Reverses Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress and Preserves Cellular Homeostasis in Healthy Men

The study tested whether anserine (beta-alanyl-3-methyl-l-histidine), the active ingredient of chicken essence affects exercise-induced oxidative stress, cell integrity, and haematology biomarkers. In a randomized placebo-controlled repeated-measures design, ten healthy men ingested anserine in either a low dose (ANS-LD) 15 mg·kg−1·bw−1, high dose (ANS-HD) 30 mg·kg−1·bw−1, or placebo (PLA), following an exercise challenge (time to exhaustion), on three separate occasions. Anserine supplementation increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) by 50% (p < 0.001, effect size d = 0.8 for both ANS-LD and ANS-HD), and preserved catalase (CAT) activity suggesting an improved antioxidant activity. However, both ANS-LD and ANS-HD elevated glutathione disulfide (GSSG), (both p < 0.001, main treatment effect), and consequently lowered the glutathione to glutathione disulfide (GSH/GSSG) ratio compared with PLA (p < 0.01, main treatment effect), without significant effects on thiobarbituric acid active reactive substances (TBARS). Exercise-induced cell damage biomarkers of glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) and myoglobin were unaffected by anserine. There were slight but significant elevations in glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) and creatine kinase isoenzyme (CKMB), especially in ANS-HD (p < 0.05) compared with ANS-LD or PLA. Haematological biomarkers were largely unaffected by anserine, its dose, and without interaction with post exercise time-course. However, compared with ANS-LD and PLA, ANS-HD increased the mean cell volume (MCV), and decreased the mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) (p < 0.001). Anserine preserves cellular homoeostasis through enhanced antioxidant activity and protects cell integrity in healthy men, which is important for chronic disease prevention. However, anserine temporal elevated exercise-induced cell-damage, together with enhanced antioxidant activity and haematological responses suggest an augmented exercise-induced adaptative response and recovery

The History, Mechanism, and Clinical Application of Auricular Therapy in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Auricular therapy includes acupuncture, electroacupuncture, acupressure, lasering, cauterization, moxibustion, and bloodletting in the auricle. For 2500 years, people have employed auricular therapy for treating diseases, but the methods have been limited to bloodletting and cauterization. Only after 1957, the international scientific community became aware that the map of the ear resembles an inverted fetus, its introduction has led to auricular acupuncture (AA) becoming a more systemic approach, and, following the identification and standardization of more precise points, AA has been employed in clinical applications. The mechanisms of AA are considered to have a close relationship with the autonomic nervous system, the neuroendocrine system, neuroimmunological factors, neuroinflammation, and neural reflex, as well as antioxidation. Auricular therapy has been applied, for example, for pain relief, for the treatment of epilepsy, anxiety, and obesity, and for improving sleep quality. However, the mechanisms and evidence for auricular therapy warrant further study

Topographic Study of Extracted Molars with Advanced Furcation Involvement: Furcation Entrance Dimension and Molar Type

This study investigated the topography of the furcation entrance dimension (FED) on molars with advanced furcation involvement (FI). The sample pool consisted of 169 maxillary and mandibular molars from a group of 165 individuals with severely advanced periodontal destruction. The subjects included men and women aged 24 to 84 years (mean, 47.8 ± 7.2 years). The FEDs of the maxillary buccal, mesial, and distal surfaces as well as the mandibular buccal and lingual surfaces were measured under a stereomicroscope and clarified into grades I (FED < 0.55 mm), II (0.55-0.75 mm), and III (> 0.75 mm) using automatic grading system software designed by our research associates. The differences and relationships among molar location, furcation site, and FED grade were analyzed using the chi-square test. There was a significant difference among buccal (BFED), mesial (MFED), and distal (DFED) FEDs in both the maxillary first (χ24 = 58.915, p < 0.001) and second (χ24 = 66.839, p < 0.001) molars. The relationship between molar type and FED grade was statistically significant for both the BFED (p < 0.001) and the DFED (p < 0.001) of maxillary molars, as well as for both the BFED (p < 0.0001) and LFED (p < 0.0001). The difference in FED grade between the first and second molars was statistically significant in both maxillary (p < 0.001) and mandibular (p < 0.0001) molars. There was a significant relationship between FED grade and tooth location at molars with advanced FI

SCintillation and IONosphere eXtended (SCION-X): A 12U CubeSat for Ionospheric and Atmospheric Science

SCION-X (SCintillation and IONosphere eXtended) is a 12U CubeSat that is being designed and developed by Upper Air Dynamics Laboratory, National Central University (NCU). SCION-X is the second funded CubeSat project being developed by NCU and is the largest self-developed spacecraft to date. This mission will help to further understand the variation of ionospheric irregularities, remote sensing methods for PM2.5 pollution distribution, and thermospheric photochemistry while serving as a relay station for amateur radio. Furthermore, it will help increase the communication and cooperation between universities in developing spaceflight capacity

影響消費中國製食品意願的因素:以金門地區婦女為例

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High Serum Adipocyte Fatty Acid Binding Protein Is Associated with Metabolic Syndrome in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (A-FABP) is a key mediator of obesity-related metabolic syndrome (MetS). The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between A-FABP concentration and MetS in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients. Fasting blood samples were obtained from 165 type 2 DM volunteers. MetS and its components were defined using diagnostic criteria from the International Diabetes Federation. Among 165 DM patients, 113 patients (68.5%) had MetS. Diabetic persons who had MetS had significantly higher A-FABP levels ( &lt; 0.001) than those without MetS. Female DM persons had higher A-FABP level than man ( &lt; 0.001). No statistically significant differences in A-FABP levels were found in use of statin, fibrate, or antidiabetic drugs. Multivariate forward stepwise linear regression analysis revealed that body fat mass ( &lt; 0.001), logarithmically transformed creatinine (log-creatinine; &lt; 0.001), female DM patients ( &lt; 0.001), and logarithmically transformed high sensitive C-reactive protein (log-hs-CRP; = 0.013) were positively correlated, while albumin ( = 0.004) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR; = 0.043) were negatively correlated with serum A-FABP levels in type 2 DM patients. In this study, higher serum A-FABP level was positively associated with MetS in type 2 DM patients

Enhancing diagnosis of T-cell lymphoma using non-recombined T-cell receptor sequences

Clonality assessment, which can detect neoplastic T cells by identifying the uniquely recombined T-cell receptor (TCR) genes, provides important support in the diagnosis of T-cell lymphoma (TCL). BIOMED-2 is the gold standard clonality assay and has proven to be effective in European TCL patients. However, we failed to prove its sensitivity in Taiwanese TCL patients, especially based on the TCRβ gene. To explore potential impact of genetic background in the BIOMED-2 test, we analyzed TCRβ sequences of 21 healthy individuals and two TCL patients. This analysis suggests that genetic variations in the BIOMED-2 primer sites could not explain the difference in sensitivity. The BIOMED-2 test results of the two TCL patients were positive and negative, respectively. Interestingly, a higher percentage (&gt;81%) of non-recombined TCRβ sequences was observed in the test-negative patient than those of the test-positive patient and all healthy individuals (13~66%). The result suggests a new TCR target for enhancing TCL diagnosis. To further explore the hypothesis, we proposed a cost-effective digital PCR assay that quantifies the relative abundance of non-recombined TCRβ sequences containing a J2-2P~J2-3 segment. With the digital PCR assay, bone marrow specimens from TCL patients (n=9) showed a positive outcome (i.e., the relative abundance of the J2-2P~J2-3 sequences ≧5%), whereas non-TCL patients (n=6) gave a negative result. As five of nine TCL patients had a negative BIOMED-2 test result, the J2-2P~J2-3 sequences may improve TCL detection. This is the first report showing the capability of characterizing non-recombined TCR sequences as a supplementary strategy for the BIOMED-2 clonality test

Safety and efficacy of intracoronary artery administration of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells in STEMI of Lee-Sung pigs—A preclinical study for supporting the feasibility of the OmniMSC-AMI phase I clinical trial

BackgroundThis study tested whether early left intracoronary arterial (LAD) administration of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hBMMSCs, called OmniMSCs) in acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) of Lee-Sung pigs induced by 90 min balloon-occluded LAD was safe and effective.Methods and resultsYoung male Lee-Sung pigs were categorized into SC (sham-operated control, n = 3), AMI-B (STEMI + buffer/21 cc/administered at 90 min after STEMI, n = 6), and AMI-M [acute myocardial infarction (AMI) + hBMMSCs/1.5 × 107/administered at 90 min after STEMI, n = 6] groups. By 2 and 5 months after STEMI, the cardiac magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated that the muscle scar score (MSS) and abnormal cardiac muscle exercise score in the infarct region were significantly increased in the AMI-B than in the SC group that were significantly reversed in the AMI-M group, whereas the left ventricular ejection function by each month (from 1 to 5) displayed an opposite pattern of MSS among the groups (all p &lt; 0.001). By 5 months, histopathological findings of infarct and fibrosis areas and isolectin-B4 exhibited an identical pattern, whereas the cellular expressions of troponin-I/troponin-T/von Willebrand factor exhibited an opposite pattern of MSS among the groups (all p &lt; 0.001). The ST-segment resolution (&gt;80%) was significantly earlier (estimated after 6-h AMI) in the AMI-M group than in the AMI-B group (p &lt; 0.001). The protein expressions of inflammation (IL-1β/TNF-α/NF-κB)/oxidative stress (NOX-1/NOX-2/oxidized protein)/apoptosis (cleaved caspase-3/cleaved PARP)/DNA damage (γ-H2AX) displayed an identical pattern to MSS among the groups, whereas the protein expressions of angiogenesis factors (SDF-1α/VEGF) were significantly and progressively increased from SC, AMI-B, to AMI-M groups (all p &lt; 0.001).ConclusionEarly intra-LAD transfusion of OmniMSC treatment effectively reduced the infarct size and preserved LV function in porcine STEMI