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Multifocus microscopy has previously been demonstrated to provide volumetric information from a single shot. However, the practical application of this method is challenging due to its weak optical sectioning and limited spatial resolution. Here, we report on the combination of a distorted diffraction grating and multifocal scanning illumination microscopy to improve spatial resolution and contrast. DG is introduced in the emission path of the multifocal scanning illumination microscopy, which splits the fluorescence signal from different sample layers into different diffraction orders. After postprocessing, super-resolution wide-field images of different sample layers can be reconstructed from single 2D scanning.

This paper discusses how to improve the accuracy of navigation for home service robot based on the deep learning and machine learning. First, the crawling programing is applied to collect enough images of fridge and washing machine on the web; a deep learning framework is proposed that can distinguish fridge and washing machine more accurately. Following, the data come from the robot operating system topics are collected and cleaned, the linear regression, decision tree, and linear SVR algorithms are applied and compared to predict the power consumption of the robot, and a conclusion is obtained that liner movement will consume more power, which provides a reference for the path planning of the robot. Lastly, the conclusions are proposed that a novel methodology is applied to distinguish different home appliances, which is useful for the accurate navigation of the robot; the liner movement will consume more power compared to turning left or right, which supplies a reference for the optimized path planning for the robot.

Fungal chitin, as a typical microorganism-associated molecular pattern (PAMP), was recognized by plant LysM-containing protein to induce immunity called pattern-triggered immunity (PTI). To successfully infect host plant, fungal pathogens secreted LysM-containing effectors to inhibit chitin-induced plant immunity. Filamentous fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides caused rubber tree anthracnose which resulted in serious loss of natural rubber production worldwide. However, little is known about the pathogenesis mediated by LysM effector of C. gloeosporioide. In this study, we identified a two LysM-containing effector in C. gloeosporioide and named as Cg2LysM. Cg2LysM was involved not only in conidiation, appressorium formation, invasion growth and the virulence to rubber tree, but also in melanin synthesis of C. gloeosporioides. Moreover, Cg2LysM showed chitin-binding activity and suppression of chitin-triggered immunity of rubber tree such as ROS production and the expression of defense relative genes HbPR1, HbPR5, HbNPR1 and HbPAD4. This work suggested that Cg2LysM effector facilitate infection of C. gloeosporioides to rubber tree through affecting invasive structure and inhibiting chitin-triggered plant immunity.

In an enterprise network, it is common to have hundreds of video conferences held simultaneously such that a large number of video streams need to be transmitted between participants in different geographical locations. For such a large transmission demand, an advance reservation (AR) system deployed for the video conferencing system can provide quality-of-service (QoS) guarantees to users and improve the resource utilization of the network. However, the effective resource reservation strategies for a heavy traffic case still remains open. In this paper, we propose an algorithm called the elastic timeslot-based advance reservation algorithm (ETARA), which aims at improving the resource utilization and reducing the computational complexity. A new time processing method, elastic timeslot, is proposed for the time domain management. Moreover, ETARA takes not only the processing time but also the resource usage into account. Comparative simulations with the existing two popular approaches, the dynamic timeslot-based approach and timeslot-based flexible approach, have been performed in terms of the acceptance ratio and runtime. The results show that with the same acceptance ratio, the runtime of ETARA can be up to 57 times lower than that of the flexible timeslot-based approach. Though ETARA has a slightly longer runtime than the dynamic approach, the acceptance ratio of ETARA can be twice as high as that of the dynamic timeslot-based approach.

In an enterprise video conferencing system, the enterprise network can be shared by hundreds of video conferences. On the other hand, participants may not arrive at the same time and stay until the end of the conference. The abilities to reserve resources in advance, as well as effective dynamic multicast when participants can join and leave the conference at any time, are essential in the distributed multi-party video conferencing systems. However, the effective advance reservation strategies of the dynamic multicast requests for a heavy traffic case still remains open. In this paper, we investigate the problem of Maximizing the number of admitted Dynamic Multicast requests in the Advance Reservation environment (MDMAR) for the enterprise video conferencing system. We take two path schemes of a fixed path and variable paths, as well as a heterogeneous bandwidth reservation model into account. Firstly, we prove that the MDMAR problem is NP-complete and formulate it mathematically as an integer linear program (ILP) for small networks. Then, we develop greedy algorithms and simulated annealing (SA) algorithms for enterprise networks. Comparative simulations are performed to evaluate the heuristic algorithms for both small networks and enterprise networks. We find that the SA algorithms can provide within 6% lower optimal solutions than the ILP algorithms for our small network, and up to 10% improvement over the greedy algorithms for the large campus or enterprise network.

In order to guarantee the service quality of video conferencing and improve the utilization of enterprise network resources, the problem of bandwidth advance reservation for enterprise video conferencing system was studied. In an enterprise network, there could be hundreds of conferences held at the same time, and video communication was possible between any two participants. Reserving bandwidth resources in advance for a conference would result in fine-grained changes in available bandwidth over time. In particular, when a large number of conference requests occur at the same time, time consumption and bandwidth usage would increase significantly. To address this problem, a dynamic timeslot-based multicast bandwidth advance reservation algorithm was proposed. The algorithm also took into account the two conference scenarios proposed by the IETF XCON working group. The simulation results show that compared with other algorithms, the algorithm can effectively reserve bandwidth for big data conferences and solve the problem of time overhead bottleneck.

A rhizobox experiment was conducted to study the effect of growing rice (Oryza sativa L.) on the movement and transformation of Kin a red paddy soil. Results showed that Kuptake by rice reduced the concentrations of soil water-soluble K (Sol-K), exchangeable K (Ex-K), and non-exchangeable K (Nonex-K) in the root zone. Soil Sol-Kin non-root-zone compartment close to the root zone (0-6 cm) migrated toward the root zone, and soil Ex-K (0-4 cm) and soil Nonex-K (0-3 cm) was released into soil solution. As the rice growth progressed, soil Sol-K, Ex-K, and Nonex-K in the root zone and soil Sol-K in non-root-zone compartment close to the root zone (0-6 cm) continued to decrease. Decreases of soil Ex-K and Nonex-K in non-root-zone compartment extended from the root to 6 and 5 cm into the bulk soil, respectively. At the late grain-filling stage, soil Sol-K concentration in the root zone and non-root-zone compartment (0-6 cm) declined, and then remained stable, whereas Sol-Kin the non-root zone (6-7 cm) kept diffusing toward the root zone. Soil Ex-K and Nonex-K in the root zone and non-root-zone compartment continued to reduce, and the decrease distance of soil Nonex-K was extended to 6 cm. Within the whole season, soil Ex-K and Nonex-K were the main forms of K available to the plants, followed by Sol-K. The information obtained in this study indicated that K fertilizer should be added to the place around the root zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ion channel formed by the homologous proteins MEC-4 and MEC-10 forms the core of a sensory mechano-transduction channel in Caenorhabditis elegans. Although the products of other mec genes are key players in the biophysics of transduction, the mechanism by which they contribute to the properties of the channel is unknown. Here, we investigate the role of two auxiliary channel subunits, MEC-2 (stomatin-like) and MEC-6 (paraoxonaselike), by coexpressing them with constitutively active MEC-4/MEC10 heteromeric channels in Xenopus oocytes. This work extends prior work demonstrating that MEC-2 and MEC-6 synergistically increase macroscopic current. We use single-channel recordings and biochemistry to show that these auxiliary subunits alter function by increasing the number of channels in an active state rather than by dramatically affecting either single-channel properties or surface expression. We also use two-electrode voltage clamp and outside-out macropatch recording to examine the effects of divalent cations and proteases, known regulators of channel family members. Finally, we examine the role of cholesterol binding in the mechanism of MEC-2 action by measuring whole-cell and single-channel currents in MEC-2 mutants deficient in cholesterol binding. We suggest that MEC-2 and MEC-6 play essential roles in modulating both the local membrane environment of MEC-4/MEC-10 channels and the availability of such channels to be gated by force in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MEC-4 and MEC-10 are the pore-forming subunits of the sensory mechanotransduction complex that mediates touch sensation in Caenorhabditis elegans (O'Hagan, R., M. Chalfie, and M.B. Goodman. 2005. Nat. Neurosci. 8:43–50). They are members of a large family of ion channel proteins, collectively termed DEG/ENaCs, which are expressed in epithelial cells and neurons. In Xenopus oocytes, MEC-4 can assemble into homomeric channels and coassemble with MEC-10 into heteromeric channels (Goodman, M.B., G.G. Ernstrom, D.S. Chelur, R. O'Hagan, C.A. Yao, and M. Chalfie. 2002. Nature. 415:1039-1042). To gain insight into the structure-function principles that govern gating and drug block, we analyzed the effect of gain-of-function mutations using a combination of two-electrode voltage clamp, single-channel recording, and outside-out macropatches. We found that mutation of A713, the d or degeneration position, to residues larger than cysteine increased macroscopic current, open probability, and open times in homomeric channels, suggesting that bulky residues at this position stabilize open states. Wild-type MEC-10 partially suppressed the effect of such mutations on macroscopic current, suggesting that subunit-subunit interactions regulate open probability. Additional support for this idea is derived from an analysis of macroscopic currents carried by single-mutant and double-mutant heteromeric channels. We also examined blockade by the diuretic amiloride and two related compounds. We found that mutation of A713 to threonine, glycine, or aspartate decreased the affinity of homomeric channels for amiloride. Unlike the increase in open probability, this effect was not related to size of the amino acid side chain, indicating that mutation at this site alters antagonist hinding by an independent mechanism. Finally, we present evidence that amiloride block is diffusion limited in DEG/ENaC channels, suggesting that variations in amiloride affinity result from variations in binding energy as opposed to accessibility. We conclude that the d position is part of a key region in the channel functionally and structurally, possibly representing the beginning of a pore-forming domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]