Broad-specificity amino acid racemase, a novel non-antibiotic selectable marker for transgenic plants

Yi‑Chia Kuan,Venkatesan Thiruvengadam,Jia‑Shin Lin,Jia‑Hsin Liu,Tsan‑Jan Chen,Hsin‑Mao Wu,Wen‑Ching Wang,Liang‑Jwu Chen 한국식물생명공학회 2018 Plant biotechnology reports Vol.12 No.1

The broad-specificity amino acid racemase (Bsar) from Pseudomonas putida catalyzes the racemization of various amino acids, offering a flexible and feasible platform to develop a new non-antibiotic selectable marker system for plant transformation. In the present study, we demonstrated that a Bsar variant, Bsar-R174K, that is useful as a selectable marker gene in Arabidopsis and rice that were susceptible to l-lysine and D-alanine. The introduction of wild-type Bsar, Bsar-R174K or Bsar-R174A into E. coli lysine or asparagine auxotrophs was able to rescue the growth of these microorganisms in minimal media supplemented with selectable amino acid enantiomers. The transformation of Arabidopsis with Bsar or Bsar variants based on d-alanine selection revealed that Bsar-R174K had the greatest efficiency (2.40%), superior to kanamycin selectionbased transformation (1.10%). Whereas, l-lysine-based selection exhibited lower efficiency for Bsar-R174K (0.17%). The progenies of selected Bsar-R174K transgenic Arabidopsis revealed normal growth properties. In addition, Bsar-R174K transgenic rice was obtained on l-lysine medium with an efficiency of 0.9%, and the progenies of the transgenic rice revealed morphologically normal phenotypes comparable with their wild-type counterparts. This study presents the first report of broad range amino acid racemase Bsar-R174K as a non-antibiotic selectable marker system applied in transgenic plants.

The Influence of Cultural Intelligence and Institutional Distance of Chinese and Korean Contractors on the Performance of International Construction Projects

Yi-Hsin Lin,Huijin Zhang,김찬중,Zhao Xu,Shuangshuang Xu 대한토목학회 2021 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.25 No.9

Cultural intelligence can effectively solve cross-cultural problems, which encourages contractors to adapt to the new international market environment. However, in international projects, the effectiveness of cultural intelligence can be complicated or moderated by the host country's institutional environment. This study explores the impact of cultural intelligence on the performance of international construction projects and the moderating effect of institutional distance, then compares the differences between Chinese contractors and Korean contractors. In this paper, eleven hypotheses were proposed, and an empirical analysis was conducted to test the hypotheses and measure the impact of cultural intelligence on the performance of international construction projects and the moderating effect of institutional distance. The results from 144 valid questionnaires indicated that process capability and path capability in cultural intelligence have a significant positive impact on the performance of international construction projects, while formal institutional distance can positively moderate the relationship between position capability and international construction project performance. Moreover, Chinese and Korean contractors display significant differences in the moderating role of institutional distance. These findings provide theoretical support and strategic suggestions for not only contractors in China and Korea but for all international contractors seeking to improve project performance through cultural intelligence and institutional distance.

Waterlogging influences the physiology index and antioxidant enzyme activity in Cucurbita maxima and Cucurbita moschata

Lin Kuan-Hung,Chen Shi-Peng,Su Yi-Ru,Tsai Yi-Heng,Lin Hsin-Hung 한국원예학회 2024 Horticulture, Environment, and Biotechnology Vol.65 No.1

Waterlogging is one of the major environmental challenges that can adversely impact squash growth, development, and productivity. Nevertheless, studies on the physiological changes of squash to waterlogging stress are scarce. Previously, we reported that the Cucurbita moschata (Cmo) Early Price (Ep) cultivar showed higher chlorophyll content (CC) and spectral refl ectance compared to the Cucurbita maxima (Cma) OK-101 (Ok) cultivar after waterlogging. In the present work, we further examined more physiological parameters in eight cultivars of Cmo and Cma, and studied whether these non-destruc tive indices could effi ciently identify various waterlogging-tolerant genotypes and were consistent with visual evaluations. Moreover, we investigated the eff ects of waterlogging on the antioxidant system of cucurbit species, and evaluated dynamic changes occurring in these plants during varying waterlog periods by determining physiological characteristics. The activ ity of ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) showed a signifi cant increase in Ep plant leaves and roots after 72 h and 6 h of waterlogging, respectively, compared to Ok plants. In addition, Ep exhibited a higher tolerance to waterlogging than Ok in terms of enhanced root length, values in CC, spectral refl ectance, and APX and SOD activity, plus decreased levels of electrolyte leakage, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging, and hydrogen peroxide levels. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the physiological variations in response to waterlogging stress and can potentially be used to breed cucurbit species with waterlogging tolerance for a wetter future climate.

德籍漢語學習者繁體字轉換成簡體字過 渡時期之漢字偏誤

Lin Yi-Hsin 단국대학교 한문교육연구소 2019 International Han-character Education Research Vol.1 No.1

독일 괴팅겐 대학교 동아시아 연구소 한학과 학생들은 첫 해에 번체자를 배우고, 다음 학년 학기에는 번체자를 계속 쓰거나 간체자로 전환하는 것 둘 중 하나를 선택할 수 있도록 규정하고 있다. 간체자를 선택한 학생은 이 때 쓰기에서 번체를 간체자로 전환하는 것을 학습하였는데, 이 때 이들만의 독특한 한자 오류가 나타남을 확인할 수 있다. 예를 들어, 전에 배운 번체자의 영향을 받아 여행을 뜻하는 간체자 旅游를 번체자인 旅遊로 쓰거나, 亲眼을 親見眼 으로 쓰는 것과 같은 예이다. 필자는 이 전환 시기에 출현한 한자 쓰기 오류가 외국 국적의 학습자가 범하는 오류와 상이함을 발견하였고, 이것이 필자의 연구 동기가 되었다. 본 연구는 중국어를 학습한 독일 국적 학습자들이 번체자에서 간체자로 한자 사용이 전환되는 시기에 발생하는 다양한 한자 오류 현상을 위주로 연구를 진행하였다. 대상은 독일 괴팅겐대학교 동아시아 연구소의 한학과 학생이었으며, 연구 자료는 대상 학습자가 매주 한 편씩 지은 글 총 42편을 대상으로 하였다. 본 연구의 문제의식은 두 가지이다. 하나는 '이러한 과도기에 생긴 한자 오류 현상은 무엇?'이며, '먼저 번체자 학습을 완료한 학습자가 다시 간체자를 학습할 경우, 건의할 학습 방법이 어떤 것이 있는가?'이다. 연구 절차는 대상 학생이 간체자를 이용하여 한 달 내에 쓴 글을 수집하고 쓰기에서 나타난 한자 오류들을 분석하여 귀납하는 방법을 사용하였으며, 마지막으로 이를 토대로 교학 건의를 도출하였다. 연구 결과는 다음과 같다. 한자 오류 유형은 필기오류, 부건 오류, 同音字와 音近字의 잘못된 대체 오류, 번체자의 잘못된 대체 오류, 그 외 다양한 종류의 기타 오류들이다. The Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Göttingen in Germany stipulate s that students learn traditional Chinese characters in their first year. In the spring semester of the second year, students may choose to continue writing traditional Chinese characters or convert traditional Chinese characters into simplified Chinese characters. Students who chose simplified characters have experienced the transition period from traditional Chinese characters to simplified Chinese characters, and also had unique errors of Chinese characters. For example, due to the influence of traditional Chinese characters, the "旅游" of simplified characters was written as "旅遊"; based on traditional Chinese characters that have been learned before students have created their own simplified Chinese characters, for example, "亲眼" was written as "亲见眼". We found that the errors of Chinese characters produced during this transition period are sort of different from the Chinese learners who haven’t been through this period, and that is also the research motivation. Therefore, this study mainly illustrates the errors of Chinese characters produced by German Chinese learners who converted traditional Chinese characters into simplified Chinese characters. Below are the research questions: in this transition period, what is the phenomenon of Chinese character s errors? What are the teaching suggestions for learners who first have learned traditional Chinese characters and then learn simplified Chinese characters? The data of this research are the students' compositions, a total of 42 articles. The research steps are to collect the articles written by the students who have undergone the transition period within one month, and then analyze the errors of the Chinese characters appearing in the article, and finally propose the teaching and learning suggestions. The research results show that the types of Chinese character errors include stroke errors, component errors, homonyms/sounds replac ement, traditional characters replacement, multiple errors, and others. We hope through this research, the errors of Chinese characters in this transition period will be reduced.

Reinforcement Learning Based Electricity Price Controller in Smart Grids

Yi-Hsin Lin,Wei-Yu Chiu 제어로봇시스템학회 2021 제어로봇시스템학회 국제학술대회 논문집 Vol.2021 No.10

Striking a balance between power supply and demand is the most imperative target for any electricity grid system. In order to address variability of renewable energy in the modern grid, a robust and elastic balancing scheme is required. Conventional model-based approaches can suffer from great performance degradation given the uncertainty induced by the renewable energy. As such, this study explores a model-free approach by proposing a reinforcement learning based pricing scheme that balances the power supply and demand. A price signal is considered as the control signal for the balance management. Case studies involving different market parameters and different time resolutions were conducted to show the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

A System Dynamics Study of Enterprise Value Creation the Example of Taiwan`s SMEs

( Yi Chan Chung ),( Chih Hung Tsai ),( Shiaw Wen Tien ),( Yu Hsin Lin ),( Ja Lin Lin ) 한국품질경영학회 2006 The Asian Journal on Quality Vol.7 No.1

The Relationship Between Night Shift Work and the Risk of Abnormal Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone: A Hospital-Based Nine-Year Follow-up Retrospective Cohort Study in Taiwan

Chen, Hsin-Hao,Chiu, Hsiao-Hui,Yeh, Tzu-Lin,Lin, Chi-Min,Huang, Hsin-Yi,Wu, Shang-Liang Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute 2021 Safety and health at work Vol.12 No.3

Background: Health-care providers typically undergo shift work and are subjected to increased stress. Night shift work may induce disturbed sleep cycles and circadian rhythm. The objective of this study was to explore if night shift workers (NSWs) show an increased risk of abnormal thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 574 employees without thyroid disease and abnormal TSH at baseline who underwent annual check-ups between 2007 and 2016 in a medical center. NSWs were defined as those with working time schedules other than daytime hours. We calculated the incidence rate and estimated the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for incident abnormal TSH and subclinical hypothyroidism compared with non-NSWs using a Cox regression model. Results: A total of 56 incident abnormal TSH cases and 39 subclinical hypothyroidism cases in NSWs were identified during 3000 person-years of follow-up. In models adjusted for age, sex, obesity, and working departments, we found no increased relative risk for incident abnormal TSH (HR: 0.72, 95% confidence interval: 0.33-1.60) or subclinical hypothyroidism (HR: 0.52, 95% confidence interval: 0.19-1.45) when comparing NSWs to non-NSWs; nor were incidence rates significantly different among exclusively medical employees after excluding administrative staff. Conclusion: In this hospital-based nine-year follow-up retrospective cohort study, NSWs were not associated with increased relative risk of incident abnormal TSH and subclinical hypothyroidism, in contrast to previous cross-sectional studies.

A System Dynamics Study of Enterprise Value $Creation{\sim}$ the Example of Taiwan's SMEs

Chung, Yi-Chan,Tsai, Chih-Hung,Tien, Shiaw-Wen,Lin, Yu-Hsin,Lin, Ja-Lin The Korean Society for Quality Management 2006 The Asian Journal on Quality Vol.7 No.1

With the globalization of economy, industries are facing increasingly greater challenges. Business integration, both internally and externally, is undoubtedly an important topic. However, how does an enterprise create its own value will be the key to an enterprise's success in the future. Therefore, this study bases on the evaluation of company value to assess the key factors and competitive strategies of an enterprise. Yet, only with stable enterprise performance can the company value be correctly evaluated. This will be an important issue for enterprise performance and business strategy. Subject of this study are mainly small and medium-sized (enterprises (SMEs). Model construction for SME value assessment is established through the system dynamics approach. Scholars' opinions on literature validation and application of Delphi Method are explored through literature review on local and foreign studies, in order to compile the relevant perspectives and indices for enterprise value creation. Hence model construction of the value creation system is established, and the correlation between the perspectives and related factors is explored to understand the overall dynamics model of SMEs' value creation system. Consequently, a research method based on the system dynamics perspective is provided for the study of enterprise value creation is provided, as policy reference for improvement of decision-making and value creation.

Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Increased Autonomic Activation and Improved Symptoms of Depression and Insomnia among Patients with Major Depression Disorder

I-Mei Lin,Sheng-Yu Fan,Cheng-Fang Yen,Yi-Chun Yeh,Tze‐Chun Tang,Mei-Feng Huang,Tai-Ling Liu,Peng-Wei Wang,Huang-Chi Lin,Hsin-Yi Tsai,Yu-Che Tsai 대한정신약물학회 2019 CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE Vol.17 No.2

Objective: Autonomic imbalance is considered a psychopathological mechanism underlying major depressive disorder (MDD). Heart rate variability (HRV) is an index for autonomic activation. Poor sleep quality is common among patients with MDD. HRV biofeedback (BF) has been used for regulating autonomic balance among patients with physical illness and mental disorders. The purpose of present study was to examine the effects of HRV-BF on depressive symptoms, sleep quality, pre-sleep arousal, and HRV indices, in patients with MDD and insomnia. Methods: In this case-controlled study, patients with MDD and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score higher than 6 were recruited. The HRV-BF group received weekly 60-minute protocol for 6 weeks, and the control group who have matched the age and sex received medical care only. All participants were assessed on Beck Depression Inventory-II, Back Anxiety Inventory, PSQI, and Pre-Sleep Arousal Scale. Breathing rates and electrocardiography were also performed under resting state at pre-testing, and post-testing conditions and for the HRV-BF group, also at 1-month follow-up. Results: In the HRV-BF group, symptoms of depression and anxiety, sleep quality, and pre-sleep arousal were significantly improved, and increased HRV indices, compared with the control group. Moreover, in the HRV-BF group, significantly improved symptoms of depression and anxiety, decreased breathing rates, and increased HRV indices were detected at post-testing and at 1-month follow-up, compared with pre-testing values. Conclusion: This study confirmed that HRV-BF is a useful psychosocial intervention for improving autonomic balance, baroreflex, and symptoms of depression and insomnia in MDD patients.

Catalytic hydrogenation of disinfection by-product bromate by cobalt and nickle prussian blue analogues with borohydride

Mao Po-Hsin,박영권,Lin Yi-Feng,Thanh Bui Xuan,Tuan Duong Dinh,Ebrahimi Afshin,Lisak Grzegorz,Tangcharoen Thanit,Lin Kun-Yi Andrew 한국화학공학회 2023 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.40 No.12

As disinfection is employed extensively, disinfection by-product bromate has become an emerging environmental issue due to its carcinogenic toxicity. For developing an effective alternative approach for reducing bromate, cobalt and nickel-based Prussian Blue (PB) analogues are proposed here for incorporating a convenient reducing agent, NaBH4 (i.e., a H2-rich reagent) for reducing bromate to bromide as cobalt and nickel are recognized as effective metals for catalyzing hydrolysis of NaBH4, and PB exhibits versatile catalytic activity. While CoPB and NiPB are comprised of the same crystalline structure, CoPB exhibits slightly higher specific surface area, more reductive surface, and more superior electron transfer than NiPB, enabling CoPB to accelerate bromate reduction. CoPB also exhibits a higher affinity towards NaBH4 than NiPB based on density functional theory calculations. Moreover, CoPB also exhibits a relatively low activation energy (i.e., 59.5 kJ/mol) of bromate reduction than NiPB (i.e., 63.2 kJ/mol). Furthermore, bromate reduction by CoPB and NiPB could be also considerably enhanced under acidic conditions, and CoPB and NiPB could still effectively remove bromate even in the presence of nitrate, sulfate and phosphate. CoPB and NiPB are also validated to be recyclable for reducing bromate, indicating that CoPB and NiPB are promising heterogeneous catalysts for reducing bromate.