Passionfruit Genomic Database (PGD): a comprehensive resource for passionfruit genomics.

Passionfruit (Passiflora edulis) is a significant fruit crop in the commercial sector, owing to its high nutritional and medicinal value. The advent of high-throughput genomics sequencing technology has led to the publication of a vast amount of passionfruit omics data, encompassing complete genome sequences and transcriptome data under diverse stress conditions. To facilitate the efficient integration, storage, and analysis of these large-scale datasets, and to enable researchers to effectively utilize these omics data, we developed the first passionfruit genome database (PGD).

A Real-Time Vehicle Detection System under Various Bad Weather Conditions Based on a Deep Learning Model without Retraining.

Numerous vehicle detection methods have been proposed to obtain trustworthy traffic data for the development of intelligent traffic systems. Most of these methods perform sufficiently well under common scenarios, such as sunny or cloudy days; however, the detection accuracy drastically decreases under various bad weather conditions, such as rainy days or days with glare, which normally happens during sunset. This study proposes a vehicle detection system with a visibility complementation module that improves detection accuracy under various bad weather conditions.

Gaze Tracking and Point Estimation Using Low-Cost Head-Mounted Devices.

In this study, a head-mounted device was developed to track the gaze of the eyes and estimate the gaze point on the user's visual plane. To provide a cost-effective vision tracking solution, this head-mounted device is combined with a sized endoscope camera, infrared light, and mobile phone; the devices are also implemented via 3D printing to reduce costs. Based on the proposed image pre-processing techniques, the system can efficiently extract and estimate the pupil ellipse from the camera module.

Study of Postural Stability Features by Using Kinect Depth Sensors to Assess Body Joint Coordination Patterns.

A stable posture requires the coordination of multiple joints of the body. This coordination of the multiple joints of the human body to maintain a stable posture is a subject of research. The number of degrees of freedom (DOFs) of the human motor system is considerably larger than the DOFs required for posture balance.

Learning-Directed Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling Scheme with Adjustable Performance for Single-Core and Multi-Core Embedded and Mobile Systems.

Dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) is a well-known method for saving energy consumption. Several DVFS studies have applied learning-based methods to implement the DVFS prediction model instead of complicated mathematical models. This paper proposes a lightweight learning-directed DVFS method that involves using counter propagation networks to sense and classify the task behavior and predict the best voltage/frequency setting for the system.

Ionic Liquids Impact the Bioenergy Feedstock-Degrading Microbiome and Transcription of Enzymes Relevant to Polysaccharide Hydrolysis.

Ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment is a promising approach for the conversion of lignocellulose to biofuels. The toxicity of residual IL, however, negatively impacts the performance of industrial enzymes and microorganisms in hydrolysis and fermentation. In this study, a thermophilic microbial community was cultured on switchgrass amended with various levels of the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate.

DNA methylome of the 20-gigabase Norway spruce genome.

DNA methylation plays important roles in many biological processes, such as silencing of transposable elements, imprinting, and regulating gene expression. Many studies of DNA methylation have shown its essential roles in angiosperms (flowering plants). However, few studies have examined the roles and patterns of DNA methylation in gymnosperms.

Ionic liquid-tolerant microorganisms and microbial communities for lignocellulose conversion to bioproducts.

Chemical and physical pretreatment of biomass is a critical step in the conversion of lignocellulose to biofuels and bioproducts. Ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment has attracted significant attention due to the unique ability of certain ILs to solubilize some or all components of the plant cell wall. However, these ILs inhibit not only the enzyme activities but also the growth and productivity of microorganisms used in downstream hydrolysis and fermentation processes.

Characterisation of siRNAs derived from new isolates of bamboo mosaic virus and their associated satellites in infected ma bamboo (Dendrocalamus latiflorus).

We characterised the virus-derived small interfering RNAs (vsiRNA) of bamboo mosaic virus (Ba-vsiRNAs) and its associated satellite RNA (satRNA)-derived siRNAs (satsiRNAs) in a bamboo plant (Dendrocalamus latiflorus) by deep sequencing. Ba-vsiRNAs and satsiRNAs of 21-22 nt in length, with both (+) and (-) polarity, predominated. The 5'-terminal base of Ba-vsiRNA was biased towards A, whereas a bias towards C/U was observed in sense satsiRNAs, and towards A in antisense satsiRNAs.

Molecular characterization and detection of a recombinant isolate of bamboo mosaic virus from China.

The complete genome sequences of three isolates of bamboo mosaic virus (BaMV) from mainland China were determined and compared to those of BaMV isolates from Taiwan. Sequence analysis showed that isolate BaMV-JXYBZ1 from Fuzhou shares 98 % nucleotide sequence identity with BaMV-YTHSL14 from nucleotides 2586 to 6306, and more than 94 % nucleotide sequence identity with BaMV-MUZHUBZ2 in other regions. Recombination and phylogenetic analyses indicate that BaMV-JXYBZ1 is a recombinant with one recombination breakpoint.

Preservation of microbial communities enriched on lignocellulose under thermophilic and high-solid conditions.

Background: Microbial communities enriched from diverse environments have shown considerable promise for the targeted discovery of microorganisms and enzymes for bioconversion of lignocellulose to liquid fuels. While preservation of microbial communities is important for commercialization and research, few studies have examined storage conditions ideal for preservation. The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of preservation method on composition of microbial communities enriched on switchgrass before and after storage.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Anoectochilus roxburghii.

The complete chloroplast sequence of the Anoectochilus roxburghii, a popular traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of cancer, was determined in this study. The chloroplast genome (cpDNA)^ was 152,802 bp in length, containing a pair of inverted repeats of 52,728 bp separated by a large single-copy region and a small single-copy region of 82,641 bp and 17,433 bp, respectively. The chloroplast genome encodes 116 predicted functional genes, including 81 protein-coding genes, four ribosomal RNA genes, and 31 transfer RNA genes, 25 of which are duplicated in the inverted repeat regions.

An intelligent knowledge-based and customizable home care system framework with ubiquitous patient monitoring and alerting techniques.

This study develops and integrates an efficient knowledge-based system and a component-based framework to design an intelligent and flexible home health care system. The proposed knowledge-based system integrates an efficient rule-based reasoning model and flexible knowledge rules for determining efficiently and rapidly the necessary physiological and medication treatment procedures based on software modules, video camera sensors, communication devices, and physiological sensor information. This knowledge-based system offers high flexibility for improving and extending the system further to meet the monitoring demands of new patient and caregiver health care by updating the knowledge rules in the inference mechanism.

Ensilage and bioconversion of grape pomace into fuel ethanol.

Two types of grape pomace were ensiled with eight strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Both fresh grape pomace (FrGP) and fermented grape pomace (FeGP) were preserved through alcoholic fermentation but not malolactic conversion. Water leaching prior to storage was used to reduce water-soluble carbohydrates and ethanol from FrGP and FeGP, respectively, to increase malolactic conversion.

Improving the efficiency of enzyme utilization for sugar beet pulp hydrolysis.

Sugar beet pulp (SBP) is a carbohydrate-rich residue of table sugar processing. It shows promise as a feedstock for fermentable sugar and biofuel production via enzymatic hydrolysis and microbial fermentation. This research focused on the enzymatic hydrolysis of SBP and examined the effects of solid loading (2-10 %, dry basis), enzyme preparation, and enzyme recycle on the production of fermentable sugars.

Influence of moisture content on microbial activity and silage quality during ensilage of food processing residues.

Seasonally produced biomass such as sugar beet pulp (SBP) and tomato pomace (TP) needs to be stored properly to meet the demand of sustainable biofuel production industries. Ensilage was used to preserve the feedstock. The effect of moisture content (MC) on the performance of ensilage and the relationship between microorganism activities and MC were investigated.

Effects of ensilage on storage and enzymatic degradability of sugar beet pulp.

Ensiling was investigated for the long-term storage of Sugar Beet Pulp (SBP). Eight strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and a non-inoculated control were screened based on their ability to rapidly reduce pH, produce a large amount of lactic acid and inhibit undesirable fermentations. Lactobacillus brevis B-1836 (LAB #120), Lactobacillus fermentum NRRL B-4524 (LAB #137) and a non-inoculated control were selected for further research to determine the effects of LAB inoculation level and packing density on SBP silage quality and sugar yield upon enzymatic hydrolysis.

Solid-liquid extraction of alkali metals and organic compounds by leaching of food industry residues.

Leaching was studied for its application in extracting inorganic and organic constituents from fresh fermented grape pomace, air-dried fermented grape pomace and air-dried sugar beet pulp. Samples of each feedstock were leached in water at ambient temperature for 30 or 120 min at dry solid-to-liquid ratios of 1/20 and 1/50 kg/L. Leaching removed 82% of sodium, 86% of potassium, and 76% of chlorine from sugar beet pulp, and reduced total ash concentration in air-dry fermented grape pomace from 8.