Fatigue is one problem with driving as it can lead to difficulties with sustaining attention, behavioral lapses, and a tendency to ignore vital information or operations. In this research, we explore multimodal physiological phenomena in response to driving fatigue through simultaneous functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and electroencephalography (EEG) recordings with the aim of investigating the relationships between hemodynamic and electrical features and driving performance. Sixteen subjects participated in an event-related lane-deviation driving task while measuring their brain dynamics through fNIRS and EEGs. Three performance groups, classified as Optimal, Suboptimal, and Poor, were defined for comparison. From our analysis, we find that tonic variations occur before a deviation, and phasic variations occur afterward. The tonic results show an increased concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2) and power changes in the EEG theta, alpha, and beta bands. Both dynamics are significantly correlated with deteriorated driving performance. The phasic EEG results demonstrate event-related desynchronization associated with the onset of steering vehicle in all power bands. The concentration of phasic HbO2 decreased as performance worsened. Further, the negative correlations between tonic EEG delta and alpha power and HbO2 oscillations suggest that activations in HbO2 are related to mental fatigue. In summary, combined hemodynamic and electrodynamic activities can provide complete knowledge of the brain’s responses as evidence of state changes during fatigue driving.

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Pleosporales species are important plant pathogens, saprobes, and endophytes on a wide range of economically important plant hosts. The classification of Pleosporales has undergone various modifications in recent years due to the addition of many families described from multiple habitats with a high level of morphological deviation. Numerous asexual genera have been described in Pleosporales that can be either hyphomyceteous or coelomycetous. Phoma- or coniothyrium-like species are common and have been revealed as polyphyletic in the order Pleosporales and linked with several sexual genera. A total of 31 pleosporalean strains were isolated in different regions of Taiwan between 2017 and 2018 from the leaves of Camellia sinensis plants with symptoms of leaf spot disease. These strains were evaluated morphologically and genotypically using multi-locus sequence analyses of the ITS, LSU, SSU, rpb 2, tef 1 and tub 2 genes. The results demonstrated the affiliation of these strains with the various families in Pleosporales and revealed the presence of one new genus ( Neoshiraia ) and eight new species ( Alloconiothyrium camelliae , Amorocoelophoma camelliae , Leucaenicola camelliae , L . taiwanensis , Neoshiraia camelliae , N . taiwanensis , Paraconiothyrium camelliae and Paraphaeosphaeria camelliae ). Furthermore, to the best of our understanding, Didymella segeticola , Ectophoma pomi and Roussoella mexican were reported for the first time from C. sinensis in Taiwan.

The order Pleosporales comprises a miscellaneous group of fungi and is considered to be the largest order of the class Dothideomycetes. The circumscription of Pleosporales has undergone numerous changes in recent years due to the addition of large numbers of families reported from various habitats and with a large amount of morphological variation. Many asexual genera have been reported in Pleosporales and can be either hyphomycetes or coelomycetes. Phoma-like taxa are common and have been shown to be polyphyletic within the order and allied with several sexual genera. During the exploration of biodiversity of pleosporalean fungi in Taiwan, a fungal strain was isolated from mycelium growing on the fruiting body of an Ophiocordyceps species. Fruiting structures that developed on PDA were morphologically similar to Phoma and its relatives in having pycnidial conidiomata with hyaline conidia. The fungus is characterised by holoblastic, cylindrical, aseptate conidiogenous cells and cylindrical, hyaline, aseptate, guttulated, thin-walled conidia. Phylogenetic analysis based on six genes, ITS, LSU, rpb2, SSU, tef1 and tub2, produced a phylogenetic tree with the newly generated sequences grouping in a distinct clade separate from all of the known families. Therefore, a new pleosporalean family Tzeananiaceae is established to accommodate the monotypic genus Tzeanania and the species T.taiwanensis in Pleosporales, Dothideomycetes. The Ophiocordyceps species was identified as O.macroacicularis and this is a new record in Taiwan.

Zusanli (ST-36) is one of the four most important acupoints in traditional Chinese medicine because it is believed to co-ordinate the functions of the immunological and gastrointestinal systems. We test the hypothesis that acupuncture at Zusanli may have significant impact on peripheral blood flow and autonomic activities by computing the area under the pulse volume curves and heart rate variability from data acquired through non-invasive approaches of eight-channel photoplethysmography and electrocardiography (ECG), respectively, from 28 healthy young adults (22 males, 6 females). Moreover, the complexity of physiological signals was compared in terms of multiscale entropy (MSE) and short-time MSE (sMSE) before and after acupuncture. The results demonstrate significant elevation of peripheral blood flow in all subjects during and immediately after acupuncture, suggesting elevated parasympathetic activities. On the other hand, significantly reduced sympathetic activities were noted in subjects with body mass index (BMI) \25 (n = 18) (p \ 0.05). Additionally, MSE analysis of the R-R interval from a 5-min recording of ECG from subjects with BMI \ 25 before and immediately after acupuncture showed significantly elevated sMSE immediately after acupuncture. However, no significant difference was noted in MSE between the two time points. In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrate that acupuncture at Zusanli augments systemic parasympathetic activities and peripheral circulation. Furthermore, sMSE revealed increased physiological complexity after acupuncture for individuals with normal weight.