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Non-insulin-based insulin resistance (IR) indices serve as the indicators of metabolic syndrome (MetS) but have limited value for predicting clinical outcomes. Whether the obesity paradox affects the predictive value of these indicators in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains unknown. We investigated whether MetS and non-insulin-based IR indices can predict all-cause mortality and renal outcomes in a prospective observational study with stage 1–4 CKD Asians (N = 2,457). These IR indices were associated with MetS. A Cox regression model including body mass index (BMI) revealed an association between MetS and renal outcomes. Among the IR indices, only high triglyceride–glucose (TyG) index was associated with adverse renal outcomes: the hazard ratio of Q4 quartile of the TyG index was 1.38 (1.12–1.70). All-cause mortality was marginally associated with MetS but not high IR indices. Low TyG and TyG–BMI indices as well as low BMI and triglyceride were paradoxically associated with increased risks of clinical outcomes. The triglyceride-to-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio and metabolic score for IR indices were not associated with clinical outcomes. In conclusion, MetS and TyG index predict renal outcome and obesity paradox affects the prediction of IR indices in patients with stage 1–4 CKD.

The gecko species Gekko (Japonigekko) subpalmatus was previously recorded with a relatively wide distribution from eastern, southern, and southeastern China. However, the populations in southern China are currently recognized as another valid species G. (J.) melli. In this study, we conduct a detailed morphological examination and phylogenetic analysis of the populations currently treated as G. (J.) subpalmatus or G. (J.) melli, which are collectively designated as the G. (J.) subpalmatus complex. Our results reveal that the G. (J.) subpalmatus complex comprises three evolutionarily independent taxa. The populations from Zhejiang, eastern China are G. (J.) subpalmatus, those from southern China are G. (J.) melli, while those from the Sichuan Basin, southwestern China represent a cryptic species, Gekko (Japonigekko) cib sp. nov.. Gekko (Japonigekko) cib sp. nov. can be distinguished from all congeners, by its divergence from other complex members in the CYTB and 16S genes, and a combination of morphological characteristics, especially in hemipenial morphology. Historic records of G. (J.) subpalmatus complex are also reviewed.

The gecko species Gekko (Japonigekko) subpalmatus was previously recorded with a relatively wide distribution from eastern, southern, and southeastern China. However, the populations in southern China are currently recognized as another valid species G. (J.) melli. In this study, we conduct a detailed morphological examination and phylogenetic analysis of the populations currently treated as G. (J.) subpalmatus or G. (J.) melli, which are collectively designated as the G. (J.) subpalmatus complex. Our results reveal that the G. (J.) subpalmatus complex comprises three evolutionarily independent taxa. The populations from Zhejiang, eastern China are G. (J.) subpalmatus, those from southern China are G. (J.) melli, while those from the Sichuan Basin, southwestern China represent a cryptic species, Gekko (Japonigekko) cib sp. nov.. Gekko (Japonigekko) cib sp. nov. can be distinguished from all congeners, by its divergence from other complex members in the CYTB and 16S genes, and a combination of morphological characteristics, especially in hemipenial morphology. Historic records of G. (J.) subpalmatus complex are also reviewed.

The taxonomy of Babina sensu lato was controversial in the past decades. In this study, the phylogeny of genus Babina sensu lato was re-constructed based on genetic analysis, morphological comparison and advertisement call analysis. We found that Babina sensu stricto and previous subgenus Nidirana should be two distinct genera in the family Ranidae. N. caldwelli is confirmed to be a synonym of N. adenopleura because of the small genetic divergence and the lack of distinct morphological differences. A new species, Nidirana nankunensis sp. nov. is described based on a series of specimens collected from Mt. Nankun, Guangdong Province, China, which can be distinguished from other known congeners by having a behavior of nest construction, distinctive advertisement calls, significant divergence in the mitochondrial genes, and a combination of morphological characters. Currently, the genus Babina contains two species and the genus Nidirana contains eight species.

In this paper, the impact of the lips for identity recognition is investigated. In fact, it is a challenging issue for identity recognition solely by the lips. In the first stage of the proposed system, a fast box filtering is proposed to generate a noise-free source with high processing efficiency. Afterward, five various mouth corners are detected through the proposed system, in which it is also able to resist shadow, beard, and rotation problems. For the feature extraction, two geometric ratios and ten parabolic-related parameters are adopted for further recognition through the support vector machine. Experimental results demonstrate that, when the number of subjects is fewer or equal to 29, the correct accept rate (CAR) is greater than 98%, and the false accept rate (FAR) is smaller than 0.066%. (CAR95.02%, FAR0.095% # Subjects ≤ 57). Moreover, the processing speed of the overall system achieves 34.43 frames per second, which meets the real-time requirement. Thus, the proposed system can be an effective candidate for facial biometrics applications when other facial organs are covered or when it is applied for an access control system.

PANI-TSA/PA6 core-shell nanofibers were prepared via the electrospinning process with a PA6/formic acid solution and the chemical polymerization of PANI doped with p-toluene sulfonic acid (TSA) on the surface of the PA6 nanofibers. Their structure and morphology were examined by FE-SEM and FTIR and the fabrication mechanism and ammonia sensing properties of the PANI-TSA/PA6 nanofibers were also investigated. All the results showed that, composite nanofibers with PANI-TSA shell and PA6 core had been prepared successfully, which showed a good potential in ammonia sensitivity application.

By using electrospinning method, polyamide 6 (PA 6) nanofibers containing 1 wt% of AgNo3 were spun from different concentrations solutions (15-25 wt%) for use as composite filter media. The silver ions in PA 6 nanofibers were reduced by ascorbic acid solution to silver particles offering antibacterial properties to the final filter after electrospinning. The results show, fibers with mean diameters less than 160 nm were prepared for use as filter media by electrospinning. The diameter of electrospun fiber was proportioned to the viscosity of PA 6 solution but was inversed to the applied electrical voltage. The viscosities of PA 6 solution were decreased by adding of AgNo3 from which brought more irregular formation of electrospun fibers. The filtration efficiency of spunbond nonwoven would improve greatly by compositing the electrospun PA6 web with or without silver.

Sintered polycrystalline diamond cubicles were oriented to make CMP pad conditioners. The dressing experiments demonstrated the capability of fast pad cutting and efficient removal of glazed layer that is formed by polishing wafers with slurry on dressed pad.

In this paper, a temporal-reinforced approach to enhancing emotion recognition from facial images is presented. Shape and texture models of facial images are computed by using active appearance model (AAM), from which facial feature points and geometrical feature values are extracted. The extracted features are used by relevance vector machine (RVM) to recognize emotional states. We propose a temporal analysis approach to recognizing likelihood of emotional categories, such that more subtle emotion, such as degree and ratio of basic emotional states can be obtained. Furthermore, a method is developed to map the recognition result to the arousal-valence plane (A-V Plane). Experimental results verify that the performance of emotion recognition is enhanced by the proposed method.

This paper presents a mobile manipulation and visual servoing design for a configurable mobile manipulator by using a Kinect sensor. To achieve this goal, an image-based grasping design is combined with a visual simultaneous localization and mapping (vSLAM). The proposed vSLAM method is based on extended Kalman filter (EKF) and a Kinect RGBD sensor. In the manipulator design, the robot arms are designed to be able to configure as a handrail for user support in execution of walking assistance tasks. The purpose of this design is to perform mobile manipulation and walking assistance tasks on the same robot. Experiments on the prototype dual-arm mobile manipulator validate that the proposed method can find and grasp a target object after navigation a distance to the object position. After the robot delivered the object to the user, it configured to provide walking assist to the user using the suggested compliance controller.

In this paper, the impact of the lips for facial recognition is investigated. In the first stage of the proposed system, a Fast Box Filtering (FBF) is proposed to generate a noise-free source with high processing efficiency. Afterward, five various mouth corners are detected though the proposed system, in which it is also able to resist beard and rotation problems. For the feature extraction, two geometric ratios and 10 parabolic related parameters are adopted for further recognition through the Support Vector Machine (SVM). Experimental results demonstrate that when the number of subjects is fewer or equal to 36, the Correct Accept Rate (CAR) is greater than 98%, and the False Accept Rate (FAR) is smaller than 0.064% (CAR>95.6%, FAR

We report on a case of a 2 2/12-year-old boy with heterosexual precocious puberty secondary to a feminizing adrenocortical adenoma. The boy, with no previous history of disease or treatment, presented with bilateral gynecomastia and pubic hair development (Tanner III breasts and Tanner II pubic hair). Plasma estradiol and testosterone were 410.9 pg/ml and 126.2 ng/dl respectively. Basal plasma LH and FSH levels were within the normal range. Bolus i.v. injection of GnRH showed unresponsiveness of LH and FSH. Abdominal echography and abdominal magnetic resonance imaging revealed a well-defined mass at the left suprarenal region (measuring 4.0 x 2.7 x 3.6 cm in size). After removal of the adrenal tumor, the estradiol and testosterone levels fell to normal in 2 weeks. The gynecomastia and pubic hair regressed with time. The pathology of the tumor showed compact pattern with polygonal cells containing moderate eosinophilic cytoplasm without mitotic figure. These findings were consistent with an adrenocortical adenoma secreting estradiol and testosterone as the cause of the patient's heterosexual precocious puberty.

A two-phase push-pull cooling module has been developed for cooling a pin-fin array electronic device. The measured results indicate that when the pin-fin array density is increased the performance of the push-pull module is better than that of traditional forced convection. It was also found that in forced convection cooling the temperature in the downstream region is much higher than that of the front region. In comparison, the temperature distribution in the two-phase push-pull cooling module is quite uniform. >

Objective: To differentiate tumor relapse from postirradiation sudden deafness (PISD) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Study Design: A retrospective study from December 1991 to November 1999. Setting: University hospital. Patients: Twenty-five irradiated NPC patients with sudden deafness were investigated. All patients received local examination of ears, nose, nasopharynx, and throat fields, as well as a battery of audiologic and neurotologic tests. Results: Three patients with sudden deafness within 3 years after irradiation received a diagnosis of tumor relapse. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed cerebellopontine angle metastasis in one and intracranial invasion in two. Comparison of the remaining 22 NPC patients who had P1SD showed that the mean interval between the completion of irradiation to the onset of sudden deafness was 10 ± 5 years. Conclusion: Magnetic resonance imaging should be performed to exclude intracranial relapse if sudden deafness develops in a patient with NPC within 5 years after irradiation.

Objective/Hypothesis: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination is performed in cases of rebound nystagmus to elucidate the responsible site for rebound nystagmus. Methods: Patients with vertigo or tinnitus received a battery of audiological and neuro-otological tests. Those who had rebound nystagmus were rechecked by electronystagmography and examined by MRI. Results: Ten patients had a second-degree nystagmus evoked by changing direction of fixation, from the lateral to the forward gaze. All patients displayed positive MRI findings in cerebellum or brainstem, including tumor in seven cases and stroke in three cases. Moreover, in seven of eight cases with unilateral lesions, rebound nystagmus was ipsilateral with respect to the side of the lesion. Conclusion: Rebound nystagmus implies a lesion in cerebellum or brainstem for which MRI examination is 100% sensitive. It has a certain lateralizing value, with its direction away from the lesioned side.