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Poor sleep quality is a common disease for modern people. Snoring is one of the essential indicators to measure Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). When sleeping, the number of episodes of snoring and coughing are related to the estimated sleep quality. This study proposes a method to detect snoring and coughing in patients when sleeping. The proposed method includes three stages. Firstly, the nightly sound data for a patient are segmented to each independent event. Secondly, the time domain signal is changed to a frequency domain signal by Fourier Transform, and then the features are extracted from the snoring and coughing episodes. Lastly, the Support Vector Machine (SVM) and the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) are used to recognize snoring and coughing. The result of our experiment demonstrates that this method has good detection performance. &nbsp

The present study investigated the impact of splenomegaly on the treatment outcomes of blunt splenic injury patients.All blunt splenic injury patients were enrolled between 2010 and 2018. The exclusion criteria were age less than 18 years, missing data, and splenectomy performed at another hospital. The patients were divided into two groups based on the presence of splenomegaly, defined as a spleen length over 9.76 cm on axial computed tomography. The primary outcome was the need for hemostatic interventions.A total of 535 patients were included. Patients with splenomegaly had more high-grade splenic injuries (p = 0.007). Hemostatic treatments (p 0.001) and transarterial embolization (p = 0.003) were more frequently required for patients with splenomegaly. Multivariate analysis showed that male sex (p = 0.023), more packed red blood cell transfusions (p = 0.001), splenomegaly (p = 0.019) and grade 3-5 splenic injury (p 0.001) were predictors of hemostatic treatment. The failure rate of transarterial embolization was not significantly different between the two groups (p = 0.180). The sensitivity and specificity for splenomegaly in predicting hemostatic procedures were 48.8% and 66.5%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 62.8% and 52.9%, respectively. The overall mortality rate was 3.7%.Splenomegaly is an independent predictor for the requirement of hemostatic treatments in blunt splenic injury patients, especially transarterial embolization. Transarterial embolization is as effective for blunt splenic injury patients with splenomegaly as it is for those with a normal spleen.

Purpose Currently, diabetes and the consequent DN are considered a major public health issue. However, the mechanism of DN and its treatment require further clarification. This study proposed noninvasive T1-weighted (T1W) and T2-weighted (T2W) MRI protocols for the longitudinal assessment of kidney disease progression after DN induction in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. Methods The changes in MRI image indices over time between control and DN SD rats were investigated. The volumes of the bilateral kidneys and the signals intensities (SIs) of the bilateral kidneys, renal pelvis, renal cortex, and renal medulla on turbo spin echo T1W and T2W images were obtained to observe DN progression in the rat kidneys. Results The results indicated that the edges of kidneys were clearer and sharper in the DN rats than in the control rats. The time-varying SIs of the bilateral whole kidneys, renal cortex, renal pelvis, and renal medulla on T1W and T2W images were significantly larger in the DN rats than in the control rats. Moreover, the volumes of both the left and right kidneys were significantly larger in the DN rats than in the control rats. Conclusion High-quality T1W and T2W images can be used to assess DN progression in SD rats’ kidney. Our results might be applicable to clinical routine diagnostic examinations that may improve diagnostic accuracy. Further development of the MRI technology for early DN detection and treatment is warranted.

Research Question/Issue: We examine the role of corporate executives in dividend tunneling activity by controlling shareholders and whether the correlation between executive ownership and dividend tunneling is influenced by internal and external governance mechanisms. Research Findings/Insights: We find increased executive ownership may lead to a higher level of dividend tunneling. This is further strengthened by our finding that the positive effect of executive ownership on dividend tunneling is more pronounced for firms with weaker minority shareholder protection. In addition, our results show that higher degrees of state ownership may further intensify this positive association. Finally, we find that analyst coverage has a moderating effect and constrains the collusion between controlling shareholders and executives in dividend tunneling activity. Theoretical/Academic Implications: Our study contributes to the literature on the role of managerial ownership in controlling shareholders' dividend tunneling activity. We fill a gap in the literature on the corporate agency problem by providing evidence that dividends have been employed by controlling shareholders as a means of tunneling and that executives with higher ownership are more likely to collude with controlling shareholders in dividend tunneling activities. Practitioner/Policy Implications: This study contributes to the debates around the promotion of the cash dividend policy in China, as our findings show that cash dividends are used as a tunneling vehicle. Providing important evidence to regulators, our findings support the argument that external monitoring by financial analysts can effectively constrain dividend tunneling by dominant shareholders, especially in the context of emerging stock markets with high ownership concentration, weak minority shareholder protection, and an underdeveloped legal system.

Shared decision making is a patient-centered clinical decision-making process that allows healthcare workers to share the existing empirical medical outcomes with patients before making critical decisions. This study aims to explore a project in a medical center of developing a mobile SDM in Taiwan. Chi Mei Medical Center developed the mobile SDM platform and conducted a survey of evaluation from healthcare workers. A three-tier platform that based on cloud infrastructure with seven functionalities was developed. The survey revealed that healthcare workers with sufficient SDM knowledge have an antecedent effect on the three perceptive factors of acceptance of mobile SDM. Resistance to change and perceived ease of use show significant effect on behavioral intention. We provided a comprehensive architecture of mobile SDM and observed the implementation in a medical center. The majority of healthcare workers expressed their acceptancem; however, resistance to change still present. It is, therefore, necessary to be eliminated by continuously promoting activities that highlight the advantages of the Mobile SDM platform. In clinical practice, we validated that the mobile SDM provides patients and their families with an easy way to express their concerns to healthcare workers improving significantly their relationship with each other.

PurposeThe unfolded protein response (UPR) is triggered when the protein folding capacity of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is overwhelmed and misfolded proteins accumulate in the ER, a condition referred to as ER stress. IRE1α is an ER-resident protein that plays major roles in orchestrating the UPR. Several lines of evidence implicate the UPR and its transducers in neurodegenerative diseases, including retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a group of inherited diseases that cause progressive dysfunction and loss of rod and cone photoreceptors. This study evaluated the contribution of IRE1α to photoreceptor development, homeostasis, and degeneration.MethodsWe used a conditional gene targeting strategy to selectively inactivate Ire1α in mouse rod photoreceptors. We used a combination of optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging, histology, and electroretinography (ERG) to assess longitudinally the effect of IRE1α deficiency in retinal development and function. Furthermore, we evaluated the IRE1α-deficient retina responses to tunicamycin-induced ER stress and in the context of RP caused by the rhodopsin mutation RhoP23H.ResultsOCT imaging, histology, and ERG analyses did not reveal abnormalities in IRE1α-deficient retinas up to 3 months old. However, by 6 months of age, the Ire1α mutant animals showed reduced outer nuclear layer thickness and deficits in retinal function. Furthermore, conditional inactivation of Ire1α in rod photoreceptors accelerated retinal degeneration caused by the RhoP23H mutation.ConclusionsThese data suggest that IRE1α is dispensable for photoreceptor development but important for photoreceptor homeostasis in aging retinas and for protecting against ER stress-mediated photoreceptor degeneration.

Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by the development of multiple tumors in the central nervous system, most notably schwannomas, and meningiomas. Mutational inactivation of the NF2 gene encoding the protein Merlin is found in most sporadic and inherited schwannomas, but the molecular mechanisms underlying neoplastic changes in schwannoma cells remain unclear. We report here that Nf2-deficient cells display elevated expression levels of key enzymes involved in lipogenesis and that this upregulation is caused by increased activity of Torc1. Inhibition or knockdown of fatty acid synthase (FASN), the enzyme that catalyzes the formation of palmitic acid from malonyl-CoA, drove NF2-deficient cells into apoptosis. Treatment of NF2-mutant cells with agents that inhibit the production of malonyl-CoA reduced their sensitivity to FASN inhibitors. Collectively, these results suggest that the altered lipid metabolism found in NF2-mutant cells renders them sensitive to elevated levels of malonyl-CoA, as occurs following blockade of FASN, suggesting new targeted strategies in the treatment of NF2-deficient tumors. Cancer Res; 77(18); 5026–38. ©2017 AACR.

Supplemental files describing metabolic alterations in NF2-deficient cells, supplementary materials and methods, and supportive data regarding the effects of FASN inhibitors or knockdown on various metabolic processes in WT and NF2-deficient cells.

Purpose: The role of cholesterol biosynthesis in hedgehog pathway activity and progression of hedgehog pathway medulloblastoma (Hh-MB) were examined in vivo. Statins, commonly used cholesterol-lowering agents, were utilized to validate cholesterol biosynthesis as a therapeutic target for Hh-MB.Experimental Design: Bioinformatic analysis was performed to evaluate the association between cholesterol biosynthesis with hedgehog group medulloblastoma in human biospecimens. Alterations in hedgehog signaling were evaluated in medulloblastoma cells after inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis. The progression of endogenous medulloblastoma in mice was examined after genetic blockage of cholesterol biosynthesis in tumor cells. Statins alone, or in combination with vismodegib (an FDA-approved Smoothened antagonist), were utilized to inhibit medulloblastoma growth in vivo.Results: Cholesterol biosynthesis was markedly enhanced in Hh-MB from both humans and mice. Inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis dramatically decreased Hh pathway activity and reduced proliferation of medulloblastoma cells. Statins effectively inhibited medulloblastoma growth in vivo and functioned synergistically in combination with vismodegib.Conclusions: Cholesterol biosynthesis is required for Smoothened activity in the hedgehog pathway, and it is indispensable for the growth of Hh-MB. Targeting cholesterol biosynthesis represents a promising strategy for treatment of Hh-MB. Clin Cancer Res; 24(6); 1375–88. ©2018 AACR.

Cholesterol availability influences proliferation of Ptch1+/- MB proliferation cells

Simvastatin inhibits MB cell proliferation in Ptch1+/- mice.

SmoM2 MB cells are resistant to simvastatin treatment

Gene sets and pathways with selective enrichment among MB subtypes

Proliferation of MB cells does not rely on astrocyte-derived cholesterol

Background Liver-type fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP) is widely expressed in hepatocytes and plays a role in lipid metabolism. It has been demonstrated to be overexpressed in different types of cancer; however, few studies have investigated the association between L-FABP and breast cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the association between plasma concentrations of L-FABP in breast cancer patients and the expression of L-FABP in breast cancer tissue. Method A total of 196 patients with breast cancer and 57 age-matched control subjects were studied. Plasma L-FABP concentrations were measured using ELISA in both groups. The expression of L-FABP in breast cancer tissue was examined using immunohistochemistry. Result The patients had higher plasma L-FABP levels than the controls (7.6 ng/mL (interquartile range 5.2–12.1) vs. 6.3 ng/mL (interquartile range 5.3–8.5), p = 0.008). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed an independent association between L-FABP and breast cancer, even after adjusting for known biomarkers. Moreover, the rates of pathologic stage T2+T3+T4, clinical stage III, positive HER-2 receptor status, and negative estrogen receptor status were significantly higher in the patients with an L-FABP level greater than the median. Furthermore, the L-FABP level gradually increased with the increasing stage. In addition, L-FABP was detected in the cytoplasm, nuclear, or both cytoplasm and nuclear of all breast cancer tissue examined, not in the normal tissue. Conclusions Plasma L-FABP levels were significantly higher in the patients with breast cancer than in the controls. In addition, L-FABP was expressed in breast cancer tissue, which suggests that L-FABP may be involved in the pathogenesis of breast cancer.

Frugivory evolved multiple times in mammals, including bats. However, the cellular and molecular components driving it remain largely unknown. Here, we used integrative single-cell sequencing on insectivorous and frugivorous bat kidneys and pancreases and identified key cell population, gene expression and regulatory element differences associated with frugivorous adaptation that also relate to human disease, particularly diabetes. We found an increase in collecting duct cells and differentially active genes and regulatory elements involved in fluid and electrolyte balance in the frugivore kidney. In the frugivorous pancreas, we observed an increase in endocrine and a decrease in exocrine cells and differences in genes and regulatory elements involved in insulin regulation. Combined, our work provides novel insights into frugivorous adaptation that also could be leveraged for therapeutic purposes.

Po-An Su,1 Mu-Chen Lo,2 Chiao-Ling Wang,2 Ping-Chen Yang,3 Chiao-I Chang,4 Meng-Chuan Huang,4,5 Ming-Kuo Huang,6 Kuang-I Cheng6 1Department of Operation Management, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; 2Department of Human Resource, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; 3Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; 4Department of Public Health and Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; 5Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; 6Superintendent Office, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, TaiwanCorrespondence: Meng-Chuan HuangDepartment of Public Health and Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, No. 100, Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Sanmin Dist., Kaohsiung, 80708, TaiwanTel +886 7-3121101 ext. 5341Fax +886 7-3121101 ext. 5345Email mechhu@kmu.edu.twPurpose: This study investigated the association between professional quality of life, working context, and mental health outcomes among hospital personnel in Taiwan during the worldwide upsurge in COVID-19 cases.Patients and Methods: We recruited 503 hospital personnel to whom we administered online questionnaires containing items from the Professional Quality of Life (ProQoL) scale, which covers compassion satisfaction (CS), burnout (BO) and compassion fatigue (CF), the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and questions on work-related variables. Data were collected from 13 July to 19 August 2020.Results: The participants generally reported moderate CS and BO and low CF. Overall prevalence of mild-to-extremely-severe stress, anxiety and depression was 24.5%, 39.6% and 31.2%, respectively. Multiple logistic regression revealed that moderate-to-high BO and CF correlated with increased risks of mild-to-extremely-severe stress (OR = 4.17 and 2.23, respectively), anxiety (OR = 4.86 and 2.81, respectively) and depression (OR = 5.83 and 3.01, respectively), while moderate-to-high CS correlated with reduced risks of stress (OR = 0.53) and depression (OR = 0.45) only. There were CS and BO differences in groups categorized by marital status and profession. Anxiety increased linearly by seniority < 10, 10– 19 and ≥ 20 years (p for trend < 0.05).Conclusion: In conclusion, the subscales of ProQOL, BO and CF appeared to be associated with increased risks of stress, anxiety and depression among hospital personnel during the COVID-19 epidemic. A long-term contingency program may be needed to adjust work context variables and support emotional well-being of these workers.Keywords: COVID-19, depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, DASS-21, hospital personnel, professional quality of life, ProQoL

Using low-energy electron diffraction and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we investigated the lattice and electronic structures of the Pb(111) surface upon the adsorption of Au atoms at the low temperature T = 40 K. Unlike earlier results showing the formation of PbAu-alloy layers at room temperature, we found that Au atoms form a ultra-thin superstructure, Au/Pb(111)-3 × 3, on top of the Pb(111) surface. Moreover, three surface-state bands, S1, S2, and S3, are induced within and immediately adjacent to the Pb bulk projected band gap centered at the surface zone boundary $${\overline{\text{M}}}_{Pb(111)}$$ M ¯ P b ( 111 ) at the energies of − 0.02, − 1.05, and − 2.56 eV, respectively. First-principles calculation based on Au/Pb(111)-3 × 3 confirms the measured surface-state bands among which the most interesting are the S1 and S3 surface states. They are derived from surface resonances in Pb(111). Moreover, S1, which disperses across Fermi level, exhibits a large anisotropic Rashba splitting with α of 1.0 and 3.54 eVÅ in the two symmetry directions centered at $${\overline{\text{M}}}_{Pb(111)}$$ M ¯ P b ( 111 ) . The corresponding Rashba splitting of S1 band in Cu/Pb(111)-3 × 3 and Ag/Pb(111)-3 × 3 were calculated for comparison.

Due to the excellent engineering property, aluminum has become an important material for processing industries. As the demand of aluminum increased, a large amount of waste aluminum dross has been generated during the aluminum smelting process. The aluminum dross contained aluminum nitride and would cause odor while being disposed in landfill, making the aluminum dross disposal a tough issue. Therefore, the aluminum dross was mostly stored in the original plants. The objective of this study is to develop an economically-feasible and environmentally-friendly technology to recover aluminum dross.In this study, the original aluminum dross was collected from the secondary smelting aluminum dross factories with 33.6% Al. The aluminum dross was dissolved with 3 M NaOH at 50 °C for 60 min to form NaAl(OH)4 solution. The NaAl(OH)4 was then transformed to aluminum hydroxide by adding H2SO4. Then, the aluminum hydroxide was filtered, washed, and dried. The thermogravimetric analysis and X-ray powder diffraction analysis result show that the main crystal phase of aluminum hydroxide (intermediate product) is boehmite. The aluminum hydroxide powder was calcined at 700 °C for 5 min by an atmospheric-pressure microwave plasma to produce Al2O3. The result show that this process can reduce environmental pollution and recycle aluminum as recoverable form.

Urban nature—such as greenness and parks—can alleviate distress and provide space for safe recreation during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, nature is often less available in low-income populations and communities of colour—the same communities hardest hit by COVID-19. In analyses of two datasets, we quantified inequity in greenness and park proximity across all urbanized areas in the United States and linked greenness and park access to COVID-19 case rates for ZIP codes in 17 states. Areas with majority persons of colour had both higher case rates and less greenness. Furthermore, when controlling for sociodemographic variables, an increase of 0.1 in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index was associated with a 4.1% decrease in COVID-19 incidence rates (95% confidence interval: 0.9–6.8%). Across the United States, block groups with lower income and majority persons of colour are less green and have fewer parks. Our results demonstrate that the communities most impacted by COVID-19 also have the least nature nearby. Given that urban nature is associated with both human health and biodiversity, these results have far-reaching implications both during and beyond the pandemic. Access to green space has been a critical, and contentious, issue for neighbourhood inequality and health outcomes. This Analysis looks at how the COVID-19 pandemic interacts with availability of nature for urban residents.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to empirically evaluate the impact of coercive pressure, normative pressure and mimetic pressure on digital transformation and benefits in the maritime shipping context.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collect data from a survey of 119 shipping companies, shipping agencies, port corporations and shipping forwarders in Taiwan and apply a structural equation model to test the research hypotheses.FindingsFour conclusions can be drawn: First, digital transformation mainly results from coercive pressure and mimetic pressure. Second, another positive and important source of pressure for shipping digital transformation is the fact that competitors are gradually undergoing digital transformation and have gained recognition from customers. Third, shipping professional organizations and association (e.g. IACS, IAPH, Baltic International Maritime Commission) must keep up with the trend toward digital transformation and put forward guidelines and recommendations that can be followed in order to lead the maritime shipping industry. Fourth, digital transformation has great potential to help deliver the benefits (i.e. improve efficiency, relationship with customers and sustainability).Originality/valueThis research explores the digital transformation of the shipping industry through the lens of institutional theory. The results show that digital transformation is mainly due to coercive pressure and mimetic pressure. Digital transformation has been found to bring benefits that can help shipping operators allocate their resources effectively, thereby increasing operational efficiency, improving relationships with customers and enhancing sustainability.

Objectives The clinical significance of the highest drain fluid amylase (DFA) level beyond pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) postoperative day three (POD 3) remains unclear. This study investigated the impact of highest DFA level beyond POD 3 on postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) severity and outcomes of patients undergoing PD with POPF. Methods Patient demographics of biochemical POPF and clinically relevant POPF (CR-POPF) were compared. Predictive factors were assessed using binary logistic regression. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to determine the optimal cutoff value of highest DFA (beyond POD 3). We compared length of hospital stay, surgical mortality rates, and need for postoperative interventions by highest DFA level. Results Patients with CR-POPF had an older age (p = 0.039), required intraoperative blood transfusion (p = 0.006), and had greater highest DFA levels (p = 0.001) than those with biochemical POPF. The optimal highest DFA cutoff was 2014.5 U/L. Multivariate analysis showed that percentage of patients with intraoperative blood transfusion (p = 0.011; odds ratio, 3.716) and a highest DFA > 2014.5 U/L beyond POD 3 (p = 0.001; odds ratio, 5.722) was predictive of CR-POPF. Conclusion Highest DFA > 2014.5 U/L beyond POD 3 is an independent predictor for CR-POPF. At a highest DFA >2014.5 U/L, 30-day surgical mortality rate, length of stay, and need for postoperative interventions did not differ.

Orthodontic treatment has popularized in Taiwan. Healthcare institutions can be responsive in their coping strategies and determine whether third-party intervention should take place involving medical disputes related to orthodontics in order to repair patient trust. This study draws on orthodontic treatment to explore the effect of various trust repair strategies employed by healthcare institutions and third-party involvement positively affecting outcomes related to trust repair. Patients were recruited among those who have undergone orthodontic treatments, and 353 valid scenario-based questionnaires were collected through an online survey. Results revealed that: (1) the affective and informational repair strategies positively impacted trust repair while the functional repair strategy did not; (2) trust repair positively impacted patient satisfaction/word-of-mouth and mediated between repair strategies and satisfaction/word-of-mouth; and (3) third-party involvement moderated the relationship between trust repair and word-of-mouth. The findings suggest that rather than receiving monetary compensation, patients usually prefer that healthcare institutions acknowledge their fault, offer apologies, and engage in active communications to clarify the causes of medical dispute. Further, an objective third party should be involved to mediate the medical disputes to afford satisfaction all around.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has a strong negative impact on patients. Finding ways to improve CKD patients' conditions by shared decision-making is receiving much attention. However, little attention has been paid to influencing antecedents and effects of shared decision-making. Meanwhile, as advanced technologies bring in new communication devices, effects of different types of communications used in shared decision-making need to be addressed.This study proposes a research framework to determine the influencing antecedents of shared decision-making, and to evaluate the effects of shared decision-making on patient outcomes when they are computer-mediated and when the decision-makers communicate face-to-face.A cross-section survey was conducted and a total of 48 valid samples were obtained. The participants were CKD Stage III, IV, or V patients who had received medical treatment in a hospital in Taiwan. The collected data were subjected to an independent t-test and partial least squares analysis to validate the research framework.Doctor-patient communication (DPC) and doctor-patient relationship (DPR) have no significant direct impact on patient outcomes. Nevertheless, both DPC and DPR significantly impact shared decision-making which in turn impacts patient outcomes. Moreover, patients who use computer-mediated communication were found to have significantly higher perceptions of shared decision-making than those who did not.The incidence and prevalence of end-stage renal disease in Taiwan are among the highest in the world. The results of this study can serve as a reference for hospitals to improve CKD patients' outcomes. Meanwhile, during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study suggested hospitals should encourage shared decision-making with computer-mediated communication to ensure that patients receive proper treatment and have the desired outcomes.

In this study, a boron doped diamond (BDD) electrode (RSM2), fabricated at a boron/carbon (B/C) ratio = 0.75%, a carbon/hydrogen (C/H) ratio = 1.00%, and a reaction chamber pressure (P) = 5.00 torr, exhibited the best performance in terms of electrochemical degradation of guaifenesin [guaiacol glyceryl ether (GGE)] and total organic carbon (TOC) removal among 11 BDD electrodes prepared according to the response surface methodology (RSM). Associated with the B/C, C/H, and P parameters, BDD's diamond crystallite structure, graphite-sp2 C, and grain size influenced the performance of the fabricated BDD electrodes. At 0.125 A cm−2 and 25 °C, the pseudo-first order reaction rate constants of the GGE and TOC removals were 0.33 and 0.031 min−1, respectively, and such removals were better in 0.5 M Na2SO4 than in real hospital wastewater. Both direct and indirect oxidation of GGE occurred during electrolysis. Solution pH affected the indirect oxidation of GGE by •OH, SO4•−, or persulfate electrochemically generated during electrolysis. Several intermediates, including guaiacol, quinones, (aromatic and aliphatic) acids, and hexane-2,5-dione were detected and used to picture the GGE degradation pathways.

In this paper, we explore the relations between liquidity, stock returns, and investor risk aversion as captured by the variance risk premium (VRP). This is motivated by theoretical and empirical evidence in the literature which suggests that investor risk aversion negatively correlates with asset liquidity, and ample empirical evidence documenting liquidity risk premium. We use monthly US data from January 1999 to December 2018 and show that innovations in the VRP Granger-cause stock returns, which in turn drive liquidity. Our findings are consistent with predictions of prior theories and highlight the predictability of the VRP. They also contribute to the on-going debate on the causal relation between stock returns and liquidity. Finally, we explore the channels through which the VRP impacts liquidity and find that the VRP influences market and momentum factors, and that movements in these factors lead to changes in liquidity. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

This article analyzes a Taiwanese learning experience about the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, launching an educational project with 18 Taiwanese high school students to discuss their understanding of...

This study presents the innovative optimization design procedure to increase the strength and fatigue safety of a fastening system under the static and fatigue loading. Applying the uniform design of experiment, a group of simulation experiment is generated. Utilizing ANSYS/Workbench software, the finite element models are constructed and used to evaluate the von Mises stress of rail clip for EN 13146-1 and EN 13146-2 testing simulations. Furthermore, the fatigue safety factor of rail clip for EN 13146-4 testing simulation is also presented. By the Kriging interpolation method, the surrogate models are rebuilt by the input and output data from the uniform design. Applying grey relational analysis, entropy weighting method, genetic algorithm and Hooke–Jeeves algorithm, the improvement design version is presented by solving the multi-objective optimization problem. Compared with the original design, the maximum von Mises stress of rail clip has been decreased to 25.189 MPa, the fatigue safety factor is upgraded to 3.829. As a result, the strength and fatigue safety of the rail clip in the fastening system is increased.

The global decline of freshwater biodiversity caused by climate change and human activities are supposed to disrupt ecosystem services related to water quality and alter the structure and function of aquatic communities across space and time, yet the effects of the combination of these factors on plankton community ecosystem has received relatively little attention. This study aimed to explore the impacts of disturbances (e.g. human activity, temperature, precipitation, and water level) on phytoplankton community structure (i.e. community evenness and community composition) and function (i.e. resource use efficiency) in four subtropical reservoirs over 7 years from 2010 to 2016. Our results showed that community turnover (measured as community dissimilarity) was positively related to disturbance frequency, but no significant correlation was found between phytoplankton biodiversity (i.e. evenness) and disturbance frequency. Phytoplankton resource use efficiency (RUE = phytoplankton biomass/ total phosphorus) was increased with a higher frequency of disturbance with an exception of cyanobacteria. The RUE of Cyanobacteria and diatoms showed significantly negative correlations with their community evenness, while the RUE of Chlorophyta exhibited a positive correlation with their community turnover. We suggest that multiple environmental disturbances may play crucial roles in shaping the structure and functioning of plankton communities in subtropical reservoirs, and mechanism of this process can provide key information for freshwater uses, management and conservation.

Different chemical forms of sex hormones including free/conjugated metabolites as well as their protein/DNA adducts in human serum are a panel of important indicators of health conditions. It is, however, hard to quantify all species simultaneously due to the lack of general extraction, derivatization, and de-conjugation methods. Here we developed a label-free and de-conjugation-free workflow to quantify 11 free/conjugated estrogen metabolites including depurinating DNA and protein adduct forms of 4-hydroxyestradiol (4OHE2) in human serum. Acetonitrile acts as an excellent solvent to purify adducted and non-adducted human serum albumin (HSA) by precipitation as well as to extract free/conjugated metabolites and depurinating DNA adducts from the supernatant by salting-out effect. The adduction level of 4OHE2 on HSA was determined by proteomics; free/conjugated metabolites were quantified by a newly developed microflow liquid chromatography (microflow LC)-nanoelectrospray ionization (nanoESI)-multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) method with high reproducibility (7-22% RSD, n 3) and sub-picogram levels (0.6-20 pg/mL) of quantification limits (S/N = 8) by using non-pulled capillary as nano-ESI emitter. This workflow was demonstrated to reveal endogenous adduction level of 4OHE2 on HSA as well as circulation levels of free/conjugated metabolites in clinical samples. 4OHE2 in human serum were solely detected as protein-bound form, indicating the merit of such integrated platform covering unstable or active metabolites. Compared to traditional methods using labeling or de-conjugation reaction, this workflow is much simplier, more sensitive, and more specific. Moreover, it can be widely applied in omics to concurrently access various bio-transformed known and un-known markers or drugs.

Opinion mining focuses on extracting polarity information from texts. For textual term representation, different feature selection methods, e.g. term frequency (TF) or term frequency–inverse document frequency (TF–IDF), can yield diverse numbers of text features. In text classification, however, a selected training set may contain noisy documents (or outliers), which can degrade the classification performance. To solve this problem, instance selection can be adopted to filter out unrepresentative training documents. Therefore, this article investigates the opinion mining performance associated with feature and instance selection steps simultaneously. Two combination processes based on performing feature selection and instance selection in different orders, were compared. Specifically, two feature selection methods, namely TF and TF–IDF, and two instance selection methods, namely DROP3 and IB3, were employed for comparison. The experimental results by using three Twitter datasets to develop sentiment classifiers showed that TF–IDF followed by DROP3 performs the best.

Background Tirapazamine’s (TPZ) tolerability after an intra-arterial (IA) injection remains unclear. We investigated TPZ’s safety and tolerability in rats by first injecting into the left hepatic artery and then performing a hepatic artery ligation, which recapitulates the transarterial embolization used clinically. Research design and methods: Forty-six rats in five groups were respectively injected with 0, 0.25, 0.50, 1.0, or more than 1.5 mL IA of TPZ (0.7 mg/mL) into the left hepatic artery and then subjected to hepatic artery ligation under laparotomy. Blood samples were collected four times daily up to day 15 after which the rats were euthanized and necropsied. The toxicity profile of IA injection of TPZ followed by hepatic artery ligation was then assessed. Results No significant changes to the rats’ body weight and serum total bilirubin were observed. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels increased slightly but remained below 100 U/L one day after treatment for most rats. Three rats in Groups 3 and 4 exhibited an over two-fold transient elevation of ALT. All ALT recovered to the baseline at day 14. Liver tissues were collected on day 15 using H&E staining. One rat in Group 3 showed ischemic coagulative necrosis in its liver tissue. Other sporadic pathological changes not related to TPZ doses were observed in Groups 2, 3, 4, and 5. Conclusion TPZ by IA injection followed by embolization is tolerated up to 7 mg/kg. This finding supports the strategy of administering an IA injection of TPZ followed by trans-arterial embolization to the liver.

Vegetative filter strips (VFSs) have been recommended as the best management practice for reducing runoff nonpoint source (NPS) pollution. The efficiency of VFSs located adjacent to water bodies can vary with shallow water table depths (WTD). A vegetated soil tank containing silt loam soil and Shortleaf Lilyturf vegetation was designed to study the effects of VFSs under shallow WTD (0.08, 0.22, and 0.36 m) on retentions of surface runoff, sediment, phosphorus, and bromide. Experiments were conducted with a simulated rainfall intensity of 28 mm h−1 and inflow rates of 4.02–4.56 L min−1. The results revealed that a deep WTD, low grass spacing, and low slope had high VFS retention efficiencies. The retention efficiencies varied greatly from 35%, 70%, 64%, and 55% at the 0.08-m WTD in the experimental group with high grass spacing (6.69 cm) and low slope (5%) to 96%, 98%, 96%, and 95% at the 0.36-m WTD in the experimental group with low grass spacing (4.18 cm) and low slope (5%) for surface runoff, sediment, phosphorus, and bromide, respectively. A steeper slope (at the same grass spacing) increased the effects of the WTD on VFS performance. For each experimental group, the average surface runoff outflow rate decreased with the WTD, whereas the average subsurface lateral flow rate increased. The transport of phosphorus in the surface runoff almost resembled that of bromide, and the average concentration (C/C0 Ave) of phosphorus and bromide decreased with the WTD. For the subsurface lateral flow, the transport of bromide and phosphorus exhibited typical breakthrough behaviors during each experiment, and both the normalized phosphorus and bromide concentrations in increasing limbs could be described by power equations. The high concentration of pollutants in the subsurface lateral flow may have affected the adjacent water bodies and groundwater. In quantification of the impact of WTD on effectiveness of VFS, we can effectively control the NPS pollutants in a watershed.

Mapping highly complicated disulfide linkages and free thiols via liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS2) is challenging because of the difficulties in optimizing sample preparation to acquire critical MS data and detecting mispairings. Herein, we report a highly efficient and comprehensive workflow using an on-line UV-induced precolumn reduction tandem mass spectrometry (UV-LC-MS2) coupled with two-stage data analysis and spiked control. UV-LC-MS2 features a gradient run of acetonitrile containing a tunable percentage of photoinitiators (acetone/alcohol) that drives the sample to the MS through a UV-flow cell and reverse phase column to separate UV-induced products for subsequent fragmentation via low energy collision-induced dissociation. This allowed the alkylated thiol-containing and UV-reduced cysteine-containing peptides to be identified by a nontargeted database search. Expected or unexpected disulfide/thiol mapping was then carried out based on the search results, and data were derived from partially reduced species by photochemical reaction. Complete assignments of native and scrambled disulfide linkages of insulin, α-lactalbumin, and bovine serum albumin (BSA) as well as the free C34-BSA were demonstrated using none or single enzyme digestion. This workflow was applied to characterize unknown disulfide/thiol patterns of the recombinant cyclophilin 1 monomer (rTvCyP1 mono) from the human pathogen Trichomonas vaginalis. α-Lactalbumin was judiciously chosen as a spiked control to minimize mispairings due to sample preparation. rTvCyP1 was determined to contain a high percentage of thiol (>80%). The rest of rTvCyP1 mono were identified to contain two disulfide/thiol patterns, of which C41-C169 linkage was confirmed to exist as C53-C181 in rTvCyP2, a homologue of rTvCyP1. This platform identifies heterogeneous protein disulfide/thiol patterns in a de-novo fashion with artifact control, opening up an opportunity to characterize crude proteins for many applications.

A plant factory is an environmentally controlled facility that can sustain stable crop cultivation while ensuring fast production and better crop quality by manipulating temperature, humidity, lighting, nutrient supply, and other cultivation factors. It requires better cultivation planning to fully utilise the facility since the set up and operating costs are high. This study aims to schedule crops in a commercial plant factory to maximise revenue by determining which crops are cultivated, the quantity, and at what time. The model considers not only crop market prices but also crop properties such as cultivation duration, volume change, multiple periods of harvests, and yield rates under different environmental settings. The problem is formulated as a mixed integer programming problem to find an optimal schedule. For a large size problem, Lagrangian relaxation with surrogate subgradient method is applied to obtain a good solution in a short time. The numerical results show that, compared to the integer program solver, the proposed method provides faster solutions with more than 80% efficacy when longer planning periods and multiple cultivation rooms are considered.

In an effort to help organizations understand consumers, our study deconstructs task–technology fit into two segments: ideal task–technology fit and individual use context–technology fit. Users’ continuous use of cloud-based bookstores is studied through survey methodology to collect consumer experience data related to the use of such cloud-based bookstores. In total, 185 samples were collected. Analytical results demonstrated that both ideal task–technology fit and individual use context–technology fit were significantly associated with the confirmation of users’ expectations as related to cloud-based bookstores. Expectation confirmation and ideal task–technology fit also have a significant link to users’ perceived usefulness and satisfaction, respectively. Furthermore, perceived usefulness significantly predicts satisfaction. Finally, perceived usefulness and satisfaction are also significantly associated with a users’ continuous use of cloud-based bookstores. As a result of this study’s findings, system administrators may foster suitable strategies for an improvement of users’ continuous use of cloud-based bookstores.

Introduction Rapamycin has been considered as a potential treatment for osteoarthritis (OA). Drug carriers fabricated from liposomes can prolong the effects of drugs and reduce side effects of drugs. Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) has been found to possess anti-OA effects. Materials and methods The anti-osteoarthritic effects of liposome-encapsulated rapamycin (L-rapa) combined with LIPUS were examined by culture of normal and OA chondrocytes in alginate beads and further validated in OA prone Dunkin-Hartley guinea pigs. Results L-rapa with LIPUS largely up-regulated aggrecan and type II collagen mRNA in human OA chondrocytes (HOACs). L-rapa with LIPUS caused significant enhancement in proteoglycan and type II collagen production in HOACs. Large decreases in both MMP-13 and IL-6 proteins were found in the HOACs exposed to L-rapa with LIPUS. Intra-articular injection of 40 μL L-rapa at both 5 μM and 50 μM twice a week combined with LIPUS thrice a week for 8 weeks significantly increased GAGs and type II collagen in the cartilage of knee. Results on OARSI score showed that intra-articular injection of 5 μM L-rapa with LIPUS displayed the greatest anti-OA effects. Immunohistochemistry revealed that L-rapa with or without LIPUS predominantly reduced MMP-13 in vivo. The values of complete blood count and serum biochemical examinations remained in the normal ranges after the injections with or without LIPUS. These data indicated that intra-articular injection of L-rapa collaborated with LIPUS is not only effective against OA but a safe OA therapy. Conclusion Taken together, L-rapa combined with LIPUS possessed the most consistently and effectively anabolic and anti-catabolic effects in HOACs and the spontaneous OA guinea pigs. This study evidently revealed that liposome-encapsulation collaborated with LIPUS is able to reduce the effective dose and administration frequency of rapamycin and further stably reinforce its therapeutic actions against OA.

Humanity's competitive advantages in the society are based on the intelligence and knowledge developed. One important way for human development is education. Under the global trend of decreasing birth rate, how can talents be developed to create advantages? It is obvious that talents are important resources in knowledge creation, as well as the foundation of a country. This study adopted the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior with the attitude aspect replaced by the teaching belief aspect, the perceived behavioral control aspect decomposed into perceived self-efficacy and condition of supportive resources, and the subjective norm aspect decomposed into teacher's superiors (the Department of Education), teacher's peers (colleagues in school), and teacher's teaching subjects (students and their parents). These three major aspects were used as the main points to design the questions for the interviews regarding teachers' intention to implement the idea of flipped classroom (Tucker, 2012). This study adopted the in-depth interview method and interviewed each subject individually in a face-to–face manner. A total of 5 teachers were selected for the interviews. In-depth interviews can be categorized into structured interviews, unstructured interviews, and semi-structured interviews depending on how structured they are. Due to the limitations of interview durations and the environment, the researcher wasn't able to take down all the contents on-site. Thus, with the approval of the subjects, all the interviews were recorded. When verifying the research findings, the subjects were asked to confirm the correctness of the content analysis results. In addition, some experts, scholars, and peers were invited to assist the analyses of the interview data to prevent biases caused by the researcher's subjective interpretations. This study showed the data analysis results to the subjects so that they could confirm if there was anything that didn't look right in data analyses and interpretations. If there was something that the subjects did not agree with, it would be reviewed for modification. The influence of teachers' teaching beliefs is on their intention to implement IT instruction. This study aimed to explore teachers' intention to replace the traditional teaching method with IT instruction based on the theories of behaviors. Moreover, the research findings showed that the influences of teachers' teaching belief, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norm on their intention to implement IT instruction were all significant.