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Far-infrared (FIR), characterized by its specific electromagnetic wavelengths, has emerged as an adjunctive therapeutic strategy for various diseases, particularly in ameliorating manifestations associated with renal disorders. Although FIR was confirmed to possess antioxidative and anti-inflammatory attributes, the intricate cellular mechanisms through which FIR mitigates lead (Pb)-induced nephrotoxicity remain enigmatic. In this study, we investigated the effects of FIR on Pb-induced renal damage using in vitro and in vivo approaches. NRK52E rat renal cells exposed to Pb were subsequently treated with ceramic-generated FIR within the 9~14 μm range. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) enabled quantitative Pb concentration assessment, while proteomic profiling unraveled intricate cellular responses. In vivo investigations used Wistar rats chronically exposed to lead acetate (PbAc) at 6 g/L in their drinking water for 15 weeks, with or without a concurrent FIR intervention. Our findings showed that FIR upregulated the voltage-gated calcium channel, voltage-dependent L type, alpha 1D subunit (CaV1.3), and myristoylated alanine-rich C kinase substrate (MARCKS) (p < 0.05), resulting in increased calcium influx (p < 0.01), the promotion of mitochondrial activity, and heightened ATP production. Furthermore, the FIR intervention effectively suppressed ROS production, concurrently mitigating Pb-induced cellular death. Notably, rats subjected to FIR exhibited significantly reduced blood Pb levels (30 vs. 71 μg/mL; p < 0.01), attenuated Pb-induced glomerulosclerosis, and enhanced Pb excretion compared to the controls. Our findings suggest that FIR has the capacity to counteract Pb-induced nephrotoxicity by modulating calcium influx and optimizing mitochondrial function. Overall, our data support FIR as a novel therapeutic avenue for Pb toxicity in the kidneys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: Design thinking, as a human-centered design method, represents a unique framework to support the planning, testing, and evaluation of new clinical spaces for diabetic care throughout all phases of construction. This approach prioritizes the needs and experiences of diabetic patients to create innovative and effective healthcare environments. By applying design-thinking principles, healthcare facilities can optimize the design and functionality of their clinical spaces, ensuring a patient-centered approach to diabetic care. This holistic and personalized approach can ultimately enhance the overall quality of diabetic care provided to patients. (2) Methods: The study used the action research method and progressively explored diabetes patients' needs and preferences for care, subsequently developing creative solutions to achieve the goals. There were six doctors, seven nursing staffs, four case managers and three family members who participated in the design-thinking workshop. (3) Results: The participating trainees in this study developed unique and innovative solutions during the iterative process of "divergent thinking" and "focused thinking", including diabetes dietary guidelines for food ordering and delivery platforms, and the design of accompanying health-education picture books to enable patients to learn the care process and precautions before, during, and after discharge. (4) Conclusions: This continuing education model promoted sharing among participants, improved collaboration and mutual learning, and increased motivation through goal setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT To achieve higher energy security and lower emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and pollutants, the development of renewable energy has attracted much attention in Taiwan. In addition to its [...]

Introduction of photovoltaic (PV) systems, also known as solar cell systems, reduces greenhouse gasses (GHGs) emission, by substituting a part of the GHG intensive generation with GHG-free generation during effective daylight hours. Because power is generated from different kinds of power plants operated with momentarily changing proportion, consideration of resulting changes in the power mix is needed to correctly estimate the reduction potential of a large scale introduction scenario. In this paper, a linear mathematical programming model is constructed to simulate a power mix for a given power demand under a cost minimization objective. Using the model, GHG emission reduction potentials at different scales of PV introduction were calculated assuming an ideal solar irradiation. A comparison of daily power generation before and after the introduction indicates that reduction potentials calculated with averaged GHG emission factor could result in errors, because PV systems neither replace averaged nor the single kind of power generations, but affects the entire power mix and reduces fossil fuel consumption. It is shown that the GHG emission reduction per kWh of power generated by PV differs at different capacities of installation. Namely, for the initial introduction stage, reduction would be close to fossil fuel fired power plant average for an introduction range less than 1 GWp. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9402(2008)134:2(58) CE Database subject headings: Powerplants; Emissions; Solar energy; Renewable resources.

Telehealth cost analysis has become a crucial issue for governments in recent years. In this study, we examined cases of metabolic syndrome in Hualien County, Taiwan. This research adopted the framework proposed by Marchand to establish a study process. In addition, descriptive statistics, a t test, analysis of variance, and regression analysis were employed to analyze 100 questionnaires. The results of the t$ test revealed significant differences in medical health expenditure, number of clinical visits for medical treatment, average amount of time spent commuting to clinics, amount of time spent undergoing medical treatment, and average number of people accompanying patients to medical care facilities or assisting with other tasks in the past one month, indicating that offering telehealth care services can reduce health expenditure. The statistical analysis results revealed that customer satisfaction has a positive effect on reducing health expenditure. Therefore, this study proves that telehealth care systems can effectively reduce health expenditure and directly improve customer satisfaction with medical treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: For mobile communication, the ferromagnetic resonance frequency of magnetic films must be over 3GHz. A suitable anisotropic field and high resistivity for high frequency applications were obtained by inserting insulator (AlO x ) layers into ferromagnetic layers (FeCoHfO). With this optimum configuration of three layers structure [FeCoHfO (400nm)/AlO x (10nm)]3, high frequency characteristics (permeability∼100 at 100MHz and ferromagnetic resonance frequency over 3GHz) and high resistivity (ρ ∼1088) μΩcm were achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: High-permeability magnetic films can enhance the inductance of thin-film inductors in dc–dc converters. The FeCoHfO/AlO x multilayered films were fabricated by dc reactive magnetron co-sputtering. Inserting the AlO x layers can decrease the anisotropic field of the FeCoHfO magnetic films, which was beneficial to raise the permeability of the FeCoHfO/AlO x multilayered films. With this optimum configuration of a nine-layer structure [FeCoHfO (133nm)/AlO x (10nm)]9, low anisotropic field (H K =65Oe) and high permeability (permeability over 170 at 30–50MHz) were obtained. The permeability increased nearly six times from 30 (M1) to 175 (M9). The permeability was evidently improved by the employment multilayered coating. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The physical layer signaling of the 5G new radio still utilizes cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) and discrete Fourier transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) to support 5G services for the sake of system-backward compatibility. However, the transmission requirements among these services differ, and this poses a challenge to the adaptability of the waveforms with regard to the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) issue. In particular, DFT-s-OFDM serving as a low-PAPR option for uplink signaling still has room for PAPR improvement in cases such as machine-type and device-to-device communications. We propose polynomial cancellation coded (PCC)-DFT-s-OFDM to flexibly reduce the PAPR of conventional DFT-s-OFDM. The principle of the proposed method, including its transform, is analyzed in the time domain. The results show that it can also be regarded as a novel spectral shaping scheme for PAPR reduction. Through a parameter designed for adjusting the cost of spectral efficiency, the proposed method can regulate the extent of improvement compared with the conventional DFT-s-OFDM, not only in the PAPR, but also for the spectral radiation and bit error rate when considering the nonlinearity of the power amplifier. The increase in computational complexity is neglectable owing to the simplicity of generalized PCC, making it apt to be deployed in existing systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]