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In a sample of 442 births from the Child Health and Development Studies cohort, we examined associations between maternal prenatal exposure to hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyl metabolites (OH-PCBs) and pregnancy outcomes, and whether associations were mediated by maternal thyroid hormone levels and/or modified by maternal smoking. Compared to nonsmokers, smokers had twice the mean concentration of 4-OH-CB107 (p

A modular multichannel reaction module with microchannel-based coolant channels was considered, and a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed to describe the hydrodynamic behavior of the module. Reaction rates for the lumped chain length distribution of hydrocarbon products generated by the Fischer–Tropsch synthesis reaction were proposed, and the developed kinetic and CFD models were shown to satisfactorily fit the experimental data under different production rates. High heat transfer rates resulting from the use of microchannel-based cooling channel maintained the temperature peak below 10 °C, and simulation results with increased size of the catalytic bed and absence of inert materials showed that the high heat of reactions could be efficiently removed over entire catalytic beds, preventing the creation of local hot spots, which are usually observed in conventional fixed bed reactors. In addition, the efficient use of thermal energy could guarantee that methane selectivity, which needs t...

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies are a cornerstone for reducing CO2 emissions from energy and energy-intensive industries. Among the various CCS technologies, solid sorbent looping systems are considered to be potentially promising solutions for reducing CO2 capture energy penalty. We present an evaluation module for a carbonator with sorbent looping cycle to calculate the carbonation efficiency. The module incorporates a simple sorbent activity model, and the solid/gas balances are constructed by assuming simple reactor mixing quality. By conducting simulations, we examine the variation in the carbonation efficiencies as a function of the sorbent looping operation factors and discuss an optimum operating strategy.

Production simulation technology is beneficial to solve the complicated and fluctuated problems in a shipyard. It takes too much time and effort to build simulation models in the field, though. This research proposes a feasible method to reduce the difficulties related to simulation modeling for the factory or shop capacity analysis. In addition, a proposed neutral data format for production information is efficient to manage information acquisition for simulation modeling automation. A panel block shop model is contributed to comparison between the conventional technique and the automated one. The automation technique is highly recommended to run a rapid simulation in the shipyard problem.

Introduction Numerous studies on cam femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) causing osteoarthritis have been conducted in Western populations, but not in Asian populations. The alpha angle in cam type FAI can be measured by routine hip AP and axial radiographs. The purpose of this study was to determine the range of alpha angles in an asymptomatic Asian cohort. Materials and Methods We performed a retrospective examination on 500 asymptomatic Asian adults (1000 hips) who underwent simultaneous spine MRI and hip coronal survey MRI for evaluation of back pain from December 2009 to March 2010. The alpha angle was measured on anteroposterior (AP) pelvic survey images. According to inclusion criteria, 372 hips of 186 men and 622 hips of 311 women were analysed. Results The mean alpha angles for men and women were 50.61° ± 7.61° and 49.82° ± 4.14°, respectively with no statistically significant differences (p = 0.063). Alpha angles of the two age groups (≥50 years old and Conclusions After review of 994 asymptomatic adult hips, we found neither gender-specific nor age-specific differences in the alpha angle. The frequency of the pathological range of the alpha angle was notably rare, as compared to those of Western countries. We assume that these findings could be related to a low prevalence of FAI and idiopathic osteoarthritis of the hip in the Asian population.

Small area LDO (Low drop-out) regulator with pass transistor using body-driven technique is presented in this paper. The body-driven technique can decrease threshold voltage (Vth) and increase the current ID flowing from drain to source in current. The technique is applied to the pass transistor to reduce size of area and maintain the same performance as conventional LDO regulator. A pass transistor using the technique can reduce its size by 5.5 %. The proposed LDO regulator works under the input voltage of 2.7 V ~ 4.5 V and provides up to 150mA load current for an output voltage range of 1.2 V ~ 3.3 V.

In this paper, dc-dc buck converter controled by the peak current-mode pulse-width-modulation (PWM) presented. Based on the small-signal model, we propose the novel methods of the power stage and the systematic stability designs. To improve the reliability and performance, over-temperature and over-current protection circuits have been designed in the dc-dc converter systems. To prevent electrostatic An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit is proposed. The proposed dc-dc converter circuit exhibits low triggering voltage by using the gate-substrate biasing techniques. Throughout the circuit simulation, it confirms that the proposed ESD protection circuit has lower triggering voltage(4.1V) than that of conventional ggNMOS (8.2V). The circuit simulation is performed by Mathlab and HSPICE programs utilizing the 0.35um BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) process parameters.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to assess the expression of DKK3 protein and its target, beta-catenin, in uterine cervical squamous cell carcinoma and to determine potential clinical correlations.Materials and MethodsSix carcinoma in-situ (CIS) tissues and 88 invasive cervical cancer tissues were included in the study. Twenty-two normal cervical tissues and one gastric cancer tissue were used as controls. The expression of DKK3 and beta-catenin proteins was evaluated by immunohistochemical analysis. Clinical and pathological parameters were obtained from medical records. Survival data were estimated using Kaplan-Meier estimates and compared with a log-rank test. Multivariate analysis was performed using the Cox regression method.ResultsDKK3 was predominantly present in the cytoplasm. Beta-catenin was observed only on the cellular membrane of both normal and cancer cells in contrast to earlier reports, in which beta-catenin was localized to the cytoplasm and nucleus of cancer cells. The expressions of beta-catenin and DKK3 were not correlated. Three of 6 CIS (50%) and 57 of 88 invasive cancer specimens (64.8%) had lower DKK3 expression than normal controls. DKK3 expression was decreased in a stage-dependent manner (P = 0.021). The patients with low expression of DKK3 were older than those with high expression of DKK3 (P < 0.01). Moreover, the patients with low DKK3 expression had a significantly lower 5-year disease-free survival rate than those with high DKK3 expression (P = 0.026). A multivariate analysis showed that International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics clinical stage and parametrial involvement were independent prognostic factors.ConclusionDecreased DKK3 expression was associated with advanced International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics clinical stages and was predictive of lower disease-free survival in patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma. DKK3 may be implicated in cervical carcinogenesis through a beta-catenin–independent mechanism.

Obesity has recently been defined as a chronic inflammatory disease and is considered as a major cause of adult health problems including incurable diseases like diabetes and cancer. In this study, the systemic immunity, including the innate and adaptive immunity parameters, of naturally occurring (leptin receptor mutation) obesity-diabetes mice (db/db) was examined to increase our knowledge of these mice for obesity-related studies. Severe fatty liver with blood engorgement was observed in the db/db mice. Compared to background C57BL/6J mice, the adaptive immunity, as measured by mitogen-induced T and B cell proliferation and cytokine release, was significantly suppressed in db/db mice. However, significant upregulation of innate immune-inflammatory parameters including macrophage function and NK cell activity was observed in db/db mice without external stimulation. These data conclusively confirm the systemic immune-inflammatory micro-environment with suppressed adaptive immunity of db/db mice, which may cause the secondary obesity-related life-threatening diseases like diabetes or cancer.

Small size and high performance LDO regulator using body driven technique is presented in this paper. The body driven technique can decrease threshold voltage (Vth) and increase the current I D flowing from drain to source in current. The technique is applied to the error amplifier, voltage buffer and pass transistor to reduce chip size and maintain the same performance as conventional LDO regulator. The pass transistor using the technique can reduce the size 5.4% compared with conventional pass transistor at 150mA load condition. The proposed current mirror in error amplifier and voltage buffer can save the area about 61% compared with the conventional current mirror. The proposed LDO regulator works under the input voltage of 2.7V∼4.5V and provides up to 150mA load current for an output voltage range of 1.2∼3.3V.

DKK3 is a target of methylation in various cancers and has been studied by a non-quantitative method. We assessed the quantitative methylation levels of DKK3 in cervical carcinoma, determined the potential clinical correlations, and tested whether the combination of clinical and epigenetic factors augmented the prediction power of prognosis. Sixty-two patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma were included in this study. Quantitative methylation levels were evaluated by pyrosequencing. Clinical and pathologic findings were obtained from medical records. Survival data were analyzed using Kaplan–Meier estimates and compared with the log-rank test. The best clinico-epigenetic combinations were found using the Cox proportional hazard model. Four of five CpG positions of DKK3 were strongly methylated in cervical carcinoma compared to normal controls (p = 0.0048). The methylation in positions 1 and/or 2 were stronger in patients with higher serum levels of the SCC tumor marker and/or larger tumors (p = 0.01). The patients with a methylation level ≥26.3 % at position 1 had a lower survival rate than the patients with methylation levels at position 1 that were

Purpose: Ulnar shortening osteotmy is a common operation for the treatment of ulnar impaction syndrome. The purpose of this study was to evaluate factors that may affect the occurrence of distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) arthritis after ulnar shortening osteotomy. Methods: From September 2005 to August 2012, we performed 81 ulnar shortening osteotomies for ulnar impaction syndrome, and evaluated occurrence or deterioration of DRUJ arthritis in 58 patients with a minimum follow-up of 1 year. We analyzed potential factors that may affect the occurrence of DRUJ arthritis, such as, age, sex, hand dominance, pre- and postoperative ulnar variance, preexisting DRUJ arthritis, types of radial sigmoid notch, amount of ulnar shortening, and follow up period. Results: DRUJ arthritis occurred or deteriorated in 32 out of the 58 patients. Regression analysis indicated a significant correlation between the type of radial sigmoid notch (type 1) and DRUJ arthritis. Other factors were not found to be correlated with occurrence or deterioration of DRUJ arthritis. Conclusion: This study suggests that patients with type 1 radial sigmoid notch (ulnar inclination of more than 10 degrees) are more likely to develop DRUJ arthritis after ulnar shortening osteotomy.