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Bladder cancer is the second most common genitourinary malignancy in the world. However, only immune-checkpoint inhibitors and erdafitinib are available to treat advanced bladder cancer. Our previous study reported that 4-((4-(4-ethylpiperazin-1-yl) phenyl)amino)-N-(3,4,5-trichlorophenyl)-7H-pyrrolo-[2, 3-d]pyrimidine-7-carboxamide hydrochloride (13i HCl) is a potent CK1δ inhibitor showing significant anti-bladder cancer activity. In this study, we elucidated the pharmacological mechanisms underlying 13i HCl's inhibition of human bladder cancer. Our results demonstrate that expression of the CSNK1D gene, which codes for CK1δ, is upregulated in superficial and infiltrating bladder cancer patients in two independent datasets. CK1δ knockdown decreased β-catenin expression in bladder cancer cells and inhibited their growth. Additionally, 13i HCl suppressed bladder cancer cell proliferation and increased apoptosis. We also observed that inhibition of CK1δ using 13i HCl or PF-670462 triggers necroptosis in bladder cancer cells. Finally, 13i HCl inhibited bladder cancer cell migration and reversed their mesenchymal characteristics. These findings suggest further development of 13i HCl as a potential therapeutic agent to treat bladder cancer is warranted.

Aims Intracranial myxoid mesenchymal tumors (IMMTs) with fusions between EWSR1/FUS and CREB transcription factors have morphologic overlap with myxoid angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma (mAFH) and myoepithelial tumor/carcinoma (MET/MEC). We aimed to study the clinicopathologic and genetic spectrum of extracranial IMMT-like tumors and their relationships with mAFH and MET/MEC. Methods Twelve extracranial tumors harboring EWSR1/FUS-CREB fusions across different histologic groups were characterized using RNA sequencing, FISH and/or RT-PCR. Results There were 4 IMMT-like neoplasms, 3 MET/MECs, and 5 mAFHs from the tibia (n=1), oral cavity (n=2), and soft tissues (n=9; 5 in the extremities), harboring EWSR1-ATF1 in 4 cases, FUS-CREM and EWSR1-CREM in 2 each, and EWSR1-CREB1 in 2. Multinodular growth, reticular/cording/trabecular arrangements, myxocollagenous matrix, and lymphocytic infiltrates variably prevailed among the 3 groups. mAFHs were characterized by cells with syncytial cytoplasm. IMMT-like neoplasms and MET/MECs shared cells with distinct boundaries, but only MET/MECs expressed GFAP and/or S100. MUC4 and ALK were expressed in some IMMT-like neoplasms (2/4; 2/4) and mAFH (2/5; 1/5). Pan-TRK reactivity was observed in two IMMT-like neoplasms with upregulated NTRK3 mRNA and one MEC. Local recurrences, typically ≥ 12 months postoperatively, developed in 2/3 IMMT-like neoplasms, 1/2 MET/MECs, and 0/4 mAFHs with follow-up. No definite associations were found between fusion types and histology, immunoprofile or outcome. Conclusions We demonstrated the similarities and differences among 3 extracranial myxocollagenous tumor groups sharing EWSR1/FUS-CREB fusions. Oral IMMT-like neoplasms harboring FUS-CREM or EWSR1-ATF1 and FUS-CREM-positive

Surgical treatment for autoimmune thyroid disease is theoretically risky due to its chronic inflammatory status. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between preoperative serum migration inhibitory factor (MIF) levels and the difficulty of thyroidectomy in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis. Forty-four patients (average age: 54 years) were prospectively recruited: 30 with autoimmune thyroiditis and 14 with nodular goiter. Preoperative serum samples were collected to measure MIF levels. The difficulty of thyroidectomy was evaluated using a 20-point thyroidectomy difficulty scale (TDS) scoring system. The potential correlations between MIF levels and clinicopathological features as well as postoperative complications were analyzed. Preoperative serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), TSH receptor antibody, thyroid peroxidase antibodies levels, TDS score, and serum MIF levels were significantly higher in the autoimmune thyroiditis group than those in the goiter group. MIF levels were significantly associated with postoperative transient recurrent laryngeal nerve injury and hypoparathyroidism. MIF levels were positively correlated with TDS score, operation time, and blood loss in the autoimmune thyroiditis group. Increased preoperative serum MIF levels are associated with higher TDS scores, operation time, blood loss, and postoperative complications. Preoperative serum MIF level may be a useful predictor of difficult thyroidectomy and help surgeons provide better preoperative management.

The shock index (SI) is a useful tool for predicting the injury severity and mortality in patients with trauma. However, pediatric physiology differs from that of adults. In the pediatric trauma population, the shock status may be obscured within the normal range of vital signs. Pediatric age-adjusted SI (SIPA) is reported more accurately compared to SI. In our study, we conducted a 10 year retrospective cohort study of pediatric trauma population to evaluate the SI and SIPA in predicting mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and the need for surgery. This retrospective cohort study included 1265 pediatric trauma patients from January 2009 to June 2019 at the Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, who had a history of hospitalization. The primary outcome of this investigation was in-hospital mortality, and the secondary outcomes were the length of hospital and ICU stay, operation times, and ICU admission times. The SIPA group can detect changes in vital signs early to reflect shock progression. In the elevated SIPA group, more severe traumatic injuries were identified, including high injury severity score (ISS), revised trauma score (RTS), and new injury severity score (NISS) scores than SI &gt, 0.9. The odds ratio of elevated SIPA and SI (&gt, 0.9) to predict ISS ≥ 16 was 3.593 (95% Confidence interval [CI]: 2.175–5.935, p &lt, 0.001) and 2.329 (95% CI: 1.454–3.730, p &lt, 0.001). SI and SIPA are useful for identifying the compensatory phase of shock in prehospital and hospital settings, especially in corresponding normal to low-normal blood pressure. SIPA is effective in predicting the mortality and severity of traumatic injuries in the pediatric population. However, SI and SIPA were not significant predictors of ICU admission and the need for surgery analysis.

Near-field lattice spectroscopy has shown that the structure information for a lattice or periodic pattern can be obtained by measuring the diffracted spectrum of a broad-band light source at one spatial position. This technique is verified experimentally using a transmitting grating, supercontinuum white light laser, and a reflective concave mirror. The calculated grating’s period from the detected lattice spectroscopy is close to the measured period with an optical microscope, which demonstrates the validity and feasibility of this scheme.

Pediatric ependymomas are a type of malignant brain tumor that occurs in children. The overall 10-year survival rate has been reported as being 45&ndash, 75%. Maximal safe surgical resection combined with adjuvant chemoradiation therapy is associated with the highest overall and progression-free survival rates. Despite aggressive treatment, one-third of ependymomas exhibit recurrence within 2 years of initial treatment. Therefore, this study aimed to find new agents to overcome chemoresistance and defer radiotherapy treatment since, in addition, radiation exposure may cause long-term side effects in the developing brains of young children. By using integrated bioinformatics and through experimental validation, we found that at least one of the genes CCND1 and CDK4 is overexpressed in ependymomas. The use of abemaciclib, a highly selective CDK4/6 inhibitor, effectively inhibited cell proliferation and reduced the expression of cell-cycle-related and DNA-repair-related gene expression via the suppression of RB phosphorylation, which was determined through RNA-seq and Western blot analyses. Furthermore, abemaciclib effectively induced cell death in vitro. The efficiency of abemaciclib was validated in vivo using subcutaneously implanted ependymoma tissues from patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) in mouse models. Treatment with abemaciclib showed encouraging results in preclinical pediatric ependymoma models and represents a potential therapeutic strategy for treating challenging tumors in children.

Background Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a condition involving several molecular mechanisms related to the intestinal microbiota for its development. Intestinal fatty acid‐binding protein (I‐FABP) is a sensitive marker to study enterocyte damage. A prebiotic is a non‐digestible food ingredient that improves host health by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activities of bacteria in the colon. We aimed to clarify the currently described effects of prebiotics in the prevention and management of T2DM. Methods In this case‐control study, we chose 68 participants with T2DM and 52 healthy participants. Both groups were further divided based on consumption of prebiotics. Forty participants with T2DM consumed prebiotics, and 28 did not; 30 healthy volunteers consumed prebiotics, and 22 did not. We used the analysis of variance to compare the inflammation levels between the case and control groups. Multiple linear regression was performed for the significantly correlated groups to estimate the influence of prebiotics on inflammation level. Results Age was a significant factor for difference in I‐FABP levels (standardized coefficient: 0.06; P = .047). The analysis of eating habits showed that vegetarian diets produced lower I‐FABP levels than non‐vegetarian diets (standardized coefficient: −2.55; P = .022). Results showed that patients with T2DM who consumed prebiotics expressed lower I‐FABP levels, reflecting an improvement in inflammation level, than the healthy volunteers who did not consume prebiotics (standardized coefficient: −3.20; P = .019). Conclusions For patients with T2DM, prebiotics supplemented produced no significant impact on serum I‐FABP levels., To evaluate effects of prebiotics in the prevention and management T2DM, totally 120 patients were recruited for the initial screening with I‐FABP. The participants in this study had no history of gastrointestinal disease and had not been treated with antibiotics or laxatives within 3 months before the experiment; all T2DM patients received dietary advice to control and treat diabetes. Blood or urine samples were collected at baseline and at 1, 3, and 6 months, followed by proper statistical analysis.

This paper develops a hybrid algorithm of adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and regions with convolutional neural network (R-CNN) for stereo vision-based object recognition and manipulation. The stereo camera at an eye-to-hand configuration firstly captures the image of the target object. Then, the shape, features, and centroid of the object are estimated. Similar pixels are segmented by the image segmentation method, and similar regions are merged through selective search. The eye-to-hand calibration is based on ANFIS to reduce computing burden. A six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) robot arm with a gripper will conduct experiments to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed system.

Nano-carbon aerogels (NCAs) have three-dimensional structures, and high porosities. They show promise as innovative materials because of their attractive properties such as high electrical conductivity, high-porosity structures, and high surface areas, which suggest that the material properties of polymer-based composites can be improved. In this study, NCAs were used to reinforce epoxy/carbon fiber composite (CFRP) laminates to investigate the impact and after-impact properties of the composites under three different impact energies 20, 25, and 30 J. The experimental results showed that the impact resistance properties of the CFRP laminates steadily improved with NCAs at the addition of 0.3 wt%. In addition, the damage to the NCAs/CFRP laminates at the low impact energy of 20 J was observed by nondestructive evaluation, including ultrasonic inspection (C-scan) and thermographic analysis, to understand the delamination behavior of the NCAs/CFRP laminate.

For the development of the aviation industry, machine tools are becoming large and travel long distances, making optical alignment setup difficult. An auto-tracking laser interferometer (ATLI) is proposed and researched in this paper for the squareness error measurement of machine tools or coordinate-measuring machines (CMMs). The procedure involves measurement of only one line of an axis, and the measurement results provide us information about not only the positioning errors but also the squareness errors. This specially designed interferometer instrument can be useful in checking industrial machine tools in a short time.

Due to the limited efficacy of chemotherapy, the applications of adjuvant irradiation play an important role for ependymoma treatment. However, in the young ages, the resistance of residual and recurrent tumor, and long-term intellectual sequelae remain the major obstacles of radiotherapy. Understanding the mechanism of therapeutic failure caused by radio-resistance is, therefore, crucial in ependymoma treatment. Here we retrospectively analyze clinic-pathological factors in 82 cases of ependymoma less than 20 years old and identify radio-resistant genes through gene expression microarray followed by qRT-PCR validation and immunohistochemistry staining. Thirty-one out of 82 (37.8%) patients are under 3-year-old. The 10 years PFS and OS are 38% and 60%. Gross-total resection is the single significant prognostic factor for longer 10 years PFS and OS in the multivariant analysis (p

RAAS inhibition has been the standard treatment for CKD for years because it can reduce proteinuria and hence retard renal function decline, but the proteinuria reduction effect is still insufficient in many patients. Podocyte foot process and slit diaphragm are the final barrier to prevent serum proteins leak into urine, and podocyte foot process effacement is the common pathway of all proteinruic diseases. Cell structure are regulated by three evolutionarily conserved Rho GTPases, notably, Rac1 activation is sufficient and necessary for podocyte foot process effacement, however, Rac1 inhibition is not an option for kidney disease treatment because of its systemic side effects. Four-and-a-half LIM domains protein 2 (FHL2) is highly expressed in podocytes and has been implicated in regulating diverse biological functions. Here, we used micro-dissected human kidney samples, in vitro podocyte culture experiments, and a hypertension animal model to determine the possible role of FHL2 in hypertensive nephropathy. FHL2 was abundantly upregulated in hypertensive human glomeruli and animal kidney samples. Genetic deletion of the FHL2 did not alter normal renal structure or function but mitigated hypertension-induced podocyte foot process effacement and albuminuria. Mechanistically, angiotensin II-induced podocyte cytoskeleton reorganization via FAK-Rac1 axis, FHL2 binds with FAK and is an important mediator of Ang II induced Rac1 activation, thus, FHL2 inhibition can selectively block FAK-Rac1 axis in podocyte and prevent proteinuria. These results provide important insights into the mechanisms of podocyte foot process effacement and points out a promising strategy to treat kidney disease.

NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer) is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Clinical trials showed that Hiltonol, a stable dsRNA representing an advanced form of polyI:C (polyinosinic-polycytidilic acid), is an adjuvant cancer-immunomodulator. However, its mechanisms of action and effect on lung cancer have not been explored pre-clinically. Here, we examined, for the first time, how a novel Hiltonol cocktail kills NSCLC cells. By retrospective analysis of NSCLC patient tissues obtained from the tumor biobank, pre-clinical studies with Hiltonol alone or Hiltonol+++ cocktail [Hiltonol+anti-IL6+AG490 (JAK2 inhibitor)+Stattic (STAT3 inhibitor)], cytokine analysis, gene knockdown and gain/loss-of-function studies, we uncovered the mechanisms of action of Hiltonol+++. We demonstrated that Hiltonol+++ kills the cancer cells and suppresses the metastatic potential of NSCLC through: (i) upregulation of pro-apoptotic Caspase-9 and Caspase-3, (ii) induction of cytosolic cytochrome c, (iii) modulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines (GRO, MCP-1, IL-8, and IL-6) and anticancer IL-24 in NSCLC subtypes, and (iv) upregulation of tumor suppressors, PKR (protein kinase R) and OAS (2′5′ oligoadenylate synthetase). In silico analysis showed that Lys296 of PKR and Lys66 of OAS interact with Hiltonol. These Lys residues are purportedly involved in the catalytic/signaling activity of the tumor suppressors. Furthermore, knockdown of PKR/OAS abrogated the anticancer action of Hiltonol, provoking survival of cancer cells. Ex vivo analysis of NSCLC patient tissues corroborated that loss of PKR and OAS is associated with cancer advancement. Altogether, our findings unraveled the significance of studying tumor biobank tissues, which suggests PKR and OAS as precision oncological suppressor candidates to be targeted by this novel Hiltonol+++ cocktail which represents a prospective drug for development into a potent and tailored therapy for NSCLC subtypes.

Pediatric high-grade gliomas (pHGGs) are aggressive brain tumors affecting children, and outcomes have remained dismal, even with access to new multimodal therapies. In this study, we compared the miRNomes and transcriptomes of pediatric low- (pLGGs) and high-grade gliomas (pHGGs) using small RNA sequencing (smRNA-Seq) and gene expression microarray, respectively. Through integrated bioinformatics analyses and experimental validation, we identified miR-137 and miR-6500-3p as significantly downregulated in pHGGs. miR-137 or miR-6500-3p overexpression reduced cell proliferation in two pHGG cell lines, SF188 and UW479. CENPE, KIF14 and NCAPG levels were significantly higher in pHGGs than pLGGs, and were direct targets of miR-137 or miR-6500-3p. Furthermore, knockdown of CENPE, KIF14 or NCAPG combined with temozolomide treatment resulted in a combined suppressive effect on pHGG cell proliferation. In summary, our results identify novel mRNA/miRNA interactions that contribute to pediatric glioma malignancy and represent potential targets for the development of new therapeutic strategies.

Several types of precision equipment, such as machine tools and robot arms, rely on precision rotary motion. In this study, we developed a portable rotary-angle detector (PRAD) comprising five optical sensors and one angle ring with a 57-mm diameter to measure the positioning and radial errors of rotary motions. The five optical sensors were installed at equally divided intervals around the angle ring according to the equal division averaged method (EDA-Method) implementation. The grating of the angle ring has 9000 lines, and the signal interpolation of the angle detector system has 4000-fold subdivision. Therefore, the PRAD resolution can be achieved at 0.036 arcsec. Furthermore, a 12-face polygon and an autocollimator with 0.05-arcsec resolution and 0.25-arcsec accuracy were used to check the PRAD performance. The experimental results showed that the structure of the PRAD is simple. However, the difference over 360° is only 0.7 arcsec, indicating that PRAD is suitable for motor inspection in machine tools or robot arms.

In 2016, a project was initiated in Taiwan to adopt molecular diagnosis of childhood medulloblastoma (MB). In this study, we aimed to identify a molecular-clinical correlation and somatic mutation for exploring risk-adapted treatment, drug targets, and potential genetic predisposition. In total, 52 frozen tumor tissues of childhood MBs were collected. RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and DNA methylation array data were generated. Molecular subgrouping and clinical correlation analysis were performed. An adjusted Heidelberg risk stratification scheme was defined for updated clinical risk stratification. We selected 51 genes for somatic variant calling using RNA-Seq data. Relevant clinical findings were defined. Potential drug targets and genetic predispositions were explored. Four core molecular subgroups (WNT, SHH, Group 3, and Group 4) were identified. Genetic backgrounds of metastasis at diagnosis and extent of tumor resection were observed. The adjusted Heidelberg scheme showed its applicability. Potential drug targets were detected in the pathways of DNA damage response. Among the 10 patients with SHH MBs analyzed using whole exome sequencing studies, five patients exhibited potential genetic predispositions and four patients had relevant germline mutations. The findings of this study provide valuable information for updated risk adapted treatment and personalized care of childhood MBs in our cohort series and in Taiwan.

Cerebral ischemia is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although stroke (a form of cerebral ischemia)-related costs are expected to reach 240.67 billion dollars by 2030, options for treatment against cerebral ischemia/stroke are limited. All therapies except anti-thrombolytics (i.e., tissue plasminogen activator) and hypothermia have failed to reduce neuronal injury, neurological deficits, and mortality rates following cerebral ischemia, which suggests that development of novel therapies against stroke/cerebral ischemia are urgently needed. Here, we discuss the possible mechanism(s) underlying cerebral ischemia-induced brain injury, as well as current and future novel therapies (i.e., growth factors, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, melatonin, resveratrol, protein kinase C isozymes, pifithrin, hypothermia, fatty acids, sympathoplegic drugs, and stem cells) as it relates to cerebral ischemia.

Background: Evaluating mild to moderate cognitive impairment in a global cerebral ischemia (i.e. cardiac arrest) model can be difficult due to poor locomotion after surgery. For example, rats who undergo surgical procedures and are subjected to the Morris water maze may not be able to swim, thus voiding the experiment. New Method: We established a modified behavioral spontaneous alternation T-maze test. The major advantage of the modified T-maze protocol is its relatively simple design that is powerful enough to assess functional learning/memory after ischemia. Additionally, the data analysis is simple and straightforward. We used the T-maze to determine the rats' learning/memory deficits both in the presence or absence of mild to moderate (6 min) asphyxial cardiac arrest (ACA). Rats have a natural tendency for exploration and will explore the alternate arms in the T-maze, whereas hippocampal-lesioned rats tend to adopt a side-preference resulting in decreased spontaneous alternation ratios, revealing the hippocampal-related functional learning/memory in the presence or absence of ACA. Results: ACA groups have higher side-preference ratios and lower alternations as compared to control. Comparison with Existing Method(s): The Morris water and Barnes maze are more prominent for assessing learning/memory function. However, the Morris water maze is more stressful than other mazes. The Barnes maze is widely used to measure reference (long-term) memory, while ACA-induced neurocognitive deficits are more closely related to working (short-term) memory. Conclusions: We have developed a simple, yet effective strategy to delineate working (short-term) memory via the T-maze in our global cerebral ischemia model (ACA).

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a serious public health problem causing morbidity and mortality worldwide yearly. Neuroinflammation is a hallmark symptom following TBI to induce delayed secondary injury. The excessive activation of microglia, astrocytes, and other immunological mediators release pro-inflammatory cytokines causing neuronal cell death leading to neurological deficits. Currently there are no FDA-approved medications to improve cognitive function after TBI, however, the use of fatty acids has gained notoriety in recent years with the use of ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFAs, i.e., DHA) providing neuroprotection against TBI-induced neuroinflammation. DHA has been extensively studied in the context of anti-inflammation, but there is a poor understanding of cerebral autoregulation in the presence of TBI. In addition, the current treatments and other potential neuroprotective compounds for TBI such as resveratrol and palmitic acid methyl ester (PAME) are discussed.

Increasing evidence indicates that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) regulate diverse cellular processes, including cell growth, differentiation, apoptosis, and cancer progression. However, the function of lncRNAs in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains largely unknown. We performed a comprehensive microarray analysis of lncRNA expression in human HCC samples. After validation in 108 HCC specimens, we identified a differentially expressed novel tumor suppressive lncRNA termed amine oxidase, copper containing 4, pseudogene (AOC4P). The level of AOC4P expression was significantly downregulated in 68% of HCC samples and negatively correlated with advanced clinical stage, capsule invasion and vessel invasion. Low AOC4P expression correlated with poor prognostic outcomes, serving as an independent prognostic factor for HCC. In vitro functional assays indicated that AOC4P overexpression significantly reduced cell proliferation, migration and invasion by inhibiting the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). RNA immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that AOC4P binds to vimentin and promotes its degradation. Animal model experiments confirmed the ability of AOC4P to suppress tumor growth and metastasis. Taken together, our findings suggest that AOC4P lncRNA acts as an HCC tumor suppressor by enhancing vimentin degradation and suppressing the EMT. By clarifying the mechanisms underlying HCC progression, these findings promote the development of novel therapeutic strategies for HCC.

BackgroundHow biologics affect psoriasis patients’ risks for SSTIs in a pragmatic clinical setting remains unclear.MethodsIn a cohort of adult psoriasis outpatients (aged 20 years or older) who visited the Dermatology Clinic in 2010-2015, we compared incident SSTI risks between patients using biologics (users) versus nonbiologics (nonusers). We also estimated SSTI risks in biologics-associated time-periods relative to nonbiologics only in users. We applied random effects Cox proportional hazard models with propensity score-stratification to account for differential baseline hazards.ResultsOver a median follow-up of 2.8 years (interquartile range: 1.5, 4.3), 172 of 922 patients ever received biologics (18.7%); 233 SSTI incidents occurred during 2518.3 person-years, with an overall incidence of 9.3/100 person-years (95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.1, 10.6). In univariate analysis, users showed an 89% lower risk for SSTIs than nonusers (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.11, 95%CI: 0.05, 0.26); the association persisted in a multivariable model (adjusted HR: 0.26, 95%CI: 0.12, 0.58). Among biologics users, biologics-exposed time-periods were associated with a nonsignificant 21% increased risk (adjusted HR: 1.21, 95%CI: 0.41, 3.59).ConclusionsDespite of adjusting for the underlying risk profiles, risk comparisons between biologics users and nonusers remained confounded by treatment selection. By comparing time-periods being exposed versus unexposed to biologics among users, the current analysis did not find evidence for an increased SSTI risk that was associated with biologics use in psoriasis patients.

A correspondence relationship between space and wavenumber for fully spatially coherent uniform monochromatic and polychromatic light in near- and far-field diffraction is fully illustrated, and it is used to study a phenomenon called the Fresnel zone spectra, which is verified experimentally. The spectra can be filtered or manipulated by moving the detection position relative to Fresnel zone plate along the optical axis.

A lack of effective educational materials is limited general public awareness of, and interest in, nanoscience. This paper presents a conceptual atomic force microscope (AFM) model built by using the LEGO® MINDSTORMS series. AFMs are perhaps one of the most fundamental and widely-used instruments in nanoscience and nanotechnology, thus the introduction of this LEGO® AFM should be beneficial to nanoscience education. Programmed in LabVIEW, this LEGO® model has the ability to scan the samples and construct a three-dimensional (3D) surface graphs of the sample, based on the mechanism used for AFM. With this LEGO® AFM, the students can directly access nanoscience concepts through hands-on experience constructing an AFM model. This interaction will lead to a better understanding of nanoscience principles, and motivate learners to further explore both the theoretical and experimental aspects of the domain.

Multichannel electromyography (EMG) signals are one of the common methods used in human motion pattern recognition. In exoskeleton robot control, EMG signals are measured during dynamic or isometric muscle contractions. Various types of contraction can cause EMG signals to vary, affecting recognition performance. A motion pattern recognition model using EMG signals from either dynamic or isometric muscle contractions has not yet been fully investigated. In this study, a novel feature extraction method, using the short-time Fourier transform ranking (STFT-ranking) feature, was employed to determine multichannel EMG signals. The performance of the novel feature and conventional features for motion pattern recognition using EMG signals, which included time-domain and frequency-domain features, was compared during dynamic and isometric muscle contractions. Experiments were conducted using an exoskeleton robotic arm to aid users in generating EMG signals of designated motion patterns. Among the features tested, the STFT-ranking feature yielded an accuracy rate exceeding 90% when the EMG signals used in the training and validation feature data sets were of the same type of muscle contraction. After examining the STFT-ranking feature projected onto the PCA space, the STFT-ranking feature was determined to offer more satisfactory performance than the other features tested for motion pattern recognition, because the feature data it collected from various motion patterns were more separable. The experimental results also revealed that it is preferable that EMG signals from the same type of muscle contraction, whether dynamic or isometric, are consistently used in both the training and validation (control) phases. Inconsistent EMG signals in the training and validation phases yielded a negative effect on motion pattern recognition performance. The methodology developed in this study has potential applications in exoskeleton robot control and rehabilitation.

The Fingerprint-based positioning technique provides an alternative choice for positioning. In order to meet different requirements for traveling, e.g., positioning within a specific area or detection some approaching Point Of Interests (POIs), a Signal-Aware Fingerprint-based Positioning Technique (SAFPPT) is proposed in this paper. SAFPPT contains four positioning methods based on the signal/information of cellular network's base stations: (i) Positioning Method of Line (PMoL), (ii) Positioning Method of Plane (PMoP), (iii) Approaching Detection Method of Point (ADMoP), and (iv) Approaching Detection Method of Line (ADMoL). The basic idea is that SAFPPT uses user's cellular information to find the best match records in the pre-established Fingerprint database. SAFPPT can be used in different scenarios of the interested area: (i) Point of Interest (point), (ii) road (line), and (iii) region (plane). The experimental results show that (i) the positioning accuracy of PMoL and PMoP are higher than Google's "My Location", (ii) some parameters may affect the positioning accuracy of PMoL, e.g., the moving speed of a user and the number of samples of the Fingerprint database, (iii) the stayed time length of a user may affect the positioning accuracy of PMoP, (iv) ADMoP and ADMoL have higher hit rates to determine the corresponding POIs that a user is approaching within the 150-m radius of the approaching range.

Early diagnosis of bacteremia for patients with suspected sepsis is 1 way to improve prognosis of sepsis. Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) has long been utilized as a screening tool to detect bacteremia by front-line healthcare providers. The value of SIRS to predict bacteremia in elderly patients (≥65 years) with suspected sepsis has not yet been examined in emergency departments (EDs). We aimed to evaluate the performance of SIRS components in predicting bacteremia among elderly patients in EDs. We retrospectively evaluated patients with suspected sepsis and 2 sets of blood culture collected within 4 hours after admitting to ED in a tertiary teaching hospital between 2010 and 2012. Patients were categorized into 3-year age groups: young (18–64 years), young-old (65–74 years), and old patients (≥75 years). Vital signs and Glasgow Coma Scale with verbal response obtained at the triage, comorbidities, sites of infection, blood cultures, and laboratory results were retrieved via the electronic medical records. A total of 20,192 patients were included in our study. Among them, 9862 (48.9%) were the elderly patients (young-old and old patients), 2656 (13.2%) developed bacteremia. Among patients with bacteremia, we found the elderly patients had higher SIRS performance (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 2.40, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.90–3.03 in the young-old and aOR: 2.66, 95% CI: 2.19–3.23 in the old). Fever at the triage was most predictive of bacteremia, especially in the elderly patients (aOR: 2.19, 95% CI: 1.81–2.65 in the young-old and aOR: 2.27, 95% CI: 1.95–2.63 in the old), and tachypnea was not predictive of bacteremia among the elderly patients (all P > 0.2). The performance of SIRS to predict bacteremia was more suitable for elderly patients in EDs observed in this study. The elderly patients presented with more fever and less tachypnea when they had bacteremia.

Testing for coliforms has a long history in the dairy industry and has helped to identify raw milk and dairy products that may have been exposed to unsanitary conditions. Coliform standards are included in a number of regulatory documents (e.g., the U. S. Food and Drug Administration’s Grade “A” Pasteurized Milk Ordinance). As a consequence, detection above a threshold of members of this method-defined, but diverse, group of bacteria can result in a wide range of regulatory outcomes. Coliforms are defined as aerobic or facultatively anaerobic, Gram negative, non-sporeforming rods capable of fermenting lactose to produce gas and acid within 48 hours at 32-35°C; 19 genera currently include at least some strains that represent coliforms. Most bacterial genera that comprise the coliform group (e.g., Escherichia, Klebsiella and Serratia) are within the family Enterobacteriaceae, while at least one genus with strains recognized as coliforms, Aeromonas, is in the family Aeromonadaceae. The presence of coliforms has long been thought to indicate fecal contamination, however, recent discoveries regarding this diverse group of bacteria indicates that only a fraction are fecal in origin, while the majority are environmental contaminants. In the US dairy industry in particular, testing for coliforms as indicators of unsanitary conditions and post-processing contamination is widespread. While coliforms are easily and rapidly detected, and are not found in pasteurized dairy products that have not been exposed to post-processing contamination, advances in knowledge of bacterial populations most commonly associated with post-processing contamination in dairy foods has led to questions regarding the utility of coliforms as indicators of unsanitary conditions for dairy products. For example, Pseudomonas spp. frequently contaminate dairy products after pasteurization, yet they are not detected by coliform tests. This review will address the role that coliforms play in raw and finished dairy products, their sources and the future of this diverse group as indicator organisms in dairy products.

In 2014 a new power divider was proposed using 2 short lines and two quarter-wavelength (⋋/4) impedance transformers at its output ports. However, the two transformers cost large area in the circuit. To reduce the circuit size, this paper presents two new power dividers for compact purpose. The first divider utilized two T-shaped impedance transformers to replace the two ⋋/4 impedance transformers in the above mentioned previous power divider. The second divider is composed of one capacitor, one resistor, two short lines and two π-shaped impedance transformers, i.e., the two ⋋/4 transformers in the previous divider is replaced by two π-shaped impedance transformers in the proposed second divider. The similar results can be shown between the proposed two dividers and the previous divider around the operated band, but the presented circuits demonstrate favorable size reduction.

The step-inverted pyramidal structures were observed at the top and at the bottom of the truncated triangle-shaped patterned-sapphire substrate through a laser decomposition process and a wet etching process at the GaN/sapphire interface. A step-roughened N-face GaN surface was obtained for high light extraction purposes without using a conventional laser lift-off process. We cleaved a 2” LED wafer into two half-wafers to prepare for this experiment, with a mesa region of 540×210 µm 2 . The LED chips were treated by using a triple frequency ultraviolet Nd:YVO4 (355nm) laser for a front-side laser isolation process and a backside GaN decomposition process. The GaN buffer layer decomposed as Ga metal and N2 gas through the laser decomposition process. Half of the LED wafer was immersed in a hot KOH solution (KOH, 80oC) for a 15minute lateral crystallographic wet etching process that occurred at the laser treated stripe-line patterned regions. The RBPS-LED structure consisted of a truncated triangle-shaped patterned-sapphire substrate, a stepinverted pyramidal structure, and laser-scanning stripeline patterns to increase light extraction efficiency. A higher light scattering process occurred at the roughened N-face GaN surface and the GaN/air/patterned-sapphire interfaces. By increasing the pulse operating current up to 200mA (176 A/cm 2 ), the related efficiency droop and the peak wavelength blueshift phenomenon were almost the same in both LED structures. The LEDs with the stepinverted pyramidal structure and the GaN/airgap/patterned-sapphire interfaces had higher lightextraction efficiency for the nitride-based LEDs by leaving the sapphire substrates.

InGaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with inverted pyramidal structures at their GaN/patterned-sapphire interfaces were fabricated by laser decomposition and wet crystallographic etching. Partially roughening the LED structure increased the light output power of the by 21% enhancement at an operating current of 20mA over that of a non-treated LED structure. The transmittance of the roughened LED structure (10.5%) was lower than that of a non-treated LED structure (20.3%) at 447nm because the incident light was mostly reflected and scattered by the patterned-sapphire structure and by the roughened structure at the GaN/sapphire interface. The light emission intensity in the laser-treated striped region, with the roughened N-face GaN surface was higher than that in the non-treated patterned sapphire region. The InGaN structure with the roughened inverted pyramidal structure increased the light extraction efficiency of nitride-based LEDs.

This paper presents a new equal-split power divider with out-of-phase signals between two output ports. The divider comprises two transmission line sections, one resistor, one capacitor, one short stub, one shorted-coupled-line (SCL) transformer, and one quarter-wavelength (λ/4) transformer. The SCL transformer plays three crucial roles. The first and second roles are to improve selectivity of |S 21 | and isolation of out-of-band, respectively. The third role is to produce 270° phase difference. Thus, the phase difference between SCL and λ/4 transformers can achieve 180° requirement.

This paper presents a method to integrate the free vibration theory and the computer graphical technique for displaying the mode shapes of a three-dimensional framework, so that one may see the real-time animation of the structural mode shapes on the computer screen. Because the graphical parameters, such as view angle, position of the projection plane, ..., etc., cannot be changed arbitrarily (at any time) in the existing post-processing procedures when the animation of the structural mode shapes is in progressing, it is difficult for one to observe the detail of the three-dimensional mode shapes from the computer screen. To solve this problem, some computer subroutines and a graphical user interface are developed for providing an interactive way between the users and the computer. Using the last technique, one may see the real-time animation of structural mode shapes with arbitrary graphical parameters at any time. Furthermore, because the vibration amplitudes and frequencies for the mode shapes are adjustable (enlarged or reduced) in the developed computer programs, one may also see the detail of any part of any mode shape of the structure from the computer screen no matter whether the vibration amplitudes and frequencies are very small or very large.

In this paper, both hardware and software design to develop a wearable walking monitoring system for gait analysis are presented. For hardware, the mechanism proposed is adaptive to different individuals to wear, and the portability of the design makes it easy to perform outdoor experiments. Four force sensors and two angle displacement sensors were used to measure plantar force distribution and the angles of hip and knee joints. For software design, a novel algorithm was developed to detect different gait phases and the four gait periods during the stance phase. Furthermore, the center of ground contact force was calculated based on the relationships of the force sensors. The results were compared with the VICON motion capture system and a force plate for validation. Experiments showed the behavior of the joint angles are similar to VICON system, and the average error in foot strike time is less than 90 ms.

The design techniques of 40-nm CMOS circuits utilizing the reverse short channel effect (RSCE) for ultra-low-voltage (ULV) applications were studied. We proposed methods to deploy RSCE in order to reduce active energy consumption and standby power consumption. Experimental results on 0.3V 64b adders show that the proposed RSCE-aware designs provide a 71% improvement in active energy consumption and a 68% reduction in standby power.

This study investigated the design of low-power shift registers (SR) for CMOS image sensors. First we analyzed a classic clock-gating-control-unit (CGCU) based SR, and showed that besides inefficient area utilization, the CGCU SR is subject to high power consumption due to coupling noise and leakage current. In this work, we developed new design techniques called LGCS (locally gated clock signals) and EDCD (equally divided clock domains) to construct a low-power SR. Experimental results show that the new SR achieves a 14X power reduction and a 39% area reduction compared to the CGCU SR.

InGaN light-emitting diode (LED) structures get an air-void structure and a tapered GaN structure at the GaN/sapphire interface through a laser decomposition process and a lateral wet etching process. The light output power of the treated LED structure had a 70% enhancement compared to a conventional LED structure at 20 mA. The intensities and peak wavelengths of the micro-photoluminescence spectra were varied periodically by aligning to the air-void (461.8nm) and the tapered GaN (459.5nm) structures. The slightly peak wavelength blueshift phenomenon of the EL and the PL spectra were caused by a partial compressed strain release at the GaN/sapphire interface when forming the tapered GaN structure. The relative internal quantum efficiency of the treated LED structure (70.3%) was slightly increased compared with a conventional LED (67.8%) caused by the reduction of the piezoelectric field in the InGaN active layer.

With the growing number of smart phones, the positioning issue for location-based service (LBS) in cellular networks has got much more popular and important in recent years. This paper proposes a signal-aware fingerprinting-based positioning technique (SAFPPT) in cellular networks, which contains two positioning methods: (i) Continuously Measured Positioning Method (CMPM) and (ii) Stop-and-Measured Positioning Method (SMPM). To verify SAFPPT, we have the case study of implementing the aforementioned two positioning methods in the Android platform for the GSM networks and analyze accuracy using some experiments. Our experimental results show that: (i) the positioning accuracy of CMPM and SMPM are much higher than Googlei¦s i§My Locationi¨, (ii) some parameters may affect the positioning accuracy of CMPM, e.g., the moving speed of a user and the number of sampling of the fingerprinting database, and (iii) the staying time of a user may affect the positioning accuracy of SMPM.

InGaN-based light-emitting solar cell (LESC) structure with an inverted pyramidal structure at GaN/sapphire interface was fabricated through a laser decomposition process and a wet crystallographic etching process. The highest light output power of the laser-treated LESC structure, with a 56% backside roughened-area ratio, had a 75% enhancement compared to the conventional device at a 20 mA operating current. By increasing the backside roughened area, the cutoff wavelength of the transmittance spectra and the wavelength of the peak photovoltaic efficiency had a redshift phenomenon that could be caused by increasing the light absorption at InGaN active layer.

This paper investigates the downlink burst allocation problem in IEEE 802.16 OFDMA system. In order to increase the subchannel utilization and to improve the network throughput, a channel-aware renumbering (CSR) scheme and a channel-aware downlink burst allocation (CDBA) scheme are proposed in this paper. CSR considers the difference among subchannel qualities of MSs and logically renumbers the subchannels so that each MS can have a group of subchannels supported the same and more efficient modulation and coding (MC) scheme. CDBA is to decide the size, shape and the position of each burst. Because of the rectangular burst allocation constraint, some slots in or among rectangular bursts will be wasted. These two kinds of slot wastage problems are defined as internal and external fragmentation problems in the paper. Therefore, in order to comply with the rectangular burst allocation constraint, to overcome the fragmentation problems and to increase the network throughput, CDBA is to determine the size and the position of each MS's burst based on the subchannel qualities of MSs and the bandwidth requirements. The simulation results show that CDBA with CSR outperforms other related approaches with or without CSR in terms of the throughput, the service ratio, the subchannel utilization and the DL-MAP overhead.

A low-noise amplifier (LNA) employing novel self-biased shunt-feedback mechanism for X band applications is presented. The shunt-shunt feedback impedance is not only used to eliminate the use of gate-biased voltage, but also neutralize the miller capacitor of the input transistor. With combining current-reused technique into the amplifier, it is benefit to boost power gain and maintain low power consumption. A source-degeneration inductor is also introduced at the input transistor to ensure good input matching and stability across the required bandwidth. A prototype was fabricated in 0.18-µm CMOS process to demonstrate the proposed LNA architecture. The measurements show that a maximum power gain of 10 dB, a minimum noise figure (NF) of 4.5 dB, −6 dBm input-referred third-order intercept point (IIP 3 ), and drawing 7.6 mA from a 1.8-V supply.

A general digital (droplet-based) microfluidic platform based on the study of dielectric droplet manipulation by dielectrophoresis (DEP) and the integration of DEP and electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) is reported. Transporting, splitting, and merging dielectric droplets are achieved by DEP in a parallel-plate device, which expands the fluids of digital microfluidics from merely being conductive and aqueous to being non-conductive. In this work, decane, hexadecane, and silicone oil droplets were successfully transported in a 150 microm-high gap between two parallel plates by applying a DC voltage above threshold voltages. Non-volatile silicone oil droplets with viscosities of 20 and 50 cSt were studied in more detail in parallel-plate geometries with spacings of 75 microm, 150 microm, and 225 microm. The threshold voltages and the required driving voltages to achieve droplet velocities up to 4 mm/s in the different circumstances were measured. By adding a dielectric layer on the driving electrodes of the tested parallel-plate device, a general digital microfluidic platform capable of manipulating both dielectric and conductive droplets was demonstrated. DEP and EWOD, selectively generated by applying different signals on the same dielectric-covered electrodes, were used to drive silicone oil and water droplets, respectively. Concurrent transporting silicone oil and water droplets along an electrode loop, merging water and oil droplets, and transporting and separating the merged water-in-oil droplet were performed.

As images are commonly transmitted or stored in compressed form such as JPEG, to extend the applicability of our previous work, a new scheme for embedding watermark in compressed domain without resorting to cryptography is proposed. In this work, a target image is first DCT transformed and quantised. Then, all the coefficients are implicitly watermarked in order to minimize the risk of being attacked on the unwatermarked coefficients. The watermarking is done through registering/blending the zero-valued coefficients with a binary sequence to create the watermark and involving the unembedded coefficients during the process of embedding the selected coefficients. The second-order neighbors and the block itself are considered in the process of the watermark embedding in order to thwart different attacks such as cover-up, vector quantisation, and transplantation. The experiments demonstrate the capability of the proposed scheme in thwarting local tampering, geometric transformation such as cropping, and common signal operations such as lowpass filtering.

Background The role of excessive adiposity or its metabolic consequences in persistent HPV infection among general adult women remains unknown. Methods Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in 2003–2010, we compared adult women’s likelihood for any- or high-risk (HR) type HPV infection by degrees of excessive adiposity and metabolic health status. Results Any-type (41.1 % vs. 44.9 %, P = 0.045) or HR-type HPV prevalence (21.9 % vs. 25.4 %, P = 0.055) was comparable in women aged 20–59 years with or without central obesity. After adjusting for age, socioeconomic indicators, and lifetime sexual risks, centrally-obese women barely showed a different likelihood for any-type (aPR [adjusted prevalence ratio] = 0.91, P = 0.03) or HR-HPV infection (aPR = 0.92, P = 0.279). However, obesity (aPR = 0.76, P = 0.017) or centrally-obesity (aPR = 0.72, P = 0.003) was negatively correlated with HR-HPV infection in women reporting an early sex debut (