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The proliferation of hyperscale data centers, as well as edge and 5G infrastructure build-outs, requires SerDes running at different rates, over different insertion losses, and in different environments. This work presents a scalable ADC/DSP-based transceiver architecture that runs from 1.25Gb/s NRZ to 56Gb/s PAM-4 in 16nm, supporting channels from very short reach (VSR) at 10dB to long reach (LR) above 35dB. A follow-on design supports 1.25Gb/s NRZ to 112Gb/s PAM-4 in 7nm, and its measured results are also presented in this paper. Some of the key architectural features and innovations that will be described in the paper are: a single decision-feedback equalizer (DFE) with minimum mean square error (MMSE) criteria to drive all feedback control loops, including (i) decision-directed MMSE (DD-MMSE) clock and data recovery (CDR), (ii) feed-forward equalization/decision-feedback equalization (FFE/DFE) bit-error rate (BER) optimization, and (iii) time-interleaved ADC (TI-ADC) clock skew correction.

The effect of statins in preventing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence after curative liver resection has been controversial. Some retrospective studies identified perioperative use of statins was associated with significantly lower risk of HCC recurrence and improve recurrence-free survival (RFS) after liver resection, among patients with or without chronic hepatitis viral infection in multivariate survival analysis. However, a recent single-center study enrolled 430 cases in Taiwan revealed that the protective effect of statins was only significant in univariate analysis but not significant in multivariate analyses. To evaluate the effect of statins on the risk of HCC recurrence after curative liver resections, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis on this topic. A systematic search of Medline, Embase, and Web of Science was conducted through December 2019. Studies were included if they evaluated perioperative exposure to statins, reported the recurrence of HCC after curative resection, and reported hazard ratios (HR) of multivariable analysis by Cox proportional hazards model. Summary HR estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using the random-effects model. The analysis included 5 studies reporting the recurrence of HCC among 8,586 patients after liver resection, in which 411 of them received perioperative statins treatments. A meta-analysis of the studies showed a significant (39%) reduction in the risk of HCC recurrence among patients who took statins (adjusted HR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.49-0.76), with no or little heterogeneity among studies (χ2=5.58, df=4, I2=28%). In conclusion, perioperative statins use may improve recurrence-free survival and decrease the risk of HCC recurrence after curative liver resection. Further prospective studies and larger randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are warranted to validate the conclusion. Statin usersNon-statin usersAdjusted Hazard RatioStudyTotalTotalWeightIV, Random, 95%CIYear of publicationWu 2012175439437.6%0.68 (0.53-0.87)2012Lee 2016132207831.2%0.66 (0.49-0.90)2016Kawaguchi 2017317037.0%0.34 (0.12-0.75)2017Nishio 20184360014.5%0.42 (0.25-0.71)2018Young 2019304009.8%0.79 (0.41-1.52)2019Total (95% CI)4118175100.0%0.61 (0.49-0.76)Heterogeneity: Tau2=0.02; Chi2=5.58, df=4 (p=0.23); I2=28%Test for overall effect: Z=4.43 (p Citation Format: Chun Philip Yeung, Siu Tim Cheung, Kwok Chai Kelvin Ng, Bo San Paul Lai, Ching Ning Charing Chong. Statin use associated with reduced risk of hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence following liver resection: A systematic review and meta-analysis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 2345.

A read channel IC achieves >1.5 dB SNR improvement over a 32/34 rate EPRML read channel at 2.8 user bit density. The 0.18 /spl mu/m BiCMOS chip operates up to 700 Mb/s with 1.8 W read mode power using 3.3 V analog and 1.8 V digital power supplies. The die area is 9.64 mm/sup 2/.

Objectives & Background Circulating leucine-rich α-2-glycoprotein-1 (LRG1) protein has been found in the plasma and urine of patients with acute appendicitis (AA) and may be useful for diagnosis. The present study aimed to investigate whether circulating LRGI mRNA levels also improve the early diagnosis of AA. Methods A prospective study was conducted between December 2011 and October 2012 on patients presenting to the ED with acute abdominal pain ( Results Eighty-four consecutive patients (40 (47.6%) with AA and 44 (52.4%) without AA; mean age 35 years; 41.6% males) were recruited. Median whole blood LRG1 mRNA levels were higher in AA patients than in non-AA patients (2.2 (95% CI 1.3–2.6) vs 1.3 (95% CI 0.8–1.8)×10 5 copies/ml, p =0.0122). Of 40 AA patients, 13 (32.5%) were diagnosed as complicated AA, and had median LRG mRNA level higher than in patients with simple AA (3.2 (95% CI 2.2–4.1) vs 1.6 (95% CI 1.1–2.5)×10 5 copies/ml, p =0.0479). At a LRG1 mRNA cutoff of 1.9×10 5 copies/ml, the optimal sensitivity and specificity were 57.5% and 72.7% respectively. At this cutoff, the odds ratio for AA was 3.6 (95% CI 1.5–9.0; p =0.0047). Conclusion Whole blood LRG1 mRNA levels may be useful to diagnose simple and complicated AA from other causes of abdominal pain. Acknowledgement This research study was supported by a Direct Grant for Research from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (reference no.: 2041642) (HK$18000).

Hypothesis Since the early 1990s, the laparoscopic technique has been increasingly used for the treatment of perforated peptic ulcer. It is important to validate a risk scoring system that can stratify patients into various risk groups before comparing the treatment outcome of laparoscopic repair against that of conventional open surgery. The scoring system should be able to predict the likelihood of mortality and morbidity. Boey score and APACHE II (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II) score may be of use in patient stratification. Design Retrospective review of relevant case notes by one reviewer. Setting A teaching hospital treating 0.5 million to 1 million patients during the study period. Patients Patients operated on for perforated peptic ulcer between January 1989 and December 1998. Patients treated conservatively were excluded. Main Outcome Measures Mortality and postoperative complications (morbidity). Results A total of 436 patients (365 male and 71 female) with a mean ± SD age of 51.5 ± 18.3 years (range, 14-92 years) were studied. Duodenal perforation accounted for 344 (78.9%) of 436 cases. The mortality rate was 7.8% (34/436), and 89 patients had postoperative complications. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that only the APACHE II score predicted both mortality and morbidity. Although the Boey score predicted mortality, it failed to predict morbidity. However, the Boey score predicted the chance of conversion in patients undergoing laparoscopic repair. Conclusions The APACHE II score may be a useful tool for stratifying patients into various risk groups, and the Boey score might select appropriate patients for laparoscopic repair.

In evaluating the seismic safety of a 10‐story Uniform Building Code‐designed steel moment‐resisting building, three major sources of uncertainty have been extensively examined: (1) The representation of earthquake environment; (2) the structural dynamic properties; and (3) the method of structural analysis. By combining these uncertainties, the reliability of local inelastic response conditional on the peak ground acceleration is assessed for the frame. The overall seismic safety is investigated by introducing the site‐specific seismic risk. Based on the annual local ductility exceedance probability for each story, approximate bounds are established on the “system reliability” of the example building. Using empirical relationship between structural and nonstructural damage and local ductility ratio, the annual risk of damages due to future earthquakes is investigated for the steel frame.