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This paper addresses an integrated information mining techniques for broadcasting TV-news. The utilizes technique from the fields of acoustic, image, and video analysis, for information on news title, reporters and news background. The goal is to construct a compact yet meaningful abstraction of broadcast TV news, allowing users to browse through large amounts of data in a non-linear fashion with flexibility and efficiency. By using acoustic analysis, a news program can be partitioned into news and commercial clips, with 90% accuracy on a data set of 400 hours TV-news recorded off the air from July 2005 to August of 2006. By applying additional speaker identification and/or image detection techniques, each news stories can be segmented with a better accuracy of 95.92%. On screen captions and screen characters are recognized by video OCR techniques to produce the title of each news stories. Then keywords can be extracted from title to link related news contents on the WWW. In cooperation with facial and scene analysis and recognition techniques, OCR results can provide users with multimodal query on specific news stories.

A dedicated small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS) beamline using a new X‐ray source generated by an In‐Acromat superconducting wiggler (IASW6) insertion device is under construction at the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC). The IASW6 with peak magnetic field of 3.1 T, magnet period of 6.1 cm, and total length of 96 cm, can provide a photon flux ∼ 1012 – 1013photons/s/0.1%bw in the energy range of 5 – 23 keV. Taking the central 0.2 mard horizontal radiation fan from the source with a beam divergence of 200 and 392 μrad in the vertical and horizontal directions, respectively, the dedicated SAXS beamline is oriented for nano to meso‐structural research in soft matter, including liquid crystals, macromolecular solutions, polymers, as well as in nanoparticles, ceramic, and alloys. The SAXS beamline adopts the design of the double‐monochromator used in the beamline SIYBLS at ALS, which integrates a Si(111) double crystal monochromator (DCM) and a Mo/B4C double multilayer monochromator (DMM) into one cradle for fast exchange between the two monochrmators. Equipped with a collimating mirror (CM) and a toroidal focusing mirror (FM) with 1:1 focusing ratio, this beamline provides two types of SAXS measurements: high‐Q resolution and high flux, by using either the DCM or DMM. The SAXS beamline also provides energy scan with an energy resolution from 1 to 10 eV for anomalous SAXS (ASAXS) measurements. A specially coated reflecting mirror is also installed after FM to provide a suitable photon beam for grazing incident SAXS of liquid surfaces. Ray tracing simulation results show that at 8 keV and with DCM, a high quality photon beam of beam size (0.5 mm) and beam divergence (± 50 μrad) with a flux of ∼ 1011 photons/s can be obtained for high‐Q resolution SAXS measurement. The photon flux can be increased by one order of magnitude when the DMM is used; however, the beam size and divergence are both slightly increased.

A high‐throughput Protein Crystallography beamline BL13B1 was constructed on a high‐field (3.2 T) superconducting magnet, multi‐pole (28 effective poles) wiggler (SW6) fan of the NSRRC storage ring. This field increase the critical energy from 2.14 keV for a 1.25 T normal conducting magnet to 4.82 keV. The 28 poles device, of period 60 mm, is capable to provide an intense X‐ray beam up to 19 keV that allows a hard x‐ray program to be developed on the relatively low energy National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC) ring (1.5 GeV). BL13B1 operates over the energy range from 6.5 keV to 19 keV (1.92 angstrom to 0.65 angstrom). Optimized for MAD experiments, it is also suitable for monochromatic crystallography. The principal components of the beamline include a front end, vertically collimating premirror, double‐crystal silicon (111) monochromator with a fixed‐height exit beam, and a toroidal focusing mirror. The end station is equipped with a state‐of‐the‐art ADSC Quantum315 CCD area detector, a high precision single‐phi axis goniometer, a sample cooling system (∼100 K), a robotic sample changer for automatically sample mounting and centering, user‐friendly data acquisition software (BLU‐ICE), and powerful data processing software (HKL2000). The design and performance characteristics of this beamline will be described.

To accommodate the growing number of users in the soft X‐ray spectroscopy research at NSRRC, we have developed a modified Dragon‐type beamline, namely the active grating monochromator (AGM) beamline. In this beamline, a selected photon beam of 9 mrad radiation fan in the horizontal direction from a bending magnet is focused horizontally by a tangential elliptical mirror to a position 1.7 m after exit slit, and vertically by a cylindrical vertical focusing mirror (VFM) onto the entrance slit. After the entrance slit, the photon beam is energy‐dispersed and vertically focused by an active grating onto the fixed exit slit. During the energy scan, the radius and shape of the active grating are adjusted accordingly, and therefore the defocus and coma aberrations terms can be effectively eliminated, and hence the energy resolution is optimized. Following the exit slit, the dispersed photon beam is refocused by a toroidal mirror onto the sample. Shadow ray‐tracing program is employed to simulate the beamline per...

To fully utilize a hard X‐ray source generated by a 5‐Tesla superconducting wavelength shifter (SWLS) that shifts the critical energy of synchrotron spectrum from 2.1 to 7.5 keV, we have designed and constructed three hard X‐ray beamlines, BL01A, BL01B, and BL0IC. BL01A is a white light beamline for phase‐contrast X‐ray image applications. The spatial resolution of phase‐contrast X‐ray image is 1 μm. The photon flux can saturate a camera of 700‐microns field‐of‐view within 10 ms. BL01B equipped with a double crystal monochromator (DCM) and a toroidal focusing mirror, which provides photon beams with energies from 5 to 20 keV, is adequate for scattering related experiments and hard X‐ray microscopy. The energy‐resolution ΔE/E is 1 × 10−3. The photon flux is optimized to be 4.5 × 1011 photons s−1 with 200 mA ring current, which outcasts the flux of the wiggler beamline BL17B by 110 times at 15 keV. BL01C equipped with a DCM and both collimating and focusing mirrors, covering photon energies from 6 to 33 keV, is ideal for EXAFS and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) experiments. The average photon flux is 3 × 1010 photons s−1 with 200 mA ring current. The energy‐resolution is between 1.7 × 10−4 and 3.0 × 10−4. In this article, we will present the measured performance of these beamlines.

A high-flux and high-resolution VUV beamline (4–40 eV) has been designed and is under construction at SRRC. This beamline, which collects 50 mrad of horizontal radiation, uses a 6 m cylindrical-grating monochromator with an incident angle of 70° instead of the conventional normal-incidence-monochromator (NIM) design. Special features, such as movable entrance slit, bendable vertical focusing mirror and movable curved exit slit, are employed to enhance greatly the beamline performance. With both slit openings set at 10 µm, the energy-resolving power can reach as high as 70000. Photon fluxes of 1 × 1013 and 1 × 1010 photons s−1 are calculated for energy-resolving powers of 1000 and 40000, respectively. The best image size at the sample position is smaller than 0.45 × 0.2 mm.

C. F. Chang,1 D. J. Huang,1,* A. Tanaka,2 G. Y. Guo,3,1 S. C. Chung,1 S.-T. Kao,4,5 S. G. Shyu,4,5 and C. T. Chen1 1National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan 2Department of Quantum Matters, ADSM, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8530, Japan 3Department of Physics, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan 4Institute of Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei 115, Taiwan 5Department of Chemistry, National Central University, Tao-Yuan 320, Taiwan sReceived 17 September 2004; published 23 February 2005d

To evaluate the efficacy of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding in the management of morbid obesity in a cohort of Chinese patients. DESIGN. Cohort study.University teaching hospital, Hong Kong.From August 2002 to September 2003, 10 patients (6 male, 4 female) with a median age of 34 years (range, 23-48 years) underwent laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding to treat morbid obesity. Considerable co-existing diseases were present in 90% of the cases. We instituted a team approach that allowed every patient to see our dietitian, physician, psychiatrist (if necessary), and surgeon prior to deciding on the procedure to be used.Excessive body weight loss, quality-of-life score (SF36), and co-morbidities improvement.The 10 patients had a median weight of 127 kg (range, 115-196 kg) and median body mass index of 47 kg/m(2) (range, 38-67 kg/m(2)). The operation was successful in all patients with a median operating time of 110 minutes (range, 75-240 minutes). The median hospital stay was 3 days (range, 3-4 days) and three of the patients required overnight observation in the intensive care unit because of severe sleep apnoea and asthma. The median follow-up period was 12 months (range, 1-18 months). The mean weight loss at 6, 12, and 18 months was 19.3, 22.4, and 25.9 kg, respectively. Mean percentage of excessive weight loss at 6, 12, and 18 months was 34.9%, 36.5%, and 40.5%, respectively. Unsatisfactory weight loss (20 kg) occurred in three patients because of poor dietary compliance and non-follow-up. Surgery also considerably improved the patients' co-morbidities (hypertension, diabetes, and obstructive sleep apnoea) and the quality of life.In the short term, laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding is certainly an effective procedure for morbid obesity, which results in a substantial weight loss and improvement of co-existing morbidities. Longer follow-up will show whether this weight loss is maintainable.

Measurements of magnetic circular dichroism in Fe $2p$ resonant photoemission and calculations based on a full-multiplet cluster model reveal the parameters of the electronic structure of ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{3}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}.$ We obtained on-site Coulomb energy ${U}_{\mathrm{dd}}$ of $3d$ electrons, charge-transfer energy $\ensuremath{\Delta}$ which is defined as the energy required to transfer an electron from O $2p$ to Fe $3d,$ and the hybridization strength between Fe $3d$ and O $2p$ at different Fe ion sites of ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{3}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}$ by analyzing the data of magnetic circular dichroism. The charge-transfer energy of ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{3+}$ ions was found to be significantly smaller than that of ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{2+}$ ions. We determined the energy positions of the low-lying multiplets of each Fe ion site. These energy positions for ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{3+}$ ion sites are 1.5\char21{}2.5 eV higher than those obtained from band-structure calculations. Our calculations also show that the photoemission spectral weight in binding energy bigger than 10 eV is substantial, in contrast to the results of band-structure calculations. Our findings conclude that ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{3}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}$ is a system with strong electron-electron interactions.

Spectromicroscopy combined with polarized synchrotron radiation is a powerful tool for imaging and characterizing the molecular properties on surface. In this work we utilized the photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) with linear polarized radiation provided by an elliptically polarized undulator to investigate the molecular orientations of pentacene on self‐assembled monolayer (SAMs) modified gold surface and to observe the cluster domain of mixed monolayers after reorganization on silver. Varying the electric vector parallel or perpendicular to the surface, the relative intensity of π* and σ* transition in carbon K‐edge can be used to determine the orientation of the planar‐shaped pentacene molecule or long carbon chain of carboxylic acids which are important for organic semiconductor.

By using two aspherical variable‐line‐space active gratings and applying the energy compensation principle, we have designed a very efficient active grating monochromator — active grating spectrometer (AGM‐AGS) beamline system for the photon demanding inelastic soft‐x‐ray scattering experiments. During the energy scan, the defocus and coma aberrations of the AGM can be completely eliminated to make the focal point fixed at the sample position and to maintain high spectral resolution for the entire spectral range. The AGS, which has an optical system identical to that of the AGM, but positioned reversely along the optical path, collects the photons emitted from the sample with a nearly identical energy spread as the AGM and focus them onto a position sensitive detector located at the exit slit position. The ray tracing results show that the efficiency of the AGM‐AGS is two orders of magnitudes higher than that of conventional design while maintaining a very high spectral resolution.

A Superconducting Wavelength Shifter (SWLS) insertion device with peak field of 6 Tesla has been installed in the Taiwan Light Source (TLS) storage ring to increase the critical energy of the radiation spectrum from 2 keV to 9 keV. We are constructing three hard X‐ray beamlines BL01A, BL01B and BL01C to utilize the photon source generated by this insertion device. The beamline BL01B is a DCM X‐ray beamline with a toroidal focusing mirror, which provides monochromatic photon beams with energies from 5 keV to 20 keV for X‐ray scattering experiments. At the sample position, the expected photon flux is about 7×1011 photon/sec/200mA with an average energy resolution (ΔE/E) of 1×10−3 and the focused beam size is about 1 mm × 0.4 mm. The beamline BL01C is a standard DCM X‐ray beamline with both collimating and focusing mirrors, which will deliver monochromatic photon beams with energy ranging from 6 keV to 33 keV for EXAFS and powder diffraction. At the sample position, the expected photon flux is 1×1011 photon/sec /200mA with an average energy resolution (ΔE/E) of 1.6×10−4 and the focused beam size is about 0.9 mm × 0.2 mm. The beamline BL01A is a white‐light beamline reserved for other applications. Both BL01A and BL01B beamlines have been constructed and are in commissioning. An average photon flux of 3×1011 photon/sec has been obtained at beamline BL01B.

Two high‐performance asymmetric‐cut curved crystal monochromator (ACCM) side‐branch x‐ray beamlines have been designed to fully utilize the sideway output of a superconducting multipole wiggler (SMPW) source for protein crystallography research. Each of the two ACCM beamlines collects 1 mrad of radiation in the horizontal direction. One of them is located at 4 mrad and the other at 3 mrad away from the centerline of the radiation fan of the wiggler output. These two beamlines will deliver photon flux, through a 100 μm pinhole, of greater than 1×1011 photons/sec with energies from 12 keV to 14 keV and resolution (ΔE/E) of 1.5×10−3 for standard monochromatic crystallography experiments. A Rh‐coated, water‐cooled vertical focusing mirror is placed upstream of the ACCM to simplify the energy tuning mechanism and to reduce the heat load of the crystal by cutting off the photon beams at energies above 15 keV. Considering that existing ACCM designs with bender either have insufficient cooling efficiency or are difficult to manufacture, we designed a special cost‐effective ACCM that comprises a crystal plate affixed to a water‐cooled, bendable Cu substrate, where heat conducts through a paste‐like alloy. With this design, the monochromator will provide high photon flux and resolution while maintaining excellent stability.

The performance of the 1 m Seya–Namioka monochromator (1 m‐SNM) beam line at SRRC has been measured and reached the designed goal. The beam line throughput (photon flux) has been measured by a calibrated silicon photodiode and is close to the theoretical values. The resolving power of this beam line has been measured from the studies of the core absorption of Ar and Ne and the Rydberg states of Mg vapor gas, and has reached the theoretical values. The improvement of the cooling system of the first mirror is also described.

The 6 m low‐energy spherical grating monochromator (6 m‐LSGM) beamline at SRRC is at its commission stage. The 6 m‐LSGM beamline, which covers photon energies from 15 to 200 eV, is based on Dragon concept with spherical gratings and movable exit slit. Some of the commission data will be presented in this paper. The photoabsorption spectra of Ar, He, and Kr have been recorded with resolution so far unattained in the vacuum ultraviolet region.

The layout and first data on the performance of the soft x‐ray bending magnet beamline 6 m high energy spherical grating monochromator (6m‐HSGM) at SRRC are described. The 6m‐HSGM beamline, which covers photon energies from 110 to 1500 eV, is based on the Dragon concept with spherical gratings, and a movable exit slit. During the first performance tests, core‐excitation thresholds of Ar and Ne, and K thresholds of N and O for gas phase CO, N2, and O2 have been recorded with resolutions which rank among the best reached so far in the soft x‐ray region.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a highly infectious respiratory disease, to the best of our knowledge caused by a hitherto unknown corona virus. The virus has spread from South East Asia to many countries of the world. Three case reports of patients from the Prince of Wales Hospital of The Chinese University of Hong Kong demonstrate typical clinical courses. Fever, cough, in most cases non-productive, myalgia, chills, and rigor are the leading symptoms. Leucopenia and thrombocytopenia are the most prominent laboratory parameters, increased values for lactatedehydrogenase (LDH) reflect a more severe clinical course. Advanced age and coexisting conditions seem to influence the prognosis unfavourably. The chest roentgenogram may be normal initially but at a later stage progressive consolidations in the majority of peripheral parts of the lung are observed, which cannot be differentiated from pneumonias of other origin. Even young patients can enter a stage of respiratory compromise rather fast. A therapy against the cause of the disease is not known. Empirical therapy with ribavirin in combination with high dose corticosteroids have proved successful. The disease may progress into respiratory failure comparable with an acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Mortality is around five to ten per cent. Stringent hygiene and quarantine measures are mandatory to prevent the further spread of this threatening disease.

Spin-resolved O $1s$ x-ray absorption measurements on ${\mathrm{CrO}}_{2}$ reveal that the spin polarization of the states at the Fermi level approaches 100%, providing direct evidence of the half-metallic nature of ${\mathrm{CrO}}_{2}.$ The measurements also show the existence of an atomiclike Cr $3d$ state not far away from the Fermi level with a spin polarization of only 50%, establishing its Mott-Hubbard character. We conclude that ${\mathrm{CrO}}_{2}$ has a dualistic electronic nature, in which the states at the Fermi level are bandlike, while those at higher energies are strongly localized of completely different origin and symmetry. The finding of an exceptionally large number of O $2p$ holes suggests their important role in preventing the strongly correlated ${\mathrm{CrO}}_{2}$ from being an insulator.

The aim of this study was to identify the salivary components present in the pellicles formed on self-curing resin and to investigate the qualitative variations in adsorbed salivary pellicle compositions according to different exposure time to saliva. Experimental pellicles were formed by the incubation of polymerized resin particles with fresh human parotid or submandibular-sublingual saliva for either 20 min or 2 h. Pellicles were extracted using formic acid and lyophilized, they were then subjected to sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting to identify the adsorbed salivary components. The amino acid profiles of the 2 h-pellicles were analysed and compared with those of fresh glandular salivas. There was a difference in the 2 h-pellicle components on the self-curing resin compared with those of other dental materials as well as tooth enamel. The amino acid profiles of the 2 h-pellicles were also different from those of fresh glandular salivas. In the case of submandibular-sublingual saliva, the components of the 2 h-pellicle showed a different pattern compared with those of the 20 min-pellicle. However, there was no significant difference between the components of the 2 h- and 20 min-pellicles in the case of parotid saliva. A distinct difference was found in the surface binding affinities of immunoglobulin (IgA) from different glandular salivas. The findings of this study provide information concerning the initial bacterial adhesion on the surfaces of self-curing resin.

With measurements of the magnetic circular dichroism and band-structure calculations in the local spin density approximation (LSDA+U) approach, we revealed that the orbital moment of O in ${\mathrm{CrO}}_{2}$ is ferromagnetically coupled to that of Cr, whereas the spin moment of O is antiferromagnetically coupled to that of Cr. Spin and orbital magnetic moments of Cr and O are enhanced as Coulomb interaction energy U increases. Comparing the magnetic circular diachromism data with the LSDA+U calculations, we conclude that it is essential to include the on-site Coulomb energy for adequately describing the orbital magnetic moments of ${\mathrm{CrO}}_{2}.$

There are many reasons that can degrade the image quality performance in a projection system, such as environment temperature, MTF of projection lens, structure of Lcd panel, EMI on the PCB and driver scheme... etc. Image quality is a function of all these parameters. In this article, the authors would like to estimate the image quality of a projection system under driver schemes and design parameters from the system point of view. The relationships between the voltage difference applied on liquid crystal (LC) cell and defect phenomenon are also revealed. This gives a clear-cut for different image defect (ex: flicker) and its causality. In the present time, ITRI/OES were modeling the LCOS Panel pixel with SpiceTM and ASAPTM for the estimation of image quality during the design of the optical engine.© (2002) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

In situ spin-resolved photoemission studies have been performed on expitaxial Fe 3 O 4 thin films grown on MgO(1 0 0). The spin polarization of the valence band at the Fermi level has been found to be -55.5% and not -100% as predicted by the first-principles calculations. Our spin-resolved measurements provide direct experimental evidence showing that Fe 3 O 4 is not a half-metal as a result of electron-electron correlation effects, and that Fe 3 O 4 should be considered as a strongly correlated system.

Epinephrine injection is an effective, simple, and economical method of endoscopic hemostasis for bleeding peptic ulcers. We measured catecholamine levels in 18 patients with actively bleeding ulcers (8 gastric ulcers and 10 duodenal ulcers) treated by endoscopic injection. Injection of epinephrine (1:10,000 IU) was given until bleeding from the ulcers stopped. Catecholamine levels were assayed by high-pressure liquid chromatography. Immediately after the injection the plasma level of epinephrine rose by four to five times above the basal level and returned to the baseline in 20 minutes. Norepinephrine levels were not significantly raised in these patients. No cardiovascular complications were seen. Although adverse cardiac events have not been recorded, it seems prudent to monitor these patients closely during and immediately after epinephrine injection.

Cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors play a crucial role in the control of cell cycle transitions. Enhanced expression of cyclin D2 and reduced expression of p27kip1 (p27) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of cancer. Because intestinal metaplasia has been regarded as a pre-malignant lesion, we investigated the expression of cyclin D2 and p27 in Helicobacter pylori-associated chronic gastritis with and without intestinal metaplasia, and followed the changes after H. pylori eradication.Expression of cyclin D2 and p27 was studied by immunohistochemistry in 59 patients (including 35 patients with intestinal metaplasia) and in 10 gastric cancer patients. Among them, 29 H. pylori-infected patients had serial gastric biopsies taken before and at 1-year after eradication of H. pylori.Expression of cyclin D2 was significantly higher in gastric cancers when compared to their adjacent non-tumour tissues (median score 3 vs. 1, P=0.015). Over-expression of cyclin D2 was detected in H. pylori-associated chronic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia, which was reduced after eradication of the organism (median score 2 vs. 1, P=0.037 in chronic gastritis; median score 2 vs. 0, P=0.008 in intestinal metaplasia). While the normal gastric mucosa showed strong p27 expression, five of the 10 gastric cancer tissues exhibited reduced p27 expression (P=0.039). Diminished p27 expression was also seen in intestinal metaplasia, which was restored 1-year after H. pylori eradication (eight out of 16 vs. one out of 16, P=0.018). Reduced expression of p27 was frequently associated with increased cyclin D2 expression in H. pylori-associated intestinal metaplasia (P=0.02).Over-expression of cyclin D2 and reduced expression of p27 are closely linked to H. pylori-associated intestinal metaplasia. Eradication of H. pylori infection reverses the aberrant expression of cyclin D2 and p27 in intestinal metaplasia.

Transcriptional silencing by CpG-island hypermethylation now is believed to be an important mechanism of tumorigenesis. To date, studies on CpG-island hypermethylation in gastric carcinoma and adjacent normal tissues are few.The authors examined 5 gastric carcinoma cell lines, 26 frozen gastric carcinoma tissues and their adjacent nontumor area for concurrent CpG-island hypermethylation in 6 tumor-related genes (p15, p16, E-cadherin, GST-pi, hMLH1, and VHL) by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction. Nontumorous gastric tissues from 10 gastritis patients were used as controls.Hypermethylation was not detected in any tissue taken from gastritis patients but was identified in all 5 cell lines and in 24 (92.3%) gastric carcinoma patients. CpG-island methylation in tumor-related genes also was detected in 7 out of the 25 adjacent normal tissues from cancer patients. Hypermethylation of E-cadherin, p15, and p16 were detected more frequently than GST-pi and hMLH1, whereas aberrant methylation of VHL was not detected. Concurrent hypermethylation in 2 or more tumor-related genes was detected in 3 out of the 5 gastric carcinoma cell lines, 22 (84.6%) tumor samples, and 5 (20%) adjacent gastric tissues. Eighteen (69.2%) tumor samples showed hypermethylation inor= 3 genes.The current study showed that concurrent hypermethylation of multiple tumor-related genes is detected frequently in gastric carcinoma and adjacent normal tissues. Study findings suggested that a mechanism that leads to dysregulation in CpG-island methylation is likely to be involved in the early gastric carcinogenesis process.

To estimate the intra- and interrater reliability of current perception threshold (CPT) evaluation, especially within the infraorbital nerve territory (ION) and inferior alveolar nerve territory (IAN) of the orofacial region, and to characterize the CPTs of ION and IAN in the normal population.Electrical stimulation (at 2,000 Hz, 250 Hz, and 5 Hz) was applied to ION and IAN to allow for CPT evaluation in 200 subjects, all of whom were healthy, had no systemic diseases, and were free from symptoms and history of neuropathic conditions. Twenty-five of the subjects were evaluated 3 times by 2 examiners to test reliability, and the remaining subjects were evaluated once for normative data.The intraclass correlation coefficient of CPTs within examiner and between examiners ranged from 0.46 to 0.95. There were no significant differences between right and left sides in CPT evaluation within the ION and IAN territory. Gender and age did not affect the CPT values for ION and IAN in the normal population. There were significant differences between each of the 3 frequency-dependent (2,000 Hz, 250 Hz, 5 Hz) measures within ION and IAN (P0.001).Evaluation of CPTs within ION and IAN revealed good intra- and interrater reliability. The study also provided normative data of CPTs of ION, IAN, and the between-site and within-site ratios of CPTs of ION and IAN. This should prove useful in the diagnosis of orofacial neuropathy.

Prophylactic misoprostol or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) with low gastric toxicity (nabumetone) has been shown to reduce mucosal injury.To compare nabumetone vs. co-therapy of naproxen with low-dose misoprostol for secondary prevention of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in NSAID users.NSAID users presenting with upper gastrointestinal bleeding were enrolled if they required long-term NSAIDs. After ulcer healing, they were randomized to receive: naproxen (500-1000 mg/day) and misoprostol (200 microg b.d.), or nabumetone (1000-1500 mg/day) and placebo misoprostol for 24 weeks. The primary end-point was recurrent upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The secondary end-point was the proportion of patients suffering from major gastrointestinal events including ulcer bleeding, symptomatic ulcers and severe dyspepsia.A total of 90 patients were included in the intention-to-treat analysis (misoprostol/naproxen 45, nabumetone 45). Recurrent bleeding occurred in 10 patients (22.2%) receiving misoprostol/naproxen compared with three (6.7%) receiving nabumetone (relative risk 3.33, 95% CI: 0.98-11.32, P=0.069). The proportion of patients suffering from major gastrointestinal events at 24 weeks was 31.1% in the misoprostol/naproxen group and 28.9% in the nabumetone group.Misoprostol/naproxen is not superior to nabumetone for secondary prevention of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Neither low-dose misoprostol nor nabumetone is adequate for high-risk NSAID users.

A feedback system is designed and built to automatically correct the long‐term instability of the photon beam generated from the synchrotron radiation storage ring. This feedback system is composed of a stepping motor‐controlled mirror‐alignment mechanism, a photon‐beam‐position monitor, a high precision current amplifier, and a PC‐controlled CAMAC interface system. The details of the system design as well as the motorized mirror‐alignment mechanism are presented in this article.

A simple and high precision technique is developed for the monochromator alignment. The alignment setup is composed of two He/Ne lasers, a penta‐prism, a flat mirror, and other common alignment aids. The alignment principle and the setup is described. An example of how to align Synchrotron Radiation Research Center 1‐m‐Seya monochromator is presented as well.

Apoptosis is associated with loss of gastric mucosal integrity and may play an important role in ulcer development.To examine how Helicobacter pylori and NSAIDs interact to effect apoptosis and proliferation of the gastric mucosa.Patients presenting with musculoskeletal pain requiring NSAID treatment and without previous exposure to NSAID or pre-existing ulcers were recruited. Patients were divided into three groups: (A) H. pylori-infected; (B) H. pylori-eradicated; and (C) non-infected patients. They were given naproxen for 8 weeks. Patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia and H. pylori infection who were given anti-Helicobacter therapy were recruited as controls (D). Endoscopy was performed at baseline and 8-weeks after receiving naproxen. Gastric antral biopsies were obtained to assess apoptosis by terminal uridine deoxynucleotidyl nick end-labelling (TUNEL) and proliferation by Ki67 immunostaining.A total of 55 patients were studied. H. pylori-positive patients had a higher apoptosis and proliferation index at baseline than non-infected patients (P0.0001), and eradication of H. pylori resulted in a significant reduction in these parameters. The NSAID induced apoptosis in non-infected subjects (P=0.03) whilst apoptosis was reduced in H. pylori-positive patients receiving NSAID (P=0.02). After 8 weeks of NSAID, post-treatment apoptosis was significantly higher in patients with persistent H. pylori infection than in non-infected patients (P=0.01).Eradication of H. pylori prior to NSAID therapy significantly reduces the level of apoptosis in the gastric mucosa, which may contribute to maintaining mucosa integrity and preventing ulcer development.

We have previously demonstrated a negative relationship between the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD).To study the effects of H. pylori infection on the severity of GERD.Ethnic Chinese patients with frequent heartburn and/or endoscopic oesophagitis were studied. Endoscopic examination was performed to assess the severity of oesophagitis (modified Savary-Miller grading) and the presence of hiatus hernia. Biopsies were taken for rapid urease testing and confirmation of Barrett's oesophagus. Risk factors which may affect the severity of oesophagitis (age, sex, smoking, drinking, diabetes mellitus, hiatus hernia, H. pylori status and body mass index) were evaluated by a multiple regression model. The cagA status of H. pylori infected GERD and age-and-sex matched controls were determined by Western blot. Age-and-sex matched non-reflux patients were recruited as controls for comparison.Two hundred and twenty-five patients with GERD were studied, of whom 77 (34%) were infected with H. pylori. Oesophagitis and Barrett's oesophagus were found in 140 patients (62%) and six patients (3%), respectively. H. pylori infected patients had significantly less severe oesophagitis compared to the uninfected group (P=0.022). All patients with Barrett's oesophagus were uninfected. Factors that predicted severe oesophagitis included age over 60 years (P0.001) and hiatus hernia (P0.001). H. pylori infection was the only factor that showed a negative correlation with severe oesophagitis (P=0.011). The prevalence of the cagA positive strain in endoscopy-negative GERD, erosive oesophagitis and control subjects was 70, 76 and 78%, respectively (P=0.75).H. pylori infection is associated with milder GERD.

Salvage therapies after initial Helicobacter pylori eradication failure of ranitidine bismuth citrate (RBC)-based regimens remain undefined.To test the efficacy of 1-week omeprazole, amoxycillin and clarithromycin as a second-line treatment and 1-week quadruple therapy after repeated failures of RBC- and proton pump inhibitor-based regimens.Patients were recruited from a recently published prospective randomized study if confirmed to have failed H. pylori eradication with RBC-based regimens. They were given omeprazole 20 mg, amoxycillin 1 g and clarithromycin 500 mg (OAC) b.d. for 1 week. 13C-urea breath test was performed 4 weeks after the conclusion of medication. Those who failed to respond to OAC were given 1-week quadruple therapy (bismuth subcitrate 120 mg, tetracycline 500 mg and metronidazole 400 mg q.d.s. plus omeprazole 20 mg b.d.).Among 398 patients receiving RBC-based therapies, 40 (10%) had failed eradication (RAC=7, RC-2=12, RMC=7, and RMT=14). OAC was prescribed to 31 patients (RAC=4, RC-2=9, RMC=6, and RMT=12) and 68% had successful eradication. Nine out of 10 patients with failed second treatment received quadruple therapy; successful eradication occurred in 83% (5 out of 6) after repeated failures of clarithromycin-based regimens.One-week OAC is not an optimal second-line therapy when RBC-clarithromycin combinations fail. Quadruple therapy appears to be effective despite repeated failures of clarithromycin-based RBC or proton pump inhibitor therapies.

We have previously shown that ranitidine bismuth citrate (RBC)-based triple therapy is comparable to proton pump inhibitor-based triple therapy in eradicating Helicobacter pylori infection.To test the efficacy of different combinations of antimicrobials with RBC in the treatment of H. pylori infection.Dyspeptic patients with H. pylori infection were prospectively randomized to receive one of the following regimens: (i) RBC 400 mg, amoxycillin 1 g, clarithromycin 500 mg [RAC]; (ii) RBC 400 mg, metronidazole 400 mg, clarithromycin 500 mg [RMC]; (iii) RBC 400 mg, metronidazole 400 mg, tetracycline 1 g [RMT] (all given twice daily for 1 week); or (iv) RBC 400 mg plus clarithromycin 500 mg twice daily for 2 weeks [RC-2]. Endoscopy (rapid urease test and culture) and 13C-urea breath test (UBT) were performed before randomization. Four weeks after finishing medication, the 13C-UBT was repeated in all cases and endoscopy was offered to patients with peptic ulcers.Four hundred patients were randomized but in two (one in the RAC group and one in the RMC group) H. pylori infection was not confirmed. Successful eradication of H. pylori (intention-to-treat analysis and 95% CI) of RAC (86% [79-93%]), RMC (90% [84-96%]), RMT (79% [71-87%]) and RC-2 (82% [75-90%]) were comparable, with a trend favouring clarithromycin-containing triple therapy regimens. Among 276 isolates tested for antibiotic sensitivity, primary resistance to metronidazole, clarithromycin and amoxycillin was found in 56%, 2% and 0.4%, respectively. When given RMC or RMT, patients infected by metronidazole-resistant H. pylori had success in eradicating H. pylori similar to patients infected by metronidazole-sensitive H. pylori.One-week RBC triple therapy is effective in curing H. pylori infection.

Despite the widely accepted view that Helicobacter pylori is the most important cause of peptic ulcer disease, recent studies have suggested that the microbe protects against nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-associated gastroduodenal lesions and promotes ulcer healing. We investigated the effects of H. pylori eradication on the healing of NSAID-associated bleeding peptic ulcers.Chronic NSAID users presenting with peptic ulcer haemorrhage underwent endoscopy to secure haemostasis and to document H. pylori infection by rapid urease test and culture. They were prospectively randomized to receive either omeprazole (20 mg once daily) for 8 weeks or a 1-week course of triple therapy (bismuth subcitrate 120 mg, tetracycline 500 mg, metronidazole 400 mg, all given four times daily) plus omeprazole (20 mg once daily) for 8 weeks. Endoscopy was repeated after 8 weeks. Final H. pylori status was determined by a 13C-urea breath test that was performed at least 4 weeks after discontinuation of omeprazole.195 H. pylori-infected NSAID users, complicated by bleeding ulcers, were randomized to receive omeprazole alone (102) or triple therapy plus omeprazole (93). 174 patients returned for second endoscopy at 8 weeks (91 in the omeprazole group, 83 in the triple therapy group). Urea breath test was negative in 14% in the omeprazole group vs. 92% in the triple therapy group (P0.001). Complete ulcer healing was achieved in 88 (97%) patients in the omeprazole group and 77 (93%) in the triple therapy group (P=0. 31). On intention-to-treat analysis, ulcers were healed in 86% of the omeprazole group and 83% of the triple therapy group (P=0.50). There was no significant difference in the healing rates of gastric or duodenal ulcers between the two groups.Eradication of H. pylori did not impair the healing of NSAID-associated bleeding peptic ulcers.

Proton pump inhibitors have been widely used in combination with amoxycillin, clarithromycin or metronidazole for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection.To study the effects of 1-week ranitidine bismuth citrate (RBC)-based triple therapy in the treatment of H. pylori-related duodenal ulcers.Patients with duodenal ulcers and H. pylori infection were prospectively randomized to receive either RBC with amoxycillin and clarithromycin for 1 week (RAC), or omeprazole with amoxycillin and clarithromycin for 1 week (OAC). No additional ulcer healing drug was used after the 1-week medication. Patients were assessed for H. pylori eradication, ulcer healing and side-effects after receiving the therapies.One hundred consecutive patients were recruited to this study, with 50 patients randomized to each treatment group. In the intention-to-treat analysis, duodenal ulcers were completely healed in 45 (90%) patients in the RAC group and 43 (89.6%) in the OAC group (P = 1.0). H. pylori eradication was confirmed in 47 (94%) in the RAC group and 42 (87.5%) in the OAC group (P = 0.31). There was no significant difference in the severity of side-effects experienced by the two treatment groups.One-week RBC-based triple therapy is an effective treatment for H. pylori-related duodenal ulcers. The therapeutic effects are comparable to a 1-week course of proton pump inhibitor-based triple therapy.

A preliminary study of the correlation between acupuncture points (acupoints) for the treatment of eye disorders suggested by ancient Oriental literature and the corresponding brain localization for vision described by Western medicine was performed by using functional MRI (fMRI). The vision-related acupoint (VA1) is located in the lateral aspect of the foot, and when acupuncture stimulation is performed there, activation of occipital lobes is seen by fMRI. Stimulation of the eye by directly using light results in similar activation in the occipital lobes by fMRI. The experiment was conducted by using conventional checkerboard 8-Hz light-flash stimulation of the eye and observation of the time-course data. This was followed by stimulation of the VA1 by using the same time-course paradigm as visual light stimulation. Results obtained with 12 volunteers yielded very clean data and very close correlations between visual and acupuncture stimulation. We have also stimulated nonacupoints 2 to 5 cm away from the vision-related acupoints on the foot as a control, and activation in the occipital lobes was not observed. The results obtained demonstrate the correlation between activation of specific areas of brain cortices and corresponding acupoint stimulation predicted by ancient acupuncture literature.

Chronic Helicobacter pylori infection now is recognized as an important causative agent for gastric carcinoma. However, only a small minority of infected individuals develop the malignancy, even in areas with a high prevalence of gastric carcinoma. It has been postulated that the absence of glutathione-S-transferase-mu (GST-mu), which impairs detoxification of exogenous carcinogens, might predispose some infected individuals to the development of gastric carcinoma.Patients with histologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the stomach were tested for H. pylori infection and the GST-mu genotype. Prevalence of GST-mu gene deletion was compared with the H. pylori status of the patients. A group of gender- and age-matched control subjects with known H. pylori-related nonulcer dyspepsia also were tested for the GST-mu genotype and compared with patients with H. pylori positive carcinoma.Fifty-one patients with gastric adenocarcinoma were enrolled into the study. Thirty-five were found to have H. pylori in the resected specimens. The null genotype of GST-mu was significantly more common among those patients with H. pylori positive carcinoma compared with the H. pylori negative group (65.7% vs. 31.3%; P0.05). Homozygous deletion of GST-mu was significantly higher in the H. pylori positive carcinoma patients than in the H. pylori-infected, nonmalignant control group (65.7% vs. 37.1%; P0.05).The null genotype for GST-mu is found more commonly in gastric carcinoma associated with H. pylori infection. The absence of the GST-mu enzyme may increase the risk of the development of gastric carcinoma in these patients.

Bleeding peptic ulcer is the most important cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Our aim was to compare the effect of anti-Helicobacter therapy with maintenance treatment of H2-receptor antagonist in the prevention of relapses of ulcer and bleeding. Patients with bleeding duodenal or gastric ulcers and H. pylori infection were randomized to receive either a one-week course of triple therapy with bismuth subcitrate, metronidazole, and tetracycline plus ranitidine or a six-week course of ranitidine 300 mg/day. After the ulcers healed, the antibiotic-treated patients were not given any medication, whereas the ranitidine-treated patients continued to receive a maintenance dose of 150 mg/day. One hundred twenty-six patients were randomized to receive anti-Helicobacter therapy and 124 patients to receive long-term ranitidine. H. pylori eradication was achieved in 98.2% in those who received triple therapy and 6.1% in those who received ranitidine (P0.0001). At the six-week follow-up, ulcer healing was documented in 88.2% in those who received triple therapy and 86.1% in those who received ranitidine (P = 0.639). Recurrent ulcer developed in nine of the ranitidine-treated patients and three of them presented with recurrent upper gastrointestinal bleeding. One patient in the antibiotic group developed recurrent ulcer without rebleeding (P = 0.01). It is concluded that eradication of H. pylori is sufficient for the prevention of recurrent bleeding ulcers.

A wide-spectral-range high-performance 6 m-spherical grating monochromator (6 m-SGM) beamline has been designed and is under construction at SRRC. Two different entrance slits, instead of additional mirrors, are used to optimize the overall performance. Six gratings are used to cover photon energies from 10 to 1500 eV. Movable entrance slits and bendable vertical focusing mirrors are used to enhance further the beamline performance. A bendable horizontal focusing mirror is used to improve the resolution and to focus the photon beam at the experimental station immediately after the exit slit. Several end-stations can be installed at the same time to utilize the beam time fully. The expected energy-resolving power, with both slit openings set at 10 µm, is up to 15 000 and 40 000 for the high- and low-energy branches, respectively. A photon flux of 1 × 1011 photons s−1 can be obtained with an energy-resolving power of 20 000.

To investigate whether smoking would increase ulcer recurrence after eradication of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) without maintenance acid-suppression therapy.A total of 287 patients, 256 patients with duodenal ulcers and 31 patients with gastric ulcers, were followed-up for up to 18 months after ulcer healing and successful eradication of H. pylori. There were 83 smokers (defined as smokingor = 10 cigarettes/day) and 204 patients who never smoked or stopped smoking after the diagnosis of peptic ulcer disease. None were taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or receiving maintenance acid suppression therapy. Endoscopy was repeated either at the end of the follow-up period or when ulcer symptoms recurred.Of the 83 smokers, 3 (3.6%) had ulcer recurrence, which included two duodenal ulcers and one gastric ulcer. Of the 204 nonsmokers, 4 (2.0%) had ulcer relapse, and all being recurrent duodenal ulcers. Four smokers (4.8%) and nine nonsmokers (4.4%) had recurrence of H. pylori infection after 10-18 months. There was no significant difference in ulcer relapse or recurrence of H. pylori infection between smokers and nonsmokers.Cigarette smoking did not increase the recurrence of peptic ulcers after eradication of H. pylori.

The activity of anterior temporal muscle, the number of tooth contacts, and total duration of closure during maximal and habitual clenching were studied in varied chair positions. Fifteen subjects were evaluated. The means for the muscle activity of anterior temporal muscle during habitual clenching were 63.5-73.5% of maximum muscle activity. The number of tooth contacts and total duration of closure were significantly increased as biting pressure was increased from habitual to maximal clenching. No significant differences were detected in all variables among varied chair positions. The above results also suggested that occlusal instability was very common. Further research is required to explain the relationship, if any, of these variables to craniomandibular disorders.

We reported the use of Holmium-YAG laser in the management of a foreign body impacted in the esophagus.Esophagoscopy was performed on a man with a denture impacted in the esophagus. The denture was disimpacted into the stomach and fractured with Holmium-YAG laser before removal.The denture was successfully removed in three pieces without complications.Holmium-YAG laser can be used to fragment foreign bodies to aid in their removal.

The TPS-05A beamline is the first X-ray beamline at NSRRC built for micro protein crystallography experiment as well as one of the seven ID beamlines in phase I at the TPS synchrotron facility. A 2-meter in-vacuum undulator (IU22) serves as the photon source from which the harmonics #3 to #9 will provide brilliance of 1018−1020 photons s−1 mrad−2 mm−2 (0.1% bandwidth)−1 and photon flux of 1013−1014 photons s−1 (0.1% bandwidth)−1 in the required energy range of 5.7−20 keV (2.175−0.620 A) to cover MAD phasing experiments at 1 A and SAD phasing experiments at 2 A. The beamline optics consists of a cryo-cooled double crystal monochromator (DCM) and a pair of focusing K-B mirrors. Requirements from the user group include a target focus size of 50 μm × 50 μm (H × V) at the sample position, photon flux greater than 2 × 1012 photons s−1 at Se K-edge (0.9795 A), pinholes for adjusting the beam size down to 5 μm. Calculation of heat load for the first optical element, i.e. the first crystal of DCM, is included in this paper.

The development of laparoscopic surgery in the past few years has been truly explosive. Techniques developed in laparoscopic cholecystectomy are also applied to other operations in the abdomen. Vagotomy can be performed expediently laparoscopically. However, the advent of effective ulcer drugs has decreased the demand for elective surgery, especially since ulcer disease can now be cured with a short course of anti-Helicobacter treatment. We review the role of laparoscopic and thoracoscopic vagotomy in the light of these developments.

The introduction of video-assisted surgery has revolutionized thoracic surgery. The main attraction is the avoidance of a large thoracotomy incision and its associated morbidity. We present the case of a 55-year-old woman with an oesophageal diverticulum presenting with troublesome dysphagia. A thoracoscopic assisted oesophageal diverticulectomy was performed. Post-operative recovery was uneventful, and only two doses of intramuscular opiate analgesic were required. The patient remained asymptomatic at a follow-up of 3 months.

A CT technique for measuring oesophageal cancer tumour volume in the monitoring of local disease response following radiotherapy or chemotherapy is described. Patients with newly diagnosed oesophageal carcinoma were referred for pre- and post-chemotherapy CT scans. IV Buscopan was given to abolish peristalsis. Patients were scanned in prone position. Effervescent gas granules and Calogen (a negative contrast of fat density) were given. Spiral scanning was performed. The area of tumour on each 1 cm slice was measured. The sum of these areas gave tumour volume in cubic centimetres. The accuracy of the method was tested on patients who had had surgery. The volume of the segment of oesophagus containing tumour was measured by its weight and water displacement. Lumenal distention proximal and distal to the tumour was achieved in all patients. 10 gross surgical specimens were available for comparison with pre-operative CT. The correlation coefficient was 0.95. In conclusion, accurate tumour volume assessment was achieved with our technique.

Forty patients with acute calculous cholangitis had successful endoscopic drainage. Bile from nasobiliary drains and venous blood was collected at 0, 12, 24, 36 and 48 h after endoscopy. Endotoxin levels were measured by the chromogenic Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate assay. There was a significant reduction in both bile and serum endotoxin levels after endoscopic drainage (P0.001). Endotoxaemia occurred when bile endotoxin reached 10(3) EU/ml and rose exponentially beyond this threshold. Significant association was demonstrated between both bile and serum endotoxins to the clinical features of cholangitis (P0.05). No correlation was evident between serum endotoxin and the parameters of white cell count, serum bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase (r = 0.53, 0.00 and 0.00 respectively). Endoscopic drainage is effective in lowering bile and serum endotoxin levels and clinical signs and symptoms reliably predict endotoxaemia.

A marked resonance enhancement of the 3d photoemission intensity in angle-integrated electron-distribution curves from Ni3Al has been observed 6.6 eV below the Fermi level for photon energies in the vicinity of the Ni 2p absorption threshold. Soft x-ray L-edge absorption spectra were measured to determine the Ni 2p excitation threshold. The Fano asymmetry parameter and the effective Coulomb interaction for Ni3Al are 2.2 and 4.8 eV, respectively, as derived from the experimental data. Differences between the 2p→3d and the 3p→3d resonance effect are discussed, and comparisons with Ni, NiAl, and NiGa are made.