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Following human papilloma virus (HPV) infection, recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) develops secondary to dysfunction of innate and adaptive immune responses. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common medical disorder; these patients are considered to be relatively immunocompromised. It is hypothesized that comorbid DM occurs more frequently than expected in a cohort of adult RRP patients and that RRP patients with DM have more severe disease than those without DM.Retrospective cohort study.Tertiary care laryngology practice, 5-year period.Adult-onset RRP patients from 2007 to 2012 at the University of Washington were reviewed. The gender, age of onset of RRP, number of interventions, pathology, presence or absence of DM, and calculated anatomic Derkay severity score were recorded.Eighty-four adult RRP patients were characterized; 64 male (76%) and 20 female (24%). Six of 84 patients (7.1%) had DM; this prevalence was not higher than an age-matched general population. The number of interventions required for disease control did not significantly differ (P = .13) between adult RRP patients with DM (avg 2.6/yr, median 2.3/year) and those without DM (avg 1.9/yr, median 1.3/yr). There was no significant difference in anatomic Derkay score at the time of intervention (P = .26) or presence of dysplasia in biopsy specimens (P = .49) between RRP patients with and without DM.In this large series of adult RRP patients, DM does not appear to have a higher prevalence than that seen in age-matched controls, nor do RRP patients with DM appear to have more severe disease.

This paper analyzes the 2-D short-channel effect in ultrathin SOI MOSFETs. An empirical, channel length-dependent scale length is extracted from the lateral field slope of a series of numerically simulated devices. We show how this scale length is related to the short-channel threshold voltage roll-off and minimum channel length with and without a substrate bias. The benefit of a reverse substrate bias is investigated and understood in terms of the field and distribution of inversion charge in the silicon film. In particular, how a bulk-like short-channel effect is achieved when an accumulation layer is formed at the back surface. Furthermore, the effect of a high-κ gate insulator is studied and scaling implications discussed.

The water vapour content of the atmosphere has increased as a result of global warming, strengthening the hydrological cycle. An analysis of observational data suggests that wet seasons have become wetter, and dry seasons drier, in recent decades.

Conventional word embeddings are trained with specific criteria (e.g., based on language modeling or co-occurrence) inside a single information source, disregarding the opportunity for further calibration using external knowledge. This paper presents a unified framework that leverages pre-learned or external priors, in the form of a regularizer, for enhancing conventional language model-based embedding learning. We consider two types of regularizers. The first type is derived from topic distribution by running LDA on unlabeled data. The second type is based on dictionaries that are created with human annotation efforts. To effectively learn with the regularizers, we propose a novel data structure, trajectory softmax, in this paper. The resulting embeddings are evaluated by word similarity and sentiment classification. Experimental results show that our learning framework with regularization from prior knowledge improves embedding quality across multiple datasets, compared to a diverse collection of baseline methods.

Acne is a common skin condition with sebum overproduction, hyperkeratosis, Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) and Staphylococcus aureus, and inflammation. Punica granatum (pomegranate) is well-known for its anti-inflammatory effects; however, few studies have discussed the anti-acne effects of pomegranate. In this study, we found that pomegranate extract (PG-E) significantly reduced P. acnes-induced edema in Wistar rat ears. Therefore, an evaluation platform using multiple pathogenic mechanisms of acne was established to explore the anti-acne effects of pomegranate. Results showed that PG-E inhibited bacterial growth and lipase activity. Through a bioguided-fractionation-isolation system, four hydrolysable tannins, punicalagin (1), punicalin (2), strictinin A (3), and granatin B (4), were isolated. Compounds 1 and 2 had greater anti-bacterial activities and anti-testosterone-induced HaCaT proliferative effects than the others. Compounds 1, 3, and 4 displayed lipase inhibitory effects. Compound 4 decreased cyclooxygenase-2 expression and downregulated prostaglandin E2 production in heat-killed P. acnes-treated RAW 246.7 cells. In conclusion, PG-E is abundant in hydrolysable tannins that display multiple anti-acne capacities, including anti-bacterial, anti-lipase, anti-keratinocyte proliferation, and anti-inflammatory actions. Hence, PG-E has great potential in the application of anti-acne and skin-care products, and punicalagin (1), the most effective component in PG-E, can be employed as a quality control marker.

The purpose of this exploratory mixed methods study was to investigate how teacher beliefs were related to technology integration practices. We were interested in how and to what extent teachers' (a) beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning, (b) beliefs about effective ways of teaching, and (c) technology integration practices were related to each other. The participants were twenty two teachers who have participated in a four-year professional development project funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Specific relations between teachers' beliefs and technology integration practices are presented. The implications for professional development and suggestions for teacher belief change and technology integration are discussed.

Guan-Cheng Huang,1–3 Shih-Yu Chen,4 Po-Wei Tsai,5 Jerome G Ganzon,5 Chia-Jung Lee,6 Her-Shyong Shiah,7 Ching-Chiung Wang4,5 1School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, 2Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yuan’s General Hospital, 3Department of Leisure and Recreation Industry Management, College of Humanities and Management, Fooyin University, Kaohsiung, 4Graduate Institute of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, 5School of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, 6PhD Program for Clinical Drug Discovery of Chinese Herbal Medicine, College of Pharmacy, Taipei Medical University, 7Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan Abstract: Dang-Gui-Bu-Xue-Tang (DBT), a combination of Angelicae Sinensis Radix and Astragali Radix, is a widely used herbal decoction in traditional Chinese medicine primarily to promote or invigorate the “blood”. In this study, we explored this ancient formulation and provide evidence of its blood-toning properties. We used the improvement iron uptake as promote or invigorate the “blood” indicator. Ferritin formation of Caco-2 cells in vitro assay and diet-induced anemia (DIA) in rat model were used to prove its improvement iron uptake and ameliorating effects. Finally, the iron–DBT interactions were measured by iron-bind­ing assay. We first demonstrated DBT increased uptake of ferrous iron through the biosynthesis of ferritin by Caco-2 cells and determined which complementary treatment would provide optimum results. Thereafter, effects of the treatment on improving the bioavailability of absorbed iron in the form of hemoglobin (Hb) were established using a DIA-animal model. The results showed that DBT slightly improved Hb levels compared with the baseline Hb and pretreatment with DBT for 2 hours prior to supplementation with ferrous sulfate provided the greatest gain in Hb levels in DIA rats. However, DBT and ferrous sulfate were co-treated with Caco-2 cell or DIA rats, the ferritin formation and Hb levels both were decreased. In iron-bind­ing assay, the DBT extract influenced the free Fe(II) type in the FeSO4 solution. Therefore, we suggest that complementary treatment with DBT and iron supplementation can have a strong ameliorating effect on iron-deficiency anemia in clinical settings, but needs a 2-hour interval of DBT administration prior to ferrous sulfate treatment. Keywords: Dang-Gui-Bu-Xue-Tang, ferulic acid, iron uptake, ferritin, iron-deficiency anemia, herb–drug interaction

Wu-Chia-Pi medicated wine, composed nine Chinese medicines soaked in 35% alcohol, is widely used in Asia for its health-promoting functions. However, long-term consumption of alcohol could result in liver dysfunction. In this study, Wu-Chia-Pi solution (WCPS) and extract (WCPE) were prepared by modification of the principals given by the Committee on Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy in Taiwan. The aim of this study was to explore the protective effect of WCPS against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver injury and to clarify its active component(s). Antioxidative effects of the test samples were evaluated via MDA inhibition, catalase activity and DPPH-scavenging assays. HPLC was used to analysis the active components. Results showed that WCPS (1 and 5 mL/kg) significantly prevented CCl4-induced liver injury without chronic liver toxicity. Referring to the antioxidative activities, WCPE displayed significant MDA inhibitory and DPPH-scavenging activities with IC50 values of 0.91 ± 0.03 and 0.60 ± 0.04 mg/mL, respectively. Catalase activity was also enhanced by treatment of WCPE, acteoside and quercetin. Therefore, we suggest that acteoside and quercetin are the major contributors to the antioxidative and hepatoprotective activities of WCPS, and a possible mechanism could be mediated through reduction of oxidative stress.

Background Qi (氣 qi) refers to the vital energy of the body in Traditional Chinese medicines (TCM). Qi deficiency (氣虛 qi xū) is the most common symptom in cancer patients according to the concept of TCM. We hypothesized that cancer patients with Qi deficiency suffer from poor quality of life (QOL) and fatigue. Method Among the 256 registered cancer patients screened at our outpatient clinic, a total of 198 were enrolled. The inclusion criteria were (1) age between 18 and 70 years, (2) cancer diagnosis confirmed by the professional physician, (3) being Chinese, and (4) Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status rating (PSR) ≤ 3. The major outcome is the difference in QOL score in cancer patients with and without Qi deficiency. Results The initial results showed statistically significant differences in WHO-QOL scores in physical, psychological, and social domains between the groups with and without Qi deficiency as well as the groups with and without cancerrelated fatigue (CRF). All patients with CRF present were also diagnosed as Qi deficient. In addition, among the patients with no CRF, 39.9% (69/173) were diagnosed as suffering from Qi deficiency, which led to poor QOL. Conclusions The present study showed statistically significant difference in WHO-QOL scores in physical, psychological, and social domains between the groups with and without Qi deficiency as well as the groups with and without CRF. Cancer patients diagnosed with Qi deficiency or CRF have poor QOL. The concept of Qi deficiency in TCM might be applied to cancer health care.

A series of azobenzene-substituted porphyrin derivatives, MPAn (M = H2, Zn; n = 1, 2, 4), has been prepared. These compounds were characterized by spectral and electrochemical methods. The Soret and Q bands of ZnPAn were red-shifted along with the increase of Q-band intensity ratio (ɛα/ɛβ) as the substitution of azobenzene increased. Addition of imidazole towards ZnPAn caused a significant increase in Q band intensity ratio. A noteworthy characteristic is that the Q band intensity ratio was reversed (>1.0) by imidazole ligation for ZnPA4. Additionally, cyclic voltammetry of H2PAn exhibited anodic shift of the first oxidation potential but cathodic shift for the second oxidation potential for porphyrin free bases as azobenzene number increased. According to DFT calculation, the unusual features in UV–vis spectra and redox potentials arised mainly due to the intramolecular π-conjugation between porphyrin and azobenzene.

A series of mono-, di-, tri-, and tetra-triphenylamine (TPA)-substituted porphyrinatozinc complexes have been synthesized to investigate their spectral and electrochemical properties. The varied shapes of absorption spectra of porphyrin–triphenylamine (Por–TPA) conjugates in comparison with tetramesitylporphyrinatozinc (ZnTMP) indicate that there are strong interactions between porphyrin and TPA moieties. In general, the electron-donating capability of a substituent on TPA and the number of TPA derivatives that bond with porphyrin would cause Soret band broadening and intensification of the Q(0,0) band. Due to the antenna effect of these conjugates, the fluorescence quantum yields were enhanced when more TPA moieties were linked. Cyclic voltammetry and spectroelectrochemical methods revealed the redox properties of Por–TPA conjugates. Axial ligation of porphyrinatozinc with N-methylimidazole was useful in differentiating the oxidation site of Por–TPA conjugates. The first one-electron oxidations of these conjugates are at the porphyrin ring. The charge-transfer bands present in the near-IR region in the absorption spectra of Por–TPA radical cations are evidence of an electronic interaction between porphyrin and TPA. The electron-donating strength of the TPA group and the symmetry of the Por–TPA conjugate affect the intensity of the charge-transfer band.

We study the task of deterministically extracting randomness from sources containing computational entropy. The sources we consider have the form of a conditional distribution (f(X)|X), for some function f and some distribution X, and we say that such a source has computational min-entropy k if any circuit of size 2k can only predict f(x) correctly with probability at most 2-k given input x sampled from X. We first show that it is impossible to have a seedless extractor to extract from one single source of this kind. Then we show that it becomes possible if we are allowed a seed which is weakly random (instead of perfectly random) but contains some statistical min-entropy, or even a seed which is not random at all but contains some computational min-entropy. This can be seen as a step toward extending the study of multisource extractors from the traditional, statistical setting to a computational setting. We reduce the task of constructing such extractors to a problem in computational learning theory: learning linear functions under arbitrary distribution with adversarial noise, and we provide a learning algorithm for this problem. In fact, this problem is a well-recognized one in computational learning theory and variants of this problem have been studied intensively before. Thus, in addition to its application to extractors, our learning algorithm also has independent interest of its own, and it can be considered as the main technical contribution of this paper.

The current-voltage (I- V) characteristics of the InGaN nanorod light-emitting diode (LED) are evaluated using nanoprobes installed on a field-emission scanning electron microscope. The saturated current of the InGaN nanorod LED (IO = 2 × 10-9A) is found to be orders of magnitude higher than those obtained by downscaling a conventional InGaN LED to a chip size of 300 × 300 μm2 (IO1 = 1 × 10-25 A; IO2 = 1 × 10-14 A). This observation is explained by the fact that the nanorod LED is associated with enhanced tunneling of injected carriers and, therefore, reduction of the defect-assisted leakage current and the diffusion-recombination process that normally occurs in InGaN LEDs.

Aim of the study This study examined the modulating effects of Clematis chinensis Osbeck (Ranunculaeae) on pro-inflammatory and degradative mediators associated with inflammatory arthritis. Materials and methods Primary human chondrocytes (PHC) were stimulated with IL-1β or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce the enhanced release of prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2 ), metalloproteinase (MMP-3 and -13), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein expression. The 18 F-FDG microPET imaging system was used to evaluate the anti-arthritic effects of Clematis chinensis in vivo . Results The acetone extracted Clematis chinensis (CC6) contained the most total saponins compared to other solvent's extracts and showed significant and dose-dependent inhibitory effects on PGE 2 , MMP-3, -13, and COX-2 productions by LPS-stimulated PHC. Furthermore, CC6 also exerted inhibitory effects on 2- 18 F-fluoro-2-deoxy- d -glucose ( 18 F-FDG) uptake when assessed by positron emission tomography (PET) uptake in the joints and serum PGE 2 of rabbits with knee joints injected with LPS. Conclusion The results suggest the significant chondroprotective effects of Clematis chinensis are through its anti-inflammatory and MMPs inhibitory abilities. Meanwhile, we established a new analysis method to evaluate the Chinese herbal anti-arthritic effects.

This paper describes a novel structure of an AlGaInP light-emitting diode (LED) to extract the waveguided light for high-brightness applications. Four devices are considered and compared. They are AlGaInP-sapphire LEDs with: 1) a planar Ag reflector (LED-A); 2) a patterned Ag reflector (LED-B); 3) a planar Ag reflector and surface-roughened features (LED-C); and 4) a patterned Ag reflector and surface-roughened features (LED-D). The patterned Ag reflector can be used to direct some of the waveguided light that bounces within the AlGaInP LED and sapphire substrate to the top escape cone of the LED surface. Additionally, the roughened features, which are randomly distributed on the LED surface, enable the waveguided light that is trapped inside the LED chip to be coupled efficiently into the air. As a result, the external quantum efficiencies of LED-A, LED-B, LED-C, and LED-D measured at I = 350 mA are η = 9.20%, 10.46%, 15.22%, and 16.75%, respectively.

In this study, well-known skin-care functional parameters were used, including UV absorption, DPPH-scavenging, NO-production-inhibition, tyrosinase-inhibition activity and anti-Staphylococcus aureus activity to measure the effects of the 70% acetone-extracts form 28 species of Lamiaceae plants. Further, the phytochemical contents were explored by total phenol (TP), total flavone (TF) and total coumarin (TC). The correlation between the skin-care effects and the phytochemical contents was analysed by non-parametric correlation analysis. Amongst the 70% acetone-extracts, Origanum majorana displayed the strongest DPPH-scavenging and tyrosinase-inhibitory effects and the richest phenol content. Based on the statistics results, the phytochemical contents were related with those parameters, such as: DPPH-scavenging effects vs. TP (R = 0.542), TF vs. TP (R = 0.613), and NO-inhibitory vs. anti-bacterial activities (R = 0.767). Moreover, each genus of Lamiaceae had different properties of skin-care effects. Form our research works, the Lamiaceae is good resources to develop skin-care cosmetics.

In this paper, we consider the task of deterministically extracting randomness from sources consisting of a sequence of n independent symbols from {0,1}d. The only randomness guarantee on such a source is that the whole source has min-entropy k . We give an explicit deterministic extractor which extract Ω(logk-loglog(1/ e)) bits with error e , for any n, d, k ∈ \BBN and e ∈ (0,1). For sources with a larger min-entropy, we can extract even more randomness. When k ≥ n1/2+γ, for any constant γ ∈ (0,1/2), we can extract m=k-O(d log(1/ e)) bits with any error e ≥ 2-Ω(nγ). When k ≥ logcn , for some constant c > 0, we can extract m=k-(1/ e)O(1) bits with any error e ≥ k-Ω(1). Our results generalize those of Kamp and Zuckerman and Gabizon which only work for bit-fixing sources (with d=1 and each bit of the source being either fixed or perfectly random). Moreover, we show the existence of a nonexplicit deterministic extractor which can extract m=k-O(log(1/ e)) bits whenever k=ω(d+log(n/ e)) . Finally, we show that even to extract from bit-fixing sources, any extractor, seeded or not, must suffer an entropy loss k-m=Ω(log(1/ e)). This generalizes a lower bound of Radhakrishnan and Ta-Shma on extracting from general sources.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), i.e. small non-coding RNA molecules (∼22 nt), can bind to one or more target sites on a gene transcript to negatively regulate protein expression, subsequently controlling many cellular mechanisms. A current and curated collection of miRNA-target interactions (MTIs) with experimental support is essential to thoroughly elucidating miRNA functions under different conditions and in different species. As a database, miRTarBase has accumulated more than 3500 MTIs by manually surveying pertinent literature after data mining of the text systematically to filter research articles related to functional studies of miRNAs. Generally, the collected MTIs are validated experimentally by reporter assays, western blot, or microarray experiments with overexpression or knockdown of miRNAs. miRTarBase curates 3576 experimentally verified MTIs between 657 miRNAs and 2297 target genes among 17 species. miRTarBase contains the largest amount of validated MTIs by comparing with other similar, previously developed databases. The MTIs collected in the miRTarBase can also provide a large amount of positive samples to develop computational methods capable of identifying miRNA-target interactions. miRTarBase is now available on http://miRTarBase.mbc.nctu.edu.tw/, and is updated frequently by continuously surveying research articles.

The junction temperature of a light-emitting diode (LED) directly and greatly affects its performances. Therefore, the reliable measurement and accurate estimation of the junction temperature of an LED is extremely important. This paper proposes an approach for directly determining the dependence of junction temperature on injected currents in InGaN and AlGaInP LEDs. Various important physical parameters that affect the junction temperature of an LED are also considered.

Although the literature on corporate misconduct has been accumulating, clarifying the antecedents and consequences of corporate misconduct is still far from preventing its occurrence effectively. I...

Inflammation can cause various physical dysfunctions. Punica granatum Linne (pomegranate), a high phenolic content fruit, is widely used as an antipyretic analgesic in Chinese culture. Pomegranate has shown potential nitric oxide (NO) inhibition in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. Moreover, pomegranate (100 mg/kg) significantly decreased carrageenan-induced mice paw edema for 1, 3, 4, and 5 h. Therefore, column chromatography combined with in vitro bioassay-guided fractionation was used to isolate the active anti-inflammatory components from the pomegranate. Punicalagin (1), punicalin (2), strictinin A( 3), and granatin B (4) were obtained with yields of 0.093%, 0.015%, 0.003%, and 0.013%, respectively. All these hydrolysable tannins inhibited NO production and iNOS expression in RAW 264.7 cells. Among them, 4 showed the strongest iNOS and COX-2 inhibitory effects, and exhibited these effects in the inhibition of paw swelling and the PGE2 level in carrageenan-induced mice. Taken together, we suggest that 4 could be used as a standard marker for the anti-inflammatory effect of pomegranate. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The reaction of Ni(ClO4)2 with 4 equiv of pyrazole (pzH) in MeCN leads to [Ni(pzH)2(HN═C(Me)pz)2](ClO4)2 via the intermediate [Ni(MeCN)2(pzH)4](ClO4)2, which is the first pyrazole−nitrile coupling reaction activated by a Ni(II) complex. The reaction is also successfully conducted with other nitriles RCN bearing an electron-donating group (R = Et, Bz) and is counteranion-specific. The reaction proceeds more quickly with NO3− as counteranion than with ClO4−, and BF4− is found to be unsatisfactory for the coupling reaction. As for the X-ray crystal structures, [Ni(MeCN)2(pzH)4](ClO4)2 possesses stronger pyrazolyl NH···anion hydrogen-bonding interactions than does [Ni(MeCN)2(pzH)4](BF4)2. The same trend is also observed by solution IR (pyrazolyl NH) analysis. The supramolecular structure of the complex [Ni(pzH)2(HN═C(Me)pz)2](ClO4)2 displays a two-dimensional network dominated by cooperative face-to-face π−π stacking and edge-to-face CH···π bonding interactions. In addition, a mechanism based on anion-mediate...

Zingiber zerumbet Smith has long been used as a botanical medicine for anti-inflammation in Southeast Asia. In this paper, zerumbone (1), 3-O-methyl kaempferol (2), kaempferol-3-O-(2, 4-di-O-acetyl-α- l -rhamnopyranoside) (3), and kaempferol-3-O-(3,4-di-O-acetyl-α- l -rhamnopyranoside) (4) were isolated from the rhizome of Z. zerumbet. The inhibitory effects of these compounds on NO and PGE2 production from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 macrophages were measured. Among them, 1 and 2 demonstrated potent inhibition of NO production, with respective IC50 values of 4.37 and 24.35 μM, and also significantly suppressed iNOS expression in a dose-dependent manner. However, 1 and 2 could inhibit PGE2 production only at high doses (20 and 40 μM, respectively), and COX-2 protein level was not affected. According to the in vitro study, 1 had greater anti-inflammatory effects than 2. Therefore, mice were administered with 1 (10 mg/kg) 1 h before carrageenan injection, and the oedema was significantly attenuated compared to the vehicle control. Mature rhizomes were richer in 1 and lower in moisture. We suggest that the economic cultivation period of Z. zerumbet is the 5th month after seeding when its functions as food and anti-inflammatory are maximum, because 1 is dramatically increased at that time.

The fresh rhizome of Zingiber zerumbet Smith (Zingiberaceae) is used as a food flavoring and also serves as a folk medicine as an antipyretic and for analgesics in Taiwan. Zerumbone, a monocyclic sesquiterpene was isolated from the rhizome of Z. zerumbet and is the major active compound. In this study, the anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive effects of zerumbone on arthritis were explored using in vitro and in vivo models. Results showed that zerumbone inhibited inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 expressions, and NO and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production, but induced heme oxygenase (HO)-1 expression in a dose-dependent manner in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. When zerumbone was co-treated with an HO-1 inhibitor (tin protoporphyrin (SnPP)), the NO inhibitory effects of zerumbone were recovered. The above results suggest that zerumbone inhibited iNOS and COX-2 through induction of the HO-1 pathway. Moreover, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-13 and COX-2 expressions of interleukin (IL)-1β-stimulated primary rat chondrocytes were inhibited by zerumbone. In an in vivo assay, an acetic acid-induced writhing response in mice was significantly reduced by treatment with zerumbone. Furthermore, zerumbone reduced paw edema and the pain response in a mono-iodoacetate (MIA)-induced rat osteoarthritis model. Therefore, we suggest that zerumbone possesses anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive effects which indicate zerumbone could be a potential candidate for osteoarthritis treatment.

We study the online linear optimization problem, in which a player has to make repeated online decisions with linear loss functions and hopes to achieve a small regret. We consider a natural restriction of this problem in which the loss functions have a small deviation, measured by the sum of the distances between every two consecutive loss functions. At the same time, we also consider a natural generalization, in which the regret is measured against a dynamic offline algorithm which can play different strategies in different rounds, but under the constraint that their deviation is small. We show that in this new setting, an online algorithm modified from the gradient descent algorithm can still achieve a small regret, which can be characterized in terms of the deviation of loss functions and the deviation of the offline algorithm. For the closely related online decision problem, we show that an online algorithm modified from the Hedge algorithm can also achieve a small regret in this new setting.

Cloud computing paradigm is becoming very popular these days. However, it does not include wireless sensors and mobile phones which are needed to enable new emerging applications such as remote home medical monitoring. Therefore, a combined Cloud-Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm provides scalable on-demand data storage and resilient computation power at the cloud side as well as anytime, anywhere health data monitoring at the IoT side. As both the privacy of personal medical data and flexible data access should be provided, the data in the Cloud are always encrypted and access control must be operated upon encrypted data together with being fine-grained to support diverse accessibility. Since a plain combination of encryption before access control is not robust and flexible, we propose a scheme with tailored design. The scheme makes use of cipher-policy attributes based encryption to empower robustness and flexibility. The scheme describes a general framework to solve the secure requirements, and leaves the flexibility of concrete constructions intentionally.

In this paper, we study an extension of atomic routing games for multi-class communication networks with quality of service requirements, which can be formulated as a network management scheme. Atomic routing games are non-cooperative games with multiple selfish players, where each player has to choose a path in a given graph to route his traffic, and then pays the corresponding cost. We develop a mixed-integer nonlinear programming model for the network management scheme in this class-based communication network. The analysis of this work offers appropriate resource allocation and a routing database identifying suitable end-to-end paths upon each connection request.

A Boolean function f : {0, 1}n → {0, 1} is called nondegenerate if f depends on all its n variables. We show that, for any nondegenerate function f, there exists a variable x i such that at least one of the restrictions f ↾xi=0 or f ↾xi=1 must depend on all the remaining n − 1 variables. We also consider lower bounds on the degrees of polynomials representing a Boolean function over different rings. Let d q (f) be the degree of the (unique) polynomial over the ring ℤ q exactly representing f. For distinct primes p i let m = Πr i=1 pei i . Then, we show that any nondegenerate symmetric Boolean function f must have m · d p1 e 1 (f)…d pr e r (f) > n. We use the existence of nondegenerate subfunctions to prove degree lower bounds on random functions. Specifically, we show that m · d p1 e 1 (f)…d pr e r (f) > lg n − 1 holds for almost all f when f is chosen uniformly at random from all n-variate Boolean functions. Our proof uses the second moment method to show that a random f must almost always contain a nondegenerate symmetric subfunction on at least lg n − 1 variables. It follows that an n-variate nondegenerate symmetric Boolean function can have degree o(√n) over at most one finite field and that almost all f can have degree o(√lg n) over at most one finite field.

Killian-Jamieson diverticulum (KJD) is a rare cervical esophageal abnormality. Transcervical approach has been the main treatment modality to prevent recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury. We presented two cases of patients confirmed with KJD and were managed successfully under rigid endoscope. The new technique and idea were described in detail. Under rigid laryngoscope, the septum between the true esophagus lumen and diverticulum can be exposed clearly. A microscope equipped with CO2 LASER system offered precise and focused point cutting energy to the septum. Several efforts were applied to prevent RLN injury in the cases descriptions. We use transnasal esophagoscope and eating assessment tool (EAT-10) for anatomic and functional result evaluation. Much improved symptoms of dysphagia and intact RLN function were observed. Under the assist of rigid laryngoscope and point-cutting CO2 LASER, KJD diverticulotomy could be performed safely with little complication for patients refusing transcervical route.

We study the problem of deterministically extracting almost perfect random bits from multiple weakly random sources that are mutually independent. With two independent sources, we have an explicit extractor which can extract a number of random bits that matches the best construction currently known, via the generalized leftover hash lemma. We also extend our construction to extract randomness from more independent sources. One nice feature is that the extractor still works even with all but one source exposed. Finally, we apply our extractor for a cryptographic task in which a group of parties wants to agree on a secret key for group communication over an insecure channel, without using ideal local randomness.

SummaryTriflamp, a metalloproteinase isolated from Trimeresurus flavoviridis, inhibits heterotypic adhesion between platelets and neutrophils. Coincubation studies demonstrate that direct interaction of triflamp with neutrophils is sufficient to inhibit the formation of neutrophil-platelet complexes. Its anti-adhesive effect is in a concentrationand incubation time-dependent manner. Triflamp reduces the expression of P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) on neutrophils and glycoprotein (GP) Ibα on platelets as probed by flow cytometry and Western blot. Moreover, triflamp disrupts P-selectin-mediated adhesion by cleaving PSGL-1 from the neutrophil surface.There are obvious differences regarding PSGL-1 proteolysis by triflamp and cathepsin G. Besides the NH2-terminus of PSGL-1, other sites are truncated by triflamp. The inhibitory effect of triflamp on PSGL-1 expression was prevented by pretreatment with a metalloproteinase inhibitor, phenanthroline. However, triflamptreated platelets fully keep the ability for binding to PAFor fMLP-stimulated neutrophils. Our results indicate that degradation of platelet GPIbα by triflamp does not interfere with neutrophil-platelet adhesion. Its effect on neutrophil PSGL-1 appears to be a critical factor for its inhibition on neutrophilplatelet interaction.

Objective.Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute febrile vasculitic syndrome in children. CD40 ligand (CD40L) has been implicated in certain types of vasculitis. We proposed that CD40L expression might be correlated with coronary artery lesions in KD.Methods.Blood samples were collected from 43 patients with KD before intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment and 3 days afterward. Forty-three age-matched febrile children with various diseases were studied in parallel as controls. CD40L expression on T-cells and platelets were detected by flow cytometry, and soluble CD40L (sCD40L) levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Results.We found that CD40L expression on CD4+ T-cells was significantly higher in patients with KD than in the febrile control (FC) group (28.69 ± 1.17% vs 4.37 ± 0.36%). CD40L expression decreased significantly 3 days after IVIG administration (28.69 ± 1.17% vs 13.53 ± 0.55%). CD40L expression on platelets from patients with KD was also significantly higher than in the FC group (8.20 ± 0.41% vs 1.26 ± 0.12%) and decreased after IVIG therapy. sCD40L levels were also significantly higher in KD patients with those of FC (9.69 ± 0.45 ng/mL vs 2.25 ± 0.19 ng/mL) but were not affected by IVIG treatment 3 days afterward (9.69 ± 0.45 ng/mL vs 9.03 ± 0.32 ng/mL). More interesting, we found that in KD patients, CD40L expression on CD4+ T-cells and platelets but not on CD8+ T-cells or sCD40L was correlated with the occurrence of coronary artery lesions.Conclusions.CD40L might play a role in the immunopathogenesis of KD. IVIG therapy might downregulate CD40L expression, resulting in decrease of CD40L-mediated vascular damage in KD. This implicates that modulation of CD40L expression may benefit to treat KD vasculitis.

Objective: To assess nitric oxide (NO) production and different displays of NO synthase (NOS) isoforms in patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) before and after intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment. Study design: Blood and urine samples were collected from patients with KD before IVIG treatment and 3 days afterward. Age-matched febrile patients with various diseases served as control patients. Plasma NOx (NO3- + NO2-) levels were measured as NO production. Real-time reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical staining were used to detect differential NOS isoform expression in mononuclear leukocytes (MNCs). Results: Patients with KD (n = 40) had higher levels of NOx than the non-KD febrile control patients. The elevated NOx levels in patients with KD were significantly associated with the occurrence of coronary artery dilation (>3 mm). These elevated NOx levels significantly decreased after IVIG treatment (157.8 ± 15.9 μmol/L vs 57.0 ± 4.27 μmol/L, P

Background Caffeine (CAF) has been shown to improve performance during early phase of repeated sprint exercise; however some studies show that CAF also increases the magnitude of physical stress represented by augmented blood lactate, glucose, and cortisol concentrations during latter phase of repeated sprint exercise. No studies have investigated the efficacy of combined carbohydrate (CHO) and CAF consumption during repeated sprint exercise (RSE) in female athletes. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of CAF with CHO supplementation on RSE and agility. Methods Eleven female athletes completed four experimental trials performed 7 d apart in a double-blind, randomized, and counter-balanced crossover design. Treatments included CAF + PLA (placebo), CAF + CHO, PLA + CHO, and PLA + PLA. Participants ingested capsules containing 6 mg · kg−1 of CAF or PLA 60-min prior to RSE, and 0.8 g · kg−1 of CHO solution or PLA immediately before the RSE, which consisted of ten sets of 5 × 4-s sprints on the cycle ergometer with 20-s active recovery. The agility T-test (AT-test) was performed before and after the RSE. Blood samples were acquired to assess glucose, lactate, testosterone, and cortisol. Results During Set 6 of RSE, peak power and mean power were significantly higher in PLA + CHO than those in CAF + PLA and PLA + PLA, respectively (p .05). Blood lactate and glucose concentrations were significantly higher under CAF + CHO, CAF + PLA, and PLA + CHO versus PLA + PLA (p .05). Conclusions Findings indicate that CAF + PLA or CAF + CHO ingestion did not improve repeated sprint performance with short rest intervals or agility. However, CHO ingested immediately prior to exercise provided a small but significant benefit on RSE performance in female athletes.

The stem with hook of Uncaria rhynchophylla (Chinese herbal name Gou-Teng) is a traditional Chinese medicine that has been ethnopharmacologically used to extinguish wind and clean interior heat. Rhynchophylline (RHY), a tetracyclic oxindole alkaloid isolated from U. rhynchophylla, displays significant antineuroinflammatory effects. However, there is no evidence to indicate that rhynchophylline can cross the blood-brain barrier and be detected in the brain. In this study, an in vivo microdialysis sampling method coupled with UPLC/MS/MS was employed for the continuous simultaneous monitoring of unbound RHY in rat blood and brain. The precursor ion → product ion transition at m/z 385.2 → 160.0 for rhynchophylline was monitored. A calibration curve gave good linearity (r0.996) over the concentration range from 0.5 to 1000 ng/mL. The results demonstrated that rhynchophylline could be detected in the brain and plasma from 15 min to 6 h after its administration (1 or 10 mg/kg, i.v.). All the pharmacokinetic parameters of rhynchophylline in the brain and plasma were obtained. These results show that rhynchophylline can cross the blood-brain barrier and they provide useful clinical information.

Purpose To compare post-operative complication rates between inpatient and outpatient endoscopic airway surgery in patients with laryngotracheal stenosis. Secondary objectives included characterization of a cohort of patients with this disease. Methods Retrospective review of patients with laryngotracheal stenosis in a tertiary care laryngology practice over a 5-year period. Results Ninety-one patients underwent 223 endoscopic airway surgeries. Of 114 outpatient interventions, 1 patient (0.8%) sought emergent medical care following discharge for respiratory distress. Of 109 procedures resulting in admission, no patients required transfer to a higher level of care, endotracheal intubation or placement of a surgical airway. There was no statistically significant difference in complication rates between patients treated as outpatients or inpatients (p = 0.33, chi square). There were no cardiopulmonary events. There were no pneumothoraces despite frequent use of jet ventilation. The most common etiologic category was idiopathic (58%), followed by granulomatosis with polyangiitis (16%) and history of tracheotomy (12%). Most patients with idiopathic disease were female (p Conclusion Patients undergoing endoscopic surgery for airway stenosis rarely have post-operative complications, and outpatient surgery appears to be a safe alternative to post-operative admission and observation.

Glaucoma is an irreversible ocular disease that may lead to progressive visual field loss and eventually to blindness with inadequately controlled intraocular pressure (IOP). Latanoprost is one of the most potent ocular hypotensive compounds, the current first-line therapy in glaucoma. However, the daily instillation required for efficacy and undesirable side-effects are major causes of treatment adherence failure and persistence in glaucoma therapy. In the present study, we developed an injectable thermosensitive chitosan/gelatin/glycerol phosphate (C/G/GP) hydrogel as a sustained-release system of latanoprost for glaucoma treatment. The latanoprost-loaded C/G/GP hydrogel can gel within 1min at 37°C. The results show a sustained release of latanoprost from C/G/GP hydrogel in vitro and in vivo. The latanoprost-loaded C/G/GP hydrogel showed a good in vitro and in vivo biocompatibility. A rabbit model of glaucoma was established by intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide. After a single subconjunctival injection of latanoprost-loaded C/G/GP hydrogel, IOP was significantly decreased within 8days and then remained at a normal level. The results of the study suggest that latanoprost-loaded C/G/GP hydrogel may have a potential application in glaucoma therapy.

The effect of gradual indium gallium nitride (InGaN) quantum wells (QWs) on the suppression of efficiency-droop in green light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is numerically investigated. The presented scheme increases the internal quantum efficiency by 45.5% at I=20nmA and 55.7% at I=100nmA, indicating a considerable reduction of efficiency-droop. This improvement is attributable mainly to the use of the gradual InGaN QW's structure that significantly alleviates band bending in the valence band, improving the transport efficiency of injected holes above that of conventional LEDs. The radiative recombination is thus enhanced as the overlap between electron and hole wave functions is increased. Most importantly, the leakage of injected electrons to p-type region is correspondingly reduced, in turn suppressing the efficiency-droop in the LED.

We present experimental results on the improved performance and high stable temperature characteristics of the InGaN green light-emitting diode (LED) with pre-trimethlyindium (pre-TMIn) flow treatment. By using pre-TMIn flow treatment, a relatively large radiative coefficient (B= 3.34×10-11 cm3·s-1) corresponding to a 9.2% enhancement in the internal quantum efficiency, as well as a significant reduction of leakage paths for injected carriers, was obtained. Most important, the pre-TMIn flow treatment evidently reduces the dependence of the external quantum efficiency on temperature and efficiency droop of green LEDs. The improvement is thought to be attributable to the preferential formation of In-rich dots upon pre-TMIn flow treatment, which effectively suppresses the trapping of excitons by threading dislocations and the overflowing of injected carriers outside the active regions at elevated temperatures.

Epimedin C, an ingredient of Herba Epimedii, has potential for treatment of cardiovascular disease and bone loss. However, there is still no sensitive analytical method to monitor epimedin C in biological samples. The goal of this study was to develop a sensitive and reliable method based on a LC-MS/MS for evaluating the pharmacokinetics of epimedin C after administration of Herba Epimedii in rat. Electrospray ionization in positive-ion mode and multiple reaction monitoring were used to identify and quantitate active components. Analytes were separated by a reverse-phase C18 column. Liquid-liquid extraction using ethyl acetate, evaporation and reconstitution was used to plasma sample preparation. Mass transition of precursor ion → product ion pairs were monitored at m/z 823.4 → 313.1 for epimedin C and m/z 237.1 → 178.9 for carbamazepine (internal standard). A calibration curve gave good linearity (r 0.999) over the concentration range 2.5-500 ng/mL. Pharmacokinetic data demonstrated that there was rapid distribution and slow elimination after epimedin C administration (1 mg/kg, i.v.). Oral bioavailabilities of epimedin C in the pure compound and in the Herba Epimedii were around 0.58% and 0.13%, respectively. The result suggests that other herbal ingredients of Herba Epimedii may suppress the oral bioavailability of epimedin C.

To examine the effects of a Chinese medical herb complex formula, Kuan-Sin-Yin (KSY) decoction, on hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers.Of 86 HBV carriers, 57 who met the inclusion criteria completed this study from February 2011 to December 2011 in Taipei City Hospital, Taiwan. The participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the KSY group (n=29) and a control group (n=28) that received KSY diluted 16 times. The participants took one packet of decoction per day after dinner for 6 weeks. The major outcome measurements were the percentage reduction in alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and the log of the HBV DNA level. The other measurements included seroconversion of hepatitis B e antigen and responses to the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) and Short-Form-12. The measurements were collected before the first treatment and 6 weeks later.In the KSY group, AST and ALT levels decreased significantly and the score on the physical component of WHOQOL-BREF increased significantly. However, in the control group, there was no significant change after 6 weeks of treatment. Only the KSY group had a significant percentage reduction in ALT (change, -25.2% versus -0.74% in the control group) after 6 weeks of treatment. No major adverse effects occurred after 6 weeks of treatment.KSY significantly improved ALT levels. The study suggests that a longer-term study testing the efficacy of KSY in a larger sample is warranted.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship development stages of asymmetric customer–supplier relationships. The structure of relationships between larger customers and smaller suppliers has been the focus of a number of studies in IMP (Industrial Marketing and Purchasing Group) research. But, there is a paucity of research that examines development stages in relationships where a difference in size between the parties exists. The paper links the characteristics of asymmetric customer–supplier relationships and the relationship development stages through a literature review. The findings from a set of five in-depth case studies of asymmetric customer–supplier relationships in the Taiwanese electronics industry are presented. The case studies involved 50 semi-structured interviews with customer and supplier executives and, in addition, multiple observations of customer–supplier interactions within each case study. Individual and cross-case analysis was conducted to examine the links between the characteristics of asymmetric customer–supplier relationships and relationship development stages. The findings revealed that asymmetric customer–supplier relationships in the Taiwanese electronics industry were very unbalanced and vulnerable in the exploratory stage of development. In the developing stage relationships were more likely to develop if suppliers and customers mirrored each other's behaviour and echoed each other's priorities. In the stable stage suppliers and customers worked on shared and balanced contributions to the relationship. The paper contributes to the understanding of how smaller suppliers and larger customers can identify and develop key sets of relationship characteristics through the exploratory, developing and stable stages of asymmetric relationship development from both customer and supplier perspectives.

Nowadays herbal medicines of skin-whitening cosmetics are popular with women. We attempted to find the whitening activity compounds present in many herbal medicines used for this purpose and discuss their mechanisms in melanin biosynthesis. The 70% acetone extracts of 10 kinds of herbs were investigated for their mushroom tyrosinase activity inhibition. Among these 10 extracts, Chinese galls showed inhibitory activity against tyrosinase, with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) value of 22 microg/ml. In a B16 mouse melanoma cell culture assay, Chinese galls dose-dependently inhibited melanin biosynthesis. Using ultraviolet A (UVA) or alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) to stimulate B16 cells after Chinese gall treatment, the melanin biosynthesis of B16 cells was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner. The active compounds of Chinese galls were isolated by column chromatography, and the melanin biosynthesis inhibition in B16 melanoma cells was measured. Three gallotannins, 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-galloyl-D-glucopyranose, 1,2,3,6-tetra-O-galloyl-beta-D-glucopyranose, and 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-beta-D-glucopyranose, were isolated from Chinese gall extract, and their IC(50) values of tyrosinase inhibition activity were 54, 30, and 15 muM, respectively. By the mushroom tyrosinase inhibition kinetics assay, the three gallotannins were all determined to be non-competitive inhibitors. These results indicated that Chinese galls inhibit melanin biosynthesis, associated with hyperpigmentation and can be used as skin-whitening cosmetics for skin care.

Drawing on the relational view from sociologist and stewardship perspective in strategy field, this study aims to show how family social capital shapes firm innovativeness through the company-wide ...

A variety of different control methods have been reported to achieve adaptive voltage position (AVP). In this paper, a new control method NAVP (native adaptive voltage positioning) was proposed and implemented. It features good performances in phase-current sharing, transient response and DC output voltage regulation. Discussions about compensator design for this method is also included. Simulations results and silicon implementation of this control method verified the concept.

Ammonium hexafluorotitanate and boric acid aqueous solutions were used as precursors for the growth of titanium oxide films on indium tin oxide (ITO)/glass substrate. For as-grown titanium oxide film used in an electrochromic device, Li+ ions from electrolyte will be trapped to hydroxyl groups and degrade the electrochromic durability during the cyclic voltammogram characterization. For niobium doped titanium oxide film, lower growth rate from more HF incorporation from the niobium doped solution and rougher surface morphology from the formation of nanocrystals were obtained. However, niobium doping reduces hydroxyl groups and the electrochromic durability is enhanced from 5 × 103 to 1 × 104 times. The transmittance is enhanced from 37 to 51% at the wavelength of 550 nm.