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Appropriate treatment of primary aldosteronism (PA) depends on accurate lateralization. 11 C-metomidate (MTO) is a tracer used in PET that provides functional information about the adrenal cortex. We aimed to perform MTO PET for patients with PA who are managed according to the guideline and to verify its correlation with other lateralization modalities and usefulness in outcome prediction.Seventeen patients with PA who underwent MTO PET and had ≥1 lateralization modality (adrenal venous sampling and/or NP-59 adrenal scintigraphy) were included. SUV max of each adrenal gland (higher uptake side, HSUV max ; lower uptake side, LSUV max ) and the ratio of HSUV max to LSUV max (contrast) were compared with lateralization modalities, postsurgical outcomes, and medical treatment outcomes. Cutoff values were used as outcome predictors.HSUV max and LSUV max increased in the order of bilateral, unilateral, and negative findings of CT, with opposite order of contrast. High discordant rate between MTO PET and other lateralization modalities was noted. Biochemical responders (n = 8) had significantly lower HSUV max and LSUV max than nonresponders, and clinical responders (n = 6) had borderline lower HSUV max than nonresponders. By optimal cutoff values of HSUV max and LSUV max , MTO PET was able to predict biochemical and clinical outcomes in patients with medical treatment.According to adrenal CT findings, MTO PET presented different uptake patterns. Patients with PA under medical treatment showed significantly lower tracer uptake in responders. Thus, MTO PET may be a useful imaging biomarker to predict medical treatment outcome. Multicenter prospective study with a larger number of patients is needed for further validation.

Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is the method most commonly used to assess patients with suspected coronary artery disease for the presence of myocardial ischemia and risk of subsequent adverse cardiac events. Studies are limited on the incidence of major adverse cardiac event (MACE) in patients with normal MPI results.The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and risk factors of MACE in patients with normal or near-normal MPI results.In this single-center retrospective chart review study, patients who had received MPI tests at a nuclear medicine department of a medical center in 2017 were consecutively enrolled. All of the participants in this study were patients with normal or near-normal MPI results, and were followed for two years to assess the incidence of MACE (death, hospitalized for percutaneous coronary intervention; CABG, heart failure and stroke). Participants with or without MACE were compared to determine whether demographic, comorbidity, and MPI data were significant risk factors.Of the 1,629 participants (age = 70.4 ± 11.3 years, 49.4% male) enrolled, 387 (23.8%) were classified into the normal MPI group and 1,242 (76.2%) were classified into the near-normal MPI group. Notably, 61 participants (15.8%) in the normal MPI group and 206 (16.6%) in the near-normal MPI group experienced MACE events during the two-year follow-up. The risk factors of MACE identified in this study included being older in age, being male, and having poor myocardial perfusion parameters (i.e., ejection fraction) during MPI.Over the two-year study period, 15.8% of the participants with normal MPI results and 16.6% of those with near-normal MPI results experienced major adverse cardiac events. Thus, it is critical to inform patients regarding the potential risk of MACE risk and to educate them on how to mitigate this risk by actively managing their hyperlipidemia level and left ventricular ejection fraction.正常與近似正常心肌血流灌注掃描之醫療資料分析—兩年內重大心臟血管不良事件風險.心肌血流灌注掃描（myocardial perfusion imaging, MPI）廣泛應用在檢查心肌缺血及冠狀動脈疾病，目前對於MPI檢查正常與日後發生重大心臟血管不良事件（major adverse cardiac event, MACE）的現況尚不清楚。.針對接受藥物性MPI檢查之病人（≥ 20歲），且MPI結果為正常或接近正常者，分析其2年內MACE的發生率及危險因子。.此為回顧性病歷觀察研究，資料收集期間為2017年1月至2017年12月止，利用核醫報告系統取得病人資料，其接受加藥式MPI檢查結果為正常或接近正常者，並與醫療資料庫進行串接；採描述性統計及羅吉斯迴歸分析等進行資料分析。.研究納入1,629人，平均年齡為70.4歲，男女比例相當。MPI正常組有387人，兩年內發生MACE有61人（15.8%）；MPI接近正常組有1,242人，兩年內發生MACE有206人（16.6 %）；此外，年齡較高、男性、MPI檢查較差的壓力態左心室射出分率是MACE的危險因子。.本研究發現MPI正常並非零風險，2年內發生MACE機率有15.8%，MPI接近正常則16.6%，對於此類病人，清楚的衛教MACE風險及危險因子控管是照護的重點。.

Traumatic injury, including bone fracture, is, to date, one of the leading causes of koala mortality in the South East Queensland region of Australia. Further, the specialist diet of koalas, which is restricted to certain Eucalyptus spp., may impact their normal bone physiology. Considering the dramatic koala population decline and high incidence of trauma, a greater understanding of koala bone physiology may support conservation. We retrieved from GenBank the protein sequences of parathyroid hormone (PTH), osteocalcin (OCN), and tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNALP) in human, dog, cattle, horse, koala, and gray short-tailed opossum. After homology was determined, plasma samples from 13 koalas were analyzed with human PTH, OCN, and bone-specific ALP (BALP) assay kits. Although koala PTH exhibited relatively low sequence homology with placental mammals, high sequence homology between humans and koalas was observed for both OCN and TNALP, and successful cross-reactivity was achieved using human enzyme immunoassay kits for detection of OCN and BALP biomarkers in koala plasma. However, we identified no correlation between OCN and BALP concentrations of healthy and trauma-affected koalas ( p = 0.66 and p = 0.79, respectively). Further analysis of OCN and BALP in healthy and diseased koalas will allow a better understanding of bone physiology in this unique marsupial.

Electric field–induced release and measurement (EFIRM) is a novel, plate-based, liquid biopsy platform capable of detecting circulating tumor DNA containing EGFR mutations directly from saliva and plasma in both early- and late-stage patients with non–small-cell lung cancer. We investigated the properties of the target molecule for EFIRM and determined that the platform preferentially detects single-stranded DNA molecules. We then investigated the properties of the EFIRM assay and determined the linearity, linear range, precision, and limit of detection for six different EGFR variants (the four most common g.Exon19del variants), p.T790M, and p.L858R). The limit of detection was in single-digit copy number for the latter two mutations, and the limit of detection for Exon19del was 5000 copies. Following these investigations, technical validations were performed for four separate EFIRM liquid biopsy assays, qualitative and quantitative assays for both saliva and plasma. We conclude that EFIRM liquid biopsy is an assay platform that interrogates a biomarker not targeted by any other extant platform (namely, circulating single-stranded DNA molecules). The assay has acceptable performance characteristics in both quantitative and qualitative assays on both saliva and plasma.

Six mature, male koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), with clinical signs of chlamydiosis, were administered doxycycline as a 5 mg/kg subcutaneous injection, once a week for four weeks. Blood was collected at standardised time points (T = 0 to 672 h) to quantify the plasma doxycycline concentrations through high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). In five koalas, the doxycycline plasma concentration over the first 48 h appeared to have two distinct elimination gradients; therefore, a two-compartmental analysis was undertaken to describe the pharmacokinetic (PK) profile. The average ± SD maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) was 312.30 ± 107.74 ng/mL, while the average time ± SD taken to reach the maximum plasma concentration (Tmax) was 1.68 ± 1.49 h. The mean ± SD half-life of the distribution phase (T1/2 α) and the elimination phase (T1/2 β) were 10.51 ± 7.15 h and 82.93 ± 37.76 h, respectively. The average ± SD percentage of doxycycline binding to koala plasma protein was 83.65 ± 4.03% at three different concentrations, with a mean unbound fraction (fu) of 0.16. Using probability of target attainment modelling, doxycycline plasma concentrations were likely to inhibit 90% of pathogens with the doxycycline minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 8.0–31.0 ng/mL, and the reported doxycycline MIC to inhibit Chlamydia pecorum isolates at the area under the curve/minimum inhibitory concentration (AUC/MIC) target of ≥24. All koalas were confirmed to be negative for Chlamydia pecorum using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), from ocular and penile urethra swabs, three weeks after the last doxycycline injection.

Background/Purpose: To explore the association of patient injury patterns and entrapped locations inside damaged buildings in the 2016 Taiwan earthquake. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted using the Tainan incident registry system. Residents inside nine conjunctive, 16-story (49.3 m in height) reinforced concrete buildings were categorized as non-injured, injured, and dead. Residents were classified into different groups according to their entrapped locations in height and the severity of building damage. The field triage acuity and trauma severity among groups were compared. Statistical significance was set at the level of 0.05. Results: There were 309 enrollees with 76 (24.6%) non-injured, 118 (38.2%) injured, and 115 (37.2%) dead. Residents either in the high floors (odds ratio [OR] = 2.9, 95% CI: 1.5–5.8, p = 0.003) or in the collapsed buildings (OR = 18.2, 95% CI: 7.6–43.6, p

Supplemental material, Supplemental_material for Bone biomarkers in koalas: validation of assays and preliminary analyses by Chien-Jung Chen, Stephen T. Anderson, Natasha Steiger, Allan McKinnon, Joerg Henning and Rachel Allavena in Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation

This study designs an experimental system to simulate two controlling stages, namely injection and packing, in the injection molding process. During the injection stage, injection speed is the main concern while during the packing stage, packing pressure is the main concern. A servo-hydraulic system that uses servo motors and hydraulic pumps to provide energy for injection molding, which combines the advantages of a hydraulic injection molding machine (e.g., small volume but high working force) and an all-electric injection molding machine (e.g., quiet, energy efficiency, stable working performance), is investigated in the experimental system. Hence, the experimental system includes a servo motor and a pump. Because of the fast response requirements of hydraulic systems, it is necessary to apply a microcontroller unit (MCU) in the servo-hydraulic system with a proper sampling rate and a good control algorithm in order to meet the expected performance specifications. In order to determine the optimal sampling rate, MCUs with different sampling rates were applied in the experiment. Additionally, it is difficult to use a proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controller to meet the expected performance specifications for non-linear systems such as hydraulic systems. Thus, a self-tuning fuzzy PID controller is designed so as to provide the experiment system with a better response and more stable packing pressure control. The self-tuning fuzzy PID controller with a high sampling rate was applied in the experimental system in order to meet the performance requirements of a servo-hydraulic system for an injection molding machine.

Electric field–induced release and measurement (EFIRM) is a novel, plate-based, liquid biopsy platform capable of detecting circulating tumor DNA containing EGFR mutations directly from saliva and plasma in both early- and late-stage patients with non–small-cell lung cancer. We investigated the properties of the target molecule for EFIRM and determined that the platform preferentially detects single-stranded DNA molecules. We then investigated the properties of the EFIRM assay and determined the linearity, linear range, precision, and limit of detection for six different EGFR variants (the four most common g.Exon19del variants), p.T790M, and p.L858R). The limit of detection was in single-digit copy number for the latter two mutations, and the limit of detection for Exon19del was 5000 copies. Following these investigations, technical validations were performed for four separate EFIRM liquid biopsy assays, qualitative and quantitative assays for both saliva and plasma. We conclude that EFIRM liquid biopsy is an assay platform that interrogates a biomarker not targeted by any other extant platform (namely, circulating single-stranded DNA molecules). The assay has acceptable performance characteristics in both quantitative and qualitative assays on both saliva and plasma.

In the face of a rapidly changing climate and global energy crisis, this study proposes the concept of green building information modeling (Green BIM), and suggests the use of a decision-making cycle when performing building performance analysis (BPA) to obtain design proposals with optimized environmental effectiveness in response to local climate conditions when BIM is used as a basic tool from the beginning of the design process.Taking building energy performance analysis as an example, in comparison with other domestic and foreign research, the important contributions of the study include: (1)Based on a design decision-making perspective, a Green BIM-based decision-making cycle can integrate the practical steps of BIM and BPA. (2) Furthermore, this study also finds that meteorological data in a format that can be used in BPA is not easy to obtain. Nevertheless, virtual weather station technology developed using cloud technology can enable a building project to obtain simulated meteorological d...

A 10-residue, glycosaminoglycan-binding peptide, GBPECP, derived from human eosinophil cationic protein has been recently designated as a potent cell-penetrating peptide. A model system containing peptide, glycan, and lipid was monitored by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to determine the cell-penetrating mechanism. Heparin octasaccharide with dodecylphosphocholine (DPC) lipid micelle was titrated into the GBPECP solution. Our data revealed substantial roles for the charged residues Arg5 and Lys7 in recognizing heparin, whereas Arg3 had less effect. The aromatic residue Trp4 acted as an irreplaceable moiety for membrane insertion, as the replacement of Trp4 with Arg4 abolished cell penetration, although it significantly improved the heparin-binding ability. GBPECP bound either heparin or lipid in the presence or absence of the other ligand indicating that the peptide has two alternative binding sites: Trp4 is responsible for lipid insertion, and Arg5 and Lys7 are for GAG binding. We develope...

This study explores a new way to integrate advanced display technology into educational activities for children with different disabilities. A free interactive mobile augmented reality (AR) application was developed to facilitate the learning of geometry. Twenty-one elementary school children participated in an experiment. The results show that the AR system could help the school children to finish puzzle game activities independent of teacher’s assistance. With the use of AR display technology, the participants demonstrated improved ability to complete puzzle game tasks when compared to the use of traditional paper-based methods. Performance data indicated that the use of AR technology could enhance learning motivation and frustration tolerance in children with special needs.

The direct imaging of photonic nanojets in different dielectric microdisks illuminated by a laser source is reported. The SiO 2 and Si 3 N 4 microdisks are of height 650 nm with diameters ranging from 3 μm to 8 μm. The finite-difference time-domain calculation is used to execute the numerical simulation for the photonic nanojets in the dielectric microdisks. The photonic nanojet measurements are performed with a scanning optical microscope system. The photonic nanojets with high intensity spots and low divergence are observed in the dielectric microdisks illuminated from the side with laser source of wavelengths 405 nm, 532 nm and 671 nm. The experimental results of key parameters are compared to the simulations and in agreement with theoretical results. Our studies show that photonic nanojets can be efficiently created by a dielectric microdisk and straightforwardly applied to nano-photonics circuit.

As heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) are known as co-receptors to interact with numerous growth factors and then modulate downstream biological activities, overexpression of HS/HSPG on cell surface acts as an increasingly reliable prognostic factor in tumor progression. Cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) are short-chain peptides developed as functionalized vectors for delivery approaches of impermeable agents. On cell surface negatively charged HS provides the initial attachment of basic CPPs by electrostatic interaction, leading to multiple cellular effects. Here a functional peptide (CPPecp) has been identified from critical HS binding region in hRNase3, a unique RNase family member within vitroantitumor activity. In this study we analyze a set of HS-binding CPPs derived from natural proteins including CPPecp. In addition to cellular binding and internalization, CPPecpdemonstrated multiple functions including strong binding activity to tumor cell surface with higher HS expression, significant inhibitory effects on cancer cell migration, and suppression of angiogenesisin vitroandin vivo. Moreover, different from conventional highly basic CPPs, CPPecpfacilitated magnetic nanoparticle to selectively target tumor sitein vivo. Therefore, CPPecpcould engage its capacity to be developed as biomaterials for diagnostic imaging agent, therapeutic supplement, or functionalized vector for drug delivery.

Background/PurposeExplaining the risks and benefits of recombinant tissue-plasminogen activator (rtPA) to eligible patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) within a few minutes is important but difficult. We examined whether a new thrombolysis program can decrease the door-to-needle (DTN) time when treating patients with AIS.MethodsA new rtPA thrombolysis program with video assistance was adapted for patients with AIS and their families. We retrospectively compared outcome quality before (2009–2011) and after (2012) the program began. Outcomes included DTN time, the percentage of rtPA thrombolysis within 3 hours of onset in all hospitalized patients with AIS who presented within 2 hours of onset (2hr%) and the percentage of rtPA thrombolysis in all hospitalized patients with AIS (AIS%).ResultsWe recruited patients with AIS who had undergone thrombolytic therapy before (n = 18) and after (n = 14) the initiation of the new program. DTN time decreased (93 ± 24 minutes to 57 ± 14 minutes, p

A 10-residue, glycosaminoglycan-binding peptide, GBP

According to the case-based reasoning of natural ventilation designs in recommended Green Buildings, an investigated model space was proposed in this study. FDS simulations and full-scale experiments were carried out to measure the impact of natural ventilation conditions and the installation of a natural ventilation shaft on smoke layer descent during different fire scenarios. The feasibility of using the N-percentage rule to determine the fire smoke layer height in a naturally ventilated space was also investigated. In a non-fire room, the smoke descent curve determined from the FDS simulated temperatures is consistent with the experimentally measured temperatures and visual observation of the smoke layer. However, the thermocouples in the fire room are affected by direct burning and fire radiation, and the experimentally measured temperatures cannot be used to determine the smoke height. Under these conditions, FDS simulations can be used to compensate for the lack of experimental measurements. In fire scenarios without outdoor winds blowing into the building’s interior, FDS simulations can reliably model the fire smoke layer height. When outdoor air blows into the interior, it causes the smoke layer temperature to become unstable. Thus, the temperature will not be thermally stratified, and the use of the N-percentage rule is not recommended.

The estimation of rock pressure induced by an excavation/cut in sedimentary rocks is addressed in this study. A simplified stochastic model is proposed to model this rock pressure to account for sliding along parallel bedding planes as well as random friction angles on these bedding planes. Simulations show that the classical Rankine and Coulomb theories typically give active pressures much larger than those predicted by the proposed model. A simplified reliability-based design approach is developed to calibrate the required partial factors for the determination of design rock pressure. The proposed approach is demonstrated over a case study for northern Taiwan. Design charts are developed to facilitate the determination of design rock pressures induced by excavation/cut in sedimentary rocks.

The business-operating environment nowadays is in a severe changing situation and, as a result, triggers an increasingly fierce competition in the development of offshore business and bases. This makes selection of suitable expatriate personnel more and more important for companies. Taking graduates who are about to start their career in the society as subjects, this study focuses on the effect of personal career development management on the willingness to relocate in the future. Data are analyzed using Pearson correlation, multiple regression and structural equation modeling. The result shows that the career development management of the students graduating from a management college of a university has a significant effect on their willingness to relocate and can be well predicted. This study puts forward practical and academic suggestions based on this result.

This study proposes a numerical model to investigate the behavior of steel beam-to-column connections in fires. Two strategies have been employed to transfer thermal results from a fire simulation to structural analysis. A full scale fire test was performed on a steel beam-to-column connection following the ISO 834 standard fire curve; it was simulated to verify the proposed methods. The wall temperatures obtained by FDS were used as an interface for fire exposure on the surface of the structure. The numerical results are in agreement with the experimental data. In addition, the size effect of the furnace and a sensitivity analysis on insulation materials had been studied. Two reduced beam sections were analyzed and compared with the simulation results of an unreduced beam section. Both sections were able to withstand the severity of the blaze with the runway phenomenon occurred after a similar period of time for each beam.

Tert-butyl peroxide (TBPO) is a typical organic peroxide that has caused many thermal runaway reactions and explosions. Due to unknown and insufficient hazard information, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were employed to determine the fundamental thermokinetic parameters that involve exothermic onset temperature (T0), heat of decomposition (ΔHd), and other safety parameters exclusively for loss prevention of runaway reactions and thermal explosions from a reactor. Frequency factor (A) and activation energy (Ea) were calculated by Kissinger method and Ozawa method via DSC experimental data. In view of loss prevention, calorimetric applications and model evaluation to integrate thermal hazard development were adequate means for inherently safer design. Key-words. tert-butyl peroxide (TBPO), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), exothermic onset temperature (T0), heat of decomposition (ΔHd), activation energy (Ea)

Experiments were conducted in a full-scale model room equipped with both movable and fixed fire loads to explore fire growth and spread via heat release rates, indoor air temperature and species concentration. The room space is a brick structure that measures 5.7 m in interior length, 4.7 m in width and 2.4 m in ceiling height. The northeast and southeast corners each feature a 2.1 m × 0.9 m open doorway. Numerical simulations with parameter adaptation were carried out using FDS software to predict the fire features and were compared with the experimental results. In this study, the material properties and oxygen limit settings in the FDS software were tested to explore their influence on the tendency of heat release rate and on the total amount of heat release. The results show that the heat release rate from the FDS simulations is comparable to the full-scale experiment results during the fire growth period. Temperature profile near ceiling can be modeled well. In the full-involvement burning and decaying periods, the qualitative trends were identical, although the simulated value differed greatly from the experimental result.

Experiments were conducted in a full-scale model office equipped with movable and fixed fire loads to explore the influence of ignition source (movable fire load(s)) conditions on smoke detector and sprinkler actuation. The interior plan dimension is 5.7 m × 4.7 m and the net ceiling height is 3.3 m. Both northeast and southeast wings have a 2.1 m × 0.9 m single door to be opened. Seven fire scenarios (seven different ignited fire load configurations) under natural ventilation were investigated experimentally. The results show that the amount of fire load at the initial stage in a room fire does not markedly affect smoke generation and does not significantly impact the actuation time of the smoke detectors. When the fire source is located near a corner, the plume corner effect greatly increases; smoke detectors and sprinklers can activate quickly and effectively actuate the fire suppression. When the fire source is located in the room's center, given the uncertainty regarding smoke detector and sprinkler actuation, it may not be possible to control the fire spread.

An experiment is conducted on a full-scale model office and an actual sprinkler system to explore the influence of fire source locations on sprinkler actuation. The office space is a brick structure that measures 5.7 m in interior length, 4.7 m in width and 2.4 m in ceiling height, and equipped with a sprinkler system. The investigated fire source (100 kW LPG burner) locations include the room center, wall centers, room corner, and other locations at different distances from sprinklers. The results show that actuation of the sprinklers is affected by the fire source locations and the heat conduction properties of the glass temperature-sensing bulb. Average actuation time of all the tests is 102 s, around 40 s faster than if the fire source is located in the room center. For fire sources in corners, sprinklers are quickly activated at the experimental time 75 s, showing concentrated hot gas flow.

In this work, an actual office fire with a partially impaired automatic sprinkler system was investigated. As per regulations, there were four sprinklers in this model office. In the research conducted here, the first three sprinklers were actuated without water supply, while the last sprinkler was supplied with water at the required operating pressure for a period of 30 min. The fire source, a burning plastic trash can filled with 0.5 kg of paper, burned the adjacent chair, desk, desktop computer, and then reached the interior wooden furniture. The results show that the single remaining sprinkler effectively controlled the fire spread for 30 min. The partially impaired sprinkler system does not completely extinguish the fire, but extends the available time for evacuation. Continuing the discharge from sprinklers is preferable since the heat release from the fire increased after water flow was terminated.

This study developed a full-scale smoke-barrier system and established a testing procedure to investigate wall openings of various geometric shapes, which may be passageway for cables and pipes and are usually of irregular shapes, for different pressure differences and temperatures. In addition, a simple analytical model was developed to correlate the experiment data. The results showed that the smoke leakage rate was dependent on several factors, including pressure difference, gas temperature, geometric shape and area of opening. The rate of smoke leakage was proportional to the square root of the pressure difference or to the reciprocal of the square root of the upstream gas temperature. An opening of higher perimeter-to-area ratio had higher resistance against smoke flow and thus allowed smaller rate of smoke leakage. Finally, a geometric loss factor was assigned to the tested wall opening to indicate its smoke leakage characteristics. In the study, the capability of the testing device and the application of the testing procedure were verified to be suitable for the fire tests of more complicate objects, such as smoke barriers or doors, in the future.

High color gamut, high brightness and high resolution 0.59″ SVGA liquid-crystal-on-Silicon (LCOS) panel is developed using novel color sequential technology. Design of frame-buffer-like pixels excludes the period of data addressing in the sub-frame and relaxes the design rules of the electric circuit and the LCOS panel. In addition, implementation of reset voltage makes the panel to achieve high performance at 360 Hz field rate. The color gamut is larger than 120% NTSC ratio and the reflectance is 70%.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of free interactive games invention program on jumping performance. This study design interactive games using motion capture technology that enable participant to interact using body motion in augmented environment. Scratch 2.0, using an augmented-reality function via webcam, creates real world and virtual reality merge at the same screen. Scratch-based motion capture system which uses physical activities as the input stimulate. This study uses a webcam integration that tracks movements and allows participants to interact physically with the project, to enhance the motivation of children in elementary. Participants are 7 children in elementary school; the independent variable was some interactive games arranged by the authors, the dependent variable was the immediate effect by the intervention program on jumping performance. The experimental location was in a classroom of elementary school. The results show the Scratch-base free support system could be allowed the participants some clues, so they could have the motivation to do physical activities by themselves. The participants have a significant achievement via free Scratch-base augmented reality instead of traditional activities.

A series of burning tests were conducted on motor scooters by using a 10 MW large-scale fire products collector. The emissions characteristics and heat release rates of burning motor scooters were identified. From the experimental measurements, it was found that one motor scooter had a peak heat release rate of 1 MW, furthermore two scooters and three scooters had 2 MW and 4 MW peak heat release rate respectively. As the number of scooters increased, the duration of the fully-developed burning period became shorter. However, the ignition and fire spreading patterns affected the maximal heat release rate considerably.

The September 21, 1999 Chi‐Chi Earthquake caused great destruction and the deaths of 2492 people. In this paper, the major cause of high mortality in the Chi‐Chi Earthquake is inferred by examining the death certificates and construction types of buildings. In addition, the cash relief lists of victims, housing tax records, and demographic data by county, were examined and verified by field visits. Among the 2360 identified victims, there were 2211 victims (94%) who died from the collapse of buildings and 149 victims (6%) who died from other causes, such as landslides. Of the victims who died from the collapse of buildings, 43.5% were in mud‐brick residences; 18.6% were in 10‐to 15‐story RC residential buildings; 16.4% were in RC buildings shorter than 6 stories; 17.4% were in masonry (including reinforced masonry) buildings; 4.1% were in other type buildings. The statistics of mortality and the types of buildings in which victims stayed explicitly show that the collapse of mud‐brick residences w...