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We report the development of laboratory astrophysics program in Taiwan. We begin with outlining Taiwan's participation in the FLASH collaboration for measuring the fluorescence yield using SLAC 28.5 GeV electron beam. We then report the domestic effort of studying cosmic ray shower properties using NSRRC 1.5 GeV electron beam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the dynamic response of a fixed–fixed beam with an internal hinge on elastic foundation, which is subjected to a moving oscillator with uncertain parameters such as random mass, stiffness, damping, velocity and acceleration. This model can be used to simulate the interaction among the train (vehicle), track and foundation, as well as simulate the bridge–vehicle interaction without considering the elastic foundation. In particular, the distributed parameter system is assumed to be a beam of Bernoulli–Euler type, and the system dynamic response is a random process despite its deterministic characteristics. By utilizing the modal analysis and Galerkin’s method, we can obtain a set of approximate governing equations of motion with time-dependent random coefficients and forcing functions. The improved perturbation technique is adopted to evaluate the statistical characteristics of the deflection of the beam, and the Monte Carlo simulation is used to check the results from the improved perturbation technique. The statistical response of the structure from the proposed approach plays an important role in estimating the structural safety and reliability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Recently, nanomechanics research has been quite popular and significant in estimating the mechanics properties of nanoparticle used in electronics engineering, material engineering, mechanical engineering, and construction engineering. Nanomachines working in the fluid are the size of Brownian particles, however, some movements, such as biomolecular motions in which the variance of nanoparticle position is nonlinear in tiny times, are therefore called non-Brownian motion. In the present study, we propose a model of a nanoparticle by considering it as an elastic body instead of assuming it is rigid. The modeling of the nanoparticle and then the modeling of impact transfer are adopted to predict the non-Brownian motion. By solving the stochastic governing equation for the nanoparticle, we are able to estimate the variance of nanoparticle motion with respect to time. The results based on the proposed model match with those by experimental observations. In conclusion, the proposed model can be adopted to measure the mechanics properties of nanoparticles; these properties will enable us to manipulate the nanoparticles such as biomolecules and to control an autonomous machine in nanosize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we report the case of a 69-year-old Chinese Han woman who presented with liver cirrhosis, diabetes mellitus, skin hyperpigmentation, hyperferritinaemia and high transferrin saturation. Subsequent genetic analyses identified a novel heterozygous mutation (p. Cys326 Phe) in the SLC40A1 gene. This is the first report regarding a SLC 40 A 1 mutation in the Chinese Han population and provides novel clinical evidence for the importance of p. Cys326 in SLC 40 A 1 gene function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In a test experiment at the Final Focus Test Beam of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, the fluorescence yield of 28.5GeV electrons in air and nitrogen was measured. The measured photon yields between 300 and 400nm at 1atm and 29°C arephotons per electron per meter. Assuming that the fluorescence yield is proportional to the energy deposition of a charged particle traveling through air, good agreement with measurements at lower particle energies is observed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The NuTel collaboration is building a wide field-of-view Čerenkov telescope to be installed on a mountain site for observing near horizontal air showers emerging from another mountain. Cosmic tau neutrinos is the primary source of such showers. This technique will be realized for the first time in the ντ energy range of 2 PeV to 1000 PeV. The telescope has enough sensitivity to observe cosmic neutrinos from sources like Active Galactic Nuclei and Galactic Center assuming fluxes from current theoretical models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim The study aimed to identify the factors predictive for extreme unresponsiveness to neoadjuvant therapy for rectal cancer. Method Ninety-six patients with rectal cancer received neoadjuvant therapy (41 were treated with radiotherapy and 55 with chemoradiotherapy) before surgery. Tumour response, downstaging, pathological complete response (pCR) and disease-free survival were evaluated. Results Tumour response, downstaging and pCR occurred in 70 (72.9%), 47 (49.0%) and 14 (14.6%) patients, respectively. Univariate analyses showed that a large tumour size, T4 stage, elevated serum tumour markers, poor differentiation, radiotherapy alone and mucinous tumour were indicators of poor tumour response and/or downstaging. On multivariate analysis, chemoradiotherapy was found to be predictive for tumour response and downstaging, whereas mucinous type and T4 stage negatively affected tumour response. No variable was found to be associated with pCR, but poor differentiation and T4 stage together predicted extreme unresponsiveness with a high specificity and a high positive predictive value. Very poor disease-free survival was also observed in patients simultaneously carrying these phenotypes. Conclusion Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy is superior to radiotherapy alone in producing a response of rectal cancer. Unresponsiveness was most likely to occur in patients with poor differentiation and T4 disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]