Devastating chest wall necrotizing fasciitis following pigtail catheter drainage

SummaryPigtail catheter for drainage of pleural effusion has gained popularity. Complication related to the insertion of these small-bore catheter is low. In this report, we highlight two cases with devastating necrotizing fasciitis of chest wall following pigtail catheter insertion

Asymptomatic ratio for seasonal H1N1 influenza infection among schoolchildren in Taiwan

Studies indicate that asymptomatic infections do indeed occur frequently for both seasonal and pandemic influenza, accounting for about one-third of influenza infections. Studies carried out during the 2009 pH1N1 pandemic have found significant antibody response against seasonal H1N1 and H3N2 vaccine strains in schoolchildren receiving only pandemic H1N1 monovalent vaccine, yet reported either no symptoms or only mild symptoms

TONGUE DIAGNOSIS OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE FOR RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic autoimmune disease with unknown etiology that causes the immune system to attack the joints (synoviums), causing chronic inflammation. According to the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), RA falls into the category of Impediment disease (「Bi」 syndrome), i.e., poor circulation of qi and blood (stasis). Tongue diagnosis is an important method of TCM to detect blood stasis. In this study, 74 RA patients, meeting the pre-set criteria, were recruited via rheumatology outpatient clinic and examined by experienced rheumatologist physicians. Two images-one of the tongue and the other, sublingual vessels-of the same patient were taken by a Canon digital camera in a darkroom with uniform lighting conditions. Relevant features of the tongue were extracted by utilizing image processing techniques. Every tongue was classified into corresponding patterns based on the features identified. The subjects included 62 females and 12 males with an average age of 49.86±13.81 years old, an average morbidity period of 4.56±3.92 years, an average rheumatoid factor(RF) of 225.3±373.8 IU/mL and an average erythrocyte sedimentation rate of (ESR) 40.9±31.9m/hr. According to our study, 86% of the patients with RA have tongues with sublingual vessels with a width of more than 2.7mm, a length of more than 3/5 from tongue tipto sublingual caruncle , or a count of sublingual vessels more than 2. Moreover, since RA index is highly correlated with blood stasis in TCM, a logistic regression is conducted to predict the probability of presence of RA using RF and ESR as explanatory variables. Also, the logistic regression analysis of RA with respect to the conventional tongue diagnosis criteria was performed. Based on the aforementioned studies, we concluded that tongue diagnosis is helpful in detecting blood stasis of RA

Fully Autonomous Mixed Signal SoC Design & Layout Generation Platform

We present FASoC, the world’s first autonomous mixed-signal SoC framework driven entirely by user constraints, along with a suite of automated generators for analog blocks. The process agnostic framework takes high-level user intent as inputs to generate optimized and fully verified analog blocks using a cell-based design methodology. Our approach is highly scalable and silicon-proven by an SoC prototype which includes 2 PLLs, 3 LDOs, 1 SRAM, and 2 temperature sensors fully integrated with a processor in a 65nm CMOS process. The physical design of all blocks, including analog, is achieved using optimized synthesis and APR flows in commercially available tools. The framework is portable across different processes and requires no human in the loop, dramatically accelerating design time.This material is based on research sponsored by Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under agreement number FA8650 18 2 7844. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation thereon.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/165331/1/Fully Autonomous Mixed Signal SoC Design & Layout Generation Platform.pdfDescription of Fully Autonomous Mixed Signal SoC Design & Layout Generation Platform.pdf : Main articleSEL

Improvement of Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Acute Hepatic Failure by Transplantation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells without Reprogramming Factor c-Myc

The only curative treatment for hepatic failure is liver transplantation. Unfortunately, this treatment has several major limitations, as for example donor organ shortage. A previous report demonstrated that transplantation of induced pluripotent stem cells without reprogramming factor c-Myc (3-genes iPSCs) attenuates thioacetamide-induced hepatic failure with minimal incidence of tumorigenicity. In this study, we investigated whether 3-genes iPSC transplantation is capable of rescuing carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced fulminant hepatic failure and hepatic encephalopathy in mice. Firstly, we demonstrated that 3-genes iPSCs possess the capacity to differentiate into hepatocyte-like cells (iPSC-Heps) that exhibit biological functions and express various hepatic specific markers. 3-genes iPSCs also exhibited several antioxidant enzymes that prevented CCl4-induced reactive oxygen species production and cell death. Intraperitoneal transplantation of either 3-genes iPSCs or 3-genes iPSC-Heps significantly reduced hepatic necrotic areas, improved hepatic functions, and survival rate in CCl4-treated mice. CCl4-induced hepatic encephalopathy was also improved by 3-genes iPSC transplantation. Hoechst staining confirmed the successful engraftment of both 3-genes iPSCs and 3-genes iPSC-Heps, indicating the homing properties of these cells. The most pronounced hepatoprotective effect of iPSCs appeared to originate from the highest antioxidant activity of 3-gene iPSCs among all transplanted cells. In summary, our findings demonstrated that 3-genes iPSCs serve as an available cell source for the treatment of an experimental model of acute liver diseases

The present and future of QCD

This White Paper presents an overview of the current status and future perspective of QCD research, based on the community inputs and scientific conclusions from the 2022 Hot and Cold QCD Town Meeting. We present the progress made in the last decade toward a deep understanding of both the fundamental structure of the sub-atomic matter of nucleon and nucleus in cold QCD, and the hot QCD matter in heavy ion collisions. We identify key questions of QCD research and plausible paths to obtaining answers to those questions in the near future, hence defining priorities of our research over the coming decades

The present and future of QCD

This White Paper presents an overview of the current status and future perspective of QCD research, based on the community inputs and scientific conclusions from the 2022 Hot and Cold QCD Town Meeting. We present the progress made in the last decade toward a deep understanding of both the fundamental structure of the sub-atomic matter of nucleon and nucleus in cold QCD, and the hot QCD matter in heavy ion collisions. We identify key questions of QCD research and plausible paths to obtaining answers to those questions in the near future, hence defining priorities of our research over the coming decades

An investigation on setting the optimal margin for the stock index futures of TAIFEX

[[abstract]]中文摘要 由於整個期貨市場之運作是以保證金為核心，因此設計合適之保證金水準，就成為一項十分重要之課題；如果期貨保證金水準過高，雖可以減少違約風險，但必提高交易者之交易成本，對投資人而言，較缺乏誘因；反之，期貨保證金水準設計太低，則交易所與期貨商將面臨巨大之風險，危及整個金融秩序。故本研究欲以國內所發行的台股指數期貨為研究標的，建立最適期貨保證金收取水準，並且和目前之保證金收取水準作一比較。本研究擬以極值理論(Extreme value theory)、及隨機過程的理論求得台灣股價指數期貨最適保證金之設定水準；並訂出價格管制上下限，最後本文運用「保證金與價格波動比」模型予以檢測國內期貨市場之保證金政策。 由實證結果發現：(1)以每週為頻率求得之保證金與價格波動比，較能描述實際市場調整狀況；(2)運用極值理論所估算之理論保證金為加入既定期間內價格極端波動的情形，可提供管理保證金當局另一種思考模式；(3)隨機過程模式估算出台股指數期貨、電子指數期貨與金融指數期貨之理論風險係數與實際風險係數誤差百分比約為零點三左右，與實際市場相近。[[abstract]]Abstract One of the main characteristics in futures market is a margin trading At the end of each day the clearinghouse will establish a settlement price; this usually is an average of the prices of the last trades of the day Using the settlement price each account is marked to market If the difference in the current settlement price and the previous day’s settlement price is positive the dollar amount is credited to he margin account of those holding long position and the money comes from the accounts of those holding short positive On the contrary if the difference is negative the dollar amount is credited to the holders of short positions and charged to those holding long positions Because the clearinghouse will act as an intermediary and guarantor of both parties it must protect himself under the margins system and daily settlement process This helps ensure the markets’ integrity because large losses are covered a little at a time rather than all at end by which the huge loss will unable to cover Because of the operation of whole futures markets heavily depends on the margin mechanism important issue for the futures clearinghouse Setting a high margin level thus reduces default risk however it can increase the cost of trading and the futures market will be less attractive for investors On the other hand if the margin level is set too low then the clearinghouse and the brokers will face the possibility of default risk It could be harmful for the whole financial system We propose two models for designing the optimal margin level for the three index futures contracts in the domestic market The extreme value theory and control charts in quality control theory will be used to estimate the optimal margin level for the three index futures contract