Comparison of secondary signs as shown by unenhanced helical computed tomography in patients with uric acid or calcium ureteral stones

AbstractUnenhanced helical computed tomography (UHCT) has evolved into a well-accepted diagnostic method in patients with suspected ureterolithiasis. UHCT not only shows stones within the lumen of the ureter, it also permits evaluation of the secondary signs associated with ureteral obstruction from stones. However, there we could find no data on how secondary signs might differ in relation to different compositions of ureteral stones. In this study, we compared the degree of secondary signs revealed by UHCT in uric acid stone formers and in patients forming calcium stones. We enrolled 117 patients with ureteral stones who underwent UHCT examination and Fourier transform infra-red analysis of stone samples. Clinical data were collected as follows: age, sex, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), urine pH, and radiological data on secondary signs apparent on UHCT. The uric acid stone formers had significantly lower urine pH and eGFR in comparison to calcium stone formers, and on UHCT they also had a higher percentage of the secondary signs, including rim sign (78.9% vs. 60.2%), hydroureter (94.7% vs. 89.8%), perirenal stranding (84.2% vs. 59.2%) and kidney density difference (73.7% vs. 50.0%). The radiological difference was statistically significant for perirenal stranding (p=0.041). In conclusion, we found that UHCT scanning reveals secondary signs to be more frequent in patients with uric acid ureteral stones than in patients with calcium stones, a tendency that might result from an acidic urine environment

Minimally invasive strategy for gynecologic cancer with solitary periacetabular metastasis

SummaryTumor with bone metastases to the periacetabulum is rare, and its surgical management is challenging. Instead of wide excision with reconstruction of the hip joint, we used a relatively noninvasive method to manage periacetabular metastasis. Such a procedure for this condition has the benefits of short surgical time, less bleeding, and fewer complications during surgery. Our surgical management of the case reported here included curettage, phenol cauterization and filling of cisplatin-loaded cement in order to reduce local recurrence. After following-up for 2 years, there was no local recurrence and disease progression

Reliability of flexible low temperature poly-silicon thin film transistor

This work reports the effect of mechanical stress-induced degradation in flexible low-temperature polycrystalline-silicon thin-film transistors. After 100,000 iterations of channel-width-direction mechanical compression at R=2mm, a significant shift of extracted threshold voltage and an abnormal hump at the subthreshold region were found. Simulation reveals that both the strongest mechanical stress and electrical field takes place at both sides of the channel edge, between the polycrystalline silicon and gate insulator. The gate insulator suffered from a serious mechanical stress and result in a defect generation in the gate insulator. The degradation of the threshold voltage shift and the abnormal hump can be ascribed to the electron trapping in these defects. In addition, this work introduced three methods to reduce the degradation cause by the mechanical stress, including the quality improvement of the gate insulator, organic trench structure and active layer with a wing structure. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Invited; Developing low-temperature defect passivation technology with supercritical fluid technology

Current technology nodes in the process of semiconductor manufacturing have faced many bottlenecks. Therefore, a disruptive-innovative semiconductor processing technology is crucially needed to make a significant breakthrough. Our research team has developed a low temperature (RT~250°C), defect passivation technology based on the supercritical fluid (SCF) technology applied in the nano-scale device processing to overcome the key issues. The SCF technology was originally applied in the field of the extraction and the cleaning of biotechnologies. However, our research team firstly applies this technology in the optoelectronic device. Compared to current high pressure annealing (HPA) and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) methods, the SCF-based defect passivation technology features low temperature, and can be applied for various materials and devices including photoelectric device, advanced nano-device, memory device, and wide bandgap device. Currently, the prototype of the 12” supercritical fluid processing equipment has already been built, and related recipes including nitridation, oxidation, hydrogenation, and sulfurization are also implemented for various devices and applications. In this talk, we will introduce related SCF defect passivation technology and future developments for the SCF applications

Bidirectional associations between hyperopia, myopia, astigmatism, and strabismus, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children: a national population-based cohort study

Objectives: The present study analyzed the reciprocal relationships between four common pediatric ophthalmic diseases (i.e., hyperopia, myopia, astigmatism, and strabismus) and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. Methods: This study enrolled 86,028 children with ADHD and 1,798,673 children without ADHD in the Taiwan Maternal and Child Health Database who were born at any time from 2004 to 2017. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the bidirectional relationships of the four ophthalmic diseases with ADHD in children after adjusting for age, sex, and gestational age at birth. Survival curves for time-to-event variables were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the log-rank test was used to compare the curves. Results: The results indicated that ADHD significantly predicted the occurrence of hyperopia, myopia, astigmatism, and strabismus. Furthermore, hyperopia, myopia, astigmatism, and strabismus significantly predicted the occurrence of ADHD. The time between enrollment and ADHD diagnosis was shorter for patients with ophthalmic diseases than for the control group, and the time between enrollment and ophthalmic disease diagnosis was also shorter for ADHD patients than for the control group. Sex differences were found in the associations between ADHD and ophthalmic diseases. Conclusion: Clinicians should monitor children with ADHD for hyperopia, myopia, astigmatism, and strabismus to ensure appropriate treatment, and vice versa

Functional impairment, insight, and comparison between criteria for gaming disorder in the International Classification of Diseases, 11 Edition and internet gaming disorder in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition

Aim: This study evaluated the consistency between the International Classification of Diseases, 11th Edition (ICD-11) for gaming disorder (ICD-11-GD) and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria for internet gaming disorder (DSM-5-IGD). Moreover, the functional impairment of participants and their insight of their GD were evaluated. Methods: We recruited 60 participants with GD, 45 participants who engaged in hazardous gaming (HG), and 120 controls based on a diagnostic interview. Their operationalization of functional impairment and stage of change were evaluated by interviews and questionnaires, including the Brief Gaming Negative Consequence Scale (BGNCS). Results: We observed satisfactory consistency (kappa value 5 0.80) with a diagnostic accuracy of 91.5% between the ICD-11-GD and DSM-5-IGD criteria. Furthermore, 16 participants with IGD in DSM-5 were determined to have HG based on the ICD-11 criteria. Participants of GD group experienced impaired functioning in their health (96.7%), career (73.3%), social life (61.6%), academic performance (36.7%), and job performance (35%). Moreover, a proportion of them were in the pre-contemplation (25.0%), contemplation (61.7%), preparation (10%), and action stages (3.3%). Conclusion: There is a good consistency between ICD-11-GD and DSM-5-IGD criteria. The ICD-11 criteria have a high threshold for diagnosing GD. HG criteria could compensate for this high threshold and identify individuals with a gaming-related functional impairment who require help. Most of the participants with GD were in the early stage of change. Interventions to promote their insight are essential. The BGNCS can be used to examine the negative consequences of gaming and aid mental health professionals in assessing functional impairment