241 research outputs found
Beyond the Innovation: An Exploratory Study of Designing Web-based Self-services
AbstractCustomized web-based self-services play an important role in today's product/service innovation. Compared to traditional tangible services, helpful web-based self-services and off-line services may better facilitate creativity, accelerate value co-creation, and reduce the costs and risks of development and commercialization. Therefore, in order to offer a conceptual framework for a web-based self-service system that enhances the fuzzy-front end (FFE) of new product/service development, this study analyzed the needs and challenges found during the transition of the Dechnology (Design Thinking plus Technology Innovation) project at the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), the largest R&D organization in Taiwan. Through literature review, in-depth interviews, and participatory action research, we formalized five core system modules, including: 1) user behavior and lifestyle, 2) thematic trend analysis, 3) technology screening and translation, 4) idea visualization, and 5) O2O service connection, with corresponding design principles for supporting user creativity in a web-based self-services environment. Finally, this study proposes a conceptual framework integrated with service design to serve as an important reference for enterprises that undergo similar innovation projects in the future
Carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma of soft palate with cavernous sinus invasion
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma (CXPA) is an aggressive salivary gland malignancy and rare in minor salivary gland. A soft palate CXPA initially presenting as direct cavernous sinus (CS) invasion is very rare.</p> <p>Case Presentation</p> <p>A 60-year-old male had a 3-month history of a small soft palatal mass with progressing left cheek numbness, proptosis, and disturbed vision. Biopsy of soft palatal tumor showed pleomorphic adenoma. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a tumor involving left maxilla, and extended from pterygopalatine fossa, inferior orbital fissure to CS. Excision of tumor revealed CXPA. Adjuvant concomitant chemo-radiation therapy (CCRT) was given. The tumor recurred 5 months later in left CS which was re-treated with CCRT. The disease status was stable at 2 years after the diagnosis of CXPA.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We present this case to emphasize that patients with symptoms such as facial numbness, proptosis and disturbed vision should be carefully investigated for lesions invading CS by perineural spread.</p
Tequila Regulates Insulin-Like Signaling and Extends Life Span in Drosophila melanogaster
The aging process is a universal phenomenon shared by all living organisms. The identification of longevity genes is important in that the study of these genes is likely to yield significant insights into human senescence. In this study, we have identified Tequila as a novel candidate gene involved in the regulation of longevity in Drosophila melanogaster. We have found that a hypomorphic mutation of Tequila (Teq(f01792)), as well as cell-specific downregulation of Tequila in insulin-producing neurons of the fly, significantly extends life span. Tequila deficiency-induced life-span extension is likely to be associated with reduced insulin-like signaling, because Tequila mutant flies display several common phenotypes of insulin dysregulation, including reduced circulating Drosophila insulin-like peptide 2 (Dilp2), reduced Akt phosphorylation, reduced body size, and altered glucose homeostasis. These observations suggest that Tequila may confer life-span extension by acting as a modulator of Drosophila insulin-like signaling
Cyclin D1 overexpression and poor clinical outcomes in Taiwanese oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma
Microfluidic assisted synthesis of silver nanoparticle–chitosan composite microparticles for antibacterial applications
AbstractSilver nanoparticle (Ag NP)-loaded chitosan composites have numerous biomedical applications; however, fabricating uniform composite microparticles remains challenging. This paper presents a novel microfluidic approach for single-step and in situ synthesis of Ag NP-loaded chitosan microparticles. This proposed approach enables obtaining uniform and monodisperse Ag NP-loaded chitosan microparticles measuring several hundred micrometers. In addition, the diameter of the composites can be tuned by adjusting the flow on the microfluidic chip. The composite particles containing Ag NPs were characterized using UV–vis spectra and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry data. The characteristic peaks of Ag NPs in the UV–vis spectra and the element mapping or pattern revealed the formation of nanosized silver particles. The results of antibacterial tests indicated that both chitosan and composite particles showed antibacterial ability, and Ag NPs could enhance the inhibition rate and exhibited dose-dependent antibacterial ability. Because of the properties of Ag NPs and chitosan, the synthesized composite microparticles can be used in several future potential applications, such as bactericidal agents for water disinfection, antipathogens, and surface plasma resonance enhancers
Metrology Camera System of Prime Focus Spectrograph for Subaru Telescope
The Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) is a new optical/near-infrared multi-fiber
spectrograph designed for the prime focus of the 8.2m Subaru telescope. PFS
will cover a 1.3 degree diameter field with 2394 fibers to complement the
imaging capabilities of Hyper SuprimeCam. To retain high throughput, the final
positioning accuracy between the fibers and observing targets of PFS is
required to be less than 10um. The metrology camera system (MCS) serves as the
optical encoder of the fiber motors for the configuring of fibers. MCS provides
the fiber positions within a 5um error over the 45 cm focal plane. The
information from MCS will be fed into the fiber positioner control system for
the closed loop control. MCS will be located at the Cassegrain focus of Subaru
telescope in order to to cover the whole focal plane with one 50M pixel Canon
CMOS camera. It is a 380mm Schmidt type telescope which generates a uniform
spot size with a 10 micron FWHM across the field for reasonable sampling of
PSF. Carbon fiber tubes are used to provide a stable structure over the
operating conditions without focus adjustments. The CMOS sensor can be read in
0.8s to reduce the overhead for the fiber configuration. The positions of all
fibers can be obtained within 0.5s after the readout of the frame. This enables
the overall fiber configuration to be less than 2 minutes. MCS will be
installed inside a standard Subaru Cassgrain Box. All components that generate
heat are located inside a glycol cooled cabinet to reduce the possible image
motion due to heat. The optics and camera for MCS have been delivered and
tested. The mechanical parts and supporting structure are ready as of spring
2016. The integration of MCS will start in the summer of 2016.Comment: 11 pages, 15 figures. SPIE proceeding. arXiv admin note: text overlap
with arXiv:1408.287
Improved Breath Phase and Continuous Adventitious Sound Detection in Lung and Tracheal Sound Using Mixed Set Training and Domain Adaptation
Previously, we established a lung sound database, HF_Lung_V2 and proposed
convolutional bidirectional gated recurrent unit (CNN-BiGRU) models with
adequate ability for inhalation, exhalation, continuous adventitious sound
(CAS), and discontinuous adventitious sound detection in the lung sound. In
this study, we proceeded to build a tracheal sound database, HF_Tracheal_V1,
containing 11107 of 15-second tracheal sound recordings, 23087 inhalation
labels, 16728 exhalation labels, and 6874 CAS labels. The tracheal sound in
HF_Tracheal_V1 and the lung sound in HF_Lung_V2 were either combined or used
alone to train the CNN-BiGRU models for respective lung and tracheal sound
analysis. Different training strategies were investigated and compared: (1)
using full training (training from scratch) to train the lung sound models
using lung sound alone and train the tracheal sound models using tracheal sound
alone, (2) using a mixed set that contains both the lung and tracheal sound to
train the models, and (3) using domain adaptation that finetuned the
pre-trained lung sound models with the tracheal sound data and vice versa.
Results showed that the models trained only by lung sound performed poorly in
the tracheal sound analysis and vice versa. However, the mixed set training and
domain adaptation can improve the performance of exhalation and CAS detection
in the lung sound, and inhalation, exhalation, and CAS detection in the
tracheal sound compared to positive controls (lung models trained only by lung
sound and vice versa). Especially, a model derived from the mixed set training
prevails in the situation of killing two birds with one stone.Comment: To be submitted, 31 pages, 6 figures, 5 table
Induction chemotherapy with dose-modified docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil in Asian patients with borderline resectable or unresectable head and neck cancer
BackgroundSignificant ethnic differences in susceptibility to the effects of chemotherapy exist. Here, we retrospectively analyzed the safety and efficacy of induction chemotherapy (ICT) with dose-modified docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil (TPF) in Asian patients with borderline resectable or unresectable head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).MethodsBased on the incidence of adverse events that occurred during daily practice, TPF90 (90% of the original TPF dosage; docetaxel 67.5 mg/m2 on Day 1, cisplatin 67.5 mg/m2 on Day 1, and 5-fluorouracil 675 mg/m2 on Days 1–5) was used for HNSCC patients who were scheduled to receive ICT TPF.ResultsBetween March 2011 and May 2014, 52 consecutive patients with borderline resectable or unresectable HNSCC were treated with ICT TPF90 followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Forty-four patients (84.6%) received at least three cycles of ICT TPF90. The most commonly observed Grade 3–4 adverse events included neutropenia (35%), anemia (25%), stomatitis (35%), diarrhea (16%), and infections (13.5%). In an intention-to-treat analysis, the complete and partial response rates after ICT TPF90 were 13.5% and 59.6%, respectively. The complete and partial response rates following radiotherapy and salvage surgery were 42.3% and 25.0%, respectively. The estimated 3-year overall survival and progression-free survival rates were 41% [95% confidence interval (CI): 25–56%] and 23% (95% CI: 10–39%), respectively. The observed median overall survival and progression-free survival were 21.0 months (95% CI: 13.3–28.7 months) and 16.0 months (95% CI: 10.7–21.3 months), respectively.ConclusionTPF90 is a suitable option for Asian patients with borderline resectable or unresectable HNSCC who are scheduled for ICT
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