BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SNATCH TECHNIQUE OF ELITE MALES IN TAIWAN

The study compared two-dimensional snatch parameters of Taiwan elite males with International athletes by two-dimensional snatch parameters. Two males who were good Weight Lifting athletes in Taiwan were analyzed through PEAK motion analysis system to obtain kinematic data of the bar bell and human body. The result we found out as follows (1) The maximum velocity of barbell raising of this study was from 2.049 m/s to 2.124 m/so (2) The barbell speed ratio of the first and second pull of male lifters of this study was from 1.07 to 1.47. (3) The percentage of barbell height to the lifters' height of females lifters was 73% to 74% (4) The vertical dropping velocity of gravity of body of this study was 203.1 m/s to 205.7 m/s

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OVER-ARM THROWING PATTERN AND THROWING PERFORMANCE

Throwing is a common movement among the upper extremities activities. This study examined the relationship between throwing patterns and throwing distance. Eighty-five age 21 years old students (m =29, F =56)voluntarily participated in the study. Each subject threw a tennis ball as hard as they could straightforward for three trials. A video camera at subjects' right hand side was used to record the subjects' motion. The Burton's (1992) amendment of DSOT table was used to quantify the throwing patterns. Data collected was examined by Pearson correlation(p < .05). The results were as follows: 1. the trunk rotation was found to associated with throwing distance for the male SUbject, 2. the backswing and trunk rotation were associated with throwing distance for the female SUbject

Observational connection of non-thermal X-ray emission from pulsars with their timing properties and thermal emission

The origin and radiation mechanisms of high energy emissions from pulsars have remained mysterious since their discovery. Here we report, based on a sample of 68 pulsars, observational connection of non-thermal X-ray emissions from pulsars with their timing properties and thermal emissions, which may provide some constraints on theoretical modeling. Besides strong correlations with the spin-down power $\dot{E}$ and the magnetic field strength at the light cylinder $B_{\rm lc}$, the non-thermal X-ray luminosity in 0.5 - 8 keV, $L_{\rm p}$, represented by the power-law component in the spectral model, is found to be strongly correlated with the highest possible electric field strength in the polar gap, $E_{\rm pc}$, of the pulsar. The spectral power index $\Gamma_{\rm p}$ of that power-law component is also found, for the first time in the literature, to strongly correlate with $\dot{E}$, $B_{\rm lc}$ and $E_{\rm pc}$, thanks to the large sample. In addition, we found that $L_{\rm p}$ can be well described by $L_{\rm p}\propto T^{5.96\pm 0.64}R^{2.24\pm 0.18}$, where $T$ and $R$ are the surface temperature and the emitting-region radius of the surface thermal emission, represented by the black-body component in the spectral model. $\Gamma_{\rm p}$, on the other hand, can be well described only when timing variables are included, and the relation is $\Gamma_{\rm p} = \log(T^{-5.8\pm 1.93}R^{-2.29\pm 0.85}P^{-1.19\pm 0.88}\dot{P}^{0.94\pm 0.44})$ plus a constant. These relations strongly suggest the existence of connections between surface thermal emission and electron-positron pair production in pulsar magnetospheres.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, accepted by MNRA

Construction and characterization of an expressed sequenced tag library for the mosquito vector Armigeres subalbatus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The mosquito, <it>Armigeres subalbatus</it>, mounts a distinctively robust innate immune response when infected with the nematode <it>Brugia malayi</it>, a causative agent of lymphatic filariasis. In order to mine the transcriptome for new insight into the cascade of events that takes place in response to infection in this mosquito, 6 cDNA libraries were generated from tissues of adult female mosquitoes subjected to immune-response activation treatments that lead to well-characterized responses, and from aging, naïve mosquitoes. Expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from each library were produced, annotated, and subjected to comparative analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Six libraries were constructed and used to generate 44,940 expressed sequence tags, of which 38,079 passed quality filters to be included in the annotation project and subsequent analyses. All of these sequences were collapsed into clusters resulting in 8,020 unique sequence clusters or singletons. EST clusters were annotated and curated manually within ASAP (A Systematic Annotation Package for Community Analysis of Genomes) web portal according to BLAST results from comparisons to Genbank, and the <it>Anopheles gambiae </it>and <it>Drosophila melanogaster </it>genome projects.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The resulting dataset is the first of its kind for this mosquito vector and provides a basis for future studies of mosquito vectors regarding the cascade of events that occurs in response to infection, and thereby providing insight into vector competence and innate immunity.</p

Survival rate in nasopharyngeal carcinoma improved by high caseload volume: a nationwide population-based study in Taiwan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Positive correlation between caseload and outcome has previously been validated for several procedures and cancer treatments. However, there is no information linking caseload and outcome of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treatment. We used nationwide population-based data to examine the association between physician case volume and survival rates of patients with NPC.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Between 1998 and 2000, a total of 1225 patients were identified from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Survival analysis, the Cox proportional hazards model, and propensity score were used to assess the relationship between 10-year survival rates and physician caseloads.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>As the caseload of individual physicians increased, unadjusted 10-year survival rates increased (<it>p </it>< 0.001). Using a Cox proportional hazard model, patients with NPC treated by high-volume physicians (caseload ≥ 35) had better survival rates (<it>p </it>= 0.001) after adjusting for comorbidities, hospital, and treatment modality. When analyzed by propensity score, the adjusted 10-year survival rate differed significantly between patients treated by high-volume physicians and patients treated by low/medium-volume physicians (75% <it>vs</it>. 61%; <it>p </it>< 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data confirm a positive volume-outcome relationship for NPC. After adjusting for differences in the case mix, our analysis found treatment of NPC by high-volume physicians improved 10-year survival rate.</p

Surface Acoustic Wave Ammonia Sensors Based on ST-cut Quartz under Periodic Al Structure

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices are key components for sensing applications. SAW propagation under a periodic grating was investigated in this work. The theoretical method used here is the space harmonic method. We also applied the results of SAW propagation studied in this work to design a two-port resonator with an Al grating on ST-cut quartz. The measured frequency responses of the resonator were similar to the simulation ones. Then, the chemical interface of polyaniline/WO3 composites was coated on the SAW sensor for ammonia detection. The SAW sensor responded to ammonia gas and could be regenerated using dry nitrogen

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities

Complexity of the Mycoplasma fermentans M64 Genome and Metabolic Essentiality and Diversity among Mycoplasmas

Recently, the genomes of two Mycoplasma fermentans strains, namely M64 and JER, have been completely sequenced. Gross comparison indicated that the genome of M64 is significantly bigger than the other strain and the difference is mainly contributed by the repetitive sequences including seven families of simple and complex transposable elements ranging from 973 to 23,778 bps. Analysis of these repeats resulted in the identification of a new distinct family of Integrative Conjugal Elements of M. fermentans, designated as ICEF-III. Using the concept of “reaction connectivity”, the metabolic capabilities in M. fermentans manifested by the complete and partial connected biomodules were revealed. A comparison of the reported M. pulmonis, M. arthritidis, M. genitalium, B. subtilis, and E. coli essential genes and the genes predicted from the M64 genome indicated that more than 73% of the Mycoplasmas essential genes are preserved in M. fermentans. Further examination of the highly and partly connected reactions by a novel combinatorial phylogenetic tree, metabolic network, and essential gene analysis indicated that some of the pathways (e.g. purine and pyrimidine metabolisms) with partial connected reactions may be important for the conversions of intermediate metabolites. Taken together, in light of systems and network analyses, the diversity among the Mycoplasma species was manifested on the variations of their limited metabolic abilities during evolution

Metronomic chemotherapy prevents therapy-induced stromal activation and induction of tumor-initiating cells

Although traditional chemotherapy kills a fraction of tumor cells, it also activates the stroma and can promote the growth and survival of residual cancer cells to foster tumor recurrence and metastasis. Accordingly, overcoming the host response induced by chemotherapy could substantially improve therapeutic outcome and patient survival. In this study, resistance to treatment and metastasis has been attributed to expansion of stem-like tumor-initiating cells (TICs). Molecular analysis of the tumor stroma in neoadjuvant chemotherapy–treated human desmoplastic cancers and orthotopic tumor xenografts revealed that traditional maximum-tolerated dose chemotherapy, regardless of the agents used, induces persistent STAT-1 and NF-κB activity in carcinoma-associated fibroblasts. This induction results in the expression and secretion of ELR motif–positive (ELR(+)) chemokines, which signal through CXCR-2 on carcinoma cells to trigger their phenotypic conversion into TICs and promote their invasive behaviors, leading to paradoxical tumor aggression after therapy. In contrast, the same overall dose administered as a low-dose metronomic chemotherapy regimen largely prevented therapy-induced stromal ELR(+) chemokine paracrine signaling, thus enhancing treatment response and extending survival of mice carrying desmoplastic cancers. These experiments illustrate the importance of stroma in cancer therapy and how its impact on treatment resistance could be tempered by altering the dosing schedule of systemic chemotherapy