Internet of Things (IoT) Payload in IRIS CubeSat

IRIS-A is one of CubeSats in IRIS project which is designed, and still developing by NCKU, Taiwan. The mission objective of it is to demonstrate Internet of Things (IoT) communication technology in space. Techniques are developed to compensate for the significant attenuation and Doppler shift in the mission so that ground measurements can be uplinked, stored, and forwarded. To achieve this, there would need the following devices to cooperate in IoT payload, including the LoRa receiver, a reference clockboard, a chip-scale atomic clock (CSAC) and a GPS receiver (GPSR)

The effects of progressive heart failure on the Na/K ATPase and intracellular calcium regulation

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the effects of progressive heart failure on the function of the Na/K ATPase and intracellular calcium regulation. Progressive heart failure was induced in male guinea pigs by constriction of the ascending aorta. Sham operations were carried out on the control group. Hearts were harvested and used for various experiments at 30, 60, and 150 days after the aortic constriction operation. Echocardiography was performed on unanaesthetized guinea pigs to monitor in vivo changes of contractile function. Significantly smaller fractional shortening was noted after aortic constriction although this remained stable during the progression of disease until the 150 day end point when fractional shortening decreased greatly and circulatory insufficiency presented. Heart weight : body weight ratio increased 60 days after the operation, but the lung weight : body weight ratio only increased at the 150 day end point. Electrophysiological measurements of action potential duration (APD), Ca transients, SR Ca content, and Na/K ATPase current were performed to investigate alterations of Ca regulation during the progression of heart failure using enzymatically isolated ventricular cardiac myocytes. In end-stage heart failure, APD remained prolonged and the function of other mechanisms all declined. These results supported the view that compensated hypertrophy developed at 60 days after aortic constriction, and decompensation with end stage heart failure occurred about 150 days after the operation. At the compensated hypertrophy stage, only Na/K ATPase pump function declined but other mechanisms were enhanced or were the same as the situation prior to the constriction. These results suggested that alteration of Na/K ATPase function might assist the compensation phase and may trigger the decompensatory progression. Since t-tubule remodelling was also observed early in the heart failure progression in other study, we used membrane staining with wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) to investigate the change of t-tubule density and regularity in guinea pigs with heart failure. Our results showed a decrease in density and disorganization with regular but narrower intervals of t-tubule arrangement. Immunocytochemical staining of the α1 and α2 isoforms of the Na/K ATPase was further carried out to study their distribution in the sarcolemma when the heart fails. The results showed decreased expression of both α1 and α2 isoforms, which is compatible with our functional findings of Na/K ATPase pump current decline. Furthermore, corresponding to WGA membrane staining, α2 isoforms were found to colocalize with t-tubules. These finding suggested that alteration of Na/K ATPase pump function occurs early in the progression of hypertrophy toward heart failure, and α2 isoforms may play a more prominent role in regulating Ca handling.Open Acces

Flight Software Implementation and Verification on IRIS CubeSat

Flight software (FSW) is essential in the operation of a satellite program. It is important to verify the functionality and performance of the FSW on ground before being deployed in space. We discusses the implementation and verification of the FSW of the Intelligent Remote-Sensing and Internet Satellite (IRIS) CubeSats

Characterizing DNA Condensation and Conformational Changes in Organic Solvents

Organic solvents offer a new approach to formulate DNA into novel structures suitable for gene delivery. In this study, we examined the in situ behavior of DNA in N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) at low concentration via laser light scattering (LLS), TEM, UV absorbance and Zeta potential analysis. Results revealed that, in DMF, a 21bp oligonucleotide remained intact, while calf thymus DNA and supercoiled plasmid DNA were condensed and denatured. During condensation and denaturation, the size was decreased by a factor of 8–10, with calf thymus DNA forming spherical globules while plasmid DNA exhibited a toroid-like conformation. In the condensed state, DNA molecules were still able to release the counterions to be negatively charged, indicating that the condensation was mainly driven by the excluded volume interactions. The condensation induced by DMF was reversible for plasmid DNA but not for calf thymus DNA. When plasmid DNA was removed from DMF and resuspended in an aqueous solution, the DNA was quickly regained a double stranded configuration. These findings provide further insight into the behavior and condensation mechanism of DNA in an organic solvent and may aid in developing more efficient non-viral gene delivery systems

Impact analysis of model combined by hand-arm and golf club when striking ball

Golf is an extremely popular activity that over 60 million of people enjoy playing it. Overuse injuries associated with the back, neck, wrist, shoulder, elbow, knee, etc., are common for both professional and amateur player due to golf swing. A lot of researchers investigate the mechanical behavior of golf club or biological response of human body individually. But there is little study on the dynamic interaction between the hand-arm and golf club mashie (HAGCM) when striking ball. Solidworks package is used to draw the 3D geometric model of a left hand-arm contacted at the grip of the golf club. Then the 3D biomechanical model is imported into ANSYS software for transient (impact) analysis. Due to complicated geometry of the sharp edge at the club head and the hand-arm, the tetrahedral element is applied for all components of HAGCM to save computer resource during ANSYS process. Finite element convergence test is obtained before any further analysis. In order to simulate the ball-striking, the hitting surface of the club head is subjected to the impact force of 22 N within 0.01 seconds. All the deformations, principle and shear stresses of the time response found in the vibrating golf head, shaft, grip and hand are compared with each other. Normal and eccentric impact analyses for HAGCM are examined as well. The angular velocity found in eccentric impact is much higher than that in normal impact, and it will cause the muscle to exert more power to hold the golf club

Effects of Angelica dahurica

The main objective of wound treatments is to restore the functional skin properties and prevent infection. Traditional Chinese medicine provides alternative anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and wound healing therapies. Both Angelica dahurica extract (AE) and Rheum officinale extract (RE) possess antimicrobial activity. In this study, AE and RE were applied in wound treatment to investigate their healing effects. Thirty Sprague-Dawley rats with dorsal full-thickness skin excision were divided into normal saline (NS), AE, RE, AE plus RE (ARE), and Biomycin (BM) groups. The treatment and area measurement of wounds were applied daily for 21 days. Wound biopsies and blood samples were obtained for histology examinations and cytokine analysis. Results showed that wound contraction in ARE group was significantly higher than that in NS and BM groups (P 0.05), and plasma TGF-β1 levels were significantly lower than those in the NS group on days 3-4 (P < 0.05). In conclusion, ARE accelerates wound healing during inflammation and proliferation phases

Prevalence of workplace violence against nurses in Hong Kong

Objectives. To determine the prevalence and nature of workplace violence against nurses, and how nurses deal with such aggression; and to identify the risk factors related to violence in the hospital environment. Design. Cross-sectional questionnaire study. Setting. University teaching hospital, Hong Kong. Participants. All nursing staff in the hospital, except nurses who were unable to read Chinese or who did not have patient contact (eg those worked in administrative positions), were invited to complete a questionnaire. Main outcome measures. Demographic data of the respondents, incidence of and risk factors contributing to workplace violence. Results. A total of 420 nurses returned the completed questionnaire (response rate, 25%). Three hundred and twenty (76%; 95% confidence interval, 72-80%) nurses reported abuse of any kind - verbal abuse, 73%; bullying, 45%; physical abuse, 18%; and sexual harassment, 12%. Most (82%) nurses who experienced verbal abuse tended to confide in friends, family members, or colleagues. Some (42%) ignored the incident. Risk factors for workplace violence included: working in male wards and in certain specialties such as the Accident and Emergency Department, Community Nursing Service, and the Orthopaedics and Traumatology Department. Conclusion. Workplace violence against nurses is a significant problem in Hong Kong. Further large-scale studies should be conducted to more closely examine the problem.published_or_final_versio