Virtual Assistant That Selectively Announces Device Notifications

Users receive notifications for various events, e.g., incoming messages, device alerts, notifications from apps, etc. Currently, to avoid being inundated with notifications, users need to review and dismiss each notification, turn off certain notifications, or turn on a do-not-disturb mode of their device. This disclosure describes an intelligent virtual assistant that utilizes machine learning techniques to automatically determine whether a particular notification is important at any given moment. Based on the determined importance level, the virtual assistant can either proactively announce the notification, delay the notification announcement, or silence the notification

Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive human Mac-2 binding protein predicts liver cancer development in chronic hepatitis B patients under antiviral treatment

AIM: The risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with undetectable serum HBV DNA under nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA) therapy are not well defined. We aimed to examine the relationship between Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive human Mac-2 binding protein (WFA+-M2BP) and HCC development in these patients. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in the median levels of pre-treatment WFA+-M2BP between the HCC and control groups (0.67 vs 0.41 COI, respectively, p < 0.001). Among patients with cirrhosis, the median level of WFA+-M2BP was higher in HCC group than in control group (0.74 vs 0.47 COI, respectively, p = 0.014). Among patients without cirrhosis, the median level of WFA+-M2BP of HCC group was also higher (0.48 vs 0.28 COI, respectively, p = 0.002). With a cutoff value of 0.69, the AUROC of pre-treatment WFA+-M2BP to predict HCC development for the whole cohort was 0.70. With cutoff values of 0.69 and 0.34, the AUROCs to predict HCC were 0.67 and 0.77 for patients with and without cirrhosis, respectively. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-seven NA-treated patients with undetectable HBV DNA who developed HCC were compared with 57 controls (matched with demographics and treatment duration). WFA+-M2BP levels were measured, and expressed as cutoff index (COI). Subgroup analyses were also performed in patients with and without cirrhosis. CONCLUSIONS: A higher pre-treatment WFA+-M2BP level was associated with an increased risk of HCC development in patients with undetectable HBV DNA under NA therapy. Further longitudinal studies are required to examine the role of WFA+-M2BP as an accessory risk marker for HCC development.published_or_final_versio

Dual-Band Resonator Designs for Near-Field Wireless Energy Transfer Applications

Dual-band near-field wireless energy transfer (WET) designs outweigh single-band system with regard to either concurrent energy and data transfer or multiple wireless charging standard functionalities. There are two major approaches in resonator designs, namely, multi-coil and single-coil. This chapter presents a review on design constraints for each design approach and rectification techniques available in counteracting impediments of dual-band near-field WET systems. Challenges pertinent to link design are discussed primarily followed by methods implemented to mitigate detrimental impact on performance metrics. Front-end dual-band resonator design methods are accentuated in this chapter in lieu of end-to-end WET system. This is envisioned to offer insights for designers contemplating on design modes or developing ways to facilitate a boost in rectification options currently available

E-Cigarette Awareness, Perceptions and Use among Community-Recruited Smokers in Hong Kong

Abstract Background Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are being increasingly used. We examined the correlates associated with e-cigarette awareness, use and perceived effectiveness in smoking cessation among Chinese daily smokers in Hong Kong. Methods Daily smokers (N = 1,307) were recruited to a community-based randomised controlled trial (‘Quit to Win’) in 2014. Socio-demographic characteristics, conventional cigarette smoking status, nicotine addiction level, quit attempts, quit intention, e-cigarette awareness, use and perceived effectiveness on quitting were reported at baseline and 1-week follow-up. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with e-cigarette awareness, use and perceived effectiveness in quitting. Results Most smokers (82.6%, 95% CI 80.2%-84.9%) had heard about e-cigarettes, and 13.3% (11.3%-15.5%) ever used e-cigarettes. Most users (74.1%) and non-users (91.2%) did not perceive e-cigarettes as effective in quitting. Being younger and having a larger family income were associated with e-cigarette awareness. Being younger, a tertiary education and a stronger addiction to nicotine were associated with e-cigarette use, which was itself associated with lower levels of intention to quit and had no association with attempts to quit (P for trend 0.45). E-cigarette use, the last quit attempt being a month earlier, having made a quit attempt lasting 24 hours or longer and perceiving quitting as important were all associated with the perceived effectiveness of e-cigarettes in quitting (all P <0.05). Conclusions Among community-recruited smokers who intended to quit, awareness of e-cigarettes was high, but most did not perceive e-cigarettes as effective in quitting. Correlates concerning ecigarette perceptions and use will help to inform prospective studies, public education and policy on controlling e-cigarettes.published_or_final_versio

Encoding of physics concepts: Concreteness and presentation modality reflected by human brain dynamics

Previous research into working memory has focused on activations in different brain areas accompanying either different presentation modalities (verbal vs. non-verbal) or concreteness (abstract vs. concrete) of non-science concepts. Less research has been conducted investigating how scientific concepts are learned and further processed in working memory. To bridge this gap, the present study investigated human brain dynamics associated with encoding of physics concepts, taking both presentation modality and concreteness into account. Results of this study revealed greater theta and low-beta synchronization in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) during encoding of concrete pictures as compared to the encoding of both high and low imageable words. In visual brain areas, greater theta activity accompanying stimulus onsets was observed for words as compared to pictures while stronger alpha suppression was observed in responses to pictures as compared to words. In general, the EEG oscillation patterns for encoding words of different levels of abstractness were comparable but differed significantly from encoding of pictures. These results provide insights into the effects of modality of presentation on human encoding of scientific concepts and thus might help in developing new ways to better teach scientific concepts in class. © 2012 Lai et al

Modeling Treatment Response for Lamin A/C Related Dilated Cardiomyopathy in Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.

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Attenuation of Hind-limb Ischemia in Mice with Endothelial-like Cells Derived from Different Sources of Human Stem Cells

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Continuous entecavir for treatment-naïve Chinese chronic hepatitis B in the real world setting: the six-year results

This journal suppl. entitled: 2014 DDW AbstractBACKGROUND: There is a paucity of data on uninterrupted entecavir for treatment-naive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) beyond 5 years. METHODS: Treatment-naive Chinese CHB patients were treated continuously with entecavir 0.5mg daily in the real world setting for up to 6 years. The cumulative rates of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) normalization, DNA undetectability, virologic breakthrough (>1 log HBV DNA increase from the nadir) and genotypic resistance to entecavir were determined. HBV DNA levels were measured by Roche Taqman real time PCR assay (lower limit of detection: 20 IU/mL). Resistance profile was determined by line probe assay (LiPA, Innogenetics NV, Gent, Belgium) for patients ...postprin

Replication of H9 influenza viruses in the human ex vivo respiratory tract, and the influence of neuraminidase on virus release

H9N2 viruses are the most widespread influenza viruses in poultry in Asia. We evaluated the infection and tropism of human and avian H9 influenza virus in the human respiratory tract using ex vivo respiratory organ culture. H9 viruses infected the upper and lower respiratory tract and the majority of H9 viruses had a decreased ability to release virus from the bronchus rather than the lung. This may be attributed to a weak neuraminidase (NA) cleavage of carbon-6-linked sialic acid (Sia) rather than carbon-3-linked Sia. The modified cleavage of N-acetlylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) and N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) by NA in H9 virus replication was observed by reverse genetics, and recombinant H9N2 viruses with amino acids (38KQ) deleted in the NA stalk, and changing the amino acid at position 431 from Proline-to-Lysine. Using recombinant H9 viruses previously evaluated in the ferret, we found that viruses which replicated well in the ferret did not replicate to the same extent in the human ex vivo cultures. The existing risk assessment models for H9N2 viruses in ferrets may not always have a strong correlation with the replication in the human upper respiratory tract. The inclusion of the human ex vivo cultures would further strengthen the future risk-assessment strategies.published_or_final_versio