A survey of scheduling problems with setup times or costs

Author name used in this publication: C. T. NgAuthor name used in this publication: T. C. E. Cheng2007-2008 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Group sequencing around a common due date

Author name used in this publication: C. T. Ng2007-2008 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

The Use of Medicinal Mushroom or Herb as Effective Immunomodulatory Agent

Background: Medicinal mushrooms are mushrooms used with the aim for health enhancement. They have been used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for thousands of years. These mushrooms and some herbal medicines have gain in popularity in recent times, largely due to a growing number of scientific studies that suggest their potential medical benefits. They are found to exert immunomodulatory effects through changes in the quantity of some specific cytokines in blood; as well as numbers and activities of distinct immune cell subsets. This article summarizes the immunomodulatory effects of two commonly consumed medicinal mushrooms (Coriolus versicolor and Ganoderma lucidum) and also three herbal medicines that have been categorized as immunomodulatory in function (Cordyceps sinensis, Astragalus membranaceus and Eleutherococcus senticosus). Methods: A systematic search of published articles of clinical trial studies between 1985 and August 2015 was conducted in four electronic databases (EMBASE, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science). The outcome measures included changes in the serum cytokines secretion and the number and functional activity of different immune cell populations. Results: After a thorough literature searching of 237 relevant articles, 15 were included. Coriolus versicolor and Ganoderma lucidum showed immunomodulatory effects in both innate and adaptive immunity arms. There are only very few studies in each mushroom or herb, and unequivocal conclusions cannot be drawn. Future larger trials of randomized and placebo controlled clinical studies with laboratory investigation of changes of multiple immune populations and their subsets are needed in consistent with an evidence-based medicine approach

Batch scheduling of step deteriorating jobs

Author name used in this publication: T. C. E. ChengAuthor name used in this publication: C. T. Ng2007-2008 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Aortic Coarctation Following Aortic Valve Replacement: Problem Solving with Multimodality Cardiac Imaging

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Achieving fault tolerance against amplitude-damping noise

With the intense interest in small, noisy quantum computing devices comes the push for larger, more accurate -- and hence more useful -- quantum computers. While fully fault-tolerant quantum computers are, in principle, capable of achieving arbitrarily accurate calculations using devices subjected to general noise, they require immense resources far beyond our current reach. An intermediate step would be to construct quantum computers of limited accuracy enhanced by lower-level, and hence lower-cost, noise-removal techniques. This is the motivation for our work, which looks into fault-tolerant encoded quantum computation targeted at the dominant noise afflicting the quantum device. Specifically, we develop a protocol for fault-tolerant encoded quantum computing components in the presence of amplitude-damping noise, using a 4-qubit code and a recovery procedure tailored to such noise. We describe a universal set of fault-tolerant encoded gadgets and compute the pseudothreshold for the noise, below which our scheme leads to more accurate computation. Our work demonstrates the possibility of applying the ideas of quantum fault tolerance to targeted noise models, generalizing the recent pursuit of biased-noise fault tolerance beyond the usual Pauli noise models. We also illustrate how certain aspects of the standard fault tolerance intuition, largely acquired through Pauli-noise considerations, can fail in the face of more general noise.Comment: 14 pages (main text) + 11 pages (supplemental material), 13 figure

Is vocal cord asymmetry seen on transcutaneous laryngeal ultrasonography a significant predictor of voice quality changes after thyroidectomy?

Background: Vocal cord asymmetry (VCA) on laryngoscopic examination (LE) may suggest voice impairment after thyroidectomy, but LE may cause patient discomfort. We aimed to correlate the presence of postoperative VCA assessed by noninvasive transcutaneous laryngeal ultrasonography (TLUSG) with voice quality changes after thyroidectomy. Methods: A total of 169 patients scheduled for thyroidectomy completed two validated voice symptoms questionnaires - the GRBAS (grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, strain) scale and the voice impairment score (VIS) - and underwent TLUSG and LE at 1 day before and 7-10 days after thyroidectomy. Postoperative VCA was apparent in 51 patients on TLUSG (group I), whereas there was no VCA in the other 118 patients (group II, controls). The GRBAS scale and VIS results were compared between the groups. Results: Before operation, the two groups had comparable preoperative GRBAS and VIS status. After operation, the "grade" and "roughness" components on the GRBAS scale were significantly worse in group I than in group II: 0.24 versus 0.07 (p = 0.016) and 0.33 versus 0.14 (p = 0.022), respectively. "Grade" and "roughness" in the GRBAS scale significantly worsened after the operation in group I: from 0.04 to 0.24 (p = 0.008) and from 0.02 to 0.33 (p = 0.001), respectively. They did not change in group II. Also, the overall VIS was significantly worse after thyroidectomy in group I: 4.97 versus 12.97 (p < 0.001). Conclusions: VCA seen on TLUSG significantly correlated with "grade" and "roughness" components on the GRBAS scale and the overall VIS. Thus, VCA might be used as a surrogate of postoperative voice changes. © 2013 Société Internationale de Chirurgie.postprin

Shoulder mobility, muscular strength and quality of life in breast cancer survivors with and without Tai Chi Qigong training

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