An Extensive QFD and Evaluation Procedure for Innovative Design

In this paper, a systematic innovation procedure has been developed based on quality function deployment and extension method. Besides, the evaluation method for design decision making has also been discussed and developed. The major procedure of QFD is to identify the customers’ needs for the product and then convert into appropriate technical measures to fulfill the needs based on the company’s competitive priorities. The priorities of product characteristics can be obtained by translating important technical measures. According to their characteristics, the prior engineering parameters will be identified and selected as the key requirements to redesign. This paper will focus on the integration of QFD and extension method. With the help of “matter element theory and extension method,” customer requirements (CRs) can be transferred into product design attributes more comprehensively and deeply. According to the idea of loss function of Taguchi quality design method, the criteria for design decision making have also been developed in this paper. An innovative design case, bicycle, successfully demonstrates that the proposed design process is feasible and efficient

Clinical meaning of age-related expression of fecal cytokeratin 19 in colorectal malignancy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of malignant death worldwide. Because young age of onset is often considered a poor prognostic factor for CRC, it is important to identify the poor outcomes of CRC in a younger population and to consider an aggressive approach by implementing early treatment. Our aim was to specifically quantify the fecal cytokeratin 19 (CK19) transcript from CRC patients and investigate its correlation with clinical stage, tumor malignancy, and age.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The quantitation of fecal CK19 transcript was determined by a quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain in 129 CRC patients (45 younger than 60 years at diagnosis) and 85 healthy controls. The levels of CK19 protein were examined both in colonic cell lines and tissues.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The analysis of 45 younger CRC patients (age ≤ 60 years) revealed that patients at the M1 stage had significantly higher expression levels of fecal CK19 mRNA when compared with healthy controls (<it>p </it>< 0.001) and patients at the M0 stage (<it>p </it>= 0.004). Additionally, the degree of consistency between the mean level of fecal CK19 mRNA and the distant metastatic rate in each age interval was up to 89% (<it>p </it>= 0.042).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results indicate that high levels of fecal CK19 mRNA represent a potential marker for colorectal malignancy and for aggressive treatment of younger CRC patients.</p

Large Early Gastric Cancers Treated by Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection with an Insulation-tipped Diathermic Knife

It is difficult to remove a large early gastric cancer (≥ 3 cm) in one-piece resection using conventional endoscopic mucosal resection. We tried to use an insulation-tipped (IT) diathermic knife to dissect these lesions. IT-endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) was performed in four aging patients with gastric malignancy. All lesions could be removed in one-piece resection by IT-ESD, although three of them exhibited remarkable fibrosis and ulceration. Three cases experienced curative treatment with IT-ESD after the pathologic evaluation, but it was not curative in one case because the pathology showed angiolymphatic invasion. This patient refused additional surgery in consideration of existing major systemic diseases. At 3 months to 1 year of follow-up, endoscopy showed no evidence of residual cancer. IT-ESD is effective in the treatment of large early gastric cancer and is an alternative treatment for early gastric cancer patients who are at risk for major operation. [J Formos Med Assoc 2007;106(3):260-264

Use of seroprevalence to guide dengue vaccination plans for older adults in a dengue non-endemic country.

A shift in dengue cases toward the adult population, accompanied by an increased risk of severe cases of dengue in the elderly, has created an important emerging issue in the past decade. To understand the level of past DENV infection among older adults after a large dengue outbreak occurred in southern Taiwan in 2015, we screened 1498 and 2603 serum samples from healthy residents aged ≥ 40 years in Kaohsiung City and Tainan City, respectively, to assess the seroprevalence of anti-DENV IgG in 2016. Seropositive samples were verified to exclude cross-reaction from Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), using DENV/JEV-NS1 indirect IgG ELISA. We further identified viral serotypes and secondary DENV infections among positive samples in the two cities. The overall age-standardized seroprevalence of DENV-IgG among participants was 25.77% in Kaohsiung and 11.40% in Tainan, and the seroprevalence was significantly higher in older age groups of both cities. Although the percentages of secondary DENV infection in Kaohsiung and Tainan were very similar (43.09% and 44.76%, respectively), DENV-1 and DENV-2 spanned a wider age range in Kaohsiung, whereas DENV-2 was dominant in Tainan. As very few studies have obtained the serostatus of DENV infection in older adults and the elderly, this study highlights the need for further investigation into antibody status, as well as the safety and efficacy of dengue vaccination in these older populations