A Quantitative Analysis and Guideline of Data Streaming Accelerator in Intel 4th Gen Xeon Scalable Processors

As semiconductor power density is no longer constant with the technology process scaling down, modern CPUs are integrating capable data accelerators on chip, aiming to improve performance and efficiency for a wide range of applications and usages. One such accelerator is the Intel Data Streaming Accelerator (DSA) introduced in Intel 4th Generation Xeon Scalable CPUs (Sapphire Rapids). DSA targets data movement operations in memory that are common sources of overhead in datacenter workloads and infrastructure. In addition, it becomes much more versatile by supporting a wider range of operations on streaming data, such as CRC32 calculations, delta record creation/merging, and data integrity field (DIF) operations. This paper sets out to introduce the latest features supported by DSA, deep-dive into its versatility, and analyze its throughput benefits through a comprehensive evaluation. Along with the analysis of its characteristics, and the rich software ecosystem of DSA, we summarize several insights and guidelines for the programmer to make the most out of DSA, and use an in-depth case study of DPDK Vhost to demonstrate how these guidelines benefit a real application

The effect of cigarette price increase on the cigarette consumption in Taiwan: evidence from the National Health Interview Surveys on cigarette consumption

BACKGROUND: This study uses cigarette price elasticity to evaluate the effect of a new excise tax increase on cigarette consumption and to investigate responses from various types of smokers. METHODS: Our sample consisted of current smokers between 17 and 69 years old interviewed during an annual face-to-face survey conducted by Taiwan National Health Research Institutes between 2000 to 2003. We used Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) procedure to estimate double logarithmic function of cigarette demand and cigarette price elasticity. RESULTS: In 2002, after Taiwan had enacted the new tax scheme, cigarette price elasticity in Taiwan was found to be -0.5274. The new tax scheme brought about an average annual 13.27 packs/person (10.5%) reduction in cigarette consumption. Using the cigarette price elasticity estimate from -0.309 in 2003, we calculated that if the Health and Welfare Tax were increased by another NT$ 3 per pack and cigarette producers shifted this increase to the consumers, cigarette consumption would be reduced by 2.47 packs/person (2.2%). The value of the estimated cigarette price elasticity is smaller than one, meaning that the tax will not only reduce cigarette consumption but it will also generate additional tax revenues. Male smokers who had no income or who smoked light cigarettes were found to be more responsive to changes in cigarette price. CONCLUSIONS: An additional tax added to the cost of cigarettes would bring about a reduction in cigarette consumption and increased tax revenues. It would also help reduce incidents smoking-related illnesses. The additional tax revenues generated by the tax increase could be used to offset the current financial deficiency of Taiwan's National Health Insurance program and provide better public services

DETERMINATION OF SOLUBLE HUMIC SUBSTANCES (HUMIC ACID, FULVIC ACID & SALTS) IN WATER BY UV-VISIBLE SPECTROPHOTOMETRY

Wang, MHS, Wang, LK, Wu, BC and Hu, GY (2022). Determination of humic substances (humic acid, fulvic acid & salts) in water by UV-visible spectrophotometry. In: "Environmental Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)", Wang, LK, Wang, MHS, and Pankivskyi, YI (editors). Volume 2022, Number 4B, April 2022; pp.33. Lenox Institute Press, MA, USA. 10.17613/g0e5-wr96 ..........ABSTRACT: An analytical procedure has been developed for quantitative determination of soluble humic substances which are common agricultural and gardening products. The residual of soluble humic substances in surface water become the undesirable trihalomethane (THM) precursors to people and chronic toxic substances to aquatic plants and animals. Removal and analysis of soluble humic substances are important tasks of environmental researchers. The principle of humic substances is similar to that of tannin and lignin analysis except that the two analytical methods use different analytical instruments. The principle is that soluble humic substances, such as humic acid, fulvic acid and their salts, reduce the tungstophosphoric and molybdophosphoric acids to produce a grayish color up to at least 20 mg/L at UV wavelength 265-400 nm. The grayish color substance can be quantitatively measured with a UV-Visible Spectrophotometer. This publication is one of the authors' memoirs

Otalgia and eschar in the external auditory canal in scrub typhus complicated by acute respiratory distress syndrome and multiple organ failure

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Scrub typhus, a mite-transmitted zoonosis caused by <it>Orientia tsutsugamushi</it>, is an endemic disease in Taiwan and may be potentially fatal if diagnosis is delayed.</p> <p>Case presentations</p> <p>We encountered a 23-year-old previously healthy Taiwanese male soldier presenting with the right ear pain after training in the jungle and an eleven-day history of intermittent high fever up to 39°C. Amoxicillin/clavulanate was prescribed for otitis media at a local clinic. Skin rash over whole body and abdominal cramping pain with watery diarrhea appeared on the sixth day of fever. He was referred due to progressive dyspnea and cough for 4 days prior to admission in our institution. On physical examination, there were cardiopulmonary distress, icteric sclera, an eschar in the right external auditory canal and bilateral basal rales. Laboratory evaluation revealed thrombocytopenia, elevation of liver function and acute renal failure. Chest x-ray revealed bilateral diffuse infiltration. Doxycycline was prescribed for scrub typhus with acute respiratory distress syndrome and multiple organ failure. Fever subsided dramatically the next day and he was discharged on day 7 with oral tetracycline for 7 days.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Scrub typhus should be considered in acutely febrile patients with multiple organ involvement, particularly if there is an eschar or a history of environmental exposure in endemic areas. Rapid and accurate diagnosis, timely administration of antibiotics and intensive supportive care are necessary to decrease mortality of serious complications of scrub typhus.</p

The synergistic effect of cigarette taxes on the consumption of cigarettes, alcohol and betel nuts

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Consumption of cigarettes and alcoholic beverages creates serious health consequences for individuals and overwhelming financial burdens for governments around the world. In Asia, a third stimulant – betel nuts – increases this burden exponentially. For example, individuals who simultaneously smoke, chew betel nuts and drink alcohol are approximately 123 times more likely to develop oral, pharyngeal and laryngeal cancer than are those who do not.</p> <p>To discourage consumption of cigarettes, the government of Taiwan has imposed three taxes over the last two decades. It now wishes to lower consumption of betel nuts. To assist in this effort, our study poses two questions: 1) Will the imposition of an NT$10 Health Tax on cigarettes effectively reduce cigarette consumption? and 2) Will this cigarette tax also reduce consumption of alcoholic beverages and betel nuts? To answer these questions, we analyze the effect of the NT$10 tax on overall cigarette consumption as well as the cross price elasticities of cigarettes, betel nuts, and alcoholic beverages.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To establish the Central Bureau of Statistics demand function, we used cigarette, betel nut, and alcoholic beverage price and sales volume data for the years 1972–2002. To estimate the overall demand price elasticity of cigarettes, betel nuts, and alcoholic beverages, we used a seemingly unrelated regression analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We find that the NT$10 health tax on cigarettes will reduce cigarette consumption by a significant 27.22$10 health tax on cigarettes will reduce betel nut consumption by 20.07% and alcohol consumption by 7.5%.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The assessment of a health tax on cigarettes as a smoking control policy tool yields a win-win outcome for both government and consumers because it not only reduces cigarette consumption, but it also reduces betel nut and alcoholic beverage consumption due to a synergistic relationship. Revenues generated by the tax can be used to fund city and county smoking control programs as well as to meet the health insurance system's current financial shortfall.</p

A naturally occurring splicing site mutation in the Brassica rapa FLC1 gene is associated with variation in flowering time

FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), encoding a MADS-domain transcription factor in Arabidopsis, is a repressor of flowering involved in the vernalization pathway. This provides a good reference for Brassica species. Genomes of Brassica species contain several FLC homologues and several of these colocalize with flowering-time QTL. Here the analysis of sequence variation of BrFLC1 in Brassica rapa and its association with the flowering-time phenotype is reported. The analysis revealed that a G→A polymorphism at the 5’ splice site in intron 6 of BrFLC1 is associated with flowering phenotype. Three BrFLC1 alleles with alternative splicing patterns, including two with different parts of intron 6 retained and one with the entire exon 6 excluded from the transcript, were identified in addition to alleles with normal splicing. It was inferred that aberrant splicing of the pre-mRNA leads to loss-of-function of BrFLC1. A CAPS marker was developed for this locus to distinguish Pi6+1(G) and Pi6+1(A). The polymorphism detected with this marker was significantly associated with flowering time in a collection of 121 B. rapa accessions and in a segregating Chinese cabbage doubled-haploid population. These findings suggest that a naturally occurring splicing mutation in the BrFLC1 gene contributes greatly to flowering-time variation in B. rapa

Economic gains and health benefits from a new cigarette tax scheme in Taiwan: a simulation using the CGE model

BACKGROUND: This study evaluates the impact of an increase in cigarette tax in Taiwan in terms of the effects it has on the overall economy and the health benefits that it brings. METHODS: The multisector computable general equilibrium (CGE) model was used to simulate the impact of reduced cigarette consumption resulting from a new tax scheme on the entire economy gains and on health benefits. RESULTS: The results predict that because of the new tax scheme, there should be a marked reduction in cigarette consumption but a notable increase in health benefits that include saving between 28,125 and 56,250 lives. This could save NT$1.222~2.445 billion (where US$1 = NT$34.6) annually in life-threatening, cigarette-related health insurance expenses which exceeds the projected decrease of NT$1.275 billion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) because of reduced consumption and therefore tax revenue. CONCLUSION: Overall, the increased cigarette excise tax will be beneficial in terms of both the health of the general public and the economy as a whole

Visfatin enhances breast cancer progression through CXCL1 induction in tumor-associated macrophages

Visfatin, an adipocytokine highly expressed in breast tumor tissues, is associated with breast cancer progression. Recent studies showed that adipocytokines mediate tumor development through adipocytokine tumor-stromal interactions in the tumor microenvironment. This study focused on the interaction between one key stromal constituent—tumor-associated macrophages—and visfatin. Pretreatment of THP-1 and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with recombinant visfatin resulted in M2-polarization determined by CD163 and CD206 expression. Indirect co-culture with visfatin-treated THP-1 (V-THP-1) promoted the viability, migration, tumorsphere formation, EMT, and stemness of breast cancer cells. Cytokine array identified an increased CXCL1 secretion in V-THP-1 conditioned medium and recombinant CXCL1 enhanced cell migration and invasion, which were abrogated by the CXCL1-neutralizing antibody. Additionally, visfatin induced pERK in THP-1 cells and clinical samples confirmed a positive CXCL1/pERK correlation. In an orthotopic mouse model, the tumor bioluminescent signal of luciferase-expressing MDA-MB-231 (Luc-MDA-MB-231) cells co-cultured with V-THP-1 and the expression of proliferation marker Ki67 were significantly higher than that co-cultured with THP-1. Furthermore, tail vein-injected Luc-MDA-MB-231 pretreated with V-PBMCs conditioned medium metastasized to lungs more frequently compared to control, and this was reversed by CXCL1 blocking antibody. In summary, this study demonstrated that visfatin enhanced breast cancer progression via pERK/CXCL1 induction in macrophages

ADSCs stimulated by resistin promote breast cancer cell malignancy via CXCL5 in a breast cancer coculture model

The tumor microenvironment represents one of the main obstacles in breast cancer treatment owing to the presence of heterogeneous stromal cells, such as adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs), that may interact with breast cancer cells and promote cancer development. Resistin is an adipocytokine associated with adverse breast cancer progression; however, its underlying mechanisms in the context of the breast tumor microenvironment remain largely unidentified. Here, we utilized a transwell co-culture model containing patient-derived ADSCs and breast cancer cell lines to investigate their potential interaction, and observed that breast cancer cells co-cultured with resistin-treated ADSCs (R-ADSCs) showed enhanced cancer cell growth and metastatic ability. Screening by proteome arrays revealed that C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 5 (CXCL5) was released in the conditioned medium of the co-culture system, and phosphorylated ERK was increased in breast cancer cells after co-culture with R-ADSCs. Breast cancer cells treated with the recombinant proteins of CXCL5 showed similarly enhanced cell migration and invasion ability as occurred in the co-culture model, whereas application of neutralizing antibodies against CXCL5 reversed these phenomena. The orthotopic xenograft in mice by breast cancer cells after co-culture with R-ADSCs had a larger tumor growth and more CXCL5 expression than control. In addition, clinical analysis revealed a positive correlation between the expression of resistin and CXCL5 in both tumor tissues and serum specimens of breast cancer patients. The current study suggests that resistin-stimulated ADSCs may interact with breast cancer cells in the tumor microenvironment via CXCL5 secretion, leading to breast cancer cell malignancy