Profit Maximization for Waste Furniture Recycled in Taiwan Using Cradle-to-Cradle Production Programming

This study proposes the use of cradle-to-cradle production programming for waste furniture and aims to achieve optimal efficiency by reusing waste furniture and maximizing the corresponding benefits so that the furniture industry is in line with cradle-to-cradle manufacturing. This study is increasingly important to manage products through a comprehensive green reverse logistics system that consists of three procedures, i.e., recycling, reuse, and remanufacturing of waste items. This study proposes a mathematical formula to establish a cradle-to-cradle production programming model for waste furniture. The fuzzy set theory is used to define the attributes that reflect production and market demands such as degree of damage, technical feasibility, market demands, environmental protection laws and regulations, and environmental performance. In addition, particle swarm optimization is adopted to ascertain the optimal profit from waste furniture sales. Through situational simulations and analyses, the fuzzy set information from Taiwan, Germany, and China is compared. The result reveals that the qualitative information proposed has a significant impact on the profit of waste furniture reuse. The production model can effectively assist in the production programming of waste furniture, thereby optimizing profit for cradle-to-cradle production planning

Pathophysiology of Neuropathic Pain in Type 2 Diabetes: Skin denervation and contact heat–evoked potentials

OBJECTIVE: Neuropathic pain due to small-fiber sensory neuropathy in type 2 diabetes can be diagnosed by skin biopsy with quantification of intra- epidermal nerve fiber ( IENF) density. There is, however, a lack of noninvasive physiological assessment. Contact heat-evoked potential ( CHEP ) is a newly developed approach to record cerebral responses of A fiber- mediated thermonociceptive stimuli. We investigated the diagnostic role of CHEP. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: From 2006 to 2009, there were 32 type 2 diabetic patients (20 males and 12 females, aged 51.63 10.93 years) with skin denervation and neuropathic pain. CHEPs were recorded with heat stimulations at the distal leg, where skin biopsy was performed. RESULTS: CHEP amplitude was reduced in patients compared with age- and sex-matched control subjects (14.8 15.6 vs. 33.7 10.1 V, P < 0.001). Abnormal CHEP patterns ( reduced amplitude or prolonged latency) were noted in 81.3 % of these patients. The CHEP amplitude was the most significant parameter correlated with IENF density (P = 0. 003) and pain perception to contact heat stimuli (P = 0.019) on multiple linear regression models. An excitability index was derived by calculating the ratio of the CHEP amplitude over the IENF density. This excitability index was higher in diabetic patients than in control subjects (P = 0.023), indicating enhanced brain activities in neuropathic pain. Among different neuropathic pain symptoms, the subgroup with evoked pain had higher CHEP amplitudes than the subgroup without evoked pain (P = 0.011). CONCLUSIONS: CHEP offers a noninvasive approach to evaluate the degeneration of thermonociceptive nerves in diabetic neuropathy by providing physiological correlates of skin denervation and neuropathic pain

Seroepidemiology of Klebsiella pneumoniae colonizing the intestinal tract of healthy chinese and overseas chinese adults in Asian countries

[[abstract]]BACKGROUND:Capsular serotypes K1 and K2 of Klebsiella pneumoniae are thought to the major virulence determinants responsible for liver abscess. The intestine is one of the major reservoirs of K. pneumoniae, and epidemiological studies have suggested that the majority of K. pneumoniae infections are preceded by colonization of the gastrointestinal tract. The possibility of fecal-oral transmission in liver abscess has been raised on the basis of molecular typing of isolates. Data on the serotype distribution of K. pneumoniae in stool samples from healthy individuals has not been previously reported. This study investigated the seroepidemiology of K. pneumoniae isolates from the intestinal tract of healthy Chinese in Asian countries. Stool specimens from healthy adult Chinese residents of Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam were collected from August 2004 to August 2010 for analysis.RESULTS:Serotypes K1/K2 accounted for 9.8% of all K. pneumoniae isolates from stools in all countries. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of K1/K2 isolates among the countries excluding Thailand and Vietnam. The antimicrobial susceptibility pattern was nearly the same in K. pneumoniae isolates. The result of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed no major clonal cluster of serotype K1 isolates.CONCLUSIONS:The result showed that Chinese ethnicity itself might be a major factor predisposing to intestinal colonization by serotype K1/K2 K. pneumoniae isolates. The prevalent serotype K1/K2 isolates may partially correspond to the prevalence of K. pneumoniae liver abscess in Asian countries

Establishing a nationwide emergency department-based syndromic surveillance system for better public health responses in Taiwan

Background. With international concern over emerging infectious diseases (EID) and bioterrorist attacks, public health is being required to have early outbreak detection systems. A disease surveillance team was organized to establish a hospital emergency department-based syndromic surveillance system (ED-SSS) capable of automatically transmitting patient data electronically from the hospitals responsible for emergency care throughout the country to the Centers for Disease Control in Taiwan (Taiwan-CDC) starting March, 2004. This report describes the challenges and steps involved in developing ED-SSS and the timely information it provides to improve in public health decision-making. Methods. Between June 2003 and March 2004, after comparing various surveillance systems used around the world and consulting with ED physicians, pediatricians and internal medicine physicians involved in infectious disease control, the Syndromic Surveillance Research Team in Taiwan worked with the Real-time Outbreak and Disease Surveillance (RODS) Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh to create Taiwan's ED-SSS. The system was evaluated by analyzing daily electronic ED data received in real-time from the 189 hospitals participating in this system between April 1, 2004 and March 31, 2005. Results. Taiwan's ED-SSS identified winter and summer spikes in two syndrome groups: influenza-like illnesses and respiratory syndrome illnesses, while total numbers of ED visits were significantly higher on weekends, national holidays and the days of Chinese lunar new year than weekdays (p < 0.001). It also identified increases in the upper, lower, and total gastrointestinal (GI) syndrome groups starting in November 2004 and two clear spikes in enterovirus-like infections coinciding with the two school semesters. Using ED-SSS for surveillance of influenza-like illnesses and enteroviruses-related infections has improved Taiwan's pandemic flu preparedness and disease control capabilities. Conclusion. Taiwan's ED-SSS represents the first nationwide real-time syndromic surveillance system ever established in Asia. The experiences reported herein can encourage other countries to develop their own surveillance systems. The system can be adapted to other cultural and language environments for better global surveillance of infectious diseases and international collaboration. © 2008 Wu et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

An outbreak of coxsackievirus A6 hand, foot, and mouth disease associated with onychomadesis in Taiwan, 2010

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In 2010, an outbreak of coxsackievirus A6 (CA6) hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) occurred in Taiwan and some patients presented with onychomadesis and desquamation following HFMD. Therefore, we performed an epidemiological and molecular investigation to elucidate the characteristics of this outbreak.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Patients who had HFMD with positive enterovirus isolation results were enrolled. We performed a telephone interview with enrolled patients or their caregivers to collect information concerning symptoms, treatments, the presence of desquamation, and the presence of nail abnormalities. The serotypes of the enterovirus isolates were determined using indirect immunofluorescence assays. The VP1 gene was sequenced and the phylogenetic tree for the current CA6 strains in 2010, 52 previous CA6 strains isolated in Taiwan from 1998 through 2009, along with 8 reference sequences from other countries was constructed using the neighbor-joining command in MEGA software.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 130 patients with laboratory-confirmed CA6 infection, some patients with CA6 infection also had eruptions around the perioral area (28, 22%), the trunk and/or the neck (39, 30%) and generalized skin eruptions (6, 5%) in addition to the typical presentation of skin eruptions on the hands, feet, and mouths. Sixty-six (51%) CA6 patients experienced desquamation of palms and soles after the infection episode and 48 (37%) CA6 patients developed onychomadesis, which only occurred in 7 (5%) of 145 cases with non-CA6 enterovirus infection (<it>p </it>< 0.001). The sequences of viral protein 1 of CA6 in 2010 differ from those found in Taiwan before 2010, but are similar to those found in patients in Finland in 2008.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>HFMD patients with CA6 infection experienced symptoms targeting a broader spectrum of skin sites and more profound tissue destruction, i.e., desquamation and nail abnormalities.</p

A Combined DNA-Affinic Molecule and N-Mustard Alkylating Agent Has an Anti-Cancer Effect and Induces Autophagy in Oral Cancer Cells

Although surgery or the combination of chemotherapy and radiation are reported to improve the quality of life and reduce symptoms in patients with oral cancer, the prognosis of oral cancer remains generally poor. DNA alkylating agents, such as N-mustard, play an important role in cancer drug development. BO-1051 is a new 9-anilinoacridine N-mustard-derivative anti-cancer drug that can effectively target a variety of cancer cell lines and inhibit tumorigenesis in vivo. However, the underlying mechanism of BO-1051-mediated tumor suppression remains undetermined. In the present study, BO-1051 suppressed cell viability with a low IC50 in oral cancer cells, but not in normal gingival fibroblasts. Cell cycle analysis revealed that the tumor suppression by BO-1051 was accompanied by cell cycle arrest and downregulation of stemness genes. The enhanced conversion of LC3-I to LC3-II and the formation of acidic vesicular organelles indicated that BO-1501 induced autophagy. The expression of checkpoint kinases was upregulated as demonstrated with Western blot analysis, showing that BO-1051 could induce DNA damage and participate in DNA repair mechanisms. Furthermore, BO-1051 treatment alone exhibited a moderate tumor suppressive effect against xenograft tumor growth in immunocompromised mice. Importantly, the combination of BO-1051 and radiation led to a potent inhibition on xenograft tumorigenesis. Collectively, our findings demonstrated that BO-1051 exhibited a cytotoxic effect via cell cycle arrest and the induction of autophagy. Thus, the combination of BO-1051 and radiotherapy may be a feasible therapeutic strategy against oral cancer in the future