Design of elastic metamaterials

This study focused on the design and fabrication of a double negativity and three broadband single negativity elastic metamaterials using a 3D printer. We investigated dispersion curves and dynamic material properties of the metamaterials. Negative phase velocity in the double negativity metamaterial was also demonstrated. For metamaterials with single negativity, three types of broadband metamaterials were designed from parametric studies. A comparison showed that using frame bending/stretching mode is more effective than applying beam bending mode to broaden bandgap. Furthermore, it is found that adding internal resonant components could enlarge the bandgap. The single negativity metamaterials were validated by numerical simulations of dispersion curves and attenuation factors. Moreover, an effective continuum model was derived and utilized to investigate the wave propagation in the elastic metamaterials. The effective continuum model works for long wavelength, and is able to accurately determine the band-gap region. In addition, the applications of double negativity metamaterials such as negative refraction and interface mode conversion were demonstrated using the effective continuum model. Finally, tunable characteristics of metamaterials were employed to select the propagation speed of a pulse. Potential applications such as signal delay were identified and simulated

Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. bovis infection in Feedlot Deer (Cervus unicolor swinhoei and C. nippon taiouanus) in Taiwan

Background/purposeMycobacterium bovis frequently infects wild and farm deer species with tuberculosis. This study investigated mycobacterial infection in two native deer species Cervus unicolor swinhoei (Formosan Sambar, Sambar) and C. nippon taiouanus (Formasan Sika, Sika).MethodsBased on different sampling sources of 19 intradermal tuberculin test (ITT) Sambar, mycobacterial infection and/or species were detected by acid-fast stain, duplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and multiplex nested PCR (mnPCR) methods, traditional mycobacterial culture and gross lesion. Blood samples of 167 Sambar deer and 147 Sika deer were then tested by duplex PCR and mnPCR methods to investigate the prevalence of mycobacterial infection. Sequence variations of these mycobacterial species were analyzed as well.ResultsDuplex PCR and mnPCR assays could differentiate between MTBC (M. bovis and M. tuberculosis) and M. avium, as well as between M. bovis and M. tuberculosis, respectively. These PCR methods showed a higher detection rate than traditional culture and matched the gross lesions examined in 19 ITT-examined Sambar. Therefore, the mycobacterial infection in blood samples of 314 deer samples was detected using these PCR methods. Duplex PCR and mnPCR showed an identical prevalence of 16.1% in Sambar and 8.2% in Sika and a significant difference in prevalence between these two deer species. M. bovis and M. tuberculosis were the species detected in feedlot Sambar and Sika. M. tuberculosis was found only and first in Sambar fed in central Taiwan. Sequence analysis revealed diverse genetic variations in M. bovis and M. tuberculosis associated with deer subspecies.ConclusionMultiplex PCR methods were established, and M. bovis and M. tuberculosis were identified in feedlot deer in Taiwan. Sequence variations indicated diverse sources of both mycobacterial species

Applying the Modified Delphi Method to Identify the Taiwanese Electronic Health Record Systems Evaluation Framework and Instrument

The aim of this research is to design an appropriate conceptual evaluation framework with a draft instrument for validating the structure of the Taiwanese EHR systems evaluation framework. According to the knowledge of “Triangulation research method” and both quantitative and qualitative approaches, the modified Delphi method was applied to refine the proposed instrument into practicable for real medical environment based on a quantitative approach. In addition, by calculating content validity index for items (I-CVI) and content validity index for scales (S-CVI), it also indicates the degree of consensus between and within questions in the proposed instrument. In short, an appropriate instrument for achieving its target was generated in this research

Does political conflict affect bilateral trade or vice versa? Evidence from Sino-U.S. relations

This paper investigates the dynamic causal relationship between Sino-U.S. political conflict and bilateral trade using a time-varying (bootstrap) Granger full-sample causality test and sub-sample rolling window estimation. The result indicates that Sino-U.S. political conflict and bilateral trade may interact in various ways. Bilateral trade has both positive and negative effects on political conflict in several sub-phases, and in turn, political conflict has the same impacts on bilateral trade. In general, the relationship between Sino-U.S. political conflict and bilateral trade is not always consistent with the model of Polachek, which states bilateral trade has significantly reduced political conflict. In the face of a severe economic situation, China and the U.S. government should strengthen trade cooperation and seek common ground of economic interests in order to expand the improvement of political relations

Utilized mass spectrometry-based protein profiling system to identify potential biomarkers of hepatocellular carcinoma

AbstractHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common malignant liver tumor. The purpose of this study is to characterize proteins secreted from the HepG2 cells, which may relate to cell differentiation and tumor metastasis. In the proteomic analysis, the secretome was identified by nano-high–performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (nano-HPLC/ESIMS/MS) followed by peptide fragmentation pattern analysis. In this study, three proteins, p130Cas-associated protein (p130Cas/BCAR1), TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP43/TARDBP) and translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP/TPT1), were identified and confirmed by Western blotting, which showed significantly differential expression compared with the normal liver cells. Analyzing differential protein expressions in HepG2 cell by proteomic approaches suggests that p130Cas/BCAR1, TDP43/TARDBP and TCTP/TPT1 as key proteins and may serve as biomarkers for HCC