Assessment of Arteriovenous Shunt Pathway Function and Hypervolemia for Hemodialysis Patients by Using Integrated Rapid Screening System

Currently, the hemodialysis patients received body weight measurement by themselves, vital sign checking by nursing staffs before dialysis. Whenever, the arteriovenous routes with problems doubted, the patients needed to be referred to surgeon for vascular echography checking and then to be corrected. How to integrate these three tasks in one time is a very important issue. The project proposes to combine our previous study of audio-phono angiographic technology in detecting vascular stenosis with rapid screening system to evaluate dialysis patients’ arteriovenous routes function and their status of excess body fluids: inspecting and integrating the blood pressure, body weight, and fistula function work into a rapid screening system, and using the quantization of fistula phono angiography pitch to achieve assessing arteriovenous routes. Future hoping is developed a complete integrated intelligence system by combining the arteriovenous fistula signal processing with feature extraction with wireless sensor network technology

Entanglement Structure: Entanglement Partitioning in Multipartite Systems and Its Experimental Detection Using Optimizable Witnesses

Creating large-scale entanglement lies at the heart of many quantum information processing protocols and the investigation of fundamental physics. For multipartite quantum systems, it is crucial to identify not only the presence of entanglement but also its detailed structure. This is because in a generic experimental situation with sufficiently many subsystems involved, the production of so-called genuine multipartite entanglement remains a formidable challenge. Consequently, focusing exclusively on the identification of this strongest type of entanglement may result in an all or nothing situation where some inherently quantum aspects of the resource are overlooked. On the contrary, even if the system is not genuinely multipartite entangled, there may still be many-body entanglement present in the system. An identification of the entanglement structure may thus provide us with a hint about where imperfections in the setup may occur, as well as where we can identify groups of subsystems that can still exhibit strong quantum-information-processing capabilities. However, there is no known efficient methods to identify the underlying entanglement structure. Here, we propose two complementary families of witnesses for the identification of such structures. They are based on the detection of entanglement intactness and entanglement depth, each requires only the implementation of solely two local measurements. Our method is also robust against noises and other imperfections, as reflected by our experimental implementation of these tools to verify the entanglement structure of five different eight-photon entangled states. We demonstrate how their entanglement structure can be precisely and systematically inferred from the experimental data. In achieving this goal, we also illustrate how the same set of data can be classically postprocessed to learn the most about the measured system.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figure

Benzodiazepines Associated With Acute Respiratory Failure in Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Aims: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and insomnia commonly coexist; hypnotics are broadly prescribed for insomnia therapy. However, the safety of hypnotics use in OSA patients is unclear. We conducted a retrospective case-control study to investigate the risk of adverse respiratory events in hypnotics-using OSA patients.Methods: We obtained data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database from 1996 to 2013. The case group included 216 OSA patients with newly diagnosed adverse respiratory events, including pneumonia and acute respiratory failure. The control group included OSA patients without adverse respiratory events, which was randomly frequency-matched to the case group at a 1:1 ratio according to age, gender, and index year. Hypnotics exposure included benzodiazepines (BZD) and non-benzodiazepines (non-BZD). A recent user was defined as a patient who had taken hypnotics for 1–30 days, while a long-term user was one who had taken hypnotics for 31–365 days.Results: Multivariable adjusted analysis showed recent BZD use is an independent risk for adverse respiratory events (OR = 2.70; 95% CI = 1.15–6.33; P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis showed both recent and long-term BZD use increased the risk of acute respiratory failure compared to never BZD use (OR = 28.6; 95% CI = 5.24–156; P < 0.001, OR = 10.1; 95% CI = 1.51–67.7; P < 0.05, respectively). Neither BZD nor non-BZD use increased the risk of pneumonia in OSA patients.Conclusion: BZD use might increase the risk of acute respiratory failure in OSA patients

Effective gene expression in the rat dorsal root ganglia with a non-viral vector delivered via spinal nerve injection

Delivering gene constructs into the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) is a powerful but challenging therapeutic strategy for sensory disorders affecting the DRG and their peripheral processes. The current delivery methods of direct intra-DRG injection and intrathecal injection have several disadvantages, including potential injury to DRG neurons and low transfection efficiency, respectively. This study aimed to develop a spinal nerve injection strategy to deliver polyethylenimine mixed with plasmid (PEI/DNA polyplexes) containing green fluorescent protein (GFP). Using this spinal nerve injection approach, PEI/DNA polyplexes were delivered to DRG neurons without nerve injury. Within one week of the delivery, GFP expression was detected in 82.8% ± 1.70% of DRG neurons, comparable to the levels obtained by intra-DRG injection (81.3% ± 5.1%, p = 0.82) but much higher than those obtained by intrathecal injection. The degree of GFP expression by neurofilament(+) and peripherin(+) DRG neurons was similar. The safety of this approach was documented by the absence of injury marker expression, including activation transcription factor 3 and ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1 for neurons and glia, respectively, as well as the absence of behavioral changes. These results demonstrated the efficacy and safety of delivering PEI/DNA polyplexes to DRG neurons via spinal nerve injection.National Science Council of Taiwan (100-2321-B-002-007)National Science Council of Taiwan (100-2320-B-002-083-MY3)Taiwan. Ministry of Science and Technology (104-2300-B-002-019-MY3)National Taiwan University. College of Medicine (Translational Medicine Project)National Taiwan University Hospital (101C101-201

Levels and values of circulating endothelial progenitor cells, soluble angiogenic factors, and mononuclear cell apoptosis in liver cirrhosis patients

BACKGROUND: The roles of circulating endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) and mononuclear cell apoptosis (MCA) in liver cirrhosis (LC) patients are unknown. Moreover, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and stromal cell-derived factor (SDF)-1α are powerful endogenous substances enhancing EPC migration into circulation. We assessed the level and function of EPCs [CD31/CD34 (E(1)), KDR/CD34 (E(2)), CXCR4/CD34 (E(3))], levels of MCA, VEGF and SDF-1α in circulation of LC patients. METHODS: Blood sample was prospectively collected once for assessing EPC level and function, MCA, and plasma levels of VEGF and SDF-1α using flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively, in 78 LC patients and 25 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. RESULTS: Number of EPCs (E(1), E(2), E(3)) was lower (all p < 0.0001), whereas SDF-1α level and MCA were higher (p < 0.001) in study patients compared with healthy controls. Number of EPCs (E(2), E(3)) was higher but MCA was lower (all p < 0.05) in Child's class A compared with Child's class B and C patients, although no difference in VEGF and SDF-1α levels were noted among these patients. Chronic hepatitis B and esophageal varices bleeding were independently, whereas chronic hepatitis C, elevated aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and decompensated LC were inversely and independently correlated with circulating EPC level (all p < 0.03). Additionally, angiogenesis and transwell migratory ability of EPCs were reduced in LC patients than in controls (all p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated that level, angiogenic capacity, and function of circulating EPCs were significantly reduced, whereas plasma levels of SDF-1α and circulating MCA were substantially enhanced in cirrhotic patients

UV-curable Fluorine-containing IPN System for Fabric Water-repellency Treatment

[[abstract]]A fluorinated acrylate monomer, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5-octafluoropentyl-methacrylate (OFPMA) was synthesized from a reaction between methacrylol chloride and fluorine containing alcohol (2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5-octafluoropentanol, OFPOH). The fluorine containing acrylate co-polymer (OFPMA-MA) was prepared by a solution copolymerization of OFPMA and methyl acrylate (MA). An UV-curable fluorine containing inter-penetrating polymeric network (IPN) system was formulated by mixing OFPMA-MA co-polymer with UV curable epoxy acrylate oligomer. The UV-curable IPN system was coated on fabric surface and cured by UV radiation process. Upon UV curing, the highly cross-linked polymer anchored into fabric fibers that enhance the washing durability of treated fabric. The fluorinated acrylate monomer (OFPMA) and UV-curable epoxyacrylate oligomer (UV-epoxy) were characterized by FT-IR and NMR. The water repellency of the treated fabric surface was exhibited that related to its fluorine content of UV-cured IPN system. The fluorine contents of treated fabrics after washing were identified by SEM-EDS and their surface properties were proved by the contact angle measurements and Kawabata fabric evolution system (KES-FB).[[incitationindex]]SCI[[booktype]]紙

UV-curable PDMS-containing PU system for hydrophobic textile surface treatment

[[abstract]]Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is a super-hydrophobic material with low surface energy. UV-curable PDMS-containing polyurethane (PU) oligomer (UV-PDMS-PU), having a PDMS moiety is designed for textile (PET and Nylon) surface treatment with a long lasting hydrophobic property. UV-PDMS-PU was prepared by an addition of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (2-HEMA) to NCO-terminated PDMS-containing PU pre-polymer (NCO-PDMS-PU). NCO-PDMS-PU was obtained from an addition reaction of alkyl hydroxyl-terminated PDMS with an excess amount of isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI). UV-PDMS-PU system consisted of 1% (w/w) photo-initiator that was coated either on glass plate or textile and then cured by UV-radiation. The UV-cured PDMS-containing PU films were evaluated by the measurements of thermal and physical properties. The hydrophobic characters and silicone content were remained on textile surface after water washing cycles, which indicating that UV-curing process can help the PDMS moiety to anchor onto textile fibers.[[journaltype]]國外[[incitationindex]]SCI[[incitationindex]]EI[[booktype]]紙本[[countrycodes]]NL

Arteriovenous Shunt Stenosis Evaluation Using a Fractional-Order Fuzzy Petri Net Based Screening System for Long-Term Hemodialysis Patients

This paper proposes the evaluation of arteriovenous shunt (AVS) stenosis using a fractional-order Fuzzy Petri net based screening system for long-term hemodialysis treatment of patients. The screening system uses the Burg method, the fractional-order chaos system, and the Fuzzy Petri net (FPN) for early detection of AVS dysfunction. The Burg method is an autoregressive (AR) model that is used to estimate the frequency spectra of a phonoangiographic signal and to identify the spectral peaks in the region from 25 Hz to 800 Hz. In AVS, the frequency spectrum varies between normal blood flow and turbulent flow. The power spectra demonstrate changes in frequency and amplitude as the degree of stenosis changes. A screening system combining fractional-order chaos system and FPN is used to track the differences in the frequency spectra between the normal and stenosis access. The dynamic errors are indexes that can be used to evaluate the degree of AVS stenosis using a FPN. For 42 long-term follow-up patients, testing results show that the propose