A Scenario Analysis of Wearable Interface Technology Foresight

Although the importance and value of wearable interface have gradually being realized, wearable interface related technologies and the priority of adopting these technologies have so far not been clearly recognized. To fill this gap, this paper focuses on the technology planning strategy of organizations that have an interest in developing or adopting wearable interface related technologies. Based on the scenario analysis approach, a technology planning strategy is proposed. In this analysis, thirty wearable interface technologies are classified into six categories, and the importance and risk factors of these categories are then evaluated under two possible scenarios. The main research findings include the discovery that most brain based wearable interface technologies are rated high to medium importance and high risk in all scenarios, and that scenario changes will have less impact on voice based as well as gesture based wearable interface technologies. These results provide a reference for organizations and vendors interested in adopting or developing wearable interface technologies

The Impact Of Internet Of Things Technologies On Supply Chain Performance: The Mediating Role Of Competitive

Recent advancement of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies has invoked tremendous attention from both academics and industries. The emerging IoT technologies not only serve as possible new tools for enterprise operation, but also trigger impacts in the management arena such as supply chain management (SCM). This study investigates the role of competitive strategy underlying the link between IoT technologies and supply chain performance. By referring to the resource→strategy→performance model, this study builds a research framework in which three strategic positions of firms— low cost, differentiation and market focus—mediate the effect of IoT technologies on supply chain performance. Empirical survey and analysis of enterprise data are conducted to test the hypotheses. The test results support the mediation effects of competitive strategies. Research contributions and managerial implications are elaborated in the conclusions

Molecular typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from adult patients with tubercular spondylitis

Background/PurposeTuberculosis (TB) is endemic in Taiwan and usually affects the lung, spinal TB accounting for 1–3% of all TB infections. The manifestations of spinal TB are different from those of pulmonary TB. The purpose of this study was to define the epidemiological molecular types of mycobacterial strains causing spinal TB.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of adult patients diagnosed with spinal TB from January 1998 to December 2007. Patients with positive culture results and/or pathological findings characteristic of TB were enrolled in this study. Spoligotyping was performed to type the Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates.ResultsA total of 38 patients with spinal TB were identified. Their mean age was 68 years, and their median duration of symptoms was 60 days (range 3–720 days). The lumbar and thoracic spine accounted for 76% of the sites involved. Thirteen specimens (from seven male and six female patients) were available for typing. Spoligotyping of these 13 specimens revealed three Beijing (23%) and 10 non-Beijing types (77%). The non-Beijing types included two EAI2 Manilla (15%), two H3 (15%), two unclassified (15%), and one each of BOVIS1, U, T2, and orphan type. No significant predominant strain was found in this study, and no drug-resistant Beijing strains were identified.ConclusionTB spondylitis was found to occur in older patients. Spoligotyping results showed that most of the TB spondylitis cases were caused by non-Beijing type Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Yang-Dan-Tang, Identified from 15 Chinese Herbal Formulae, Inhibits Human Lung Cancer Cell Proliferation via Cell Cycle Arrest

Lung cancer has long been one of the most deadly forms of cancer. The majority of lung cancers are of the non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) type. Here we used the non-small-cell lung carcinoma cell line A549 to screen 15 different traditional Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) formulae to explore the possible mechanisms of alternative medicine in lung cancer therapy. We identified three formulae (Formulae 3, 5, and 14) that substantially decreased the survival of A549 cells but did not affect MRC5 normal lung tissue cells. Formula 14, Yang-Dan-Tang, a modified decoction of Ramulus Cinnamomi Cassiae, was chosen for further characterization. Flow cytometry analysis showed that treatment of Formula 14 induced cell cycle arrest in G1 and G2 phase without causing significant cell death. These results were also confirmed by Western blot analysis, with decreased expression of G1/S and G2/M promoting cell cycle machinery including cyclin D3, cyclin B1, CDK4, and CDK6. This study provides further insight into the possible working mechanism of Yang-Dan-Tang in patients

EBV-encoded small RNA1 and nonresolving inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis

AbstractRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by perpetuated inflammation in multiple joints. To date, there is no cure for RA, and the causal factor for non-resolving inflammation in RA remains unclear. In this study, we initially observed expression of Epstein–Barr virus-encoded small RNA1 (EBER1) in the synovial tissue of all five patients who showed nonresolving RA inflammation. By contrast, EBER1 was detected in the synovial tissue of only one out of seven patients with advanced osteoarthritis (OA; p < 0.01, Fisher’s exact test). To confirm this finding, we conducted a second study on synovial tissue samples taken from 23 patients with nonresolving RA inflammation and 13 patients with OA. All synovial samples from patients with nonresolving inflammation of RA showed positive expression of EBER1 (23/23, 100%), whereas none of the synovial samples from patients with OA showed expression of EBER1 (0/13, 0%; p < 0.001, by Fisher’s exact test). In vitro, transfection of RA synovial fibroblasts with EBER1 induced the production of interleukin-6. Taken together, these data strongly suggest that nonresolving RA inflammation is strongly related to the presence of EBER1, which might be, at least partially, responsible for synovial fibroblast interleukin-6 production

Tau PET With 18F-THK-5351 Taiwan Patients With Familial Alzheimer's Disease With the APP p.D678H Mutation

Background: Brain 18F-AV-45 amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) in Taiwanese patients with familial Alzheimer's disease with the amyloid precursor protein (APP) p.D678H mutation tends to involve occipital and cerebellar cortical areas. However, tau pathology in patients with this specific Taiwan mutation remains unknown. In this study, we aimed to study the Tau PET images in these patients.Methods: Clinical features, brain magnetic resonance imaging/computed tomography (MRI/CT), and brain 18F-THK-5351 PET were recorded in five patients with the APP p.D678H mutation and correlated with brain 18F-AV-45 PET images. We also compared the tau deposition patterns among five patients with familial mild cognitive impairment (fMCI), six patients with sporadic amnestic mild cognitive impairment (sMCI), nine patients with mild to moderate dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 12 healthy controls (HCs). All of the subjects also received brain 18F-AV-45 PET.Results: The nine patients with sAD and six patients with sMCI had a positive brain AV-45 PET scans, while the 12 HCs had negative brain AV-45 PET scans. All five patients with fMCI received a tau PET scan with the age at onset ranging from 46 to 53 years, in whom increased standard uptake value ratio (SUVR) of 18F-THK-5351 was noted in all seven brain cortical areas compared with the HCs. In addition, the SUVRs of 18F-THK-5351 were increased in the frontal, medial parietal, lateral parietal, lateral temporal, and occipital areas (P &lt; 0.001) in the patients with sAD compared with the HCs. The patients with fMCI had a significant higher SUVR of 18F-THK-5351 in the cerebellar cortex compared to the patients with sMCI. The correlations between regional SUVR and Mini-Mental State Examination score and between regional SUVR and clinical dementia rating (sum box) scores within volumes of interest of Braak stage were statistically significant.Conclusion: Tau deposition was increased in the patients with fMCI compared to the HCs. Increased regional SUVR in the cerebellar cortical area was a characteristic finding in the patients with fMCI. As compared between amyloid and tau PET, the amyloid deposition is diffuse, but tau deposition is limited to the temporal lobe in the patients with fMCI

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

PROPHYLACTIC WARM-UP ENHANCES FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENT SCREEN IN YOUNG FEMALE BASKETBALL PLAYERS

This study investigated effects of a prophylactic warm-up programme on functional movement screen (FMS) in young basketball players. Twenty-four female players in a high school basketball league were recruited and assigned to two groups. The experimental group performed prophylactic warm-up and the control group performed regular warm-up for 15 minutes per day, five days per week for 12 weeks. Seven measurements in FMS were collected before and after training. A 2-way analysis of variance (group by time) with repeated measures on the second factor was used to analyze data. There were group by time interactions in deep squat, hurdle step, in-line lunge, active straight-leg raise and total scores of FMS. There were significant group differences in deep squat, hurdle step, in-line lunge, active straight-leg raise, rotary stability and total scores of FMS. There were significant differences in deep squat, hurdle step, trunk stability push-up, rotary stability and total scores of FMS in experimental group before and after training (

Extracorporeal Shockwave for Chronic Patellar Tendinopathy

Patellar tendinopathy is a common orthopaedic problem characterized by pain and tenderness just below or, less commonly, above the patella. Extracorporeal Shockwave for Chronic Patellar Tendinopath