A Three-Step Resolution-Reconfigurable Hazardous Multi-Gas Sensor Interface for Wireless Air-Quality Monitoring Applications

This paper presents a resolution-reconfigurable wide-range resistive sensor readout interface for wireless multi-gas monitoring applications that displays results on a smartphone. Three types of sensing resolutions were selected to minimize processing power consumption, and a dual-mode front-end structure was proposed to support the detection of a variety of hazardous gases with wide range of characteristic resistance. The readout integrated circuit (ROIC) was fabricated in a 0.18 ??m CMOS process to provide three reconfigurable data conversions that correspond to a low-power resistance-to-digital converter (RDC), a 12-bit successive approximation register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC), and a 16-bit delta-sigma modulator. For functional feasibility, a wireless sensor system prototype that included in-house microelectromechanical (MEMS) sensing devices and commercial device products was manufactured and experimentally verified to detect a variety of hazardous gases

Expression of SMARCD1 interacts with age in association with asthma control on inhaled corticosteroid therapy.

BackgroundGlobal gene expression levels are known to be highly dependent upon gross demographic features including age, yet identification of age-related genomic indicators has yet to be comprehensively undertaken in a disease and treatment-specific context.MethodsWe used gene expression data from CD4+ lymphocytes in the Asthma BioRepository for Integrative Genomic Exploration (Asthma BRIDGE), an open-access collection of subjects participating in genetic studies of asthma with available gene expression data. Replication population participants were Puerto Rico islanders recruited as part of the ongoing Genes environments & Admixture in Latino Americans (GALA II), who provided nasal brushings for transcript sequencing. The main outcome measure was chronic asthma control as derived by questionnaires. Genomic associations were performed using regression of chronic asthma control score on gene expression with age in years as a covariate, including a multiplicative interaction term for gene expression times age.ResultsThe SMARCD1 gene (SWI/SNF-related matrix-associated actin-dependent regulator of chromatin subfamily D member 1) interacted with age to influence chronic asthma control on inhaled corticosteroids, with a doubling of expression leading to an increase of 1.3 units of chronic asthma control per year (95% CI [0.86, 1.74], p = 6 × 10- 9), suggesting worsening asthma control with increasing age. This result replicated in GALA II (p = 3.8 × 10- 8). Cellular assays confirmed the role of SMARCD1 in glucocorticoid response in airway epithelial cells.ConclusionFocusing on age-dependent factors may help identify novel indicators of asthma medication response. Age appears to modulate the effect of SMARCD1 on asthma control with inhaled corticosteroids

Percutaneous placement of self-expandable metallic stents in patients with obstructive jaundice secondary to metastatic gastric cancer after gastrectomy

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the outcomes of patients undergoing percutaneous placements of a biliary stent for obstructive jaundice secondary to metastatic gastric cancer after gastrectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty patients (mean age, 62.4 years; range, 27-86 years) who underwent percutaneous placements of a biliary stent for obstructive jaundice secondary to metastatic gastric cancer after gastrectomy were included. The technical success rate, clinical success rate, complication rate, stent patency, patient survival and factors associated with stent patency were being evaluated. RESULTS: The median interval between the gastrectomy and stent placement was 23.1 months (range, 3.9-94.6 months). The 50 patients received a total of 65 stents without any major procedure-related complications. Technical success was achieved in all patients. The mean total serum bilirubin level, which had been 7.19 mg/dL ± 6.8 before stent insertion, decreased to 4.58 mg/dL ± 5.4 during the first week of follow-up (p < 0.001). Clinical success was achieved in 42 patients (84%). Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage catheters were removed from 45 patients (90%). Infectious complications were noted in two patients (4%), and stent malfunction occurred in seven patients (14%). The median stent patency was 233 ± 99 days, and the median patient survival was 179 ± 83 days. Total serum bilirubin level after stenting was an independent factor for stent patency (p = 0.009). CONCLUSION: Percutaneous transhepatic placement of a biliary stent for obstructive jaundice secondary to metastatic gastric cancer after gastrectomy is a technically feasible and clinically effective palliative procedure

Organizational Improvement Plan For Eliminating a Need for Alternative Programs By Way of a Paradigm Shift

The problem of practice in this organizational improvement plan (OIP) is that the existence of Alternative Programs impedes progress to meaningful school change. The school board is moving toward a paradigm shift as indicated through a number of initiatives discussed in this OIP. This OIP was developed through a review of the literature on: Alternative Education, attitudes toward students labelled at-risk and through an examination of documents produced and disseminated by the Ministry. This OIP takes social critique perspective (Furman, 2004; Starratt, 2004) to understand purposes for referring students to Alternative Programs within the current paradigm. This OIP also explores the learning needs of students as they relate to the development of human identity, not as related to curriculum knowledge and career development. The emerging realization is that learning is a biological process which develops the identity of learners as self-authored beings (Hodge, Baxter Magolda, & Haynes, 2009). It is discovered that the Board is shifting toward an Ontologically Developmental Paradigm (Oh Neill, 2014). Such a shift changes the purpose of education from social reproduction to social reconstruction

Torus counting and self-joinings of Kleinian groups

For any $d\geq 1$, we obtain counting and equidistribution results for tori with small volume for a class of $d$-dimensional torus packings, invariant under a self-joining $\Gamma_\rho<\prod_{i=1}^d\mathrm{PSL}_2(\mathbb{C})$ of a Kleinian group $\Gamma$ formed by a $d$-tuple of convex cocompact representations $\rho=(\rho_1, \cdots, \rho_d)$. More precisely, if $\mathcal P$ is a $\Gamma_\rho$-admissible $d$-dimensional torus packing, then for any bounded subset $E\subset \mathbb{C}^d$ with $\partial E$ contained in a proper real algebraic subvariety, we have $$\lim_{s\to 0} { s^{\delta_{L^1}({\rho}) }} \cdot \#\{T\in \mathcal{P}: \mathrm{Vol} (T)> s,\, T\cap E\neq \emptyset \}= c_{\mathcal P}\cdot \omega_{\rho} (E\cap \Lambda_\rho).$$ Here $0<\delta_{L^1}(\rho)\le 2/\sqrt d$ is the critical exponent of $\Gamma_\rho$ with respect to the $L^1$-metric on the product $\prod_{i=1}^d \mathbb{H}^3$, $\Lambda_\rho\subset (\mathbb{C}\cup\{\infty\})^d$ is the limit set of $\Gamma_\rho$, and $\omega_{\rho}$ is a locally finite Borel measure on $\mathbb{C}^d\cap \Lambda_\rho$ which can be explicitly described. The class of admissible torus packings we consider arises naturally from the Teichm\"{u}ller theory of Kleinian groups. Our work extends previous results of Oh-Shah on circle packings (i.e. one-dimensional torus packings) to $d$-torus packings.Comment: 36 pages, 2 figures, To appear in Crelle's journa

Rho-kinase Regulates Energy Balance by Targeting Hypothalamic Leptin Receptor Signaling

Leptin regulates energy balance. However, knowledge of the critical intracellular transducers of leptin signaling remains incomplete. Here we report that Rho-kinase 1 (ROCK1) regulates leptin action on body weight homeostasis by activating JAK2, an initial trigger of leptin receptor signaling. Leptin promotes the physical interaction of JAK2 and ROCK1, thereby increasing phosphorylation of JAK2 and downstream activation of Stat3 and FOXO1. Mice lacking ROCK1 in either POMC or AgRP neurons, mediators of leptin action, display obesity and impaired leptin sensitivity. In addition, deletion of ROCK1 in the arcuate nucleus markedly enhances food intake, resulting in severe obesity. Of note, ROCK1 is a specific mediator of leptin, but not insulin, regulation of POMC neuronal activity. Our data identify ROCK1 as a key regulator of leptin action on energy homeostasis

Korean popular culture analytics in social media streaming: evidence from YouTube channels in Thailand

This research aimed to study and analyze the influence and impact of Korean popular culture (K-pop) on Thai society. In this study, we used Social Network Analysis (SNA) to analyze streaming data obtained from a variety of YouTube channels belonging to YouTubers across the world, text analytics to analyze demographic characteristics, YouTuber's presentation techniques, as well as subscriber behavior, and multiple correlations analysis to analyze the relationship between factors affecting YouTube Channels in Thailand. The findings revealed that five Thai YouTube Channels were influencing Thai society. Furthermore, there were robust positive correlations between the number of dislikes and the number of comments (0.79), and the number of likes and comments (0.65). Additionally, there was a positive correlation between the number of views and the number of dislikes and one between the number of likes and dislikes. Future research can supplement the present findings with other social media sources to yield an even more diverse and comprehensive analysis. These analytics can be applied to various situations, including corporate marketing strategies, political campaigns, or disease/symptom analysis in medicine. This research extends to social computing by revealing intelligent trends in social networks