Noninvasive Wireless Sensor PFMT Device for Pelvic Floor Muscle Training

[[abstract]]Urinary incontinence is a common problem among adults. Studies have shown up to 70% improvement in stress incontinence symptoms following appropriately performed pelvic floor exercise. This improvement is evident across all age groups. In this study, we cooperated with a doctor of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan. We developed a noninvasive device with the purpose of helping patients commence and perform pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT). This device consists of a PFMT device, an Arduino control board, a force sensor, a Bluetooth device, and an SD card. The objectives of this study are to train patients to inhibit detrusor contraction voluntarily and to contract periurethral muscles selectively. The system records and analyzes sensor data and provides voice prompts during PFMT exercise for patients at hospitals or their homes. Meanwhile, it tracks patients’ PFMT exercise at home, and doctors can contact patients for additional visitation(s) if necessary.[[incitationindex]]SCI[[booktype]]紙

Environmental Tax Reform, R&D Subsidies and CO2 Emissions: View Double Dividend Hypothesis

This study investigated whether environmental taxes achieve the double dividend of coexistence of economic growth and environmental protection. The research method used dynamic industrial relations models to estimate the influence of environmental taxes influence on the economy and environment. The goal was to conduct an objective analysis with scientific data. The conclusions provide a clue indicating that environmental taxes could only be used to facilitate short-term coexistence between economic growth and environmental protection. Once entering the mid-term and long term, the lack of innovation and technical progress would eventually cause economic development and environmental protection to diverge, which is why studies are yet to reach a consensus. The results suggest that although using environmental taxes to promote economic development and environmental protection can achieve the double dividend in the short term, in the midterm, the first dividend disappears unless a solution for improved energy efficiency and technical innovation can be determined immediately. Furthermore, to sustain its economic development and environmental protection efforts, Taiwan must first optimize its industrial structure, which can only be achieved through advanced research and development. Keywords: Environmental Tax Reform, R&D Subsidies, CO2 Emissions, Double Dividend Hypothesis JEL Classifications: C67, D57, Q50, Q5

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Primary spinal epidural Ewing sarcoma: a case report and review of the literature

Primary extraosseous Ewing sarcoma is a rare entity, especially in the spinal epidural site. Less than 20 cases have been reported in the literature. Here, we present a previously healthy 12-year-old boy who complained of low back pain, progressive gait disturbance and weakness of right lower extremity for nearly one month before admission. Magnetic resonance imaging showed one solitary posterior extradural mass, measuring 4 x 2.2 x 2.1 cm, with severe cord compression at the level from T7 to T9. The mass appeared hypo-intense on both T1-weighted and T2-weighted images and homogeneous contrast enhancement after injection of gadolinium. He underwent laminectomies of T8 and T9 and complete resection of the tumor. The pathology confirmed a diagnosis of Ewing sarcoma after immunohistochemical staining. His profound neurological deficits recovered well and no recurrence was discovered after adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The relevant literature is reviewed and the limited cases are also analyzed

A hematoma confined to the center of the abdomen

Spontaneous rupture of a hepatocellular carcinoma is a rare and lethal complication in the emergency department. A caudate lobe hepatoma rupture is even rarer. It can be treated with vascular embolization, surgical intervention or supportive care. A 70-year-old woman with underlying hepatocellular carcinoma presented to our emergency department with severe abdominal pain encompassing the entire region for half a day. Abdominal computer tomography scans with and without contrast medium revealed a large hematoma confined to the lesser sac of the abdomen. It was initially diagnosed as a ruptured aneurysm. A ruptured caudate lobe hepatoma with acute hemorrhage into the lesser sac was diagnosed after reviewing and discussing the imaging findings with the radiologist. The patient was treated with supportive care without vascular embolization or surgical intervention because there was no imaging evidence of active contrast extravasation and the vital signs were within the normal range. After reviewing the literature, our case appears to be the second only case treated with supportive care and discharged without complications

REG3A overexpression functions as a negative predictive and prognostic biomarker in rectal cancer patients receiving CCRT

Background. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) is suggested before resection surgery in the control of rectal cancer. Unfortunately, treatment outcomes are widely variable and highly patientspecific. Notably, rectal cancer patients with distant metastasis generally have a much lower survival rate. Accordingly, a better understanding of the genetic background of patient cohorts can aid in predicting CCRT efficacy and clinical outcomes for rectal cancer before distant metastasis. Methods. A published transcriptome dataset (GSE35452) (n=46) was utilized to distinguish prospective genes concerning the response to CCRT. We recruited 172 rectal cancer patients, and the samples were collected during surgical resection after CCRT. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was performed to evaluate the expression level of regenerating family member 3 alpha (REG3A). Pearson's chi-squared test appraised the relevance of REG3A protein expression to clinicopathological parameters. The Kaplan-Meier method was utilized to generate survival curves, and the log-rank test was performed to compare the survival distributions between two given groups. Results. Employing a transcriptome dataset (GSE35452) and focusing on the inflammatory response (GO: 0006954), we recognized that REG3A is the most significantly upregulated gene among CCRT nonresponders (log2 ratio=1.2472, p=0.0079). Following IHC validation, high immunoexpression of REG3A was considerably linked to advanced post-CCRT tumor status (p<0.001), post-CCRT lymph node metastasis (p=0.042), vascular invasion (p=0.028), and low-grade tumor regression (p=0.009). In the multivariate analysis, high immunoexpression of REG3A was independently correlated with poor disease-specific survival (DSS) (p=0.004) and metastasis-free survival (MeFS) (p=0.045). The results of the bioinformatic analysis also supported the idea that REG3A overexpression is implicated in rectal carcinogenesis. Conclusion. In the current study, we demonstrated that REG3A overexpression is correlated with poor CCRT effectiveness and inferior patient survival in rectal cancer. The predictive and prognostic utility of REG3A expression may direct patient stratification and decisionmaking more accurately for those patients

Search for High-Mass Resonances Decaying to τν in pp Collisions at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS Detector

A search for high-mass resonances decaying to τν using proton-proton collisions at √s=13 TeV produced by the Large Hadron Collider is presented. Only τ-lepton decays with hadrons in the final state are considered. The data were recorded with the ATLAS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1. No statistically significant excess above the standard model expectation is observed; model-independent upper limits are set on the visible τν production cross section. Heavy W′ bosons with masses less than 3.7 TeV in the sequential standard model and masses less than 2.2–3.8 TeV depending on the coupling in the nonuniversal G(221) model are excluded at the 95% credibility level

Operation and performance of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter in Run 1

The Tile Calorimeter is the hadron calorimeter covering the central region of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Approximately 10,000 photomultipliers collect light from scintillating tiles acting as the active material sandwiched between slabs of steel absorber. This paper gives an overview of the calorimeter’s performance during the years 2008–2012 using cosmic-ray muon events and proton–proton collision data at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8TeV with a total integrated luminosity of nearly 30 fb−1. The signal reconstruction methods, calibration systems as well as the detector operation status are presented. The energy and time calibration methods performed excellently, resulting in good stability of the calorimeter response under varying conditions during the LHC Run 1. Finally, the Tile Calorimeter response to isolated muons and hadrons as well as to jets from proton–proton collisions is presented. The results demonstrate excellent performance in accord with specifications mentioned in the Technical Design Report