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There are several injuries potentially related to high-G exposure, including neck and back pain, spinal fractures, and pneumomediastinum. We present a young military pilot diagnosed with isolated fractures of the right 9th and 10th ribs via X-ray after high-G exposure (maximum G level: 9G). This patient presented with progressive and localized pain in the right anterior chest and flank region. After conservative treatment with rest and pain management, he recovered from the rib fractures and completed all profile challenges in the advanced high-G training program. A review of the annual health examination of the pilot did not show any rib lesions or other related illnesses. He was qualified for flying class II and considered fit for flight training. His medication history was unremarkable, and he did not have a family history of malignancy, osteoporosis, or osteopenia. He also denied having previously experienced trauma of the rib cage or participated in any strenuous military training program or exercise before centrifuge training. The potential explanations for the multiple rib fractures are repetitive stress from the anti-G straining maneuver and anti-G suit compression of the abdominal bladder. To our knowledge, consecutive rib fractures related to high-G exposure have never been documented. This report may increase the awareness of flight surgeons and training units regarding the risk of chest wall injuries during high-G exposure and encourage them to use multiple diagnostic tools to determine the correct diagnosis.

Shiue-Wei Lai,1– 3 Chia-Yau Chang,3,4 Shin-Nan Cheng,1,5,6 Shu-Hsia Hu,1 Chung-Yu Lai,7 Yeu-Chin Chen1,2 1Hemophilia Care and Research Center, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; 2Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan; 3School of Medicine, Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; 4Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Hemophilia Center, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; 5Department of Pediatrics, Tungs’ Taichung MetroHarbor Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; 6Department of Pediatrics, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan; 7Graduate Institute of Aerospace and Undersea Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei City, 114, TaiwanCorrespondence: Yeu-Chin ChenDivision of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, No. 325, Section 2, Chenggong Road, Neihu, Taipei, 114, TaiwanTel +886-2-87927208Fax +888-2-87927209Email yeuchin99@gmail.comBackground: von Willebrand factor ristocetin cofactor activity (VWF:RCo) is the standard functional assay used for von Willebrand disease (VWD) diagnosis. However, it has some drawbacks including being time consuming and labor intensive and having high inter-laboratory variability. The HemosIL VWF activity assay has the advantages of both high speed and automation. The purpose of this study was to prospectively compare these two functional assays for type 1 VWD detection.Methods: Plasma samples from 108 subjects were assessed in this study. HemosIL VWF activity was measured with the HemosIL latex immunoturbidimetric commercial kits by the ACL TOP coagulation analyzer. VWF:RCo was measured by platelet aggregation method. Pearson correlation analyses were performed to estimate the correlation of HemosIL VWF activity with VWF:RCo. Receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the performance of the two diagnostic tests.Results: The correlation coefficient between VWF:RCo and HemosIL VWF activity was 0.874 overall and was 0.761 and 0.811 in the cohorts of type 1 VWD and non-VWD, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of HemosIL VWF activity assay for type 1 VWD identification were 94.7% and 80.0%, respectively, and the ROC curve of HemosIL VWF activity was larger than that of VWF:RCo (0.928 vs 0.863, p=0.0138). Finally, the positive and negative predictive values of the HemosIL VWF activity assay for type 1 VWD detection were 72.0% and 96.6%, respectively.Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that the HemosIL VWF activity assay was an effective method for type 1 VWD screening and diagnosis. It carried good sensitivity and specificity and had a higher ROC curve than VWF:RCo besides showing good correlation with VWF:RCo. With its advantages of greater speed and automated performance, these results suggest that the HemosIL VWF activity assay was reliable and precise in the clinical setting.Keywords: von Willebrand factor antigen, von Willebrand disease, VWF ristocetin cofactor activity, VWF:RCo, HemosIL VWF activity

Background Smoking increases DNA methylation and DNA damage, and DNA damage acts as a vital cause of tumor development. The DNA methyltransferase 3B (DNMT3B) enhances promoter activity and methylation of tumor suppressor genes. Tea polyphenols may inhibit DNMT activity. We designed a case-control study to evaluate the combined effects of smoking, green tea consumption, DNMT3B − 149 polymorphism, and DNA damage on lung cancer occurrence. Methods Questionnaires were administered to obtain demographic characteristics, life styles, and family histories of lung cancer from 190 primary lung cancer cases and 380 healthy controls. Genotypes and cellular DNA damage were determined by polymerase chain reaction and comet assay, respectively. Results The mean DNA tail moment for lung cancer cases was significantly higher than that for healthy controls. Compared to nonsmokers carrying the DNMT3B − 149 CT genotype, smokers carrying the TT genotype had a greater lung cancer risk (odds ratio [OR]: 2.83, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.62–4.93). DNA damage levels were divided by the tertile of the healthy controls’ values. Compared to nonsmokers with low DNA damage, smokers with moderate DNA damage (OR: 2.37, 95% CI: 1.54–3.63) and smokers with high DNA damage (OR: 3.97, 95% CI: 2.63–5.98) had elevated lung cancer risks. Interaction between smoking and DNA damage significantly affected lung cancer risk. Conclusions Our study suggested that the DNMT3B − 149 TT genotype, which has higher promoter activity, can increase the lung cancer risk elicited by smoking, and DNA damage may further promote smoking related lung cancer development.

Increased heart rate (HR) is a reaction to head-to-toe gravito-inertial (G) force. The anti-G straining manoeuvre (AGSM) is the crucial technique for withstanding a high-G load. Previous studies reported the main effects of HR only or AGSM only on G tolerance. We assessed the combined effect of HR and AGSM on the outcome of 9G profile exposure. A total of 530 attempts for the 9G profile were extracted to clarify the association of interest. Subjects with an AGSM effectiveness of less than 2.5G had a 2.14-fold higher likelihood of failing in the 9G profile. Trainees with HR increases of less than 20% in the first five seconds also had higher odds of 9G profile intolerance (adjusted OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.09–3.07). The adjusted OR of 9G profile disqualification was 2.93 (95% CI 1.19–7.20) for participants with smaller HR increases and lower AGSM effectiveness. The negative effect of a smaller HR increase on the outcome was likely to be affected by improved AGSM effectiveness (adjusted OR 1.26, 95% CI 0.65–2.42). We speculate that low AGSM effectiveness and a small HR increase were separately associated with failure of high-G challenge. Nonetheless, good AGSM performance seemed to reduce the negative effect of weak HR responses on the dependent variable.

Background In 2010, the American Heart Association recommended that postcardiac arrest care should be included in the chain of survival to reduce permanent neurological damage, improve quality of life, and reduce health care expenses of postcardiac arrest care. Objectives To investigate post-in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) survival prior to and after modification of the chain of survival in 2010, with subgroup analyses per age and concomitant coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods We retrospectively searched the National Health Insurance Research Database for the 2007–2015 period to collect case data coded as “427.41” or “427.5” per International Classification of Disease Clinical Modification, Ninth revision codes and analyzed the data with SPSS v22.0. Results The 1-day survival rate in the 2011–2015 period was 2% higher than that in the 2007–2010 period (odds ratio [OR] 1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01–1.04). Moreover, in the 2011–2015 period, the survival-to-discharge rate was increased by 1% in patients under 65 years (OR 1.01, 95% CI 1.00–1.02) and 1% in CHD patients (OR 1.01, 95% CI 1.01–1.02) compared with that in the 2007–2010 period. Conclusion For patients with IHCA, the overall short-term survival improved significantly after modification of the chain of survival. Younger patients and patients with CHD had better long-term survival.

Background: Both inhalation injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are risk factors that predict mortality in severely burned patients. Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) is widely used to rescue these patients; however, its efficacy and safety in this critical population have not been well defined. We report our experience of using ECLS for treatment of severely burned patients with concurrent inhalation injury and ARDS. Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of 14 patients, including 10 males and four females, collected from a single medical burn center from 2012 to 2019. The mean age was 38.6±12.3 (range, 19-59) years. All suffered from major burns with inhalation injury. The average total body surface area of deep dermal or full thickness (DD/FT) burns was 81.6±20.0% (range, 47–99%). The average revised Baux score was 137.3 ± 22.6 (range, 107 – 172). All had developed ARDS with mean PaO2/FiO2 of 67.8±17.3. Indications for ECLS included sustained hypoxemia and unstable hemodynamics. The mean interval for initiating ECLS was 20.3 ± 40.8 days (range, 1-156 days). Results: The mean duration of ECLS was 5.0±5.6 days (range, 0.3-16.7 days). The overall survival to discharge was 42.8%. Causes of death included sepsis (n=4) and multiple organ failure (n=4). The ECLS-related complications included cannulation bleeding, catheter-related infection, and hemolysis. The predicted risk factors of mortality before ECLS included lactate>8 mmol/L and Baux score>120. Conclusions: For severely burned patients with concurrent inhalation injury and ARDS, ECLS could be a salvage treatment to improve sustained hypoxemia. However, the efficacy of hemodynamic support seemed limited. Definite ECLS indications and rigorous patient selection would contribute to better clinical outcomes.

All aircrews are required to undertake the altitude hypoxia training and be familiarized with the hypobaric effect on their physiological regulation. Due to the characteristics of the helicopter aircrafts, few researches have reported in-flight hypoxia events among the helicopter aircrews. The main goal of this study was designed to compare the hypoxia symptoms of helicopter aircrews between the altitude hypoxia training and during flight. We developed a questionnaire to collect the details of chamber flights and in-flight hypoxia events in 2019. All data were managed by the SPSS software and two-tailed 0.05 alpha level was considered as a significant level. Of the 213 study participants, there were eight (3.8%) cases that experienced hypoxia symptoms during the flight. The top five symptoms that appeared both in the last and current altitude hypoxia trainings were visual impairment (20.7%), difficulty concentrating (12.7%), tiredness (12.2%), cognitive impairment (8.0%), and air hunger (5.2%). Meanwhile, the frequency of those symptoms above was not significantly different from the last or current training compared with those in-flight hypoxia events. The survey unveiled a series of consistency correlations of hypoxia symptoms between the chamber flights and in-flight environment for the helicopter aircrew group.

Osteoporosis is a rising health threat in the increasingly aging world population. It is a common skeletal disease strongly linked to genetic predisposition. We aim to identify the effects of the anti-inflammatory TGF-β1- and IL-10-specific single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) combination on the risk for osteoporosis. We investigated and analyzed the relationships between three TGF-β1 SNPs (−509C/T, +869 T/C and +29T/C), one IL-10 SNP (+1927A/C) and the level of bone mineral density (BMD), as well as the risk of osteoporosis in Taiwanese osteoporotic patients. A total of 217 subjects were recruited, including 88 osteoporotic patients and 129 healthy controls, for SNPs, BMD and clinical characteristics statistical analyses. Females with TGF-β1 SNP (−509 C/C) and IL-10 SNP (+1927 C/C) genotypes showed a great benefit for femoral neck T-scores. However, the combination of TGF-β1 SNP (−509 T/T) and IL-10 SNP (+1927 A/A) genotypes in all subjects showed a significant decrease in total hip BMD T-scores. The TGF-β1 SNP (−509 C/T) genotype in all subjects and TGF-β1 SNP (−509 T/T) and IL-10 SNP (+1927 A/C) genotypes in males showed positive effects on body height. The combination of the many SNPs in the anti-inflammatory TGF-β1 and IL-10 genes may be cooperatively involved in the development of osteoporosis. Our data suggested that the specific SNP combination of TGF-β1 (−509) and IL-10 (+1927) may act as a predictive factor for postmenopausal osteoporosis in Taiwanese women.

Objective To identify distinct subgroups of patients newly diagnosed with lung cancer (LC) over time and to explore the predictors of distinct trajectories of symptom and fatigue distress in LC patients. Methods A total of 120 patients newly diagnosed with LC were recruited in this longitudinal prospective study. Our survey investigated patients' symptoms in 6 months. Latent growth curve analysis (LGCA) was conducted to identify patients with distinct trajectories of symptom and fatigue distress. The characteristics of the patients among groups were compared for statistical differences by the chi-square test or ANOVA. Results The results of LGCA revealed that the linear three-trajectory model had the best model fit for symptom and fatigue distress. Patients' symptom and fatigue distress improved with time, except for patients with increasing trajectories. Patients' trajectories of symptom and fatigue distress were affected by pain, lower functional status, total symptom score and depression. Moreover, patients with increasing trajectories of symptom and fatigue distress experienced more pain, physiological symptoms and depression from 1 to 6 months. Conclusions Pain and functional status were the major factors that deteriorated the recovery of trajectory in symptom distress and fatigue distress among patients with increasing trajectories.

Hypoxia remains a flight-safety issue in terms of aviation medicine. Hypoxia-awareness training has been used to help aircrew members recognize personal hypoxia symptoms. There is still no study, as yet, to establish the association of within-subject data between inflight hypoxia events and the altitude chamber. The main purpose of our study was to use paired subjects’ data on inflight hypoxia symptoms compared with those experienced during training. A questionnaire was developed to obtain information on military aircrew members in 2018. Among 341 subjects, 46 (13.49%) suffered from inflight hypoxia. The majority of the subjects detected ongoing inflight hypoxia on the basis of their previous experience with personal hypoxia symptoms or sensations in previous chamber flights. Of the top five hypoxia symptoms, the data revealed that hot flashes, poor concentration, and impaired cognitive function appeared both during the inflight events and during the hypoxia-awareness training. The occurrence rate of hypoxia symptoms was found to not be significantly different between the in-flight events and the past chamber flights through an analysis of within-subject data. Because the individual memory had faded away over time, fresher hypoxia awareness training is still mandatory and valuable to recall personal hypoxia experience for military aircrew members.

ObjectivesThis study examined the associations between the Second-Generation Cessation Payment Scheme (SCPS) and the use of smoking cessation treatments. Furthermore, these associations were compared between light and heavy smokers in Taiwan.DesignThis study had a cross-sectional design.SettingData were obtained from the Taiwan Adult Smoking Behaviour Surveillance System 2010–2011 and 2013–2014; data for each year consisted of a nationally representative sample of adults aged 18 years and older.ParticipantsCurrent smokers who had either quit or made a serious attempt to quit smoking were selected for the analysis.Primary outcome measureThe primary outcome measure was the use of a smoking cessation clinic or pharmacy in a twice daily to quit smoking.ResultsAccording to multivariate analysis, the SCPS was positively associated with the combined use of a smoking cessation clinic and a pharmacy (OR=3.947; 95% CI: 1.359 to 11.463) when individual-level predictors (gender, age, education level, marital status, monthly household income, daily cigarette consumption, smoking status and self-reported health) were controlled. Heavy smokers showed a significant increase in the sole use of a pharmacy (OR=1.676; 95% CI: 1.094 to 2.569) and combined use of a smoking cessation clinic and pharmacy (OR=8.984; 95% CI: 1.914 to 42.173) after the SCPS was introduced. In addition, when related factors were controlled, the use of smoking cessation services was more frequent among heavy smokers than light smokers, including any treatment (OR=1.594; 95% CI: 1.308 to 1.942), a smoking cessation clinic (OR=1.539; 95% CI: 1.232 to 1.922), a pharmacy (OR=1.632; 95% CI: 1.157 to 2.302) and the combination of a smoking cessation clinic and pharmacy (OR=4.608; 95% CI: 1.331 to 15.949) .ConclusionsThe SCPS subsidisation policy increased the use of smoking cessation treatments, particularly among heavy smokers.

Gravity in the head-to-toe direction, known as +Gz (G force), forces blood to pool in the lower body. Fighter pilots experience decreases in blood pressure when exposed to hypergravity in flight. Human centrifuge has been used to examine the G tolerance and anti-G straining maneuver (AGSM) techniques of military pilots. Some factors that may affect G tolerance have been reported but are still debated. The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological responses and anthropometric factors correlated with G tolerance. We retrospectively reviewed the training records of student pilots who underwent high G training. Variables were collected to examine their correlations with the outcome of 7.5G sustained for 15 s (7.5G profile). There were 873 trainees who underwent 7.5G profile training, 44 trainees (5.04%) could not sustain the test for 15 s. The group with a small heart rate (HR) increase (less than 10%) during the first 1&ndash, 5 s of the 7.5G profile had a nearly ten-fold higher failing chance compared with the large HR increase group (adjusted odds ratio: 9.91, 95% confidence interval: 4.11&ndash, 23.88). The chances of failure were inversely related to the HR increase percentage (p for trend &lt, 0.001). Factors, including body mass index, relaxed and straining G tolerance, and AGSM, were found to be negatively correlated with the outcome.

BackgroundAircrew members are required to attend hypoxia awareness training regularly to strengthen their memory of their personal hypoxia symptoms by undergoing training inside a hypobaric chamber. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hypoxia symptoms experienced during two training sessions that were 4 years apart.MethodsThis was a crossover study to compare hypoxia symptoms and self-reported physiological effects of trapped gas between a previous training session and a current training session in an altitude chamber. The subjects were military crew members who undertook a 25,000-feet refresher training course in 2018. We used a structured questionnaire to obtain the target information before and during hypoxia exposure. Data were analyzed using SPSS software.ResultsA total of 341 trainees participated in this survey and completely filled out the questionnaire. Gastrointestinal tract discomfort caused by the expansion of trapped gas was the main physiological reaction during the previous and current training sessions. Frequently reported symptoms were poor concentration (30.5%), impaired cognitive function (20.5%), visual disturbances (16.4%), hot flashes (15.8%), and paresthesia (12.6%) during both exposures. However, the proportions of participants reporting poor concentration (P = 0.378) and visual disturbances (P = 0.594) were not significantly different between the recalled and current training sessions. The five most common symptoms among the subjects with less than 1,000 flight hours were poor concentration (29.8%), visual disturbance (27.3%), impaired cognitive function (14.9%), dizziness/lightheadedness (11.6%), and hot flashes (9.9%), which overlapped substantially with the symptoms reported by other subjects. The occurrence of those five most common symptoms in the group with more than 1,000 flight hours did not significantly differ between the recalled training session and the current training session.ConclusionsThe most common hypoxia symptoms reported were similar between the recalled and current training sessions in an environment with a low oxygen concentration. This finding was also clearly affected by the duration of flight experience. Moreover, GI effects of the expansion of trapped gas were commonly observed at low atmospheric pressure.

Military aircrew are occupationally exposed to a high-G environment. A tolerance test and surveillance is necessary for military aircrew before flight training. A cardiac force index (CFI) has been developed to assess long-distance running by health technology. We added the parameter CFI to the G tolerance test and elucidated the relationship between the CFI and G tolerance. A noninvasive device, BioHarness 3.0, was used to measure heart rate (HR) and activity while resting and walking on the ground. The formula for calculating cardiac function was CFI = weight × activity/HR. Cardiac force ratio (CFR) was calculated by walking CFI (WCFI)/resting CFI (RCFI). G tolerance included relaxed G tolerance (RGT) and straining G tolerance (SGT) tested in the centrifuge. Among 92 male participants, the average of RCFI, WCFI, and CFR were 0.02 ± 0.04, 0.15 ± 0.04, and 10.77 ± 4.11, respectively. Each 100-unit increase in the WCFI increased the RGT by 0.14 G and the SGT by 0.17 G. There was an increased chance of RGT values higher than 5 G and SGT values higher than 8 G according to the WCFI increase. Results suggested that WCFI is positively correlated with G tolerance and has the potential for G tolerance surveillance and programs of G tolerance improvement among male military aircrew.

Background: In-flight spatial disorientation (SD) is a predominant threat to flight safety in aviation. This study was conducted to understand the prevalence, severity, and frequency of in-flight SD among military pilots in Taiwan. Methods: A survey was conducted to collect tri-service pilots' experiences of SD during flight. Participants completed anonymous SD questionnaires during refresher physiology training. There were 486 questionnaires delivered to trainees and the completion rate was 97.1% (n = 472). All data were processed using SPSS version 24 software (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA). Results: Of the 472 participants, the average age of the pilots was 36.7 so 7.3 years and 97.7% were male. About 80% of participants experienced in-flight SD events. There was a significant difference between prevalence of SD in fighter (87.0%), trainer (89.8%), transporter (70.6%), and helicopter (66.7%) pilots (P < 0.001). Less than 10% of the events were severe, and there was no obvious variation between aircraft types (P = 0.126). Pilots were sensitive to SD in clouds and under low visibility. Over 70% of pilots experienced visual illusions, especially loss of horizon during bad weather (45.1%), followed by leans (44.5%), false horizon (44.1%), false sense in clouds (39.6%), Coriolis illusion (25.0%), and confusion on entry to instrument meteorological conditions (25.0%). Conclusions: Our survey showed that SD is a common physiological problem among military pilots, who were easily disoriented by in-flight SD without visual cues. Visual illusion was relatively more frequent, especially for trainer and fighter pilots.

Tea polyphenols are strong antioxidants, which can be rapidly O-methylated by catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT). Thus, it is possible that the genetic polymorphism of COMT can modulate the association of green tea consumption and lung cancer. Here, we designed a case-control study to evaluate the combined effect of green tea consumption and COMT genotypes on the risk of lung cancer. A total of 237 lung cancer patients and 474 healthy controls were recruited. Questionnaires were administered to obtain demographic data, smoking status, green tea consumption, fruits and vegetables intake, exposure to cooking fumes, and family history of lung cancer. Genotypes for COMT were identified by PCR. Smoking, green tea consumption, exposure to cooking fumes, and family history of lung cancer were associated with the development of lung cancer. When green tea drinkers carrying COMT HL/LL genotypes were selected as the reference group, drinkers carrying the COMT HH genotype had a higher risk for the development of lung cancer (odds ratio: 1.97, 95% confidence interval: 0.99-3.91). Among the current and ever smokers, the elevated risk for lung cancer was more apparent in green tea drinkers carrying the COMT HH genotype compared with green tea drinkers carrying COMT HL/LL genotypes (odds ratio: 5.84, 95% confidence interval: 1.75-19.45). Green tea drinkers with greater activity of the COMT genotype, whereby polyphenols are effectively excluded, will gain fewer protective benefits against lung cancer development.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text, Studies regarding the prognostic factors for survival conditions and the proportions of survival to discharge among different types of hospitalized traumatic cardiac arrest (TCA) during the period of postresuscitation are limited. This nationwide study was designed to determine certain parameters and clarify the effect of various injuries on the survival of hospitalized TCA patients to discharge. Data were retrieved from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) from 2007 to 2013 in Taiwan. We reviewed patients with a diagnosis of TCA using International Classification of Disease Clinical Modification, 9th revision codes (ICD-9-CM codes). Patients identified for analysis were simultaneously coded in traumatic etiology (ICD-9-CM codes: 800–999) and cardiac arrest (ICD-9-CM codes: 427.41 or 427.5). The determinants and effects of different types of injury on survival were evaluated by SPSS 22.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY). A total of 3481 cases of hospitalized TCA were selected from the NHIRD. The overall rate of survival to discharge was 22.1%. The results indicated a decreased adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of survival to discharge with higher numbers of organ failure (aOR: 0.82; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.73–0.92). Patients with ventricular fibrillation had a better discharge rate (aOR: 4.33; 95% CI: 3.29–5.70). Two parameters, transfer to another hospital and the number of intensive care unit beds, were positively correlated with survival. Compared with traffic accidents, different injuries associated with survival to discharge were identified; the aOR (95% CI) was 1.89 (1.12–3.19) for poisoning, 1.63 (1.13–2.36) for falls, and 2.00 (1.36–2.92) for drowning/suffocation. This study has shown that hospitalized TCA patients with multiple organ failure may be less likely to be discharged from the hospital. The presence of ventricular fibrillation rhythm on admission increased the odds of survival to discharge. In the phase of postcardiac arrest care, the number of intensive care unit beds and transfer to another hospital were positively correlated with survival. Those events attributed to traffic accidents have a much worse influence on the main outcome.

Endothelial cell-specific molecule 1 (ESM1) is a major prognostic marker of several tumor types, but its value as a marker for prostate cancer is unknown. The purpose of the present study was to measure the relationship of ESM1 expression with androgen receptor (AR) expression and with Gleason score in human prostate carcinoma tissue. Expression of ESM1 and AR were determined by immunohistochemical staining of prostate tissues from healthy individuals and patients with prostate cancer. The results showed that ESM1 expression was significantly higher in prostate tumor tissues than in normal prostate tissues (p < 0.01), and that ESM1 expression in prostate tumor tissue correlated with Gleason score (p < 0.016) and Gleason grade (p < 0.013). ESM1 expression was also greater in prostate tissues with higher Gleason score and Gleason grade (p < 0.001 for both comparisons), and also correlated with AR expression (R = 0.727, p < 0.001). In conclusion, our results demonstrated that ESM1 should be considered as a marker for the diagnosis of prostate cancer.

In this study, a single-stage power-factor-corrected flyback converter is used as the main power stage, which is controlled by a critical mode control integrated circuit and is used to drive light-emitting diode (LED) strings. Since the output voltage of this converter possesses a double line frequency ripple, one energy-recycling circuit without any control is added to render the instantaneous output power close to the instantaneous input power, so as to reduce the energy stored/released in the output capacitor and hence to reduce the output voltage ripple of the double line frequency. Accordingly, the effect of the low-frequency voltage ripple on the colour, luminance, life and stability of the LED can be reduced. For the dimming circuit to be considered, the gate voltage detecting circuit is employed herein so as to achieve efficiency improvement in LED dimming. Based on the dimming command and the variation in gate voltage, the voltage reference command for the flyback converter is dynamically adjusted so as to make the voltage across the metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor reduced as the LED string is dimmed up/down and hence to increase the efficiency of the overall system.

The expected increase of intermittent electricity production imposed by wind power generation and the decommission of nuclear power plants in Taiwan poses rising challenges to the operation of the power system. Therefore, this work identifies possible congestion in Taiwan's transmission networks in 2025 under the assumption that a large scale of wind power will be integrated and all of the nuclear power plants will be closed. Additionally, the solution to overcome transmission congestions is proposed.

Post-cardiac arrest care was implemented in 2010 and has been shown to improve the survival of patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). However, the findings varied for different survival conditions. We conducted a retrospective longitudinal study of records from 2007 to 2013 in the National Health Insurance Research Database. We evaluated the differences in short-term (2-day and 7-day) and long-term (30-day and survival to discharge) survival after the implementation of post-cardiac arrest care and among age subgroups. We reviewed inpatient datasets in accordance with the International Classification of Disease Clinical Modification, 9th revision codes (ICD-9-CM). Eligible participants were identified as those with simultaneous diagnoses of cardiac arrest (ICD-9-CM codes: 427.41 or 427.5) and CHD (ICD-9-CM codes: 410–414). Multiple logistic regression was applied to establish the relationship between calendar year and survival outcomes. The odds of 2-day survival from 2011 to 2013 were higher than those from 2007 to 2010 (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.15; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03–1.29). Similarly, the odds of 7-day survival from 2011 to 2013 were higher than those from 2007 to 2010 (aOR: 1.11; 95% CI: 1.01–1.22). Improvements in the odds of 2-day and 7-day survival were discovered only in patients

This paper presents techniques for adaptive pressure tracking and breathing period prediction in an obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) treatment system by means of bi‐level positive airway pressure (BiP...

The chain of survival has been shown to improve the chances of survival for victims of cardiac arrest. Post-cardiac arrest care has been demonstrated to significantly impact the survival of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). How post-cardiac arrest care influences the survival of OHCA patients has been a main concern in recent years. The objective of this study was to assess the survival outcome of hospitalized OHCA patients and determine the factors associated with improved survival in terms of survival to discharge. We conducted a retrospective observational study by analyzing records from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan from 2007 to 2013. We collected cases with an International Classification of Disease Clinical Modification, 9th revision primary diagnosis codes of 427.41 (ventricular fibrillation, VF) or 427.5 (cardiac arrest) and excluded patients less than 18 years old, as well as cases with an unknown outcome or a combination of traumatic comorbidities. We then calculated the proportion of survival to discharge among hospitalized OHCA patients. Factors associated with the dependent variable were examined by logistic regression. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 22 (IBM, Armonk, NY). Of the 11,000 cases, 2,499 patients (22.7%) survived to hospital discharge. The mean age of subjects who survived to hospital discharge and those who did not was 66.7±16.7 and 71.7±15.2 years, respectively. After adjusting for covariates, neurological failure, cardiac comorbidities, hospital level, intensive care unit beds, transfer to another hospital, and length of hospital stay were independent predictors of improved survival. Cardiac rhythm on admission was a strong factor associated with survival to discharge (VF vs. non-VF: adjusted odds ratio: 3.51; 95% confidence interval: 3.06–4.01). In conclusion, cardiac comorbidities, hospital volume, cardiac rhythm on admission, transfer to another hospital and length of hospital stay had a significant positive association with survival to discharge in hospitalized OHCA patients in Taiwan.

This paper presents a two degree‐of‐freedom control method for achieving constant continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) of an obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) treatment system. After constructing a closed‐loop DC brushless motor drive together with a blower and an airway module, we develop a pressure control system for achieving CPAP control. A mathematical model of the overall open‐loop system is established based on the input‐output data and its system parameters are sequentially determined using the recursive least‐squares (RLS) method. A two degree‐of‐freedom (DOF) controller, including a feedforward controller and a feedback proportional‐integral controller, is proposed to maintain and follow the desired pressure setpoints. Through experimental results, the proposed control method is shown useful and effective in achieving airway pressure tracking and regulation.

A periodic add/drop system in a fiber ring network was investigated using a reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) in a re-circulating fiber loop. After seven cascaded add/drop nodes at every 150 km along the transmission, at bit error ratio (BER) equals to 10 −9 and data rate of 10 Gbps, we observed a 2.5 dB power penalty for the passing through channels with 1050 km transmission distance, and 0.3 dB sensitivity penalty variation for the periodic add/drop channels at every 150 km, respectively.

We have designed and fabricated a new type of GaN-based thin-film vertical-injection light-emitting diode (LED) with TiO2-SiO 2 omnidirectional reflector (ODR) and n-GaN roughness. The associated ODR designed for LED operation wavelength at 455 nm was integrated with patterned conducting channels for the purpose of vertical current spreading. With the help of laser lift-off and photo-electrochemical etching technologies, at a driving current of 350 mA and with chip size of 1 mm times 1 mm, the light-output power and the external quantum efficiency of our thin-film LED with TiO2-SiO2 ODR reached 330 mW and 26.7%. The result demonstrated 18% power enhancement when compared with the results from the thin-film LED with Al reflector replace

Enhancement of light extraction of GaN-based flip-chip indium-tin-oxide light-emitting diodes (FC ITO LEDs) with an omnidirectional reflector (ODR) is presented. The ODR consisting of alternating layers of TiO2 and SiO2 is designed to possess a complete photonic bandgap within the blue region of interest, and it is fabricated by E-beam deposition. At a driving current of 300mA and a chip size of 1 mmtimes1 mm, the light output power of the FC ITO LEDs with the ODR reaches 156 mW. This is an enhancement of 31% when compared with the same device with an Al mirror instead. Furthermore, by examining the radiation patterns, the FC ITO LED with the ODR shows stronger enhancement around the vertical direction. Our work offers promising potential for enhancing output powers of commercial light-emitting devices

A 34-year-old patient with primary hyperparathyroidism and repeated renal stones underwent a parathyroidectomy. During operation, a right superior parathyroid adenoma was found which measured 3.5 × 1.5 × 1.0 cm in size. The right nonrecurrent laryngeal nerve passed over the middle of the adenoma, and deformed the parathyroid into a dumbbell shape. Magnetic resonance angiography revealed an absence of the right innominate artery and an independent origin of the right retroesophageal subclavian and common carotid artery. The combination of the parathyroid tumor and nonrecurrent laryngeal nerve is extremely rare, especially in Asia. To avoid surgical complications, it is important to understand the possibility of a nonrecurrent laryngeal nerve developing in such patients.

A cascadability study is performed, using a re-circulating loop, of a 50-GHz-spaced dispersion-compensated interleaver pair. After five cascaded nodes, a 2.5-dB sensitivity differential is observed with /spl plusmn/0.07 nm wavelength detuning for with/without dispersion compensation pair.

We proposed and experimentally demonstrated a bidirectional transmission system by using a novel four-port interleaver to enable unidirectional amplification. After 210-km transmission, less than 0.2-dB sensitivity variations were observed between bidirectional and unidirectional transmissions