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Field data from liquefaction case histories are essential for the development, calibration and validation of the liquefaction evaluation methods, and prime standard for the validation of current liquefaction theories. By collecting liquefaction data from Chi-Chi, Bachu and Songyuan earthquakes in China, the volume of data in the Chinese liquefaction database based on the standard penetration test (SPT) is significantly increased from 121 to 465. This database is then used to validate the reliability of four liquefaction evaluation methods based on SPT, i.e. evaluation method suggested in Code for Seismic Design of Buildings (code method for short), two hyperbolic models, and the simplified cyclic stress ratio (CSR) method. The results indicate that the two hyperbolic models can satisfactorily distinguish the liquefaction data from the non-liquefaction data, with success rates higher than 85% for both liquefaction data and non-liquefaction data. The code method and the simplified CSR method exhibit disadvantages for liquefaction evaluation. The predicted results are not satisfactory for all four evaluation methods for seismic intensity of 7, as the liquefaction data are mixed with the non-liquefaction data for this intensity. The overall success rates of the four evaluation methods are high for the data when the seismic intensities are 8 and 9. A new probabilistic liquefaction evaluation equation based on the CSR method is proposed by regression analysis of the new liquefaction data. The predicted liquefaction critical state lines are in reasonable agreement with reported probabilistic equation, even though the number of datasets adopted is different. The Chinese code method has obvious limitation with conservative results for soil layers at the depth greater than 10 m. The analytical results provide reference for improving the liquefaction evaluation method in Chinese code.

The analysis of means (ANOM) is a method that can compare the mean of each treatment with the overall mean. As one-way ANOVA, the conventional ANOM is not robust under unequal variances. We applied two inference procedures, single-stage and modified single-stage sampling, to solve heteroscedastic analysis of means (HANOM) under unbalanced design. Using proposed weighted average across groups, the influence of the unknown mean and variance are both eliminated. To validate the stability of HANOM under several scenarios of unequal variances and sample sizes, simulation studies of empirical type I error rate are conducted to test the quality of procedures. A real application is provided for illustrating these two procedures clearly. In addition, we build an user-friendly interface to show the results of the HANOM by using Shiny package in R software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Shou-En. Wu, Wei-Ming. Wang, Chien-Ping. Chiang, Chih-Tsung. Hung, Yi-Hsien. Chen Sir, Geographic tongue (GT) is commonly associated with psoriasis and has been proposed to serve as a potential marker [...]

Given k (≥2) independent and normally distributed populations with unknown means and unknown (and possibly unequal) variances, we used the single-stage sampling procedure for multiple comparison with a control to the problem of unequal sample sizes. A simulation of the family-wise error type I was conducted to validate the quality of the procedure and a numerical example was provided for illustrating this procedure. We provided a user-friendly interface by R shiny to obtain the critical values for the practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Our study elucidates the prognostic role of cluster of differentiation (CD) 24 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and determines whether targeting CD24 enhances the anti‐tumor immune response by inhibiting tumor‐associated macrophages (TAMs). Materials and Methods: The expression of CD24 and CD68 was analyzed immunohistochemically via tissue microarrays constructed using 56 cohorts of patients with OSCC and 20 control specimens. Further, CD24 was inhibited in an allograft squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) related mouse model with CD24mAb to determine the tumor volume and weight. Changes in immune cells such as TAMs and T cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME) were analyzed by Flow cytometry. The expression of CD4, CD8, and Ki67 was analyzed via immunohistochemistry. The inhibition of CD24 was confirmed by Western blot and immunohistochemistry. Results: CD24 was overexpressed in OSCC. High expression of CD24 indicated poor survival in patients with OSCC (p = 0.0334). CD24 expression was significantly correlated with CD68 (p = 0.0424). The inhibition of CD24 delayed tumor growth in vivo. A decrease in TAMs number and an increase in T cell number were confirmed, while the ability of tumor proliferation was impaired. Conclusion: Targeting CD24 could enhance anti‐tumor immune response by inhibiting TAMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Chih-Tsung. Hung, Shao-An. Fang, Feng-Cheng. Liu, Chih-Hsiung. Hsu, Ting-Yu. Yu, Wei-Ming. Wang Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic impacted medical education worldwide. Online lecture is increasingly prevalent in [...]

Developing high‐performance infrared (IR) radiation materials with desired broadband emissivity, excellent thermal stability, and scalable fabrication processes is highly desirable for energy‐saving applications and heat dissipation. However, it remains a grand challenge to concurrently meet these requirements in existing IR radiation materials. Herein, a high‐entropy (HE) approach is employed to advance the IR radiation performance of spinel oxide. This strategy efficiently narrows the bandgap due to the enhanced electron transitions and the introduction of oxygen vacancies (Ov), variable‐valence behavior, and orbital hybridization. In addition, the lattice distortion effect lowers the symmetry of lattice vibration. Therefore, the resulting HE spinel oxide exhibits near‐blackbody radiation performance, with its emissivity approximately three times higher than that of the binary spinel oxide. Moreover, the entropy‐dominating phase stabilization effect contributes to impressive thermal stability (stable at 1300 °C for 100 h). This makes it suitable for high‐temperature thermal radiation applications, such as energy conservation in industrial high‐temperature furnaces. More importantly, the HE spinel oxide can be readily spray‐coated on various substrates. And the coating on stainless steel reaches an outstanding emissivity of 0.943 in the 0.78−16 µm wavelength range. All these merits render the HE approach competitive for the development of high‐emissivity and thermally stable thermal radiation materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is widely used to relieve symptoms of menopause with proven efficacy. However, there has been significant controversy surrounding the use of HRT because of its potential link with an increased risk of cancer, particularly female reproductive organ cancers. That HRT increases the risk of melanoma is also disputed, and several cohort studies have produced variable results. To delineate the association between HRT and melanoma in Taiwan, we conducted a population‐based retrospective cohort study on 14 291 patients who had received HRT and 57 164 population controls in Taiwan between 2000 and 2013. Multivariate odds ratios (ORs) were calculated utilizing conditional logistic regression. Overall, the use of HRT was not significantly correlated with a higher risk of developing melanoma in Taiwan (95% confidence interval 0.386–1.099; p = 0.341). The hazard ratio analysis of melanoma and different HRTs showed there was no significant association between melanoma and the use of oral or external estrogens alone, including conjugated estrogens, estradiol, and estriol. Estrogen plus progesterone combined therapy was associated with a lower risk of melanoma. Only one case of melanoma was observed among the 2880 patients in this subgroup. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]