Abstract
An integrative multi-omics database is needed urgently, because focusing only on analysis of one-dimensional data falls far short of providing an understanding of cancer. Previously, we ...presented DriverDB, a cancer driver gene database that applies published bioinformatics algorithms to identify driver genes/mutations. The updated DriverDBv3 database (http://ngs.ym.edu.tw/driverdb) is designed to interpret cancer omics’ sophisticated information with concise data visualization. To offer diverse insights into molecular dysregulation/dysfunction events, we incorporated computational tools to define CNV and methylation drivers. Further, four new features, CNV, Methylation, Survival, and miRNA, allow users to explore the relations from two perspectives in the ‘Cancer’ and ‘Gene’ sections. The ‘Survival’ panel offers not only significant survival genes, but gene pairs synergistic effects determine. A fresh function, ‘Survival Analysis’ in ‘Customized-analysis,’ allows users to investigate the co-occurring events in user-defined gene(s) by mutation status or by expression in a specific patient group. Moreover, we redesigned the web interface and provided interactive figures to interpret cancer omics’ sophisticated information, and also constructed a Summary panel in the ‘Cancer’ and ‘Gene’ sections to visualize the features on multi-omics levels concisely. DriverDBv3 seeks to improve the study of integrative cancer omics data by identifying driver genes and contributes to cancer biology.
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•A new method is proposed to identify granulation stages.•The method bases on the positive torque changing rate fraction in every 10 s.•The impeller blade angle stage-wisely affects ...the impeller torque.•The suitable L/S ratio range increases with increasing impeller rotation speed.•The suitable L/S ratio range is independent to the blade inclined angle.
Fine cornstarch powders are wet granulated in a lab-scale high shear granulator. The torque required for maintaining the impeller passing through the bed with a constant rotating speed is monitored during the continuous binder addition granulation process. A new method is proposed to identify 6 stages during the granulation process based on the fraction of the positive impeller torque changing rate in a characteristic period of time. The morphologies and the behavior of the bed are found intrinsically different in the identified 6 stages. The influence of the impeller blade inclined angle on the impeller torque in each stage is initially reported. The impeller with planner 45° blades requires higher torques in Stages I and II due to the overall powder bed mass loading. The impeller with steeper 60° blades requires higher torques in Stages III and IV due to the higher collision frequencies between the blade and granules. The suitable granulation liquid binder to solid powder mass ratio can be readily identified in Stages II and III, and its range is found to increase with the increasing of the impeller rotational speed and is independent to the blade inclined angle.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
High-efficiency electro-optic tuning of microresonators both for TE and TM polarizations is important for versatile advanced photonic applications. This work demonstrates a new device design to ...realize on-chip lithium niobate microresonators with excellent dual-polarized electro-optic tuning efficiency. The electrode structure is designed such that the produced axial electric field ( E z ) has an obviously stronger intensity distribution in the guided-wave area of microdisk compared to the radial electric field ( E r ). Thus the large electro-optic coefficient r 13 and r 33 can be effectively utilized for the TE- and TM-polarized electro-optic tuning. The ultra-thin transparent conducting electrode, which is fully covered on the microdisk surface, is utilized with the air-bridge wiring for the production of strong E z and maintaining a high quality factor of 3.0 × 10 4 . The produced 20μm-diameter lithium niobate microresonators possess the electro-optic tuning efficiency as high as 30.2 pm/V for TE polarization and 24.3 pm/V for TM polarization, which show obvious enhancement compared to the previous works. The highly effective electro-optic tuning of microresonators for dual polarizations offers efficient photonic platforms with the flexible use of any polarization for various photonic applications.
To analyze the aortic arch calcification (AAC) on computed tomography (CT) scans, with the goal of predicting the subtypes of patients with ischemic stroke and endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) ...outcomes.
Automated analysis was used to quantify AAC on CT scans. From January 2020 to March 2021, 119 patients diagnosed with ischemic stroke were analyzed, and the feasibility of EVT was assessed; 43 underwent the procedure.
AAC was present in 117 (98.3%) of 119 patients. There was a significant difference (P <.001) in AAC severity among all patients with ischemic stroke according to the Trial of ORG 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment classification. In patients who underwent EVT, AAC severity was significantly related to the thrombolysis in cerebral infarction grade, thrombectomy procedure time, and modified Rankin scale at discharge (P =.002, P =.035 and P =.015, respectively). Multivariate logistic regression analysis also showed that severe AAC (volume, ≥1,000 mm3) (adjusted odds ratio OR, 12.1; adjusted 95% confidence interval CI), 2.1–36.4; P =.001) and intracranial atherosclerotic disease (adjusted OR, 9.5; adjusted 95% CI, 2.3–33.7; P =.001) were both independently associated with poor thrombolysis reperfusion rate.
A high proportion of patients with ischemic stroke have AAC, the severity of which is a potential imaging marker of ischemic stroke subtypes and the outcome of EVT.
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Rice husks are pyrolyzed in a fluidized bed pyrolyzer and the produced vaporized bio-oils are immediately separated by fractional distillation. The effects of the pyrolysis temperature, rice husk ...feeding rate and superficial gas velocity on the distributions of chars, bio-oils and syngases in the product are studied. When the pyrolysis temperature is 500°C, the rice husk feeding rate is 20g/min and the superficial gas velocity is 0.340m/s, the mass fraction of bio-oil in the product shows the highest value of 30.4%. The decomposable volatiles in the chars are the lowest for the chars obtained at the lower rice husk feeding rate of 10g/min and higher superficial gas velocity of 0.425m/s. GC–MS analyses indicate that the major chemicals in the bio-oils are acetic acid, furfural, phenol and phenol derivatives. The fractional distillation separates the bio-oil into a light fraction (C4–C7) and a heavy fraction (C7–C10). Relatively high content of acetic acid in the light fraction of the bio-oil is responsible to the lower pH value of the light fraction of the bio-oil. Phenolic compounds are rich in the heavy fraction. Vaporized bio-oils directly from the fluidized bed pyrolyzer are successfully graded by fractional distillation.
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•Rice husks are pyrolyzed in a fluidized bed pyrolyzer.•Vaporized bio-oils from pyrolyzer are directly graded by fractional distillation.•Distillation separates bio-oil into a light fraction and a heavy fraction.•Acetic acid is rich in the bio-oil light fraction.•Phenolic compounds are rich in the bio-oil heavy fraction.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
A novel method is proposed to evaluate the interparticle forces and particle-wall interactions based on the pressure drop measurements at incipient fluidization. In the first experiment, we used the ...liquid bridge force as the model interparticle force of the glass ballotini (53μm–105μm). The theoretical relationship between the model liquid bridge force and the liquid addition volume was successfully presented. In the second part of experiment, the interparticle forces and the particle-wall interaction of cornstarch powders in a Perspex cylinder are determined. While the particle-wall interaction shows a linear relationship with the apparent bed-wall contact area, the interparticle force follows a logarithm relation with the bed mass for the Warren-Spring-type cornstarch powders. The results were also compared to the cohesion values obtained by a conventional shear tester. The results conclude that our method serves as an economically and accurate alternative to conventional shear testers.
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•Pressure drop overshoot at incipient fluidization is systematically determined.•Interparticle force can be evaluated by pressure drop overshoot.•Cornstarch interparticle force follows a logarithm relation with bed mass.•Results are reasonably fit to results from other established method.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Relatively high concentration toluene is photocatalytically degraded in a multi-stage fluidized bed reactor continuously. The fluidizing media are titanium dioxide deposited silica gel particles, ...which are prepared by the doping sol-gel method. The effects of the Ti/Si atomic ratio, the inlet gas flow rates, and the number of the stages on the toluene removal efficiency were evaluated. The highest toluene removal efficiency is obtained when the fluidizing media are with the Ti/Si atomic ratio of 1.25. The apparent reaction orders are 0.4-0.5 for the single-stage system and 0.7 for the two-stage system, respectively. With an inlet toluene concentration of 1,000 ppm, a relative humidity of 30% and a volumetric flow rate of 10 L/min, the removal efficiency of toluene at the steady state is as high as 80% and is maintained in the 6-hr experimental time.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
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•Bed pressure drop before and after fluidization provides useful information.•Pressure drop overshoot is used to determine the bed tensile stress.•Particle contact force and bed-wall ...frictional stress can be determined.•Voidage-tensile stress anisotropic state diagram at zero shear stress is prepared.
The evaluation of the mechanical properties and the state of a powder bed are essential for industrial powder operations. We assume that the bed incipient yield is approximately the bed incipient fluidization, and the particle contact force, the bed voidage, the bed tensile stress and the bed-wall frictional stress can be determined by simple pressure drop monitoring when gradually increasing the superficial gas velocity from zero. A two-dimensional powder bed voidage-tensile stress state diagram at zero shear stress under anisotropic consolidation is initially prepared. For the sample powder bed, we show that the isotropic tensile stress estimated by the powder yield locus extrapolation, 340 Pa−770 Pa, from a shear tester is different from the anisotropic tensile stress evaluated, 120 Pa–180 Pa, by the pressure drop overshoot approximation.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) is a newer magnetic resonance contrast that has the combined effect of conventional and liver-specific contrast. The use of ...Gd-EOB-DTPA may aid in management of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing living donor liver transplant (LDLT).
We retrospectively reviewed all HCC patients who received LDLT with Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as part of a pretransplant evaluation between October 2012 and October 2016. The detection rate and impact on decision making were assessed between multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) and Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI with pathology of the explanted liver being the reference standard.
We analyzed 25 patients with 80 nodules. Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI showed superior detection rate for HCCs than MDCT (76.1% vs 35.8%). Among the 25 patients, 16 had additional HCCs detected by Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI, which led to changes in therapeutic decisions in 11 patients. The recurrence rate and mortality rate were 4% (1 of 25). In the same period in our institution, the mortality rate was 13.9% (25 of 180) for those who did not receive Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI as part of the pretransplant evaluation.
The use of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI can aid in characterization of indeterminate nodules and detect more HCCs and thus more adequate downstaging and pretransplant neoadjuvant treatment ensue, which may lower the recurrence rate after LDLT.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
To evaluate the significance of portosystemic shunts and associated long-term outcomes in living donor liver transplant (LDLT) among pediatric patients.
Retrospective review of 121 pediatric patients ...who underwent LDLT between May 1994 and December 2015 at Taiwan Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. Pre- and postoperative computed tomography images of the liver were reviewed, and portal vein complications were assessed.
Ninety-seven pediatric patients were included in the study, and 70 had portosystemic shunts before transplant. Thirty-three patients have portal systemic shunt (PSS) 6 months after transplant (mean SD shunt size, 4.59 1.98 mm). Thirty-seven patients’ portosystemic shunts closed spontaneously (mean SD shunt size, 3.14 1.06 mm). Smaller PSSs tend to close spontaneously with a cutoff point of 3.35 mm by receiver operating characteristic curve (P = .01). Patients with PSS have more portal vein complications than those without PSS (44.3% vs 11.1%, P = .02). Among PSS recipients, patients with portal vein complications tend to have larger PSS size (mean SD, 4.14 1.96 mm vs 3.59 1.48 mm), although the difference is not statistically significant (P = .19).
In pediatric patients, preoperative portosystemic shunts are significantly correlated with portal venous complications, some of which require minimal interventions after LDLT with good outcomes. Shunts larger than 3.35 mm tend to persist after transplant with increased portal venous complications.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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