Engineered collagen/PLLA composite fillers to induce rapid and long-term collagen regeneration.

Injectable subcutaneous fillers are used in medical aesthetics primarily to correct skin wrinkles. The limitations of collagen fillers include rapid degradation, lack of collagen regeneration effects and high-frequency injections. The regenerative filler of Sculptra (Aesthetic) offers prolonged regenerative effects; however, the slow collagen regeneration results in prolonged waiting time for the filling effects.

Poly(thioctic acid) Hydrogels Integrated with Self-Healing, Bioadhesion, Antioxidation, and Antibiosis for Infected Wound Treatment.

Bacterial infections pose significant challenges in wound healing and are a serious threat to human health. Hydrogels have emerged as an ideal wound dressing due to their three-dimensional network, which facilitates exudate absorption and maintains a moist environment conducive to healing. Herein, we developed integrated hydrogels composed of poly(thioctic acid) (PTA), polydopamine (PDA), and curcumin (Cur).

An antioxidant and antibacterial polydopamine-modified thermo-sensitive hydrogel dressing for -infected wound healing.

Bacteria-infected wound healing is a complex and chronic process that poses a great threat to human health. A thermo-sensitive hydrogel that undergoes a sol-gel transition at body temperature is an attractive wound dressing for healing acceleration and infection prevention. In this paper, we present a thermo-sensitive and reactive oxygen species (ROS)-scavenging hydrogel based on polydopamine modified poly(ε-caprolactone--glycolide)--poly(ethylene glycol)--poly(ε-caprolactone--glycolide) (PDA/P2) triblock copolymer.

Pearson's goodness-of-fit tests for sparse distributions.

Pearson's chi-squared test is widely used to test the goodness of fit between categorical data and a given discrete distribution function. When the number of sets of the categorical data, say , is a fixed integer, Pearson's chi-squared test statistic converges in distribution to a chi-squared distribution with -1 degrees of freedom when the sample size goes to infinity. In real applications, the number often changes with and may be even much larger than .

Temperature and pH Dual Responsive Nanogels of Modified Sodium Alginate and NIPAM for Berberine Loading and Release.

pH- and temperature-sensitive nanogels (NGs) were prepared from sodium alginate (SA) and -isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM), as the sensitivity at pH 5.5 and 31 °C. SA was pH-modified with glutamic acid (Glu) and ethylenediamine (EDA).

Heterogeneous indirect reciprocity promotes the evolution of cooperation in structured populations.

A fundamental aspect of all biological system is cooperation. Human society is based to a large extent on mechanisms that favor cooperation. Indirect reciprocity is a crucial factor for the emergence and maintenance of cooperation in evolutionary games.

Investment preference promotes cooperation in spatial public goods game.

It is usually assumed that each cooperator contributes equally to different public pools in spatial public goods game. However, it is more reasonable to invest differently according to individual investment preference. In this paper, an extended public goods game, in which cooperators contribute to the groups according to the investment preference, is developed.

Prediction of daily PM2.5 concentration in China using partial differential equations.

Accurate reporting and forecasting of PM2.5 concentration are important for improving public health. In this paper, we propose a partial differential equation (PDE) model, specially, a linear diffusive equation, to describe the spatial-temporal characteristics of PM2.

A method for estimating the power of moments.

Let be an observable random variable with unknown distribution function [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and let [Formula: see text] We call the power of moments of the random variable . Let [Formula: see text] be a random sample of size drawn from [Formula: see text]. In this paper we propose the following simple point estimator of and investigate its asymptotic properties: [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text].

Clinical predictors of outcomes in patients undergoing emergency air medical transport from Kinmen to Taiwan.

Emergency air medical transport (EAMT) is indispensable for acutely or critically ill patients in remote areas. We determined patient-level and transport-specific factors associated with all-cause mortality after EAMT.We conducted a population-based, retrospective cohort study using a prospective registry consisting of clinical/medical records.

Higher-order Network Analysis of Fine Particulate Matter (PM ) Transport in China at City Level.

Specification of PM transmission characteristics is important for pollution control and policymaking. We apply higher-order organization of complex networks to identify major potential PM contributors and PM transport pathways of a network of 189 cities in China. The network we create in this paper consists of major cities in China and contains information on meteorological conditions of wind speed and wind direction, data on geographic distance, mountains, and PM concentrations.

Impact of Social Reward on the Evolution of the Cooperation Behavior in Complex Networks.

Social reward, as a significant mechanism explaining the evolution of cooperation, has attracted great attention both theoretically and experimentally. In this paper, we study the evolution of cooperation by proposing a reward model in network population, where a third strategy, reward, as an independent yet particular type of cooperation is introduced in 2-person evolutionary games. Specifically, a new kind of role corresponding to reward strategy, reward agents, is defined, which is aimed at increasing the income of cooperators by applying to them a social reward.

Modeling and Computation of Transboundary Industrial Pollution with Emission Permits Trading by Stochastic Differential Game.

Transboundary industrial pollution requires international actions to control its formation and effects. In this paper, we present a stochastic differential game to model the transboundary industrial pollution problems with emission permits trading. More generally, the process of emission permits price is assumed to be stochastic and to follow a geometric Brownian motion (GBM).

Modelling and computation in the valuation of carbon derivatives with stochastic convenience yields.

The anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emission has risen dramatically during the last few decades, which mainstream researchers believe to be the main cause of climate change, especially the global warming. The mechanism of market-based carbon emission trading is regarded as a policy instrument to deal with global climate change. Although several empirical researches about the carbon allowance and its derivatives price have been made, theoretical results seem to be sparse.

Factors Associated With Hyperphagic Behavior in Patients With Dementia Living at Home.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence and patterns of and factors associated with hyperphagic behavior in Taiwanese patients with dementia living at home.

Methods: A cross-sectional and correlational design was used. A total of 104 patients with dementia and their primary caregivers were recruited from the geriatric, neurology, and memory clinics of a regional hospital, a medical center and two day-care centers in central Taiwan.

Infectious pathogens in pediatric patients with primary immunodeficiencies.

Background And Purpose: Primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDs) are rare disorders. Unusual infections often guide the initial investigation for immunodeficiency.

Methods: In order to ascertain the organisms that lead to a predisposition for PIDs, we reviewed the charts of 92 children diagnosed with PIDs at the National Taiwan University Hospital between March 1984 and March 2004.

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia with 11 beta-hydroxylase deficiency.

A rare form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), 11 beta-hydroxylase deficiency, may be misdiagnosed as 21-hydroxylase deficiency, the most common form of CAH, because of similar clinical presentations at times and elevated level of 17-hydroxyprogesterone in both conditions. We report a case of 11 beta-hydroxylase deficiency that was originally misdiagnosed as 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Hypertension and hypokalemia complicated with seizures and arrhythmia developed in this 9-year-old girl after abrupt withdrawal of oral dexamethasone but maintenance of fludrocortisone.