Accurate and 30-plus days reliable cuffless blood pressure measurements with 9-minutes personal photoplethysmograph data and mixed deduction learning.

Cuffless blood pressure (BP) measurements have long been anticipated, and the PPG (Photoplethysmography)-only method is the most promising one since already embedded in many wearable devices. To further meet the clinical accuracy requirements, PPG-only BP predictions with personalized modeling for overcoming personal deviations have been widely studied, but all required tens to hundreds of minutes of personal PPG measurements for training. Moreover, their accurate test periods without calibration practice were not reported.

The effects of nontoxic bio-based substances (egg white) on the performance and passivation of ZnO nanorods arrays-based light emitting devices.

An innovative approach is proposed to passivate the existing defects from metal oxide semiconductors by functionalizing nontoxic bio-based substances. As a demonstration, we synthesized zinc oxide nanorods (ZnO NRs) using a hydrothermal method and incorporated chicken egg white (albumen) as a passivator to the defects. X-ray diffraction analysis of ZnO NRs shows enhanced quality and crystallinity features after incorporating albumen.

Rapid time-lapse 3D oxygen tension measurements within hydrogels using widefield frequency-domain fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FD-FLIM) and image segmentation.

Understanding the influence of oxygen tension on cellular functions and behaviors is crucial for investigating various physiological and pathological conditions. cell culture models, particularly those based on hydrogel extracellular matrices, have been developed to study cellular responses in specific oxygen microenvironments. However, accurately characterizing oxygen tension variations with great spatiotemporal resolutions, especially in three dimensions, remains challenging.

Deduction learning for precise noninvasive measurements of blood glucose with a dozen rounds of data for model training.

Personalized modeling has long been anticipated to approach precise noninvasive blood glucose measurements, but challenged by limited data for training personal model and its unavoidable outlier predictions. To overcome these long-standing problems, we largely enhanced the training efficiency with the limited personal data by an innovative Deduction Learning (DL), instead of the conventional Induction Learning (IL). The domain theory of our deductive method, DL, made use of accumulated comparison of paired inputs leading to corrections to preceded measured blood glucose to construct our deep neural network architecture.

90% Accuracy for Photoplethysmography-Based Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Prediction by Deep Learning with Cohort Arrangement and Quarterly Measured HbA1c.

Previously published photoplethysmography-(PPG) based non-invasive blood glucose (NIBG) measurements have not yet been validated over 500 subjects. As illustrated in this work, we increased the number subjects recruited to 2538 and found that the prediction accuracy (the ratio in zone A of Clarke's error grid) reduced to undesirable 60.6%.

Generation of Augmented Capillary Network Optical Coherence Tomography Image Data of Human Skin for Deep Learning and Capillary Segmentation.

The segmentation of capillaries in human skin in full-field optical coherence tomography (FF-OCT) images plays a vital role in clinical applications. Recent advances in deep learning techniques have demonstrated a state-of-the-art level of accuracy for the task of automatic medical image segmentation. However, a gigantic amount of annotated data is required for the successful training of deep learning models, which demands a great deal of effort and is costly.

Cost-effectiveness of percutaneous coronary intervention versus medical therapy in patients with acute myocardial infarction: real-world and lifetime-horizon data from Taiwan.

Although some studies have assessed the cost-effectiveness of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in acute myocardial infarction (AMI), there has been a lack of nationwide real-world studies estimating life expectancy (LE), loss-of-LE, life-years saved, and lifetime medical costs. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of PCI versus non-PCI therapy by integrating a survival function and mean-cost function over a lifelong horizon to obtain the estimations for AMI patients without major comorbidities. We constructed a longitudinal AMI cohort based on the claim database of Taiwan's National Health Insurance during 1999-2015.

Simultaneous assessment of cell morphology and adhesion using aluminum nanoslit-based plasmonic biosensing chips.

A variety of physiological and pathological processes rely on cell adhesion, which is most often tracked by changes in cellular morphology. We previously reported a novel gold nanoslit-based biosensor that is capable of real-time and label-free monitoring of cell morphological changes and cell viability. However, the preparation of gold biosensors is inefficient, complicated and costly.

Widefield frequency domain fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FD-FLIM) for accurate measurement of oxygen gradients within microfluidic devices.

An oxygen gradient is a key variable influencing various biological activities in vivo, such as tissue repair and tumor growth. To study the phenomenon, in vitro cell studies using microfluidic devices capable of generating oxygen gradients have been developed recently. However, it is challenging to accurately measure the gradient profiles in devices.

Multiplex detection of urinary miRNA biomarkers by transmission surface plasmon resonance.

The clinical assessment of short-stranded nucleic acid biomarkers such as miRNAs could potentially provide useful information for monitoring disease progression, prompting definitive treatment decisions. In the past decade, advancements in biosensing technology have led to a shift towards rapid, real-time and label-free detection systems; as such, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor-based technology has become of high interest. Here, we developed an automated multiplex transmissive surface plasmon resonance (t-SPR) platform with the use of a capped gold nanoslit integrated microfluidic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor.

Compressed sensing based CT reconstruction algorithm combined with modified Canny edge detection.

Given that the computed tomography (CT) reconstruction algorithm based on compressed sensing (CS) results in blurred edges, we propose a modified Canny operator that assists the CS algorithm to accurately capture an object's edge, to preserve and further enhance the contrasts in the reconstructed image, thereby improving image quality. We modified two procedures of the traditional Canny operator, namely non-maximum suppression and edge tracking by hysteresis according to the characteristics of low-dose CT reconstruction, and proposed two major modifications: double-response edge detection and directional edge tracking. The newly modified Canny operator was combined with the CS reconstruction algorithm to become an edge-enhanced CS (EECS).

Low Papanicolaou smear screening rate of women with HIV infection: a nationwide population-based study in Taiwan, 2000-2010.

Background: Women infected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have a higher risk of contracting cervical cancer. Recent guidelines recommend that all HIV-positive women should receive two Pap smears in the first year after their HIV diagnosis.

Methods: This was a population-based cohort study, and the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan was used to estimate the Pap smear screening rate for 1449 HIV-infected women aged 18 years and over from 2000 to 2010.

Systemic lupus erythematosus with initial presentation of empyematous pleural effusion in an elderly male patient: a diagnostic challenge.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) poses great difficulty in making an early diagnosis in elderly males, often presenting with atypical manifestations. Acute onset of empyematous pleural effusion has rarely been seen. Herein, we report a 66-year-old man with SLE presenting with rapid progression of bilateral pleural effusion.

Improving in-hospital mortality in elderly patients after acute coronary syndrome--a nationwide analysis of 97,220 patients in Taiwan during 2004-2008.

Background: Elderly patients seem to have especially poor outcomes after acquiring acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We conducted this study to examine the in-hospital mortality by utilization of invasive coronary therapies and age in a nationwide population in Taiwan.

Methods: This observational study was conducted on a retrospective cohort from January 2004 to December 2008.

The role of the auxiliary atomic ion beam in C60(+)-Ar+ co-sputtering.

Cluster ion sputtering has been proven to be an effective technique for depth profiling of organic materials. In particular, C(60)(+) ion beams are widely used to profile soft matter. The limitation of carbon deposition associated with C(60)(+) sputtering can be alleviated by concurrently using a low-energy Ar(+) beam.

Neuberger's double-pass algorithm.

We analyze Neuberger's double-pass algorithm for the matrix-vector multiplication R(H) x Y [where R(H) is (n-1,n)th degree rational polynomial of positive definite operator H], and show that the number of floating-point operations is independent of the degree n, provided that the number of sites is much larger than the number of iterations in the conjugate gradient. This implies that the matrix-vector product (H)(-1/2)Y approximately R((n-1,n))(H).Y can be approximated to very high precision with sufficiently large n, without noticeably extra costs.

Acute aortic dissection associated with left ventricular dysfunction in a postpartum and normotensive young woman.

Aortic dissection is uncommon in young women and is associated with clinical conditions such as pregnancy and Marfan's syndrome. Owing to the low incidence, diagnosis of acute aortic dissection in young women might be missed or delayed in patients who have neither risk factors nor typical clinical manifestations. We report the case of a 28-year-old postpartum woman with aortic dissection.