Investigating full-field deformation of planar soft tissue under simple-shear tests.

Finite simple shear test characteristics like specimen geometry and boundary conditions could affect the deformation homogeneity during the test. In order to ensure that the parameters of constitutive equations obtained from finite simple shear tests are appropriate, the deformation homogeneity of the specimen during simple-shear test should be examined. The Fourier transform moiré method (FTM) was used to examine the deformation uniformity of a porcine skin specimen in a finite simple shear test.

Synthesis of yttrium iron garnet using polymer-metal chelate precursor.

Two kinds of polymer-metal compounds, heterogeneous complexes (metal-chelating copolymer microspheres, MCP) and homogeneous complexes (water-soluble metal-chelating polymers, WSMCP), were synthesized to act as nucleation agents for YIG precursor preparation in this text. Both of the metal-chelating polymers have the same chelating group and high metal ion adsorption ability from the FTIR and ICP measurement. Furthermore, good YIG crystals can be obtained by treating the MCP precursor with a low calcination temperature at 600 degrees C from the XRD spectra and TEM micrograph.

Molecular assembled self-doped polyaniline interlayer for application in polymer light-emitting diode.

Self-doped polyaniline (SPANI) ultrathin films were prepared by using a self-assembly process consisting of a self-doping monomer (o-aminobenzenesulfonic acid, SAN) and aniline (AN). SAN-AN copolymerization and film formation were simultaneously performed in aqueous solution. An immersing self-assembly method was developed to build up a SPANI nanofilm on an ITO glass, providing a hole injection layer in a double-layer electroluminescence (EL) device ITO/SPANI nanofilm//MEH-PV//Ca/Al.

Growth of carbon nanotubes on cobalt catalyst film using electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapour deposition without thermal heating.

This paper demonstrates that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be synthesized on a cobalt coated silicon substrate using electron cyclotron chemical vapour deposition and without intentionally heating the substrate. With the mixed gases of C(3)H(8)/N(2), CNTs with a multi-walled structure and a diameter up to 70 nm have been observed. Results show that the diameter of the CNTs increases with the thickness of the cobalt catalyst film and the amount of nitrogen incorporated in the CNT films considerably influences the structures of the CNTs.

Synthesis of triglycerides of phenylalkanoic acids by lipase-catalyzed esterification in a solvent-free system.

Immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B catalyzed the synthesis of triglycerides from glycerol and phenylalkanoic acids in a solvent-free system. 4-Phenylbutyric acid was the best acyl donor and displayed the highest synthetic rate of triphenylbutyrin (glyceryl triphenylbutyrate) at 65 degrees C among various phenylalkanoic acids with straight alkyl chains. The external mass transfer between the immobilized lipase and the bulk reaction mixture was limited.

Hybrids of colloidal silica and waterborne polyurethane.

Waterborne polyurethane (WPU) was synthesized and followed by adding colloidal silica to prepare WPU-silica hybrids. The silica content in the hybrid thin films was varied from 0 to 50 wt%. The experimental results revealed that the viscosity of these hybrid solutions increased with increasing silica content and resulted in the aggregation of silica particle in the hybrid films.

Maximum acceptable weight of manual load carriage for young Taiwanese males.

This study examined the maximum acceptable weight of carriage (MAWC) for young Taiwanese males experienced in manual load carriage tasks. The elements of the examined load carriage tasks included lifting a box from the floor to the waist height, turning around while holding the box, carrying the box at the waist height for a distance, lowering the box to the floor, turning around, and walking unloaded back to the original position. Subjects performed the load carriage tasks over different levels of carriage distance, frequency, box width (sagittal dimension), and handle according to a response surface design.

Ergonomic comparison of operating a built-in touch-pad pointing device and a trackball mouse on posture and muscle activity.

This study examined the effects of operating a built-in touch-pad pointing device and a trackball mouse on participants' completion times, hand positions during operation, postural angles, and muscle activities. 8 young men were asked to perform a cursor travel task on a notebook computer using both 60- and 80-cm high table conditions. Analysis showed that the trackball mouse significantly decreased completion times.

Proteomic analysis of the effect of Antrodia camphorata extract on human lung cancer A549 cell.

Antrodia camphorata (niu-chang-chih) is a fungus native to Taiwan that is believed to be effective in preventing diseases. This study demonstrates that 0.2-2% v/v ethanol extracts of A.

Ipsapirone and ketanserin protects against circulatory shock, intracranial hypertension, and cerebral ischemia during heatstroke.

We assess the effects of ipsapirone (a 5-HT1A receptor agonist), ketanserin (a 5-HT2A receptor antagonist), (-)-pindolol (a 5-HT1A receptor antagonist), and DOI (a 5-HT2A receptor agonist) on heatstroke in a rat model. Animals, under urethane anesthesia, were exposed to high ambient temperature of 42 degrees C until mean arterial pressure and local cerebral blood flow in the striatum began to decrease, which was arbitrarily defined as the onset of heatstroke. Normothermic controls were exposed to room temperature of 24 degrees C.

Fast parallel molecular algorithms for DNA-based computation: factoring integers.

The RSA public-key cryptosystem is an algorithm that converts input data to an unrecognizable encryption and converts the unrecognizable data back into its original decryption form. The security of the RSA public-key cryptosystem is based on the difficulty of factoring the product of two large prime numbers. This paper demonstrates to factor the product of two large prime numbers, and is a breakthrough in basic biological operations using a molecular computer.

Effect of chelating functional polymer on the size of CdS nanocluster formation.

Chelating poly(acrylates-co-2-methylacrylic acid 3-(bis-carboxymethylamino)-2-hydroxy-propyl ester) microspheres of diameter 250-310 nm were prepared by the soap-free emulsion polymerization method for varying amounts of GMA-IDA. Then CdS/copolymer composite was generated by chemical deposition on the surface of the copolymer microspheres. By XRD analysis it is found that the chelated CdS nanoparticles are a pure cubic zinc blende structure.

A new phytoecdysteroid from Ajuga taiwanensis.

A new phytoecdysteroid, namely ajugalide-E (1), together with twenty five known compounds were isolated from Ajuga taiwanensis collected from Tainan, Taiwan. Their structures were determined by spectral analysis including high resolution one- and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy.

Application of superparamagnetic nanoparticles in purification of plasmid DNA from bacterial cells.

The aim of this study was to develop a simple and rapid method for purification of ultrapure supercoiled plasmid DNA with high yields from bacterial cultures. Nanosized superparamagnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4) were prepared by chemical precipitation method using Fe2+, Fe3+ salt, and ammonium hydroxide under a nitrogen atmosphere. The surface of Fe3O4 nanoparticles was modified by coating with the multivalent cationic agent, polyethylenimine (PEI).

Fast parallel molecular solutions for DNA-based supercomputing: the subset-product problem.

In this paper our main purpose is to give molecular solutions for the subset-product problem. In order to achieve this, we propose three DNA-based algorithms--parallel adder, parallel multiplier and parallel comparator--that formally verify our designed molecular solutions for the subset-product problem. We also show that Boolean circuits are not needed to perform mathematical operations on a molecular computer.

Lifting strengths in different horizontal distances of objects to be lifted.

This study recruited eleven healthy males and thirteen healthy females to examine their maximum two-handed isometric back lifting strength, upper-body lifting strength, arm lifting strength and shoulder lifting strength in three different horizontal distances of objects to be lifted (toes were anterior to, aligned with, and posterior to the exerted handle). The results showed that human lifting strength decreased significantly as the toe position shifted from anterior of the vertical plane of the exerted handle to posterior of the vertical plane of the exerted handle. The strength order relationship between back lifting strength and upper-body lifting strength was dependent on the horizontal distance of objects to be lifted.

Psychophysically determined asymmetrical lifting capabilities for different frequencies and containers.

Ten young male participants were tested their psychophysically determined 4-h maximum acceptable weight of lifting (MAWL) of 90-degree asymmetric lifting for three lifting frequencies (1 lift/min, 2 lifts/min, 4 lifts/min) and three lifting containers (50 x 35 x 15 cm, 70 x 35 x 15 cm, 50 x 50 x 15 cm). The results showed that the MAWL decreased with increasing frequency and container width or length dimension, while the interaction effect of frequency and container on MAWL was not significant. The MAWL ranged from 13.

Proteomic Analysis of Bladder Cancer Cells Reveals Potential Candidates of Biomarkers in Bladder Tumorigenesis.

Background: Bladder cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer of the urinary tract in Taiwan. In order to identify the molecular basis of bladder carcinogenesis, we analyzed the proteomic profiling of transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) cell lines to search for novel biomarkers for human bladder cancer.

Materials And Methods: Two human TCC cell lines (TSGH8301, Grade II and BFTC905, Grade III) were selected for proteomic analysis.

Maximum isoinertial lifting capabilities for different lifting ranges and container dimensions.

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of lifting range and container dimension on human maximum isoinertial lifting capability in the sagittal plane. Ten young and experienced lifters were tested for their maximum isoinertial lifting capabilities for 12 different lifting conditions (three lifting ranges x four container dimensions). The results showed that lifting range and container dimension significantly affected human maximum isoinertial lifting capability.

An implantable bi-directional wireless transmission system for transcutaneous biological signal recording.

This study presents an implantable microcontroller-based bi-directional transmission system with an inductive link designed for biological signal sensing. The system comprises an external module and an implantable module. The external module incorporates a high-efficiency class-E transceiver with amplitude modulation scheme and a data recovery reader.

Maximum isometric lifting strengths of men in teamwork.

This study reexamined the additivity of maximum isometric teamwork lifting strength using experienced and height-matched young male participants. The maximum isometric lifting strength was measured for four exertion heights (45, 75, 105, and 140 cm) and four lifting styles (one-, two, three-, and four-person exertions). The results showed that actual teamwork strength could be greater or lower than the sum of individual strengths.

Neoclerodane diterpenoids from Ajuga taiwanensis.

Phytochemical investigation of Ajuga taiwanensis resulted in the isolation of seven neoclerodane diterpenes, four of which ajugalide-A (1), -B (2), -C (3), and -D (4), are new and the remaining three are known diterpenes, ajugamacrin B (5), ajugapantin A (6), and ajugamarin C1 (7). Their structures were elucidated in spectral and chemical transformation studies.

In situ gelling of alginate/pluronic solutions for ophthalmic delivery of pilocarpine.

We prepared a series of alginate and Pluronic-based solutions as the in situ gelling vehicles for ophthalmic delivery of pilocarpine. The rheological properties, in vitro release as well as in vivo pharmacological response of polymer solutions, including alginate, Pluronic solution, and alginate/Pluronic solution, were evaluated. The optimum concentration of alginate solution for the in situ gel-forming delivery systems was 2% (w/w) and that for Pluronic solution was 14% (w/w).

An efficient prediction algorithm for image vector quantization.

In this paper, we propose a novel efficient fuzzy prediction algorithm for image vector quantization by using the fact that the pixel values of a block is highly related to those of its adjacent blocks in the same image frame because of its spatial correlation. The experimental results show that our method performs better than other VQ algorithms, such as SOC-VQ, LCIC-VQ, STC-VQ, and DST-VQ, in terms of computational complexity and coding efficiency.

Porous alginate/hydroxyapatite composite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering: preparation, characterization, and in vitro studies.

In this study a series of alginate/hydroxyapatite (HAP) composite scaffolds was prepared by phase separation. HAP was incorporated into the alginate gel solution to improve both the mechanical and cell-attachment properties of the scaffolds. These scaffolds had a well-interconnected porous structure with an average pore size of 150 microm and over 82% porosity.