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This paper describes experiments on small solid particle settling behaviour in stationary homogeneous isotropic air turbulence. We present here a new methodology using a recently developed cruciform apparatus: a large horizontal cylindrical vessel equipped with a pair of counter-rotating fans and perforated plates at each end is used to generate stationary near-isotropic turbulence in the core region between the two perforated plates and a long vertical vessel is used to supply heavy descending particles from its top. This novel experimental design, without the unwanted influences from the injection of particles, the mean flow, and the decay of turbulence, allows direct imaging and velocity measurements of the two-way interaction between heavy particles and homogeneous isotropic turbulence. Consequently, the spatiotemporal responses of both fluid turbulence and particle settling can be determined by high-speed digital particle image velocimetry and accelerometry, together with the wavelet transform analysis for the first time. Hence, experimental information on and thereby understanding of the particle settling rate, preferential accumulation, and turbulence modification due to the presence of the particles is obtained. We found that the particle settling velocity (${V}_{s})$ is much greater than the terminal velocity (${V}_{t})$ in still fluid for which the value of (${V}_{s}\\,{-}\\, {V}_{t})$ reaches a maximum of 0.13$u^\\prime $ when the Stokes number $\\hbox{\\it St}\\,{ =}\\,\\tau_{p}/\\tau_{k}\\,{\\approx}\\,$1 and ${V}_{t}/u^\\prime \\,{\\approx}\\,$0.5 at $\\hbox{\\it Re}_{\\lambda }\\,{=}\\,$120 and $\\hbox{\\it Re}_{p} \\,{<}\\,$1, in good agreement with previous numerical results, where $\\tau _{p}$ is the particle's relaxation time, $\\tau _{k}$ is the Kolmogorov time scale, $u^\\prime$ is the energy-weighted r.m.s. turbulent intensity, and $\\hbox{\\it Re}_{\\lambda}$ and $\\hbox{\\it Re}_{p}$ are the Reynolds numbers based on the Taylor microscale ($\\lambda$) and the mean diameter of particles, respectively. Non-uniform particle concentration fields are observed and most significant when $\\hbox{\\it St}\\,{\\approx}\\,$1.0, at which the particle clusters accumulate preferentially around the outer perimeter of small intense banana-shaped vortical structures. These clusters can turn and stretch banana-shaped vortical structures toward the gravitational direction and thus significantly increase the mean settling rate especially when $\\hbox{\\it St}\\,{ =}\\,1$. From spatiotemporal analysis of the flatness factor, it is found that the characteristic length and time scales of these preferential particle clusters are related to the spacing between the adjacent intense vorticity structures of the order $\\lambda$ and the time passage of these clustering structures of the order $\\tau _{k}$, respectively. By comparing the average frequency spectra between laden (heavy particle) and unladen (neutral particle) turbulent flows over the measurement field at a fixed $\\hbox{\\it Re}_{\\lambda }\\,{=}\\,$120, turbulence augmentation is found for most frequencies in the gravitational direction, especially for $\\hbox{\\it St}\\,{\\ge}\\,$1. In the transverse direction, augmentation occurs only at higher frequencies beyond the Taylor microscale for all values of $\\hbox{\\it St}$ studied varying from 0.36 to 1.9. The increase in the size of energy spectra (turbulence augmentation) due to the presence of heavy particles is greatest at $\\tau_{k}^{ - 1 }$ when $\\hbox{\\it St}\\,{\\approx}\\,$1.0. Furthermore, the slip velocities between fluid turbulence and heavy particles can stimulate the laden turbulent flow to become more intermittent in the dissipation range. Finally, a simple energy balance model for turbulence modification is given to explain these results and areas for further study identified.

We determined the relationships between DNA sequence variation and DNA methylation using blood samples from 3,799 Europeans and 3,195 South Asians. We identify 11,165,559 SNP-CpG associations (methylation quantitative trait loci (meQTL), P<10-14), including 467,915 meQTL that operate in trans. The meQTL are enriched for functionally relevant characteristics, including shared chromatin state, High-throuhgput chromosome conformation interaction, and association with gene expression, metabolic variation and clinical traits. We use molecular interaction and colocalization analyses to identify multiple nuclear regulatory pathways linking meQTL loci to phenotypic variation, including UBASH3B (body mass index), NFKbIE (rheumatoid arthritis), MGA (blood pressure) and COMMD7 (white cell counts). For rs6511961, chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq) validates zinc finger protein (ZNF)333 as the likely trans acting effector protein. Finally, we used interaction analyses to identify population- and lineage-specific meQTL, including rs174548 in FADS1, with the strongest effect in CD8+ T cells, thus linking fatty acid metabolism with immune dysregulation and asthma. Our study advances understanding of the potential pathways linking genetic variation to human phenotype.

Being endowed with an ability of capturing and releasing oxygen, the ceria surface conventionally assumes the role of catalyzing redox reactions in chemistry. This catalytic effect also makes possible its cytotoxicity toward microorganisms at room temperature. To study this cytotoxicity, we synthesized the doped and undoped ceria particles of 8-9 nm in size using an inexpensive precipitation method and evaluated their disinfecting aptitudes with the turbidimetric and plate count methods. Among the samples being analyzed, the silver-doped ceria exhibits the highest sterilization ability, yet the undoped ceria is the most intriguing. The disinfection effect of undoped ceria is moderate in magnitude, demanding a physical contact between the ceria surface and bacteria cell wall, or the redox catalysis that can damage the cell wall and result in the cell killing. Evidently, this effect is short-range and depends strongly on dispersion of the nanoparticles. In contrast, the disinfection effects of silver-doped ceria reach out several millimeters since it releases silver ions to poison the surrounding microorganisms. Additionally, the aliovalent silver substitution creates more ceria defects. The synergetic combination, silver poisoning and heterogeneous redox catalysis, lifts and extends the disinfecting capability of silver-doped ceria to a superior level.

Fewer treatment options are available for refractory metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). In early trials, S-1 monotherapy was effective for mCRC patients after chemotherapy failure and its combination with oral leucovorin therapy offers promising results in untreated mCRC. Hence, we conduct a Phase II trial to assess the efficacy of S-1 plus oral leucovorin (SL) in refractory mCRC that progressed after multiple prior standard therapies. In this open-label, single-arm study, we enrolled the refractory mCRC patients who received fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan treatment and at least one targeted therapy previously. The doses of SL were 40-60 and 30 mg twice daily separately. They were administered for 7 days in a 2-week cycle. Treatment was continued until disease progression. Of the 41 enrolled patients, 36 patients were evaluable with 61.1% disease control rate. The median progression-free survival and overall survival were 2.55 and 7.63 months, respectively. Regression change in tumor size stayed 10%-20% in five patients (13.9%) through 18 weeks after treatment, and two patients continued free from tumor progression at 30 and 42 weeks. Compared with moderate heavily pretreated mCRC patient subgroup (≤4 prior regimens), the severe heavily pretreated subgroup (≥5 prior regimens) showed similar disease control rate and survival benefit. Grade 3 or higher toxicities were documented only in 11 patients (26.8%). SL shows potential as a salvage regimen in refractory mCRC patients especially in the severe heavily pretreated setting and is well tolerated in these patients.

This study compared the clinical efficacy, safety, and tolerability of daily subcutaneous injections of teriparatide and salmon calcitonin in the treatment of postmenopausal women with established osteoporosis in Taiwan. This 6-month, multicenter, randomized, controlled study enrolled 63 women with established osteoporosis. They were randomized to receive either teriparatide 20 microg or calcitonin 100 IU daily in an open-label fashion. Lumber spine, femoral neck, total hip bone mineral density (BMD), and biochemical markers of bone turnover were measured, and adverse events and tolerability were recorded. The results at 6 months showed that patients using teriparatide had larger mean increases in spinal BMD than those who used calcitonin (4.5% vs. 0.1%), but the BMD changes in these two groups at the femoral neck and the total hip were not significant. There were also larger mean increases in bone markers in the teriparatide group than in the calcitonin group (bone specific alkaline phosphatase 142% vs. 37%; osteocalcin 154% vs. 23%). We conclude that teriparatide has more positive effects on bone formation than salmon calcitonin, as shown by the larger increments of lumbar spine BMD and bone formation markers, and caused only mild adverse events and no significant change in liver, kidney or hematological parameters. Compared with the published global results, teriparatide seems to be equally effective and safe to use in this Asian population.

The aim of this study is to understand the current status of bone mineral density (BMD) among Taiwanese women and to determine the relationship between bone mass, weight, height and body mass index (BMI), and the proportion of osteoporosis sufferers, based on World Health Organization standards, in each age group. A total of 4689 women underwent lumbar vertebrae (L2-L4) BMD measurements, and 3529 women underwent femoral neck bone mineral density measurements. BMD was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Standards were based on the BMD of the 20- to 40-year-old age group, as were relationships between height, weight, BMI, and BMD. Pearson correlation revealed a positive relationship between body weight, BMI, and BMD in the femoral neck; other correlations were insignificant. The defined BMD value for a diagnosis of osteoporosis was 0.827 g/cm(2) for lumbar vertebrae and 0.605 g/cm(2) for the femoral neck. The proportion of osteoporosis calculated for each age group in the lumbar vertebrae group was: 40-49 years old, 8.25%; 50-59 years old, 8.62%; 60-69 years old, 14.14%; 70-79 years old, 14.25%; >80 years old, 16.07%. For the femoral neck group, the values were: 40-49 years old, 5.24%; 50-59 years old, 5.28%; 60-69 years old, 11.17%; 70-79 years old, 17.30%; >80 years old, 24%. The total proportion of osteoporosis in the lumbar vertebrae was 10.08%, and in the femoral neck, 7.45%. The BMD of Taiwanese women shows a positive relationship to body weight and BMI in the femoral neck group but not in the lumbar vertebrae group. The proportion of osteoporosis by age group in this cohort was lower than that among Western women.

We evaluated the anti-tumor efficacy and toxicity of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), mitoxantrone, and cisplatin (FMP) in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and conducted an analysis of the prognostic factors for response to such therapy and patient survival. Sixty-three patients suffering from unresectable and non-embolizable HCC and who had objectively measurable tumors, adequate liver and renal function, and adequate bone-marrow reserve were enrolled in this study. The therapeutic regimen consisted of cisplatin 80 mg/m(2) and mitoxantrone 6 mg/m(2) intravenously on day 1, and 5-FU 450 mg/m(2) per day continuous infusion for a period of 5 days. Univariate and multivariate analyses of patient and disease characteristics were used to identify factors predicting patient response and survival. The objective response was 23.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 13.0-34.6%). The median survival for all 63 patients was 4.9 months (95% CI, 3.2-6.6 months). The median time to progression was 2.5 months (95% CI, 1.7-3.3 months). Multivariate analysis identified only performance status ( P = 0.050) and liver tumor size ( P = 0.012) as being significantly related to patient objective response. Independent variables associated with a better patient survival included: the absence of ascites ( P = 0.003), a lower total bilirubin level ( P = 0.026), and the patient being a positive chemotherapy responder ( P = 0.009). The response rate to an FMP regimen was still unsatisfactory, although a specific subgroup of patients (good performance status, smaller liver tumor mass, good liver reserve, and distant metastasis) may benefit from this regimen.We evaluated the anti-tumor efficacy and toxicity of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), mitoxantrone, and cisplatin (FMP) in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and conducted an analysis of the prognostic factors for response to such therapy and patient survival.

Lower Cretaceous red sedimentary rocks from the depositional basin of East Qilian fold belt have been collected for a paleomagnetic study. Stepwise thermal demagnetization reveals two or three components of magnetization from dark red sandstones. Low-temperature magnetic component is consistent with the present Earth Field direction in geographic coordinates. High-temperature magnetic components are mainly carried by hematite. The mean pole of 19 sites for high-temperature magnetic components after tilt-correction is λ=62.2°N, φ=193.4°E, A95=3.2°, and it passes fold tests at 99% confidence level and reversal tests at 95% confidence level. The paleopole is insignificantly different from that of Halim et al. (1998) from the same sampling area at the 95% confidence level. Compared with paleomagnetic results for North China, South China, and Eurasia, our results suggest that no significant relative latitudinal displacement has taken place between Lanzhou region and these blocks since Cretaceous time. Remarkably, the pole of Lanzhou shows a 20° clockwise rotation with respect to those of North China, South China, and Eurasia. Geological information indicates that the crustal shortening in the western part of Qilian is greater than that in eastern part. In this case, the clockwise rotation of sampling area was related to India/Eurasia collision, and this collision resulted in a left-lateral strike-slip motion of the Altun fault in north Tibetan Plateau after the Cretaceous.

In dispersive wave systems with dispersion relations such that the phase speed attains an extremum at a finite wavenumber, a rich variety of solitary waves that feature decaying oscillatory tails is known to arise. Here we use the fifth-order Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation, a model for small-amplitude gravity-capillary waves on water of finite depth when the Bond number is close to to examine the stability of the two symmetric solitary-wave solution branches that bifurcate at the minimum phase speed. In the vicinity of the bifurcation point, these solitary waves take the form of modulated wave packets with envelopes that can be approximated by the same soliton solution of the nonlinear Schrodinger (NLS) equation, suggesting that both branches would be stable in the small-amplitude limit. It is shown, however, that the branch of the so-called elevation waves is unstable while the branch of depression waves is stable, consistent with numerical results. The coupling between the carrier oscillations and their envelope, an effect beyond all orders of the expansion underlying the NLS equation, is essential to this behaviour: the dimensionless growth rates of the instability modes found for elevation waves are exponentially small with respect to the solitary-wave steepness. The asymptotic procedure followed here would be useful in discussing the stability of solitary waves with decaying oscillatory tails in other settings as well, and details are worked out for a nonlinear beam equation and a modified fifth-order KdV equation.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the principles and results of some numerical simulations of strain path and forming limit analysis in punch stretching operations which include the tribological influence by using a realistic friction model. Three tribological variables (i.e. the mean lubricant film thickness, tooling roughness, and workpiece roughness) are required for the simulation. The calculation of these variables using lubrication theory and related semi-empirical equations are described. The active lubrication regime and suitable friction model can be determined from the current local values of these tribological variables. Friction stress can then be computed from these variables combined with more traditional parameters such as pressure and sliding speed. The limiting dome height and variation of strain path are then predicted by using the coupled FEM and lubrication/friction model. The comparison between the calculated and measured results shows that the present scheme is efficient in computation and will provide a useful tool for industrial applications.