bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE PEAK VELOCITY AND SKEWNESS RELATIONSHIP FOR THE REFLEXIVE SACCADES
Authors: CHEN YUNG-FU , LIN HSUAN-HUNG , CHEN TAINSONG , TSAI TZU-TUNG , SHEE I-FEN
Published: December 2008

The main sequence relations of saccades stated that the duration was linearly correlated to the saccadic amplitude for a wide range, whereas the peak velocity correlated exponentially to the amplitude with saturation occurred at 30°-40°. Skewness was used efficiently in delineating the asymmetry between the acceleration and deceleration phases of the saccadic velocity profiles. It can be estimated from the shape parameter obtained by applying gamma function to the velocity profile. The relationship between peak velocity and skewness was derived according to the following observations. (1) At the same target amplitude and under the similar test conditions, data from previous investigations showed that great intra- and inter-subject variation of the peak velocity and the skewness were always observed. (2) Although the velocity was substantially decreased and the duration greatly increased, accuracy was not affected with the saccadic amplitude was almost unchanged for the subjects after diazepam had been taken. (3) The duration of acceleration phase is almost unchanged for different amplitudes.

Fifteen normal subjects (range 21 to 26 years with mean of 23.6) without history of neurological disease were recruited and tested in this study. Electro-oculograph (EOG) was used for recording the eye movements with amplitudes ranging from 10° to 60°. The results show that the data were highly correlated to the derived peak velocity and skewness relation with correlation coefficient (R) as high as 0.66-0.92 for great amplitudes (>30°). This study provides an alternative method in quantitative analysis of saccadic dynamics
ACCURATE STEREOTAXIC LOCALIZATION USING COMPUTERIZED TOMOGRAPHY WITH GEOMETRIC CORRECTION
Authors: LEE JIANN-DER , HUANG ZHONG-XIAN , LEE SHIH-TSENG
Published: December 2008

Stereotaxic localization using computerized tomography (CT) is widely employed to guide neurosurgical procedures in critical areas of the brain. Existing methods used two-dimensional (2-D) transform to correct the localization error due to the head ring tilt, but these estimates cannot yield satisfactory results under large tilt angle. Based on three-dimensional (3-D) geometric transformation, a novel approach of correcting localization error from head ring tilt is introduced, resulting in significant improvement in localization accuracy. Experimental results also confirm the good performance of this localization scheme. A powerful stereotactic software system integrated with the proposed method, fusion of brain atlas and CT data, and surgical trajectory planning, has been successfully developed and applied to clinic application for neurosurgery in Chang Gung Memorial Hospital.
BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSES OF STRESS DISTRIBUTION WITHIN THE SEATED BUTTOCK AND CUSHION
Authors: CHOU PEI-HSI , CHOU YOU-LI , CHIANG CHOE-JAN , LIN TING-SHENG , LOU SHU-ZON
Published: December 2008

The elderly wheelchair users frequently encountered the prevalence of pressure sore, also known as decubitus, since they have to be seated in the wheelchair for daily activities. The major cause induced the formation of pressure sore was that the soft tissues were over-stressed. The purpose of this study was to provide the information about internal stresses of soft tissues and establish a simplified finite element model to simulate the behavior of the interface between human buttock and cushion. Computational stresses were verified by comparing the buttock-cushion interface pressures, which was measured with Q.A. pressure pads. The displacement of the cushion was also validated with the experimental results of buttock measuring system. Two cushion geometries, fat and contoured, were adopted in this study to explore the effects on stress distributions. The results showed that the simplified finite element model was consistent with the experimental data. Contoured cushions had better stress distribution and lower interface stress.
REPAIRING OF RABBIT SKULL DEFECT BY TGF-β1-INCORPORATED COLLAGEN SPONGES OF DIFFERENT THICKNESS
Authors: UEDA HIROKI , NAKAMURA TATSUO , TABATA YASUHIKO , SHIMIZU YASUHIKO
Published: December 2008

We have recently demonstrated that a collagen sponge incorporating TGF-β1 was effective in inducing bone repair at the skull defect of rabbits. In this study, the bone repairing of rabbit skulls was tried by TGF-β1-incorporated collagen sponges of different thickness to assess the influence of the size of osteoinductive materials on the bone repairing.

The collagen sponge used was prepared by foaming and freeze-drying 1 % aqueous solution of pepsin-processed porcine atelo-collagen, followed by dehydrothermal crosslinking for 6 hr in vacua. Collagen sponges with different thickness were prepared by changing the volume of collagen solution for freeze-drying and changing the number of sponges piled up. An aqueous solution of TGF-β1 or 125 I -labeled TGF-β1 was dropped onto the freeze-dried sponge to prepare collagen sponges incorporating TGF-β1 or 125 I -TGF-β1, respectively. Collagen sponges were also radioiodinated with Bolton Hunter Reagent. Following implantation of the collagen sponges incorporating 125 I -TGF-β1 and the 125 I -labeled collagen sponges into the mice subcutis, each radioactivity remaining was measured to compare the time profile of in vivo retention of TGF-β1 with that of the sponge. The TGF-β1 incorporated collagen sponges of different thickness were implanted into full-thickness defects of rabbit skulls with 6 mm in diameter. The bone repairing at the defect was evaluated in terms of histological and DEXA examinations 6 weeks later.

The remaining radioactivity of 125 I -labeled collagen sponges and 125 I -labeled TGF-β1 incorporated in collagen sponges decreased with time. The remaining periods of radioactivities of the sponges prolonged with an increase in the sponge thickness, but those of TGF-β1 were independent with the sponge thickness. The collagen sponge with 2 mm thickness was the most effective in increasing the bone mineral density at the bone defect. This finding indicated that the sponge thickness is one of the key factors contributing to successful bone repairing.
THE INTEGRATION OF 3-D HIP-SHAPE ANTHROPOMETRIC DATA BANK AND HUMAN-ENGINEERED SEAT-CUSHION: THE CLASSIFICATION OF HIP SHAPES AND CATEGORY OF SEAT CUSHIONS
Authors: SUN SHUH-PING , CHEN HSIANG-HO , LIN LI-CHUN , NIU GREGORY CHENG-CHIE , CHEN YU-FU
Published: December 2008

Custom fitted seat cushions work to improve posture, alleviate fatigue and prevent bedsores by evenly distributing body mass and relieving single or multiple points of pressure. Existing commercially-available bedding and seating is unsatisfactory to patients and professionals alike. Three-dimensional anthropometric measurement technology is employed to establish a database of hip-form profiles. This database includes 400 individuals grouped into five categories based on the shapes and measurements of 3-D hip-forms analogous to women's brassiere cup sizes. Each class is matched within a range of a anthropomtric values such as height, weight, hip-circumference and thigh-diameter. With such human factor engineering considerations, the preliminary 3-D hip-form database has created practical distinctions between the five hip-form classes that could help to design patient specific seating that is both comfortable and healthy.
INFLUENCE OF THE HEAD RESTRAINT POSITION ON DYNAMIC RESPONSE OF THE HEAD/NECK SYSTEM UNDER WHIPLASH LOADING
Authors: HUANG SHYH-CHOUR , HUSTON RONALD L.
Published: December 2008

The objective of this paper is to present modeling and simulation of the effect of head restraint position on head/neck dynamics in rear-end motor vehicle collisions. Although individual injury tolerance levels vary, it is believed that properly positioned head restraints can be beneficial in reducing injury. The paper discusses the effects of restraint positioning by simulating a series of rear-end collisions using a finite-segment (lumped-mass) model of the human frame. It is found that proximity of the restraint to the head is the principal factor in preventing harmful whiplash motion. The findings suggest that "smart" head restraints could therefore significantly reduce whiplash induced injuries.
BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF THE STANDING LONG JUMP
Authors: WU WEN-LAN , WU JIA-HROUNG , LIN HWAI-TING , WANG GWO-JAW
Published: December 2008

The purposes of the present study were to (1) investigate the effects of the arm movement and initial knee joint angle employed in standing long jump by the ground reaction force analysis and three-dimensional motion analysis; and (2) investigate how the jump performance of the female gender related to the body configuration. Thirty-four healthy adult females performed standing long jump on a force platform with full effort. Body segment and joint angles were analyzed by three-dimensional motion analysis system. Using kinetic and kinematic data, the trajectories on mass center of body, knee joint angle, magnitude of peak takeoff force, and impulse generation in preparing phase were calculated. Average standing long jump performances with free arm motion were +1.5 times above performance with restricted arm motion in both knee initial angles. The performances with knee 90° initial flexion were +1.2 times above performance with knee 45° initial flexion in free and restricted arm motions. Judging by trajectories of the center mass of body (COM), free arm motion improves jump distance by anterior displacement of the COM in starting position. The takeoff velocity with 90° knee initial angle was as much as 11% higher than in with 45° knee initial angle. However, the takeoff angles on the COM trajectory showed no significant differences between each other. It was found that starting jump from 90° bend knee relatively extended the time that the force is applied by the leg muscles. To compare the body configurations and the jumping scores, there were no significant correlations between jump scores and anthropometry data. The greater muscle mass or longer leg did not correlated well with the superior jumping performance.
VSA-TOOL: A TOOL FOR DATA VISUALIZATION IN SEQUENCE ALIGNMENT
Authors: CHUANG LI-YEH , YANG CHENG-HONG , CHANG CHAO-CHING , TZOU WEN-SHYONG , JIN LI-CHENG
Published: December 2008

Sequence alignment is a fundamental and important tool for sequence data analysis in molecular biology. Many applications in molecular biology require the detection of a similarity pattern displayed by a number of DNA and protein sequences. Visual front-ends are useful for an intuitive viewing of alignment and help to analyze the structure, functions, and evolution of the DNA and protein. In this paper, we designed and implemented an interactive system for data visualization in DNA and proteins, which can be used in determining a sequence alignment, similarity search of sequence data, and function interference. Experimental results show that a user can easily operate the system after one hour's practice on the proposed system, which provides a clean output, easy identification of similarity and visualization of alignment data.
ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS BASED SLEEP MOTION RECOGNITION USING NIGHT VISION CAMERAS
Authors: KUO CHUNG-HSIEN , YANG FANG-CHUNG , TSAI MING-YUAN , LEE MING-YIH
Published: December 2008

The body movement is one of the most important factors to evaluate the sleep quality. In general, the sleep motion is hardly investigated, and it must take a long time to observe the motion of the patient in terms of a pre-recoded video storage media with high speed playing. This paper proposes an image-based solution to recognize the sleep motions. We use the contact free and IR-based night vision camera to capture the video frames during the sleep of the patient. The video frames are used to recognize the body positions and the body directions such as the “body up”, “body down”, “body right”, and “body left”. In addition to the image processing, the proposed artificial neural network (ANN) sleep motion recognition solution is composed of two neural networks. These two neural networks are organized as in a cascade configuration. The first ANN model is used to identify the body position features from the images; and the follower ANN model is constructed based on the features that are identified by the first ANN model to recognize the body direction. Finally, the implementations and the practical results of this work are all illustrated in this paper.
DEVELOPMENT OF A SURGICAL NAVIGATION ROBOT USING IMAGE SERVO TRACKING TECHNIQUES
Authors: KUO CHUNG-HSIEN , TSAI YU-LIN , HUANG FANG-GHUN , LEE MING-YIH
Published: December 2008

This paper presents the development of surgical navigation robot, which is designed based on the image servo tracking technique. The surgical navigation robot plays an important role to the computer aided surgery (CAS), since it provides the patient's space coordinate during surgical navigation stage in real-time. Especially, the proposed active image servo tracking based surgical navigation robot can track the surgical marker that is mounted on the patient's hard tissue of the surgical position, so that the navigation space can be automatically extended. The proposed surgical navigation robot system consists of the in-lab designed dual-axis eye-in-hand robot (EIHR), digital signal processor (DSP) based EIHR motion controller, image servo tracking and positioning software. The EIHR robot is composed of the dual-axis robot mechanics and two CCD cameras, which acts as the stereoscopic image capture platform. The DSP based EIHR motion controller is designed to control the EIHR robot in a desired velocity, so that the surgical marker can be dynamically tracked. The image servo tracking and positioning software is the kernel of this work, and it is composed of image capture and recognition module, fuzzy logic based surgical marker tracking module and surgical marker positioning module. The image capture and recognition module is developed to abstract the image features of the surgical marker. The intelligent fuzzy logic based surgical marker tracking module is capable of generating robot's control command so that the surgical marker can be tracked within the desired target window. In addition, the surgical marker positioning module is used to calculate the surgical marker's space coordinates in terms of the features of stereoscopic images and the robot's posture. Finally, the prototype had been finished, and the experiment results showed that proposed EIHR achieved 1.7 mm position error within 500 mm operation range.
THE APPLICATION OF FULL SCALE 3D ANTHROPOMETRIC DIGITAL MODEL SYSTEM IN RADIOTHERAPY POSITIONING AND VERIFICATION
Authors: SUN SHUH-PING , WU CHING-JUNG
Published: December 2008

The full scale 3D Anthropometric Digital Model system is a technique combining digital imaging, three-dimensional (3D) image processing and reverse engineering to produce a full-scale solid Anthropometric Digital Model. This paper describes the Anthropometric Digital Model being made and used in radiation treatment. By using computed tomography and optical scanning, the data required for the Anthropometric Digital Model is collected. Through surface reconstruction, a model of the patient skull is made, after which rapid prototyping and rapid tooling is applied to acquire a 1:1 solid model. Thus, without the patient needing to be present, the medical physicist or dosimetrist will be able to design a treatment plan tailored to the patient and to simulate all kinds of situations on the simulator and the linear accelerator for positioning and verification. We expect that the application of Anthropometric Digital Model can reduce the time spent on pretreatment procedures in radiotherapy and enhance the quality of health care for cancer patients.
THE INTELLIGENT ARCHITECTURE FOR SIMULATION OF INHALATIONAL ANAESTHESIA
Authors: SHIEH JIANN-SHING , FAN SHOU-ZEN , SHI WEN-LONG
Published: December 2008

In order to simulate the whole operation during inhalational anaesthesia, an intelligent architecture for the monitoring, control and modelling includes four blocks, which are a hierarchical structure for monitoring depth of anaesthesia (DOA), drug controller, patient model, and vaporizer model. In the first block, using the electroencephalograph (EEG) signals (i.e., bispectral index (BIS)), end-tidal anesthetic agents (Etaa) as the first level for primary DOA, and the systolic arterial pressure (SAP) and heart rate (HR) as the second level for secondary DOA, a hierarchical structure is therefore used to merge these two levels to decide DOA via fuzzy model. Block 2 is a drug controller that controls the drug infusion to the patient using a fuzzy logic controller. In the third block, a four-input and four-output neural network has been designed for patient model. Finally, in the fourth block, a single input and output neural network has also been designed for vaporizer model. Simulating the 13 clinical patients' status with different set points of DOA (defined from 0 ∼ 100), the average of drug consumptions of the anaesthetic gas is 0.93±0.26, 0.69+0.24, and 0.74 ± 0.21 % when setting the set point of DOA at 50 (i.e., anaesthetic ok), 30 (i.e., anaesthetic small deep), and 10 (i.e., anaesthetic deep), respectively. In comparison with the routine standard practice group (i.e., 0.69±0.30 %) using the same inhalational gas, there is a significant difference in DOA at 50 (p < 0.05) but no any significant differences in DOA at either 30 or 10 (p > 0.05). We conclude that the routine standard practice of clinical trials is always controlled DOA at 30 and 10 which are lesser drugs used than DOA at 50.
QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF THE MOTION OF FROZEN SHOULDERS TREATED WITH ACUPUNCTURE BY PUNCTURING FROM TIAOKOU (ST. 38) TOWARDS CHENGSHAN (U.B. 57)
Authors: LIN JAUNG-GENG , CHEN CHAO-TSUNG , LU TUNG-WU , LIN YEN-SHENG , CHEN HAO-LING , CHEN YUEH-SHEN
Published: December 2008

Frozen shoulder is one of the most commonly reported shoulder disorders in adults between 40 and 60 years of age with significant pain and loss of joint range of motion (ROM), resulting in huge impact on the activities of daily living. Treatment of frozen shoulders with drugs, physical therapy and surgery that dealt with adhesive tissues may come with complications. Therefore, acupuncture therapy has become an important alternative. Puncturing needles from Tiaokou (St. 38) towards Chengshan (U.B. 57) has been used as a treatment specifically for frozen shoulders. To this day, no study on the quantitative evaluation of the efficacy of the treatment has been found in the literature. A quantitative and objective method using video-based stereophotogrammery system was developed to evaluate the treatment efficacy of acupuncture by inserting needle from St. 38 to U.B. 57. It was found that the treatment increased significantly the humeral elevation ROM from 102.91 ° ± 24.82 ° before treatment to 111.25 ° ± 22 ° after, with a mean increase of 8.34 °. This finding confirms the teachings described in the classical Chinese medical literature and will be helpful for the planning and implementation of long-term studies on the treatment mechanism and efficacy of acupuncture in frozen shoulder.
USING CORRELATION COEFFICIENT IN ECG WAVEFORM FOR ARRHYTHMIA DETECTION
Authors: CHIU CHUANG-CHIEN , LIN TONG-HONG , LIAU BEN-YI
Published: December 2008

Arrhythmia is one kind of diseases that gives rise to the death and possibly forms the immedicable danger. The most common cardiac arrhythmia is the ventricular premature beat. The main purpose of this study is to develop an efficient arrhythmia detection algorithm based on the morphology characteristics of arrhythmias using correlation coefficient in ECG signal. Subjects for experiments included normal subjects, patients with atrial premature contraction (APC), and patients with ventricular premature contraction (PVC). So and Chan's algorithm was used to find the locations of QRS complexes. When the QRS complexes were detected, the correlation coefficient and RR-interval were utilized to calculate the similarity of arrhythmias. The algorithm was tested using MIT-BIH arrhythmia database and every QRS complex was classified in the database. The total number of test data was 538, 9 and 24 for normal beats, APCs and PVCs, respectively. The results are presented in terms of, performance, positive predication and sensitivity. High overall performance (99.3%) for the classification of the different categories of arrhythmic beats was achieved. The positive prediction results of the system reach 99.44%, 100% and 95.35% for normal beats, APCs and PVCs, respectively. The sensitivity results of the system are 99.81%, 81.82% and 95.83% for normal beats, APCs and PVCs, respectively. Results revealed that the system is accurate and efficient to classify arrhythmias resulted from APC or PVC. The proposed arrhythmia detection algorithm is therefore helpful to the clinical diagnosis.
AN INTELLIGENT DIABETES MOBILE CARE SYSTEM WITH ALERT MECHANISM
Authors: LEE REN-GUEY , HSIAO CHUN-CHIEH , CHEN KUEI-CHIEN , LIU MING-HSIO
Published: December 2008

Diabetes mellitus is a kind of chronic disease which can be effectively prevented and controlled only if the blood glucose level of the patient is constantly monitored, and the health education and professional medicine care is fully supported. In this paper a role-based intelligent diabetes mobile care system with alert mechanism in full diabetic care environment is proposed and implemented. The roles in our system include patients, physicians, nurses, and home care assistants. Each of the roles uses a mobile device such as a PDA with GSM module or a mobile phone to communicate with the server so that he or she can go around without restrictions. Our system provides alert management by using an automaticl urgency strategy to assure the information correctness and notification completeness so as to improve the quality of diabetes care. The reliability test and performance test have also shown that our system can provide fast and reliable assistance to the diabetes patients. With the help of our system, it is possible to set up a whole intelligent diabetes care chain in the care center.
THE EVALUATION OF TWO MODULATED FREQUENCY MODES OF ACUPUNCTURE-LIKE TENS ON THE TREATMENT OF TENNIS ELBOW PAIN
Authors: WENG CHING-SUNG , SHU SHEN-HWA , CHEN CHUN-CHUNG , TSAI YUH-SHOW , HU WEI-CHIH , CHANG YUNG-HSEIN
Published: December 2008

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the treatment effect of modulated-frequency mode of acupuncture-like transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (AL-TENS) on patients with tennis elbow pain. Twenty patients suffering from tennis elbow pain for at least three months were involved in the study from Chung Yuan Christian University. The subjects were randomly assigned to three treatment groups in different time slots as repeated measures design. Each group (n = 20) was respectively treated with either 5 KHz modulated by 2 Hz frequency mode (LF group), 5 KHz modulated by 100 Hz frequency mode of TENS (HF group) on acupuncture points (LI10 and LI11) located in the area of elbow, or sham TENS (control group). Two electrodes were placed on two right acupoints and two electrodes on the left. The intensity of stimulation was adjusted at a tolerable level for each subject. Patients were treated for twenty minutes per visit, three times a week for two weeks. Visual analog scale (VAS) was used to rank the degree of pain before and two weeks after the treatment. A device, the design of which is based on the Ryodoraku theorem, was used to measure the electrical conductance of 12 meridians and 2 acupoints (LI10 and LI11) on both sides of the subjects. The results showed that: (1) after the AL-TENS treatment in this study, the electrical conductances of either meridians or acupuncture points increased with the decrease of VAS of the patients; the correlation was higher in the acupoints than that in the meridians; (2) the effect of AL-TENS on the percentage change of VAS is more related to the percentage change of electrical conductances of acupoints than that of meridians; (3) 5 KHz modulated by 2 Hz or 100 Hz frequency mode of AL-TENS was effective in the treatment of the patients with tennis elbow pain.
A NOVEL APPROACH TO MANDARIN MORSE CODE RECOGNITION
Authors: YANG CHENG-HONG , CHUANG LI-YEH , CHEN SHIH-CHUNG , LIANG CHIH-KUO , WU CHUNG-MIN , LUO CHING-HSING
Published: December 2008

Morse code, with its single switch operation, has been shown to be a valuable tool in assistive technology, augmentative and alternative communication, and rehabilitation for people with various neuromuscular diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, and muscular dystrophy. A major hindrance is a stable typing rate, which is strictly required for the recognition of Morse code characters, especially for persons with severe disabilities. In this paper, a combination of two methods, support vector machines and the variable degree variable step least-mean-square algorithm was used to increase the prediction accuracy for Mandarin Morse code recognition. Experimental findings revealed that the proposed method results in a better recognition rate when compared to alternative methods from the literature.
PERIPHERAL NERVE REGENERATION THROUGH NERVE GUIDES FILLED WITH BILOBALIDE AND SCHWANN CELLS
Authors: LU MING-CHIN , CHANG YUNG-HISEN , CHIANG LEIH-CHIH , WANG HAI-TING , CHENG CHUN-YUAN , YAO CHUN-HSU , CHEN YUEH-SHENG
Published: December 2008

The present study provides in vivo trials of silicone rubber chambers filled with different concentrations of bilobalide (0, 50, 100, 200, 400 μM) and Schwann cells (1.5 × 105 cell/ml) in a 1:1 volumetric addition to bridge a 15 mm sciatic nerve defect in rats. At the conclusion of 8 weeks, histological technique was used to evaluate the functional recovery of the nerve. In the groups receiving the Schwann cells and bilobalide at 50, 100, 200 and 400 μM, 44% (4 of 9, one died during experiment), 50% (5 of 10), 30% (3 of 10), and 60% (6 of 10) of the animals exhibiting a regenerated nerve cable across the 15-mm gap, respectively. In comparison, 50% (5 of 10) of the animals in the group with Schwann cells only showed such regenerated nerve cables. Although the adding of bilobalide did not promote the nerve growth-promoting capability of Schwann cells in the nerve guides, the techniques we used in this study provided a new approach combining Chinese medicine and tissue engineering to nerve regeneration.
UNDERSTANDING THE CHARACTERISTICS OF L-ASCORBIC ACID-MONTMORILLONITE NANOCOMPOSITE: CHEMICAL STRUCTURE AND BIOTOXICITY
Authors: CHEN BOR-YANN , LEE YUAN-HAUN , LIN WU-CHING , LIN FENG-HUEI , LIN KING-FU
Published: December 2008

Following the previous study to intercalate a 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) into the interlayer spacing of montmorillonite (MMT) for colorectal cancer treatment, we selected a safe and non-pathological microorganism, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as indicator microorganism to proceed risk assessment on MMT for feasibility study. Dose-response analysis from the perspective in toxicology was conducted to reveal the toxicity rankings of MMT, L-ascorbic acid (LAA) and montmorillonite-L-ascorbic acid (MMT-LAA) composites. This study also tended to intercalate LAA into MMT, observing chemical-structure stabilities of LAA-MMT composites. According to infrared spectroscopic analysis via FTIR, the lattice-vibration peaks of the distorted tetrahedron of SiO4 for MMT were ranged in 400-1200 cm−1. X-ray diffraction analysis also addressed the layer spacing changes in the MMT lattice with pH changes. The variation in the [001] d-spacing changed from 12.4 to 19.4 Å with the increased pH, allowing higher intercalation of viable compounds (e.g., LAA) for controlled-release applications. Compared to MMT, LAA, the lowest toxicity (e.g., EC50=3.77°105 ppm ) of the hybrid MMT-LAA also strongly suggested that MMT-LAA composite is safe to be used for further applications. In contrast, the lowest EC0 (0.564 ppm ) suggested the most sensitive characteristics for MMT-LAA composite to induce the toxic response from no-effect condition. MMT is thus feasible for intercalation of LAA in controlled release to pH changes; particularly, MMT-LAA is considered non-toxic for further applications.
HEART RATE RESPONSES DURING TRANSFERRING A PARAPLEGIC PATIENT AT DIFFERENT HEIGHTS
Authors: LIN KWAN-HWA , LU TUNG-WU , CHEN SSU-YUAN
Published: December 2008

Transferring a patient is a basic assistance for individuals with moderate to maximum disability. The purpose of this study was to investigate the heart rate (HR) and workload of physical therapists during transferring a paraplegic patient from a newly designed wheelchair with adjustable height. Eleven healthy therapists (24±1 years of age, n=11) transferred the same thoracic cord (T12) injured male (weight 52 kg) from the wheelchair to bed at different height. The HR responses of the therapists were recorded by a telemetry system (WEP-4204J, Nihon Kohden Corp., Tokyo, Japan) to calculate the relative workload ((HRpeak-HRrest)/(HRmax-HRrest)*100%). One-way ANOVA and Bonferroni test were used to compare the differences among different transfer conditions. There was no significant difference among peak HR during low-even (115.3±4.6 beats/min), uneven (130.6 ± 5.3 beats/min), and high-even transfer (121.9 ± 5.5 beats/min). The relative workload (42.2±3.9%) during uneven transfer was significantly (p<0.05) higher than that (28.4±2.9%) during low-even transfer, and the difference was abolished during high-even transfer. The conclusion was that the workload of the therapists during uneven transfer was significantly increased and it could be reduced with the modification of the height of the wheelchair or bed.
AUTOMATED LONG-TERM POLYSOMNOGRAPHY ANALYSIS WITH WAVELET PROCESSING AND ADAPTIVE FUZZY CLUSTERING
Authors: CHAO CHIH-FENG , JIANG JOE-AIR , CHIU MING-JANG , LEE REN-GUEY
Published: December 2008

To assist in the inspection of sleep-related diagnosis and research, an adaptive method for processing long-term polysomnography (PSG) is proposed in this paper. The extracted features of segmented PSG based on wavelet analysis can be used for clustering the segments with similar pattern into a group. The adaptive fuzzy clustering was used to estimate the clusters within the PSG recordings, the optimal number of clusters and the optimal features of an individual subject. The novel method with the adaptive-to-subject concept exhibits four advantages in comparison with other approaches: (1) Full automated, (2) adaptive to the diversity of physiological signals among subjects, (3) less sensitive to noise and artifacts, (4) effective visualization of analysis results for clinicians. The simulation results show the superiority of the proposed method in long-term PSG analysis.
AN INTELLIGENT CHINESE PHONETIC ON-SCREEN VIRTUAL KEYBOARD SYSTEM
Authors: YANG CHENG-HUEI , CHUANG LI-YEH , CHENG YU-HUEI , CHANG JUN-YANG , YANG CHENG-HONG
Published: December 2008

In this paper, we designed and implemented a user-friendly Chinese phonetic on-screen virtual keyboard key-in system for persons with disabilities. The proposed system inputs the Chinese characters by way of the mouse selecting phonetic symbols. After selecting the initial phonetic symbol, a list of possible phonetic symbol combinations is shown. The proposed system can decrease the number of input clicks needed to select a character, thereby improving typing speed. In addition, the size of the keyboard can be adjusted to increase accuracy and convenience. The system also provides temporary saving and scanning of selections, which makes the keyboard convenient for users. The most frequently typed characters typed by an individual user will be ranked first and this ranking constantly adjusted to facilitate character selection. Moreover, the proposed system shows common combinations of the character typed with other Chinese characters. The system will list all of the possible term correlations for a user to choose from, so that the user spends considerably less time inputting frequently used character combinations. Experimental results showed that the proposed on-screen virtual keyboard system provides an operation interface, which is easier to use, and achieves faster typing speeds compared to two other systems tested.
A SURFACE-PROJECTION MMI FOR THE FUSION OF BRAIN MR AND SPECT IMAGES
Authors: LEE JIANN-DER , HUANG BO-RONG , HUANG CHUNG-HSIEN
Published: December 2008

Recently, maximization mutual information (MMI) of image intensities has been proposed as a new matching criterion for automated multimodality image registration. However, the success of the MMI relies on the similarity of the histogram distribution between the images to be fused. This condition is usually hard to be achieved in practical application. Besides, MMI is time consuming because it needs to find an optimal solution about six parameters (three for shifts and three for rotations) during the registration process. To improve the performance of traditional MMI, a novel scheme named Surface-Projection MMI algorithm (SP-MMI) is proposed here. SP-MMI is a two-stage registration algorithm included MMI of surface projection and the following MMI of axial plane. The experimental results, using MR and SPECT images, to confirm the good performance of the proposed method in comparison with the traditional MMI method are also included.
MUSCLE RELAXATION CONTROLLED BY AUTOMATED ADMINISTRATION OF CISATRACURIUM
Authors: CHUANG CHEN-TSE , FAN SHOU-ZEN , SHIEH JIANN-SHING
Published: December 2008

In this paper, the muscle relaxant agent (i.e., cisatracurium) and three clinical control methods (i.e., 13 patients undergoing intermitted bolus control, 15 patients undergoing intensive manual control and 15 patients) undergoing automatic fuzzy logic control (FLC), were used for maintaining depth of muscle relaxation (DOM) during surgery. Cisatracurium, a muscle relaxation drug with long-term effect, low metabolic loading, but long delay time, is widely used in operating rooms and ICUs. Meanwhile, the rules for the FLC were developed from the experimental experience of intensive manual control after learning from 15 patient trials. According to experts' experimental experience, our FLC inputs were chosen from T1% error and trend of T1% which differ from other previous studies on eliminating the effect of time delay from cisatracurium. In individual clinical experimental results, the mean(SD) of the mean T1% error in 13 patients for intermitted bolus control, in 15 patients for intensive manual control, and in 15 patients for automatic control was 8.76(1.46), 1.65(1.67), and 0.48(1.43), respectively. The t test results show that automatic control is not significantly different from intensive manual control. The results show that a simple fuzzy logic controller derived from anesthetists ' clinical trials can provide good accuracy without being affected by the pharmacological time delay problem.
GENECFE-ANFIS: A NEURO-FUZZY INFERENCE SYSTEM TO INFER GENE-GENE INTERACTIONS BASED ON RECOGNITION OF MICROARRAY GENE EXPRESSION PATTERNS
Authors: Chuang Cheng-Long , Chen Chung-Ming , Shieh Grace S. , Jiang Joe-Air
Published: December 2008

A neuro-fuzzy inference system that recognizes the expression patterns of genes in microarray gene expression (MGE) data, called GeneCFE-ANFIS, is proposed to infer gene interactions. In this study, three primary features are utilized to extract genes' expression patterns and used as inputs to the neuro-fuzzy inference system. The proposed algorithm learns expression patterns from the known genetic interactions, such as the interactions confirmed by qRT-PCR experiments or collected through text-mining technique by surveying previously published literatures, and then predicts other gene interactions according to the learned patterns. The proposed neuro-fuzzy inference system was applied to a public yeast MGE dataset. Two simulations were conducted and checked against 112 pairs of qRT-PCR confirmed gene interactions and 77 TFs (Transcriptional Factors) pairs collected from literature respectively to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm.
OPTIMAL HEPATITIS B VIRUS PRIMER SEQUENCE DESIGN FOR ISOTHERMAL AMPLIFICATION
Authors: Lee Szu-Yuan , Lee Chun-Nan , Mark Holl , Meldrum Deirdre R. , Lee Chih-Kung , Lin Chii-Wann
Published: December 2008

We have reported the successful use of the Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) reaction for Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) DNA in a 25 μl micro-reactor for the development of a rapid diagnostic device recently. This method shows the successful amplification of HBV DNA with high specificity and sensitivity efficiently within one hour. Such a powerful method can be used for many other fast diagnostic applications with the help of optimal primer design and miniaturization of reactor. In this report, we will first summarize the general design rules for primer design from literature reviews and our experimental results. We will discuss the effects of HBV primers and concentrations of working buffers for optimal performance.
A HAND REHABILITATION COMPUTER SYSTEM USING COMMERCIAL HAPTIC DEVICE
Authors: Hsieh Ming-Shium , Chen Chwen-Jen , Tsai Ming-Dar
Published: December 2008

This paper describes a PC based hand rehabilitation system equipped with a commercial haptic device. The proposed system uses a 3D hierarchical hand model to describe the transformation between the wrist with any MCP joint, and the transformations between an MCP or PIP joint with a PIP or DIP joint on the same finger. Through this hand model, a 3D hand image with dynamic rotation of any joint can be demonstrated in real-time. The system also uses the 6D input of the haptic device and the accumulation of transformation matrices between the related joints to estimate the rotational angle of the rehabilitated joint. The system can detect the force and the range of joint motion in the active rehabilitation by the estimated angle and the 3D output force of the haptic device. The detected force and the range of motion are then used to control and achieve high efficient passive rehabilitation. A rehabilitation example of the PIP joint of the index finer demonstrates the attachment, set-up of the haptic device to the rehabilitated joint and shows the rehabilitation can be improved by the controlled passive rehabilitation.
Self‐Template‐Directed Formation of Coordination‐Polymer Hexagonal Tubes and Rings, and their Calcination to ZnO Rings
Authors: Jung Soyoung , Cho Won , Lee Hee Jung , Oh Moonhyun
Published: December 2008

Selbstzerstörerisches Templat: Bei einem einzigartigen Partikelwachstumsmechanismus wachsen neue Koordinationspolymere auf der Oberfläche ursprünglich gebildeter hexagonaler Blöcke, und zugleich lösen sich die Blöcke unter Bildung hexagonaler Röhren auf (siehe Schema und Rasterelektronen‐, optische und Fluoreszenzmikroskopiebilder). Durch Kalzinieren werden die Röhren in ZnO‐Partikel der gleichen Form umgewandelt.

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A Synthetic Lectin for O‐Linked β‐N‐Acetylglucosamine
Authors: Ferrand Yann , Klein Emmanuel , Barwell Nicholas P. , Crump Matthew P. , Jiménez‐Barbero Jesus , Vicent Cristina , Boons Geert‐Jan , Ingale Sampat , Davis Anthony P.
Published: December 2008

Einfach besser: Der Rezeptor 1 bindet β‐N‐Acetylglucosamin (β‐GlcNAc) bis zu hundert Mal stärker als Glucose. Die Affinitäten dieses synthetischen Lectins ähneln denen von Weizenkeimagglutinin (WGA), einem natürlichen Lectin, das zum Binden von GlcNAc dient. Dabei ist 1 sogar selektiver als WGA. Es begünstigt vor allem die Glycosideinheit im Glycopeptid 2, einem Modell der posttranslationalen Proteinmodifikation Serin‐O‐GlcNAc.

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The Inverted Bond in [1.1.1]Propellane is a Charge‐Shift Bond
Authors: Wu Wei , Gu Junjing , Song Jinshuai , Shaik Sason , Hiberty Philippe C.
Published: December 2008

Gebunden, aber wie? Eine Ab‐initio‐Studie von [1.1.1]Propellan spricht für eine starke σ‐Bindung zwischen den beiden Brückenkopf‐Kohlenstoffatomen, die aber weder klassisch kovalent noch klassisch ionisch, sondern eine Ladungsverschiebungsbindung ist, in der die Resonanzenergie zwischen kovalenten und ionischen Strukturen die Hauptrolle spielt. Insofern spiegelt die zentrale Bindung in [1.1.1]Propellan die Einfachbindung in Difluor gut wider.

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Familicide: a comparison with spousal and child homicide by mentally disordered perpetrators
Authors: Liem Marieke , Koenraadt Frans
Published: December 2008

Background Familicides, the killings of multiple family members, are believed to constitute an overlap between child homicide (filicide) and intimate partner homicide (uxoricide).

Aim The aim of this paper was to examine and compare the socio‐demographic, contextual and psychopathological factors of familicide perpetrators with factors of filicide and uxoricide perpetrators.

Methods Data were extracted from files in a forensic psychiatric observation hospital in Utrecht, The Netherlands, for the years 1953–2006. The sample of 536 persons was identified in one of the three categories of interest; 23 were accused of familicide, 133 of filicide and 380 of uxoricide.

Results Familicide perpetrators are more likely than filicide perpetrators to be male, to be older, to be more educated and to commit the offence with physical violence. They are more likely than uxoricide perpetrators to be married, less likely to have committed a previous violent offence but more likely to suffer from a personality disorder and more likely to attempt suicide following the homicide.

Conclusion Although similarities exist between the three groups under study, those accused of familicide cannot be equated with those accused of filicide or uxoricide. The finding that a large majority of the perpetrators were mentally ill at the time and that many killed when faced with divorce and/or custody over the child(ren) may suggest that increased monitoring of this group might have preventative value. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Process controls on the statistical flood moments ‐ a data based analysis
Authors: Merz Ralf , Blöschl Günter
Published: December 2008

In this paper, the controls of different indicators on the statistical moments (i.e. mean annual flood (MAF), coefficient of variation (CV) and skewness (CS)) of the maximum annual flood records of 459 Austrian catchments are analysed. The process controls are analysed in terms of the correlation of the flood moments within five hydrologically homogeneous regions to two different types of indicators. Indicators of the first type are static catchment attributes, which are associated with long‐term observations such as mean annual precipitation, the base flow index, and the percentage of catchment area covered by a geological unit or soil type. Indicators of the second type are dynamic catchment attributes that are associated with the event scale. Indicators of this type used in the study are event runoff coefficients and antecedent rainfall. The results indicate that MAF and CV are strongly correlated with indicators characterising the hydro‐climatic conditions of the catchments, such as mean annual precipitation, long‐term evaporation and the base flow index. For the catchments analysed, the flood moments are not significantly correlated with static catchment attributes representing runoff generation, such as geology, soil types, land use and the SCS curve number. Indicators of runoff generation that do have significant predictive power for flood moments are dynamic catchment attributes such as the mean event runoff coefficients and mean antecedent rainfall. The correlation analysis indicates that flood runoff is, on average, more strongly controlled by the catchment moisture state than by event rainfall. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The role of snow interception in winter‐time radiation processes of a coniferous sub‐alpine forest
Authors: Stähli Manfred , Jonas Tobias , Gustafsson David
Published: December 2008

The radiation balance in forests is modified by the presence of a (temporally snow‐covered) canopy much more than it is in open areas. The primary effects of the forest canopy are absorption of incoming shortwave radiation, as well as absorption and emission of longwave radiation. In this study, data from a mobile net radiation sensor moving along a 10‐m bar in a coniferous sub‐alpine stand of central Switzerland were analysed to assess the role of intercepted snow in comparison with other governing factors for winter‐time radiation processes in a coniferous sub‐alpine forest. The four winters investigated (2003–2007) covered a broad range of weather and snow conditions including several periods with intercepted snow lasting up to 19 days.

For cloudless days, the data show that canopy albedo is elevated by the presence of intercepted snow. For transmissivity, the impact of intercepted snow is less distinct. Our analysis showed that the fraction of diffuse radiation and solar elevation are the main factors affecting shortwave transmissivity. Only after compensating for these effects, could intercepted snow be associated with increased transmissivities. Part of this analysis was carried out with the help of a physically based radiative transfer model. The model results suggest that multiple reflections are relevant to understanding the complex interactions between the factors affecting transmissivity. Finally, snow interception load can be derived reasonably well (R2 = 0·65) from radiation measurements in this sub‐alpine forest. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effects of spatial grid resolution on river flow and surface inundation simulation by physically based distributed modelling approach
Authors: Dutta Dushmanta , Nakayama Keisuke
Published: December 2008

Grid‐based distributed hydrological models are considered to be a very effective flood modelling tool for basin‐wide flood risk analysis because of their capabilities of simulating river and surface inundations at high spatio‐temporal resolutions by taking advantages of grid‐based data from meteorological models, radar and satellite remote sensing. Selecting an appropriate grid size is critically important for any application of a grid‐based model, which requires proper understanding of effects of grid sizes on simulated outcomes. The paper presents the outcomes of a study conducted to analyse the effects of grid resolution on simulated river peak flows and surface inundation in two selected river basins using a process‐based distributed hydrological model.

The outcomes show that grid resolution significantly affects the simulated river peak flows and surface inundation characteristics. In both cases, it has been found that the effects are mainly caused by changes of the topographic parameters as a result of changes of grid sizes. The reduction of average surface slope with the increase of grid size affects the simulated surface inundation extents and heights. There is a threshold resolution of digital elevation model (DEM) in the simulated flood inundation and beyond that the model outcomes become arbitrary. Averaged topographic values at coarse resolution beyond this threshold level do not represent any characteristics of locally elevated topographic features such as dykes, highways, etc. and their influence on flood inundation characteristics can be no more captured by the model. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.