Scaling up the in-hospital hepatitis C virus care cascade in Taiwan

( Chung-feng Huang ),( Pey-fang Wu ),( Ming-lun Yeh ),( Ching-i Huang ),( Po-cheng Liang ),( Cheng-ting Hsu ),( Po-yao Hsu ),( Hung-yin Liu ),( Ying-chou Huang ),( Zu-yau Lin ),( Shinn-cherng Chen ),( 대한간학회 2021 Clinical and Molecular Hepatology(대한간학회지) Vol.27 No.1

Background/Aims: Obstacles exist in facilitating hepatitis C virus (HCV) care cascade. To increase timely and accurate diagnosis, disease awareness and accessibility, in-hospital HCV reflex testing followed by automatic appointments and a late call-back strategy (R.N.A. model) was applied. We aimed to compare the HCV treatment rate of patients treated with this strategy compared to those without. Methods: One hundred and twenty-five anti-HCV seropositive patients who adopted the R.N.A. model in 2020 and another 1,396 controls treated in 2019 were enrolled to compare the gaps in accurate HCV RNA diagnosis to final treatment allocation. Results: The HCV RNA testing rate was significantly higher in patients who received reflex testing than in those without reflex testing (100% vs. 84.8%, P<0.001). When patients were stratified according to the referring outpatient department, a significant improvement in the HCV RNA testing rate was particularly noted in patients from non-hepatology departments (100% vs. 23.3%, P<0.001). The treatment rate in HCV RNA seropositive patients was 83% (83/100) after the adoption of the R.N.A. model, among whom 96.1% and 73.9% of patients were from the hepatology and non-hepatology departments, respectively. Compared to subjects without R.N.A. model application, a significant improvement in the treatment rate was observed for patients from non-hepatology departments (73.9% vs. 27.8%, P=0.001). The application of the R.N.A. model significantly increased the in-hospital HCV treatment uptake from 6.4% to 73.9% for patients from non-hepatology departments (P<0.001). Conclusions: The care cascade increased the treatment uptake and set up a model for enhancing in-hospital HCV elimination. (Clin Mol Hepatol 2021;27:136-143)

Analyzing Errors Made by Eighth-Grade Students in Solving Geometrical Problems

( Huang Xing Feng ),( Cheng Long Hai ) 한국수학교육학회 2011 수학교육연구 Vol.15 No.4

In mathematical problem solving, students may make various errors. In order to draw useful lessons from the errors, and then correct them, we surveyed 24 eighth-grade students` performances in geometrical problem solving according to Casey`s hierarchy of errors. It was found that: 1. Students`` effect can lead to errors at the stage of "comprehension", "strategy selection", and "skills manipulation"; and 2. Students`` geometric schemas also influenced their strategy selection".

Concept Optimization for Mechanical Product Using Genetic Algorithm

Huang Hong Zhong,Bo Rui Feng,Fan Xiang Feng The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers 2005 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.19 No.5

Conceptual design is the first step in the overall process of product design. Its intrinsic uncertainty, imprecision, and lack of information lead to the fact that current conceptual design activities in engineering have not been computerized and very few CAD systems are available to support conceptual design. In most of the current intelligent design systems, approach of principle synthesis, such as morphology matrix, bond graphic, or design catalogues, is usually adopted to deal with the concept generation, in which optional concepts are generally combined and enumerated through function analysis. However, as a large number of concepts are generated, it is difficult to evaluate and optimize these design candidates using regular algorithm. It is necessary to develop a new approach or a tool to solve the concept generation. Generally speaking, concept generation is a problem of concept synthesis. In substance, this process of developing design candidate is a combinatorial optimization process, viz., the process of concept generation can be regarded as a solution for a state-place composed of multi-concepts. In this paper, genetic algorithm is utilized as a feasible tool to solve the problem of combinatorial optimization in concept generation, in which the encoding method of morphology matrix based on function analysis is applied, and a sequence of optimal concepts are generated through the search and iterative process which is controlled by genetic operators, including selection, crossover, mutation, and reproduction in GA. Several crucial problems on GA are discussed in this paper, such as the calculation of fitness value and the criteria for heredity termination, which have a heavy effect on selection of better concepts. The feasibility and intellectualization of the proposed approach are demonstrated with an engineering case. In this work concept generation is implemented using GA, which can facilitate not only generating several better concepts, but also selecting the best concept. Thus optimal concepts can be conveniently developed and design efficiency can be greatly improved.

Non-Gaussian time-dependent statistics of wind pressure processes on a roof structure

Huang, M.F.,Huang, Song,Feng, He,Lou, Wenjuan Techno-Press 2016 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.23 No.4

Synchronous multi-pressure measurements were carried out with relatively long time duration for a double-layer reticulated shell roof model in the atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnel. Since the long roof is open at two ends for the storage of coal piles, three different testing cases were considered as the empty roof without coal piles (Case A), half coal piles inside (Case B) and full coal piles inside (Case C). Based on the wind tunnel test results, non-Gaussian time-dependent statistics of net wind pressure on the shell roof were quantified in terms of skewness and kurtosis. It was found that the direct statistical estimation of high-order moments and peak factors is quite sensitive to the duration of wind pressure time-history data. The maximum value of COVs (Coefficients of variations) of high-order moments is up to 1.05 for several measured pressure processes. The Mixture distribution models are proposed for better modeling the distribution of a parent pressure process. With the aid of mixture parent distribution models, the existing translated-peak-process (TPP) method has been revised and improved in the estimation of non-Gaussian peak factors. Finally, non-Gaussian peak factors of wind pressure, particularly for those observed hardening pressure process, were calculated by employing various state-of-the-art methods and compared to the direct statistical analysis of the measured long-duration wind pressure data. The estimated non-Gaussian peak factors for a hardening pressure process at the leading edge of the roof were varying from 3.6229, 3.3693 to 3.3416 corresponding to three different cases of A, B and C.

Highly Oriented Monolayer Graphene Grown on a Cu/Ni(111) Alloy Foil

Huang, Ming,Biswal, Mandakini,Park, Hyo Ju,Jin, Sunghwan,Qu, Deshun,Hong, Seokmo,Zhu, Zhili,Qiu, Lu,Luo, Da,Liu, Xiaochi,Yang, Zheng,Liu, Zhongliu,Huang, Yuan,Lim, Hyunseob,Yoo, Won Jong,Ding, Feng,Wa American Chemical Society 2018 ACS NANO Vol.12 No.6

<P>Fast-growth of single crystal monolayer graphene by CVD using methane and hydrogen has been achieved on “homemade” single crystal Cu/Ni(111) alloy foils over large area. Full coverage was achieved in 5 min or less for a particular range of composition (1.3 at.% to 8.6 at.% Ni), as compared to 60 min for a pure Cu(111) foil under identical growth conditions. These are the bulk atomic percentages of Ni, as a superstructure at the surface of these foils with stoichiometry Cu<SUB>6</SUB>Ni<SUB>1</SUB> (for 1.3 to 7.8 bulk at.% Ni in the Cu/Ni(111) foil) was discovered by low energy electron diffraction (LEED). Complete large area monolayer graphene films are either single crystal or close to single crystal, and include folded regions that are essentially parallel and that were likely wrinkles that “fell over” to bind to the surface; these folds are separated by large, wrinkle-free regions. The folds occur due to the buildup of interfacial compressive stress (and its release) during cooling of the foils from 1075 °C to room temperature. The fold heights measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) prove them to all be 3 layers thick, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging shows them to be around 10 to 300 nm wide and separated by roughly 20 μm. These folds are always essentially perpendicular to the steps in this Cu/Ni(111) substrate. Joining of well-aligned graphene islands (in growths that were terminated prior to full film coverage) was investigated with high magnification SEM and aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) as well as AFM, STM, and optical microscopy. These methods show that many of the “join regions” have folds, and these arise from interfacial adhesion mechanics (they are due to the buildup of compressive stress during cool-down, but these folds are different than for the continuous graphene films-they occur due to “weak links” in terms of the interface mechanics). Such Cu/Ni(111) alloy foils are promising substrates for the large-scale synthesis of single-crystal graphene film.</P> [FIG OMISSION]</BR>

Raman Spectral Band Oscillations in Large Graphene Bubbles

Huang, Yuan,Wang, Xiao,Zhang, Xu,Chen, Xianjue,Li, Baowen,Wang, Bin,Huang, Ming,Zhu, Chongyang,Zhang, Xuewei,Bacsa, Wolfgang S.,Ding, Feng,Ruoff, Rodney S. American Physical Society 2018 Physical Review Letters Vol.120 No.18

<P>Raman spectra of large graphene bubbles showed size-dependent oscillations in spectral intensity and frequency, which originate from optical standing waves formed in the vicinity of the graphene surface. At a high laser power, local heating can lead to oscillations in the Raman frequency and also create a temperature gradient in the bubble. Based on Raman data, the temperature distribution within the graphene bubble was calculated, and it is shown that the heating effect of the laser is reduced when moving from the center of a bubble to its edge. By studying graphene bubbles, both the thermal conductivity and chemical reactivity of graphene were assessed. When exposed to hydrogen plasma, areas with bubbles are found to be more reactive than flat graphene.</P>

Hierarchical Colored Petri Nets Based Components for Workflow Systems

Feng Zhou,Rui-Feng Bo,Hong-Zhong Huang,Dan Ling,Qiang Miao 대한기계학회 2006 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.20 No.10

Workflow systems have benefited the enterprise and customer in many aspects. But with the increasing complexity of the system, workflow design becomes a complicated and time-consuming process. In this paper, we model the system based on the Hierarchical Colored Petri Nets (HCPN) to avoid the complexity of the system, and the super nets of the model are abstracted as independent components to increase the flexibility, acceptability and maintainability of the system. Another important characteristic of this model is its convenience for reuse and workflow mining. The development process of the overhead traveling crane was given to demonstrate the proposed method.

Structural Mechanical Characteristics of a Large Bolted Beam Reaction System and Its Modified Calculation Method

Feng Huang,Ban Zhang,Xingchen Liu,Jinyang Xiang,Guoqing Wan,Miaodi Qu 한국강구조학회 2022 International Journal of Steel Structures Vol.22 No.1

The primary error sources of engineering design for bolted beam reaction system with large size are mainly from the deformation of structure, mechanical behavior of connection joints. In addition, the simplifi ed calculation method of bolted connection has not formed a unifi ed understanding. A vertical static load test was carried out in the laboratory, and the deformation laws of the reaction beam were analyzed to obtain the mechanical characteristics of the connection joints by controlling the defl ection of the reaction beam. The composite eff ect coeffi cient k l of the variable section panel structure was introduced to the theoretical solution of the defl ection of the variable cross-section beam. Simultaneously, the fi nite element method was employed to establish the detailed model of the beam reaction system. The mechanical behavior of the reaction beam and the bolted joint are extensively studied, and the simplifi ed method of bolted joint is improved. The bolted connection is simplifi ed as a semi-rigid joint, and then the theoretical formula is proposed to calculate the defl ection and deformation of the beam structure under bolted connection. The defl ection and deformation of the reaction beam by the test and theoretical formula are consistent. The results show that the theoretical formula can well calculate the defl ection and deformation of structure members under bolted connection.

Prognostic Value of Preoperative Serum CA 242 in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cases

Feng, Ji-Feng,Huang, Ying,Chen, Qi-Xun Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.3

Purpose: Carbohydrate antigen (CA) 242 is inversely related to prognosis in many cancers. However, few data regarding CA 242 in esophageal cancer (EC) are available. The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic value of CA 242 and propose an optimum cut-off point in predicting survival difference in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of 192 cases. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for survival prediction was plotted to verify the optimum cuf-off point. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate prognostic parameters for survival. Results: The positive rate for CA 242 was 7.3% (14/192). The ROC curve for survival prediction gave an optimum cut-off of 2.15 (U/ml). Patients with CA 242 ${\leq}$ 2.15 U/ml had significantly better 5-year survival than patients with CA 242 >2.15 U/ml (45.4% versus 22.6%; P=0.003). Multivariate analysis showed that differentiation (P=0.033), CA 242 (P=0.017), T grade (P=0.004) and N staging (P<0.001) were independent prognostic factors. Conclusions: Preoperative CA 242 is a predictive factor for long-term survival in ESCC, especially in nodal-negative patients. We conclude that 2.15 U/ml may be the optimum cuf-off point for CA 242 in predicting survival in ESCC.

Positively Charged and pH-sensitive Carbon Dots for Fluorescence Detection of Copper Ion

Feng Feng,Chenfang Miao,Yalan Zhang,Zhengjun Huang,Shaohuang Weng 대한화학회 2021 Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society Vol.42 No.2

As an essential trace element in the human body, copper ion (Cu2+) performs an important role in many fundamental physiological processes that need a facile and effective method for the monitoring of Cu2+ in organisms. Herein, a turn-off, facile fluorescent strategy for sensing Cu2+ was proposed using positively charged carbon dots (P-CDs) as probe. The P-CDs prepared from melting strategy exhibited stable, biocompatible, and pH-sensitive luminescent properties. P-CDs can be selectively quenched by Cu2+ for the direct detection of Cu2+. The reaction mechanism between Cu2+ and P-CDs was systematically investigated, illustrating that Cu2+ coordinated with the surface functional groups in P-CDs. The binding effect of Cu2+ and P-CDs caused the constant morphology and static quenching behavior of P-CDs. The promising accuracy of the testing results of the addition of Cu2+ in diluted serum using P-CDs implied their extended application in the biological field.