Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive factors of prostate volume (PV) by analyzing potential predictors in a population of middle-aged men with bothersome lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and use a prediction model for PV estimation to compare with digital rectal examination (DRE) alone.Materials and methods: Patients between the ages of 40 years and 64 years who underwent transrectal prostate ultrasound as part of a self-paid medical check-up were enrolled. Participant demographics, medical history, and voiding symptoms were assessed by the International Prostate Symptoms Score (IPSS) questionnaire. A multiple linear regression with stepwise selection was used to analyze the correlations between PV and all potential predictors.Results: Two hundred and twenty-eight men with bothersome LUTS (IPSS > 7) were enrolled as study participants at a mean age of 56.4 years. Patients with PV > 25 mL were significantly older and had higher serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels and scores for total IPSS, storage, urgency items, and nocturia items. DRE, serum PSA, age, and urgency score were independent predictors for PV, especially for men with PV > 25 mL, for which the standardized regression equation was PV = 0.74 x (DRE estimation) + 0.10 x (age) + 0.12 x (serum PSA) + 0.079 x (urgency score) (adjusted R-2 = 0.80).Conclusion: In the current study, we confirmed that serum PSA, age, and urgency score are significant predictors of PV. The prediction model including DRE, PSA, age, and urgency score was a better method to estimate PV than DRE alone, especially for men with a larger prostate (PV > 25 mL). Copyright (C) 2014, Taiwan Urological Association. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC.

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the correlation between prostatic calcification and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in a sample of middle-aged men receiving health checkups. METHODS:Subjects aged 40 years or older who voluntarily underwent transrectal prostate ultrasound (TRUS) and fulfilled International Prostate Symptoms Score (IPSS) as part of their medical checkup were enrolled in this study. The prostatic calcification grading and prostate volume (PV) were measured by TRUS. The medical history, demographics, and metabolic markers were also evaluated. Logistic regression was used to analyze the correlation between prostatic calcification and LUTS. RESULTS:A total of 604 men were enrolled as study subjects. The prostatic calcification grading was significantly associated with age and PV instead of metabolic markers. Compared to the nonprostatic calcification group, the moderate/marked prostatic calcification group had a significantly higher age-adjusted IPSS (8.69 vs 6.87, P <.01), quality of life (QOL) score (2.57 vs 2.17, P <.01), storage score (3.74 vs 3.06, P = .01), voiding score (4.95 vs 3.72, P <.01), and more maximum flow rate <15 mL/sec (40.4% vs 24.5%, P <.01). Prostatic calcification grading was positively correlated with age-adjusted IPSS, QOL, voiding, and storage scores (all P for trend <.05). Further multivariate analysis indicated that moderate/marked prostatic calcification was an independent risk factors for moderate to severe LUTS (odds ratio [OR] = 1.68, P = .02). CONCLUSION:Prostatic calcification worsened IPSS, QOL, storage, voiding symptoms, and maximum urine flow (Qmax) in middle-aged men receiving a health checkup. Moderate/marked prostatic calcification was an independent risk factor for moderate to severe LUTS.

This study seeks to examine, through empirical evidence, the relative explanatory power of three prospective models in predicting users' continuous adoption of information system (IS). The three models include: Expectation-Confirmation Theory Model (ECTM, Model 1), the integration of ECTM with Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (ECT-TAM model, Model 2), and a hybrid model integrating ECT, TAM and emotions (Model 3). Three hundred and fifty web portal site users were obtained from a survey. The paper assessed the psychometric properties of the measures through confirmatory factor analysis and then employed structural equation modeling analysis in order to examine and compare the ability of the three prospective models to better predict users' continuous adoption of IS. Data analysis using LISREL shows that all three models meet the various goodness-of-fit criteria. In terms of variance explained for intention to continue IS usage, all three models perform equally well. As for the explanatory power of satisfaction, Model 3 has the highest R2 (71%), followed by Model 2 (69%), and Model 1 (68%). This result confirms the erstwhile discussion of continuance intention behavior in which adding emotion factors to the cognitive process model will enhance the predictive power of the satisfaction. Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use predict the level of user satisfaction better than emotions and perceived usefulness is the stronger predictor of user satisfaction than other variables. The Model 3 provides additional information to increase our understanding of IS continuance intention behavior.

While much of the prior studies on Information system (IS) adoption and usage continuance have examined cognitive factors, the emotion factors in understanding and predicting user behavior remained relatively unexplored. This study proposed a hybrid model that integrates emotion, cognition, satisfaction, and post adoption behavior in order to obtain a better understanding of users' continuance intention of IS. Three hundred and eighteen Blackboard Learning System (BLS) users were obtained from a survey. The paper assessed the psychometric properties of the measures through confirmatory factor analysis and then employed structural equation modeling analysis in order to examine the prospective model to better predict users' continuous adoption of IS. The results show that positive and negative emotions mediate the effect of confirmation and directly predict user satisfaction. However, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use predict the level of user satisfaction better than emotions and perceived usefulness is the stronger predictor of user satisfaction than other variables.

This study integrates cognitive process, emotional states and belief bases to establish users' continuous adoption intentional model of information systems. Portal websites are used as the objective system; and results of the study found that variance in continuous adoption intention can he explained by satisfaction. Among the five constructs that can affect satisfaction- perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, positive emotion, and negative emotion are found to he significant; however, the relationship between confirmation and satisfaction is not established.

This study investigated which conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and leucine (LEU) ratio optimized the improvement of pork quality when added to finishing pig diets. A total of 120 finishing pigs were randomly assigned to five treatments, including a control diet and a 2 (LEU 1.0 and 2.0%) by 2 (CLA 0.5 and 1.0%) factorial design. The animals had free access to the diets and water. The pigs were slaughtered at 125 kg body weight. Growth performance, carcass characteristics, meat quality, sensory evaluation and serum cholesterol levels were measured. Data for each measured factor were analysed using the GLM procedure in SAS (1996). Analytical results revealed the IMF percentage (1.24, 1.04, 1.66, 2.31 and 1.61% for TRT1 to TRT5, respectively) and tenderness (2.14, 2.27, 2.32, 2.57 and 2.44 for TRT1 to TRT5, respectively) of the loin eye muscle were significantly (P < 0.05) improved by the CLA 0.5% combined with LEU 2.0%. Other indicators (such as growth performance, meat quality, carcass measurements and serum cholesterol level) were not affected by the LEU and CLA supplementation.

High density magnesium (Mg)-doped gallium nitride (GaN) nanorods were fabricated by inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching technique from the epitaxial film. Under the fixed Cl2∕Ar flow rate of 10∕25SCCM (SCCM denotes cubic centimeter per minute at STP) and inductively coupled plasma/bias power of 200∕200W, the nanorods were fabricated with a density of 108–1010cm2 and dimension of 20–100nm by varying the chamber pressure from 10to30mTorr. A large blueshift was observed in the photoluminescence (PL) peak energy of Mg-doped GaN nanorods under HeCd laser (325nm) excitation. The PL spectra of nanorods show a typical donor-acceptor-pair emission around 3.0eV with a large blueshift compared to the Mg-doped GaN film. The blueshift energy increases from 8to67meV as the excitation intensity varies from 12to56kW∕cm2. Possible reasons causing the power dependence of spectral shift in the PL emission energy are discussed.

Accidental building fires present considerable valuable information on fire phenomena and behavior. However, fire and smoke movement quantitative data cannot be obtained directly from a building fire accident. Therefore, computational methods have been widely used to reestablish the fire scenario and obtain a great deal of information for fire study. This paper utilized two types of fire simulation software, CFAST and FDS, to reconstruct a motorcycle shop fire accident in Taiwan. Important thermodynamic parameters during the fire duration were obtained through numerical simulations. The impact of natural/forced ventilation on the fire was also studied. The results showed that the more forced airflow into the building, the more time people had to evacuate to a safe place from the fire. (C) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Cancer is the leading cause of mortality in Singapore, accounting for 27.1% of deaths in 2004. The most common cancers are those of the lung, colon and rectum, liver, stomach, and prostate in men; and breast, colon and rectum, lung, ovary and cervix in women. Singapore has the highest age-adjusted breast cancer incidence in Asia. National population screening programmes have been implemented for breast and cervical cancer. BreastScreen Singapore (BSS), the first population-based nationwide mammographic breast-screening programme in Asia, was launched in 2002, incorporating international standards and practice guidelines. For improved quality assurance, two-view screening mammography is carried out. From January 2002 until March 2004, BSS conducted over 84,000 screens, with an overall recall rate of 9.5%, and an overall invasive cancer detection rate of 4.48 per 1000 screened. Close to 30% of the cancers diagnosed was ductal carcinoma in situ. Papanicolaou (Pap) smear screening for cervical cancer has been available opportunistically since 1964. The national CervicalScreen Singapore programme was launched in 2004, aiming to achieve coverage of 80% of targeted women by 2010. Colorectal cancer currently has the highest incidence of all cancers in Singapore. The health authorities advocate colorectal cancer screening for the average risk population, starting from age 50 years, but in the absence of a national screening programme, the reliance is on opportunistic screening.

We report the fabrication of a semiconductor circular ring lasers based on an InGaAlP∕InGaP graded-index separate confinement heterostructure (GRIN-SCH) which attracted much attention for light sources in optical information processing systems such as a laser printer, compact disk player and optical link system. The dimensions of the circular ring cavity are 100μm–250μm in diameter, 5–10μm width of the ridge waveguide, and a Y junction output coupler of 250μm in length. An ultraviolet (UV) laser-assisted etching process and the two-layer photolithography process were developed for the fabrication of the circular ring cavity. The luminescence-current and spectrum characteristics of laser output showed a single-mode output operating at 698 nm and at threshold current about 60 mA. The reports showed that the pattern definition by the combination of UV laser-assisted etching, and the two-layer photolithography process was capable of complex optoelectronic integrated device processing.

The fabrication of In0.3Ga0.7N/GaN multiple-quantum-well nanorods with diameters of 60–100 nm and their optical characteristics performed by micro-photoluminescence measurements are presented. The nanorods were fabricated by inductively coupled plasma dry etching from a light-emitting diode wafer. The structure and surface properties of fabricated nanorods were verified by the field emission scanning electron microscopy and the transmission electron microscopy. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra with sharp linewidths of typically 1.5 nm were observed at 4 K. The excitation-power-dependent spectra show that no energy shift was observed for these sharp peaks. Moreover, increasing the excitation power instead leads to an occurrence of new, sharp PL peaks at the higher energy tail of the PL spectra, which suggest that excitons are strongly confined in quantum-dot-like regions or localization centres.

VCAM-1 (vascular cell adhesion molecule-1) and Sox18 are involved in vascular development. VCAM-1 is an important adhesion molecule that is expressed on endothelial cells and has a critical role in endothelial activation, inflammation, lymphatic pathophysiology, and atherogenesis. The Sry-related high mobility group box factor Sox18 has previously been implicated in endothelial pathologies. Mutations in human and mouse Sox18 leads to hypotrichosis and lymphedema. Furthermore, both Sox18 and VCAM-1 have very similar spatio-temporal patterns of expression, which is suggestive of cross-talk. We use biochemical techniques, cell culture systems, and the ragged opossum (RaOP) mouse model with a naturally occurring mutation in Sox18 to demonstrate that VCAM-1 is an important target of Sox18. Transfection, site-specific mutagenesis, and gel shift analyses demonstrated that Sox18 directly targeted and trans-activated VCAM-1 expression. Importantly, the naturally occurring Sox18 mutant attenuates the expression and activation of VCAM-1 in vitro. Furthermore, in vivo quantitation of VCAM-1 mRNA levels in wild type and RaOP mice demonstrates that RaOP animals show a dramatic and significant reduction in VCAM-1 mRNA expression in lung, skin, and skeletal muscle. Our observation that the VCAM-1 gene is an important target of SOX18 provides the first molecular insights into the vascular abnormalities in the mouse mutant ragged and the human hypotrichosis-lymphedema-telangiectasia disorder.

The aim of this prospective study was to investigate associations of mammography pain and discomfort with sociodemographics, personal history and psychological and situational factors. Subjects were women with a negative screening finding (n = 883) from a random sample of 50-year-old Finnish women attending their first breast cancer screening. Questionnaires were sent 1 month before the screening invitation and 2 months after screening. Sixty-one per cent reported painful and 59% uncomfortable mammograms (4% severely). Linear regression analyses showed that anticipation of pain and discomfort was the most powerful factor explaining pain and discomfort among women with earlier mammography. However, it had no effect among women without earlier mammography, for whom screening-related nervousness and perceptions of staff were crucial. Suggested interventions include better information before screening, a friendly screening atmosphere and empathetic, supportive staff behaviour, especially towards women having their first mammogram, encouraging them to feel more at ease and distracted from pain. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd

We report on an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) pumped by a Nd:YAG laser, and on extending its tuning range by difference-frequency mixing of OPO output waves in GaSe crystal. Maximum combined signal and idler pulse energy of 2.7 mJ and slope efficiency of 25% have been achieved. The tuning range is 1.71 to 1.98 mm for the signal wave and 2.81 to 2.30 mm for the idler wave, using a single set of mirrors. As an application of this PPLN OPO, the signal and the idler waves are difference-frequency- mixed in a GaSe crystal to produce tunable mid-IR from 4.35 to 14.25 mm. The efficiency of the mixing has been analyzed, considering the experimental results. © 2002 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Recently, we demonstrated that mutations in the Sry-related HMG box gene Sox18 underlie vascular and hair follicle defects in the mouse allelic mutants ragged (Ra) and RaJ. Ra mice display numerous anomalies in the homozygote including, oedema, peritoneal secretions, and are almost completely naked. Sox18 and the MADS box transcription factor, Mef2C, are expressed in developing endothelial cells. Null mutants in Sox18 and Mef2c display overlapping phenotypic abnormalities, hence, we investigated the relationship between these two DNA binding proteins. We report here the direct interaction between MEF2C and SOX18 proteins, and establish that these proteins are coexpressed in vivo in endothelial cell nuclei. MEF2C expression potentiates SOX18-mediated transcription in vivo and regulates the function of the SOX18 activation domain. Interestingly, MEF2C fails to interact or co-activate transcription with the Ra or RaJ mutant SOX18 proteins. These results suggest that MEF2C and SOX18 may be important partners directing the transcriptional regulation of vascular development.