The Performance Investigation of Smart Diagnosis for Bearings Using Mixed Chaotic Features with Fractional Order.

This article presents a performance investigation of a fault detection approach for bearings using different chaotic features with fractional order, where the five different chaotic features and three combinations are clearly described, and the detection achievement is organized. In the architecture of the method, a fractional order chaotic system is first applied to produce a chaotic map of the original vibration signal in the chaotic domain, where small changes in the signal with different bearing statuses might be present; then, a 3D feature map can be obtained. Second, five different features, combination methods, and corresponding extraction functions are introduced. In the third action, the correlation functions of extension theory used to construct the classical domain and joint fields are applied to further define the ranges belonging to different bearing statuses. Finally, testing data are fed into the detection system to verify the performance. The experimental results show that the proposed different chaotic features perform well in the detection of bearings with 7 and 21 mil diameters, and an average accuracy rate of 94.4% was achieved in all cases.

[The Relationship Between Coping Behaviors and Symptom Distress in Elderly Patients With Cancer Undergoing Initial Chemotherapy].

BACKGROUND: Elderly cancer patients undergoing initial chemotherapy often suffer discomfort from medication-related symptom distress. This discomfort may affect treatment responses and outcomes negatively. PURPOSE: This correlational, cross-sectional design study used a purposive sample of 100 patients who were both over 60 years of age and currently undergoing initial chemotherapy. The participants completed a structured questionnaire that was administered at a medical center in southern Taiwan. The questionnaire included a demographics datasheet, Coping Behavior Scale, and Symptom Distress Scale. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlations, Mann-Whitney U, and Kruskal Wallis tests, which were run on SPSS 19.0 software. METHODS: This correlational, cross-sectional design study used a purposive sample of 100 patients who were both over 60 years of age and currently undergoing initial chemotherapy. The participants completed a structured questionnaire that was administered at a medical center in southern Taiwan. The questionnaire included a demographics datasheet, Coping Behavior Scale, and Symptom Distress Scale. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlations, Mann-Whitney U, and Kruskal Wallis tests, which were run on SPSS 19.0 software. RESULTS: Three-quarters (78%) of participants reported that they suffered from more than four distress symptoms. The top distress symptoms in terms of severity included: fatigue, poor appetite, insomnia, dry mouth, and altered bowel habits. The top distress symptoms in terms of frequency included: fatigue, dry mouth, poor appetite, insomnia, and altered bowel habits. "Problem-focused" coping was the most frequent type of coping behavior (mean = 3.19, SD = 0.24) that was used by participants. Furthermore, more frequent use of "emotions-focused" coping behaviors was associated with a greater risk of experiencing serious distress symptoms (r =.44, p < .001). Number of chronic diseases, cancer stage, and type of cancer treatment had no significant influence of symptom distress. CONCLUSIONS / IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Findings confirmed the relationship between coping behavior and symptom distress in elderly Taiwanese cancer patients undergoing initial chemotherapy. The results suggest that healthcare providers may use interventions that target patient coping behavior in order to alleviate the chemotherapy-induced symptoms of distress in elderly cancer patients.

Effects of insulin replacement on cardiac apoptotic and survival pathways in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

Increased myocyte apoptosis in diabetic hearts has been previously reported. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of insulin on cardiac apoptotic, hypertrophic, and survival pathways in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Forty-eight male Wistar rats at 8 weeks of age were randomly divided into control group (Control), STZ-induced (65 mg/kg STZ i.v.) Type 1-like diabetic rats (DM), and DM rats with 4 IU insulin replacement (DI) for 4 and 8 weeks, respectively. The levels of protein involved in cardiac apoptotic, hypertrophic, and survival pathways were measured by Western blotting. Cardiac mitochondrial-dependent apoptotic pathways, such as Bad, cytosolic cytochrome c, activated caspase 9 and 3, and calcineurin-nuclear factor activation transcription 3 (NFAT3) hypertrophic pathway in DM were increased compared to Control and attenuated in DI group after 8 weeks whereas those were not found after 4 weeks. Cardiac anti-apoptotic Bcl2 and phosphorylated-Bad were significantly decreased in DM group but not in DI group after 8 weeks. Insulin-like growth factor-I receptor (IGFIR), phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase (PI3K), and the protein kinase B (Akt) were significantly decreased in DM relative to Control and DI after 8 weeks whereas those were not found after 4 weeks. Insulin replacement not only prevents activation of the cardiac mitochondrial-dependent apoptotic pathway and calcineurin-related NFAT3 hypertrophic pathway in diabetes but it also enhances the cardiac insulin/IGFIR-PI3K-Akt survival pathway, all of which are attenuated with insulin therapeutic duration-dependent manners. The findings may provide possible diabetes-related apoptotic, hypertrophic, and survival pathways for potentially preventing cardiac abnormality in diabetes.

Beneficial effects of taurine on cardiac abnormality in NZB/W F1 mice fed with a high-cholesterol diet.

A significantly higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is reported in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) as compared with the general population and accounts for approximately 30% of deaths in SLE patients. However, the mechanism of and treatments for CVD in patients with SLE are still unclear. To explore the effects of taurine on cardiac abnormality in SLE, NZB/W F1 mice were used as the experimental model by receiving control, cholesterol, or cholesterol/taurine diets, respectively. Improved cardiac histopathological changes were observed in left ventricle tissues from the cholesterol/taurine group as compared to the control or cholesterol group. Significant reductions of TUNEL-positive cells, Fas death receptor-related components, mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis, cardiac fibrosis, and fibrotic signaling components were detected in the left ventricle tissues from the cholesterol/taurine group as compared to the control or cholesterol group. Additionally, cardiac IGR1R survival signaling components were significantly increased in the left ventricle tissues from the cholesterol/taurine group as compared to the control or cholesterol group. These findings revealed the protective effects of taurine against the cardiac abnormalities in NZB/W F1 mice and may suggest the potential for clinical application of taurine in treatment of CVD in SLE.

Vegetation on patent foramen ovale presenting as a cryptogenic brain abscess.

This paper describes a case of 51-year-old man with a vegetation on his patent foramen ovale presenting with a cryptogenic brain abscess. He received surgical evacuation and was successfully managed with septal occlusion. This is the first reported case of cryptogenic brain abscess caused by a vegetation on a patent foramen ovale directly documented with transesophageal echocardiography.