Monitoring of genetically close Tsaiya duck populations using novel microsatellite markers with high polymorphism

Lai, Fang-Yu,Chang, Yi-Ying,Chen, Yi-Chen,Lin, En-Chung,Liu, Hsiu-Chou,Huang, Jeng-Fang,Ding, Shih-Torng,Wang, Pei-Hwa Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2020 Animal Bioscience Vol.33 No.6

Objective: A set of microsatellite markers with high polymorphism from Tsaiya duck were used for the genetic monitoring and genetic structure analysis of Brown and White Tsaiya duck populations in Taiwan. Methods: The synthetic short tandem repeated probes were used to isolate new microsatellite markers from the genomic DNA of Tsaiya ducks. Eight populations, a total of 566 samples, sourced from Ilan Branch, Livestock Research Institute were genotyped through novel and known markers. The population genetic variables were calculated using optional programs in order to describe and monitor the genetic variability and the genetic structures of these Tsaiya duck populations. Results: In total 24 primer pairs, including 17 novel microsatellite loci from this study and seven previously known loci, were constructed for the detection of genetic variations in duck populations. The average values for the allele number, the effective number of alleles, the observed heterozygosity, the expected heterozygosity, and the polymorphism information content were 11.29, 5.370, 0.591, 0.746, and 0.708, respectively. The results of analysis of molecular variance and principal component analysis indicated a contracting Brown Tsaiya duck cluster and a spreading White Tsaiya duck cluster. The Brown Tsaiya ducks and the White Tsaiya ducks with Pekin ducks were just split to six clusters and three clusters when K was set equal to 6 and 3 in the Bayesian cluster analysis. The individual phylogenetic tree revealed eight taxa, and each individual was assigned to its own population. Conclusion: According to our study, the 24 novel microsatellite markers exhibited a high capacity to analyze relationships of inter- and intra-population in those populations with a relatively limited degree of genetic diversity. We suggest that duck farms in Taiwan could use the new (novel) microsatellite set to monitor the genetic characteristics and structures of their Tsaiya duck populations at various intervals in order to ensure quality breeding and conservation strategies.

Age and Sex Distribution of Chinese Chronic Cough Patients and Their Relationship With Capsaicin Cough Sensitivity

Kefang Lai,Li Long,Fang Yi,Jiaman Tang,Zhe Chen,Fagui Chen,Jianmeng Zhou,Wen Peng,Liting Zhang,Hu Li,Wenzhi Zhan,Ruchong Chen,Wei Luo,Qiaoli Chen,Kian Fan Chung,Nanshan Zhong 대한천식알레르기학회 2019 Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research Vol.11 No.6

Purpose: An older female predominance has been reported among chronic cough patients in Western countries, which is considered to be associated with a higher cough sensitivity in females. However, the characteristics of Chinese chronic cough patients remain unclear. This study aimed to explore the age and sex distribution as well as their relationship with cough reflex sensitivity to capsaicin in Chinese chronic cough patients. Methods: We analyzed the demographic features of 1,882 consecutive chronic cough patients who attended our cough clinic in Guangzhou, China. Cough sensitivity to capsaicin, which was defined as the lowest concentration of capsaicin causing 5 coughs or more (C5), was measured in 539 of the 1,882 patients and 68 healthy volunteers. Results: The mean age of the patients was 43.0 ± 13.7 years and patients aged <50 years accounted for more than two-thirds of the study population. Around 87% of the patients were never-smokers. The proportion of females (51.5%) was almost equal to that of males (48.5%). The pattern of the age and sex distribution was consistently reflected within most common causes of chronic cough, while a female predominance was shown in patients with coughvariant asthma and patients aged ≥50 years. Female patients had higher cough sensitivity to capsaicin than male patients (log C5: 1.58 ± 0.84 vs. 2.04 ± 0.84 μmol/L, P = 0.001), and patients aged ≥50 years had higher cough sensitivity to capsaicin than patients aged <50 years. Conclusions: In China, patients with chronic cough have a roughly equal sex distribution and a middle-aged predominance, irrespective of a higher cough sensitivity to capsaicin in females and older patients.

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)

Neuroprotective Activity of Vitis thunbergii var. taiwaniana Extracts In Vitro and In Vivo

Chung-Kwe Wang,Lih-Geeng Chen,Chi-Luan Wen,Wen-Chi Hou,Ling-Fang Hung,Shish-Jung Yen,Yi-Jyun Shen,Shyr-Yi Lin,Yu-Chih Liang 한국식품영양과학회 2010 Journal of medicinal food Vol.13 No.1

Vitis thunbergii var. taiwaniana (VTT) is a wild grape native to Taiwan, where it has been used as a folk medicine. In this study, we found that the branch and leaf ethanol extracts of VTT significantly inhibited the inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase protein expression and NO production in BV2 microglia. Using primary neuronal cells, kainic acid (KA) significantly increased hydrogen peroxide production in a dose-dependent manner. All four ethanol extracts of VTT significantly decreased hydrogen peroxide production. However, only root and branch ethanol extracts were able to prevent the neuronal cell death induced by KA in vitro. In the animal study, administration of all four plant part extracts of VTT delayed the onset of seizure and decreased the hippocampus neuronal cell loss, and the neuroprotective activity could be ranked as follows: branchleaf>root>trunk. The results suggest that VTT extracts have a potential to prevent neurodegeneration through the antioxidative activity by their ability to inhibit NO and hydrogen peroxide production.

인터넷 쇼핑몰에서 물류서비스 품질, 고객만족 그리고 재 이용의도 간의 관계: 한국 인터넷쇼핑몰 이용 경험이 있는 중국인을 중심으로

( Chen Fang-xin ),정기한 ( Chung Ki-han ) 한국유통경영학회(구 한국유통정보학회) 2016 유통정보학회지 Vol.19 No.4

Purpose: This study is to investigate the relationship among logistics service quality(delivery quality, order quality, customer service, delivery service, and delivery fare), customer satisfaction, and reuse intention of internet shopping malls. Research design, data, and methodology: Appropriate measures were developed based on previous studies and tested on 223 Chinese customers who have experienced Korean internet shopping malls with a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Structural equation modeling with AMOS 21.0 was conducted to test the research hypothesis. Results: Delivery quality, order quality, customer service, and delivery fare of logistics service quality have positive effects on customer satisfaction of internet shopping malls. Delivery quality has the most impact on customer satisfaction. Further, customer satisfaction is strongly associated with reuse intention of internet shopping malls. Conclusions: Internet shopping malls’ success depends on effective logistics service quality. The movement of the right amount of the right products to the right place at the right time is the essence of the role of logistics in the internet shopping malls. In this respects, Korean internet shopping malls should increase their efforts to provide better logistics service quality for Chinese customers who have purchased through Korean internet shopping malls.

Diffusion Tensor-Derived Properties of Benign Oligemia, True “at Risk” Penumbra, and Infarct Core during the First Three Hours of Stroke Onset: A Rat Model

Fang-Ying Chiu,Duen-Pang Kuo,Yung-Chieh Chen,Yu-Chieh Kao,Hsiao-Wen Chung,Cheng-Yu Chen 대한영상의학회 2018 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.19 No.6

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate diffusion tensor (DT) imaging-derived properties of benign oligemia, true “at risk” penumbra (TP), and the infarct core (IC) during the first 3 hours of stroke onset. Materials and Methods: The study was approved by the local animal care and use committee. DT imaging data were obtained from 14 rats after permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO) using a 7T magnetic resonance scanner (Bruker) in room air. Relative cerebral blood flow and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps were generated to define oligemia, TP, IC, and normal tissue (NT) every 30 minutes up to 3 hours. Relative fractional anisotropy (rFA), pure anisotropy (rq), diffusion magnitude (rL), ADC (rADC), axial diffusivity (rAD), and radial diffusivity (rRD) values were derived by comparison with the contralateral normal brain. Results: The mean volume of oligemia was 24.7 ± 14.1 mm3, that of TP was 81.3 ± 62.6 mm3, and that of IC was 123.0 ± 85.2 mm3 at 30 minutes after pMCAO. rFA showed an initial paradoxical 10% increase in IC and TP, and declined afterward. The rq, rL, rADC, rAD, and rRD showed an initial discrepant decrease in IC (from -24% to -36%) as compared with TP (from -7% to -13%). Significant differences (p < 0.05) in metrics, except rFA, were found between tissue subtypes in the first 2.5 hours. The rq demonstrated the best overall performance in discriminating TP from IC (accuracy = 92.6%, area under curve = 0.93) and the optimal cutoff value was -33.90%. The metric values for oligemia and NT remained similar at all time points. Conclusion: Benign oligemia is small and remains microstructurally normal under pMCAO. TP and IC show a distinct evolution of DT-derived properties within the first 3 hours of stroke onset, and are thus potentially useful in predicting the fate of ischemic brain.

Synthesis, characterization, and antioxidant activity in vitro of selenium‑Euryale ferox Salisb. polysaccharide

Dong Fang,Zheng Hu-Zhe,Jeong Woo-Sik,Chung Shin-Kyo,Qu Zhong-Yuan,Zou Xiang,Liu Chen,Xiang Qiong,Feng Feng 한국응용생명화학회 2021 Applied Biological Chemistry (Appl Biol Chem) Vol.64 No.S

In order to obtain and explore selenide composed of selenium and polysaccharide, three parameters were selected to optimize the synthesis process of selenium-Euryale ferox Salisb. polysaccharide (Se-ESPS) by Box-Behnken design. Furthermore, ESPS-B1 separated from ESPS was selenitized to Se-ESPS-B1 by the optimal synthesis process, then the characterization, and antioxidant activity in vitro of Se-ESPS-B1 were explored. The result manifested that the Se content of Se-ESPS was (2.915 ± 0.03) mg/g according to the optimal synthesis process of Se-ESPS (reaction time at 5 h, reaction temperature at 81 ℃, weight ratio of Na2SeO3 to ESPS at 0.9 g/g). A series of detection results indicated that the characterizations of Se-ESPS-B1 were apparently distinguished from that of ESPS-B1. Moreover, the antioxidant experiments in vitro demonstrated that Se-ESPS-B1 could exert antioxidant activity by scavenging DPPH, ABTS,·OH, and increasing reduction ability. In conclusion, the synthesis process is an effective approach to harvest seleniumpolysaccharide, and Se-ESPS-B1 may be utilized as a potential antioxidant or selenium nutritional supplement.

Serum Uric Acid Relation for Hearing Threshold Shiftt

Hui-Fang Yang,Tung-Wei Kao,Tao-Chun Peng,Yu-Shan Sun,Fang-Yih Liaw,Chung-Ching Wang,Ju-Ting Hsueh,Wei-Liang Chen 대한이비인후과학회 2017 Clinical and Experimental Otorhinolaryngology Vol.10 No.2

Objectives. The effects of serum uric acid (UA) level on a variety of diseases were found from experimental and observational studies via oxidative stress and anti-oxidants. However, research on the association of UA and hearing thresholds is relatively sparse. We investigated this issue in the U.S. general population to evaluate the relationship of serum UA levels and pure tone threshold of hearing. Methods. Forty four thousand eighty four eligible participants aged 20 to 69 years who have serum UA data and received Audiometry Examination Component were enrolled from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2004. Hearing thresholds (dB) as a pure tone average at low frequencies (0.5, 1, 2 kHz) and at high frequencies (3, 4, 6, and 8 kHz) were computed. Multivariate linear regression models and tertile-based analysis with an extended-model approach for covariates adjustment were used to assess the correlation between serum UA level and hearing thresholds. Results. In the adjusted mode of tertile-based analysis, the regression coefficients elucidated as the change of log-transformed mean hearing thresholds upon comparing participants in the highest tertile of serum UA to those in the lowest tertile were –0.067 (P=0.023) in high frequency and –0.058 (P=0.054) in low frequency. After adjusting for multiple pertinent covariates, inverse association between tertiles of serum UA and hearing thresholds remained essentially unchanged. The negative trends between serum UA and hearing thresholds were statistically significant (P for trends <0.05) in tertile-based multiple linear regressions. Conclusion. Individuals with elevated UA levels independently were found to be inversely associated with hearing thresholds for pure tone audiometry in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults.

인터넷 쇼핑몰에서 e-서비스품질, 지각된 가치 그리고 e-충성도간의 관계에 관한 연구

진방흠(Chen, Fang-Xin),정기한(Chung, Ki-Han) 한국서비스경영학회 2016 서비스경영학회지 Vol.17 No.3

Competition in internet shopping mall has become fiercer as much for its growth potential in differentiating from general commercial markets. For this reason, internet shopping mall should make effective strategy in improving customer"s e-loyalty to survive in the highly competitive internet shopping mall and to aim for growth through constant profit making. To satisfy with the goal, this study has been performed as the empirical study that confirms to the relationship among the e-service quality, perceived value and e-loyalty in the korean internet shopping mall. For the empirical analysis, 261 samples were selected by convenience sampling method. The questionnaire used in this study include total of 28 items including 4 factors used in this study. The results of research are shown as follows;First, all factors of e-service quality significant influence on perceived value. Second, All factors of e-service quality significant influence on e-loyalty. finally, perceived value are also meaningfully influential to e-loyalty. The results imply that e-Service quality should develop differential methods suitable for internet shopping mall to enhance customer e-loyalty.

A False Positive 18F-FDG PET/CT Scan Caused by Breast Silicone Injection

Chao-Jung Chen,Bi-Fang Lee,Wei-Jen Yao,Pei-Shan Wu,Wen-Chung Chen,Shu-Lin Peng,Nan-Tsing Chiu 대한영상의학회 2009 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.10 No.2

We present here the case of a 40-year-old woman with a greater than 10 year prior history of bilateral breast silicone injection and saline bag implantation. Bilateral palpable breast nodules were observed, but the ultrasound scan was suboptimal and the magnetic resonance imaging showed no gadoliniumenhanced tumor. The 18F-FDG PET/CT scan showed a hypermetabolic nodule in the left breast with a 30% increase of 18F-FDG uptake on the delayed imaging, and this mimicked breast cancer. She underwent a left partial mastectomy and the pathology demonstrated a siliconoma.