Use of Information Technologies to Explore Correlations between Climatic Factors and Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Different Age Groups

Hsien-Wei Ting,Chien-Lung Chan,Ren-Hao Pan,Robert K. Lai,Ting-Ying Chien 한국정보과학회 2017 Journal of Computing Science and Engineering Vol.11 No.4

Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) has a high mortality rate. Research has demonstrated that sICH occurrence is related to weather conditions; therefore, this study used the decision tree method to explore the impact of climatic risk factors on sICH at different ages. The Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) and other open-access data were used in this study. The inclusion criterion was a first-attack sICH. The decision tree algorithm and random forest were implemented in R programming language. We defined a high risk of sICH as more than the average number of cases daily, and the younger, middle-aged and older groups were calculated as having 0.77, 2.26 and 2.60 cases per day, respectively. In total, 22,684 sICH cases were included in this study; 3,102 patients were younger (<44 years, younger group), 9,089 were middle-aged (45–64 years, middle group), and 10,457 were older (>65 years, older group). The risk of sICH in the younger group was not correlated with temperature, wind speed or humidity. The middle group had two decision nodes: a higher risk if the maximum temperature was >19°C (probability = 63.7%), and if the maximum temperature was <19°C in addition to a wind speed <2.788 (m/s) (probability = 60.9%). The older group had a higher risk if the average temperature was >23.933°C (probability = 60.7%). This study demonstrated that the sICH incidence in the younger patients was not significantly correlated with weather factors; that in the middle-aged sICH patients was highly-correlated with the apparent temperature; and that in the older sICH patients was highly-correlated with the mean ambient temperature. “Warm” cold ambient temperatures resulted in a higher risk of sICH, especially in the older patients.

Use of Information Technologies to Explore Correlations between Climatic Factors and Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Different Age Groups

Ting, Hsien-Wei,Chan, Chien-Lung,Pan, Ren-Hao,Lai, Robert K.,Chien, Ting-Ying Korean Institute of Information Scientists and Eng 2017 Journal of Computing Science and Engineering Vol.11 No.4

Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) has a high mortality rate. Research has demonstrated that sICH occurrence is related to weather conditions; therefore, this study used the decision tree method to explore the impact of climatic risk factors on sICH at different ages. The Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) and other open-access data were used in this study. The inclusion criterion was a first-attack sICH. The decision tree algorithm and random forest were implemented in R programming language. We defined a high risk of sICH as more than the average number of cases daily, and the younger, middle-aged and older groups were calculated as having 0.77, 2.26 and 2.60 cases per day, respectively. In total, 22,684 sICH cases were included in this study; 3,102 patients were younger (<44 years, younger group), 9,089 were middle-aged (45-64 years, middle group), and 10,457 were older (>65 years, older group). The risk of sICH in the younger group was not correlated with temperature, wind speed or humidity. The middle group had two decision nodes: a higher risk if the maximum temperature was >$19^{\circ}C$ (probability = 63.7%), and if the maximum temperature was <$19^{\circ}C$ in addition to a wind speed <2.788 (m/s) (probability = 60.9%). The older group had a higher risk if the average temperature was >$23.933^{\circ}C$ (probability = 60.7%). This study demonstrated that the sICH incidence in the younger patients was not significantly correlated with weather factors; that in the middle-aged sICH patients was highly-correlated with the apparent temperature; and that in the older sICH patients was highly-correlated with the mean ambient temperature. "Warm" cold ambient temperatures resulted in a higher risk of sICH, especially in the older patients.

Can Elderly Patients with Severe Mitral Regurgitation Benefit from Trans-catheter Mitral Valve Repair?

Ching-Wei Lee,Shih-Hsien Sung,Wei-Ming Huang,Yi-Lin Tsai,Hsiang-Yao Chen,Chiao-Po Hsu,Chun-Che Shih,Kuo-Piao Chung 대한심장학회 2019 Korean Circulation Journal Vol.49 No.6

Background and ObjectivesAge is a traditional risk factor for open-heart surgery. The efficacy and safety of transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair, using MitraClip (Abbott Vascular), has been demonstrated in patients with severe mitral regurgitation (MR). Since octogenarians or older patients are usually deferred to receive open-heart surgery, the main interest of this study is to elucidate the procedural safety and long-term clinical impact of MitraClip in elderly patients. MethodsPatients with symptomatic severe MR were evaluated by the heart team. For those with high or prohibitive surgical risks, transcatheter mitral valve repair was performed in hybrid operation room. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), blood tests, and six-minute walk test (6MWT) were performed before, 1-month, 6-months, and 1 year after index procedure. ResultsA total of 46 consecutive patients receiving MitraClip procedure were enrolled. Nineteen patients (84.2±4.0 years) were over 80-year-old and 27 (73.4±11.1 years) were younger than 80. Compare to baseline, the significant reduction in MR severity was achieved after the procedure and sustained. All the patients benefited from significant improvement in New York Heart Association functional class. The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) increased from 259±114 to 319±92 meters (p=0.03) at 1 year. The overall 1-year survival rate was 80% in the elderly and 88% in those <80 years, p=0.590. Baseline 6MWT was a predictor for all-cause mortality (odds ratio, 0.99; 95% confidence interval, 0.982–0.999; p=0.026) after the MitraClip procedure. ConclusionsTrans-catheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repairs are safe and have positive clinical impact in subjects with severe MR, even in advanced age.

Esophageal Submucosal Tumor-A Red Flag in Patients Receiving Thoracic Aortic Aneurysmal Stent-Graft

Ching-Wei Lee,Wei-Yu Kao,Shih-Hsien Weng,I-Fan Liu 대한심장학회 2014 Korean Circulation Journal Vol.44 No.6

A King Stifling Voices of Dissent? Popular Protests and State Responses in Xi's China

Wang Hsin‐Hsien,Tzeng Wei‐Feng,Wang Shinn‐Shyr,Chiu Wei‐Chih 인하대학교 국제관계연구소 2021 Pacific Focus Vol.36 No.1

To deal with the increases in the frequency of popular protests, China's leader, Xi Jinping, has called for “innovative social governance” as a new concept to resolve social conflicts. In this study, we collect and analyze a unique dataset to compare state responses to popular protests during Xi's term and Hu's term. We find that, under Xi's rule, state repression is more frequently employed to handle social disturbances. Violent protests are significantly more likely to be repressed than nonviolent protests during both the rule of Hu and Xi, while protests that involved a population of the middle and upper classes experienced more state crackdown under Xi's rule rather than under Hu's governance. Our empirical analysis suggests that the approaches by which the Chinese government deals with social unrest have not yet been “innovative.” Instead, China still relies heavily on despotic power in the Xi era.

Harm Avoidance is Correlated with the Reward System in Adult Patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Tsung-Hua Lu(Tsung-Hua Lu),Shih-Hsien Lin(Shih-Hsien Lin),Mei Hung Chi(Mei Hung Chi),Ching-Lin Chu(Ching-Lin Chu),Dong-Yu Yang(Dong-Yu Yang),Wei Hung Chang(Wei Hung Chang),Po See Chen(Po See Chen),Yen 대한정신약물학회 2023 CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE Vol.21 No.1

Objective: Hypoactivity in the reward system among patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a well-known phenomenon. Whether the activity in the reward pathway is related to harm avoidance, such as in sensitivity to punishment, is unclear. Evidence regarding the potential difference between ADHD patients and controls in terms of this association is scarce. Methods: Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging was conducted on subjects performing the Iowa gambling test. Fourteen adults with ADHD and 14 controls were enrolled in the study. Results: Harm avoidance was found to be positively correlated with the activities of the bilateral orbitofrontal cortex and right insula in individuals with ADHD. A group difference was also confirmed. Conclusion: Understanding the roles of harm avoidance and brain activation during risk tasks is important.

Intra-Arterial Treatment in Patients with Acute Massive Gastrointestinal Bleeding after Endoscopic Failure: Comparisons between Positive versus Negative Contrast Extravasation Groups

Wei-Chou Chang,Chang-Hsien Liu,Hsian-He Hsu,Guo-Shu Huang,Ho-Jui Tung,Tsai-Yuan Hsieh,Shih-Hung Tsai,Chung-Bao Hsieh,Chih-Yung Yu 대한영상의학회 2011 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.12 No.5

Objective: To determine whether treatment outcome is associated with visualization of contrast extravasation in patients with acute massive gastrointestinal bleeding after endoscopic failure. Materials and Methods: From January 2007 to December 2009, patients that experienced a first attack of acute gastrointestinal bleeding after failure of initial endoscopy were referred to our interventional department for intra-arterial treatment. We enrolled 79 patients and divided them into two groups: positive and negative extravasation. For positive extravasation, patients were treated by coil embolization; and in negative extravasation, patients were treated with intra-arterial vasopressin infusion. The two groups were compared for clinical parameters, hemodynamics, laboratory findings, endoscopic characteristics, and mortality rates. Results: Forty-eight patients had detectable contrast extravasation (positive extravasation), while 31 patients did not (negative extravasation). Fifty-six patients survived from this bleeding episode (overall clinical success rate, 71%). An elevation of hemoglobin level was observed in the both two groups; significantly greater in the positive extravasation group compared to the negative extravasation group. Although these patients were all at high risk of dying, the 90-day mortality rate was significantly lower in the positive extravasation than in the negative extravasation (20% versus 42%, p < 0.05). A multivariate analysis suggested that successful hemostasis (odds ratio [OR] = 28.66) is the most important predictor affecting the mortality in the two groups of patients. Conclusion: Visualization of contrast extravasation on angiography usually can target the bleeding artery directly, resulting in a higher success rate to control of hemorrhage. Objective: To determine whether treatment outcome is associated with visualization of contrast extravasation in patients with acute massive gastrointestinal bleeding after endoscopic failure. Materials and Methods: From January 2007 to December 2009, patients that experienced a first attack of acute gastrointestinal bleeding after failure of initial endoscopy were referred to our interventional department for intra-arterial treatment. We enrolled 79 patients and divided them into two groups: positive and negative extravasation. For positive extravasation, patients were treated by coil embolization; and in negative extravasation, patients were treated with intra-arterial vasopressin infusion. The two groups were compared for clinical parameters, hemodynamics, laboratory findings, endoscopic characteristics, and mortality rates. Results: Forty-eight patients had detectable contrast extravasation (positive extravasation), while 31 patients did not (negative extravasation). Fifty-six patients survived from this bleeding episode (overall clinical success rate, 71%). An elevation of hemoglobin level was observed in the both two groups; significantly greater in the positive extravasation group compared to the negative extravasation group. Although these patients were all at high risk of dying, the 90-day mortality rate was significantly lower in the positive extravasation than in the negative extravasation (20% versus 42%, p < 0.05). A multivariate analysis suggested that successful hemostasis (odds ratio [OR] = 28.66) is the most important predictor affecting the mortality in the two groups of patients. Conclusion: Visualization of contrast extravasation on angiography usually can target the bleeding artery directly, resulting in a higher success rate to control of hemorrhage.

Semantic Recognition of Human Gestures Based on Spatial and Temporal Reasoning

Hsien-I Lin,Wei-Kai Chen,C. N. Huang,H. W. Wang 제어로봇시스템학회 2013 제어로봇시스템학회 국제학술대회 논문집 Vol.2013 No.10

Gesture semantic recognition is a vital process of motion recognition. An accurate and stable recognition method helps to identify semantic meaning of a continuous motion. In this work, the semantic meaning is represented by a sequence of motion primitives. This work proposes a method based on spatial and temporal reasoning. Both spatial and temporal rules of motion primitives are used to estimate the current state of motion. The motion primitives adopted in this work are transport empty (TE), transport loaded (TL), grasp (G), and release (RL) from Gilbreth’s therbligs. The results show that the average recognition rate is 94.44% out of three different tasks.

ALDH2 Gene: Its Effects on the Neuropsychological Functions in Patients with Opioid Use Disorder Undergoing Methadone Maintenance Treatment

Po-Wei Lee,Tzu-Yun Wang,Yun-Hsuan Chang,Sheng-Yu Lee,Shiou-Lan Chen,Ze-Cheng Wang,Po See Chen,Chun-Hsien Chu,San-Yuan Huang,Nian-Sheng Tzeng,I Hui Lee,Kao Chin Chen,Yen Kuang Yang,Jau-Shyong Hong,Ru-B 대한정신약물학회 2020 CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE Vol.18 No.1

Objective: Patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) have impaired attention, inhibition control, and memory function. The aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2 ) gene has been associated with OUD and ALDH2 gene polymorphisms may affect aldehyde metabolism and cognitive function in other substance use disorder. Therefore, we aimed to investigate whether ALDH2 genotypes have significant effects on neuropsychological functions in OUD patients undergoing methadone maintenance therapy (MMT). Methods: OUD patients undergoing MMT were investigated and followed-up for 12 weeks. ALDH2 gene polymorphisms were genotyped. Connors’ Continuous Performance Test (CPT) and the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) were administered at baseline and after 12 weeks of MMT. Multivariate linear regressions and generalized estimating equations (GEEs) were used to examine the correlation between the ALDH2 genotypes and performance on the CPTs and WMS-R. Results: We enrolled 86 patients at baseline; 61 patients completed the end-of-study assessments. The GEE analysis showed that, after the 12 weeks of MMT, OUD patients with the ALDH2 *1/*2+*2/*2 (ALDH2 inactive) genotypes had significantly higher commission error T-scores (p = 0.03), significantly lower hit reaction time T-scores (p = 0.04), and significantly lower WMS-R visual memory index scores (p = 0.03) than did patients with the ALDH2 1 */*1 (ALDH2 active) genotype. Conclusion: OUD patients with the ALDH2 inactive genotypes performed worse in cognitive domains of attention, impulse control, and memory than did those with the ALDH2 active genotype. We conclude that the ALDH2 gene is important in OUD and is associated with neuropsychological performance after MMT.

Using the Juice of Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) as Culture Medium to Increase the Cell Density and the Production of Microbial Lipid

Yu-Hsien Lien,Fu-Yao Liu,Jyy-Ning Chen,Yu-Shan Huang,Yu-Hong Wei,Chiyang Yu,Che-Chi Shu 한국생물공학회 2019 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.24 No.2

Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) is one of the most well-known aquatic weeds as it causes problems in watercourses all over the world. This invasive species is fast-growing and thus has the potential for its use in preparing growth medium of microorganisms. Toward it, the pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification are positively the decisive processes. But there are other crucial processes, which are usually ignored by researchers. To the best of my knowledge, this presented work is the first time discovering that the juice obtained from water lettuce is valuable. Except for sterilization, no treatment is needed for the water lettuce’s juice and it can be directly served for cell growth. For Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pichia pastoris, Bacillus subtilis, Lactococcus Lactis, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and Lactobacillus plantarum, the cell density in the broth of water lettuce’s juice as the only carbon source is 10-60% higher than that in LB, YPD, BHI, M17, MRS. We then examined the production of microbial lipid by YM prepared in the juice of water lettuce. In comparison to commercial medium YM broth, the YM with juice caused 84% increase in the production of microbial lipid. A simple process of collecting juice notably increased productivity.