The Presence of Borrelia valaisiana-Related Genospecies in Ticks and a Rodent in Taiwan

Chun-Man Huang,Hsi-Chieh Wang,Ying-Chun Lin,Shih-Hui Chiu,Ying-Shun Kao,Pei-Lung Lee,Hsiu-I Wang,Ruei-Chen Hung,Huang-I Chan,Ho-Sheng Wu,Chuen-Sheue Chiang,Jung-Jung Mu 한국미생물학회 2010 The journal of microbiology Vol.48 No.6

A field survey was conducted to investigate the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) in six counties of Taiwan. Spirochetes were successfully isolated from one rodent ear sample out of 485 rodent ears and 53live, fed tick (Ixodes granulatus) samples. The spirochetes were confirmed to be B. burgdorferi s.l. by real-time PCR. In addition, 23 of 113 tick samples were tested positive for Borrelia DNA according to real-time PCR. The Borrelia isolate from the rodent and the 23 Borrelia DNA samples from the ticks were identified as B. valaisiana-related genospecies by phylogenetic analysis based on flagellin gene sequences. These findings suggest that the Borrelia valaisiana-related strains are maintained in a zoonotic cycle between tick vectors and reservoir hosts in Taiwan.

Where Are Landscape Designers' Spatial Abilities in the Brain? An fMRI Study

Shih-Han Hung,Chia-Yi Huang,Tsung-Ren Huang,Shih-An Tang,Yu-Ping Tsai,Chun-YenChang 인간식물환경학회 2023 인간식물환경학회지 Vol.26 No.5

Background and objective: To effectively understand and communicate their work, landscape designers should possessexcellent spatial abilities. Neurological methods have confirmed that activation of the occipital lobe, parietal cortex, andprefrontal cortex affect the judgment of space; however, few studies have measured spatial abilities in landscape design. This study aimed to identify the potential role of various brain regions during spatial interpretation processes by landscapedesigners, particularly the effect of stimulating the frontal lobe on enhancing design capabilities. Methods: This study tested the spatial abilities of landscape designers when transforming a planar drawing into a sectionaldrawing and the brain regions activated in this process. The subjects were asked to identify the correct option whenmatching given section lines in a planar drawing. The correct answer rate and response time were used to score brainactivation during spatial task processes. A total of 16 valid subjects were divided into high- and low-accuracy groupsaccording to the correct answer rate. Results: The results for the high-accuracy group showed that the left inferior frontal gyrus was activated during spatialdesign tasks. In contrast, the findings for the low-accuracy group revealed that the left middle occipital gyrus was activatedfor processing visual information. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the frontal lobe plays a role in allowing landscape designers to make planar tocross-sectional inferences via mental rotations and categorical spatial relations. The findings offer implications forlandscape designers in stimulating the frontal lobe and enhancing their design capabilities.

3. Complex Femoral and Tibial Faractures Treated with Interlocking Nailing

(Chun Hsiung Shih),(Chi Chuan Wu),(Lih Hwei Chen) 대한골절학회 1989 대한골절학회 학술대회 및 초록집 Vol.- No.-

Comparisons of Moisturizing Function Between Rayon Fabric with Collagen Peptides from Fish Scales and Regular Rayon Fabric Under Various Relative Humidity

Chi‑Shih Huang,Erh‑Jen Hou,Ying‑Chou Lee,Tzong‑Huei Lee,Yi‑Jun Pan,Ta Yu,Wei‑Hsin Lin,Chun‑Han Shih,Wei‑Che Chang 한국섬유공학회 2023 Fibers and polymers Vol.24 No.12

The study was inspired by the specialized facial masks made of rayon non-woven fabrics which contained collagen peptides for improving moisturizing function. This study explored the moisturizing function of a rayon fabric containing collagen peptides extracted from tilapia fish scales under various conditions of relative humidity. This research had implications for the development of clothing that can prevent dry skin. A two-stage nested design experiment was adopted. The first-stage factor such as the fabric has two levels and the second-stage factor such as the relative humidity with three levels nested under each level of the first-stage factor. Preliminary results indicated that introducing a new variable (i.e., fabric moisturizing value, which combines the moisture regains of adsorption and desorption) would be useful. The moisturizing value of the novel rayon fabric and regular rayon fabric increased with the increase in relative humidity, and moisturizing effect of the novel rayon fabric with collagen peptides was better than that of the regular rayon fabric. Therefore, the novel rayon fabric may be suitable for preventing dry skin in winter.

Risk and Outcome of Stroke in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis: Two Nationwide Studies

( Yi-chun Chou ),( Chien-chang Liao ),( Chun-chuan Shih ) 대한간학회 2016 춘·추계 학술대회 (KASL) Vol.2016 No.1

Aims: The association between liver cirrhosis (LC) and stroke was not completely understood. The purpose of this study is to evaluate stroke risk and post-stroke outcomes in patients with LC. Methods: Using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, we identified 6944 adults aged ≥20 years diagnosed with LC in 2000-2005. Non-LC cohort consisted of 27776 adults randomly selected and matched by age and sex (case-control ratio=1:4). Incident events of stroke occurring after LC from January 1, 2000, through the end of 2009 were identified in the follow-up period. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of stroke associated with LC were calculated. We conducted another nested cohort study consisted of 21267 patients with hospitalization due to stroke between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2010. We calculated the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs of 30-day mortality after stroke in patients with and without LC during admission. Results: The incidences of stroke for people with and without LC were 7.5 and 4.9 per1000 person-years, respectively (P<0.0001). Compared to people without LC, patients with LC had increased risk of stroke (HR 1.75, 95% CI 1.52-2.01). The association was significant in both sexes. In the nested cohort study, LC was associated with post-hemorrhage mortality (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.63-2.05) and epilepsy (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.09-1.56). Conclusions: Patients with LC showed higher risks of stroke and post-stroke mortality. Our findings suggest the urgency of preventing and managing LC by a multidisciplinary medical team for this specific population.

Prediction of the Duration to Next Admission for an Acute Affective Episode in Patients with Bipolar I Disorder

Pao-Huan Chen(Pao-Huan Chen),Chun-Ming Shih(Chun-Ming Shih),Chi-Kang Chang(Chi-Kang Chang),Chia-Pei Lin(Chia-Pei Lin),Yung-Han Chang(Yung-Han Chang),Hsin-Chien Lee(Hsin-Chien Lee),El-Wui Loh(El-Wui Lo 대한정신약물학회 2023 CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE Vol.21 No.2

Objective: Predicting disease relapse and early intervention could reduce symptom severity. We attempted to identify potential indicators that predict the duration to next admission for an acute affective episode in patients with bipolar I disorder. Methods: We mathematically defined the duration to next psychiatric admission and performed single-variate regressions using historical data of 101 patients with bipolar I disorder to screen for potential variables for further multivariate regressions. Results: Age of onset, total psychiatric admissions, length of lithium use, and carbamazepine use during the psychiatric hospitalization contributed to the next psychiatric admission duration positively. The all-in-one found that hyperlipidemia during the psychiatric hospitalization demonstrated a negative contribution to the duration to next psychiatric admission; the last duration to psychiatric admission, lithium and carbamazepine uses during the psychiatric hospitalization, and heart rate on the discharge day positively contributed to the duration to next admission. Conclusion: We identified essential variables that may predict the duration of bipolar I patients’ next psychiatric admission. The correlation of a faster heartbeat and a normal lipid profile in delaying the next onset highlights the importance of managing these parameters when treating bipolar I disorder.

Positive Symptoms in Antipsychotic-naïve Schizophrenia are Associated with Increased Body Mass Index after Treatment

Shih-Hsien Lin,Huai-Hsuan Tseng,Hsin Chun Tsai,Mei Hung Chi,I Hui Lee,Po See Chen,Kao Chin Chen,Yen Kuang Yang 대한정신약물학회 2021 CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE Vol.19 No.1

Objective: Weight gain is an important risk factor for morbidity and mortality among patients with schizophrenia. We speculated that positive symptoms, related to dopaminergic hyperactivity and altered mesolimbic function, are associated with weight gain. Methods: Twenty-two antipsychotic-naïve, first-episode patients with schizophrenia were enrolled. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale was completed at enrollment and follow-up. Body mass index (BMI) was also measured. Results: The increase in BMI, after 6.04 ± 2.16 years of follow-up, was associated with positive symptoms, but not negative symptoms, before treatment with antipsychotics in antipsychotic-naïve patients with schizophrenia. Conclusion: This finding implied that dopaminergic hyperactivity could be an important factor to predict the treatment outcome. Body weight control is important for the health management of patients with schizophrenia with more severe positive symptoms.

On-line Error-matching Measurement and Compensation Method for a Precision Machining Production Line

Shih-Ming Wang,Chun-Yi Lee,Hariyanto Gunawan,Chin-Cheng Yeh 한국정밀공학회 2022 International Journal of Precision Engineering and Vol.9 No.2

When producing a matching part for good mating with its counterpart (assembly part), good matching accuracy between the matching part and assembly part is highly required. The matching errors are influenced by not only the errors of the matching part but also the errors of the assembly part. Because the errors of an assembly part could be different from others, it is very difficult to have very good mating accuracy, if the manufacturing of a matching part does not take the actual errors of the assembly into account. Furthermore, it will need additional off -line assembly mating tests to find a good mating pair. This study proposes an error-matching compensation method to solve the not-good-mating problem for manufacturing assembly modules with good matching accuracy. In this method, the actual errors of an assembly part are directly in-line measured and used to compensate the machining process of a matching part so that a dedicated part with the good mating condition can be on-line made for the error-measured assembly part. In addition to having better matching accuracy, this method also provides advantages of high production efficiency and cost saving, because it will not need the off -line mating test to find good mating pairs. This method also includes a function of in-line auto-generation of error compensation NC programs to support continuous production. In this study, error analysis of two mating types (planar mating and triangle mating) were explored and discussed. The Human–Machine Interface was built with the use of C# language. Finally, machining experiments with in-line measurements were conducted to verify the proposed method. The experimental results have shown the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.

Electrode layout of ZnO pyroelectric sensors

Chun-Ching Hsiao,Shih-Yuan Yu 대한기계학회 2011 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.25 No.11

In the present study, an electrode layout of pyroelectric sensors is developed to improve electric signals. Voltage responsivity is a main target to enhance the performance of pyroelectric sensors. A partially covered, top electrode has been proven to effectively increase the voltage responsivity of pyroelectric sensors. In the experimental results, the proposed electrode layout with an array type in ZnO pyroelectric sensors possessed higher voltage signals, about 3.6 times that of a fully covered type, and about 2 times that of a partially covered type. Moreover, a finite element model is used to explore the temperature variation rate in ZnO pyroelectric sensors for both the fully covered and the partially covered electrodes. In the simulation results, the partially covered electrode can indeed improve the temperature variation rate in the ZnO layer.

Acoustic Emission Monitoring of Grinding-Polishing of Extra-Low Dispersion Lens

Chun-Wei Liu,Hong-Chang Chen,Shih-Chieh Lin 한국정밀공학회 2023 International Journal of Precision Engineering and Vol.24 No.1

In this study, acoustic emission (AE) was adopted to monitor the grinding–polishing process of extra-low dispersion (ED) lens. S-FPL51, a raw material of ED lens, exhibits extraordinary optical properties such as high Abbe numbers and low dispersion. However, processing S-FPL51 is difficult because of its mechanical properties such as low hardness and high wear abrasion, which make the adjustment of the lens thickness difficult, and the lens are scratched easily. Therefore, an AE sensor was employed to monitor the grinding–polishing process because of its high sensitivity to material removal. Furthermore, several experiments were conducted to establish a relation between grinding–polishing parameters, such as pressure, rotating speed, root mean square (RMS) value of AE signals, and material removal rate (MRR). The results indicated that MRR is strongly correlated to the RMS of AE signals. Subsequently, several MRR models were derived based on the experimental data, and an AE signal term was introduced into the modified Preston equation to estimate MRR. Moreover, the results indicated the AE sensor to be a potential tool for monitoring the grinding–polishing process of optical lens.