The long-term anatomical and visual effect of intravitreal triamcinolone injection during vitrectomy for the treatment of idiopathic macular epiretinal membrane

Lai, Chi-Chun,Wang, Nan-Kai,Wu, Wei-Chi,Yeung, Ling,Hwang, Yih-Shiou,Chen, Kuan-Jen,Chen, Tun-Lu,Chuang, Lan-Hsin Informa Healthcare 2011 Cutaneous and ocular toxicology Vol.30 No.4

<P><I>Purpose</I>: To compare the long-term anatomical and visual outcomes of patients with idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM) removed by vitrectomy and membrane peeling with or without the use of intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA).</P><P><I>Methods</I>: A retrospective chart review was performed. Subjects who underwent vitrectomy and who were followed over 12 months were included. The study included two groups of patients. In group 1 (71 eyes), the patients underwent vitrectomy and membrane peeling without the use of IVTA. In group 2 (27 eyes), 2 mg of IVTA was given at the end of the surgery. The main outcome measures were best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central foveal thickness (CFT) determined by optical coherence tomography (OCT), the number of cataract surgeries, and the use of anti-glaucomatous drugs during the follow-up period.</P><P><I>Results</I>: This study included 98 eyes with ERM from 98 patients. There was no significant difference between the two groups with respect to age, gender, pre- and postoperative lens status, BCVA, CFT, or length of the follow-up period. The mean age for all of the patients was 62.45 ± 10.01 (mean ± SD) years, and the mean follow-up length was 20.58 ± 9.64 (mean ± SD) months. In all cases, the mean best-corrected logarithm of minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) acuity improved from a preoperative value of 0.91 ± 0.32 [Snellen equivalent (SE), 0.16 ± 0.14] to a postoperative value of 0.46 ± 0.36 (SE, 0.46 ± 0.29) (<I>P</I> < 0.0001). The CFT was reduced from a preoperative value of 473.46 ± 96.91 μm to a postoperative value of 302.44 ± 69.80 μm (<I>P</I> < 0.0001). Six patients (22.2%) in group 2 required anti-glaucomatous drugs to control intraocular pressure (IOP) during the follow-up period, and three patients (4.2%) in group 1 required drugs to control IOP (<I>P</I> == 0.012).</P><P><I>Conclusions</I>: The postoperative visual outcomes for patients with idiopathic ERM were favorable, but CFT did not return to a normal level, even in eyes in which 2 mg IVTA was used. The IVTA use after ERM removal produced no significant benefits during long-term follow-up, but IVTA did increase the risk of increased IOP.</P>

In vitro Study, Conservation and Utilization of Medicinal Plant

Yih-Juh Shiau,Hsin-Sheng Tasy,Chi-Ni Hsia 한국원예학회 2006 한국원예학회 기타간행물 Vol.- No.-

A Study of Resource Utilization Improvement on Cloud Testing Platform

( Jong-yih Kuo ),( Hui-chi Lin ),( Chien-hung Liu ) 한국인터넷정보학회 2021 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.15 No.7

This paper developed the software testing factory-cloud testing platform (STF-CTP) to address the software compatible issues in various smart devices. Software developers who only require uploading the application under test (AUT) and test script can test plenty of smart devices in STF-CTP. The challenge for the cloud test platform is how to optimize the resource and increase the performance in the limited resource. This paper proposed a new scheduling mechanism and a new process of the system operation which is based on the OpenStack platform. We decrease about 40% memory usage of OpenStack server, increase 3% to 10% Android device usage of STF-CTP, enhance about 80% test job throughput and reduces about 40% test job average waiting time.

Smart Self-Checkout Carts Based on Deep Learning for Shopping Activity Recognition

Hong-Chuan Chi,Muhammad Atif Sarwar,Yousef-Awwad Daraghmi,Kuan-Wen Liu,Tsi-Ui ?k,Yih-Lang Li 한국통신학회 2020 한국통신학회 APNOMS Vol.2020 No.09

Fast and reliable communication plays a major role in the success of smart shopping applications. In a ”Just Walk Out” shopping scenario, a video camera is installed on the cart to monitor shopping activities and transmit images to the cloud for processing so that items in the cart can be tracked and checked out. This paper proposes a prototype of a smart shopping cart based on image-based action recognition. Firstly, deep learning networks such as Faster R-CNN, YOLOv2, and YOLOv2-Tiny are utilized to analyze the content of each video frame. Frames are classified into three classes: No Hand, Empty Hand, and Holding Items. The classification accuracy based on Faster RCNN, YOLOv2, or YOLOv2-Tiny is between 93.0% and 90.3%, and the processing speed of the three networks can be up to 5 fps, 39 fps, and 50 fps, respectively. Secondly, based on the sequence of frame classes, the timeline is divided into No Hand intervals, Empty Hand intervals, and Holding Items intervals. The accuracy of action recognition is 96%, and the time error is 0.119s on average. Finally, we categorize the events into four cases: No Change, placing, Removing, and Swapping. Even including the correctness of the item recognition, the accuracy of shopping event detection is 97.9%, which is higher than the minimal requirement to deploy such a system in a smart shopping environment. A demo of the system and a link to download the data set used in the paper are in Smart Shopping Cart Prototype or found at this URL: https://hackmd.io/abEiC83rQoqxz7zpL4Kh2w.

SEASONAL VARIABILITY OF CARBONATE SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS IN A CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEM, SOUTHERN TAIWAN

Pei-Jie Meng,Ming-Yih Leu,Cheng-Hao Tang,Chung-Chi Chen,Kwee-Siong Tew,Chia-Ming Chang 한국수산과학회 양식분과 2015 한국수산과학회 양식분과 학술대회 Vol.2015 No.5

Turbid Density Current Venting through Reservoir Outlets

Fong-Zuo Lee,Jihn-Sung Lai,Yih-Chi Tan,Chia-Chi Sung 대한토목학회 2014 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.18 No.2

The planning and design of an outlet operation by releasing a turbid density current from a reservoir requires accurate prediction ofoutflow concentration for sluicing sediment through outlet structures. This study investigates outflow concentration and ventingefficiency through reservoir outlets in a reservoir sluicing operation related to turbid density current. A 3D numerical model isemployed to simulate a venting operation for a turbid density current in typhoon-induced flood events. A simple and efficientformula derived from theoretical analysis with experimental data is proposed for estimating outflow concentration and ventingefficiency. By adopting the proposed formula to avoid time-consuming calculation using the 3D numerical model, the estimatedoutflow concentration and venting efficiency through reservoir outlets have shown good agreement with the measured and simulatedresults in typhoon flood events. This demonstrates that the formula provides an efficient approach for engineering practice in realtimereservoir venting operations.

Delay of Surgery for Spinal Metastasis due to the COVID-19 Outbreak Affected Patient Outcomes

Chia-Jung Hsieh,Chun-Yu Wu,Yen-Heng Lin,Yu-Cheng Huang,Wen-Chi Yang,Tom Wei-Wu Chen,Wei-Li Ma,Wei-Hsin Lin,Feng-Ming Hsu,Furen Xiao,Shih-Hung Yang,Dar-Ming Lai,Chang-Mu Chen,Shin-Yi Chao,Fon-Yih Tsuan 대한척추신경외과학회 2023 Neurospine Vol.20 No.4

Objective: The present study is to analyze the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 2019) outbreak and the subsequent lockdown on the outcomes of spinal metastasis patients. Methods: The study was a retrospective analysis of data from a prospective cohort study. All patients underwent surgical intervention for spinal metastases between January 2019 and December 2021 and had at least 3 months of postoperative follow-up. The primary outcome was overall mortality during the 4 different stages (pre-COVID-19 era, COVID-19 pandemic except in Taiwan, national lockdown, lifting of the lockdown). The secondary outcomes were the oncological severity scores, medical/surgical accessibility, and patient functional outcome during the 4 periods as well as survival/mortality. Results: A total of 233 patients were included. The overall mortality rate was 41.20%. During the Taiwan lockdown, more patients received palliative surgery than other surgical methods, and no total en bloc spondylectomy was performed. The time from surgeon visit to operation was approximately doubled after the COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan (75.97, 86.63, 168.79, and 166.91 hours in the 4 periods, respectively). The estimated survival probability was highest after the national lockdown was lifted and lowest during the lockdown. In the multivariate analysis, increased risk of mortality was observed with delay of surgery, with emergency surgery having a higher risk with delays above 33 hours, urgent surgery (below 59 and above 111 hours), and elective surgery (above 332 hours). Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic and related policies have altered daily clinical practice and negatively impacted the survival of patients with spinal metastases.

Risk of Diabetic Retinopathy between Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitors and Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists

Tzu-Yi Lin,Eugene Yu-Chuan Kang,Shih-Chieh Shao,Edward Chia-Cheng Lai,Sunir J. Garg,Kuan-Jen Chen,Je-Ho Kang,Wei-Chi Wu,Chi-Chun Lai,Yih-Shiou Hwang 대한당뇨병학회 2023 Diabetes and Metabolism Journal Vol.47 No.3

Background: To compare risk of diabetic retinopathy (DR) between patients taking sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) and those taking glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RAs) in routine care.Methods: This retrospective cohort study emulating a target trial included patient data from the multi-institutional Chang Gung Research Database in Taiwan. Totally, 33,021 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus using SGLT2is and GLP1-RAs between 2016 and 2019 were identified. 3,249 patients were excluded due to missing demographics, age <40 years, prior use of any study drug, a diagnosis of retinal disorders, a history of receiving vitreoretinal procedure, no baseline glycosylated hemoglobin, or no follow-up data. Baseline characteristics were balanced using inverse probability of treatment weighting with propensity scores. DR diagnoses and vitreoretinal interventions served as the primary outcomes. Occurrence of proliferative DR and DR receiving vitreoretinal interventions were regarded as vision-threatening DR.Results: There were 21,491 SGLT2i and 1,887 GLP1-RA users included for the analysis. Patients receiving SGLT2is and GLP-1 RAs exhibited comparable rate of any DR (subdistribution hazard ratio [SHR], 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.79 to 1.03), whereas the rate of proliferative DR (SHR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.42 to 0.68) was significantly lower in the SGLT2i group. Also, SGLT2i users showed significantly reduced risk of composite surgical outcome (SHR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.48 to 0.70).Conclusion: Compared to those taking GLP1-RAs, patients receiving SGLT2is had a lower risk of proliferative DR and vitreoretinal interventions, although the rate of any DR was comparable between the SGLT2i and GLP1-RA groups. Thus, SGLT2is may be associated with a lower risk of vision-threatening DR but not DR development.

The development of Taiwan Fracture Liaison Service network

Lo-Yu Chang,Keh-Sung Tsai,Jen-Kuei Peng,Chung-Hwan Chen,Gau-Tyan Lin,Chin-Hsueh Lin,Shih-Te Tu,I-Chieh Mao,Yih-Lan Gau,Hsusan-Chih Liu,Chi-Chien Niu,Min-Hong Hsieh,Jui-Teng Chien,Wei-Chieh Hung,Rong-S 대한골다공증학회 2018 Osteoporosis and Sarcopenia Vol.4 No.2

Osteoporosis and its associated fragility fractures are becoming a severe burden in the healthcare system globally. In the Asian-Pacific (AP) region, the rapidly increasing in aging population is the main reason accounting for the burden. Moreover, the paucity of quality care for osteoporosis continues to be an ongoing challenge. The Fracture Liaison Service (FLS) is a program promoted by International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) with a goal to improve quality of postfracture care and prevention of secondary fractures. In this review article, we would like to introduce the Taiwan FLS network. The first 2 programs were initiated in 2014 at the National Taiwan University Hospital and its affiliated Bei-Hu branch. Since then, the Taiwan FLS program has continued to grow exponentially. Through FLS workshops promoted by the Taiwanese Osteoporosis Association (TOA), program mentors have been able to share their valuable knowledge and clinical experience in order to promote establishments of additional programs. With 22 FLS sites including 11 successfully accredited on the best practice map, Taiwan remains as one of the highest FLS coverage countries in the AP region, and was also granted the IOF Best Secondary Fracture Prevention Promotion award in 2017. Despite challenges faced by the TOA, we strive to promote more FLS sites in Taiwan with a main goal of ameliorating further health burden in managing osteoporotic patients.