Common Neurological Disorders Involving Inpatient Liaisons at a Secondary Referral Hospital in Taiwan: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study

Chih-Yang Liu,Han-Lin Chiang,Ser-Chen Fu,Yu-Chin Su,Cheng-Lun Hsiao,Fu-Yi Yang,Shinn-Kuang Lin 대한신경과학회 2016 Journal of Clinical Neurology Vol.12 No.1

Background and Purpose Te requirement for neurology liaison is increasing in accordance with the growing health care demands associated with aging populations. Te aim of this study was to characterize the nature of neurological inpatient liaisons (NILs) to help plan for the appropriate use of neurology resources. Methods Tis was a retrospective cross-sectional study of NILs in a secondary referral hospital over a 12-month period. Results Tere were 853 neurological consultations with a liaison rate of 3% per admission case. Chest medicine, gastroenterology, and infectious disease were the three most frequent specialties requesting liaison, and altered consciousness, seizure, and stroke were the three most frequent disorders for which a NIL was requested. Infection was the most common cause of altered consciousness. Epilepsy, infection, and previous stroke were common causes of seizure disorders. Acute stroke accounted for 44% of all stroke disorders. Electroencephalography was the most recommended study, and was also the most frequently performed. Ninety-fve percent of emergency consultations were completed within 2 hours, and 85% of regular consultations were completed within 24 hours. Te consult-to-visit times for emergency and regular consultations were 44±47 minutes (mean±standard deviation) and 730±768 minutes, respectively, and were shorter for regular consultations at intensive care units (p=0.0151) and for seizure and stroke disorders (p=0.0032). Conclusions Altered consciousness, seizure, and stroke were the most common reasons for NILs. Half of the patients had acute neurological diseases warranting immediate diagnosis and treatment by the consulting neurologists. Balancing increasing neurologist workloads and appropriate health-care resources remains a challenge.

rs10505474 and rs7837328 at 8q24 Cumulatively Confer Risk of Prostate Cancer in Northern Han Chinese

Zhang, Lin-Lin,Sun, Liang,Zhu, Xiao-Quan,Xu, Yong,Yang, Kuo,Yang, Fan,Yang, Yi-Ge,Chen, Guo-Qiang,Fu, Ji-Cheng,Zheng, Chen-Guang,Li, Ying,Mu, Xiao-Qiu,Shi, Xiao-Hong,Zhao, Fan,Wang, Fei,Yang, Ze,Wang, Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.7

Aims: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified several risk variants for prostate cancer (pCa) mainly in Europeans, which need to be further verified in other racial groups. We selected six previously identified variants as candidates and to define the association with PCa in Northern Han Chinese. Methods: 749 subjects from Beijing and Tianjin in Northern China were included. Six variants (rs10505474, rs7837328, rs4242384, rs7813, rs486907 and rs1058205) were genotyped by high resolution melting (HRM) assays. The individual and cumulative contribution for of the risk of PCa and clinical covariates were analyzed. Results: Among the six candidate variants, onlyrs10505474, and rs7837328, both locating at 8q24 region, were associated with PCa in our population.rs10505474 (A) was associated with PCa ($OR_{recessive}=1.56$, p=0.006); and rs7837328 (A) was associated with PCa ($OR_{dominant}=1.38$, p=0.042/$OR_{recessive}=1.99$, p=0.003). Moreover, we observed a cumulative effects between them ($p_{trend}=2.58{\times}10^{-5}$). The joint population attributable risk showed the two variants might account for 71.85% of PCa risk. In addition, we found the homozygotes of rs10505474 (A) and rs7837328 (A) were associated with PCa clinical covariants (age at onset, tumor stage, respectively) ($p_{age}=0.046$, $P_{tumorstage}=0.048$). Conclusion: rs10505474 (A) and rs7387328 (A) at 8q24 are associated with PCa and cumulatively confer risk, suggesting the two variations could determine susceptibility to PCa in the Northern Chinese Han population.

A comparative study on population development patterns of Sogatella furcifera between tropical and subtropical areas

Yang Hu,Jia-An CHENG,Zengrong Zhu,Kong Luen Heong,Qiang Fu,Jiachun He 한국응용곤충학회 2014 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.17 No.4

The White-backed Planthopper (WBPH), Sogatella furcifera (Horváth (Hemiptera: Delphacidae)) has been the most serious pest threatening rice production in Asia since the late 1970s. A series of field experiments using the same research protocol was carried out to compare the effects of main environmental factors on population development of WBPH in tropical (Philippines) and subtropical (China) areas in 2010–2012 and to provide further evidences of ecological mechanisms involved that cause frequent outbreak in subtropical rice. Outcomes showed that WBPH population in subtropical area could be characterized as the higher population growth rates and higher peak densities. The average growth rate (116.60 ± 46.16) in subtropical area was significantly higher than that in tropical area (24.02± 11.25). The higher realized fecundity in subtropical area indicated that the higher growth rates and higher peak densities were mainly related to the poor natural regulating forces in subtropical area. Our results showed that resistant variety could significantly reduce the peak density in subtropical areas, but not in tropical areas. We inferred that the reason for not detecting the effect of resistant variety in tropical area was due to the dominant controlling effects provided by natural enemies,which means that the natural regulating effect in tropical areawas strong enough to disguise the effects of resistant variety. The significant interactions between plant resistance and location demonstrated that integration of natural enemies and use of plant resistance could play important roles for reducing outbreak frequency of WBPH effectively in subtropical rice.

Concomitant Acromioclavicular and Coracoclavicular Ligament Reconstruction with a Duo-Figure-8 Autogenic Graft Wrapping Technique for Treating Chronic Acromioclavicular Separation

Fu-Ting Huang,Kai-Cheng Lin,Chih-Yang Lin,Wei-Ning Chang 대한정형외과학회 2021 Clinics in Orthopedic Surgery Vol.13 No.3

Background: Coracoacromial ligament transfer is the traditional procedure for treating chronic acromioclavicular separation, but it is significantly inferior to ligament reconstruction according to biomechanical and clinical studies. However, ligament reconstruction carries the risk of complications of graft loosening and peri-tunnel fractures. Currently, there is no ligament reconstruction procedure optimal for preventing such complications. The purpose of this study was to describe and retrospectively analyze the clinical and radiological outcomes of a “duo-figure-8” autogenic graft wrapping technique, which was used to concomitantly reconstruct the acromioclavicular and coracoclavicular ligaments. Methods: Preoperative, immediate postoperative, and final follow-up oputcomes were evaluated in 10 enrolled patients. Radiographic outcomes were indicated by the bilateral difference of the coracoclavicular distance (CCD) and overlapping length of the acromioclavicular joint (OLac). Quality of reduction was classified into 4 grades according to bilateral CCD difference into overreduction (< 0 mm), anatomic reduction (0–4 mm), partial loss of reduction (4–8 mm), and recurrent dislocation (> 8 mm). Clinical outcomes were evaluated using the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) and Constant scores. Results: The mean side-to-side differences for CCD were 11.9 mm (preoperative), −0.1 mm (immediate postoperative), and 3.4 mm (final follow-up); those for OLac were 9.4 mm (preoperative) and 2.7 mm (final follow-up). CCD and OLac outcomes significantly improved at final follow-up (p < 0.05). At the immediate postoperative stage, 6 and 4 patients had overreduction and anatomic reduction, respectively. At final follow-up, 7 and 3 patients had anatomic reduction and partial loss of reduction, respectively. The magnitude of improvement of ASES scores for patients with anatomic reduction and partial loss of reduction (p = 0.20) was 18.1 and 20.0, respectively. The magnitude of improvement of Constant scores in patients with anatomic reduction and partial loss of reduction (p = 0.25) was 19.9 and 22.3, respectively. Conclusions: The technique yielded acceptable functional outcomes in patients with anatomic reduction or partial loss of reduction. The “duo-figure-8” wrapping method—a single autogenic tendon graft passing beneath the coracoid process with a tendonknot fixation over the distal clavicle and looping around the acromion intramedullary—did not increase the risk of peri-tunnel fractures over the clavicle, coracoid process, or acromion.

Hydrodynamic coupling distance between a falling sphere and downstream wall

Lin, Cheng-Chuan,Huang, Hung-Tien,Yang, Fu-Ling Techno-Press 2018 Coupled systems mechanics Vol.7 No.4

In solid-liquid two phase flow, the knowledge of how descending solid particles affected by the presence of downstream wall is important. This work studies at what interstitial distance the velocity of a vertically descending sphere is affected by a downstream wall as a consequence of wall-modified hydrodynamic forces through a validated dynamic model. This interstitial distance-the hydrodynamic coupling distance ${\delta}_c-is$ found to decay monotonically with the approach Stokes number St which compares the particle inertia to viscous drag characterized by the quasi-steady Stokes' drag. The scaling relation ${\delta}_c-St-1$ decays monotonically as literature below the value of St equal to 10. However, the faster diminishing rate is found above the threshold value from St=10-40. Furthermore, an empirical relation of ${\delta}_c-St$ shows dependence on the drop height which clearly indicates the non-negligible effect of unsteady hydrodynamic force components, namely the added mass force and the history force. Finally, we attempt a fitting relation which embedded the particle acceleration effect in the dependence of fitting constants on the diameter-scaled drop height.

Validation of Pharyngeal Acid Reflux Episodes Using Hypopharyngeal Multichannel Intraluminal Impedance-pH

Yen-Yang Chen,Chen-Chi Wang,Ying-Cheng Lin,John Y Kao,Chun-Yi Chuang,Yung-An Tsou,Ja-Chih Fu,Sheng-Shun Yang,Chi-Sen Chang,Han-Chung Lien 대한소화기 기능성질환∙운동학회 2023 Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility (JNM Vol.29 No.1

Background/AimsHypopharyngeal multichannel intraluminal impedance-pH (HMII-pH) technology incorporating 2 trans-upper esophageal sphincter impedance channels has been developed to detect pharyngeal reflux. We used the HMII-pH technique to validate the candidate pharyngeal acid reflux (PAR) episodes based on the dual-pH tracings and determined the interobserver reproducibility. MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study in tertiary centers in Taiwan. Ninety patients with suspected laryngopharyngeal reflux and 28 healthy volunteers underwent HMII-pH test when off acid suppressants. Candidate PAR episodes were characterized by pharyngeal pH drops of at least 2 units and reaching a nadir pH of 5 within 30 seconds during esophageal acidification. Two experts manually independently identified candidate PAR episodes based on the dual-pH tracings. By reviewing the HMII-pH tracings, HMII-pH-proven PAR episodes were subsequently confirmed. The consensus reviews of HMII-pH-proven PAR episodes were considered to be the reference standard diagnosis. The interobserver reproducibility was assessed. ResultsA total of 105 candidate PAR episodes were identified. Among them 84 (80.0%; 95% CI, 71.0-87.0%) were HMII-pH-proven PAR episodes (82 in 16 patients and 2 in 1 healthy subject). Patients tended to have more HMII-pH-proven PAR episodes than healthy controls (median and percentile values [25th, 75th, and 95th percentiles]: 0 [0, 0, 3] vs 0 [0, 0, 0], P = 0.067). The concordance rate in diagnosing HMII-pH-proven PAR episodes between 2 independent observers was 92.2%. ConclusionOur preliminary data showed that 80.0% (71.0-87.0%) of the proposed candidate PAR episodes were HMII-pH-proven PAR episodes, among which the interobserver reproducibility was good.

Chinese Society of Allergy Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment of Allergic Rhinitis

Lei Cheng,Jianjun Chen,Qingling Fu,Shaoheng He,Huabin Li,Zheng Liu,Guolin Tan,Zezhang Tao,Dehui Wang,Weiping Wen,Rui Xu,Yu Xu,Qintai Yang,Chonghua Zhang,Gehua Zhang,Ruxin Zhang,Yuan Zhang,Bing Zhou,Do 대한천식알레르기학회 2018 Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research Vol.10 No.4

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a global health problem that causes major illnesses and disabilities worldwide. Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that the prevalence of AR has increased progressively over the last few decades in more developed countries and currently affects up to 40% of the population worldwide. Likewise, a rising trend of AR has also been observed over the last 2-3 decades in developing countries including China, with the prevalence of AR varying widely in these countries. A survey of self-reported AR over a 6-year period in the general Chinese adult population reported that the standardized prevalence of adult AR increased from 11.1% in 2005 to 17.6% in 2011. An increasing number of original articles and imporclinical trials on the epidemiology, pathophysiologic mechanisms, diagnosis, management and comorbidities of AR in Chinese subjects have been published in international peer-reviewed journals over the past 2 decades, and substantially added to our understanding of this disease as a global problem. Although guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of AR in Chinese subjects have also been published, they have not been translated into English and therefore not generally accessible for reference to non-Chinese speaking international medical communities. Moreover, methods for the diagnosis and treatment of AR in China have not been standardized entirely and some patients are still treated according to regional preferences. Thus, the present guidelines have been developed by the Chinese Society of Allergy to be accessible to both national and international medical communities involved in the management of AR patients. These guidelines have been prepared in line with existing international guidelines to provide evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and management of AR in China.

Role of miR-511 in the Regulation of OATP1B1 Expression by Free Fatty Acid

( Jin Fu Peng ),( Li Liu ),( Cheng Xian Guo ),( Shi Kun Liu ),( Xiao Ping Chen ),( Li Hua Huang ),( Hong Xiang ),( Zhi Jun Huang ),( Hong Yuan ),( Guo Ping Yang ) 한국응용약물학회 2015 Biomolecules & Therapeutics(구 응용약물학회지) Vol.23 No.5

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a family of non-coding RNA that are able to adjust the expression of many proteins, including ATPbinding cassette transporter and organic cation transporter. We sought to evaluate the effect of miR-511 on the regulation of OATP1B1 expression by free fatty acids. When using free fatty acids to stimulate Chang liver cells, we found that the expression of miR-511 increased significantly while the expression of OATP1B1 decreased. We also proved that SLCO1B1 is the target gene of miR-511 with a bioinformatics analysis and using the dual luciferase reporter assay. Furthermore, the expressions of SLCO1B1 and OATP1B1 decreased if transfecting Chang liver cells with miR-511, but did not increase when transfecting the inhibitors of miR-511 into steatosis cells. Our study indicates that miR-511 may play an important role in the regulation of OATP1B1 expression by free fatty acids.

Sagittal Pelvic Radius in Low-Grade Isthmic Lumbar Spondylolisthesis of Chinese Population

Zhao, Yang,Shen, Cai-Liang,Zhang, Ren-Jie,Cheng, Da-Wei,Dong, Fu-Long,Wang, Jun The Korean Neurosurgical Society 2016 Journal of Korean neurosurgical society Vol.59 No.3

Objective : To investigate the variation of pelvic radius and related parameters in low-grade isthmic lumbar spondylolisthesis. Methods : Seventy-four patients with isthmic lumbar spondylolisthesis and 47 controls were included in this study. There were 17 males and 57 females between 30 and 66 years of age, including 30 with grade I slippages and 44 grade II slippages; diseased levels included 34 cases on L4 and 40 cases on L5. Thoracic kyphosis (TK), the pelvic radius (PR), the pelvic angle (PA), pelvic morphology (PR-S1), and total lumbopelvic lordosis (PR-T12) were assessed from radiographs. Results : Statistically significant differences were found for the PA, PR-T12, and PR-S1 ($24.5{\pm}6.6^{\circ}$, $83.7{\pm}9.8^{\circ}$, and $25.4{\pm}11.2^{\circ}$, respectively) of the patients with spondylolisthesis and the healthy volunteers ($13.7{\pm}7.8^{\circ}$, $92.9{\pm}9.2^{\circ}$, and $40.7{\pm}8.9^{\circ}$, respectively). The TK/PR-T12 ratios were between 0.15 and 0.75. However, there were no differences in all the parameters between the L4 and L5 spondylolysis subgroups (p>0.05). The TK and PR-S1 of grade II were less than grade I, but the PA was greater. The PR-T12 of female patients were less than male patients, but the PA was greater (p<0.05). Conclusion : Pelvic morphology differed in patients with low-grade isthmic lumbar spondylolisthesis compared to controls. Gender and the grade of slippage impacted the sagittal configuration of the pelvis, but the segment of the vertebral slip did not. Overall, the spine of those with spondylolisthesis remains able to maintain sagittal balance despite abnormal pelvic morphology.

Bionic natural small molecule co-assemblies towards targeted and synergistic Chemo/PDT/CDT

Shiyao Fu,Mingao Wang,Bin Li,Xu Li,Jianjun Cheng,Haitian Zhao,Hua Zhang,Aijun Dong,Weihong Lu,Xin Yang 한국생체재료학회 2023 생체재료학회지 Vol.27 No.00

Background Multi-component nano-delivery systems based on chemotherapy (chemo)- photodynamic therapy (PDT)- chemodynamic therapy (CDT) have gained increased attention as a promising strategy to improve clinical outcomes in cancer treatment. However, there remains a challenge in developing biodegradable, biocompatible, less toxic, yet highly efficient multicomponent nanobased drug delivery systems (DDS). Here, our study presents the screening and development of a novel DDS based on co-assemblies natural small molecule (NSMs). These molecules (oleanolic acid, and betulinic acid) are combined with photosensitizers Chlorine6 (Ce6) and Cu2+ that are encapsulated by tumor cell membranes. This nanocarrier encapsulated in tumor cell membranes achieved good tumor targeting and a significant improvement in tumor accumulation. Methods A reprecipitation method was used to prepare the co-assembled nanocarrier, followed by the introduction of Cu2 + into the DDS (OABACe6 NPs). Then, by wrapping the surface of NPs with the cell membranes of 4T1 which is a kind of mouse breast cancer cells (CM@OABACe6/Cu NPs). and analysis of its structure and size distribution with UV– Vis, XPS, FT-IR, SEM, TEM, and DLS. The synergistic effects of in vitro chemotherapy, CDT and PDT and targeting were also validated by cellular and animal studies. Results It was shown that CM@OABACe6/Cu NPs achieved good tumor targeting and a significant improvement in tumor accumulation. In the composite nano-assembly, the NSMs work together with the Ce6 to provide effective and safe chemo and PDT. Moreover, the effect of reduced PDT due to the depletion of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by excess glutathione (GSH) in the tumor can be counteracted when Cu2 + is introduced. More importantly, it also confers CDT through a Fenton-like catalytic reaction with H2O overexpressed at the tumor site. Conclusions By constructing CM@OABACe6/Cu NPs with homologous targeting, we create a triple synergistic platform for cancer therapy using PDT, chemo, and CDT. We propose here a novel combinatorial strategy for designing more naturally co-assembled small molecules, especially for the development of multifunctional synergistic therapies that utilize NSMs.