Outcomes of limited period of adalimumab treatment in moderate to severe Crohn’s disease patients: Taiwan Society of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Study

( Wei-chen Lin ),( Jen-wei Chou ),( Hsu-heng Yen ),( Wen-hung Hsu ),( Hung-hsin Lin ),( Jen-kou Lin ),( Chiao-hsiung Chuang ),( Tien-yu Huang ),( Horng-yuan Wang ),( Shu-chen Wei ),( Jau-min Wong ) 대한장연구학회 2017 Intestinal Research Vol.15 No.4

Background/Aims: In Taiwan, due to budget limitations, the National Health Insurance only allows for a limited period of biologics use in treating moderate to severe Crohn’s disease (CD). We aimed to access the outcomes of CD patients following a limited period use of biologics, specifically focusing on the relapse rate and remission duration; also the response rate to second use when applicable. Methods: This was a multicenter, retrospective, observational study and we enrolled CD patients who had been treated with adalimumab (ADA) according to the insurance guidelines from 2009 to 2015. Results: A total of 54 CD patients, with follow-up of more than 6 months after the withdrawal of ADA, were enrolled. The average period of treatment with ADA was 16.7±9.7 months. After discontinuing ADA, 59.3% patients suffered a clinical relapse. In the univariate analysis, the reason for withdrawal was a risk factor for relapse (P=0.042). In the multivariate analysis, current smoker became an important risk factor for relapse (OR, 3.9; 95% CI, 1.2-14.8; P=0.044) and male sex was another risk factor (OR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.1-8.6; P=0.049). For those 48 patients who received a second round of biologics, the clinical response was seen in 60.4%, and 1 anaphylaxis occurred. Conclusions: Fifty-nine percent of patients experienced a relapse after discontinuing the limited period of ADA treatment, and most of them occurred within 1 year following cessation. Male sex and current smoker were risk factors for relapse. Though 60.4% of the relapse patients responded to ADA again. (Intest Res 2017;15:487-494)

Safety and Efficacy of Adalimumab for Patients With Moderate to Severe Crohn`s Disease: The Taiwan Society of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (TSIBD) Study

( Chen Wang Chang ),( Shu Chen Wei ),( Jen Wei Chou ),( Tzu Chi Hsu ),( Chiao Hsiung Chuang ),( Ching Pin Lin ),( Wen Hung Hsu ),( Hsu Heng Yen ),( Jen Kou Lin ),( Yi Jen Fang ),( Horng Yuan Wang ),( 대한장연구학회 2014 Intestinal Research Vol.12 No.4

Background/Aims: Only moderate to severe Crohn`s Disease (CD) patients without a satisfactory conventional therapy effect are eligible to get reimbursement from the National Health Insurance of Taiwan for using adalimumab. These are more stringent criteria than in many Western countries and Japan and Korea. We aim to explore the efficacy of using adalimumab in CD patients under such stringent criteria. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted in nine medical centers in Taiwan and we collected the results of CD patients receiving adalimumab from Sep 2009 to Mar 2014. The clinical characteristics, response measured by CDAI (Crohn`s Disease Activity Index), adverse events and survival status were recorded and analyzed. CR-70, CR-100, and CR-150 were defined as attaining a CDAI decrease of 70, 100 or 150 points compared with baseline. Results: A total of 103 CD patient records were used in this study. Sixty percent of these patients received combination therapy of adalimumab together with immunomodulators. CR-70 was 68.7%, 74.5% and 88.4% after week 4, 8 and 12 of treatment, respectively. The steroid-free rate, complications and survival were 47.6%, 9.7% and 99% of patients, respectively. In considering the mucosal healing, only 25% patients achieve mucosal healing after treatment for 6 to12 months. Surgery was still needed in 16.5% of patients. Combination treatment of adalimumab with immunomodulators further decreased the level of CDAI at week 8 when compared with the monotherapy. Conclusions: Even under the stringent criteria for using adalimumab, the response rate was comparable to those without stringent criteria. (Intest Res 2014;12:287-292)

Study on mechanical behaviors of large diameter shield tunnel during assembling

Feng, Kun,Peng, Zuzhao,Wang, Chuang,He, Chuan,Wang, Qianshen,Wang, Wei,Cao, Songyu,Wang, Shimin,Zhang, Haihua Techno-Press 2018 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.21 No.5

In order to study the mechanical behavior of shield tunnel segments during assembly stage, the in-situ tests and FDM numerical simulation were conducted based on the Foguan Shiziyang Tunnel with large cross-section. Analysis for the load state of the assembling segments in different assembly steps as well as the investigation for the changing of inner forces and longitudinal stress of segments with assembling steps were carried out in this paper. By comparing the tested results with the simulated results, the conclusions and suggestions could be drawn as follows: (1) It is the most significant for the effects on axial force and bending moment caused by the assembly of adjacent segment, followed by the insertion of key segment while the effects in the other assembly steps are relative smaller. With the increasing value of axial force, the negative bending moment turns into positive and remains increasing in most monitored sections, while the bending moment of segment B1and B6 are negative and keeping increasing; (2) The closer the monitored section to the adjacent segments or the key segment, the more significant the internal forces response, and the monitored effects of key segment insertion are more obvious than that of calculation; (3) The axial forces are all in compression during assembling and the monitored values are about 1.5~1.75 times larger than the calculated values, and the monitored values of bending moment are about 2 times the numerical calculation. The bending moment is more sensitive to the segments assembly process compared with axial force, and it will result in the large bending moment of segments during assembling when the construction parameters are not suitable or the assembly error is too large. However, the internal forces in assembly stage are less than those in normal service stage; (4) The distribution of longitudinal stress has strong influence on the changing of the internal forces. The segment side surface and intrados in the middle of two adjacent jacks are the crack-sensitive positions in the early assembly stage, and subsequently segment corners far away from the jacks become the crack-sensitive parts either.

Expression profiles of circular RNAs in sheep skeletal muscle

Cao, Yang,You, Shuang,Yao, Yang,Liu, Zhi-Jin,Hazi, Wureli,Li, Cun-Yuan,Zhang, Xiang-Yu,Hou, Xiao-Xu,Wei, Jun-Chang,Li, Xiao-Yue,Wang, Da-Wei,Chen, Chuang-Fu,Zhang, Yun-Feng,Ni, Wei,Hu, Sheng-Wei Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2018 Animal Bioscience Vol.31 No.10

Objective: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a newfound class of non-coding RNA in animals and plants. Recent studies have revealed that circRNAs play important roles in cell proliferation, differentiation, autophagy and apoptosis during development. However, there are few reports about muscle development-related circRNAs in livestock. Methods: RNA sequencing analysis was employed to identify and annotate circRNAs from longissimus dorsi of sheep. Reverse transcription followed by real-time quantitative (q) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis verified the presence of these circRNAs. Targetscan7.0 and miRanda were used to analyse the interaction of circRNA-microRNA (miRNA). To investigate the function of circRNAs, an experiment was conducted to perform enrichment analysis hosting genes of circRNAs using gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathways. Results: About 75.5 million sequences were obtained from RNA libraries of sheep skeletal muscle. These sequences were mapped to 729 genes in the sheep reference genome. We identified 886 circRNAs, including numerous circular intronic RNAs and exonic circRNAs. Reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and DNA sequencing analysis confirmed the presence of several circRNAs. Real-Time RT-PCR analysis exhibited resistance of sheep circRNAs to RNase R digestion. We found that many circRNAs interacted with muscle-specific miRNAs involved in growth and development of muscle, especially circ776. The GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that hosting genes of circRNAs was involved in muscle cell development and signaling pathway. Conclusion: The study provides comprehensive expression profiles of circRNAs in sheep skeletal muscle. Our study offers a large number of circRNAs to facilitate a better understanding of their roles in muscle growth. Meanwhile, we suggested that circ776 could be analyzed in future study.

Bivariate GARCH-Jump Model

Chuang-Chang Chang,Hsiao-Wei Ho,Tzu-Hsiang Liao,Yaw-Huei Wang 한국재무학회 2011 한국재무학회 학술대회 Vol.2011 No.09

In this paper we consider the pricing of quanto derivatives with the bivariate GARCH-Jump model, in which jumps take place in the price kernel, and consequently in foreign asset returns and in exchange rates. In the empirical investigation, we use Dow Jones, NASDAQ and NIKKEI 225 indexes, exchange rates and corresponding index warrants data to examine the effects of jump on derivative pricing. The empirical results suggest that the unrestricted bivariate NGARCH-Jump model outperforms the other four models considered in this study. The evidence also reveals that the average pricing error is the smallest for the unrestricted bivariate NGARCH-Jump model. Hence, the nonlinear asymmetric model with jumps captures the dynamics of index return and exchange rate well.

A Clinical Database of Breast Cancer Patients Reveals Distinctive Clinico-pathological Characteristics: a Study From Central China

Wang, Lin-Wei,Yang, Gui-Fang,Chen, Jia-Mei,Yang, Fang,Yuan, Jing-Ping,Sun, Sheng-Rong,Chen, Chuang,Hu, Ming-Bai,Li, Yan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.4

Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor in females worldwide. Many differences exist in clinico-pathological characteristics of breast cancer patients between China and Western countries. This study aimed to analyze clinico-pathological characteristics of breast cancer from central China. Methods: Clinico-pathological information on breast cancer from three hospitals in central China was collected and analyzed. Results: From 1994 to 2012, 2,525 patients with a median age 50 years were included in this study. The 45-49-year age group and invasive ductal carcinoma not otherwise specified accounted for the highest proportions (19.1%, 480/2,525 and 81.0%, 1,982/2,446). Stages 0-I, II and III accounted for 28.0% (682/2,441), 48.4% (1,180/2,441), and 23.7% (578/2,441), respectively. Distribution of N stage showed that N0 accounted for 53.2% (1,344/2,525), and proportion of N0 rose from 51.1% (157/307) in 30-39-year age group to 64.3% (110/171) in ${\geq}$ 70-year age group, with an average increase of 2.1% in each age group. Modified radical mastectomy, radical mastectomy, breast-conserving surgery and simple mastectomy were performed for 71.8% (1,812/2,525), 18.0% (454/2,525), 5.2% (131/2,525) and 2.6% (66/2,525), respectively. Proportions of breast-conserving surgery in age ${\leq}$ 44-year group (68/132, 51.5%) and simple mastectomy in age ${\geq}$ 60-year group (57/89, 64.0%) were higher than in the other age groups. Breast cancers positive for estrogen receptor accounted for 53.0% (1,107/ 2,112). The comparisons among this study and other reports showed higher proportion of younger patients, lower proportion of breast-conserving surgery and positive estrogen receptor patients in China than western countries. Conclusions: Clinico-pathological characteristics in this study demonstrated clear differences between the center of China than Western countries. Additional classification systems should be developed to guide grading of early breast cancer more accurately, especially for N0 patients. Invasive ductal carcinoma is a focus for intensive research.

DPIM-Based InSAR Phase Unwrapping Model and a 3D Mining-Induced Surface Deformation Extracting Method: A Case of Huainan Mining Area

Chuang Jiang,Lei Wang,Xuexiang Yu,Shenshen Chi,Tao Wei,Xuelin Wang 대한토목학회 2021 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.25 No.2

The mining subsidence in mining area could cause large-gradient deformation in a short period of time. When the deformation gradient exceeds the threshold value of the Differential Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar (D-InSAR) technology monitoring gradient, D-InSAR technology is likely to cause the failure of InSAR phase unwrapping algorithm. At this time, the InSAR technology is unable to monitor the 3D surface deformation. Aiming at these problems, an dynamic probability integral method (DPIM)-based InSAR phase unwrapping model and a method of extracting 3D surface deformation were proposed. The phase unwrapping model firstly used the empirical parameters of the probability integral of the mining face to predict the line of sight (LOS) direction deformation phase of the mining subsidence surface. Secondly, the phase of differential interferogram was unwrapped with the assist of the predicted LOS deformation phase under the constraint of DPIM, and the true LOS deformationphase was obtained, then the true LOS deformation phase transformed into LOS deformation. Finally, according to the geometric projection relationship between the LOS deformation and 3D deformation of mining subsidence surface, the probability integral prior model was brought into the equation of the geometric projection relationship. On the basis of relevant boundary conditions, the 3D surface deformation was extracted from the LOS direction deformation field of mining subsidence. The feasibility of the method was verified by the simulation experiment results. The differential interferogram of the subsidence basin was obtained by the differential interference processing of image data of Sentinel-1A on Nov. 16, 2017 and Dec. 10, 2017 of 1613 working face of Guqiao South Mine. By using the DPIM-based phase unwrapping model, the phase of differential interferogram was unwrapped and the 3D surface deformation during this period as well as the deformation extraction method were developed. The results showed that the maximum fitting error value of subsidence was 79 mm, about 8.33% of the maximum value of subsidence, and the fitting error of mean square of subsidence was ±33.5 mm. The results showed that the DPIM-based phase unwrapping model and the method of extracting 3D surface deformation proposed in this paper have certain engineering application values.

Bioinspired Hierarchical Layer-within-network Structure of Polymer Nanocomposites for High-performance All-solid-state Flexible Supercapacitors

Wei-Tsung Chuang,Rong-Hao Guo,Che-Min Chou,Chun-Chieh Wang,Ming-Jay Deng,Jhih-Min Lin,Chun-Yu Chen,Yao-Chang Lee 한국고분자학회 2021 한국고분자학회 학술대회 연구논문 초록집 Vol.46 No.2

To meet future demands for cutting-edge wearable electronics, flexible supercapacitors must possess many features, such as eco-friendly processing, aesthetic appeal and no health hazards, in addition to have lightweight, robust and excellent cycling stability. We proposed a biomimetic and scalable method to fabricate an all-solid-state flexible supercapacitor (assFSC) using bioinspired clay/polymer nanocomposites as electrode materials and a gel electrolyte. Experimental results from X-ray techniques (tomography, scattering and diffraction) showed that the electrode’s structure features a 3D ant-nest-like framework composed of 2D nacre-like clay nanosheets, i.e. hierarchical layers-within-networks structure. Accordingly, the structural electrodes exhibit high tensile strength of 62 MPa, Young’s modulus of 4.4 GPa, and torsional strength of 165 MPa. Under a large operating potential of 4.0 V, the assFSC exhibited ultrahigh energy density (233.3 W h kg<SUP>-1</SUP> at 2 kW kg<SUP>-1</SUP>), ultrahigh power density (125 kW kg<SUP>-1</SUP> at 55.5 W h kg<SUP>-1</SUP>), and outstanding static cyclability (less than 10% loss after 5,000 cycles). We also performed a cycle-life test under dynamic deformation and demonstrated that the assFSC had charging and discharging abilities during motion, according to particle applications of wearable electronics. Thus stable and superior electrochemical performance can be attributed to the biomimetic layers-within-networks structure, which not only provided robust framework but also induced 3D conducting networks with increasing ion channels and shortening charge transports. The shapeable electrodes made by a molding process could, therefore, be used to meet the demands for fashionable, wearable electronics.

Evaluation of Malignancy Risk of Ampullary Tumors Detected by Endoscopy Using 2-[18F]FDG PET/CT

Chuang Pei-Ju,Wang Hsiu-Po,Tien Yu-Wen,Chin Wei-Shan,Hsieh Min-Shu,Chen Chieh-Chang,Hong Tzu-Chan,Ko Chi-Lun,Wu Yen-Wen,Cheng Mei-Fang 대한영상의학회 2024 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.25 No.3

Objective: We aimed to investigate whether 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (2-[18F]FDG PET/CT) can aid in evaluating the risk of malignancy in ampullary tumors detected by endoscopy. Materials and Methods: This single-center retrospective cohort study analyzed 155 patients (79 male, 76 female; mean age, 65.7 ± 12.7 years) receiving 2-[18F]FDG PET/CT for endoscopy-detected ampullary tumors 5–87 days (median, 7 days) after the diagnostic endoscopy between June 2007 and December 2020. The final diagnosis was made based on histopathological findings. The PET imaging parameters were compared with clinical data and endoscopic features. A model to predict the risk of malignancy, based on PET, endoscopy, and clinical findings, was generated and validated using multivariable logistic regression analysis and an additional bootstrapping method. The final model was compared with standard endoscopy for the diagnosis of ampullary cancer using the DeLong test. Results: The mean tumor size was 17.1 ± 7.7 mm. Sixty-four (41.3%) tumors were benign, and 91 (58.7%) were malignant. Univariable analysis found that ampullary neoplasms with a blood-pool corrected peak standardized uptake value in earlyphase scan (SUVe) ≥ 1.7 were more likely to be malignant (odds ratio [OR], 16.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 7.13–36.18; P < 0.001). Multivariable analysis identified the presence of jaundice (adjusted OR [aOR], 4.89; 95% CI, 1.80–13.33; P = 0.002), malignant traits in endoscopy (aOR, 6.80; 95% CI, 2.41–19.20; P < 0.001), SUVe ≥ 1.7 in PET (aOR, 5.43; 95% CI, 2.00–14.72; P < 0.001), and PET-detected nodal disease (aOR, 5.03; 95% CI, 1.16–21.86; P = 0.041) as independent predictors of malignancy. The model combining these four factors predicted ampullary cancers better than endoscopic diagnosis alone (area under the curve [AUC] and 95% CI: 0.925 [0.874–0.956] vs. 0.815 [0.732–0.873], P < 0.001). The model demonstrated an AUC of 0.921 (95% CI, 0.816–0.967) in candidates for endoscopic papillectomy. Conclusion: Adding 2-[18F]FDG PET/CT to endoscopy can improve the diagnosis of ampullary cancer and may help refine therapeutic decision-making, particularly when contemplating endoscopic papillectomy.

Synthesis, characterization, and properties of petroleum-based methacrylate polymers derived from tricyclodecane for microelectronics and optoelectronics applications

Chih-Wei Tsai,Kuo-Hui Wu,Je-Chuang Wang,Chien-Chou Shih 한국공업화학회 2017 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.53 No.-

Three types of petroleum-based tricycloalkyl-containing methacrylate polymers derived from adamantane and DCPD were synthesized and characterized, poly(1-adamantyl methacrylate) (PADMA), poly(tricyclodecyl methacrylate) (PTCDMA) and poly(1-adamantyl methacrylate-co-tricyclodecyl methacrylate) (P(ADMA-co-TCDMA)). As expected, the incorporation of a tricycloalkyl substituent as a pendant group on the methacrylate polymer contributed to enhancement of thermal stability in combination with high transparency in the UV–vis region and long-term thermal resistance, in addition to improved mechanical properties, a lower CTE, decreased water absorption and a lower dielectric constant. These merits make tricycloalkyl-containing methacrylate polymers promising candidates for use as high value-added optical plastics in the microelectronics and optoelectronics applications.