Stimulating or Suppressing - The Effects of Different Types of Instruction on Rated Creativity

Jenny Liu,Weihua Niu,Debora Day 대한사고개발학회 2010 The International Journal of Creativity & Problem Vol.20 No.2

A total of 128 high school sophomores in two different academic levels participated in a study to examine the effect of different instructions on rated creativity. In each level, students were randomly assigned into one of three groups and were given instructions emphasizing no special focus, positive encouragement, or pressured encouragement, to use in completing two creativity tasks in the art and literature domains. It was hypothesized that both positive and pressured encourage-ment instructions would promote students’ creativity. It was also hypothesized that students with relatively higher academic preparation (level 1) would benefit more from the positive encouragement instruction, whereas students with relatively lower academic preparation (level 2) would benefit more from the pressured encouragement instruction. A 2 (domain of creativity: art and literature) X 3 (ways of instruction: no-focus, positive encouragement, and pressured encouragement) X 2 (gender: female and male) X 2 (academic level: level 1 vs. level 2) factorial mixed design ANCOVA was used to analyze the data to test the above two hypothesis. Results in both domains of this study supported the two hypotheses. In addition, results also indicated that girls’ average creativity is negatively affected by pressured encouragement instruction while boys’ is not. Findings from this research will assist in future studies exploring promoting individuals’ creativity in high school.

Ledipasvir/Sofosbuvir for 12 Weeks Is Safe and Effective in CHC and CHB Coinfection Patients: A Phase 3 Study in Taiwan

( Chun-Jen Liu ),( Wan-Long Chuang ),( I-Shyan Sheen ),( Horng-Yuan Wang ),( Chi-Yi Chen ),( Kuo-Chih Tseng ),( Ting-Tsung Chang ),( Benede tta Massetto ),( Jenny Yang ),( Gregory Camus ),( Fangqiu Zh 대한간학회 2017 춘·추계 학술대회 (KASL) Vol.2017 No.1

Aims: Patients co-infected with HCV and HBV have more rapid progression and worse outcomes than mono-infected patients. Taiwan has among the highest prevalence of chronic HCV/HBV coinfection in Southeast Asia. This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of an all-oral treatment with ledipasvir(LDV)/sofosbuvir(SOF) for 12 weeks in chronic HCV and HBV coinfection. Methods: Patients with or without compensated cirrhosis chronic HCV GT1/GT2 and HBV (HBsAg+) treatment naïve were enrolled into open-label, receiving LDV 90 mg/SOF 400 mg(QD) for 12 weeks. The primary efficacy endpoint is SVR12. HBV DNA was monitored at all study visits and it will be monitored for 2 years post-treatment. Results: A total of 111 patients (68[61%] with GT1 and 43[39%] with GT2) were enrolled and treated. The majority were female(62%), treatment naive(67%), and non-cirrhotic(85%), with a mean age of 55 years and mean BMI of 24.5kg/m2. All but one was HBeAg negative. Mean baseline HBV DNA was 2.1 log10IU/mL. SVR4 was 100%(111/111). The mean change in HBV DNA ranged from -0.06 log10IU/mL at week 1 to +0.49 log10IU/mL at follow-up visit 4; HBV DNA kinetics are shown in Fig 1. 60(54%) patients had an increase in HBV DNA> 10 x BL or became HBV DNA > LLOQ. No patients had ALT ≥ 2 X baseline. No patients discontinued treatment due to adverse events (AEs). Three patients had serious AEs(optic neuritis, post procedural bleeding and duodenal ulcer bleeding; none was considered drug related). Conclusions: In chronic HCV/HBV infection patients, LDV/SOF for 12 weeks resulted in an SVR4 rate of 100%. Although most patients had an increase in HBV DNA during treatment, this was not associated with ALT elevations ≥2 X baseline, and no patients started HBV therapy to date. This all-oral, interferon-free regimen was well tolerated, supporting its potential as a treatment option for HCV/HBV co-infected patients.

Health-related quality of life associated with regorafenib treatment in refractory advanced gastric adenocarcinoma

Martin, Andrew J.,Gibbs, Emma,Sjoquist, Katrin,Pavlakis, Nick,Simes, John,Price, Tim,Shannon, Jenny,Gill, Sanjeev,Jain, Vikram,Liu, Geoffrey,Kannourakis, George,Kim, Yeul Hong,Kim, Jin Won,Goldstein, Springer-Verlag 2018 Gastric cancer Vol.21 No.3

Modeling the effect of climate change on U.S. state-level buildings energy demands in an integrated assessment framework

Zhou, Yuyu,Clarke, Leon,Eom, Jiyong,Kyle, Page,Patel, Pralit,Kim, Son H.,Dirks, James,Jensen, Erik,Liu, Ying,Rice, Jennie,Schmidt, Laurel,Seiple, Timothy Elsevier 2014 APPLIED ENERGY Vol.113 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P><B>Objective</B></P> <P>Because long-term socioeconomic transformation and energy service expansion show large spatial heterogeneity, advanced understanding of climate change impact on buildings energy use at the sub-national level will offer useful insights into climate policy and regional energy system planning.</P> <P><B>Methods</B></P> <P>In this study, we present a detailed buildings energy model with U.S. state-level representation, nested in an integrated assessment framework of the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM). We project state-level buildings energy demand and its spatial pattern through the end of the century, considering the impact of climate change based on the estimates of heating and cooling degree days derived from downscaled USGS CASCaDE temperature data.</P> <P><B>Results</B></P> <P>The results indicate that climate change has a large impact on heating and cooling buildings energy and fuel use at the state level and that the 48 U.S. contiguous states exhibit a large spatial heterogeneity (ranges from −10% to+10% for total, −10% to+20% for electricity use and −20% to −5% for oil and gas use in the A2 scenario). Sensitivity analysis explores the potential implications of multiple driving forces, including climate action that would both change the price of energy and reduce climate change, the choice of climate models, and population and GDP growth. In addition, the 50-state building model is compared to a comparable version of the model which represents the entire United States as one region.</P> <P><B>Conclusions</B></P> <P>The study clearly demonstrates the spatially varying nature of fuel consumption changes that might occur from a changing climate. Although the study illustrates the importance of incorporating climate change into infrastructure-planning exercises, it also demonstrates that uncertainties about underlying drivers still must weigh heavily on these planning decisions. Finally, the study demonstrates that the 50-state building model provides both insights at the regional level and potentially better national-level estimates.</P> <P><B>Practice implication</B></P> <P>The findings from this study will help the climate-based policy decision and energy system, especially utility planning related to the buildings sector at the U.S. state and regional level facing the potential climate change.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Climate change has spatially heterogeneous impact on heating and cooling energy and fuel uses in building sector. </LI> <LI> Building energy and fuel uses are sensitive to other factors such as climate policy as well as climate change. </LI> <LI> The 50-state building model provides both insights at the regional level and potentially better national-level estimates. </LI> <LI> Climate change impact on building electricity use is critical, and needs to be incorporated in infrastructure planning. </LI> </UL> </P>

G2A Attenuates Propionibacterium acnes Induction of Inflammatory Cytokines in Human Monocytes

( Andrew J Park ),( George W Agak ),( Min Qin ),( Lisa D Hisaw ),( Aslan Pirouz ),( Stephanie Kao ),( Laura J Marinelli ),( Hermes J Garban ),( Diane Thiboutot ),( Philip T Liu ),( Jenny Kim ) 대한피부과학회 2017 Annals of Dermatology Vol.29 No.6

Background: Acne vulgaris is a disease of the pilosebaceous unit characterized by increased sebum production, hyperkeratinization, and immune responses to Propionibacterium acnes (PA). Here, we explore a possible mechanism by which a lipid receptor, G2A, regulates immune responses to a commensal bacterium. Objective: To elucidate the inflammatory properties of G2A in monocytes in response to PA stimulation. Furthermore, our study sought to investigate pathways by which lipids modulate immune responses in response to PA. Methods: Our studies focused on monocytes collected from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, the monocytic cell line THP-1, and a lab strain of PA. Our studies involved the use of enzyme-linked immunosorbent, Western blot, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, small interfering RNA (siRNA), and microarray analysis of human acne lesions in the measurements of inflammatory markers. Results: G2A gene expression is higher in acne lesions compared to normal skin and is inducible by the acne therapeutic, 13-cis -retinoic acid. In vitro, PA induces both the Toll-like receptor 2-dependent expression of G2A as well as the production of the G2A ligand, 9-hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid, from human monocytes. G2A gene knockdown through siRNA enhances PA stimulation of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and IL-1β possibly through increased activation of the ERK1/2 MAP kinase and nuclear factor kappa B p65 pathways. Conclusion: G2A may play a role in quelling inflammatory cytokine response to PA, revealing G2A as a potential attenuator of inflammatory response in a disease associated with a commensal bacterium. (Ann Dermatol 29(6) 688∼698, 2017)