Perspective of red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) management in Taiwan

Rong-Nan Huang 한국응용곤충학회 2019 한국응용곤충학회 학술대회논문집 Vol.2019 No.04

The red imported fire ant (RIFA, Solenopsis invicta), an exotic species, detected in Taiwan in 2003 was originally from USA. A program was launched immediately under Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Council of Agriculture (BAPHIQ) in 2004 for RIFA management. The National Red Imported Fire Ant Control Center (NRIFACC) helps the BAPHIQ to integrate/coordinate the RIFA eradication program which involves every governmental department, however the actual implementation of prevention and control work is the local government. It has made a significant progress in public education, since our general public can recognize RIFA accurately now and succeed to localize RIFA in Northern Taiwan. However, nationwide RIFA eradication is still far from success, the major constraints of the eradication program in Taiwan include (1) RIFA had likely been in Taiwan longer than reported, (2) difficulty to detect incipient infestation, (3) mass reproductive queens that can spread over 10-20 km after nuptial flight, (4) movement control is not easy to perform, (5) man power or company for chemical treatment is not enough, (6) funding is insufficient to allow success, (7) meteorological condition disfavors the control practice. Fortunately, we have developed humidity resistant baits that could enhance the control efficiency of RIFA in humid or wet conditions and resolve the weather constraints of RIFA and other invasive ants control in wet tropical and subtropical habitats. For the success of NRIFACC eradication efforts, participation of all stakeholders would remain a very important strategy in the future. In particular, a centralized team would further facilitate the management of RIFA. Moreover, due to the increasing in international trades and the recent detection of RIFA in Japan and Korea, an international efforts and cooperation on RIFA management is a key issue to control global movements of RIFA.

Efficacy and Safety of 12 Weeks of Daclatasvir, Asunaprevir Plus Ribavirin for the Treatment of HCV Genotype 1b Infection without Baseline NS5A Resistance-Associated Variants (DARING)-Interim Report

( Ming-lung Yu ),( Chao-hung Hung ),( Yi-hsiang Huang ),( Cheng-yuan Peng ),( Chun-yen Lin ),( Pin-nan Cheng ),( Rong-nan Chien ),( Shih-jer Hsu ),( Chen-hua Liu ),( Jee-fu Huang ),( Chung-feng Huang 대한간학회 2018 춘·추계 학술대회 (KASL) Vol.2018 No.1

Aims: The current study aims to elucidate the treatment efficacy (defined as undetectable HCV RNA throughout 12 weeks of post-treatment follow-up, SVR12) and safety DCV/ASV plus ribavirin for 12 weeks in HCV-1b patients without NS5A RAS. Methods: This is a single-arm, open-label phase 2 study. Seventy directly acting antivirals (DAA)-naïve HCV-1b patients without L31/Y93 RAS are planned to receive daclatasvir (60 mg/ day) and asunaprevir (100 mg twice daily) plus weight-based ribavirin (1000-1200 mg/day) for 12 weeks. After treatment they were followed up for 12 weeks. Results: As of 31 Oct 2017, 58 eligible patients are allocated to treatment, with a mean age of 59.3 years and female predominance (67.2%, 39/58). The mean HCV RNA was 5.87+0.77 log10 IU/mL; 23 patients (39.7 %) had significant hepatic fibrosis (>F2). In the modified intention-to-treat analysis, the rate of undetectable HCV at week 1, week 2, week 4, week 8 and endof- treatment was 25 % (14/56), 84.8 % (39/46), 100 % (46/46), 100 % (38/38) and 100 % (27/27), respectively. Undetectable HCV RNA were observed in all of the patients with HCV RNA assessable 4 weeks (SVR4, 18/18) and 12 weeks (SVR12, 12/12) post treatment. None of the 18 patients who completed the 12-week treatment experienced relapse during post-treatment follow-up. The most common adverse event was fatigue (78.3 %), followed by pruritus (65.2 %) and dizziness (52.2 %), of which were considered as ribavirin related. None of the participating subjects withdrew treatment or follow-up throughout the trial peroid. Three serious adverse events were reported which included urosepsis, appendicitis and left ureteral stone. All were unrelated to the investigating drugs. Conclusions: 12 weeks of DCV/ASV plus ribavirin was highly effective and safe in HCV-1b patients without NS5A RAS in the interim analysis. The satisfactory results would be anticipated in the full patient set.

Significant Association of Alpha-Methylacyl-CoA Racemase Gene Polymorphisms with Susceptibility to Prostate Cancer: a Meta-Analysis

Chen, Nan,Wang, Jia-Rong,Huang, Lin,Yang, Yang,Jiang, Ya-Mei,Guo, Xiao-Jiang,He, Ya-Zhou,Zhou, Yan-Hong Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.5

Background: Alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase(AMACR) is thought to play key roles in diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer. However, studies of associations between AMACR gene polymorphisms and prostate cancer risk reported inconsistent results. Therefore, we conducted the present meta-analysis to clarify the link between AMACR gene polymorphisms and prostate cancer risk. Materials and Methods: A literature search was performed in PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang and Weipu databases. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were calculated to assess the strength of any association between AMACR polymorphisms and prostate cancer risk. Subgroup analyses by ethnicity, source of controls, quality control and sample size were also conducted. Results: Five studies covering 3,313 cases and 3,676 controls on five polymorphisms (D175G, M9V, S201L, K277E and Q239H) were included in this meta-analysis. Significant associations were detected between prostate cancer and D175G (dominant model: OR=0.89, 95%CI=0.80-0.99, P=0.04) and M9V (dominant model: OR=0.87, 95%CI=0.78-0.97, P=0.01) polymorphisms as well as that in subgroup analyses. We also observed significant decreased prostate cancer risk in the dominant model (OR=0.90, 95%CI=0.81-0.99, P=0.04) for the S201L polymorphism. However, K277E and Q239H polymorphisms did not appear to be related to prostate cancer risk. Conclusions: The current meta-analysis indicated that D175G and M9V polymorphisms of the AMACR gene are related to prostate cancer. The S201L polymorphism might also be linked with prostate cancer risk to some extent. However, no association was observed between K277E or Q239H polymorphisms and susceptibility to prostate cancer.

Application of Lobaplatin in Trans-catheter Arterial Chemoembolization for Primary Hepatic Carcinoma

Wang, Nan,Lv, Yin-Zhang,Xu, An-Hui,Huang, Yan-Rong,Peng, Ling,Li, Jia-Rui Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.2

Objective: To explore the efficiency of single application of lobaplatin in tran-scatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for patients with a primary hepatic carcinoma who were unable or unwilling to undergo surgery. Methods: 173 patients with primary hepatic carcinoma diagnosed by imaging or pathology were randomly divided into experimental and control groups and respectively treated with lobaplatin and pirarubicin hydrochloride as chemotherapeutic drugs for TACE. The amount of iodipin was regulated according to the tumor number and size, and then gelatin sponge or polyvinyl alcohol particles were applied for embolisms. The efficiency of treatment in the two groups was compared with reference to survival time and therapeutic response. Results: The experimental group (single lobaplatin as chemotherapy drug) was superior to control group (single pirarubicin hydrochloride as chemotherapy drug) in the aspects of survival time and therapeutic response, with statistical significance. Conclusions: Single lobaplatin can be as a chemotherapy drug in TACE and has better efficiency in the aspects of mean survival time and therapeutic response, deserving to be popularized in the clinic.

Quantitative Peptidomics Study Reveals That a Wound-Induced Peptide from PR-1 Regulates Immune Signaling in Tomato

Chen, Ying-Lan,Lee, Chi-Ying,Cheng, Kai-Tan,Chang, Wei-Hung,Huang, Rong-Nan,Nam, Hong Gil,Chen, Yet-Ran American Society of Plant Biologists 2014 The Plant cell Vol.26 No.10

<P>CAPE1, a conserved peptide elicitor derived from tomato PR-1, was induced by wounding and found to regulate immune responses against biological threats. As PR-1 is highly conserved across many organisms and the putative peptide from AtPR1 was also found to be bioactive in <I>Arabidopsis</I>, the results suggest that this peptide may be useful for enhancing resistance to stress in other plant species.</P><P>Many important cell-to-cell communication events in multicellular organisms are mediated by peptides, but only a few peptides have been identified in plants. In an attempt to address the difficulties in identifying plant signaling peptides, we developed a novel peptidomics approach and used this approach to discover defense signaling peptides in plants. In addition to the canonical peptide systemin, several novel peptides were confidently identified in tomato (<I>Solanum lycopersicum</I>) and quantified to be induced by both wounding and methyl jasmonate (MeJA). A wounding or wounding plus MeJA-induced peptide derived from the pathogenesis-related protein 1 (PR-1) family was found to induce significant antipathogen and minor antiherbivore responses in tomato. This study highlights a role for PR-1 in immune signaling and suggests the potential application of plant endogenous peptides in efforts to defeat biological threats in crop production. As PR-1 is highly conserved across many organisms and the putative peptide from At-PR1 was also found to be bioactive in <I>Arabidopsis thaliana</I>, our results suggest that this peptide may be useful for enhancing resistance to stress in other plant species.</P>

Performance of Hepatitis B Core-Related Antigen Versus Hepatitis B Surface Antigen and Hepatitis B Virus DNA in Predicting HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative Chronic Hepatitis

Zhan-qing Zhang,Yan-bing Wang,,Wei Lu,,Dan-ping Liu,,Bi-sheng Shi,,Xiao-nan Zhang,,Dan Huang,,Xiu-fen Li,,Xin-lan Zhou,,Rong-rong Ding, 대한진단검사의학회 2019 Annals of Laboratory Medicine Vol.39 No.1

Background: We examined changes in hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) during the four sequential phases of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection: hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive chronic infection (EPCI) and hepatitis (EPCH), followed by HBeAg-negative chronic infection (ENCI) and hepatitis (ENCH). We compared the performance of serum HBcrAg, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), and HBV DNA in predicting EPCH and ENCH.