Relationships between Antioxidants and Quality Characteristics from Velvet Antlers of Formosan Sambar Deer

Shih-Lin Cheng,You-Ling Jian,Chih-Ming Chen,Bing-Tsan Liu 한국축산식품학회 2017 한국축산식품학회지 Vol.37 No.4

The quality characteristics of velvet antlers obtained from Formosan sambar deer (Cervus unicolor Swinhoi) (SDVA), harvested from 63 to 81 d during the velvet antler growth period, were evaluated by investigating the relationships between antioxidant levels; including content, activity, and content/activity ratios, and physical properties; including shear force values, color, and Ca content. The hardness of samples from base velvet antler sections increased, and that the color of these samples tended to become reddish-yellow (redder and more yellow), suggesting that the Ca content in the base section of the sample was not ossified yet. Samples from the upper sections of velvet antler showed higher superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) content (3.91 to 1.50 mg/mL, 2.53 to 0.90 mg/mL, and 3.95 to 1.58 mg/mL, respectively) than did samples from the middle and base sections (p<0.05). The activity and content/activity ratios of GPX measured in the upper section were also found to be significantly greater than in the middle and base sections (p<0.05). We further observed that the content and activity of GPX was significantly and negatively correlated with Ca content, shear force values, and the content/activity ratio of this antioxidant (p<0.01). The study findings may serve as a reference index for quality evaluations of velvet antlers of Formosan sambar deer in future.

BRCA1/2 mutation status in patients with metachronous breast and ovarian malignancies: clues towards the implementation of genetic counseling

Angel Chao,Yi-Hao Lin,Lan-Yan Yang,Ren-Chin Wu,Wei-Yang Chang,Pi-Yueh Chang,Shih-Cheng Chang,Chiao-Yun Lin,Huei-Jean Huang,Cheng-Tao Lin,Hung-Hsueh Chou,Kuan-Gen Huang,Wen-Ling Kuo,Ting-Chang Chang,Ch 대한부인종양학회 2020 Journal of Gynecologic Oncology Vol.31 No.3

Objective: The characteristics of patients with metachronous breast and ovarian malignancies and the pathogenic role of BRCA1/2 mutations remain poorly understood. We investigated these issues through a review of hospital records and nationwide Taiwanese registry data, followed by BRCA1/2 mutation analysis in hospital-based cases. Methods: We retrospectively retrieved consecutive clinical records of Taiwanese patients who presented with these malignancies to our hospital between 2001 and 2017. We also collected information from the Data Science Center of the Taiwan Cancer Registry (TCR) between 2007 and 2015. Next-generation sequencing and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification were used to identify BRCA1/2 mutations and large genomic rearrangements, respectively. When BRCA1/2 mutations were identified in index cases, pedigrees were reconstructed and genetic testing was offered to family members. Results: A total of 12,769 patients with breast cancer and 1,537 with ovarian cancer were retrieved from our hospital records. Of them, 28 had metachronous breast and ovarian malignancies. We also identified 113 cases from the TCR dataset. Eighteen hospital-based cases underwent BRCA1/2 sequencing and germline pathogenic mutations were detected in 7 patients (38.9%, 5 in BRCA1 and 2 in BRCA2). All BRCA1/2 mutation carriers had ovarian high-grade serous carcinomas. Of the 12 patients who were alive at the time of analysis, 5 were BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. All of them had family members with BRCA1/2-associated malignancies. Conclusions: Our results provide pilot evidence that BRCA1/2 mutations are common in Taiwanese patients with metachronous breast and ovarian malignancies, supporting the clinical utility of genetic counseling.

CASE REPORT : Soft Tissue Infection Caused by Rapid Growing Mycobacterium following Medical Procedures: Two Case Reports and Literature Review

( Shih Sen Lin ),( Chin Cheng Lee ),( Tsrang Neng Jang ) 대한피부과학회 2014 Annals of Dermatology Vol.26 No.2

Non-tubecrulosis mycobacterium infections were increasinglyreported either pulmonary or extrapulmonary in thepast decades. In Taiwan, we noticed several reports aboutthe soft tissue infections caused by rapid growing mycobacteriumsuch as Mycobacterium abscessus, Mycobacteriumchelonae, on newspaper, magazines, or the multimedia. Most of them occurred after a plastic surgery, andmedical or non-medical procedures. Here, we reported twocases of these infections following medical procedures. Wealso discussed common features and the clinical course ofthe disease, the characteristics of the infected site, and thetreatment strategy. The literatures were also reviewed, andthe necessity of the treatment guidelines was discussed.

The impact of oxygen supply flow rates on the distribution of aerosols between the patient and the surgeon during lung intubation

Lin Tee,Zargar Omid Ali,Hu Ming-Hsuan,Wang Chung-Chun,Hu Shih-Cheng,Leggett Graham 대한설비공학회 2022 International Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refr Vol.30 No.1

The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused a worldwide pandemic. The widespread infection of the medical staff has caused great attention from all quarters of society. There is a particular concern when considering intubation treatment in the emergency operating room, where a significant amount of virus droplets are typically spread within the room, exposing the medical staff to a high risk of infection. Hence, there is currently a pressing need to develop an effective protection mechanism for the medical staff to prevent them from being infected during routine work. In order to understand the spread of droplets and aerosols when different oxygen supply devices are used for intubation therapy, this study uses particle image velocimetry (PIV) technology to analyze the airflow distribution between the medical staff and the patient. In the experiment, a simple version of the respirator was established to reproduce the breathing of human lungs. This model used oil to create smoke as a tracer aerosol, then a high-sensitivity camera was used to record the scattering light from this smoke (which is irradiated by the green laser sheet). Ultimately, after applying post-processing techniques, the airflow distribution is analyzed. PAO aerosol is the primary aerosol source in this experiment, and it is used to quantify the patient’s breathing; the concentration of PAO aerosol was measured at three different points: head, trunk, and feet. In addition, flow field visualization can effectively present the flow field distribution of the entire operating room; also, the results can be mutually verified with the PAO concentration measurement results. Aerosol concentrations were measured for six different oxygen supply devices with various tidal volumes of the artificial respirator, and the results were ranked from high to low concentrations for different oxygen supply devices and their operational oxygen supply flowrates: HFNC (70 l/min) > CPAP (40 l/min) > HFNC (30 l/min) > nasal cannula (15 l/min) > NRM (15 l/min) > VAPOX (28 l/min).

Interpretation and Use of Natriuretic Peptides in Non-Congestive Heart Failure Settings

Shih-Hung Tsai,Yen-Yue Lin,Shi-Jye Chu,Ching-Wang Hsu,Shu-Meng Cheng 연세대학교의과대학 2010 Yonsei medical journal Vol.51 No.2

Natriuretic peptides (NPs) have been found to be useful markers in differentiating acute dyspneic patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) and emerged as potent prognostic markers for patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). The best-established and widely used clinical application of BNP and NT-proBNP testing is for the emergent diagnosis of CHF in patients presenting with acute dyspnea. Nevertheless, elevated NPs levels can be found in many circumstances involving left ventricular (LV) dysfunction or hypertrophy; right ventricular (RV) dysfunction secondary to pulmonary diseases; cardiac inflammatory or infectious diseases;endocrinology diseases and high output status without decreased LV ejection fraction. Even in the absence of significant clinical evidence of volume overload or LV dysfunction, markedly elevated NP levels can be found in patients with multiple comorbidities with a certain degree of prognostic value. Potential clinical applications of NPs are expanded accompanied by emerging reports regarding screening the presence of secondary cardiac dysfunction;monitoring the therapeutic responses, risk stratifications and providing prognostic values in many settings. Clinicians need to have expanded knowledge regarding the interpretation of elevated NPs levels and potential clinical applications of NPs. Clinicians should recognize that currently the only reasonable application for routine practice is limited to differentiation of acute dyspnea, rule-out-diagnostic-tests, monitoring of therapeutic responses and prognosis of acute or decompensated CHF. The rationales as well the potential applications of NPs in these settings are discussed in this review article.

Hypoglycemia Revisited in the Acute Care Setting

Shih-Hung Tsai,Der-Ming Chu,Yen-Yue Lin,Chin-Wang Hsu,Chien-Sheng Cheng 연세대학교의과대학 2011 Yonsei medical journal Vol.52 No.6

Hypoglycemia is a common finding in both daily clinical practice and acute care settings. The causes of severe hypoglycemia (SH) are multi-factorial and the major etiologies are iatrogenic, infectious diseases with sepsis and tumor or autoimmune diseases. With the advent of aggressive lowering of HbA1c values to achieve optimal glycemic control, patients are at increased risk of hypoglycemic episodes. Iatrogenic hypoglycemia can cause recurrent morbidity, sometime irreversible neurologic complications and even death, and further preclude maintenance of euglycemia over a lifetime of diabetes. Recent studies have shown that hypoglycemia is associated with adverse outcomes in many acute illnesses. In addition, hypoglycemia is associated with increased mortality among elderly and non-diabetic hospitalized patients. Clinicians should have high clinical suspicion of subtle symptoms of hypoglycemia and provide prompt treatment. Clinicians should know that hypoglycemia is associated with considerable adverse outcomes in many acute critical illnesses. In order to reduce hypoglycemia-associated morbidity and mortality, timely health education programs and close monitoring should be applied to those diabetic patients presenting to the Emergency Department with SH. ED disposition strategies should be further validated and justified to achieve balance between the benefits of euglycemia and the risks of SH. We discuss relevant issues regarding hypoglycemia in emergency and critical care settings.

Formation of Solid-Solution Cu-to-Cu Joints Using Ga Solder and Pt under Bump Metallurgy for Three-Dimensional Integrated Circuits

Shih-kang Lin,Hao-miao Chang,Cheng-liang Cho,Yu-chen Liu,Yi-kai Kuo 대한금속·재료학회 2015 ELECTRONIC MATERIALS LETTERS Vol.11 No.4

Three-dimensional (3D) integrated circuits (ICs) are the most important packaging technology for next-generation semiconductors. Cu-to-Cu throughsilicon via interconnections with micro-bumps are key components in the fabrication of 3D ICs. However, significant reliability concerns have been raised due to the formation of brittle intermetallic compounds in the entire 3D IC joints. This study proposes a Ga-based Cu-to-Cu bonding technology with Pt under bump metallurgy (UBM). A systematic analysis of reactive wetting between Ga solders and polycrystalline, single-crystalline, and Ptcoated Cu substrates was conducted. Pt UBM as a wetting layer was identified to be a key component for Ga-based Cu-to-Cu bonding. Pt-coated Cu substrates were bonded using Ga solders with various Ga-to-Pt ratios (n) at 300°C. When n ≥ 4, the Cu/Pt/Ga/Pt/Cu interface evolves to Cu/facecentered cubic (fcc)/γ1-Cu9Ga4/fcc/Cu, Cu/fcc/γ1-Cu9Ga4 + Ga7Pt3/fcc/Cu, and finally Cu/fcc + Ga7Pt3/Cu structures. The desired ductile solid solution joint formed with discrete Ga7Pt3 precipitates. When n ≤ 1, a Cu/Ga7Pt3/Cu joint formed without Cu actively participating in the reactions. The reaction mechanism and microstructure evolution were elaborated with the aid of CALPHAD thermodynamic modeling.

FEM ANALYSIS AND EXPERIMENT VALIDATION ON MULTI-PASS FORGING OF TORX ROUND FLANGE BOLT

Shih-Hsien Lin,Dyi-Cheng Chen,Un-Chin Chai,Gow-Yi Tzou 한국자동차공학회 2020 International journal of automotive technology Vol.21 No.5

This study aims at exploring the multi-pass forging of Torx Round Flange Bolt (automotive fastener) to simulate each pass forging process using FEM simulation. The software is used to carry out the simulation analysis. Constant shear friction is always assumed at the interface between die and workpiece to explore the effective stress, the effective strain, the velocity filed, and the forging force for each pass. Through the pass schedule plan and design based on FEM analysis, the four-pass forging process is designed to form the Torx Round Flange Bolt compared the five-pass forging. It is noted that the total forging force is 1204kN, so the 200 tons machinery in the factory can be chosen to manufacture this automotive fastener. The die stress analysis for each pass has been explored to realize whether the dies are damaged or not. The forming feasibility of Torx Round Flange Bolt can be performed by FEM simulation. All dies designs and forming results can be proposed to the dies manufacture so as to perform the realistic experiments. Comparisons between FEM and experiment for final product dimensions can be carried out. The maximum dimension error is just around 3.32% to show a good agreement with the experiment. The research results can provide to the industries as the references of establishment of multi-pass forging technology.

Unambiguous Identification of Fugitive Pollutants and Determination of Annual Emission Flux as Diurnal Monitoring Mode

Shih-Yi Chang,Tai-Ly Tso,Jiunn-Gung Lo,Jer-Luen Huang,Cheng Ming Lin 한국분석과학회 1995 분석과학 Vol.8 No.4

An Imaging System for Monitoring the Feeding Behavior of Dairy Cows

( Cheng-yu Kuan ),( Yu-chi Tsai ),( Chen-yu Cheng ),( Jih-tay Hsu ),( Shih-torng Dnig ),( Ta-te Lin ) 한국농업기계학회 2018 한국농업기계학회 학술발표논문집 Vol.23 No.1

In sub-tropical countries, dairy cows tend to experience heat stress problems. This phenomenon may lead to declines in feed intake, milk production, and fertility. Under normal conditions, the dairy cows have a regular feeding and drinking time. For this reason, changes in feeding behavior can be a possible indicator to detect heat stress phenomena that can help farm owners monitor dairy cow health. In order to monitor and record the feeding behavior of dairy cows, an imaging system is proposed herein. The imaging system uses Raspberry Pi 3, as the embedded system, and a camera module to acquire images for dairy cow face detection in front of the feeding area to confirm if the dairy cow is eating. The dairy cow faces are detected through cascade-AdaBoost algorithms which can automatically select weak classifiers to form a strong classifier with fast processing speed in an embedded system. The factors affecting the performance of the dairy cow face detection algorithm have been tested and optimized. The system has been tested in a feeding area in National Taiwan University’s dairy farm, which has 25 dairy cows in total. By converting the frequency of dairy cow face detection into feeding time, the feeding behavior of grouped dairy cows can be analyzed. Furthermore, combining the temperature humidity index (THI) and feeding behavior can provide the farm owners with an index to evaluate the level heat stress of dairy cows.