Elevated plasma YKL-40 level is found in the dogs with cancer and is related to poor prognosis

Kai-Chung Cheng,Jih-Jong Lee,Shang-Lin Wang,Chun-Yu Lin,Ching-Tien Tseng,Chen-Si Lin,Albert Taiching Liao 대한수의학회 2019 Journal of Veterinary Science Vol.20 No.5

YKL-40, a secreted glycoprotein, may serve as an autoantigen, which mediates multipleinflammatory diseases and cancers. A high YKL-40 serum level is correlated with metastasisand poor survival in a variety of human cancers. However, the role of YKL-40 in dogs is stillunder evaluation. Herein, we examined the associations between plasma YKL-40 level andYKL-40 autoantibody (YAA) titers with malignancy and prognosis in canine cancer. Plasmalevels of YKL-40 in healthy dogs (n = 20) and in dogs (n = 82) with cancer were evaluatedusing enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Our results indicated that plasma YKL-40 levelswere significantly higher (p < 0.01) in dogs with cancer than in healthy dogs. A significantdecrease in the YAA titers was detected in the dogs with cancer when compared with thoseof the healthy dogs (p < 0.05), although the change was not correlated with the YKL-40levels. Among the dogs with cancer, plasma YKL-40 levels in the dogs that later relapsed orhad metastasis were significantly higher than in the dogs with no signs of relapse (p < 0.01)or metastasis (p <0.05). The relapse and metastasis rates were significantly higher in thehigh YKL-40 group (> 180 pg/mL) than in the low YKL-40 group (< 180 pg/mL). The resultsimply that plasma YKL-40 levels might have the potential to be developed as a marker ofmalignancy progression and prognosis in canine cancers.

Attenuating Development of Cardiovascular Hypertrophy with Hydrolysate of Chicken Leg Bone Protein in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Cheng, Fu-Yuan,Wan, Tien-Chun,Liu, Yu-Tse,Lai, Kung-Ming,Lin, Liang-Chuan,Sakata, Ryoichi Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2008 Animal Bioscience Vol.21 No.5

This study developed a natural ingredient as a functional food possessing properties of attenuation of hypertension and cardiovascular hypertrophy. In a previous study hydrolysates obtained from chicken leg bone protein using Alcalase strongly inhibited angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) in vitro. In particular, hydrolysate (A4H) from four hours of incubation exhibited the highest ACE inhibitory activity (IC50 = 0.545 mg/ml). A4H was selected as a potent ACE inhibitor and orally administrated to spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) for eight weeks to investigate attenuating effects on age-related development of hypertension and cardiovascular hypertrophy. Results showed that treatment with A4H of SHRs attenuated the development of hypertension as effectively as the clinical antihypertensive drug captopril. Moreover, a significantly lower heart to body weight ratio and thinness of coronary arterial wall was observed in SHRs that had been treated with A4H or captopril. The results suggest that A4H can be utilized in developing an ACE inhibitor as a potential ingredient of functional foods to alleviate hypertension and cardiovascular hypertrophy.

Effect of Age and Caponization on Blood Parameters and Bone Development of Male Native Chickens in Taiwan

Lin, Cheng-Yung,Hsu, Jenn-Chung,Wan, Tien-Chun Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2012 Animal Bioscience Vol.25 No.7

An experiment was carried out to determine the effect of age and caponization on the development blood and bone characteristics development in male country chickens in Taiwan. A total of two hundred 8-wk-old LRI native chicken cockerels, Taishi meat No.13 from LRI-COA, were used as experimental animals. Cockerels were surgically caponized at 8 wks of age. Twelve birds in each group were bled and dressed from 8 wks to 35 wks of age at 1 to 5 wk intervals. The results indicated that the plasma testosterone concentration was significantly (p<0.05) lower in capons after 12 wks of age (caponized treatment after 4 wks) than that of the intact males. The relative tibia weight, bone breaking strength, cortical thickness, bone ash, bone calcium, bone phosphorus and bone magnesium contents were significantly (p<0.05) higher in intact males, while capons had higher (p<0.05) plasma ionized calcium, inorganic phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase concentration. The plasma testosterone concentration, relative tibia weight, tibia length, breaking strength, cortical thickness, bone ash, calcium, and phosphorus contents of intact males chickens increased significantly (p<0.05) with the advance of age. In addition, the relative tibia weight of capons peaked at 18 wks of age, and declined at 35 wks of age. The bone ash, calcium and phosphorus content increased most after 14 wks of age in male native chickens in Taiwan. Also, tibia length and cortical thickness peaked at 22 wks of age. However, the peak of bone strength was found at 26 wks of age. These findings support the assertion that androgens can directly influence bone composition fluxes in male chickens. Caponization caused a significant increase in bone loss at 4 wks post treatment, which reflected bone cell damage, and demonstrated reductions in the relative tibia weight, breaking strength, cortical thickness, bone ash, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium contents, and increases in plasma ionized calcium, inorganic phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase concentration.

Effect of Free-range Rearing on Meat Composition, Physical Properties and Sensory Evaluation in Taiwan Game Hens

Lin, Cheng-Yung,Kuo, Hsiao-Yun,Wan, Tien-Chun Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2014 Animal Bioscience Vol.27 No.6

Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of an outdoor-grazed raising model on meat composition, physical properties and sensory attributes of Taiwan game hens. Six hundred 1-d old female chicks were raised on a floor for 8 weeks. On day 57, 600 healthy birds, with similar body weight, were selected and randomly assigned to three treatment groups (cage, floor-pen and free-range). The results showed that different feeding models had no effect on drip loss, cooking loss, moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude ash, zinc and calorie contents in breast meat and moisture content in thigh meat. The free-range group had the lowest fat content in both breast and thigh meat, and the lowest calorie content in thigh meat. The firmness and toughness in both thigh and breast of the free-range group were the highest values (p<0.05). The crude protein, total collagen, zinc and iron contents in thigh meat and total collagen content in breast meat of the free-range group were significantly higher than those of the cage-feeding group (p<0.05). The meat sensory scores of flavor, chewiness and overall acceptability of both thigh and breast meat of the free-range group were significantly (p<0.05) better than those of the other two groups. Moreover, the current findings also indicate that the Taiwan game hens of the free-range feeding model displayed well-received carcass traits and meat quality, with higher scores for flavor, chewiness and overall acceptability for greater sensory satisfaction in both breast and thigh meat. In addition, the thigh meat contained high protein and total collage but low fat, offering a healthier diet choice.

The Effects of Chicken Leg Bone Extract on Antioxidative Properties under Different Heating Condition

Cheng, Fu-Yuan,Wan, Tien-Chun,Huang, Chao-Wei,Tominaga, Kana,Lin, Liang-Chuan,Sakata, Ryoichi Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2008 Animal Bioscience Vol.21 No.12

The aim of this study was to extract chicken leg bone, which is a by-product of industrial poultry processing, using different heating temperatures (80, 90 and $100^{\circ}C$) and durations (5, 10 and 15 min). The pH value, soluble protein content, peptide content and antioxidative properties, including superoxide anion scavenging ability, 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging ability, reducing capacity and inhibitory activity of linoleic acid peroxidation, were measured. The results showed no significant differences (p>0.05) in pH value among all treatments. Decreased soluble protein content and peptide content were observed in chicken leg bone extract obtained under higher heating temperatures (90 or $100^{\circ}C$) and longer heating durations (10 or 15 min). In antioxidative properties, the extracts which were heated at 90 or $100^{\circ}C$ for 15 min exhibited significantly higher superoxide anion scavenging ability, DPPH free radical scavenging ability, reducing capacity and inhibitory activity of linoleic acid peroxidation (p<0.05).

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.

Assessing the Blockage Risk of Disaster-Relief Road for a Large-Scale Earthquake

I-Tien Lo,Ching-Yuan Lin,Cheng-Tao Yang,Ying-Ji Chuang,Chi-Hao Lin 대한토목학회 2020 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.24 No.12

After a large-scale earthquake, the road is susceptible to get blocked by liquefaction or building collapse, and that results in disaster-relief difficulty. This study adopted two earthquake loss estimation systems in Taiwan, and the risk of road blockage caused by liquefaction or building collapse was calculated separately. A new modeling was proposed, and the comparisons of the results of a single factor and that of the joint factors were made. Four scenarios of peak ground acceleration (PGA) = 250, 400, 550, 750 Gal were tested. The result shows that the probability of road blockage due to liquefaction almost reaches the maximum when PGA hits 400 Gal. On the other hand, the probability of road blockage due to building collapse increases if PGA increases. The joint probability of road blockage due to liquefaction and building collapse can improve the underestimation when using either one factor, and it can evaluate the risk more realistically. At present, there is no risk assessment modeling considering two important factors for disaster-relief road planning in Taiwan. This study provides a simple and comprehensive disaster-relief road risk assessment modeling to make better emergency rescue plans. In addition, it can provide the information for conducting seismic strengthening policy for both sides of the disaster-relief road that can reduce the risk of obstacles to disaster-relief roads.

Diverse genetic spectrum among patients who met the criteria of hereditary breast, ovarian and pancreatic cancer syndrome

Po-Han Lin,Yun-Wen Tien,Wen-Fang Cheng,Ying-Cheng Chiang,Chien-Huei Wu,Karen Yang,Chiun-Sheng Huang 대한부인종양학회 2023 Journal of Gynecologic Oncology Vol.34 No.5

Objective: Genetic high-risk assessment combines hereditary breast, ovarian and pancreatic cancer into one syndrome. However, there is a lack of data for comparing the germline mutational spectrum of the cancer predisposing genes between these three cancers. Methods: Patients who met the criteria of the hereditary breast, ovarian and pancreatic cancer were enrolled and received multi-gene sequencing. Results: We enrolled 730 probands: 418 developed breast cancer, 185 had ovarian cancer, and 145 had pancreatic cancer. Out of the 18 patients who had two types of cancer, 16 had breast and ovarian cancer and 2 had breast and pancreatic cancer. A total of 167 (22.9%) patients had 170 mutations. Mutation frequency in breast, ovarian and pancreatic cancer was 22.3%, 33.5% and 17.2%, respectively. The mutation rate was significantly higher in patients with double cancers than those with a single cancer (p<0.001). BRCA1 and BRCA2 were the most dominant genes associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, whereas ATM was the most prevalent gene related to hereditary pancreatic cancer. Genes of hereditary colon cancer such as lynch syndrome were presented in a part of patients with pancreatic or ovarian cancer but seldom in those with breast cancer. Families with a history of both ovarian and breast cancer were associated with a higher mutation rate than those with other histories. Conclusion: The mutation spectrum varies across the three cancer types and family histories. Our analysis provides guidance for physicians, counsellors, and counselees on the offer and uptake of genetic counseling.

Application of physical vapor deposition process to modify activated carbon fibers for ozone reduction

Yu-Chih Lin,Chung-Liang Chang,Tser-Sheng Lin,Hsunling Bai,Ming-Gu Yan,Fu-Hsiang Ko,Chia-Tien Wu,Cheng-Hsiung Huang 한국화학공학회 2008 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.25 No.3

This study utilized the activated carbon fiber (ACF) modified with metal catalyst via physical vapor deposition (PVD) process (ACF/PVD) to diminish ozone. Furthermore, the ozone removal efficiency of ACF/PVD was compared with that of original ACF and ACF modified with metal catalyst via impregnation process (ACF/impregnation). In addition to the kinds of coated metal and the inlet ozone concentrations, the effects of the coating thickness and the reaction temperature on ACF/PVD for ozone removal were also examined. The results indicate that the ozone removal efficiency of ACF/PVD is better than that of original ACF and ACF/impregnation. The ozone removal efficiency of different metal-coated ACF/PVD in the superior order is gold (Au), and manganese (Mn). The increase of Au-coated thickness (3 nm to 80 nm) on ACF/PVD will enhance the ozone removal. However, when the Mn-coated thickness on ACF/PVD is larger than 15 nm, the ozone removal efficiency displays a declining trend. Furthermore, a higher reaction temperature will result in a better ozone removal of ACF/PVD and the original ACF.

Dark current suppression of amorphous selenium based photosensors by the ZnO hole blocking layer

Tung-Yuan Yu,Fu-Ming Pan,Cheng-Yi Chang,Tien Hu,Jenn-Fang Chen,Jia-Feng Wang,Jia-Feng Wang,Cheng-Lu Lin,Te-Ming Chen 한국물리학회 2014 Current Applied Physics Vol.14 No.5

To study the influence of defects in the hole blocking layer (HBL) on the dark current of amorphous selenium (a-Se) based photosensors, we prepared ZnO thin films by reactive sputter deposition (RSD) for the use as the HBL of the photosensors. The ZnO HBL layers prepared with different oxygen flow rates were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman scattering analysis and photoluminescence, indicating that the density of oxygen vacancies in the ZnO thin films is significantly affected by the oxygen flow rate. The deep level transient spectroscopy measurement reveals two hole trap levels present in the RSD deposited ZnO thin films; one is at 0.94 eV and the other at 0.24 eV above the valence band edge. The electrical performance of the a-Se photosensor is largely influenced by the amount of oxygen vacancies in the ZnO thin film. The a-Se photosensor with the ZnO HBL of the most oxygen vacancies has the lowest dark current and demonstrates the highest breakdown field.