Daclatasvir plus Asunaprevir in Interferon (± Ribavirin)- Ineligible/Intolerant Asian Patients with Chronic HCV Genotype-1b Infection

( Lai Wei ),( Mingxiang Zhang ),( Min Xu ),( Wan-Long Chuang ),( Wei Lu ),( Wen Xie ),( Zhansheng Jia ),( Guozhong Gong ),( Yueqi Li ),( Si Hyun Bae ),( Yong-Feng Yang ),( Qing Xie ),( Shumei Lin ),( 대한간학회 2016 춘·추계 학술대회 (KASL) Vol.2016 No.1

Aims: The efficacy/safety of daclatasvir (pan-genotypic NS5A inhibitor) plus asunaprevir (NS3 protease inhibitor) in interferon (± ribavirin)- ineligible/intolerant patients with chronic HCV genotype-1b infection from mainland China, Korea and Taiwan was investigated in a phase 3, open-label study. Methods: Patients received daclatasvir 60 mg (tablet) once daily plus asunaprevir 100 mg (soft capsule) twice daily for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint was sustained virologic response at post-treatment Week 24 (SVR24). Results: This study treated 159 patients from mainland China (80%), Korea (11%) and Taiwan (9%), including patients with cirrhosis (33%), IL28B non-CC genotypes (40%), and aged ≥70 years (4%). SVR24 was achieved by 91% of patients (100% concordance with SVR12) and was similarly high in all subgroups, e.g. cirrhotic patients (90%), and in patients from mainland China (91%), Korea (94%) and Taiwan (87%). SVR24 was higher in patients without baseline NS5A (L31M/Y93H) resistance-associated variants (RAVs) (n=137/139 [99%]), regardless of the presence (98%) or absence (99%) of cirrhosis, and lower in patients with baseline NS5A RAVs (n=8/19 [42%]). All serious adverse events (AEs) (n=5/159 [3.1%]), grade 4 laboratory abnormalities (n=3/159 [1.9%]) and deaths (n=1/159 [0.6%]) that occurred on-treatment were unrelated to the study drugs; two patients discontinued due to AEs. Treatment was generally well tolerated regardless of cirrhosis status. Conclusions: Daclatasvir plus asunaprevir achieved a high SVR24 rate of 91%, rising to 99% in patients without baseline NS5A RAVs, and was generally well tolerated in cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic interferon (± ribavirin)-ineligible/intolerant patients with HCV genotype-1b infection from mainland China, Korea and Taiwan.

The Study of Taiwan`s New Immigrant Children`s Mathematics Achievement

( Wen Tsung Lai ),( Lung Wei Cheng ),( Chiu Chu Lu ) 한국수학교육학회 2013 수학교육 학술지 Vol.2013 No.1

Introduction: According the 2011 Taiwanese Government Statistics, the lower secondary school enrollment number of the new-immigrant-children is about 200,000. As known, most of the new immigrants are from the Southeast Asian countries, such as Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Cambodia. In order to satisfy the increasing needs and demands on education of the children of new immigrant (CNI, henceforth), Taiwanese government not only develops, but also puts the after-school learning assistance policy into practice from 2006. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to explore the mathematics achievement of the CNI after the implementation of the afterschool learning assistance policy (AsLA policy, henceforth). Purposes: Firstly, to compare the mathematics achievement of the CNI by countries. Secondly, to compare the mathematics performance among the CNI, the children from high-risk family (CHRF, henceforth) and the children of general families. Samples: The 2,452 samples, selected from two junior high schools located in central Taiwan, include 157 CNI, 522 CHRF. Methods: The main method used in this study is interval fuzzy number (IFN, henceforth) in order to compare the mathematics achievement of the children after the implementation of the AsLA policy from different type of families. Results: To reach the two purposes of this study .We can find the effectiveness of mathematics performance from three group`s children of new immigrants, high-risk, general family. Therefore, the results provide one of the ways to review the new immigrant`s education policy of after-school learning assistance in Taiwan.

The Study of Taiwan‘s New Immigrant Children‘s Mathematics Achievement

Wen Tsung Lai,Lung Wei Cheng,Chiu Chu Lu 한국수학교육학회 2013 수학교육연구 Vol.17 No.1

Introduction: According the 2011 Taiwanes Government Statistics, the lower secondary shool enrollment number of the new-immigrant-children is about 200,000. As known, most of the new immigrants are from the Southeast Asian countries, such as Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Cambodia. In order to satisfy the increasing needs and demands on education of the children of new immigrant (CNI,henceforth), Taiwanese government not only develops, but also puts the after-school learning assistance policy into pracice from 2006. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to explore the mathematics achievement of the CNI after the implementation of the after school learning assistance policy (AsLA plicy, henceforth). Purposes: Firstly, to compare the mathematics achievenment of the CNI by coutries. Secondly, to compare the mathematics performance among the CNI, the children from high-risk family (CHRF, henceforth)and the children of general families. Samples:The 2,452 samples, selccted from two junior high schools located in central Taiwan, include 157 CNI, 522 CHRF. Methosd:The main method used in this study is interval fuzzy number(IFN, henceforth) in order to compare the mathematics achievement of the children after the implementation of the AsLA policy from different type of families. Results: To reach the two purposes of this study. We can find the effectiveness of mathematics performance from three group‘s children of new immigrants, high-risk, general family. Therefore, the results provide one of the ways to review the new immigrant‘s education policy of after-school learning assistance in Taiwan.

A novel recursive stochastic subspace identification algorithm with its application in long-term structural health monitoring of office buildings

Wen-Hwa Wu,Jhe-Wei Jhou,Chien-Chou Chen,Gwolong Lai 국제구조공학회 2019 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.24 No.4

This study develops a novel recursive algorithm to significantly enhance the computation efficiency of a recently proposed stochastic subspace identification (SSI) methodology based on an alternative stabilization diagram. Exemplified by the measurements taken from the two investigated office buildings, it is first demonstrated that merely one sixth of computation time and one fifth of computer memory are required with the new recursive algorithm. Such a progress would enable the realization of on-line and almost real-time monitoring for these two steel framed structures. This recursive SSI algorithm is further applied to analyze 20 months of monitoring data and comprehensively assess the environmental effects. It is certified that the root-mean-square (RMS) response can be utilized as an excellent index to represent most of the environmental effects and its variation strongly correlates with that of the modal frequency. More detailed examination by comparing the monthly correlation coefficient discloses that larger variations in modal frequency induced by greater RMS responses would typically lead to a higher correlation.

Bupropion for Interferon-Alpha-Induced Depression in Patients with Hepatitis C Viral Infection: An Open-Label Study

Wei-Chun Chen,Hsueh-Chou Lai,Wen-Pang Su,Mahalakshmi Palani,Kuan-Pin Su 대한신경정신의학회 2015 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.12 No.1

Interferon (IFN)-α therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is frequently associated with major depressive episodes. Bupropion, a commonly used antidepressant agent, has recently found to have strong anti-inflammatory effects in animal models. Despite of the theoretical relevancy, the antidepressant effect of bupropion in IFN-alpha-induced depression has never been studied. Ten HCV patients with IFN-α-induced depression were recruited to receive 8-week bupropion treatment and were assessed every 2 weeks for depressive symptoms by the Hamilton rating scale for depression (HAMD) and somatic symptoms by the Neurotoxicity Rating Scale (NRS). Four of the 10 patients met the criteria for remission (total HAMD scores≤7), and 5 patients met the criteria for response (at least 50% reduction in total HAMD scores). In addition, 5 patients had 50% decreases in NRS for neuropsychiatric symptoms. This preliminary open-label study suggests that bupropion is effective in treating IFN-alpha-induced depressive and somatic symptoms.

Ethanol and Water Atomization of Like- and Unlike-Doublet Impinging Jets

( Wei Hsiang Lai ),( Shun Jie Yang ),( Wen Non Huang ) 한국액체미립화학회 2005 한국액체미립화학회 학술강연회 논문집 Vol.2005 No.-

The objective of the present study is to further investigate the general influence of the physical properties and environment effects on the mean drop size generated by like- and unlike-doublet impinging jets with 95% ethanol and purified water. The orifice of the injector element are 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7 mm in diameter, with depth-to-diameter ratio of 10, the impinging angle is set to be 60°, 90° and 120° respectively. In order to measure the mean drop size, the jet velocity is varied from 2 m/s to 30 m/s, the environment pressure is designated as 1, 2, 5 and 9 bar. Results show that in liquid shape mode, the larger impinging angle, the lower jet velocity threshold of mode transition is observed. Regarding the liquid film size, an empirical equation can be used to calculate the ψ angle, and the equation induced by Ibrahim et al.(1991) can figure out the film length by multiply a constant, which is related to the viscosity. The SMD of unlike-doublet impinging is highly influenced by the surface tension. High ambient pressure has no effect on film size, but it causes the liquid shape change mode in lower jet velocity.

Mode identifiability of a cable-stayed bridge under different excitation conditions assessed with an improved algorithm based on stochastic subspace identification

Wen-Hwa Wu,Sheng-Wei Wang,Chien-Chou Chen,Gwolong Lai 국제구조공학회 2016 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.17 No.3

Deficient modes that cannot be always identified from different sets of measurement data may exist in the application of operational modal analysis such as the stochastic subspace identification techniques in large-scale civil structures. Based on a recent work using the long-term ambient vibration measurements from an instrumented cable-stayed bridge under different wind excitation conditions, a benchmark problem is launched by taking the same bridge as a test bed to further intensify the exploration of mode identifiability. For systematically assessing this benchmark problem, a recently developed SSI algorithm based on an alternative stabilization diagram and a hierarchical sifting process is extended and applied in this research to investigate several sets of known and blind monitoring data. The evaluation of delicately selected cases clearly distinguishes the effect of traffic excitation on the identifiability of the targeted deficient mode from the effect of wind excitation. An additional upper limit for the vertical acceleration amplitude at deck, mainly induced by the passing traffic, is subsequently suggested to supplement the previously determined lower limit for the wind speed. Careful inspection on the shape vector of the deficient mode under different excitation conditions leads to the postulation that this mode is actually induced by the motion of the central tower. The analysis incorporating the tower measurements solidly verifies this postulation by yielding the prevailing components at the tower locations in the extended mode shape vector. Moreover, it is also confirmed that this mode can be stably identified under all the circumstances with the addition of tower measurements. An important lesson learned from this discovery is that the problem of mode identifiability usually comes from the lack of proper measurements at the right locations.

Age and Sex Distribution of Chinese Chronic Cough Patients and Their Relationship With Capsaicin Cough Sensitivity

Kefang Lai,Li Long,Fang Yi,Jiaman Tang,Zhe Chen,Fagui Chen,Jianmeng Zhou,Wen Peng,Liting Zhang,Hu Li,Wenzhi Zhan,Ruchong Chen,Wei Luo,Qiaoli Chen,Kian Fan Chung,Nanshan Zhong 대한천식알레르기학회 2019 Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research Vol.11 No.6

Purpose: An older female predominance has been reported among chronic cough patients in Western countries, which is considered to be associated with a higher cough sensitivity in females. However, the characteristics of Chinese chronic cough patients remain unclear. This study aimed to explore the age and sex distribution as well as their relationship with cough reflex sensitivity to capsaicin in Chinese chronic cough patients. Methods: We analyzed the demographic features of 1,882 consecutive chronic cough patients who attended our cough clinic in Guangzhou, China. Cough sensitivity to capsaicin, which was defined as the lowest concentration of capsaicin causing 5 coughs or more (C5), was measured in 539 of the 1,882 patients and 68 healthy volunteers. Results: The mean age of the patients was 43.0 ± 13.7 years and patients aged <50 years accounted for more than two-thirds of the study population. Around 87% of the patients were never-smokers. The proportion of females (51.5%) was almost equal to that of males (48.5%). The pattern of the age and sex distribution was consistently reflected within most common causes of chronic cough, while a female predominance was shown in patients with coughvariant asthma and patients aged ≥50 years. Female patients had higher cough sensitivity to capsaicin than male patients (log C5: 1.58 ± 0.84 vs. 2.04 ± 0.84 μmol/L, P = 0.001), and patients aged ≥50 years had higher cough sensitivity to capsaicin than patients aged <50 years. Conclusions: In China, patients with chronic cough have a roughly equal sex distribution and a middle-aged predominance, irrespective of a higher cough sensitivity to capsaicin in females and older patients.

Stable modal identification for civil structures based on a stochastic subspace algorithm with appropriate selection of time lag parameter

Wu, Wen-Hwa,Wang, Sheng-Wei,Chen, Chien-Chou,Lai, Gwolong Techno-Press 2017 Structural monitoring and maintenance Vol.4 No.4

Based on the alternative stabilization diagram by varying the time lag parameter in the stochastic subspace identification analysis, this study aims to investigate the measurements from several cases of civil structures for extending the applicability of a recently noticed criterion to ensure stable identification results. Such a criterion demands the time lag parameter to be no less than a critical threshold determined by the ratio of the sampling rate to the fundamental system frequency and is firstly validated for its applications with single measurements from stay cables, bridge decks, and buildings. As for multiple measurements, it is found that the predicted threshold works well for the cases of stay cables and buildings, but makes an evident overestimation for the case of bridge decks. This discrepancy is further explained by the fact that the deck vibrations are induced by multiple excitations independently coming from the passing traffic. The cable vibration signals covering the sensor locations close to both the deck and pylon ends of a cable-stayed bridge provide convincing evidences to testify this important discovery.

Video Streaming over HTTP/2: Design and Evaluation of Adaptive Server-Paced Push

Huei-Wen Ferng,Shan-Hsiang Shen,Chih-Wei Lai 한국통신학회 2021 Journal of communications and networks Vol.23 No.2

By using the server push of the hypertext transfer pro tocol (HTTP) version 2.0, i.e., HTTP/2, along with the techniqueof server pacing, a novel scheme is proposed in this paper to de liver video segments. Furthermore, the load of bitrate adaptationis shifted to the server to avoid bandwidth competition and wastagecaused by bitrate switching. It can be explicitly shown that no sig nificant overhead is brought by our proposed scheme via complex ity analysis. Moreover, our proposed scheme generates one HTTPrequest only. With extensive simulations, we successfully demon strate that it is superior over the closely related schemes in termsof the average achievable bitrate, the number of buffer stalls, theratio of unclaimed pushes, etc., in particular, when a harsh networkcondition arises.