Analysis of Molecular Diversity in Psidium guajava L. of Indigenous Tribes in Taiwan

Tseng-Wei Chen,Yuan-Tay Shyu 한국원예학회 2006 한국원예학회 기타간행물 Vol.- No.-

Sofosbuvir/velpatasvir plus ribavirin for Child-Pugh B and Child-Pugh C hepatitis C virus-related cirrhosis

( Chen-hua Liu ),( Chi-yi Chen ),( Wei-wen Su ),( Chun-jen Liu ),( Ching-chu Lo ),( Ke-jhang Huang ),( Jyh-jou Chen ),( Kuo-chih Tseng ),( Chi-yang Chang ),( Cheng-yuan Peng ),( Yu-lueng Shih ),( Chia 대한간학회 2021 Clinical and Molecular Hepatology(대한간학회지) Vol.27 No.4

Background/Aims: Real-world studies assessing the effectiveness and safety of sofosbuvir/velpatasvir (SOF/VEL) plus ribavirin (RBV) for Child-Pugh B/C hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related cirrhosis are limited. Methods: We included 107 patients with Child-Pugh B/C HCV-related cirrhosis receiving SOF/VEL plus RBV for 12 weeks in Taiwan. The sustained virologic response rates at off-treatment week 12 (SVR₁₂) for the evaluable population (EP), modified EP, and per-protocol population (PP) were assessed. The safety profiles were reported. Results: The SVR₁₂ rates in the EP, modified EP and PP were 89.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 82.5-94.2%), 94.1% (95% CI, 87.8-97.3%), and 100% (95% CI, 96.2-100%). Number of patients who failed to achieve SVR₁₂ were attributed to virologic failures. The SVR₁₂ rates were comparable regardless of patient characteristics. One patient discontinued treatment because of adverse events (AEs). Twenty-four patients had serious AEs and six died, but none were related to SOF/VEL or RBV. Among the 96 patients achieving SVR₁₂, 84.4% and 64.6% had improved Child-Pugh and model for endstage liver disease (MELD) scores. Multivariate analysis revealed that a baseline MELD score ≥15 was associated with an improved MELD score of ≥3 (odds ratio, 4.13; 95% CI, 1.16-14.71; P=0.02). Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 1 had more significant estimated glomerular filtration rate declines than patients with CKD stage 2 (-0.42 mL/min/1.73 ㎡/month; P=0.01) or stage 3 (-0.56 mL/min/1.73 ㎡/month; P<0.001). Conclusions: SOF/VEL plus RBV for 12 weeks is efficacious and well-tolerated for Child-Pugh B/C HCV-related cirrhosis. (Clin Mol Hepatol 2021;27:575-588)

Transforaminal Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy for L5–S1 Disc Herniation With High Iliac Crest: Technical Note and Preliminary Series

Kuo-Tai Chen,Sung-Tai Wei,Chun Tseng,Su-Wei Ou,Li-Wei Sun,Chien-Min Chen 대한척추신경외과학회 2020 Neurospine Vol.17 No.sup.

With the trend of minimally invasive spine surgery, full-endoscopic lumbar discectomy (FELD) has evolved with the advancement of the optics and instruments. Regarding the techniques, the transforaminal and interlaminar approach remain the major accesses in FELD. Transforaminal endoscopic lumbar discectomy (TELD) is an effective and safe treatment for herniation of the lumbar disc. More and more evidence supports the TELD in enhancing recovery and decreasing surgical complications. However, the learning curve of TELD remains steep, especially at the L5–S1 level. The iliac crest height is an essential factor in the operability of TELD at the L5–S1 level. In the situation of the high iliac crest, TELD is technically challenging even for an experienced surgeon. Therefore, the authors report their techniques of TELD with foraminoplasty step-by-step and the preliminary results in this report.

Increased Readmission Risk and Healthcare Cost for Delirium Patients without Immediate Hospitalization in the Emergency Department

I Chun Ma,Kao Chin Chen,Wei Tseng Chen,Hsin Chun Tsai,Chien-Chou Su,Ru-Band Lu,Po See Chen,Wei Hung Chang,Yen Kuang Yang 대한정신약물학회 2018 CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE Vol.16 No.4

Objective: Hospitalization of patients with delirium after visiting the emergency department (ED) is often required. However, the readmission risk after discharge from the ED should also be considered. This study aimed to explore whether (i) immediate hospitalization influences the readmission risk of patients with delirium; (ii) the readmission risk is affected by various risk factors; and (iii) the healthcare cost differs between groups within 28 days of the first ED visit. Methods: Using the National Health Insurance Research Database, the data of 2,780 subjects presenting with delirium at an ED visit from 2000 to 2008 were examined. The readmission risks of the groups of patients (i.e., patients who were and were not admitted within 24 hours of an ED visit) within 28 days were compared, and the effects of the severities of different comorbidities (using Charlson’s comorbidity index, CCI), age, gender, diagnosis and differences in medical healthcare cost were analyzed. Results: Patients without immediate hospitalization had a higher risk of readmission within 3, 7, 14, or 28 days of discharge from the ED, especially subjects with more severe comorbidities (CCI≥3) or older patients (≥65 years). Subjects with more severe comorbidities or older subjects who were not admitted immediately also incurred a greater healthcare cost for re-hospitalization within the 28-day follow-up period. Conclusion: Patients with delirium with a higher CCI or of a greater age should be carefully considered for immediate hospitalization from ED for further examination in order to reduce the risk of re-hospitalization and cost of healthcare.

Multiple Modulating Processes for Intensive Tropical Cyclone Activity Affecting Taiwan in September 2016

Wei-Teh Li,Jau-Ming Chen,Ruo-Shan Tseng,Tzu-Ling Lai 한국기상학회 2022 Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences Vol.58 No.1

September 2016 harbored record-breaking three tropical cyclones (TCs) affecting Taiwan within a month. Multiple modulating processes governing these three TC events and associated rainfall and intensification features are examined. September 2016 fell in a La Niña phase. For interannual variability, major warm sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in September 2016 shifted eastward toward the tropical western North Pacific (WNP) compared to the Maritime Continent during other La Niña events. These SST anomalies induced strong convergence and convection anomalies facilitating TC formation. The TCs formed in the joint region between a northern anticyclonic anomaly over the northern WNP and a southern cyclonic anomaly extending from the tropical WNP toward Taiwan. They were steered by anomalous easterly/southeasterly flows northwestward toward an anomalous cyclonic center overlying Taiwan, leading to intensive TC activity affecting Taiwan. For intraseasonal variability, the three TCs of September 2016 were steered by anomalous easterly/southeasterly flows in the southern section of a 30–60-day anomalous anticyclone over the subtropical WNP northwestward toward a 30–60-day anomalous cyclone that lay over Taiwan. During these events, local rainfall in Taiwan was mainly affected by moisture convergence due to 3–10-day transient anomalies, rather than intraseasonal anomalies. For TC intensification processes, faster intensification was assisted by decreases in vertical wind shear and increases in upward motion, moisture convergence, upper-level divergence, and SST. Intensification processes were mainly affected by transient anomalies. Overall, interannual and intraseasonal anomalies modulated TC genesis and movement, while transient anomalies influenced local rainfall and intensification processes.

Climatic Factors Suppressing Tropical Cyclone Activity around Taiwan during October

Wei‑Teh Li,Jau‑Ming Chen,Ruo‑Shan Tseng 한국기상학회 2023 Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences Vol.59 No.4

During Octobers of 1970–2019, no tropical cyclones (TCs) affected Taiwan in 32 out of 50 years (64%). Suppressed TCactivity in these years results from different modulating processes imposed by various climatic features. During Octobersof El Niño years, TC genesis in the western North Pacific (WNP) shifts eastward and decreases in the western WNP to thesoutheast of Taiwan. An anomalous anticyclone across the South China Sea (SCS) and Taiwan hinders TC movement towardTaiwan. In La Niña years, TC genesis increases in the region southeast of Taiwan. These TCs are guided by an anomalouscyclone centering in the SCS to have major TC tracks to the southwest of Taiwan toward the SCS. A year with a September–November value on the Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) of between 0°-0.5 °C (-0.5°-0 °C) is categorized as a positive (negative)Normal year. During the positive Normal years, an anomalous cyclone over the WNP enhances TC genesis in its southernsection and guides these TCs northward along the regions east of Taiwan. An anomalous anticyclone across the SCS andTaiwan hinders TC movement toward Taiwan. During the negative Normal years, a westward elongation of warm sea surfacetemperature anomalies from the WNP into the eastern Indian Ocean forces an anomalous anticyclone to extend westwardfrom the WNP toward the SCS. TC genesis to the south of this anomalous anticyclone decreases and is accompanied byreduced TC movement toward Taiwan.

System Study of the Wireless Multimedia Ad-hoc Network based on IEEE 802.11g

Chung-Wei Lee,Jonathan C.L. Liu,Kun Chen,Yu-Chee Tseng,S.P. Kuo 보안공학연구지원센터 2008 International Journal of Security and Its Applicat Vol.2 No.2

The construction of a wireless multimedia ad-hoc network needs to go across the mixed environment with the indoor, the wall-penetration, and the outdoor condition. This paper presents our contribution to address the system design aspects of a multimedia-enabled network based on IEEE 802.11g ad-hoc mode. There are distinct differences between indoor and outdoor environment and penetrating the walls stressed the system limit of the 802.11g ad-hoc mode. Therefore, routing decisions should be made intelligently with the environmental respect to maximize the bandwidth support on the end-to-end paths. By investigating the experimental results of the average throughput with the 802.11g adhoc mode, we have collected the different performance characteristics among the indoor, the wall-penetration and the outdoor environment. Via the experiments and analyses, we have observed that the ad-hoc mode had the worst performance within 5 meters in indoor environments. In outdoor environments, TCP seemed to favor either short distance (e.g., 5 meters) or long distance (e.g., 25 meters). On the other hand, the best performance UDP has achieved with the distance of 10 meters. When the wall-enetration occurs, it is important that the routing nodes in the building edge areas are placed close-by within 5 meters. Given the solid evidences from the baseline experiments, we have embedded the heuristic algorithms into the routing decisions. We have thus simulated a large area of 300 meters by 300 meters with hundreds of routing nodes. After investigating over 100 (randomlygenerated) topology scenarios, the performance results indicate that our proposed scheme produces the higher-bandwidth paths for most of the cases. Even in the less-dense cases, our proposed schemes still can find the better paths with bandwidth about 30% higher than the conventional methods.

Patient Response to Endoscopic Therapy for Gastroesophageal Varices Based on Endoscopic Ultrasound Findings

( Yujen Tseng ),( Lili Ma ),( Tiancheng Luo ),( Xiaoqing Zeng ),( Feng Li ),( Na Li ),( Yichao Wei ),( Shiyao Chen ) 대한간학회 2018 Gut and Liver Vol.12 No.5

Background/Aims: Gastroesophageal variceal hemorrhage is a common complication of portal hypertension. Endoscopic therapy is currently recommended for preventing gastroesophageal variceal rebleed. However, the rate of variceal rebleed and its associated mortality remain concerning. This study is aimed at differentiating patient response to endoscopic therapy based on endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) findings. Methods: One-hundred seventy patients previously treated with repeat endoscopic therapy for secondary prophylaxis were enrolled and classified into two groups based on treatment response. Prior to consolidation therapy, all patients received an EUS examination to observe for extraluminal phenomena. All available follow-up endoscopic examination records were retrieved to validate study results. Results: Of the 170 subjects, 106 were poor responders, while 64 were good responders. The presence of para-gastric, gastric perforating, and esophageal perforating veins was associated with poor patient response (p<0.001). The odds ratio for para-gastric veins was 5.374. Follow-up endoscopic findings for poor responders with incomplete variceal obliteration was closely correlated with the presence of para-gastric veins (p=0.002). Conclusions: The presence of para-gastric veins is a characteristic of poor response to endoscopic therapy for treating gastroesophageal varices. Early identification of this subgroup necessitates a change in course of treatment to improve overall patient outcome. (Gut Liver 2018;12:562- 570)

Mechanical Stretch Promotes Invasion of Lung Cancer Cells via Activation of Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Liang-Kun Chen,Ching-Chi Hsieh,Yi-Chao Huang,Yuan-Jung Huang,Chun-Fan Lung,Wei-En Hsu,Chao-Ling Yao,Tsung-Yu Tseng,Chi-Chung Wang,Yi-Chiung Hsu 한국생물공학회 2023 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.28 No.3

Most of the gas exchange in the human body is carried out by the lungs, and the physiological activities of the lungs are uninterrupted. Due to the deterioration of the external environment, pulmonary cell lesions are common clinical lung diseases. Mechanical cyclic stretching is one kind of bionic technology to observe lung cancer cells. The A549 cell line is the human lung adenocarcinoma cell line derived from a primary lung tumor. This study investigated the effects of mechanical cyclic stretching on A549 cell activity and gene expression profile. Whereas mechanical cyclic stretching had no significant difference in colony formation and cell migration of A549 cells, the cell invasion increased significantly in A549 cells after stretching. In addition, the microarray data showed that mechanical cyclic stretching altered gene expression, induced inflammation of cells, and activation of Wnt/β- catenin and tumor necrosis factor pathways. More importantly, mechanical cyclic stretching activated the expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) protein. Therefore, the increase of cell invasion induced by mechanical cyclic stretching might be associated with the activation of TNF-α in human lung adenocarcinoma cells.

The Association between Default-mode Network Functional Connectivity and Childhood Trauma on the Symptom Load in Male Adults with Methamphetamine Use Disorder

Shyh-Yuh Wei,Tsung-Han Tsai,Tsung-Yu Tsai,Po See Chen,Huai-Hsuan Tseng,Yen Kuang Yang,Tianye Zhai,Yihong Yang,Tzu-Yun Wang 대한정신약물학회 2024 CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE Vol.22 No.1

Objective: The relationship between adverse childhood experiences and methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) has been shown in previous studies; nevertheless, the underlying neural mechanisms remain elusive. Childhood trauma is associated with aberrant functional connectivity (FC) within the default-mode network (DMN). Furthermore, within the DMN, FC may contribute to impaired self-awareness in addiction, while cross-network FC is critical for relapse. We aimed to investigate whether childhood trauma was associated with DMN-related resting-state FC among healthy controls and patients with MUD and to examine whether DMN-related FC affected the effect of childhood trauma on the symptom load of MUD diagnosis. Methods: Twenty-seven male patients with MUD and 27 male healthy controls were enrolled and completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. DMN-related resting-state FC was examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Results: There were 47.1% healthy controls and 66.7% MUD patients in this study with adverse childhood experiences. Negative correlations between adverse childhood experiences and within-DMN FC were observed in both healthy controls and MUD patients, while within-DMN FC was significantly altered in MUD patients. The detrimental effects of adverse childhood experiences on MUD patients may be attenuated through DMN-executive control networks (ECN) FC. Conclusion: Adverse childhood experiences were negatively associated with within-DMN FC in MUD patients and healthy controls. However, DMN-ECN FC may attenuate the effects of childhood trauma on symptoms load of MUD.