Taiwan Neurosurgical Spine Society: The New Shining Star

Yi-Hsuan Kuo,Jau-Ching Wu,Wen-Cheng Huang,Ming-Chao Huang,E-Jian Lee,Henrich Cheng 대한척추신경외과학회 2018 Neurospine Vol.15 No.4

As spine surgery flourished in Taiwan and neurosurgeons became more involved in spine surgery towards the end of the 20th century, the Taiwan Neurosurgical Spine Society (TNSS), earlier named the Taiwan Neurospinal Society, was established on March 11, 2001. As its main founder, Dr. Chun-I Huang was elected as the first president of the TNSS. The goals of the TNSS were to promote research, to hold academic seminars, to participate in international conferences, and to exchange clinical experiences. The mission of the TNSS was successful, and the profession of spine surgery in Taiwan advanced during the first decade of the 21st century, culminating in the TNSS joining ASIA SPINE in 2010. Since its establishment, the TNSS has always been supportive of collaboration and communication with the Korean Spinal Neurosurgery Society and the Neurospinal Society of Japan. Through periodical meetings, supported by the TNSS, surgeons worldwide have enjoyed a platform of sharing and mutual learning. To further promote academic research, the TNSS has officially supported the journal Neurospine since 2018. With extensive efforts from local and international surgeons, the TNSS will continue to adhere to its mission and to advance the profession of spine surgery.

Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion for Hirayama Disease: A Case Report and Literature Review

Yi-Hsuan Kuo,Chao-Hung Kuo,Wen-Cheng Huang,Jau-Ching Wu 대한척추신경외과학회 2019 Neurospine Vol.16 No.3

Hirayama disease, a juvenile muscular atrophy of the distal upper extremity, is a rare form of cervical flexion myelopathy characterized by insidiously progressive weakness of the hands and forearm muscles (i.e., painless amyotrophy). The pathognomonic finding is a markedly forward-shifted spinal cord during neck flexion, demonstrated by dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as in a young man with muscle atrophy in the bilateral distal upper extremities. In this report, the authors describe a 31-year-old man who had the classic radiological and clinical presentations of Hirayama disease. Since prior medical treatment had been ineffective for years, he underwent multilevel instrumented anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) to keep his subaxial cervical spine slightly-lordotic (nonflexion). His motor evoked potential amplitude improved immediately during the operation, and there were improvements of myelopathy and a modest reversal of muscle wasting at 1 year postoperatively. Postoperative dynamic cervical spine MRI also demonstrated minimal cord compression and elimination of the venous plexus engorgement dorsal to the thecal sac. Although Hirayama disease is benign in nature and frequently self-limiting, multilevel instrumented ACDF could be a reasonable management option.

Balanced detection for spectral domain optical coherence tomography

Kuo, Wen-Chuan,Lai, Chih-Ming,Huang, Yi-Shiang,Chang, Cheng-Yi,Kuo, Yue-Ming The Optical Society 2013 Optics express Vol.21 No.16

Causal Relations between Exposome and Stroke: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Hong-Qi Li,Yi-Wei Feng,Yu-Xiang Yang,Xin-Yi Leng,Prof Can Zhang,Shi-Dong Chen,Kevin Kuo,Shu-Yi Huang,Xue-Qing Zhang,Yi Dong,Xiang Han,Xin Cheng,Mei Cui,Lan Tan,Qiang Dong,Jin-Tai Yu 대한뇌졸중학회 2022 Journal of stroke Vol.24 No.2

Background and Purpose To explore the causal relationships of elements of the exposome with ischemic stroke and its subtypes at the omics level and to provide evidence for stroke prevention. Methods We conducted a Mendelian randomization study between exposure and any ischemic stroke (AIS) and its subtypes (large-artery atherosclerotic disease [LAD], cardioembolic stroke [CE], and small vessel disease [SVD]). The exposure dataset was the UK Biobank involving 361,194 subjects, and the outcome dataset was the MEGASTROKE consortium including 52,000 participants. Results We found that higher blood pressure (BP) (systolic BP: odds ratio [OR], 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01 to 1.04; diastolic BP: OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.05; pulse pressure: OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.06), atrial fibrillation (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.25), and diabetes (OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.18) were significantly associated with ischemic stroke. Importantly, higher education (OR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.60 to 0.79) decreased the risk of ischemic stroke. Higher systolic BP (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.10), pulse pressure (OR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.14), diabetes (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.45), and coronary artery disease (OR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.25 to 2.00) could cause LAD. Atrial fibrillation could cause CE (OR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.71 to 2.11). For SVD, higher systolic BP (OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.07), diastolic BP (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.12), and diabetes (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.36) were causal factors. Conclusions The study revealed elements of the exposome causally linked to ischemic stroke and its subtypes, including conventional causal risk factors and novel protective factors such as higher education.

Real-World Effectiveness and Safety of SOF/LDV for Pa-tients with Chronic Hepatitis C in Taiwan

( Ching-chu Lo ),( Pin-nan Cheng ),( Chi-yi Chen ),( Chung-feng Huang ),( Hsing-tao Kuo ),( Kuo-chih Tseng ),( Yi-hsiang Huang ),( Chi-ming Tai ),( Cheng-yuan Peng ),( Ming-jong Bair ),( Chien-hung Ch 대한간학회 2021 춘·추계 학술대회 (KASL) Vol.2021 No.1

Effects of 5HT1A Activation on Depression Profile Following 5-HT Depletion in Rats Lacking Social Attachment Since Weanling

Kuo-Jung Chang,Yu-Jung Chen,Jing-Yi Chung,Chen-Cheng Lin,Yia-Ping Liu 대한신경정신의학회 2018 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.15 No.11

Objective Post weanling isolation-reared (IR) rats are featured with depressive phenotype, yet its mechanism is not clearly defined particularly in terms of the involvement of central 5-HT1A receptors. The present study aims to examine the effects of 5HT1A activation on forced swim test (FST) in IR rats following 5-HT depletion. Methods Social control (SOC) and IR rats received an intracerebraoventricular (ICV) injection of 5-HT depletion agent, 5,7-DHT. 14 days after the surgery, rats were assessed their performance in FST with or without the challenge with a 5-HT1A agonist, 8-OH-DPAT. Rats were then sacrificed for analyzing their 5-HT tissue levels and the expressions of their 5-HA1A receptors in prefrontal cortex (PFC), hippocampus (HPX), and amygdala (AMY). Results 5,7-DHT decreased the tissue concentration of 5-HT in both IR and SOC rats. IR rats were more immobile and less sensitive to the lesion-induced immobility, however this effect was reversed by acute challenge of 8-OH-DPAT. 5,7-DHT lesion increased the expression of PFC 5-HT1A receptors. Conclusion The integrity of central 5-HT system is developmentally crucial for the 5-HT1A-relevant depression profile in rats of social isolation.

UNDERSTANDING TOURIST SERVICE QUALITY PERCEPTIONS AND LOYALTY INTENTIONS IN THE INTERNATIONAL HOTEL SECTOR: APPLICATION OF DATA MINING METHODS AND KANO’S MODEL

Kuo-Chien Chang,Mu-Chen Chen,Nien-Te Kuo,Chia-Lin Hsu,Yi-Sung Cheng 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2014 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2014 No.1

This study used the methods of decision tree analysis, association rule analysis, and Kano’s model to explore the behavior patterns of mainland China tourists staying at the international tourist hotels in Taiwan. To this end, the data of their demographics, travel variables, overall satisfaction with the lodging experience, different service quality perceptions, and loyalty intentions were included. The decision tree analysis showed that a tourist’s overall satisfaction with the lodging experience, satisfaction with the quality of core intangible services, and certain demographic characteristics are three important determinants of tourist loyalty towards the hotels. In terms of the effect of demographics, the customers’ monthly income and length of stay at the hotel are two main determinants in this study. In addition, if the customer perceptions of different parts of hotel service quality are taken into account, among the five hotel service quality domains, core intangible services from the receptionist, housekeeping personnel, and food & beverage personnel are found to be important influences on hotel customer loyalty intention. In other words, high quality intangible services are important for luxury hotels to demonstrate their unique ability to help customers experience the service quality that creates loyalty intentions. With regard to the association rule analysis, the results showed that core intangible service aspects from the receptionist, housekeeping personnel, and food & beverage personnel are strongly associated with customer loyalty intentions, as are the tangible aspects of the reception and hotel room facilities. The former indicated that reception in the hotel lobby could be considered one of the most important servicescapes because of its impact in forming many of the first impressions of hotel guests, while the latter is treated as core offerings in hotels that would be encountered by most hotel customers. If the tourists are mainly from package tours, the intangible services and tangible facilities of these areas are the important areas to create customer satisfaction. However, if the tourists are mainly independent tourists because they have more time and free choice to stay at the hotel longer than the package tour tourists, the intangible services and tangible facilities of the entertainment or business centers would be even more important to these tourists than to the package tour tourists. With regard to Kano’s model analysis, the results showed that, based on mainland China tourists’ perceptions, most of the service elements fit into the category of one-dimensional quality attributes. This means that these service elements are positively and linearly related to customer satisfaction, and the greater fulfillment of the attribute results in a greater degree of satisfaction. This also means that hotels should make more effort to innovate their intangible services and tangible facilities to create business advantages in the market.

UNDERSTANDING TOURIST SERVICE QUALITY PERCEPTIONS AND LOYALTY INTENTIONS IN THE INTERNATIONAL HOTEL SECTOR: APPLICATION OF DATA MINING METHODS AND KANO’S MODEL

Kuo-Chien Chang,Mu-Chen Chen,Nien-Te Kuo,Chia-Lin Hsu,Yi-Sung Cheng 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2014 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2014 No.7

This study used the methods of decision tree analysis, association rule analysis, and Kano’s model to explore the behavior patterns of mainland China tourists staying at the international tourist hotels in Taiwan. To this end, the data of their demographics, travel variables, overall satisfaction with the lodging experience, different service quality perceptions, and loyalty intentions were included. The decision tree analysis showed that a tourist’s overall satisfaction with the lodging experience, satisfaction with the quality of core intangible services, and certain demographic characteristics are three important determinants of tourist loyalty towards the hotels. In terms of the effect of demographics, the customers’ monthly income and length of stay at the hotel are two main determinants in this study. In addition, if the customer perceptions of different parts of hotel service quality are taken into account, among the five hotel service quality domains, core intangible services from the receptionist, housekeeping personnel, and food & beverage personnel are found to be important influences on hotel customer loyalty intention. In other words, high quality intangible services are important for luxury hotels to demonstrate their unique ability to help customers experience the service quality that creates loyalty intentions. With regard to the association rule analysis, the results showed that core intangible service aspects from the receptionist, housekeeping personnel, and food & beverage personnel are strongly associated with customer loyalty intentions, as are the tangible aspects of the reception and hotel room facilities. The former indicated that reception in the hotel lobby could be considered one of the most important servicescapes because of its impact in forming many of the first impressions of hotel guests, while the latter is treated as core offerings in hotels that would be encountered by most hotel customers. If the tourists are mainly from package tours, the intangible services and tangible facilities of these areas are the important areas to create customer satisfaction. However, if the tourists are mainly independent tourists because they have more time and free choice to stay at the hotel longer than the package tour tourists, the intangible services and tangible facilities of the entertainment or business centers would be even more important to these tourists than to the package tour tourists. With regard to Kano’s model analysis, the results showed that, based on mainland China tourists’ perceptions, most of the service elements fit into the category of one-dimensional quality attributes. This means that these service elements are positively and linearly related to customer satisfaction, and the greater fulfillment of the attribute results in a greater degree of satisfaction. This also means that hotels should make more effort to innovate their intangible services and tangible facilities to create business advantages in the market.

Effects of 5HT1A Activation on Depression Profile Following 5-HT Depletion in Rats Lacking Social Attachment Since Weanling

Kuo-Jung Chang,Yu-Jung Chen,Jing-Yi Chung,Chen-Cheng Lin,Yia-Ping Liu 대한신경정신의학회 2018 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.15 No.10

Objective: Post weanling isolation-reared (IR) rats are featured with depressive phenotype, yet its mechanism is not clearly defined particularly in terms of the involvement of central 5-HT1A receptors. The present study aims to examine the effects of 5HT1A activation on forced swim test (FST) in IR rats following 5-HT depletion. Methods: Social control (SOC) and IR rats received an intracerebraoventricular (ICV) injection of 5-HT depletion agent, 5,7-DHT. 14days after the surgery, rats were assessed their performance in FST with or without the challenge with a 5-HT1A agonist, 8-OH-DPAT. Rats were then sacrificed for analyzing their 5-HT tissue levels and the expressions of their 5-HA1A receptors in prefrontal cortex (PFC), hippocampus (HPX), and amygdala (AMY). Results: 5,7-DHT decreased the tissue concentration of 5-HT in both IR and SOC rats. IR rats were more immobile and less sensitive to the lesion-induced immobility, however this effect was reversed by acute challenge of 8-OH-DPAT. 5,7-DHT lesion increased the expression of PFC 5-HT1A receptors. Conclusion: The integrity of central 5-HT system is developmentally crucial for the 5-HT1A-relevant depression profile in rats of social isolation.

FLOW TO ASIAN MARKET: EXPLORING THE SITE SELECTION DECISION OF INCENTIVE TRAVEL FROM INDIA

Serena Yi Cheng,Kuo-Ching Wang,Ben Wu 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2018 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2018 No.07

Introduction Business event are much important to economies of many destinations all over the world (Jago, Mair, Deery, & Bergin-Seers, 2008). As the term, “business events” is referred to be the MICE industry, encompassing with Meeting, Incentive, Conference/Convention, and Exhibition. The MICE industry underpins tourist visitation for many destinations. Such destinations have transferred into making substantial investments to provide the meeting/exhibition facilities and hotel needed for business events. Announced in the 5th of MICE and Luxury Travel Conference, India will generate 6.5 million outbound incentive tourists by 2030. Especially in these years, the number of MICE outbound tourists has been more than 1.5 million and the number of Luxury travel tourists has been up to 3.6 million (India Infoline Housing Finance Limited [IIFL], 2017). Research for one of the business events that remains in minority is incentives. Incentive travel, also known as IT, is defined as one of worldwide management tools which uses special travel experiences or recognizes participants who exceed the expectation on performance (Society of Incentive Travel Executives [SITE], 2013). According to the Incentive Federation, the number of U.S. business using non-cash rewards has raised dramatically from just 26% in 1996 to 84% of all U.S. businesses in 2016 (Incentive Federation, 2017). Incentive travel is becoming a field in which not only attractions and venues matter, but also the organization of parallel training activities and conferences around an incentive activity is possible (Celuch, 2014). The United States remains a primary destination for 82% of U.S. planners choosing U.S. in 2017 (Incentive Federation, 2017). Another popular incentive destination, Australia is also viewed as one of ideal destinations for incentive travel. Tourism Australia in 2008 indicated that 34% of incentive travelers is from China, 12% is from New Zealand, and 10% is from Japan. Taiwan has received over 10 million travelers from abroad in 2016. However, tourists from India traveling to Taiwan are only 33,000 passengers. According to report in 2016, International Congress & Conference Association [ICCA] announced that Taipei City has held 83 international conference and become top 10 destinations in Asia for The Best Stop to Meet Asia. However, is Taiwan a good incentive travel destination for India? Despite a limited amount of information on expenditure and the number of incentive programs, numerous gaps remain in our understanding of this sector of business events and cross-culture marketing, including how incentive travel organizers in India select their travel destination? And how this process may differ in source markets? This exploratory study aims to examine these site selection factors in the incentive travel context and identify any similarities and differences in how incentive travel is conceptualized, planned, and organized in India. Literature review Incentive Travel The incentive market has seldom been studied in great depth as an individual segmentation. Lewis (1983) carried out a concept that incentive travel represents a sizable market segment for hotel companies in many destination areas. Sheldon (1995) highlighted that travel was regarded as a motivating reward or incentive among America’s Fortune 100 companies, and that travel incentives were mostly used by companies in the service sector. Shinew and Backman (1995) identified the “trophy value” of travel incentives, and proposed that incentive travel allows long-lasting positive engagement in staffs’ job performance. Xiang and Formica (2007) used cognitive mapping to understand how incentive travel managers view the business environment, concluding with fast-pacing of incentive travel market, and global structural changes presenting challenges to incentive planners. Budget and cost, uniqueness of the destination, and availability of suitable facilities were thought to be factors influencing the choice of destination for incentive travel (Mair, 2005); however, this has not yet been demonstrated in empirical research. Convention Site Selection According to Crouch and Ritchie (1997) “the choice of destination can make or break the convention”. The first research by Fortin and Ritchie (1977) was considered the process undertaken by meeting planners when deciding on which location to choose for annual meeting or convention. The nine factors identified by Crouch and Ritchie (1997) are accessibility, local support, extra-conference opportunities, accommodation, meeting facilities, information, site environment and other criteria. Despite knowledge of the convention site selection process, very little research has considered how different types of meetings choose their destinations. In one of the few studies to consider the site selection process of incentive planners, Del Chiappa (2012) suggests a certain degree of “destination inaccessibility” could make incentive location being more extraordinary and exclusive. Mair, Jin, and Yoo (2016) indicated that incentive travel planners across three market- China, Australia, and America, shares similar perceptions on what characterizes incentive trips but differ slightly in the planning and operational phase pertinent to varying company characteristics and requirements. However, little is known about the cultural differences in incentive programs from one nation to the next. Methodology This research is an exploratory qualitative research, using in-depth interviews with incentive travel organizers, public relations professionals, company and staff who has participated in incentive travel to Taiwan and other Asian countries. Eight in-depth interviews (between 30 and 60 minutes) were carried out in India. The data collecting method is snowball sampling and 11 interviewees were invited by incentive organizers’ recommendations, while a list of qualified tour operators/specialists authorized by national tourism bureaus and organization (e.g., Ministry of Tourism Government of India or Travel Agents Association of India Active Member) are consulted as a sample frame, shown as table 1. Further, all interviewees were senior managers in their companies. For in-depth interviews, researcher has traveled to Mumbai, New Delhi and Jamshedpur in India between 12th and 26th Jan, 2018. Interviewees were asked to give some background on their incentive business. They were also asked to give information on how their incentive programs were structured and how they cooperate both with their incentive clients and with local suppliers of their incentive trips. Finally, they were asked in open-ended questions about their views on site selection, with eight site selection factors identified by Crouch and Ritchie (1997) and the outline designed by Mair, et al (2016). Findings This study explored site selection of incentive travel from the perspective of incentive planners, company, and participants. The finding suggests that the most popular incentive travel destination for Indian is Thailand with low expense and luxury hospitality. Most important part for choosing a destination is considering about food and beverage since there are a lot of vegetarian and chef should be familiar with Indian cuisine, for instance, foods in Singapore is more likely to be accepted by Indian. Both the operators and staffs from the company indicate that Indian travelers would like to have Indian cuisine and Bollywood show during the incentive trips, instead of local and cultural performance from the destination. Conference and accommodation facilities in China is well-prepared for MICE but expense is too high. Accessibility to Taiwan or to any countries won’t be a problem for incentive travel planners; nevertheless, there is still few direct flight from India to Taiwan which will influence the budget on overseas transportation. In addition, unfamiliarity with destination image of Taiwan reduces intention of visiting. However, since a new destination will be a motivator for encouraging employees to work hard, novelty destination for incentive trip is still important. One incentive travel planners suggest that enhancing the destination image by story-telling would help attracting Indian’s interests. Perceived risk will be reduces depending on local support (DMC). Incentive planners in India illustrate although decision maker is the representatives from companies, however, planners would give several packages of different countries, depending on budgets, basing on destination information from public relations professionals. It is obvious that public relations professionals and travel agencies are critical characters for site selection in India. F&B and budget are major considerations differing from other markets- China, Australia, and America. Conclusions This article interviewed incentive operators, public relations professionals, and company purchase incentive travel, and examined how incentive travel is conceptualized, planned, and organized in India. The study suggests government and bureau relating to MICE should get well prepared for cross-cultural incentive traveler, according to Indian culture. In addition, destination imagine promotion would be another effort for planners to select a site for incentive program. Since incentive planners in India are not familiar with Taiwan, local support/ DMC could look for public relations professionals from India as a connection, and put more focus on India as a potential market. Further study should explore the site selection in different countries, and marketing strategies. A limitation of this research that should be acknowledged is the small sample size. However, the initial conclusions from this research suggest that, while the site selection factors identified in other markets provide a useful place to start, incentive travel organizers do not rely on same factors. The findings from this project will provide a basis for future research in the area of incentive, and useful information for incentive planners/organizers in Taiwan and worldwide.