Spousal Concordance and Cross-Disorder Concordance of Mental Disorders: A Nationwide Cohort Study

Hsieh Ming-Hong,Ju Po-Chung,Chiou Jeng-Yuan,Wang Yu-Hsun,Wang Jong-Yi,Chang Cheng-Chen 대한신경정신의학회 2022 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.19 No.10

Objective Although both partners of a married couple can have mental disorders, the concordant and cross-concordant categories of disorders in couples remain unclear. Using national psychiatric population-based data only from patients with mental disorders, we examined married couples with mental disorders to examine spousal concordance and cross-disorder concordance across the full spectrum of mental disorders.Methods Data from the 1997 to 2012 Taiwan Psychiatric Inpatient Medical Claims data set were used and a total of 662 married couples were obtained. Concordance of mental disorders was determined if both spouses were diagnosed with mental disorder of an identical category in the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification; otherwise, cross-concordance was reported.Results According to Cohen’s kappa coefficient, the most concordant mental disorder in couples was substance use disorder, followed by bipolar disorder. Depressive and anxiety disorders were the most common cross-concordant mental disorders, followed by bipolar disorder. The prevalence of the spousal concordance of mental disorders differed by monthly income and the couple’s age disparity.Conclusion Evidence of spousal concordance and cross-concordance for mental disorders may highlight the necessity of understanding the social context of marriage in the etiology of mental illness. Identifying the risk factors from a common environment attributable to mental disorders may enhance public health strategies to prevent and improve chronic mental illness of married couples.

Percutaneous Endoscopic Interbody Debridement and Fusion for Pyogenic Lumbar Spondylodiskitis: Surgical Technique and the Comparison With Percutaneous Endoscopic Drainage and Debridement

Po-Ju Lai,Sheng-Fen Wang,Tsung-Ting Tsai,Yun-Da Li,Ping-Yeh Chiu,Ming-Kai Hsieh,Fu-Cheng Kao 대한척추신경외과학회 2021 Neurospine Vol.18 No.4

Objective: Surgical treatment of severe infectious spondylodiskitis remains challenging. Although minimally invasive percutaneous endoscopic drainage and debridement (PEDD) may yield good results in complicated cases, outcomes of patients with extensive structural damage and mechanical instability may be unsatisfactory. To address severe infectious spondylodiskitis, we have developed a surgical technique called percutaneous endoscopic interbody debridement and fusion (PEIDF), which comprises endoscopic debridement, bone-graft interbody fusion, and percutaneous posterior instrumentation. Methods: Outcomes of PEIDF in 12 patients and PEDD in 15 patients with infectious spondylodiskitis from April 2014 to July 2018 were reviewed retrospectively. Outcome were compared between 2 kinds of surgical procedures. Results: Patients in PEIDF group had significantly lower rate of revision surgery (8.3% vs. 58.3%), better kyphosis angle (-5.73°±8.74 vs. 1.07°±2.70 in postoperative; 7.09°±7.23 vs. 0.79°±4.08 in kyphosis correction at 1 year), and higher fusion rate (83.3% vs. 46.7%) than those who received PEDD. Conclusion: PEIDF is an effective approach for treating infectious spondylodiskitis, especially in patients with spinal instability and multiple medical comorbidities.

Color Congruency between Text and Graphics Improves Reading Fluency and Comprehension

Pei-Chen, Wang,Tsuei-Ju, Hsieh,Da-Lun, Tang 한국색채학회 2017 AIC 2017 Jeju Vol.2017 No.10

In layout design, color helps not only to decorate but also to index important messages across texts. In this study, we used eye movement data and a reading comprehension test to examine how different color schemes could affect reading behavior when applied in various infographics composed graphics and corresponding explanation text. Three types of infographics were designed: a tour map, a data diagram and an explanatory graph. Each infographic was varied in four coloring schemes that used in highlighting important messages mutually in the texts and the graphics within a infographic. The messages appear in both graphic and the explanatory text were colored in gray scale (no color highlights), a single red color, multiple colors congruently highlight the text and graphics, and multiple colors incongruently highlight the text and graphics. Twenty participants were recruited for the tests. Two-way ANOVA and analyses indicated that different coloring schemes of highlights in text and graphics would impact the readers comprehending process, as well as use different coloring schemes in different information types.

Evaluation of Malignancy Risk of Ampullary Tumors Detected by Endoscopy Using 2-[18F]FDG PET/CT

Chuang Pei-Ju,Wang Hsiu-Po,Tien Yu-Wen,Chin Wei-Shan,Hsieh Min-Shu,Chen Chieh-Chang,Hong Tzu-Chan,Ko Chi-Lun,Wu Yen-Wen,Cheng Mei-Fang 대한영상의학회 2024 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.25 No.3

Objective: We aimed to investigate whether 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (2-[18F]FDG PET/CT) can aid in evaluating the risk of malignancy in ampullary tumors detected by endoscopy. Materials and Methods: This single-center retrospective cohort study analyzed 155 patients (79 male, 76 female; mean age, 65.7 ± 12.7 years) receiving 2-[18F]FDG PET/CT for endoscopy-detected ampullary tumors 5–87 days (median, 7 days) after the diagnostic endoscopy between June 2007 and December 2020. The final diagnosis was made based on histopathological findings. The PET imaging parameters were compared with clinical data and endoscopic features. A model to predict the risk of malignancy, based on PET, endoscopy, and clinical findings, was generated and validated using multivariable logistic regression analysis and an additional bootstrapping method. The final model was compared with standard endoscopy for the diagnosis of ampullary cancer using the DeLong test. Results: The mean tumor size was 17.1 ± 7.7 mm. Sixty-four (41.3%) tumors were benign, and 91 (58.7%) were malignant. Univariable analysis found that ampullary neoplasms with a blood-pool corrected peak standardized uptake value in earlyphase scan (SUVe) ≥ 1.7 were more likely to be malignant (odds ratio [OR], 16.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 7.13–36.18; P < 0.001). Multivariable analysis identified the presence of jaundice (adjusted OR [aOR], 4.89; 95% CI, 1.80–13.33; P = 0.002), malignant traits in endoscopy (aOR, 6.80; 95% CI, 2.41–19.20; P < 0.001), SUVe ≥ 1.7 in PET (aOR, 5.43; 95% CI, 2.00–14.72; P < 0.001), and PET-detected nodal disease (aOR, 5.03; 95% CI, 1.16–21.86; P = 0.041) as independent predictors of malignancy. The model combining these four factors predicted ampullary cancers better than endoscopic diagnosis alone (area under the curve [AUC] and 95% CI: 0.925 [0.874–0.956] vs. 0.815 [0.732–0.873], P < 0.001). The model demonstrated an AUC of 0.921 (95% CI, 0.816–0.967) in candidates for endoscopic papillectomy. Conclusion: Adding 2-[18F]FDG PET/CT to endoscopy can improve the diagnosis of ampullary cancer and may help refine therapeutic decision-making, particularly when contemplating endoscopic papillectomy.

Association between Thioridazine Use and Cancer Risk in Adult Patients with Schizophrenia-A Population-Based Study

Cheng-Chen Chang,Ming-Hong Hsieh,Jong-Yi Wang,Nan-Ying Chiu,Yu-Hsun Wang,Jeng-Yuan Chiou,Hsiang-Hsiung Huang,Po-Chung Ju 대한신경정신의학회 2018 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.15 No.11

Objective Several cell line studies have demonstrated thioridazine’s anticancer, multidrug resistance-reversing and apoptosis-inducing properties in various tumors. We conducted this nationwide population-based study to investigate the association between thioridazine use and cancer risk among adult patients with schizophrenia. Methods Based on the Psychiatric Inpatient Medical Claim of the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan, a total of 185,689 insured psychiatric patients during 2000 to 2005 were identified. After excluding patients with prior history of schizophrenia, only 42,273 newly diagnosed patients were included. Among them, 1,631 patients ever receiving thioridazine for more than 30 days within 6 months were selected and paired with 6,256 randomly selected non-thioridazine controls. These patients were traced till 2012/12/31 to see if they have any malignancy. Results The incidence rates of hypertension and cerebrovascular disease were higher among cases than among matched controls. The incidence of hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease and chronic pulmonary disease did not differ between the two groups. By using Cox proportional hazard model for cancer incidence, the crude hazard ratio was significantly higher in age, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cerebrovascular disease, coronary artery disease and chronic pulmornary disease. However, after adjusting for other covariates, only age and hypertension remained significant. Thioridazine use in adult patients with schizophrenia had no significant association with cancer. Conclusion Despite our finding that thioridazine use had no prevention in cancer in adult patients with schizophrenia. Based on the biological activity, thioridazine is a potential anticancer drug and further investigation in human with cancer is warranted.

Implementation of point-of-care platforms for rapid detection of porcine circovirus type 2

Chiao-Hsu Ke,Mao-Yuan Du,Wang-Ju Hsieh,Chiu-Chiao Lin,James Mingjuh Ting,Ming-Tang Chiou,Chao-Nan Lin The Korean Society of Veterinary Science 2024 Journal of Veterinary Science Vol.25 No.2

Background: Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) infection is ubiquitous around the world. Diagnosis of the porcine circovirus-associated disease requires clinic-pathological elements together with the quantification of viral loads. Furthermore, given pig farms in regions lacking access to sufficient laboratory equipment, developing diagnostic devices with high accuracy, accessibility, and affordability is a necessity. Objectives: This study aims to investigate two newly developed diagnostic tools that may satisfy these criteria. Methods: We collected 250 specimens, including 170 PCV2-positive and 80 PCV2-negative samples. The standard diagnosis and cycle threshold (Ct) values were determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Then, two point-of-care (POC) diagnostic platforms, convective polymerase chain reaction (cPCR, qualitative assay: positive or negative results are shown) and EZtargex (quantitative assay: Ct values are shown), were examined and analyzed. Results: The sensitivity and specificity of cPCR were 88.23% and 100%, respectively; the sensitivity and specificity of EZtargex were 87.65% and 100%, respectively. These assays also showed excellent concordance compared with the qPCR assay (κ = 0.828 for cPCR and κ = 0.820 for EZtargex). The statistical analysis showed a great diagnostic power of the EZtargex assay to discriminate between samples with different levels of positivity. Conclusions: The two point-of-care diagnostic platforms are accurate, rapid, convenient and require little training for PCV2 diagnosis. These POC platforms can discriminate viral loads to predict the clinical status of the animals. The current study provided evidence that these diagnostics were applicable with high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of PCV2 infection in the field.

A Simple Partial Discharge Detector for Low-Voltage Rotating Electrical Machines

Cheng-Chi Tai,Ting-Cheng Huang,Ching-Chau Su,Chien-Yi Chen,Ju-Chu Hsieh,Yu-Shiun Lin,Chung-Tzong Wang,Jeng-Hung Lai 전력전자학회 2007 ICPE(ISPE)논문집 Vol.- No.-

A new, simple partial discharge (PD) detector for low-voltage rotating electrical machines using acoustical emission (AE) technique is dseveloped in this study. Common electric components were used in the detector, which reduces the cost of inspection, comparing with the traditional PD detection methods that use expensive equipment costing from tens of thousands to several millions dollars. Experimental results by resonant type AE sensors (150 ㎑) which utilize power line-cycle in a microcontroller unit (MCU) as reference to measure the PDs generated in a low-voltage motor are presented. The AE signals are then amplified by a pre-amplifier (30 ㎑ ~ 300 ㎑, 34 ㏈). Since the resonant frequency of the sensor is much lower than that of the electromagnetic (EM) interferences around the motor, the effects of noise is substantially reduced by this method. In the mean time, the use of 150-㎑ resonant type AE sensor also avoids the disturbance of mechanical vibration noise. According to the experiment results, the measurement system developed in this study can be used to detect the PDs’ AE signals correctly. The AE measurement scheme proposed in this study provides an effective, low-cost method for PD measurements.