Temperature Jump at Interface between Adjacent Dielectric Thin Flims

Chun Ping Jen,Ching Chang Chieng 대한기계학회 1998 Heat transter conference Vol.5 No.1

Successful Enrichment of Rarely Found Candidatus Anammoxoglobus propionicus from Leachate Sludge

( Shu Chuan Hsu ),( Yen Chun Lai ),( Ping Heng Hsieh ),( Pun Jen Cheng ),( Suen Shin Wong ),( Chun Hsiung Hung ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2014 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.24 No.7

Bacteria that mediate the anaerobic oxidation of ammonium (anammox) have been detected in natural ecosystems, as well as various wastewater treatment systems. In this study, sludge from a particular landfill leachate anaerobic treatment system was selected as the incubation seed for anammox microorganism enrichment owing to its possible anammox activity. Transmission electron microscopy observation, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis, and cloning/sequencing techniques were applied to identify the diversity of anammox microorganisms throughout the incubation. During the early stage of operation, the diversity of anammox microorganisms was similar to the original complex microbes in the seed sludge. However, as incubation time increased, the anammox microorganism diversity within the system that was originally dominated by Candidatus (Ca.) Brocadia sp. was replaced by Ca. Anammoxoglobus propionicus. The domination of Ca. Anammoxoglobus propionicus produced a stable removal of ammonia (70 mg-N/l) and nitrite (90 mg-N/l), and the total nitrogen removal efficiency was maintained at nearly 95%. The fluorescence in situ hybridization results showed that Ca. Anammoxoglobus propionicus was successfully enriched from 1.8 ± 0.6% initially to 65 ± 5% after 481 days of operation. Therefore, the present results demonstrated the feasibility of enriching Ca. Anammoxoglobus propionicus from leachate sludge, even though the original cell count was extremely low. Application of this seldom found anammox organism could offer an alternative to current ammonia-nitrogen treatment.

Antipsychotic Medication in Schizophrenic Patients is Associated with Higher Risks of Developing Bone Fractures and Refractures

Ching-Min Kuo,Wei-Jen Liao,Chun-Che Huang,Tsuo-Hung Lan,Ching-Heng Lin,Shun-Ping Wang,Cheng-Hung Lee,Ping-Wing Lui 대한정신약물학회 2020 CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE Vol.18 No.4

Objective: The relationship of antipsychotics and the risk of refracture in treated patients is unclear. The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between prolonged antipsychotic and the incidences of bone fractures and refractures in schizophrenia. Methods: This is a retrospective nested case-control study using Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database recorded from 2000 to 2005, with cases followed up to end of 2011. Total of 7,842 schizophrenic patients, 3,955 had developed bone fractures were compared with 3,887 control subjects matched in age, sex, and index date. Antipsychotic drug exposure was classified based on the drug type and medication duration. Conditional logistic regression analyses were performed. Odds ratio (OR) and confidence interval (CI) were calculated. Results: We found (after adjustments) higher risks of developing fractures under continued use of typical (OR = 1.70; 95% CI, 1.51−1.91) or atypical antipsychotics (OR = 1.43; 95% CI, 1.28−1.60) were found. Additionally, continued use typical (OR = 1.84; 95% CI, 1.35−2.50) or atypical antipsychotics (OR = 1.44; 95% CI, 1.06−1.95) was positively associated with refracture risks. Moreover, refractures were associated with continuous use of chlorpromazine (one typical antipsychotics, OR = 2.45; 95% CI, 1.14−5.25), and risperidone (OR = 1.48; 95% CI, 1.01−2.16) or zotepine (OR = 2.15; 95% CI, 1.06−4.36) (two atypical antipsychotics). Conclusion: Higher risks of bone fracture and refracture were found in schizophrenia under prolonged medication with typical or atypical antipsychotics. We therefore recommend that clinicians should pay more attention on bone density monitoring for patients using long-term antipsychotics.

Isolating and Concentrating Rare Cancerous Cells in Large Sample Volumes of Blood by Using Dielectrophoresis and Stepping Electric Fields

Guang-Hong Chen,Chun-Ping Jen,Ching-Te Huang,Hsin-Hui Wu,Tatyana N. Zamay,Anna S. Zamay 한국바이오칩학회 2014 BioChip Journal Vol.8 No.2

Detecting rare cells, such as circulatingtumor cells (CTCs), circulating fetal cells, and stemcells, is vital during medical diagnostics and characterization. During carcinogenesis, cancer cells detachfrom the primary tumor into the blood stream, becomingCTCs. Typical rare cell samples are consideredany sample that contains less than 1000 target cellsper milliliter. The volumes of microfluidic devicestypically range from several microliters to nanoliters;this is excessively small for experimenting using lowconcentrationsamples. This study involved isolatingcancerous cells in an open-top chamber with sub-millilitervolumes (0.1 mL) of blood samples by using alysis buffer solution for red blood cells (RBCs), as wellas concentrating cells employing the dielectrophoreticforce generated using stepping electric fields,which were produced using a handheld electric modulethat comprised a voltage-frequency converterand an operational amplifier. To increase the samplevolume, an open-top chamber was fabricated on andbonded to a glass substrate by using circular microelectrodes. The concentrations of cancer cells andRBCs were adjusted to 500 cells/mL and 4×105 cell/mL, respectively, for the experiments. To reduce theinterference of blood cells during detection and isolateCTCs, the RBCs in the sample were lysed in alysis buffer solution before the proposed chip wasused to dielectrophoretically manipulate the rare cancerouscells. The findings indicated that the lysis bufferlysed the erythrocytes and the survivability levelsof the cancerous cells (HeLa and MCF-7) remainedhigh in the lysis buffer. The positive dielectrophoreticcancerous cells were guided based on the direction ofthe stepping electric field because of movement in thehigh-electric-field region; hence, the cancerous cellsconcentrated and collected at the central electrode.

Effects of Ionic Strength in the Medium on Sample Preconcentration Utilizing Nano-interstices between Self-Assembled Monolayers of Gold Nanoparticles

Ngoc-Viet Nguyen,Jian-Sheng Wu,Chun-Ping Jen 한국바이오칩학회 2018 BioChip Journal Vol.12 No.4

This paper investigated the effects of ionic strength in the medium on a preconcentrator for a protein sample with low concentration. The preconcentration chip was designed and fabricated using a polydimethylsiloxane replica through standard lithophotography. A glass substrate is silanized prior to functionalizing the nanoparticles for self-assembly at a designed region. Due to the overlap of electrical double layers in a nanofluidic channel, a concentration polarization effect can be achieved using an electric field. A nonlinear electrokinetic flow is induced, resulting in the fast accumulation of proteins in front of the induced ionic depletion zone, so called exclusion-enrichment effect. Thus, the protein sample can be driven by electroosmotic flow and accumulated at a specific location. The chip is used to collect fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled bovine serum albumin (FITC-BSA) diluted in phosphate- buffered saline (PBS) buffer solution. Different concentrations of the buffer media were studied herein. Fluorescence intensity images show that the buffer concentration of 4 mM is more appropriate than all the other ones. The sample of FITC-BSA with an initial concentration of 10 μM in the 4 mM PBS solution increases its concentration at the desired region by up to 50 times within 30 min, demonstrating the results in this investigation.

A Handheld Electronics Module for Dielectrophoretic Impedance Measurement of Cancerous Cells in the Microchip

Ngoc-Viet Nguyen,Jih-Hao Yeh,Chun-Ping Jen 한국바이오칩학회 2018 BioChip Journal Vol.12 No.3

This study proposes a handheld electronics module integrated with the microchip that utilizes dielectrophoretic (DEP) impedance measurement for characterizing of cancerous cell lines. The microchip consists of circle-on-line-shaped interdigitated microelectrodes, which were used for DEP concentration and impedance sensing of cells within a chamber, patterned by standard microfabrication processes. The handheld electronics module was built for measuring impedance of cancerous cells in the microchip. It can provide sinusoidal electrical signals in a large range of frequencies. The analyzed results demonstrate a high-sensitivity impedance measurement. Meanwhile, the linear relationships between the admittance variation and the number of cell were observed for both two human lung cell lines, namely A549 human lung carcinoma cells and MRC-5 human lung epithelial cells. The difference in the slopes of these characteristic lines could be used to distinguish two stages of lung cells. The proposed device is simple to operate, has high sensitivity, inexpensive and portable.

High-Frequency Interdigitated Array Electrode-Based Capacitive Biosensor for Protein Detection

Tuan Vu Quoc,Viet Nguyen Ngoc,Tung Thanh Bui,Chun-Ping Jen,Trinh Chu Duc 한국바이오칩학회 2019 BioChip Journal Vol.13 No.4

This paper reports a study on developing of a protein detection biochip based on interdigitated array electrodes (IDAEs) capacitive immunosensor. The protein after being preconcentrated in a detection region will be selectively captured and detected by the capacitive immunosensor. Using electrical impedance spectroscopy operated at high-frequency in the range of 100 kHz–1 MHz, the capacitance of the gold electrode is determined and the antibody surface modification steps can be also monitored. The experiment results show the capacitance changes in accordance with the adding biochemical layer on gold electrodes for each step of the antibody surface modification. In particular, the total impedance operated at 1 MHz frequency has been seen to change from 2.1 kΩ of bare chip (before antibody surface modification) to 8 kΩ after antibody surface modification process while the serial capacitance is recorded to reduce steadily from 450 pF to 55 pF. Also, the efficiency of protein chip was investigated by implementing the measurement of 10 µM BSA with and without preconcentration process. The measurement results have shown the sensitivity increasing significantly after the protein is preconcentrated in this chip. The results demonstrate high efficiency of protein detection can be achieved by operating high frequency capacitive measurement on IDAEs capacitive immunosensor.

Professionals’ experiences and attitudes toward use of Traditional Chinese Medicine in hospice palliative inpatient care units: A multicenter survey in Taiwan

Yu-Jia Lin,Hsiao-Ting Chang,Ming-Hwai Lin,Ru-Yih Chen,Ping-Jen Chen,Wen-Yuan Lin,Jyh-Gang Hsieh,Ying-Wei Wang,Chung-Chieh Hu,Yi-Sheng Liou,Tai-Yuan Chiu,Chun-Yi Tu,Yi-Jen Wang,Bo-Ren Cheng,Tzeng-Ji Ch 한국한의학연구원 2021 Integrative Medicine Research Vol.10 No.2

Background: Medical staff may have difficulties in using conventional medicine to manage symptoms among terminally ill patients, including adverse effects of the treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is regarded as a complementary or alternative medicine, and has been increasingly used in the field of palliative medicine in recent years. This study aimed to investigate the experiences of and attitudes toward using TCM among palliative care professionals, and to provide preliminary information about its use in palliative care. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey study conducted in eight inpatient hospice wards in Taiwan between December 2014 and February 2016. The questionnaire was self-administered, and was analyzed with descriptive statistics including Pearson’s Chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test. Results: A total of 251 palliative care professionals responded to the questionnaire, of whom 89.7% and 88.9% believed that the use of TCM could improve the physical symptoms and quality of life in terminally ill patients, respectively. Overall, 59.8%, of respondents suggested that TCM had rare side effects, and 58.2% were worried that TCM could affect the liver and kidney function of patients. In total, 89.7% and 88.0% of professionals agreed there were no suitable clinical practice guidelines and educational programs, respectively, for TCM use in palliative care. Conclusions: Most of the respondents agreed there was insufficient knowledge, skills-training, and continuing education on the use of TCM in terminally ill patients in Taiwan. These results show that to address patient safety considerations, guidelines about use of TCM in palliative care should be established.

Dielectrophoresis Microfluidic Enrichment Platform with Built-In Capacitive Sensor for Rare Tumor Cell Detection

Loc Quang Do,Ha Tran Thi Thuy,Tung Thanh Bui,Van Thanh Dau,Ngoc-Viet Nguyen,Trinh Chu Duc,Chun-Ping Jen 한국바이오칩학회 2018 BioChip Journal Vol.12 No.2

The manipulation and detection of rare cells are important for many applications in early disease diagnosis and medicine. This study presents a dielectrophoresis (DEP) microfluidic enrichment platform combined with a built-in capacitive sensor for circulating tumor cell detection. The microchip is composed of a lollipop-shaped gold microelectrode structure under a polydimethylsiloxane chamber. A prototype of the device was fabricated using standard micromachining technology. With the proposed device, target cells (in this study, A549 non-small human lung carcinoma and S-180 sarcoma cell lines) are firstly guided toward the center of the working chamber via DEP forces. Then, the target cells are captured by an electrode immobilized by anti-EGFR, which has high affinity toward the target cells. After the cell concentration process, the differential capacitance is read to detect the presence of the target cells. Numerical simulations and measurement experiments were performed to demonstrate the high sensitivity of differential capacitive sensing. The obtained results show high sensitivity for S-180 cell detection (3 mV/cell). The proposed platform is suitable for rapid cancer diagnoses and other metabolic disease applications.

Preconcentration-enhanced Immunosensing for Whole Human Cancer Cell Lysate based on a Nanofluidic Preconcentrator

Hsuan Franziska Wu,Tamara G. Amstislavskaya,Pin-Hsuan Chen,Ting-Feng Wu,Yu-Hung Chen,Chun-Ping Jen 한국바이오칩학회 2016 BioChip Journal Vol.10 No.3

Sample preconcentration is an important step that increases the accuracy of subsequent detection, especially for samples with extremely low concentrations. Due to the overlap of electrical double layers in a nanofluidic channel, the concentration polarization effect can be generated by applying an electric field. A nonlinear electrokinetic flow is induced, which results in the fast accumulation of proteins in front of the induced ionic depletion zone, the so-called exclusion- enrichment effect. In this way, a protein sample can be driven by electroosmotic flow and accumulated at a specific location. In the present study, a nanofluidic preconcentrator fabricated with the help of junction gap electric breakdown was integrated with microelectrodes for immunoassay. The preconcentration chip for proteins was fabricated using simple standard soft lithography with a polydimethylsiloxane replica. Human galectin-1 proteins from the cell lysate of T24 cells were concentrated and immunoassayed in the proposed microchip. The capability of the proposed microchip for concentrating multiple proteins from cell lysates and immunoassays after preconcentration was demonstrated. Immunosensing was evaluated by measurements of both fluorescence intensities and impedance, which proved the enhancement of preconcentration for immunoassay.