Gastrodia elata Bl. Attenuated Learning Deficits Induced by Forced-Swimming Stress in the Inhibitory Avoidance Task and Morris Water Maze

Pei-Ju Chen,Keng-Chen Liang,Hui-Chen Lin,Ching-Liang Hsieh,Kuan-Pin Su,Mei-Chu Hung,Lee-Yan Sheen 한국식품영양과학회 2011 Journal of medicinal food Vol.14 No.6

This study adopted the forced-swimming paradigm to induce depressive symptoms in rats and evaluated the effects on learning and memory processing. Furthermore, the effects of the water extract of Gastrodia elata Bl., a well-known Chinese traditional medicine, on amnesia in rats subjected to the forced-swimming procedure were studied. Rats were subjected to the forced-swimming procedure, and the inhibitory avoidance task and Morris water maze were used to assess learning and memory performance. The acquisition of the two tasks was mostly impaired after the 15-minute forced-swimming procedure. Administration of the water extract of G. elata Bl. for 21 consecutive days at a dosage of 0.5 or 1.0 g/kg of body weight significantly improved retention in the inhibitory avoidance test, and the lower dose showed a better effect than the higher one and the antidepressant fluoxetine (18 mg/kg of body weight). In the Morris water maze, the lower dose of the water extract of G. elata Bl. significantly improved retention by shortening escape latency in the first test session and increasing the time in searching the target zone during the probe test. These findings suggest that water extracts of G. elata Bl. ameliorate the learning and memory deficits induced by forced swimming.

Differences in the biological properties of mesenchymal stromal cells from traumatic temporomandibular joint fibrous and bony ankylosis: a comparative study

Zhang Pei-Pei,Liang Su-Xia,Wang Hua-Lun,Yang Kun,Nie Shao-Chen,Zhang Tong-Mei,Tian Yuan-Yuan,Xu Zhao-Yuan,Chen Wei,Yan Ying-Bin 한국통합생물학회 2021 Animal cells and systems Vol.25 No.5

The aim of this study was to compare the functional characteristics of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) from a sheep model of traumatic temporomandibular joint (TMJ) fibrous and bony ankylosis. A sheep model of bilateral TMJ trauma-induced fibrous ankylosis on one side and bony ankylosis on the contralateral side was used. MSCs from fibrous ankylosed callus (FAMSCs) or bony ankylosed callus (BA-MSCs) at weeks 1, 2, 4, and 8 after surgery were isolated and cultured. MSCs derived from the bone marrow of the mandibular condyle (BM-MSCs) were used as controls. The MSCs from the different sources were characterized morphologically, phenotypically, and functionally. Adherence and trilineage differentiation potential were presented in the ovine MSCs. These cell populations highly positively expressed MSC-associated specific markers, namely CD29, CD44, and CD166, but lacked CD31 and CD45 expressions. The BA-MSCs had higher clonogenic and proliferative potentials than the FA-MSCs. The BA-MSCs also showed higher osteogenic and chondrogenic potentials, but lower adipogenic capacity than the FA-MSCs. In addition, the BA-MSCs demonstrated higher chondrogenic, but lower osteogenic capacity than the BM-MSCs. Our study suggests that inhibition of the osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiations of MSCs might be a promising strategy for preventing bony ankylosis in the future.

Prediction of the Duration to Next Admission for an Acute Affective Episode in Patients with Bipolar I Disorder

Pao-Huan Chen(Pao-Huan Chen),Chun-Ming Shih(Chun-Ming Shih),Chi-Kang Chang(Chi-Kang Chang),Chia-Pei Lin(Chia-Pei Lin),Yung-Han Chang(Yung-Han Chang),Hsin-Chien Lee(Hsin-Chien Lee),El-Wui Loh(El-Wui Lo 대한정신약물학회 2023 CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE Vol.21 No.2

Objective: Predicting disease relapse and early intervention could reduce symptom severity. We attempted to identify potential indicators that predict the duration to next admission for an acute affective episode in patients with bipolar I disorder. Methods: We mathematically defined the duration to next psychiatric admission and performed single-variate regressions using historical data of 101 patients with bipolar I disorder to screen for potential variables for further multivariate regressions. Results: Age of onset, total psychiatric admissions, length of lithium use, and carbamazepine use during the psychiatric hospitalization contributed to the next psychiatric admission duration positively. The all-in-one found that hyperlipidemia during the psychiatric hospitalization demonstrated a negative contribution to the duration to next psychiatric admission; the last duration to psychiatric admission, lithium and carbamazepine uses during the psychiatric hospitalization, and heart rate on the discharge day positively contributed to the duration to next admission. Conclusion: We identified essential variables that may predict the duration of bipolar I patients’ next psychiatric admission. The correlation of a faster heartbeat and a normal lipid profile in delaying the next onset highlights the importance of managing these parameters when treating bipolar I disorder.

2022 Taiwan clinical multicenter expert consensus and recommendations for thyroid radiofrequency ablation

Wei-Che Lin,Wen-Chieh Chen,Pei-Wen Wang,Yi-Chia Chan,Yen-Hsiang Chang,Harn-Shen Chen,Szu-Tah Chen,Wei-Chih Chen,Kai-Lun Cheng,Shun-Yu Chi,Pi-Ling Chiang,Chen-Kai Chou,Feng-Fu Chou,Shun-Chen Huang,Feng 대한초음파의학회 2023 ULTRASONOGRAPHY Vol.42 No.3

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a minimally invasive management strategy that has been widely applied for benign and recurrent malignant thyroid lesions as an alternative to surgery in Taiwan. Members of academic societies for specialists in interventional radiology, endocrinology, and endocrine surgery collaborated to develop the first consensus regarding thyroid RFA in Taiwan. The modified Delphi method was used to reach a consensus. Based on a comprehensive review of recent and valuable literature and expert opinions, the recommendations included indications, pre-procedural evaluations, procedural techniques, post-procedural monitoring, efficacy, and safety, providing a comprehensive review of the application of RFA. The consensus effectively consolidates advice regarding thyroid RFA in clinical practice for local experts.

Nickel-Tin Solid-Liquid Inter-Diffusion Bonding

Chen-Chiang Yu,배성재,Pei-Chen Su,Tung-Han Chuang 한국정밀공학회 2014 International Journal of Precision Engineering and Vol.15 No.1

This paper presents a solid liquid inter-diffusion (SLID) bonding process using nickel-tin. By using two metals with different melting points, Ni3Sn4, an intermetallic compound (IMC) at 523K was formed. Unlike pure metal, the IMC can be used in high temperature applications of up to 800K without failure. The formation energy of Ni3Sn4 IMC was calculated to be 23.15 kJ/mol from the experimental result. Compared to the traditional soldering technique, a higher temperature resistance bonding joint can be achieved using the nickel-tin SLID bonding technique.

Servo control strategy for uni-axial shake tables using long short-term memory networks

Pei-Ching Chen,Kui-Xing Lai 국제구조공학회 2023 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.32 No.6

Servo-motor driven uniaxial shake tables have been widely used for education and research purposes in earthquake engineering. These shake tables are mostly displacement-controlled by a digital proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller; however, accurate reproduction of acceleration time histories is not guaranteed. In this study, a control strategy is proposed and verified for uniaxial shake tables driven by a servo-motor. This strategy incorporates a deep-learning algorithm named Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network into a displacement PID feedback controller. The LSTM controller is trained by using a large number of experimental data of a self-made servo-motor driven uniaxial shake table. After the training is completed, the LSTM controller is implemented for directly generating the command voltage for the servo motor to drive the shake table. Meanwhile, a displacement PID controller is tuned and implemented close to the LSTM controller to prevent the shake table from permanent drift. The control strategy is named the LSTM-PID control scheme. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed LSTM-PID improves the acceleration tracking performance of the uniaxial shake table for both bare condition and loaded condition with a slender specimen.

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.

A new phenotype of TUBB4A mutation in a family with adult-onset progressive spastic paraplegia and isolated hypomyelination leukodystrophy: A case report and literature review

Pei-Chen Hsieh,Yih-Ru Wu 대한파킨슨병및이상운동질환학회 2024 Journal Of Movement Disorders Vol.17 No.1

Tubulin beta 4A class IVa (TUBB4A) spectrum disorders include autosomal dominant dystonia type 4 or hypomyelination with atrophy of the basal ganglia and cerebellum (H-ABC syndrome). However, in rare cases, only mild hypomyelination in the cortex with no basal ganglia atrophy may be observed. We report a case of a family with TUBB4A mutation and complicated hereditary spasticity paraplegia (HSP). We performed quadro whole-exome sequencing (WES) on the family to identify the causative gene of progressive spastic paraparesis with isolated hypomyelination leukodystrophy. We identified a novel TUBB4A p.F341L mutation, which was present in all three affected patients but absent in the unaffected father. The affected patients presented with adult-onset TUBB4A disorder, predominant spastic paraparesis with/without ataxia, and brain hypomyelination with no cognitive impairment or extrapyramidal symptoms. In the literature, HSP is considered a TUBB4A spectrum disorder.

Performance-based optimization of LQR for active mass damper using symbiotic organisms search

Pei-Ching Chen,Bryan J. Sugiarto,Kai-Yi Chien 국제구조공학회 2021 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.27 No.4

The linear-quadratic regulator (LQR) has been applied to structural vibration control for decades; however, selection of the weighting matrices of an LQR mostly depends on trial and error. In this study, a novel metaheuristic optimization method named as symbiotic organisms search (SOS) algorithm is applied to tuning LQR weighting matrices for active mass damper (AMD) control systems. A 10-story shear building with an active mass damper installed at the top is adopted as a benchmark for numerical simulation in order to realize the optimization performance considering three objective functions for mitigation of structural acceleration. Two common optimization methods including genetic algorithm (GA), and particle swarm optimization (PSO) are also applied to this benchmark for comparison purposes. Numerical simulation results indicate that SOS is superior to GA and PSO on searching the minimized solution of the three objective functions. Meanwhile, minimizing the square root of the sum of the squares of peak modal acceleration achieves the best control performance of structural acceleration among the three objective functions. In addition, force saturation is proposed and applied in the optimization process such that the control force level is close to the force capacity of AMD under specified earthquake intensity. Furthermore, the control performance of the optimized LQR is compared with that of the LQR designed by applying three common weighting selection methods when the 10-story building is subjected to various earthquake excitations. Simulation results demonstrate that the optimized LQR significantly outperforms the three LQRs on structural acceleration responses as expected and reduces story drift slightly better than the three LQRs. Finally, the performance-based optimized LQR is experimentally validated by conducting shake table testing in the laboratory. The experimental results and structural control performance are discussed and summarized thoroughly.

Leaching characteristics and kinetics of the metal impurities present in rice husk during pretreatment for the production of nanosilica particles

Pei Chen,Haipei Bie,Rushan Bie 한국화학공학회 2018 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.35 No.9

Fundamental studies on the removal of metal impurities are essential for the production of nanosilica by combustion. This study reports the leaching characteristics, leaching kinetics and occurrence form of the metal impurities present in rice husk based on acid pretreatment. Acid pretreatment removes most of the metal impurities present in rice husk. In particular, 98wt% removal of potassium can be reached. The acid concentration, leaching time and reagent type have significant effects on the leaching of metal impurities, and optimal conditions exist for the acid pretreatment process. Furthermore, the leaching of metal impurities occurs through two stages, and parts of the metal impurities exist in organic-bound form, which can be leached through ion exchange. The results show that the pseudosecond- order model is suitable for describing the leaching kinetics of the metal impurities present in rice husk, and empirical formulas for predicting the metal contents leached from rice husk during acid pretreatment at ambient temperature are also obtained. Additionally, the different occurrence form and quantities of metal impurities in rice husk lead to different leaching effects, which strongly influences the chemical properties and quality of the obtained silica particles.