Cav3.2 T-Type Ca2+ Channel-Dependent Activation of ERK in Paraventricular Thalamus Modulates Acid-Induced Chronic Muscle Pain.

Chen, Wen-Kwei,Liu, Ingrid Y,Chang, Ya-Ting,Chen, Yong-Cyuan,Chen, Chih-Cheng,Yen, Chen-Tung,Shin, Hee-Sup,Chen, Chien-Chang The Society 2010 The Journal of neuroscience Vol.30 No.31

<P>Treatments for chronic musculoskeletal pain, such as lower back pain, fibromyalgia, and myofascial pain syndrome, remain inadequate because of our poor understanding of the mechanisms that underlie these conditions. Although T-type Ca(2+) channels (T-channels) have been implicated in peripheral and central pain sensory pathways, their role in chronic musculoskeletal pain is still unclear. Here, we show that acid-induced chronic mechanical hyperalgesia develops in Ca(v)3.1-deficient and wild-type but not in Ca(v)3.2-deficient male and female mice. We also show that T-channels are required for the initiation, but not maintenance, of acid-induced chronic muscle pain. Blocking T-channels using ethosuximide prevented chronic mechanical hyperalgesia in wild-type mice when administered intraperitoneally or intracerebroventricularly, but not intramuscularly or intrathecally. Furthermore, we found an acid-induced, Ca(v)3.2 T-channel-dependent activation of ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase) in the anterior nucleus of paraventricular thalamus (PVA), and prevention of the ERK activation abolished the chronic mechanical hyperalgesia. Our findings suggest that Ca(v)3.2 T-channel-dependent activation of ERK in PVA is required for the development of acid-induced chronic mechanical hyperalgesia.</P>

Prognostic Factors in Adult Patients with Solid Cancers and Bone Marrow Metastases

Hung, Yu-Shin,Chou, Wen-Chi,Chen, Tai-Di,Chen, Tse-Ching,Wang, Po-Nan,Chang, Hung,Hsu, Hung-Chih,Shen, Wen-Chi,Cheng, Wei-Hong,Chen, Jen-Shi Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.1

Background: Solid cancers with bone marrow metastases are rare but lethal. This study aimed to identify clinical factors predictive of survival in adult patients with solid cancers and bone marrow metastases. Methods: A total of 83 patients were enrolled consecutively between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2012. Bone marrow metastases were confirmed by biopsies. Patient clinical features and laboratory data were analyzed for associations. Results: The median age of the patients was 54 years (range, 23-88 years), and 58% were male. The 3 most common primary tumor locations were the stomach (32 patients, 39%), prostate (16 patients, 19%), and lungs (12 patients, 15%). The median overall survival was 49 days (range, 3-1423 days). Patients with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 1, cancers of prostate origin, platelet counts over 50,000/ml, and undergoing antitumor therapies had a significantly better prognosis in the multivariate analysis. The median survival times were 173 and 33 days for patients with 2-3 more favorable parameters (n=24) and those with 0-1 (n=69), respectively (hazard ratio 0.30; 95% CI 0.17-0.52, p<0.001). Conclusions: Solid cancers with bone marrow metastases are dismal and incurable diseases. Understanding prognostic factors to these diseases helps medical personnel to provide appropriate treatments and better inform patients about outcomes. Antitumor therapies may improve outcomes in selected patient cohorts.

Arm Exoskeleton Rehabilitation Robot with Assistive System for Patient after Stroke

Guan De Lee,Wei-Wen Wang,Kai-Wen Lee,Sheng-Yen Lin,Li-Chen Fu,Jin-Shin Lai,Wen-Shiang Chen,Jer-Junn Luh 제어로봇시스템학회 2012 제어로봇시스템학회 국제학술대회 논문집 Vol.2012 No.10

Exercise dosage is proven to be an important factor in the physical treatment. Robot assistive approach can improve the rehabilitation quality and evaluate patient’s recovery quantitatively. This paper presents kinematic structure, assistive control system, and integrated F/T sensor for an upper limb rehabilitation robot. By using the human arm dynamic, there are three rehabilitation modes presented in this paper: active mode, assistive mode, and passive mode. In assistive mode, we have two strategies to implement it. One is to amplify interactive torque, and the other is to apply assist-as-needed concept. The goal of this mode is to assist patients to finish motion tasks. The rehabilitation robot under investigation has 7 degree of freedom (DOF) actuated by DC motors, which are programmed to drive the robot arm in the 3D space. To validate our control design, some realistic experiments are conducted and its satisfactory performance is demonstrated. This work is approved clinical testing by the Department of Health, Executive Yuan, R.O.C. So far, we are demonstrating the effect of our controller.

Post catch-up with market cultivation and product servicising: case of Taiwan’s transportation equipment industries

Shin-Horng Chen,Pei-Chang Wen 기술경영경제학회 2016 ASIAN JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION Vol.24 No.-

This paper sets out to examine a key issue: how a latecomer like Taiwan may develop itsindustry in a post catch-up manner. We make intensive inquiries into this issue via casestudies on two sectors in Taiwan, namely the bicycle industry and the electric vehicle (EV)industry. Our conceptual framework gives special account to fuzzy front-end at theindustrial level and how market cultivation and innovative business models come to play animportant role in shaping the innovation path for post catch-up. For leading players inTaiwan’s bicycle industry, a key issue they faced was how to transform themselves andlocal setting in Taiwan to become a leader in high-end bicycles to fend off escalatedinternational competition. In the emerging EV industry, the Taiwanese players try toovercome its structural weaknesses in the mainstream automotive industry to explore thepossibility of levelling the playing field with the forerunners in the advanced countries. Ourcase studies suggest that technological catch-up is not necessarily a prelude to post catch-up,depending on the nature of new innovation trajectory and entry modes of the emergingindustry. Our analyses also lend support to the importance of product servicising as a meansof post catch-up, especially from the perspective of market cultivation.

The impact of pyriproxyfen on the development of honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colony in field

Yue-Wen Chen,Pei-ShanWu,En-Cheng Yang,Yu-Shin Nai,Zachary Y. Huang 한국응용곤충학회 2016 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.19 No.3

Pyriproxyfen (PPN) is an insect growth regulator (IGR) that interferes with insect metamorphosis. Although the side effects of PPN on honey bee larval/adult stages have been studied, the risk to honey bee larvae from PPN residue in the environment is still unclear. In this study, we evaluated the impact of PPN on larval honey bees in field colonies by using an in vivo feeding assay. Oral toxicity to adult honey bees were determined. Finally, influence on royal jelly production was also examined. For in vivo feeding assay, the highest observed PPN treatment caused 67% mortality during pupal stage and in the remaining bees, 62.3% showed abnormal eclosion. Reductions in hatching rate, capping rate and adult emergence rate and increased abnormal eclosion rate were found in the colonies fed with 10 ppm PPN syrup. Oral toxicity test revealed that adult honey bees were less susceptible to PPN. Moreover, PPN reduced not only queen cell acceptance rate but also yield of royal jelly in queen cells. These results indicate that PPN has negative impacts on both larval and adult honey bees and royal jelly production, especially under high PPN concentrations. Since PPN is harmful to the development of honey bee larvae and pupae in the natural environment, the issue of honey bee colony contamination by PPN should be addressed.

The seasonal detection of AcSBV (Apis cerana sacbrood virus) prevalence in Taiwan

Yu-Shin Nai,Chong-Yu Ko,Pei-Shou Hsu,Wen-Shi Tsai,Yue-Wen Chen,Meng-Hao Hsu,I-Hsin Sung 한국응용곤충학회 2018 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.21 No.1

The epizootic disease caused by Apis cerana sacbrood virus (AcSBV) occurred in Eastern hive bee, A. cerana, since2015 in Taiwan. A large-scale survey of this disease from September and December 2016 in Taiwan was performedincluding symptom check and molecular identification in honey bees of A. cerana hives and several A. mellifera hives, which were co-cultured with A. cerana. Based on the nucleotide sequences of partial VP1, thephylogenetic analysis with those of the known AcSBV isolates revealed that most of AcSBV isolates from Taiwanwere closely relative to SBV-FZ and -JL isolates from China, whereas only one sample (N15-5-1) was in a distinctcluster, which was closely relative to SBV-LN from China too. The AcSBV prevalence was occurring in A. ceranahives in most areas of Taiwan except for those in Hualien and Pingtung Counties in Taiwan. Notably, the AcSBVprevalence rate showed the temporal increase from 47.1% to 69.6% within 4 months. In addition, 37.5% ofAcSBV prevalence rate was found in A. mellifera hives. It showed that A. mellifera was also susceptible to AcSBVinfection. The present results would provide the information on the epidemiology and for prospective research.

Communication-Aware Trajectory Planning for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Urban Environments

Oh, Hyondong,Shin, Hyo-Sang,Kim, Seungkeun,Chen, Wen-Hua American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 2018 Journal of guidance, control, and dynamics Vol.41 No.10

Validation of a Palliative Prognostic Index to Predict Life Expectancy for Terminally Ill Cancer Patients in a Hospice Consultation Setting in Taiwan

Cheng, Wei-Hong,Kao, Chen-Yi,Hung, Yu-Shin,Su, Po-Jung,Hsieh, Chia-Hsun,Chen, Jen-Shi,Wang, Hung-Ming,Chou, Wen-Chi Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.6

Background: The aim of our study was to assess the practical utility of the palliative prognostic index (PPI) as a prognostic tool used by nurse specialists in a hospice consultation setting in Taiwan. Methods: In total, 623 terminal cancer patients under hospice consultation care from one medical center in northern Taiwan were enrolled between January 1 and June 30, 2011. PPI was assessed by a nurse specialist at first hospice consultation and patients categorized into groups by prognosis (good, intermediate, poor). Patient survival was analyzed retrospectively to determine significance of between-group differences. Results: By PPI sum score, 37.2% of patients were in the good prognosis group, 18% in the intermediate prognosis group and 44.8% in the poor prognosis group. The death rates were 56%, 81.2% and 89.6% and median survivals were 76, 18 and 7 days, respectively. The hazard ratio was 0.19 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.10-0.24, p<0.001) for the poor versus good prognosis group and 0.54 (95% CI 0.43-0.69, p<0.001) for the poor versus intermediate prognosis group. The sensitivity and specificity for the poor prognosis group was 66% and 71%; the positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 81% and 52%, respectively, to predict patient death within 21 days (area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic was 0.68). Conclusions: Assessment by PPI can accurately predict survival of terminal cancer patients receiving hospice consultation care. PPI is a simple tool and can be administered by nurse members of hospice consultation teams.

The in vivo photothermal treatment of gold nanorod in the mouse ear model

Liu, Bruce Yao Wen,Chen, Cheng-Lung,Lee, Shin-Yu,Chang, Fu-Hsiung,Lin, Win-Li,Chia, Chih-Ta,Chen, Yang-Yuan Techno-Press 2014 Biomaterials and biomedical engineering Vol.1 No.1

Gold nanorod's exceptional light to heat transduction is a robust phonomenon that has been extensively verified. The phenomenon is a trait from which many novel applications across disciplines have been proposed. In this investigation, the feasibility of utilizing heat harvested from such photothermal method to combat cancer is presented. Using non-invasive laser methods, an in vivo study is conducted on mouse ear tumors administered with gold nanorods (Au NRs). An emphasis is placed on monitoring the tumor developments after photothermal treatments, over time. The findings reveal significant tumor growth surpression at a threshold laser power of $0.6W/cm^2$ lasting 2 minutes; this energy also brought about dramatic size reduction in treated tumors. Furthermore, the apparent formation of an eschar over the laser treated region indicates extensive hemorrhagic necrosis of the tumor tissue; a phenomenon implicative to the inhibition of angiogenesis.

Human-Oriented Recognition for Intelligent Interactive Office Robot

Chia-Ming Wang,Shin-Huan Tseng,Pei-Wen Wu,Yuan-Han Xu,Chien-Ke Liao,Yu-Chi Lin,Yi-Shiu Chiang,Chung-Dial Lim,Ting-Sheng Chu,Li-Chen Fu 제어로봇시스템학회 2013 제어로봇시스템학회 국제학술대회 논문집 Vol.2013 No.10

This paper presents our new intelligent interactive robot, which is constructed to eagerly provide multi-functional services in an office environment. In order to endow a full interactive capability of our robots for realizing so-called human-robot interaction (HRI), we propose sensor fusion based human detection and tracking system and human pose estimation to deal with a number of situations which may take place in the office environment. Not only by these perceptions, human interact with the robot also by some natural way, such as touching the interface screen and talking with the robot through microphone. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed work is tested and validated by some of experiments.