Changes in prostate-specific antigen kinetics during androgen-deprivation therapy as a predictor of response to abiraterone in chemonaïve patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer

Chung-Lin Lee,Ying-Hsu Chang,Chung-Yi Liu,Ming-Li Hsieh,Liang-Kang Huang,Yuan-Cheng Chu,Hung-Cheng Kan,Po-Hung Lin,Kai-Jie Yu,Cheng-Keng Chuang,Chun-Te Wu,See-Tong Pang,I-Hung Shao 대한비뇨의학회 2022 Investigative and Clinical Urology Vol.63 No.5

Purpose: Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) has a poor prognosis. Abiraterone acetate (AA), enzalutamide, and chemotherapy are first-line treatments for patients with mCRPC. This study examined prognostic factors for AA response in the form of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) kinetics throughout androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) in chemonaïve patients with mCRPC. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively included data from 34 chemonaïve patients with mCRPC who had received AA at some point between January 2017 and December 2018. We separated patients into two study arms according to the decrease in PSA percentages after use of AA for 3 months. We correlated PSA kinetics parameters with response and compared the two study groups with respect to PSA kinetics. Results: The patients’ median age was 77 years. In the total group of patients, 64% had a response to AA, whereas 35% did not. The ratio of the PSA level at nadir to the level during ADT was significantly higher in the AA-sensitive group (19.78 vs. 1.03, p=0.019). Conclusions: Patients who experienced a dramatic change in PSA level during ADT were more likely to be resistant to AA after progression to mCRPC. Chemotherapy rather than AA might be more suitable as a first-line treatment for these patients.

BRCA1/2 mutation status in patients with metachronous breast and ovarian malignancies: clues towards the implementation of genetic counseling

Angel Chao,Yi-Hao Lin,Lan-Yan Yang,Ren-Chin Wu,Wei-Yang Chang,Pi-Yueh Chang,Shih-Cheng Chang,Chiao-Yun Lin,Huei-Jean Huang,Cheng-Tao Lin,Hung-Hsueh Chou,Kuan-Gen Huang,Wen-Ling Kuo,Ting-Chang Chang,Ch 대한부인종양학회 2020 Journal of Gynecologic Oncology Vol.31 No.3

Objective: The characteristics of patients with metachronous breast and ovarian malignancies and the pathogenic role of BRCA1/2 mutations remain poorly understood. We investigated these issues through a review of hospital records and nationwide Taiwanese registry data, followed by BRCA1/2 mutation analysis in hospital-based cases. Methods: We retrospectively retrieved consecutive clinical records of Taiwanese patients who presented with these malignancies to our hospital between 2001 and 2017. We also collected information from the Data Science Center of the Taiwan Cancer Registry (TCR) between 2007 and 2015. Next-generation sequencing and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification were used to identify BRCA1/2 mutations and large genomic rearrangements, respectively. When BRCA1/2 mutations were identified in index cases, pedigrees were reconstructed and genetic testing was offered to family members. Results: A total of 12,769 patients with breast cancer and 1,537 with ovarian cancer were retrieved from our hospital records. Of them, 28 had metachronous breast and ovarian malignancies. We also identified 113 cases from the TCR dataset. Eighteen hospital-based cases underwent BRCA1/2 sequencing and germline pathogenic mutations were detected in 7 patients (38.9%, 5 in BRCA1 and 2 in BRCA2). All BRCA1/2 mutation carriers had ovarian high-grade serous carcinomas. Of the 12 patients who were alive at the time of analysis, 5 were BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. All of them had family members with BRCA1/2-associated malignancies. Conclusions: Our results provide pilot evidence that BRCA1/2 mutations are common in Taiwanese patients with metachronous breast and ovarian malignancies, supporting the clinical utility of genetic counseling.

Slide Session : OS-CAD-06 ; Cardiology : Erythrocytosis Increased One-Year Mortality in Patients with St-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Un-dergoing Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

( Cheng Wei Liu ),( Yi Ching Lin ),( Chung Ming Tu ),( Pen Chih Liao ),( Kuan Change Chen ),( Yen Wen Wu ) 대한내과학회 2014 대한내과학회 추계학술대회 Vol.2014 No.1

Background: Anemia is associated with poor prognosis in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction(STEMI). However, it is unclear that erythrocytosis has protective effect in these populations. Hence, we conducted a retrospective cohort study to examine the relationship between erythrocytosis and mortality in patients with STEMI undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI ). Materials and Methods: We screened 1,156 consecutive patients with STEMI undergoing primary PCI in a single center during Feb 2007 and January 2012. There were 201 missing data for door-to-balloon time and 4 missing data for hemoglobin. Of 951 analyzable patients, they were divided into anemia (Hemoglobin<13.0mg/dl in men or <12.0mg/dl in women), normal hemoglobin, and erythrocytosis (hemoglobin =16.0mg/dl in men or =15.0mg/dl in women) groups. The study end point was one-year mortality. Results: There were 148, 535, and 268 patients in anemia, normal hemoglobin, and erythrocytosis groups, respectively. Patients in the anemia group were older and had lower body mass index than other two groups. There was more female, smokers, hypertension, and diabetes in the anemia group. One-year mortality rates were 16.2%, 6.5%, 2.6% (P<0.001) respectively. In univariate proportional hazards regression analysis, age, hemoglobin, total cholesterol, statin use, glycoprotein llb/llla inhibitor use, and TIMI risk score were associated with 1-year mortality in three groups. After adjustment for potential confounders, hemoglobin levels remained an independent predictor of one-year mortality in both anemia (hazard ratio 0.697, 95% CI 0.528-0.960) and erythrocytosis group (hazard ratio 3.129, 95% CI 1.1.474-6.642). Conclusions: Patients with STEMI and anemia had the worst outcomes than normal hemoglobin and erythrocytosis groups. Expectedly, hemoglobin had the protective effect on prognosis in anemia group. However, a hemoglobin level was an independent risk factor of one-year mortality in those with erythrocytosis.

A novel regression prediction model for structural engineering applications

Lin, Jeng-Wen,Chen, Cheng-Wu,Hsu, Ting-Chang Techno-Press 2013 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.45 No.5

Recently, artificial intelligence tools are most used for structural engineering and mechanics. In order to predict reserve prices and prices of awards, this study proposed a novel regression prediction model by the intelligent Kalman filtering method. An artificial intelligent multiple regression model was established using categorized data and then a prediction model using intelligent Kalman filtering. The rather precise construction bid price model was selected for the purpose of increasing the probability to win bids in the simulation example.

Significance of Expression of Human METCAM/MUC18 in Nasopharyngeal Carcinomas and Metastatic Lesions

Lin, Jin-Ching,Chiang, Cheng-Feng,Wang, Shur-Wern,Wang, Wen-Yi,Kwan, Po-Cheung,Wu, Guang-Jer Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.1

Human METCAM/MUC18, a cell adhesion molecule (CAM) in the immunoglobulin-like gene super family, plays a dual role in the progression of several epithelium cancers; however, its role in the nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains unclear. To initiate the study we determined human METCAM/MUC18 expression in tissue samples of normal nasopharynx (NP), NPCs, and metastatic lesions, and in two established NPC cell lines. Immunoblotting analysis was used for the determination in lysates of frozen tissues, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) for expression in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections of 7 normal nasopharynx specimens, 94 NPC tissue specimens, and 3 metastatic lesions. Human METCAM/MUC18 was expressed in 100% of the normal NP, not expressed in 73% of NPC specimens (or expressed at very low levels in only about 27% of NPC specimens), and expressed again in all of the metastatic lesions. The level of human METCAM/MUC18 expression in NPC tissues was about one fifth of that in the normal NP and metastatic lesions. The low level of human METCAM/MUC18 expression in NPC specimens was confirmed by a weak signal of RT-PCR amplification of the mRNA. Low expression levels of human METCAM/MUC18 in NPC tissues were also reflected in the seven established NPC cell lines. These findings provided the first evidence that diminished expression of human METCAM/MUC18 is an indicator for the emergence of NPC, but increased expression then occurs with metastatic progression, suggesting that huMETCAM/MUC18, perhaps similar to TGF-${\beta}$, may be a tumor suppressor, but a metastasis promoter for NPC.

Tissue Quality Comparison Between Heparinized Wet Suction and Dry Suction in Endoscopic Ultrasound-Fine Needle Biopsy of Solid Pancreatic Masses: A Randomized Crossover Study

Lin Meng-Ying,Wu Cheng-Lin,Su Yung-Yeh,Huang Chien-Jui,Chang Wei-Lun,Sheu Bor-Shyang 거트앤리버 소화기연관학회협의회 2023 Gut and Liver Vol.17 No.2

Background/Aims: A high-quality sample allows for next-generation sequencing and the administration of more tailored precision medicine treatments. We aimed to evaluate whether heparinized wet suction can obtain higher quality samples than the standard dry-suction method during endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided biopsy of pancreatic masses. Methods: A prospective randomized crossover study was conducted. Patients with a solid pancreatic mass were randomly allocated to receive either heparinized wet suction first or dry suction first. For each method, two needle passes were made, followed by a switch to the other method for a total of four needle punctures. The primary outcome was the aggregated white tissue length. Histological blood contamination, diagnostic performance and adverse events were analyzed as secondary outcomes. In addition, the correlation between white tissue length and the extracted DNA amount was analyzed. Results: A total of 50 patients were enrolled, and 200 specimens were acquired (100 with heparinized wet suction and 100 with dry suction), with one minor bleeding event. The heparinized wet suction approach yielded specimens with longer aggregated white tissue length (11.07 mm vs 7.96 mm, p=0.001) and less blood contamination (p=0.008). A trend towards decreasing tissue quality was observed for the 2nd pass of the dry-suction method, leading to decreased diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy, although the accumulated diagnostic performance was comparable between the two suction methods. The amount of extracted DNA correlated positively to the white tissue length (p=0.001, Spearman̕s ρ=0.568). Conclusions: Heparinized wet suction for EUS tissue acquisition of solid pancreatic masses can yield longer, bloodless, DNA-rich tissue without increasing the incidence of adverse events (ClinicalTrials.gov. identifier NCT04707560).

Generation of Selenoprotein with Glutathione Peroxidase Activity by Chemical Modification of the Single-chain Variable Fragment Expressed in a Single-protein Production System and Its Antioxidant Ability

Cheng Wang,Gang-Lin Yan,Shao-Wu Lü,Chun-Hong Sui,Yang Zhao,Ya-Wei Xu,Gang Zhao,Jun-jie Xu,Ping-Sheng Gong,Gui-Min Luo,Ying Mu 한국생물공학회 2013 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.18 No.1

Glutathione peroxidase (GPX) is one of the important members of the antioxidant enzyme family. It can catalyze the reduction of hydroperoxides with glutathione to protect cells against oxidative damage. Single-chain variable fragment (scFv) can be converted into seleniumcontaining single-chain variable fragment (Se-scFv) by chemical modification of the hydroxyl groups in scFv, thus Se-scFv possesses GPX activity and becomes a prodrug. To improve the expression of scFv and simplify its purification steps, Single-protein production (SPP) system was used to express scFv and chemical modification was used to synthesize Se-scFv. Therefore, we must construct a new scFv-WCD1-lessACA gene, which can express its mRNA not containing any ACA sequences and express its amino acid sequence of target protein (scFv) being same to scFv-WCD1. In this way, the scFv-WCD1-lessACA can be only expressed in SPP system and no other background proteins in the cells could be expressed. The expression results showed that high level of scFv-WCD1-lessACA synthesis was at least sustained for 96 h in the virtual absence of background protein synthesis. Then, selenocysteine (Sec) was incorporated into the scFv-WCD1-lessACA by chemical modification and resulted in Se-scFv-WCD1-lessACA. The enzymatic characteristics of Se-scFv-WCD1-lessACA were determined. GPX activity was 2,563 U/μmol,its binding constant for GSH was 0.687 ×105/mol. Moreover,Se-scFv-WCD1-lessACA was confirmed to have a strong antioxidant ability to protect mitochondria against oxidative damage induced by Vc/Fe2+ (mitochondrial damage model),suggesting that Se-scFv-WCD1-lessACA has potential application for protection of mitochondrial damage induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Analysis of the following effect of the natural enemies with Frankliniella intonsa in tea garden

Cheng Honghao,Chen Shiyan,Wu Xiaomeng,Xu Yue,Zhang Lin,Sun Jiazhao,Zhou Xiazhi,Zou Yunding,Bi Shoudong 한국곤충학회 2022 Entomological Research Vol.52 No.8

In order to reasonably protect and utilize natural enemies for comprehensive control of Frankliniella intonsa, a systematic investigation was conducted on F. i n t o n s a and natural enemies in tea gardens in Hefei, Anhui Province, and the spatial following effect of natural enemies on F. intonsa was studied. The semi-variogram of natural enemies and thrips was obtained by the geostatistics method, and the correlation degree between them was analyzed by the grey correlation degree analysis method. The higher the correlation degree between natural enemies and F. intonsa, the closer the relationship between natural enemies and F. intonsa was. In this study, we analyzed the relationship between 11 natural enemies of F. i n t o n s a in tea gardens from October 28, 2020 to November 20, 2020 and from August 22, 2021 to November 19, 2021. The top five natural enemies with the largest closeness index to F. intonsa in Huangshan Dayezhong tea garden are Oxyopes sertatus, Theridion octomaculatum, Plexippus setipes, Xysticus ephippiafus and Erigonidium graminicolum. The top five natural enemies with the largest closeness index to F. intonsa in Pingyang Tezao tea garden are Erigonidium graminicolum, Plexippus setipes, Xysticus ephippiafus, Oxyopes sertatus and Clubiona japonicola.Among the top five natural enemies in the two tea gardens, those in common are Oxyopes sertatus, Erigonidium graminicolum, Xysticus ephippiafus and Plexippus setipes. According to the summation of the closeness index and the sum of the serial numbers, the top five natural enemies closely related to the spatial following of F. intonsa in the tea gardens were Oxyopes sertatus, Plexippus setipes, Erigonidium graminicolum, Xysticus ephippiafus and Theridion octomaculatum. One of the factors closely related to the space of F. i n t o n s a in the same tea garden was the ratio of F. i n t o n s a to a certain natural enemy. The smaller the ratio was, the closer the following relationship was. The results of this study provide scientific basis for biological control and natural enemy protection of F. intonsa.

Differences in the closeness of spatial relationship between Ricanidae in their prime and natural enemies in five kinds of tea gardens

Cheng Xian,Zhang Lin,Wu Xiaomeng,Xu Yue,Sun Jiazhao,Zhou Xiazhi,Zou Yunding,Bi Shoudong 한국곤충학회 2022 Entomological Research Vol.52 No.8

To identify the natural enemy species which are close to Ricanidae in spatial relationship and to provide scientific basis for biological control and reasonable protection of natural enemies, geostatistics and the angular cosine coefficient method were used to analyze the population of Ricanidae in their prime and their natural enemies in the Anji white tea garden, the Longjing43 tea garden, the Nongkangzao tea garden, the Pingyangtezao tea garden and the Wuniuzao tea garden. The spatial relationship between six natural enemies and Ricanidae was also studied. The angular cosine coefficients were normalized to obtain the intimacy index. According to the sum of the intimacy index and the serial number of the intimacy index of each natural enemy in five tea gardens, the following conclusions could be drawn: the top three natural enemies closely related to Ricanidae in spatial relationship were Clubiona reichlini, Clubiona japonicola and Misumenops tricuspidatus; at least two species of the top three natural enemies in each tea garden were the same as the top three natural enemies in the comprehensive analysis of the five tea gardens; one of the factors that determined the spatial relationship between natural enemies and Ricanidae was the ratio of the number of Ricanidae and natural enemies. The results of this study identified the spider species of natural enemies which should be rationally used and protected in the five tea gardens.

Robust design on the arrangement of a sail and control planes for improvement of underwater Vehicle's maneuverability

Wu, Sheng-Ju,Lin, Chun-Cheng,Liu, Tsung-Lung,Su, I-Hsuan The Society of Naval Architects of Korea 2020 International Journal of Naval Architecture and Oc Vol.12 No.-

The purpose of this study is to discuss how to improve the maneuverability of lifting and diving for underwater vehicle's vertical motion. Therefore, to solve these problems, applied the 3-D numerical simulation, Taguchi's Design of Experiment (DOE), and intelligent parameter design methods, etc. We planned four steps as follows: firstly, we applied the 2-D flow simulation with NACA series, and then through the Taguchi's dynamic method to analyze the sensitivity (β). Secondly, take the data of pitching torque and total resistance from the Taguchi orthogonal array (L9), the ignal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and analysis each factorial contribution by ANOVA. Thirdly, used Radial Basis Function Network (RBFN) method to train the non-linear meta-modeling and found out the best factorial combination by Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Weighted Percentage Reduction of Quality Loss (WPRQL). Finally, the application of the above methods gives the global optimum for multi-quality characteristics and the robust design configuration, including L/D is 9.4:1, the foreplane on the hull (Bow-2), and position of the sail is 0.25 Ls from the bow. The result shows that the total quality is improved by 86.03% in comparison with the original design.