1. Z-Complementary Code Sets With Flexible Lengths From Generalized Boolean Functions.
Wu, S. W., Şahin, A., Huang, Z. M., & Chen, C. Y. (2021). IEEE Access, 9, 4642-4652. Cite this article
In the literature, most Z-complementary code set (ZCCS) constructions based on generalized Boolean functions lead to sequences of power-of-two length. In this study, we show that our proposed direct constructions result in ZCCSs of both power-of-two length and non-power-of-two length. Since the monomials of degrees more than 2 are employed in the proposed constructions, more ZCCSs can be obtained. The constructed ZCCSs admit the theoretical upper bound on the size for a ZCCS when the sequence length is a power of two. Also, the corresponding peak-to-average-power ratio (PAPR) is theoretically upper-bounded when a sequence in the set is used in OFDM. The proposed constructions extend the applications of ZCCSs in practical communication systems, e.g., multicarrier CDMA (MC-CDMA) system, by offering flexible sequence lengths, various set sizes, and bounded PAPR.
2. Anti-IL-20 Antibody Protects against Ischemia/Reperfusion-Impaired Myocardial Function through Modulation of Oxidative Injuries, Inflammation and Cardiac Remodeling.
We confirmed that IL-20 antibody injection at the moment of reperfusion reduces I/R-caused oxidative injuries, apoptosis, inflammation, as well as the elevation in markers of cardiac fibrosis and remodeling. We also proved that IL-20 antibody injection attenuates cardiac functional impairment, including the repressed EF and FS, the increased left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes, and plasma markers of cardiac injury and heart failure. This study elucidates that IL-20 antibody might be favorable in lessening reperfusion injury in the treatment of AMI.
3. The Spatial-Temporal Distribution of GOCI-Derived Suspended Sediment in Taiwan Coastal Water Induced by Typhoon Soudelor.
Chau, P. M., Wang, C.-K., & Huang, A.-T. (2021). Remote Sensing, 13(2), 194. Cite this article
We use high temporal resolution Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) to monitor the spatial–temporal distribution of suspended sediment (SS) along the coastal waters of northern Taiwan which was affected by Typhoon Soudelor from 8 to 10 August 2015. The results show that SS concentration increased during 11–14 August and then decreased during 19–22 August. The mouths of the Dajia River and Tamsui River were hotspots of SS, ranging from 9 to 15 g/m3, during the two post-typhoon periods. It is also shown that maximum SS occurred in the west and east coastal water during 11–14 August and 19–22 August, respectively. Furthermore, an exponential decay model was used to compute the time when 90% of typhoon-induced SS was dissipated after Typhoon Soudelor. It was found that the mouths of the Tamsui River and Heping River had the longest time, with a range of 360–480 h.
In this study, we aim to clarify the novel aptamer, Tx-01, clinical role and possible molecular mechanisms of Tx-01 in Ovarian cancer. Immunostaining and statistical analysis were performed to detect the interaction of Tx-01 and heat shock protein 70/Notch1 intracellular domain in OvCa. The in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated the potential mechanisms of Tx-01. Tx-01 reduced serous OvCa OVCAR3 cell migration and invasion and inhibited HSP70 nuclear translocation by interrupting the intracellular HSP70/NICD interaction. Furthermore, Tx-01 suppressed serous-type OVCAR3 cell tumor growth in vivo. Tx-01 acts as a prognostic factor through its interaction with membrane-bound HSP70 on ascetic circulating tumor cells and is reported to be involved in natural killer (NK) cell recognition and activation. Our data demonstrated that Tx-01 interacted with HSP70 and showed therapeutic and prognostic effects in serous OvCa. Tx-01 might be a potential inhibitor for use in serous OvCa treatment.
5. Diversified Phenomena in Metal- and Transition-Metal-Adsorbed Graphene Nanoribbons.
Lin, S.-Y., Tran, N. T. T., & Lin, M.-F. (2021). Nanomaterials, 11(3), 630. Cite this article
In this study, the significant similarities and differences among Bi-/Al-/Ti-/Fe-/Co-/Ni-adsorbed graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are thoroughly investigated by using the first-principles calculations. The main characterizations include the adsorption sites, bond lengths, stability, band structures, charge densities, spin- and orbital-projected density of states, and magnetic configurations. Furthermore, there exists a transformation from finite gap semiconducting to metallic behaviors, accompanied by the nonmagnetism, antiferromagnetism, or ferromagnetism. The proposed theoretical framework could be generalized to explore other emergent 1D and 2D materials.
6. Nanomedicine-Based Strategies Assisting Photodynamic Therapy for Hypoxic Tumors: State-of-the-Art Approaches and Emerging Trends.
Shih, C.-Y., Wang, P.-T., Su, W.-C., Teng, H., & Huang, W.-L. (2021).Biomedicines, 9(2), 137. Cite this article
Since the first clinical cancer treatment in 1978, photodynamic therapy (PDT) technologies have been largely improved and approved for clinical usage in various cancers. Due to the oxygen-dependent nature, the application of PDT is still limited by hypoxia in tumor tissues. Thus, the development of effective strategies for manipulating hypoxia and improving the effectiveness of PDT is one of the most important area in PDT field. Recently, emerging nanotechnology has benefitted progress in many areas, including PDT. In this review, we will discuss the state of the art of nanomedicine-based approaches for assisting PDT for treating hypoxic tumors, mainly based on oxygen replenishing and oxygen dependency diminishing strategies. We will emphasize emerging trends about the use of nanoscale metal–organic framework materials and the combination of PDT with immunotherapy. We further discuss future perspectives and challenges associated with these trends in both the aspects of mechanism and clinical translation.
Bacteriophages are viruses that specifically infect bacteria, which have developed extraordinary proteins for recognizing and degrading their host. Inspired by the remarkable development of viral proteins, phage-derived proteins have been used for clinical treatment of multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria infection. For example, the polysaccharide depolymerase or endolysins were used to attenuate bacterial cell walls or to destroy the bacterial membrane. More recent efforts have addressed bacterial selection to treat drug-stress or phage infection. We, then, propose a combination strategy of co-treating MDR Acinetobacter baumannii with phage endolysin derived peptide and polysaccharide depolymerase (the tail fiber molecules). In the study, we surprisingly observed a temporary increase in resistance to colistin, used as the last-resort antibiotic for MDR Gram negative bacterial infection. Evaluation of the phage attacking behavior suggests the temporary increased resistance may be associated with an increased risk of drug-resistance during phage-antibiotic synergy in clinical MDR A. baumannii treatment.
Retrospective research for 177 patients (129 with completely torn ACLs confirmed on magnetic resonance imaging) at our institution was performed. The anterior tibial translations with four different methods were measured by a computer-assisted system. Mean anterior tibial translations were significantly increased in the patients with a completely torn ACL, with diagnostic accuracies ranging from 66.7% to 75.1%. The diagnostic accuracy of method four was negatively associated with the time interval between stress radiography and MRI as well as force-joint distance on stress view, and not significantly associated with age, gender, flexion angle, intercondylar distance, and force-joint angle.
9. Anti-Inflammatory Principles from the Needles of Pinus taiwanensis Hayata and In Silico Studies of Their Potential Anti-Aging Effects.
Kuo, P.-C., Li, Y.-C., Kusuma, A. M., Tzen, J. T. C., Hwang, T.-L., Ye, G.-H., Yang, M.-L., & Wang, S.-Y. (2021).Antioxidants, 10(4), 598. Cite this article
Pinus needle tea, which is very popular in Eastern countries, is claimed to have significant anti-aging effects. In this study, five undescribed compounds as well as seventy-two known compounds were characterized from the methanol extracts of P. taiwanensis needles. Most of the isolates were examined for their anti-inflammatory bioactivity, and six compounds exhibited significant inhibitions on superoxide anion generation and elastase release. These ingredients were subjected to docking computing to evaluate their binding affinity on the ghrelin receptor to explore the potentials of anti-aging effect. Three tested compounds formed a stable complex with the ghrelin receptor via hydrogen bonds and different types of interactions, and it suggested these flavonoids to be responsible for the potential anti-aging effects of pine needle tea.
Photoelectrochemical reforming of plastic waste offers an environmentally-benign and sustainable route for hydrogen generation. Nonetheless, little attention was paid to develop electrocatalysts that can efficiently and selectively catalyze oxidative transformation of valueless plastic wastes into valued chemicals. Herein, we report on facile electrosynthesis of nickel-phosphorus nanospheres (nanoNi-P), and their versatility in catalyzing hydrogen generation, water oxidation, and reforming of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Notably, composite of nanoNi-P with carbon nanotubes (CNT/nanoNi-P) requires −180 mV overpotential to drive hydrogen generation at -100 mA cm−2. Besides, CV-activated nanoNi-P (nanoNi-P(CV)) was shown to be capable of reforming PET into formate with high selectivity (Faradic efficiency= ∼100 %). Efficient and selective generation of hydrogen and formate from PET reforming is realized utilizing an Earth-abundant photoelectrochemical platform based on nanoNi-P(CV)-modified TiO2 nanorods photoanode and CNT/nanoNi-P cathode. This work paves a path for developing artificial leaf for simultaneous environmental mitigation and photosynthesis of renewable fuels and valued chemicals.
11. Association of Primary Treatment Modality for Advanced-Stage Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma With Survival Outcomes.
Tsai, M.-H., Cheng, Y.-J., Pao, T.-H., Hsueh, W.-T., Chen, H. H. W., & Wu, Y.-H. (2021). JAMA Network Open, 4(6), e2112067-e2112067. Cite this article
This retrospective comparative effectiveness analysis used data from the population-based Taiwan Cancer Registry. Included patients were diagnosed with clinical stage III or IV oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma from 2007 to 2015 and were identified from the registry. Among 1180 patients, 694 patients (58.8%) were in the definitive chemoradiotherapy group and 486 patients (41.2%) were in the upfront surgical treatment group. The mean age was 54.59 years. Primary treatment with an upfront surgical procedure was associated with a decreased risk of death during the study period (HR: 0.81; P = .02). However, when adjusted for age, subsite, histological grade, and T and N classification, upfront surgical treatment was no longer associated with an increased risk of death during the study period (HR: 0.96; P = .70). Progressionfree survival was worse in the group receiving upfront surgical treatment than in the group receiving chemoradiotherapy (HR, 1.64; P = .02), and this difference persisted after adjusting for other factors associated with prognosis(HR, 1.72; p = .01). This study found that definitive chemoradiotherapy was associated with effectiveness that was comparable with that of upfront surgical treatment when adjusted for baseline factors associated with prognosis. These findings suggest that definitive chemoradiotherapy should be considered to avoid accumulating toxic effects associated with surgical treatment and chemoradiotherapy.
12. Development of spatially varying groundwater-drawdown functions for land subsidence estimation.
Chu, H.-J., Ali, M. Z., Tatas, & Burbey, T. J. (2021). Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 35, 100808. Cite this article
Land subsidence caused by groundwater overexploitation is a critical global problem. The spatial distribution of land subsidence is crucial for effective environmental management and land planning in subsidence prone areas. Because of the nonlinear relationship between subsidence and drawdown due to groundwater exploitation in heterogeneous aquifers, a spatial regression (SR) model is developed to effectively estimate nonlinear and spatially varying land subsidence. Considering various data inputs in the Choshui River alluvial fan, the SR model offers a robust method for accurately estimating the spatial patterns of subsidence using only drawdown as input data.
Early-onset schizophrenia (EOS) may have stronger familial aggregation and a more severe outcome than adult-onset schizophrenia (AOS). MicroRNA (miRNA) takes on dual roles as a genetic and epigenetic modulator, which mediate the influence of genetic risk. Neurological soft signs (NSS) are neurological abnormalities that may be intermediate phenotypes or endophenotypes for schizophrenia. We aimed to identify a set of aberrant neurodevelopmental-related miRNAs that could serve as potential biomarkers for EOS or schizophrenia with NSS. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed miR-137 dysregulation was correlated with almost all NSS subscales and, when EOS patients with NSS, miR-137 expression discriminated these patients from healthy controls to a greater extent (AUC = 0.957). MiR-34b had the highest ability to discriminate between EOS and AOS (AUC = 0.810), which may indicate different etiological pathways to disease onset. These findings support the potential for neurodevelopmental-related miRNAs to be used as indicators of vulnerability to EOS. Keywords: schizophrenia, epigenetic, microRNA, neurological soft signs, endophenotype, neurodevelopment.
Etoposide (ETO) has been used in treating adrenocortical tumor (ACT) cells. In this study, we showed that ETO treatment at 10 μM inhibited ACT cell growth by inducing cellular senescence rather than apoptosis. Several markers of cellular senescence, including activated senescence-associated β-galactosidase activity, elevated levels of p53, and down-regulation of lamin B1, were observed. We further found that ETO induced multiple centrosomes. The inhibition of multiple centrosomes accomplished by treating cells with either roscovitine or centrinone. DNA-PK-Chk2 signaling was activated by ETO treatment; inhibition of this signaling cascade alleviated multiple ETO-induced centrosomes and primary cilia followed by reducing cellular senescence. Autophagy was also triggered by ETO treatment. The inactivation of DNA-PK-Chk2 signaling reduced ETO-triggered autophagy; however, the inhibition of autophagy did not affect DNA-PK-Chk2 activation. Thus, ETO activated the DNA-PK-Chk2 cascade to facilitate autophagy. The activated autophagy further induced multiple centrosomes and primary cilia followed by triggering senescence.
15. Trajectory of Food Insecurity and Its Association with Longitudinal Mental Health and Sleep Outcomes in Adolescents from Economically Disadvantaged Families.
There is a paucity of research examining how the change of food insecurity (FI) over time is related to mental health and sleep outcomes in Taiwanese adolescents. The data come from the Taiwan Database of Children and Youth in Poverty, which is a national longitudinal project measuring FI in five survey waves (2009-2017). We employed group-based trajectory modeling to classify 1921 participants aged 12-18 years into four FI trajectory groups: persistently low FI (24.8%), persistently moderate FI (64.7%), declining from high to low FI (4.1%), and food-secure groups (6.4%). Furthermore, a generalized estimating equation analysis was conducted the persistently moderate FI group was more likely to have mental (β = 0.30, [95% confidence interval 0.21-0.38]) and sleep problems (β = 0.39, [0.29-0.48]), as compared to food-secure adolescents. Our study describes the FI profile of adolescents from economically disadvantaged families. Healthcare providers can aid adolescents and provide guidance when appropriate.
很少有研究調查糧食匱虞(FI)隨時間的變化如何與台灣青少年的心理健康和睡眠結果相關。數據來自台灣貧窮兒童與青少年數據庫，這是一個全國性縱貫計畫，在五個調查波(2009-2017)中測量FI。我們採用群組化軌跡模型將 1921名 12至18 歲的參與者分為四個 FI 軌跡組別，分別是持續低度FI (24.8%)、持續中度FI (64.7%)、從高到低FI (4.1%) 和糧食安全組(6.4%)。接續進行廣義估計方程分析，發現對比糧食安全的青少年，持續中等 FI 組更可能有心理(β = 0.30，[95% 信賴區間 0.21-0.38])和睡眠問題(β = 0.39，[0.29-0.48])。我們的研究描述了來自經濟弱勢家庭的青少年的 FI 概況。醫療照顧提供者可以幫助青少年並在適當時提供指導。
16. Sitting Posture during Prolonged Computer Typing with and without a Wearable Biofeedback Sensor.
Kuo, Y.-L., Huang, K.-Y., Kao, C.-Y., & Tsai, Y.-J. (2021). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(10), 5430. Cite this article
Prolonged sitting combined with an awkward posture might contribute to the increased risks of developing spinal pain. Maintaining an upright sitting posture is thus often suggested. This study aimed to investigate the effects of a wearable biofeedback sensor on maintaining an upright sitting posture. Twenty-one healthy young adults were recruited and performed a 1-h computer typing task twice, with and without using the active biofeedback device. The sagittal spinal posture during computer typing was measured using a three-dimensional motion analysis system. Using the wearable bio-feedback sensor significantly decreased the neck flexion, thoracic kyphotic, and pelvic plane angles compared with not using the sensor. Computer users and sedentary workers may benefit from using wearable biofeedback sensors to actively maintain an upright sitting posture during prolonged deskwork.
17. Applying an Adaptive Signal Identification Method to Improve Vessel Echo Detection and Tracking for SeaSonde HF Radar.
Chuang, L. Z.-H., Chen, Y.-R., & Chung, Y.-J. (2021). Remote Sensing, 13(13), 2453. Cite this article
To enhance remote sensing for maritime safety and security. High-frequency (HF) radar systems are a type of mainstream technology widely used in international marine remote sensing. However, effectively recognizing targets in spectra with intrinsic strong disturbance echoes and random environmental noise is still challenging. To avoid the above problem, this paper proposes an adaptive signal identification method to detect target signals based on a rapid and flexible threshold. By integrating a watershed segmentation algorithm, the subsequent direction result can be used to automatically compute the direction of arrival of the targets. To assist in the orientation of the object, forward intersections are integrated with the technique. Hence, the proposed technique can effectively recognize vessel echoes with automatic identification system (AIS) verification. Experiments have demonstrated the promising feasibility of the proposed method’s performance. Keywords: high-frequency (HF) radar; adaptive signal identification (ASI); vessel detection; direction finding; automatic identification system (AIS)
18. Sex differences in the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and effects of comorbid mental retardation and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Tang, C. H., Chi, M. H., Hsieh, Y. T., Lee, T. I., Tai, Y. C., Lien, Y.-J., Yang, Y. K., & Chen, P. S. (2021). Journal of the Formosan Medical Association.Cite this article
The association between sex and diagnostic behavior of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and the effects of comorbid mental retardation (MR) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), were explored. The incidence was higher in males than in females across ages. Comorbid MR or ADHD increased the incidence of ASD in both sexes; comorbid MR or ADHD also decreased the male to female hazard ratio of ASD, with no significant differences in the incidence density of ASD between sexes. ADHD delayed diagnosis in both sexes. The results indicating unique vulnerabilities to MR/ADHD or under-identification of high-functioning females with ASD subjects. Increasing the diagnostic sensitivity of ASD in those with comorbid ADHD is important due to a delayed diagnostic age in this group.
19. Taxonomic and Functional Dysregulation in Salivary Microbiomes During Oral Carcinogenesis.
Chen, J.-W., Wu, J.-H., Chiang, W.-F., Chen, Y.-L., Wu, W.-S., & Wu, L.-W. (2021). Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 11(861). Cited this article
In this report, we systematically characterized the compositions and ecological drivers of salivary microbiome in the cohorts of orally healthy, non-recurrent oral verrucous hyperplasia (OVH), and OVH–associated oral cancer at taxonomic and function levels, and compared them with the re-analysis of publicly available datasets through using bacterial 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and in silico function analysis by PICRUSt2 (Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States 2). Diversity analyses showed the decline of core species numbers and the deregulation of metabolic pathways as host oral health deteriorated. Partitioned beta-diversity revealed an extremely high species turnover but low function turnover. Functional beta-diversity in saliva microbiome shifted from turnover to nestedness during oral carcinogenesis, which was not observed at taxonomic levels. Moreover, metabolic pathways of nucleotides, amino acids, fatty acids, and cell structure are strongly related with the disease progression. Using predicted functional profiles to elucidate the correlations to the oral health status thus shows superior performance than those using taxonomic data. Together, this study not only advances our understanding of the oral ecosystem in relation to oral carcinogenesis but also provide a new direction for using microbiome-based tools to study the interplay of the oral microbiome, metabolites, and host health.
Collagenopathy is a rare genetic condition characterized by abnormality in either collagen structure or metabolism. Through whole exome sequencing (WES) complemented with multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification, we identified the genetic etiologies for six cases with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) in COL1A1 (p.T1298N, p.Q1280Pfs∗51, and p.G557Vfs∗23) and COL1A2 (c.1-1677_133-441del) as well as three cases with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita in COL2A1 (p.G1041S, p.G654S, and p.G441A). Co-occurrence of COL1A1 and WNT1 mutations was found in a patient with a mild OI phenotype but severe osteoporosis. These findings extended the pathogenic variant spectrum of COL1A1, COL1A2, and COL2A1 for type I and type II collagenopathies. Although WES provides a fast and accurate method to identify the genetic causes, its limitation of detecting CNVs because of variable capturing uniformity should be kept in mind when interpreting the results. We demonstrate that multiple genetic characterizing technologies can provide an accurate and efficient molecular diagnosis.
膠原病變是一種罕見的遺傳病，其特徵是膠原結構或代謝異常。通過全外顯子定序 (WES) 並輔以多重連接探針擴增技術(MLPA)，我們確認6 例成骨不全 (OI) 的遺傳病因是為COL1A1的突變(p.T1298N、p.Q1280Pfs*51、 p.G557Vfs*23)和COL1A2的突變(c.1-1677_133-441del) 以及另外三例先天性脊椎骨骺發育不良有COL2A1的突變(p.G1041S、p.G654S、p.G441A)。在具有輕度 OI 表型但嚴重骨質疏鬆症的患者則發現同時存在COL1A1和WNT1突變。這些發現擴展了 I 型和 II 型膠原病變關於COL1A1、COL1A2、COL2A1的致病突變的光譜。儘管 WES 提供了一種快速準確的方法來識別遺傳原因，但在解釋結果時應牢記由於可變捕獲均勻性而導致檢測拷貝數多型性(CNV)的局限。我們證明了多種基因表徵技術可以提供準確有效的分子診斷。
21. Enhanced output performance of ZnO thin film triboelectric nanogenerators by leveraging surface limited ga doping and insulting bulk.
Doping in semiconductors renders one serious drawback in triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) as tribo-charges tend to leak for energy output. Therefore, a two-layer structure of Ga-doped ZnO/undoped-ZnO is proposed, where a ZnO thin film was first grown by sputter followed by Ga doping restricted to a shallow surface region by thermal diffusion. The results support that surface work function difference between two tribo-materials under the well preservation of trio-charges retention governs the charge transfer capability, where the output voltage and current of the ZnO film doped with 0.93 at% Ga can be enhanced by 16 and 13 times, respectively. Nevertheless, the larger work function of β-Ga2O3 than Ga-doped ZnO does not lead to larger output performance, implying the importance of carrier concentration in the performance of TENGs. We demonstrated a viable method to modify the work function of ZnO only confined to the surface through doping without disturbing the bulk, optimizing semiconductors for TENGs.
Psoriasis affects more than 125 million people worldwide, and the diagnosis and treatment efficacy evaluation of the disease mainly rely on clinical assessments that could be subjective. While the compromised epidermal barrier function has been taken as the major cause of clinical manifestation of skin inflammation of psoriasis, very few methods can be used to effectively evaluate this function. In this study, we investigate the near infrared spectroscopic features of psoriatic (n = 21) and normal (n = 21) skin that could link to the epidermal barrier function. From the DRS measurements, it was found that the water bonding status and light scattering properties of psoriasis are significantly different from those of uninvolved or normal skin. The connection between these parameters to the epidermal barrier function and morphology is discussed. Our results suggest that objective evaluation of epidermal barrier function of psoriasis could be achieved using a simple DRS system.
23. Psychometric Evaluation of the Nurses Professional Values Scale-3: Indonesian Version.
Asiandi, A., Erlina, M., Lin, Y.-H., & Huang, M.-C. (2021). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(16), 8810. Cited this article
The Nurses Professional Values Scale-3 (NPVS-3) is an important instrument for measuring development and sustainability of professional values in nurses and nursing students. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of NPVS-3, Indonesian version. The forward and backward translation was conducted to develop the NPVS3-I. Six hundred nurse participants filled this questionnaire. The 28-item scale of NPVS3-I was tested using EFA and CFA, applying the principal axis factoring extraction method and varimax with Kaiser normalization rotation method. Findings suggested sufficient content validity, construct validity, and reliability of the NPVS3-I. The I-CVI values ranged between 0.80 to 1.00 and the S-CVI was 0.99. Construct validity was supported with loading factors ranging from 0.49 to 0.84 for three factors (Caring, Activism, and Professionalism) and explain 65.40% variance. The NPVS3-I showed good internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha= 0.97, and 0.94, 0.95, and 0.89 for Caring, Activism, and Professionalism, respectively.
Strong coupling between an atom and a cavity has been utilized for quantum photonic devices such as deterministic single photon sources and quantum gates. The alignment between an atom and a cavity needs atom trapping and high vacuum equipment, which are hardly to be integrated into a microchip. Here, DNA strands connect a gold nanoparticle and a gold film to construct a nanocavity and simultaneously integrate a few fluorophores into the cavity to form a strong coupling unit. High cavity yield and strong coupling yield are achieved by this method. Combination of this method with e-beam lithography can further position strong coupling units on a specific location of a microchip. Furthermore, when we detune fluorophores embedded nanocavities, the polariton energy can fit into the curves derived from three sets of two-level systems, which indicates vibronic modes may be involved in the strong coupling systems.
25. Systematic Identification of Protein Targets of Sub5 Using Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteome Microarrays.
Shah, P., & Chen, C.-S. (2021). International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(2), 760. Cited this article
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are intensively studied in terms of alternative drugs. Sub5 is a synthetic 12-mer AMP with substitutions of five amino acids of bactenecin 2A (Bac2A), a linear-ized bactenecin variant of bovine. Sub5 is highly effective against fungi with an ability to trans-locate cell membrane, but its targets are unknown. Systematic analysis of Sub5 targets will facilitate our understanding on its mechanism of action. In this study, we used high-throughput Saccharomyces cerevisiae proteome microarrays to explore the potential protein targets of Sub5. The screening results showed 128 potential protein targets of Sub5. Bioinformatics analysis of protein targets of Sub5 revealed significant gene ontology (GO) enrichment in actin related pro-cess of "actin filament-based process", "actin filament organization", "actin cortical patch or-ganization", regulation of "actin filament bundle assembly". Moreover, the other enriched cat-egories in GO enrichment mostly contained actin associate proteins. In total, 11 actin-associated proteins were identified in the protein targets of Sub5. Protein family (PFAM) enrichment anal-ysis shows protein domain enriched in actin binding, i.e., "Cytoskeletal-regulatory complex EF hand (helix E-loop-helix F motif)". Being consistent with GO analysis, Search Tool for the Re-trieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins (STRING) analysis of the protein targets of Sub5 showed ac-tin network with involvement of 15 protein targets. Along with actin-network, STRING analysis showed protein-protein interaction network in ribonucleoprotein, transcription and translation, chromosome, histone, and ubiquitin related, DNA repair, and chaperone. Multiple Expression motifs for Motif Elicitation (MEME) suite provided a consensus binding motif of [ED][ED]EEE[ED][ED][ED][ED][ED], in total of 75 protein targets of Sub5. This motif was present in 9 out of 15 actin-related proteins identified among protein targets of Sub5.
26. Advanced High Entropy Perovskite Oxide Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Evolution Reaction.
Nguyen, T. X., Liao, Y.-C., Lin, C.-C., Su, Y.-H., & Ting, J.-M. (2021). Advanced Functional Materials, 31(27), 2101632. Cited this article
A new type of lanthanum-based high entropy perovskite oxide (HEPO) electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction is reported. The B-site lattices in the HEPO consist of five consecutive first-row transition metals, including Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni. Equimolar and five non-equimolar HEPO electrocatalysts are studied for their OER electrocatalytic performance. In the five non-equimolar HEPOs, the concentration of one of the five transition metals is doubled in individual samples. The performances of all the HEPOs outperform the single perovskite oxides. The optimized La(CrMnFeCo2Ni)O3 HEPO exhibits an outstanding OER overpotential of 325 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and excellent electrochemical stability after 50 h of testing.
本文報導了一種用於析氧反應的新型鑭基高熵鈣鈦礦氧化物之電催化劑，鈣鈦礦氧化物之 B 位晶格由Cr、Mn、Fe、Co 和 Ni組成。 所有高熵鈣鈦礦氧化物，包括一種等摩爾比和五種非等摩爾比者，之催化性能均優於單一金屬鈣鈦礦氧化物。而優化後的 La(CrMnFeCo2Ni)O3 在 10 mA cm-2 的電流密度下表現出 325 mV出色的過電位和50 小時測試之優異電化學穩定性。
27. Decrease of Pneumococcal Community-Acquired Pneumonia Hospitalization and Associated Complications in Children after the Implementation of the 13-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV13) in Taiwan.
In this study, we evaluated the impact of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) on overall community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and disease severity. The interrupted timeseries analysis was performed to compare the incidence trend before and after the implementation of PCV13. After implementation, the significant decreasing trend of pneumococcal CAP (P-CAP) hospitalization corresponds to a 59% reduction in children ＜ 1 year, 47% in children aged 2–5 years, 39% in adult aged 19–65 years, and 41% in elderly aged 66 years or older. The intensive care rate (6.8% to 3.9%), severe pneumonia cases (21.7 to 14.5 episodes per 100,000 children–years), and the need for invasive procedures (4.3% to 2.0%) decreased in children aged 2–5 years with P-CAP. This PCV13 implementation program in Taiwan not only reduced the incidence of P-CAP, but also attenuated disease severity, especially in children aged 2–5 years.
Immune-mediated arthritis is an important chronic inflammatory disease of joints. The cellular and molecular factors contributing to the joint inflammation in different redox conditions have not been clearly elucidated. Previous research showed that phagocyte-produced reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays an anti-inflammatory role in K/BxN serum-transfer arthritis and NOX2-deficient mice tend to have more severe arthritis. Although many leukocytes play critical roles in the development of immune-mediated arthritis, the role of neutrophils, which are the main producers of ROS in inflammation, is still controversial. We hence assessed the immunomodulatory function of neutrophils from arthritic joints of NOX2-deficient and wild type mice in this study. We found more neutrophils accumulation in NOX2-deficient inflamed joints. RNA-sequencing and quantitative PCR revealed significantly increased expression of acute inflammation genes including IL1b, Cxcl2, Cxcl3, Cxcl10 and Mmp3 in activated neutrophils from the inflamed joints of NOX2-deficient mice. Moreover, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) showed enriched gene signatures in type I and II IFN responses, IL-6-JAK-STAT3 signalling pathway and TNF-a signalling pathway via NF-kB in NOX2-deficient neutrophils. In addition, we found that NOX2-deficient neutrophils expressed lower levels of PD-L1 and were less suppressive than WT neutrophils. Moreover, treatment of PD-L1-Fc decreased cytokine expression and ameliorated the severity of inflammatory arthritis. Our results suggest that NOX2-derived ROS is critical for regulating the function and gene expression in arthritic neutrophils. Both the strong pro-inflammatory and weakened anti-inflammatory functions of neutrophils due to abnormal redox regulation may be targets of treatment for immune-mediated arthritis.
免疫引起之關節炎是一種慢性發炎性關節疾病，在不同的氧化還原狀態下的細胞與分子如何造成免疫性關節炎這部分還尚未研究清楚。先前的研究指出菸醯胺腺嘌呤二磷酸氧化酶 (NOX2)所產生的活性氧分子(ROS)在K/BxN血清引起的關節炎中具有抗發炎的功能，並且NOX2缺陷的小鼠會產生更加嚴重的免疫性關節炎。雖然很多種白血球在免疫性關節炎的發展中都扮演了角色，但是主要表現NOX2的嗜中性球的角色還尚未釐清。所以，我們想要研究NOX2缺陷的嗜中性球以及正常的嗜中性球在免疫性關節炎中的免疫調節功能。初步的研究結果發現在NOX2缺陷的小鼠關節中有比較多的嗜中性球浸潤和累積。接著，在使用RNA定序技術分析抗體活化之NOX2缺陷嗜中性球的基因表現之後，我們發現急性發炎性基因包括: IL1b、Cxcl2、Cxcl3、Cxcl10和Mmp3 等等的基因表現都上升。再進一步地使用gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) 分析RNA定序的結果後發現，第一和第二型干擾素反應基因群、介白素6-JAK-STAT3訊息傳遞路徑基因群以及腫瘤壞死因子a經由NF-kB的訊息傳遞路徑基因群的表現量都在NOX2缺陷的嗜中性球中提高了。同時，我們發現NOX2缺陷嗜中性球抑制正常T細胞增生的功能較弱，其免疫檢查點的表現量也較少。在加強了免疫檢查點在NOX2缺陷的小鼠表現量之後，細胞激素的表現以及關節炎的嚴重性都降低了。總而言之，活性氧分子，特別是由NOX 2所產生的，在免疫引起的關節炎中具有極為重要的免疫調節功能，所以調節氧化還原狀態是具有潛力的目標可用於治療免疫引起的關節炎。
29. Chemoreversal Agents from Taiwanofungus Genus and Their More Potent Methyl Derivatives Targeting Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) Phosphorylation.
Multidrug resistance (MDR) is one of the major obstacles to cancer treatment and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) were found to be one of the important MDR mechanism pathways recently. In our previous research, MDR inhibitory activity of zhankuic acid methyl ester was found to be better than that of its acid. Therefore, we executed a systematic examination of the structure–activity relationship of zhankuic acid methyl ester derivatives to collateral sensitivity in MDR cancer cells. The results showed that compound 12 is the best with reversal fold of 692 in MDR KBvin cells. In addition, compounds 8, 12, and 26 were shown to influence the activation of STAT3 in KBvin cells, accounting for part of their chemoreversal effects. Our results may provide a new combined therapy with paclitaxel to treat MDR cancers and provide a new therapy option for patients.
Chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (CICI) is an increasing awareness due to prolonged survival following cancer chemotherapy in cancer patients. Multiple mechanisms have been proposed for CICI induced by various chemotherapeutic agents; however, hippocampal damage and impaired neurogenesis may be one of the mechanisms. The aim of our study was to investigate the interplay between impaired neurogenesis, inflammation, and the symptoms of CICI, including spatial memory dysfunction and mood alteration, in a paclitaxel-treated mice model. In addition, we demonstrated that memantine may serve as a potential therapeutic agent for paclitaxel- induced CICI by modulating neurogenesis and inflammation. However, the treatment regimen may lead to variations in the treatment efficacy, especially in terms of mood dysfunction. Further translational studies may be developed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of memantine in human CICI studies.
31. Implementation of a Deep Learning Algorithm Based on Vertical Ground Reaction Force Time–Frequency Features for the Detection and Severity Classification of Parkinson’s Disease.
A novel detection and severity classification algorithm using deep learning approaches was developed in this research to classify PD severity levels based on vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) signals. Different variations in force patterns generated by the irregularity in vGRF signals due to the gait abnormalities of PD patients can indicate their severity. The detection algorithm comprises preprocessing, feature transformation, and classification processes. In preprocessing, the vGRF signal is divided into 10, 15, and 30-s successive time windows. In the feature transformation process, the preprocessed time-domain vGRF signal is modified into a time-frequency spectrogram using continuous wavelet transform (CWT). Then, principal component analysis (PCA) is used for feature enhancement. Finally, different types of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are employed as deep learning classifiers for classification. The best average accuracy of the proposed PD severity stage detection algorithm was 96.52% using ResNet-50 with vGRF data from the PhysioNet database.
32. Doxycycline Ameliorates the Severity of Experimental Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy in Mice.
Chen, S.-H., Lin, Y.-J., Wang, L.-C., Tsai, H.-Y., Yang, C.-H., Teng, Y.-T., & Hsu, S.-M. (2021). International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(21), 11670. Cited this article
After successful surgeries for patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, the most common cause of retinal redetachment is proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), which causes severe vision impairment and even blindness worldwide. Until now, the major treatment for PVR is surgical removal of the epiretinal membrane, while effective treatment to prevent PVR is still unavailable. Therefore, we investigated the potential of doxycycline, an antibiotic in the tetracycline class, to treat PVR using a mouse model. We used the human retinal pigment epithelial cell line, ARPE-19, for in vitro and in vivo studies to test doxycycline for PVR treatment. We found that doxycycline suppressed the migration, proliferation, and contraction of ARPE-19 cells with reduced p38 MAPK activation and total MMP activity. Intravitreal doxycycline and topical tetracycline treatment significantly ameliorated the PVR severity induced by ARPE-19 cells in mice. PVR increased the expression of MMP-9 and IL-4 and p38 MAPK phosphorylation and modestly decreased IL-10. These effects were reversed by doxycycline and tetracycline treatment in the mouse retina. These results suggest that doxycycline will be a potential treatment for PVR in the future.
33. Long-Term Effectiveness of a Decision Support App (Pink Journey) for Women Considering Breast Reconstruction Surgery: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.
Most of the women are not well prepared to make decision for undergoing breast reconstruction after mastectomy. Recent studies revealed that women with treatment decision-making difficulties experience chronic psychological distress. Using decision aids that providing information and facilitate value clarification during the process of treatment decision making can improve decision-related outcomes. An application (app) named “Pink Journey” was designed to help women make breast reconstruction decision after mastectomy.This randomized controlled trial included women who were over 20 years of age and were newly diagnosed with breast cancer and candidates for mastectomy. After intervention, decision conflict, decision regret, anxiety, depression, and body image scales were measured at1 week after the intervention and 1 month, 8 months, and 12 months after surgery. Results revealed that “Pink Journey” decision aid that combines surgery information and values clarification can help women reduce their body image distress after 1 year follow-up and did not increase anxiety and depression.
34. Power Sharing and Media Freedom in Dictatorships.
Sheen, G. C.-H., Tung, H. H., & Wu, W.-C. (2021). Political Communication, 1-20. Cited this article
In this article, we attempt to provide an explanation to why there are different levels of media freedom in autocracies. We argue that this variation can be partially explained by the power dynamics within their ruling coalitions, among other reasons suggested in the previous literature. We argue that dictators need to allow for a higher level of media freedom when sharing more power with other elites. Specifically, dictators create transparency through media freedom to induce trust and cooperation among elites within the regime. We confirm the hypothesis by analyzing data from 98 dictatorships from 1960 to 2010. Our finding is robust to different model specifications. This article contributes to the literature by showing that authoritarian media freedom is determined by not only dictators’ need for local information as suggested in the extant literature, but also the power-sharing structure within their ruling coalitions.
Malignant neoplasms with rhabdoid features are usually associated with a poor prognosis. Renal cell carcinoma with rhabdoid features (RCC-RF) is an aggressive histologic variant in the adults and is usually unresponsive to standard chemotherapy. Expression of SMARCB1/INI1 was assayed in primary RCC-RF (n = 5). Stable INI1 with/without prostaglandin E2 receptor 1 (EP1) knockdown (KD) cell lines were created in the ACHN RCC cell line and analyzed for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-related signaling pathways. The potential importance of co-targeting EP1 for RCC-RF was examined using a tumorigenicity assay. Expression of INI1 was markedly reduced at both transcriptional and translational levels in RCC-RF. Loss of INI1 protein expression was confirmed in the nuclei of rhabdoid cells (n = 8). The growth rate of ACHN cells was significantly (P < 0.05) increased when INI1 was knocked down. Increase of migration (2.37 times) and invasion (2.5 times) in vitro was also demonstrated in INI1 KD cells. The ACHN INI1 KD cells were resistant to Sorafenib, while become more sensitive to Everolimus treatment in vitro compared with vector control. EGF treatment activated the phospho-EGFR expression, PI3K-AKT and MAPK pathways in stable INI1 KD cells in vitro. PGE2 treatment also activated the AKT and ERK pathways in vitro, suggestive of a signaling crosstalk between EP1 and EGFR in INI1-related RCC. Knocking down of EP1 significantly (P < 0.001) inhibited the proliferation and migration of ACHN INI1 KD cells in vitro and suppressed the tumor growth in NOD/SCID mice (P < 0.001). Inactivation of INI1 may involve in the pathogenesis of RCC-RF. Co-targeting PGE2/EP1 pathway with Everolimus could be considered in the management of patients with INI1-related RCC.
36. Spatially varying effects of measured confounding variables on disease risk.
Wu, C.-C., Chu, Y.-H., Shete, S., & Chen, C.-H. (2021). International Journal of Health Geographics, 20(1), 45. Cited this article
The presence of considerable spatial variability in incidence intensity suggests that risk factors are unevenly distributed in space and influence the geographical disease incidence distribution and pattern. As most human common diseases are complex traits and as more factors associated with increased risk are discovered, spatial models are needed that investigate geographical variability in the association between disease incidence and confounding variables and evaluate spatially varying effects on disease risk related to known risk factors. We proposed a spatial model that incorporates information on known risk factors, previously detected geographical disease clusters of peak incidence and paucity of incidence, and their interactions as covariates into the framework of interaction regression models with linear effects. The spatial scan statistic and the generalized map-based pattern recognition procedure that we recently developed were both considered for geographical disease cluster detection. The application to the sudden infant death syndrome incidence data with confounding variables of race and gender demonstrates the ability of our proposed model to estimate spatially varying associations between disease incidence and confounding variables and distinguish spatially related risk factors from spatially constant ones.
37. Multi-component cognitive intervention for older adults with mixed cognitive levels: implementation and preliminary effectiveness in real-world settings.
Mao, H.-F., Tsai, A. Y.-J., Chang, L.-H., & Tsai, I. L. (2021). BMC Geriatrics, 21(1), 543. Cited this article
Purpose: This study describes the implementation and preliminary effectiveness of a Multi-component Cognitive Intervention using Simulated Everyday Tasks (MCI-SET) for older adults with different cognitive levels in real-world settings.Methods: Single group, repeated measures design. People aged ≥ 65 and frail, dependent on ≥ 1 instrumental daily activity, or with confirmed dementia were recruited. Outcomes included general cognition, memory, attention, executive function, and general function.Results: Multiple methods were used to ensure implementation fidelity. 130 participants from 8 community centers, with 85% retention rate, and 96% attendance rate. General cognition, attention, and general function was improved post-intervention. After 3 months, improvement in general cognition maintained; delayed effects on attention, short-term memory, and executive function were observed. Intervention settings, pre-intervention cognitive levels or general function were not associated with the outcomes. Conclusions: MCI-SET is feasible and effective to improve cognitive skills and general functions of older adults with heterogeneous cognitive levels.
38. Examining the Relationship between Gender Contentedness and Sex-Related Experiences among Taiwanese Youth.
Liu, C.-Y., Kuo, J.-H., Lee, T.-H., Strong, C., Tsai, M.-C., & Lee, C.-T. (2021). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(20), 10635. Cited this article
Little is known about how gender contentedness is related to sex-related experiences among Taiwanese adolescents. Secondary analysis of data (n = 2624, Mage = 13.3 ± 0.47 years and 51% males) on a longitudinal youth cohort was used to track the evolving development of sex-related experiences such as exposure to sexually explicit media, romantic experiences, and sexual behaviors. Hierarchical multinomial logistic regression analyses were applied to study the effects of gender contentedness on sex-related outcome variables. The results showed that nearly 10% of the subjects were not contented with their gender. As compared to peers, gender-discontented adolescents had a higher likelihood of exposures to sexually explicit media (odds ratio [OR]. = 1.70, 95% confidence interval [CI]. = 1.18-2.46) and risky sex behaviors (OR = 2.22, 95% CI = 1.03-4.81). These results shed light on the impact of self-perceived gender contentedness on sex-related experiences in Taiwanese adolescents. Our findings are helpful for the development of practical guidance on sexual health issues, particularly for those who are discontented with their gender.
Keywords: adolescent; gender contentedness; risky sex behavior; sexual health; sexually explicit media.
