MyMedR

Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 33 in total

Abstract:

Sort:

Team Resource Management Perception Under Managerial Coaching Skills and Organizational Climate: Cross-Level Analysis in Taiwan's Hospitals

Chen IC, Khan SK, Lin CH

Health Care Manag (Frederick), 2019 7 2;38(3):228-238.
PMID: 31261192 DOI: 10.1097/HCM.0000000000000266

There is growing recognition of the importance of teamwork and integration of resources in the health care industry. This article studied the influence of organizational climate and managerial coaching skills on team perception of team resource management (TRM) and coaching techniques in selected hospitals in Taiwan. Structural survey method was used to measure the relationship between organizational climate, managerial coaching skills, and team perception of TRM. The participants of this research were 530 administrative staff from 12 hospitals in Taiwan. Cross-level relationship between organizational climate (group level), managerial coaching skills (individual level), and team perception of TRM (individual level) was examined. The results revealed that organizational climate had a significant influence on team perception of TRM. Second, recognition of managerial coaching skills shaped team perception during TRM implementation. Third, organizational climate had a moderating effect on the relationship between managerial coaching skills and team perception of TRM. The study concluded that positive organizational climate and good managerial coaching skills contribute to effective team management and development. Thus, it is important for health care organizations to understand the importance of coaching and mentoring and create a workplace that makes learning, growth, and adaptation possible across different departments and functional teams.
First Report of Stem-End Rot of Mango Caused by Phomopsis mangiferae in Taiwan

Ko Y, Liu CW, Chen CY, Maruthasalam S, Lin CH

Plant Dis, 2009 Jul;93(7):764.
PMID: 30764368 DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-93-7-0764A

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is grown on approximately 20,000 ha in Taiwan. It is an economically important crop and the income of many fruit farmers comes primarily from mango production. During 2006 and 2007, a stem-end rot disease was observed 1 week after harvest on 28 to 36% of stored mangoes picked from six orchards in the Pingtung, Tainan, and Kaoshiung regions. Two popular mango cultivars, Keitt and Irwin, showed greater susceptibility to this disease, while 'Haden' was found to be moderately susceptible. In storage, symptoms initially appeared as light-to-dark brown lesions surrounding peduncles. Rot symptoms advanced slowly but eventually penetrated the mesocarp, which consequently reduced the commercial value of fruits. The fungus formed abundant pycnidia (0.1 to 0.6 mm in diameter) on infected fruits in advanced stages of symptom development. Pieces of symptomatic fruits plated on acidified potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 25 ± 1°C consistently yielded the same fungus. A single conidial isolate was cultured. Pycnidia developed on PDA after continuous exposure to light for 9 to 14 days. On the basis of morphological characteristics, the fungus was identified as Phomopsis mangiferae L. (2,3). Pycnidia released two types of conidia: α-conidia (5 to 10 × 2.3 to 4.0 μm) were hyaline and oval to fusoid; and β-conidia (15.0 to 37.5 × 1.3 to 2.5 μm) were hyaline and filiform with characteristic curves. Conidiophores were hyaline, filiform, simple or branched, septate, and 15 to 75 μm long. Cultures incubated under continuous fluorescent light (185 ± 35 μE·m-2·s-1) at 25°C for 3 days were used as inoculum for pathogenicity tests. Five fruits from 'Keitt' were wounded with a sterilized scalpel and each wound (2 × 2 × 2 mm) was inoculated with either a 5-mm mycelium agar plug or a 0.5-ml spore suspension (105 conidia per ml) of the fungus. Five wounded fruits inoculated with 5-mm PDA plugs or sterile water alone served as controls. Inoculated areas were covered with moist, sterile cotton. Fruits were enclosed in plastic bags and incubated at 24°C for 3 days. The test was performed three times. The same symptoms were observed on all inoculated fruits, whereas no decay was observed on control fruits. Reisolations from the inoculated fruits consistently yielded P. mangiferae, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. This disease has previously been reported in Australia, Brazil, China, Cuba, India, Malaysia, and the United States (1). To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. mangiferae causing stem-end rot disease on mangoes in Taiwan. Our report necessitates taking preventive strategies in the field, prior to or after harvest, to contain postharvest losses in mangoes. References: (1) G. I. Johnson. Page 39 in: Compendium of Tropical Fruit Diseases. R. C. Ploetz et al., eds. The American Phytopathological Society. St. Paul, MN, 1994. (2) R. C. Ploetz, ed. Page 354 in: Diseases of Tropical Fruit Crops. CABI Publishing. Wallingford, UK, 2003. (3) E. Punithalingam. No. 1168 in: Descriptions of Pathogenic Fungi and Bacteria. CMI, Kew, Surrey, UK, 1993.
Automatic colonic polyp detection using integration of modified deep residual convolutional neural network and ensemble learning approaches

Liew WS, Tang TB, Lin CH, Lu CK

Comput Methods Programs Biomed, 2021 Jul;206:106114.
PMID: 33984661 DOI: 10.1016/j.cmpb.2021.106114

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The increased incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) and its mortality rate have attracted interest in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) based computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) tools to detect polyps at an early stage. Although these CAD tools have thus far achieved a good accuracy level to detect polyps, they still have room to improve further (e.g. sensitivity). Therefore, a new CAD tool is developed in this study to detect colonic polyps accurately.
METHODS: In this paper, we propose a novel approach to distinguish colonic polyps by integrating several techniques, including a modified deep residual network, principal component analysis and AdaBoost ensemble learning. A powerful deep residual network architecture, ResNet-50, was investigated to reduce the computational time by altering its architecture. To keep the interference to a minimum, median filter, image thresholding, contrast enhancement, and normalisation techniques were exploited on the endoscopic images to train the classification model. Three publicly available datasets, i.e., Kvasir, ETIS-LaribPolypDB, and CVC-ClinicDB, were merged to train the model, which included images with and without polyps.
RESULTS: The proposed approach trained with a combination of three datasets achieved Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC) of 0.9819 with accuracy, sensitivity, precision, and specificity of 99.10%, 98.82%, 99.37%, and 99.38%, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: These results show that our method could repeatedly classify endoscopic images automatically and could be used to effectively develop computer-aided diagnostic tools for early CRC detection.
First Report of Rubber Tree Stem Rot Caused by Fusarium oxysporum in China

Li BX, Shi T, Liu XB, Lin CH, Huang GX

Plant Dis, 2014 Jul;98(7):1008.
PMID: 30708897 DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-01-14-0004-PDN

Rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) is an important crop in tropical regions of China. In October 2013, a new stem rot disease was found on cv. Yunyan77-4 at a rubber tree plantation in Hekou, Yunnan Province. There were about 100 plants, and diseased rubber trees accounted for 30% or less. Initially, brown-punctuate secretion appeared on the stem, which was 5 to 6 cm above the ground. Eventually, the secretion became black and no latex produced from the rubber tree bark. After removing the secretion, the diseased bark was brown putrescence, but the circumambient bark was normal. Upon peeling the surface bark, the inner bark and xylem had brown rot and was musty. The junction between health and disease was undulate. On the two most serious plants, parts of leaves on the crown were yellow, and the root near the diseased stem was dry and puce. The pathogen was isolated and designated HbFO01; the pathogenicity was established by following Koch's postulates. The pathogen was cultivated on a potato dextrose agar (PDA) plate at 28°C for 4 days. Ten plants of rubber tree cv. Yunyan77-4 were selected from a disease-free plantation in Haikou, Hainan Province, and the stem diameter was about 7 cm. The bark of five plants was peeled, and one mycelium disk with a diameter of 1 cm was inserted into the cut and covered again with the bark. The other five plants were treated with agar disks as controls. The inoculation site was kept moist for 2 days, and then the mycelium and agar disk were removed. On eighth day, symptoms similar to the original stem lesions were observed on stems of inoculated plants, while only scars formed on stems of control plants. The pathogen was re-isolated from the lesions of inoculated plants. On PDA plates, the pathogen colony was circular and white with tidy edges and rich aerial hyphae. Microscopic examination showed microconidia and chlamydospores were produced abundantly on PDA medium. The falciform macroconidia were only produced on lesions and were slightly curved, with a curved apical cell and foot shaped to pointed basal cell, usually 3-septate, 16.2 to 24.2 × 3.2 to 4.0 μm. Microconidia were produced in false heads, oval, 0-septate, 6.2 to 8.2 × 3.3 to 3.8 μm, and the phialide was cylindrical. Chlamydospores were oval, 6.4 to 7.2 × 3.1 to 3.8 μm, alone produced in hypha. Morphological characteristics of the specimen were similar to the descriptions for Fusarium oxysporum (2). Genomic DNA of this isolate was extracted with a CTAB protocol (4) from mycelium and used as a template for amplification of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of rDNA with primer pair ITS1/ITS4 (1). The full length of this sequence is 503 nt (GenBank Accession No. KJ009335), which exactly matched several sequences (e.g., JF807394.1, JX897002.1, and HQ451888.1) of F. oxysporum. Williams and Liu had listed F. oxysporum as the economically important pathogen of Hevea in Asia (3), while this is, to our knowledge, the first report of stem rot caused by F. oxysporum on rubber tree in China. References: (1) D. E. L. Cooke et al. Fungal Genet. Biol. 30:17, 2000. (2) J. F. Leslie and B. A. Summerell. The Fusarium Laboratory Manual, 2006. (3) T. H. Williams and P. S. W. Liu. A host list of plant diseases in Sabah, Malaysia, 1976. (4) J. R. Xu et al. Genetics 143:175, 1996.
First Report of Gray Leaf Spot of Mango (Mangifera indica) Caused by Pestalotiopsis mangiferae in Taiwan

Ko Y, Yao KS, Chen CY, Lin CH

Plant Dis, 2007 Dec;91(12):1684.
PMID: 30780618 DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-91-12-1684B

Mango (Mangifera indica L.; family Anacardiaceae) is one of the world's most important fruit crops and is widely grown in tropical and subtropical regions. Since 2001, a leaf spot disease was found in mango orchards of Taiwan. Now, the disease was observed throughout (approximately 21,000 ha) Taiwan in moderate to severe form, thus affecting the general health of mango trees and orchards. Initial symptoms were small, yellow-to-brown spots on leaves. Later, the irregularly shaped spots, ranging from a few millimeters to a few centimeters in diameter, turned white to gray and coalesced to form larger gray patches. Lesions had slightly raised dark margins. On mature lesions, numerous black acervuli, measuring 290 to 328 μm in diameter, developed on the gray necrotic areas. Single conidial isolates of the fungus were identified morphologically as Pestalotiopsis mangiferae (Henn.) Steyaert (2,3) and were consistently isolated from the diseased mango leaves on acidified (0.06% lactic acid) potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium incubated at 25 ± 1°C. Initially, the fungus grew (3 mm per day) on PDA as a white, chalky colony that subsequently turned gray after 2 weeks. Acervuli developed in culture after continuous exposure to light for 9 to 12 days at 20 to 30°C. Abundant conidia oozed from the acervulus as a creamy mass. The conidia (17.6 to 25.4 μm long and 4.8 to 7.1 μm wide) were fusiform and usually straight to slightly curved with four septa. Three median cells were olivaceous and larger than the hyaline apical and basal cells. The apical cells bore three (rarely four) cylindrical appendages. Pathogenicity tests were conducted with either 3-day-old mycelial discs or conidial suspension (105 conidia per ml) obtained from 8- to 10-day-old cultures. Four leaves on each of 10 trees were inoculated. Before inoculation, the leaves were washed with a mild detergent, rinsed with tap water, and then surface sterilized with 70% ethanol. Leaves were wounded with a needle and exposed to either a 5-mm mycelial disc or 0.2 ml of the spore suspension. The inoculated areas were wrapped with cotton pads saturated with sterile water and the leaves were covered with polyethylene bags for 3 days to maintain high relative humidity. Wounded leaves inoculated with PDA discs alone served as controls. The symptoms described above were observed on all inoculated leaves, whereas uninoculated leaves remained completely free from symptoms. Reisolation from the inoculated leaves consistently yielded P. mangiferae, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. Gray leaf spot is a common disease of mangos in the tropics and is widely distributed in Africa and Asia (1-3); however, to our knowledge, this is the first report of gray leaf spot disease affecting mango in Taiwan. References: (1) T. K. Lim and K. C. Khoo. Diseases and Disorders of Mango in Malaysia. Tropical Press. Malaysia, 1985. (2) J. E. M. Mordue. No. 676 in: CMI Descriptions of Pathogenic Fungi and Bacteria. Surrey, England, 1980. (3) R. C. Ploetz et al. Compendium of Tropical Fruit Diseases. The American Phytopathological Society. St. Paul, MN, 1994.
First Report of Fruit Rot of Strawberry Caused by an Alternaria sp. in Taiwan

Ko Y, Chen CY, Yao KS, Liu CW, Maruthasalam S, Lin CH

Plant Dis, 2008 Aug;92(8):1248.
PMID: 30769472 DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-92-8-1248B

In March 2005, a fruit rot disease was found in several commercial strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duchesne) fields at Fongyuan, 24.25°N, 120.72°E, in Taichung County in central Taiwan. The disease was rare and was negligible in most cultivated areas. However, disease incidence has increased by 4 to 5% over the last 2 years and causes significant postharvest losses. In storage, symptoms on berries include light brown-to-black, sunken, irregularly shaped lesions. The lesions gradually enlarge and become firm with a dark green-to-black, velvety surface composed of mycelia, conidiophores, and conidia. Twelve single conidial isolates (AF-1 to AF-12) of a fungus were isolated by placing portions of symptomatic fruit from four locations onto acidified potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubating at 24 ± 1°C. One isolate from each of the four locations, AF-2, 6, 9, and 12, was selected for identification and pathogenicity studies. The fungus was identified as an Alternaria sp. according to the morphological descriptions of A. tenuissima (2,3). Conidiophores were simple or branched, straight or flexuous, septate, pale to light brown, 3.0 to 5.0 μm in diameter, and bore two to six conidia in a chain. Conidia were dark brown, obclavate or oval, and multicellular with seven transverse (in most cases) and numerous longitudinal septa. Conidia were 15.5 to 56.5 μm (average 35.0 μm) long × 6.0 to 15.0 μm (average 11.0 μm) wide at the broadest point. The pathogen was consistently isolated from berries in the field or in storage. Pathogenicity tests were conducted by inoculating 12 surface-sterilized berries with each of the four isolates. Approximately 300 μl of a spore suspension (2 × 105 conidia per ml) was placed at two points on the uninjured surface of each fruit and allowed to dry for 5 min. Control fruits were treated with sterile water. The berries were then enclosed in a plastic bag and incubated at 24 ± 1°C for 2 days. Disease symptoms similar to those described above were observed on 95% of inoculated berries 3 days after inoculation, while no symptoms developed in control berries. Reisolation from the inoculated berries consistently yielded the Alternaria sp. described above. Pathogenicity tests were performed three times. Previously, strawberry fruit rot caused by A. tenuissima was reported from Florida (2) and Malaysia (1), however, to our knowledge, this is the first report of fruit rot of strawberry caused by a species of Alternaria in Taiwan. References: (1) W. D. Cho et al. List of Plant Diseases in Korea. Korean Society of Plant Pathology, 2004. (2) C. M. Howard and E. E. Albregts. Phytopathology 63:938, 1973. (3) R. D. Milholland. Phytopathology 63:1395, 1973.
Fulltext Automatic Polyp Segmentation in Colonoscopy Images Using a Modified Deep Convolutional Encoder-Decoder Architecture

Eu CY, Tang TB, Lin CH, Lee LH, Lu CK

Sensors (Basel), 2021 Aug 20;21(16).
PMID: 34451072 DOI: 10.3390/s21165630

Colorectal cancer has become the third most commonly diagnosed form of cancer, and has the second highest fatality rate of cancers worldwide. Currently, optical colonoscopy is the preferred tool of choice for the diagnosis of polyps and to avert colorectal cancer. Colon screening is time-consuming and highly operator dependent. In view of this, a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) method needs to be developed for the automatic segmentation of polyps in colonoscopy images. This paper proposes a modified SegNet Visual Geometry Group-19 (VGG-19), a form of convolutional neural network, as a CAD method for polyp segmentation. The modifications include skip connections, 5 × 5 convolutional filters, and the concatenation of four dilated convolutions applied in parallel form. The CVC-ClinicDB, CVC-ColonDB, and ETIS-LaribPolypDB databases were used to evaluate the model, and it was found that our proposed polyp segmentation model achieved an accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, precision, mean intersection over union, and dice coefficient of 96.06%, 94.55%, 97.56%, 97.48%, 92.3%, and 95.99%, respectively. These results indicate that our model performs as well as or better than previous schemes in the literature. We believe that this study will offer benefits in terms of the future development of CAD tools for polyp segmentation for colorectal cancer diagnosis and management. In the future, we intend to embed our proposed network into a medical capsule robot for practical usage and try it in a hospital setting with clinicians.
Fulltext One-Year Tuberculosis Risk in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Starting Their First Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitor Therapy from 2008 to 2012 in Taiwan: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study

Lim CH, Lin CH, Chen DY, Chen YM, Chao WC, Liao TL, et al.

PLoS One, 2016;11(11):e0166339.
PMID: 27832150 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166339

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the risk of tuberculosis (TB) among rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients within 1 year after initiation of tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) therapy from 2008 to 2012.
METHODS: We used the 2003-2013 Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database to identify RA patients who started any RA-related medical therapy from 2008 to 2012. Those who initiated etanercept or adalimumab therapy during 2008-2012 were selected as the TNFi group and those who never received biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug therapy were identified as the comparison group after excluding the patients who had a history of TB or human immunodeficiency virus infection/acquired immune deficiency syndrome. We used propensity score matching (1:6) for age, sex, and the year of the drug index date to re-select the TNFi group and the non-TNFi controls. After adjusting for potential confounders, hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to examine the 1-year TB risk in the TNFi group compared with the non-TNFi controls. Subgroup analyses according to the year of treatment initiation and specific TNFi therapy were conducted to assess the trend of 1-year TB risk in TNFi users from 2008 to 2012.
RESULTS: This study identified 5,349 TNFi-treated RA patients and 32,064 matched non-TNFi-treated controls. The 1-year incidence rates of TB were 1,513 per 105 years among the TNFi group and 235 per 105 years among the non-TNFi controls (incidence rate ratio, 6.44; 95% CI, 4.69-8.33). After adjusting for age, gender, disease duration, comoridities, history of TB, and concomitant medications, TNFi users had an increased 1-year TB risk (HR, 7.19; 95% CI, 4.18-12.34) compared with the non-TNFi-treated controls. The 1-year TB risk in TNFi users increased from 2008 to 2011 and deceased in 2012 when the Food and Drug Administration in Taiwan announced the Risk Management Plan for patients scheduled to receive TNFi therapy.
CONCLUSION: This study showed that the 1-year TB risk in RA patients starting TNFi therapy was significantly higher than that in non-TNFi controls in Taiwan from 2008 to 2012.
First Report of Fruit Rot of Loquat Caused by an Alternaria sp. in Taiwan

Ko Y, Liu CW, Chen SS, Chen CY, Yao KS, Maruthasalam S, et al.

Plant Dis, 2010 Apr;94(4):481.
PMID: 30754488 DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-94-4-0481B

During March 2007, a fruit rot disease was observed in several loquat (Eriobotrya japonica (Thunberg) Lindley) fields located in Taichung, Nantou, and Miaoli counties. Loquat is a valuable fruit crop grown predominantly in central Taiwan, and hence, even a minor yield loss by this new disease is economically significant. Symptoms on fruits initially appeared as small lesions (<1 mm) that later developed into light-to-dark brown, circular, larger (7 mm), sunken lesions, indicating invasion of a pathogen into the fruit. Pieces of rotted fruit tissue (1 × 1 × 1 mm) were immersed for 1 min in 3% commercial bleach, followed by 70% ethanol, cultured on potato dextrose agar (PDA), and incubated under constant fluorescent light (185 ± 35 μE·m-2·s-1) at 24°C for 2 days. Three single conidial isolates (AS1 to AS3) were selected and used in morphological and pathogenicity studies. All three isolates were identified as an Alternaria sp. (1-3) and formed abundant, dark brown mycelium when cultured on PDA with light at 24°C. Conidiophores were 60 to 89 × 3 to 5 μm, densely fasciculate, cylindrical, simple or branched, and had distinct conidial scars. Conidia were 12 to 74 × 6 to 14 μm, golden brown, straight or curved, obclavate with beaks measuring half the length of the conidium, and observed in chains of 10 or more spores with four to seven transverse septa and several longitudinal septa. Pathogenicity tests were conducted twice by inoculating eight surface-sterilized wounded or unwounded fruits with each of the three isolates in each experiment. Two cuts (1 × 1 × 1 mm) were made on each fruit 3 cm apart with a sterile scalpel, and a 300-μl spore suspension (2 × 105 conidia per ml) was placed on each wound. Similarly, a 300-μl spore suspension was placed on unwounded fruits and air dried for 5 min. Control fruits were similarly treated with sterile water. Inoculated fruits were enclosed in a plastic bag and kept at 24 ± 1°C. Symptoms of soft rot were observed on 60% (unwounded) and 100% (wounded) of inoculated fruits 5 days after inoculation, while control fruits did not develop disease symptoms. Reisolation from the symptomatic fruits consistently yielded an Alternaria sp. This fungus previously has been reported as the causal agent of fruit rot or black spot of papaya, mango, kiwifruit, pear, and carambola from Australia, India, Malaysia, South Africa, and the United States (1-3). To our knowledge, this is the first report of fruit rot of loquat caused by an Alternaria sp. in Taiwan. To manage this disease, growers may resort to fungicidal sprays followed by bagging of fruits to reduce pre- and postharvest losses. References: (1) A. L. Jones and H. S. Aldwinckle. Compendium of Apple and Pear Diseases. The American Phytopathological Society. St. Paul, MN, 1990. (2) R. C. Ploetz. Diseases of Tropical Fruit Crops. CABI Publishing. Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK, 2003. (3) R. C. Ploetz et al. Compendium of Tropical Fruit Diseases. The American Phytopathological Society. St. Paul, MN, 1994.
Fulltext Emergency medical services key performance measurement in Asian cities

Rahman NH, Tanaka H, Shin SD, Ng YY, Piyasuwankul T, Lin CH, et al.

Int J Emerg Med, 2015;8:12.
PMID: 25932052 DOI: 10.1186/s12245-015-0062-7

One of the key principles in the recommended standards is that emergency medical service (EMS) providers should continuously monitor the quality and safety of their services. This requires service providers to implement performance monitoring using appropriate and relevant measures including key performance indicators. In Asia, EMS systems are at different developmental phases and maturity. This will create difficultly in benchmarking or assessing the quality of EMS performance across the region. An attempt was made to compare the EMS performance index based on the structure, process, and outcome analysis.
Improving protein production of indigenous microalga Chlorella vulgaris FSP-E by photobioreactor design and cultivation strategies

Chen CY, Lee PJ, Tan CH, Lo YC, Huang CC, Show PL, et al.

Biotechnol J, 2015 Jun;10(6):905-14.
PMID: 25865941 DOI: 10.1002/biot.201400594

Fish meal is currently the major protein source for commercial aquaculture feed. Due to its unstable supply and increasing price, fish meal is becoming more expensive and its availability is expected to face significant challenges in the near future. Therefore, feasible alternatives to fish meal are urgently required. Microalgae have been recognized as the most promising candidates to replace fish meal because the protein composition of microalgae is similar to fish meal and the supply of microalgae-based proteins is sustainable. In this study, an indigenous microalga (Chlorella vulgaris FSP-E) with high protein content was selected, and its feasibility as an aquaculture protein source was explored. An innovative photobioreactor (PBR) utilizing cold cathode fluorescent lamps as an internal light source was designed to cultivate the FSP-E strain for protein production. This PBR could achieve a maximum biomass and protein productivity of 699 and 365 mg/L/day, respectively, under an optimum urea and iron concentration of 12.4 mM and 90 μM, respectively. In addition, amino acid analysis of the microalgal protein showed that up to 70% of the proteins in this microalgal strain consist of indispensable amino acids. Thus, C. vulgaris FSP-E appears to be a viable alternative protein source for the aquaculture industry.
Fulltext Molecular Genetic Characterization of Patients With Focal Epilepsy Using a Customized Targeted Resequencing Gene Panel

Tsai MH, Chan CK, Chang YC, Lin CH, Liou CW, Chang WN, et al.

Front Neurol, 2018;9:515.
PMID: 30034362 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2018.00515

Objective: Focal epilepsy is the most common subtype of epilepsies in which the influence of underlying genetic factors is emerging but remains largely uncharacterized. The purpose of this study is to determine the contribution of currently known disease-causing genes in a large cohort (n = 593) of common focal non-lesional epilepsy patients. Methods: The customized focal epilepsy gene panel (21 genes) was based on multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequenced by Illumina MiSeq platform. Results: Eleven variants (1.85%) were considered as pathogenic or likely pathogenic, including seven novel mutations. There were three SCN1A (p.Leu890Pro, p.Arg1636Ter, and p.Met1714Val), three PRRT2 (two p.Arg217Profs*8 and p.Leu298Pro), two CHRNA4 (p.Ser284Leu, p.Ile321Asn), one DEPDC5 (p.Val516Ter), one PCDH19 (p.Asp233Asn), and one SLC2A1 (p.Ser414Ter) variants. Additionally, 16 other rare variants were classified as unknown significance due to inconsistent phenotype or lack of segregation data. Conclusion: Currently known focal epilepsy genes only explained a very small subset of focal epilepsy patients. This indicates that the underlying genetic architecture of focal epilepsies is very heterogeneous and more novel genes are likely to be discovered. Our study highlights the usefulness, challenges and limitations of using the multi-gene panel as a diagnostic test in routine clinical practice in patients with focal epilepsy.
Second haploidentical peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for treatment of acute leukemia with relapse after first allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation

Yeh SP, Lin CC, Lin CH, Lo WC, Chen TT, Lo WJ, et al.

Bone Marrow Transplant, 2015 Jul;50(7):1001-3.
PMID: 25867646 DOI: 10.1038/bmt.2015.67
Cost-effective complete genome sequencing using the MinION platform for identification of recombinant enteroviruses

Chien YS, Chen FJ, Wu HC, Lin CH, Chang WC, Perera D, et al.

Microbiol Spectr, 2023 Oct 13.
PMID: 37831475 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.02507-23

Enteroviruses (EVs) are a group of viruses that cause various human illnesses. While the CODEHOP (COnsensus-DEgenerate Hybrid Oligonucleotide Primer) method can generate VP1 gene fragments for enterovirus genotyping, it is unable to detect recombinant strains. Recent advances in viral genome sequencing using next-generation sequencing technologies have enabled comprehensive analyses. However, the high cost poses a challenge for widespread adoption. To address this issue, this study proposes a cost-effective approach for generating complete enterovirus genome sequences using the Oxford Nanopore MinION sequencer. This protocol not only facilitates the generation of accurate genome sequences for various enterovirus strains but also allows for the differentiation of co-infections from viral isolates. In addition, the method can generate polyprotein sequences as well as peptide sequences of the upstream ORF (uORF) whose expression can impact virus infection. Through the analysis of complete enterovirus genomes, this study successfully identified seven enterovirus A71 isolates obtained during the 2018 enterovirus outbreak in Malaysia and Taiwan as recombinants between enterovirus A71 and coxsackievirus A2. Furthermore, our study has made a significant discovery by establishing a strong correlation between uORF trees and the epidemics of EVA71. This finding highlights the potential of uORF sequences as valuable indicators for monitoring and understanding the spread of EVA71 infections. We also identified notable amino acid changes in the transmembrane domain of the uORF protein within a newly identified lineage. These findings provide crucial insights into the molecular characteristics and evolutionary dynamics of EVA71, offering valuable information for future research and intervention strategies. IMPORTANCE By employing a cost-effective approach for complete genome sequencing, the study has enabled the identification of novel enterovirus strains and shed light on the genetic exchange events during outbreaks. The success rate of genome sequencing and the scalability of the protocol demonstrate its practical utility for routine enterovirus surveillance. Moreover, the study's findings of recombinant strains of EVA71 and CVA2 contributing to epidemics in Malaysia and Taiwan emphasize the need for accurate detection and characterization of enteroviruses. The investigation of the whole genome and upstream ORF sequences has provided insights into the evolution and spread of enterovirus subgenogroups. These findings have important implications for the prevention, control, and surveillance of enteroviruses, ultimately contributing to the understanding and management of enterovirus-related illnesses.
Fulltext Variation of current protocols for managing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in prehospital settings among Asian countries

Lin CH, Ng YY, Chiang WC, Karim SA, Shin SD, Tanaka H, et al.

J Formos Med Assoc, 2016 Aug;115(8):628-38.
PMID: 26596689 DOI: 10.1016/j.jfma.2015.10.003

Protocols for managing patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) may vary due to legal, cultural, or socioeconomic concerns. We sought to assess international variation in policies and protocols related to OHCA.
Comparison of emergency medical services systems in the pan-Asian resuscitation outcomes study countries: Report from a literature review and survey

Ong ME, Cho J, Ma MH, Tanaka H, Nishiuchi T, Al Sakaf O, et al.

Emerg Med Australas, 2013 Feb;25(1):55-63.
PMID: 23379453 DOI: 10.1111/1742-6723.12032

Asia-Pacific countries have unique prehospital emergency care or emergency medical services (EMS) systems, which are different from European or Anglo-American models. We aimed to compare the EMS systems of eight Asia-Pacific countries/regions as part of the Pan Asian Resuscitation Outcomes Study (PAROS), to provide a basis for future comparative studies across systems of care.
Maternal and perinatal outcomes of pregnancies in systemic lupus erythematosus: A nationwide population-based study

Chen YJ, Chang JC, Lai EL, Liao TL, Chen HH, Hung WT, et al.

Semin Arthritis Rheum, 2020 06;50(3):451-457.
PMID: 32115237 DOI: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2020.01.014

OBJECTIVES: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that develops mainly in women of reproductive age. We aimed to explore the risk of pregnancy complications in Asian patients with SLE.
METHODS: From January 2005 to December 2014, we conducted a nationwide case-control study, using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. Obstetric complications and perinatal outcomes in SLE patients were compared with those without SLE.
RESULTS: 2059 SLE offspring and 8236 age-matched, maternal healthy controls were enrolled. We found increased obstetric and perinatal complications in SLE population compared with healthy controls. SLE patients exhibited increased risk of preeclampsia/eclampsia (8.98% vs.1.98%, odds ratio [OR]: 3.87, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 3.08-4.87, p<0.0001). Their offspring tended to have lower Apgar scores (<7) at both 1 min (10.7% vs. 2.58%, p<0.0001) and 5 min (4.25% vs. 1.17%, p<0.0001), as well as higher rates of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR, 9.91% vs. 4.12%, OR: 2.24, 95% CI: 1.85-2.71, p<0.0001), preterm birth (23.70% vs 7.56%, OR: 3.00, 95% CI: 2.61-3.45, p<0.0001), and stillbirth (4.23% vs. 0.87%, OR: 3.59, 95% CI: 2.54-5.06, p<0.0001). The risks of preterm birth and stillbirth were markedly increased in SLE patients with concomitant preeclampsia/eclampsia or IUGR. Preterm birth of SLE patients was 1~4 gestational weeks earlier than that of healthy controls and the peak occurrence of stillbirth in SLE population was at 20~30 gestational weeks.
CONCLUSIONS: Asian SLE patients exhibited increased risks of maternal complications and adverse birth outcomes. Frequent antenatal visits before 20 gestational weeks are recommended in high-risk SLE patients.
Fulltext Admission policies and methods at crossroads: a review of medical school admission policies and methods in seven Asian countries

Soemantri D, Karunathilake I, Yang JH, Chang SC, Lin CH, Nadarajah VD, et al.

Korean J Med Educ, 2020 Sep;32(3):243-256.
PMID: 32723988 DOI: 10.3946/kjme.2020.169

Selecting the right applicants is an important part of medical student admission. While one universally accepted selection criterion is academic capacity, there are other criteria such as communication skills and local criteria (e.g., socio-cultural values) that are no less important. This article reviews the policies and methods of selection to medical schools in seven countries with varying socio-economic conditions and healthcare systems. Senior academics involved in medical education in Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan completed a pre-agreed pro-forma per each country to describe the country's admission policies and methods. The details were then compared and contrasted. This review identifies tension between many of the policies and methods used in medical school admissions, such as between the need to assess non-cognitive abilities and widen access, and between the need for more medical professionals and the requirement to set high entry standards. Finding the right balance requires careful consideration of all variables, including the country's human resource needs; socio-economic status; graduates' expected competencies; and the school's vision, mission, and availability of resources.
Gut microbiome in Parkinson's disease: New insights from meta-analysis

Toh TS, Chong CW, Lim SY, Bowman J, Cirstea M, Lin CH, et al.

Parkinsonism Relat Disord, 2022 Jan;94:1-9.
PMID: 34844021 DOI: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2021.11.017

BACKGROUND: Gut microbiome alterations have been reported in Parkinson's disease (PD), but with heterogenous findings, likely due to differences in study methodology and population. We investigated the main microbiome alterations in PD, their correlations with disease severity, and the impact of study and geographical differences.
METHODS: After systematic screening, raw 16S rRNA gene sequences were obtained from ten case-control studies totaling 1703 subjects (969 PD, 734 non-PD controls; seven predominantly Caucasian and three predominantly non-Caucasian cohorts). Quality-filtered gene sequences were analyzed using a phylogenetic placement approach, which precludes the need for the sequences to be sourced from similar regions in the 16S rRNA gene, thus allowing a direct comparison between studies. Differences in microbiome composition and correlations with clinical variables were analyzed using multivariate statistics.
RESULTS: Study and geography accounted for the largest variations in gut microbiome composition. Microbiome composition was more similar for subjects from the same study than those from different studies with the same disease status. Microbiome composition significantly differed between Caucasian and non-Caucasian populations. After accounting for study differences, microbiome composition was significantly different in PD vs. controls (albeit with a marginal effect size), with several distinctive features including increased abundances of Megasphaera and Akkermansia, and reduced Roseburia. Several bacterial genera correlated with PD motor severity, motor response complications and cognitive function.
CONCLUSION: Consistent microbial features in PD merit further investigation. The large variations in microbiome findings of PD patients underscore the need for greater harmonization of future research, and personalized approaches in designing microbial-directed therapeutics.
Highly Efficient Ternary Near-Infrared Organic Photodetectors for Biometric Monitoring

Jiang BH, Hsiao FC, Lin YR, Lin CH, Shen YA, Hsu YY, et al.

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces, 2023 Mar 01;15(8):10907-10917.
PMID: 36700551 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c20527

Near-infrared (NIR) small-molecule acceptors that absorb at wavelengths of up to 1000 nm are attractive for applications in organic photodetectors (OPDs) and biometrics. In this study, we incorporated IEICO-4F as the third component for PffBT4T-2OD:PC71BM-based OPDs to provide an efficient NIR response while greatly suppressing the leakage current at reverse bias. By varying the blend ratio and thickness (250-600 nm), we obtained an NIR OPD displaying an ultralow dark-current density (JD = 2.62 nA cm-2), ultrahigh detectivity [D* = 7.2 × 1012 Jones (850 nm)], high sensitivity, and photoresponsivity covering the region from the ultraviolet to the NIR. We used tapping-mode atomic force microscopy, optical microscopy, grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering, and contact angle measurements to investigate the effect of IEICO-4F on the performance of the ternary OPDs. The low compatibility of PffBT4T-2OD and IEICO-4F, originating from weak intermolecular interactions, allowed us to manipulate the degree of phase separation between the donor and acceptor in the ternary blends, leading to an optimized blend morphology featuring efficient charge separation, transport, and collection. To demonstrate its applicability, we integrated our OPD with two light-emitting diodes and used the system for precisely calculated transmissive pulse oximetry.

Filters

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links