Morphology and Luminescence Properties of Transition Metal Doped Zinc Selenide Crystals.

Zinc selenide is an excellent matrix material to dope with rare-earth and transition metal to achieve mid-infrared luminescence to develop high power lasers. The luminescence, morphology and refractive index is significantly affected by the doping and defects generated due to size and valency of dopants, concentration, growth process and convection during the growth. The aim of the study is to investigate effect of point and line defects generated due to low doping of iron and chromium on the emission and morphology of the zinc selenide.

Sexual Crossing, Chromosome-Level Genome Sequences, and Comparative Genomic Analyses for the Medicinal Mushroom (Syn. , .

mushrooms are a complementary and alternative medicine for hangovers, cancer, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and inflammation. Though has attracted considerable biotechnological and pharmacological attention, neither classical genetic nor genomic approaches have been properly established for it. We isolated four sexually competent monokaryons from two dikaryons used for the commercial cultivation of orange-red (HC1) and milky-white (SN1) mushrooms, respectively.

Fabrication and characterization of Rhizochitosan and its incorporation with platelet concentrates to promote wound healing.

Composite dressing composed of Rhizochitosan and Regenplex™ to promote wound healing were assessed. Rhizochitosan was fabricated by deacetylation of Rhizochitin, which obtained by simply depigmenting sporangium-free mycelial mattress produced from Rhizopus stolonifer F6. Physicochemical characterizations of Rhizochitosan demonstrated that it contained 13.

Generation and Characterization of Single Chain Variable Fragment against Alpha-Enolase of .

() is an opportunistic human pathogen responsible for approximately a half of clinical candidemia. The emerging spp. with resistance to azoles is a major challenge in clinic, suggesting an urgent demand for new drugs and therapeutic strategies.

Taiwanofungus camphoratus Combined With Amphotericin B for Metastatic Cancer Patients Unresponsive to or Unwilling to Undergo Chemotherapy: A Pilot Study.

Context: Taiwanofungus camphoratus is a parasitic mushroom found in the heartwood of Cinnamomum kanehirai and is used as a nutritional supplement. It has an anticancer action, both alone and synergistically with amphotericin B (AmB).

Objective: The study intended to assess the efficacy of a T camphoratus ethanol extract (TCEE) combined with AmB for patients with metastatic cancer whose cancer did not respond to multiline chemotherapy or who were unwilling to receive chemotherapy.

Combination treatment of ergosterol followed by amphotericin B induces necrotic cell death in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

The incidence of liver cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths has increased over the past few decades. Although recent treatments such as sorafenib are promising in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the response rates remain poor thereby warranting the identification of novel therapeutic agents against liver cancer. Herein, we investigated the anti-cancer effect of ergosterol (a secondary metabolite in medicinal fungus) pretreatment followed by amphotericin B (AmB) treatment on liver cancer cell lines.

Fluconazole induces rapid high-frequency MTL homozygosis with microbiological polymorphism in Candida albicans.

Background: Candida albicans, a common fungal pathogen that can cause opportunistic infections, is regarded as an apparently asexual, diploid fungus. A parasexual cycle was previously found between homozygotes with opposite mating type-like loci (MTLa/α). Fluconazole-resistant strains had a higher proportion of MTL homozygotes, whereas MTL homozygous C.

The Ethanolic Extract of Taiwanofungus camphoratus (Antrodia camphorata) Induces Cell Cycle Arrest and Enhances Cytotoxicity of Cisplatin and Doxorubicin on Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells.

Taiwanofungus camphoratus (synonym Antrodia camphorata) is a widely used medicinal fungus in the folk medicine of Taiwan with several pharmacological features such as anti-inflammatory, liver protection, antihypertensive, and antioxidative activities. The ethanolic extract of T. camphoratus (TCEE) which contains abundant bioactive compounds including triterpenoids and polysaccharides also has antitumor effects in various human cancer cell lines.

Increased risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among patients with Helicobacter pylori infection: a population-based cohort study.

Background: Increasing evidence suggests that Helicobacter pylori infection (HPI) may have extragastric manifestations, including the respiratory system. This study investigated the role of HPI in increasing the subsequent risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a nationwide population.

Methods: We conducted this retrospective cohort study using data from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database, which is derived from the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database.

Association of inflammatory bowel disease with asthma risk: A nationwide cohort study.

Objective: We evaluated the risk of asthma development in adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in a nationwide population.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted by using data retrieved from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Patients, ages 20 year or older, with newly diagnosed IBD between 2000 and 2005 were identified and randomly frequency-matched (based on sex, age, and index year) with four times the number of enrollees without IBD from the general population.

Mycelial Mattress from a Sporangia Formation-Delayed Mutant of Rhizopus stolonifer as Wound Healing-Enhancing Biomaterial.

A mycelial mattress of Rhizopus stolonifer obtained from a liquid static culture was utilized for wound dressing and biomedical use. Following screening of mutants induced by UV radiation, F6, exhibiting delayed sporangium formation was selected because its sporangium maturation exhibited a 5-day delay without significant loss of mycelial weight compared to the wild type. The sporangium-free mycelial mattress from the sporangiospore culture of F6 was treated with 1N sodium hydroxide NaOH at 85°C for 2 h to produce a sponge-like membrane named Rhizochitin.

Increased risk of dementia among patients with pulmonary tuberculosis: a retrospective population-based cohort study.

Objective: We investigated and compared the risk of dementia development in a cohort of patients with tuberculosis (TB).

Methods: The study involved 6473 patient with newly diagnosed TB, and each patient was randomly frequency matched with 4 people without TB based on age, sex, and index year. The risk of dementia development was analyzed using Cox proportional hazards regression.

Adult asthma increases dementia risk: a nationwide cohort study.

Background: Studies on the association between adult asthma and dementia are few. We investigated the risk of dementia in patients diagnosed with adult asthma compared with that of people without asthma who were age and sex matched to the study patients.

Methods: We used data from the National Health Insurance Research Database.

Short-term exposure to fluconazole induces chromosome loss in Candida albicans: an approach to produce haploid cells.

Candida albicans is considered to be an obligate diploid fungus. Here, we describe an approach to isolate aneuploids or haploids induced by the short-term (12-16 h) exposure of diploid reference strains SC5314 and CAI4 to the most commonly used antifungal drug, fluconazole, followed by repeated single-cell separation among small morphologically distinct colonies in the inhibition zone. The isolated strains had altered cell morphology and LOH events in the MTL and other marker alleles of the analyzed loci at 8 chromosomes of C.

Dried fruit of the Luffa sponge as a source of chitin for applications as skin substitutes.

LUFFACHITIN obtained from the residue of the sponge-like dried fruit of Luffa aegyptiaca was developed as a weavable skin substitute in this study. A chemical analysis revealed that LUFFACHITIN was composed of a copolymer containing N-acetyl-glucosamine (~40%) as a major monomer with a filamentary structure as demonstrated by both optical and scanning electron microscopy. The pulp-like white residue of the sponge-like dried fruit of Luffa aegyptiaca after treatment was then woven into a thin, porous membrane by filtration and lyophilization as a skin substitute for conducting wound-healing study on rats.

Quantifying membrane permeability of amphotericin B ion channels in single living cells.

Recently, the structure-function relationships between amphotericin B (AmB) and ergosterol have been solved using synthetic techniques that require a mycosamine-mediated direct binding interaction between AmB and ergosterol to form AmB ion channels. However, studies to directly probe the AmB-induced membrane permeability changes have not been conducted. In the present work, we investigate the following fundamental question: does AmB induce concentration- and time-dependent permeability changes across ergosterol-containing membranes? Herein, we employ fluorescent dyes of known average diameter to quantify the diameters of AmB ion channels.

Damage from periorbital ageing to the multilayered structures and resilience of the skin in Chinese population.

Ageing dynamically disrupts the multilayered supporting components of the skin that are held together by cell adhesion molecules (CAMs). Skin specimens from 33 female Chinese patients undergoing lower blepharoplasty were divided into three age groups and examined by haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Elastica-van Gieson (EVG) stains, western blotting, surface electron microscopy (SEM) and biomechanical tension analysis. The SEM density (skin surface topology) showed a negative linear relationship with age.

Dynamic analysis of modified transcutaneous lower blepharoplasty based on biochemical and biophysical principles.

In this study, we analyzed the key parameters of modified transcutaneous lower blepharoplasty based on multidisciplinary principles (biochemical findings and biophysical wrinkling theory). A total of 408 female patients received our subciliary lower blepharoplasty between March 2002 and January 2010. The severity of the eyebags (dynamic wrinkle numbers and prolapse) was evaluated through preoperative and postoperative photography, whereas the excised lower eyelid skin specimens from 56 patients were investigated with hematoxylin and eosin staining.

The 'obligate diploid' Candida albicans forms mating-competent haploids.

Candida albicans, the most prevalent human fungal pathogen, is considered to be an obligate diploid that carries recessive lethal mutations throughout the genome. Here we demonstrate that C. albicans has a viable haploid state that can be derived from diploid cells under in vitro and in vivo conditions, and that seems to arise through a concerted chromosome loss mechanism.

Wound-healing effect of micronized sacchachitin (mSC) nanogel on corneal epithelium.

The extraction residue of the Ganoderma fruiting body, named sacchachitin, has been demonstrated to have the potential to enhance cutaneous wound healing by inducing cell proliferation. In this study, a nanogel formed from micronized sacchachitin (mSC) was investigated for the potential treatment of superficial chemical corneal burns. Reportedly, mSC has been produced successfully and its chemical properties confirmed, and physical and rheological properties characterized.

Taiwanofungus camphoratus (Syn Antrodia camphorata) extract and amphotericin B exert adjuvant effects via mitochondrial apoptotic pathway.

The use of multiple drugs in cancer therapy increases the efficacy of the potential therapeutic effects. In this study, the authors investigated the adjuvant effects of an ethanol extract of solid-state cultivated Taiwanofungus camphoratus (TCEE) and amphotericin B (AmB) in the human cancer cell lines RPMI7951 and MG63. Taiwanofungus camphoratus is a well-known Chinese medicine in Taiwan, and AmB is a widely used antifungal agent.

Gas7-deficient mouse reveals roles in motor function and muscle fiber composition during aging.

Background: Growth arrest-specific gene 7 (Gas7) has previously been shown to be involved in neurite outgrowth in vitro; however, its actual role has yet to be determined. To investigate the physiological function of Gas7 in vivo, here we generated a Gas7-deficient mouse strain with a labile Gas7 mutant protein whose functions are similar to wild-type Gas7.

Methodology/principal Findings: Our data show that aged Gas7-deficient mice have motor activity defects due to decreases in the number of spinal motor neurons and in muscle strength, of which the latter may be caused by changes in muscle fiber composition as shown in the soleus.

Pretreatment with an ethanolic extract of Taiwanofungus camphoratus (Antrodia camphorata) enhances the cytotoxic effects of amphotericin B.

Taiwanofungus camphoratus, a well-known Chinese medicine used in Taiwan, possesses several pharmacological functions, including anticancer effects. In the present study, we aimed to investigate a novel anticancer effect by pretreating cancer cells with an ethanolic extract of T. camphoratus (TCEE) followed by the administration of an antifungal agent amphotericin B (AmB).

The development of a novel cancer immunotherapeutic platform using tumor-targeting mesenchymal stem cells and a protein vaccine.

An ideal anticancer strategy should target only the malignant cells but spare the normal ones. In this regard, we established a platform, consisting of an antigen-delivering vehicle and a protein vaccine, for developing an immunotherapeutic approach with the potential for eliminating various cancer types. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been demonstrated capable of targeting tumors and integrating into the stroma.