Geographic variation of genotype 6 hepatitis C virus infection in an endemic area of southern Taiwan.

Taiwan is a hepatitis C virus (HCV) endemic country with geographic variation of prevalence and main genotypes(GTs) are 1 b and 2a. We recently reported high GT6 prevalence in Tainan of southern Taiwan. To clarify this special genotype as a local endemic disease and its geographic variation, the prevalence rates of HCV GTs of 37 districts of Tainan were analyzed.

Adjuvant Effect of Toll-Like Receptor 9 Activation on Cancer Immunotherapy Using Checkpoint Blockade.

Immunotherapy using checkpoint blockade has revolutionized cancer treatment, improving patient survival and quality of life. Nevertheless, the clinical outcomes of such immunotherapy are highly heterogeneous between patients. Depending on the cancer type, the patient response rates to this immunotherapy are limited to 20-30%.

[The Key Role of Taiwanese Nurses in Combating COVID-19 Pandemic].

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage worldwide, Taiwan has achieved outstanding performance in controlling the spread of the outbreak domestically, earning global appreciation. Nurses on the frontlines deserve much of the credit for the ongoing success in fighting against this outbreak in Taiwan. Taiwan's success to date is grounded in proactive preparedness and deployment by the government and effective teamwork among government agencies, medical institutions, enterprises, and the public.

Wearable Motion Sensor Device to Facilitate Rehabilitation in Patients With Shoulder Adhesive Capsulitis: Pilot Study to Assess Feasibility.

Background: Adhesive capsulitis (AC) of the shoulder is a common disorder that painfully reduces the shoulder range of motion (ROM) among middle-aged individuals. Although physical therapy with home-based exercises is widely advised to restore ROM in the treatment of AC, clinical results vary owing to inconsistent patient compliance.

Objective: In this study, we aimed to verify the feasibility of a treatment model that involves applying a wearable motion sensor device to assist patients conduct home-based exercises to improve training compliance and the accuracy of exercises, with the ultimate goal of improving the functional recovery of patients with AC.

Effective dose for multiple and repeated radiation examinations in donors and recipients of adult-to-adult living donor liver transplants at a single center.

Purpose: To evaluate the effective doses received by donors and recipients, identify effective dose contributions, and make risk assessments.

Materials And Methods: It was a retrospective study. 100 Donors and 100 recipients were enrolled with an operative day from March 2016 to August 2017.

Leuconostoc mesenteroides fermentation produces butyric acid and mediates Ffar2 to regulate blood glucose and insulin in type 1 diabetic mice.

Type 1 diabetic patients have lower counts of butyric acid-producing bacteria in the dysbiotic gut microbiome. In this study, we demonstrate that a butyric acid-producing Leuconostoc mesenteroides (L. mesenteroides) EH-1 strain isolated from Mongolian curd cheese can reduce blood glucose and IL-6 in the type 1 diabetic mouse model.

Spontaneously induced magnetic anisotropy in an ultrathin Co/MoS heterojunction.

Magnetic anisotropy (MA) is a material preference that involves magnetization aligned along a specific direction and provides a basis for spintronic devices. Here we report the first observation of strong MA in a cobalt-molybdenum disulfide (Co/MoS) heterojunction. Element-specific magnetic images recorded with an X-ray photoemission electron microscope (PEEM) reveal that ultrathin Co films, of thickness 5 monolayers (ML) and above, form micrometer (μm)-sized domains on monolayer MoS flakes of size tens of μm.

Accelerated weight gain, prematurity, and the risk of childhood obesity: A meta-analysis and systematic review.

The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature was to analyze and evaluate the impact of prematurity and accelerated weight gain on the risk of childhood and adolescent obesity. CINAHL, Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science databases were searched until December 2019 which yielded 19 studies with a total of 169,439 children enrolled were systematically reviewed. The results revealed that preterm infants had a greater likelihood of childhood obesity (defined as BMI ≥95th percentile for age-sex), than term infants (OR = 1.

Nanostructure- and Orientation-Controlled Resistive Memory Behaviors of Carbohydrate--Polystyrene with Different Molecular Weights via Solvent Annealing.

We report the resistive electrical memory characteristics controlled by the self-assembled nanostructures of maltoheptaose--polystyrene (MH--PS) block copolymers, where the MH and PS blocks provide the charge-trapping and the insulating tunneling layer, respectively. A simple solvent annealing process, with various annealing conditions, were introduced for MH--PS thin films to achieve disordered, orientated cylinders and ordered-packed spheres morphologies. More details about the self-assembled MH--PS nanostructures, coupled with different volume fractions between MH and PS blocks, were investigated using atomic force microscopy and grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering analyses.

Spin Wave Injection and Propagation in a Magnetic Nanochannel from a Vortex Core.

Spin waves can be used as information carriers with low energy dissipation. The excitation and propagation of spin waves along reconfigurable magnonic circuits is the subject of much interest in the field of magnonic applications. Here we experimentally demonstrate an effective excitation of spin waves in reconfigurable magnetic textures at frequencies as high as 15 GHz and wavelengths as short as 80 nm from NiFe (Py) nanodisk-film hybrid structures.

Impact of Climate Variability and Abundance of Mosquitoes on Dengue Transmission in Central Vietnam.

Dengue fever is an important arboviral disease in many countries. Its incidence has increased during the last decade in central Vietnam. Most dengue studies in Vietnam focused on the northern area (Hanoi) and southern regions but not on central Vietnam.

Chinese Herbal Medicine Alleviates Thyroidectomy-Induced Cardiopulmonary Exercise Dysfunction in Rats.

Hypothyroidism frequently causes cardiopulmonary dysfunction, such as heart failure and respiratory and metabolic deficiencies. This study investigated the effects of Chinese herbal formula B307 on thyroidectomy-induced cardiopulmonary exercise dysfunction in rats. Twenty male rats were equally divided into four groups: negative control with sham treatment, positive control with oral B307 treatment only, thyroidectomy treatment only, and thyroidectomy with B307 posttreatment groups.

Electrically modulated varifocal metalens combined with twisted nematic liquid crystals.

Focus-tunable lenses are indispensable to optical systems. This paper proposes an electrically modulated varifocal metalens combined with twisted nematic liquid crystals. In our design, a metalens is employed to focus on different points depending on the polarization state of incident light.

Tranilast induces MiR-200c expression through blockade of RelA/p65 activity in leiomyoma smooth muscle cells.

Objective: To determine the mechanism by which tranilast induces miR-200c expression in leiomyoma smooth muscle cells (LSMCs).

Design: Experimental study.

Setting: Academic research laboratory.

Genome-wide, integrative analysis of circular RNA dysregulation and the corresponding circular RNA-microRNA-mRNA regulatory axes in autism.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a class of long noncoding RNAs, are known to be enriched in mammalian neural tissues. Although a wide range of dysregulation of gene expression in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been reported, the role of circRNAs in ASD remains largely unknown. Here, we performed genome-wide circRNA expression profiling in postmortem brains from individuals with ASD and controls and identified 60 circRNAs and three coregulated modules that were perturbed in ASD.

Skin Cutibacterium acnes Mediates Fermentation to Suppress the Calcium Phosphate-Induced Itching: A Butyric Acid Derivative with Potential for Uremic Pruritus.

Pruritus and inflammation associated with accumulation of calcium phosphate (CaP) under the skin are common problems among dialysis patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The role of skin commensal microbiota in the CaP-induced uremic pruritus remains uncharacterized. Skin () can solubilize CaP by the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), such as butyric acid, through glucose fermentation.

Cysteine-Capped Hydrogels Incorporating Copper as Effective Antimicrobial Materials against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Methicillin-resistant () (MRSA) has become an alarming threat to public health, and infected soft tissue. Antibiotics are commonly used to treat skin infection with MRSA, but the inappropriate use of antibiotics runs a considerable risk of generating resistant . In this study, we created a cysteine-capped hydrogel able to absorb and release copper, an ion with the capability of suppressing the growth of USA300, a community-acquired MRSA.

Epigenetic Silencing of Ubiquitin Specific Protease 4 by Snail1 Contributes to Macrophage-Dependent Inflammation and Therapeutic Resistance in Lung Cancer.

There is a positive feedback loop driving tumorigenesis and tumor growth through coordinated regulation of epigenetics, inflammation, and stemness. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanism linking these processes is not well understood. In this study, we analyzed the correlation of de-ubiquitinases (DUBs) expression with survival data from the OncoLnc database.

High seroprevalence of Toxocara antibodies in pregnant women attending an antenatal clinic at a university hospital in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

Background: Human toxocariasis is a neglected zoonotic disease and its impact on human health is underestimated. Studies investigating the occurrence of toxocariasis in pregnancy are very scarce in Nigeria. This study investigated the seroprevalence of Toxocara spp.

ERK Activation Modulates Cancer Stemness and Motility of a Novel Mouse Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Line.

We established the NHRI-HN1 cell line from a mouse tongue tumor induced by 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4-NQO)/arecoline, with further selection for cell stemness via in vitro sphere culture, to evaluate potential immunotherapies for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in East and Southeast Asia. In vivo and in vitro phenotypic characterization, including tumor growth, immune modulator administration, gene expression, morphology, migration, invasion, and sphere formation assays, were conducted. NHRI-HN1 cells are capable of generating orthotopic tumors in syngeneic mice.

Cross-talk between miR-29c and transforming growth factor-β3 is mediated by an epigenetic mechanism in leiomyoma.

Objective: To determine the expression of miR-29c and its target gene transforming growth factor-β3 (TGF-β3) in leiomyoma and the mechanisms of their reciprocal regulation.

Design: Experimental study.

Setting: Academic research laboratory.

Dysregulated repair and inflammatory responses by e-cigarette-derived inhaled nicotine and humectant propylene glycol in a sex-dependent manner in mouse lung.

Nicotine inhalation via electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) is an emerging concern. However, little is known about the acute toxicity in the lungs following inhalation of nicotine-containing e-cig aerosols. We hypothesized that acute exposure to aerosolized nicotine causes lung toxicity by eliciting inflammatory and dysregulated repair responses.

C1:C2 ratio is a potential tool assessing atlas fracture displacement and transverse ligament injury.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the reliability of a C1:C2 ratio in a cohort of patients with atlas fractures. Second, we aimed to consider the utility of the C1:C2 ratio with regard to diagnosis of transverse ligament (TL) injury.

Design: This is a retrospective analysis.

Detection of a familial 21q22.3 microduplication in a fetus associated with congenital heart defects.

Objective: We present a familial 21q22.3 microduplication in a fetus associated with prenatally detected congenital heart defects (CHD).

Case Report: A 38-year-old woman underwent amniocentesis at 22 weeks of gestation because of sonographic findings of double outlet of right ventricle, ventricular septal defect and transposition of great artery in the fetus.