Signal amplified colorimetric nucleic acid detection based on autocatalytic hairpin assembly.

Herein, a nucleic acid assay based on autocatalytic hairpin assembly (ACHA) was proposed. In this system, two split G-quadruplex sequences were integrated into H1 and H2, respectively. And a DNA strand with the same sequence to target DNA was integrated into the assistant hairpin H3.

An innovative environmental citizen behavior model: Recycling intention as climate change mitigation strategies.

Climate change has been led to the increasing magnitude of frequency and severity of extreme weather, causing serious damage to overall economy of a country and individual economy of enterprises. Only relying on government subsidy to combat the impact of climate change, the work could be in vain. This study tries to use recycling action as mitigation strategies of climate change, and analyze the dominant influencing factors that affect recycling intention.

Generating hourly local weather data with high spatially resolution and the applications in bioclimatic performance.

As urbanization expands and diversifies, weather data produced by a single weather station in a suburb are no longer adequate to represent and reflect microclimatic changes of a city. This study selected 34 automatic weather stations in Tainan City, Taiwan, to conduct temperature and humidity measurements over a period of one year. Based on those observed weather data and urban environment parameters obtained from a geographic information system, as well as morphing approach, this study constructed a method of generating hourly local weather data for urban areas while accounting for urban heat island (UHI) effect in summer.

Impulse response function analysis of the impacts of hospital accreditations on hospital efficiency.

Improving hospital efficiency is an emerging area of interest among policy makers in the new global economy's healthcare system. To ensure accurate efficiency analyses, we consider the nonhomogeneous input/output characteristics of various hospital departments, particularly the Department of Medicine, Department of Surgery, and Department of Other Specialist Medicine. These departments employ co-inputs to produce nonhomogeneous outputs.

Analysis of banned veterinary drugs and herbicide residues in shellfish by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC/MS/MS).

Seafood safety is a crucial public health concern for consumers. In this study, we applied a validated method to analyze the residue of banned veterinary drugs in shellfish, namely chloramphenicol, malachite green, leucomalachite green, and nitrofuran metabolites; additionally, the QuEChERS method was employed to detect 76 herbicides by LC/MS/MS and GC/MS/MS. In total, 42 shellfish samples, which included hard clams, freshwater clams, and oysters, were collected from aquafarms and production areas in Taiwan during 2012.

Novel synthesis of the ABC rings of solanoeclepin A.

A stereocontrolled synthesis of the ABC rings of solanoeclepin A has been achieved. The seven-membered ring B was synthesized by an intramolecular Prins-ene reaction between an aldehyde and an enyne-dicobalthexacarbonyl complex. The acetylene in this synthesis plays multiple roles: to join the A and C rings, to allow stereoselective cyclization via dicobalthexacarbonyl complexation, and to facilitate Nicholas cation stabilization followed by deprotonation to form an endo-cyclic olefin (Nicholas-Prins cyclization).

Thrombomodulin is an ezrin-interacting protein that controls epithelial morphology and promotes collective cell migration.

Adhesive interactions between cells are needed to maintain tissue architecture during development, tissue renewal and wound healing. Thrombomodulin (TM) is an integral membrane protein that participates in cell-cell adhesion through its extracellular lectin-like domain. However, the molecular basis of TM-mediated cell-cell adhesion is poorly understood.

A preliminary study on the role of inherited prothrombotic risk factors in Taiwanese patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) is a disease with unknown etiology. Recently, several studies revealed that some inherited prothrombotic risk factors are associated with SSHL in western populations. The objective of this study was to investigate the roles of the two most common genetic prothrombotic factors, the factor V Leiden G1691A and prothrombin G20210A in Taiwanese patients with SSHL.

Viral factors correlate with hepatitis B e antigen seroconverson in patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Background/aims: Seroconversion (SC) from hepatitis B envelope antigen (HBeAg) to anti-HBe usually indicates lower viral loads, resolved hepatitis activity and improved long-term outcomes. However, the role of viral factors in the development of SC remains largely unknown. We thus comprehensively studied these factors in 25 patients with sustained HBeAg SC and seven control patients with sustained loss of HBeAg.