Ultrasensitive Detection of Alzheimer's Amyloids on a Plasmonic-Gold Platform.

More than 55 million people live with dementia worldwide in 2021, and there are nearly 10 million new cases every year. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia. Despite urgent need, early detection of AD and long-term monitoring of AD progression have been challenging.

The outbreak of COVID-19 in Taiwan in late spring 2021: combinations of specific weather conditions and related factors.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of weather conditions on the daily incidence of the COVID-19 pandemic in late spring 2021 in Taiwan, which is unlike the weather conditions of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. Meteorological parameters such as maximum daily temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed were included. The Spearman rank correlation test was used to evaluate the relationship between weather and daily domestic COVID-19 cases.

Residential greenness and birth outcomes: Evaluating the mediation and interaction effects of particulate air pollution.

Background: The few studies that examined the association between residential greenness and birth outcomes have produced inconsistent results, and the underlying mechanisms of these associations remain unclear.

Objectives: We examined the mediation and interaction effects of particulate matter (PM) air pollution on the relationship between greenness exposure during the first and third trimesters of pregnancy and birth outcomes, including preterm birth (PTB), term low birth weight (TLBW), small for gestational age (SGA), birth weight (BW), and head circumference (HC).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study on 16,184 singleton live births between 2010 and 2012 in Taiwan.

Design of Fluorescence-Enhanced Silver Nanoisland Chips for High-Throughput and Rapid Arsenite Assay.

High-throughput and rapid arsenite (As(III)) monitoring is an urgent task to deal with the critical threat from As(III) contamination in the environment. In this study, an effective, portable, and sensitive As(III) assay was developed using the plasmonic silver (pAg) chips for As(III) detection. The pAg chips were fabricated by a simple seed-mediated method to grow the silver nanoisland films (Ag-NIFs) with the compact nanoislands and adjustable interisland gaps on the large-sized substrates.

Optical Properties of Electrically Active Gold Nanoisland Films Enabled with Interfaced Liquid Crystals.

A system comprising a gold nanoisland film (Au NIF) covered with a liquid crystal (LC) material is introduced. By applying a voltage across the LC bulk, we demonstrate that changes in the refractive-index and orientation significantly modified the hybrid plasmonic-photonic resonances of the Au NIF. The hybrid structure enabled active control of the spectrum of the resonance wavelength of the metallic nanoisland by means of an externally applied electric field.

Quantitative Analysis of Glucose Metabolic Cleavage in Glucose Transporters Overexpressed Cancer Cells by Target-Specific Fluorescent Gold Nanoclusters.

The glucose metabolism rate in cancer cells is a crucial piece of information for the cancer aggressiveness. A feasible method to monitor processes of oncogenic mutations has been demonstrated in this work. The fluorescent gold nanoclusters conjugated with glucose (glucose-AuNCs) were successfully synthesized as a cancer-targeting probe for glucose transporters (Gluts) overexpressed by U-87 MG cancer cells, which can be observed under confocal microscopy.

Facile Preparation of Delivery Platform of Water-Soluble Low-Molecular-Weight Drugs Based on Polyion Complex Vesicle (PICsome) Encapsulating Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle.

Polyion complex vesicles (PICsomes) are polymeric hollow capsules composed of a unique semipermeable membrane, which may represent a versatile platform for constructing drug-loaded nanoformulation. However, it is difficult to retain water-soluble low-molecular-weight compounds (LMWCs) in the inner space of PICsome because of the high permeability of PIC membrane for LMWCs. Herein, we selected mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) as a drug-retaining nanomatrix, and we demonstrated successful encapsulation of MSN into the PICsome to obtain MSN@PICsome.

Block copolymer-boron cluster conjugate for effective boron neutron capture therapy of solid tumors.

Boron neutron capture therapy is a promising tumor treatment method, though its wide application has been limited due to the poor tumor selectivity and intracellular delivery of B-compounds. Here, block copolymer-boron cluster conjugate based on the clinically used sodium borocaptate (BSH) and poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(glutamic acid) copolymer have been developed for effectively penetrating tumor tissues and homogeneously delivering the boron clusters into cancer cells towards safe and efficient boron neutron capture therapy. The PEGylated block copolymer-boron cluster (BSH) conjugate has demonstrated significant higher cellular uptake and tumor accumulation when compared to the non-PEGylated formulations and BSH.

Improving Hydrogen Evolution Activity of Earth-Abundant Cobalt-Doped Iron Pyrite Catalysts by Surface Modification with Phosphide.

Hydrogen is considered as sustainable and environmentally friendly energy for global energy demands in the future. Here a Co-FeS catalyst with surface phosphide doping (P/Co-FeS ) for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic solutions is developed. The P/Co-FeS exhibits superior HER electrochemical performance with overpotential of -90 mV at 100 mA cm and Tafel slope of 41 mV/decade and excellent durability.

Light-induced cytosolic activation of reduction-sensitive camptothecin-loaded polymeric micelles for spatiotemporally controlled in vivo chemotherapy.

Nanomedicines capable of smart operation at the targeted site have the potential to achieve the utmost therapeutic benefits. Providing nanomedicines that respond to endogenous stimuli with an additional external trigger may improve the spatiotemporal control of their functions, while avoiding drawbacks from their inherent tissue distribution. Herein, by exploiting the permeabilization of endosomes induced by photosensitizer agents upon light irradiation, we complemented the intracellular action of polymeric micelles incorporating camptothecin (CPT), which can sharply release the loaded drug in response to the reductive conditions of the cytosol, as an effective strategy for precisely controlling the function of these nanomedicines in vivo, while advancing toward a light-activated chemotherapy.

A CMMI-based approach for medical software project life cycle study.

In terms of medical techniques, Taiwan has gained international recognition in recent years. However, the medical information system industry in Taiwan is still at a developing stage compared with the software industries in other nations. In addition, systematic development processes are indispensable elements of software development.

Applying ontology techniques to develop a medication history search and alert system in department of nuclear medicine.

Nowadays, patients usually take more than three drugs for diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia. Hence, nuclear medicine physicians should be very careful about the medication history of each patient and ensure that their medication will not cause false positive or false negative imaging results, because either condition will interfere with adequate treatment of the patient and result in a wrong diagnosis. The aim of the present paper is to develop an ontology-based medication search and alert system for scintiphotography of Chang Gung Memorial hospital at Kaohsiung.

Extended red light harvesting in a poly(3-hexylthiophene)/iron disulfide nanocrystal hybrid solar cell.

A polymer solar cell based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT)/iron disulfide (FeS2) nanocrystal (NC) hybrid is presented. The FeS2 NCs of 10 nm in diameter were homogeneously blended with P3HT to form an active layer of a solar cell. An extended red light harvesting up to 900 nm resulting from the NCs in the device has been demonstrated, compared to a typical absorption edge of 650 nm of a pristine P3HT.