Quantitative Analysis of Brain Swelling Resolution With Regard to Cranioplasty After Decompressive Craniectomy.

Objective: Adequate brain swelling resolution prior to cranioplasty (CP) is an important yet loosely defined issue. Despite efforts to balance timely CP and patient safety, heterogeneous study methodologies have led to conflicting results. This study aims to standardize this issue through quantifying degree of brain swelling resolution using a proposed Visual CP Scale.

Gamma Knife Radiosurgery as a Salvage Treatment for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma with Skull Base and Intracranial Invasion (T4b).

It is usually difficult to achieve good outcomes with salvage treatment for recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) because of its deep-seated location, surrounding critical structures, and patient history of high-dose irradiation. Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKS) is a treatment option for malignancies with skull base and intracranial invasion. We conducted a retrospective, observational, single-center study including 15 patients with recurrent NPC (stage T4b) involving the skull base and intracranial invasion, who underwent GKS as a salvage treatment.

Comprehensive assessment of the impact of land use and hydrogeological properties on the groundwater quality in Taiwan using factor and cluster analyses.

This study aims at making a comprehensive assessment of the impact of land use and the hydrogeological properties on groundwater quality. First, factor analysis (FA) is applied to reveal the main pollutant sources and hydrogeological processes controlling the groundwater quality. FA identifies the four most important factors.

Radiotherapy After Endoscopic Biopsy in an Adult with Pineocytoma, the Rare Brain Tumor in an Adult: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Tumors in the pineal region usually present with acute hydrocephalus. Histologic diagnosis is most important, as it greatly influences treatment, because over 17 tumor types occur in this area. Biopsies of these lesions play an important role in further management.

A Machine Learning Approach for Spatial Mapping of the Health Risk Associated with Arsenic-Contaminated Groundwater in Taiwan's Lanyang Plain.

Groundwater resources are abundant and widely used in Taiwan's Lanyang Plain. However, in some places the groundwater arsenic (As) concentrations far exceed the World Health Organization's standards for drinking water quality. Measurements of the As concentrations in groundwater show considerable spatial variability, which means that the associated risk to human health would also vary from region to region.

Restoration of HDAC1 Enzymatic Activity after Stroke Protects Neurons from Ischemia/Reperfusion Damage and Attenuates Behavioral Deficits in Rats.

A therapeutic approach for promoting neuroprotection and brain functional regeneration after strokes is still lacking. Histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1), which belongs to the histone deacetylase family, is involved in the transcriptional repression of cell-cycle-modulated genes and DNA damage repair during neurodegeneration. Our previous data showed that the protein level and enzymatic activity of HDAC1 are deregulated in stroke pathogenesis.

HDAC1 deregulation promotes neuronal loss and deficit of motor function in stroke pathogenesis.

Stroke is a common cause of death worldwide and leads to disability and cognitive dysfunction. Ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke are major categories of stroke, accounting for 68% and 32% of strokes, respectively. Each year, 15 million people experience stroke worldwide, and the stroke incidence is rising.

Optimal Cut-Off Points of Sagittal Spinopelvic Parameters as a Morphological Parameter to Predict Efficiency in Nerve Block and Pulsed Radiofrequency for Lumbar Facet Joint Pain: A Retrospective Study.

Background: After proper patient selection, anatomically correct pulsed radiofrequency of the lumbar facet joints provide long-term pain relief in a routine clinical setting. In the study, we performed an analysis of clinical and radiological predictive factors and provide the scientific basis for this promising modality.

Methods: The study included 198 patients with lower back pain due to lumbar facet joint disease who underwent medial branch block and pulsed radiofrequency during the period 2015-2019.

A Novel NGF Receptor Agonist B355252 Ameliorates Neuronal Loss and Inflammatory Responses in a Rat Model of Cerebral Ischemia.

Introduction: Cerebral ischemia is a leading cause of disability and death worldwide. However, an effective therapeutic approach for the condition remains undiscovered. The previously proposed growth factor-based therapy has been inefficient due to its inability to pass through the blood-brain barrier.

Simvastatin-Ezetimibe enhances growth factor expression and attenuates neuron loss in the hippocampus in a model of intracerebral hemorrhage.

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a common and severe neurological disorder associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Despite extensive research into its pathology, there are no clinically approved neuroprotective treatments for ICH. Increasing evidence has revealed that inflammatory responses mediate the pathophysiological processes of brain injury following ICH.

Lhermitte-Duclos disease: A case report with radiologic-pathologic correlation.

Lhermitte-Duclos disease (LDD) stems from the development of a rare benign lesion of uncertain pathogenesis that distorts the normal cerebellar laminar cytoarchitecture. We explored the lesion's appearance on conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combined with susceptibility-weighted imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging, perfusion imaging, or arterial spin labeling. Although many cases of LDD have been previously reported in the literature, the radiologic-pathologic correlation has been described in only a few of these cases.

Spatial analysis of the risk to human health from exposure to arsenic contaminated groundwater: A kriging approach.

A long-term groundwater quality survey in northeastern Taiwan's Lanyang Plain has revealed obvious contamination of the groundwater in some areas, with measured As concentrations in excess of the acceptable level of 10μg/L. Efforts for assessing the health risk associated with the intake of As through the drinking of contaminated groundwater are a necessary part of the important work of health risk management. However, the standard approach to assessing risks to human health does not adequately account for spatial heterogeneity in the measured As concentrations.

Spatial Analysis of Human Health Risk Due to Arsenic Exposure through Drinking Groundwater in Taiwan's Pingtung Plain.

Chronic arsenic (As) exposure continues to be a public health problem of major concern worldwide, affecting hundreds of millions of people. A long-term groundwater quality survey has revealed that 20% of the groundwater in southern Taiwan's Pingtung Plain is clearly contaminated with a measured As concentration in excess of the maximum level of 10 µg/L recommended by the World Health Organization. The situation is further complicated by the fact that more than half of the inhabitants in this area continue to use groundwater for drinking.

Groundwater Vulnerability Assessment of the Pingtung Plain in Southern Taiwan.

In the Pingtung Plain of southern Taiwan, elevated levels of NO₃-N in groundwater have been reported. Therefore, efforts for assessing groundwater vulnerability are required as part of the critical steps to prevent and control groundwater pollution. This study makes a groundwater vulnerability assessment for the Pingtung Plain using an improved overlay and index-based DRASTIC model.

Clinical outcome following DIAM implantation for symptomatic lumbar internal disk disruption: a 3-year retrospective analysis.

Background/objective: Internal disk disruption (IDD), an early event of lumbar disk degeneration, is the most common cause of low back pain. Since increased intradiskal pressure (IDP) is associated with symptoms and progression of disk degeneration, unloading a painful disk with an interspinous process device (IPD) is a rational treatment option. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of dynamic stabilization with an IPD in the treatment of symptomatic IDD of the lumbar spine.

Health risk assessment of groundwater arsenic pollution in southern Taiwan.

Residents of the Pingtung Plain, Taiwan, use groundwater for drinking. However, monitoring results showed that a considerable portion of groundwater has an As concentration higher than the safe drinking water regulation of 10 μg/L. Considering residents of the Pingtung Plain continue to use groundwater for drinking, this study attempted to evaluate the exposure and health risk from drinking groundwater.

Zonal management of multi-purposes groundwater utilization based on water quality and impact on the aquifer.

Groundwater is widely used for drinking, irrigation, and aquaculture in the Pingtung Plain, Southwestern Taiwan. The overexploitation and poor quality of groundwater in some areas of the Pingtung Plain pose great challenges for the safe use and sustainable management of groundwater resources. Thus, establishing an effective management plan for multi-purpose groundwater utilization in the Pingtung Plain is imperative.

Reduction in adjacent-segment degeneration after multilevel posterior lumbar interbody fusion with proximal DIAM implantation.

OBJECT Multilevel long-segment lumbar fusion poses a high risk for future development of adjacent-segment degeneration (ASD). Creating a dynamic transition zone with an interspinous process device (IPD) proximal to the fusion has recently been applied as a method to reduce the occurrence of ASD. The authors report their experience with the Device for Intervertebral Assisted Motion (DIAM) implanted proximal to multilevel posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) in reducing the development of proximal ASD.

Delayed neurovascular inflammation after mild traumatic brain injury in rats.

Introduction: Experimental traumatic brain injury (TBI) elicits acute local inflammatory responses, including up-regulation of adhesion molecules and neutrophils in the injured brain. However, in clinical experiences there were at least three types of TBI, which included mild, moderate and severe types, and there would be different neuroinflammatory responses. This study investigated the inflammatory responses after mild TBI in rats.

Probabilistic health risk assessment for ingestion of seafood farmed in arsenic contaminated groundwater in Taiwan.

Seafood farmed in arsenic (As)-contaminated areas is a major exposure pathway for the ingestion of inorganic As by individuals in the southwestern part of Taiwan. This study presents a probabilistic risk assessment using limited data for inorganic As intake through the consumption of the seafood by local residents in these areas. The As content and the consumption rate are both treated as probability distributions, taking into account the variability of the amount in the seafood and individual consumption habits.

Characterizing hydrochemical properties of springs in Taiwan based on their geological origins.

This study was performed to characterize hydrochemical properties of springs based on their geological origins in Taiwan. Stepwise discriminant analysis (DA) was used to establish a linear classification model of springs using hydrochemical parameters. Two hydrochemical datasets-ion concentrations and relative proportions of equivalents per liter of major ions-were included to perform prediction of the geological origins of springs.

Brain stem cavernous malformations.

We retrospectively reviewed the clinical experience of 30 patients with brain stem cavernous malformations (BSCM) treated operatively and non-operatively at our hospital between 1983 and 2005 to elucidate the natural history of BSCM and the factors that affect surgical outcome. Inpatient charts, imaging studies, operative records, and follow-up results were evaluated. The average follow up was 48.

Interaction of reactive fronts during transport in a homogeneous porous medium with initial small non-uniformity.

A reactive fluid circulating within a porous medium can dissolve minerals with which it is out of equilibrium and modify the porosity and permeability. The positive feedback between fluid transport and mineral dissolution causes complex reaction front morphologies such as fingers or wormholes. This study presents a numerical model to investigate reaction front instability, temporal aquifer porosity, and species concentration evolution during reactive transport in a homogeneous porous medium with two small, initially local non-uniformities.

Linking biokinetics and consumer-resource dynamics of zinc accumulation in pond abalone Haliotis diversicolor supertexta.

A dynamic model that links biokinetics and consumer-resource dynamics for describing zinc (Zn) accumulation in abalone Haliotis diversicolor supertexta has been developed and then applied to Zn data from real abalone farms. The biokinetic parameters used in this study, uptake and depuration rate constants of abalone and their food source, red alga Gracilaria tenuistipitata var. liui, were obtained from a laboratory 14-d exposure experiment.