Medical students' preferences for asynchronous online or face-to-face learning strategies in learning gross anatomy and neuroanatomy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gross anatomy and neuroanatomy are fundamental subjects in medical education. However, learning different anatomical terms and understanding the complexity of the subjects are often challenging for medical students. At National Taiwan University, the 2020-2021 cohort adopted a face-to-face (F2F) learning strategy for gross anatomy and neuroanatomy lecture and laboratory courses until May 17, 2021.

Implementing virtual reality technology to teach medical college systemic anatomy: A pilot study.

It can be difficult for some students to learn three-dimensional anatomical structure concepts. While virtual reality (VR) systems have been reported as helpful for learning, there has been scarce research on either VR teaching strategies or the influence of visually induced motion sickness (VIMS) in the context of large anatomy classes (i.e.

Clinical effects of dupilumab: A novel treatment for Kimura disease.

Background: Kimura disease (KD) is a rare chronic inflammatory disorder involving the Th2 pathway. Although medical treatment with steroids or other immunosuppressants is available, they may cause developmental issues in the pediatric population. Surgical intervention has also been suggested; however, it is associated with high recurrence rates.

Efficient Semitransparent Organic Solar Cells Enabled by Ag Grid Electrodes and Optical Coupling Layers.

Semitransparent organic solar cells (ST-OSCs) show great promise for building integrated photovoltaic systems. The balance between power conversion efficiency (PCE) and average visible transmittance (AVT) is a key point of ST-OSCs. We developed a novel semitransparent organic solar cell (ST-OSC) with high PCE and AVT for building integrated renewable energy applications.

Impact of modified teaching strategies used in a gross anatomy course on the academic performance of dental students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: Modified teaching strategies (MTS), asynchronous online teaching and smaller dissection groups, were applied to a gross anatomy course for dental students in the National Taiwan University in April 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to investigate the effects and perceptions of MTS on dental students.

Materials And Methods: Scores for anatomy examinations for 2018-2019 (without MTS) and 2019-2020 (with MTS) cohorts were compared to explore the effect on academic performance.

Toward Perfect Surfaces of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides with Ion Bombardment and Annealing Treatment.

Layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are two-dimensional materials exhibiting a variety of unique features with great potential for electronic and optoelectronic applications. The performance of devices fabricated with mono or few-layer TMD materials, nevertheless, is significantly affected by surface defects in the TMD materials. Recent efforts have been focused on delicate control of growth conditions to reduce the defect density, whereas the preparation of a defect-free surface remains challenging.

Benefits of a bilingual web-based anatomy atlas for nursing students in learning anatomy.

Background: Registered nurses are required for high-quality healthcare. Thus, the anatomy course is essential regarding professional knowledge of the human body during the nursing training process. However, previous studies have indicated that anatomy teaching time and anatomy teachers were reduced and insufficient.

The impact of asynchronous online anatomy teaching and smaller learning groups in the anatomy laboratory on medical students' performance during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, National Taiwan University anatomy teachers adopted asynchronous online video teaching and reduced the size of anatomy laboratory groups in April 2020. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of these changes on medical students' learning. Before Covid-19, the performance of the 2019-2020 cohort was significantly better than that of the 2018-2019 cohort.

Evaluation of efficacy and safety of Lactobacillus rhamnosus in children aged 4-48 months with atopic dermatitis: An 8-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study.

Objective: The main objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Lactobacillus rhamnosus in children aged 4-48 months with atopic dermatitis.

Methods: The design of this study was a two-center, double-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled study with two parallel groups to evaluate the efficacy and safety profile of L. rhamnosus in children aged 4-48 months with atopic dermatitis diagnosed using Hanifin and Rajka criteria and with a Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) ≥ 15 at enrollment.

Oral fungal immunomodulatory protein-Flammulina velutipes has influence on pulmonary inflammatory process and potential treatment for allergic airway disease: A mouse model.

Background/purpose: House dust mite (HDM) is well known as one of the major indoor allergens that trigger allergic inflammation, especially asthma, and accounts for 85% of all cases. So far, asthma has been thought of as a condition of imbalance between T helper (Th)1 and Th2. Fungal immunomodulatory protein-Flammulina velutipes (FIP-fve) has been seemingly demonstrated to modulate the response to Th1 cytokine production.

Comparison of the effects of air pollution on outpatient and inpatient visits for asthma: a population-based study in Taiwan.

Background: A nationwide asthma survey on the effects of air pollution is lacking in Taiwan. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the time trend and the relationship between air pollution and health care services for asthma in Taiwan.

Methods: Health care services for asthma and ambient air pollution data were obtained from the National Health Insurance Research database and Environmental Protection Administration from 2000 through 2009, respectively.

Comparison of procalcitonin and different guidelines for first febrile urinary tract infection in children by imaging.

Background: We examined the ability of a procalcitonin (PCT) protocol to detect vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) and renal scarring (RS), evaluated procedural costs and radiation burden, and compared four representative guidelines for children with their first febrile urinary tract infection (UTI).

Methods: Children aged ≤2 years with their first febrile UTI who underwent renal ultrasonography (US), acute and late technetium-99m ((99m)Tc)-dimercaptosuccinic acid scan, and voiding cystourethrography were prospectively studied. The representative guidelines applied in a retrospective simulation included the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), National Institute of Clinical Excellence, top-down approach (TDA), and Italian Society of Pediatric Nephrology (ISPN).

Role of procalcitonin in predicting dilating vesicoureteral reflux in young children hospitalized with a first febrile urinary tract infection.

Objective: The aim of this article was to assess the usefulness of procalcitonin (PCT) as a marker for predicting dilating (grades III-V) vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) in young children with a first febrile urinary tract infection.

Methods: Children ≤2 years of age with a first febrile urinary tract infection were prospectively evaluated. Serum samples were tested for PCT at the time of admission to a tertiary hospital.

Respiratory tract infection is the major cause of the ambulatory visits in children.

Background: As children represent the future, ensuring that they receive proper health care should be a primary concern of our societies. Epidemiological research underpins the importance of effective child health care strategies, and highlights the need for accurate data collection; such surveys are currently lacking in Taiwan. In our descriptive studies, we compared the differences of the ten most common diseases in the year 2000 and 2009 among Taiwanese children.

Hydroxydibenzoylmethane induces apoptosis through repressing ornithine decarboxylase in human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells.

Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) is the rate-limiting enzyme in polyamine biosynthesis and a target for chemoprevention. Hydroxydibenzoylmethane (HDB), a derivative of dibenzoylmethane of licorice, is a promising chemopreventive agent. In this paper, we investigated whether HDB would inhibit the ODC pathway to enhance apoptosis in human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells.

Quality of life in adults with congenital heart disease: biopsychosocial determinants and sex-related differences.

Objectives: To assess the quality of life (QoL) in adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) and to explore the sex-related differences and biopsychosocial determinants in an Asian cohort.

Design: Prospective cross-sectional clinical study.

Setting: One tertiary medical centre in Taiwan.

Genetic polymorphism of manganese superoxide dismutase is associated with childhood asthma.

Objective: Cellular defenses against allergens and reactive oxygen species (ROS) exposure are critical in the pathogenesis of asthma. CD14 is a receptor for various bacterial products, such as lipopolysaccharides (LPS), and is also a mediator of inflammatory processes. Manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) is an ROS scavenger, and myeloperoxidase (MPO) can convert hydrogen peroxide into hypochlorous acid; thus, they are considered to be involved in inflammatory defense.

Effect of UV-ozone treatment on poly(dimethylsiloxane) membranes: surface characterization and gas separation performance.

A thin SiO(x) selective surface layer was formed on a series of cross-linked poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) membranes by exposure to ultraviolet light at room temperature in the presence of ozone. The conversion of the cross-linked polysiloxane to SiO(x) was monitored by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) microanalysis, contact angle analysis, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The conversion of the cross-linked polysiloxane to SiO(x) increased with UV-ozone exposure time and cross-linking agent content, and the surface possesses highest conversion.

Prevalence of childhood allergic diseases in central Taiwan over the past 15 years.

Background: The prevalence of asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic eczema in children from the developed and developing countries has been increasing.

Methods: Three epidemiological surveys of the prevalence of bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic eczema in schoolchildren in Taichung, located in central Taiwan, were conducted in 1987, 1994, and 2002. The first questionnaire was used before the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) written questionnaire was developed; the last two surveys were modified using ISAAC questionnaires.

Association of a lymphotoxin-alpha gene polymorphism and atopic asthma in Taiwanese children.

Background: The lymphotoxin-alpha (LT-alpha) gene is located on chromosome 6 (6p21.1-6p21.3) and it may regulate tumor necrosis factor (TNF) production.

Induction of caspase-3-dependent apoptosis in human leukemia HL-60 cells by paclitaxel.

Background: Paclitaxel, an antineoplastic drug, inhibits cell growth and cell cycle progression and induces apoptosis in human leukemia HL-60 cells. Caspase-3 plays a direct role in proteolytic cleavage of cellular proteins responsible for progression to apoptosis.

Methods: We examined the cell morphology and apoptosis in HL-60 cells after exposure to paclitaxel and measured caspase-3 activities with or without z-VAD-fmk (a broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor) pretreatment by flow cytometric analysis and Western blotting.

Upregulation of NMDA receptor and neuronal NADPH-d/NOS expression in the nodose ganglion of acute hypoxic rats.

Nitric oxide may serve as a neuronal messenger in the regulation of cardiorespiratory function via the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) activation. Since hypoxic stress would drastically influence the cardiorespiratory function, the present study aimed to examine if the expression of nNOS and NMDA receptor subunit 1 (NMDAR1) in the nodose ganglion (NG) would alter under different extents of hypoxia treatment. The nicotinamine adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d) histochemistry, nNOS and NMDAR1 immunofluorescence were used to examine nNOS and NMDAR1 expression in the NG following exposing of adult rats in the altitude chamber (0.