Publications by authors named "Shu-Mei Lai"

Biodiversity is measured from various perspectives. One of them, functional diversity, quantifies the heterogeneity in species traits and roles in an ecosystem. One important aspect of species roles is their interactions with other species, i.

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Background: Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DC) is one of the major lethal complications in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM); however, no specific strategy for preventing or treating DC has been identified.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effects of β-lapachone (Lap), a natural compound that increases antioxidant activity in various tissues, on DC and explore the underlying mechanisms.

Study Design And Methods: As an in vivo model, C57BL/6 mice were fed with the high-fat diet (HF) for 10 weeks to induce type 2 DM.

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Background: Cisplatin (CDDP) is a first-line chemotherapeutic drug for treating various cancers. However, CDDP also damages normal cells and causes many side effects. Recently, CDDP has been demonstrated to kill cancer cells by targeting mitochondria.

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Digitalizing the nursing process has become a trend in medical care. The purpose of this study was to evaluate implementation of the Standardized Computerized Nursing Process Documentation System and patient outcomes. We analyzed hospitalized patients' electronic health record database with a total of 19 659 patients in 2015.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study examined how galanin receptor type 2 (GalR2) expression in specific dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons changes after a chronic nerve injury, using double immunofluorescence labeling methods to track these changes.
  • - It was found that the percentage of GalR2-positive neurons significantly increased after nerve injury, peaking one week later, and that blocking GalR2 (with M871) reduced pain sensitivity, while activating it (with AR-M1896) slightly worsened it.
  • - The results suggested that GalR2 activation likely enhances c-Fos expression in the cuneate nucleus, which plays a role in transmitting pain sensations to the brain, indicating a potential target for pain
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Objective: Autonomic neuropathy is a major component of familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP) due to mutated transthyretin, with sudomotor failure as a common manifestation. This study aimed to investigate the pathology and clinical significance of sudomotor denervation.

Methods: Skin biopsies were performed on the distal leg of FAP patients with a follow-up duration of 3.

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Identifying important species for maintaining ecosystem functions is a challenge in ecology. Since species are components of food webs, one way to conceptualize and quantify species importance is from a network perspective. The importance of a species can be quantified by measuring the centrality of its position in a food web, because a central node may have greater influence on others in the network.

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Exposure to bacterial endotoxin and fungal β-(1,3)-glucan in the indoor environment can induce respiratory symptoms. Automobiles are an exposure source of allergens but it is not known if, and how much exposure there is to endotoxin and fungal β-(1,3)-glucan. The objective of the study was to determine whether automobiles are a potential source of exposure to these microbial products.

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Background: Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue is valuable for fertility preservation. We develop an innovative vitrification method using less concentrated cryoprotectants and direct application of liquid nitrogen to the ovarian tissue (direct cover vitrification, DCV) to improve its efficiency.

Methods: Ovaries of 5- to 6-week-old C57BL/6J mice were randomly allocated to four groups: DCV, conventional vitrification, slow-freezing and non-frozen controls.

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Objective: To elucidate 3-dimensional (3-D) cytomorphology in fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of subacute thyroiditis.

Study Design: Ultrasound-guided FNAB was performed on the inflamed area of the thyroid from 4 patients with subacute thyroiditis. The aspirates were stained and observed under a light microscope (LM).

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Although only 1% of differentiated thyroid cancers transform into anaplastic thyroid cancer, this disease is always fatal. Differentiation therapy may provide a new therapeutic approach to increasing the survival rate in such patients. 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors are reported to promote cellular apoptosis and differentiation in many cancer cells; these effects are unrelated to lipid reduction.

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Objective: To elucidate three-dimensional (3-D) cytomorphology in fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of parathyroid lesions.

Study Design: Ultrasound-guided FNAB was performed on parathyroid lesions from 10 patients with hyperparathyroidism. The aspirates were stained and observed under a light microscope (LM).

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Background: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma is almost uniformly fatal. Microvilli are an important three-dimensional (3-D) cytomorphologic feature of thyrocyte differentiation, because fewer microvilli are seen in less differentiated tumors. Differentiation therapies, such as retinoic acid and somatostatin, have been tested previously in experimental models of differentiated thyroid carcinoma but not in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma.

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