Publications by authors named "Th Kao"

Goji berry ( L.), also known as wolfberry, is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb widely utilized as a functional food ingredient throughout East Asia. In this study, we developed a rapid high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) method for the simultaneous separation of carotenoids in goji berries.

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Introduction: Malnutrition is a leading cause of death for persons living with X-linked dystonia-parkinsonism (XDP), a degenerative disease endemic to the Philippines. Difficulty swallowing has been linked to malnutrition in other populations; however, knowledge of this relationship is limited in XDP. As such, the purpose of this study was to determine the association between dysphagia and malnutrition in this population.

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  • - The study developed a highly sensitive ELISA test using a new mouse monoclonal antibody (APNmAb005) to measure high-molecular-weight oligomer tau (HMWoTau), which could reveal important information about Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
  • - The researchers confirmed that the assay could specifically detect HMWoTau in brain samples from AD patients, with significant increases observed in later stages of the disease compared to the early stages.
  • - This innovative test not only enhances understanding of AD’s progression but also holds promise for improving diagnostic methods for Alzheimer's and related tauopathies.
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  • Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) is the standard treatment for locally advanced head and neck cancer, but pneumonia is a serious complication affecting many patients.
  • In a study analyzing data from nearly 7,000 patients treated from 2007 to 2019, 23% developed pneumonia, which significantly reduced their overall survival compared to those who did not get pneumonia.
  • Risk factors for pneumonia identified in the study include older age, diabetes, invasive procedures, extended treatment duration, alcohol consumption, and nasogastric tube use, highlighting the need for early interventions to prevent complications.
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: Cervical disc herniation (CDH) leads to pain, numbness, and potential disability. Percutaneous endoscopic cervical discectomy (PECD) offers an anterior or posterior approach. This study aims to compare postoperative disc height and angle changes one year after PECD, considering both approaches.

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In recent years, liquid crystal materials have drawn great interest because of their wide range of applications. Among various thermochromic materials, cholesteric liquid crystalline (CLC) materials have been well studied and reported. CLC materials have the advantages of ready manipulation and multiple color transitions.

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: Cervical disc arthroplasty (CDA) is currently used instead of fusion to preserve cervical spine motion. Cervical implant subsidence is a potential complication after CDA. : Radiological measurements were recorded via patient anteroposterior and lateral radiographs in the neutral position.

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Objective: This retrospective study was designed to evaluate the incidence and predisposing factors of heterotopic ossification (HO) after cervical disc arthroplasty (CDA) with a specific implant at 1 and 2 levels, and to investigate the biomechanical effects related to HO. The study goal was to identify ways to reduce the likelihood of HO formation after surgery.

Methods: The study included patients who underwent only 1- or 2-level CDA with the Baguera C disc between November 2014 and December 2021 at a single medical center.

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Monocytes are actively recruited to sites of infection and produce the potent proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β. We previously showed that IL-1β release during Toxoplasma gondii infection of primary human monocytes requires the NLRP3 inflammasome and caspase-1 but is independent of gasdermin D and pyroptosis. To investigate mechanisms of IL-1β release, we generated caspase-1, -4, -5, or -8 knockout (KO) THP-1 monocytic cells.

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Dedifferentiated liposarcoma is a high-grade entity developed from a preexisting or recurrent well-differentiated liposarcoma, and rarely, it may contain divergent differentiation. We presented the case of a 39-year-old woman with retroperitoneal dedifferentiated liposarcoma with heterologous low-grade osteosarcoma, possessing a special pattern of tumoral calcification.

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Introduction: X-linked dystonia-parkinsonism (XDP) is a neurodegenerative disorder that may result in severe speech impairment. The literature suggests that there are differences in the speech of individuals with XDP and healthy controls. This study aims to examine the motor speech characteristics of the mixed dystonia-parkinsonism phase of XDP.

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Cervical conjoined nerve root is rare, and medical imaging, such as magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography, cannot give an accurate preoperative diagnosis. Treatment of cervical radiculopathy with root anomaly can be challenging. We report here a case of cervical conjoined nerve root with a 2-dimensional video.

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  • An estimated 88% of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients deal with cervical spine issues, specifically atlantoaxial instability (AAI), which can complicate surgical procedures.
  • This study reviewed 20 years of surgeries on 67 AAI patients, employing advanced techniques like fluoroscopy, surgical navigation, and augmented reality to enhance surgical accuracy.
  • The findings suggest that using CT-based image-guided surgery and augmented reality can significantly improve the outcomes of C1-C2 surgeries, especially for RA patients facing technical challenges.
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Vascular injury is one of the potential complications of percutaneous transpedicular screws fixation. Carefully review the vascular anatomy preoperatively is important. Once unexpected low blood pressure or anemia occurs, vascular injury should be taken into consideration.

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The objective of this study was to develop a simultaneous analysis method of furan and its 10 derivatives in different food commodities. The results indicated that furan and its 10 derivatives could be separated within 9.5 min by using a HP-5MS column and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) with multiple reaction monitoring mode for detection.

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Objectives: The objectives of this study were to identify the risk factors and incidence of anterior bone loss (ABL) after Baguera C cervical disc arthroplasty (CDA) and identify whether design differences in artificial discs affect ABL.

Methods: In this retrospective radiological review of patients who underwent single-level Baguera C CDA in a medical center, the extent of ABL and the following radiological parameters were recorded: global and segmental alignment angle, lordotic angle (or functional spinal unit angle), shell angle, global range of motion (ROM), and ROM of the index level. ABL at the index level was grade 0-2.

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This study explored the effects of sterilization conditions on the formation of furan and its 10 derivatives in canned foods with a sterilizing value (F0) at 4. The contents of furans were determined by SPME arrow-GC-MS/MS, along with the furan precursors analyzed for elucidating the possible mechanism of furan formation. Results revealed that the total furan contents rose substantially in canned meat paste, tomato mackerel, chicken puree, tomato paste, pineapple slice, pineapple juice and carrot juice following sterilization.

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In Petunia (Solanaceae family), self-incompatibility (SI) is regulated by the polymorphic S-locus, which contains the pistil-specific S-RNase and multiple pollen-specific S-Locus F-box (SLF) genes. SLFs assemble into E3 ubiquitin ligase complexes known as Skp1-Cullin1-F-box complexes (SCFSLF). In pollen tubes, these complexes collectively mediate ubiquitination and degradation of all nonself S-RNases, but not self S-RNase, resulting in cross-compatible, but self-incompatible, pollination.

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Furan has been described as a carcinogen, being present in numerous food products available to the everyday consumer. The objectives of this study were to determine the formation of furan and its derivatives in 3 model systems during heating, with their contents being determined in selected commercial food products by HS-SPME Arrow coupled with GC/MS/MS. A high accuracy and precision was attained for the method developed in this study.

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Owing to the presence of significant levels of toxic furan compounds reported globally in commercial foods by various food authorities, the objectives of this study were to develop an analytical method for determination of furan and its 10 derivatives in commercial foods using headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME)-Arrow coupled with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Furan and its 10 derivatives were separated within 10 min by employing an HP-5MS capillary column with -furan as the internal standard for quantitation. The most optimal sample weight and extraction time for various commercial food samples, respectively, ranged from 1 to 5 g and 10-15 min depending on the sample variety.

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Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been a useful sensing technique, in which inelastic light scattering can be significantly enhanced by absorbing molecules onto rough metal surfaces or nanoparticles. Although many methods have been developed to prepare SERS substrates, it is still highly desirable and challenging to design SERS substrates, especially with highly ordered and controlled three-dimensional (3D) structures. In this work, we develop novel SERS substrates with regular volcano-shaped polymer structures using the versatile solvent on-film annealing method.

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  • The paper presents a novel low-temperature metallization and laser trimming technique for creating microwave dielectric ceramic filters, using electroless copper plating which avoids issues like clogging seen in traditional silver paste methods.
  • This new process enhances the uniformity and smoothness of the metal inside the filters, reducing the need for individual inspections, thus saving energy and costs.
  • The final product, tuned for a Wi-Fi band of 5.15-5.33 GHz, demonstrated better accuracy and efficiency with laser trimming, achieving optimal performance metrics compared to conventional methods.
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More and more information on tourist spots is being represented as pictures rather than text. Consequently, tourists who are interested in a specific attraction shown in pictures may have no idea how to perform a text search to get more information about the interesting tourist spots. In the view of this problem and to enhance the competitiveness of the tourism market, this research proposes an innovative tourist spot identification mechanism, which is based on deep learning-based object detection technology, for real-time detection and identification of tourist spots by taking pictures on location or retrieving images from the Internet.

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Ciliated muconodular papillary tumor (CMPT) is an uncommon tumor of the lung, usually detected incidentally in the peripheral lung fields on computed tomography. It is most commonly diagnosed in patients between the sixth and last decades of life. The canonical microscopic feature is a tripartite mixture of ciliated columnar, mucous, and basal cells with papillary architecture.

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