Cross-cultural translation and validation of the Chinese version Distress Tolerance Scale for adolescents with chronic physical disease.

Introduction: Chronic physical disease (CPD) makes life filled with many negative events in adolescents, but not all adolescents experiencing negative life events proceed to develop emotional distress, only those with low emotional distress tolerance (EDT). A valid and reliable scale to measure EDT in CPD adolescents is important for caring for their emotional distress. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to translate the 15-item English version Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS) into a Chinese version and then validate the scale for measuring EDT of adolescents with CPD.

Attributes, Quality, and Downloads of Dementia-Related Mobile Apps for Patients With Dementia and Their Caregivers: App Review and Evaluation Study.

Background: The adoption of mobile health (mHealth) apps among older adults (>65 years) is rapidly increasing. However, use of such apps has not been fully effective in supporting people with dementia and their caregivers in their daily lives. This is mainly attributed to the heterogeneous quality of mHealth apps, highlighting the need for improved app quality in the development of dementia-related mHealth apps.

Investigation of the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) gut microbiome and entomopathogenic fungus-induced pathobiome.

The gut microflora plays an important role in insect development and physiology. The gut bacterial microbiome of the fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, in both cornfield and laboratory-reared populations was investigated using a 16S metagenomic approach. The alpha- and beta-diversity of the cornfield FAW populations varied among sampling sites and were higher than those of the laboratory-reared FAW population, indicating that different diets and environments influence the gut bacterial composition.

Whole-genome DNA methylome analysis of different developmental stages of the entomopathogenic fungus NCHU-157 by nanopore sequencing.

The entomopathogenic fungus (EPF), is an important and commonly used EPF for microbial control. However, the role of DNA methylation has not been thoroughly studied. Therefore, the whole genomic DNA methylome of one promising EPF isolate, NCHU-157 (Bb-NCHU-157), was investigated by Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT).

Transcriptome of and Upregulated Microsporidia Genes during Its Infection of Western Honey Bee ().

is one of the fungal parasites of . It causes physical and behavioral effects in honey bees. However, only a few studies have reported on gene expression profiling during infection.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Villiard, 1969 (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae).

The complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of (Villiard, 1969) is 15,280 bp in length, with the typical gene content and arrangement usually observed in Insecta. It contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, and one AT-rich region. The overall nucleotide composition of the mitogenome was 39.

Transcriptome-level assessment of the impact of deformed wing virus on honey bee larvae.

Deformed wing virus (DWV) prevalence is high in honey bee (Apis mellifera) populations. The virus infects honey bees through vertical and horizontal transmission, leading to behavioural changes, wing deformity, and early mortality. To better understand the impacts of viral infection in the larval stage of honey bees, artificially reared honey bee larvae were infected with DWV (1.

Comparison of gut microbiota of healthy and diseased walking sticks, Phasmotaenia lanyuhensis.

Research on gut microbiota of phytophagous insects has shown to be important for the physiological functions of insect hosts; however, little is known about the changes in gut microbiota when they are suffering from environmental stress or pathogen infections. During rearing of Phasmotaenia lanyuhensis (Phasmatodea: Phasmatidae), sluggish locomotion was usually followed by the death of the insect with a symptom of melanization in the front part of the abdomen. Therefore, the abnormal individuals were initially classified into moribund, light- and serious-symptom based on the level of abnormal physiological circumstances and melanization.

Comprehensive Cohort Analysis of Mutational Spectrum in Early Onset Breast Cancer Patients.

Early onset breast cancer (EOBC), diagnosed at age ~40 or younger, is associated with a poorer prognosis and higher mortality rate compared to breast cancer diagnosed at age 50 or older. EOBC poses a serious threat to public health and requires in-depth investigation. We studied a cohort comprising 90 Taiwanese female patients, aiming to unravel the underlying mechanisms of EOBC etiopathogenesis.

Genomic sequencing of Troides aeacus nucleopolyhedrovirus (TraeNPV) from golden birdwing larvae (Troides aeacus formosanus) to reveal defective Autographa californica NPV genomic features.

Background: The golden birdwing butterfly (Troides aeacus formosanus) is a rarely observed species in Taiwan. Recently, a typical symptom of nuclear polyhedrosis was found in reared T. aeacus larvae.

Single cell transcriptome analysis of MCF-7 reveals consistently and inconsistently expressed gene groups each associated with distinct cellular localization and functions.

Single cell transcriptome (SCT) analysis provides superior resolution to illustrate tumor cell heterogeneity for clinical implications. We characterized four SCTs of MCF-7 using 143 housekeeping genes (HKGs) as control, of which lactate dehydrogenase B (LDHB) expression is silenced. These SCT libraries mapped to 11,423, 11,486, 10,380, and 11,306 RefSeq genes (UCSC), respectively.

Analysis of microbial sequences in plasma cell-free DNA for early-onset breast cancer patients and healthy females.

Background: Cell-free circulating DNA (cfDNA) is becoming a useful biopsy for noninvasive diagnosis of diseases. Microbial sequences in plasma cfDNA may provide important information to improve prognosis and treatment. We have developed a stringent method to identify microbial species via microbial cfDNA in the blood plasma of early-onset breast cancer (EOBC) patients and healthy females.

T Oligo-Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction (TOP-PCR): A Robust Method for the Amplification of Minute DNA Fragments in Body Fluids.

Body fluid DNA sequencing is a powerful noninvasive approach for the diagnosis of genetic defects, infectious agents and diseases. The success relies on the quantity and quality of the DNA samples. However, numerous clinical samples are either at low quantity or of poor quality due to various reasons.

Predominant structural configuration of natural antibody repertoires enables potent antibody responses against protein antigens.

Humoral immunity against diverse pathogens is rapidly elicited from natural antibody repertoires of limited complexity. But the organizing principles underlying the antibody repertoires that facilitate this immunity are not well-understood. We used HER2 as a model immunogen and reverse-engineered murine antibody response through constructing an artificial antibody library encoded with rudimentary sequence and structural characteristics learned from high throughput sequencing of antibody variable domains.

Complete Taiwanese Macaque (Macaca cyclopis) Mitochondrial Genome: Reference-Assisted de novo Assembly with Multiple k-mer Strategy.

The Taiwanese (Formosan) macaque (Macaca cyclopis) is the only nonhuman primate endemic to Taiwan. This primate species is valuable for evolutionary studies and as subjects in medical research. However, only partial fragments of the mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of this primate species have been sequenced, not mentioning its nuclear genome.

Palindromic sequence impedes sequencing-by-ligation mechanism.

Background: Current next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms adopt two types of sequencing mechanisms: by synthesis or by ligation. The former is employed by 454 and Solexa systems, while the latter by SOLiD system. Although the pros and cons for each sequencing mechanism have more or less been discussed in a number of occasions, the potential obstacle imposed by palindromic sequences has not yet been addressed.

Electron transport in high-resistance semiconductor nanowires through two-probe measurements.

Since the successful fabrication of semiconductor nanowires, various techniques have been developed to contact these nanowires and to probe their intrinsic electrical properties. Although many novel quasi one-dimensional materials such as Pb(1 - x)Mn(x)Se nanoarrays were recently produced, their intrinsic electron transport properties have not been extensively studied so far. In this work, we demonstrate that an ordinary source-drain configuration of field-effect transistors or the two-probe measurement can be applied to the exploration of the intrinsic properties of nanowires.