Prognostic value of a lactate metabolism gene signature in lung adenocarcinoma and its associations with immune checkpoint blockade therapy response.

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a study that examines the prognostic value of lactate metabolism genes in tumor cells, which are associated with clinical prognosis. We analyzed the expression and clinical data for LUAD from The Cancer Genome Atlas database, using the GSE68465 dataset from the Gene Expression Omnibus and the MSigDB database. LASSO Cox regression and stepwise Cox regression were used to identify the optimal lactate metabolism gene signature.

The safety and immunogenicity to inactivated COVID-19 vaccine in patients with hyperlipemia.

It is of urgent need to understand the safety and effectiveness of novel coronavirus (COVID-19)-inactivated vaccine in patients with hyperlipidemia (HLD). However, data on the safety and immune response of SARS-CoV-2-inactivated vaccine in HLD patients are limited. In this prospective study, 105 patients with HLD and 74 healthy controls (HCs) were selected.

[Distribution and Environmental Significance of Rare Earth Elements in Typical Protected Vegetable Soil, Northern China].

The concentrations of rare earth elements (REEs) in protected vegetable soils in Wuqing district of Tianjin City, Jinzhong district of Shanxi Province, Shenyang district of Liaoning Province, and Wulanchabu district of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in northern China were measured to analyze the change characteristics of soil REEs in the process of protected vegetable cultivation. Additionally, we sought to use the REEs parameters to trace the feasibility of characterizing the interference of human activities on the soil ecological environment. The results showed that the total content of REEs (REE) in the topsoil of protected vegetable fields ranged from 146.

Effect of air pollution on health care expenditure: Evidence from respiratory diseases.

Recent reports show that at least 95% of the world's population is breathing polluted air. However, the impact of air quality on air pollution-related medical expenditure and utilization is sparse. This study estimates the short-term health care cost impacts of air pollution using a meteorological phenomenon-thermal inversion-as an instrumental variable for air quality.

Understanding profit margins of medical providers from prescription drugs: evidence from Taiwan.

Background: This study empirically estimates the magnitude and associated determinants of profit margins that medical providers earn from prescription drugs based on Taiwan's pharmaceutical market.

Methods: Our main data set is from the population-based claims data compiled by the National Health Insurance Research Database covering three waves of price adjustment: July-December 2004, October 2007-September 2008 and October 2009-September 2010. Only drugs whose reimbursement prices were adjusted using the R-zone formula were used as samples for this study.

[Synergistic Effect of 2-deoxy-D-glucose Combined with Hydroxycamptothecin on Apoptosis of Breast Cancer Cells].

Objective: To investigate the effect of 2-deoxy-d-glucose (2-DG) combined with hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT) on anti-tumor activity of breast cancer cells and its mechanism.

Methods: MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells were incubated with varying concentrations of 2-DG (0, 1.25, 2.

Down-Regulation of Laminin (LN)- α5 is Associated with Preeclampsia and Impairs Trophoblast Cell Viability and Invasiveness Through PI3K Signaling Pathway.

Background/aims: Preeclampsia (PE) is a gestational disorder defined as hypertension and proteinuria, which is deemed a major cause of maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression patterns of placental laminin (LN)-α5 expression in normal and PE pregnancies, as well as evaluating the effects of LN-α5 on trophoblast proliferation, apoptosis, and invasion.

Methods: LN-α5 expression levels were examined by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and further confirmed by western blotting and immunofluorescence staining.

[Effect of SRC Kinase on Adriamycin Resistance and Invasion and Metastasis in Human Breast Cancer Cells].

Objective: To investigate the role of SRC kinase inhibitor PP2 in drug resistance to adriamycin (ADM) in breast cancer cells and invasion, metastasis of cells.

Methods: MTT assay was used to detect the inhibitory effect of ADM on MCF-7 and MCF-7/ADM cells. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC) and resistance index (RI) of cells were calculated.

Exploring the relationship between nursing hours per patient day and mortality rate of hospitalised patients in Taiwan.

Aim: To investigate the relationship between nursing hours per patient day and the inpatient mortality rate in Taiwan.

Background: Nursing hours per patient day has been associated with better patient outcomes. The literature is inconclusive on the relationship between nursing hours per patient day and the inpatient mortality rate, and no studies have yet examined this issue in Taiwan.

Comparative cost-effectiveness of metformin-based dual therapies associated with risk of cardiovascular diseases among Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes: Evidence from a population-based national cohort in Taiwan.

Objective: To assess the cost-effectiveness of metformin-based dual therapies associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in a Chinese population with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: We utilized Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) 1997-2011, which is derived from the claims of National Health Insurance, a mandatory-enrollment single-payer system that covers over 99% of Taiwan's population. Four metformin-based dual therapy cohorts were used, namely a reference group of metformin plus sulfonylureas (Metformin-SU) and metformin plus acarbose, metformin plus thiazolidinediones (Metformin-TZD), and metformin plus glinides (Metformin-glinides).

Multistimuli-Responsive Luminescence of Naphthalazine Based on Aggregation-Induced Emission.

Stimuli-responsive luminescent materials, which are dependent on changes in physical molecular packing modes, have attracted more and more interest over the past ten years. In this study, 2,2-dihydroxy-1,1-naphthalazine was synthesized and shown to exhibit different fluorescence emission in solution and solid states with characteristic aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties. A remarkable change in the fluorescence of 2,2-dihydroxy-1,1-naphthalazine occurred upon mechanical grinding, heating, or exposure to solvents.

Choice of generic versus brand-name antidepressants in a regulated prescription drug market: evidence from Taiwan.

Background: A health care system in which there is no separation between prescription and dispensation, combined with a regulated prescription drug market, leads to various generic substitution mechanisms for antidepressants.

Aims Of The Study: We investigated the determinants of generic versus brand-name antidepressant choices in a regulated prescription market where physicians both prescribe and dispense drugs.

Methods: Using data from a sample of one million individuals selected randomly from the registry of National Health Insurance beneficiaries in 2010, and all claims for these one million enrollees between January 1997 and December 2011, we employed logistic regression to examine the choice of generic versus brand-name antidepressants in the Taiwanese prescription drug market.

Turn-on phosphorescent chemodosimeter for Hg2+ based on a cyclometalated Ir(III) complex and its application in time-resolved luminescence assays and live cell imaging.

A novel "turn-on" phosphorescent chemodosimeter based on a cyclometalated Ir(III) complex has been designed and synthesized, which displays high selectivity and sensitivity toward Hg(2+) in aqueous media with a broad pH range of 4-10. Furthermore, by time-resolved photoluminescence techniques, some interferences from the short-lived background fluorescence can be eliminated effectively and the signal-to-noise ratio of the emission detection can be improved distinctly by using the chemodosimeter. Finally, the chemodosimeter can be used to monitor Hg(2+) effectively in living cells by confocal luminescence imaging.

High expression of beta2-glycoprotein I is associated significantly with the earliest stages of hepatitis B virus infection.

Human beta2-glycoprotein I (beta2-GPI) binds to recombinant hepatitis B surface antigen (rHBsAg) and can bind specifically to annexin II, which is located on the cell membrane of human hepatoma SMMC-7721 cells. Viral envelope proteins are essential for mediating cellular entry. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of beta2-GPI in the early stages of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

Determinants of generic entry in the regulated Taiwanese prescription drug market.

Objectives: This paper investigates the determinants of generic entry in the regulated Taiwanese prescription drug market, where physicians both prescribe and dispense drugs.

Methods: Using a sample of 29 ingredients and a population claim data set from 1997-2007, we employ the negative binomial regression to empirically examine the determinants of generic entry in Taiwan.

Results: This study finds that the lagged number of competitors, market size, and market share of large-scale medical providers affect generic entry.

Synthesis and characterization of para-pyridine linked NHC palladium complexes and their studies for the Heck-Mizoroki coupling reaction.

This paper describes the synthesis of 1-(pyridine-4-ylmethyl) NHC and their Pd(II) and Ag(I) complexes, which are fully characterized. Interestingly, we have also synthesized a Pd complex 3a-CO(3) using a more direct treatment of K(2)CO(3) with PdCl(2). 3a-CO(3) represents the first reported solid structure of a Pd η(2)-carbonato complex stabilized by an NHC framework.

Regulation and competition in the Taiwanese pharmaceutical market under national health insurance.

This article investigates the determinants of the prices of pharmaceuticals and their impact on the demand for prescription drugs in the context of Taiwan's pharmaceutical market where medical providers earn profit directly from prescribing and dispensing drugs. Based on product-level data, we find evidence that the profit-seeking behavior of the medical providers in the prescription drug market transfers the force of competition from the unregulated wholesale market to the regulated retail market and hence market competition still plays an important role in the determination of the regulated price. We also find that the profit-seeking behavior plays a similar role to advertising in that it increases the brand loyalty and hence lowers price elasticity.

Availability, health-care costs, and utilization patterns of biologics in Taiwan.

Objective: To provide an overview of the use of biologics in Taiwan, including the access to new biologics, the impact of this access on the growth of health-care expenditure, and the utilization patterns.

Methods: We first conducted a market-level analysis to investigate the availability of global biologics in Taiwan as well as the growth and concentration of aggregate spending on biologics. We then conducted a patient-level analysis to investigate the costs and utilization patterns for selected new biologics.

Endogenous technological change in medicine and its impact on healthcare costs: evidence from the pharmaceutical market in Taiwan.

Although the technological change in medicine has been recognized widely as the major driver of rising healthcare costs, there is very little research that estimates this effect directly. This paper uses both a single-equation and a simultaneous equations approach to investigate empirically the interactive relationship between technological innovation and the growth of health expenditure in the context of the pharmaceutical market in Taiwan. Based on observing 182 therapeutic groups between 1997 and 2006, we find evidence to support the argument that technological innovation and health expenditure are determined simultaneously as technological innovation, and that the growth of health expenditure are endogenous rather than exogenous.

Two new triterpenoids from Lysimachia heterogenea Klatt and evaluation of their cytotoxicity.

Two new 13,28-epoxy oleanane-type triterpenoids, namely heterogenoside E and F, were isolated from Lysimachia heterogenea Klatt, together with the eight known compounds: palmitic acid, β-stigmasterol, kaempferol, quercetin, hyperin, isorhamnetin, isorhamnetin-3-O-galactopyranoside and anagallisin C. Heterogenoside F possesses acetoxyl groups at the unusual C-21 and C-22 positions of its oleanane skeleton. The cytotoxic activities of anagallisin C, heterogenoside E and F were weak.

New drugs and the growth of health expenditure: evidence from diabetic patients in Taiwan.

This paper contributes to the growing body of literature that debates whether the adoption of pharmaceutical innovation increases the overall expenditure on health care. By examining data obtained from Taiwan and focusing on diabetic patients, we use a new class of drugs, namely, thiazolidinediones, as an example to investigate the effect on health expenditure of prescribing new drugs to patients by focusing on the impact of treatment substitution and treatment expansion. Overall, our results indicate that the introduction of new drugs mainly impacts the outpatient drug expenditure and does not give rise to any offsetting effect on other outpatient and inpatient health expenditures.

The determinants of the adoption of pharmaceutical innovation: evidence from Taiwan.

In recent years, a substantial amount of technological progress in medicine has taken the form of pharmaceutical innovation. This paper uses the launch of a series of new drugs designed for treating type 2 diabetic patients as an example to investigate the determinants that affect the diffusion of new medical technology. Based on prescription-level data that are obtained from the national health insurance program in Taiwan, we find that the probability of prescribing new drugs declines as more competing products enter the pharmaceutical market.