Publications by authors named "Yu-Ching Peng"

Article Synopsis
  • The study focuses on improving sperm identification during microdissection testicular sperm extraction (mTESE) for patients with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) using machine learning (ML) to enhance touch print smear (TPS) cytology techniques.
  • A total of 176 TPS images were analyzed, with a training set of 118 images and a validation set of 29 images, using a detection framework called RetinaNet to classify various sperm cell types.
  • Results showed high average precision and recall rates for sperm classification, demonstrating that ML can streamline sperm retrieval processes and improve outcomes for NOA patients.
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Background: Immune-mediated diseases (IMDs) after nucleic acid-based vaccines have been sporadically reported since their introduction during the worldwide COVID-19 crisis. Confirming their cause-effect association remains challenging. We analysed the effects of AZD1222 (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19), BNT-162b2, and/or mRNA-1273 on the development &/or deterioration of IMDs in terms of the time of clinical onsets of IMDs after exposure to these vaccines.

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The high heterogeneity and low percentage of neuroendocrine cells in prostate cancer limit the utility of traditional bulk RNA sequencing and even single-cell RNA sequencing to find better biomarkers for early diagnosis and stratification. Re-clustering of specific cell-type holds great promise for identification of intra-cell-type heterogeneity. However, this has not yet been used in studying neuroendocrine prostate cancer heterogeneity.

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The association between REST reduction and the development of neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC), a novel drug-resistant and lethal variant of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), is well established. To better understand the mechanisms underlying this process, we aimed to identify REST-repressed long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) that promote neuroendocrine differentiation (NED), thus facilitating targeted therapy-induced resistance. In this study, we used data from REST knockdown RNA sequencing combined with siRNA screening to determine that LINC01801 was upregulated and played a crucial role in NED in prostate cancer (PCa).

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Article Synopsis
  • The study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) specifically in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), as previous reviews had not focused on this group.
  • A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted, reviewing 30 studies, which found that SGLT2is led to a slower decline in kidney function (measured by eGFR) and significantly improved urine albumin-to-creatinine ratios in CKD patients.
  • While SGLT2is showed potential benefits for kidney health in CKD patients, particularly those with high levels of albuminuria or advanced CKD, there was a slight increase in risks for certain adverse effects like genital infections
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: Probiotic supplementation can prevent and alleviate gastrointestinal and respiratory tract infections in healthy individuals. Markers released from the site of inflammation are involved in the response to infection or tissue injury. Therefore, we measured the pre-exercise and postexercise levels of inflammation-related markers-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-10, interferon (IFN)-γ, salivary immunoglobulin A (IgA), IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, and C-reactive protein (CRP)-in probiotic versus placebo groups to investigate the effects of probiotics on these markers in athletes.

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Microscopic examination of biopsied and resected prostatic specimens is the mainstay in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. However, conventional analysis of hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained tissue is time-consuming and offers limited two-dimensional (2D) information. In the current study, we devised a method-termed rostate apid ptical examination for cancer us (proSTAT)-for rapid screening of prostate cancer using high-resolution 2D and three-dimensional (3D) confocal images obtained after hydrophilic tissue clearing of 100-µm-thick tissue slices.

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The accuracy in diagnosing prostate cancer (PCa) has increased with the development of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI). Biparametric magnetic resonance imaging (bpMRI) was found to have a diagnostic accuracy comparable to mpMRI in detecting PCa. However, prostate MRI assessment relies on human experts and specialized training with considerable inter-reader variability.

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A heightened understanding of hereditary renal cancer syndromes and their molecular basis has led to an increased awareness and recognition of these renal neoplasms by pathologists. Because a diagnosis of hereditary renal cell carcinoma has a profound impact on the patient and family members, when and how to raise such a suspicion via pathologic assessment has become an important yet very challenging task. This review discusses key clinicopathologic, immunohistochemical, and genetic characteristics of hereditary renal cancer syndromes, and important differential diagnostic challenges, emphasizing recent pathologic and molecular advances.

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It is widely appreciated that reactive stroma or carcinoma-associated fibroblasts can influence epithelial tumor progression. In prostate cancer (PCa), the second most common male malignancy worldwide, the amount of reactive stroma is variable and has predictive value for tumor recurrence. By analyzing human PCa protein and RNA expression databases, we found smooth muscle cells (SMCs) are decreased in advanced tumors, whereas fibroblasts are maintained.

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Significant differences, including epidemiologic, clinical, pathologic and genetic, exist between Asian and Caucasian prostate cancer. Detailed pathologic data are, however, scarce. We studied in detail and compared the pathological features of prostate cancer in radical prostatectomy specimens in 228 patients (117 Japan, 111 US).

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The prostate gland plays an important role in male reproduction, and is also an organ prone to diseases such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate cancer. The prostate consists of ducts with an inner layer of epithelium surrounded by stroma. Reciprocal signaling between these two cell compartments is instrumental to normal prostatic development, homeostasis, regeneration, as well as tumor formation.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the role of sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling in the regeneration of the adult mouse prostate, focusing on how it influences both epithelial and stromal cells.
  • Researchers utilized in vivo mouse genetics to characterize different prostate stromal subtypes and discovered that SHH signals from basal epithelial cells to nearby stromal cells.
  • The findings suggest that specific stromal cells, especially those expressing Gli1, play a crucial role in self-renewal during prostate regeneration, indicating that SHH signaling impacts multiple stromal stem cells, which are primarily unipotent.
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