23,129 results match your criteria: "'National' Cheng Kung University[Affiliation]"

A compilation of factors over the past decade-including the availability of increasingly large and rich healthcare datasets, advanced technologies to extract unstructured information from health records and digital sources, advancement of principled study design and analytic methods to emulate clinical trials, and frameworks to support transparent study conduct-has ushered in a new era of real-world evidence (RWE). This review article describes the evolution of the RWE era, including pharmacoepidemiologic methods designed to support causal inferences regarding treatment effects, the role of regulators and other health authorities in establishing distributed real-world data networks enabling analytics at scale, and the many global guidance documents on principled methods of producing RWE. This article also highlights the growing opportunity for RWE to support decision making by regulators, health technology assessment groups, clinicians, patients, and other stakeholders and provides examples of influential RWE studies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Clarifying the inceptive pathophysiology of hypertensive heart disease helps to impede the disease progression. Through coarctation of the infrarenal abdominal aorta (AA), we induced hypertension in minipigs and evaluated physiological reactions and morpho-functional changes of the heart. Moderate aortic coarctation was achieved with approximately 30 mmHg systolic pressure gradient in minipigs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Statin use is reported to reduce the risk of Graves' orbitopathy (GO) in Western populations. However, study regarding the protective effect of statins against GO in Asians with Graves' disease (GD) is scarce. This study aims to investigate the efficacy of statins in preventing GO in Asian GD patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Origami is a popular activity among preschool children and can be used by therapists as an evaluation tool to assess children's development in clinical settings. It is easy to implement, appealing to children, and time-efficient, requiring only simple materials-pieces of paper. Furthermore, the products of origami may reflect children's ages and their visual-motor integration (VMI) development.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This multicenter study explored the survival benefits of upfront primary tumor resection (PTR) followed by first-line cetuximab plus chemotherapy in real-world patients with wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Treatment options for mCRC include chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and surgery. The efficacy of upfront PTR in managing mCRC remains unclear.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Mushrooms are considered as nutraceutical foods that can effectively prevent diseases such as cancer and other serious life-threatening conditions include neurodegeneration, hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia. The , also known as the "Golden chanterelle" or "Golden girolle," is a significant wild edible ectomycorrhizal mushroom. It is renowned for its delicious, apricot-like aroma and is highly valued in various culinary traditions worldwide.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Infiltrative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is often associated with an unfavorable prognosis, posing a challenge in determining the optimal therapeutic approach. Immunotherapy, employing immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), has become a preferred first-line treatment for advanced HCC. However, the overall effectiveness of ICIs in patients with infiltrative HCC remains unclear.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Synergistic effect of repurposed mitomycin C in combination with antibiotics against Aeromonas infection: In vitro and in vivo studies.

J Microbiol Immunol Infect

December 2024

Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Department of Oncology, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Department of Internal Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address:

Background: Aeromonas infections pose a significant threat associated with high mortality rates. This study investigates the potential of mitomycin C (MMC), an anticancer drug, as a novel antimicrobial agent against Aeromonas infections.

Methods: We evaluated the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of MMC and antibiotics against clinical Aeromonas isolates using broth microdilution.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Response to comment on "Too early to be different? A multi-institutional study with 30-year follow-up for prognostic factors of completely resected early stage thymoma".

J Formos Med Assoc

January 2025

Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address:

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Possible role of autophagy in microbial volatile pollutant-induced starch degradation and expression of hypoxia responsive genes.

Environ Pollut

January 2025

Department of Life Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Graduate Program in Translational Agricultural Sciences, National Cheng Kung University and Academia Sinica, Taiwan; Institute of Tropical Plant Sciences and Microbiology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address:

Autophagy is thought to be critically involved in the regulation of nutrient metabolism and gene expression. Nevertheless, little is known about its role in regulating starch metabolism and hypoxia responsive genes in plants exposed to microbial volatile pollutants. In the present study, we found that exposure of Arabidopsis to Enterobacter aerogene (E.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Effect of induced extrinsic and intrinsic hand and forearm muscular fatigue on the control of finger force during piano playing.

Hum Mov Sci

January 2025

Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Medical Device Innovation Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address:

This study aimed to investigate the effect of hand muscle fatigue on finger control and force efficiency during piano performance, which is crucial for skilled piano playing among professional pianists engaged in prolonged periods of high-intensity practice or concert preparation. Thirty-one professional pianists were recruited as participants. This study was divided into three sequential experimental parts: pre-fatigue test, fatigue protocol, and post-fatigue test.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

To review the outcomes of patients who underwent repeated vertebroplasty (VP) surgery for adjacent segment fractures (ASF), defined as new osteoporotic vertebral fractures occurring at levels immediately above or below a previously treated vertebra. From 1 January 2018, to 31 December 2020, forty-one patients who developed ASF following initial VP and underwent repeated VP were enrolled in our study. Radiographic measurements included single and two-segment kyphotic angles (SKA and TKA), and anterior and mid-vertebral body height (AVH and MVH).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Residual Vision Transformer and Adaptive Fusion Autoencoders for Monocular Depth Estimation.

Sensors (Basel)

December 2024

Institute of Computer and Communication Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan.

Precision depth estimation plays a key role in many applications, including 3D scene reconstruction, virtual reality, autonomous driving and human-computer interaction. Through recent advancements in deep learning technologies, monocular depth estimation, with its simplicity, has surpassed the traditional stereo camera systems, bringing new possibilities in 3D sensing. In this paper, by using a single camera, we propose an end-to-end supervised monocular depth estimation autoencoder, which contains an encoder with a structure with a mixed convolution neural network and vision transformers and an effective adaptive fusion decoder to obtain high-precision depth maps.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) represents the most prevalent malignancy among head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs). Standard treatment modalities include surgical resection combined with radiation and chemotherapy. However, locoregional failure remains a critical issue affecting the prognosis of OSCC patients, largely due to tumor resistance against radiation or chemotherapy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Recommendation for the use of respiratory syncytial virus vaccines.

J Microbiol Immunol Infect

January 2025

Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Chang Gung Children's Hospital, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University, College of Medicine, Taiwan.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most common pathogen for young children hospitalized with bronchiolitis and pneumonia. Most infections occur below 1 year of age. RSV is also a significant viral pathogen for adults with respiratory tract infection.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Nuclear translocation of RON receptor tyrosine kinase. New mechanistic and functional insights.

Cytokine Growth Factor Rev

January 2025

Center for Precision Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan. Electronic address:

Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are membrane sensors that monitor alterations in the extracellular milieu and translate this information into appropriate cellular responses. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is the most well-known model in which gene expression is upregulated by mitogenic signals through the activation of multiple signaling cascades or by nuclear translocation of the full-length EGFR protein. RON (Receptuer d'Origine Nantatise, also known as macrophage stimulating 1 receptor, MST1R) has recently gained attention as a therapeutic target for human cancer.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Fistula formation after excision of extraperitoneal paravaginal teratoma.

Taiwan J Obstet Gynecol

January 2025

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 704302, Taiwan. Electronic address:

Objective: Mature extragonadal teratomas, particularly at the pelvic extraperitoneal site, are rare. Herein, we report a case of paravaginal teratoma and fistula formation five years post-operation.

Case Report: A 23-year-old woman (G4P3A1) presented with a left paravaginal cystic tumor.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cancer diagnostics often faces challenges, such as invasiveness, high costs, and limited sensitivity for early detection, emphasizing the need for improved approaches. We present a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based platform leveraging inverted pyramid SU-8 nanostructured substrates fabricated via nanoimprint lithography. These substrates, characterized by sharp apices and edges, are further functionalized with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES), enabling the uniform self-assembly of AuNPs to create a highly favorable configuration for enhanced SERS analysis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Understanding ferroelectric domain wall dynamics at the nanoscale across a broad range of timescales requires measuring domain wall position under different applied electric fields. The success of piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) as a tool to apply local electric fields at different positions and imaging their changing position, together with the information obtained from associated switching spectroscopies has fueled numerous studies of the dynamics of ferroelectric domains to determine the impact of intrinsic parameters such as crystalline order, defects and pinning centers, as well as boundary conditions such as environment. However, the investigation of sub-coercive reversible domain wall vibrational modes requires the development of new tools that enable visualizing domain wall motion under varying applied fields with high temporal and spatial resolution while also accounting for spurious electrostatic effects.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Being overweight/having obesity is a prevalent condition not only among the general population but also among individuals with special occupations such as police officers, where fitness is often a necessity. The present study's aim was to assess how much a psychoeducational intervention based on social cognitive theory (SCT) would be helpful for encouraging weight loss behaviors among police officers.

Methods: In a randomized control trial, 102 police officers who were overweight or had obesity voluntarily registered for a weight loss program and were assigned to either an intervention or control group.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Low Versus High Levels of Social Cognition Impairment and Their Associations With Specific Schizophrenia Symptom Domains.

J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci

January 2025

Department of Psychology, Chung Shan Medical University, and Clinical Psychological Room, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan (Huang); Department of Psychology, Fo Guang University, Yilan, Taiwan (Chen); Come a New Halfway House, Taoyuan, Taiwan (Wang); Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital (Kuo, Yang, Tseng), and Institute of Behavioral Medicine (Yang, Tseng), College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.

Objective: Social cognition is defined as the ability to construct mental representations about oneself, others, and one's relationships with others to guide social behaviors, including referring to mental states (cognitive factor) and understanding emotional states (affective factor). Difficulties in social cognition may be symptoms of schizophrenia. The authors examined associations between two factors of social cognition and specific schizophrenia symptoms, as well as a potential path from low-level affective perceptual social cognition to high-level social cognition, which may be associated with schizophrenia symptoms.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: In today's post-truth times, where personal feelings and beliefs have become increasingly important, determining what is accurate knowledge has become an important skill. This is especially important during uncertainty crises (e.g.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Previous cross-sectional studies have utilized scales to explore potential indications of the moderating effect of resilience on the relationship between stressful life events (SLEs) and mental health. However, there remains a notable dearth of psychometrically driven models in longitudinal resilience research, especially concerning the prognosis of individuals with affective disorders and/or anxiety. This study aimed to investigate whether baseline resilience capacity, measured by the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, could mitigate the impact of SLEs on depressive symptoms assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory-II among 66 outpatients with depression and/or anxiety disorders during a follow-up period ranging from 4-8 years.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Conventionally, the size, shape, and biomechanics of cartilages are determined by their voluminous extracellular matrix. By contrast, we found that multiple murine cartilages consist of lipid-filled cells called lipochondrocytes. Despite resembling adipocytes, lipochondrocytes were molecularly distinct and produced lipids exclusively through de novo lipogenesis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF