Fucoidan from Sargassum hemiphyllum inhibits the stemness of cancer stem cells and epithelial-mesenchymal transitions in bladder cancer cells.

A variety of anticancer activities have been established for fucoidan from brown algae, whereas whether cancer stem cells (CSCs) are inhibited by sulfated polysaccharides is unexplored. In this study, fucoidan extracted from Sargassum hemiphyllum was showed heat stable and might tolerate 140 °C treatment. Fucoidan did not exhibit cytotoxicity in 5637 and T24 bladder cancer cells.

Antibody blockade of Dectin-2 suppresses house dust mite-induced Th2 cytokine production in dendritic cell- and monocyte-depleted peripheral blood mononuclear cell co-cultures from asthma patients.

Background: Dectin-2, which is a C-type lectin, interacts with the house dust mite (HDM) Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus allergen. This study aimed to investigate whether Dectin-2 blockade by antagonistic monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) attenuates HDM-induced allergic responses.

Methods: Two anti-Dectin-2 MoAbs were generated and validated for specific binding to Dectin-2 Fc fusion protein (Dectin-2.

Soluble epoxide hydrolase in the human placenta throughout gestation.

Objective: To investigate the spatial and temporal changes of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) in the human placenta throughout gestation and to study the effects of hypoxia-reoxygenation (HR) on the expression of sEH in villous explants in vitro.

Materials And Methods: Placental samples were obtained from women of different gestation and grouped as early (8-12 weeks, n = 10), mid- (16-28 weeks, n = 6), and late gestation (38-39 weeks, n = 10) according to gestational age. Immunohistochemistry, western blot, and real-time quantitative PCR were used to assess the cellular distribution and temporal changes of sEH.

Biological Effects of Chitosan-Based Dressing on Hemostasis Mechanism.

There have been numerous recent advances in wound care management. Nevertheless, the assessment of hemostatic dressing is essential to enable surgeons and other physicians and healthcare professionals to make the correct decisions regarding the disposition of severe hemorrhage. Here, we investigated the relative efficacies of chitosan-based and conventional gauze dressings in a rat model of femoral artery hemorrhage and in patients with surgical wounds.

Bioapplications of Bacterial Cellulose Polymers Conjugated with Resveratrol for Epithelial Defect Regeneration.

Excellent wound dressing is essential for effective wound repair and regeneration. However, natural polymeric skin substitutes often lack mechanical strength and hydrophilicity. One way to overcome this limitation is to use biodegradable polymers with high mechanical strength and low skin-irritation induction in wet environments.

A comparison of the efficacy of carbetocin and oxytocin on hemorrhage-related changes in women with cesarean deliveries for different indications.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of carbetocin and oxytocin on hemorrhage-related changes in women with cesarean deliveries (CS) for different indications.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 1568 women with CS before labor onset (elective CS, n = 1153) or during labor (intrapartum CS, n = 415) after 24 weeks' gestation. We compared the fall in hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (Hct) levels after CS, estimated blood loss, the need for additional uterotonic agents, blood transfusion, and the rate of postpartum hemorrhage between women with carbetocin and women with oxytocin treatment, stratified by indications for CS.

Hybrid Viabahn-Assisted Bypass for Long Femoro-Popliteal Occlusive Disease - Midterm Results.

Background: Endovascular therapy has become the first-line treatment for most peripheral artery diseases, but re-entry into the true lumen is not always possible, particularly in some cases of chronic total occlusion (CTO). We previously reported a novel hybrid Viabahn-assisted bypass (VAB) technique to facilitate revascularization of the femoro-popliteal CTO. This study assessed the midterm results of VAB technique.

Risk of abnormal fetal growth in women with early- and late-onset preeclampsia.

Objectives: To investigate the risks of delivering small-for-gestational-age (SGA) and large-for-gestational-age (LGA) infants in women with early- (delivered before 34weeks of gestation) and late-onset (delivered at or after 34weeks of gestation) preeclampsia.

Study Design: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 29,494 singleton deliveries after 24weeks' gestation, excluding pregnancies complicated by fetal anomalies, stillbirths, and prepregnancy diabetes mellitus. Univariate and multivariate logistic analyses adjusted for potential confounding factors, including prepregnancy body mass index (BMI), gestational weight gain (GWG), and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), were performed.

Micronized progesterone pretreatment affects the inflammatory response of human gestational tissues and the cervix to lipopolysaccharide stimulation.

Introduction: Vaginal administration of micronized progesterone (utrogestan capsule, UG) reduces the risk of preterm birth (PTB) in asymptomatic women with a sonographic short cervix at mid-trimester or with a prior history of spontaneous PTB; however, its exact mechanisms remain unclear. We hypothesized that UG limits the inflammatory processes within the gestational tissues and the cervix.

Methods: Fetal membranes and villous tissues were obtained from normal term placentas from women with cesarean delivery before labor onset.

The assessment of host and bacterial proteins in sputum from active pulmonary tuberculosis.

Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The protein composition of sputum may reflect the immune status of the lung. This study aimed to evaluate the protein profiles in spontaneous sputum samples from patients with active pulmonary TB.

Serum decoy receptor 3 is a biomarker for disease severity in nonatopic asthma patients.

Background/purpose: Decoy receptor 3 (DcR3), a soluble receptor of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily, is a pleiotropic immunomodulator. The aim of this study was to investigate serum DcR3 levels in atopic and nonatopic asthma patients.

Methods: The serum DcR3 levels of 70 adults with asthma and 20 healthy controls were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Gestational weight gain and risks for adverse perinatal outcomes: A retrospective cohort study based on the 2009 Institute of Medicine guidelines.

Objective: To investigate perinatal outcomes according to the 2009 Institute of Medicine (IOM) gestational weight gain (GWG) guidelines.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted among all term, singleton, live births to women who delivered at the Taipei Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan between 2009 and 2014. Women were categorized into three groups based on prepregnancy body mass index and GWG relative to the IOM guidelines.

Contemporary second stage labor patterns in Taiwanese women with normal neonatal outcomes.

Objective: To compare the duration of second stage labor among modern Taiwanese women who achieved vaginal delivery without adverse neonatal outcomes and women who delivered during the early 1990 s.

Materials And Methods: Data were collected from women who underwent spontaneous labor and vaginally delivered cephalic singleton fetuses with normal neonatal outcomes at the Taipei Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan from 1991-1995 (Cohort 1, n = 10,721) and 2010-2014 (Cohort 2, n = 3734). We calculated the median duration and 95th percentiles of second stage labor.

Infantile form of muscle phosphofructokinase deficiency in a premature neonate.

Muscle phosphofructokinase (PFK) deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive disease. We report the case of a preterm female infant who was diagnosed with the infantile form of phosphofructokinase deficiency due to a lack of PFK activity in her muscles, manifesting at a corrected age of 1 month as floppy infant syndrome, congenital joint contracture, cleft palate and duplication of the pelvicalyceal system. She died at a corrected age of 6 months due to respiratory failure.

Association of circadian genes with diurnal blood pressure changes and non-dipper essential hypertension: a genetic association with young-onset hypertension.

Recent studies have suggested that circadian genes have important roles in maintaining the circadian rhythm of the cardiovascular system. However, the associations between diurnal BP changes and circadian genes remain undetermined. We conducted a genetic association study of young-onset hypertension, in which 24-h ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring was performed.

Hyperhomocysteinemia in patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy: a case control study.

Purpose: To determine whether elevated plasma homocysteine and serum high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels, two established risk factors of vascular diseases, are associated with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).

Design: Retrospective case-control study.

Methods: One hundred and nineteen consecutive patients with PCV and 119 matched controls were enrolled in a tertiary hospital from September 2008 to June 2013.

Gene expression profiling of colorectal tumors and normal mucosa by microarrays meta-analysis using prediction analysis of microarray, artificial neural network, classification, and regression trees.

Background: Microarray technology shows great potential but previous studies were limited by small number of samples in the colorectal cancer (CRC) research. The aims of this study are to investigate gene expression profile of CRCs by pooling cDNA microarrays using PAM, ANN, and decision trees (CART and C5.0).

A novel SNP associated with nighttime pulse pressure in young-onset hypertension patients could be a genetic prognostic factor for cardiovascular events in a general cohort in Taiwan.

Background: Pulse pressure (PP) is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. It has been reported that ambulatory blood pressure (BP) and nighttime BP parameters are heritable traits. However, the genetic association of pulse pressure and its clinical impact remain undetermined.

Isolation, characterization, and molecular modeling of a rheumatoid factor from a Hepatitis C virus infected patient with Sjögren's syndrome.

We have previously isolated several IgG rheumatoid factors (RFs) from patients with both rheumatoid arthritis and idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura using phage display system. To study IgG RFs in patients with other autoimmune diseases, phage display antibody libraries from a hepatitis C virus infected patient with Sjögren's syndrome were constructed. After panning, a specific clone RFL11 was isolated for characterization in advance.

Autophagy in the human placenta throughout gestation.

Background: Autophagy has been reported to be essential for pre-implantation development and embryo survival. However, its role in placental development and regulation of autophagy during pregnancy remain unclear. The aims of this study were to (1) study autophagy by characterizing changes in levels of beclin-1, DRAM, and LC3B in human placenta throughout gestation; (2) determine whether autophagy is involved in regulation of trophoblast invasion in JEG-3 cells (a choriocarcinoma cell line); (3) examine the effects of reduced oxygen and glucose on the autophagic changes; and (4) investigate the effect of reoxygenation and supplementation of glucose after oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) on the autophagic changes in primary cytotrophoblasts obtained from normal term pregnancy.

Deleterious effects of aggressive rapid crystalloid resuscitation on treatment of hyperinflammatory response and lung injury induced by hemorrhage in aging rats.

Background: Large-volume, rapid crystalloid infusion may increase endothelial cell damage and induce shear stress, potentially leading to multiple-organ dysfunction syndrome. Limited guideline data for fluid administration are currently available, especially for the aging population. The aim of the present study was to compare the degree of organ damage in conscious aging rats when different resuscitation speeds were used during the treatment of hemorrhagic shock (HS).

Calcium flux and calpain-mediated activation of the apoptosis-inducing factor contribute to enterovirus 71-induced apoptosis.

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is a causative agent of an array of childhood diseases with severe neurological manifestations implicated. EV71 infection is known to induce caspase-dependent apoptosis in cell cultures and animal models. However, whether an alternative apoptotic pathway independent of caspase activation can be triggered by EV71 infection has not been explored.

Comparison of clinical results of surgical treatment for unstable distal clavicle fractures by transacromial pins with and without tension band wire.

Background: An unstable distal clavicle fracture (Neer type II) is an indication that surgical intervention is required. Numerous treatment options have been introduced, but there is no gold standard.

Methods: We report on our experience of 29 consecutive cases, between 2002 and 2008, of acute unstable distal clavicle fracture (Neer type II) and operative treatment using transacromial pins with tension band wire, and compare the use of this treatment with that of traditional transacromial Kirschner wire fixation.

Balance outcomes after additional sit-to-stand training in subjects with stroke: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of sit-to-stand training in individuals with stroke.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Rehabilitation medical centre.