| 21. |
- Hsu, Yu-Hsuan, et al.
(author)
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epsilon-Ga2O3 Grown on c-Plane Sapphire by MOCVD with a Multistep Growth Process
- 2022
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In: Crystal Growth & Design. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 1528-7483 .- 1528-7505. ; 22:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) has especially become popular because of its established applications in semiconductors. Of five polymorphs, monoclinic beta-Ga2O3 is the most thermodynamically stable phase. However, orthorhombic Ga2O3 (also known as epsilon-Ga2O3 or kappa-Ga2O3) is gaining increasing interest due to its high lattice symmetry and peculiar ferroelectricity. Although the structural approach for estimating Ga2O3 has been studied both theoretically and experimentally, epsilon-Ga2O3 and kappa-Ga2O3 are still confused. In this study, epsilon-Ga2O3 epilayers are grown on c-plane sapphire by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition with a multistep growth process. A thin annealed epsilon-Ga2O3 buffer layer is grown in the first step. The sequent growth steps with slow, fast, or combination of slow then fast growth rate significantly influence the quality of epilayers compared with that of directly grown Ga2O3. Through a detailed transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization of these Ga2O3 epilayers, the structural relationship between orthorhombic kappa-Ga2O3 and hexagonal epsilon-Ga2O3 is elucidated. A series of first-principles density functional theory calculations are also carried out to confirm the argument.
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| 22. |
- Huang, Jih-Kai, et al.
(author)
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Decreased levels of perfluoroalkyl substances in patients receiving hemodialysis treatment
- 2023
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In: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 896
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been reported to be harmful to multiple organs in the human body. Based on a previous study suggesting that hemodialysis (HD) may be a means of eliminating PFAS from the human body, we aimed to compare the serum PFAS concentrations of patients undergoing regular HD, patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and controls. Additionally, we also investigated the correlation between PFAS and biochemical data, as well as concurrent comorbidities. We recruited 301 participants who had been on maintenance dialysis for >90 days, 20 participants with stage 5 non-dialysis CKD, and 55 control participants who did not have a diagnosis of kidney disease, with a mean creatinine level of 0.77 mg/dl. Eight different PFAS, namely perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), total and linear perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), and perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnDA), were measured using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Spearman correlation and multivariable linear regression with 5 % false discovery rate were used to evaluate the relationships between PFAS and clinical parameters in HD patients and controls. Circulating concentrations of seven PFAS, including total and linear PFOS (T-PFOS and L-PFOS) PFDA, PFNA, PFHxS, PFOA, and PFUnDA, were significantly lower in the HD group compared to the CKD and control group. For the interplay between biochemical data and PFAS, all of the studied PFAS were positively correlated with aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, glucose, blood urea nitrogen, ferritin, and vitamin D in the controls, while in HD patients, the PFAS were all positively correlated with albumin, uric acid, iron, and vitamin D. These findings may offer valuable insights for future studies seeking to eliminate PFAS.
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| 23. |
- Huang, Wen-Yi, et al.
(author)
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Effectiveness of using calligraphic activity to treat people with schizophrenia : a randomized controlled trial in Southern Taiwan
- 2022
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In: THERAPEUTIC ADVANCES IN CHRONIC DISEASE. - : Sage Publications. - 2040-6223 .- 2040-6231. ; 13
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Prior research has shown preliminary evidence that calligraphy activity improves various body functions and decreases severity of psychotic symptoms in individuals with schizophrenia. However, major limitations of earlier studies include small and heterogeneous samples. The current large-scale randomized controlled trial examined effects of calligraphy activity on cognition (including attention), emotions, psychotic symptoms, quality of life, and mood in people with schizophrenia. Methods: One-hundred-and-fifty patients with schizophrenia were randomly allocated to the treatment group (receiving calligraphy activity) or the control group (receiving general activity), both of which lasted for 24weeks (70 minutes per session; one session per week). Assessments were conducted at pretest, posttest, and three-month follow-up. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Chu's Attention Test, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, World Health Questionnaire on the Quality of Life-Brief Form, and Visual Analogue Scale were used. Results: Improved cognition and attention were found in both groups, although no group effects were shown. The treatment group appeared to show lower severity of positive symptoms at follow-up than posttest, whereas the control group appeared to show the opposite pattern. Improved mood was found in the treatment group. Conclusion: This study provides evidence regarding effects of calligraphy activity on increasing cognition and potentially decreasing severity of positive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. Calligraphy activity can be incorporated in clinical occupational therapy and may be provided to supplement medication treatment.
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| 24. |
- Huang, Yi Shu, et al.
(author)
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Pharmacological modulation of T cell immunity results in long-term remission of autoimmune arthritis
- 2021
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In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 1091-6490. ; 118:19
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Chronic inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis are characterized by a deficit in fully functional regulatory T cells. DNA-methylation inhibitors have previously been shown to promote regulatory T cell responses and, in the present study, we evaluated their potential to ameliorate chronic and acute animal models of rheumatoid arthritis. Of the drugs tested, decitabine was the most effective, producing a sustained therapeutic effect that was dependent on indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) and was associated with expansion of induced regulatory T cells, particularly at the site of disease activity. Treatment with decitabine also caused apoptosis of Th1 and Th17 cells in active arthritis in a highly selective manner. The molecular basis for this selectivity was shown to be ENT1, a nucleoside transporter, which facilitates intracellular entry of the drug and is up-regulated on effector T cells during active arthritis. It was further shown that short-term treatment with decitabine resulted in the generation of a population of regulatory T cells that were able to suppress arthritis upon adoptive transfer. In summary, a therapeutic approach using an approved drug is described that treats active inflammatory disease effectively and generates robust regulatory T cells with the IDO-dependent capacity to maintain remission.
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| 25. |
- Jin, Ying-Hui, et al.
(author)
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Chemoprophylaxis, diagnosis, treatments, and discharge management of COVID-19 : An evidence-based clinical practice guideline (updated version)
- 2020
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In: Military Medical Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2054-9369. ; 7:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of a rapidly spreading illness, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), affecting more than seventeen million people around the world. Diagnosis and treatment guidelines for clinicians caring for patients are needed. In the early stage, we have issued "A rapid advice guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infected pneumonia (standard version)"; now there are many direct evidences emerged and may change some of previous recommendations and it is ripe for develop an evidence-based guideline. We formed a working group of clinical experts and methodologists. The steering group members proposed 29 questions that are relevant to the management of COVID-19 covering the following areas: chemoprophylaxis, diagnosis, treatments, and discharge management. We searched the literature for direct evidence on the management of COVID-19, and assessed its certainty generated recommendations using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Recommendations were either strong or weak, or in the form of ungraded consensus-based statement. Finally, we issued 34 statements. Among them, 6 were strong recommendations for, 14 were weak recommendations for, 3 were weak recommendations against and 11 were ungraded consensus-based statement. They covered topics of chemoprophylaxis (including agents and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) agents), diagnosis (including clinical manifestations, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respiratory tract specimens, IgM and IgG antibody tests, chest computed tomography, chest x-ray, and CT features of asymptomatic infections), treatments (including lopinavir-ritonavir, umifenovir, favipiravir, interferon, remdesivir, combination of antiviral drugs, hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine, interleukin-6 inhibitors, interleukin-1 inhibitors, glucocorticoid, qingfei paidu decoction, lianhua qingwen granules/capsules, convalescent plasma, lung transplantation, invasive or noninvasive ventilation, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)), and discharge management (including discharge criteria and management plan in patients whose RT-PCR retesting shows SARS-CoV-2 positive after discharge). We also created two figures of these recommendations for the implementation purpose. We hope these recommendations can help support healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients.
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| 26. |
- Liang, Lin, et al.
(author)
-
Non-Interpenetrated Single-Crystal Covalent Organic Frameworks
- 2020
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In: Angewandte Chemie International Edition. - : Wiley. - 1433-7851 .- 1521-3773. ; 59:41, s. 17991-17995
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Growth of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) as single crystals is extremely challenging. Inaccessibility of open-structured single-crystal COFs prevents the exploration of structure-oriented applications. Herein we report for the first time a non-interpenetrated single-crystal COF, LZU-306, which possesses the open structure constructed exclusively via covalent assembly. With a high void volume of 80 %, LZU-306 was applied to investigate the intrinsic dynamics of reticulated tetraphenylethylene (TPE) as the individual aggregation-induced-emission moiety. Solid-state(2)H NMR investigation has determined that the rotation of benzene rings in TPE, being the freest among the reported cases, is as fast as 1.0x10(4) Hz at 203 K to 1.5x10(7) Hz at 293 K. This research not only explores a new paradigm for single-crystal growth of open frameworks, but also provides a unique matrix-isolation platform to reticulate functional moieties into a well-defined and isolated state.
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| 27. |
- Lin, Shao-Hua, et al.
(author)
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Study on different isolation technology on the performance of blue micro-LEDs array applications
- 2024
-
In: DISCOVER NANO. - : SPRINGER. - 2731-9229. ; 19:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this study, a 3 x 3 blue micro-LED array with a pixel size of 10 x 10 mu m2 and a pitch of 15 mu m was fabricated on an epilayer grown on a sapphire substrate using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition technology. The fabrication process involved photolithography, wet and dry etching, E-beam evaporation, and ion implantation technology. Arsenic multi-energy implantation was utilized to replace the mesa etching for electrical isolation, where the implantation depth increased with the average energy. Different ion depth profiles had varying effects on electrical properties, such as forward current and leakage currents, potentially causing damage to the n-GaN layer and increasing the series resistance of the LEDs. As the implantation depth increased, the light output power and peak external quantum efficiency of the LEDs also increased, improving from 5.33 to 9.82%. However, the efficiency droop also increased from 46.3 to 48.6%.
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| 28. |
- Lind, Lars, et al.
(author)
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Heterogeneous contributions of change in population distribution of body mass index to change in obesity and underweight NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC)
- 2021
-
In: eLife. - : eLife Sciences Publications Ltd. - 2050-084X. ; 10
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the underweight tail of the BMI distribution was left behind as the distribution shifted. There is a need for policies that address all forms of malnutrition by making healthy foods accessible and affordable, while restricting unhealthy foods through fiscal and regulatory restrictions.
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| 29. |
- Mishra, A, et al.
(author)
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Diminishing benefits of urban living for children and adolescents' growth and development
- 2023
-
In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 615:7954, s. 874-883
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for boys in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries in Oceania, south Asia and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. In these countries, successive cohorts of boys from rural places either did not gain height or possibly became shorter, and hence fell further behind their urban peers. The difference between the age-standardized mean BMI of children in urban and rural areas was <1.1 kg m–2 in the vast majority of countries. Within this small range, BMI increased slightly more in cities than in rural areas, except in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in central and eastern Europe. Our results show that in much of the world, the growth and developmental advantages of living in cities have diminished in the twenty-first century, whereas in much of sub-Saharan Africa they have amplified.
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| 30. |
- Sun, Xu, et al.
(author)
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Chinese Herbal Medicine as Adjunctive Therapy to Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer : A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
- 2016
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In: Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. - : Hindawi Limited. - 1741-427X .- 1741-4288.
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been increasingly employed during therapy for breast cancer, but its efficacy remains a matter of debate. This systematic review examined randomized controlled trials to provide a critical evaluation of this treatment. The results demonstrated that the combined use of CHM with chemotherapy may improve the immediate tumor response and reduce chemotherapy-associated adverse events. Our findings highlight the poor quality of Chinese studies, and additional well-designed randomized controlled trials addressing the role of CHM are warranted. The lack of molecular-based evidence for CHM and Zheng has resulted in a limited understanding and acceptance of CHM and traditional Chinese medicine in Western countries. We believe that researchers should immediately explore a CHM-based cure, and CHM should be applied to routine care as soon as conclusive data are available.
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