Browsing by Author "Fang Y.-H."

Owing to the beneficial properties of amniotic fluid-derived stem cells (AFSCs), including pluripotency and the lack of ethical issues associated with embryonic stem cells (ESCs), they should be a promising cell source for regenerative medicine. However, how to differentiate AFSCs into contracting cardiomyocytes has not been established. In this study, a well-established, direct cardiac differentiation protocol involving the modulation of Wnt signaling was used to differentiate Oct 3/4+ AFSCs into cardiomyocytes. By day 14 of cardiomyocyte differentiation, these AFSCs expressed cardiac-specific genes (i.e., cardiac troponin T and myosin light chain 2v) and proteins but could not spontaneously contract. Using the patch-clamp technique, we further characterized the electrophysiological properties of human ESC-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs) and differentiated AFSCs. We used different configurations to investigate membrane potentials and ion currents in differentiated AFSCs and hESC-CMs. Under cell-attached voltage- or whole-cell current-clamp modes, we recorded spontaneous action currents (ACs) or action potentials (APs) in hESC-CMs but not in differentiated AFSCs. Compared to hESC-CMs, differentiated AFSCs showed significantly diminished activity of both BKCa and IKCa channels, which might lead to a lack of spontaneous ACs and APs in differentiated AFSCs. These results indicated that this well-established Wnt signaling modulating cardiac differentiation protocol was insufficient to induce the differentiation of functional cardiomyocytes from Oct 3/4+ AFSCs. Therefore, AFSC may not be an ideal candidate for cardiomyocyte differentiation. ? 2019, The Author(s).

In this paper, we introduce our latest progress in the colloidal quantum dot enhanced color conversion layer for micro LEDs. Different methods of how to deploy colloidal quantum dots can be discussed and reviewed. The necessity of the using color conversion layer can be seen and color conversion efficiency of such layer can be calculated from the measured spectrum. A sub-pixel size of 5 micron of colloidal quantum dot pattern can be demonstrated in array format. © 2022 The Institute of Electronics.

To meet the requirement of full-color and fine-pitched micro-displays, efforts have been put in the research of micro-LED arrays. To use a color conversion layer can alleviate the complexity of mass-transfer in small devices, but the efficiency of the color conversion layer and the micro-assembly methods need to be addressed. We focused on our efforts in colloidal quantum dots and highly efficient micro-LED arrays which shall play important roles for full-color micro-displays. ? 2020 ITE and SID.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection is a well-recognized nosocomial infection of increasing incidence. Recent reports have also revealed an increment of community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA) infections in people without any risk factors. We reviewed the medical charts of 464 children with S. aureus infections presenting between January 1997 and August 2001, in order to understand the occurrence of CA-MRSA infections in children without any risk factors and to define the spectrum of disease. MRSA made up 74% of community-acquired S. aureus infections (59/80). Among them, patients without identifiable risk factors comprised 29 CA-MRSA infections (36%). The number of patients with CA-MRSA disease increased from 11 of 172 (6%) S. aureus infections between January 1997 and April 1999 to 48 of 292 (16%) between May 1999 and July 2001. Skin and soft tissue infections were the most common presentations of community-acquired S. aureus infections. Bacteremia was the major manifestation of nosocomial S. aureus infections, and osteomyelitis and bacteremia were not infrequently seen in patients with CA-MSSA infections. Only 13 out of 29 patients (45%) with CA-MRSA infections without risk factors received effective antibiotic therapy, while 16 cases were cured by either antibiotics without in vitro activity, or surgical drainage, or both. CA-MRSA isolates were more likely to be susceptible to minocycline, gentamicin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, compared to hospital-acquired MRSA isolates. Our data suggest an increasing role of MRSA as a community pathogen in previously healthy children. Infection control strategies for both hospital and community should be re-evaluated.

Background: The disease burden and associated medical costs of rotavirus infections in inpatient and outpatient sectors in Taiwan were examined in anticipation of the availability of new rotavirus vaccines. Methods: The yearly national case number and medical costs for all for inpatients and outpatients with acute gastroenteritis (AGE) were extracted from the Bureau of National Health Insurance database in Taiwan according to ICD-9-CM codes. A retrospective study was also performed using records of children with AGE seen at three hospitals in Taiwan in 2001 to identify laboratory confirmed rotavirus infection cases. The annual incidence and related medical costs of AGE due to rotavirus infection were then estimated. Results: Children <5 years old comprised 83.6% of inpatient and 62.0% of outpatient pediatric AGE cases in Taiwan in 2001. Rotavirus was the most common agent detected among AGE patients in this age group in the three hospitals, and was detected in 32.9% (221/672) of inpatient and 24% (23/96) of outpatient stool specimens tested for microbial etiologies. An estimated 277,400 to 624,892 cases of rotavirus infections sought medical care in Taiwan in 2001, equaling one in 2 to 5 children <5 years old required medical care due to rotavirus infection. The incidence of hospitalization due to rotavirus infections was 1,528-1,997/100,000 for children <5 years old. The total associated medical costs due to rotavirus infection were estimated at US $10-16 millions in Taiwan in 2001. Although the per-capita medical cost of rotavirus infection was lower in Taiwan than in the United States or Hong Kong, the personal economic burden was similar among the three places when normalized for gross national incomes per capita. Conclusion: Infections caused by rotavirus constitute an important human and economic burden among young children in Taiwan. A safe and effective vaccine is urgently needed. ? 2006 Lu et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

We investigated whether genetic susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB) influences lung adenocarcinoma development among never-smokers using TB genome-wide association study (GWAS) results within the Female Lung Cancer Consortium in Asia. Pathway analysis with the adaptive rank truncated product method was used to assess the association between a TB-related gene-set and lung adenocarcinoma using GWAS data from 5512 lung adenocarcinoma cases and 6277 controls. The gene-set consisted of 31 genes containing known/suggestive associations with genetic variants from previous TB-GWAS. Subsequently, we followed-up with Mendelian Randomization to evaluate the association between TB and lung adenocarcinoma using three genome-wide significant variants from previous TB-GWAS in East Asians. The TB-related gene-set was associated with lung adenocarcinoma (p = 0.016). Additionally, the Mendelian Randomization showed an association between TB and lung adenocarcinoma (OR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.66, p = 0.027). Our findings support TB as a causal risk factor for lung cancer development among never-smoking Asian women. ? 2019