Endo‐microscopy is crucial for real‐time 3D visualization of internal tissues and subcellular structures. Conventional methods rely on axial movement of optical components for precise focus ...adjustment, limiting miniaturization and complicating procedures. Meta‐device, composed of artificial nanostructures, is an emerging optical flat device that can freely manipulate the phase and amplitude of light. Here, an intelligent fluorescence endo‐microscope is developed based on varifocal meta‐lens and deep learning (DL). The breakthrough enables in vivo 3D imaging of mouse brains, where varifocal meta‐lens focal length adjusts through relative rotation angle. The system offers key advantages such as invariant magnification, a large field‐of‐view, and optical sectioning at a maximum focal length tuning range of ≈2 mm with 3 µm lateral resolution. Using a DL network, image acquisition time and system complexity are significantly reduced, and in vivo high‐resolution brain images of detailed vessels and surrounding perivascular space are clearly observed within 0.1 s (≈50 times faster). The approach will benefit various surgical procedures, such as gastrointestinal biopsies, neural imaging, brain surgery, etc.
Intelligent fluorescence endo‐microscopy demonstrates the invariant magnification, large field‐of‐view, and optical sectioning in vivo 3D imaging of mouse brains by the varifocal metalens and deep learning (DL). This study provides a pathway for the next‐generation endo‐microscopy and has excellent potential for the applications of future rapid optical biopsies, such as gastrointestinal biopsies, neural imaging, brain surgery, etc.
Elderly patients with aged physical status and increased underlying disease suffered from more postoperative complication and mortality. We design this retrospective cohort study to investigate the ...relationship between existing comorbidity of elder patients and 30 day post-anesthetic mortality by using International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) from Health Insurance Database.
Patients aged above 65 years old who received anesthesia between 2000 and 2010 were included from 1 million Longitudinal Health Insurance Database in (LHID) 2005 in Taiwan. We use age, sex, type of surgery to calculate propensity score and match death group and survival one with 1:4 ratio (death: survival = 1401: 5823). Multivariate logistic model with stepwise variable selection was employed to investigate the factors affecting death 30 days after anesthesia.
Thirty seven comorbidities can independently predict the post-anesthetic mortality. In our study, the leading comorbidities predict post-anesthetic mortality is chronic renal disease (OR = 2.806), acute myocardial infarction (OR = 4.58), and intracranial hemorrhage (OR = 3.758).
In this study, we present the leading comorbidity contributing to the postoperative mortality in elderly patients in Taiwan from National Health Insurance Database. Chronic renal failure is the leading contributing comorbidity of 30 days mortality after anesthesia in Taiwan which can be explained by the great number of hemodialysis and prolong life span under National Taiwan Health Insurance. Large scale database can offer enormous information which can help to improve quality of medical care.
To achieve the kinetic resolution and enantioconvergent hydrolysis of rac-1,2-epoxyhexane, the E value of PvEH2 was enhanced by substituting its partial cap-loop. Based on the experimental results ...reported previously and computer-aided analysis, the flexible and variable cap-loop, especially its middle segment, was speculated to be related to the catalytic properties of PvEH2. In view of this, four PvEH2's hybrids, Pv2St, Pv2Pv1, Pv2Vr1 and Pv2Vr2, were designed by substituting the middle segment (190EGMGSNLNTSMP201) of a cap-loop in PvEH2 with the corresponding ones in StEH, PvEH1, VrEH1 and VrEH2, respectively. Then, the hybrid-encoding genes, pv2st, pv2pv1, pv2vr1 and pv2vr2, were constructed by fusion PCR, and expressed in E. coli Rosetta(DE3). The expressed hybrid, Pv2St, displayed the highest specific activity of 35.3 U/mg protein towards rac-1,2-epoxyhexane. The corresponding transformant, E. coli/pv2st, exhibited the largest E value of 24.2, which was 11.5-fold that of E. coli/pveh2 expressing PvEH2. The scale-up kinetic resolution of 280 mM rac-1,2-epoxyhexane was carried out using 40 mg dry cells/mL of E. coli/pv2st at 25 °C for 4.5 h, retaining (S)-1,2-epoxyhexane with >99.5% ees and 36.9% yield. Additionally, the chemo-enzymatic enantioconvergent hydrolysis of rac-1,2-epoxyhexane using E. coli/pv2st followed by sulfuric acid produced (R)-hexane-1,2-diol with 73.0% eep and 86.5% yield.
Majority of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) belonged to Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) class A. We aimed to identify a new class of patients with very well-preserved liver function and ...analyze its impact on outcome prediction, tumor staging and treatment allocation.
A total of 2654 HCC patients were retrospectively analyzed. The prognostic ability was compared by the Akaike information criterion (AIC).
The CTP class 0 was defined by fulfilling all criteria of albumin ≧4 g/dL, bilirubin ≦0.8 mg/dL, prothrombin time prolongation <0 seconds, no ascites and encephalopathy. A total of 23% of patients of CTP class A were reclassified as CTP class 0. Patients with CTP class 0 had a higher serum sodium level, lower serum creatinine, alanine aminotransferase, α-fetoprotein levels, shorter prothrombin time, better general well-being, smaller tumor burden with more solitary nodules, lower rates of vascular invasion, ascites formation, hepatic encephalopathy, more frequently treated with curative interventions and better Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stages (all p<0.001). In the Cox proportional hazards model, the adjusted hazard ratios for CTP class A, B and C were 1.739, 3.120 and 5.107, respectively, compared to class 0 (all p<0.001). Reassigning patients with CTP class 0, A, B, B and C to stage 0, A, B, C and D, respectively, provided the lowest AIC score among all BCLC-based models.
The proposal of CTP class 0 independently predicted better survival in HCC patients. Modification of tumor staging systems according to the modified CTP classification further enhances their prognostic ability.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), are widely distributed in the environment. Some investigations have ...demonstrated that these pollutants will cause potential impacts such as carcinogenic and mutagenic for human health. In this study, we analyzed the concentrations and distributions of PAHs and PCBs in sediments of the Er-ren River, as well as the relations with total organic carbon (TOC) and particle sizes. Several molecular ratios were utilized to distinguish the major sources in this study.Results showed that PAH and PCB concentrations in Er-ren River ranged from 12.1 to 1460 and 0.45-591 (ng/g dw), respectively. The maximum concentrations of PAHs and PCBs were mostly found in sediments from Sanyegong River. In comparison with other studies all over the world, the concentrations of PAHs in this study were between low and mid-low levels. PCB concentrations in sediments of the Er-ren River were lower than those reported from previous studies. PAH and PCB concentrations showed no significant correlation between TOC and particle size. Petrogenic and petroleum combustion origin were the main sources of PAHs in sediments of Er-ren River In addition, perylene was the most dominant compound in Er-ren River, suggesting that it could be a useful indicator to differentiate various PAH sources in sediments. The results of hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal components analysis (PCA) indicated that PAH groups were clustered based on the loading of perylene, while PCB groups were clustered by the compositional homologues of PCBs.Comparing with sediments quality guidelines (SQGs), the PAH concentrations in all the sampling sites were below ERL value, suggesting that few adverse ecological effects would arise from the PAHs. However, the PCB concentrations in 14 samplingsites ranged between TEL and PEL values, indicating that adverse effects could arise for benthic organisms. The £UESBTUFCV of PAHs and the toxic equivalents (TEQ) of PCBs were both lower than quality values reported, suggesting that adverse ecological effects might be not expected.
Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and surgical resection (SR) are effective therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) within the Milan criteria. We aimed to compare the treatment efficacy according to ...the liver functional reserve using propensity score analysis.
There were 330 and 369 HCC patients within the Milan criteria undergoing SR and RFA, respectively. A total of 147 and 48 pairs of patients with Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) scores=5 and >5, respectively, were matched for analyses.
Overall, the 3- and the 5-year survivals were 88% and 76% in the SR group and 80% and 66% in the RFA group, respectively (P=0.006). The SR group had significantly younger patients, a higher male-to-female ratio and hepatitis B infection rate, with a better liver functional reserve and performance status, and a larger tumor burden. In patients with a CTP score of 5, no survival difference was noted between the SR and the RFA groups (P=0.564). In patients with CTP score >5, the SR group had a better long-term survival than the RFA group (P=0.016). After propensity score analysis, the RFA group had a better long-term survival than the SR group in patients with CTP score=5 in the univariate (P=0.024) and the Cox proportional hazards models (hazard ratio: 0.47, P=0.031). Comparable survival results were noted between SR and RFA in patients with CTP score >5 (P=0.15).
RFA is a safe procedure with better treatment efficacy than SR in patients with small HCC and a CTP score of 5, and provides effects comparable to SR in patients with CTP score >5. The baseline liver functional reserve may enhance treatment selection for outcome prediction.
A new series of model dye molecules composed of three multibranched analogues based on the tetrasubstituted tetraethynylethylene structural motif have been synthesized and experimentally shown to ...possess strong and widely dispersed two-photon absorption (2PA) in the near-IR region. It was found that the spectral position of the major 2PA band could be tuned by the electronic nature of the selected substitution units. The studied model fluorophores also exhibited fairly low photodegradation of their fluorescence intensity even under prolonged UV-light irradiation, which is beneficial for the development of fluorescence probes that are needed for long-term light exposure. Furthermore, representative chromophores were selected to demonstrate the power-control properties within the femtosecond and nanosecond time domains.
A constructed wetland was built in southern Taiwan in 2007 for local stream water purification and ecosystem improvement. The inflow rate was approximately 1,350 m3/day. The wetland influents were ...mainly from the local streams containing secondary wastewater from hog farms located in the upper catchment of the wetland and drainage water from the farmlands. The influent water contained organic contaminants and nutrients, which needed to be removed. The mean measured hydraulic loading rate, hydraulic retention time, water depth, and total volume of wetland system were 0.1 m/day, 5.5 days, 0.7 m, and 7,800 m3, respectively. In this study, water, sediment, and plant samples were collected and analyzed quarterly for each wetland basin during the two-year investigation period. Results show that more than 77% of total coliforms (TC), 78% of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), 88% of total nitrogen (TN), and 96% of ammonia nitrogen were removed via the constructed wetland system. Thus, the wetland system has a significant effect on water quality improvement and is able to remove most of the pollutants from the local stream through natural attenuation mechanisms. Results from the ecological investigation show that more than 50 different plant species and 45 different animal species were observed in the wetland system although this wetland had been created for less than four years. Except for stream water quality improvement and rehabilitating the natural ecosystem, this wetland also offered more water assessable eco-ponds and eco-gardens for public. This constructed wetland has become one of the most successful multi-function constructed wetlands in Taiwan.
The research, first, is to investigate the characteristics and heavy metal content of sediments and bottom water in Kaohsiung harbor by sampling. Second, it is to analyze the correlation of the ...sediments data by statistics analysis method. According to the correlation ratio, we can try to explain the distribution of heavy metals in the sediments and the water. Finally, it is to analyze the sediments data in Kaohsiung harbor from the year of 2001 to 2004 by principle compounds analysis of multivariate statistical analysis; the purpose is to find out the main reason that causes the variation of the sediments in the harbor area.The result of the sediments analysis shows that, the pollutants in Jen-Gen River, Love River and Canon River deposit in the outlet area and lead to significant difference in spatial distribution of sediments characteristics and heavy metals content in Kaohsiung harbor.The enrichment factors of heavy metals in sediments indicate that, there are enrichments for Hg (EF = 7.9 - 115), Pb (EF = 2.1 ¡V 11.7), Cd (EF = 2.4 ¡V 29.8), and Zn (EF = 1.9 ¡V 19.8) in the harbor area. And there are differences of height in the spatial distribution. The Cr enrichment (EF = 1.1 - 10.9) in the harbor exists only in the nearby area of the river outlet, especially in station KH-10 (EF = 10.9) nearby Jen-Gen River area. There is Cu enrichment in the harbor area (EF = 1.2 - 9.0) except the First and Second Harbor Entrance stations.The correlate tests of the sediments characteristics to the heavy metal concentration show that, volatile solid materials, grease and heavy metals reach significant correlated level (P<0.05); but it is irrelevant between clay and heavy metals (P>0.05). Therefore, the main controlling factor that influences the distribution of heavy metals is not the sedimentary particulates distribution but the organic characteristics.Ni distribution of bottom water in Kaohsiung harbor area, it has higher concentration from station KH-01 to KH-10 (0.4 -1.0£gg/L); and, among them, it has the highest concentration and high variation at station KH-06 (1.0 ¡Ó 1.0£gg/L). The distribution of Cu average concentration is between 1.2 - 2.9£gg/L. There is no absolutely tendency, neither is significant difference. The result of the research on Ni, SiO2 and PO4 correlated analysis is different from the result of Yeats and Campbell (1983), Chung (1995) and Huang (2002). I conjecture that the course could be the different geographic environment (Yeats and Campbell in Atlantic, Chung and Huang in the southwestern waters of Taiwan, the research in Kaohsiung harbor area).The result of sediments principle compounds analysis shows that, the sediment constituents in 2001 and 2002 are high water content, organic and fine-grain organic polluted sediments. The polluted sediments are reduced in 2003 and 2004, and that accords with the time of the harbor area dredges procedures. Therefore, there is causation between them. From PC1 and PC2, we know that Love River (KH-04), Canon River (KH-06) and Jen-Gen River (KH-10) outlet are seriously polluted in the harbor area. The river water that contains the industrial wastewater and municipal wastewater in the upper stream is the most important reason that influences the harbor sediments.The result of the research shows that, the main controlling factor that influences the distribution of heavy metals is the harbor sediment organic characteristics and that could cause the metal ions and organic matter forming into stable organic metals compounds. Its impact to ocean ecosystem is enormous, especially to benthic system. Therefore, I suggest that we should do monitoring analysis on sediment toxicity or toxic organic compounds in order to realize their influences to the ocean ecosystem. And furthermore, we should realize the standing crop and the distribution of the toxic organic compounds so that we can avoid health harming from the accumulation of the ecological food chain returning to human body.
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