The Taiwan Biobank (TWB) is an ongoing prospective study of >150,000 individuals aged 20–70 in Taiwan. A comprehensive list of phenotypes was collected for each consented participant at recruitment ...and follow-up visits through structured interviews and physical measurements. Biomarkers and genetic data were generated from blood and urine samples. We present here an overview of TWB’s genetic data quality, population structure, and familial relationship, which consists of predominantly Han Chinese ancestry, and highlight its important attributes and genetic findings thus far. A linkage to Taiwan’s National Health Insurance database of >25 years and other registries is underway to enrich the phenotypic spectrum and enable deep and longitudinal genetic investigations. TWB provides one of the largest biobank resources for biomedical and public health research in East Asia that will contribute to our understanding of the genetic basis of health and disease in global populations through collaborative studies with other biobanks.
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•Taiwan Biobank (TWB) is a prospective population study with >150,000 individuals•Rich phenotypic and genetic data were collected in the Han-Chinese-based cohort•Future linkage to national health registries will empower longitudinal genetic studies•TWB studies contribute to population diversity in global genetics research
Feng. et al. describe an impressive biomedical resource in Taiwan that measures a wide range of characteristics in >150,000 individuals along with their genetic makeup. This resource enables large-scale epidemiological and genetic investigations and enriches population diversity in human genomic research.
This paper presents the design of a direct-injection divide-by-3 frequency divider operating at the K -band. The divider is implemented in a 0.18- μm CMOS process. The measured free-running frequency ...of the divider is 7.96 GHz. By utilizing a floating-source differential injector and without a varactor tuning in the divider core, the total locking range is 3.2 GHz with a power consumption of 8.28 mW from a supply voltage of 0.9 V. The total power consumption of the buffers is 9.54 mW from a supply voltage of 1.8 V. The measured phase noise of the divider is -141.3 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset when the input referred signal with a phase noise of -132.8 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset from 24 GHz. The phase-noise difference of 8.5 dB is close to the theoretical value of 9.5 dB for division-by-3. The output power of the divider is more than -11 dBm over the whole locking range.
The COVID-19 outbreak: The issue of face masks Wang, Ming-Wei; Cheng, Yong-Ran; Ye, Lan ...
Infection control and hospital epidemiology,
08/2020, Letnik:
41, Številka:
8
Journal Article
...insulin treatment was started. According to the diagnostic criteria of FT1DM, case 1 could be definitely diagnosed. Besides our two cases of FT1DM after AP, there were several similar cases ...reported in Japan. ...we suspect that AP is a pathogenic factor of FT1DM. Hirota et al2 have reported that four of nine cases with FT1DM were diagnosed with AP and hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia appeared 1 to 3 days after initial symptoms. ...AP caused rapid destruction of islets, leading to hyperinsulinemia-related hypoglycemia, followed by hyperglycemia. IFN-γ can both damage β-cells and accelerate the production of CXCL10 from the remaining β-cells, further activating cell-mediated autoimmune response until β-cells are completely destroyed. ...the destruction of β-cells in FT1DM is the result of a vicious cycle. ...we speculate that on the basis of genetic predisposition, the immune response during AP results in immune damage and severe destruction of β-cells. ...AP may be a pathogenic factor of FT1DM.
The evolution of phase assemblage and microstructure of stoichiometric zirconolite (CaZrTi2O7) ceramics, prepared by a solid-state reaction sintering route, was systematically investigated as a ...function of sintering temperature. Using powder XRD and quantitative phase analysis data, it was determined that the formation of zirconolite was a one-step reaction, without formation of intermediate phases. The accompanying fractions of secondary CaTiO3 and ZrO2 phases were reduced to approximately 2 wt % each after sintering at 1200 °C, with zirconolite formed as the major phase (> 99 wt%) after reaction at 1300 °C. Notable product densification only occurred at T ≥ 1400 °C, at which it was possible to achieve a relative density of 96.97% which is highly desirable for applications as a nuclear wasteform. The zirconolite-2M polytype structure (space group: C2/c) was formed in all products as expected, confirmed by combined high resolution TEM-ED analyses.
It is widely accepted that prevéraison application of naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) can delay the ripening of grapes and improve their quality. However, how NAA impacts grape aroma compound ...concentrations remains unclear. This study incorporated the analyses of aroma metabolome, phytohormones, and transcriptome of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon grapes cultivated in continental arid/semiarid regions of western China. The analyses demonstrated that NAA application increased β-damascenone and 1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene (TDN) in the harvested grapes by delaying véraison and upregulating VvPSY1 and VvCCD4b expressions. Additionally, NAA treatment decreased 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (IBMP) at the same phenological stage. Notably, abscisic acid (ABA) levels increased in NAA-treated grapes during véraison, which triggered further changes in norisoprenoid metabolisms. The ABA-responsive factor VvABF2 was potentially involved in VvPSY1 positive modulation, while the auxin response factor VvARF10 may play a role in VvCCD4b upregulation and VvOMT2 downregulation during NAA induction. VvARF10 possibly acts as a crosstalk node between the ABA and auxin signaling pathways following NAA treatment in regulating aroma biosynthesis.
Abstract
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis has been suggested for patients who underwent total join arthroplasty (TJA). However, the morbidity of surgical site complications (SSC) and ...periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) has not been well evaluated. We aimed to evaluate the impact of VTE prophylaxis on the risk of early postoperative SSC and PJI in a Taiwanese population. We retrospectively reviewed 7511 patients who underwent primary TJA performed by a single surgeon from 2010 through 2019. We evaluated the rates of SSC and PJI in the early postoperative period (30-day, 90-day) as well as 1-year reoperations. Multivariate regression analysis was used to identify possible risk factors associated with SSC and PJI, including age, sex, WHO classification of weight status, smoking, diabetes mellitus (DM), rheumatoid arthritis(RA), Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), history of VTE, presence of varicose veins, total knee or hip arthroplasty procedure, unilateral or bilateral procedure, or receiving VTE prophylaxis or blood transfusion. The overall 90-day rates of SSC and PJI were 1.1% (N = 80) and 0.2% (N = 16). VTE prophylaxis was a risk factor for 90-day readmission for SSC (aOR: 1.753, 95% CI 1.081–2.842), 90-day readmission for PJI (aOR: 3.267, 95% CI 1.026–10.402) and all 90-day PJI events (aOR: 3.222, 95% CI 1.200–8.656). Other risk factors included DM, underweight, obesity, bilateral TJA procedure, younger age, male sex and RA. Pharmacological thromboprophylaxis appears to be a modifiable risk factor for SSC and PJI in the early postoperative period. The increased infection risk should be carefully weighed in patients who received pharmacological VTE prophylaxis.
Urothelial carcinoma (UC) of the upper tract (UTUC) and urinary bladder (UBUC) is a heterogeneous malignancy. Through transcriptomic profiling of the Gene Expression Omnibus UBUC dataset (GSE31684), ...we discovered that epidermal growth factor-containing fibulin-like extracellularmatrix protein 1 (EFEMP1) was the most upregulated gene during metastatic development. EFEMP1 is an important component of basement membranes and acts as an enzyme regulator in extracellular matrix biology. Initially, evaluation of EFEMP1 mRNA expression in 50 UBUCs showed significantly upregulated levels in high stage UC. We further validated the clinical significance of EFEMP1 in 340 UTUC and 295 UBUC using immunohistochemistry, evaluated by H-score. High EFEMP1 immunoexpression significantly correlated with high pathologic stage, high histological grade, lymph node metastasis, vascular invasion, perineural invasion and high mitosis (all p < 0.05). After adjusting for established clinicopathological factors, EFEMP1 expression status retained its prognostic impact on disease-specific survival and metastasis-free survival in UTUC and UBUC (all p < 0.01). Furthermore, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis showed that actin cytoskeleton signaling, tumor microenvironment pathway and mitochondrial dysfunction were significantly enriched by EFEMP1 dysregulation. In conclusion, high EFEMP1 expression was associated with adverse pathological features in UC and independently predicted worse outcomes, suggesting its roles in clinical decision-making and risk stratification.
The albumin to fibrinogen ratio (AFR) and C-reactive protein to albumin ratio (CAR) have emerged as useful biomarkers to predict systemic inflammation. The aim here is to investigate the relation ...between AFR/CAR and Disease Activity Score of 28 joints (DAS 28) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
This retrospective study included 160 patients with RA and 159 healthy controls. We divided the RA patients into two groups according to the DAS 28-ESR score. Group 1 included 40 patients with a score of lower than 2.6 (patients in remission) and Group 2 included 120 patients with a score of 2.6 or higher (patients with active disease). The correlations between AFR, CAR and the disease activity were analyzed.
For RA patients, the AFR was lower than those in the control group (P < 0.001). Patients in group 2 had higher CAR than those in group 1 (P < 0.001). The AFR was lower in group 2 than that in group 1. A positively correlation was observed between DAS 28-ESR score and CAR (r = 0.645, P < 0.001), while the correlation between DAS 28-ESR and AFR (r = −0.836, P < 0.001) was negative. AFR was related with decreased risk of RA disease activity (EXP (B) = 0.33, 95% CI (0.21–0.53), P < 0.001).
AFR and CAR are two novel inflammatory markers for monitoring disease activity in patients with RA.
•AFR were lower and CAR were higher in RA patients with active disease.•AFR and CAR were significantly correlated with NLR, PLR, CRP and ESR in RA patients.•AFR was related with decreased risk of RA disease activity.•AFR and CAR were novel inflammatory markers for diagnosing RA disease activity.
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