There have been many empirical studies on humor styles and humor comprehension and appreciation, but relatively few have directly addressed the relationship between these two topics of humor ...research, especially studies using a typological approach for humor styles. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine how humor styles are associated with humor comprehension and appreciation using a typological approach. The present study collected the responses of humor styles questionnaires that included ratings of comprehension and funniness of humorous pictures for 962 high school students in Taiwan. The cluster analysis result indicated that there were four humor types of participants: general humor endorsers, humor deniers, positive humor endorsers, and negative humor endorsers. The positive humor endorsers could understand the content of humor pictures better than other types of participants. The general humor endorsers found the humor pictures much funnier than the humor deniers. These findings indicate that humor styles have different associations with humor comprehension and humor appreciation.
The glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonist showed anti-hyperglycemic and anti-inflammatory effects, which may retard the risk of external eye disease. The protective effect of GLP-1 agonist and dry ...eye disease (DED) was found, while the relationship between GLP-1 agonist and other corneal diseases was not clear. Herein, we aim to evaluate the association between the usage of GLP-1 agonists and the development of the following external eye disease in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. A retrospective cohort study using the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) of Taiwan was conducted. The T2DM patients were divided into those with GLP-1 treatment and those without GLP-1 treatment and matched with a 1:2 ratio. The main outcomes were the development of dry eye disease (DED), superficial keratitis, and infectious keratitis. The Cox proportional hazard regression was adopted to produce the adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of external eye diseases between groups. There were 115, 54, and 11 episodes of DED, superficial keratitis, and infectious keratitis in the GLP-1 group. Another 280, 168, and 31 events of DED, superficial keratitis, and infectious keratitis were recorded in the control group. The GLP-1 group demonstrated a significantly lower incidence of DED (aHR: 0.853, 95% CI: 0.668–0.989, p = 0.0356) and superficial keratitis (aHR: 0.670, 95% CI: 0.475–0.945, p = 0.0107) compared to the control group. In the subgroup analyses, the correlation of GLP-1 agonist and DED development was more prominent in patients younger than 60 years old (p = 0.0018). In conclusion, the GLP-1 agonist treatments are significantly associated with a lower incidence of subsequent DED and superficial keratitis, while the relationship was not significant between GLP-1 agonist usage and infectious keratitis.
Abstract Primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDs) are a group of rare diseases with wide geographic and ethnic variations in incidence, prevalence, and distribution patterns. The aim of this study ...was to examine the distribution pattern and clinical spectrum of PIDs in Taiwan at a national referral institute. From 1985 to 2010, 215 patients from 183 families were diagnosed and grouped according to the updated classification of PIDs. Eighty-one (37.7%) patients had “other well-defined immunodeficiency syndromes”, followed by “predominantly antibody deficiencies” (54 patients; 25.1%), “T- and B-cell immunodeficiencies” (34; 15.8%), “congenital defects of phagocytes” (25; 20.2%), “complement deficiencies” (15; 7.0%), and “disease in immune dysregulation” (5; 2.3%). The last category included two patients with Chediak–Higashi syndrome, and one each with familial hemophagocytosis, IPEX, and hypogammaglobulinemia and albinism. One female had cold-induced auto-inflammatory disease. There were no cases of “defects in innate immunity”. Pseudomonas and Streptococcus pneumoniae were the two most identified microorganisms in septicemia (42.7%; 44/103 episodes). Stem cell transplantation was successful in 13 of 22 patients, while 34 patients (15.8%) died. Molecular defects were identified in 109 individuals (from 90 families). There were relatively fewer cases of “predominantly antibody deficiencies” due to there being only a few patients with adult-onset PIDs, implying certainty bias rather than ethnic variation. Awareness of under-diagnosis among physicians rather than pediatricians is vital for timely diagnosis and consequently adequate treatment.
Background & Aims DNA structural lesions are prevalent in sporadic colorectal cancer. Therefore, we proposed that gene variants that predispose to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) would be found in ...patients with familial colorectal carcinomas of an undefined genetic basis (UFCRC). Methods We collected primary T cells from 25 patients with UFCRC and matched patients without colorectal cancer (controls) and assayed for DSBs. We performed exome sequence analyses of germline DNA from 20 patients with UFCRC and 5 undiagnosed patients with polyposis. The prevalence of identified variants in genes linked to DNA integrity was compared with that of individuals without a family history of cancer. The effects of representative variants found to be associated with UFCRC was confirmed in functional assays with HCT116 cells. Results Primary T cells from most patients with UFCRC had increased levels of the DSB marker γ(phosphorylated)histone2AX (γH2AX) after treatment with DNA damaging agents, compared with T cells from controls ( P < .001). Exome sequence analysis identified a mean 1.4 rare variants per patient that were predicted to disrupt functions of genes relevant to DSBs. Controls (from public databases) had a much lower frequency of variants in the same genes ( P < .001). Knockdown of representative variant genes in HCT116 CRC cells increased γH2AX. A detailed analysis of immortalized patient-derived B cells that contained variants in the Werner syndrome, RecQ helicase-like gene ( WRN , encoding T705I), and excision repair cross-complementation group 6 ( ERCC6 , encoding N180Y) showed reduced levels of these proteins and increased DSBs, compared with B cells from controls. This phenotype was rescued by exogenous expression of WRN or ERCC6. Direct analysis of the recombinant variant proteins confirmed defective enzymatic activities. Conclusions These results provide evidence that defects in suppression of DSBs underlie some cases of UFCRC; these can be identified by assays of circulating lymphocytes. We specifically associated UFCRC with variants in WRN and ERCC6 that reduce the capacity for repair of DNA DSBs. These observations could lead to a simple screening strategy for UFCRC, and provide insight into the pathogenic mechanisms of colorectal carcinogenesis.
碩士
國立臺灣師範大學
教育心理與輔導學系
106
The purpose of the present study is focused on identifying the effects of graphic elements of visual humor on humor comprehension and humor appreciation.
In the first ...study, 167 senior high school students completed a questionnaire with 59 anthropomorphic graphs to evaluate the humorous indexes. These humorous indexes included comprehensibility, funniness, and aggressiveness of each graph. They were also asked to pick one punch line they felt towards each graph. The graphs with high comprehensibility and funniness ratings were chosen for the questionnaire of the second study. Analysis showed positive correlations between comprehensibility, funniness, and aggressiveness ratings. The graphs with high comprehensibility and funniness ratings have fewer punch line types than the graphs with low comprehensibility and funniness ratings. The most robust punch line of the graph was “object or character’s characteristics”, followed by “facial expressions, body movements and object or chara
碩士
國立臺灣大學
動物學研究所
91
Rac GTPases are involved in cytoskeletal rearrangement. CED-10 is one of members of Rac GTPase family in Caenorhabditis elegans. In C. elegans DTCs (Distal Tip Cells), ...CED-2/CED-5/CED-12 ternary complex translocate to plasma membrane and activate CED-10, leading to the cytoskeletal reorganization that occurs in the polarized extension of cell surface. By this arrangement, DTC can migrate through cell autonomous and surrounding signals. Gonad arms of C. elegans is generated by the symmetrical migration of DTCs, so gonad shapes indicate DTCs migration paths. When ced-2, ced-5, ced-10 or ced-12 mutate, gonads shapes alter. In ced-10 signaling pathway of DTC migration, upstream molecules haven’t been figure out.
I have undertaken genetic screen to search new genes involved in DTC migration mechanism. I have found a ced-5 new allele, ced-5(tp4), which mainly has opposite direction of third phase migration or clump gonads resulted in irregular migration. And I use Yeast-Two-Hybrid to seek for mo
Aim： Antioxidant peptide SS-31 is a class of cell-permeable small peptides, which selectively resides on the inner mito-chondrial membrane and possesses intrinsic mitochondrial protective capacities. ...In this study we investigated the therapeutic effects of antioxidant peptide SS-31 on transverse aortic constriction （TAC）-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension （PAH） in a murine model. Methods： Adult male mice were divided into 3 groups： sham-operated mice, TAC mice, and TAC＋SS-31 mice that underwent TAC surgery and received SS-31 （2 mg/d, ip） for 60 d. The right ventricular systolic blood pressure （RVSBP） was measured on d 60 prior to sacrificing the mice; then their right heart and lung tissues were collected for histological and biochemical examinations. Lung injury scores were defined by the increased crowded area and decreased number of alveolar sacs. Results： TAC mice showed significantly higher RVSBP compared with sham-operated mice, the elevation was substantially suppressed in TAC＋SS-31 mice. The same pattern of changes was found in pulmonary levels of oxidative stress proteins （NOX-1/NOX-2/oxidized proteins）, cytosolic cytochrome c, biomarkers related to inflammation （MMP-9/TNF-α/iNOS）, calcium overload index （TRPC1, 2, 4, 6）, apoptosis （mitochondrial BAX, cleaved caspase 3/PARP）, fibrosis （Smad3/TGF-β）, hypoxic （HIF-1α）, DNA damage （γ-H2AX） and endothelial function （eNOS/ET-1R）, as well as in lung injury score, number of muscularized vessels in lungs, number of TRPC1^＋ and HIF-1α cells in pulmonary artery, and number of γ-H2AX^＋ and Ki-67^＋ cells in lung parenchyma. An opposite pattern of changes was observed in pulmonary anti-fibrotic markers （Smad1/5, BMP-2）, number of small vessels, and number of alveolar sacs. In contrast, the levels of antioxidant proteins （HO-1/NQO-1/GR/GPx） in lung parenchyma were progressively and significantly increased from sham- operated mice, TAC mice to TAC＋SS-31 mice. Conclusion： Antioxidant peptide SS-31 administration effectively attenuates TAC-induced PAH in mice.
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