Seismic behavior of pile in liquefiable soil ground by centrifuge shaking table tests

Dramatic failure of pile foundations caused by the soil liquefaction was founded and leading to many studies on the seismic behavior of pile. The failures were often accompanied with settlement, lateral displacement and tilting of superstructures. Therefore soil-structure interaction effects must be properly considered in the design of pile. Two centrifuge models were conducted by shaking table at an acceleration field of 80 g. The purpose of this study was to investigate the seismic response of piles attached with different tip mass and embedded in liquefied or non-liquefied deposits. From the results, it was found that the maximum bending moment of pile occurs at the depth of 4 m and 5 m for dry sand and saturated sand models, respectively. The more tip mass leads to the more permanent lateral displacement and the more residual bending moment

Anatomical Variations of Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve During Thyroid Surgery: How to Identify and Handle the Variations With Intraoperative Neuromonitoring

Recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) palsy is the most common and serious complication after thyroid surgery. Visual identification of the RLN during thyroid surgery has been shown to be associated with lower rates of palsy, and although it has been recommended as the gold standard for RLN treatment, it does not guarantee success against postoperative vocal cord paralysis. Anatomical variations of the RLN, such as extra-laryngeal branches, distorted RLN, intertwining between branches of the RLN and inferior thyroid artery, and non-recurrent laryngeal nerve, can be a potential cause of nerve injury due to visual misidentification. Therefore, intraoperative verification of functional and anatomical RLN integrity is a prerequisite for a safe thyroid operation. In this article, we review the literature and demonstrate how to identify and handle the anatomical variations of the RLN with the application of intraoperative neuromonitoring in the form of high resolution photography, which can be informative for thyroid surgeons. Anatomical variations of the RLN cannot be predicted preoperatively and might be associated with higher rates of RLN injury. The RLN injury caused by visual misidentification can be rare if the nerve is definitely identified early with intraoperative neuromonitoring

Effect of music interventions on anxiety during labor: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background Anxiety is commonly experienced during the delivery process and has shown to have adverse effects on maternal and infant health outcomes. Music interventions tend to reduce the effects of anxiety in diverse populations, are low cost, are easily accessible, and have high acceptability. The aim of this review and meta-analysis was to assess the effectiveness of music interventions in reducing anxiety levels among women during labor. Methods Seven databases from inception to the end of December, 2018, without any language or time restriction including Embase, PubMed, the Cochrane Library, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health, PsycINFO, Airiti Library, and PerioPath: Index to Taiwan Periodical Literature were searched using key terms related to pregnancy, anxiety, and music. Randomized controlled trials that assessed the effect of music during labor and measured anxiety levels as an outcome were included. Meta-analyses were conducted to assess anxiety reduction following a music intervention compared to that after placebo treatment. Results A total of 14 studies that investigated a total of 1,310 participants were included in this review. The meta-analyses indicated that those in the intervention group had a significant decrease in anxiety scores (standardized mean difference = −2.40, 95% confidence interval (CI) [−3.29 to −1.52], p < 0.001; I2 = 97.66%), heart rate (HR) (difference in means = −3.04 beats/min, 95% CI [−4.79 to −1.29] beats/min, p = 0.001; I2 = 0.00%), systolic blood pressure (SBP) (difference in means = −3.71 mmHg, 95% CI [−7.07 to −0.35] mmHg, p = 0.031; I2 = 58.47%), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (difference in means = −3.54 mmHg, 95% CI [−5.27 to −1.81] mmHg, p < 0.001; I2 = 0.00%) as compared to the women in the control group. Conclusions Music interventions may decrease anxiety scores and physiological indexes related to anxiety (HR, SBP, and DBP). Music interventions may be a good non-pharmacological approach for decreasing anxiety levels during labor

Investigation of Hepatoprotective Activity of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells in the Mouse Model of Liver Injury

To date liver transplantation is the only effective treatment for end-stage liver diseases. Considering the potential of pluripotency and differentiation into tridermal lineages, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) may serve as an alternative of cell-based therapy. Herein, we investigated the effect of iPSC transplantation on thioacetamide- (TAA-) induced acute/fulminant hepatic failure (AHF) in mice. Firstly, we demonstrated that iPSCs had the capacity to differentiate into hepatocyte-like cells (iPSC-Heps) that expressed various hepatic markers, including albumin, α-fetoprotein, and hepatocyte nuclear factor-3β, and exhibited biological functions. Intravenous transplantation of iPSCs effectively reduced the hepatic necrotic area, improved liver functions and motor activity, and rescued TAA-treated mice from lethal AHF. 1,1′-dioctadecyl-3,3,3′,3′-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate cell labeling revealed that iPSCs potentially mobilized to the damaged liver area. Taken together, iPSCs can effectively rescue experimental AHF and represent a potentially favorable cell source of cell-based therapy

Activation of p53/miR-34a Tumor Suppressor Axis by Chinese Herbal Formula JP-1 in A549 Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide; the most common pathologic type is lung adenocarcinoma (LADC). In spite of the recent progress in targeted therapy, most LADC patients eventually expired due to the inevitable recurrence and drug resistance. New complementary agent with evidence-based molecular mechanism is urgently needed. MiR-34a is an important p53 downstream tumor suppressor, which regulates apoptosis, cell-cycle, EMT (epithelial mesenchymal transition), and so forth. Its expression is deficient in many types of cancers including LADC. Here, we show that a Chinese herbal formula JP-1 activates p53/miR-34a axis in A549 human LADC cells (p53 wild-type). Treatment with JP-1 induces p53 and its downstream p21 and BAX proteins as well as the miR-34a, resulting in growth inhibition, colony formation reduction, migration repression, and apoptosis induction. Accordingly, the decreases of miR-34a downstream targets such as CDK6, SIRT1, c-Myc, survivin, Snail, and AXL were observed. Moreover, JP-1 activates AMPKα and reduces mTOR activity, implying its inhibitory effect on the energy-sensitive protein synthesis and cell proliferation signaling. Our results show that JP-1 activates p53/miR-34a tumor suppressor axis and decreases proteins related to proliferation, apoptosis resistance, and metastasis, suggesting its potential as a complementary medicine for LADC treatment

IKKβ Suppression of TSC1 Links Inflammation and Tumor Angiogenesis via the mTOR Pathway

SummaryTNFα has recently emerged as a regulator linking inflammation to cancer pathogenesis, but the detailed cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying this link remain to be elucidated. The tuberous sclerosis 1 (TSC1)/TSC2 tumor suppressor complex serves as a repressor of the mTOR pathway, and disruption of TSC1/TSC2 complex function may contribute to tumorigenesis. Here we show that IKKβ, a major downstream kinase in the TNFα signaling pathway, physically interacts with and phosphorylates TSC1 at Ser487 and Ser511, resulting in suppression of TSC1. The IKKβ-mediated TSC1 suppression activates the mTOR pathway, enhances angiogenesis, and results in tumor development. We further find that expression of activated IKKβ is associated with TSC1 Ser511 phosphorylation and VEGF production in multiple tumor types and correlates with poor clinical outcome of breast cancer patients. Our findings identify a pathway that is critical for inflammation-mediated tumor angiogenesis and may provide a target for clinical intervention in human cancer

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Taiwan

We found a virulent closely related clone (Panton-Valentine leukocidin–positive, SCCmec V:ST59) of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in inpatients and outpatients in Taiwan. The isolates were found mostly in wounds but were also detected in blood, ear, respiratory, and other specimens; all were susceptible to ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole

Sequence Variants of ADIPOQ

Diabetes is a serious global health problem. Large-scale genome-wide association studies identified loci for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), including adiponectin (ADIPOQ) gene and transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2), but few studies clarified the effect of genetic polymorphisms of ADIPOQ and TCF7L2 on risk of T2DM. We attempted to elucidate association between T2DM and polymorphic variations of both in Taiwan’s Chinese Han population, with our retrospective case-control study genotyping single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ADIPOQ and TCF7L2 genes both in 149 T2DM patients and in 139 healthy controls from Taiwan. Statistical analysis gauged association of these polymorphisms with risk of T2DM to show ADIPOQ rs1501299 polymorphism variations strongly correlated with T2DM risk (P=0.042), with rs2241766 polymorphism being not associated with T2DM (P=0.967). However, both polymorphisms rs7903146 and rs12255372 of TCF7L2 were rarely detected in Taiwanese people. This study avers that ADIPOQ rs1501299 polymorphism contributes to risk of T2DM in the Taiwanese population