Climate classification of Asian university forests under current and future climate

Species diversity and the distribution of forests are closely related to climate, and climate classifications have been used to characterize vegetation distribution for over a century at the global scale. In contrast, climate type and dominant forest species may not be accurately classified at the forestry stand scale due to limited observational data and the influence of terrain. The collaboration of Asian university forests traverses 37.4° of latitude, from Hokkaido in Japan to Sabah in Malaysia. This study used both long-term observations and Worldclim 1-km resolution gridded datasets to classify well-managed Asian university forests according to the Trewartha climate classification method. Outputs from circulation models of the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) were then used to assess projected changes in future climate. Results showed that the current climate subtypes of the Asian university forests were consistent between the observations and Worldclim database. Ensemble projections of future climate suggested two likely drastic forest changes under a moderate emissions scenario during 2041–2060; parts of the Seoul National University Forests are likely to shift from a temperate to a subtropical climate, while sections of forests in Thailand are likely to shift from a subtropical to a tropical climate

Correction of Tetralogy of Fallot with Absent Pulmonary Valve Syndrome in a Young Infant Using a Bicuspid Equine Pericardial Tube

Absent pulmonary valve syndrome (APVS) is an uncommon variant of tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), which manifests morphologically as vestigial pulmonary valve cusps at the right ventricle-pulmonary trunk junction. The aneurysmally dilated pulmonary arteries may compress the tracheobronchial tree and cause severe respiratory distress in the neonatal or infant stage. Early surgical correction in these patients is necessary despite the high operative mortality rate. A 1-day-old male neonate suffered from progressive shortness of breath after birth. Echocardiography confirmed the diagnosis of TOF with APVS. The marked dilatation of pulmonary arteries resulted in airway compression in addition to heart failure. Total surgical correction was performed at 40 days of age, using a homemade bicuspid equine pericardial tube for right ventricular outflow reconstruction. The short-term follow-up echocardiogram demonstrated good motility of the pericardial leaflet. However, patients receiving this type of valved conduit require meticulous long-term follow-up

Enterovirus type 71 2A protease functions as a transcriptional activator in yeast

Enterovirus type 71 (EV71) 2A protease exhibited strong transcriptional activity in yeast cells. The transcriptional activity of 2A protease was independent of its protease activity. EV71 2A protease retained its transcriptional activity after truncation of 40 amino acids at the N-terminus but lost this activity after truncation of 60 amino acids at the N-terminus or deletion of 20 amino acids at the C-terminus. Thus, the acidic domain at the C-terminus of this protein is essential for its transcriptional activity. Indeed, deletion of amino acids from 146 to 149 (EAME) in this acidic domain lost the transcriptional activity of EV71 2A protein though still retained its protease activity. EV71 2A protease was detected both in the cytoplasm and nucleus using confocal microscopy analysis. Coxsackie virus B3 2A protease also exhibited transcriptional activity in yeast cells. As expected, an acidic domain in the C-terminus of Coxsackie virus B3 2A protease was also identified. Truncation of this acidic domain resulted in the loss of transcriptional activity. Interestingly, this acidic region of poliovirus 2A protease is critical for viral RNA replication. The transcriptional activity of the EV71 or Coxsackie virus B3 2A protease should play a role in viral replication and/or pathogenesis

Survival analysis of Stage IIA1 and IIA2 cervical cancer patients

AbstractObjectiveThe aim of this study was to assess the benefits of the 2009 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging system for survival of patients with Stage IIA1 and IIA2 cervical cancer (Cx Ca).Materials and MethodsA study cohort of 51 patients with Stage IIA Cx Ca was retrospectively collected from the 2004–2009 hospital-based, long-form Cx Ca data registry at Mackay Memorial Hospital (Taipei, Taiwan). The survivorship and overall survival were compared between these two groups (Stages IIA1 and IIA2) using log-rank test.ResultsThirty-six and 15 patients were classified into Stages IIA1 and IIA2, respectively. Stage IIA2 patients were younger than those with Stage IIA1 disease (mean age, 47.4 vs. 55.1 years, p = 0.008), but no significant difference was observed in confirmed pelvic lymph node status (21.4% vs. 38.5%, p = 0.280) between them. Although the 2-year and 5-year overall survival was better among Stage IIA1 patients, there was no significant difference in survival between Stage IIA1 and IIA2 groups (2-year, 90.6% vs. 77.8%; 5-year, 86.3% vs. 51.9%, p = 0.218).ConclusionAlthough there was a trend in survival difference between Stage IIA1 and IIA2 patients, the difference was not statistically significant. The revised FIGO 2009 staging system for Cx Ca defines a group of Stage IIA patients with bulky tumor (Stage IIA2) that are generally younger than Stage IIA1 patients. It is sensible to investigate an alternate or enhanced treatment scheme for Stage IIA2 patients. Ideally, the treatment scheme should prevent unnecessary radical surgery if a patient can be exposed to either chemotherapy or radiotherapy, alone or in combination

Development of a Game-Based e-Learning System with Augmented Reality for Improving Students’ Learning Performance

Currently, the school children usually spend a lot of time on the games in their recreational activities and some of them are even addicted to the games. Compared with other extracurricular activities, the e-Learning system reflects the fact that school children are very interested in the games. As a result, educators have lately craved to develop effective teaching activities that allow the school children to learn some subjects and to play the games simultaneously.  Therefore, this study is based on an e-Learning system which combines the serious game by Unity3D Game Engine with augmented reality (AR). Students are able to acquire their knowledge and to foster logical skills via this game-based e-Learning system.  According to its efficacy and utilities, this study has assessed and compared the game-based e-Learning system with the traditional learning and other e-Learning systems. The experimental results have indicated that the proposed game-based e-Learning system can outperform other existing systems

Comparison of visual outcomes after epiretinal membrane surgery

AbstractPurposeTo elucidate the anatomical and visual outcomes of patients with idiopathic epiretinal membranes (ERM) who underwent vitrectomy, membrane removal only, or with internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling under the assistance of different dyes.MethodsA retrospective chart review of patients with idiopathic ERM who received surgical treatment between January 2004 and December 2009. The patients were grouped according to the usage of staining materials assisting ILM peeling. Group 1 consisted of 61 eyes that underwent conventional vitrectomy and ERM peeling without staining-assisted ILM peeling. Group 2 consisted of 20 eyes with triamcinolone acetonide-assisted ILM peeling following conventional vitrectomy. Group 3 consisted of 23 eyes with indocyanine green-assisted ILM peeling following conventional vitrectomy.ResultsThis study included 104 eyes from 104 patients. There was no significant difference in age, sex, preoperative visual acuity, retinal thickness or follow-up duration among the three groups. Overall, the mean best-corrected visual acuity improved significantly from baseline 0.15 to postoperative 0.41 (p<0.0001). Among the three groups, the mean logarithm minimum angle of resolution acuity markedly improved. There was no significant difference in postoperative visual acuity among groups. As measured by ocular coherent tomography, the mean central foveal thickness decreased from 465.21±86.18 to 299.16±70.14μm. Although there was no difference between groups, postoperative retinal thickness was thicker than that observed in the normal population. The incidence of recurrent ERM was 13.1% in Group 1 and 0% in Groups 2 and 3; this incidence was significantly higher than in the conventional surgery group. Visual outcome was statistically more deteriorated in recurrent cases than in non-recurrent cases (p=0.011).ConclusionsERM surgeries with or without dye-assisted ILM peeling showed similar results. Moreover, the incidence of recurrence is lower in the ILM peeling groups and plays a primary role in determining the final postoperative vision outcome

Prevalence of PIK3CA mutations in Taiwanese patients with breast cancer: a retrospective next-generation sequencing database analysis

BackgroundBreast cancer is the most common cancer type that affects women. In hormone receptor–positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2−negative (HER2–) advanced breast cancer (ABC), phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA) is the most frequently mutated gene associated with poor prognosis. This study evaluated the frequency of PIK3CA mutations in the Taiwanese breast cancer population.MethodologyThis is a retrospective study; patient data were collected for 2 years from a next-generation sequencing database linked to electronic health records (EHRs). The primary endpoint was the regional prevalence of PIK3CA mutation. The secondary endpoints were to decipher the mutation types across breast cancer subtype, menopausal status, and time to treatment failure after everolimus (an mTOR inhibitor) or cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitor treatment.ResultsPIK3CA mutations were identified in 278 of 728 patients (38%). PIK3CA mutations were reported in 43% of patients with HR−/HER2+ subtype and 42% of patients with HR+/HER2– postmenopausal status. A lower prevalence of PIK3CA mutations was observed in triple-negative (27%) and HR+/HER2– premenopausal patients (29%). The most common mutation was at exon 20 (H1047R mutation, 41.6%), followed by exon 9 (E545K mutation, 18.9% and E542K mutation, 10.3%). Among patients treated with CDK4/6 inhibitors, the median time to treatment failure was 12 months (95% CI: 7-21 months) in the PIK3CA mutation cohort and 16 months (95% CI: 11-23 months) in the PIK3CA wild-type cohort, whereas patients receiving an mTOR inhibitor reported a median time to treatment failure of 20.5 months (95% CI: 8-33 months) in the PIK3CA mutation cohort and 6 months (95% CI: 2-9 months) in the PIK3CA wild-type cohort.ConclusionA high frequency of PIK3CA mutations was detected in Taiwanese patients with breast cancer, which was consistent with previous studies. Early detection of PIK3CA mutations might influence therapeutic decisions, leading to better treatment outcomes

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

Intensity modulated radiotherapy for elderly bladder cancer patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To review our experience and evaluate treatment planning using intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and helical tomotherapy (HT) for the treatment of elderly patients with bladder cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>From November 2006 through November 2009, we enrolled 19 elderly patients with histologically confirmed bladder cancer, 9 in the IMRT and 10 in the HT group. The patients received 64.8 Gy to the bladder with or without concurrent chemotherapy. Conventional 4-field "box" pelvic radiation therapy (2DRT) plans were generated for comparison.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The median patient age was 80 years old (range, 65-90 years old). The median survival was 21 months (5 to 26 months). The actuarial 2-year overall survival (OS) for the IMRT vs. the HT group was 26.3% <it>vs </it>.37.5%, respectively; the corresponding values for disease-free survival were 58.3% <it>vs</it>. 83.3%, respectively; for locoregional progression-free survival (LRPFS), the values were 87.5% <it>vs</it>. 83.3%, respectively; and for metastases-free survival, the values were 66.7% <it>vs</it>. 60.0%, respectively. The 2-year OS rates for T1, 2 <it>vs</it>. T3, 4 were 66.7% <it>vs</it>. 35.4%, respectively (<it>p </it>= 0.046). The 2-year OS rate was poor for those whose RT completion time greater than 8 weeks when compared with the RT completed within 8 wks (37.9% vs. 0%, <it>p </it>= 0.004).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>IMRT and HT provide good LRPFS with tolerable toxicity for elderly patients with invasive bladder cancer. IMRT and HT dosimetry and organ sparing capability were superior to that of 2DRT, and HT provides better sparing ability than IMRT. The T category and the RT completion time influence OS rate.</p