ANALYSIS OF AGOMELATINE TREATMENT WITH DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS

Objective: Agomelatine is a new mechanism of antidepressants, which is approved by Taiwan Food and Drug Administration and available in Taiwan.Agomelatine behaves both as a potent agonist at melatonin MT1 and MT2 receptors and as a neutral antagonist at 5-HT2C receptors. The structuresof agomelatine are similar to melatonin with not only the effects to maintain depression symptoms but also can help patients who have insomnia.Methods: This is a retrospective study. In a mental hospital in Taoyuan, we analyzed the prescriptions of the outpatients who were prescribedagomelatine to realize the effects of agomelatine and whether the prescriptions were prescribed appropriately.Results: Catastrophic illnesses were found to be associated with significantly used multiple hypnotics (χ2 =22.02, p<0.001). When patients’ ageincreased by 1 year, multiple hypnotics used increased by 1.013 times (Exp(B)=1.013, p<0.01). Catastrophic illnesses were found to be associatedwith significantly used augmentation with other antidepressants (χ2=54.07, p<0.001).Conclusions: Doctors should be evaluating the benefits and risks when they prescribe a medicine to patients, and they should be written in medicalrecord. This study is the hope to provide relevant units as a reference for formulating health policies

XRCC1, but not APE1 and hOGG1 gene polymorphisms is a risk factor for pterygium.

PurposeEpidemiological evidence suggests that UV irradiation plays an important role in pterygium pathogenesis. UV irradiation can produce a wide range of DNA damage. The base excision repair (BER) pathway is considered the most important pathway involved in the repair of radiation-induced DNA damage. Based on previous studies, single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 8-oxoguanine glycosylase-1 (OGG1), X-ray repair cross-complementing-1 (XRCC1), and AP-endonuclease-1 (APE1) genes in the BER pathway have been found to affect the individual sensitivity to radiation exposure and induction of DNA damage. Therefore, we hypothesize that the genetic polymorphisms of these repair genes increase the risk of pterygium.MethodsXRCC1, APE1, and hOGG1 polymorphisms were studied using fluorescence-labeled Taq Man probes on 83 pterygial specimens and 206 normal controls.ResultsThere was a significant difference between the case and control groups in the XRCC1 genotype (p=0.038) but not in hOGG1 (p=0.383) and APE1 (p=0.898). The odds ratio of the XRCC1 A/G polymorphism was 2.592 (95% CI=1.225-5.484, p=0.013) and the G/G polymorphism was 1.212 (95% CI=0.914-1.607), compared to the A/A wild-type genotype. Moreover, individuals who carried at least one C-allele (A/G and G/G) had a 1.710 fold increased risk of developing pterygium compared to those who carried the A/A wild type genotype (OR=1.710; 95% CI: 1.015-2.882, p=0.044). The hOGG1 and APE1 polymorphisms did not have an increased odds ratio compared with the wild type.ConclusionsXRCC1 (Arg399 Glu) is correlated with pterygium and might become a potential marker for the prediction of pterygium susceptibility

Charmed Ωc\Omega_c weak decays into Ω\Omega in the light-front quark model

More than ten $\Omega_c^0$ weak decay modes have been measured with the branching fractions relative to that of $\Omega^0_c\to\Omega^-\pi^+$. In order to extract the absolute branching fractions, the study of $\Omega^0_c\to\Omega^-\pi^+$ is needed. In this work, we predict ${\cal B}_\pi\equiv {\cal B}(\Omega_c^0\to\Omega^-\pi^+)=(5.1\pm 0.7)\times 10^{-3}$ with the $\Omega_c^0\to\Omega^-$ transition form factors calculated in the light-front quark model. We also predict ${\cal B}_\rho\equiv {\cal B}(\Omega_c^0\to\Omega^-\rho^+)=(14.4\pm 0.4)\times 10^{-3}$ and ${\cal B}_e\equiv{\cal B}(\Omega_c^0\to\Omega^-e^+\nu_e)=(5.4\pm 0.2)\times 10^{-3}$. The previous values for ${\cal B}_\rho/{\cal B}_\pi$ have been found to deviate from the most recent observation. Nonetheless, our ${\cal B}_\rho/{\cal B}_\pi=2.8\pm 0.4$ is able to alleviate the deviation. Moreover, we obtain ${\cal B}_e/{\cal B}_\pi=1.1\pm 0.2$, which is consistent with the current data.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

Association between copy number variation of complement component C4 and Graves' disease

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gene copy number of complement component <it>C4</it>, which varies among individuals, may determine the intrinsic strength of the classical complement pathway. Presuming a major role of complement as an effecter in peptide-mediated inflammation and phagocytosis, we hypothesized that <it>C4 </it>genetic diversity may partially explain the development of Graves' disease (GD) and the variation in its outcomes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A case-control study including 624 patients with GD and 160 healthy individuals were enrolled. CNV of <it>C4 </it>isotypes (<it>C4A </it>and <it>C4B</it>) genes were performed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis. Statistical comparison and identification of CNV of total <it>C4, C4 </it>isotypes (<it>C4A </it>and <it>C4B</it>) and <it>C4 </it>polymorphisms were estimated according to the occurrence of GD and its associated clinical features.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Individuals with 4, 2, and 2 copies of <it>C4</it>, <it>C4A </it>and <it>C4B </it>genes, especially those with A2B2 polymorphism may associate with the development of GD (p = 0.001, OR = 10.994, 95% CI: 6.277-19.255; p = 0.008, OR = 1.732, 95% CI: 1.190-2.520; p = 2.420 × 10-5, OR = 2.621, 95% CI: 1.791-3.835; and <it>p </it>= 1.395 × 10^-4, OR = 2.671, 95% CI: 1.761-4.052, respectively). Although the distribution of copy number for total <it>C4</it>, <it>C4 </it>isotypes as well as <it>C4 </it>polymorphisms did not associate with the occurrence of goiter, nodular hyperplasia, GO and myxedema, <2 copies of <it>C4A </it>may associate with high risk toward vitiligo in patients with GD (<it>p </it>= 0.001, OR = 5.579, 95% CI: 1.659-18.763).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results may be further estimated for its clinical application on GD and the vitiligo in patients with GD.</p

Bis{1-[(E)-(2-methyl­phen­yl)diazen­yl]-2-naphtho­lato}palladium(II)

In the title compound, [Pd(C17H13N2O)2], the PdII atom is tetra­coordinated by two N atoms and two O atoms from two bidentate methylphenyl­diazenylnaphtolate ligands, forming a square-planar complex. The two N atoms and two O atoms around the PdII atom are trans to each other (as the PdII atom lies on a crystallographic inversion centre) with O—Pd—N bond angles of 89.60 (11) and 90.40 (11)°. The distances between the PdII atom and the coordinated O and N atoms are 1.966 (3) and 2.009 (3) Å, respectively

The p53-dependent apoptotic pathway of breast cancer cells (BC-M1) induced by the bis-type bioreductive compound aziridinylnaphthoquinone

INTRODUCTION: Several aziridinylbenzoquinone drugs have undergone clinical trials as potential antitumor drugs. These bioreductive compounds are designed to kill cells preferentially within the hypoxia tumor microenvironment. The bioreductive compound of bis-type naphthoquinone synthesized in our laboratory, 2-aziridin-1-yl-3-[(2-{2-[(3-aziridin-1-yl-1,4-dioxo-1,4-dihydronaphthalen-2-yl)thio]ethoxy}ethyl)thio]naphthoquinone (AZ-1), had the most potent death effect on the breast cancer cells BC-M1 in our previous screening. In the present study, we determined that the mechanism of the death effect of BC-M1 cells induced by AZ-1 was mediated by the apoptosis pathway. METHODS: We evaluated the cytotoxicity of AZ-1 and the anti-breast cancer drugs tamoxifen and paclitaxel to BC-M1 cells and MCF-7 cells by the MTT assay and measured the apoptosis phenomena by Hoechst 33258 staining for apoptotic bodies. We also quantified the sub-G(1 )peak area and the ratio of the CH(2)/CH(3 )peak area of the cell membrane in BC-M1 cells by flow cytometry and (1)H-NMR spectra, respectively. The apoptosis-related protein expressions, including p53, p21, the RNA-relating protein T-cell restricted intracellular antigen-related protein, cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (cell cycle regulating kinase) and pro-caspase 3, were detected by western blot, and the caspase-3 enzyme activity was also quantified by an assay kit. RESULTS: AZ-1 induced two of the breast cancer cell lines, with IC(50 )= 0.51 μM in BC-M1 cells and with IC(50)= 0.57 μM in MCF-7 cells, and showed less cytotoxicity to normal fibroblast cells (skin fibroblasts) with IC(50)= 5.6 μM. There was a 10-fold difference between two breast cancer cell lines and normal fibroblasts. Of the two anti-breast cancer drugs, tamoxifen showed IC(50)= 0.12 μM to BC-M1 cells and paclitaxel had much less sensitivity than AZ-1. The expression of p53 protein increased from 0.5 to 1.0 μM AZ-1 and decreased at 2.0 μM AZ-1. The p21 protein increased from 0.5 μM AZ-1, with the highest at 2 μM AZ-1. Regarding the AZ-1 compound-induced BC-M1 cells mediating the apoptosis pathway, the apoptotic body formation, the sub-G(1 )peak area, the ratio of CH(2)/CH(3 )of phospholipids in the cell membrane and the enzyme activity of caspase-3 were all in direct proportion with the dose-dependent increase of the concentration of AZ-1. The death effect-related proteins, including T-cell restricted intracellular antigen-related protein, cyclin-dependent kinase 2, and pro-caspase-3, all dose-dependently decreased with AZ-1 concentration. CONCLUSIONS: The AZ-1-induced cell death of BC-M1 cells mediating the apoptosis pathway might be associated with p53 protein expression, and AZ-1 could have the chance to be a candidate drug for anti-breast cancer following more experimental evidence, such as animal models

University-community partnerships for local museum : an interdisciplinary service-learning project

In 2013, Far East University conducted an interdisciplinary service -learning project in the Fang-Yuan Art Museum, a local museum in Tainan suburban. The project was grouped by four courses, Life Aesthetics and Museum Narration, Navigation Technology for Museum, Creative Design and Exhibition, and Green Consumption, by faculties from Dept. of Applied Language, Dept. of Information Management, and Dept. of Digital Multimedia Arts. The faculty members, in partnership with the museum curator and its neighboring community, con-constructed a one-year long service-learning project to meet museum\u27s needs and courses objectives. The English version of museum narration, the APP for museum navigation, and the creative souvenir were developed. This paper will present this model of interdisciplinary service-learning, as well as courses objectives, common learning activities, advantage and disadvantage, and further development

Diagnosis of Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy from Fluorescein Angiography Using Deep Learning

Purpose: To differentiate polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) from choroidal neovascularization (CNV) and to determine the extent of PCV from fluorescein angiography (FA) using attention-based deep learning networks. Methods: We build two deep learning networks for diagnosis of PCV using FA, one for detection and one for segmentation. Attention-gated convolutional neural network (AG-CNN) differentiates PCV from other types of wet age-related macular degeneration. Gradient-weighted class activation map (Grad-CAM) is generated to highlight important regions in the image for making the prediction, which offers explainability of the network. Attention-gated recurrent neural network (AG-PCVNet) for spatiotemporal prediction is applied for segmentation of PCV. Results: AG-CNN is validated with a dataset containing 167 FA sequences of PCV and 70 FA sequences of CNV. AG-CNN achieves a classification accuracy of 82.80% at image-level, and 86.21% at patient-level for PCV. Grad-CAM shows that regions contributing to decision-making have on average 21.91% agreement with pathological regions identified by experts. AG-PCVNet is validated with 56 PCV sequences from the EVEREST-I study and achieves a balanced accuracy of 81.132% and dice score of 0.54. Conclusions: The developed software provides a means of performing detection and segmentation of PCV on FA images for the first time. This study is a promising step in changing the diagnostic procedure of PCV and therefore improving the detection rate of PCV using FA alone. Translational Relevance: The developed deep learning system enables early diagnosis of PCV using FA to assist the physician in choosing the best treatment for optimal visual prognosis