Regeneration of crush-injured mental nerve using Schwann-like cells derived from dental pulp stem cells combined with pulsed electromagnetic field

학위논문 (박사)-- 서울대학교 대학원 : 치의과학과 구강악안면외과학전공, 2015. 8. 이종호.Peripheral nerve injury is relatively common in clinical situation which may result in serious disturbance such as dysesthesia, persistent paresthesia and pain. Various techniques have been investigated to enhance peripheral nerve regeneration including the application of pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) and administration of Schwann cells from mesenchymal stem cells as the potential sources.The purpose of study was firstly to clarify the influence of frequency and duration of PEMF and find the suitable condition of PEMF on the peripheral nerve regenerationand secondly to investigate the effects of combining PEMF and local injection of Schwann-like cells, in comparison with each single modality, on peripheral nerve regeneration in a rat model with crush-injured mental nerve.Docto

Prevalence of Epidermal Conditions in Critically Endangered Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins (Sousa chinensis) from the Waters of Western Taiwan

The prevalence of epidermal conditions in a small critically endangered population (<100 individuals) of coastal Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) from the waters of western Taiwan was assessed during a photo-identification study conducted between 2006 and 2010. Of 97 individuals photographically examined, 37% were affected by one or multiple conditions. Besides, mature individuals had significantly higher prevalence than immature ones. Five different skin condition categories were considered, including pox-like lesion, pale lesion, orange film, prolonged ulcer lesion, and nodule on body. This first study to investigate epidermal conditions on S. chinensis in the world offers data for comparison with other studies in the future and new ground for discussion on the health of these animals and the potential impact of anthropogenic activities

Applying Information Technology to Patient Safety Reporting System

After a nursing staff of North Town Woman & Children\u27s Hospital made an error injection and caused one infant dead and six injured in 2002, the Taiwan government pays more attention to patient safety. Firstly, the Department of Health (DOH) established the Patient Safety Committee in February, 2003 to promote several patients’ safety activities and education training. Secondly, the committee is actively planning a nationwide reporting system of patient safety to summarize the common causes of medical errors. Most hospitals (about 70%) have not utilized information technology to construct a patient safety reporting system. The conventional reporting mechanism is to fill a paper form and circulate through out the organization. Therefore, in order to make the greater efficiency and effectiveness on a reporting system, this research develops a Patient Safety Reporting System (PSRS) used inside the hospital to solve the disadvantages of conventional reporting mechanism and enhance patient safety and medical quality. The prototyping method was used to develop the PSRS to assure the communication between users and system designers about the actual system to be implemented. The results show that the PSRS has higher satisfaction than that of the traditional paper method. The PSRS not only save on time and man power for reporting but also improve the anonymity and security of reporting process. These advantages have a positive effect on staffs’ willingness of reporting. The experience of developing this system could be used as reference for other hospitals to develop their own PSR

Cloud Particles Evolution Algorithm

Many evolutionary algorithms have been paid attention to by the researchers and have been applied to solve optimization problems. This paper presents a new optimization method called cloud particles evolution algorithm (CPEA) to solve optimization problems based on cloud formation process and phase transformation of natural substance. The cloud is assumed to have three states in the proposed algorithm. Gaseous state represents the global exploration. Liquid state represents the intermediate process from the global exploration to the local exploitation. Solid state represents the local exploitation. The cloud is composed of descript and independent particles in this algorithm. The cloud particles use phase transformation of three states to realize the global exploration and the local exploitation in the optimization process. Moreover, the cloud particles not only realize the survival of the fittest through competition mechanism but also ensure the diversity of the cloud particles by reciprocity mechanism. The effectiveness of the algorithm is validated upon different benchmark problems. The proposed algorithm is compared with a number of other well-known optimization algorithms, and the experimental results show that cloud particles evolution algorithm has a higher efficiency than some other algorithms