Anatomical Asymmetry in Goiter: A Demonstration by Three-dimensional Power Doppler Ultrasound

The aim of the present study was to examine the anatomical differences in volumetric and intraparenchymal vascular parameters between the two thyroid lobes of patients with goiter, using three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound. A total of 89 outpatients with goiter, including 55 with autoimmune thyroid disease (ATD) and 34 with simple goiter (SG), were evaluated by three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound. Volumetric and intraparenchymal vascular indices including vascularization index, flow index and vascular flow index of each lobe were measured using the Virtual Organ Computer-Aided Analysis system. In all patients with goiter, the volume and vascular indices (vascularization index, flow index and vascular flow index) of the right thyroid lobe were significantly greater than those of the left lobe (p < 0.05). Differences in vascular indices were present in SG but not in ATD. ATD was associated with a larger thyroid volume and higher vascular indices compared with those of SG (p < 0.001), but there were no significant differences in volumetry and vascular indices between euthyroid ATD and SG. In conclusion, the right thyroid lobe was found to be significantly larger and more vascular than the left lobe in subjects with goiter, as measured by three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound. In addition, ATD was associated with a higher thyroid volume and vascular indices compared with those of SG

Electrical characteristics of metal-insulator-semiconductor Schottky diodes using a photowashing treatment in AlzGa1-xAs/InGaAs (X=0.75) pseudimorphic high electron mobility transistors

MIS Schottky diodes on Al0.75Ga0.25As/In0.2Ga0.8As PHEMTs were produced using both photowashing and H2O2 treatments. The Schottky contact on the GaAs layer with photowashing and H2O2 treatments showed enhancements of the SBH of about 0.11 and 0.05 eV, respectively. However, on the undoped AlGaAs layer, no further improvement in SBH was observed. After the photowashing treatment, the Ga oxide (Ga2O3) was dominantly created. In the mean time, two types of As oxide (As2O3,As5O2) were mainly produced by the H2O2 treatment, which are distributed uniformly on the GaAs surface. The thickness of the oxide layer formed by both treatments was nearly the same. Applying a representative model, formation of Ga oxide after the photowashing treatment effectively enhanced the SBH.open4

Microwave amplification via interfering multi-photon processes in a half-waveguide quantum electrodynamics system

We investigate the amplification of a microwave probe signal by a superconducting artificial atom, a transmon, strongly coupled to the end of a one-dimensional semi-infinite transmission line. The end of the transmission line acts as a mirror for microwave fields. Due to the weak anharmonicity of the artificial atom, a strong pump field creates multi-photon excitations among the dressed states. Transitions between these dressed states, Rabi sidebands, give rise to either amplification or attenuation of the weak probe. We obtain a maximum amplitude amplification of about 18 %, higher than in any previous experiment with a single artificial atom, due to constructive interference between Rabi sidebands. We also characterize the noise properties of the system by measuring the spectrum of spontaneous emission

Identification of Novel Susceptibility Loci for Kawasaki Disease in a Han Chinese Population by a Genome-Wide Association Study

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute systemic vasculitis syndrome that primarily affects infants and young children. Its etiology is unknown; however, epidemiological findings suggest that genetic predisposition underlies disease susceptibility. Taiwan has the third-highest incidence of KD in the world, after Japan and Korea. To investigate novel mechanisms that might predispose individuals to KD, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in 250 KD patients and 446 controls in a Han Chinese population residing in Taiwan, and further validated our findings in an independent Han Chinese cohort of 208 cases and 366 controls. The most strongly associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) detected in the joint analysis corresponded to three novel loci. Among these KD-associated SNPs three were close to the COPB2 (coatomer protein complex beta-2 subunit) gene: rs1873668 (p = 9.52×10−5), rs4243399 (p = 9.93×10−5), and rs16849083 (p = 9.93×10−5). We also identified a SNP in the intronic region of the ERAP1 (endoplasmic reticulum amino peptidase 1) gene (rs149481, pbest = 4.61×10−5). Six SNPs (rs17113284, rs8005468, rs10129255, rs2007467, rs10150241, and rs12590667) clustered in an area containing immunoglobulin heavy chain variable regions genes, with pbest-values between 2.08×10−5 and 8.93×10−6, were also identified. This is the first KD GWAS performed in a Han Chinese population. The novel KD candidates we identified have been implicated in T cell receptor signaling, regulation of proinflammatory cytokines, as well as antibody-mediated immune responses. These findings may lead to a better understanding of the underlying molecular pathogenesis of KD

Replication and Meta-Analysis of GWAS Identified Susceptibility Loci in Kawasaki Disease Confirm the Importance of B Lymphoid Tyrosine Kinase (BLK) in Disease Susceptibility

10.1371/journal.pone.0072037PLoS ONE88-POLN

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities