Validation of Self-administrated Questionnaire for Psychiatric Disorders in Patients with Functional Dyspepsia

( Ada W. Y. Tse ),( Larry H. Lai ),( C. C. Lee ),( Kelvin K. F. Tsoi ),( Vincent W. S. Wong ),( Yawen Chan ),( Joseph J. Y. Sung ),( Francis K. L. Chan ),( Justin C. Y. Wu ) 대한소화기기능성질환·운동학회 2010 Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility (JNM Vol.16 No.1

Introduction: Psychiatric comorbidity is common in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD) but a good screening tool for psychiatric disorders in gastrointestinal clinical practice is Lacking. Aims: 1) Evaluate the performance and optimal cut-off of 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) as a screening tool for psychiatric disorders in FD patients; 2) Compare health-related quality of Life (HRQoL) in FD patients with and without psychiatric comorbidities. Methods: Consecutive patients fulfilling Rome III criteria for FD without medical co-morbidities and gastroesophageal reflux disease were recruited in a gastroenterology clinic. The followings were conducted at 4 weeks after index oesophagogastroduodenoscopy: self-administrated questionnaires on socio-demographics, dyspeptic symptom severity (4-point Likert scale), GHQ-12, and 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36). Psychiatric disorders were diagnosed with Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID) by a trained psychiatrist, which served as reference standard. Results: 55 patients underwent psychiatrist-conducted interview and questionnaire assessment. 27 (49.1%) had current psychiatric disorders as determined by SCID (anxiety disorders: 38.2%, depressive disorders: 16.4%). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of GHQ-12 revealed an area under curve of 0.825 (95%CI: 0.698-0.914). Cut-off of GHQ-12 at 3 gave a sensitivity of 63.0% (95%CI = 42.4-80.6%) and specificity of 92.9% (95%CI = 76.5%-98.9%). Subjects with co-existing psychiatric disorders scored significantly Lower in multiple domains of SF-36 (mental component summary, general health, vitality and mental health). By multivariate Linear regression analysis, current psychiatric morbidities (Beta = -0.396, p = 0.002) and family history of psychiatric illness (Beta = -0.299, p = 0.015) were independent risk factors for poorer mental component summary in SF-36, while dyspepsia severity was the only independent risk factor for poorer physical component summary (Beta = -0.332, p = 0.027). Conclusions: Concomitant psychiatric disorders adversely affect HRQoL in FD patients. The use of GHQ-12 as a reliable screening tool for psychiatric disorders allows early intervention and may improve clinical outcomes of these patients.(J Neurogastroenterol Motil 2010;16:52-60)

Recent SAXS Progress at NSRRC

U. Jeng,C. H. Hsu,Y. S. Sun,Y. H. Lai,W. T. Chung,H. S. Sheu,H. Y. Lee,Y. F. Song,K. S. Liang,T. L. Lin 한국고분자학회 2005 Macromolecular Research Vol.13 No.6

Applications of the Lactobacillus rhamnosus (Tcell-1 Cell-Line) Separated From Taiwanese Intestinal Canal, and the Antrodia Camphorata, National Treasure of Taiwan, on the Disease Model Animals

M.-F. Wu,W.-L. Lai,Y.-M. Hsu,M.-C. Wu 한국실험동물학회 2003 한국실험동물학회 학술발표대회 논문집 Vol.2003 No.-

Effects of Varying Dietary Zinc Levels and Environmental Temperatures on the Growth Performance, Feathering Score and Feather Mineral Concentrations of Broiler Chicks

Lai, P.W.,Liang, Juan-Boo,Hsia, L.C.,Loh, T.C.,Ho, Y.W. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2010 Animal Bioscience Vol.23 No.7

This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary zinc (Zn), environmental temperatures and Zn${\times}$temperature interaction on growth, feathering score and mineral composition of broilers. A total of 256 d-old Avian male broiler chicks were randomly allocated to a $4{\times}2$ factorial arrangement with four corn-soybean meal basal diets (containing 44 mg Zn/kg) supplemented with 0, 40, 60 mg/kg Zn (Diets 1, 2 and 3, respectively; 0.8% Ca for these three diets) and non-Zn supplementation, 1.6% Ca (Diet 4) and two temperature conditions (low: 26, 24, $22^{\circ}C$ vs. high: 30, 28, $26^{\circ}C$). All birds were given feathering coverage scores for back, breast, wing, under-wing and tail. The wing and tail were further evaluated for the occurrence and severity of defect feathers. Feathers were then pooled for mineral composition analysis. The results showed that in high temperature conditions, broilers fed Zn-unsupplemented, 0.8% Ca ration (Diet 1) had significantly (p<0.05) lower ADFI and ADG (wk 1-6) than birds under low temperature conditions. However, when the birds were fed 40 and 60 mg/kg Zn supplementation (Diets 2 and 3), the ADFI and ADG in both temperature conditions were not significantly different. In low temperature conditions, the ADFI, ADG (p<0.05), all feather coverage (p<0.01) and tail defect scores (p<0.001) of birds fed Diet 4 (excess Ca) were significantly poorer than those fed Diet 1. More Ca (p<0.05) was retained in the feathers of broilers fed Diet 4 under high temperature conditions. Broilers fed the Zn-unsupplemented ration (Diet 1) had significantly higher feather phosphorus (p<0.01) and potassium (p<0.05) concentrations than those fed the 60 mg/kg Zn-supplemented ration (Diet 3). A reduction of feather phosphorus (p<0.01) and potassium (p<0.05) and higher manganese (p<0.05) concentrations were observed in Diet 4 broilers as compared to those fed Diet 1. Under high temperature conditions, broilers had lower iron (p<0.05) and higher manganese (p<0.05) concentrations in feathers. Broilers kept in high temperature conditions had a higher Zn requirement and 40 mg/kg Zn supplementation was sufficient for the birds to achieve optimum growth. Supplemental Zn ameliorated the adverse effect of high temperature on growth and occurrence of tail feather defects. Excess Ca disrupted Zn metabolism to exert a detrimental effect on growth performance and normal feathering and this was elucidated in the birds kept in low temperature conditions.

Edge perturbation on electronic properties of boron nitride nanoribbons

K.L. Wong,K.W. Lai,M.W. Chuan,Y. Wong,A. Hamzah,S. Rusli,N.E. Alias,S. Mohamed Sultan,C.S. Lim,M.L.P. Tan Techno-Press 2023 Advances in nano research Vol.15 No.5

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), commonly referred to as Boron Nitride Nanoribbons (BNNRs), is an electrical insulator characterized by high thermal stability and a wide bandgap semiconductor property. This study delves into the electronic properties of two BNNR configurations: Armchair BNNRs (ABNNRs) and Zigzag BNNRs (ZBNNRs). Utilizing the nearest-neighbour tight-binding approach and numerical methods, the electronic properties of BNNRs were simulated. A simplifying assumption, the Hamiltonian matrix is used to compute the electronic properties by considering the self-interaction energy of a unit cell and the interaction energy between the unit cells. The edge perturbation is applied to the selected atoms of ABNNRs and ZBNNRs to simulate the electronic properties changes. This simulation work is done by generating a custom script using numerical computational methods in MATLAB software. When benchmarked against a reference study, our results aligned closely in terms of band structure and bandgap energy for ABNNRs. However, variations were observed in the peak values of the continuous curves for the local density of states. This discrepancy can be attributed to the use of numerical methods in our study, in contrast to the semi-analytical approach adopted in the reference work.

R&D Status of High-current Accelerators at IFP

J. J. Deng,J. S. Shi,W. P. Xie,L. W. Zhang,K. Z. Zhang,S. P. Feng,J. Li,M. Wang,Y. He,L. S. Xia,Z. Y. Dai,H. T. Li,L. Wen,S. F. Chen,X. Li,Q. G. Lai,M. H. Xia,Y. C. Guan,S. Y. Song,L. Chen 한국물리학회 2011 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.59 No.61

High-current accelerators have many important applications in Z-pinches, high-power microwaves, and free electron lasers, imploding liners and radiography and so on. Research activities on Zpinches, imploding liners, radiography at the Institute of Fluid Physics (IFP) are introduced. Several main high-current accelerators developed and being developed at IFP are described, such as the Linear Induction Accelerator X-Ray Facility Upgrade (LIAXFU, 12 MeV, 2.5 kA, 90 ns), the Dragon-I linear induction accelerator (20 MeV, 2.5 kA, 60 ns), and the Primary Test Stand for Z-pinch (PTS, 10 MA, 120 ns). The design of Dragon-II linear induction accelerator (20 MeV, 2.5 kA, 3 × 60 ns) to be built will be presented briefly.

Generation of green frequency comb from chirped χ⁽²⁾ nonlinear photonic crystals

Lai, C.-M.,Chang, K.-H.,Yang, Z.-Y.,Fu, S.-H.,Tsai, S.-T.,Hsu, C.-W.,Yu, N. E.,Boudrioua, A.,Kung, A. H.,Peng, L.-H. American Institute of Physics 2014 Applied Physics Letters Vol.105 No.22

Differential interactions of plasmid DNA, RNA and endotoxin with immobilised and free metal ions

Tan, L.,Lai, W.B.,Lee, C.T.,Kim, D.S.,Choe, W.S. Elsevier 2007 Journal of chromatography Vol.1141 No.2

Separation of negatively charged molecules, such as plasmid DNA (pDNA), RNA and endotoxin forms a bottleneck for the development of pDNA vaccine production process. The use of affinity interactions of transition metal ions with these molecules may provide an ideal separation methodology. In this study, the binding behaviour of pDNA, RNA and endotoxin to transition metal ions, either in immobilised or free form, was investigated. Transition metal ions: Cu<SUP>2+</SUP>, Ni<SUP>2+</SUP>, Zn<SUP>2+</SUP>, Co<SUP>2+</SUP> and Fe<SUP>3+</SUP>, typically employed in the immobilised metal affinity chromatography (IMAC), showed very different binding behaviour depending on the type of metal ions and their existing state, i.e. immobilised or free. In the alkaline cell lysate, pDNA showed no binding to any of the IMAC chemistries tested whereas RNA interacted significantly with Cu<SUP>2+</SUP>-iminodiacetic acid (IDA) and Ni<SUP>2+</SUP>-IDA but showed no substantial binding to the rest of the IMAC chemistries. pDNA and RNA, however, interacted to varying degrees with free metal ions in the solution. The greatest selectivity in terms of pDNA and RNA separation was achieved with Zn<SUP>2+</SUP> which enabled almost full precipitation of RNA while keeping pDNA soluble. For both immobilised and free metal ions, ionic strength of solution affected the metal ion-nucleic acid interaction significantly. Endotoxin, being more flexible, was able to interact better with the immobilised metal ions than the nucleic acids and showed binding to all the IMAC chemistries. The specific interactions of immobilised and/or free metal ions with pDNA, RNA and endotoxin showed a good potential, by selectively removing RNA and endotoxin at high efficiency, to develop a simplified pDNA purification process with improved process economics.

Preventing Bone Loss and Weight Gain with Combinations of Vitamin D and Phytochemicals

Ching-Yi Lai,Jeong-Yeh Yang,Srujana Rayalam,Mary Anne Della-Fera,Suresh Ambati,Richard D. Lewis,Mark W. Hamrick,Diane L. Hartzell,Clifton A. Baile 한국식품영양과학회 2011 Journal of medicinal food Vol.14 No.11

Vitamin D and certain natural compounds have been shown to regulate both lipid metabolism and bone formation. Treatments that prevent or reverse age-related increase in bone marrow adiposity could both increase new bone formation and inhibit bone destruction. We tested the hypothesis that dietary supplementation with combinations of vitamin D and phytochemicals inhibits bone loss and decreases adiposity to a greater extent than control or vitamin D–alone diets. Aged ovariectomized female rats (12 months old, n=50, initial body weight=240 g) were given control (AIN-93M diet), vitamin D (2,400 IU/kg), or vitamin D plus resveratrol (16, 80, or 400 mg/kg of diet [low, medium, and high dose, respectively]), quercetin (80, 400, or 2,000 mg/kg of diet), and genistein (64, 256, or 1,040 mg/kg of diet) for 8 weeks. The high-dose treatment (vitamin D+400 mg/kg resveratrol+2,000 mg/kg quercetin+1,040 mg/kg genistein) reduced body weight gain (P<.05) and the fat pad weights (P<.05). This treatment also increased the serum concentration of insulin-like growth factor-1 (P<.05) and the bone mineral content of the femur. Micro-computed tomography and histomorphometric analyses indicated that the high-dose treatment prevented loss of trabecular bone (P<.05) and reduced marrow adipocytes (P<.001) and osteoclasts (P<.05) compared with the control and vitamin D alone (P<.05). We conclude that aged ovariectomized female rats supplemented with vitamin D combined with genistein, quercetin, and resveratrol had improved bone mineral density and reduced body weight gain and a significant decrease in bone marrow adipocytes. The synergistic effects of a combination of phytochemicals with vitamin D may be effective in reducing bone loss and weight gain after menopause.

A durability study of carbon nanotube fiber based stretchable electronic devices under cyclic deformation

Yu, J.,Wang, L.,Lai, X.,Pei, S.,Zhuang, Z.,Meng, L.,Huang, Y.,Li, Q.,Lu, W.,Byun, J.H.,Oh, Y.,Yan, Y.,Chou, T.W. Pergamon Press ; Elsevier Science Ltd 2015 Carbon Vol.94 No.-

In spite of the recent rapid growth in stretchable electronic device research, efforts have been mainly focused on material selection, device geometric design and short-term performance characterization. The present research focuses on the long-term durability of electromechanical and electrochemical performance of buckled carbon nanotube fibers based stretchable conductors and supercapacitors under cyclic deformation. The damage mode and damage evolution as a function of fatigue deformation are identified. After 10,000 stretching-releasing cycles with mechanical deformation up to 40% strain, the conductivities of buckled dry spun and aerogel spun CNT fiber based stretchable conductors exhibit excellent stability and the resistances increase by only about 0.2% and 6%, respectively. The areal specific capacitances of buckled dry spun and aerogel spun CNT fiber based stretchable supercapacitors change, respectively, from 4.42mFcm<SUP>-2</SUP> to 3.60mFcm<SUP>-2</SUP>, and from 8.16mFcm<SUP>-2</SUP> to 9.95mFcm<SUP>-2</SUP> at the scan rate of 50mVs<SUP>-1</SUP> after 10,000 deformation cycles.