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Wen-Tung Hsu,1 Deng-Ho Yang,1– 4 Chun-Cheng Liao,3,5 Jia -Wen Chen,6 Wen-Hsiu Hsu,3,7 Chia-Wen Kuo,3,8 Hung-Chang Hsu,9 Sheng-Huang Chang,10 Li-Mien Chen2,3 1Division of Laboratory, Taichung Armed Force General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China; 2Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Armed Force General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China; 3School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; 4Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China; 5Department of Family Medicine, Taichung Armed Force General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China; 6Medicine Laboratory, Ministry of Health and Welfare Feng Yuan Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China; 7Division of Gastroenterology, Taichung Armed Force General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China; 8Division of Nephrology, Taichung Armed Force General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China; 9Division of Laboratory, Ching Chyuan Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China; 10Tsaotun Psychiatric Center, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Nantou, Taiwan, Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Li-Mien ChenDepartment of Internal Medicine, Taichung Armed Force General Hospital, No. 348, Sec. 2, Chung-Shan Road, Taiping, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of ChinaEmail c332860@ms65.hinet.netPurpose: To evaluate the blood glucose and renal function, determine the prevalence of hyperglycemia/diabetes mellitus (DM) and renal disease (nephropathy), and investigate the association between hyperglycemia/DM and renal disease in patients with viral hepatitis (VH).Patients and Methods: A total of 491 subjects were included in the study. Patients with VH were further divided into the hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, and HBV-HCV co-infection subgroups. Fasting blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), glycated albumin (GA), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), creatinine (Cr), and cystatin C (Cys C) levels were measured. Urine microalbumin levels were also assessed. Formulas for estimated average glucose calculated using glycated albumin(eAG(GA)), estimated average glucose calculated using HbA1c (eAG(HbA1c)), and estimated glomerular filtration rate calculated using cystatin C (eGFRcys) were used to evaluate the average glucose and renal function.Results: The prevalence of hyperglycemia/DM and renal disease was significantly higher in the VH group, especially in the HCV subgroup. The prevalence of renal disease was significantly higher in patients with VH with eAG(GA) ≥ 200 mg/dL.Conclusion: Our study used multiple parameters to evaluate blood glucose and renal function in patients with VH and found that hyperglycemia/DM and renal disease are closely associated with VH, especially in subjects with HCV infection. Patients with VH, especially those with HCV infection and hyperglycemia/DM, were particularly vulnerable to renal disease.Keywords: viral hepatitis, hyperglycemia, diabetes mellitus, renal disease, nephropathy

Appendicitis is the most common abdominal disease that requires surgery in the emergency ward. It usually presents as right lower quadrant pain, but may rarely present as left upper quadrant (LUQ) pain due to congenital anatomical abnormalities of the intestine. We report a patient who complained of persistent LUQ abdominal pain and was finally diagnosed by computed tomography (CT) as congenital intestinal malrotation complicated with acute appendicitis. It is important to include acute appendicitis in the differential diagnosis of patients who complain of LUQ abdominal pain. Abdominal CT can provide significant information that is useful in preoperative diagnosis and determination of proper treatment.

A monopole slot antenna with compact size designed at WLAN band (2.4–2.484 GHz) is proposed for multiple-input multiple-output application. By the concept of electromagnetic shield, the antenna module is formed by an open-ended monopole slot surrounded by another open-ended monopole slot on the ground plane. The two identical folded antenna modules located on the both side of the ground plane are separated by an isolated element for increasing isolation more than 17.8 dB within the operating band. To increase antenna's bandwidth, the two open-ended monopole slot antennas with different lengths are printed to obtain two resonant modes, which are close at around 2.4 GHz. In addition, the proposed antenna occupies a small area of 10.5 × 20 mm2 and can be easily fabricated on an FR4 substrate that is a commonly used circuit board. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 54:1103–1107, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26740

Adiponectin is considered a modulator of glucose metabolism. Hypoadiponectinemia was reported to be associated with glucose metabolism and metabolic syndrome, and had been found in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus infections. However, little is known about the role of adiponectin in patients with HBV infection. Fifty-five patients with HBV infection and 52 healthy individuals were included in this study. We found that serum adiponectin was significantly lower in patients with HBV infection. We also found that HBV-infected patients with hemoglobin A1C ≥6.5% had a lower adiponectin level than those with hemoglobin A1C

Berberine is the major constituent of Coptidis Rhizoma with multiple pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammation, promotion of apoptosis and anticancer potential effect. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) may contribute to the causal relationship between tumorigenesis and pro-apoptotic function. Berberine is studied for the mechanism of its action in apoptotic pathway in human colonic carcinoma cell. Treatment of SW620 cells with 50 microM berberine resulted in activation of the caspase 3 and caspase 8, cleavage of poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) and the release of cytochrome c; whereas, the expression of BID and anti-apoptosis factor c-IAP1, Bcl-2, and Bcl-(XL) were decreased markedly. Berberine-induced, dose-dependent induction of apoptosis was accompanied by sustained phosphorylation of JNK and p38 MAPK, as well as generation of the ROS. Furthermore, the induction of apoptosis was alleviated by inhibitors specific for JNK and p38. In addition, there was an increase in the cellular levels of phospho-c-Jun, FasL and t-BID in the berberine-induced apoptosis via the activation of JNK and p38 signaling modules. NAC administration, a scavenger of ROS, reversed berberine-induced apoptosis effects via inhibition of JNK, p38 and c-jun activation, and FasL and t-BID expression. These results leads us to speculate that berberine may play an apoptotic cascade in SW620 cells by activation of the JNK/p38 pathway and induction of ROS production, providing a new mechanism for berberine-induced cell death in human colon cancer cells.

Acute porphyrias are rare diseases with varying incidences worldwide. These diseases are disorders of heme biosynthesis characterized by acute attacks of neurological symptoms. Acute porphyria should be considered in patients with unexplained abdominal pain or neurological damage. Clinical manifestations of acute porphyria are nonspecific and are associated with multiple organ systems. This report examines a rare case of an uncommon type of acute porphyria in a patient with an initial presentation of abdominal pain and progressive polyneuropathy.

A broadband probe-fed patch antenna with a novel three-dimensional (3D) U-shaped ground plane is proposed and experimentally studied. The proposed antenna has a thick air substrate, and by placing the two flanges of the U-shaped ground plane in parallel to and at a suitable distance from the radiating edges of the antenna's radiating patch, a wide impedance bandwidth (>25%) with much reduced cross-polarization radiation can be obtained, compared to the case with a conventional planar ground plane. In addition, enhanced antenna gain for the proposed antenna is also observed. Details of the proposed antenna and experimental results are presented and discussed.

This paper presents a design using dual capacitive feeds to excite a patch antenna with a thick air substrate to achieve a wide operating bandwidth with reduced cross-polarization radiation. The dual capacitive feeds are fed by equal input powers, but with a 180° phase shift, and have a narrow conducting strip placed below the radiating patch, supported by a conducting post, which is then connected, through via holes in the ground plane, to the microstrip feed network. Experimental results show that the proposed antenna can have greatly reduced cross-polarization radiation across the entire operating bandwidth, compared to the case with a single capacitive feed. Details of the proposed antenna and experimental results are presented. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 26: 169–171, 2000.

A new and simple technique for obtaining circular polarization (CP) radiation of a single-feed microstrip antenna is demonstrated. This CP design is achieved by insetting a single slit to the boundary of the microstrip patch, and placing a single feed along an axis 45° to the one containing the slit. Applications of this CP design method to square and circular microstrip antennas have been implemented. Typical experimental results are presented and discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 18: 306–308, 1998.

A broadband shorted-patch antenna fed by an aperture-coupled feed with an H-shaped coupling slot is proposed and experimentally studied. By using an air substrate with a thickness of about 0.07 of the free-space wavelength of the center operating frequency, the proposed antenna can have an impedance bandwidth of about 26.2%, which is comparable to the conventional broadband probe-fed patch antenna with a U-slotted or E-shaped patch. Good broadside radiation patterns for the proposed antenna are also observed. Details of the proposed antenna and experimental results are presented. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 28: 306–307, 2001.

A new design of a circular patch antenna with an impedance bandwidth greater than 25% and a peak antenna gain about 8.3 dBi is presented. The circular patch antenna has a thick air substrate, and a pair of wide slits are cut in the circular patch to facilitate the antenna's impedance matching. The circular patch is supported by a conducting post, which is also connected to a 50 Ω microstrip feed line. The ground plane of the microstrip line also serves as the ground plane of the circular patch antenna, and the substrate of the microstrip feed line and the circular patch are on the same side of the ground plane. Details of the antenna design and experimental results are described. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 25: 327–328, 2000.

A wideband circular-E patch antenna with an air substrate and a capacitive feed is proposed. The circular-E patch is formed by inserting a pair of wide slits at the boundary of a circular patch, and the capacitive feed has a small metallic disk placed below the circular-E patch, supported by a conducting post, which is then connected to a 50 Ω SMA connector through a via hole in the ground plane of the patch antenna. A prototype of the proposed antenna is constructed, and experimental results reveal that a group of three adjacent resonant modes can be excited, which results in a wide 10 dB return-loss impedance bandwidth of about 35%. Acceptable radiation characteristics for operating frequencies across the obtained wide impedance bandwidth are also observed, and the gain variation within the bandwidth is seen to be less than 1.4 dBi, with a peak antenna gain of about 7.9 dBi. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 27: 134–135, 2000.

Novel design of a dual-frequency triangular microstrip antenna with a V-shaped slot is proposed and experimentally studied. By selecting suitable dimensions of the V-shaped slot, dual-frequency operation with the frequency ratio ranging from 1.488 to 1.834 has been obtained using a single probe feed, and the two operating frequencies are of parallel polarization planes. Typical experimental results of the proposed design are presented and discussed. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 20: 133–134, 1999.

A novel disk-sector microstrip antenna with specific flare angles for circular polarisation (CP) operation is proposed and experimentally studied. Results show that by selecting the flare angle of the disk-sector microstrip patch to be 65 or 70/spl deg/, right hand or left-hand CP radiation can easily be obtained using a single probe feed. Details of the design considerations are described, and measured CP characteristics are presented.

The broadband design of a triangular microstrip antenna with a U-shaped slot is demonstrated. With a foam substrate of thickness /spl sim/0.08 /spl lambda//sub 0/, a slotted triangular microstrip antenna with an operating bandwidth of /spl sim/18% is obtained, which is /spl sim/1.8 times that of a corresponding simple triangular patch antenna. Details of the antenna design and experimental results are presented.